January 27 – We left San Francisco for Hawaii and landed in Honolulu on Oahu Island and speedily improved our geographical understanding of this chain of islands forming Hawaii! George was very keen to see the erupting volcano that spills into the sea and Lea had Pearl Harbour her priority when the stopover in Hawaii was planned. We’d chosen to have three nights. This had to be extended to five as no onward flights were available. Our friendly meet and greet driver gave us a pretty good orientation tour as we were driven through a relatively quiet city. Everyone was at ‘The Game’! Once again we found ourselves well situated in the Miramar Hotel, Waikiki Beach. All we could think of was FOOD as we found our en suite bedroom as we were absolutely starving. We’d expected a meal on the plane in the early morning rush to catch our flight only to be offered nothing as a ‘drama’ occurred soon after take-off. We picked up on this when we noticed the stewards had quickened their pace, the pilot called for any doctors on board to make themselves known and near us a hostess battled to get a defibrillator out of the overhead locker. Aside from a glass of water it was close on two hours before we were told the patient had been stabilised and service resumed. Slowly, we realised this internal flight did not serve meals – plenty of water on offer and a drink at lunch time. Even hot drinks were held off for a while due to turbulence. And, as is often the Begg way, we found ourselves at evening time without a morsel having passed our lips. Fortunately our driver had recommended Denny's next door to our hotel as good value and we hot footed it there and found a hive of activity – we had a short wait for seating and service again came in friendly and speedy style. Good value it was, especially that week’s special: a three course meal of soup or salad, a choice of skillet and dessert for $8.00.Between us, all the tasty skillets passed muster in days to come! Once replete we found “Jingle Bells” in the hotel lobby and her efficiency astounded as she made suggestions, solved problems and sorted out our days - booking the flight to Big Island to see Kilauea in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and a day at Pearl Harbour. Relief! We could accomplish all and more.
Exotic Waikiki Beach was a short block away and as we took a walk just before sunset we were amazed by the obvious and predominant number of retirees everywhere.
Having just spent time with our family that love extreme sports and wind surfing it seemed appropriate to relax and enjoy a ‘day in the country’ and we chose a fun day on the North Shore. Taking The Surf Bus rather than the local bus service which took ages to reach that destination and apparently “the homeless jump aboard and taint the air with unwashed bodies” – exact words we were told. Overcast weather as we climbed aboard the Surf Bus with a guide to narrate along the way and explain how the day would pan out. The surf was a ‘recordable day’ and he checked the forecast before we reached the famous beaches. Little chance of sunny conditions and no chance of snorkelling, surfing or body-surfing as conditions were too dangerous. Bike riding, nature walking and cruising the beaches were our morning options as he dropped us off at the famous Banzai Pipeline – this is the big daddy of all beaches, the Mecca of big waves and we had arrived on a prime day spoilt only by intermittent drizzle!
Pro Tours take place during the winter months and this was the Home of the Triple Crown of surfing. Despite beach closures those fanatics waiting for the big one were out there “tiny, tiny, small” amongst those thunderous 30-50 foot waves while gawkers on the beach waited, eyes peeled – then gasping as a “tiny, tiny, small” came over the crest, through the curl and disappeared into a gaping hole – sometimes to be chewed up and sometimes cheered on as they miraculously reappeared all in control to just as quickly swerve back over another crest. Talk about OOHS and AHHS even above the booming noise of waves we were aware of spectator vocalisation. Thankfully Lea had brought her beautiful brolly and that saved the day as we were not gently soaked. As the scheduled Pro Tour didn’t appear to be taking place at Pipeline, we followed the walkway from Sunset Beach to Waimea Bay where we’d arranged for the Surf Bus to pick us up. Since it was Lea’s birthday, we took a welcome break at a Starbucks halfway down. Approaching the last beach we became aware of a surfing accident when a Beach Rescue truck pulled up on the side walk in front of and we saw lifesavers carrying a surfing senior towards the steps we overlooked.Obviously more serious than first thought as an ambulance was called and by the time we reached the other end of the beach we heard the siren curling around the coastal road. This was not a day for novices or experienced‘wrinklies’, sorry to say! The gentle rain put us off visiting the Waimea Valley Audubon Centre with its entrance immediately across the road – preferring to have our ‘morning activity’ converted into a lunch in historic Haleiwa, as soggy ground likely to have made these Botanic Gardens difficult to enjoy. Instead we sat under the brolly watching the surf, the feral chickens that are said to have taken over Hawaii (as well as some feral cats); stopped to see a green turtle called Brutus who had come ashore to rest on such a turbulent day. Brutus has been regularly resting on this beach since 1999. Glad we chose ‘lunch’ instead of an activity as we arrived in Haleiwa to enjoy a very tasty shrimp lunch preordered on our behalf from one of the iconic trailer kitchens and our driver set us up outside the home of the Artis Family with another very pleasant young Japanese couple. The late Ron Artis was a well known surfer and artist, so the family garden became his memorial gallery. Music was obviously a great love within his family, hence a section in the house had been turned into a music studio. As we finished lunch we heard the Ron Artis family band start up and in we went to enjoy a free hour of their music before exploring the town.
Despite a damp and drizzly day we enjoyed our first excursion into the countryside with coffee being grown in large quantities as well as some sugarcane and pineapples just for local consumption.
Pearl Harbour was all we could wish and more. Every minute of the day was made the most of thanks to our driver guide from the moment we boarded and were hauled to the front seat and treated royally thanks to our “gold” sticker - which had us most bemused. Ernel Smith, a native Hawaiian, a very good natured and amusing guide had us all ( oh no, not George!) singing songs (like The wheels of the bus go round and round…) and giving Ernel bear hugs! He professed to have so many bloods / ancestors that some of his nick-names were chop-suey and Bitsa (bits of this and bits of that). From him we learnt some Hawaiian language and he now considered us part of the SMITH family! Adding hilarity to the day Ernel insisted on a complicated password (hunu-hunu, nuku-nuku, pi, oooah) before being allowed re-entry on the bus; using the term wiki-wiki to mean hurry, hurry quickly; pipi for folk in the front and pupu for those in the back of the bus.
The highlights – that is hard! Perhaps the 25 minute long film we saw, containing footage taken by the Americans and Japanese during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 Dec 1941 – the massive explosion of the battle ship USS Arizona fortuitously filmed by someone on the hospital ship taking the 8.00 a.m. ritual flag raising ceremony! We could not help but admire the meticulous planning and cunning of the Japanese which caught the Yanks so unprepared that some marines reverted to throwing spanners at the passing aircraft in frustration! The two successive waves of Japanese aircraft (numbering 169 and 180 respectively) absolutely decimated the place, flattening over 300 American planes parked side by side on the airfield, and with the aid of torpedoes and bombs sinking 185 vessels (including five battleships) in the harbour. Had America’s three aircraft carriers been in port that day, they too would have been destroyed.
Or was it our visit out to USS Arizona Memorial to 1 177 marines and sailors that lost their lives on board that day. This is a beautiful memorial set above the rusting hull of the ship, with only the # three gun turret showing above water and, 70 years after the event traces of black oil (said to be the tears of the dead) still rise to the surface – a moving thought especially when at least a quart of oil is said to rise each day.
Pearl Harbour highlights
On Ford Island our tour of‘Mighty Mo’ was also very special. The 270 metre long battleship Missouri (aka Mighty Mo) served the USA through three wars and is best known as the site of the signing of the unconditional surrender of the Japanese in Tokyo harbour, 2 Sept. 1945. On board were nine enormous 16 inch guns capable of firing 2700 pound shells a distance of 23 miles (at two rounds a minute); 12 nine inch guns with a range of 9 miles; 32 tomahawk missiles, radar tracking devices and four very sophisticated air defence weapons systems. The story of the Kamikaze pilot who attacked USS Missouri (April 1945) was particularly interesting as the marks where his plane hit the side of the ship are still evident. The remains of the pilot, found amongst the wreckage strewn on the deck had a formal burial at sea the next day on the grounds that he was fighting for his country just as everyone else was doing. Such compassion – even in the heat of war is admirable and we wish we heard more of these stories rather than the dastardly ones.
Before leaving Pearl Harbour we visited the Pacific Aircraft Museum and a submarine, the USS Bowfin, which was launched a year after the Pearl harbour attack and established herself as one of the most successful submarines of the war. The Bowfin is now a waterfront Memorial and tribute to the 52 American subs and 3500 submariners lost during the war. This provided a moving chronicle of the wartime record of each sub and a list of the men lost. A Japanese suicide torpedo, or kaiten– basically an enlarged torpedo with a cockpit and periscope, horrified our imaginations as it enabled it’s ‘captain’ tosteered it towards the ship he intended sinking, with instructions to bail out at 150 metres fromtarget. ONE US navy ship was destroyed in this way (Nov 1944) but 96 Japanese suicide pilots died trying to do so.We were the last to be hustled out at closing time it was such a fascinating place!
Waking to find a beautiful sunny day in Honolulu we so looked forward to Big Island and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park but from ourwiki wiki airport pick up, we found ourselves in a severe hurry up and WAIT situation! Naively – yes, after all the travel we do, we still found ourselves with high expectations. The day trip had sounded like plenty of time but reality was quite different. Hanging around the airport (even if it did have huge arm chairs making us wonder if we’d stepped into a furniture store in error) by the time we’d cleared security with all its attendant searches and landed in Hilo (the main town) it was 12.30. Amongst the passengers bound for Big Island with us were a trio of Australians – the one lady took a liking to us and would hang onto our arms for support and make the strangest of sounds imaginable. Further stops took place at Rainbow Falls, a macadamia nut factory and finally a late lunch at Lava Rock Café just as we felt the day was virtually over. Adding to our growing feelings of discontent it began to rain as we drove up a very misty mountain and the Volcanoes NP. Donning yellow plastic ponchos handed to us by the tour guide, our view overthe Kilauea crater (one of the best understood volcanoes in the world that has been spilling into the sea continuously for the last 30 years) was not exactly inspiring since we were enveloped in swirling mist (low cloud). All we could see were some steam vents. Nor was there any of the sulphurous smells (SO2 gas) we’d been warned about.The visit to the Jagger Museum at the Visitors Centre had to be rushed as by then it was time to drive part of the Chain of Craters Road to see the Lua Manu lava flow and walk through the Thurston Lava Tube, as light was fading fast.
As darkness set in we returned to the Kilauea crater to see the reddish glow of the magma lighting up the sky – but that too was hugely disappointing. The map of the NP showed there were walking trails right around the rim of the crater and some through the middle – all of which made us realise that one really needs to stay nearby and over the course of two or three days, enjoy exploring and driving through the park at one’s leisure. A lesson learnt - maybe next time! However we did learn interesting things like the highest of the volcanoes on Big Island is Mauna Loa, which last erupted in 1984 and almost led to the evacuation of Hilo, becomes snow covered! Standing 17 000m above the depressed sea floor it is twice as high as Mt Everest according to the literature and research by US Geological Survey scintists. We also learnt about another biological blunder... the impact of the mongooses brought in from India to control rats – Not realising that 51 species of endemic birds, all now extinct, would be destroyed in the process – a story not dissimilar to what happened in New Zealand after the introduction of possums; and finally, Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii ( his bones eaten to enable his attackers to inherit his revered skills as a warrior). By the time we returned to Honolulu and dropped back at the Miramar, it was 10.30pm and we were both too dog tired to even go in search of a meal.
REALITY! On a beautifully calm, sunny day, soon after leaving the harbour a mother whale and her calf were spotted rising ahead of us, spouting, spy-hopping, tail slapping and breaching at a fair distance. Unfortunately this was directly into the sun, so useless for photographic purposes – especially without telephoto lens. Despite being on a twin hulled boat with spacious viewing – front viewing space was at a premium and the commentary from the expert naturalist on board gave rise to an excitement that was difficult to match let alone see what he said was happening ahead.
Best view we have ever had of a whale was for free and unexpected – as we rounded into Gordons Bay, South Africa in 2009 and spotted the immense shape of a whale just off shore. Two hours later we were back at our hotel and we set off to walk the length of Waikiki beachfront stopping for a quick bite to eat at the Barefoot Beach café, only to be entertained by the unexpected arrival of a film crew filming a couple of models and the owner jumping in to gain some free advertising! Magnificent trees and large parks added to the positive feel we had for Waikiki.
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Lea stands before the statue to the father of surfing, Duke Kahanamo, along Wakiki Beach
We had been determined to end on a high note with our last meal in Bubba Gump, Honolulu - touble being. we hadn't seen where it was or any advertising so after leaving our luggage with the concierge midmorning we asked directions... This lead us on a Hawaiian Pink line trolley bus to the Ala Moana Centre - WOW! the world's largest open-air shopping centre with a complimentary Hula Show at 1 p.m. every day and we had come by it in the eleventh hour and by chance. Lea was in her element. These were the American shops she had so looked forward to seeing and not found until now- she was almost prepared to forego a shrimp feed at Bubba Gump!
A prawn feast and a bucket of calamari - Cheers!
We shopped and ate a fine lunch before catching the Pink Trolley back to our hotel in time for our airport pickup. The last exhausting leg to Auckland took place on the night of 1 February landing at a very early hour next morning, 3 February. We had lost a day in our lives... Nevertheless we had to sit the long drawn out morning before the flight to Perth but at the other end waited Saxon, Paul and the girls which raised a high level of excitement.
A prawn feast and a bucket of calamari - Cheers!
We shopped and ate a fine lunch before catching the Pink Trolley back to our hotel in time for our airport pickup. The last exhausting leg to Auckland took place on the night of 1 February landing at a very early hour next morning, 3 February. We had lost a day in our lives... Nevertheless we had to sit the long drawn out morning before the flight to Perth but at the other end waited Saxon, Paul and the girls which raised a high level of excitement.
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