Hawaii - Part 1
Jenn and I arrived in Honolulu at 8:00pm, where her family picked us up and drove us to our hotel in Waikiki. We went to bed immediately.
The next morning we awoke around 5:30am and headed to the beach. Our Hawaii adventure was about to begin.
That morning we got up and strolled around town for a few hours, eventually ending up at the beach after a breakfast of pancakes with coconut syrup. We arrived on the beach just after it had been combed flat.
The beach was beautiful, even if it was fake. Waikiki had all of its fine white sand imported. We stepped out onto the docks and found something real - tiny crabs. These little guys were everywhere. Can you see them?
At 10:00 we met up with Jenn's family and headed to the Polynesian Center at the North end of Oahu. We were greeted with some beautiful (if again fake) scenery, such as this waterfall.
These fake huts represent the buildings of a Polynesian island. I think these were Samoa, but I don't remember exactly. Here we wove pineapple leaves into fish and had a spear competition.
About 2:30pm came about and a parade was held on the center's canoes. Each canoe represented one of the islands on display in the center. As marked, this boat represents Tahiti.
As night came about (after visiting the nearby Mormon church) the show "Horizons" began. Once again, it was a display of the dances and dresses of the various islands. It ended with a spectacular fire show.
We were tired by the end of this. The Polynesian Center was a wonderful day, but it resonated with something that downplayed what it could have been; like the rest of Oahu, it was artificial. I wanted to see the real Hawaii. I was looking forward to tomorrow's scuba dive. For tonight, I was looking forward to our hotel bed.
The next morning we awoke around 5:30am and headed to the beach. Our Hawaii adventure was about to begin.
That morning we got up and strolled around town for a few hours, eventually ending up at the beach after a breakfast of pancakes with coconut syrup. We arrived on the beach just after it had been combed flat.
The beach was beautiful, even if it was fake. Waikiki had all of its fine white sand imported. We stepped out onto the docks and found something real - tiny crabs. These little guys were everywhere. Can you see them?
At 10:00 we met up with Jenn's family and headed to the Polynesian Center at the North end of Oahu. We were greeted with some beautiful (if again fake) scenery, such as this waterfall.
These fake huts represent the buildings of a Polynesian island. I think these were Samoa, but I don't remember exactly. Here we wove pineapple leaves into fish and had a spear competition.
About 2:30pm came about and a parade was held on the center's canoes. Each canoe represented one of the islands on display in the center. As marked, this boat represents Tahiti.
As night came about (after visiting the nearby Mormon church) the show "Horizons" began. Once again, it was a display of the dances and dresses of the various islands. It ended with a spectacular fire show.
We were tired by the end of this. The Polynesian Center was a wonderful day, but it resonated with something that downplayed what it could have been; like the rest of Oahu, it was artificial. I wanted to see the real Hawaii. I was looking forward to tomorrow's scuba dive. For tonight, I was looking forward to our hotel bed.