The Trade Winds blow onto Oahu from the east. Coming up against the Ko'olau Mountain Range which runs parallel to the eastern or windward side of the island, the winds bring heavy rains to this side of the island making it particularly lush and green. Wednesday we drove up the Pali Highway to the dramatic (and very windy) Pali Lookout which is located at a pass through the mountain chain. We stopped to take pictures and found that it was very hard to stand up against the strong winds. We were fortunate to have an excellent day for this as clouds frequently top the mountains, but this day they were mostly absent.

There are dramatic views looking out to the eastern shore and north and south along the mountain range. This picture is looking to the south. You can also see a lower lookout level which was even windier.

The views to the north are more impressive. This view shows the coatline and the clouds which are usually found along these mountains.

From Pali, we drove down the mountains and turned north to visit one of the five Botanical Gradens operated by the City of Honolulu, this one was the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden. It has five regions collecting flowers and trees from different parts of the world. We didn't have a lot of time by now to explore and it was also hot so we visited just two. We discovered that there weren't too many flowers blooming just now, but Karol Ann took pictures of some South American ones we saw.

We turned south now and drove around the southeast end of the island. There were beaches and other attractions, but we missed many of them as we were on the landward side of the road and there was nowhere to stop.

Thursday we spent up at the Polynesian Cultural Center which is also on the windward side of the island, but up near the northern corner. We rode their bus this time as we stayed through the evening show and as driving back on the narrow, winding road that late was not appealing. It was a good choice. The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is one of Oahu's biggest attractions. It is about an hour away from Waikiki. We enjoyed a scenic drive over the mountains again and a winding drive up the windward shore. We had a guide to describe the sites we passed (he was from the islands of Tonga). The PCC was founded by Brigham Young University-Hawaii to capture and present the heritage of various Polynesian island groups. Students come to BYU from these islands and as part of the program they work at the PCC as well as study at BYU.

The PCC has different areas devoted to each island group with buildings and shows presenting the culture of each area. We chose a tour package that placed us in a group of 15 along with a guide (Malcolm) who brought us around the park.

We started with a buffet lunch under an open pavillion. The lunch included entertainment provided by children ages 8-12 (?) dressed in costumes representing their island groups performing various routines.

From there we met up with our guide and began visiting the various island recreations. Here's a picture of us in our Hilo Hatties Hawaiian clothes in front of one of the island houses.

There is one of the island shows.

This tall house was sort of a Polynesian Tower of Babel - reaching toward the heavens. The young man in the foreground was our guide, Malcolm.

Easter Island is the newest island site they have. Here are some figures from there. There is a large figure like these in Waterbury outside the Timex Time Museum, curiously enough.

A featured attraction at the PCC is the mid-afternoon parade of the canoes. Each island group has a canoe (or float rather) on which they perform various dances while the canoe is pushed along a stream that runs through the middle of the park by one guy, rather like the Venetian gondoliers. It was very entertaining, but very hot as we had to stand for some time in the direct sun (all the shady spots were taken by the time we got there, alas). Here are two of the floats we saw.

At the end of the afternoon we got to ride in a passenger canoe along the stream which brought us back to the main part of the park where we had a Luau for dinner. Actually it was a very large (over 1000 people were seated in another open pavillion) buffet dinner featuring luau foods. As a part of the evening's entertainment, at the stage at the front of the pavillion the cooked pig was uncovered and carried ceremoniously past us. We were also treated to a presentation and description of the royal Hawaiian King and Queen's clothes and accessories. There was also more music and such. The feeding of the one thousand went along surprisingly smoothly.

Following the Luau we shopped a bit and finished the day at their massive evening show. No pictures allowed. By the time this was done it was certainly time to go home and get ready for Friday.