Sunday February 1st 2009

For our last day we planned a trip to the War Memorials at Pearl Harbour. We got up early again and checked out but left our bags at the hotel.

Andrew and Claire grabbed a coffee on the way to the Hilton and Jim and I met them there to catch the bus out to Pearl Harbour. You are not allowed to take any bags around the memorials so we went to hand them in and then bought tickets for the battleship Missouri and the Bowfin submarine. We decided to go to the Arizona first because although it is free it is first come first served and if we waited until we had seen the other two things we might not have got in. It was a good decision because in our bus on the way back to Honolulu we talked to an American couple who missed the Arizona because the last bus goes back at 2.45 and they did not have enough time to wait in line.

It is quite something to see the Arizona in the water a few feet below the memorial and to see all the names of the men who died. Apparently even some of the men who died afterwards have been cremated and laid to rest under water with their comrades.

The battleship Missouri was very interesting. You can walk on several of the decks and even see where the peace accord was signed. The guns are huge! There were much better conditions on here than on the Bowfin submarine which was obviously very cramped. They must have size restrictions because Jim had a lot of trouble getting through the doorways and he could not possibly have done it in a hurry.

When we got back to Honolulu we went to have a drink at the Hilton. This was easier said than done because it was Super Bowl Sunday and the bar was full of fans glued to the big screen TV. We found a table behind the TV screen which was empty and enjoyed our drinks as well as watching the reaction of the fans to the game which seemed to be very exciting right to the very last minute. After our drinks we went down to Waikiki beach for our last view of beach and ocean before heading back to catch a taxi to the airport. Our plane left a little late at 10.05pm but it was an uneventful flight home. We said goodbye to Andrew and Claire in Vancouver airport and headed for our flight to Edmonton. While we waited in the boarding lounge I watched the news item about Groundhog Day and Whiarton Willy predicted 6 more weeks of winter - oh no! But Helen picked us up on a balmy day in Edmonton - it was above zero - so perhaps he was wrong!

So that is the end of our trip to Molokai except for the mosquito bites I brought back with my souvenirs from the PCC.

Saturday 31st January 2009

Our plane was leaving Molokai at 9am so we were up early and out of the condo by 7.45 for the 15 minute drive to the airport. Again the flight was over in no time but we messed around getting a shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn when it really would have been much better to just take a taxi. We had booked a shuttle to the Polynesian Cultural Centre at noon and we needed to get there in time!

It was of course too early to check in to the Hotel so we got them to keep our bags and (fortunately) still had time to go and get brunch. Then we walked over to the Hilton Hawaiian Hotel to catch the bus to the PCC. While we were waiting we booked a 9am bus to go to Pearl Harbour tomorrow morning.

We had not paid for a guide because we had been before but we changed our minds when we got there and paid the little bi t extra and it was well worth it because he knew when shows would start and timed our arrivals just right. The first thing we watched was the canoe pageant and I took some videos. I have uploaded the New Zealand dancers which is the best one I have. Helen is not quite as good as this but almost! If I get a copy of the Tahitian dancers from Claire I will add that later.

After the luau buffet we went to the theatre for the show and as the sun went down the mosquitoes came out. Wearing shorts no longer seemed like a good idea! The show was amazing - I especially love the Tahitian dancers and the last act which is the fire dancers. Its understandable that when we were going to do a show in a school a couple of years ago the principal would not let the fire dancer perform even though the Polynesians all insisted it was quite safe. The children were all sitting on the gymnasium floor in a circle quite close around us - just where they would catch a dropped flaming torch!

Friday January 30th 2009

Today was our last day on Molokai and so we were very glad to find it was warm and sunny when we woke up. We packed a lunch and went to Murphy's Beach at the other end of the island. Claire and I finally got in some snorkelling but the water was pretty shallow and we only saw a few fish. Still we had a great sunbathing day at the beach at last!

A dog came along and adopted Jim. We thought he belonged to a couple who were walking down the beach but they told us he was not with them. He made himself comfortable in the sand beside Jim where he could scare the life out of him barking at every truck that went by. Good thing there is not a lot of traffic on Molokai! I would post a picture but Claire is the only one who took a photo of him and I did not download it before she went home - maybe I can add it later.

In the evening we packed and cleaned since we were having to leave early in the morning.