After a good night’s sleep, we were refreshed and ready to go this morning. We got to breakfast at around 9:30 am. Andrea opted for a healthy omelette but Keith couldn’t pass up the lemon pineapple soufflé!

Breakfast!
Breakfast!

We left the hotel mid-morning in search of a hire car agency. We had a lovely walk, stopping to admire some of the beautiful flowers along the way.

Frangipani.
Frangipani.

After a couple of false starts trying to locate a car rental agency, we decided to head to the Grand Hyatt. They had only three cars available. We were shocked by the prices! We ended up with a less-than-inspiring Toyota Prius but beggars couldn’t be choosers at this point!

We set off to tour the south of the island. We drove through some lovely little towns and into the Kōkeʻe State Forest. Our first stop was Waimea Canyon. The canyon is about 24km long and more than 1km deep.

At Waimea Canyon.
At Waimea Canyon.

Our next stop was Kalalau Valley, a magnificent natural wonder.

Kalalau Valley.
Kalalau Valley.

On the way back to the hotel we decided to stop at the Kauaʻi coffee plantation. This was very interesting and we had a nice walk around. This plantation is the largest coffee farm in the USA.

Coffee beans as we know them are actually the seeds of the coffee cherry. These seeds grow on coffee plants inside the fruit of the plant; the cherry.

Coffee seeds on the tree.
Coffee seeds on the tree.
Coffee seeds being dried in the sun.
Coffee seeds being dried in the sun.

We left the coffee plantation and drove back to the hotel, where we had a very nice dinner.

Dinner.
Dinner.

We skipped dessert though and headed back across the road to Papalani Gelato for some more of their excellent gelato.

Gelato for dessert!
Gelato for dessert!

Tomorrow we plan to drive up to the north shore of the island.