Hawaii Day 8: Nu'uanu Pali Lookout, Punchbowl Cemetery, Pearl Harbor

 Sunday morning was our last morning on the islands. We were able to sleep in a bit which was nice since we had a red eye flight home.

We ate the fruit we picked up at a fruit stand for breakfast: apple banana, ice cream banana, guava and chico fruit. We also ate banana macadamia nut bread.

We went to the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. It's quite windy with steep cliffs. It is where King Kamehameha won control of O'ahu.

Panoramic gives a bit on an idea of the steep cliffs on either side. It's amazing to me that they climbed up and down the cliffs.

View into the valley below.

Yup, it's windy!

Me, Matthew and Megan

We went to the Punchbowl Cemetery which is a national cemetery located in the Punchbowl Crater.

Megan, Me and Matthew looking towards Honolulu.

U, Matthew and Megan with the view to the east including Diamond Head Crater.

We then went to Pearl Harbor where we first went to the USS Missouri battleship. (We did not have time to tour the USS Bowfin submarine and the Aviation Museum although Matthew really wanted to do all of it. He did choose to do the USS Missouri out of the three options.) We took a bus to the boat which is located on Ford Island. We toured the battleship. It reminded me a lot of an aircraft carrier except that it is smaller with about 2400 people living on board.

Me, Matthew and Megan arriving at the ship.

Huge guns!

U doing his target practice.

Some of the officers quarters. We noticed that all of the officers had sinks in their rooms.

Megan on the main deck.

We didn't miss the donut shop.

Cool door

Lots of old computers. It was fun to show Megan and Matthew the types of computers we had when we first got computers.

Plaque where Japan formally surrendered at the end of WWII.

View from up on the bridge.

Me exploring the ship.

A few of the ships across the harbor.

The yellow caution tape shows where the kamikaze pilot hit the plane during WWII. An amateur photographer even got a photo of the plane right before it hit the ship.

U and Megan on the bus back to Pearl Harbor National Memorial. 

We listened to the audio tour of Pearl Harbor and explored the museums. I learned a lot including about how much Japan was expanding its territory into Asia much like Nazi Germany was doing in Europe. The Japanese attack was very well planned and they knew exactly how to take out the military targets: first take out the planes and then the ships. They had two waves of attacks. They developed weapons specifically to take out their targets in Pearl Harbor like shallow water torpedos and armor piercing missiles. It definitely took the US by surprise; they'd been expecting an attack by water, not air. It was interesting to learn that the incoming planes had been picked up on the new radar system (only manned a few hours per day) but they were told not to worry about it as they thought it was bombers coming in from California. Japan may not have realized how much the attack would galvanize Americans in support of the war.

Bell from the USS Arizona. I did not realize that the USS Arizona burned for 3 days after it was hit and that even now it leaks about 2 quarts of oil per day. 

Dear Lord/Lest I continue/My complacent way/Help me to remember
Somehow out there/A man died for me today./As long as there be war
I then must/Ask and answer/Am I worth dying for?
Poem Eleanor Roosevelt kept in her wallet during WWII

Anchor from the USS Arizona

A sailor and his pack

After our time at Pearl Harbor, we picked up some dinner. U had a mix of fish, beef, spam and chicken. Me had lau lau and kalua pork. Megan and Matthew had Wendys. We then went to the airport to catch our flight home. The flight was relatively uneventful although we did not get much sleep. The drive home from LA was uneventful and the driver got no sleep.

We asked Megan and Matthew if they felt different having now been in 49 states. Megan said yes, she felt more tired. (She didn't sleep well, particularly in the last condo.) Matthew said the best part of the trip was getting state 49. When we asked him if we should have just flown to Hawaii and then turned around and come home, he said no--he wanted to visit Pearl Harbor and the Polynesian Cultural Center and go snorkeling on Maui and see Haleakala and drive the Road to Hana ("it's about the journey, not the destination, mom"). So basically he would have done the whole trip. :)

Hawaii Day 7: Diamond Head, USS Arizona, North Shore, Polynesian Cultural Center

 We got up bright and early on Saturday morning to head to Diamond Head Crater for our reserved hiking time. It was a good hike with nice views. Matthew liked seeing the pill boxes. 

Bright-headed bird

Me and Matthew partway up.

U and Me

It was cool to see the reef from above.

View of Honolulu from up top.

Nice view of the ocean and reefs.

We made it! Me, Matthew and U

Panoramic of the whole area

Going down the stairs on our way down. Do you see Megan?

Megan, Matthew and Me hiking down.

U, Me, Matthew, Megan

We rented a Ford Mustang on Oahu! It was fun to drive around with the top down although Megan did not always appreciate the wind and figured she has it the worst since she was in the back of the car and has long hair.

From the other side

The windows needed a little help coming up to get in right location. Megan and Matthew got to be pros at getting them where they needed to be!

We then went to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona Memorial. It was very sobering to think about the attack on Pearl Harbor and all the lives that were lost. Here are a few pictures from the USS Arizona Memorial.

Those who died.

Megan, Matthew, Me and U with part of the USS Arizona behind us.

We then headed to the north shore. It was slow going as we kept running into traffic.

No emergencies allowed...

These look like Lego trees.

We stopped at Sunset Beach to see some of the big waves and watch the surfers. The pictures don't really do the waves justice--they were around 8 feet tall which is impressive.

We then went to the Polynesian Cultural Center to see some more shows and participate in the cultural activities.

First up was the Tongan show since it was Megan's favorite.

We then watched the weapons show in Aotearoa. The people who work in this area of the PCC have training battles every Saturday morning.

We then did an activity with poi balls. It definitely takes coordination!

Next up was Samoa, where we tried to start a fire with wood on wood (U got a decent bit of smoke). We also saw two guys race up coconut trees and watched some fire knife dancing.

Some chickens enjoying the show.

Matthew and U trying their hand at fire knife dancing, albeit without the fire and the knife. We actually all tried it. It takes a lot of coordination and is similar to baton twirling.

We then went to Tahiti where we ate coconut bread (yum!), learned about their temples, tried our hand at spear throwing, learned some Tahitian dance moves and used bamboo sticks to fish. Megan and Me went to the drum and dance show where we learned about how different drums are made and we got to try dancing again. The hips move a lot although the movement is more from the knees.

Matthew and Megan fishing.

U fishing. Me fished as well. The fish were not really biting although Me did feel a tug on her pole when a fish ate the food on her line.

We saw Rapa Nui (native name for Easter Island).

Matthew and U

Fierce warriors with the tiki.

We watched the Hawaii film and then ate dinner while contemplating which way to go.

We stopped by the Laie Hawaii temple. It is really beautiful.

Me, Matthew, U, Megan

Matthew, Me, Megan

Full moon