On Wednesday morning, the weather was looking more promising so we headed north again toward the Pololu and Waipio Valleys . The drive took us through the little village of Kohala , the birth place of King Kamehameha. It was a very small quaint town with a rather large statue of the King. Near the valleys, i t started raining like a monsoon so that day's plans were busted. It was so foggy, cloudy, rainy and just plain dreary that we had to do something different.
We just went driving for a long time sort of all over that side of the island. The houses are very small everywhere. We saw no large homes and no brick homes at all. They all were like the weather boards you see in the Caribbean. The villages all had very small country looking stores and very small churches which all reminded me of "the little brown church in the vale" only they weren't brown. As far as we could tell from all the country roads we were on they did not waste money on bridges. They were all one lane bridges. It was really funny. The two lane road lead right up to each of them and you could tell they were designed that way. There was very little traffic and so it was quite convenient. It caused no problems, but I am sure it saved tons of money.
The north region is very green, lush and the terrain is quite different from the arid more flat region of the Kona Coast where we stayed.
After returning to the condo and getting into our beach wear, we headed off to the snorkeling beach. We stopped at the rental shack where Richard and Victoria were the only ones brave enough to get the snorkeling gear. Doyle and I neither one can stand to have our face under the water. We rented the boogie boards with windows in them. The beach is not all sand and is very rough and rocky to get into and out of the water, but it was worth it. We could sort of float around on the boards and watch the fish and turtles in the water.
There were so many of them and so many different colors; red, yellow, green, blue, stripes, dots, solid colors and the turtles were so big.
What fun we had. We tooled around in the water for several hours. Richard had his underwater camera pack and got some really great shots.
The water was so clear and there were many, many people there, but everyone was so nice and courteous. It was really fun. I had a time getting out. I was tired and decided to go out first. I slipped on the rocks and went down in a great big splash; leave it to me! I bruised one of my knees but no permanent harm so I was happy. Setting under the shelter out of the sun just watching everyone was a trip. It wasn't long before someone stopped by and started talking. There are still friendly soles in this world who just want to be nice. This gentleman was a regular at this beach and was so nice to talk to.
This was also the day that we chose to go to the luau that night. The Island Breeze Royal Luau was held at the King Kamehameha resort. The King and the Princess were brought onto shore in a boat with all the expected pageantry. The pit where the pig and other foods were cooked was ceremoniously uncovered etc. The food was removed and cut up to put on trays. They had an open bar set up outside and on each side of the bar was a canoe. Each canoe was decked out in island dècor and contained a huge punch bowl. One was just fruit punch and the other was filled with Mai Tais. It was made very weak with rum so it was announced that if you wanted it stronger the bar would happily oblige. I loved this. The Mai Tai was very good and I had some added extra to each one I drank. Doyle has missed the announcement and kept going back to the canoe thinking he was just getting fruit punch. After a while I found him sitting at our table and asked what was wrong. He said he had gotten dizzy and had to sit down. That is when I found out he was drinking the Mai Tai and did not know it had rum in it. He said no wonder it was good!!! He had drunk about 6 or 7 and not being use to the liquor, well, that was making him "dizzy". I got a big kick out of this, I laughed and laughed. I could not get him to drink any more all night!
Finally they had the food ready and on the menu was
Appetizers: Lomi Salmon and Kona Style Poke
Salads: Cucumber Namasu, Kona Tomatoes, Macaroni Salad, Waimea Garden Greens, Legume Salad Vinaigrette
Fresh Fruits: Pineapple wedges, cinnamon-spiced bananas
Bread: Banana Bread
Island Side Dishes: Poi, Steamed White Rice, `Uala (Hawaiian Sweet Potato)
Entrees: Lau Lau, Kalua Pig, Kona Broil, Pulehu Chicken, Catch of the Day Tropical
Desserts: Mea `Ono Coconut Cake, Haupia (Coconut Pudding)
Beverages: Kona Coffee, Tropical Punch, Mai Mai, and Open Bar Service.
After dinner there was entertainment. If you can imagine an island band with a country theme and sound you got it nailed. The Emcee was fair and the music was mediocre, but the dancers saved the day in my opinion. They were very good and I enjoyed all the different Polynesian dances. There were some that were outstanding. It was presented as a tour of the Polynesian Islands through dance. Each island of the South Pacific has its own distinct style and flair. It was very interesting. The dance was Tahiti, Hawaii, Ke Mele Male `Ana (the Wedding Song), Aotearoa (Maori warrior), Fiji, and Samoan. These were great and there was even a fire dancer; he was fantastic.
I was exhausted when we got back to the unit and the Mai Tais couldn't even ease my pain so I took a pain pill went to bed.
