Monday May 12th, 2014 – Hawaii Island, United States of America
Travelling domestically in Hawaii weirdly was much more intense than arriving off an international flight, which I found quite strange – we had to walk through a special TSA screen and I got my hands swabbed for random chemicals, which was quite scary… that sort of thing always makes me feel guilty even though I know I’m not!
Honolulu Domestic Terminal was pretty boring, but it did have two Starbucks within 300m of each other. The plane ride was okay.. it was a Boeing, so not too much bouncing around but I do hate runways that are super close to the water! Kona Airport is suuuuper cute – much more tropical feeling and friendly. We had pre-booked a Jeep with Thrifty, and the depots are a wee way from the airport, so you get picked up by a cool thrifty van. When I booked the Wrangler it was about $395 USD for the 5 days, and I thought the insurance might be $100 – $150, but it took the total price to $800 USD.. I’m not sure if I messed up there or not, I think my travel insurance probably covers most of it.. I don’t want to think about that :S! If I didn’t want to go up Mauna Kea so badly, I definitely would’ve flagged it. It has come in pretty handy so far though – the shopping centre isn’t far from our resort, but the island is quite hilly and you wouldn’t want to walk.
The resort.. photos on the internet do not do it justice at all. The location is stunning, as is the entrance. The rooms are lovely too – spacious and tasteful (apart from the shower over bath). The building itself is quite a strange architecture, but interesting. It is perched on the edge of the volcanic rock on the coast. The pools are lovely, but unfortunately there is no adult pool, and there were a lot of kids around.. Not really my idea of serenity!
There are a few lovely cabanas, which are a little bit away from the pool and overlooking the ocean, but you do have to rent them for the day, so I might do that on Wednesday when I plan to have my ‘me’ day – yoga, spa treatment, lazing by the pool with cocktails and then up to Mauna Kea for some star gazing with Craig.
Today we went and bought some rum, pineapple juice, a hot chicken and buns etc and just did our own drinks and dinner on our lanai – eating out adds up and we spent a lot in Waikiki.
Tomorrow we’ll pop into Kona and maybe visit Walmart (in hope of getting a Walmart moment photo) and perhaps Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. I also want to buy some Kona Coffee and Macadamias. Then we are booked in to snorkel with the Manta Rays tomorrow night (in the dark with lights).. I’m excited and nervous – one of the ones that lives in the bay, Big Bertha, is about 5m wide!
Time for lights out, and I will be sleeping in tomorrow!
Xx
WHEREISLAUS 