Koa is a super strong hardwood native to Hawaii. Aloha is the welcoming spirit of Hawaii. Put them together and you get a Ukulele. That’s right, Ukulele’s. On today’s look back at our `Ohana Time in Hawaii trip, we visit the KoAloha Ukulele factory.
As we drove up it was an inconspicuous place tucked back out of the way. We weren’t sure if we were in the right place. But as soon as the hubby got out of the car he knew. He leaned back in, “This is it.” “How can you tell?” I asked. “I smell the wood.”
The hubby knows about woodworking, so I took his word. We got out and went up to the unassuming door and rang the bell. Once inside we knew, this was a place that took their work seriously. Beautiful handmade ukuleles in various states of finish were all over. Now let’s set the record straight. I said this was a ukulele factory, that’s not entirely accurate. This is a craftsman’s shop. And the craftsmen that work here clearly cared. Everywhere there were stacks of Koa wood of various sizes and cuts.
We started off by making miniature ukulele key chains from Koa wood, and then it was off to the tour.
There was the giant kiln, designed to slowly dry the wood (I say slowly, but it actually speeds up the process from years to months). There were sanders and planers and band saws and miter saws and jigs of all sorts (I just looked around; the hubby knew what they all were). We saw them cutting big boards down to seemingly paper-thin slices. Bending wood (I didn’t know you could do that) to form the body of the ukulele. Get this, these things are so well made, the hubby (all 200lbs) stood on one without it so much as bending. We saw them sanding by hand certain sections. Who does that anymore?
And then, for the real treat, watching the husband and my daughter learn to play. Now the husband had a little bit of an advantage. He used to play guitar many years ago. Plus, he actually has the hand/eye coordination and ability to concentrate that my five-year-old kind of lacks. We probably sat there for an hour as the husband actually learned some notes and my daughter just kind of happily strummed along. But she was enchanted. And by the end, the hubby, my daughter, and our instructor (Brian) were actually playing a song (yes, Brian was doing most of the complicated stuff; the hubby isn’t that talented with his hands). As it came time to go, we practically had to pry the ukulele out of my daughter’s hand. The hubby’s final comment as we were leaving was, “We’re going to have to get her a real ukulele, and you know I want one, right?”
To learn more about ukuleles and KoAloha Ukulele connect with them through the social media outlets below.
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It’s time to book YOUR family trip to O`ahu, Hawaii! Connect with the O`ahu Visitors Bureau through the social media outlets below.
You guessed it, there is still so much more to come! Follow along as we share our adventures in O`ahu. Watch for #VisitOahu and #OhanaOahu to pop up!
Disclaimer: I was sent on an all-expense paid trip to O`ahu, Hawaii courtesy of the O`ahu Visitors Bureau and its island partners to experience the island and a series of other events. Regardless, all opinions expressed are still 100% my own.
Experience and post by Heather from Pink Ninja Blog.