Only 18 hours of travel later, we had (almost) sunny skies above our heads and sandy beaches below our feet. The weather the first two days was not completely cooperative, but we made the most of it.Our first stop was the Ihilane resort at Ko Olina, on O'ahu. According to Kelsey, it was the best hotel room she's ever stayed in. Ever. The view was pretty nice, too.
Our first day on the island we headed to the Dole pineapple plantation. Again, it alternated heavy downpours with sun all day.
Did you know that pineapples are completely planted and harvested by hand? And it takes 18 months for the first pineapple to appear, 15 months to the second, and 12 months to the third. At that point they raze the whole field and start again.
After the plantation, we headed up to the North Shore, which is kind of the country. It was less built up and resort filled.
Here's an example of the weather. We're standing in sun, and there's a mountain obscured by clouds in the distance.
The day finished out with a beautiful sunset, however. You'll find that this is a repetitive occurance.
Friday we decided to head over to Pearl Harbor. Before leaving the resort, the valet said it would probably be busy. Why's that? Oh yeah, it was December 7th, the anniversary of the day that would live in infamy. Except that Kelsey and I had forgotten. So much for infamy...
There was a 3 hour wait to get into the Arizona Memorial, so we decided to see some of the other sites. This was the USS Bowfin, although we didn't go onboard.
We headed to the USS Missouri, instead. The USS Missouri, along with the USS Wisconsin, was the last of the Iowa class battleships. It is famous for being the place where World War II ended.
Them's some big guns! Two of those guns weigh more than the space shuttle!
And them's the big shells the big guns fire. Enough to put a 20 foot hole in the ground 26 miles away.
There were still battle scars from WWII on the ship. A kamikaze had hit the side of the Missouri, which was still dented and bent along the side. Just moments before we got there, a group of Japanese tourists had left a memorial for the pilot. The guide said it was very common for flowers to be left.
Here is where my geek powers failed. We toured the weapons center of the ship, which was still outfitted for the first Gulf War. To the left of this picture was the computer system used. Can you guess what brand computers the Navy used? Would you believe it was PACKARD BELL!? How the hell did we ever win a war with Packard Bell computers on board?
Here was the exact location of the ending of World War II.
After the Missouri, it was time to head over to the Arizona Memorial.
Over 1,100 sailors died on the Arizona.
On Saturday the weather broke and it was absolutely perfect. This was the day to go hiking, so Diamond Head and Manoa Falls were on tap. Diamond Head is a former volcano crater and more recently an army fort.
It's not a long hike, but it was unfortunately extremely busy. At the top was some great pictures of Honolulu.
A shot across the crater. It's a completely different ecosystem inside the crater. The wind dies down and it's much drier.
The Manoa Falls trail is a slightly longer hike, up to a 150 foot waterfall. Beware of wild pigs!
The flora was reminicent of what was in Hong Kong. These trees were similar to the trees on the trails of Hong Kong.
And the falls! I wanted to be really impressed, but was merely impressed. They don't let you jump in the pool at the bottom, probably because they're afraid you'd sue someone if you got hurt.
After all the hiking it was time to relax. And how better than a luau? We headed to a luau close to our resort, Germain's Luau. With a great sunset, of course.
It was a celebration of various Pacific cultures. The fire dancer was pretty impressive.
And a little Mele Kalikimaka! That's Merry Christmas for all you haole.
Goodbye O'ahu! On to the Big Island!
2 comments:
up until a month ago i thought that pineapples grew on trees.
Yep. I still hate you.
Great pictures.
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