Boat Pageant at the Cultural Center

Today I would like to share some short videos taken at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the island of Oahu. More information about what is in these videos can be found here on the page of the website that describes the six islands depicted throughout the Center. The islands include those islands of Aotearoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga. Each name represents multiple islands of that culture.

This tour was over 12 hours long from hotel to the Center, through all the activities, a Polynesian buffet, an evening show called Ha, the Breath of Life and the return trip to our hotel. I began to run out of room on my camera's card and was depleting the batteries too so I didn't get as much photographed as intended. These clips were taken during the boat pageant. Between camera issues and crowds of people, I didn't film the boats from Hawaii or Tahiti.

Some of the things that surprised my friend Lynn and I the most were how strenuous these dances were, especially the men slapping their chests and thighs. Some of the groups were very loud and facial expressions weren't always what we would consider friendly. There was only so much time for explanation at each "village" where some things were explained but that was before the pageant so these particular questions didn't arise. Then again, some things were undoubtedly explained and I've forgotten them while trying to stay out of the sun (how could I have left the sunscreen at the hotel?!!), baby a blister on my foot and worry about my camera's batteries and card? Let's just say that none of the four of us admit to sleeping on the hour's ride back to the hotel, but we don't remember any details of the ride either.

Some of the chants and music are quite loud so you may want to turn your speakers down before clicking on the clips.

Dancers from Fiji From Samoa From Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand)
From Tonga

I hope these clips play successfully. I haven't used YouTube for personal videos before and have the album set as private. Let me know if you can't see the images and I will make adjustments. Tomorrow I will end this travelogue with photos of orchids....lots of them.