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Published: August 2nd 2008
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We had been going and going the first 2 full days, so we decided to take it easy on our last full day in the Big Island. The hotel had its own tiny, private beach - our first destination in the morning. After a liberal application of sunscreen (...could the sun in Hawaii be that much worse than El Paso?), we found an area which had some shade and set up camp. Fortunately, there were not a lot of people on the beach, so into the water it was! It was such pleasant ocean that I have had to reform my opinion of "the beach experience." Unfortunately, my previous ocean outings seemed always to be at beach locations where either the water was too cold or too dangerous, and the beach itself was crowded and bug-infested...but I have to say that these Hawaii beaches are stunning. Truly, we haven't seen an unsavory one yet.
If not for the fear of getting sunburned, I could certainly have spent the whole morning there. Instead, we headed to a lovely hidden whirlpool behind the swimming pool. We would not have found it if Henry had not asked the pool attendant. He actually toured
Original Hawaiian Leis
This is certainly not made in China. the property the previous morning to take pictures and never encountered it! The hot water felt wonderful, but again, the sun was blazing...there are only so many times one can reapply sunscreen before it seems silly, so we returned to the room to clean up for the day. After lunch at a Thai restaurant, Dasa's, in the Mauna Lani shopping area, we continued on the road to Kona for the main event...the lu'au. The drive to Kona should have been simple and uneventful, but major road construction essentially doubled our travel time...thank goodness we left so early! We walked along the streets of Kona through the main shopping areas--quaint little shops full of local color and lots of people, seemingly both native and tourist. We saw the palace of King Kamehameha, under construction/repair, and the first church of Hawaii. We picked up some Kona coffee and macadamia nuts for our friends in El Paso, then made our way back to the King Kamehameha Hotel for the lu'au.
At the lu'au, we were greeted by a large, but mostly friendly, Hawaiian man who distributed leis and sent us to our seats. Henry arranged for us to be on the front
Island Breeze Lu'au
Lu'au venue overlooking Kona row...hoping, I think, that I'd somehow be chosen to participate and ultimately be made to look silly! The couples sitting around us were a diverse group--newlyweds from Connecticut and a couple from a small town near Albuquerque. The name of the production was Island Breeze Lu'au, and I was quite impressed with the level of showmanship and professionalism of the musicians and performers. We saw a coconut husked and the Kalua pig come out of the pit in the ground before a beautiful buffet of Hawaiian and not-so-Hawaiian dishes was served. I had some of the Kalua pork, of course, as well as some delicious fish wrapped and steamed in edible leaves. There were desserts with coconut and pineapple, and I even tried the poi! It tasted like nothing...honestly, like absolutely nothing.
After dinner, the real show began. The emcee and performers gave us a taste of each of the islands which contributed to the Hawaiian people. Some were cheerful, some were serious, and some were scary--and of course, the cast included a generous amount of humor and comedy. The costumes were quite spectacular, though I'm still amazed at how quickly the performers managed to change! I especially loved
Lu'au dinner
We both got lei'd. the face paint of the Maori warriors...certainly easy to see how that would be intimidating to the enemy! The "big finale" was the fire eater. Honestly, it was a bit disconcerting when technicians on either end of the stage pulled a large net up high along the front of the stage (and we were seated right in front of the stage) ...until then, it hadn't occured to me that there was a chance of this well-trained performer somehow losing his grip on the flaming torch! Truly though, it was spectacular! I don't know how he learned to do those things without killing himself! I'm sure there are "tricks of the trade," but I don't want to know what they are...it was like magic to me. We drove back to the hotel, tired and full, and very satisfied with our last night on the big island.
The next morning we enjoyed our usual breakfast and then packed our things for our short flight to Maui. How quickly the time had flown at this beautiful place! After checking out, we took a short drive up to the Waikoloa development of shops, hotels, and restaurants. There, we had a tasty lunch at
Lu'au Opening Dance
Beautiful costumes by Island Breeze Lu'au Merriman's Market, returned the rental car, and waited for our somewhat delayed flight to Maui in the open-air airport in Kona...on to the next adventure!
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