Taryn's Mad Hatter Adventures

8/1/24

We last left off with our Dole Whip at the Dole Plantation. When we boarded the bus at the plantation, Gar had some information about the Polynesian Cultural Center on our seat. Here is the map and then smaller bits of the map closer up. This is where we were headed next.

Up close, you can see each village had cultural presentations and exhibits, and hands on activities.

On the way we learned that almost all of the employees at the PCC were college students at Brigham Young University in Hawaii.

We arrived around 11:15 a.m. and the “park” didn’t open until 12:30 p.m. So we spent some time going through the shops and then having a snack. There are several food trucks right near the entrance.

My mom and kids shared this:

Fish and Chips! And it was really good! The fish was HUGE! It was plenty for multiple people to share.

We actually felt like we were rope dropping at Disney. We got to the gates waiting for them to open! There was a bag/security check.

Did I mention yet that it was realllllly hot today? It was! Our plan was to immediately get into the South Canoe and head to the North Canoe stop.

We were some of the first people there!

We were the second boat to leave the dock!

The canoe ride was SO HOT! Everyone was melting. When we got off at the launch, there was a little hot dog stand. My daughter was hungry so we got one of those. He was grilling them up fresh on a little grill. She ate the whole thing, so I’m assuming it was good!

The first village we visited was Tahiti.

The girls tried spear throwing:

And we all got tattoos:

Next up was Tonga:

We learned how to weave with palm leaves and made little windmills that spun in the breeze.

My daughter also learned how to juggle.

Everyone in this village was so friendly and helpful!

Now I was getting hungry! So we made our way across the bridge to Aotearoa. I had scouted out food locations ahead of time, so I knew what was served where. I had my eye on something here.

This is chicken teriyaki and it was delicious!

Our last stop was Samoa. It was hopping over here! Lots of activity going on.

My daughter wanted to try more weaving and this time made a fish.

After this, we went to their cultural presentation, The Tree of Life. We were a few minutes late, but I think this was the Chief. He was very entertaining!

They showed how to start a fire, husk a coconut, and more!

The grand finale was watching someone climb a coconut tree.

We were so hot and tired! We still had an hour and a half until we had to be back on the bus to return to the resort. We decided to head to the front of the park and just sit in the shade somewhere and get a snack. My mom had back surgery less than a year ago, and she has arthritis. We wanted to make sure she was comfortable and could walk. She refused to let us get a wheelchair to push her around here!

I cannot get over the scenery in Hawaii! It’s just beautiful everywhere we go!

There is a cutie little ukelele shop.

These are the doors to a gigantic buffet. But they made for a perfect backdrop!

Once we were back on the bus, we headed to downtown Honolulu for a drive through tour on the way back to the resort.

We were back to our resort by 6:30 p.m. Our plan was to just buy dinner in the ABC Store. They DO have a microwave that they will use for you if you buy something that needs to be heated up (like my daughter did)!

A worker took this to use their break room microwave. There is a sign posted by the food offering this.

She actually loved this.

I got potstickers that were in their warming server.

These were okay. I’ve had way better!

It was time to head out to see the sunset, and my girls were dying to step foot into the ocean.

THIS SKY!

It was packed! There were people everywhere. We were lucky to find a tiny spot in the sand to put a towel for me to sit on. That stuff you see in the photo below is not mine. It’s in front of where I’m sitting!

Up next…Pearl Harbor