Hawaii Day 4

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Our day was pre-determined today. We decided that we would spend all day at the Polynesian Cultural Centre. We also decided to drive with the top down there; though Golda had some objections, I convinced her otherwise. The drive there was as beautiful as the drive down to the Dole Plantation plant, only this time it felt like we were entering Jurassic park because of the steep mountain ranges along the road, and the ocean right beside it. On the way, I think I might have seen a church ruin. There was a beautiful backdrop, and behind the ruin, were steep tropical mountain ranges perfect for landscape photography. I just wish we could have had enough time to revisit that road before we go.



When we finally got to the Polynesian Cultural Centre, I noticed that it wasn’t like a community centre at all; it was almost like a theme park. Each Polynesian tribe has it’s own village in the cultural centre. For example there were Hawaiian, New Zealand, Tonga, Tahiti, and I’m sure that there are others, but I can’t remember. We had a lunch buffet there. We had some barbeque pork, chicken, sweet corn and some veggies. They were alright, but nothing spectacular.



I believe our first activity there was canoeing. They had canals running throughout the Cultural Centre and they can be traveled by canoe. It was pretty peaceful just paddling on the canals just watching people walk across the bridge and beside the canals.



The second activity was learning how to do the Tahitian dance (it’s not called Hula dancing). Golda was a natural at it; I however, was just being goofy and trying to have fun with it. I don’t think I was really that great. It was hard to coordinate my legs and my hands while trying to stay in rhythm.



Then, we went to the French Polynesian hut. There we learned about Tahitian dancing and it’s origins more in depth. For example: the grass skirts are not made of grass, they are made out of tree bark (it’s a very complicated process too). Speaking of dancing, we went to another hut which explains what the hand movements and what the foot movements mean in hula. Basically all those combined is a way of telling a story or in their case record history. They do not have a written language, so they tell their stories by passing down the dance moves from generation to generation. The combination of signs and the order of the movement created each unique story. They also mentioned how you have pronounce the Ukulele, “ uka le le”, and not “you ka leyli”.



We also got to play the Ukulele down in the music hut. I didn’t enjoy this as much because I’m not used to playing cords and playing them creates deep grooves on my fingertips. I might have enjoyed it more if I could actually produce the sound of the cords correctly, but I didn’t. I was accidentally hitting the other strings next to it; producing a muffled kind of sound.



We then went the Maori hut and learned of the different dances that the Maori people did for different purposes. I don’t remember much of what the dances were, but there was one dance I won’t forget, because it’s also the dance I’ve always wanted to see in real life. It was the Maori Haka. Intimidating and powerful, that dance always gets my blood pumping every time I see it. It’s no wonder they use that dance before they go to battle.



For the evening dinner we had the Luau. The dining area was big and the staging area was wonderful. With waterfalls and a staged rainforest in the main viewing area, it felt like we were in the middle of a forest. The entertainment was okay. There were a few dances, a showing of what Polynesian royalty would look like if they were to come, and the main event; the roasted pig. The roast pig was cooked for at least 18 hours in the ground with volcanic rocks. This pig is so fall of the bone tender, they need to wrap it around chicken wire or else it would fall apart if you try to carry it. It’s too bad that we didn’t get to eat the actual pig that they dug up from the ground. They probably fed us the pig they prepared earlier.



I almost forgot about the presentation of the canoes in the afternoon. It’s basically a parade of canoes through the canal. On top of the canoes was each of the different tribes in Polynesia that I mentioned. They would dance and play music on top of these canoes. One of the canoe dancers (I think it was Tonga) were dancing so hard, they rocked the canoe strong enough that the peddler fell into the water. It’s too bad that I didn’t get a picture of it, but it looked like he was kind of mad, but everybody gave him a big clap because of it. It was part to the fun of the parade.



Then the final show of the evening, Ha: The Breath of Life. It was a Polynesian musical about a father passing on his Ha to his son. Later on in the story the father dies (spoiler alert), but the son passes on his Ha to his son. So, the cycle repeats and Ha never dies as long as you have someone to pass it to. The coolest part of the show was the Haka and the Fire Dance. It was too bad that I could not take photos of the fire dance or take a video of the Haka on this show. I guess it was better this way since I will always remember it visually in my head and this journal will hopefully help me recall it.

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Photos

Luau
The Dining room where we had our Luau

Luau Pig
Showing how they prepare the pig for the Luau

Canoe Parade
Ali's