HAWAII
(and Fanning Island)

The hotel lobby. Completely open to the elements.

Of course, most mornings the elements contained a dense fog.

Our grand ocean-view, from our "special" 3rd floor room. Arranged 6-months in advance and upgraded, it just wasn't the room we bargained for.

Next trip can we stay here, honey? They have a fantastic restaurant here, Orchids. Thank You, Polly & Mac

Out on the street.

Another good place to stay.  The Royal Hawaiian, maybe.

Waikiki Beach. Made famous by all those 60's beach movies.

I remember the surf being bigger in those movies.

Hangin' Ten?  Maybe two.

Local dancers.

Actually, from the French Polynesian Cultural Center.

Ukulele store, for my friend Jack.

Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the background.

We're going to climb to the summit!

That's Joan checking her pulse. Rick, on the other hand... never mind.

Our destination... on the ridge and to the right is the look-out station.

It had been a long, dry season and all the underbrush was golden.

Our first chance to look "back". The tunnel cutting thru the crater wall is back towards the right. Then the road. The buildings on the crater floor house a small Air Force base and the ranger station. In the middle you can see the trail we trekked.

Our first rest stop.	Looking up the wall.

As we continue, looking back at the crater floor and trail...

...and the others hoofing their way up.

Our second rest stop.

Trying to make the rest stop last as long as possible, I suggest we take LOTS of pictures from here.  Smart, eh?

I should have known, stairs. No more foot dragging. 271 or them. I counted.

After climbing thru a slit in the bunker, more stairs.

We made it to the top...

...and paid for the certificate to prove it.

Looking back at the crater.

Same shot, a bit to the right toward Hanauma Bay (between the far two peaks).

Diamond Head Beach below.

Looking towards Honolulu.

Waianae Boat Harbor and Captain Bruce's Scuba Charters. Headed out on their Jet Boat (no props). Not totally an enjoyable afternoon. They tried to drown Joan!

Looking back as we depart.

At the dive site, over the Mahi Shipwreck.

Get ready ... and, go! By the way, did we tell you about the strong current here?

Joan, looking down at the divers.

The rising divers' bubbles. You know, they crackle when they rise and pop into smaller bubbles. Very noisy.

Joan snorkeling, watching and popping scuba bubbles.

And taking fish pictures.

Haleiwa (surfing Capital of the World) and Giavani's Shrimp Shack. Not much to look at.  Hint: You NO NOT want to watch them make the shrimp.

Very much visited by the locals ... it's the BEST shrimp scampi we've EVER had.

And, they have table bussing service.

Driving along the North Shore, we were surprised to find the seas calmer than back at Waikiki Beach.  Here, site of some of the world's most famous surf competitions (Banzai Pipeline), there were NO waves!   [wrong time of year for that]

But the beaches were beautiful.

Volcanic outcrops made for great scenery.

And wonderfully calm pools.

But it was rugged...	...bring Band-Aids.

And in places, violent.

Launched exactly 1-year (to the day) after Pearl Harbor.	Hickam Field tower. Still standing.

Forward torpedo room. She's polishing a torpedo.

The forward tubes.

One of 4 GM 16-cylinder 2-cycle 1,600-HP engine.

Radio Room.

Radio tube storage.	Captain's bed.

Crew beds.  Notice any difference from the Captain's?

The bridge.

Dive Control Room.

The 5"/25-caliber and 40-mm guns.	Captain Rick.

Joan and her torpedo.

Rick and HIS torpedo.

Entering the park...

...with everybody else.

The original anchor and what at first, seemed odd.

Boating out to the Arizona with the airfield tower behind it and the USS Missouri to the left.

To our right, the USS Bowfin.

The entrance.  Very, very quiet.

The central area which spans across the sunken Arizona.

The shrine room and wall containing the names of the 1,177 men who died aboard.

A special rememberance for those who survived, but who have since fallen.

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The two forward gun turrets.	The hull below.

And still, it leaks oil.

This father and son brought the flag of the grandfather (who served aboard the Arizona), to be hoisted.

A private service was held by them and the park rangers.

The Mighty Mo.  The last active battleship of any navy in the world. Decommissioned for the second and final time on 31-Mar-1992.

Ship's patrol decorations.

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1-of-4 20-mm/76-caliber Phalanx CIWS Gatling type guns	2-of-12 5"/127mm/38-caliber guns.

Joan inspects the inside of a 5"/38-caliber gun mount.

3-of-9 16"/406mm/50-caliber guns.  Turret #2.

Six 15" guns. Turrets #1 and #2.

Looking down the big guns.

Looking out over the bow at the Arizona Memorial.

From the bridge.

The crew quarters.

The "office". Notice the IBM Selectric II typewriter.

Best seat in the house.

Actually, a better seat.

Fire fighting closet.

Fire control station.  Lined with 17" thick walls.

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 35º 21' 17" North. Longitude 139º 45' 36" East.

Hotel to pier transportation. (no other comments from ME)

Aloha Towers.	Our stateroom w/balcony.

The Oasis Pool looking up at the Bier Garten.

The Oasis Pool flanked by "stylized palm trees that glow at night".

The private spas of the 2-story, 5350-sq-foot Garden Villas. After the cruise, the Hotel Manager took us up to see these facilities.

Lobby elevators.

Reception Desk and Internet Cafe.

Aliens!

We had 6-cabins in a row. Each had a balcony with a steel door separating it from the adjacent cabin's balcony. A butter-knife could be used to open the doors. We therefore ended-up with a 6-balcony suite of cabins. Here, everybody (at least many) are leaning over their balconies for the shot.

We got to Hilo on a very gloomy day, and late. Going to the lava fields was out. Hilo Hatties was our only other alternative.

Not such a great port-of-call. So we just sailed on.

Republic of Kiribati (formerly The Gilbert Islands).  Fanning Island is a footprint-shaped coral atoll of 13-sq-miles.  The enclose lagoon is about 426-sq-miles, 50-feet deep and only approachable through two canoe passages and the 900-foot wide "English Harbor Channel".  The cruiseship will have to anchor outside of the atoll and tender us in.

Upon arrival, there's dockside singing and crafts for sale.

The youngest of children wear traditional dress.

And we head out to look for a place we've read about that has very fine snorkeling. Seems the ship's crew have found a very secluded "special beach", great for snorkeling. It's through the crafts area, then down a path, cutting off to the right. That's where we're headed.

Fishing is the major endeavor on this island. The fishermen are repairing and preparing their nets. These nets are placed on the lagoon floor and held down with long sticks, thus trapping fish beneath.

Not finding the "great" snorkel site, we settle on this site. We take a group picture and notice an islander watching us. I ask if this is a good place to snorkel, but he doesn't understand me. Pointing to the water, I say "Good Fish?" He shakes his head in the affirmative, enthusiastically.    GREAT!

Joan and JoAnn wade out to check-it-out. A couple of minutes later, they come back to shore where everybody else is unpacking their snorkel equipment.  It turns out to be a GREAT place for "Good Fish", if you've placed nets on the lagoon bottom.

Embarrassed, and exasperated, we head back to the beach everybody else is using.  Along the way, we are approached by a guy who wants to shimmy up a coconut tree and bring us one down.  I know it's not going to be refrigerator-cold, but fresh coconut would be a real treat 'bout now.

So up he goes.   Amazing. I'd only ever seen somebody do that in the movies.

...and back down he comes.

He takes his machete, strikes the coconut and then rips the thing apart with his bare hands. Inside is a small green walnut-sized shell. In unison we all decry "But where's the coconut"? Then he tells us what EVERYBODY within 2000-miles already knows:  it's too early in the season for coconuts.

So, with having messed-up their fishing nets, having no coconut to munch on and having not found the "special snorkel beach", we head past living quarters for the "regular beach".

The "regular beach" is actually rather nice.  There's not that much to see in the water, besides a sunken tugboat.  But the beach is nice and the chairs are all set out for us.

It was a nice sunny day and everything was going well. People were splashing around and snorkeling. It turned out to be a rather nice day ashore ("special beaches", fish and coconuts notwithstanding). Then something floated by just below the water's surface.   I was asked to check it out. I did what I was told, as I am prone to do, nowadays.

All I said was that since we came ashore, I didn't remember seeing that beige dog again. That was all I HAD to say. Everybody (except that beige dog) got out of the water and headed for the tender back to the ship, and a shower. I stuck around, got my passport stamped in the Republic of Kiribati and bought some of the beautiful local postage stamps. A good day.

After a day At Sea, we dock at Kahukui, Maui. We rent a van and drive for the west coast of the island, stopping to take these pictures at Maalaea.

Lahaina's Bubba Gumps.	And harbor.

The second largest mangrove tree in the world!

Black Rock Beach, just north of Lahaina. We stop here for a bit of snorkel and beach time.  Not a bad spot.

Can you say Jurassic Park? This is the passage used to film the movie's entry scene

Coming into port.

The harbor.....

...and town.

Our next ride.

Leaving the airport....

...flying over the docked cruiseship.

Thru a passage...

...and on to Waimea Canyon State park (aka The Grand Canyon of Hawaii).

This canyon is 1-mile wide, 10-miles long and 3657-feet deep.

And contains every color imaginable.

There are waterfalls everywhere. This one we flew up to. We eventually got far enough into the canyon that we thought the copter's blades we going to hit the canyon walls. Then we backed back out.

Flying out of the canyon towards...	...the Na Pali Coast.

Beach where "From Here To Eternity" beach scene was filmed.

Richardson plantation once used to grow sugar cane, now grows coffee.

And back to the airport.

A short drive later and we're looking at Poipu beach.

The adjacent beach in Poipu, and more our style, Baby Beach. Much calmer.

Looking back at the surf on the wilder of the two beaches.

They's been on the "wild beach".

We'll do this side.

Separated by just a thin little rock wall.

The Hawaiian Monk Seal, one of the most endangered species on earth.

It was very strange, having this seal on the beach with us. You don't see it in this shot, but there is a yellow police tape barricade around this seal saying "Please Don't Disturb The Marine Wildlife". All I could think of was: "How does that seal know to land right there.  Can he READ?  English?  What were the odds of THAT?

Pat making a bottled water and cigarette run.

While Pat made her run, we took some pictures.

...a pretty fish.

...a couple of pretty fishes.

...a couple of pretty fishes and a sea serpent.

It's the dreaded HAWIIAN SEA VIPER!  Kidding. I Think. I could be wrong.

A sea turtle... but a really BIG sea turtle!     That thing is bigger then ME!

Recovering from the "wild beach" and telling stories.

Joan heads off to shoot some wave pictures. First to the West of Baby Beach.

But, then at Wild beach.

The legendary, yet seldom encountered, Poipu Puffer.   Legend has it that this tiny sub-species of the puffer family has an extremely keen sense of smell and will only reveal itself when stimulated by the presence of Missouri Bootheel natives. As luck would have it... Thanks Bob!    [and thanks for the photo and research]