I landed in Honolulu part way through a 42 hour day (having crossed the international dateline on 15th April and gained a day.) Honolulu is on the island of Oahu – the third largest of the 8 main islands that make up the state of Hawaii.

I checked into The Coconut Waikiki Hotel (coconutwaikikihotel.com) a couple of blocks away from Waikiki Beach. It was bright, clean and friendly hotel about 10 mins walk from the beach (but a quarter of the price of hotels on the beach).

My first trip was to Pearl Harbor just west of Honolulu. I started by visiting the USS Arizona Memorial which is built over the remains of the ship.

There is still oil visible on the surface of the water. About 2 pints a year still leaks out of the hull.

The memorial can only be reached by boat and it is visited by about 2 million people annually.

Next I went aboard the USS Bowfin which has been moored next to the USS Arizona Visitor Centre since 1981. She was in service from 1942 until 1971.

I also visited the USS Missouri which was the last battleship to be commissioned by the United States. She was in service from 1944 until 1995.

Having served in the second world war, the Korean War and the 1991 Gulf War, she is best known as the location for the signing of the Japanese surrender in World War II.

Next, I headed into the city to have a look around. My first stop was The Iolani Palace – the royal residence of the rulers of the kingdom of Hawaii.

The palace is the only official state residence of royalty on US soil. It was built by King Kalakaua in 1845.

The King was very interested in technology and the new palace had electric lights and flushing toilets before the White House or Buckingham Palace. The Palace has no light switches. The King would write a memo to his engineer telling him what time wanted the lights on.

The monarchy was overthrown in 1893 by a group of local business men and politicians who wanted Hawaii to be annexed to the United States. The Palace was used as the offices for the new Government and an auction was held to sell off everything not required for the government offices. In 1969 the government offices moved to the newly constructed Hawaiian State Capitol Building which was constructed on the grounds of the Royal Barracks next to the palace.

The Palace had been designated a National Historic Landmark and, as soon as it was vacated, the Friends of Iolani Palace began its restoration. It opened to the public in 1978. Some of the items auctioned off have been recovered and work continues to try and recover the remaining items.

There were 3 other things of interest to me downtown. First of all, the art deco Hawaii Theatre. This opened in 1922 and stayed in business until the 1980s.

By then it had become very run down and a campaign was started to restore it as it was the only theatre of that period remaining. It reopened in 1997.

It is also now home to some interesting work by a local artist – Juliette May Fraser.

She painted them in 1970 when she was 83. She could remember the monarchy and was keen to celebrate that era.

Chinatown is also of interest as, unlike the rest of downtown, it wasn’t rebuilt in the 1970s. It consists of thriving Chinese markets and more interesting bars and restaurants in the original early 20th century buildings.

  

Finally the Aloha Tower. This was originally the tallest building in the City and was the first thing that everybody coming in by sea saw. Today it has lost its original attraction as there are many higher buildings and no one comes to Hawaii by sea anymore (The Cruise ships dock further east nearer Waikiki Beach.)

Waikiki Beach is the main tourist destination in the City. The beach itself is very crowded with large numbers of surfers waiting for the waves.

The Royal Hawaiian is one of the original hotels on the beach. It is easily recognisable with its bright pink façade.

When I visited, it was just about to be taken over for a Chinese wedding.

The other original hotel is The Moana Surfrider Hotel which was the first to open on the beach in 1901 when rooms were $1.50 per night. Today it is about $400 per night.

Waikiki Beach is the place to buy a Panama Hat and Hawaiian Shirts.  Newt at The Royal Hawaiian (www.newtattheroyal.com) is one of the best shops.

If you only plan to visit Honolulu and Waikiki Beach when on Oahu, then there is no need to hire a car. SpeediShuttle (speedishuttle.com) offer quick and cheap transport to/from the airport and your hotel and there is a good local bus service in the city itself. All bus journeys have a flat fare of £2.50.