USA 2004

The West Coast of Oahu

Since we weren’t able to drive all the way around the island the day before, we decided to explore the west coast this Thursday.

So we set off westward, aiming to drive as far as Hale’Iwa. Unfortunately, our plans were thwarted when we realized that at the westernmost point past Yokohama Bay, the road doesn’t continue north. So we decided to change our plans for the rest of the day.

Instead of Weimea Falls Park, we drove back to visit Pearl Harbor. On the way back, we stopped at one of the beaches we’d visited earlier, Makaha Beach, to go snorkeling. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to see, so after 30 minutes we drive on to Pearl Harbor.

On the way there for the West Shore Tour, we see the same stunning beaches and beautiful green mountains as the day before. Just before Yokohama Bay, people taking photos along the roadside draw our attention to dolphins swimming off the coast. We turn the car around and stop as well. Unfortunately, my camera’s zoom isn’t powerful enough to get good pictures. Instead, we notice another sea creature on the shore that we initially mistook for a dead dolphin. However, students from the University of Hawaii who were there explained to us that they had come specifically to check if the animal—a monk seal—was okay. They confirmed it was fine and explained that the animal was simply lazing in the sun.

The tour of the USS Arizona Memorial is very intimate. It presents the background, the events, and the subsequent course of the attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as its impact on World War II, in a very moving way. Unfortunately, like the author of the book, I too observed the poor behavior of the Japanese, who were taking heroic, joyful photos at the memorial and apparently considered the whole thing a magnificent event.

We have dinner at the hotel’s steakhouse. I order a steak and get boiled beef—not bad, but not quite what I had in mind.

Photo Gallery: Pearl Harbor