Hi from HI

Posted 3 months ago at 00:53. 3 comments

Yes, the Mozilla release engineering team recently had a work week in Honolulu.

You can scream “JUNKET” as much as you want, and I will gleefully ignore you. We (and by “we,” I mean Lukas – exceptional job, BTW) actually did the groundwork to make sure that this trip was cost-comparable or better to meeting in a city that had an established Mozilla office, e.g. Toronto or San Francisco. Keep that in mind next time you’re planning a work meeting, but do expect management to require you to show your work.

While in Honolulu, the release engineering team set up shop at a local co-working space, The Box Jelly. The staff there were very supportive and helpful during our stay. I can’t recommend them enough.

Despite the location, the work week was challenging for me for a number of reasons, so I was really glad to have the weekend free after the work week was done to explore Oahu before I had to fly home.

A bunch of us were still around on Saturday, so Aki and I organized a trip to Hanauma Bay, one of the premiere snorkeling destinations in Hawaii.

On Sunday, I was pretty much on my own, so I rented a car and endeavored to see as much of Oahu as I possibly could.

I left early in the morning and made my way first to the west coast of the island for some snorkeling at Kahe Beach Park. Kahe Beach is immediately adjacent to an electrical generating plant, and there is a large outflow pipe of warmer water than the fish love. The snorkeling here didn’t disappoint, but the surf was very active. As long as I didn’t fight the currents, I was fine, but it was quite vigorous. Can’t expect much different in winter time.

After that, I headed up to the North Shore to watch some surfing, stopping briefly at the Hale’iwa Farmer’s Market to pick up gifts for people back home. There was actually a surfing competition in progress at Sunset Beach, so finding parking was a challenge, but I did eventually find some near the Three Tables area.

I hadn’t planned on actually surfing myself on the North Shore because generally I don’t consider myself crazy, but as I drove past Wiaimea Bay, it looked so gorgeous that I just couldn’t pass it up. After watching some surfers along the Banzai pipeline for a good long while, I gradually hiked back to Waimea Bay along the road. Without fins or a board, I must say that bodysurfing at Waimea Bay was a hell of a lot of work, but OMG was it worth it. If I was the sort of person to make a bucket list, “bodysurfing on the North Shore of Hawaii” is one gigantic checkmark.

From Waimea Bay, I drove a little further up the coast to Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck for lunch. After lunch, I continued up the highway to Kuilima cove, right beside the Turtle Bay resort. This was reported as one of the best spots for beginner snorkeling in Hawaii, so I figured I could still hack it despite not being able to feel my arms. Alas, I outlasted the battery on my camera and I only got one good picture of some fish before the battery died. This is a shame, because I ended up swimming with a large Hawaiian green sea turtle shortly thereafter.

After that, I continued my way southeast along the coastal highway, not expecting much adventure, just trying to get back to the rental car centre in time for my flight. (Un)fortunately, traffic slowed to a crawl near Kaneohe due to a bad accident, which had the happy side-effect of causing me to divert onto the H3 bypass. This major highway just happened to cut directly through the volcanic mountains in a gigantic tunnel, and comes out the other side in a lush, tropical valley. Makes me wish I was driving something more sporty than a Camry at the time, although I tried to make due.

‘Twas truly a weekend well-seized, although I was absolutely dead-tired by the time I boarded my flight home. Wouldn’t have it any other way though.

Current Tunes: Anjunabeats presents Mat Zo (Bonus DJ Mix) | Filed under Build/Release, Fish, Mozilla, Photography, Travel |