We are back on Big Island, one of our favorite places in the world! And this year, the visit feels even more special because Way and her family, and my parents, were able to join and get to see why we enjoy this island so much! We've been here about 2 weeks now and will leave in a few days, but here's a quickie summary of the first part of our vacation where it was just the Simpsons and the Hanley's hanging out.
For the first leg of our trip, we stayed in the new-to-us community of Waikoloa Beach Villas. The community is a nice location in that it's right on one of the golf courses, across from a few shopping areas and a block and a half from the beach. It definitely is louder/busier than other locations we've been to before though. The unit we rented with Way was a spacious 3+loft set up so everyone had lots of room to spread out, but of course, the kids preferred to sleep together so we dragged mattresses into one of the guest rooms so they could all be in one room.
On our first full day, we walked across the street to A-Bay, which I hadn't actually explored that much in our previous trips for no good reason considering it's so close by. We went super early since everyone was up and the beach was pretty much deserted when we arrived. It's a nice calm bay with shallow waters, perfect for the kids to splash around in. Scott explored walking south of the main beach area and came back to report there were beautiful secluded coves, green sands, and lots of turtles! Then we headed to Original Big Shave Ice to get a treat, and ended the day at the pool at our complex.
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| My seat buddy on the plane filling out the Hawaii visitor form. |
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| Pool at Waikoloa Beach Villas is small but doable. |
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| Buried in the sand in A Bay |
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| Clear waters of ABay |
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| Our rental opened out to the lawn where the kids had fun playing football and frisbee. |
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| Shave ice! |
Day 2 was fun in the sun at the world famous Hapuna Beach! We love this beach because of it's super soft white sand and clear blue waters. We also got there early enough that it was pretty quiet in the morning but by the time we left around lunch time, it was packed. We spend the rest of the day lounging at the pool before changing into some nicer clothes for a fancy dinner out at Canoe House at the Mauna Lani hotel. The food was fantastic (my mongchong was one of the best pieces of fish I've ever had), and we got a great seat out on their patio to watch the sun set while sipping on mai tais. It was a wonderful way to end a Friday night.
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| Boogie boarding at Hapuna |
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| lovely lovely Hapuna beach |
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| Getting reayd for dinner. Look at all those fun prints! |
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| Dinner at Canoe House |
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| My super yummy mongchong |
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| Matching lava flows |
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| Sunset picture |
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| SO nice to sit and relax and watch the sun set. |
On Saturday, we decided to get a break from beach going and hiked down Pololu Valley. It's a pretty steep (but short) hike but the kids did great! When we got there, it was actually drizzly but that cleared up and the overcast sky actually made the hike a lot better than walking back up the canyon in miserably hot sun. The kids also were stoked to find guava trees in the parking lot and spent a lot of time picking guava. Afterwards, we did a picnic lunch spot at a scenic overlook near Waimea, did some taste testing at the Hamakua nut factory, and then finished the day with a trip to the Queen's Bath in Kiholo Bay. The kids braved the chilly waters in the cave, although I did have to pay Ian $5 to dunk his head. :P
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| Black sand beach in Polulu Valley |
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| Black sand! |
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| Nora found a good ripe guava! |
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| Quick stop at a local fruit stand for some drinks. |
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| Lunch al fresco! Sandwiches and chips at a scenic overlook. |
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| Taste testing at Hamakua. My fav was Wasabi but we also tried spam, soy sauce, pumpkin spice, butter rum, birthday cake and others! |
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| Path to the Queens Bath |
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| Kiddos having fun at the tidepools |
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| Proof that they went into the Queen's bath! |
Sunday was spent moving to a new, bigger rental so that leg 2 of our trip, when my parents joined us, could begin. Before checkout, we took one last venture to A Bay and this time walked to the various secluded coves to see the green sand and turtles that Scott was talking about. Sure enough, both are there! It's so cool that there's green sand so nearby since the famous green sand beach on the island is a trek to get to. It's curious that no one talks about this little area though, but maybe no one wants to let folks know about the secret otherwise the beach will be over-run! It's a very small path, but it's definitely got olivite in it.
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