Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/458251
S P R I N G 2 0 1 5 | W E S T W O R L D 27 the 'Ōlelo Room bar and lounge. Local words and their English counterparts are spelled out on the wood wall behind the bar, where serv- ers help us with their proper pronunciation. I take a stab at lua pele (volcano), pōpoki (cat) and kalaka (truck) while sipping a Tropical Mai Tai with fruit-mango foam topping. Dan goes for a traditional Blue Hawaiian with locally dis- tilled organic Ocean Vodka, and omas puts back a Liliko'i Splash, a passion fruit concoc- tion he'll be talking about for months. I START OUR THIRD morning the way I have each day since we arrived, by stepping out on the lānai, or balcony, of our one-bedroom villa on the ninth floor to watch the palm trees swaying in the gardens below and the Pacific Ocean shimmering on the horizon. It's a brief moment of serenity before I scoot down to the bustling Waikolohe Valley to drop omas off at Aunty's Beach House, a kids' club (included with the accommodation) that keeps three- to 12-year-olds busy with Hawaiian- and Disney- themed activities. After sessions called Stitch's Space Goo – featuring characters from Lilo & Stitch, Disney's 2002 animated feature set in Hawaii – and Uncle's Canoe Racing, he'll leave clutching a plastic bag of, well, goo, and a newly handmade mini-canoe. Me, I'm off to the Laniwai spa for its Signa- ture Lomilomi, a traditional massage with sticks and warm river stones. Some 50 soothing minutes later, I slip into one of two blue-tiled aromatherapy tubs in the spa's 465-square- metre outdoor hydrotherapy garden, Kula Wai. Here, beneath a palm-tree canopy, rock-tiled pathways also lead the way to a cold plunge pool, hot tub and six different "rain" showers – from gentle mist to pounding waterfall – with neither a Mickey nor Menehune in sight. It's hard to leave this private oasis, but the afternoon beckons. On my way out, I steal a peek inside the Painted Sky teen spa with its (opposite, l-r) Cooling off on a tube float along the meandering Waikolohe Stream, past lava rocks and through dark, misty caverns; gentle morning light sweeps across the still-quiet beach, where guests can rent boards, kayaks and snorkel sets from Makiki Joe's. (below) Oahu's gnarly lava coastline.