Australia/Hawaii 2002, part 13: Oahu (day 3)

I mention below that one of the graves I sought out at the Punchbowl was that of Space Shuttle Challenger astronaut Ellison Onizuka. In 2011, ten years later, I got the opportunity to meet his widow Lorna at a NASA function, and told her how much his death affected me as an aerospace engineering student at the time, how it inspired me even more to get into the job that (as it turned out) I loved, and that it was out of respect for all that that I visited his grave. She was very touched and thanked me for thinking of him like that and for telling her that story. Today's pictures are here.

(Turns out this post has been in draft for over a year, I thought I published them all. Oops.)

Thursday, October 3: Oahu
I can see for miles and miles …

Like all "last days" somewhere, this was the day to think about doing all the stuff I didn't have time for – I wanted to go up to the top of Diamondhead, go snorkeling in Hanauma Bay (both off to the east), go up to the Punchbowl and maybe do some shopping (both off to the west). As usual, I didn't get to do all of that. I quickly decided to blow off shopping and reluctantly pushed snorkeling to the bottom of the list. Yeah, it would have been cool, but I had just gone scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef and anything else would have been anticlimactic. So with just Diamondhead and the Punchbowl left on the list, I could be somewhat leisurely.


Turns out yesterday I left one of the Jimmy Buffett CDs in the car. Of course, when I called them they said they couldn't find it, which was bullshit because it was left in the CD player. On the one hand, it's my least favorite of the 4-disc set ("Ballads"), but on the other, at least someone will listen to it. And I can make a copy of it from someone else's copy once I get home. I also had to call and book the shuttle to the airport for later, set to pick me up at 6:45 pm. With sunset at 6:30, I'd have just enough time to see it from the beach, then walk the four blocks back to the hotel to pick up my bags and get on the bus. I figured about a half hour to get to the airport, plus an hour to check in, that still left me an hour until the flight left, which I thought would be enough of a buffer to allow for slippage. So I checked out of the hotel and left everything at the bell desk.

Renting a car today would have allowed me to do more stuff, but I didn't realize it until halfway through my day. It took an hour on TheBus to get to Diamondhead, and it was already 10:00 by the time I left. Diamondhead is a really fascinating formation – an extinct volcano, with a military base in the center sharing the land with a National Park (officially, "Diamond Head State Monument"), and atop the peaks ringing the crater are leftover pillboxes from World War II. It took 15 minutes walking up a hill and then through a tunnel cut in the side, just to get to the park entrance. Then another 40 minutes climbing the switchbacks, stairways, and tunnels (some pitch black), and you're just about at the top, exiting into a pillbox with peeling walls and the stand from a six-decade-old gun in the corner. From the balcony you could look out and see the chicken-wire and plaster that was used to try to camouflage the area. One more flight of stairs until the top – and then there's an amazing 360-degree view of the area. Facing the ocean (south), Honolulu and Waikiki are off to the right. The famous "pink palace", the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, is easily visible at the water's edge. Behind is the crater of Diamondhead, all the trails, steps, and switchbacks leading back to the tunnel that goes through the far wall. And atop the ridge are a series of abandoned pillboxes. Far off in the distance, beyond Waikiki, are Honolulu and Pearl Harbor. The Arizona Memorial is barely visible to the naked eye, you need a telephoto lens to get up closer. And on the far side of the crater are the sprawling subdivisions of the city, crawling up the sides of the mountains. I spent about 20 minutes at the top, taking pictures and soaking up the view. The walk down took another 30 minutes, and by the time I caught the bus back to Waikiki it was 1:30 pm. Only another 5 hours, time for lunch and a trip to the Punchbowl.

I had seen Duke's Canoe Club while walking on the beach last night and thought it'd be a great place to eat lunch. Like everything else in the area, it's open air. I had a plate of some eggroll-type munchies, which came decorated with a huge purple and white orchid. I stuck it in my hat after lunch and caught the bus up to the Punchbowl.

The National Cemetery of the Pacific is about as far northwest of Waikiki as Diamondhead is southeast, but in trying to get bus connections I didn't make it up there until 3:30 pm. The bus schedule showed that I could catch a return at 5, and I'd make it to the hotel at 5:30. Still plenty of time for sunset at the beach. The cemetary is located in the crater of another extinct volcano, which is how it got the nickname "Punchbowl". It's the equivalent of Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, with the majority of the honored buried here having fought in the Pacific Theater in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Due to lack of space, the cemetery is closed to burials, though it's still open for those who've been cremated and want to be interned in a wall or have their ashes scattered from a special set-aside area. I stopped by the very first grave, plot number 1 in section A, an unknown man killed on December 7, 1941. A map noted some of the famous people buried there, and I visited the grave sites of space shuttle Challenger astronaut Ellison Onizuka, astronaut Lacy Veach, famous newsman Ernie Pyle, and an entire section where lie hundreds of unknowns from the Korean War. As when I was at the Arizona, I couldn't help but think of the men and women killed in the most recent sneak attack on US soil; they held a ceremony here just three weeks ago for the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, another date which will live in infamy.

After a slight mixup caused by waiting at the wrong bus stop and missing the first available bus, I made it back to the hotel just a bit late, around 6. I made my way back to the beach to watch the sunset at 6:19 pm. Sadly, it was too cloudy to be able to see the green flash, but as darkness slowly fell the area took on a bluish tint. (And no, that wasn't due to my drink – what better way to end the trip than to be having a mai tai on Waikiki Beach while watching the sunset?) When the bluish clouds parted off to the west, yellows, oranges, and pinks shone through. I took my last picture at 6:33 and headed back to the hotel one last time to pick up my stuff and board the bus. Aloha Waikiki!

I made the airport with plenty of time, for once. But as usual, the plane was late taking off by 20 minutes. In retrospect, I should have allowed more time between flights. But then again, that's just another one in the string I put together on this trip. The plane left at 9:15. I was in seat 21K on the right side, an aisle seat above the wing. That didn't bother me, I'd be sleeping most of the way, plus it's dark and we're flying over water. Nothing to see anyway. Told us it would be 4:52 flying time, putting us in at 5:10 a.m. into LAX (only 5 minutes delayed). Yikes, that didn't leave me much time to get my luggage from the Continental baggage claim, take the shuttle to the Southwest terminal, check in, and go through security, before my scheduled flight at 6 a.m. Keeping my fingers crossed….