A quiet day
Trip Start
Jan 16, 2011
1
144
174
Trip End
Jan 15, 2012
Where I stayed
Waikiki Beachside Hostel
Pearl Harbour, Hawaii
Sunday, September 4, 2011
So I was told to be out at Pearl Harbour early to get tickets and anyway, you need a full day. Anything that is related to the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbour is for free. But there is a movie and a ferry that takes you to the USS Arizona Memorial. And there are limited tickets for the movie and ferry, but it's for free. I got my ticket for 1pm. So I got myself an audio tour guide which I highly recommend, walked around the site and visited the museum. The movie provided a detailed account and footage of why Pearl Harbour was attacked and how. A total surprise to the US who expected to be attacked by the Japanese by sea. The Japanese wanted to destroy the US defense on Hawaii in order to be able to conquer South East Asia and the Pacific which they needed for raw materials and as an additional market. But as long as the US was watching them from Hawaii that was impossible. So they attacked the US, hoping that until they recover again, they would be in charge of their new territories. The plan didn’t work, as the US joined WWII declared war, joined WWII as a result of the Pearl Harbour attack and rebuilt their fleet pretty fast. The USS Arizona was a battleship anchoring in front of Pearl Harbour and when attacked 1,700 men died on that ship. 900 of them went down to the bottom of the sea with her. Above the actual wreck a memorial was built which we visited after the movie. It was the greatest loss of men for the US in a single day. It’s a very peaceful atmosphere out at the memorial and I think quite well done. When we got back on land I finished my audio tour guide, then bought a ticket for the Battleship Missouri. The Battleship Missouri is the place where WWII officially ended when Japan finally surrendered to the US. On the boat you can see the spot where the table where the treaty was signed stood. The boat is huge and it takes a while to tour it. I made it a bit faster than the recommended 2 hours, after all, I’m not too interested in all the details. And it was close to 5pm. I took my bus back to Waikiki, head quick dinner – steak! – and headed to Waikiki Beach where every day at 6:30pm a free Hula show takes place. I got there just in time and got myself a seat on the beach in the front row. The Hula ladies are not the youngest – the seemed to be in their 60ies. But they danced well. One young girl joined them as well and then 3 Hula students. It was a nice show and I saw the Hula dance – what I came here for.
