Tuesday 11th February

This morning we were up early to watch our arrival in Mamala Bay and Honolulu. As we had breakfast we watched as we passed diamond point and Waikiki Beach before squeezing into the narrow harbour entrance and inching our way in the tiny harbour past the Aloha Tower (built in 1930 to welcome the very first cruise ships to the island) before finally coming to rest in downtown Honolulu (Literally!). When we came back to our cabin and looked over the rail, we looked down on an eight lane highway and along the coastline it followed. Towering buildings overlooked us and it seemed that the ship had wedged itself so firmly downtown that we would never get out as there was no water to be seen. Passing pedestrians stared up at us staring down at them and I saw at least one cyclist nearly fall off his bike paying more attention to us than the road.

Our trip today (Pearl Harbour) is not exactly somewhere you go to enjoy, but as a part of our recent past, something that has to be seen and in Pearl Harbour, the Americans have done their fallen proud. Before taking a launch to the war grave that is the USS Arizona we watch a short film of footage taken in the immediate aftermath of the attack, accompanied by voice overs of survivors describing events first hand. Then with the vivid footage of the Arizona ablaze and in its’ death throes foremost in our minds, we are taken the short distance across the harbour to the memorial built over the sunken hull where we gaze down at the remains of this once mighty battleship, acutely aware that beneath our feet over nine hundred sailors still to this day remain at their posts in a ship that became their tomb. And as we watched fishes swim where men once walked we could see one or two droplets of oil still poignantly making their way to the surface accompanied by the odd tiny trail of bubbles as if it were only yesterday. They call these appropriately the tears of heroes.

There is really nothing more to add after the impact of Pearl Harbour Memorial in such an idyllic location.