Two Stupid Questions for Residents of Hawaii

Factual Questions
1

I feel ultra-silly for asking this, but it’s been three years since the wife and I were last in Hawaii, and I need to have my facts straight. So here goes.

Some background: I know a British man who has a Thai wife. They have a daughter aged about 17 or 18. She’s just finished high school, I believe. I’ve never met the wife or the daughter, because they live up North. My friend is based in Bangkok for business reasons; he spends a week or two at a time down here, then goes back up North for a few days.

A few days ago, the daughter returned from the US after spending three months in Seattle on some sort of high-school work-abroad program. She and several other Thai high-school students worked at the Seattle airport for three months. No school involved, strictly a work program. This sort of program is popular in Thailand.

While there, the daughter got herself an American boyfriend. The boyfriend is in an army family, his father stationed on Oahu. (Not sure what the kid was doing in Seattle.) So the family took the daughter off to Hawaii with them for a week. She had a very nice time. All well and good.

Her father, my British friend, knows I went to school in Hawaii and mentioned some of her experiences to me. Two things he said, though, were a bit on the bizarre side. For one, he said that she said they drove to another island. I told him no way, you can’t drive anywhere from Oahu. He said not to a major island maybe, but rather some sort of small island offshore. I said no. I have heard of that new ferry service they started since our last visit. Possibly that was it.

So Question #1 (two parts): I know the answer to this already, but I want official confirmation: Have they built any bridges to anywhere at all from Oahu in the last three years? If it’s the ferry she took, do they allow cars onto it? He admits he may have got this part wrong, because he did not have much time with her before he loaded her onto her flight back North, but he’s certain she did not fly anywhere once she arrived on Oahu.

Question #2: He is absolutely certain she said this. She took lots of photos in Hawaii, but not at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, because “they don’t allow photo-taking there, it being a graveyard.” I’m thinking: “What the fuck?” :confused: There have never been any photo restrictions whatsoever at the Arizona Memorial that I can remember, and the wife and I have plenty of shots of it from even three years ago. But he’s certain she said that, and I suppose there’s a slim chance that some sort of restriction could have been introduced within the past three years. So: Are there now any photo restrictions at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor?

My friend is a very nice man, and I don’t want to be confrontational. I don’t want to be all “Hey, your daughter is a liar or an idiot!” But this has had me scratching my head. I’m not going to mention it unless he brings it up again, but if he does, I want to be able to say: “People who now live in Hawaii have told me this and this.” He’ll see his daughter again in another week or so, so maybe this will all be cleared up on its own anyway.

Thanks in advance.

2

Given that this page from the NPS website specifically says that cameras are allowed, I assume that it’s some sort of confusion, possibly connected to the fact that camera bags (and all other such bags) are prohibited.

3

Possibly Ford Island Bridge. It was opened in 1998, but I can’t think of any other bridge “to another island.” It’s not offshore, as you know, but inside Pearl Harbor.

The Super Ferry, that goes between islands, does allow cars, but I don’t think that’s what he’s talking about.

4

Thanks for the answers. I thought maybe she had been teased about no cameras, a practical joke, but surely she would have seen all of the other tourists taking pictures.

If the ferry allows cars, that could be it. My friend seemed certain that they drove on another island but did not fly. He may have just assumed there was someplace close by linked by bridge, such as the way you can drive to Singapore over the bridge from Malaysia or even from Singapore to Sentosa Island.

5

Ford Island was my first thought. But perhaps she meant the Mokapu Peninsula, home of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. It’s almost entirely surrounded by water and might easily be mistaken for an island. The road is on a sort of causeway, not a bridge. This might make more sense if the boyfriend’s father was in the Marines, because the whole peninsula is part of the USMC base.

6

I no longer am a resident, but I was born and raised there and visited home just last month. I also went to the Arizona Memorial.

The Superferry does indeed allow cars.
http://www.hawaiisuperferry.com/

Ford Island would also be my guess; there is a bridge that looks like a chunk of the H1 viaduct that extends out. Maybe Sand Island, but I can’t think of anything touristy there.

I took a ton of photos at the Arizona Memorial. I took photos of the memorial itself, the inside, the outside, these rusty round things in the water, the names on the memorial, the people in the memorial, etc. The only places I did not take photos were inside the artifacts showroom and theater where they showed a short film on the attack. The only restrictions we faced were 1) no bags, and 2) no picture-taking in the theater.

7

Another possibility is the area at the east end of Ala Moana park that is called ‘Magic Island.’ It doesn’t even remotely resemble an island but that is what it is called.

8

I suppose it’s possible the boy’s father is a marine, and my friend just said army.

I’m also familiar with Magic Island. Nice place to hang out a little, but I don’t feel it’s special enough to mention to the girl’s father in their brief meeting between her flights. Anyway, I expect this question at least will get cleared up if not the other once he sets down and has more time with her.

Thanks all again.

9

And now I’m going to tell you something else that happened to the girl and then thank my fellow Americans for being such a cool bunch of people.

As her father related the story to me, his daughter’s time in America was a very positive experience, one she enjoyed immensely. She made it through the whole three months without any untoward incidents … until one hour before her plane left back for home. That’s when she lost her purse in the airport. It contained “more than $1000 cash,” her Thai ID card and other important documents. Thankfully, her passport and traveler’s checks were in another bag, but that was a lot of cash to lose. My friend really emphasized the “more than” part of “more than $1000.” So she’s freaked out. Calls home and asks if maybe she should stay another day or so to see if it’s found. Her mother reasonably figured there was little chance of that and said just to catch the flight and come home. The girl had reported it, and they’d work out what to do once she got back. So she did, she caught the flight.

Meanwhile, my friend is contacted by a man in Oregon – e-mail or phone, I’m not sure – and HE has the bag! With everything in it! NOTHING is missing, not any of the cash. It seems the man’s 13-year-old son found it in the airport late that night and took it to his father. The father could see that this was some important shit, but it was late and their plane was boarding for Oregon right then. So he took it with him and once back in Oregon searched through it for a contact. Talk about lucky! The man’s arranging to have everything sent back over here – possibly it’s all back now. He refused to keep some of the money as a reward, but my friend said he pretty much begged him at least to take some of the money and buy the son something very nice.

So, my fellow Americans, you rock! You really came through and did me proud! Thank you! :slight_smile:

10

This was also my notion. I’ve been there a couple of times, and it could perhaps be mistaken for an island.

11

Heh. Three years ago, I was taking photos of all of that myself, and then when I was looking down at the wreckage under the water, up pops this giant green turtle. The mood among the crowd had been very somber, but suddenly everyone was like “Oooh! A turtle!” Even the park ranger with us. It became a star, and everyone ooh-ed and ah-ed at the turtle splashing around. That was the second giant green turtle I’d encountered that trip; ran into one in Hanauma Bay, too.

Or maybe it was the same one hunting me.

12

I’m envious. :slight_smile: I’ve never seen one in the wild. Sea Life Park has a bunch, but it’s just not the same.

Very cool story about the recovered bag.

13

You can frequently see green turtles at Haunama Bay. I’ve often seen them when surfing off Waikiki at Queens. The usually flip a flipper up in the air near me and scare the hell out of me.

14

So the Superferry does not go to the Big Island? I find that surprising. Unless it’s new and they’re just getting established. But then, not having any scheduled inter-island passenger-ship service is a little surprising as well. Airlines took it out that completely?

15

The Superferry currently only offers service to Maui from Honolulu. They plan to add Big Island service in 2009.

Prior to the Superferry, there were no alternatives to airlines for interisland travel. Either you flew by plane to other islands, or you drifted on the waves like a coconut.

Service to the Big Island, I imagine, will largely be for vacationers, as the Big Island is not the busy, happenin’ place Honolulu and Maui are, and very few people jaunt from island to island regularly for work or school. The ferry also takes about six times longer (3hrs vs. 37 minutes by plane), and sails at most twice per day from each port, so it’s not a practical alternative for commuters or business travelers.

Man, the one day my last trip we had time for it, it was a Tuesday and Hanauma Bay is closed Tuesdays. I’m gonna have to make it a point to go there next time. Haven’t been there since I was like 4 or 5.

16

The one in Hanauma Bay just appeared suddenly. Seemed totally oblivious to me and went about it’s business of eating the algae off the underwater rocks. I floated watching it for a long time. Had some sort of metal tag attached to one leg. I’m not sure if this is correct or not, but somewhere in the back of my my mind, I thought if I even so much as touched the thing, I could be subject to a $5000 fine, so I’d freak and paddle furiously back when the current pushed him toward me.

17

All sea turtle species are endangered, so I’m not surprised the fine is so high. If you get caught trafficking seat turtle products or harassing the animals, the fines can reach ~$25,000.