We joined a tour group for today's excursion. Our guide, with the most un-Hawaiian name of Garfield (there was a story behind it!), was very entertaining and informative, sharing a lot of island history with us as we travelled on interstate H2 towards the North Shore. For instance did you know that there are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet? 7 consonants and 5 vowels. That's why so many words look like they're so full of vowels and unpronounceable. And that makes it all the more unusual to grow up with the name Garfield in Hawaii! As we travelled north skyscrapers and traffic jams (80% of the Hawaiian population lives on O'ahu) gave way to quieter roads and more picturesque scenery. We passed by the Dole plantation, the site where their pineapples are grown. Quick fact: one pineapple plant can produce 3 fruits in 5 years. They plant them at 6" intervals so multiply that by 120,000 acres. You do the math! That's a lot of pineapples!
The North Shore is a Mecca for surfers during the winter months. Waves from 20-40ft are often seen, interestingly enough formed as a result of weather in Alaska! We were taken to the small surfing town of Hale'iwa where we explored the surf shops and other boutiques and strolled along eating ice creams.
From there we moved on to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the remainder of the day. Because there was going to be more than enough time to enjoy this place Paul and I discretely ditched the rest of the group while they were chowing down on the buffet and snuck off for a short hike to see the ocean which we'd been dying to see all day but had only seen from a distance! We found a walkway through to the beach (ok, so it wasn't exactly public access but the private property sign was so tiny as to be almost invisible!) and were finally able to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean. Quick trip to the restroom to wash the incriminating sand off my feet and shoes and nobody was any the wiser when we rejoined the group!!
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the cultural center, watching interactive shows presented by natives of a handful of the Polynesian islands, Aotearoa (NZ), Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and Hawaii. We learnt a hula dance (thankfully no video evidence of that!), watched a canoe pageant where canoes sailed the river carrying dancers from each land performing their traditional dances, observed an enactment of a Tahitian wedding ceremony, and then watched an IMAX movie about the Hawaiian islands. The photography was breathtaking and the seats were motion seats so we had the sensation of soaring over mountains and dipping over waterfalls, all the time being misted with spray and the aroma of the flowers. It was really fun!
Once we finally got all the stragglers back on the bus we set off for the hotel. This time we followed the coastline around the east side of the island heading back south towards Waikiki. The scenery was very impressive as we drove along the base of the Ko'olau Mountains, and familiar from movies such as Jurassic Park and Pearl Harbor. Once back at the hotel we did a quick turn around and headed out into the downtown streets of Waikiki. We lingered to watch the street performers and musicians and window shopped in the high end, exclusive shops, such as Harry Winston, Ferrari and Rolex. I had to chuckle at a young panhandler with a sign that read "Need money for weed"! Hey, that's honesty for you! We then we walked back along the beach to the hotel where once again we collapsed into bed. 7.15am meeting time for our Pearl Harbor tour tomorrow. Goodnight all!
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