JET-SKIING JAWS

THIS MONTH’S WINNING ENTRY IS BY HIMANI

The alarm goes off. It’s pitch dark and 4.30am – time to get ready. Check the equipment, start up the engines, launch the jet skis and ride the biggest ocean swells in the world off Maui, also known as “Jaws”.

I am a photographer, Shaun is a big-wave surfer and we travel the world together, surfing and photographing.

The big wave season for Hawaii is November to March and places like “Jaws” only have a few fantastic days in the year. Once the websites indicate an upcoming swell with good conditions, watermen from all over the world gather to face the challenge.

We find some good airfare prices with Jetstar to Honolulu. The island greets us with blue skies, bright sunlight, soft Hawaiian melodies and swaying palm trees.

We’re off to Paia to meet Robby, Shaun’s tow partner. Paia is a bustling little North Shore town with lots of character. Historically a housing area for the sugar-mill workers, its name literally means “noisy”. The sugar mill shut down during the 90s, but remains an important landmark.

After a delicious dinner, we stop the car and look out at the dark ocean. The swell is definitely building. Tomorrow, the waves are going to be big enough to break at the outer reefs, and Shaun and Robby will be able to tow surf at “Sprecks” or “Pier One”.

To see Jaws from land, we go through the pineapple fields along the Hana Highway. It’s a challenging bike ride, up and down the red dusty hills.

Peahi is a wide-open bay with huge rocky cliffs. The reef beneath the breaking wave is 9m deep and only about 450m out to sea. The high cliffs make it perfect for spectators.

The next day sees Jaws getting international media attention, with camera people from CNN and ESPN Brazil to German sports magazines and even IMAX cinema.

My pair of binoculars and handphone keep me in contact with Shaun and Robby. They take turns driving and surfing, riding down these magnificent walls of ocean. Shaun has already had several phenomenal waves and managed to get into a few spectacular barrels. Then there’s a wipe-out! An enormous mass of bubbling white water swallows Shaun and he disappears. Nervously, I keep looking for him to reappear. Robby turns the jet ski and circles back while other jet skis come to help.

No sight of him. My heart is beating fast. Finally, after 20 long seconds that seem like an eternity, he pops up. He is still in the impact zone and another wall of white water sweeps him under and closer to the rocks. As he resurfaces the next time, Robby is right there, grabs his hand and outruns the next wave with Shaun safely on the rescue sledge.

We dedicate the last evening to a typical Maui event – watching the sunset from the top of the dormant volcano Haleakala, which means “House of the Sun”. Below us are trees in mist and in the distance is snow-capped Mauna Loa. We watch the glowing red ball of sun set over the vast ocean. Goodbye sun, goodbye Maui. Mahalo and thank you for the lovely stay.

Himani is a photographer, who recently moved to Ulladulla NSW.

How to Win:

If you’ve travelled Jetstar to/from or within Australia in the past year, we’d love to hear from you! Send in your 500-word holiday story from any Jetstar destination and six of your best holiday snaps. The winning entry will be published in JETSTAR Magazine and win 2 JetSaver return tickets flying Jetstar between your closest port and a direct Jetstar operated port. It’s that easy! Send your travel story to: writerscomp@jetstar.com

Terms & Conditions:

Contest will run every month. Entry submissions must be received by the 8th of the month. Maximum prize value is AU$756 based on 2 return flights from Adelaide to Cairns. Entrants must be Australian residents. Ink Publishing reserves the right to edit the winning submission and the judges decision is final. Employees of Jetstar Airways and Ink Publishing are not eligible to enter. For full terms and conditions, please visit www.jetstar.com/writerscomp