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Stop 5: Hawaii



I was so surprised at how many people wear Hawaiian shirts in Hawaii, even the weatherman wore one. I know the clue is in the name and all but I mean really?!


Panic not, I got a pedicure. I wasn't about to waste my last week of wearing flip flops. In this photo you can even see some Hawaii sand.



Travelling on your own makes photo taking hard. You have to pick your photographer carefully. Sometimes that can be difficult to judge (I have mentioned this before, remember the fiasco of Graceland?). I choose the wrong couple this time. He turned out to be blind so asked his wife, who, and I wish I was joking, was also blind in one eye. I think this photo was taken with her good eye, although you wouldn't know it. I just wanted a photo of me in shorts at a Christmas tree but I got suitcase girl in it too. Bonus.


One of the things I really wanted to go to was to go to Pearl Harbor. The white thing you can see is the USS Arizona Memorial, one of only two battleships that was totally destroyed in the attack. It sank with the loss of over 1000 men (I think Cuba Gooding Jr. was of them in the film). They are still entombed on it so it is considered a war grave. The ship that I took the photo from is the USS Missori which is the 'last battleship' having seen action in WW2, the Korean War and then was refitted in the 80s so was in the Gulf War too. It faces the wrong way, not out to sea, as the battleships would have in 1941, but overlooks the Arizona which I think is sweet. The main reason why I wanted to go there is because it's where the instrument of surrender was signed by the Japanese and Allied Commanders ending WW2.


This is a copy of the surrender document. On the day, 2nd September 1945, the representatives of Japanese and Allied governments signed two documents, following the prescibed order. Somehow in the emotion of the event, the Canadian rep messed up and signed on the wrong line. D'oh but this was an important document and everything had to be right, so everyone who signed after had to have their bi-line scored out and corrected in writing. Oh die. Wouldn't you just feel special?! If you click on the photo you can see the blank line where Colonel Thicko should have signed and the corrections that had to follow.


I went snokelling here. Apparently the bay was formed 10,000 billion years ago or something. Something to do with a volcano. What do I know? I teach History. But I did appreciate the pretty tropical fish and coral reef.


I wathced the sun set. That means that I have seen the sun rise and set right across the country which I think is pretty cool. I mean, granted not the same day but still.