Hawaii - Honolulu

 Totally exhausted from an amazing week in California, we made our way to Hawaii. American Airlines First Class reminded me more of a Jetstar flight. At least lunch was free and this is what we were offered:

“Macadamia Nut French Toast stuffed with marscarpone cheese, with pineapple papaya marmalade and grilled Portugese sausage”

……. A signature dish by Chef Sam Choy

I felt unwell reading it, looking at it was indescribable, yet others around me seemed to be immersed in its intriguing cornucopia of flavours ignorant of any potential health implications. Looking around I did note that many were in first class as it was the only seat size they would fit into, not that there is anything wrong with that of course!

Waikiki Beach

We landed in Honolulu to swaying palms and ukuleles.  Honolulu is everything you see on Hawaii Five 0. Waikiki beach is white, with Australian sand, and the hotels loom large right up to the waters edge cutting out the afternoon sun. It is not wave season so the water is calm and urine warm. The whole beachside area looks like the Australian Gold Coast on steroids, ecstasy, juju or whatever your preferred social drug is. Life is my drug.

My arrival euphoria was tarnished a bit by a very irritating and sad intrusion. Every street corner in Honolulu is haunted by people trying to overtly sell you time at a gun range with an arsenal of military weapons at your disposal. Honestly, they are worse than watch sellers on a Bali beach and that is saying something. If you look like saying yes, a van swings in from nowhere to whisk you off to start your weapons training. I DID NOT say yes but the number of teenagers getting into vans was disappointing.

A young pineapple

There is so much to see on this island that a day trip circumnavigating it is mandatory for first-timers and fun. We visited pineapple plantations, coffee plantations and cattle ranches in that order as it represents the changing face of agricultural endeavors in Hawaii. I stood in the valley where “Jurassic Park” was filmed and about thirty other movies including “LOST”. We moved on to Diamond Head to see the beach where the kissing scene from the 1953 movie “From Here to Eternity” was filmed, not that I have any memory of that. My older friends, Gary and Wendy, Judith or Jan may recall it.

USS Arizona

Next we visited Pearl Harbour and the USS Arizona memorial. The country that owns Hollywood certainly puts on a good show. You walk through the museum to get the overview and then watch a film to get the personal perspective. The film is an aggregation of Japanese and American war footage giving an almost complete perspective of both sides of the Pearl Harbour raid. In the land of political correctness, Australia, there would have been counselors waiting at the end of the film as many left quite upset at what they had seen and heard. I was one of them, but I appreciated the candor of the film.

Still in a state of shock from the film we motored out to the Arizona memorial to be told that the drops of oil leaking up from the ship are tears of blood for the lost souls on the ship, great, that’s all I needed to hear. This could take years of counseling to get over….  

USS Missouri - sans Cher

I did not have any insight into American culture until I had completed my visit to Pearl Harbour. The memorial is both respectful and factually graphic which stirs and saddens the soul. We have been very lucky in Australia and we need to keep it that way.  

Emotionally drained, we headed back to Waikiki beach for some more sun, fun and retail therapy.

Historically, Honolulu has been populated by the Polynesians since 1100AD. Captain Cook popped in for a look, as he was just passing in 1778, but it was British Captain Brown that dropped by 16 years later who liked the place and named it “Fare Haven” which translates to “Honolulu” in Hawaiian.

Much later, the Americans decided to move in and set up a Pacific naval base.  In 1931, the Japanese were busy invading Manchuria and were pushing their way through China. They were upsetting the interests of the United Kingdom, the Dutch and the Americans. As the Japanese pushed through China in the years up to 1939, the world’s attention was temporarily diverted to Europe, as Hitler was moving into Poland and beyond. Meanwhile, Japan knew that the Americans were unhappy with Japans invasion of China and had imposed sanctions and matching threats of retaliation. Japan thought they could disable them by sinking their Pacific Fleet in Honolulu.

So, while a Japanese Government representative was in America discussing the lifting of sanctions and world peace, Japan’s military were sneaking around planning to attack Pearl Harbour. In 1941, the Japanese achieved their aim by delivering the worst naval disaster in American history and in doing so “woke a sleeping giant”.

Germany may have invaded Poland in 1939 but it was Japan, in 1931 that ultimately and inevitably led to the declaration of War by the United States.

 Some scuba diving with sharks will lift my mood;

“Ivan, turn the ship to Tahiti please!”