On the first full day we went to Duke's Canoe Club for their breakfast buffet. We ate breakfast 3 times and lunch and dinner 1 time each at Duke's. The food was always great and, other than having a waiter that did not know how to handle our lunch voucher, the wait staff was wonderful.

After breakfast we walked along the beach, with Ernie going for a quick swim, until it was time to take the cataraman sail. The cataraman sail lasted 1 hour going out a ways then following along the beach. We saw some very nice scenery and Dale spotted some sea turtles. It was a nice relaxing way to start our activities.

After exploring The International Marketplace across from the beach we returned to the hotel to shower and change clothes for the luau. We went to Germaine's Luau. We discovered that authentic Hawaiian food is bland, but we found enough foods that we liked to have a good meal. Though Poi (mashed taro root) is a well known Hawaiian food, it is not eaten by itself by Hawaiians, but is used as a condiment since few people enjoy it alone. One thing that was very good was "kalua pig". The word kalua refers to the process of cooking in an earth oven (ka, the; lua, hole). During the luau there is a ceremony when the pig is lifted out of the earth oven. There was entertainment including music and dancing originating on the different polynesian islands, with the highlight being a torch dancer. There were points during the show where they brought some of the guests on stage to be part of the show. At one of these times one of the dancers took Ernie by the hand and led him onto the stage, where he and others were instructed to hold their arms up and wiggle their hips. We sat at a table with people from Australia and had a pleasant conversation with them. (Pictures)

Last updated:   feb 11 2016