Big Island Day 4 -- 4/12/17

You know it's not going to be the best day when you awake to a flooded toilet.

There's a little sign on the toilet that says "Slow flush, hold for 2-3 seconds".  I thought I'd done that the previous night but apparently not.  I'd been gone the previous day and hadn't pounded the porcelain when I got back so it all came down to me, on the eve of my 46th birthday, not knowing how to flush a toilet.

Great.

Dummy me tried to 'fix' it by jiggling the handle and ... well ...Those extra beach towels in the room came in handy mopping up the mercifully clean water slowing flowing out of the bathroom and towards my suitcase.

 
This all happened at 5 am.  I'd already had a restless night only to be awakened by that freaking rooster crowing.  I know there are plenty of birds on the island, including wild chickens, that roam around.  But did one of them have to be directly outside of my open windows?  And, oh yeah, I need to use the bathroom.  Sigh.

After cleaning the floor as best I could, I gave it a couple of hours before I woke Gigi.  In the meantime, I got dressed and went to the restroom on the beach. By the time I got back, it was around 8 and I made the embarrassing call.  I was glad she was already awake and cool with it.  She shut off the water (why didn't I think of that?) and told me the maids would be coming soon and she'd just tell them to hit this room first.  Being a bed and breakfast, the rooms aren't touched while occupied (works for me -- I had plenty of towels and didn't need the room made up every day), so they'd have to make a special stop while I was out.

Traveler's Tip #3 -- There are free parking areas off of Ali'i Dr -- don't automatically go for the very visible paid parking lots.  The public lots are usually hidden but if you follow the signs and get there relatively early, you won't have to pay exorbitant rates to park.  I ended up spending almost $30 on parking before I figured this out.

I went back to the restaurants on Ali'i Dr, got some breakfast and did some walking around.  At the end of the drive is a pier with two small areas for bathers.  There's a wide stone wall beside one of them.  I dangled my legs over the side and got a great view of the clear water and a bunch of swimmers starting to train.  It took me a minute to realize that this is the exact area where the Iron Man begins.  I have always been fascinated by triathletes.  You have to be tough to even get through the swimming portion let alone follow it up with the biking and running.  I watched the folks go out and waited for them to come back in.  It seemed to take forever and I wasn't even the one putting in the effort.  I can't imagine actually training ...

On the far side of the other bathing pool, the hotel had set up their party area.  Two dudes were already out there preparing the pit for a luau.  I still need to attend one of those -- just can't keep my eyes open long enough to get there at night.  Maybe next trip.

    

Past the pit were historical sites cordoned off from the main area.  This included a 'castle' of one of the old rulers of Hawaii and some kind of altar.  Kind of strange to see these artifacts in the middle of all the modern activity.

I did some shopping and then back to the hotel to get my bathing gear.  I was thrilled to see the room as pristine as I'd first seen it.  Apparently, this wasn't the first time one of the toilets flooded because it was fine after the clean-up -- no plumber required.  I made sure to be very careful with that sucker for the rest of the trip.  Thank goodness there were no more mishaps.

Like I said earlier, Kahulu'u is a nice small gray beach.  The weather the whole trip (except in the south) was in the high 70's/low 80's and the sun wasn't too strong.  Barely using sunscreen or my hat, I got tanned but didn't burn.  I did get prickly heat, though, as I do any time I spend most of the day in the sun.  It was nice to lay out and not do nothin'.

That was preferable to getting in the water.  Hawaii is known for its killer surf but being that this area is reasonably protected from the winds, the water was relatively calm once you got past the rocks.  About those rocks ... I saw a bunch of snorkelers who were just fine floating off the coast about 100 yards out.  But in order to get there, you have to navigate the incredibly rocky shoreline.  The water was warm enough once I got used to it, but I simply could not deal with the rocks.  I felt like if I put one foot in the wrong place, a stronger wave would have me tripping back and breaking my ankle.  I really didn't relish that thought, and since I had no interest in snorkeling, there was very little ocean time for me.

Slightly bummed, I went back to the hotel for a shower and some tablet time (damn that thing!).  I actually felt guilty for a while for not doing more outside activities until I remembered that a vacation means a time for rest.  If I wanted to just hang out on the lanai and listen to the birds while I fed my tech habit, there was nothing wrong with that.  I always require a certain amount of quiet time and being away from home doesn't change that.

Dinner was at a place called Humpy's, a beer pub across the street from the ocean.  I had a burger and a killer view of the sunset before calling it a night.