A slow start to what turned out to be a totally awesome day! Our only plan was a 'surf date' with Shane (our Wyndham sales guy from the other day) in the afternoon, so we took our time getting moving. I think we finally convinced Leo to eat breakfast and get dressed around 11am :) We took the time to watch the final race of the America's Cup, sadly it wasn't to be for Team New Zealand, but we all know they'll never give up, red socks and all - always proud to be a Kiwi in spite of the piss takers! (you know who you are!)

After a drive along the coast a bit we decided to head to Hanalei Pier, where we discovered Pat's Tacqueria, a roadside food truck selling tacos and burritos - so so good :) Leo and I headed for the water to cool off, Cody settled on the pier (without touching the sand of course!) and Chay relaxed in the sun. The water was the perfect temperature.

Shane found us a little after 2pm and we headed along to 'The Pines' a little further along Hanalei Bay where the waves were the perfect size for learning. A quick lesson on the sand on how to lie on the board, how to get up and how to balance, then we were off into the water. We knew there was no way we'd get Cody out there, although surprisingly he was happy to stay on the beach for a while, then headed back to sit in the car after a while. Leo went first with a great effort, followed by Chay, who ended up too close to Leo and the board hit his arm, sending Leo back off to the beach for a good 45min until he decided he was letting an awesome opportunity pass him by.

I managed to get up a couple of times! I was using the stand up paddle board which was a huge help, it's wider and much more stable than a standard surfboard - or as Shane said, its like an ironing board by comparison lol. I tried both boards but couldn't seem to get it right with the surfboard, that'll take a lot more practice. Mostly I was challenged by my lack of ability to get my feet under me in the right place to balance - although the last few months worth of squats, burpees and walking lunges have definitely helped in that department! Chay also caught a couple of good waves. Shane was a fantastic teacher, very patient, and of course filled in time with a few headstands on his board, as you do :) By the time we convinced Leo to come back out and have another go the battery in our camera was almost dead and we only managed to get one shot of him standing up and actually surfing, although he pretty much had it sussed from his second wave - awesome job Leo!

We called it quits about 4:30pm, and decided to head to Kalypso Bar & Grill with Shane for a few drinks. We met his flatmate who works there, along with a couple of his friends, Taylor and Steve, plus his brother Will and family. I think its safe to say we were inducted into the local community and adopted as part of the family :) The original plan had been to go for dinner at the Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant but that kind of fell through once we settled into the happy hour cocktails that go all night - "All night, all night long!" - so we ordered rounds of nachos, coconut shrimp (fabulous!) and calamari along with the shots, mai tais, margaritas and Coronas. The kids had had enough of socialising and merriment by 8:30pm (don't worry, they were on Cokes, Leo even offered to drive!), so we bid everyone farewell and headed back to our resort. Plans with Shane for tomorrow to show us some out of the way local sights may not pan out, depending on how many more Coronas were consumed after we left ;)

All in all, one of the BEST days we've had in AGES, Leo has a new idol to adore (Shane this, Shane that!), we managed to get Cody onto the beach (big achievement!), made some awesome new friends, AND learned the basics of surfing. A round of high fives all round, Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, eat your hearts out :)