Polynesian Cultural Centre

Polynesian Cultural Centre

We just got back from an absolutely fabulous day. It was cloudy with intermittent rain today, but I think that may have been a bit of a blessing. It was still pretty hot, so I can’t imagine walking the center on a hot sunny day.

It seemed to both of us when we booked the tour, that 10 hours was going to be a horrendously long time to spend there, but it was so fun and interesting, the time flew by. I would HIGHLY recommend this tour to anyone coming to Hawaii. Book the Ambassador Package; it is the most expensive but highly worth the cost.

A little history, the Polynesian Cultural Centre was opened in 1963 as part of the Brigham Young University – Hawaii. All of the kids, who work there, come from the countries that they represent, and are attending university there. All their tuition is paid by money earned at the Polynesian Cultural Centre.

Our initial guide for the bus ride was a fellow from New Zealand, whose name is so long it was just shortened to “Main”. He kept up a running commentary on the way up, and was tremendously funny and entertaining. The 90 minute bus ride just flew by. He pointed out the site and lagoon that Gilligan’s Island was filmed. He showed us where the hit TV series Lost is filmed, parts of Jurassic Park and even the movie Tears of the Sun.

Upon our arrival we were met by our tour guide for the day, a young Australian fellow named Nick. He was very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. He took us around to various village sites such as New Zealand, Tonga, Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti.

There we were treated to a series of entertaining shows and exhibits. Each of the performers in these small shows was extremely talented and funny. The fellow from the Hawaii exhibit gave a demonstration of all of the musical instruments of the Hawaiian Islands, and even gave a very good Elvis Presley impersonation. The fellow from Tonga gave a demonstration of some of the everyday things that tribesman used to do, such as making fire by rubbing sticks together, opening a coconut with a sharp stick, and even producing coconut milk from the pulp. He was also very talented and funny.

One of the more hilarious productions involved a demonstration of drumming, where they selected three members of the audience to participate. The fellow from Utah was very good with the drums. The fellow from Chicago was quite funny, at one point breaking into a version of Who Let the Dogs Out when he could not figure out the native chanting. The hit of the show was a young fellow from Japan. He followed along quite well with the drumming, and the language differences made for some interesting twists.

During one of the walk arounds, Nick pointed out the spot where during the filming of Blue Hawaii, Elvis Presley sat and sang a love song. Each member of our tour group got a chance to sit on a rock beside the bent palm tree and have their photo taken. We also did the same, and the photo is posted above, titled the Elvis Tree.

After the tour portion was over, we went to dinner. Some opted for a traditional Hawaiian Luau, complete with roasted pig and poi. We however chose dinner in the Ambassador dining room, which consisted of a buffet dinner. This buffet was absolutely incredible, featuring the likes of prime rib, Alaska King Crab legs, jumbo sized shrimp, sushi, and numerous other fare. My lord we were stuffed when we left there.

On to the highlight show of the evening, and it was even more incredible, featuring dancers from all the represented nations and finishing with a spectacular finale of fire walking and spinning. Absolutely amazing. It was an amazing ending to an amazing day. We only walked 7.3 KM today, but I literally have no skin left on two of my toes from blistering.

Back on the bus for the 90 minute trip back. Not nearly as entertaining, but everyone was so exhausted and full of food that half the bus was asleep in the first five minutes.