Day 3 - Part 2 of 2 - Polynesian Cultural Center

The Polynesian Cultural Center is one of the major attractions on Oahu. I have been here three times over the years and I would go again in the future. The PCC has villages from all the different islands of Polynesia. They demonstrate the differences in cultures and lifestyles.

The PCC is owned and operated by the Mormon Church. All the employees/performers are students at BYU of the Pacific (Brigham Young University) which is next door to the Center. Most could not afford to attend college on their own so they get scholarships in return for their work at the PCC. Every one of them is as nice and as motivated as any person you will ever meet. We were happy to be able to support their educations through our entry fee while we enjoyed a great dinner and show.
This is one of the many demonstrations of how people lived in the islands. This guy is getting ready to make fire by rubbing two sticks together to get a spark which is then used to set dried coconut husks on fire. It took him just 30 seconds to get the fire going.

Next, he removed the husk from a ripe coconut using a sharp stick .

He then struck the hard coconut shell with a fairly small rock in just the right place and it fell into two perfectly shaped pieces. I couldn't do that with a hammer and chisel.

This fellow is demonstrating how to climb a palm tree. The tree was about 50 feet tall. He got up it in just a few seconds. All these guys are built better than Tarzan.

This was our tour guide. A very nice fellow from Cambodia. He took us around all day to the various villages and presentations and provided a steady stream of information.

The parade of boats showed off the various dances and music from each of the islands.

This was one of several musical performances. The three musicians played various kinds of drums and a nose flute.

The girls couldn't miss the opportunity to get tattoos.

Sigrid's lizard.

Sorry about the same shot twice. I got it in but couldn't figure out how to get it out. I wasn't going to start over with so much work already invested in this lengthy post.

Edel's turtle.

Learning how to hula.

Boat ride through the Center.

Sitting down for the luau.

The show was fantastic. It tells the story of a man from his birth to his marriage and first child.

Future posts will be smaller I hope. We didn't get home until 10:30 pm so we were out of the condo for 14 hours this day. We were all pretty tired but loved every minute of the day.

Day 3 - Part 1 of 2 - Dole Plantation

Another big day today. The girls are ready to go with their still fresh lei's. The first stop is the Dole Plantation. The entrance is lined with beautiful trees with colorful bark. Everything in Hawaii is spectacular.

The Dole Plantation is still an active operation with fields of pineapples and other fruits. The size of the operation is small compared to what it once was. Most pineapples are grown in the Philippines or other low labor cost location.



A nice looking pineapple. They grow on small plants just a couple of feet off the ground.

They have a nice botanical garden and everything is well manicured.

You have to fool around a little when the opportunity presents itself.

We had a bowl of pineapple sherbet and just enjoyed the perfect day and beautiful views.

Next stop is the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Day 2 - Part 2 of 2 - China Town, Punch Bowl, Waikiki, North Shore

Hey......where is the first place you want to visit on your first full day in paradise? China Town of course.

Our next stop was Punch Bowl which is a military cemetery along the lines of Arlington Cemetery in Virginia. Punch Bowl serves those who died in military service in the Pacific and other veterans who survived but wanted to be buried there. It is a very large, beautiful, and moving place to visit. It is called Punch Bowl after the old volcanic crater that the cemetery was created inside of. One of the many flowers at Punch Bowl is below.

Punch Bowl has a very nice observation deck at the top of the crater. This is a panoramic view of Honolulu. To see more detail you might want to click on the photo to get a larger version.

Punch Bowl's front lawn.

The main building.

Another of the flowers near the main building.

There are large mosaic maps illustrating all the major campaigns during WWII. This photo shows the battle for the Philippines. My father fought in these battles so this photo has special meaning.

The next stop was Waikiki Beach. Edel needed to at least see this beach to make her trip complete. As usual, it was as crowded. If you walked the beach, you had to be careful not to step on someone working hard on getting skin cancer.

Edel and Sigrid got their feet wet.

After a thrilling walk through the surf, they had to pay their respects to the Duke who is the father of modern Hawaiian surfing.

We went to Pearl Harbor hoping to visit the Arizona Memorial next. Unfortunately, the Navy launch used to take people out to the memorial was down for repairs. It is supposed to be back in service on Saturday. We will return to quote Douglas MacArthur.

We then started driving with no particular purpose in mind. We ended up racing the sun to the North Shore. We wanted to see the sun set on Sunset Beach. The sun won, but the waves were still nice.

We had dinner at a small diner/bakery next to Sunset Beach. The garlic shrimp were great, but the garlic got to Sigrid later that night. Little shrimp trucks/restaurants are very popular on the North Shore. Ultimately, we drove all the way around the island before getting back to the condo well after dark. It was too big a day, but we were running on the adrenaline created by being in Hawaii.

So ends Day 2, Wednesday, January 13. More to come.

Day 2 - Part 1 - The first morning at the condo

We walked the condo grounds not long after sunrise. Wow! Lush just begins to describe it.

The coast line is rocky but there are nice sandy lagoons for swimming and sunning.

I enjoy taking photos of flowers. I don't know the names of any of them, but that doesn't hamper my enjoyment.

I think that the blogging might work better if I do it in pieces when we have big photo days and I don't have much time to spend on the computer. What you have just seen is just the first two hours of Wednesday morning. We walked to another of the Marriott buildings for a great breakfast near the beach. Wednesday Part 2 is coming soon.

Hawaii - Day 1 - Travel to Oahu

As I mentioned in the previous blog, our flights went well. We had three hours between flights in Denver so we made good use of the time by eating at Pour La France.

You can only eat so long. The rest of the time you sit.

Our Boeing 767 was ready and waiting.

The ladies got a nice lei greeting as we got off the plane in Honolulu.


The two bedroom condo we rented is part of a huge development at Ko Olina and appears to be very new. Everything is top quality. The condo is on the southwestern coast of Oahu so it is away from the very busy Honolulu metro area where most of the tourist go thinking that they have seen Hawaii. Here are a few shots.

We were exhausted by the time we hit the bed just after 10:00 pm. You have to remember the 4 hour time difference. Bed time was actually 2:00 am KC time and we had to get up at 4:00 am the previous day to get to the airport in KC. That is a 22 hour day. The 7 1/2 hour flight from Denver to Honolulu was very tiring with several patches of turbulence.

As I suspected, blogging and enjoying an active vacation are not totally compatible so I am behind from the beginning. It is very late as I complete this first real entry. I spent much of the day learning to hula (again) so my hips hurt and I am tired. I hope you really enjoy the blog. More later.

We made it...

We got to Honolulu on Tuesday evening about 5:00 pm local time (9:00 pm KC time). We got the convertible and made it to the condo shortly after 7:00 pm. Rush hour on Interstate H1 is slow. We were exhausted and in bed by 10:00 pm. The condo is great! The owners were waiting for us when we arrived and gave us a quick tour.....very thoughtful and appreciated. I am under heavy pressure to get off the computer so we can have some fun. The next blog will have photos. Keep checking us.