Yesterday, we decided to go to the Polynesian Cultural Centre. It is about an hour drive from Honolulu on the northeast coast of Oahu.
The drive should be an hour, but it took us 2-1/2 hours as we stopped numerous times on the way up, visiting a beautiful Japanese garden, stopping for freshly picked coconuts and pineapples (roadside stand; girl with a machete who just hacked away at the fruits with skill and precision), and visiting a macadamia nut farm that also grew Coffee beans; free coffee and nuts sampling! And then there were the compulsory stops for scenic viewing of the amazing coastline.
The drive should be an hour, but it took us 2-1/2 hours as we stopped numerous times on the way up, visiting a beautiful Japanese garden, stopping for freshly picked coconuts and pineapples (roadside stand; girl with a machete who just hacked away at the fruits with skill and precision), and visiting a macadamia nut farm that also grew Coffee beans; free coffee and nuts sampling! And then there were the compulsory stops for scenic viewing of the amazing coastline.
We arrived at the Polynesian Cultural Village at about 12:30 PM. It is a tourist attraction aimed at educating the public in the history and customs and lifestyle of the nations that make up Polynesia...New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii, Samoa and The Marquesas Islands. It is supposed to be the most visited site in all of Hawaii.
The grounds are magnificent...it's worth visiting just for that alone. But the staff is informative, funny, entertaining and really give you a feel for the way people live in each of the island nations that make up Polynesia. I originally thought that you could go there for a couple of hours, but once you are there, you realize that even the five hours that we were there was not enough. Well worth the drive!
The grounds are magnificent...it's worth visiting just for that alone. But the staff is informative, funny, entertaining and really give you a feel for the way people live in each of the island nations that make up Polynesia. I originally thought that you could go there for a couple of hours, but once you are there, you realize that even the five hours that we were there was not enough. Well worth the drive!
We left at 5 and were back in our hotel by 6...another trip to the beach and hotel pool and then a relaxing dinner in our room/restaurant and an early night!
One thing that is amazing here is the change in weather depending on where you are on the Island. We were on the east coast (sunny and breezy), drove the 6 mile Likelike Highway and drove thru very threatening dark clouds (that seem to be there over the mountains at all times) and then minutes later we were back in Honolulu with not a cloud in the sky and hot and more humid (all in about 10 minutes of driving). The temperature has been in the high 80s but feels about 5-10 degrees cooler because of the winds off the ocean.
Today, we are off to Pearl Harbor and then to the airport for our flight to the Big Island/Hawaii where we hope to see volcanos and Chabad for Shabbat!
All the best
Fran and David
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