Hawaii Day Three...

Day three was a slower day. (For me, but I rallied.) We did the Hawaiian rush, and were out the door by 9:15. (It is great coming from California, we get to sleep in, go at a leisurely pace, and STILL have the whole day ahead of us.)

The Boyfriend drove. We headed the jeep toward South Point and away we went for a tour of a coffee plantation. Kona Joe's, the only growers to use trellises for the plants. In fact, they have the whole thing patented. The result in a highly decorated, profusely awarded coffee. The best in the world, currently served in the White House, and simply the best coffee I have ever had. (And at $5.00 and ounce, or $250.00 a pound for a lower grade that is still the best I have ever had in my life, The Boyfriend agrees with me on this too, it is well worth the expense. Mmmm... As the Hawaiians say: Ono!)

We toured the plantation for about a half of an hour. And as a wonderful bonus, the owner, Deepa filled in and gave us the most wonderfully narrative about the process of the plantation, the plants and the local growers. We tasted chocolates, mac nuts dipped in chocolate, and coffees. I shopped. (Of course.) And we sipped our large cups of coffee on the lanai overlooking the plantation and ocean. (And since we both rarely have caffeine, and I almost never, we zinged along for several hours afterward.) It was so wonderful, and Deepa was so gracious and beautiful, that I am naming the Ti plant I hope to grow when we get back home after her. A true Hawaiian Goddess.

After the coffee plantation, we saw downtown Kona, had a picnic lunch at a little beach side park, saw the Heiu for surfers, took a ton of photos of the Little Blue Church, more photos at the Painted Church, and mistakenly found what we need to find for Thursday's adventures. The launching place for kayaks across from the Captain Cook Monument. A local, Regina, walked right over to us, introduced herself, and chatted. She is happy to rent us a double kayak at 7:30 on Thursday, just meet her right there. (Perfect!) She gave all sorts of local information and then pointed us in the right direction to get to the Point of Refuge, which we had been trying to find.

We spent quite awhile “burning film” as my Mother used to say. We saw the old Hawaiian village and tons of Tikis... We watched the sun start to set... It was beautiful.

Wary of driving the winding and twisting roads in the dark, we left before the completion of sunset. We did pause along the road so that The Boyfriend could snap a few incredible shots of the reds and golds of the sky... Just before reaching our main road, we avoided a huge black pig in the middle of the road... (Yes, we did feel like we should be looking for John Locke to be following along after it...)

And of course, we performed out Hawaiian vacation tradition. Cooking, showering, eating, passing out cold in bed.