Non-surfing last weekend in Santa Cruz was wonderful.  By non-surfing I mean that the husband surfed while I stayed on dry land.  I did walk so I earned my poppy seed muffin and I got in some beautiful beach time.  The weather was great and the beach was accessible after the tide went down.  I also paid a bit more attention and made some changes to my last blog entry as I had the names of a few places I mentioned incorrect.

So what's going on this weekend?  Well tomorrow is Mark's birthday so it is family dinner night  so we can all help him celebrate...and of course eat cake!  Saturday is crap around the house day and Sunday we will be at Santa Cruz.  And by we, I mean not just Mark and I, but his daughter and my one of my sons will be join us! While I've seen Stef surf many times with Mark, this will be the 2nd time Eric has joined us.  Last time  he joined us, the surf wasn't the greatest for him so I wasn't able to see him ride some waves, but hopefully this weekend will be good and I'll get to see him in action.  Depending on the weather and where the decide to surf, I'll either have lots of photos or have a darker tan.

We will also be picking up Mark's new Stand Up Paddle Board (SUP).  He has rented several different styles from Cove Water in Santa Cruz so he could test out a few before he bought a new one.  The staff there is really nice and knowledgeable and they have some cute clothes there.  In my opinion they could add some hooded sweatshirts in additional colors besides dark blue and grey.  Plus the bathroom there is clean and tidy and they don't mind letting you use it. 

Mark already has a SUP, but this new one will be a bit smaller and much lighter weight.   If one of those days where the water is totally flat, I might actually get out there in the water on it.  I enjoy paddling around on a SUP, I just like to do it on flat water. The new board is an Al Merrick design, which means I have already named it Big Al.  I've lost count of how many boards are in our garage.  I do know that our garage will never see a car in it.  No convertible car for me!

So keep your fingers crossed for me that the beautiful weather we are experiencing holds out for the weekend.  I'd much rather be in shorts than sweats.

Back to Reality. East Side Santa Cruz

Mark is all rested up from surfing 6 days in a row at Tavarua and ready to get in the water again.  Since it is too soon for another exotic surfing trip (bummer!), we will be heading off to Santa Cruz one day this weekend.  I have been going to Santa Cruz just about every weekend with Mark since I met him.  It is about an hour and 15 minute drive from our home.  Some days he surfs the East Side and other days the West Side.  As a non-surfer is there a better area for me?  I like them both.  A lot of it depends on the weather.  Today I'll focus on the East side.

The East Side is closer to Capitola.  It is where he surfs mostly in the summer months.  Mark could easily give you an explanation why he prefers it more in the summer months, but I have no real idea why.  I think it might be something to do with the directions the waves are coming in, better surf east side in the summer, better on the west side in the winter.  But don't quote me on that....I could be very wrong!  I only know it from the non-surfer point of view. 

So what do I do when he is in the water?  Well I don't spend all my time watching him.  I always walk him to where ever he is getting into the water.  That is ritual and I would feel I was jinxing his day if I didn't.  After that, it really depends on the weather and tide.  Part of the ritual is asking him what time high tide is.  If it is a lower tide and the sun is shining, you will find me at the little cove beach at the end of 38th Avenue at East Cliff Ave. I love being there.  I bring a sand chair, my book and I am in heaven.  It is great for people watching.  In the summer months there are a lot more families but in September and through May, if the weather is nice you'll see a lot of college aged kids there from UC Santa Cruz. 

Mark and one of dog's at Santa Cruz - East side during low tide

The beach itself is pretty clean.  There is no actual garbage can on the beach because of the tides.  I've seen the waves hit all the way up to the beach that would cause any garbage cans that may be left on the beach to be washed out to sea. To Pack your Trash!  There are always beach goers or beach walkers with dogs on this little beach, an everyone is pretty good about cleaning up after their pets.  If it is a really low tide I love bringing one of our dogs.  You can walk at least 1/2 mile on the beach during a low tide.  There are signs posting that dogs need to be on a leash, but I've seen lots of them (in fact most of them) off leash either chasing balls or sticks along the beach or into the water.  Some of the dogs are born water dogs and it is really great to see them running out into the surf over and over again chasing a ball.  There is a garbage can at the top of the stair case with extra dog poo bags in case you forgot to bring one.  If you bring your dog, please make sure to clean up after it so the beach stays a great beach. 

If the tide is too high to get down the stairs to the beach, I walk.  If you head out walking west on East Cliff Ave, there is a little market which used to be called Elizabeth's.  There is a new owner who change the name to The Point Market.  It is the only place I have found in Santa Cruz to get a poppy seed muffin.  It's a Costco poppy seed muffin, but still one of my favorites.  They also serve a good breakfast burrito prepared in their kitchen along with other items.  There is some seating and everyone there always seems open to conversation.  There is also a small mini mart type market.  If you are a little bit car sick they do carry ginger ale.

As you walk toward the market you'll pass a beautiful green house right on the edge of the cliff.  This home belongs to Jack O'Neil of O'Neil wetsuits and other surf gear and apparel.  While I've never seen him I have enjoyed the open space he owns next to his home.  Is a wide open dirt field with nothing much but a bench with a great view, and a great place to meet people.  I've learned a lot about the local surf community.

If you turn left at the market and head down the street, you are on a block with some awesome homes.  I've been able to see the interiors of a few of them when they have been for sale and have held an open house.  I have fallen in love with two of them.  They are WAY out of my price range, but I still go in.  It is so cool to go into these homes, look out the huge ocean view windows and see my husband out there surfing. Oh if I ever win the lottery!

At the end of this block is a little area with a few picnic tables and a great view.  It is a much quieter area than the beach if you just want to sit and watch the ocean.  Not a lot to do there expect relax.  

From 38th Ave if you head out to the left on East Cliff Drive, there are a few more options.  If Mark surfs at Sharks (a popular surfing spot and no he hasn't seen a shark there), I get a good view of him.  The spot I watch him from is right in front of another surfing area called the Hook.  The picnic area where I watch him from is also call the hook. It is another great spot to talk with other surfers.  I have also met people from all over the world who have stopped there to see the action. Or maybe they are just stopping there because it's where the public bathrooms are located.  Oh and they are nice bathrooms.  Not gross or have weirdos hanging around.  I'm very picky about restrooms and these are okay.

Keep following the road as it turns into 41st Ave and you get into town.  There are a few surf shops, skate board shops, coffee houses, restaurants, used clothing stores and some other shops.  While she isn't my optometrist there is one who has an office and is really nice.  They have a good selection of sunglasses and will talk surf with you if she isn't with a client.    If you keep going on of my favorite places for a breakfast burrito is there on the right.  It is called "Chill Out" .  It is the place painted red.  Don't hesitate to go in for breakfast.  If you don't see if fixed the way you want it on the menu, go ahead and ask for it the way you want it.  They are huge breakfast burritos but I always manage to eat the whole thing.

Keep walking and you'll hit a few small strip malls that include a CVS and a Whole Foods.  Keep going a bit further and you'll hit O’Neil’s surf shop.  I think most of our wetsuits have come from there when they have their twice yearly sales.  Their sample sale is really cool and you can find some O'Neil clothing that you won't see in the stores.

Walk a bit further and you'll be at Capitola Mall.  I've done the mileage and it is about a mile walk if you have parked your car at 38th Ave.  Of course if you walk around the mall you'll add a bit more distance.  Plus some weight exercises if you have to carry whatever you bought back to the car!

Someday I will do the even longer walk down to the adorable town of Capitola.  While we have driven there and had dinner, I've never made the walk.  I know it is doable, I just haven't.  Not this weekend....I hear the weather is going to be good and the beach is calling.  I need one day in the sun to re-charge my fast fading Tavarua tan.  See you at the beach!

Tavarua Part 2

Tavarua Part II

My tan is starting to fade and the jet lag fog has lifted but the memories are still at the fore front of my thoughts.  This blog will be an overview of lots of little things that I took notes on while we were there.

Our home away from home for the week

Inside our bure, please excuse our stuff laying around!

The Bure, our room was very spacious for just the two of us.  It had queen beds and a day bed.  They were pretty comfortable.  The windows, which we never closed, all had screens.  The only bug I saw in the room was a spider, that Mark quickly got rid of as he knows my fear of spiders.  We did have a gecko in our room.  I only saw the gecko a couple of times.  Geckos don’t bother me as I know they eat the spiders!  As I mentioned in an earlier blog, because the water supply depends on the what rain they catch, they don’t change the sheets and towels daily.  Which is fine as they make up the room daily and we handle the sheets not changed nightly.  You know I don’t change them daily at home!  The only towel that got a little iffy was the floor mat.  I washed my feet a lot!  The shampoo/conditioner and soap were Pure Fiji products and smelled great.  We had fresh flowers daily and house keeping was delightful.   

To help keep the sand out of your room, at the bottom of the stairs in front of each bure was a tub of water for you to rinse your feet in before you entered. That really helped to keep the sand issue down.  Plus we always took our shoes off and left them outside on the deck.  We never once locked the door.  Theft is a non issue there.   We kept our wallets in the safe in the closet and we didn’t bring anything valuable with us.  On this vacation, leave the jewelry at home…you won’t need it!  Here is a list of the things you do or don’t need to bring

Hair dryer – -Dont ’t bring, already in the room 

Beach towels –Don’t bring, they provide nice big plush ones 
Casual clothes – shorts and tee shirts are the attire for the week.  For women, sun dresses, bathing suit cover up.  Nothing fancy necessary!  I think I packed 4 bathing suits, and wore them all.  One night I did wear my sweater during dinner.  I don’t think Mark ever wore more than a tee shirt and shorts
Shoes – I brought 2 pairs of flip flops and a pair of water shoes that look like sneakers.  I tried to designate one pair of flip flops for getting wet and tried to keep one pair dry.  In hindsight, I wish the water pair had been rubber rather than the leather ones I bright.  One of the other guest had a great pair by Gisele Bundchen.  They were rubber and had a heel strap.  Cute, stylish and would stay on in the water.  

You know I'll be ordering these!

Flippers - If you are bringing your kids or If you have a small foot, bring your own flippers for snorkeling.  They do provided them there, but they were too big for me.   I wear a Women’s size 6 (US)  and I think the smallest they had was a men’s size small.  I did put on my water shoes and used a men’s large flipper over my shoes.  It worked!   Your Camera!  Between Mark and I we took tons and tons of photos and videos. 
Flashlight – the path from the restaurant to your bure is lite, but it was nice to have a flashlight to light it up a bit more.  The beach isn’t lite up night except for by the moon.  A flash light was a must for that quick stroll on the beach  in front of your bure.
Water bottle/travel coffee mug – The water in your room isn’t purified for drinking.  It is fine for bathing.  At night after dinner we asked to take a picture of water back to our room each night.   While they serve coffee & tea all day long in the restaurant, it was nice to have my travel mug filled with coffee to sip on when we took our daily walk around the island.
 

Sunscreen & chap stick!  I started the trip off with 30 spf.  I had somewhat of a base tan but I didn’t want to burn.  I gradually went down to a SPF 8.  I did use SPF 30 on my face for the whole week.  This is the first time I’ve ever come home from a vacation and didn’t have my nose peel. A shout out goes to Dennise Nipper for her turning me on to Mary Kay’s 30 SPF facesunscreen.  It didn’t sting my face like most sunscreens do!  

 Books - If you do a lot of beach reading, get a Kindle or other type of electronic book.  The airline has weight limits and books just take up too much of it.  I have a clip on light so I was able to use the kindle in the room at night

Mark and I with our Kava before we presented it to the Island Chief

When you land on the main island in Fiji, get your Kava there for the Kava Kava ceremony.  It is customary to provide the island Chief with Kava or some other gift the night of the Kava Ceremony.  Our shuttle driver picked it up for us before he drove us to the boat landing to the island.  I wish we had another gift to offer him has well.  We should have brought along some XL Santa Cruz Tee Shirts.   

A note pad -  to take down the email address of all the awesome people you will meet on your week.  They only have about 38 guests each week.  You get to know them all very well and will want to keep in touch with them.  We were lucky enough to have met Susy and Craig and their sons from Australia.  We are looking forward to vacationing with them again.  If not at Tavarua then Mexico or someone where else.   Also there during our week were some other fantastic families from Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, San Diego and of course the guys from Brazil.  The Brazilians were professional surfers and their photographer/videographer and editor from a Brazilian surfing magazine called Hard Core.  They were there for photos shoot and video for the magazine.   

Brazilian Pro Surfers and Crew

I know this one is blury but it has great memories behind it!

Not only were they amazing surfers, but wonderful guys at well.  They left their egos at home and joined in to become part of our week long family. It was a common sight to see the two year olds using them as jungle gyms in the pool or to see them offering words of encouragement to the grommets while they were surfing or challenging them to games of ping pong.   

Craig and Lucas playing against Mark and Adam

They also offered something to look at for all the women staying on the island.  Even after all the 1000’s of photos they took for the magazine, they were still willing to share in photos with the rest of us.

The staff there is amazing.  You feel more like pampered family members than hotel guests.  They remember the details of what you like and go out of their way to make your stay enjoyable.  

The staffing singing to us as we arrived to Tavarua

She is amazing and treats us all like family!

 In addition to the resort staff, there are volunteer life guards who went out on the surf boats each day.  They discourage you from going out on your own.  Safety is always first and foremost.  They let you know where the best waves are breaking that day and tips on how to avoid the coral.  Mark went out on the 6 am surf boat each morning to get the best waves and conditions of the day.  There is a doctor there on the island, one of the surfers needed him when she cut her foot on the boards fin and required 6 stitches.  If you aren’t surfing and need medical attention, let someone on the staff know and they will locate him for you.  

Between the location, food, the resort and everything else, this was one of the best vacations I’ve ever had!

Tavarua - For The Non Surfer - Part I

I am really excited about writing this blog today.  We just got back from a week in Fiji.  Specifically a surf resort on an island in Fiji called Tavarua.  The surf resort is the only thing on the 29 acre island.  I should clarify that it isn’t an island, it is paradise!

There is so much to say about this this place that this review will be more than entry.  This first part I will give my review from the prospective of the no surfer at a resort geared toward surfing.

Tavarua Review, Part I

So what’s there for me to do?  I don’t surf!

After 28 hours of travel from the San Francisco Bay Area which included a 6 hour car drive, a 10 hour red eye flight and a 5 am drop off at a hotel to wait 5 hours before our boat ride to the island, the only thing I could think about was how much I wanted a shower and to change my clothes.  But as our small panga boat left the landing and approached the tiny heart shape island, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if you tried.  I was so impressed and touched that almost all of the island staff was there standing on the sandy beach playing guitars and singing Fijian song welcoming us to the island.  That was just the first of the small details that made this a first class resort, not just a surf resort.

While I will go into more details on the numerous blogs I will post about this trip to Tavarua, I will focus today on how awesome this place is for the non-surfer!

The resort itself is beautiful.  It isn’t a hotel resort like you would expect at a Sheraton or Hilton.  The rooms are individual bures.    Most of the bures have two queen size beds and a day bed.  They have a/c, but we never used it.  We had 3 ceiling fans and kept the screen windows open and that kept the room very comfortable.  The bathroom was a good size.  No tub, just a shower.  The hot water didn’t last for a super long shower, but if I wanted a soak or warm water for an extended amount of time, you would find me in the huge hot tub at the pool.  The shampoo/conditioner/soap is Pure Fiji products and smell heavenly.   There are no TV’s or phones, and they weren’t missed.  Some of the families with children brought computers or IPods to keep the kids entertained.  The only ones who really used them were the smaller kids under 5 years old. It helped to keep them occupied during dinner.

One of the things that impressed me the most was the daily flowers we had in our room.  The first day they were tucked in between the two large soft Tavarua beach towels.  (We brought our own beach towels which you don’t need to do.  They just take up extra weight in your luggage).  The rest of the days there would be a beautiful grouping of flowers on our bed.  You could see the staff outside everyday picking the plumeria and hibiscus blossoms from the plants that are all over the island.  Because water used is water collected from rain fall, they don’t change the bed linens or towels out daily.  The beds are made daily and they do a great job attending to the room.  Oh, and this is the first time I have ever had a laundry basket in our room.  They will do your laundry if you take the basket to the front office.  There is a charge, but I don’t know what it is. There is a safe in the closet to lock up any valuables.  I don’t know if there was a lock on our door as never shut the door, just the screen door.  I never once found that leaving the door unlocked was a problem and unsafe.  The only thing valuable we ever put in the safe was our wallets.  I left the jewelry at home.  This isn’t the place if you want a glamorous show off your stuff type of resort and vacation.  I talked about this with the other guests and they never locked their doors either.  There was a fridge/minibar.   A little on the pricey side, but what minibar isn’t.  Feel free to stock it with stuff you bring over.  Ours had Slimfast and Atkins bars in it that we had brought…but never ate them!

All meals are in a communal dining room that is open to the beach on two sides.  The services from the staff are the best!  The staff is made up of Fijians and they know how to take care of their guests.  The serve the proper way, serving on the right and clearing from the left.   Because of the communal dinning, you get to know all of the other 30 or so guests that are staying that week with you.  We hit it off with one of the families on the ride over to the island.  Susy and Craig will be our lifelong friends.

The food there was amazing.  It is served buffet style.  Every day the meals were different included vegetarian dishes.  Desserts were fantastic…and make sure you ask for two of the rolls at dinner.  They were the best I have ever had.  Shorts, Tee shirts and flip flops are the attire.  Most everyone was just coming in from the surf during breakfast and lunch, and sometimes even dinner.  Very casual.  Appetizer from 5-6 and happy hour every night was from 6-7pm.  They had a specialty cocktail ever night.  My favorite was the one on the first night, the Boingo Boingo.

Since I don’t surf I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for a whole week.  I was never bored.  There is a fitness room that had one stationary bike and an elliptical, many of those exercise balls, foam rollers, weight bench, hand weights, yoga matts, a punching bag and plenty of room.  There is a DVD player and number of exercise videos.  There were fresh flowers, fresh towels and Kleenex readily available.  The room was two levels, mirrored, air conditioned and beautiful.  I’ll admit, I peaked in and took notes and photos, but only kind of worked out once!

There is a sand volleyball court and I did see a few games being played.  There is a pool table, ping pong table and dart board in their open game room.  Its open aired and seems to always be occupied.  In the dining room there is a small library with the take a book, leave a book policy.  There were also plenty of board games and of course all the latest additions of popular surf magazines.  I left behind my copy of people magazine.  There were also a couple of guitars in the bar area of the dining room that were available to use.  I heard several impromptu sing alongs during my stay.

The pool area is beautiful.  It is a large pool with a swim up bar with seats in the water, although the bar in the pool isn’t used.  There is a waterfall into the pool which had seating so you could cool off with the water falling on you.  There was also a lounge deck in the pool so you could lie out in the water and just relax. Next to the pool was a large Jacuzzi hot tub that was always occupied.  Space in it was never an issue.    There were several shallow pools leading to the pool and Jacuzzi where you would step into to rinse the sand off your feet before getting into the pool. There was plenty of lounge chairs and seating.

So what did I do?  After breakfast I generally head out to the pool and hang out with the other non-surfers and surfers.  It is a great social scene.  I love to read and finished a couple of books while I was there (get a Kindle!  You don’t want to the extra weight of books in your luggage!).   At some point during the day I would do the walk around the island.  You could probably do the walk around the entire island in about 15 minutes.  But it would take us longer.  You wouldn’t want to hurry it.  The views are unbelievable.  Hermit crabs are everywhere and if you are a shell collector, this is the place to be.

I did go stand up paddle boarding.  The conditions weren’t the best the day I went out and it was a bit of a struggle, but it won’t stop me from trying it again.  They were kayaks and lots of snorkeling.  The island has a beautiful coral reef around it and is full of fish, one more colorful than the next.  They have 3 boats that go out daily for fishing.  I know that more than one of our dinners was what someone had caught that day.  If you didn’t fish, you could still go out on the fishing boats just for the ride. All the equipment have mentioned was included so there wasn’t an extra charge on your bill for it.  Scuba diving or site seeing trips were not included.  If a nap was in order, there were hammocks all over the island to crawl into and close your eyes.

If you have to shop, there is a boutique on the island.  There is internet available for a fee, but we didn’t use it.  There are two computers for use in the office or you could bring our own laptop and pay the weekly internet fee.  We didn’t bring ours.  We were off the grid for a week!

I was not bored once.  There was always something to do.  Would I go back.?  In a heartbeat!

A Severe Case of Surfacockalitis

Hello, I am the surf widow.  No, my husband Mark isn’t dead , he is alive and kicking.  I become a surf widow on the weekends.  He surfs, and surfs…every weekend.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining.  Being a surf widow has its perks.  It is far better being a surf widow than a golf widow or football widow.  Surfing keeps him in incredible shape and instead of watching him just sit in front of the TV totally involved with his sports on the weekends,  we spend the day in Santa Cruz at the beach.  Plus we go on some really great tropical vacations. 

During the day Mark, who has a PhD in electrical engineering, works at a national lab working on all kinds of scientific things that I will never understand.  Occasionally if there is a large swell coming in during the week, he develops this condition we call “surfacockalitis”.   The only known treatment for this condition is to take a day off of work to be submerged in a large body of salt water for a period of 2-3 hours while absorbing UV rays.  When he has a flare up, we head off to the local treatment center…also known as Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean!

This Thursday he had a severe case of Surfacockalitis.  Apparently there was a huge southern swell coming in from New Zealand causing this sudden flare up.  So off to Santa Cruz we went.

It was a day where the ocean was nothing but those beautiful loud crashing waves, coming in one right after another.  No two looked the same causing the ocean landscape to be an ever changing living work of art.  You could feel the strength and power of the water without even being in it. The tremendous waves were accompanied by a high tide making it impossible to get down to the beach.  That was fine with me as Mark had asked me to video tape him out in the big surf on his stand up paddle board. 

A stand up paddle board is a surfboard on steroids.  While it doesn’t necessarily have to be a lot longer than a normal surf board, it is a lot thicker and wider.  Instead of laying down on it, you stand and use a paddle to get in and out of the waves.  He has had a SUP for about a year, and this was to be the first time he was taking it out in really large and rough conditions.   Here is the video footage I took and Mark edited into a video.  Enjoy!