Field Trip #4

Gavin joined us on our last field trip and they really did save the best for last. We headed over to the Windward side to the Mac nut farm amid a downpour. I was praying that the rain would let up and it stopped just as we pulled in. We started the tour in a rickety old bus and toured the gardens.

We learns about the different plants- I learned that red ti can be soaked, then ground up and massaged on the temples to heal a headache. Then we got in a boat (equally as rickety) and road around Hawaii's largest fish pond. There were some very large fish in there. The place is famous too. Lost's submarine scenes were shot there as well as scenes from 51 Dates, Tears of the Sun, the show Off the Map, Jurassic Park, Paradise Island, Gilligan's Island and Mighty Joe Young. After our mini cruise, we watched as our tour guide husked a coconut and we tried the coconut water right from the shell. Makaela said the "hair tickled her mouth" as she drank it. When we drank the water, the tour guide grated the meat of the coconut for us and called it "coconut shave ice". It tastes much different than the coconut I am used to eating in desserts. It's much better. At this point, the heavens opened and we huddled together in the rain as the tour guide tried to make fire out of hibiscus branches and he did. The kids were a bit scared and even more so as the fire dance began and the flaming baton was thrown around. After the fire was out, it officially became "cool". The kids got to feed all the chickens the left over coconut and then we boarded the bus again to check out the fruit fields. We all got to try starfruit (the kids said they didn't like it, but continued to take bites of it anyway) and we got to shell macadamia nuts. We may have ended up a bit wet, but between the activities and the scenery, it was awesome. Days like this make me appreciate the island even more and count my blessings that I live here.