Lucy Woodward reports on this years Kauai surf trip:
From our tour of a chocolate farm to journaling, surfing and the epic river kayak adventure the Kauai trip was mo’ better then ever. Having just finished the Maui camps Tree and I flew over to Kauai to meet up with the contingent of soon to be Kauai Surfer Girls. The eclectic group of MSG returnees included: Minna Schilling the Cali girl based out of London, Shanna Falch the soccer star from small town Pennsylvania, Jenna Wick the sensible vegan from California with an outrageous adventurous spirit, Jasmine Haskell the CIT short board ripper of…well just about everywhere, and Hesper Shin the spastic RISD stationed, Californian who’s who made us all laugh. It is not fair for me to say what happened on the magical garden island so here’s a little bit of what all these girls and Tree had to say about the adventure that is Kauai. Perhaps they will inspire you to join in the fun next year on this laid back, jam packed, epic surfing safari that is anything you make it.
And for the final words all I have to say is, “We wouldn’t stop until somebody calls the cops and even then we will start again and just pretend that nothing ever happened.”
Hope to see some of you next year!
Shawna’s mom Vicki writes:
“…With the upcoming year and her final high school experience, I am so glad the summer ended with this fab trip. (I so jealous of it all, youth and forgiving muscles.) I have great hopes for your continued efforts and gifts you give to our young woman that have this experience. I know you want to spread the word and If I can I will be one of your greatest fans. I wish more young women would become empowered, experienced, and on those surf boards…. ”
Tree writes:
***I was struck by all the ALOHA we were shown on Kaua’i. It was subtle in ways, and I was often quite surprised by the genuine friendliness of the natives.
When paddling back out to the lineup at Nawiliwili Harbor, I cut off a cute, young Hawaiian man; or made him think too much about which direction to surf, which is common. However, i felt like an annoyance to him. A couple of waves later I was near him and gave him the little “Sorry, dude” wink, and he got it. He said “no problem” in a very sweet voice, with a smile.
Next, he gave me a wave. That was a Saturday or Sunday, when wave real estate was at a premium, and all of us MSG girls surfed for a really long time. Near the end of the session I thanked the local surfer sincerely, and told him that the Aloha goes a long way out on the water. Again, he gave me a sweet reply in a soft voice, and we both were trying to give the next wave to each other.
You would think that I am just talking about myself having a crush on some cute Hawaiian dude. Hey, it does not knock that the Aloha was real, and personal. It was the icing on the cake to a week of kindness shown to us all. We camped at the Buddhist retreat grounds, got generous assistance with our dead van battery, got free fruits at the farmer’s market…
I am sure that if you think about it, you will remember a moment of Aloha from the Kaua’i trip. I am constantly shown that when I am happy and have gratitude, it comes back to me. Aloha teaches me that no matter where I happen to be.