Hawaii Day 9 - Ko Olina Resort and the north shore sunset
We snagged our hostess's car and took off for the westward side of the island to see the postcard Hawaii. To me, postcard-Hawaii is the resort Hawaii with beautiful high-rise condos looking out over sculpted palms and pristine lagoons. And that is exactly what Ko Olina is in my view.
(Our hostess for the day lives in a gorgous, three-bedroom second-floor condo in the resort residential section. While the condo isn't directly on the golf course, it does face west towards the ocean and the Disney Resort fireworks when they happen. If I ever come back and want glorious beach and fabulous residence, I will check for rentals here. It's only a 10-minute drive to the Target for less expensive food...)
We walked from her condo through the golf course and across the main boulevard to the resorts for lunch at Longboards. I finally had a big fruit salad! And yes, the pineapple was awesome. I also had a very nice teriyaki chicken sandwich. We admired the view across the beach into the lagoon, and marveled at the resort lifestyle. Lunch for three (including two frozen Mai Tais at $12 each) was almost $70 before tip.
Then we walked around the curves of the lagoons, admired the various Japanese weddings, cut through the Mariott to see the baby hammerhead sharks and the eagle rays, and trudged back to the condo. Did I mention it was hot? This is the dry and hot side of the island. We got there just after mid-day, and it was scorching hot. Then we walked and walked and walked. If there hadn't been a breeze and random shade, we would have melted before we even got to lunch. The walk afterwards... wouldn't have happened.
It was late afternoon before we got back to the house. We took a brief break, grabbed an early dinner, and headed up to the north shore to catch the sunset. The waves were higher than they had been, which added to the lovely view of the sun falling off the edge of the world. I took way too many pictures. Then we went to Scoop of Paradise ice cream shop, which is run by a guy from Pennsylvania who wanted to get away from winter. Mmmm ice cream.
I'm vaguely packed, and vaguely ready to go. It's kind of unreal that we leave tomorrow.
(Our hostess for the day lives in a gorgous, three-bedroom second-floor condo in the resort residential section. While the condo isn't directly on the golf course, it does face west towards the ocean and the Disney Resort fireworks when they happen. If I ever come back and want glorious beach and fabulous residence, I will check for rentals here. It's only a 10-minute drive to the Target for less expensive food...)
We walked from her condo through the golf course and across the main boulevard to the resorts for lunch at Longboards. I finally had a big fruit salad! And yes, the pineapple was awesome. I also had a very nice teriyaki chicken sandwich. We admired the view across the beach into the lagoon, and marveled at the resort lifestyle. Lunch for three (including two frozen Mai Tais at $12 each) was almost $70 before tip.
Then we walked around the curves of the lagoons, admired the various Japanese weddings, cut through the Mariott to see the baby hammerhead sharks and the eagle rays, and trudged back to the condo. Did I mention it was hot? This is the dry and hot side of the island. We got there just after mid-day, and it was scorching hot. Then we walked and walked and walked. If there hadn't been a breeze and random shade, we would have melted before we even got to lunch. The walk afterwards... wouldn't have happened.
It was late afternoon before we got back to the house. We took a brief break, grabbed an early dinner, and headed up to the north shore to catch the sunset. The waves were higher than they had been, which added to the lovely view of the sun falling off the edge of the world. I took way too many pictures. Then we went to Scoop of Paradise ice cream shop, which is run by a guy from Pennsylvania who wanted to get away from winter. Mmmm ice cream.
I'm vaguely packed, and vaguely ready to go. It's kind of unreal that we leave tomorrow.