Saturday, March 23, 2024

Hawaii Day 7: Diamond Head, USS Arizona, North Shore, Polynesian Cultural Center

 We got up bright and early on Saturday morning to head to Diamond Head Crater for our reserved hiking time. It was a good hike with nice views. Matthew liked seeing the pill boxes. 

Bright-headed bird

Me and Matthew partway up.

U and Me

It was cool to see the reef from above.

View of Honolulu from up top.

Nice view of the ocean and reefs.

We made it! Me, Matthew and U

Panoramic of the whole area

Going down the stairs on our way down. Do you see Megan?

Megan, Matthew and Me hiking down.

U, Me, Matthew, Megan

We rented a Ford Mustang on Oahu! It was fun to drive around with the top down although Megan did not always appreciate the wind and figured she has it the worst since she was in the back of the car and has long hair.

From the other side

The windows needed a little help coming up to get in right location. Megan and Matthew got to be pros at getting them where they needed to be!


We then went to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial. It was very sobering to think about the attack on Pearl Harbor and all the lives that were lost. Here are a few pictures from the USS Arizona Memorial.



Those who died.

Megan, Matthew, Me and U with part of the USS Arizona behind us.



We then headed to the north shore. It was slow going as we kept running into traffic.
No emergencies allowed...

These look like Lego trees.

We stopped at Sunset Beach to see some of the big waves and watch the surfers. The pictures don't really do the waves justice--they were around 8 feet tall which is impressive.


We then went to the Polynesian Cultural Center to see some more shows and participate in the cultural activities.
First up was the Tongan show since it was Megan's favorite.

We then watched the weapons show in Aotearoa. The people who work in this area of the PCC have training battles every Saturday morning.


We then did an activity with poi balls. It definitely takes coordination!

Next up was Samoa, where we tried to start a fire with wood on wood (U got a decent bit of smoke). We also saw two guys race up coconut trees and watched some fire knife dancing.




Some chickens enjoying the show.

Matthew and U trying their hand at fire knife dancing, albeit without the fire and the knife. We actually all tried it. It takes a lot of coordination and is similar to baton twirling.


We then went to Tahiti where we ate coconut bread (yum!), learned about their temples, tried our hand at spear throwing, learned some Tahitian dance moves and used bamboo sticks to fish. Megan and Me went to the drum and dance show where we learned about how different drums are made and we got to try dancing again. The hips move a lot although the movement is more from the knees.
Matthew and Megan fishing.

U fishing. Me fished as well. The fish were not really biting although Me did feel a tug on her pole when a fish ate the food on her line.

We saw Rapa Nui (native name for Easter Island).

Matthew and U

Fierce warriors with the tiki.

We watched the Hawaii film and then ate dinner while contemplating which way to go.

We stopped by the Laie Hawaii temple. It is really beautiful.
Me, Matthew, U, Megan



Matthew, Me, Megan

Full moon

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