Island Hopping

After checking out, we had a few hours to kill and drove around the North part of the Big Island. It was a gorgeous day and we could even see the top of Mauna Kea peaking out of the clouds. It was a beautiful drive.

We got to the airport about an hour early for our flight. We stopped in the airport restaurant for a drink. At first there were a few Marines in their camouflage in the bar. And after we ordered our second drink, it seemed the place was full of them. When we left the bar and headed toward the gate, there were even more of them out in the courtyard.

I teased my husband. Knowing that there were only about 30 seats on our little island hopper plane, I said "What if all these Marines are on our flight and we're the only civilians? This could get interesting, yes?" He rolled his eyes.

We got on our plane, and it was all civilians. As I buckled my seatbelt, I leaned over to him I said disappointedly "Hmmm...I was picturing this flight with a little more camouflage." He just shook his head.

Waikoloa Village Marriott

Our last night in Kona provided us a beautiful sunset.



We had a room on the top floor with a beach front view. The next day, although I didn't want to, I ran 3 miles. It was my husband that motivated me. He said he would run with me, too, and promised he would run at my pace. It was nice having a running partner for a change. Here was our run from that morning, Thursday, July 31st:

Centipede Sting

The sushi restaurant was a short walk through the Waikoloa Village mall back to our resort. A family was walking along the mall close by, when their daughter spied a crazy little orange thing squirming along the sidewalk. It looked like a centipede.

Good eye, little girl! I walked right by the thing without seeing it. I don't know how I missed it. It had to be 5 inches long and bright orange, but it was nighttime. The girl had to be just four years old. The family gathered around to look at it. As I walked away, I overheard the daughter ask her daddy if she could pick it up.

The father said "No." which of course was followed by the little girls question, "Why not?"

On his response, I had to ask my husband if I heard him right. The father said (and this is confirmed by my husband), "Because it will bite you and sting like a Mother F&*%#er."

Nice way to explain it, Daddy! Can't wait to hear the girl tell her kindergarten class about her summer..."Yeah, we saw a centipede, but I couldn't touch it because it would bite me and sting like a Mother F&*%#er."

I love it. That was our new punchline for the rest of our trip.

Speaking of minor annoyances...

I should get back to my travel journal blog about Hawaii before I forget everything. I had to insert that "Minor Annoyance" blog because it was really bugging me and blogging is so therapeutic.

But it's the perfect segue to our Wednesday evening. After Kona Village we had a night at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort.
After checking in, we went down to the bar for our complimentary "Welcome Mai Tai". It was an open air bar, and the little chickadee birds made themselves at home, helping themselves to the snack bowl they put in front of us.


















We had an older couple to our left, a single guy to my right, and another older couple to his right. We all got to talking and found out we were all from the Phoenix area, probably all living within 40 miles of each other. What a small world.

Unfortunately, the one single guy to my right just kept talking...and talking...and talking! As soon as we'd bring up one subject, sure enough he'd have a story to tell about himself on the topic. We couldn't get a word in edgewise. We quickly tired of this "minor annoyance" and excused ourselves to get ready for dinner.

Knowing that this guy was going to the same Sushi restaurant, Sansei, we took our sweet time getting ready. When we arrived, we saw him sitting at the sushi bar talking to the man sitting next to him (surprise, surprise!). The hostess then proceeded to sit us down at the sushi bar next to them. Lucky for us, chatterbox had just paid his bill and was taking off. Whew!

A few minutes after he left, I asked the guy he was talking to if he had talked his ear off. The guy rolled his eyes. He couldn't shut him up! We laughed! Yup, that's why we're having a late dinner.

Anyway, the sushi was absolutely delicious! I twittered that I would NEVER enjoy sushi from a land-locked state again. It was amazingly fresh, and tasty. Yum-Yum-Yummy-Yum-Yum

Minor annoyances

Didn't think this would annoy me but it does - People who have to announce the call they're receiving and explain the ringtone.

Overheard at a party...

Billy Joel starts playing on his phone. "Oh, that's my parents. 'Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone.'" He repeats the lyrics and laughs then proceeds to have a very loud conversation with his mom. Of course any person that does this would be the type to have a loud conversation.

About a half an hour later, I hear Carly Simon. "Ah! That's my friend Chris. He's so vain!" And he laughs at his own wittiness.

I can think of a few ringtones I would use for him, but I'd never give a person like this my number anyway: "Scottsdale Bars" by the Blobots comes to mind.

Kona Village

We drove up a lonely road to an equally lonely gate and security kiosk. We told the guard that we wanted to visit the public access beach. He handed us a laminated parking pass that listed all the rules for the public. Most of them designed to assure that the guests of the resort were not disturbed and warned us that we could be asked to leave at their discretion.

The guard took out his little clipboard and had us sign in. Only 13 cars from the public were allowed at one time. He turned over the clipboard and showed us a map to tell us where to drive, where to park, which path to take. It was like a scavenger hunt. We would need to walk about 10 minutes to actually get to the beach.

The beach was nice, and not at all crowded. The thatch-roofed bungalows were really nice too. Each had their own little patio deck and hammock out front. For over $400 a night, for the smallest bungalow, it'd better be nice. Apparently, Mr. Bill Gates and his family were staying here this week. I looked at the people on the beach to see if I recognized any celebrities.

There was one guy with a hat laying under a palapa on a lounge chair next to a woman that looked a lot like Kevin Costner. (Editor's note: after re-reading this blog, I have to clarify that the guy looked like Kevin Costner, not the the woman sitting next to him. HA!) But what's he doing with a brunette? I thought his wife was blonde. When he got up and walked down the beach, he wasn't nearly as tall as I thought Kevin would be. It wasn't him. There was no sighting of Mr. Gates either.

We did get to do some more snorkeling and saw about 10 sea turtles near the shore. The path from the beach to the parking lot takes you right by the beautiful Hualalai Golf Course. I found a Hualalai Golf ball along the path that a golfer had abandoned to avoid trudging over the black lava - a cool souvenir for me. Apparently, the Volcano Goddess Pele, will curse anyone that takes or hurts anything on her island. I was tempted to take a piece of lava rock home, but decided against it. I knew she wouldn't punish me if I kept the golf ball as a souvenir. I wouldn't want Pele's wrath taken out on me the way she tormented the Brady Bunch.

On one hole we saw some wild goats. It was the strangest thing. As a group was teeing off, the herd of about 20 goats were just running around playing close to the green. I've seen ducks, geese, road runners, and rabbits on a course, but never have I seen wild goats. That's an all together different hazard.

Manta Rays

We checked out the beach at the Sheraton. Apparently, their oceanside deck shine spotlights on the water below at night. Dive boats and tours come out right after sunset. The divers dive lights and the flood lights from the different boats in the water attract plankton to the site which is food for the huge manta rays.

Swimming with the Manta Rays is another amazing thing to do on the island. The night dive/snorkel is the best way to find them. I was lucky enough to spot one on one of my dives off Oahu's west coast several years ago. Mantas are pretty rare to spot during the day, and even less common around Oahu. It was on my ascent and during my safety stop. The surface was just 10 feet above me and about 30 yards to my left I could see the manta ray floating above. Amazing, elegant and incredible. It looked like the bat signal calling out to Bruce Wayne. It had to be 8 feet or more across.

When I got to the boat, the people above were scrambling from one side of the boat to the other, to try to find it. It had already swam away before I could grab my camera.

From the public access shore of the Sheraton, it looked like less than a quarter mile swim out to the spot where it all happens. We seriously considered doing this without the tour group that charged $90 each for a 5 minute ride out that included all snorkel gear, drinks and snacks. Seriously, the boat marina couldn't be more than a half mile away!! All we would have to do was buy some dive lights, snorkel out about 1/4 mile, then snorkel back.


It wouldn't be too dangerous, right? The swim out wouldn't be completely dark yet, plus we'd have our lights. The snorkel back would be more challenging because of the dark and we'd need to avoid the many boats already out there. Also, we'd need to put a white towel out on the beach where we entered so we can find our way back.

I know it sounds crazy, but it was adventurous and I can't justify spending $180 on a 1/2 mile boat ride (BUT you get snacks and drinks!! oooh!). Apparently, some of the locals do the exact same thing.

Well it turned out we never did get to do this. We didn't have time that night, and I'm not sure if that was too bad, or lucky for us. But now it's on our list of things to do when/if we ever get back to Kona.