Arriving to Kona

I have arrived to Kona, Hawaii! It is hot. It is humid.  It is awesome! After landing at the Kona airport, I departed the plane and I went to baggage claim, picked up my bag, and I took a taxi to a local bike shop called Bike Works.

The taxi ride was relatively short, about 15-20 minutes to the bike shop. There are many taxi’s waiting outside the airport and finding one is not hard. After getting dropped off in front of Bike Works I walked inside and picked up my sweet ride for my trip, a 23″ frame, 29” wheel, Specialized Hardtail Mountain bike, with a Bob Trailer!

I had reserved the bike and trailer weeks in advance and had communicated with the shop to ensure that everything was good to go. If you rent a 29” wheel mountain bike, you need to be sure that the shop has a Bob trailer with an appropriate sized fork attachment. Additionally, I brought my own saddle, bike pedals and clip-less bike shoes.

The shop hooked it up with great service and attention to detail. I requested specific bike repair tools, spare tubes, energy bars and they were able to give me everything that I needed! Thanks!

Exploring Kona

In the afternoon I cruised around on Ali drive which is on the waterfront and went south of Kona. It had a nice shoulder but was lined with condos, apartments and resorts. Not my ideal view while on a bike. I cruised by several beaches and took in the view! Nice!

I got myself shave ice and also stopped at a local farmers market! So awesome! I bought a pineapple and apple bananas, came back to the hostel and devoured the pineapple! Killed it! Sooooo good!!! I’m going back for more!

So far, it has been a great day! Oh yeah, I checked into the hostel, sketchy place but I can manage staying the night. Tomorrow, I am camping at Hapuna beach. I need some sunscreen! I’m going to run to the store. More updates to come!

It is so great to have made this goal to come to Hawaii a reality. It is always rewarding to realize a goal or vision and I am living it! I am very happy in regards to how well today went in terms of logistics.

It went better than I could have envisioned it. So pumped! Although Ali drive is really touristy, it was still amazing to have the warm sun baking me and hear the crashing of the ocean waves. I also passed some incredible trees that were really big and as the sun was going down, you could hear a zillion birds singing in unison in the BIG tree.

It is also very interesting to see the cultural differences of the people that live here and the tourists such as myself. I went out to a dock and watched some locals fishing and others stand up paddle boarding. The sun-set was incredible!

I talked with lady who has been in Hawaii for 4 weeks! Dang! She gave me some info regarding a hike on the north part of the island which will be helpful. I met several other people today that were able to get me some info regarding future destinations which is great! You can never meet enough people!

The farmers market that I checked out was another highlight! The variety of food and the freshness was indescribable. For dinner, I went to a Thai restaurant and had pad see-ew AND… a mango rice dish! It was possibly the best dessert that I have EVER had. Yes. That is not a typo! EVER!!! The mango came from the local farmers market! EPIC!

I have made plans to go there in the early morning with some fellow travelers! Perfect! Hapuna beach is tomorrow’s destination. 30 miles north of here. See you there!