Hawaii- Day One The Adventure begins

Kualoa Ranch

Because my husband is an intricate vacation planner we had an itinerary already planned for our week.  So that we could get the most out of our stay.    There is always room for flexibility with our schedule but, without a plan we tend to miss opportunities to make some great memories. 

Our first day started with a drive along the Windward Coast to Kualoa Ranch.  This is a wonderful place and we could have easily spent more time here there was plenty to do and see.  The Ranch is family owned and is over 4000 acres of mountains, valleys, and coastline.  It offers various activities and tours including its famous Movie Tour where you can see the filming locations of famous movies like Jurassic Park, Godzilla, 50 First Dates and the TV series Lost.  I wish I could tell you how great this tour was but we didn’t go on it.  Instead we choose to go on the Jungle Expedition Tour where we boarded a 6 wheel vehicle and took a one hour tour up into the mountains of Kualoa.  Our ride was adventurous as we rode in the open air bench seats and rumbled through streambeds and up steep hills.  Once at the top of our Mountain we were able to take in some incredible views of the coastline below and Mokoli’i Island in the distance.  Our tour group was small only 6 people and our tour guide was personable. He showed us some of the insidious jungle plants including the Mimosa Pudica Fern that retracts when touched.  Our kids got a real kick out this and quickly searched other locations where they could experiment on this plant. 

Off we go!	Stopping for a break and not wanting to get out
The view from the tailgate was the best in the vehicle	Mokoli’i Island translated as Chinaman’s Hat

The Ranch also offers horseback tours, atv tours, kayak tours, a petting zoo, and restaurant.  As I stated we could have easily spent more time here and on our next visit we will certainly make more time to enjoy some of the other activities. 

Just down the road from the entrance of Kualoa Ranch is the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Farm.  We spotted it on our way to the ranch and upon our exit we made certain to go back and take a closer look.  After tasting the many different flavors we finally settled on our favorites and took some home with us. 

Our next stop of the day was a local Hawaiian BBQ place called Papa Ole’s in Hauula, HI along the Kamehameha Highway.  Steve had done a bit of research hoping to find some more local places to eat that would not be as expensive as chain restaurants and better than fast food type joints.  When we pulled up and noticed the local fireman sitting in the outdoor seating area we new we had found a truly good place.  Your local emergency service people only choose the best places to eat.  We weren't disappointed either.   I had the traditional Kuala Pork, Stuart tried teriyaki beef and Steve had teriyaki chicken.  Leah stuck with plain French Fries but she loved them!  We all loved our food it was some of the best we ate on the island and we would definitely  go back again.  The price was moderate, not cheap but much better than eating at a burger joint and not as expensive as a nice sit down place. 

Our final destination of the day was the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We had hoped that this would be a great place to end up our day of sightseeing.  We got there just in time to see the floating parade down the center of the park that features dancing and costumes from every Polynesian culture.  Our seats, since we did not have time to get there early and pick the best, were in the hot sun and very uncomfortable.  We didn’t sit for the length of the parade simply because we were so miserable.  We chose to purchase one of the ice cold coconuts instead.  The vender drilled a couple of holes for us and inserted a straw.  He then told us when we had finished drinking the milk to come back and he would crack our coconut open to allow us to eat the meat inside.  I wanted to make sure we tried this just so we could say we had the experience and to let the kids have a taste.  What surprised though was how much we all enjoyed the ice cold coconut milk, even the kids!  Maybe it was because we were so hot or perhaps it really is that good.  When we finished our milk and then got to eat the coconut flesh it wasn’t nearly as sweet but we did enjoy scooping it out and trying it. 

The Polynesian Cultural Center the ice cold coconut was the best thing here.	View from the car window while traveling along Kamehameha Hwy.

We walked around and looked at the different village displays it was interesting to see the differences in the native cultures but honestly we didn’t find it very exciting.  After spending our afternoon here we all agreed we could have skipped this place, and honestly our kids would have enjoyed us spending the afternoon at the beach much more. 

We ended our evening back at our hotel where sat around the huge dinning room table and played a rousing game of Catan a new family favorite board game. 

For all of our adventures that day, not including the Macadamia Nut Farm, we used our Go Oahu Card where we were able to save on our entrance fees.  You can learn more about how to use this card here.