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...

Day 5. An early morning surf to start the day for Mike and Chris. They body-boarded in the Banyans beach directly outside our balcony in the early morning sun. They were not alone. The same collection of local surfers were out again, including the same young boy - about ten years old - who is out surfing virtually dawn till dusk every day. Not surprisingly, he is pretty good at it! Today we were able to make the most of Kona Boys excellent arrangements, whereb...

Day 2. After our early night we all woke early at first light, to the sound of surf and the dawn light illuminating the surf with a pink glow. Mike and Chris set off on a training run heading south on Ali'i Drive and Bill and I headed north. Sharky decided to swim across the bay and do some snorkelling. Despite the early hour we were in good company. Swarms of runners and cyclists were already up and about - a mixture of local joggers, ironman athletes and holi...

Day 4. Busy and adventurous today today! Started at 6am as planned, to try to keep Chris prepared for his early start on Saturday and make the jet lag less intrusive. Ran south down Ali'i Drive for about five miles passing beautiful houses,beautiful beaches and lots of beautiful people out running and cycling. Home for a huge breakfast of fruits and eggs & bacon. By 10 we were ready to set off for today's adventure to snorkel at Captain Cooks Monument in Kea...