Diamonds are forever!

We'd planned to go to Hanauma Bay but it was closed. Would you believe it! Never known a bay to be closed before. Oh well maybe another day.

So it was off to climb a volcano at Diamond Head, Hawaii's famous tuff cone backdrop. Known to Hawaiians as Lē ahi. Its English name was given by British sailors in the 19th century who mistook calcite crystals embedded in the rock for diamonds. The interior was the home to Fort Ruger, the first United States military reservation on Hawaii. The volcanic tuff cone is a United States State Monument. Part of it serves as a platform for antennas used by the U.S. government and is closed to the public.

At 762 ft it gave some great views over Waikiki Bay and Koko Head. Although the day was a hot one the trail to the top was pretty easy going with a number of switchbacks and the Kapahulu tunnel gave some shade, then to a narrow spiral staircase inside a coastal artillery observation platform built in 1908.

We found it rather amusing that a number of the larger Americans thought this short walk was similar to climbing Everest! Puffing and panting, maybe the breakfast at MacDonalds didn't help!