They picked us up at the rendezvous point and yet again chatted about what Honolulu meant ( sheltered or protected bay ) and made bad jokes until when we finally reached the actualy Pearl Harbour memorial where they then showed us where the entrance and toilets were before giving us a time to get back on the bus, reminded us not to make too much and then wandered off, very dissapointing.
However Pearl Harbour itself was not a dissapointment and the short 25 minute movie show about the build up and final attack on Pearl Harbour was quite emotional, made moreso by being on the big screen with surround sound.
It was here that I learned that the Japanese used 5 mini subs, each two men devices, over 130 planes flown from five carriers with the attack being planned for three waves, however the fact that the US carriers were out at sea at the time of the attack concerned the Japanese high command who then called off the third wave, which ultimately was a mistake.
Although a success in terms of damage inflicted verses received, the fact that the main carriers were not damaged and the aborted third strike, which was due to hit the town, port and repair facilities, meant that the US was still able to defend itself and mount counter attacks in later months and years.
That the Japanese left the repair facilities alone meant that over 75% of the ships damages in the attack were able to be repaired back to an operational level in itself shows how ineffectual the attack was on the overall scheme of the war, all it really did was crystalise the American public into supporting the war and the government ( many American people up to then sill felt that an isolationist policy was preferred to opposing the military might of Japan or Germany, who elsewhere were having huge victories in Europe and Asia respectively ).
After the screening we were directed to board the small launch that would take us on over to the floating platform that straddles the Arizona and here we could see the hull beneath us, its rusting metal superstructure and turrets barely piercing through the water in places and tiny oil slicks floating on the surface, locally referred to as the "tears of the Arizona", as she continues to slowly leak out the remaining half a million gallons of fuel onboard her sunken remains.
Once our alloted time was up another guard came to ferry us back across the port, back to the musuem and gift shop where we could watch more mini movies and buy just about anything on the subject you cared to remember. I know a guy back in the UK who will go nuts for some of this stuff, and although I don't normally get souveneirs for anyone, not even myself, on this occasion I decided to grab a authentic copy of the newspaper the day of the attach and also a copy of the signed peace treaty that was signed there in Pearl Harbour.
As as added bonus on the way out I spotted a desk where each morning a Pearl Harbour survivor will sit to greet visitors and sign autographs, so I wandered over to shake his hand and see how he was today.
As our tour group was due back at our mini-bus at 11am I didnt have time to go the second part of the museum across the parking lot, but I did spot my fellow english friend from last night just about to arrive, so I gave her the quick run down on what she was about to see and not to miss the old timer survivor or the other musuem before I had to dash back and then we were off to the second part of the mornings tour, a city tour of downtown Honolulu.
With only a little over an hour left of the tour we did not get to see that much, and in fact most of the places we passed at a slow rolling pause, rather than a full stop and get out, which meant that photo opportunities were scarce, however realising that my battery life was almost dead this was almost a blessing for me.
I learned that in its past history, the local government burnt down their own little Chinatown in an effort to prevent the spread of the bubonic plague as well as a few other bits and bobs about certain building here or there, but mainly it seemed to me like a way of killing time and beefing out the tour before we finally arrived back in Waikiki downtown and we all hoped off at our various stops.
In my bag I had been carrying a lot of stuff due for home since leaving Ecuador, and each time I came to a city I found it either impossible to find a post office or that the price to send something home was more than £80, which I was just not prepared to pay, so I was both glad and relieved that finally I found a post office where for a flat fee of a little under US $50 I could send home a fixed size box of any weight. So I dashed to my dorm room and filled the box with almost 6 kilos of brouchures, dvds, receipts, books and other nic nak due home.
After the trip to the post office I had a little tie to grab a shower before the afternoons tour started at 4pm, which was a cruise round Honolulu bay on the worlds largest Catamaran. Like all the other tours I was picked up just down the road from my actual hostel and again was the only guest not from a big names hotel, which was more proof that these tours are aimed at folk who are either rich, lazy or too short of time to research and make their own travel arrangements.
For a change it was nice to have a guide that was young and fun, and so much so that he insisted that we learn a made up haka that he had created for part of the later show, and also a counter haka for when the other buses shout out their own haka.
The other thing that he did right off the bat was go into a little detail that in Hawaii everyone is considered family, including us, so we should turn to our nearest unfamilar cousin and introduce ourselves, which was a nice spin on the old ice breaking technique.
As out bus had some Chinese tourists I didnt feel that we were going to do very well if it was a case of our bus verses their bus, but never the less we all sang and shouted our lungs out singing "bus number two, bus number two, looks better than you!", including the foot stamping, wild eyes, arm pulling and tongue pointing to stress our chant.
Once we arrived at the catamaran we had a chance to have our photo taken of us, but as they were trying to charge US $20 just for one photo, I knew before I even had it taken that I wasn't going to get one, and I just dont understand why they try to rip off the tourists quite that much, as I know I could probably have been talked into taken one if it was of a reasonable price like US $5!
Being one of the only two singletons on the bus I had noone to sit with, so our guide paired me off with the only other singleton, who turned out to be a pretty female from Sydney in Australia, which helped make the night feel a lot less awkward and lonely for the pair of us.
The cruise itself was good fun, with a buffet, live music and another mini polynesian show to round off the event, but with only a 50% discount on your first drink and all the other drinks were full priced ( at say US $6 each per cocktail ) I also knew that I wasn't going to get drunk onboard, and in fact I was a little miffed at how stingy they were being.
After the meal but before the show we were blessed with a glorious sunset and a whale came up along side and gave us a couple of nice funnel blasts before submerging and swimming off.
When it came to the Haka singing contest we made a lot more noise that I expected, and also our haka was a little more authentic and interesting that the others, one was nothing more than Queens "we will rock you" and hands clapping, and I think for that reason alone we were awarded the top place. For our prize we all had to stand up and hold our arms out, only to find that the prise was to dance the Macarena first, and as soon as that filtered through our groups subconcious plenty of people decided to subtly creep away and visit the observation deck.
All in all it was good fun, but I am not sure it was quite worth the money I paid, and so it was with mixed feelings that I headed on back to my hostel to try and sort out as much stuff as I could for the very early morning flight to Fiji.
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