Take a flashlight to Hawaii. That's what we learned. More than once we wanted to go exploring but failed because of a lack of lighting. We explored the lava tubes (interesting cave-like formations made from lava cooling in stages), but after a certain point in the tube, they stopped putting up lights and you couldn't go farther without a flashlight of your own. [I'd like to point out that more than 3/4 of the first cave we visited was unlit. -Wayne] We tried exploring some caves near a waterfall, but failed because there were no lights at all in the cave. Next time we go to Hawaii, we'll know to BYOF -- bring your own flashlight.
Before we left the Big Island, we also went swimming on a rockier shore near Hilo. It was surprisingly cold water, but then, it was only 9am on the wet side of the island. When we got out, some folks asked if we enjoyed playing with the turtles. Unfortunately, we had to admit we hadn't seen them at all, even though at least one shared our swimming hole with us! Also on the Big Island, we stopped to see the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory, some cool waterfalls called Boiling Pots, and the Liliuokalani garden near our hotel. The garden was especially nice...a Japanese style rock garden. [This must have been the second most spiritual place we visited in my opinion. -Wayne]
Our first day on O'ahu we somehow managed to wake up and get ready before Grandpa. He was impressed. [This is truly a story we doubt he will ever stop telling. :) ] We were just excited to head over to the Polynesian cultural center already and get the party started. Along the way to the polynesian cultural center, we stopped on the North Shore to see some beautiful beaches and fairly large waves (large enough for them to put signs up warning against swimming there, at any rate). The temple was closed for maintenance, but we at least got our picture taken in front of it. Oh and Turtle Bay Resort was a very nice place to stop as well. [I'd give it 4 stars, not quite a 5 star joint. But we had some lunch there in the resort restaurant and that was worth it.]
Finally we made it to the Polynesian cultural center. It was a ton of fun, I have to say. The Samoan guys made us laugh our heads off, and they made it look so easy to climb a palm tree with your bare feet and open a coconut and start a fire (without matches). The Maori people showed us traditional songs and dances [I could watch and listen to Maoris all day long for the rest of my life and never get tired of it]. We got to bang a stick on the ground to a Fiji song. We almost got to learn the hula at the Hawaii exhibit, but the canoe pageant interrupted. Tahiti showed us how to shake our hips good though. :) And we had a blast with the Tongans and their drums. We felt like we breezed through, but there was so much to see that we couldn't dilly-dally long. The PCC also had a fun luau (including traditional purple glue food they like to call "poi") and a fabulous show [I have now tasted poi. And, as Grandpa says, "I tasted it twice: first and last time"]. If you see nothing else at the PCC, the show is well worth it. Lots of fun. Lots of dancing. Only a few inside jokes from things earlier in the day.
Our last day in Hawaii, we learned just how much Grandpa likes to sit and wait. :) The day was nothing like we planned it to be, but that isn't saying much since we didn't start off with a plan. Everything we thought of fell through though...the Hanauma snorkling bay was closed (because apparently they close *every* Tuesday...who knew?), swimming was off limits because of the wave size (who knew they would be *bigger* on the east shore?), and we got to Hilo Hattie's two minutes after they closed (does *everything* have to close at 5 or 6 in Hawaii?). But despite these seeming setbacks, we made the most of our time exploring and wading, and sitting on the beach and sitting at a very fancy but slow restaurant and sitting for four hours in the airport. We did quite a bit of sitting that day. :)
It was a fun trip. We saw lots of things (not everything, but we did our best) and had time to relax and play as well. And since we never adjusted to the time change, coming back to Utah shouldn't be *too* bad. Just really, really cold. At least we have a couple of flashlights here though. Just in case.
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