We hire a car and drive to Pearl Harbour. It is a very sobering experience and the balance between information, tourism, commercialism and respect is very well balanced. This is the Arizona memorial built over the sunken ship.
All these years later and crude oil is still bubbling to the surface. Several investigations have been made and the final outcome is that the crude oil is less environmentally invasive than the output from the boats that ferry people to the memorial. Hmmm.
The size of the missiles launched from submarines genuinely amazes me. They actually launch Polaris missiles from submarines - something I never realised.
We climb Diamond Head - no mean feat. Above is the view of Waikiki from the top and this is the view of the peak as we leave the park with some of the climbers silhouetted against the setting sun.
We've hired a car and drive the surf beaches. At Sunset Beach we come across this iconic palm tree.
There are probably 30 surfers in the water and only one is female. Guess who Frank takes a photo of! (Good job I have a thick skin !!)
We move from Oahu to Hawai'i (Big Island). We make the mistake of staying in Hilo rather than Kona, where the majority of people stay as it is the dry side of the Island. There are an amazing number of waterfalls - they get over 200 inches of rain per year. It poured down on our side for most of the three days we were there.
Frank swims in one of the many waterfalls.
We are surprised to see the Union Jack in the Hawaii state flag.
We see loads of fantastic rainbows and notice they have a rainbow as an emblem on their car number plates. This one is from our hotel bar.
This was extraordinary; it looks like hair but is actually natural glass created by the volcano.
The shapes we see in the hardened lava blow your mind. Serious natural art.
Vast areas are laid waste by the volcanoes but the rainbows bring a surreal dimension.
With all the rain comes magnificent rain forest. This waterfall is a 440ft drop.
We book a helicopter ride and fly over the volcano. On our first attempt the flight is cancelled due to bad weather but the next day we are lucky enough to be in the first group who are cleared to fly that day (2pm, when they start at 9am). This picture shows the direction taken by the river of lava from one of the Kilawaeu cones. It is a chain of cones, not just the one main crater.
The volcano last erupted just a few days ago. The forest is still on fire. There is a 2 mile embargo area on the new eruption. At the end of the flow houses are being destroyed and the local streets are blocked so that residents have privacy. We are in awe of what we see.
One of the lava tubes has spilt, so you can see the molten lava flowing below the surface. Most of the 2500 degrees Fahrenheit lava moves underground with a cooling crust on top.
We emerge from our helicopter ride, over an active volcano, unscathed ;)
and finally the sun sets on our 8 month adventure with a loud fireworks display over Waikiki beach.
where are you off to next?
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