Hawaii Tourism Blog

While the Hawaiian luau draws tourists from all parts of the globe, it is more than just a tourist trap and an excuse for gluttony. These celebrations, held under the stars, feature Polynesian music, hula performances, Polynesian fire knife dancing, and a chance to experience one of the oldest Hawaiian cultural traditions.

The Earliest Feasts
Hawaiians once referred to the luau as the ‘aha ‘aina. These feasts honored special occasions, such as launching a new canoe, or reaching a significant milestone. The celebrations were held on large woven mats, which were set on the ground and ornamented with flowers and local greenery.

Food was cooked in a traditional underground steam oven, called the imu. River rocks were heated over firewood. Once the rocks were sufficiently hot, the cooks removed the remaining firewood.  They crushed banana stumps and water over the hot rocks, in order to create steam. Then, they added the food and covered it to seal in the steam. In many ways, the ancient Hawaiians were ahead of their time, since steaming food is one of the healthiest cooking methods and does not require excessive oil.

Once the guests arrived, they sat on both sides of the spread and shared foods served in large wooden bowls and platters. Utensils were unheard of. Guests ate with their fingers, and nobody worried about germs. All of the foods were rich in symbolism. Some foods signified strength, while others took on the names of virtues and goals for which the participants aspired.

Liberating the Luau
The religious traditions of ancient Hawaii forbade women from eating with men. Furthermore, commoners and women of any rank were not permitted to drink port, or eat bananas, coconuts and several types of fish. These delicacies were reserved for royalty.

In 1819, King Kamehameha II abolished these traditions when he allowed women and common subjects to join the feast. The good king had an affinity for women. When he was six months old, his maternal grandmother took him into custody, complaining that he wasn’t being fed a proper diet by his father’s servants.  He thus grew up with a love of good food and good women, as evidenced by his five wives.

The word luau eventually replaced  ‘aha ‘aina. Luau, in the Hawaiian language, is the name of the taro leaf. Cooked like spinach, it is often served with chicken or beef.

The Most Famous Luaus
One of the most extravagant luaus held in Hawaii took place in 1847.  Over 1,500 guests were invited to celebrate of the 50th birthday of King Kamehameha III. They were fed in shifts of 500.  The cooks prepared 4,000 taro plants, 271 hogs, 482 large calabashes of poi, 3,125 salted fish, 1,820 fresh fish and 2,245 coconuts.

If you want to experience this classic Hawaiian feast, Hawaii Tours has many options to offer like the Ali’i Luau Package at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Don’t miss the opportunity!

Captain Bob’s Picnic Sail

Spend a relaxing afternoon with the wind in your face and the splash and sound of the water to prepare for a wonderful time with the one you love. Lunch is served at the first stop while you enjoy a game of Water Volleyball. Then you take off for the Coral Reef, Sea Turtles, Dolphins and lots of Beauty to take in. What a perfect way to spend the day while in the islands of Hawaii.

Eventually, most people would have discovered the wonders of Hawaii as a vacation destination, but the film industry certainly expedited the process. When filmmakers come here, they find tropical locations that they can use in a secure and professional production environment. Hawaii houses 11 climatic zones where skilled directors can magically transform and create cinematic simulations of Africa, Asia, Central and South America and the South Pacific.

The First Film Made in Hawaii

In 1933, Lois Weber, one of Hollywood’s few female film directors, sailed to the island of Kauai with Cecil B. DeMille to film White Heat. The controversial filmed dealt with miscegenation and racism on a sugar plantation. James Bodrero, the writer, had spent his childhood summers on his grandfather’s sugar plantation, which was one of the plantations used in the film.

White Heat Synopsis

William Hawks is the foreman for the Cheney sugar plantation in Hawaii. His attraction to Leilani, a local woman, inspires him to take her into his home as his housekeeper and native “wife.” When his boss calls him back to San Francisco, Hawks meets and falls in love with Cheney’s daughter, Lucille. They marry and return to the plantation, but Lucille soon grows weary of her crude surroundings and persistent tropical rainstorms.

The arrival of her former fiancé, Chandler Morris, puts a smile back on her face. Hawks notices this attraction and picks a fight with Morris. To rescue Morris from Hawk’s brutal beating, Lucille starts a fire in the plantation. While battling the flames, Hawks falls from his horse and rolls into the inferno. Fortunately, the still-devoted Leilani is there to rescue him.

Sadly, during the 1930s, US citizens were not yet ready to hear the messages expressed in White Heat. The film was a box office failure. The New York Times panned the film, but praised the beauty of the Hawaiian setting. This put Hawaii on the map as a major film location.

Bali Hai Will Call You

History has a way of repeating itself and 25 years later, when Joshua Logan brought his cast and crew to Kaui to film Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, it did, on a grand scale. The theme of miscegenation was back – this time with a vengeance. The story was based on a musical from James Michener’s collection of short stories, Tales of the South Pacific, which had nothing whatsoever to do with Hawaii. The Kauai setting, however, was easily believable as Polynesia.

Synopsis

A blond-haired blue-eyed sweetheart awaits Lieutenant Joe Cable back home, but under the enchantment of Bali Hai, he has fallen in love with a Tonkinese girl. While she makes “joy invade his arms and fill his heart,” he refuses marry her, because he knows that his family will never accept her.

Nellie Forbush, of Arkansas, is as corny as Kansas in August and in love with a wonderful guy, who she will not marry, because he has two mixed-race children with a Polynesian woman who has died. The song, Carefully Taught, describes how these prejudices develop. It latter became a theme song of the civil rights movement.

A Controversial Success

The splendid score combined with the enchanted scenery of Kauai seduced audiences, but just like White Heat, South Pacific stirred controversy in certain parts of the country.

Four years prior to the making of South Pacific, the United States Supreme Court had declared school segregation unconstitutional. For the next four years, racial tensions ran high – so high, that some government officials tried to convince Josh Logan to remove the song Carefully Taught, claiming that it advocated a communist philosophy. The director and producers refused to give in. In fact, Internet Movie Data Base points out an interesting blooper. Two of the sailors in South Pacific were black. The United States Armed Forces were not desegregated until 1948, three years after the end of World War II. Whether this was a legitimate mistake, or whether Logan was trying to make a subtle statement, we will never know.

The Technicolor Beauty of Kauai

When Logan and his crew arrived in Kauai, they found a colorful, lush, tropical setting that was almost surreal. Surrealism, however, was not what the director was after. Concerned that the bright colors of Kauai would appear unnatural in Technicolor, he tried to soften the effect by filming several scenes through the newly available colored filters. Logan would latter consider this as his biggest mistake. While he wanted a subtler effect, the film-processing lab apparently created too much subtlety for Logan´s liking.

Exploring South Pacific Filming Locations

Most of South Pacific’s outdoor scenes were filmed on Kauai’s north shore. Many of the places remain unchanged to this day, and fans take delight in visiting the landmark film locations. These include:

Lumahai Beach, where Nellie Forbush went and washed that man right out of her hair. This beach is also famous for its native hala trees, which line the water’s edge.
The green twin peaks of Mount Makanaís in Ha’ena, inspired the mystical island called Bali Hai.
The garden where Emille de Bercue romanced Nellie Forbush while singing Some Enchanted Evening is now home to the Princeville at Hanalei resort.
On Hanalei Bay, the sailors bemoaned the fact that there is nothing like a dame.
Body Mary sat near the Kilauea River and talked some happy talk.

If you are curious about filmmaking in Hawaii, take our Ali’i Movie Excursion and Scenic Hanalei Tour to learn more.

Aloha!

We hope that you had a wonderful 2012 and are excited about 2013. Lot’s of blogging about our wonderful Tours of Hawaii to come in 2013. So please stay tuned and let us know what you would like to hear about on our blog.