POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER

The Luau : purple taro rolls, purple taro, roasted pig, fish, raw salmon, fruit, poi, salad. beef jerkey, dessert and Hawaiian punch.

Unveiling the rosted pig.

I got to wear two leis because Dad liked his woven fish catcher better. I loved my lei, I expected one after I got off the airplane and I had to wait a long, long time to wear a flowered lei.

Dad showing off his tatoo. He hated to wash it off. He was proud of it.

These guys were from Samoa. His tatoos are real and all over his back and legs as a sign of royalty in his village. He made fire from rubbing sticks, hulled a coconut real fast and climbed to the top of a coconut tree for the show. The other guy blew in a shell to make a calling.

This girls is giving the shaka sign which means hang loose, friendship, aloha and all that Hawaiian stuff. They told us that the guy that came up with the wave had been bitten by a shark and so he only had those two fingers to wave with, but the tradition caught on.

On the bridge getting ready to go on the canoe ride where a guide stands on the back and uses a big stick to push the canoe down the canal. You go pass all the villages and see their different shelters and decorations. You pass by waterfalls and beautiful flowering trees and foliage.

This is a shot of one of the boats coming by. The King is dressed in his robes which were orginally made from exotic bird feathers. These bright yellow and red colors signified the royal court.

Here are the dancers from Tahiti, shaking their hips. It was fun to watch. They made it look easy.

I found this young girls making leis. Every lie is hand-made for all the visitors. It's hard to be sure, but we passed by the parking lot several times while in Hawaii and it was always full, with 15-20 tour buses besides all the cars. At $120 each, they've got to be making big bucks. I will add that it is one of the biggest attractions on the island and I felt like we got our money worth. They go way out of their way to put on a great show! I was proud of them all.

We went on a visit to the Hawaiian Temple. You can see that it doesn't look as white. It is undergoing major revisions. It was built in 1919. You can't see them, but there are carvings on all four sides at the top. We got to see pictures of them and they were beautiful. They also had a Book of Mormon under glass that was the first to be translated into Hawaiian. The problem now is that people don't speak or read the Hawaiian language of 1919. Some revival of the language is on going and is being taught in the schools. We regret we couldn't attend a session in the Temple.

We were there. It is beautiful. You can see that the Temple is a long way off from the visitors center. I wondered how people got up there when they did attend the Temple.


Here is some video for your entertainment.