**i got this email from my pen pal warren over there in wakayama. check it out….
Hi Kirby, On your blog you were talking about surfing in the 70s! I have a good memory of your Uncle Tony Moniz! He came to my local beach back in 1984 when I was 14 with a group of Aussie pro surfers and tore the place apart! I was on the point watching all day and was impressed by this big guy from Hawaii in the water, tube riding like I have never seen before! A few months later surfworld published the photos and I bought the mag! That week changed my life and have been in the water ever since! .. When I go home back to the Gold Coast every year I always vist the Island to dive and surf! cheers


this is the cover shot of this antique magazine from the 70’s…

the crew with the only hawaiian, tony moniz…

i think this is tony because i don’t think australians get a nice suntan like this. haha…

tony was getting barreled when i was still in my diapers….

these photos are keepers and i’m sure the kids will get a good laugh at dad…

i was eating waiola shave ice with my friend and along came this weird car. a car i haven’t seen in my life before. i asked the owner what kind it was but i forgot the brand. if i’m not mistaken, it’s from france?

he told me that there is not a single mechanic in hawaii that can fix it if it breaks. so when that time comes, he has to ship this car to the mainland, have it fixed, and ship it back. think that’s cheap? probably not. and the car probably ain’t that cheap too because it’s the only one on the island….

then that same day, i was driving near nauru towers and along came another car i haven’t seen before. come to find out, it’s the new porsche and there’s only 3 in hawaii…

i think it’s called a panarama or something? pretty dam cool….

then that same day, i had a meeting with somebody that owned one. yeah, what a weird coincidence. i sat in it, and felt rich. i felt like a new man… haha…

then later that evening, i pulled up to sam’s club and seen this beauty. now this is my kind of car. a ford bronco. i owned a bronco II before and loved it. if i had to pick my top 5 cars on the world, this one would be in there.
i love cars and love looking at them. one of my dreams would to own a house that can fit 10 cars and 2 boats in the garage. my room to sleep could be a box. i don’t care so long i have a big garage…..

see that hawaiian holding the stand up paddle showing the tourists how to stand up paddle? that guys name is calvin ka’awa. calvin is a true hawaiian with a big heart. this day was a couple of days before i left to japan in spring. i bumped into calvin at the beach. we started talking story. calvin spent almost 2 months in chile helping the relief for the deadly earthquake victims. he told me how much more he appreciated his life, and the island of hawaii as soon as his plane landed at honolulu airport. in chile, he saw some pretty heavy things he hasn’t seen in his lifetime. it was funny how we both agreed how the kids in hawaii and other developed countries are so spoiled these days. actually, it’s not that funny, but we were laughing about it…
anyway, i asked calvin what he was doing at waikiki on that beautiful day. he said that he just got back from chile the day before, so he took his family to the beach. he just stopped by to borrow a board from tony. he said he was happy to be home with his family….
then… these 2 tourist walk by asking for a lesson on a stand up paddle board. calvin looked around and none of the instructors where there. without even thinking for a second, he said “come here, i’ll teach you.” he had the biggest smile on his face and showed the tourists the aloha spirit. i sat there thinking to myself “wow, calvin didn’t see his family for soooo long, he finally gets a family day but still decides to work in the hot sun while his family waits on the side. would have i done it? honestly? probably not. would i do it now? yes. i learned something from calvin that day. i learned that we shouldn’t take things for granted, i learned that we live in paradise and should appreciate everything about it, and i learned that it’s our duty to spread the aloha spirit to every single tourist that visits our islands. i already respected calvin a lot to begin with, and after seeing what i saw that day, i respect him a lot more. that’s why is say calvin ka’awa is a true hawaiian.”