Day 3 Thursday 30 October

Polynesian Cultural Centre on the north-east corner of Oahu was today’s destination so we took the scenic route along the east Oahu coastline through intermittent showers of rain. We arrived around 12.30 & started to explore the very well set out attraction. It is laid out in a series of different Polynesian villages reflecting the different Polynesian cultures around the Pacific Ocean, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Maori, Hawaii, etc. At set times of the day there are special attractions at each of the villages, our first one was Tonga where there was a demonstration of coconut husking & cracking, then extracting the coconut from the nut. We then learnt how to weave the palm fronds & made a small simple fish each. Next was a dancing exhibition from each of the cultures on double canoes on the waterway, it was very entertaining & the performers all seemed to be enjoying themselves. We looked at a reconstruction of a very large Polynesian ocean travelling canoe then listened to a very informative history on the canoe building, navigation methods & distances travelled. Another item of interest was a talk on the history of the hula dancing & what the different hand & foot movements referred to.

After the exhibits closed we then took part in the buffet dinner that is included in the admission fee. The food was superb, especially the fish. The fruit is also very good, the standout being the pineapple, it is just so sweet. After dinner was the special show that was the highlight of the day “Ha – the Breath of Life”. This was a Polynesian story in dance & theatre of the birth of Pele, the god of fire. There were around 100 dancers throughout the show & it was very well produced with a lot of energetic dancing & special effects, culminating in the fire dance. The show ended around 9.30pm & it was a slow drive in the rain back to Waikiki, taking over 1 ½ hours. Once again we lucked it in, every time it rained we were at an indoor activity.