So as an update:
ACCOMMODATION: I found a place to live on AirBnb, stayed there for a week and then negotiated the rate until end of June. It was very cheap although I had to work around his bookings which means I've got to be out for 4 days around Memorial Day Weekend. I'm thinking of trying to circumvent the island as my missus has to fly back to the mainland for those days. I don't want to post a link to the guy's AirBnb place because I got the impression he didn't want me letting people know the great deal he gave me. He's booked up for Ironman week, but if anyone is interested in the details then PM me. It's about 1 mile from the centre of town although straight up the hill.
One of the annoying things that people may come across if they want to come for a couple months is that most places are geared up for short term rentals (<2 weeks) or long term rentals (>6 months), so if you're coming for an intermediate amount of time you have to do a lot of calling and negotiating. Although the place I'm in is very cheap, we found another place which was next to a beach for ~$2k/month, and everywhere else was more expensive. Our approach was to message people via AirBnb, CraigsList, vrbo, sublet, etc. In the low season there are lots of people willing to cut deals instead of leaving their places empty.
CAR: We rented a car for 9 days which was pretty costly although the best deal we found was through Thrifty. We've just bought a shitter, a '91 Ford Taurus for $1k and that's the cheapest thing we found that would run and seemed like it doesn't need any urgent maintenance. We figure even if it is broken by the time we leave it will still be cheaper than renting a car, and probably less likely to be broken into. It's awesome, the rear windows don't go up so there's no point locking the car, also no alarm. No spare tyre. It moves forward and backwards though so we're very happy. It also came with 2 free black bin bags to put over the back windows when it rains.
TRAINING: Some of the roads have shoulders wider than the roads themselves which is amazing. There are also places where the shoulder is non-existent. The quality of the roads is superb though. Haven't seen a pothole since I've arrived. Planning on riding with the Big Island bike club over the next weeks (currently just exploring and trying to acclimitise and build a base). The masters swim club is great, with the 25 m pool outdoors. It's led by Steve Borowski who I've already mentally labelled as a very awesome guy. He was very welcoming to both my girlfriend and I and the club has a range of abilities (bit of a gap in our swimming abilities), and brought banana bread to the 2nd swim I went to. There's also a running community around that I've seen running but again I've just been exploring solo so far.
I'm writing a blog while I'm here and can post it on here if people are interested. Over time hopefully it will contain some good information (in between my ramblings). If anyone is interested in any information (e.g. cycle routes, etc) I"m happy to help out if I can, although still finding my feet.
ACCOMMODATION: I found a place to live on AirBnb, stayed there for a week and then negotiated the rate until end of June. It was very cheap although I had to work around his bookings which means I've got to be out for 4 days around Memorial Day Weekend. I'm thinking of trying to circumvent the island as my missus has to fly back to the mainland for those days. I don't want to post a link to the guy's AirBnb place because I got the impression he didn't want me letting people know the great deal he gave me. He's booked up for Ironman week, but if anyone is interested in the details then PM me. It's about 1 mile from the centre of town although straight up the hill.
One of the annoying things that people may come across if they want to come for a couple months is that most places are geared up for short term rentals (<2 weeks) or long term rentals (>6 months), so if you're coming for an intermediate amount of time you have to do a lot of calling and negotiating. Although the place I'm in is very cheap, we found another place which was next to a beach for ~$2k/month, and everywhere else was more expensive. Our approach was to message people via AirBnb, CraigsList, vrbo, sublet, etc. In the low season there are lots of people willing to cut deals instead of leaving their places empty.
CAR: We rented a car for 9 days which was pretty costly although the best deal we found was through Thrifty. We've just bought a shitter, a '91 Ford Taurus for $1k and that's the cheapest thing we found that would run and seemed like it doesn't need any urgent maintenance. We figure even if it is broken by the time we leave it will still be cheaper than renting a car, and probably less likely to be broken into. It's awesome, the rear windows don't go up so there's no point locking the car, also no alarm. No spare tyre. It moves forward and backwards though so we're very happy. It also came with 2 free black bin bags to put over the back windows when it rains.
TRAINING: Some of the roads have shoulders wider than the roads themselves which is amazing. There are also places where the shoulder is non-existent. The quality of the roads is superb though. Haven't seen a pothole since I've arrived. Planning on riding with the Big Island bike club over the next weeks (currently just exploring and trying to acclimitise and build a base). The masters swim club is great, with the 25 m pool outdoors. It's led by Steve Borowski who I've already mentally labelled as a very awesome guy. He was very welcoming to both my girlfriend and I and the club has a range of abilities (bit of a gap in our swimming abilities), and brought banana bread to the 2nd swim I went to. There's also a running community around that I've seen running but again I've just been exploring solo so far.
I'm writing a blog while I'm here and can post it on here if people are interested. Over time hopefully it will contain some good information (in between my ramblings). If anyone is interested in any information (e.g. cycle routes, etc) I"m happy to help out if I can, although still finding my feet.