Diamond Head Crater
Diamond Head is that oddest of things: It is a crater and a peak at the same time.
The climate inside Diamond Head's bowl is pretty arid. This catus was one of quite a few we saw but the only one in bloom.
Diamond Head peak was used as a military lookout for a number of years because of the views it provided of both the Pacific and of Honolulu. There was no indication of what this bit of hardware might have been used for, perhaps getting supplies up the side of the mountain.
While the path up to the summit is well worn and marked, it's also a bit of an obstacle course. The first of the obstacles is this set of narrow steps, all 99 of them. Then there's the steady climb through the dark tunnel, just long enough for claustrophobia to set in.
Then there's the crawl through the mouth of the bunker. This one was used for weather measurements.
A view of the ocean and the Diamond Head lighthouse, which is still in operation albeit automated and without a keeper.
It is impossible to miss Diamond Head from anywhere in Waikiki. This is the reverse view. You can't quite see our hotel from here, but it's close.
Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri
Located off the coast of Ford Island NAS, the white bridge-like structure of memorial as we know it was dedicated in 1962 more than 20 years after the ship was bombed and sunk with nearly 1,200 crew members aboard.
Parts of the ship are visible above the waterline, such as this mast.
And this tower.
In the last decade or so the Arizona has cracked open and has begun leaking oil. Called the Arizona's tears, this leak will only be sealed up until after every surviving crew member who has requested his ashes be interred in the ship has died and been buried.
It's not hard to see why the ships in Pearl Harbor made a good strategic target, or why so many civilians died that day. That's Honolulu just across the harbor in the background.
Navy divers were doing a bit of work with one of the other ships unable to be recovered from Pearl Harbor the day we visited. In the background you can see the USS Missouri.
The USS Arizona (the memorial is in the distance) and the USS Missouri are figurative bookends for World War II.
The ship is huge, larger even that all those ginormous cruise ships that dock everywhere these days.
Look familiar? If you watch MTV in the 1980s you probably saw Cher writhing around in not very much in front of these very guns.
If you pay the small fee for a guided tour of the Missiouri you get a chance to tour the firing control room which is buried pretty well inside the ship. Last used in combat in the Gulf War, the boards in the room still show maps and coordinates for operations off Kuwait.
The Missouri is most famous for being the site of the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II. The plaque reads:
Over this spot on 2 September 1945 the instrument of formal surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers was signed thus bringing to a close the second world war. The ship at that time was at anchor in Tokyo Bay. Latitude 35deg 21' 17" North ~ Longitude 139deg 45' 36" East.
Around Waikiki
The pink, blocky shape of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is probably one of the top 10 best known Waikiki landmarks but it's not the oldest hotel in Waikiki.
That distinction goes to the Moana Surfrider, now run by Sheraton.
Built in 1901, you can walk right through the lobby of the hotel and out into the banyan courtyard. And if you please, right on to Waikiki beach.
Get a room in the banyan wing for either a view of the tree or a view of the ocean, with a window that opens.
It's all about the hibiscus on Hawaii, and these look really cute on the trees in Honolulu until you realize that they're rat proofing. The sheet metal keeps the rats from climbing the palm trees and getting into the buildings from the top.
The Honolulu Zoo is right in Waikiki. It charges admission but has a fabulous open air collection of exotic tropical birds. Not so exotic, these flamingos would stand still for the photo.
The Galapagos tortoise, unlike the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle, can withdraw its legs into its shell. This one was getting a bit of shade on a hot summer morning.
For crossword puzzle freaks: 4 letters, Hawaiian goose. The Nene is on the endangered species list after being brought back from near extinction by a captive breeding program in the 1950s. The nene is an endemic animal, found only in Hawaii, whose population was devastated by imported predators (chiefly, the domestic cat).