Quad biking and Pearl Harbour

Had a very brief surf this morning but the waves were rubbish again, and Nadine got hit in the face by her board, making her nose bleed. That meant we had to get out sharpish - sharks can smell blood a long way off and we had no wish to test that theory.

So once she had sorted her face out,  and we had all eaten breakfast, we headed out to the airport to hire a car.  This island is lovely but it is difficult to get around other than in the tourist areas. And of course tat means that if you want to go off the beaten track or just somewhere that is not on a bus line, you're snookered. Even if you can get anywhere, it takes forever. So that's why we hired a car.

First stop was Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona memorial was still shut, but the USS Missouri was open.

This was the ship that the Japanese surrender was taken on.

The ship was  in Tokyo bay at the time, and during the relatively brief time that the US fought in WW2, it was hit twice by kamikaze, the side still showing signs of the impact.

The ship then went on to serve in Korea and the first Gulf War before being mothballed in 1992. The bloke showing us around was ex Navy (30 years ma'am) and was quite chuffed when I told him that several members of my family were ex Royal Navy, as I would have been had they let women go to sea when I left school. But there was no way I was going to be a teacher, a nurse or a secretary, and confined to shore under discipline regulations when I could have been free to do other stuff. So I never did join up, although I sometimes wonder whether I should have done. But it's too late now. Maybe in the next life.

They were also filming Hawaii Five O ( new version) alongside the Missouri. Its an active naval base and photo taking is very restricted, but that's just an invitation as far as I'm concerned.

After that, we headed to Kualoa Ranch for a spot of quad biking.

This  ranch is used as a movie and TV set for various things - Jurassic Park, Lost, Godzilla, You, me and Dupree, Hawaii 50 etc. n between times, they run quad biking jaunts, and that's what we did. Various film sets, including Godzilla's footprints were there/. They were originally 2 m deep but we filled in to just a few cms after a while.

The place is inside an old crater and the rocks walls are volcanic and brittle. Its also home to several old legends and some said it was creepy. I didn't get that feeling at all, but it was interesting learning about the various trees and fruit - guava

and  kuiki nut, which are used as a laxative. These are the nuts that you see people wearing as necklaces.

They taste like a cross between brazil nuts and chestnuts.

Unfortunately, Gordon managed to break two bikes - a puncture and a drowned carb - but it was OK as he got a lift back to base.