Hawaii 2012
Oahu (Honolulu)
28 June 2012
Local Map
Photographs and Commentary
Click on picture to enlarge
The tour bus picked us this morning at 6:15 AM for a full day loop of the Oahu. The loop is really not a complet loop of the island because the coastal road on the west shore of the island stops around Makua. Our route took us first to the Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Monument.
I would say that the Arizona Monument was the highlight of the trip because there was enough time to walk throught the museum, view an introductory presentation about December 7. 1941, and the boat ride to the monument. In order to handle the crowds that come to the monument, the National Park Service and the Navy have a strict schedule for the presentation, boat ride and time on the monument. Some people may feel rushed, but I think they allow enough time on the monument to pay respect to those who lost their lives in the attack.
After leaving Pearl Harbor, the tour took us north through the center of the island between the two mountain ranges (Waianae on the west and Koolau on the east). We didn't stop in many places and those where we did were relatively short. Our first stop was at the center of the island at the Dole Plantation. This is still a working plantation, but the part that we visited was mostly a place to shop a variety of "tourist goods." We continued on to the North Shore past Haleiwa and a number of famous surfing beaches such as Waimea Bay and Banzai Pipeline. We stopped at Sunset Beach for a few minutes and then on to Kahuku (center of the shrimp farming industry) for lunch. We continued along the east coast and the clouds started closing in on us and gave us some rain. We stopped at another tourist attraction that focused on Macademia Nuts before going on to the Pali Lookout which provides a great view of the east coast. Our next stop was the Halona Lookout and the blowhole, a lava tube that under certain wave and current conditions blows water up to 30 feet out of its top side. This area is also the small beach where the famous scene from the movie, "From Here to Eternity" was shot. Our final stop was Hanauma Bay. From Hanauma Bay we followed the coast around Diamond Head back to Waikiki and our hotel.
I would call the rest of the trip an "Oahu Sampler." It gave us a taste of places that we would like to see if we come back again and toured Oahu on our own.
The Arizona Memorial as seen from the boat transporting us to it. Ford Island is in the background.
The Battleship Missouri, docked at Ford Island just beyond Battleship Row
The base of the number three gun turret is one of the few components of the Arizona that is above the water surface.
Oil is still seeping out of the Arizona
Names of the Arizona crew lost on December 7th
Several surviving Arizona crewmembers have chosen to be interred with their crewmates
Dole Plantation
Sunset Beach, one of the North Shore beaches
Our lunch stop in Kahuku
Susie with Macadamia Royalty at one of the tourist stops on the east coast
The Koolau Mountains (eastern range) have been used to duplicate prehistoric environements in movies such as Jurassic Park, King Kong (remake) and others. I tried to duplicate that environment, but the modern electric lines didn't quite fit the scene. Use your imagination to remove the wires.
View from Nuuanu Pali Lookout
The blowhole, viewed from the Halona Lookout. Under certain weather conditions the water can shoot up more than 30 feet.
The beach featured in the movie, From Here to Eternity, as seen fron the Halona Lookout
Hanauma Bay
Surfing on Hanauma Bay
Waikiki hotels, viewed to the west. Our hotel is on the right.
As Seen On The Road
These two women were sitting on a bench in Pearl Harbor eating their lunch. They kept shooing the pigeons away while at the same time continuing to feed them. The birds were all over them. I guess nobody told them that if they stopped feeding pigeons they usually go find a handout somewhere else.