Hawaii : Favourite Holiday Destination for Santa Clause

Hawaii :
In modern times the U.S. State of Hawaii is certainly one of the premier travel destinations on the planet, and to quote the American author, Mark Twain, Hawaii is the loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean..."



That said, the first inhabitants to set foot here sometime around 500 AD, were not on holiday, but rather wandering Polynesians from the Marqueesas island looking for new land and new beginnings.

500 years later the Tahitians also discovered these beautiful islands, and through the entire 13th century thousands of immigrants from Tahiti made the long, perilous journey across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii.

In 1778, the famed British explorer Captain James Cook arrived in this paradise, and he named this yet uncharted archipelago the Sandwich Islands, in honor of the Earl of Sandwich. Captain Cook was first revered as a God (of sorts) by the natives, but later he was stabbed to death on the Big Island.

Shortly thereafter, the reign of 'King Kamehameha the Great' began. He established a monarchy, united the islands into one great kingdom and began trading with western ships. Soon the potential bounty of Hawaii spread far and wide.

Picture of Surfing on the Beach of Hawaii

Mariners by the score found their way here, and in the early 1800's whaling ships were anchored in Hawaiian ports as the islands were now ground-zero for the Pacific Ocean whaling industry.

Hundreds of ships and thousands of crew brought new money, but they also brought (yet unknown to the islanders) lax social values and disease. Christian missionaries would later introduce religion and much-stricter social morals in an attempt to curtail the somewhat pagan lifestyle then common throughout the islands - and for the most part - they succeeded.

In the mid-1800s, Hawaii's sugar industry was established, and because many original natives were now dead, and others refused to work in manual-labor, plantation owners brought in foreign workers from China, Japan, and even from the Philippines.

The wildly successful sugar industry desired sanctuary from greedy outsiders, so they sought protection from the U.S. After years of negotiation with the United States a treaty was signed, American dollars flooded the islands and Hawaii found the golden-ring of prosperity.

Hawaiian Fun Facts:
Surfing was invented long ago in Hawaii by ancient Kings.

Picture of Surfing on the Beach of Hawaii

Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that grows coffee and is the worldwide leader in harvesting macadamia nuts and orchids. Much of the cropland in Hawaii is used for growing sugarcane and pineapples, and more than 1/3 of the commercial supply of pineapples comes from Hawaii.

Macadamia Nuts

Sugarcane Field in Hawaii

Pineapples

Hawaii has its own time zone (Hawaiian Standard Time). There is no daylight savings time. Hawaiian time runs two hours behind Pacific Standard Time, and five hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

The largest port in Hawaii is located in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The shippers call Hawaii "The crossroads of the Pacific."

Hawaii Port

During American football season, the first round of any NFL Sunday game starts at 7:00 in the morning, because of the time difference with the rest of the United States.

Hula is a traditional Hawaiian folk dance and integrates poetry, movement and rhythm to tell a story about people, places or events .

Traditional Hula Folk Dance of Hawaii

In Hawaii, Santa shows up in a bright red outrigger canoe, (a magic one of course) which carries him across the wide sea and right up onto the beach.

Favourite  Holiday Destination of Santa

The word "Aloha" has several different meanings - welcome, goodbye, love, and friendship.

The Hawaiian language has the shortest alphabet in the world. It is only 12 letters long - A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W. The 13 th symbol of the Hawaiian language is the 'okina ' which is an apostrophe.

The Hawaii State Fish is the little fish with the big name: humuhumunukunukuapua'a, pronounced in syllables as: hu-mu hu-mu nu-ku nu-ku a pu a a

Hawaii State Fish is the little fish with the big name: humuhumunukunukuapua'a

Hawaii has no snakes, seagulls, or rabies.

Hawaii consumes the most Spam in the United States. Last checked, it was over 10,000 cans of Spam consumed every day in Hawaii.

Spam Can Picture

Crazy Hawaiian Laws:

Coins are not allowed to be placed in one's ears.

All residents may be fined as a result of not owning a boat.

Billboards are outlawed.

Famous People of Hawai'i:

Don Ho, entertainer

Bette Midler, singer and actress

Bette Mildler

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, Olympic swimmer

Duke Paoa

Liliuokalani queen, last Hawaiian monarch

Liliuokalani queen

Tia Carrere, singer and actress

Nicole Kidman actress, born in Hawaii

Nicole Kidman

Kelly Preston actress

Kelly Preston

Father Damien, leper-colony worker