b. clemons photography: North Shore & More...

We spent the night at our friends house last night due to inclement weather- they had 50mph winds on the beach where we were supposed to be camping... which is not something that sounded fun in a tent with a two year old. (HA!)

^Our accommodations for the night :D

Jason and Matt live on an aquaponics nursery, which uses red tilapia to fertilize their plants, and in turn the plants feed the tilapia. In exchange for a room (and other expenses) they work on the farm 30 hours per week, and spend the rest of their time exploring the island of Oahu.

Kenna had a blast playing in the rain (and watching the fish!) while we checked out the nursery.

      The morning was nasty and wet, rainy, and not something you want to see on your third day in Oahu. We knew the weather would clear off (or at least we hoped it would) if we checked out some other parts of the island. (Usually, there is good weather SOMEWHERE on the island, and we were determined to find it.)
     As we headed to our campsite on the beach, the rainy skies cleared a little, and we got to do some beachcombing. (Whoa! Coral!) Thanks Jason and Matt for taking photos for me! It was nice to have a break from my day job. ;-)

Of course there was some beach yoga...

^Matt took this shot of a crab... Can you see him? Their camouflage is amazing!

Halfway through beachcombing, the rain picked back up. We sprinted to the car, and mapped out our lunch plans. We chose a local spot on the way to North Shore, called Papa Ole's. (This was our first meal out on the island, and I was both excited and nervous to see food prices, since everyone told us Hawaii was so expensive.) I ordered the "Big J Special" ($16) which was enough food for Logan and I both to split if we wanted. The Big J included "Pehula" (short ribs) and shrimp, (with the most amazing sauce ever) rice and mac salad. (Rice and mac salad are staples on the item, and come with most meals you'll order.) I opted for salad instead of the rice. The food was great, but if I had it to do over again, I would've gotten only shrimp. I think I could've eaten three pounds of the shrimp.

We continued North to Hale'iwa, stopping at Ted's Bakery for a slice of pie. Ted's is a trendy little place where you dine outside and place your sticker from the box on the umbrella on your table. (Why? I don't know, but it's cool.)

^^I got the dream cake pie, (<$4) and Logan got the pineapple macadamia nut cheesecake pie. His was wayyyy better than mine.)

After Ted's, we stopped at Ehukai Beach (home of the Banzai Pipeline) just to say we did it. The beach wasn't overly spectacular in my opinion, it was littered with tons of people. This is the beach that boasts huge, pounding surf in the winter months and is home to many surf competitions.

Once into Hale'iwa, we stopped at lots of little souvenir shops, surf shops, and art galleries. This is a fascinating little town, but beware- tons of people, with very little parking.

One thing everyone told us to be sure to try was shaved ice while we at North Shore. This was one thing on the island I thought was overrated. (I know, throw the tomatoes!) I even opted to get the sweet beans in the bottom like the suggest (hey, I'm going total Hawaiian here!) and that was a big mistake... they tasted exactly like sugary kidney beans, which just weren't my forte. Kenna, on the other hand, loved the ice. (The beans, not so much.)

After exploring Hale'iwa, we headed to the beach where we would be camping. Our friend Matt built us an awesome beach couch, and Kenna helped me make a sea turtle.

The beach was beautiful and remote; it doesn't offer set campsites or bathrooms, but there are lots of fire rings where you can tell people have camped before. (We chose one of these, and camped at our own risk.)

One of Jason and Matt's coworkers (Sam) came down to the beach with us to do some body boarding, so I got to take some super fun shots of him.

We spent the rest of the evening playing on the beach, doing a little beach yoga, some long exposure shots, hanging out around the campfire, and getting to know our new friends.

I took a series of long exposure black and whites that I'm absolutely crazy about... These will hang in our house one day! (I've had people contact me about purchasing some of my images, please send me an email if that's something you're interested in!)