Our drive to the north was about an hour and we listened to many of the same songs that we’ve listened to over the past few days. The team often starts to sing together as we reminisce old tunes and rock out to new ones.
Driving along the road and looking at the northern coastline, it was hard to see where the ocean hits the sky. And as this was pointed out to me, my mind was blown (or I pretended it was)….
Our first stop this morning was the Dole Plantation. Although you can pay an entrance fee and sight-see, we opted to only shop for sundries and gifts. We also drove by pineapple and coffee fields as this area is very agricultural.
We then stopped in Haleiwa where we shopped again - a few photos of the shopping experience. I enjoyed the unique Patagonia store here - Pataloha!
For lunch, we went to Kua Aina where we ordered pineapple burgers, french fries, and took advantage of the free drink refills:
The town was very cute and although we could have shopped some more, we rounded the northern shore on our continued adventures.
At Waimea Bay, we stopped at Laniakea beach where we watched turtles eat the algae and come right up to the sand and rocks. There was an attendant making sure no one got too close as there were many onlookers:
Our final north shore destination was the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had reserved tickets to enter and learn about the various islands. The center is actually owned by Brigham Young University Hawaii and 80% of the employees are students who are either getting paid or academic credits. Many are from the various islands and I suspect many are Mormon as well. We heard that many major in hospitality which all makes sense considering how important it is to the island economies.
The islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, and Aoteaora or present day New Zealand are represented here with island villages. It’s essentially a living museum and reminds me of colonial Williamsburg, but island style.
We took a canoe ride so it could take us to the other end of the villages. Our canoe guide was named Chris and he joked he was from the island of California. We forced a few photo bombs of him behind us:
We sat through a few presentations and activities like the one below about Fiji and learned a little Hawaiian hula:
After visiting the island villages, we headed into the theater to watch Hawaiian Journey. The 14 minute film had beautiful and immersive images of the natural beauty of Hawaii. It also offered us a respite from the Hawaiian sun and provided much needed air conditioning!
Part of our entrance fee included a dinner at the Gateway Buffet. We sat outside and had poke and usual buffet foods with an island twist. One of the attendants was totally sweet and a freshman from Indonesia learning about hospitality. She had an awesome smile and was nervous about her English, but her enthusiasm was contagious. A photo of the huge buffet hall:
We then went to the Ha - Breath of Life show. We weren’t allowed to take photos during, so here’s one before the show started:
We were treated to dancing and singing from all the islands, weaving in a story of a young boy and his life experiences. The fire knife performances of Samoa were particularly thrilling and way better than the ones we saw earlier as they were just beginners. The performance also brought together a lot of the activities and stories we learned and heard earlier in the day, so it was a nice closer.
Here’s the souvenir photo from the experience:
When the performance was done, we headed home and did a few quick errands to take advantage of some late night shopping. But what an adventurous and fun-filled day on the northern shore!
Also, a throwback from when my family came to the Polynesian Cultural Center many years ago!
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