Tora... Tora... Tora...

When we planned this trip, we never really thought about the history of Japan and Hawaii... WWII etc. We spent a day last week in Hiroshima learning much about the atom bomb history and today we visited Pearl Harbour where the events of 1941 pulled USA into WWII eventually leading to the bomb. It again was fascinating... much facts we did not know, particularly about Japan's activities in the years leading up to the war and their technical abilities to stage the attack and surprise the US. Again, something I should find more about.

Anyway, extra #1 has various images from Pearl Harbour... the memorial for the USS Arizona which was the biggest battleship that sunk with most lives lost, the submarine USS Bowfin's torpedoes (and no jokes, Ms H came off saying she was feeling a bit sick!), the guns of 'Mighty Mo' USS Missouri which served from 1944-1992, and finally the deck of the Missouri where Japan signed the surrender documents in 1945 to signal the end of WWII. When we were at Hiroshima, I was wondering how Americans felt about the impact the bomb had on Japan, and today, with a lot of Japanese visitors, I was wondering how they too felt about their countries actions.

We spent most of the day here and headed down to Waikiki Beach again afterwards for dinner then a final paddle in the waves. We saw lots of surfing this time, the water felt lovely, it was actually raining here, but still wonderful hot. Temperature has been down a few degrees from Japan... 29-31 degrees and much less humid. As we were eating dinner outside beside the beach, the temperature was just perfect. Only really a day here and again, would love to come back... but we're off early to our final destination tomorrow for some relaxation and fun.