The Collard's Adventure to the Big Island of Hawaii

September 15th, 2012

September 15th, 2012....day one of vacation. Nothing like landing in Hawaii! We are spending 12 days on the Big Island of Hawaii. Little did we know that we should have stayed longer!

We were joking when we were walking thru the airport about the TOILET signs we had seen in Kauai...and wondered if they had them here on the Big Island!

Waiting for the luggage...

We picked up the rental car--a Chevy Impala

Driving from the airport up to the Condo at Mauna Lani.

Welcome to Mauna Lani Resort. We are staying at a Condo at The Fairways

We made our way to the Condo...hit the grocery store for food and some adult beverages...and enjoyed our first beer in a long time. The Kona Longboard was very good and this was the first of many on this trip. Gotta love the wine glass!

Dinner was just Ground Turkey with Spaghetti...it was getting late so an easy dinner.

September 15th, 2012--VRBO 427630--1706 Fairways

Ok...this post is dedicated entirely to the condo we rented--what it looked like, what it came with, etc. So only look if you are interested!

We rented VRBO #427630--#1706 at the Fairways at Mauna Lani. It was a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo unit with a one car garage.

The front door to the unit...and the door out into the garage.

The Kitchen from the Living Room

Dining Room from the Living Room

Looking up to the Master Bedroom from the Living Room

The Living Room--from the Kitchen.

From the Kitchen--looking down the hallway to the Guest Bathroom. Laundry is in the closet on the left of the hallway, around the corner to the right is the 2nd bedroom.

2nd bedroom on the first floor

Guest Bathroom on 1st floor

Laundry Closet

Looking down from Stairway Landing...Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen. Jason is looking out to the patio with the Grill and Table.

The Master Bedroom

The Master Bedroom with the blinds open to see the Lanai

The Master Bathroom--walking in, the tub is on the left behind the 1/2 wall. To your right is the closet with sliding mirrored doors. Double sinks were nice!

This is taken into the mirrored doors so everything is backwards but gives you an idea of the tub and shower.

Looking out the Master Bedroom Door into the Living Room and the Front Door

Looking out the Master Bedroom towards the Landing.

The table on the Lanai

View from the table

The BBQ grill, we used this almost every night!

Just wanted to give you an idea of how well stocked the Condo was...they had some spices, napkins, aluminum foil, ziplok bags...really everything that we needed. We just stocked up on our food and drinks.

These are pictures of the pool and hot tub area

The workout room is near the pool and just a short walk from the condo.

September 16th, 2012

Sunday September 16th, 2012. What a beautiful day outside. We started the day with our normal breakfast--a omelette with veggies and ham, some turkey bacon, bagel thin and some fresh fruit.

Some views of the grounds surrounding the condo

Right down the road from the Condo is the Puako/Malama Petroglyph Trail...so we decided to head down there and check it out along with the Beach Trail and a couple of geocaches that were down there.

Driving from the airport, we saw a lot of 'Graffiti' on the Lava. The white coral is used to write out names, etc. so we decided to contribute also!

Gotta bring some P90X to the beaches of Hawaii :)

We then headed tothe Puako Petroglyph Trail.

The trail ended in a field of petroglyphs...there were hundreds.

There were some on the trail that people put rocks around so you wouldn't step on them...and arrows leading the way.

We then headed up to the fishponds by the Mauna Lani Hotel. We saw some huge puffer fish...and took the bridge that went to the building on the island. I don't think it's used for anything now days but was cool to see.

Clues to the past...a really cool cave...

The landscape was very interesting...lava rock in the middle of the resort.

And a Secret Pond...it was really cool but we had just put sunscreen on and so we did not go in...

It was completely clear...blue water...very pretty!

More views of the fishponds...

Then we headed to Honoka'ope Beach located within the Mauna Lani area. It is a salt and pepper beach...we snorkeled for a little bit here. I called the snorkel trip early due to a massive mask leak...it's not much fun to snorkel when you have a steamed up mask and are constantly clearing it. It was still good to get in the ocean!

And then we realized we were in for some trouble. Jason brought a pair of workout shoes...hiking shoes...and his Keens. Day 2 of vacation and his Keens decide to separate from the sole. I think they are 5 years old...we were able to get some super glue and glue it back on!!