Movies

Mauna Kea Observatory

Our friend Sue Clyde, who spent three or four months of 2011 living on the big island of Hawai'i, inspired our Hawaiian extravaganza.  The adventure that Sue most raved about was her trip to the Mauna Kea Observatories, so we followed in her footsteps.  We met up with follow-travelers and our guide Greg at a spot 15 minutes north of Kailua, from whence we proceded in a mini-bus.  Greg appeared to be in his 50s and had strikingly blond/white eyebrows.  He drove along, telling us various things about the regions we passed through.  Much of the way the "highway" we were on was quite narrow, winding, and bumpy, and Greg mostly drove down the centre line.  He explained that the road was initially just a singe lane, punched through in a big hurry by the US military during WWII.  Later it was widened by adding shoulders of about 3 feet on either side.  We drove beside a major US military installation that included a large live-firing range -- I mean, they were dropping actual bombs from jets.  Very weird.

Greg beside the minbus.

As we drove, we climbed, gradually but steadily.  We had a brief pause around 5,000 feet, then drove a bit further and stopped for an early dinner at something like 6,000 feet.  We dined in a former ranching outpost (part of a gigantic ranch, now owned by the state and leased to the tour company). Here are some photos I took while waiting for dinner.

After dinner we continued to ascend.  Here's a shot Greg kindly took when we paused at something like 8,000 feet.

Enlarge to read sign.  In context, at least, it was a hoot.  We were all holding on for dear life even though we were ON the road.

The first telescope we got close to.

Apparently the wind can really howl up near the summit, so the signs have holes in them to reduce the likelihood of being blown off the posts.

Near the top of Mauna Kea.

This is the peak of Mauna Kea, almost exactly 14,000 feet.  Most of the observatories are on an adjacent rise, from which this shot was taken, that is just a bit lower.  The peak itself is considered sacred ground by Hawaiins and we were asked not to climb it.  At 14,000 feet just walking around on level ground tended to make our heads spin, so there was no danger of us galavanting up there, but if you enlarge the picture you'll see that several other folks did (although I think that at least part of their group was Hawaiian).

The prospects as the sun set were awe-inspiringly beautiful.





A few minutes after the sun went down, we got back in the bus and went back down to the visitors' centre at 9k.  There Greg set up an 11" scope and greatly impressed us with an incredibly skilled tour of the heavans.  We started with a couple of planets (Venus and Jupiter), then hit some dazzling stars.  Then he worked through the then-visible zodiacal constellations, using a laser pointer to help us see them and telling their stories very fluently (although his attempts at humour, almost always grounded in sexist stereotypes, were tedious).  Then he pointed out and told the stories of a number of other constellations, and explained how the Polynesians used the stars to navigate (routinely, for trade) between the Hawaiian islands and points as far away as New Zealand.  Then for the grand finale he showed us both the Andromeda galaxy and the spiral nebula.  The whole show was absolutely stunning, and I would recommend this outting for any sighted person.  Totally cool

Volcano!

We had planned to go to Volcano Park and Hilo with one overnight, but the rioting rats in the ceiling of our otherwise idylic Jungle Cottage led us to leave a bit earlier and it turned into a three-day outting.  Here are a few highlights.

Add caption

Steam vent.

Not in Kansas anymore.

Inside a lava tube, an almost perfectly circular tunnel formed in and by molten lava.

Probably these pictures don't work.  You're thinking, "Hm, why'd he post a picture of a cow pat?"  But this pile is as big as a Volvo and we're in the midst of huge flow of stuff like this and it is quite something when you're there!

Hope springs eternal. 

Some people (e.g., us) are lucky.  We get born into resource-rich environments.  Others not so.  So too with plants.  We have seen many extraordinarily plucky, dig-in-and-work-at-it plants on this trip, along with megakilos of those thriving in composty luxury.

Lava arch.

We spent perhaps three hours driving down an amazing 18 mile stretch of road from down to the water (plus a really fun one-lane roller coaster side road).  This was the highlight at the bottom.  A few miles beyond this is the newest acreage on the planet, where lava flowed into the ocean and added land just a few years ago, but we were out of time and ill prepared for the hike and plus our brains were full.

Aloha and apologies for being such a blogless blogger.  The fact is that we've been living the adventure too hard to find time to document it.  Here are a few photos with captions.  I tried adding some video clips but the wi-fi here is just too laid back for that.  Be sure to double click the pictures to get the full effect
The beach below is a few miles north of the airport.  Getting to it involved driving across one of the most extraordinary roads either of us has ever seen, scratch across a huge flow of black lava.

Nearby beach.

One of the highest highlights so far was our excursion on a boat that took us to a famed snorkeling area -- an underwater park.  

Leaving harbour.

En route to awesome snorkeling.

The crew did a terrific job.  We motored for about an hour, during which they got us set up with basic snorkelling gear.  Along the way, we encountered a group of "spinner" dolphins that swam justt inches in front of the prow of the boat (which was going about 20 knots, I would guess) for a minute or two in a stunning and beautiful display that had us laughing with delight.  They seemed jet propelled.  We also saw a couple of huge manta rays.  Once at the "garden," we swam in the 78-degree water for about an hour and a quarter.  Or, rather, we hung out, gawking at the incredible array of goregous fish, corals, anenomes, etc.  Amazing.  Moira's vision is sufficiently limited that the mask didn't work for her, so they gave her a viewing box, an apparatus with a glass plate that can be held on the surface, and that worked beautifully for her.  While we were in the water, a grey whale did some breaching just a few hundred yards away.  On the way back we again saw whales and manta rays.  A terrific experience.

All of that was too exciting to bother with taking photos, so I only have shots of us getting there and back.

Back to harbour.

Bwana Bob's Jungle Cottage.

Individual flower things from the vine shown below, in a tree right beside our Jungle Cottage.

Said vine in said tree.

Lava meets ocean near the Place of Refuge, a small region surrounded by a massive wall in which individuals who had gone awry or lost a battle could come for sanctuary.

Palms on beach near Place of Refuge.

One of three turtles we saw in large tidal pools near The Place of Refuge.

<>

A beach north of Kona, reached by traversing what is surely the most godforsaken road on the planet.

View from said road.  Photo is wildly flattering.