Hawaii- Pearl Harbour

From California we flew to Hawaii with the intention of having a pleasant weeks break in a nice hotel with a pool to recover from our hectic four days in Disney. Not a full weeks break of nothingness, as we planned to include a day at Mrs Bunnies bucket list destination of Pearl Harbour, but definitely a few days of relaxation. From the outset Hawaii was, well, weird. We had no preconceived ideas of what to expect, we had chosen not to watch any You Tube videos, in the hope that we could have a surprise. In our heads we were expecting scenic views, palm trees, pretty villages, and maybe the odd grass skirt, or flower garland. What we did not expect, was to be greeted at the airport by a young guy wearing lipstick and matching nail varnish... Neither did we expect to pay $37 dollars for a 7km taxi ride. Hawaii was going to prove to be a very very expensive and slightly weird destination, not just in terms of transport, but also trips, food, the people, and the crazy idiots on the roads. We arrived at the hotel, with its overly doctored photos of the pool area. `Large pleasant pool` was in fact very small very cold, and less than inviting. Trips? starting around £150 each, nope, no thank you. Our room came to grow on us despite its very noisy air conditioning unit. We did have breakfast in the Hotel, which itself was a little odd for a number of reasons. Given $5 tickets as we checked in, each ticket gave the two bunnies a heavily supplemented breakfast for $5 dollars each, but for context, the same breakfast purchased without a pink ticket was $18. Coffee came with unlimited refills, but an extra tea bag came at a cost. So petty. The hotel restaurant was indoors, but with a large door leading outside meant that a large number of small birds were flying around the room. I don`t mind birds when eating outdoors, but I don`t really want them in a hotel dining room. After a few days we hired a microwave, and seeing as Walmart was directly opposite our hotel, our food options improved when we could buy microwave meals. Local restaurants were all of an Asian theme, we are not fans. We did run to a Subway once, but two small subs and around £15 later we decided that would be a one off. Hawaii would not be a place that we came to enjoy. I admit that we were a little far from the busy tourist area of Waikiki, just a bit too far to walk and no intention of spending extra money on taxis, so it would be fair to say that we did not see as much of Hawaii as we would have liked. The traffic whilst not busy was loud and chaotic. Far too many ambulance sirens could be heard every day, and signs on every road advising people to be safe and careful. So many noisy people on motorbikes, revved up to the hilt and screaming away down the roads, it happened quite often, then there were the guys in pimped up trucks blaring their load music, not just loud music, but deafening music almost in a belligerent fashion, just daring someone to question them or show objection. As for the people? Who exactly are the true Hawaiian race? Are they Japanese? Chinese? Malaysian? White American? Black American? who knows. Perhaps a mixture of all. We could not define the true native person. What we could define was the number of weird people. I know its each to their own, but guys in dresses and high heels walking around the supermarket? Joe average wearing false eyelashes? lipstick on men seemed the norm, ditto nail varnish. Sorry, call me old fashioned but that`s just odd. We sat by the pool one day playing cards and in walked a mother with seven children. Zero consideration for anyone sat near the pool, or even in the pool itself, as these children proceeded to splash, scream and dive bomb each other. We did not stay there much longer. Kids will be kids, but surely a little consideration for other guests would be the norm? We walked a couple of times to the nearby shopping mall for something to do, but even that was not your average shopping centre. At least 85% of the mall was devoted to to High end shops. Tiffany`s, Chanel, Rolex, Louis Vuitton to name but a few. We are budget conscious travellers, not fashion geeks. The sea front was nice, but the false harbour and artificial sand banks were private property of the luxury hotels. The grass banks were open to the public, and it was there that we saw some impressive barbeque and picnic set ups.

Pearl Harbour

As it happened we went to Pearl Harbour just a few days after the anniversary of the bombing. Not sure why I was expecting a ceremony, or even any kind of memorial, but there was nothing over and above the normal, a modern day working naval port, to see. Pearl Harbour has always held a fascination for me. I do love a good shipwreck story, and coupled with the historical events of 1941 and the totally unexpected bombing by the Japanese, I was keen to see where it all took place. It would be totally remiss of me to say that I was disappointed, I wasn`t, but I do admit to thinking there would have been more to see.

The day didn`t exactly start the best with a very early 7.25am pickup, that then proceeded to tour the town picking up more and more Pearl Harbour passengers. The tour I picked was expensive, and gave the impression of being limited to a small group, I do not call a bus load of passengers, `a small group`. Pearl is located a way out of town, and we arrived around 9am. Strict zero bags on site protocol, misunderstood by us as we had brought our smallest bags thinking they came under the size of the allowed `clutch` bag. Nope. Zero bags unless plastic and transparent. First port of call, bag drop. We were then advised to watch the unique to Pearl Harbour film show, then visit the small museum before our Arizona Memorial visit time of 10.15am. The Film show was good and explained a lot, but truthfully anyone knowing the events of 7 December 1941 would probably have known just about everything the film showed. The museum afterwards was ok, but so much writing! Not the first museum where I have thought, `someone really needs to condense all this info into to more manageable bite size pieces` From the museum it was time for our allotted boat ride across to the Arizona Memorial. It was a short boat ride, during which time we passed several concrete markers denoting the final resting places or where several other ships had met their demise that fateful night. We walked into the Memorial and instantly appreciated how poignant the site was. A section of the walkway lies directly over Arizona and to this day you can still see `tears` of oil leaking from the ship below you. Not a lot to see to be truthful, just a large mass of rusty metal, but its the story that grabs you. At the end of the walkway is the plaque engraved with all the names of the dead. So many names the same, as brothers joined with brothers, fathers and sons. To the left, at floor level is another smaller plaque dedicated to the men who served, but did not perish the night of the bombing. Many of these men have been interred following their subsequent deaths, back to the Arizona, as a final wish to join their fallen comrades. Approximately 20? (am guessing) have been laid to rest at Arizona over the years. There will be no more, as the final hero died just a few years ago.

There is nothing more to see or read at the actual memorial site. In fact, you disembark your boat, walk the length of the memorial, and by the time you have listened to the short speech given by a representative of the site it is time for you to get back on the boat back to shore.

With time moving on, our last visit was to the battleship Missouri, the ship on which the surrender was signed. Got to say it was very impressive, even a highlight of the day. We joined the guided tour hoping to get some extra information rather than doing the self guided tour, but quickly got so so bored with the endless fact, figures, numbers, dates.....blah blah blah... We quickly toured the ship, but heat, too much standing around, and with lots of difficult stairs, we walked back to the entrance with little time left before our bus departed.

Pearl Harbour. Worth a visit, but very clinical and `efficient`. It is what it is, a sad reminder of war and the ignorance that goes with complacency. It is also a site that whilst poignant, charges you a lot of money to visit....

Hawaii, quite probably a beautiful island, but one that requires transport, time, money and lot more research. Would we return? With careful planning, quite probably.