Ten Days in Hawaii - Day 1: A Day at the House

Every one slept well last night, but we all woke up early as we were still on California time.  Cathy, Heather, Doug and Ev decided to go out for breakfast, but Val and I opted to stay at the house as the fan in our bedroom didn’t work and they were supposed to come around in the morning and install another one.  The breakfast group went to Big Rob’s Bakery and Bread and they said it was delicious.  After breakfast they went to the market in Captain Cook and did another shopping to get the rest of our supplies.

The house we are staying in is wonderful, it has a master bedroom on the main floor and three bedrooms on the lower floor.  There is also a bedroom that has been converted to a yoga / exercise room on the lower level.  The lower floor also has it's own entertainment area with a large TV.  All the bedrooms have their own bathroom so altogether there are five bedrooms and five and a half baths.  We met the property manager Candi last night and she said the house is 7,000 square feet.  The house is very open with a wrap-around screened lanai on the main floor and another wrap-around open lanai on the lower floor.  You actually feel as if you are living outside as there is no need to close the windows or doors since the temperature is nearly the same day and night. 

This is the driveway and grounds looking from the front of the house.

The front of the house, the pool is to the left.

The pool area from the driveway.

Looking across the pool at the house.

Looking down at the lower level from above (from Cathy's cell phone).

The lower level with our van parked outside our bedroom.

A very nice fully equipped kitchen.

The large living room.

The huge master bedroom with two king size beds, a huge bathroom with jacuzzi and a massive walk in shower.

Our bedroom.

All of the bedrooms opened on to the lanais and had their own seating area.

The lanai for the lower floor.

The view from the lanai on the lower floor.

The view from the living room looking out into the lanai.

Val's enjoying the view from the upstairs lanai.

The side lanai with a dining table outside the kitchen.

Three sides of the house are all windows and screens and the views of Kealakekua Bay and the ocean beyond are amazing.  The grounds are also beautiful and immaculately kept.  There is a pool area and barbecue to the side surrounded by flowers and palm trees.  The house is part of a five acre coffee plantation so there is really no other homes around as the other houses on the property are up the hill near the road.  There are also banana and mango trees on the property with plenty of fruit although most of it not ripe yet.

Bananas (from Cathy's cell phone).

Mangos (from Cathy's cell phone).

Val takes a minute to smell the flowers (from Cathy's cell phone).

(from Cathy's cell phone).

 

This blurry picture is a mongoose.  They are very common on the island and move very fast so pictures were hard to get (from Cathy's cell phone)..

The weather this morning was beautiful; Candi told us it was typically sunny in the morning with rain showers moving through in the afternoon.  This was the case yesterday as soon after we arrived it started to rain, which lasted for several hours, but not a problem as it stayed warm and we could sit on our verandah and look out at the view as we listened to the rain beating down on our roof.

Heather and Cathy enjoying the afternoon

Val (yellow mask) and Ev testing their snorkeling gear in the swimming pool (from Ev's cell phone).

Dave and Doug doing the same (from Ev's cell phone).

Doug and Ev

After a lunch of sandwiches and potato salad we headed out to try out the pool.  We also wanted to test our snorkeling gear as tomorrow we have booked a snorkeling trip.  After swimming and snorkeling in the pool for a while, it once again started to rain.  At first it didn’t matter as it was just a light rain, but it soon turned into a downpour, which drove most of us back into the house.  The rest of the day was spent chatting, reading, relaxing and in the case of Ev, watching the NHL playoffs.

Dinner was simple tonight – hot dogs and more potato salad.  It wasn’t much, but most of us had over indulged on snacks today and didn’t need much dinner.  I spent the rest of the evening catching up on the blog while some of the group read and others played a game.  A very nice and relaxing way to spend the first day in paradise and recharge our batteries.  Tomorrow we’re off on a snorkeling trip.

The end of a great first day in paradise