"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." Lao Tzu

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Day 3: O'ahu

Everyone was up early so that we could get to Pearl Harbor before the crush. Even though we were there early, we still had 2 hours to wait before the film and boat to the memorial. We toured around the museum and were greeted by a survivor of the attack. Getting a first hand glimpse of the harbor prior to 12/7 and after was thought provoking. Touring the memorial made you appreciate the freedoms we have in this country. Though this country has issues at the federal, state, and local areas, it still is a great nation. I am humbled by all the men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for this country; to them it's a sense of honor, duty, commitment. They know that they may be called to war and may lose their life yet they still enlist and serve. Our freedoms are because of the selfless sacrifice of so many individuals. Standing on the USS Arizona Memorial, I was reminded again of those who willing serve. You may not agree with the notion of war but as long as there are governments there will be wars and rumors of wars. You may not support the war but support those who are fighting it for you. They are doing it so you can enjoy all those freedoms you take for granted.After leaving the memorial, we headed to the Dole Plantation. Since the sugar beet can yield 2 harvest per year compared to sugarcane which needs 2 years to grow, a lot of the sugarcane plantations no longer dominate the landscape. The same with pineapple plantations. Currently the whole Dole production is now in Costa Rica. We toured the garden around the plantation. Many varieties of plant species were seen. Eucalyptus trees are native to Australia but several were seen around the grounds. The leaves of these trees have an oil in them that is like Halls cough drops. Heliconia (Lobster claw), Ornamental Ginger, Hibiscus, Beaver tail cactus, pineapple, bananas, papaya, and Rubber trees were all seen in the garden.
From the plantation, we headed to Pali lookout. Pali means steep cliff. There is a narrowing gap due to the mountains coming together. This produced the effect known as Bornoulli. High winds are channeled down through the gap. The Pali pass was used as a shorter way to Ko'olau. The windward side of Pali is covered with moss, liverworts, ferns and small vascular plants. These are considered pioneer species. Lichen was also seen on the rock strata. These species will provide enough soil over time due to erosion and this will allow for larger plant species to settle.We grabbed a bit to eat before heading to the airport for our late night flight to Auckland. While waiting to board, we had a wrap-up lecture of O'ahu and Suzanne gave her devotion on Eph. 2:10. She related the Banyan tree (massive prop roots) to the Christian life. That we need to get stronger by putting down strong roots and how we get stronger is by fellowshipping with other believers.

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