Day 8-Catamaran & Polynesian Cultural Center

 First up this morning was our Catamaran ride that once again left from Kualoa Ranch. On the way out we were able to see several turtles breech the water and it definitely had us watching the water closely for more.

This is what our tour guide called the China Man's Hat. When The boat passes another small island and you sit in a specific spot on the boat it makes it look like you have a hat on.

At one point we were even able to see a couple whales in the distance

These are the ferry boats we took to and from the Island and catamaran

When we got back to the ranch we noticed they had a farmers market and I was so excited so we went to check it out. We bought some star fruit, baby bananas, and some rambutan.

Then we grabbed lunch at a local food truck spot. These smoothies as you can imagine were amazing. After we got our order we wished we had bought more.

We stopped at the shrimp truck that people were raving about but I found it quite disappointing

When we got back to the duplex we tried all of our farmer market fruits. Everyone was intrigued by the rambutan but not as impressed with the taste but I was happy everyone was willing to try.  

After we caught our breath it was off to the PCC

We visited all of the villages and participated in their activities. 

This is Tonga. We got to see how they put the entire coconut to use and don't waste any of it. That even included them using the husk as fire starter

He also demonstrated how they climb the trees to retrieve the coconuts

Then off to Samoa they showed us how to make "potato soup" out of green bananas. They were very resourceful and didn't have potatoes. Hallie and Emy were chosen as helpers.

Then we tried to start a fire with sticks...key word tired

In Tahiti we learned to dance. In some ways it was fun but embarrassing for me. 

These buildings weren't built by hand. They were beautiful and amazing

In Figi we got to try spear throwing

And fishing....we saw quite a few but didn't catch anything

Fiji

Hawaii

Then we headed back over to try out the "potato soup." To my surprise they all loved it and had multiple servings 

We learned to make a fish out of a palm leaf

And some stick twirling

here's a picture of our daring fishes

Aotearoa

Tonga seemed to be the one that had the lasting impression though. Matt was chosen as an on stage participant and I think I can leave it at that. He is just so fun no matter where he is 

I was concerned about us not having enough time. Several people said they spent multiple days at the PCC but we didn't have time in the schedule to do more that one day. But we found that as the end of that day came we were ready to go home.

As we were leaving Kualoa Ranch there was this sprouted coconut on the side of the road and Hallie begged to bring it home....so of coarse we did. We thought it would get caught up in customs but surprisingly it made it to Utah without a hitch.  Although months later we threw it away becuase we can't grow a coconut tree in Utah.