Oh yes! We hit Waikiki but more of that later!
First I wanted to return to our visit to Pearl Harbor yesterday and specifically to our setting foot on the USS Bowfin, suitably nicknamed "The Pearl Harbor Avenger." It was launched in 1942 and became one of the most deadly of the American submarine fleet achieving numerous "kills" and surviving the war unlike so many similar vessels. In total, it completed nine tours of duty and didn't lose any of its crew. It was fascinating to walk through the vessel and to gain an insight into how the crew lived in such a confined environment.
However, disembarking the submarine, we noticed several memorials on a grassy area close by and on examination realised that these were a tribute to all the submariners who had died in action during the Pacific conflict. It was truly shocking to see the numbers involved and every memorial stone carried the story of what happened and the names of the men who laid down their lives for the freedom that we all enjoy today. What I found particularly moving was the epitaph to all of them that simply read, "On Eternal Patrol."
But onto slightly less harrowing things with the exception of the Honolulu traffic which is a total nightmare! This is a small island with far too many inhabitants and most of them appear to possess a car each! That said, we did venture into the city and the old Coy parking gene worked again! What is the Coy parking gene? I can't really explain other than to say a little angel is constantly watching over me and whenever I go somewhere that I need to park, hey, it can be the busiest place in the world, miraculously, someone always pulls out thereby freeing up their space for me! It is genuinely uncanny and at times pure X Files! Key the music!
Waikiki is a tourist honey pot, very much like Ipanema or Copacabana in Rio. It's a place to be seen but it comes at a price! Wow, the cost of a hotel room! Put simply, we could have paid the price but then our holiday would have lasted four days rather than four weeks! You can take the boy out of Yorkshire but you can't take Yorkshire out of the boy! Mind you, I did splash out on an M&M McFlurry for us both.
We did enjoy the visit and and also took time to breathe in the views from Diamond Head State Monument which is at the very south of Oahu. The sunshine which is plentiful, turns the sea a most incredible colour. Photos simply don't replicate the human eye.
To end today's dispatch, like the time we saw Elvis Presley in a Las Vegas suparmarket, I'm pretty sure Steve McGarrett was just in front of us today but his McFlurry was full of Oreos!
More from the Pacific tomorrow.
First I wanted to return to our visit to Pearl Harbor yesterday and specifically to our setting foot on the USS Bowfin, suitably nicknamed "The Pearl Harbor Avenger." It was launched in 1942 and became one of the most deadly of the American submarine fleet achieving numerous "kills" and surviving the war unlike so many similar vessels. In total, it completed nine tours of duty and didn't lose any of its crew. It was fascinating to walk through the vessel and to gain an insight into how the crew lived in such a confined environment.
However, disembarking the submarine, we noticed several memorials on a grassy area close by and on examination realised that these were a tribute to all the submariners who had died in action during the Pacific conflict. It was truly shocking to see the numbers involved and every memorial stone carried the story of what happened and the names of the men who laid down their lives for the freedom that we all enjoy today. What I found particularly moving was the epitaph to all of them that simply read, "On Eternal Patrol."
But onto slightly less harrowing things with the exception of the Honolulu traffic which is a total nightmare! This is a small island with far too many inhabitants and most of them appear to possess a car each! That said, we did venture into the city and the old Coy parking gene worked again! What is the Coy parking gene? I can't really explain other than to say a little angel is constantly watching over me and whenever I go somewhere that I need to park, hey, it can be the busiest place in the world, miraculously, someone always pulls out thereby freeing up their space for me! It is genuinely uncanny and at times pure X Files! Key the music!
Waikiki is a tourist honey pot, very much like Ipanema or Copacabana in Rio. It's a place to be seen but it comes at a price! Wow, the cost of a hotel room! Put simply, we could have paid the price but then our holiday would have lasted four days rather than four weeks! You can take the boy out of Yorkshire but you can't take Yorkshire out of the boy! Mind you, I did splash out on an M&M McFlurry for us both.
We did enjoy the visit and and also took time to breathe in the views from Diamond Head State Monument which is at the very south of Oahu. The sunshine which is plentiful, turns the sea a most incredible colour. Photos simply don't replicate the human eye.
To end today's dispatch, like the time we saw Elvis Presley in a Las Vegas suparmarket, I'm pretty sure Steve McGarrett was just in front of us today but his McFlurry was full of Oreos!
More from the Pacific tomorrow.
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| The USS Bowfin |
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| The Restaurant! |
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| Engine Room |
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| Torpedo Tubes |
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| On Eternal Patrol |
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| Submariners Memorial |
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| Waikiki Beach |
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| Beautiful People On Waikiki |
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| Waikiki Again |
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| Diamond Head |
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