Aloha from Epic Camp Hawaii - four months ago when we decided to come do it, we couldn't have imagined how freaking awesome it is!!
Coach John Newsom and I just bobbing around off the Kona Pier
The four months flew by in a whirl of great training weeks (and some decidedly poor training weeks) but before we knew it we were packing up the car with bike boxes and luggage for the start of a long day of travelling. The flights couldn't be easier - London to LA, LA to Kona. London to Kona passes easily through the magic of movies on demand (you can watch a lot of movies in the first 11.5 hours!). The plan to stay on Hawaii time from LA to Kona failed miserably as both of us pretty much slept on and off for the next 5 hours.
Looking back on our first day in Hawaii, it probably couldn't be more perfect. We were up early (05:00) to get started on bike assembly - half way through, we had to leave and meet up with the other epic campers who like us have arrived early to run down Alii Drive to the pier for a quick swim. A quick 
swim WITH DOLPHINS!! Having worked up an appetite - we stopped to get an Acaii Bowl at Snorkel Bob's. OK, for just a second, imagine eating the most beautiful, thick, creamy berry shake... then multiply it by 100. Then, imagine eating this shake topped with fresh fruit, granola, hemp seeds, crushed nuts drizzled with Hawaiian Honey. I could write two more paragraphs on this alone. With our day just starting, we finished bike assembly and rode up to Bike Works to pick up a few things that we forgot... that Neil forgot :) Can I just say what a fantastic shop Bike Works is - All the cool stuff I cannot get in the UK is there... on the shelf.
Tomorrow is a free day (which will entail us doing a very easy 2hr ride out to Waikaloa, a 20 min run and a swim - did I mention the dolphins! and on Sunday the camp and the real work begins with us cycling the Ironman route then later in the day a swim session off the pier before dinner at Lava Java. So for the rest of today, we sit on the Lanaii of our condo listening to the waves crashing less than 100 metres from us, writing the first blog and drinking peppermint tea.