Essential Wellness Ottawa: HAWAII VACATION

So my mom and I have dreamt about going to Hawaii for a very long time and we planned this trip over a year in advance.

We have a timeshare in Florida that we can exchange for just about any location so we decided to exchange it for a unit at the Bay Club - Hilton Grand Vacation Club in Waikoloa HI which is on the BIG ISLAND. We stayed there for a week before heading to Honolulu for 4 days.

Since it is about a 14 hour flight and there are no direct flights from Ottawa Canada, we decided to fly from here to Philly, then from Philly to LA, stay the night in LA and then fly to Kona the next day. Well the flight from Ottawa to Philly (about 1.25 hours) was fine. We left at 6:30am and arrived in Philly just before 8am. We had about a 4 hour layover in Philly before flying to LA. There was a kids area in Philly which Cooper played in for a bit but he really wanted to run around the whole airport. The flight from Philly to LA was a bit of a nightmare. Cooper was SO RESTLESS and there was actually no TVs on the plane. They must assume people have their own devices but neither Mitch or I have tablets so it was a very long flight.

When we arrived in LA we went to baggage claim to pick up our luggage and guess what...my bag was missing. I filed a complaint and was assured it would arrive in Kona the next day. Surprisingly, I was not too frazzled at this point. I was just relieved to be off the plane and was excited to get to Hawaii. That night we went out for dinner and slept at a nearby hotel.

The next day, we left LA at around 9 am and arrived in Kona at about 2pm Hawaii time (there was a 5 hour time difference between Ottawa and Hawaii). When we arrived in Kona I was surprised by the open-air airport and the lava rock everywhere. I knew the Big Island is famous for its volcanoes but I didn't expect the lava rock to be everywhere. It was like a dessert! Nonetheless, my bag still hadn't arrived. We were told by the people at the airport that it might be on an evening flight and therefore it would be delivered to the hotel later that night. We arrived at our hotel and had an easy check-in.

We arrived at our room which was a very spacious 2 bedroom condo with 2 full bathrooms, kitchen, living room and large lanai. The room was updated and really nice. The landscaping at the hotel was also nice. Our room had a view of the golf course so it was a decent view. You had to take a shuttle bus from the condo to the main Hilton property where all the restaurants were but there were a couple pools within walking distance of the condo. The first night we took the shuttle to a marketplace shopping area to go for dinner and get groceries for the condo. While we were there, I decided to get an extra bathing suit just in case my bag didn't arrive that evening (and since we had planned to go paddle boarding and kayaking early the next morning).

The next morning I called the front desk to see if my bag arrived. It had not. We then called to see if we were still allowed to go kayaking since it was extremely windy out, they were not offering water sports at the beach because of the wind so we went out for lunch and toured the main Hilton property. The Hilton at Waikoloa Village had a rocky beach which looked too rough to swim but they also had a calm, man-made beach which was nice for young kids. That night we went to a Luau which was pretty good. There was a huge buffet with some authentic Hawaiian dishes and a great fire show. However, Mitch got really sick that day so he slept throughout most of the show.

The next day we took a bus tour of the Island. We went to a coffee plantation, honey farm, Captain Cook lookout, farmers market, and a few beaches. It was interesting to learn about the island but it was a long day for Cooper. It was still too windy to go Kayaking on Sunday so we enjoyed a great pool day but then I came down with a flu on Sunday.

Monday we went on a snorkel tour. I was still sick with the flu but feeling a bit better. I thought the snorkel tour would be fun but again it was hard for Cooper to sit still on the boat. He was getting restless so when we stopped to snorkel, Mitch and I decided to take him to a nearby black sand beach but we had to swim there. We took him on a boogie board with a life jacket. It was a lot harder then it looked to swim there while trying to pull the boogie board. Cooper got PULLED under the water by a wave once we got close to shore which was TERRIFYING. I was losing it but he was fine. We stayed at the beach for about a 1/2 hour before heading back to the boat. It was hard to swim back and we had to call to the captain for help. I think I was just too shaken up to swim back. We made it back to the boat safely but I don't think I will be trying that again. We took so long to swim back that we didn't even get to snorkel...

My mom didn't wear enough sunscreen on the boat that day so she got badly sunburned. When she woke up on Tuesday, her face was extremely burned and swollen. It turned out that she got sun poisoning. I never even heard of this! It was actually pretty scary since we didn't know what it was at first. We ended up just taking it easy because I was still a bit sick and my mom was in no shape to go out. We went to the marketplace to get more clothes (because my bag STILL hadn't arrived at this point) and to get my mom some Aloe. We got her this all natural 99% pure organic aloe gel which helped A LOT with the swelling. Most of the swelling went down by Tuesday night.

Even though the swelling went down, my mom was still pretty burned so she stayed at the condo and rested on Wednesday while Mitch, Cooper and I went to the beach at the Hilton. Cooper loved the sand and the water (since there was no waves) so it was a nice relaxing day!

Thursday we flew to Honolulu. Honolulu was completely different. When we arrived at the airport all you could see was tall buildings and not really any nature. We arrived at the Hilton Village Waikiki. Since the hotel was pretty expensive (we weren't using our timeshare at this hotel) we just got 1 room with two queen beds for Mitch, Cooper, my mom, and I. It was so much smaller than the condo but we were right on Waikiki beach which was so nice. However, the beach itself was not as nice as I was expecting considering how famous it was. There was a nice boardwalk right by the beach. By this time my mom sunburn was getting better but she also caught the flu that I had, so she wasn't feeling well. My mom relaxed at the hotel the first day while Mitch, Cooper and I strolled along the beach and the boardwalk.

Friday was just a relaxing day at the beach because my mom was still sick. We had planned to take a hula lesson and lei making class but unfortunately my mom wasn't feeling up to it! However, Cooper Mitch and I had a lot of fun at the beach. I think Cooper enjoyed the sand more than the water because there were waves crashing on the shore. He was afraid of the waves but he still managed to go in the water for a bit. On Friday night we went out for dinner at a beach front restaurant so we could see the firework show that the Hilton puts on every Friday night which was nice to see.

My mom was feeling better Saturday so we got an early start and went to the Honolulu Zoo. It was smaller than other zoos, such as the San Diego Zoo, but I was quite impressed. They had a really nice Elephant habitat and the largest tortoises I ever saw. They also had a petting Zoo with goats that Cooper really liked because he liked petting the animals. Cooper definitely likes animals which I am grateful for! We had some famous Hawaiian shaved ice but to be honest I thought it was just like a snow cone. After the zoo, we walked back through downtown and stopped at the Cheesecake Factory. This was Mitch's and my favourite restaurant in Florida last year. There were less options to choose from since we are vegetarian now but it was still good. Unfortunately, we were too full to get cheesecake which is a bit disappointing (especially for Mitch).

Sunday was probably my favourite day of my trip. My mom went kayaking while I went paddle boarding. I absolutely LOVE paddle boarding and the water was pretty good. It looked windy from the shore but once you got out, it was nice. My mom had a good time as well. She was a bit nervous because she hadn't kayaked in years but she did good and a sea turtle even swam right up to her kayak! She said she wished she went out earlier in the week. At this point I came up with what I thought was an amazing idea - exchange our return tickets to Ottawa for a trip to MAUI!!! Flights to other Hawaiian islands are so cheap so I wanted to go to Maui for a few days before heading back to Ottawa. My mom seemed to be on board with the idea but Mitch wasn't. He doesn't get paid vacation leave so he needed to get back to work. I spent most of the day trying to convince Mitch to go to Maui...In the afternoon we took a short bus tour of Oahu. We saw some nice beaches and lookouts. It was a nice way to end our trip.

Monday we flew from Honolulu to Calgary. Our flight left Honolulu at noon Hawaii time and we got to Calgary at 11pm Calgary time due to the 4 hour time difference. Cooper got a bit restless at points but overall he was more manageable than on the way there. The most annoying thing was that we hadn't ate since breakfast in Hawaii and since we arrived in Calgary so late, all the food stands in the airport were already closed. I was STARVING at this point. We got our shuttle to the hotel and thankfully we were able to order a pizza once we got to the hotel. We basically just crashed after we ate the pizza. On Tuesday we flew from Calgary to Toronto and then from Toronto to Ottawa. Both of these flights went smoothly.

Overall, the trip didn't go as planned. I never received my luggage until a few days ago (almost a month after we got home from Hawaii) and we all got sick. I also think we planned too many activities considering we were travelling with a one year old but I still loved Hawaii itself. I definitely want to go back. Mitch and I talked about renewing our vows in Maui on our 10 year wedding anniversary (which would be in 2022). By this point, Cooper will be 8 so he would be old enough to do more activities like island hikes/tours and snorkeling which will be nice. I think if we did go back to Hawaii, I would go to Maui and Kauai! They look absolutely stunning!

For now, our next adventure will be visiting my sister in Bermuda next month! We went to Bermuda Christmas 2013, before Cooper was born. It will be a lot of fun to take Cooper there and for him to play with his cousin! The flight is a lot shorter so it should be a lot of fun!