Hawaii Trip, Wednesday

Wednesday

Today we are anchored in the bay off of Kailua-Kona, on the big island of Hawaii. The bay is too shallow and the dock is too short for the ship to dock. So, we have to be tendered back and forth to shore. I don't like the tendering, but this the only stop where we'll have to do that.

Yesterday, we were on the windward side of the island and today we are on the leeward side. We had the same experience on Maui. There we were docked on the windward side, but took an excursion to the leeward side. The windward side of Maui is where the weather blows in, so it is windy, cooler, and rainy. The windward side of Maui is lush and green, with areas of rainforest. The leeward side is hot, dry, and brown. Hardly any vegetation grows on the leeward side of the Maui mountains.

The big island is similar, but the difference in the two sides is not as extreme. It is a bit warmer here and the winds are calmer, but it is pretty green. There are coffee plantations on the mountainsides. This is the tourist side, supposedly because tourists don't like to be rained on while on vacation. Personally, I like the greener windward sides better.

Our excursion today was called Kona Mocha, for coffee and chocolate. We toured a chocolate factory and a coffee plantation. The drive was pleasant and we got to see many of the sights of the town while en route.

Our first tour was the Original Hawaii Chocolate Factory. It is the only place in the USA where chocolate is grown, processed, and made into candy, all at the same location. The owner, Bob Cooper, gave the tour. We started under the canopy of cacao trees in his grove. It was very informative.

Cacao beans grow in large pods along the trunks and limbs of the cacao trees. First tiny white flowers bloom along the trunks and limbs, then, once pollinated, they grow into pods. The pods grow anywhere from 6 to 14 inches long and several inches in diameter. They look much like an acorn squash, but a bit longer. They ripen in about 5 months. Once ripe, the pods are broken open and about 30 beans are pulled out. Each bean has a slippery white coating. The beans are put into wooden boxes to ferment. The white coating melts away. Then the brown beans are put on racks to dry in the sun. It takes about 3 weeks for them to dry to 7% moisture content. After that, the beans are broken open. The outer shell is winnowed away and only the chocolate nib is left. Then they are cooked/heated and eventually formed into candy in molds.

It is labor intensive to harvest and process chocolate on a small scale, so the chocolate there is rather pricey. However, that is true of any single-origin chocolate. Big chocolate companies, like Hershey, buy chocolate from many sources and blend it together, making a uniform taste. Single-origin chocolate is not as common and, therefore, pricier. I did splurge and buy some milk and dark chocolate. The dark is for me and the milk for Wil.

Our other stop of the day was Kona Joe's Coffee Plantation. When Jacob went to Hawaii (only Honolulu), he came home raving about Kona coffee, saying it was the best coffee he had ever tasted. Of course, Jacob likes coffee in general. I do not like plain coffee. I love the aroma, but the taste is too bitter, even when liberally doctored with cream and sugar. For me, I have to have heavily flavored coffee, like Starbucks cafe mocha, where the taste of the coffee is more subtle and it's bitterness is more like dark chocolate than regular coffee.

However, when offered the sample cup of Kona coffee, I decided to try it. I did put in a liberal splash of cream and a packet of artificial sweetener. Amazingly enough, I liked the coffee! It wasn't hardly bitter at all. I drank the entire cup. It was the first cup of unflavored coffee I have ever finished. I guess Jacob was right. Kona coffee is the best.

Kona coffee is only grown in a specific area of this island, from Kona southward to a particular stopping point. It's like champagne only comes from the Champagne region of France. Most of the Kona coffee you find for sale is a blend of regular coffee and Kona. It is more difficult to find pure 100% Kona coffee. Of course, it was for sale in their gift shop, but VERY expensive, over $30 per pound.

All-in-all, it was an educational, entertaining, and delicious excursion. Once back at the dock, we crossed the street to do a bit of shopping at the ABC store. This chain of stores is ubiquitous here, selling souvenirs, snacks, and cold beverages. We were back on the tender, then back on the ship by 1:30. That gives us time to relax before dinner

Wednesday evening

We are en route to the Garden Island, otherwise known as Kauai. It is at the other end of this chain of islands, farthest from the big island that we just left. So, tonight we are sailing along at a pretty good clip, since we have farther to go. Also, we are farther out in open water, so the seas are a big rougher. The ship is rolling and pitching a bit more. I love the sensation! But then, I don't get motion sickness. I think some people are going to be a bit under the weather.

I've been a bit spoiled on this cruise having ready cell service in every port. Now, tonight, so far from the islands, I lost my cell signal sometime around 7:00 PM. I won't get it back until morning when we reach Kauai. I can't reach for my phone to check Facebook or the weather or the news. I find that disconcerting.

I am happy that we get to sleep in tomorrow! Our only excursion is in the evening to the luau. We leave the ship around 4 PM. We have all morning and early afternoon to do as we please. I may leave the ship to do some shopping. There is a free shuttle to Hilo Hattie's, that Hawaiian icon. But that can wait until LATE morning. I am not setting an alarm tonight!