Aloha

Aloha from Hawaii!

I arrived a week ago,; left a chilly Chch morn to arrive to a VERY wet and wild Auckland to depart for Honolulu. Poor decision on my part to walk between the domestic + international terminal but hey ho - I was already committed before I decided it was not one of my best ideas. Plenty time to dry off inside.

Pretty Hawaiian flowers

Enjoyed a snack in the Koru lounge and even better I had been awarded my Silver recognition upgrade so was to enjoy a pleasant 8 and a half hour flight in business class. The only downside is the amount of food and wine they serve you though and by the time we landed in Honolulu I felt like a barrel! Great to be off the plane first, bags and bike didnt take long, no immigration queue and managed to get a shuttle out front to my hotel in Waikiki so arrived there just after 9.30 pm ( except it was actaully the day before I had left Auckland given that we crossed the dateline- rad, huh?!!)

So I settled into my nice air conditioned room on the 17th floor, couldnt resist a few nibbles of the giant Toblerone I had purchased in duty free of course and rolled into bed hoping for a good sleep.

Good sleep didnt arrive until after midnight however as I couldnt drown out the drone of the antiquated air conditioning unit but eventually  drifted off.

Spent the next day wandering around Honolulu, looking at shops trying to acclimitise and took the free trolley bus to Ala Moana mall where to my delight I discovered Lululemon and got myself a new pair of run shorts.
I made it out for a run later that evening along the Ala Wai canal path after a short stint in the miniscule hotel gym then headed out for a dinner for one at the california pizza kitchen. Sure the waiter thought I was a bit odd, especially when I asked for a low calorie beer.... WTF?,,,,,

Had another run next morning along Waikiki beach front, resorted to brekky at Starbucks then got my shuttle back to the airport for next leg of the journey to Maui.

Wee plane, 30 minute flight and my luggage also made it so ..phew.....grabbed a taxi and 3 minutes later was at the Ourigger Royal Kahana which will be home for the next 10 days. However the no nonsense receptionist assured me that there was to be NO checking in before 3pm but they could store my luggage so after a couple of enquiries I located the bus stop and got the bus to Whalers Village in Ka'anapili and had a wander round then got the other bus to Lahaina and found Safeways so was able to get some groceries while I was there. I also found Barnes+Noble so was extremely happy.

Much trailing about later a weary , slight sunburnt and frazzled version of my former self made it back to the Outrigger and was able to check in.

So here I am. Lots of rules+regs here though, Bike has to be stored in the basement, you have to ask for the fitness centre pass each time at reception...the tiny pool is heated to bathwater temp ( WHY??? we are in Hawaii where it is 30 degrees C outside!!!?)

Right on the ocean though; although I am not so keen on swimming here as no lifeguards - and am a bit apprehensive. The sea is nice temperature -27 degrees I would think.

No MTB trails close by and the Xterra course is open from Wednesday before race day. Have been out tootling about on my MTB on the road, found the swimming pool in Lahaina ( its free!!) and hired a car for a day so that I could ride over in Mokowao which are the only public MTB trails

Yeah baby!

This is what they gave me....didnt have enough gumption to roll the top down, partly because Eduardo ( my Epic MTB) was in the back but more so because I didn't have a clue how to do it.

More of my Maui adventures to follow!!