It’s now our Day Two on the Big Island and we decided venture off to Hapuna Beach. I had forgotten how far of a drive this was. The distance from our resort to the airport was about a half hour drive. We broke off our drive by stopping at Costco to gas up for a bit, and we also got to sample their Acai Bowl. Mainland Costco, please take note.
From Costco, we headed for Hapuna State Beach. It took another half hour of just cruising down the highway. We passed by Hualalai, Waikoloa, Mauna Lani, and then Hapuna. It was a hot, sunny afternoon, and the kids and I decided to jump in the water. I still find it very interesting how the lower half of the water, were at times so much warmer than the surface.
There was a decent amount of crowd, both from the hotel, and those who drove from different parts of the island. We stayed here for a good couple of hours.
Malasada on the highway
As we made our way back towards Kona, my keen eyes noticed a malasada truck right on the side of the freeway. Of course I had to stop. I ordered half a dozen of malasadas (powdered, li-hing, and cinnamon). Verdict? While sugar was tasty, the malasada or the dough itself really had no taste. It was quite forgettable.
Waikoloa Village
We then stopped at Hilton Waikoloa Village. We wanted to see the dolphins and the vastness of this property. Everything is here, restaurants on site, a tram (yes, a tram), dolphin quest – overall a gorgeous view of the ocean. There was also a place where you can get a standup paddle board without the need to be worried of being swept by the sea.
To those who aren’t staying at the property, you can avail of the self-parking option and pay $5 per hour. That’s all we needed, and we left to head back to our resort.
Comfort food, please
We decided to head back to our resort by 4:30pm. We had already built an appetite. I cooked our favorite Filipino comfort food, Beef Sinigang, which a soup broth with a tamarind base loaded with spinach, egg plants, onions, and tomatoes. This soup dish was ready within an hour. It was good to have the option to cook for the family at our timeshare.
Gotta get ’em sunset pics
It was already 6:30pm when we got in our vehicle to catch the sunset. It was actually very late, if you asked me. The sun had just gone down when we finally made it to our sunset spot. I forgot the name of this spot, but there’s a church, with a few graves, and then just past that was the rocky beach and the ocean. This is where we stayed for a half hour….a Hawaii tradition.
We headed back home so we could rest….and then, as I drove on Ali’i Drive, blue flashing lights were behind me. I wasn’t speeding or anything. So I stopped. The officer greeted me and asked me if I knew that I was driving without my headlights on? I didn’t even realize that I was. This was our 3rd night. He asked for my license, and noticed that I was just visiting from California, and just reminded to turn in on. Fortunately, he didn’t give me a ticket.
Where’s my backpack?
We got home past 8pm, and then Nancy realized that my black backpack was nowhere to be found. Then I remembered I left it at the church/graveyard sunset pic location. What was in there? My GoPro, credit cards, and Anker spare battery. We left the resort immediately, and got to the site with 5-7 minutes. We ran towards the rocky area where we took pics, and sure enough, my poor ol’ Eddie Bauer packable backpack was there.
That’s about all the excitement we could handle. Beach, getting pulled over by a cop, and backpack that was lost then found. I was too tired to blog and I just slept.