Today's excursion was chosen based on the recommendation of MWL, a person who had taken this cruise before. I wasn't too sure of what to expect here, save that I would likely be seeing some beautiful scenery while tasting Hawaiian specialty items.
But first....
For a person with sleep issues, a trip to Hawaii will cause a broken circadian clock to make a person have irregular sleep cycles. Over the past week or so, I have suffered sleep deprivation before flying out to Hawaii. I have been craving sleep when by all signs, I should have been wide awake. And when I should have been sound asleep, I was waking up for the day. By the time I get home, I will need a vacation from my vacation.
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I ended up waking up much earlier than planned, and started to stuff a laundry bag for the ship's laundry personnel to wash, dry, and fold. (I get a free bag each time I cruise.) Unlike my last couple of trips, they weren't offering discounts to the average cruiser. I had to ask my room steward for a bag, so that I could send it in today.
Once I was done with the laundry bag, it was time to get showered and dressed. And then it was time for breakfast. Around 8 am, I moseyed to the assembly area for my shore excursion - and ended up waiting for almost an hour. If I had known how long it would take for me to get on the tender boat, I would have taken a bio-break on the ship instead of waiting to go on shore. But this was just as well, as we had to wait another half hour (or more) for the remaining people on this excursion.
When we got underway, it was off to a small coffee plantation, where we had a chance to taste their brews. It was good coffee, but not good enough for me to take home in my already overloaded luggage. So, I sampled another cup and got back on our bus.
During the next segment of our journey (to a Macadamia Nut Factory), one couple (previously residing in Kona) discussed their experiences on the Big Island, commenting on lava eruptions that occurred over the past 50 years - this was a conversation worth listening to, as it was truly educational. Then we reached the factory. It was another chance to sample some goods, buy some stuff, and move on to the next venue. This time, I bought a chocolate/macadamia nut ice cream cup, and enjoyed it while another bus driver talked about Hawaiian history.
Now it was time for lunch.
For those who have never been on small group excursions where lunch is provided, it may come as a surprise that the quality of lunch varies from excursion driver to excursion driver. With the driver for the Road to Hana, we were provided with a salad and a choice of wraps. For today's trip, we got a turkey sandwich, chips, and a cookie. If I were a vegan or vegetarian, or maybe had Celeiac disease, I'd want to know the food being provided on the excursion so that I could bring my own from the ship. Now, I don't mind turkey sandwiches, but I would have liked the choice of what sandwich to eat and the choice of bread for that sandwich. At least, it was a tasty sandwich in a beautiful shore front setting.
After lunch, we went to a rum distillery and a brewery before returning to port. This was the first tour of the distillery since the beginning of Covid, and there was not much to the tour other than to show the distillation equipment and to provide an educating tasting of 4 different types of rum. To me, this was the highlight of the trip, as I learned something about distilled spirits that I didn't know before. Next, it was off to the brewery. After viewing the promotional video for the tour and being shown the production floor, it was off to the tasting room to sample their wares. I was underwhelmed, as all of their "beers" (I define a beer as one that follows the German Beer Purity Law - these did not follow the law) were flavored in ways that made me take a sip, then leave the rest of the beer in the glass.
We finally made it back to the pier at 4:30, and went directly to the tender boats that took us back to the ship. And then it was time to rest. But my rest was broken by the delivery of clean laundry. So I took the opportunity to fold and store the clean clothes into storage bags that will make packing my luggage much easier.
One thing I've noted about this trip, and keeps surprising me about this trip is how I'm being treated as a female. I can still remember the meetup with the FTF group where a woman changed her shirt in front of me - something she wouldn't do if she felt I was a man in a dress.
PS: I had to take a bio break at the Kona Brewing Company. Normally, this would not be anything of note, save for something most cisgender females would appreciate. Inside the women's restroom was a basket of tampons and pads freely available to women who may need one, but didn't have available. This is a nice touch, and it shows something good about the nature of the people who run this company.
