Thankfully when I woke up this morning I was feeling SOOOO much better with just my normal fibro pain, which went away quickly after taking my pain meds. I enjoyed another sunrise from our apartment but I must say they haven’t been as spectacular as I had imagined.
For breakfast today we enjoyed the frozen bowls we bought at Target yesterday. Kevin had a banana & peanut butter smoothie bowl and I had an acai bowl. Both were delicious.
We left home just after 8.30, stopping briefly to have a look at this double waterfall, Opaekaa Falls, before driving on to todays destination. It was so easy to see from the car park – which is not normally the case.
We were running just a few minutes late but weren’t the last ones to arrive, and were there in time for the introduction to the Lydgate Farm Chocolate tour. The farm is is a lovely area with some pretty stunning homes.
There are also lots of fruits and other plants around the property as they do their best to look after the land. This cherry tree had just started to have ripe berries and we were able to pick and enjoy as many as wanted / could reach. The one I had was pretty nice but not so juicy and fleshy as the ones I’m used to.
We were there just at the right time to see some vanilla bean flowers get hand pollinated (as the flowers are only open for a 10 hour window). The plant actually grows on another tree.
We then headed down the hill (there is a cart available if you need assistance since it is quite steep and gravely), stopping at different plants to learn more about them and how they were/are used. It’s quite amazing to learn all about it. And as you can see the grounds are just stunning.
Kevin, and some other brave souls, tried peppercorn right off the vine. Kevin said they were very, very, very peppery and spat his out.
Finally we got to the fruit trying portion of the tour. We got to try things like apple banana (which was really yummy), pawpaw/papaya and more exotoic fruits (the name of which I can’t remember). All are grown of the farm.
We also tried a delicious farm honey and some honey coated macadamias – which they are just testing and were definitely the highlight for me.
Then time for the main event – the cocoa pod & seeds. We got to taste it just after opening and though the white coating was pretty delicious ( you just suck it off the seed), the seed itself was pretty bitter (I fed mine to the chickens – two of whom were name Russell (Crowe) and Sheryle (Crowe).
I love how some of the pods just grow right out of the tree truck, while others grown off the branches.
We had time for a little photo shoot among the cocao trees, then a very short walk over to the chocolate tasting tent. Our chicken friends joined us in the hope of more treats.
Isn’t this flower just stunning?
We then learnt about the way chocolate is made and about what happens during the making of cheaper chocolates ( the cocoa butter is removed and sold off and replaced with castor oil). We also got to sample 10 different chocolates from the farm and a few other places and honestly by the time we got to number 10 I was over chocolated. My favourite had surprisingly been the 75% dark with rum – but when I had another piece after all ten samples I didn’t like it as much. This tour was great and I highly recommend if you’ve got time (it goes for 3 hours).
We then walked back up the hill. Being pretty unfit I was puffed by the top but it wasn’t too bad. We had the chance to buy some chocolate from the gift stall but as I said I was over chocolate by that time…
Back in the car we drove back via Kapaa’ as I wanted to stop in at the Glass gallery buy some earrings.
We did that and then headed to Papaya’s healthy grocery store. It doesn’t look like much from the outside and Kevin really wasn’t convinced it was what I thought it was. But it’s much bigger on the inside (not that I took a photo). We gathered supplies for a few more meals and had fun exploring. It was cool seeing taro since we’d driven through the fields a few days ago and I had no idea what it looked like.
I also bought a big salad which I turned into lunch with some freshly cut Dole pineapple, vegan potato salad and leftover pasta from dinner a few nights ago. It was pretty good but a different dressing would have made it awesome. Kevin had a chipotle and turkey wrap (also bought from Papaya’s) and we sat out on the lanai to enjoy.
We moved back inside since it was more comfy on the couch and when I had kept drifting off to sleep we decided to go have a nap. I very rarely nap during the day and was quite surprised when I slept for almost an hour. I then proceeded to read on the couch for another few hours – which is lovely holiday indulgence. We had planned for a swim but with the breeze you get through the apartment it never feels that hot. I also managed to get my first video up. It’s definitely hard finding time to both blog and vlog and sort out all the photos.
We had frozen pizza for dinner which was nice but nothing amazing and watched some YouTube. We even got a bit of a sunset tonight, even though we are facing East.