Update

Hi all,

We have just returned from a wicked day- I hope that the photos below do it justice (and that the girls sleeping over at the Kilmister's household enjoy as well!). Importantly, great to hear from you Shannon- the boys really appreciated your blog and wish you the best with your exam early next week.

We met up with the boys at 9:15am this morning- this gave some of them the opportunity to attend classes at Punahou with their billets (the most usual of these being a 7:30am senior class on how to deal with someone you want to punch in the face; no lying!). Punahou itself has been in existence since 1841, with its most notable past study being someone called Barack Obama who studied there for 8 years! After some time in classes (A McDermott claims the physics class may as well of been Japanese such was the different language they were speaking) it was off on a tour of the North Shore. The day's outing included the following sights: Laneakia Beach, Waimea Bay (where 50ft waves hit when it's really pumping), Three tables (a beach with 3 reefs in succession), Shark Cove, Banzai Pipeline (Kelly Slater and Andy Irons dominated this stretch of water for years), Ehukai Beach, Sunset Beach, Laie Township (staunchly Mormon), before ending up in Kokolio Beach (Kakela to the locals, where we were quite literally the only ones in sight). After 3 hrs in bath like and crystal clear water, we dusted off the sand and headed through the Kualua Valley (Jurassic Park and King Kong were filmed there), before taking in the 'Chinaman's Hat' en route back to Punahou. The boys have now headed home with their billets (J Kenrick's billet babysits for Jack Johnson, so he has fingers crossed that Jack might pop past for a visit). Tomorrow we will be meeting up with them at midday with game faces on to compete in the local Varsity and JV Invitational Meet. I look forward to bringing you all photos from that.

Points of note:
1. R Lockhart has had a terrible day in front of the camera; I am more than happy for the snaps below to contribute to his 21st birthday slideshow. P Carter was also photographed in a snap that I will be personally delivering to his parents for future use ( enough said about this )
2. G Kilmister is having a rough old time. He decided to sun bath today in his boxer shorts. J Kenrick then decided to take this scenario and really wind him up by creating a playlist of love songs for Guy (including Elton John's 'Song for Guy'). Subsequently, James has repeatedly sung these in Guy's direction to get a response. Poor Guy currently doesn't know the joke is on him.
3. J Ellis' odd behaviour continues. This afternoon he rocked around with a big red mark around one of his nipples- apparently he entered a mall's hardware store with others during a lunchtime stop-off and decided, under teenage encouragement, to put a plunger over his nipple to see what would happen- boys will be boys!
4. H Barclay dominated in beach/water rugby/gridiron/polo today. It was probably out of frustration that his baseball team the Reds went down to the SF Giants in the playoffs 3 games to 2 last night (Coach Skeen always has an eye for the champions- go the Giants!)
5. Our 7th formers (Meltzer, Batts, Esterhuizen, McDermott and Watt) all asked the staff for alone time today, they called it 'man-time', so that they could hang out just as seniors further down the beach. Their wish was granted. Coach Jones ( the lifeguard ) went for a wander and found they were using this mature time to build a big hole.
6. J Grieve wins the biggest scratch marks today- this has probably got something to do with the fact he made Coach Jordan his target in ocean wrestling (thankfully Coach Jordan didn't have to pull out his signature move- the 'hair pull')
7. Whilst not wanting to show any bias, the editor wishes to acknowledge a blog by someone called 'Mummy Skeen'. Seems to me that she would have to be the most wonderful woman in the world!


Clearly Hawaii has won the hearts of many of our boys- the sun, surf and scenery (and not just the girls!) have made a lasting impression. However it is time to race tomorrow, so until I blog next with news of running success, take care back home.