Honoka’a to Waikoloa 35.7 mi, 2,669’ elevation gain
This was our shortest day of the trip. We got out early again, but that didn’t save us from the humidity. We were dripping as we gained nearly all of our 2600 feet in the first 10 miles. We were in Waimea, the top of the saddle, by 8:45. We stopped at a large, well-stocked natural foods store to stock up and get some treats. After a frozen dessert and more water, we were ready to zip down the hill. We’d been warned it was narrower and traffic would be troublesome. It didn’t turn out to be the case. We were going the speed limit most of the way down so we just took the lane. There was no traffic that stayed with us. It was exhilarating.
Then we had a 10 mile slog into headwinds along the coast to our resort hotel at Waikoloa. We were in before 11. Check out wasn’t even until noon, so our room wasn’t empty yet. We changed into swimsuits, then we rolled our bike into the luggage storage room. We got a couple of hotel towels and headed to the beach.
It 
was beautiful. It was our classic Hawaiian experience. Palm trees lined the beach, swaying in the gentle breeze. There was no surf whatsoever. That seemed weird. We grabbed a couple of lounge chairs, splashed in the water, then laid around basking in the sun. We watched outriggers and para-surfers. All that was lacking was a pair of good books and mai tais. But it was pretty good anyway.
Cell phones are wonderful. The front desk called us when our room was ready. We went in and cleaned up. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the comforts of the resort from the internet connection to the poolside restaurant. (We made sure we got umbrella drinks there to complete the picture!) The evening ended with us watching a hula demonstration with the sunset for a backdrop.