Peter E. Lee (catching up...)'s photostream  

A Samoan native demonstrates his coconut tree climbing ability at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, Hawaii during a presentation about life in Samoa.

Something about this shot reminded me feels like it came from Hollywood in the 1950s, yet it was taken just last week...

Exchange students from Tahiti demonstrate native dances as part of the boat parade at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, Hawaii.

The PCC is a huge, beautiful park dedicated to sharing the culture of the Polynesian Islands, with a strong emphasis on dance, music and native crafts. Students from the different Polynesian Islands work at the PCC to pay for their college education at BYU Hawaii.

A visitor sits at a picnic bench in the shade of one of many strikingly beautiful trees in the botanical gardens of Waimea Valley in Haleiwa, Hawaii as another walks past.

I believe this huge tree is a Monkey Pod or "Rain Tree," though the branch structure looks a little different than most of the photos I've seen.

Waimea Falls in the Waimea Valley Botanical Park in Haleiwa, Hawaii.

We were told that the water here is normally clear, and that this is a popular swimming place. On this day, though, there had been flooding in the mountains and the high water volume had stirred up lots of mud and debris, so swimming was not allowed.

Cracked fruit of a Canonball Tree (Couroupita Guianensis), seen at Waimea Valley in Haleiwa, Hawaii.

The fruit of this tree comes in a hard round shell that looks like (wait for it...) a cannonball. Apparently they often explode loudly when they fall from the tree, too.

The guide at Waimea Valley said it's sometimes called "Starvation Fruit" because you'd only eat it if you were starving, though it would keep you alive. We heard the same nickname applied to a different type of fruit later in the trip.