Monday 4th February

After 4 days at sea we have arrived at our first Hawaiian island, Ohau. We are docked in Honolulu right by the Aloha Tower that was built in the early 1900's to welcome visitors. We took a taxi and went to Pearl Harbour for the day. You have to get there early to get tickets for the Arizona Memorial. The tickets are free but as you get to it by boat they only have a limited number in the day. We got there at 9.30 and we got tickets for 12. There is lots to see at the visitors centre while you wait for your boat. We got tickets to go on the submarine USS Bowfin. It was quite amazing to see the tiny cramped bunks that the seamen had to sleep on. Some were over the torpedoes! Going from one section to the next meant climbing through some very small doorways. I don't think I would like to live on a submarine. The picture is of us standing on the deck of the submarine. We then looked around the museum and some memorials in the grounds there.
Just before 12 we went to wait for our boat. First you went into the theatre to see a very interesting film about the run up to the attack on Pearl Harbour as well as the day of the attack. You then went on a launch to the Arizona Memorial. The memorial is a platform placed over the remains of the USS Arizona, one of the battleships that sunk during the attack. You can see the some of the rusting ship and oil that is still leaking from her. It was a very moving place as the crew of over 900 sank with the ship so it is their final resting place.
When we returned to the visitors centre we got the shuttle bus that takes you to the USS Missouri. This is on Ford Island in Pearl Harbour. It was the naval base at the time of the Japanese attack and is still one today. The Missouri is the ship that the Japanese surrendered on in 1945.