Special Tea at Waimea Falls

A few days ago Son2 and I went scouting out a surprise for some friends. You can read about that here. Now you know it was for a tea party!

When I first read about hosting a Welcome Spring tea party at the Partea Planner, I knew exactly my plan. I invited three friends that fancy tea time on a surprise adventure. Two were able to come. The friends had no idea they were coming to a tea party. They just knew we were meeting at Waimea Valley Audubon Center on the North Shore of Oahu.

Sometimes my friends and I busy ourselves with life, children, and work that it is too easy to miss the beauty of Hawaii. I wanted to have a tea party outside in our surroundings, where we could truly drink in all of God's creation on this blessed island. I wanted us to have a retreat for ourselves, and enjoy our friendship. I wanted us to have time to laugh, talk, and walk, and savor our time together, unrestricted by our schedules. I wanted my friends to be unsuspecting of a tea party.

We headed past Haleiwa Town, along Kamehameha Highway. This is the amazing view from our car window on the way to Waimea Valley. The Audubon Center is across the street from Waimea Bay, one of the top white sand beaches in the world.

We arrived at the Audubon Center, and were greeted by this gorgeous peacock. He blocked our path to the entrance, and put on quite a flirtatious show. We realized this territorial peacock wasn't going to budge, so we maneuvered our way around him to the entrance path and started our hike.

We marveled at the beauty before us, and could feel ourselves giving in to the peaceful surroundings. These are monstera leaves. I call them elephant ears. Some people think they look like big hearts.
We headed toward the fork in the road and followed the path to the right. There was a vast array of tropical beauty, and different layers of green foliage at ground level, eye level, and far above us.
These trees are affectionately nicknamed licorice trees because of the long red, viney blossoms.
Soon we passed a restored family village, and we took a tiny little path off to the right. A few days before I had seen a picnic table hidden off to the side. I hoped it was vacant. It was! I told my friends we had arrived. I pushed my stroller that held the entire contents of my tea table right up to the picnic table. This was the perfect spot given the history of old Hawaii. Women ate separate from the men, and this was a Girls Only event. Men often wondered what was happening at the women's table. Sure enough, hikers passed by us and wondered what we were laughing about, what we were eating, what stories we were telling, and just what we were doing in the middle of this old Hawaiian village.
My friends figured out quickly what the surprise entailed and helped me set the table with a beautiful pastel Hawaiian table cloth. I offered pineapple strawberry tea (organic green and white tea), passionfruit orange (organic green and black tea), and mango peach (organic green and black tea). The table was set with bamboo chargers and paper plates with a lei theme. I did bring linen napkins, and nice flatware, well, because I love an eclectic look.

On the menu:
Pineapple fruit boatsChicken salad, peaches, and grapes served on croissantsVanilla scones and homemade, hand whipped, pineapple cream cheese

Chocolate, cranberry, and almond biscotti, and cheesecake that we NEVER got to!All of this was set against the back drop of our breathtaking surroundings. Our conversation was rich. We told stories. We made confessions about bloopers and laughed and laughed. We sat for a long time. We drank in our friendship and sipped our tea. The time finally came to walk off our indulgences. We packed up our tea table, stowed it all back in my stroller, and continued on the hike. We came upon our next special treat. The Green Jade Vine was flowering in the canopy of the Monkeypod tree in the Lei Garden. A winding path led high into the Lei Garden. The blossoms of the Green Jade Vine are described as being some of the most unnatural colors in nature. The picture does not do the blossom color justice. They are a deep teal color with a dark blue stem. The Green Jade Vine is an endangered species. One of my friends described this tree with the hanging vine as one out of a story book. At the bottom of the Lei Garden we found this huge tree that reminded me of the Banyan trees that the LOST characters jump inside when hiding from the giant polar bears and clouds of smoke. I jumped inside, too!Along the main paved path there were multiple gardens. We felt like we were in total oasis!

Finally we arrived at the end of the hike at the waterfall, Waimea Falls. (This is the same waterfall where Kate and Sawyer swam in LOST.) Waimea in the Hawaiian language means reddish water. The streams above the falls pick up the red volcanic soil, rich in iron. Each of our neighbor Hawaiian islands also has an area called Waimea. Sometimes the waterfall is called "Wahine Falls." Wahine is the Hawaiian word for girl. Water cascades down the rocks forming the shape of a young woman lifting up her skirt as she wades through the pool. Look carefully and you will see behind us. What a perfect stage for a picture of the girls!
We headed back out toward the entrance. I had to take a picture of the "two" babies. As we walked by everyone made comments about the beautiful baby girl in the red stroller. As I strolled past people would peer in dumb founded. I had an entire scuba diving bag filled with my tea stuff with a cooler strapped to the scuba bag. Well, people just didn't know what to say about my baby! Where was the baby?!?!?
Our tea party adventure came to an end. Even our last views were spectacular. These are tall bamboo stalks, so tall that I couldn't capture the ten feel below me, or the ten feet above the frame of the picture.