The concierge reckons I can do it. Turtle Bay Resort, sprawling throughout a peninsula alongside Oahu’s fabled North Shore, sits 6.5 kilometres from Ted’s Bakery, identified amongst dessert lovers for its chocolate haupia cream pie (haupia is a standard Hawaiian coconut pudding).
Guests can borrow a bicycle for as much as 45 minutes at no cost. I examine Google maps. It’ll be tight however the app confirms the journey to the Sunset Beach bakery and again is doable in that timeframe. So I time my journey all the way down to the minute, aiming to take a look at the bike so I’ll arrive on the bakery because it opens.
Just a few issues, nonetheless, put a spoke in my (two) wheels. Firstly, the concierge desk is unmanned once I present up. Then, I take the recommendation to remain off busy Kamehameha Highway for so long as I can, as a substitute tracing the extra nice off-road path that meanders previous the resort’s golf course and stables.
I arrive a couple of minutes previous the bakery’s 8am opening however already a dozen persons are ready in line (in addition to pies, the bakery additionally sells sizzling meals akin to Spam and egg breakfast sandwiches and garlic shrimp). Clearly, I will not be nipping out and in however I’ve not come this far to fail in my mission. I be a part of the road’s tail and, quickly sufficient, a wedge of Ted’s most well-known pie flavour is in my fingers.
The packaged pie goes into my bike basket and I pedal again as quick as I can. “Do I leave the bike here?” I ask the valet as I park my wheels and trot, huffing and puffing and crimson within the face, in direction of the entrance desk. “Yes – and you can leave that with me too,” he says, nodding at what’s in my fingers.
Ha! Good humour wafts by means of the resort like a balmy sea breeze. After all of the resort, which turned 50 this yr, is basking within the outcomes of an excessive facelift. It used the pandemic downtime nicely, closing fully from March 2020 till July 2021 and splashing $US250 million on a metamorphosis (the work lastly wraps this September).
Previous visitors will recognise the bones however that is about all. The foyer is lighter and brighter, because of floor-to-ceiling home windows that present views throughout the North Shore. The vibe is barefoot luxurious – apt contemplating this spot is all about connecting to surf tradition and that you simply’re prone to wander in with saltwater hair and just a little sand nonetheless sticking to your toes. The resort is barely an hour’s drive from Honolulu however feels a world away.
On arrival at my room in one of many towers (the resort additionally options clusters of discreetly situated bungalows), my journey companion messages: “How lovely are the rooms!” Uh, mine’s not significantly exceptional. Later, I realise she’s in renovated digs and I’m not. The visitor room transformations embrace an unlimited surf picture plastered alongside a wall (the images comes from North Shore artists), ombre curtains, impartial textiles and floorboards.
Not that you simply spend a lot time in-room when the good outdoor beckons. Apart from driving bikes and splashing round within the swimming pools, you possibly can take a lesson with the in-house Jamie O’Brien Surf Experience outfit (the North Shore pro-surfer often reveals as much as shock visitors). The inexperienced persons’ surf break is a golf-cart journey away. The waves roll in, light as a lullaby. After my arms tire from paddling out a number of occasions, my teacher matter-of-factly jams his large toe onto my board to tow me out the again. His directions are so clear and the board so broad that I finally stand and journey a wave (I can now declare to have surfed Hawaii’s North Shore).
Landlubbers can strive horseback driving, head out for a spherical of golf or linger on the indoor-outdoor Alaia restaurant. One of the signature cocktails right here, a mixture of vodka, passionfruit puree and prosecco known as Don’t Touch the Turtles, is served in a copper turtle so heavy you possibly can barely elevate it (particularly you probably have paddle-weary arms). The drink is a nod to the Hawaiian inexperienced sea turtle – or honu – that is Turtle Bay’s namesake. It additionally reminds us how one can behave in the event you see the animal that, in line with Hawaiian legend, represents the everlasting hyperlink between land, sea and mankind.
The author was a visitor of Hawaii Tourism Oceania.
THE DETAILS
STAY
Rooms from US$688 an evening, together with electrical automobile charging, Wi-Fi, entry to the fitness center, and bicycle rental.
MORE
See turtlebayresort.com
tedsbakery.com
traveller.com.au/hawaii
Source: traveller.com.au