Sunday, 30 September 2012

29/9 Royal Palace & Helicopters


Saturday 29th 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.

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