Pearl Harbour Big Day Out

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Our new roomies in the dorm beside our private room have no concept of the word share or what it entails. They were quite incensed to find us walking through "their" room to get to ours and when I mentioned they were sharing a bathroom it all seemed a little too much.
They told us they were catching a cab to the USS Arizona tomorrow morningso needed the bathroom early. We are also going to Pearl harbour tomorrow early too,and said we were catching the 6-41am No42 bus.

No problem with bathroom sharing they were up at 5am loudly proclaiming their intentions for the day, heaps of door slamming and an amazing amount of noise.We quietly got up at 6am, they had left by then; showered changed, grabbed a banana and drink from the nearby ABC store and had 30 seconds to spare before the bus arrived.

A one hour journey for the grand sum of $2-50 per person takes you through Honolulu, past Chinatown, past the correctional centre, near the airport and out to Pearl Harbour. Loads of commuters going to work on the bus, only 3 couples got off for Pearl harbour.If you choose to drive or take a cab it will take 45 minutes.

We came past a few schools, children were there at 7-30am. All the schools we have seen are mostly single level, have classrooms which run off an walkway and are totally lockable with no windows or access other than one door. Frankly apart from the Waikiki strip and seaside Kahala suburb a lot of what you see is grimy, old, dilapidated and very lower working class. Homeless peoples's tent shanty towns are everywhere, life is expensive and a tough slog for most it would seem on this island of O'ahu. The north shore of the island reminds me of the seaside towns of most of non tourist Queensland; beach shacks, gardens and open plan access.

The Pearl Harbour complex has 1000 free walk up tickets each day, first in; these are specifically for the Arizona memorial. You can purchase them through tour companies as well for a price and get a shuttle bus or tour bus to the door. We arrived just before 8am and easily got tickets for access to the USS Arizona memorial at 10-45am. Go straight in and get them if possible and do the bag storage, sun screening and toilet stops once one person has got the tickets.They only let 150 people get on a 75 minute tour at one time. Boat space and the actual memorial itself restricts the numbers.

You are firstly ushered into an auditorium for a 23 minute English language (subtitled in English) film about the history and the lead up to the attack on December 7 1941, which occurred just before 8am on that day. Really informative, unbiased historical perspective. (Only water allowed in here)Take the seats across to the left side of the theatre if you want to get the best boat seats once you leave the theatre.Once the film has finished you are ushered out the left side doors and get on the boat to take you to the USS Arizona memorial. Go across the the far side on the boat for the best seats for the 5 minute trip.

The memorial is a stark white rectangular concrete structure set on top of the sunken ship which is resting on the seabed with some parts visible. The memorial is open air in the middle parts and windy, with the far end enclosed area listing all the soldiers who died on her that day. On the side facing the USS Missouri we were lucky enough to see oil rising, from the sunken ship, to the surface; said to be the tears of the Arizona or black tears commemorating this event. All the 1177 seamen who died in her on the day are entombed in her, and many other seamen who survived the pearl harbour attack have chosen to have their ashes placed here with their mates forever on "eternal patrol".

No bags are allowed in the complex at all, there is a bag storage facility for $3-, you can take water, camera, phone and wallet so wear clothes with pockets. Forget taking water, there are plenty of fountains plus you can purchase water everywhere too. One cafe, a snack shop, vending machine for drinks, 2 gift shops and outdoor but shaded cafeteria seating, and 2 sets of toilets throughout the complex makes it an easy day for all. Loads of wheelchair and disabled access to all places. A bottle of soft drink, iced coffee drink and 1 round of healthy sandwiches was $11-. Awesome cream of broccoli soup and crackers $2-50. Quite reasonable considering you are a captive audience.

In addition to these free tickets you can purchase singles or a one day all access pass for $65- to the other sites of interest which includes the USS Bowfin submarine and museum, USS Missouri (of Cher "turn back time fame") and the Pacific Aviation Museum. Free shuttle buses run you from the complex across to Ford Island for the later two places.The USS Missouri (the mighty Mo) was the last U.S. Battleship built and was the site for the signing of the Japanese surrender on September 2 1945.On Ford island at the museum and ship there are snacks, drinks and gifts available I chose not to purchase tickets to see anything else, there are plenty of free points of interest throughout the complex with everything well signed. You can catch the shuttle over to the Missouri and the Aviation museum for free and look around outside those areas if you have not paid to go into either of them.

I stayed in the main complex, no wifi to amuse myself but I was busy people watching, writing my blog, doing sudoku, and reading the very informative phamplets. A Japanese film crew were here today filming with what i presumed to be a survivor of the attack, an old man still proudly wearing his service cap.

Lots of families came although under 5 years of age may find it difficult; Japanese tourists a plenty as well as many other nationalities. One American lady I chatted to this past week mentioned this as a place to possibly go to, but said that as an Australian we would probably not know anything about it or be interested in it at all. USA tends to be very insular and uninformed about world events.

52 stones at the Waterfront Memorial overlooking the harbour represent and give information about each of the 52 USA submarines lost during WWII, listing all men. Total loss of life in the Pearl harbour attack was 2,390 and 1,178 were wounded. 21 vessels were sunk or damaged, all but 3 (Arizona, Oklahoma & Utah) were returned to service. 164 aircraft were destroyed and 159 damaged. 2 months after the Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri, in 1945 the United Nations was born in San Francisco.

Martin was like a pig in mud today visiting all the places with his $65- all access pass which he got cheaper being an ex serviceman. As a keen modern war historian he really could spend weeks here, if we lived closer I am sure he would come often. Poor fellow was restricted to 8am to 5pm and he felt he was running to see what he wanted to. However by 3pm the crowds had thinned, with the last Arizona tour at 3pm.

Our final one hour was spent in the free museum in the complex which tells the story of the lead up, the attack and the aftermath in videos, photos and hands on interactive displays. All main information boards are in Braille and much of this museum had children type of hands on activities. We caught The Bus, #42, back right to the door of Lulu's bar for tea and restorative drinks. A great day out for less than $83- which included souvenirs, food, and one person all access pass, plus bus fair.

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