Playing with Fire

I heard the MacNut Farm tour was good, so the kids and I went to check it out this lovely Labor Day. On the map it’s Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut, and Ali’i Tours is behind the place where you stop for macadamia nut and Kona coffee samples on Kam Highway as you drive up toward the North Shore.

First, we chased the chickens around. There are always peeping baby chicks pecking at the remnants of the macadamia nut cracking station. Then Eloise and I sampled all the samples. I had some coffee with milk, and the kids had some milk with sugar—special MacNut Farm treat I whipped up, despite some side eye from the jewelry counter lady.

My favorite part was the surprise orchid lei on the way into the tour bus. My favorite! After about two and a half minutes on the bus, we got out to watch the Samoan guide start a fire on a hibiscus branch, kindle coconut husks into flames, then light his fire dancing stick. This was Isaac’s favorite part of course. Then the guy cracked open a coconut and shaved up some meat for everyone. Chickens came running from everywhere. Another guy wove everyone a ti crown—delightful! Eloise got all shy and adorable when he put hers on her head, then lost it as soon as we got back on the bus. About 10 more minutes of driving around through some movie sets and tiny gardens of different crops that do well here, and we were done. It was shorter than I expected—an hour or maybe less? But it was just the right amount of time for the Woo.

So we bought some macadamia nut caramel popcorn and drove over to Kualoa Regional Park to admire Chinaman’s Hat, then headed home for naps!

This tour probably wouldn’t be high on my list of things to do with visitors, but it was certainly enjoyable for a Hawaiian morning. $20 for adults, $15 for Kama’aina/military, $10 for kids 5+, FREE for The Woo.