We had received an invitation to stay the night between the The Barrier and Oahu flights in Chatswood, an Auckland suburb, with Mme J and M P. We’d met them some weeks (!) before at Mme V’s Medlands casa, made plans which needed to be postponed and were glad to be able to meet up again. A quick trip on the SkyBus and we were reunited.

Their relaxed demeanor, coupled with a comfortable and expansive house was just right for my tired self. We chatted for hours about the Teyuna, the bus, the world and most everything actually. The delicious meals, warm showers and exceptionally comfortable bed made for a luxurious stay, by the way.

Mme J is a flower essence practioner. She and Mme Awesome has fabulous dialogue and consultations on the subject.

Another SkyBus trip left us at the airport, and, close to midnight we left for Oahu. The plane itself was not crowded; in fact, Mme Awesome scored an entire middle section, which made for some solid hours of sleep for each of us. One time, I awoke from said couch to see her curled up on our twin seats, feet on the lowered meal tray! Gotta do what ya gotta do.

Hello everyone!!

M P explained what is going on with swells. Shorter periods between indicate the source storm is/was relatively close. These are what we saw on the Barrier. What brings people to Pipeline is the result of 3000 miles from the source storm, during which the initially short period swells consolidate, resulting in less swells per respective distance. The ones that remain, therefore, have correspondingly more momentum due to the increase in water. Add the reef wall which makes these beasts rise suddenly like titans and the outcome is a combination of power seen at places like Mavericks along with a living ideal of a perfect wave.

Fun fact: on GBI, we stayed in the room of an all star forward for the Black Ferns, New Zealand’s top woman’s rugby team.