​Chocolate farm, Wailua Falls, and the Queen's Bath.

​Today, we started with a tour of a chocolate farm.  The 3 hour tour was fantastic. You do not walk far just takes some time because of all the stopping and explaining all that is grown on the farm and the tastings.

Of course, first, there were the required wild chickens walking around.  

The first thing we were offered was macadamia nuts. We could have all we would like to eat, not a bad way to start a tour.

The guide started by showing us the vanilla vines and pods they grow on the farm. They have to pollinate by hand because the natural pollinator is not found in Hawaii and would be an invasive species. The first part of the video shows our guide pollinating.

Several fruits grown on the farm were prepared for us to try.  They have bee hives and  had palm honey for us to taste.  It had a different flavor from other honeys we have tried. 

The next tasting was fresh from the cocoa pod.  She plucked off a pod and split it open for us to try the fresh chocolate beans inside.  They are surrounded by a tart fruit coating.  Nothing like what I expected.

At the end of the tour, we tried more than a dozen types of chocolate from all over the world. We are able to eat as much as we wanted. Gramma could not resist the old fashioned swing near the parking area.

Obviously some of the chocolates were more popular than others but they were all delicious.

As we started down the mountains from the farm, we passed Opaekaa falls.  It was very nice but not very close to the road.

Back at Bali Hai and while Gramma rested in the room, Shawna and I took off to walk down to the coast and see the “Queen's bath” which is a group of large basins created by the lava flows back when this island was an active volcano.  This was not a simple walk.  The trail down to the shoreline is not very well maintained.  Roots are exposed all along the trail and could easily trip a person.  It is very steep, slippery and not a trail for those who are not prepared.

At the bottom of the climb, we started across the lava down to the ocean's edge.  We then scrambled for about a half a mile.  The ocean waves were strong and crashing high up at the cliffs.   The bath was far too dangerous to swim in that day. Waves crashed in flooding the baths and then rushed out again. Anyone who was not very careful would be swept away.

Once we reached the bottom and walked out on the flat area, it was wild.  The ocean was crashing against the the shore and splashing up 20 and 30 feet into the air.  At the bath, the sea would rush in and then back out again.  The bath is big.  Actually there are several and the smallest was about 20 feet by 30 feet.  The largest was about 40 feet wide and about 100 feet long.  It was huge and deep.  After watching the sea for a while, we made the climb back up the cliff.

13,900 steps or 5.4 miles and 44 floors.