We woke and looked out the window and found a view of the beach. Partial but still a nice way to wake up looking out over Waikiki bay with surfers and boats floating around. We headed out to Pearl Harbor Naval Base and the visitor centre. After a short video about 7th December 1941 and the events that led up to that date we jumped aboard a boat to go to the Memorial of the USS Arizona. This was an amazing experience, something I still remember from 30 plus years ago. I hope that Emily and Matilda have taken it all in. The soldiers are still in the hull of the ship and every day a small amount of oil leaks out of the wreckage. They say these are "the tears of the Arizona" and about 2 - 9 quarts leaks out every day but no one knows how long this will continue as they do not know how much oil is left - especially as the ship burned for 3 days after being sunk.

After getting back to shore we headed over to Ford Island, an operational naval base and home to the US Pacific Fleet. Here we explored the USS battleship Missouri, Mighty Mo, as they call her. This was an influential warship during the second world war and most significant as the peace treaty when Japan surrendered was signed on the deck of the Missouri. This was witnessed by many countries, including Australia. We went below deck and saw the general quarters of the sailors. These were quite small compared to those of higher ranking officers who had more space and more comfortable quarters. On the bridge you overlook the USS Arizona memorial and the harbour. It was a good day with the airforce flying above in modern day jet fighters.

Next stop was the aircraft museum where they have a collection of WW2 fighters and bombers and modern day jets, helicopters and bombers. There was both Japanese and American planes restored with wreckage as well. The next hanger had more recent aircraft with a F-111 bomber donated by the RAAF, good to see Pacific relationships are going well. I got a bit excited when I saw a Mig jet fighter and an F-14 Tomcat. Flash backs of Top Gun when Maverick and Goose were in a inverted negative G4 dive with a Mig 28 came rushing back, along with "it's time to buzz the tower Goose!" and "I feel the need, the need for speed!". After giving Emily and Matilda some education about Top Gun we moved on, back to the last stop.

The USS Bowfin is a submarine that invaded Japanese waters and sank many of the Imperial fleet. As we made our way below deck I soon realised that my life as a submariner was never going to be an option. After bumping my head in the first torpedo chamber, I continued to hit my head and back as we made our way through each bulkhead of the submarine. The crew had very limited space to fullfil their duties, but they did it with a huge amount of national pride, something the American's are good at.

Back at the Hilton the kids and I jumped into our bathers and hit the water while the mature folk in our group went for coffee. We first went into the lagoon, which is tidal and was a bit fresh! So we moved to the big pool which is heated and a bit easier on the nether regions. Once this one closed as they were getting ready for an evening event, we moved to the Tapa pool near our room. This one was warmer again, even tempting Penny to get wet in the next few days. As we ate dinner the Hilton put on some fireworks on the waterfront which was nice.