The day of the Luau

This day will be engraven in my memory as the day when I freaked out while snorkeling. We spent first half of the day just hanging out in our room. In the afternoon we went to a place a little South of our resort. In our guide it was listed as another good snorkeling location. So we set up camp on the beach and jumped into the water. To our left was some lava rock we were planning to explore. The water was still choppy, but not as bad as the day before. That made me a bit nervous. I was warned not to get too close to the rocks anyway, because sometimes weather changes and if the waves get strong they can bang you around on the rocks and corral. The consequence is not a pretty picture in my mind. So I was already trying to be careful when I poked my head out of the water and saw how far we were from the shore. I guess I was not paying attention. So now, I kind of wanted to start heading back, which we did. The only problem was the way back ended up being hard to find. The corral beneath us seamed like a mountain range, the tops of which were getting dangerously close to the surface to the point where I needed to find pathways to get through. The water around us was less than a tame ocean and noticing that did not help. That's when panic kicked in. I started frantically look for a way out, kicking my feet and swimming as hard as I could. I almost lost Paul, which worsened my condition for a second until I saw him poke his head out of the water. Needless to say, I was bit shaky when we got to shore.

That behind us, we headed to Lahaina for a Luau. We got a late start, took a detour and were a bit late to put it mildly. As we pulled in, we saw the meat as it was taken out of the ground where it was cooked. We were just on time for the dinner and the show. Old Lahaina Luau was great. We were seated on cushions at a low table right next to the stage. We loved talking to the couples next to us, eating great food and watching hula dancers. I have to say that I tried my share of sea food at this gathering. They had all sorts of different fish meats and even tiny octopuses. As adventurous as I felt, I took only one bite out of that dish and left it at that. The best part of food was dessert. We were given macadamia nut tarts, chocolate covered mango cream, coconut pudding and brownies. The first two choices were out of this world. I wish I could buy it somewhere at home, so everyone I know could try it.

After the luau we just took a few moment to walk along the beach sidewalk within the Luau grounds. I loved seeing tiki torches everywhere, they create such a exotic atmosphere.