Highlights of Oahu

Hawaii might officially be the fiftieth state of the USA but somehow I have a hard time seeing this little slice of tropical paradise as part of America, just as I can't really believe that all of those far flung French colonies around the world are actually part of Metropolitan France.

It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense that these distant places are supposed to be one country, and the unsavory way Hawaii was acquired from its original inhabitants makes things even more difficult to swallow.

This sign which confronts new arrivals as soon as they step outside Honolulu international airport sums up this nonsensical situation very nicely - an interstate highway which doesn't lead to another state!   Of course this is just another legal fiction, cashing in on federal government assistance for the American interstate highway system.

Well, what's done is done and I don't expect this piece of land grabbing to be undone anytime soon, so there's nothing for it but to sit back and enjoy the ride - meaning in this case to enjoy the scenery and other attractions that make Oahu such a popular place for tourists.

Most visitors stay in Honolulu, and one of the nearest attractions is Diamond Head, which is not just scenic on the outside but is also worth visiting on the inside.   It's the shell of an old volcano, you can take a 10 or 15 minute walk across the arid interior and then climb up to the rim where there are some old military gun emplacements.   The interior of Diamond Head is still a military reservation, which might go a long way towards explaining why you must leave before it gets dark, a great pity since it must have excellent views of the sunset.

Some of the first European visitors to Diamond Head thought they'd struck it rich, mistaking calcite crystals on the volcano's slope for the diamonds which still give the place its name.

You should carefully consider whether it's a good idea to bring grandpa and grandma along for the trip, since it can be a hot and dry walk across the crater floor and the haul up all of those steps to the top is quite strenuous.

That emerald-green water is very nice to look at and swim in, but hard-core fans of Hawaii's underwater sea life would be better off on one of Hawaii's other islands where the water really is crystal clear.

The Diamond Head lighthouse is very scenic, it was originally built in 1899, then rebuilt  using reinforced concrete in 1917 - though the iron lantern room, together with the fresnel lens imported from France, are still from the first structure.

The lighthouse was put on the national register of historic places in 1980 and is still active today, though the original kerosene light source has been replaced by modern equipment.

As well as continuing in its original function as a navigation aid, it's also used as the finish line for the biennial Transpac Yacht Race, which begins at Long Beach in California.

As well as Diamond Head, Oahu has several other military installations, the most famous of which is undoubtedly Pearl Harbor.   At the start of world war two Pearl Harbor was the headquarters of America's Pacific Fleet, and it was here on December 7, 1941 that Japan launched its infamous raid which brought the United States into world war two.   It's well worth a visit to the iconic memorial built in 1961 which straddles the remains of the battleship USS Arizona.   It's interesting to view the memorial from the outside and also to go inside where you can look out over the ship and see the names of the 1177 sailors who died on the USS Arizona during the attack.

The USS Arizona memorial lies close by, adjacent to the white mooring berths along "battleship row" at Ford Island.

After the high-rises of Waikiki and the military museums at Pearl Harbor, it's nice to have a change of pace and experience some of Oahu's more natural attractions.   One very popular spot is Hanauma Bay, an old volcanic crater near the south-eastern corner of the island, where you can snorkel with many of the colorful tropical fish that are found only in the Hawaiian islands.

The news can't be all bad, because Hanauma Bay is still a good place to see turtles in their natural habitat.   Viewing underwater wildlife does add another dimension to a trip, and if it makes ordinary people care more about the natural environment then it's probably worth the damage they inflict.

It's also possible to see quite a bit of birdlife, though again there's trouble in paradise, since about half of all endemic Hawaiian bird species have been wiped out since Europeans arrived, and therefore almost all of the birds visitors will see are foreign.

The birds in this photo are Java sparrows, but among other introduced species you can also see khalij pheasants from Pakistan, mynas and red-vented bulbuls from India, northern cardinals from North America and red-crested cardinals from Brazil.

It's thought that several of these species were deliberately released cage birds whose owners probably thought they made a welcome addition to the local fauna and didn't know or care that they compete for the same food as native birds and therefore crowd them out.

The introductions aren't restricted to birds, either.   Many species of reptile, including chameleons and no fewer than seven species of gecko, like this gold dust day gecko, have been released into the wild.

Nature Strikes Back and is exacting some revenge on careless humans, however.   Tiny but incredibly noisy coqui frogs were introduced from Puerto Rico in the 1990s and have spread quickly, driving many people to distraction with their relentless high-pitched nocturnal calling.

After the rocks, the sandy beaches - in fact this one is actually called Sandy Beach!   It's one of the more dangerous beaches on the island and lots of people have to be rescued from the riptides that happen here.

Just a little further along the coast you'll find Lanikai Beach, which has a shallow, gently sloping sandy bottom and is much safer for swimming.

In the background, the small offshore islands of Mokumanu and Mokulua are sanctuaries for sea birds like sooty terns, black-footed albatrosses and frigate birds.

Not all of the historic sites on Oahu are from the brutal and colonialistic European era.   Some date all the way back to those idyllic times when the native Polynesians lived here in peace and harmony with each other and all of nature.   Only, this isn't one of those sites - instead, this is Nu'uanu Pali, where King Kamehameha I of the Big Island defeated the warriors of King Kalanikupule of Oahu and had thousands of them brutally thrown to their deaths over the high cliffs.   Kamehameha's victory resulted in the political unification of all of the Hawaiian islands.

There's a state park at the base of Kualoa Point, and Mokolii Island, otherwise known as Chinese Hat Island, is just offshore, as are the remains of a very large fishpond built from rocks hundreds of years ago.   This was once a sacred place where the children of the chiefs of Oahu were raised.

But now to a different type of religion with many local devotees both young and old - surfing.   This sport was invented by native Hawaiians well over a thousand years before Europeans arrived, but it was only during the early 1900s that it made the leap from Hawaii to California and then on around the world.   This photo is from the east end of Waimea Bay on Oahu's famed North Shore, still the Mecca of international surfing.