Hawaii- part 2

Our big day, by far, was Friday. After breakfast we headed for the North Shore. We had tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center and we figured there were a few places we could stop on the way.

Our first stop was at the Dole Plantation where we skipped the train ride and the "Worlds Largest Maze" (that title now belongs to a maze in Ireland), and after browsing the gift shop we all sat down to enjoy our pineapple whips. Delicious!

For many years I was under the false impression that pineapple grew in tall trees like coconut or bunches of bananas. It is not so. Someone enlightened me several years ago, but it was still a bit strange to see the pineapple in the various stages of growing up from a bush. I never would have thought something that tastes so good could start out looking like a pine cone.

Then we all piled back into the Camry and continued our trek north. We all thought the Hawaiian pine trees had interesting shapes. So unlike those around here.

Our next stop was at Turtle Beach. The volunteer that was there to keep an eye on the turtles (or most likely to guard the turtles from the tourists) said the turtles are there at that beach about 364 days of the year. So we were lucky to not be there on that one other day, and we took a few pictures.

They put up those red ropes and you can't get any closer than that. When we first got to the beach, I walked right past this turtle to take pictures of that other one. It looked like a rock. There were a couple others in the water behind us.

About a 3 minute drive from the turtles was Papa'iloa beach. It is the site of the LOST "campground". Of course they weren't filming (writer's strike and all) but we did get to take a few pictures. If you look closely, that tent in the middle is the food tent and you can see some Dharma food on the shelves. The funny thing is, this is someone's back yard.

This was the only tent that we were positive who "lived" in it- Sawyer. If you really want to feel a part of it all you can go here and find out what nickname Sawyer would give you if you were one of the survivors. Had I been a survivor of Oceanic flight 815, I would have been dubbed "Hockey Bag". I don't think Sawyer & I would have been friends.

Another stop on the way was here, one of the most famous surfing spots in the world- Banzai Pipeline. We were there a couple of weeks before the big competition. A couple of pics and back in the car.

Our last stop on the way was at the La'ie Temple. It was the day of President Hinckley's funeral so the flags were still at half-staff. The temple seemed so small compared to our local ones, but it was in a very picturesque setting. A very windy setting.

At the Polynesian Cultural Center we saw some of the island shows and this one was hilarious. They were representing the island of Tonga by showing us some drumming, and they pulled some guys from the audience to participate. This guy from Japan spoke no English so the whole show was lost in translation. I laughed until the tears rolled down my face, even the guides were laughing pretty hard and they see this everyday.

After the shows it was time for the luau and we were hungry. We watched them pull the pig from the pit then headed for the buffet.

They really pack the people in, but I never felt like it was crowded and I would definitely recommend going if you've never been before, but wear good shoes- it is an all afternoon event with quite a bit of walking (think Disneyland).

The evening show was spectacular and we were so enthralled (and exhausted) no one got any pictures. The dancers were all in more than one part of the show, so they really got a work out. I would also recommend the Delight dessert during the show- very tasty!!

More pictures to come in the conclusion- Hawaii- part 3.