Beauty and the Beast. The human side of the equation is itself on Oahu very bland. The American automobile industry should be shot for crimes against automotive design and I think they must have gotten their cousins jobs designing the buildings on Oahu. Just big cracker boxes really. Oahu, where Honolulu is located, is in my mind the least interesting of all the Hawaiian islands. This is looking down at Waikiki from the Diamond Head Crater, which the locals tell me was created when Rosanne Barr tripped and fell over her ego.
Two days here to soak some sun and people watch is ample, then maybe a day on the North Shore, then if you can, head outer island. Due to run around with my visa and needing to be available on Oahu I was only able to get out to Big Island. One of my room mates showed me some pictures of Kauai, which looked like one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I hear Maui is nice, but there may just be to many South California's who have moved there to make it worth visiting...Near one of the bases on Oahu, the American Navy proudly displays captured Iraqi weapons of mass destruction such as this one.
Yep, the water really is that Jay's Bloo kind of blue...
Waikiki beach at sunset. I've never seen so many stunning women in one place as on this small stretch of beach. I suffered whiplash and detached retina's about every 10 seconds on average and I've had to rethink some of my admittedly ill-conceived idea's on genetics.
Waikiki beach in the rain. It was very gentle rain and the scotch was helping me stay dry - don't ask me how that works.
The story of Pearl Harbor is well known, the Japanese were desperate and "pre-emptive", the outcome of the war could have been very different had they succeeded in sinking the American carrier fleet which had gotten out of dodge just before they arrived. They did however, manage to nail quite a few other naval ships in the attack. One of the biggest casualties was the battleship Arizona which is now a memorial site. You catch a ferry out to a white pontoon jobby which sits above the hull of the Arizona which remains rusting where it was sank with a couple of thousand sailors on board. The photo's don't come out to clearly but imagine the hull of a warship - minus the gun turrets and superstructure - lying a few feet below the surface; running towards the top of the photo.
Below is looking down the deck of the now defunct USS Missouri, famous for being the place where the Japanese signed the treaty to join the American baseball league. They would never have signed had they realised it was actually just a wind-up boat.
This battleship Missouri (just like the one we met in Queenstown, NZ) was an absolute monster. This black and white shot from a distance gives you an idea of the size, now redundant due to further "advances" in military technology. Apparently the budget just for keeping the behemoth afloat and stocked with hotdogs as a museum is equivalent to that of the entire active Australian navy.
Below is looking down the deck of the now defunct USS Missouri, famous for being the place where the Japanese signed the treaty to join the American baseball league. They would never have signed had they realised it was actually just a wind-up boat.
This battleship Missouri (just like the one we met in Queenstown, NZ) was an absolute monster. This black and white shot from a distance gives you an idea of the size, now redundant due to further "advances" in military technology. Apparently the budget just for keeping the behemoth afloat and stocked with hotdogs as a museum is equivalent to that of the entire active Australian navy. There are persistent rumours that the Australian military will be taking delivery of the Missouri and some Sopwith Camels for frontline service sometime in 2010. The sunken Arizona in the photo's above, was not quite as big as the Missouri, but gives you some idea of the size of the hull lying below the water.
Gratuitous nature shot.
Also at Pearl Harbour is a WWII era sub, the Bowfin, that you can climb on board and explore most of the decks. Those sailors must have been real bored and kinky at sea 'cos for some reason the toilets and showers have clear perspex doors.
It really is a cramped and uncomfortable environment, and that's as a tourist with only a few people around. It's amazing that the sailors were able to tolerate it, by comparison the quarters on the Missouri were luxurious and spacious - plus they would have often had the luxury of walking around in the open air. Using the same trick photography techniques as used to make Marlon Brando look thin in his later years I've made it look like the sub is sailing out to sea, captained by the Griswald's.
This is the aft torpedo room of the sub, the missiles in the foreground were fired out of the tubes at the back of the photo. Shortly after I took this photo, I fired that woman out of the same tubes for giving me a look that made the milk in my bosom curdle.
Big Island was much more picturesque, laid back and sparsely habitated. Fellas, the locals (at least the women anyway) are pretty much all in agreement that there is a real shortage of quality men-folk on Big Island, so now you know where all the single women are - start paddling. The countryside varied from black lava beaches to high cliffs, rain forests, volcanic fields and arid areas.
This is my re-enactment at the site of Cook's last landing on the Big Island of Hawaii.
We both shed blood at this place, I slipped on rocks, he landed on a spear, guess who went home smiling?
While on the Big Island I took a helicopter flight of the Volcano Park, as some hikes were cancelled due to recent tremors in the area.
If you fall out, grab here.
Most my photo's were crap due to shake and exposure issues, but here's one of a volcanic vent. It was very interesting to see a site where land mass is actually being created, there is one guy, well known as a nutter to the locals, whose house is only a few meters from some recent flows. Houses on the Big Island can no longer get insurance coverage in the event of volcano damage.
Gratuitous nature shot. 
Also at Pearl Harbour is a WWII era sub, the Bowfin, that you can climb on board and explore most of the decks. Those sailors must have been real bored and kinky at sea 'cos for some reason the toilets and showers have clear perspex doors.It really is a cramped and uncomfortable environment, and that's as a tourist with only a few people around. It's amazing that the sailors were able to tolerate it, by comparison the quarters on the Missouri were luxurious and spacious - plus they would have often had the luxury of walking around in the open air. Using the same trick photography techniques as used to make Marlon Brando look thin in his later years I've made it look like the sub is sailing out to sea, captained by the Griswald's.
This is the aft torpedo room of the sub, the missiles in the foreground were fired out of the tubes at the back of the photo. Shortly after I took this photo, I fired that woman out of the same tubes for giving me a look that made the milk in my bosom curdle.
Big Island was much more picturesque, laid back and sparsely habitated. Fellas, the locals (at least the women anyway) are pretty much all in agreement that there is a real shortage of quality men-folk on Big Island, so now you know where all the single women are - start paddling. The countryside varied from black lava beaches to high cliffs, rain forests, volcanic fields and arid areas.
This is my re-enactment at the site of Cook's last landing on the Big Island of Hawaii.
We both shed blood at this place, I slipped on rocks, he landed on a spear, guess who went home smiling?
While on the Big Island I took a helicopter flight of the Volcano Park, as some hikes were cancelled due to recent tremors in the area.If you fall out, grab here.
Most my photo's were crap due to shake and exposure issues, but here's one of a volcanic vent. It was very interesting to see a site where land mass is actually being created, there is one guy, well known as a nutter to the locals, whose house is only a few meters from some recent flows. Houses on the Big Island can no longer get insurance coverage in the event of volcano damage.
Back on Oahu I went in a cage to pay a house call to some sharks, the biggest of which was around 2-2.5 metres. This was the cage.
Unfortunately the sea was very choppy...and I'd been out on the town the night before...and I had to get up at 0430 for the shuttle...andIthrewupinthecagethreetimesbutnoonenoticedsoIgotawaywithit. I didn't hear the sharks complaining.
Lots of famous people call the islands of Hawaii home. Oprah has a home on one of the islands as does Pierce Brosnan. Here's a picture of Angela Lansbury without make-up.
1 comment:
The other missouri was full of hotdogs too!
Great photos, although you could have done a bit better with the candid beach shots. Lift your game, soldier.
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