O'ahu -

Pearl Harbor – “AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR THIS IS NO DRILL.”

Gosia — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 21:41:43 +0000

When I booked a flight for a month’s stay in Hawaii I didn’t have even an American Visa, let alone a travel plan, but I had one pleace on my must-see list, it was Pearl Harbor. As I wrote before, Hawaii islands aren’t cheap, so also the tickets to this famous base are expensive. Passport to Pearl Harbor – a ticket to explore all places costs $72, but in my opinion, this place is really worth every given buck. Pearl Harbor is located on the Hawaiian Islands, in Pearl City which is close to the famous Honolulu. The name Pearl Harbor itself derives from the original Hawaiian name – Wai Momi, which means “Water Pearl”. The waters of the present Pearl Harbor, were once abundant in oysters producing pearls. Since 1912 this is one of the most important American naval and air bases. The construction of the base began in 1901, and after numerous investments consisting of deepening the port, in 1934 it was able to accommodate the entire American Pacific Fleet, apart from the biggest aircraft carriers. I won’t write in detail about the historical background and the attack, as this information is available, but I’ll just present the most important facts. – The strategic position of Hawaii, halfway between the USA and Japan had an impact on Japan’s decision to attack Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941. Japanese target was to stop the United States from military actions in the Southeast Asia. – Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor can basically be considered as a turning point in World War II, as the result of it, United States joined the war. – The attack started at 7.55 a.m. and lasted less than two hours. It was supposed to consist of 3 raids, but there were only two. The third phase of the attack was to destroy the entire port infrastructure and fuel tanks, the implementation of this plan, would certainly have excluded Pearl Harbor from service for a very long time. – The entire operation hadn’t been preceded by a declaration of war by Japan, and it was a huge surprise for soldiers stationed at the base who were completely unprepared for such attack. – As a concequence over than 2300 militaries and 68 civilians lost their life and about 1200 people were injured. On the Japanese side 65 militaries lost their life and the one was taken captive. – Despite massive losses in the base equipment, Japanese forces didn’t realised the main target of the attack – destruction of aircraft carriers that were not in the base that day. It was a huge mistake because, as it turned out during the Pacific War, it was mostly aviation that played a key role, not the navy. In addition, most of the destroyed battleships, with the exception of two: USS Arizona and the USS Oklahoma, have been repaired and returned to service. – The raid on Pearl Harbor started a war in the Pacific and turned the United States into World War II. More importantly, Pearl Harbor is one of the largest American naval bases today. The most important point of the base / museum is Arizona Memorial is a building located just above the sunken shipwreck of the USS Arizona. As a result of the attack, more than 1100 sailors were killed on this ship, so almost half of all the victims of Pearl Harbor. Admission to Arizona Memorial is free of charge, from the Visitor Center you can get there by boat. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to visit this important place in Pearl Harbor, because that day one of the boats hit the bridge at Arizona Memorial, preventing safe sightseeing. However, as it turned out later, I was able to see two other things which station temporary in Pearl Harbor. Another interesting point is the submarine USS Bowfin called also as Pearl Harbor Avenger, which can be seen inside. Next to it is the Pacific Submarine Museum, where you can see Ballistic Missile Poseidon C-3 cut in half. Outside the museum you can see a real Japanese kaiten – a type of live torpedo, used for suicidal attacks and also other kinds of torpedos. The other points are located on the Ford Island, where you can get by special bus service running every 15 minutes. A great impression made on me the battleship USS Missouri, also called Mighty Mo or Big Mo. The Battleship is a special object in the American Navy because here on 2nd September 1945 the surrender of Japan was signed. The exact place to sign surrender can be seen while exploring the battleship. After the end of the war, the USS Missouri took part in many war operations and after the war in Persian Gulf in 1991, it was decommissioned and directed to Pearl Harbor as a ship – museum. In my opinion, the most interesting place in Pearl Harbor is the Naval Air Station with a flight control tower and two hangars. High Naval Air Station can be seen as first. The first words from it on 7th December 1941 were: ” Air Raid Pearl Harbor this is no drill.” It’s worth adding that building a tower started in early 1941 and at the time of the Japanese attack, it wasn’t fully completed. In the first hangar no. 37 you can see aircrafts from World War II with a plane called bush Bush Stearman, which was steered by senior President George H. W. Bush. Second hangar no.79, presents Cobra – attack helicopter and numerous other helicopters and transport planes. Outside there is also something for the Top Gun fans, the famous F-14 Tomcat Fighter, but also you can see here Mcdonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, Soviet Mig-15 or P-40 Warhawk. At the end of my visit in Pearl Harbor, there were two surprises which I mentioned before. Both objects don’t sation permanently in Pearl Harbor, which is why I was very lucky to see them. The first was a giant floating radar SBX, called Sea – Based X-Band Radar, one of the key elements of the American Antiballistic System. Radar is placed on a special modified oil rig capable of moving at 8 knots. Unfortunately, taking pictures of the radar was forbidden, but how it looks, can be seen in the image below: The second and the greatest surprise was the massive atomic aircraft carrier – USS Carl Vinson, which during my visit was enetering Pearl Harbor. The aircraft carrier can accommodate almost 6500 people, and its size in comparison to the Visitor Center is really impressive. In the process of entering Pearl Harbor, the entire crew in white uniforms was standing around the deck, while the crowd presented at Pearl Harbor was cheering, waving American flags. What it seems to us often pathetic regarding the United States, then for me was a really amazing experience. ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

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Hawaii – four islands and some beaches…

Gosia — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 08:11:54 +0000

I must admit that I have a problem with spending leisure time at the beach. I cannot do it and I treat beaches as a part of a sightseeing plan. I can spend 2 hours maximally at one beach. Of course, I don’t spend this time on sunbathing. Hawaii turned out to be a perfect place for me. There’re a lot of beaches which can be explored 😉 and what’s more important they varied a lot! Every of four islands, which I’ve visited has something new to offer. O’ahu O’ahu it’s the most popular Hawaiian Island. Here’s famous Honolulu and the majority of tourists arrive here as a first place, and usually the last one. So you can imagine how crowded can be the most popular beach on O’ahu – Waikiki. Bearing that in mind and in view of the tight itinerary, I had only a glimpse of that beach from a car. A little bit later, I could admire it together with whole Honolulu, from the Diamond Head peak. There’s one invaluable advantage of Waikiki beach, while it’s always overcrowded, other beaches, which are located farther from Honolulu are desolated. Like Lanikai Beach – situated in the north-eastern shore. On the other hand, western part of O’ahu Island guarantees amazing sunsets, and even possibilty to see turtles basking on the sun. However, the most beautiful is Hanauma Bay. It’s the only one beach in Hawaii where you need to pay admission. It’s a strict nature reserve and an ideal place to observe underwater world as well. More about this beach and its surrounding you’ll find here. Maui An interesting example which presents the variety of Hawaiian islands is Maui Island. You can rest here on beautiful, white sand beaches with emerald water, like Polo Beach. But then again, on the other, eastern part of the Island, close to the famous Hana Road you can spend your time at black-sand beaches like Waianapanapa State Park. Big Island Beaches located on the Big Island can also be divided into, let’s say “hotel beaches”, which look like those, well known from holidays catalogues. As an example below – Mauna Kea Beach. Sometimes they’re surrounded by golf courses and even the access roads to them, make a great impression. On the other hand, on Big Island you can encounter also wild, rocky beaches, where you can put up a tent and have whole these places for yourself. Kaua’i According to the law, every beach is public in Hawaii. However, it can happen that the beach is public, but the access to it is private or what’s even worse, it can be inaccessible in view of the terrain conditions. One of such beaches is located on my favourite Hawaiian island – Kauai. It’s surrounded by the impressive cliffs of Na Pali Natural Reserve. I’ve had opportunity to see this marvel form air and ocean perspective and I must admit that this experience belongs to the category marked under the label “metaphysical” but I’ll write about it another time 😉 Close to Na Pali, you can rest at beautiful Tunnels Beach, which has great conditions for snorkeling, surfing or kitesurfing. The ocean bottom here was shaped by volcanic activity which created special tunnels – nowadays the habitat for a large variety of fish and unfortunately sharks, so be careful 😉 Another interesting beach is Polihale State Park – here you can see the first cliffs of Na Pali Reserve. This beach is located off the beaten track and it’s really secluded. What’s more, according to one Hawaiian guy, there’s one unwritten principle that sunbathers can lie at least 300 meters from one another 😉 ‘ On the other side of the Na Pali cliffs you can relax on beautiful, wild Ke’e Beach. As you can see, in case of beaches, you definitely won’t be bored in Hawaii. I know that I’ll get back there, as during my stay I saw only a little part of these marvelous islands 😉 ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

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Hanauma Bay – the curved bay with a view of…

Gosia — Wed, 11 May 2016 18:24:00 +0000

Koko Head is a popular tourist spot on the O’ahu Island. The proper name of this crater in Hawaiian language is actually – Kohelele, which can be translated as… flying vagina. You must wonder who could have given this crater such a name. In a fact it’s connected with a very dramatic story, which for sure could be used as a scenario of the XXX movies. Acording to the Hawaiian legend, Kapo the goddess of fertility, used her magical flying vagina to distract the pig god Kamapuaa who, to put it mildly, imposed himself on her sister – Pele (the goddess of volcano). Finally, the flying organ landed on the Southeastern part of the O’ahu Island. Terrified Kamapuaa ran away straight into the Kapo’s “wings”. The fall must have been spectacular because as a result the Koko Head was created. His tragic death didn’t go by the board because the Americans used this crater during WWII as a bunker with a vantage point. During this time they built a railway line which is now used by tourists as a route to the top. The path is also called the Stairmaster from Hell in view of the fact that it’s very steep. Koko From there you can see the panorama of the one of the most beautiful bays in the world – Hanauma Bay, known also as the Curved Bay. What’s more interesting, the bay is the floor of the volcanic crater which is submerged by the ocean water. Hanauma Bay is the habitat of around 400 species of fish and a lot of Green sea turtles called here “honu”. Here you can also spot colorful parrotfish. The amazing biodiversity of this marine world is the result of the volcanic activity. Volcanic cinders are the perfect habitat for the coral reef. Hanauma Bay is currently a strict nature reserve and the only beach on Hawaiian Island where the admission fee is imposed. This picturesque beach can be seen in: Blue Hawaii, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Hawaii Five-O or Magnum.

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Honolulu – Diamond Head

Gosia — Sat, 11 Jul 2015 21:46:54 +0000

Diamond Head is something for hiking and picture – perfect views lovers. In Hawaii every terrain unevenness is the result of volcanic processes so that our Diamond sticks to this rule. This dormant volcano deserves attention not only for its majestic look but also in view of its interesting history not only connected with physical geography. Let’s start from its name… Originally it was called „Le’ahi” which in Hawaiian means “brow of the tuna”. Hawaiian imagination deserves credit because in fact it looks like it.This name was really relevant but it was changed later as fishing gave way to precious stones. In 19th century British sailors mistook calcite crystals founded there with diamonds but in the memory of this big disappointment the name Diamond Head has remained till now. But it’s not the end. In the primeval Hawaiian times it was also the high place. Apparently the landscape inspired Hawaiians to place there a shrine in veneration of the god of the war- Ku. This martial tendency was continued by Americans who built up stronghold on its top, called later Fort Reuger. The stronghold consisted of tunnels network, buildings and vantage points. Although it was additionally braced during World War II, it wasn’t used. Practical information: In view of the fact that it’s one of the main Honolulu tourist attractions is better to go there early in the morning. Then we can avoid crowd and hiking in the heat. The park is open from 6 am to 6 pm, admission costs 5$ per car or 1$ per person. It’s possible to go there by public transport but the way from the bus stop takes 20 minutes so it’s better to go by car. The way is only 1,5 km length and it isn’t tough. The peak of the volcano is at the height of 232 m. On the path you can find 3 tunnels: the first consists of 74 steps and the second of 99. These sections are separated by observation deck where you can rest and admire beautiful landscape. The last tunnel is basically a spiral staircase ending on a beautiful vantage point. Unfortunately it is not the end. You must go up another 54 steps but it’s really well worth it! On the top you can admire amazing Honolulu and famous Waikiki Beach panorama. Landscaped is diversified by bunkers and lighthouse. In winter you can spot there whales. ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

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