A Very Sandy Day!

Today we rented a car and drove to two great beaches. The first one was called Sandy Beach, possibly the best and weirdest name for a beach ever. The thing about this beach was that most of the waves were 15 feet high. You are only supposed to go in the water if you are a very good surfer or body surfer. As soon as we walked onto the beach a lifegaurd stopped us and asked if we were planning to swim. We said no, we just wanted to take some pictures.  As we were driving away, we saw a rescue helicopter carry someone in on a stretcher. There were some pretty crazy big waves out there. After about an hour we drove to Kailua Beach Park. There were lots of waves there too, not as big as Sandy Beach, but bigger than I'd ever seen. It was fun to wait just before the wave crashed over and then hang on to a boogie board and it would carry you super fast all the way to the shore. It was so fun! Me and Ellie had a really great time standing out in the ocean and letting the waves roll through us. Sasha was a bit scared because at the beginning a big wave crashed over her and knocked her under. I got knocked under too and it was pretty scary. It was a really fun day but I got a really bad sunburn on my arms, back, and neck and it hurts a lot. But I did have a really fun time. I'll post again soon!

Hanauma Bay Snorkeling

Today we went snorkeling in a place called Hanauma Bay. We had to get up very early. It was my favourite thing we have done so far. We saw lots and lots of fish and sea urchins. Me, Sasha, and my dad saw a huge brown-red eel that was all coiled up inside some coral. My favourite fish was called the trumpet fish and looked like a long white stick. We also saw some huge rainbow fish. There was a lot of coral that looked like rock. It was hard to believe it was alive. There were some places where the coral was so tall it formed a cave around you and you had to turn around.  It was so much fun! For supper today we went to an awesome place called Rock Island Cafe and was exactly like a fifties diner. It was so cool! I love that era. I had a hot dog and for dessert I had a vanilla milkshake. It tasted very good! Afterwards we walked around and went into a shop called 88 Tees. I bought a sweatshirt there. It was a very cool place. Today was very fun and one of my favourite days I've had!

The Polynesian Cultural Center

Yesterday, we got on a big bus to the Polynesian Cultural Center which is a big place which is run mostly by students going to the connected university. There are shows and activities for separate countries which are Tonga, Fiji, Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, and Aotearoa (New Zealand). The students that work at the different villages for each country are mostly from that place. They do a lot of dancing and music from that country, as well as activities. We learned how to weave fish, throw spears, make fire and other stuff. My favourite place was the Samoan show. They showed us how to crack open the coconut, take the meat out, and make the milk. A few people climbed up a coconut tree. It was so cool. They told us that in Samoa, the men do all of the gathering and cooking of food, and house work. The main guy running the show was really, really funny. Really funny. I also liked the Fiji show. They did a war dance and showed us how to play a Fijian instrument. It was fun!

The last show we saw was called Ha Breath of life. It is about a boy, Mana, who is born in an unknown place and his parents have to flee the island because a volcano is erupting. Mana has Ha, the breath of life inside him. The family travels to all the islands featured in the PCC.  We watch him learn to fight, dance, fall in love and get married. Then him and his father have to fight another tribe and his father is killed. He and his mother are very very sad. Then his wife, Lani, has a baby, named Kahana, and Mana learns that the breath of life goes on forever. I enjoyed the show a lot! They did lots of crazy things with fire which include sitting on top of a big fire for about 15 seconds in a grass skirt. It was so cool. The PCC is very interesting place. I learned a lot.

Day 2 and 3 in HAWAII!

Aloha!

On Monday we had a beach day. It was really nice, hot weather and it was lots of fun. Ellie and Sasha made a little pool close to the water and when the waves would wash around it they would shriek and laugh like crazy. We collected some cool coral rock too. For supper we went to a place called Senor Frogs. It was good food but I liked the people and the place the most. There was a guy working there named Cory and he made balloon hats for us. My mom started talking to him and we found out that he was from Massachusetts. While we were eating a guy called some of the staff to the stage and they played some music and started dancing. Yesterday we went to this mall but it was an open air mall and had no roof. It was really hot in there. We went to a Hawaiian store called Hilo Hattie. I bought some flower earrings there. For supper we went to a place called Giovanni's. They were playing the Canucks game and there were lots of fans there and whenever they would score they would cheer and clap really loud. I will post some more tomorrow!

Hawaii!

Aloha!

I am having so much fun in Hawaii! The plane ride was really long and boring because we only got one hour of TV before it cut out. I think I got 15 min. of sleep on the plane. I was so tired when we got to our hotel. We stayed at a Best Western airport hotel for one night and then in the morning we moved to a really nice condo. The lobby is really cool because it is sort of outside and then you can take a escalator down to a street. It is only a 5 min. walk to the beach. We went and checked it out yesterday and it was pretty nice. We went to a restaurant called The Cheesecake Factory for lunch and it was so good! I want to go back there and eat a cheesecake called The Hershey Bar Cheesecake. It looked so good in the case. For supper we went to a place called Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. It was really interesting. I had a burger that was really yummy and then for dessert something called a Chocolate Hurricaine. The restaurant kind of reminded me of Rainforest Cafe, but with an island theme, not a rainforest theme. Hawaii is like a perfect little world. It is hard to imagine a normal person living here. I will probably write again in the next few days.