Island Hop

We had a leisurely morning, packed up our things, and went to get breakfast at Nalu’s Southshore Grill. Guy had chicken and waffle stacked with a teepee of bacon and rosemary and Leia had a really good acai bowl. Then we drove north towards the airport.

We bought coffee for Leia to be able to function and a shrimp lunch from the lobster food truck for Guy to have at the airport later. We filled up gas at Costco and returned the rental car. Guy had lengthy discussions with the customer service representatives and manager at Avis to pay no more than the quoted rate for the dirty and scratched Nissan Altima we'd rented. We then took the ridiculous little tram to the terminal. The Maui terminal is slightly better than the one in Kauai, but still it felt cramped and small.

We found the Hawaiian Airlines lounge, which we could access with our Priority Pass. The little old lady sitting at the reception desk sent us away to sit elsewhere until it was 2 hours before the flight. On our return we were still asked to wait because it was “full”. We sat across from another couple to wait in the lounge for the few minutes until we were allowed in the lounge. This lounge is pretty basic. They have no food or snacks, just a broken soda machine, an ice dispenser, and some coffee. Kind of the vibe of a car dealership waiting room. It still had more comfortable room to sit and slightly better air conditioning than the gate holding pens.

The flight itself was very short. Nobody bothered Guy about having a duffel bag the size of Leia on his back so he put it in the overhead bin. We finished one episode of a 30 min TV show before arriving on the big island of Hawai'i. We then got another Nissan from Avis. This one, like the previous, had a few problems. It was covered in bird droppings, full of sand, and had no wiper fluid. Still it was far from the dirtiest car in the lot.

We arrived at our hotel Kona Coast Resort. To our terror, they informed us that the air conditioning was free and included. After getting advice about all the nearby beaches, we learned it’s a Wyndham resort and they will try to sell us a timeshare. Our suite is spacious, and appears clean and well equipped, but we are sharing it with at least one small roach. 

We drove to see the sunset at Kealakekua Bay, a marine life preserve, and saw black crabs on black rocks there.

At sunset we rushed back up the hill to get tacos and a quesadilla because everything seems to close at 8pm here. The food from Shaka Tacoz was quite good!  We then continued to second dinner and got Guy fish and chips at a local dive to take home for later, not because he was hungry but for the challenge of getting another dinner minutes before it closed. The owner had a room filled with paintings and her late mother’s trinkets for sale.