Hawaii: Big Island

Hello everyone and welcome back to my travel blog! My husband and I and spending two weeks on the Big Island, Hawaii... Yes! two full weeks! We are see it all, do it all and rest when were dead kind of travelers, Lol... Seriously, we love the hustle and bustle of seeing new things and we do schedule some chillout rest days in between. That is precisely why we decided to go for two weeks and not just one. So I divided this blog post into 2 parts: Week 1 and Week 2. And we listed the activities by each day, so you can see all our activities in a given day! I hope you enjoy the pics and it inspires you to get out an travel. This is Week 1 blog post.

Day 1: October 5

Our day, actually began in Oakland, California. We flew in the night before from Phoenix, for one day to (due to flight scheduling) and got to visit our daughter, Cierra who lives in Vacaville, CA - 1 hour from Oakland. (I will post those pics in a separate blog post). So the next day, it was off to the Big Island. Our day started very early... hubby set the alarm wrong and we woke up at 4 am. and had only 15 min. to get ready. We had ordered a taxi to pick us up at 4:15 am. to make our 7 am flight. Well, we made it to the airport and it was very cold! But, our flight actually wasn't until 8:35 am. (ugh...) So we had plenty of time to freeze our buns off and get breakfast at the airport. We were treated though to a beautiful sunrise while waiting. The plane arrived and we were off. This was a 5 1/2 hour flight. Hubby was tired and took a little nap on the plane! Me, I was wide awake watching free T.V. and movies on Southwest Airlines! :)

We had a connection in Honolulu and since our plane was arriving late, we didn't have time to spare. So we hopped off one plane and onto the next one. And again we were off! This time to our destination of the Big Island. This was a really quick flight, about 35 min. And now the adventures begin. We had paid to be greeted with beautiful leis. It was such a nice welcome! Our greeter also took some pictures for us to commensurate our arrival. After we picked up the rental car, it was off to our resort. We were staying at the Sea Village Resort in Kailua-Kona.

Day 2: October 6

We started our day with a drive to the Hamakua Nut Farm, but before we got there we took some pictures of the surroundings. Ocean views, breathtaking mountain views, hardened lava and oh yeah... goats! This was the start to a beautiful vacation. We arrived at the nut farm and treated ourselves to local eats of toffee popcorn and Hawaiian candy bars. I picked up a few souvenirs as well. And I just had to get a photo in front of the banner that screamed, "Sarah Was Here!" Lol...

Our next stop was to Puukohola National Historical Park. Ancient ruins of the people who lived here hundreds of years ago. It was surreal walking where ancient pioneers have walked and lived so many years ago! There is a 1/2 mile trail that leads around the park, but also the ocean and a shady spot where the people lived. A lot of history is on this island!

Next, it was on to the Waikoloa Petroglyphs Preserve. This place is right off the golf course of Kings Hilton. It was where the ancient people of this land walked and left many signs, symbols and markings. It is a bit of a hike as it is in-beaded in hardened lava. Afterwards, we stopped for a game of mini-golf and visited the Kings Shop Plaza in Waikoloa Village. We stopped for lunch at Ippy's Hawaiian BBQ. And with that our day was done, because it was hot and very humid (87* with 100% humidity).

Day 3: October 7

We started our day with a trip to the Historic District. On the agenda was the Mokuaikaua Church (the oldest) and Huihe'e Palace. We also got to see some amazing Banyan Trees that were uniquely shaped!. Afterwards we walked around to take in some sights at the Kailua Historical Village, saw King Kamehameha's Hut, watched swimmers train for Ironman Kona and got some Hawaiin shaved ice (which is delicious by the way).

I was so looking forward to seeing Honomalino Bay, home to Salt-N-Pepper sand beach. It is a mix of White and black sand and lava. It's located in a remote part of the island (Southwest portion). Many tourist don't even know it exist... but being the vacation planner I am... I did! :) The drive is about 1-1/2 hrs. Up a steep mountain, then u decline (it was actually pretty scary). Then you are treated to the most spectacular, beautiful views. To get to the beach though, the main roads ends. Then you have to hike about 1.7 miles in the roughest terrain you can imagine (water, rocks, lava, brush). It was extremely difficult and i didn't think i would make it, because I had twisted my ankle before arriving to Hawaii, but i did! And all of a sudden... you arrive to this glorious place!

Our last stop of the day was to visit a quaint little garden; Sadie Seymour botanical Garden. It was a welcome surprise to see such a cozy garden. There wasn't too many colorful plants, but each section featured plants and flowers from each region of the world, which was very cool! We had an exhausting day, but it was amazing!

Day 4: October 8

Today was all about water and fun! We purchased a day pass for the Hilton Waikoloa Resort Waterpark for $40 per person. The pass was valid from 9 am - 6 pm. https://www.themisguidedmillennial.org/hilton-waikoloa-village-day-pass/ This waterpark is amazing! There was so much to do. The main waterpark has an enormous pool with four main sections. It has a huge cave with tons of waterfalls and a slide. On the other side of the park there is a lagoon equipped to snorkel, ride paddleboats, kayaks, stand up boards and swimming with dolphins. There is also a beautiful waterfall there as well.

The entire complex is like a city and caters to those staying at the resort & quests. There is a shuttle service that also takes the quests staying at the resort, to two different shopping centers down the street. The tram wasn't working this day, but it takes quests around the entire complex. There is also a boat shuttle as well. It's very slow, but nice when you are tired and don't want to walk.

Day 5: October 9

Today we took a day to rest. We just hung out at our resort, Sea Village Resort and walked around the property. We have ocean views and can hear the waves crashing on the rocks below. There is also a cruise ship right in front of our view! We also caught a beautiful sunset that night!

The city of Kona-Kailua is getting ready for the biggest triathlon in the world... The World Championships 2019 - Ironman Kona. We are so looking foward to attending. The jogging portion passes right by our resort! So it has been a treat seeing and talking to some of the athletes. Man... they are "BEASTS"!

Day 6: October 10

As the city gets ready for the big race, a lot of the main streets around us are closed most of the day so the athletes can train. My ankle is still swollen and hurting from my soft tissue sprain (before I arrived), so I am taking the next few days to rest it. But I thought I would take some pics of the resort. It is really green and tropical here. The grounds are really lush and virbrant with color. I love the beautiful bamboo trees as well.

Day 7: October 11

Well, chillaxing is the name of the game today. Catching up on some of our shows and hubby is watching sports, Lol... (typical male) Ha, Ha! But, I am glad he is relaxing all the same. He works hard, so we can travel and see the world. So if sports on vacation makes him happy and relaxed... then I'm definitely happy! But before I sign off for the day, I will leave you with another beautiful sunset we caught while at the grocery store.

Also have you ever seen a dog drive a car? Well we did! Well at least he was steering it, while waiting for his owner to return. It was so funny! :) So folks that wraps up Week #1 of our trip to the Big Island. Stay tuned for the next post featuring

Week 2!