Aulani Jan 19th-30th -Embrace the Ocean-Jan30th FINISHED

[Malia78]

Saturday Jan 23

Today was Punchbowl day. Shots of sunrise over Diamondhead on drive to downtown.

Breakfast at Anna Miller’s—seemed like a Denny’s to me. My breakfast made me long for Kona’s macadamia nut pancakes.

DA stopped to pick up some fresh leis for her husband’s grave—he is interred at Punchbowl Cemetery. We spent quite a lot of time at Punchbowl. Memories for both DA and my parents, particularly DD. Took in view from the lookout too.

 

[Malia78]

Punchbowl continued...

 

[Malia78]

Next, drove up the Pali Pali highway with a stop at the lookout.

 

[Malia78]

Byoto Temple—love black swans, obsessed with capturing the open-mouthed Koi on camera and yes, spotted the resident cat.

 

[Malia78]

One final brief stop at Botanical Gardens before returning to Aulani.

DM, DD and I three more turns in the lazy river--this time DM and I sharing a double tube.

Quick hello to my favorite elevator Menehune and then dinner of appetizers in the Olelo Room. This food was so yummy as can be seen by the empty plates! My drink is the Pineapple-Ginger Splash from the non-alcoholic selections—would definitely get again.

While eating, DD tells story of previous night where he was returning to the room after getting a drink refill. He is on this path by himself and suddenly he hears a voice. It appears to be coming from this large rock so he sits down and listens to this story about one of the Hawaiian gods. He wants to show us the “talking rock”. We go but nothing is talking. DA goes to three different people, including Concierge, but no one knows anything about a talking rock. In fact they are probably a little concerned about the gentleman in room 565 who hears voices from the rocks. Finally, one of the gals on the entertainment crew says yes, she’s heard that before but couldn’t give any more information. We stuck around the rock and lo and behold, about 8 PM we heard a voice. Yes there is indeed a faceless voice who tells stories around this rock but apparently it is not well known. Sometimes it is a female narrator, other times a male. The stories are different. We heard one about a goddess whose tears produced flowers and a jealous sea god who stole her away from her lover the sun god. She vowed never to cry flowers again and instead cried tears of salt which is why the sea is salty. That is obviously my condensed version of the story, but I recommend stopping to listen to stories by the rock.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am all caught up again. Real life has the nasty habit of keep getting in the way at the moment.

Some background on the waves—the swells had been pretty big (35 feet or so) for the couple days prior and would get even higher (45 feet) later on. So of course, the day we go to the North Shore, the weather is calm and the waves not really that spectacular in comparison.

This sounds very similar to our experience. When we went to the North Shore, it was flat calm, but we were told that they have some really impressive waves a few days earlier.

I think Matsumoto had a make over since we visited. I had to smile about the Olaf.

Byoto Temple—love black swans, obsessed with capturing the open-mouthed Koi on camera and yes, spotted the resident cat.

I think this is still the most beautiful place I have ever had the privilege to visit.

then dinner of appetizers in the Olelo Room.

We loved doing this. I can't wait to be able to do this again.

We stuck around the rock and lo and behold, about 8 PM we heard a voice. Yes there is indeed a faceless voice who tells stories around this rock but apparently it is not well known. Sometimes it is a female narrator, other times a male. The stories are different. We heard one about a goddess whose tears produced flowers and a jealous sea god who stole her away from her lover the sun god. She vowed never to cry flowers again and instead cried tears of salt which is why the sea is salty. That is obviously my condensed version of the story, but I recommend stopping to listen to stories by the rock.

Thanks for the heads up. I am going to have to check this out on the next visit.

Corinna

 

[Malia78]

I had to smile about the Olaf.

Shave ice is something Olaf can enjoy in summer...

 

[alohamom]

Where exactly is the talking rock, if you dont mind me asking...

 

[Sasphnx]

Loving this trip report. Your pics are beautiful.

 

[Malia78]

Where exactly is the talking rock, if you dont mind me asking...

Here is the explanation of the "talking rock" --I will have a photo of it in the next update.

While eating, DD tells story of previous night where he was returning to the room after getting a drink refill. He is on this path by himself and suddenly he hears a voice. It appears to be coming from this large rock so he sits down and listens to this story about one of the Hawaiian gods. He wants to show us the “talking rock”. We go but nothing is talking. DA goes to three different people, including Concierge, but no one knows anything about a talking rock. In fact they are probably a little concerned about the gentleman in room 565 who hears voices from the rocks. Finally, one of the gals on the entertainment crew says yes, she’s heard that before but couldn’t give any more information. We stuck around the rock and lo and behold, about 8 PM we heard a voice. Yes there is indeed a faceless voice who tells stories around this rock but apparently it is not well known. Sometimes it is a female narrator, other times a male. The stories are different. We heard one about a goddess whose tears produced flowers and a jealous sea god who stole her away from her lover the sun god. She vowed never to cry flowers again and instead cried tears of salt which is why the sea is salty. That is obviously my condensed version of the story, but I recommend stopping to listen to stories by the rock.

 

[Malia78]

Loving this trip report. Your pics are beautiful.

Thank you!

 

[Malia78]

Sunday Jan 24th

A little short on pics today. We left the hotel early to go to DA’s former church. Along the way, did a little scouting to find the way to Pearl Harbor which my parents and I would be visiting later in the week. After some shopping at the military store for groceries, we stopped for lunch at Big City Grill. It was football Sunday so several enthusiastic fans enjoying the game. As we were driving, I snapped a shot of Tripler, the pink hospital where I was born.

Back at the resort, grabbed some photo ops with Stitch, Mickey, Minnie and the beach. I think the photopass photographer was going for a "mermaid on the rock kind of vibe"—obviously I still have a lot to learn from my favorite princess Ariel—maybe its more graceful with a fin.

Spent the rest of the afternoon with DM wave watching at the lagoon between Aulani and the Marriot, the 2nd cove on the walking path. It was a grayer day so the brilliant sea colors weren't out. However, the power of the ocean was still evident. DM could sit for hours just watching the waves.

We walked back in a loop along the street and stopped in the ABC store to browse. Then came back to close out the lazy river. The first hour and last hour of the lazy river operating hours were the best for floating without playing bumper tubes with the masses.

I saw Chip and Dale through the trees so I took a quick detour to say hi. The meet and greet area is right by the talking rock that I mentioned earlier. Here it is in the daytime—wouldn't know it from looking at it but it’s a nice little nook for story time when the sun sets and the lights in the trees come on.

 

[dolphingirl47]

How neat to be able to get a photo of the hospital you were born at. I really liked the Photopass photos including the mermaid ones. Those waves really look wild.

I am very familiar with that rock, but I know it for a different reason. I am not going to steal your thunder though as you may well cover this later in your trip report.

Corinna

 

[Malia78]

I am very familiar with that rock, but I know it for a different reason. I am not going to steal your thunder though as you may well cover this later in your trip report.

I don't think I have any other rock stories so please, feel free to share--something new for me to learn too.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I don't think I have any other rock stories so please, feel free to share--something new for me to learn too.

Ok, here goes. I know this particular rock as the Piko grounding stone. When we did the DVC tour, our guide told us that when they started to build Aulani, this was the first thing that they put in. The stone is both the geographical and the spiritual centre of Aulani. Apparently this is also were cast members go when they need to collect their thoughts and apparently a deep sense of peace can be felt in its vicinity. I was never there on my own so have no first hand experience, but I love the concept.

Corinna

 

[Malia78]

Apparently this is also were cast members go when they need to collect their thoughts and apparently a deep sense of peace can be felt in its vicinity. I was never there on my own so have no first hand experience, but I love the concept.

That is a lovely thought--makes it even more special. I totally get that vibe--especially in the evening.

 

[NJMermaid]

more please, I will be going to Aulani on DVC points, not sure when, I am being patient.

 

[Malia78]

Monday Jan 25

Early "moonset" photos by the infinity pool and the beach. I'd been watching the timing of the lights in the ground such as with this Iwa bird for a picture—missed the photo this morning but there would be more opportunities later on.

Parents and I went to the DVC Mahalo Member Mingle—came away with new fresh leis and a pretty nice Aulani DVC cap. Also stopped to pick up our 25th DVC Anniversary pins. While waiting for the building, took a shot of our room.

During our stay , the beach walk to the right of Aulani was blocked off as the Four Seasons resort is currently undergoing renovation.

 

[Malia78]

DM and I attempted to walk along the rocky beach next to the construction fence but it just wasn’t happening. I did not have the right shoes for one thing and I didn't really fancy turning my ankle in my flimsy sandals. The cool part about this stretch of shore is that the rocky surface includes of old bits of coral reef. When you looked closely, you could see all sorts of shells and imprints embedded in the rocks. Braving the terrain as far as the construction fence corner, we could see glimpses of the next cove. So as an alternative route, we backtracked and walked along the street to find the beach access and I was thrilled to discover that this was the sea turtle cove. Now there weren’t any there at the time, but the possibility was very exciting. Also had to capture every possible color of hibiscus in our path.

I wanted to try some of the Aulani activities so that morning I had signed up for Animation Class and Ukulele lessons. I was waitlisted for the Animation class and went to check-in about 15 minutes early. The staff waited until 5 min before the noon start time to start filling in waitlist people. As a party of one, I was called up and the cast member directed me to a seat. The table had one other adult and 4 children, the two boys not belonging to the seated woman. I go to sit in the empty seat next to one of the boys, and the seated lady suddenly barks at me that the chair is taken. I’m a bit surprised at the outburst and in a little bit of stun mode. I just look back at her and say the staff told me to sit here. The lady looks at someone behind me and says “you were sitting here” and that lady, who is the mom of the two boys, said she wasn’t signed up for class and had just been using the chair while waiting for the class to start. So the seated lady starts in about how she was defending the chair, you can't be too careful etc. Anyway, there is not much for me to say at this point--it was like, sheesh, chill—so I didn't and turned my attention to drawing Stitch and then painting an animation cell of Minnie. I enjoyed the class a lot but could have done without the chair police giving me the stink eye the whole time.

I also signed up DD for ukulele lessons with me. In the class, I ended up next to the same two boys from the animation class and we sorted out the chair situation just fine. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. We learnt four chords and could "play" Somewhere over the Rainbow at the end of the class—I now can totally picture myself strumming my ukulele out on the back porch. Both of the classes were at maximum participation and I think that is pretty typical with the Aulani activities.

Sunset photos with photopass. This is where the phrase "Embrace the Ocean" came in—you can spot the pose. We would repeat this pose as the opportunity presented itself for the rest of the trip.

Ended the evening with a soak in the family infinity pool and cavern hot tub.

Took DD to see the Starlit Hui, this time sitting in the chairs section at the back of the lawn. As an aside, in addition to the talking rock, concierge was also not aware that chairs are indeed available for guests that need them as alternatives to sitting on the ground—when I had asked them about accommodations. they said the only option was to get a wheelchair.

 

[dolphingirl47]

The moonset photos are absolutely stunning. I love them. How strange about that woman having a go at you. I am glad you still enjoyed the activities.

Corinna