Thursday 6 September 2007

Oahu

Yesterday Markus and I took a flight from Maui to Honolulu. Although Oahu is a tiny island, 80% of all Hawaii's residents live here. Taking the shuttle from the airport to Waikiki it felt like most of them were driving.
Originally I intended to only spend a few hours here waiting on a flight to Fiji, however everyone I've met so far has recommended checking out Oahu, mostly for a visit to Pearl Harbour. For you American readers (I believe I actually have a few in Stigler, hello Stigler!), I'm afraid I can't bring myself to drop the "u" in Harbour, it looks all wrong. But Gerry just for you, I'm pronouncing a hard "r".
This morning I got up ridiculously early (6am!), having been woken by a girl late in the night, she had dropped her camera down the shower drain. My groggy response, "How? How? I mean, really, how?"
I still don't know, but I did make it out to Pearl Harbour. I had never seen photo's of the U.S.S Arizona memorial, so the design really took me by surprise. I think as far as memorials go, it's really well designed and very distinct. Like most U.S memorials and parks I've visited it seems to largely survive on donations. Having gleaned all my knowledge on Pearl Harbour from "that" Micheal Bay film, I learned a great deal from the documentary film shown before the boat ride out to the memorial.



U.S.S Arizona Memorial

I'm staying in Waikiki, which is probably a lot like Benidorm, the beach is crowded, there are many shops and high rise hotels. It feels odd to be here after the relative quiet of Maui, and the beautiful quiet of the Big Island. Roll on Sunday, when I land in Fiji. I'm staying at this resort, very excited!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Karen-
Yes you do have some Stigler readers. Been following your adventures. I had several trips to Hawaii, back and forth on my wayto VN, so could relate. Looking forward to your Fiji journey, so have fun and report often. And by the way, when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783 freeing us from your tyrany, part of that agreement was that the "u" in harbor 'would' be dropped, so get use to it.
Tony

little chief said...

Hi Tony,

It's lovely to hear from you, I don't think anyone has ever managed to get the Treaty of Paris into a comment before, kudos. But I still believe missing out the "u" is simply laziness, I think we may need to invade and put things right!
x

Anonymous said...

Karen,
We have all been following your travels. Very interesting. Can't wait to see the sights in Fiji. As far as the extra letters you Brits put in words, personally I like it. As a matter of fact I've decided to adopt it too.
David in Stigleur

Anonymous said...

Karen,
Another Stiglerite who is enjoying your adventures. I even went back to the first and caught up on all your travels.
I had the wonderful opportunity to spend three months in Honolulu about five years ago and enjoyed it very much. The people are so friendly.
I'm looking forward to reading about your travels to Fiji and beyond!
Judy