30/9 Teddiesssssssssss

 

Sunday 30^th

And we did. We remembered the address and turned up at 10.30. It was a very Dodgy Brothers operation – entry only by invitation and their price for the helicopters was much higher than what we were offered last night. Their concept is that you pay a fee to access their special website that offers discounted cruise fares, flights, hotels etc. Woo hoo. We didn’t bother.

The walk was not wasted because it happened to be the same building as the Teddy Bear World.  Which sparked J’s interest.  It has varied displays of animatronic bears and a small museum section. Well worth the $11 admission and they give you a scavenger hunt sheet which you hand in at the end to get a present.  I was given a small bear.

Later in the afternoon we went for a long walk up the East coast – round the volcano and beyond, looking for a hotel that has dolphins in the lagoon. We had the vaguest idea of where this might have been and probably didn’t go far enough but the walk was very pleasant. There were hundreds of very serious looking, mostly Japanese, cyclists approaching at the end of what looked like a very long ride. Also hundreds of surfers on long boards with paddles or more modern boards. They had lugged their boards down very high and steep cliffs to get to the narrow beach access points and the parking at the top was very limited. They must have been extremely keen.  As we sat at the beach watching sunset a green sea turtle poked his head out of the waves.

Bright green gheko

Highest peak of Diamond Head crater

We had Subway for dinner and somehow managed to score a discount off the $9 price. Back at the hostel they were celebrating Alex’ birthday with hotdogs and as much Hawaiian punch as you could drink for $5. Pity we are dieting L We replenished our travelling stock of US currency from an ATM and headed home where we timed it just right for Lissa’s “birthday” party, conveniently held on the Monday public holiday in Australia. Steph will be in Sydney watching the Bathurst 500 on the 5^th, which is the real birthday. Lissa got a large plastic car which she loves so much she refused to come out from it for playing pass the parcel.

Teddy Bear World Hawaii 

                                  Times Square

 

Mann's Chinese theatre

Sports

Golden Gate & Alcatraz

                                                             (with escaping bear)

The White House

Mt Rushmore

Then into Dinosaur land

Polar Bears

Pandas .....

 ... and grizzleys

APEC 2011.  Held in Hawaii.  These are almost lifesize.

Julia Gillard & Barack Obama

Brilliant stage show by Elvis.  The first song was 'Teddy Bear'

 Duke

Diamond Head crater from our beach.

29/9 Royal Palace & Helicopters

Saturday 29^th Museums

J had discovered free museum vouchers on the internet and we headed off to the Iolani Royal Palace. Hawaiian royalty was relatively short lived. King Kamehameha finally conquered all the other Hawaiian islands somewhere around 1810 and the USA played some role in overthrowing the monarchy in 1893. In between, the descendants of Kamehameha ruled like European monarchs and built this palace, sparing no expense. It was the first royal palace anywhere in the world to be fitted with electric lights and flushing toilets. The king also had a telephone line to his Chancellor in the basement.

King Kamehameha statue

Iolani Palace

Guards building

I was amused by the representation of Kamehameha in his formal suits complete with the trappings of nobility and being credited with the role as the unifier of the islands – basically he butchered all the others! This succinctly shows the duplicity in the Politically Correct depiction of The Noble Savage and their idyllic lifestyle before the arrival of the Evil Whites.

Sitting/nusic room

Grand staircase

Some nice looking buildings in the historic part of Honolulu close to the Palace

Mission House complex  

We also had vouchers for the Mission Museum, which we were a bit vague about. We eventually found it but there was a delay before the next tour group and it didn’t seem all that interesting. We were conscious of the expiry of our open bus ticket and the lack of lunch so we decided to skip the museum and head back.

Which was a long drawn out process of trying to find a bus stop. The interesting part was wondering why the police chopper was hovering low overhead for such a long time. Maybe they spotted my Bolivia shirt? It certainly attracts a lot of attention in the US, presumably from people hoping to score a fix?  A local said it was probably filming as they shoot Hawaii 5 0 here.  Police had blocked either end of a street and a classy looking blue convertible was seen driving along it.  Cop in the car didn't seem at all stressed when we asked him for directions.

We went wild at Maccas for a change and had double cheeseburgers – and a banana pie! We went out just after sunset and enjoyed the sight of the Carnival boat all lit up heading up the coast. There were also heaps of buskers doing all sorts of gymnastics, singing and some very good Hawaiian dancing. We browsed the shops and markets and had a bit of a yarn with a fellow who was offering heavily discounted helicopter flights for attending a promotional session for some travel website. The deal fell over because we didn’t want to pay a $40 deposit. We might just turn up in the morning and see what gives.

28/9 Volcanic crater

Friday 28^th Into the volcano

We started the day with a paper cup full of dry cereal. Bread biscuits and cereal are all very expensive here. Fruit was cheaper in Europe as well. Anyway, back to the adventure . . we met the 8 or so other hikers downstairs (all 20 somethings) and headed off past the zoo. We followed the road inland, gradually climbing and then curling round the back of Diamond Head. We were spared the worst of the rim by passing through a tunnel into the basin of the volcano.

It was quite flat in there and the base was covered in soil and plants. This is an unusual type of crater which is constructed of ash rather than lava. This is an offshoot of the main group of volcanos and only emitted hot air and ash. Nonetheless, it looks the part.

We walked across to the far side near the sea, where the rim was much taller. We then set about climbing to the very top via a series of winding slopes, tunnels and stairs. The weather was cool with frequent fine misting rain which stopped us from overheating. At the very top there were a series of WWI gun emplacements and observation bunkers commanding panoramic views of the East and West coasts. Not that strenuous but good exercise and a lovely view.

Looking to East shore

Bunkers on top of the rim

The floor of the crater 

View over Waikik, Honolulu to Pearl Harbour

Sound shell, zoo in trees then where we live.

 

The hostel threw on a free hotdog lunch when we got back and we did some laundry in their machine and caught up with the blog and emails. I settled down with ABC radio and enjoyed the live broadcast of the football final. I had a small bet on Sydney to make it more interesting and they obliged by winning against the odds. It was a fine game where the lead changed often and it was in doubt until the final minute.

Isn't he cute. He's from Brazil.

We strolled over the road to watch the fireworks across the bay. Equally interesting was the stream of planes that arrived in pairs (presumably at different airfields) and took off, immediately banking sharply to the right to wheel away before they got to the built up areas. For dinner we shared a big bowl of noodles and cleared up the leftover coleslaw from yesterday. Not a scrap of smoked salmon, steak or lobster in sight! We are going to miss all that fine boat food – it was really unfortunate that we had to eat it all at once instead of being able to spread it out once a week over a few years.

27/9 Pearl Harbour

Thursday 27^th Pearl Harbour

Once again, slow crawl by bus through the city and past the airport and penitentiary. We had to wait 2 hours for our turn on the boat to visit the USS Arizona memorial but there was a full range of exhibits to keep us interested in the meanwhile. The whole area of many acres was eerily quiet. Reminiscent of Dachau and Gallipoli. People walked quietly around looking across the harbour at the battleship USS Missouri, where Macarthur signed the 1945 treaty after the Japanese surrendered and where Cher straddled the 14” gun in her microcostume; and the white memorial above where the Arizona blew up and burned to the waterline.

USSMissouri & monument over USS Arizona

USS Missouri

USS Bowfin - sub

 

Sombre and solemn.

The Americans are absolutely not given to episodes of silence and it only takes half a dozen Italians or teenage dickheads of any nationality to destroy a serious atmosphere but here the quiet was almost tangible. Groups of Japanese circulated with their own guides – who knows what they were being told?  Apparently, not much in their school curricula.

I was surprised that in all the mayhem only 2800 lives were lost (plus 65 Japs). With 5 huge battleships being destroyed plus 175 US planes and widespread bombing by 300 Japanese planes, I would have expected tens of thousands. There is absolutely no doubt as to the immense significance of the event as a major determinant of world history, but as a human disaster it did not rank on the same page as any one of dozens of episodes of carnage that took place on the Somme in 1916. The British lost 57,000 men on the first day of their attack.

The Japanese sailed away having achieved what appeared to be a sensational victory but 6 months later most of those same carriers and pilots were lost at the battle of Midway as the result of the Americans breaking their secret signal code and ambushing their fleet.

A hundred or so of the crew of the Arizona survived or were elsewhere on the day. Their major reaction appears to be guilt at not being killed with their shipmates and there are separate monuments to those men, who, uniquely, have the right to have their remains laid in the wreck when they die.

Memorial

Remain of tower.  White boy marks the stern.

Oil - looked like spirit orbs

Mast remains

Oil still rises to the surface after 50 years like the ship is weeping.  The blobs look artisic and then disperse leaving a cirle of rainbows on the surface.

On the way back we were boarded by a mob of dysfunctional people who would have fitted perfectly on the Midland line. I wonder if the Americans beat themselves up over it? You have to feel sorry for the children – what chance do they have?

It was free to enter the Pearl Harbour museums and memorial and the bus cost us $2.50 return each, so was a very cheap day.

 

26/9 Circle route of island

Wednesday 26^th

Today we took a series of local buses round the island. Progress is very slow through the suburbs and we seemed to hit the afternoon schoolies going home as well, which made for a crowded bus and constant stops. The scenery up north was very pretty – lush and green with rugged coastline.

Norwest side - pineapple plantations stretching to the sea

Chinamans hat on the Noreast side

 

While the scenery was pretty, with blue ocean, rocky outcrops and pretty mountains I didn't get many photos due to reflecction and movement.  Oh well.

 

We travelled for about 4 hours with it only costing us $5.00 each.

 

25/9 War museum & 60's TV shows

Tuesday 25^th

We became aware today by circuitous means that my daughter is in the final 7 contestants for the role of face of the year for a Perth fashion house. She was a bit late drumming up facebook “likes” but has a good score already – what will the judges think? In other photographic daughter model news this week, my other daughter sent graduation photos. Alas she is apparently too short for modelling because she certainly has the looks.

We had signed up to take the backpacker trip to North Shore today but we both felt a tad queasy so we took a free shuttle to Hilo Hatty’s tourist ripoff emporium instead. Part of the commentary on the way there referred us to a primary school where a certain Barry Obama features in the 1972 yearbook.  It also took us past the marina where Gilligan et al set off on a three hour tour and also the hotel that Garrett stands on in the intro to Hawaii 5 0(the original).

On the way back we got off at the army museum and had a look at the fort where the big guns were kept during the war. The most interesting exhibit was the 1970s era Cobra attack helicopter. What an astonishing array of rockets, cannons and multiple machine guns – surely enough to sweep the neighbourhood clear of tanks trucks and men.  They had tried to demolish this fort to make way for a new hotel yet the wrecking balls didn't make a dent and explosives were out of the question due to nearby high rise buildings.  There was a plan to build the hotel over it but that was quashed and the site became a museum instead.

 

We also saw the Rhapsody in harbour but missed its departure - as with our boat yesterday. The sunsets here are extremely beautiful. We ventured out again later and discovered the local market full of voracious stallholders. We had a wry laugh and resolved to wait until next week in Hong Kong. We thought we had a lavish weight allowance from here on but we haven’t weighed our bags since the latest influx of quiz booty and the Great Alaska Tshirt grab.

The trolley bus to Hilo Hattie is free and it drops you at various places on its route.  One being the War Museum which is free to enter.  So todays activities were free.

*Picture Alert!*

we have just added pictures to the blog for the past week or so . . . some of which are quite interesting ?

24/9 Farewell Radiance of the Seas - Aloha Honolulu

Monday 24^th Honolulu – dry land again

We packed and left the cabin by 8.30 and then sat in the foyer with the Australians until 10.15, when they made the last call for everyone to get off. They were very upset that they had booked through RC directly 18 months ago on the 2^nd day of the release and they were allocated a really awful cabin with a small porthole on the 2^nd deck next to the crew! We always did much better booking discounted tickets at the last minute through the US website Vacationstogo.

There were no arrival formalities and we walked straight out to the taxi and bus area. We found a shuttle bus going to Waikiki and had an interesting tour of the luxury hotels that pepper the beachfront down here – Marriott Hilton and Trump etc. Our modest backpackers is right at the southern end next to the zoo at the foot of Diamond Head volcano, which we hope is extinct.

We have a pleasant double room with fan which we access through a 4 bed dorm and we share a bathroom with them . . or rather with him because only 1 bed is taken. We are one road back from the beach, which is west facing and very pretty. We found a Burger King for lunch and had a rest during the hot afternoon. We found Steph (bruised but ok) and Lissa (excited and chatty) on skype. Just before sunset we headed off for an extremely pleasant stroll in the cooler air. The sunset was great and there were surfers in the water and heaps of strollers and joggers and marginalised hobos settling down for the night under the palm trees.

Waikiki beach

We asked a couple of information advisers where we could find a supermarket where real people buy food. Literally every second shop here is an ABC store which is basically a convenience store with tourist stuff and liquor, but very expensive. We got pointed to a nearby supermarket where we were still quite poleaxed by how expensive simple foods were but we bought some food for dinner and picnic tomorrow.