Hawaii: Big Island

Day 8: October 12

Today is the big day! It's the 2019 Vega Ironman Kona World Championship and boy were we excited! Our day started very early. We work up at 4:30 am. and arrived at the pier by 6:00 am. (where the race started). The athletes entering down the main trail by professional status, and then by age groups with men & women separated. The first groups race began at 6:25 am. As the horn sounded, each group entered the ocean in 10 min. intervals for the swimming leg (2.4 miles) until the last group went. Then when each person finished, they dried off and was off on their bike's pedaling for 112 miles (I am told that these bikes range from $10,000 to $20,000 each! Whoa mama!!! There was also an entrance fee of $1100 per person and athletes had to qualify for this race, by placing in previous Ironman qualifying races. The last portion of the race was a 26.22 mile run. YIKES! :0

Each person had to complete all three legs of the Ironman race: Swim, Bike & Run in less than 17 hours (by mid-night) in order to earn the title of Ironman (there was also a cutoff time for each leg). We spent most of the day cheering these athletes on taking breaks to eat, rest and hydrate. We finally came back to the hotel around 6 pm. But I headed back out at 7:30 pm. to cheer on the last of the runners. I must say, when you see people in their eighty's (80's) and amputees running, biking and swimming, you have a new found respect for this caliber of athletes.

I am so thankful we got to witness these amazing athletes and this race. It will be something I will never forget, as this was our first World Championship and included people from all over the world. I may not ever get a chance to see it again, but glad we just happened to be there at the same time this event was taking place. I hope you will enjoy and cherish these pictures as much as I do and be inspired by these incredible athletes.

First Leg: Swimming

Second Leg: Biking

Third Leg: Running

Here are some other pics I took as well...

Day 9: October 13

Today we had quite a few places to visit on our list: Laupahoehoe Train Museaum, Umauma Falls and visitor center, Umauma Falls Hike, Garden of Peace, Waipio Valley Lookout, Akaka & Akuna Waterfalls, and Onomea Bay.

Stop #1: Laupahoehoe Train Museum. It was closed, but we got a few pics! Also pics of beautiful scenery...

Stop #2 Umauma Falls and visitor center. This falls did not disappoint!

Stop #3 Umauma Falls Zipline and hike...

Stop #4 Garden of Peace and Hike...Feeling totally at peace here!

Stop #5 Waipio Valley Lookout... Feeling pretty blessed to witness the work of the Lord.😇 Been looking forward to seeing this view for many years. It is breathtaking!!!

Stop #6 Akaka Falls & Akuna Falls. Beautiful falls and tropical rain forest🌿🌴

Final Stop #7 of the day... Onomea Bay and Blowhole. The waves were EPIC FEARCE!!!

We are on our way back to the resort. We were at the highest point on the island, Maunakea Mountain... Boy was it is freezing up there! It is 46* We were treated to the most amazing display of mother nature...FOG! Also we are literally touching the clouds and we saw the most beautiful sun beyond the clouds and sunset!🌄 Just had to post it! There were also protestors blocking the road to the telescope on top of the mountain, so we didn't go there... It wasn't worth being harassed.

Day 10: October 14

Today was also a long day with many stops! We visited one of the rarest beaches; Papakōlea (Green Sand Beach), Kaulana Bay (Red Sand Beach), Volcanoes National Park and Punalu'u (Black Sand Beach).

Stop #1 The spectacular Papakōlea - Green Sand Beach!🏝 We did it yawl!!! We hiked 5 miles and had to climb down to the beach. It was wicked scary but I did it!!!🤗 The waves were EPIC! The water was ice blue-green. And did you know there are only 4 green sand beaches in the world? Wow!!! One down... three to go!

Stop 2: Kaulana Bay - A beautiful beach with red sand, black & white rocks and killer views.

Stop #3: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.⛰ A lot of mist and steam from lava vents and volcano here. Started raining a lot, so we left a little earlier than planned. But still had a nice visit. Bummed Thurston Lava Tube was closed today. 😫

Final Stop #4: Punalu'u - Black Sand Beach. All I can say is... WOW!!! And seeing that sea turtle was icing on the cake.

Day 11: October 15

Since we were soooo exhausted from yesterday, we decided to rest up for today, so we could hit the ground running the next day. Our trip so far has been wonderful! We have experienced new things and met a whole lot of amazing people along the way. The people and visitors of Hawaii have been so accommodating and nice!

Later this evening, we did the sunset historical dinner cruise @bodyglovehawaii which was amazing!😇 The food was delicious😋 and the staff was polite. The sunset was breathtakingly beautiful!🌄 We thoroughly enjoyed the Hawaiian music by Bula Akamu @bulamusichawaii he had a phenomenal voice! And seeing the whale🐳 breaching, dolphins🦈 and that manta-ray was awesome too! We had a really good time!🤪

Day 12: October 16

Today was a beach day. So we took a quick trip over to Hapuna Beach. This beach has white sand (more like beige). The waves were high and rough, so Vel and I didn't go too far into the water.

After Hapuna, we went over to Beach 69 (White Sand Beach) for Swimming, boogie boarding, and Vel did some snorkeling. We had a great time and met two (2) other couples from Arizona! Again, the waves were fierce! But I did find a few rocks as souvenirs. The highlight was watching Vel try to boogie board in shallow water. It was too funny! :)

Day 13, October 17

This was our last day full day on the island, before we checked out of our resort. We had one more area to conquer before we could officially say we have been around the entire Big Island... Hilo! We had a lot to see in a short time, so lets get to it.

Our 1st stop was to Rainbow Falls. What a beautiful waterfall! Well... all waterfalls are beautiful to me, Lol... but this was awesome and loud! You could hear it before you could even see it.

Our next stop was Pe'e Pee Falls and Pe'e Pee Boling Pots. We met a couple from Hawaii, who took us down to the boiling pots and the falls to get a better view. Man, I am glad we met them. You cannot see the boiling pots from the top. The reason it is called boiling pots, is because when the water rises and it appears to be boiling.

We continued our journey to... Stop #3 to visit the Imiloa Astronomy Center. Nice place to visit if we like all things space like... There were interactive games to play, displays, and a lot of information on stars, planets and the galaxy. We enjoyed the green screen, which detects heat. I think Vel looks like a clown in the one picture. What do you think?

Our last few stops of the day, were downtown Hilo, Coconut Island and Banyan Drive. Hilo has a small town feel. Coconut Island has a beautiful park where you can swim, fish and snorkel. It is a relaxing place. Banyan Drive featured a whole bunch a humongous Banyan Trees which were pretty cool! You can see how big they are, by seeing how small I look under one of them.

Day 14, October 18

Well, today is the end of our two (2) week Hawaiian paradise vacation. We are very blessed that we were able to come and experience another Hawaiian island and travel to places in magazines. Traveling is a passion of mines and I am thankful I have a husband who supports that passion as often as we financially can and experience it with me. I hope you enjoyed the pictures! Subscribe to my blog and get updated when I post a new blog. Follow me on wwww.Facebook.com/sarahmartinwhite or www.instagram.com/sarahmartinwhite and see where the White House is going next. Until our next journey, travel as often as you can and get around the world in a lifetime.