Hawaii 2025 - Day 3 (Big Island)

 Today we got up to go see the Dolphin Sunrise Splash at 8:00am (as it is only on today and we will be gone for the other showings this week). We got a great seat by the water and waited for the show to start.

They let 3 dolphins into the lagoon area, chat about their program and put on a 10 minute show. They let 3 male dolphins out this time, but only 2 really put on a show.  It was a great time, watching them interact with the trainers, playing, jumping and eating fish.

After the show we went to the Big Island Breakfast.  Less of a wait today, and a little different food.  Lola was excited to find the gluten free section, where she enjoyed toast and a muffin.

Following breakfast we went and sat by the ocean and relaxed.  Lola was a little uncomfortable as she has some definite sore spots from her sun burn.  She tried to stay covered up to let it heal. We watched a canoe ride the waves like he was surfing, saw some boats and whales in the distance.

AA using his new camera! (early Birthday Present)

To cool off we dipped into the Kohala Pool, well AA dipped much faster than Lola, but she still made it in.  The water feels so cold, but it felt good on the sunburn, and to rinse of the sweat!  (Lola made AA take a photo of her in the water as she seems to be the one always taking the photos)

Time to get ready for golf and a little blogging, we had a tee time at 12:40, right outside our hotel room, but we had to drive our clubs to the club house about a 10 minute walk to the car, and a 5 minute drive to the golf course.  We were greeted nicely by a lady who took our clubs, as we headed to the pro shop to pay. 

AA had been here once before with DD a few years ago, but was excited to show Lola the one hole on the beach course.  The Waikoloa Course has 3  Nine hole course, King, Beach and Lakes. AA chose the beach course, as he wanted to play it again.

We started the round by hitting a few balls on the practice range, then headed off on the drive to hole 1.  The golf course was great, pretty relaxed, although there were people in front and behind us, which caused AA some stress, as he is used to golfing in MB, where you feel the pressure. Lola only lost 1 ball, so she was pretty excited for that. Once we got to hole 6, AA was so excited, the view is amazing of the ocean, the rocky coast and the golf course.  Oh and don't forget about the whales... Lola was joking, but as she was trying to get her ball onto the green, a whale was flapping its fin splashing in the water.... lets just say she took and 8 on that hole, and never finished, because the whale was so distracting. 

our hotel

Sad to drive away from that hole, but it was amazing, the photos seem like the whale was so far away, but if looked way closer in real life.

See the whale splashing in the water!

We finished the round with decent scores, and headed back to the club house for Lola to buy a new golf shirt.

Goats keeping the fairway short.

Back to the hotel we went, to get a light snack/lunch as we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We shared a gluten free burger at Lagoon Grill, with sweet potato fries and AA enjoyed the onion rings!

We walked around after getting an unsweet tea from the Lagoon Bar (as Lawerence said from the Kona Bar that they had freshly brewed tea!, Scotty at this bar was also very nice), we walked around as the tied was pretty low and we enjoyed looking at the sea creatures in the lava rocks. Look and see if you can see the crabs!

We got back to the hotel to cool off, cleaned up and relax a little. We had a dinner reservation at Kamuela Provision Company (which we have never eaten at before).  It is right on the corner of the hotel, over looking the sunset.  We made sure to get our reservation before sunset, so we could enjoy it go down.  This was our "anniversary" dinner. Included in our hotel reservation we get dinner, so this included a 3 course meal, and all you an drink.  

Dinner AA had Ahi, and Lola had a steak. The food was incredible, but the view was also amazing. For dessert AA had a Ube chocolate cake, which was purple but tasted like vanilla, very interesting, but he actually enjoyed it as it was light and not too strong.  Lola also ordered some sparkling volcanic water.  It is filtered through the lava rock.. it was good, but the bottle was even neater (hoping to take it home).  Dinner was defiantly on Hawaiian time (over 2 hours)

We strolled down the path and headed to the Kona Tap room for a Night Cap.... beer and an unsweet tea.  There were 2 guys singing on stage and we watched some Ocho ESPN weird sports, of fling golf and cherry pit spitting competition.

It was a long day, and AA is still recovering (but much more like himself), so we headed back to the room, and were sleeping by 10 pm.  

Here is some art that is in the resort, they have over 1800 pieces along the walkways.  These reminded us of Japan!

Lola.

Hawaii 2025 - Day 2 (Big Island)

 Today we woke up in paradise! Lola didn't sleep very well still worried about AA, but he seemed to have a good sleep, although a little coughing and blowing his nose.

And never fails... the birds are chirping at 5am to let you know the sun is coming up.  We tried to stay in bed as long as we could, and headed to the Big Island Breakfast around 8:30.  

Lola packed and wore her new sandals which was a mistake as her feet were used to the harshness of the leather, and blisters formed quickly.  She is not sure she can wear them for the rest of the trip, but only time will tell.  Breakfast was pretty good, but disappointed the omelette station is closed so you had to just order from the server, but other than that it was what we were expecting (as we have been here a few times).

After breakfast we headed to try and book the Luau for dinner, and get some things we left in the car (in our golf bags). 

The rest of the day was spent lounging by the ocean, and Kona Pool. We didn't do the best job with applying sunscreen and suffering from the consequences.  Lolas hand is the worst.

We have an food and beverage all inclusive package, so we enjoyed some virgin pina colada's, unsweet teas.  AA was starting feeling better as he enjoyed 2 Long boards in the afternoon.  

We ate lunch at the Lagoon Grill, where we both had something brand new on the menu, the Long Board Hot Dog and the Loco Moco (gluten free).

We saw whales in the ocean, turtles and fish in the fresh water lagoon, and swam in the pool to cool off. The day was wonderful, relaxing and calm.

We showered and headed to the Luau that is on the property.  We have been many times, so weren't in a rush to get there. We enjoyed the food, talked with a couple that was in Hawaii celebrating their engagement, and watched the entertainment.  By the end of the night we could barely stay awake, so headed back to the hotel room and straight to bed.  We were sleeping before 9 pm, local time.

See what tomorrow brings!

Lola

Hawaii 2025 - Travel day

Well after a very scary and unpredictable morning we made it to the airport with plenty of time and had no issues with our flight or getting to the Island of Hawaii!

This morning Lola had a rude awakening at just before 8:30am, with a crash from the bathroom. She found AA on the ground after he had fainted in the shower. Scared, she called 911 as he was unconcious for what felt like forever. 

Once awake, AA started to remember what had happened, and they called the ambulance off. Luckily our flight didn't leave till just before 3pm, so AA had time to have a nap, and Lola had her work call to take at 10.  

Lola wasn't sure what was going to happen, but she drove AA to get his hair cut that he had been waiting for, bought a blood pressure monitor (as many suggested), we ate lunch and then headed to the airport by Uber.  AA had been suffering from a stuffed up nose and slight cough, so not sure if what is what caused it, but away they went.

Of forgot to mention it is also our 15th wedding Anniversary today! 

We flew through Vancouver.  The flights were pretty standard, with little delays (just slow boarding). 

We ate supper at the Vancouver Canucks Restaurant were we got to watch the anthems of the Canada Vs USA Final (4 nations tournament by the NHL).  The rest of the first period was watched on Lola's phone as we boarded the plane and waited to taxi away from the gate.  It was 1-1 when we had to put our phones on airplane mode. 

Lola slept a lot of the flight to Hawaii as we had 3 seats for the 2 of us! it was very nice.  AA slept some too, but also slept the whole way on our first flight so wasn't as tired.

We arrived in Kona, AA went to get the rental car, and Lola waited for our bags. We drove the 30 minutes to the resort and checked in.  It was a relief to arrive after the events of the day.  AA went to bed right away, while Lola had more difficulty (as it was like 5 am back home when we tried to go to sleep).