Honolulu Oahu Hawaii

Here we are in Tropical Hawaii.  Most everyone you talk to these days has visited Hawaii and or is familiar with the city of Honolulu as it is the most visited place in all the Hawaiian Islands.   I have not been here and spent any amount of time in 30 plus years so to say it has changed would be an understatement.  Either that or due to the time that has passed I really can't remember much of the time spent here in the past.  For Kyle and Kaelyn though it was brand new.  In all honesty if it were just me I would have gone to one of the other islands and avoided Honolulu all together.  Very busy but not as busy as Sydney.
We had a late night flight out of Nadi Fiji and managed to get a little sleep on the plane as it was the first flight in the entire trip that wasn't full.  When we got to the hotel we had to find something to do for a few hours as the room was not ready yet and check in time was in the afternoon.  Although tired we walked around to check out the shops, beach, and restaurants for something to eat.  Once we got into the room all of us crashed other then Betty who went shopping.  Me I was done like dinner I slept until late afternoon and then we went out for late night dinner.
Monday we went to Diamond head and hiked along the road into the caldron but discovered that the hiking trail was closed for repairs so we couldn't get up to the edge to take photos of Waikiki.  After that we went to the beach and swam for an hour or so.  No Betty didn't go in the ocean even though she was sporting new swim wear!  The kids and I rented some wave boards but the beach area we were on had a lot of rocks under the surface which made the wave riding a little sketchy.  Both Betty and I remarked that it seems the beach has changed significantly.  There are several man made break waters put up that I don't remember being here before and the area of the beach seems smaller.
Tuesday we did a tour of Pearl Harbour and saw the Arizona Memorial and went and toured the battleship Missouri.  For me the most interesting part of the day was the Missouri and the deck of the ship where the Surrender of Japan was signed in Tokyo Bay in Sept 1945.  To stand in that spot on the ship was humbling for me.  In a glass case 2 Unconditional Surrender documents signed that day (a copy for Japan and a copy for the United States were displayed).  Also little known fact a Colonel Lawrence COSGRAVE signed the Surrender documents in the wrong spot so they had to fix all the signatures that came after because he screwed it up!  This was Japan's copy.  Oh by the way this COSGRAVE guy signed for the Dominion of Canada.  Have another beer Eh!!
Tomorrow we are going to a Luau, then a boat cruise and snorkelling on Thursday.

A view from the north side of Diamond Head looking north.

White people trying to body surf.  Looks nice but nothing but rocks below the surface.

 USS Missouri with Kyle in front.  Those green things are some of the shells it fires from 16" guns on the rear and front decks up to 23 miles away. " God bless America and pass the ammunition"!!

Standing in one of the bridge decks looking out over the bow.  This thing is huge!!  Picture doesn't quite capture it but its almost 900' long and 108' wide.  One of the reasons it was used as the meeting place for the signing was that the allies wanted to intimidate the Japanese leaders so much to ensure they would not reneg.

The USS Arizona Memorial.  1,177 sailors entombed on the ship below.  A very somber place to visit.












Well here it is Thursday night we leave tomorrow to head back to LA then Vancouver.  We went to a Luau last night west of Honolulu on the beach.  It was good but I felt it came up short and was a little bit cheezie.  The problem is everything here is so Americanized that most traditional things seem and look like a Vegas side show.  Maybe that's just me.
 Tonight we went on a dinner cruise which was good lots of food and a good look at the shore line along Waikiki and beyond Diamond Head.   Typical holiday that came to an end quickly and now we are packing getting ready for an early flight home tomorrow.  The kids are ready to go home and frankly so am I.  It has been an awesome trip but now it's time to get back to reality and a routine.  If I were to do this all over again I would forgo most of the booked tours.  I say this because in some cases they were so busy it felt like we were being herded along and unable to look at things at our own pace.  I would definitely spend more time in Western Australia.  There is so much to do and see!  I would spend time on another island other then Oahu where it is less busy and less like main stream USA.
My only regret was that we missed Ningaloo reef and Coral Bay in WA and as a result we also missed going snorkeling here  due to recent rain fall that made the water murky so poor Kaelyn was disappointed that we didn't get to do this.  But she made up for her disappointment by shopping.   Betty has created a monster!  A few last pics and we're outta here..............

Sunset at the Luau.

A dark skinned lovely at the Luau.  Looks pretty good after a few drinks.........

She's not looking so hot the next day after the Mai Tai's wear off!!

 Honolulu from the cruise.












Here's a little something special for all that followed the blog.  Warning you may want to have young children and elderly with heart conditions leave the room.................