Day 9. A big day of rest today! Or so we had planned. Chris woke to the sound of waves and a sea breeze seemingly unaffected by his exertions other than blisters on the soles of his feet. We watched the spinner dolphins from the balcony. After a good lie in and leisurely breakfast we took the surf boards and snorkel gear to Kahalu'u beach a few miles south of Kona. A short walk to the ocean, a good surf break just off shore from the Little Blue Church and un...

Saturday 10/10/15 Ironman World championships Very early start today. Up at 4am to prepare Chris's pre-race breakfast of porridge, maple syrup and banana. Chris seemed calm and focussed, this being his fourth Ironman event, and he followed a well practiced ritual of preparation - food / sunscreen / kit check and timely arrival at the start. We left home at 5am. Downstairs in the BanyanTree parking area we were surprised that there were very few cars. Most of t...

Day 6. Another early start followed by much discussion about the plans for the day. Bill went for a run to White sands beach and returned very sweaty despite the early hour! All agreed that today was the ideal day for the Volcano driving tour. Chris needed a rest day before his race and so this seemed a good opportunity to make the 4 hour round trip to the Hawaii Volcano National Park. After a substantial breakfast of smoked bacon and gourmet fried eggs we set o...

Day 7. So...tomorrow is race day. Today is another rest day - for Chris at least. Our sporting star slept in till 10am and the rest of us did our bit to help by loafing around on the balcony watching the sea and doing not very much either! After a FaceTime catch up with Elmgrove, K and M went for a run and a swim and when we returned breakfast was very much ready to go! Bill's breakfasts do get a lot of press in these blogs and rightly so! Superb once again to...

Day 3. Another early start for the training swim. Over breakfast we had a serious snd productive review of the guide books, maps and websites to review the myriad fantastic places and activities on offer in Big Island. Manta Ray night snorkelling - booked. Mauna Kea observatory tour - tried to book but it seems that everyone else has the same idea! Volcano and lava flow tour - sounds good. Green sand beaches, verdant deserted valleys with waterfalls...all sound...