Friday, June 28, 2024

On Friday, we spent our morning relaxing at the beach and our afternoon at the pool. In the evening, we jumped onto the Mauna Kea shuttle and headed over to that resort for the luau.

We were greeted with shell leis and a tasty drink for each of us (obviously, non-alcoholic for LS). We were seated at our table, and there were a few performances before the buffet was opened. The food here was delicious! I tried many different things, including the poi. LS, who can be quite picky, ate mostly bread, but liked several of the desserts.

Photography was not allowed during the main performance, but we greatly enjoyed it. LS especially loved the cowboy part, but became a little frightened during the fire dancing and ran to be with Mr. Strange. It drizzled on us a bit (the only rain we experienced our entire visit to the island!) and ponchos were handed out. They took a break to dry the stage before continuing.

Afterward, we headed over to the Manta Ray viewing point but still were unable to see any.

Saturday, June 29, 2024

The next day was pretty chill and spent entirely at the pool. We were scheduled to go on a stargazing tour that evening, but it was rescheduled due to clouds.

We ate lunch poolside, ordering from Napuka. LS loved their mac and cheese (I think it was just Kraft), and I had a tasty chicken sandwich.

Sunday, June 30, 2024

Beach. Pool. Repeat.

That evening we had family photos scheduled on the beach with Modern Milestones Photography. We met up with her and had a great time!

Afterward, we took the shuttle to Mauna Kea and had dinner at Copper Bar. The food was good, but there was a delay in getting LS’s meal, which she was quite patient about.

Monday, July 1, 2024

Can you guess what we did? Beach in the morning, pool in the afternoon! We never really had a problem finding chairs, but it was usually down to one or two open spots with enough seats by the time we got to the beach and/or pool every day.

Our stargazing tour had been rescheduled for that evening, so we headed to Foster’s Kitchen in Waikoloa Village for dinner beforehand. We then did a bit of souvenir shopping before making our way 8000 feet up Mauna Loa.

It was about 55-60 degrees, so not terribly cold, but we bundled up as best we could. Our guides provided blankets to sit on, so we spread one out and got cozy. LS thought it was a little too cold, despite wearing three layers of clothes and it not actually being all that cold, so we also covered her with one of the provided parkas.

Mr. Strange and I loved this tour! The guides pointed out many different constellations, nebulas, galaxies, and formations. At one point, one of the guides, James, took each group over for photos, while the other guide answered any questions that anyone had.

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

We got up super early the next morning and headed to the Kona airport. We returned our rental car and said goodbye to the islands. We will be back!