PART 3
OHAHU GRAND CIRCLE ISLAND TOUR & the'IOLANI PALCE TOUR

The Island tour was an all day tour & covered 120 miles of Ohau. This beautiful drive offered a number of stops which were a photgraphers delight. Since I knew my sister was getting a lot of the shots & I didn't want to miss really concentrating on what I was seeing, I didn't shoot as many pictures as she did but managed to capture a few of the marvelous veiws.
Mother Nature did not cooperate fully & the waves on the North Shore were not as spectacular as I have seen on TV. Also the famous Blow Hole refused to show off & give us a nice big Blow.
Other beautiful spots though were Sandy Beach, Makapuu Point which is below Makapuu Lighthouse.

A fascinating place to me was Byodu-In Temple which contained hugh statue of a Budda, a replica of one which exists in Japan. It is situated in a beutiful garden area & outside there is a huge gong which my sister & I each rang.

Our final stop was at the Dole Plantation where we rode the Pinapple Express which wound it's way around the scenic route where the various plants were labled for easy identication. We listened to songs especially written for the Express & a naration as we traveled along the route. Afterwards we enoyed some delicius Pinapple Ice cream. There were also a maze & a tour of the Garden which because both us were tired & my sis had been plaqued with a sore leg for days & of course my back injury, we decided to forgo those.

There is a lot of traffic on Oahu, & especially in Honolulu, so it is really nice to leave all of the driving to a capeable bus driver. Ours was quite witty & kept us entertained with his comments as we drove along. All of the tour drivers or drivers who picked us up at our Hotel, refered to themselves as cousins. We had a cousin Star, yes that was really his name, a cousin Bob & various other cousins. These drivers also told us about little known stories about places we were seeing. For example, the Military hospital is pink, & one of our drivers told us, that when the Japanese bombers were bombing Pearl Harbor, they flew over the hospital. Because of it's color & it's design, they thought it was a school & spared it. He said his grandmother worked there at the time. The sad thing though, was that the archetect who had designed the building, had received so mush teasing about his choice of colors, committed suicide shortly before the bombing & never new that his coice of color saved thousands of lives.

Our last tour was of the 'Iolani Palace which was the home of the Hawaiian rulers up until the last one Queen LILI'UOKALANI (1838-1917) who succeeded her brother King Kalkaua in 1891 until 1893 when the Hawaian monarcy was overthrown,& eventually Hawaii became or 50th state.
Queen Lili'uokalani was a well educated queen & I believe was taught as a child by a Missionary woman. She was quite concerned about the Hawaian people & their welfare so it is
ironic that she suffered an embarrasing & unfair trial & finally imprisonment in her bedroom, I believe it was for 5 years.

Each room was Ornate & beautiful & I wished that we were allowed to take pictures. We did find a few postcards of the interior such as the throne room wher dignitaries gathered & were presentd to the monarchs who sat on their thrones. It also was the place where balls were held.
There are still some of the beutiful furniture once agian back in the palace, but some was auctioned off & found it's way all over the world. They are still hunting some of it.

The queen's bedroom contained a small iron bed upon which she slept during her imprisonment & for 5 years the guards marched outside her room. She had one attendent who elected to stay with her during this time. I almost felt a palatable sadness upon entering this room.
There are two floors & a basement where the crown jewels are on display. She also was the author of many songs Inluding Aloha Oe, & many other beutifull Hawaian songs.

Since I love History, & love to visit historic places, I was enthralled with the Palace, & seeing the pictures lining the walls of all of the Hawaiian rulers down through the centuries, & the many artifacts on veiw. I would recommend each of the tours we took, & if one has a longer time,there are museums such as the Bishop Museum & many other places of interest, including an Aquarium which was close to our hotel but we didn't have time to visit.

I am so thankful to the Lord for enabling me to visit this beautiful place that I've always dreamed of visiting, & to my sister for escorting me & paying for my hotel & transportation as well as many other things of this trip. It was a special time for the two of us. I'm 22 months older so we have always shared a close bond.