We still had a long way to go so didn't hang around in Hilo, we headed on our way past Hilo as we were going to drive right around the Island, well Mike was anyway, wem Wiz Marian and Im got the easy part of the deal as passengers. We diverted ourselves to look at a region that might have been suitable for Mike and Marian to live, we saw some nice houses up on the cliff top and the area was picturesque. We came across the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden on Onomea Bay which were created by a bloke called Dan Lutkenhouse. When we had finished visiting the gardens we came back to the gift shop and his widow Pauline was there discussing some plans with someone so we met her and had a bit of a natter. What a nice lady she was.

The land for the gardens was donated by the Lutkenhouses and although Dan has passed away the gardens are now a trust and his wife is still very much interested in it's welfare. We walked across the road and down the path which got steeper and steeper and I was beginning to wonder if I would make it back up the hill but refused to think about it and kept going. I guess the plants were not remarkable to me, The Flecker Botanic Gardens in Cairns has pretty much the same kind of plants, although I did see a hairy tree I had never seen before, but all gardens are wonderful places of peace and tranquility.

On previous rambles Mike and Marian had found this shop that sells all kinds of jams and preserves as well as baked goodies. They didn't know the name of the town but a sign on one shop says it is Honomu Village, it is on one of the roads to Akaka Falls. The buildings were typical early 1900's and had lots of character, the glass from the past shop was full of interesting things but we didn't buy anything there, only in the jam shop and the man who owns it makes everything in it. I bought a pastry while Mike and Marian stocked up on jams and cookies. The shop was really quaint and old fashioned complete with an old Drug Store booth and table in the corner. As you can see they were not short of customers either.

Here is Wizzie waiting for his treats, he is a very relaxed traveler and most of the time you wouldn't know he was there except for when you come back to the car with food, he loves food.

As far as the eye can see, when you are driving across a lava field is can look quite bleak, almost like the surface of the moon in some places, not that I have been to the Moon of course, otherwise I would have done a web page on it by now.

The picture above is of the newer lava in the foreground which has little vegetation in the background is the peak of Mauna Loa, the slopes look gradual but this is a very high mountain peak. In the right hand corner you see some writing, it is done using small pieces of white coral and is a type of graffiti you see all along the lava but it can also be a memorial to people who have died like this message is. I was a bit dumbstruck by all the black lava. I had seen three other islands by now and although some of those were dry in parts I had seen the lush Hawaiian scenes that I had been fed in the media. The other islands are older and don't have vast lava fields like The Big Island. it took some getting used to and I didn't bond with it until I had flown over the top. It was hot though and I never liked places that were built almost straight on top of it. When you see the aerial shots you will see bits of green in the midst of black, its where they have dumped dirt and made a housing estate or resort or golf course.

In the picture below the lava looks brownish and this is because it is an older flow, probably an 1800's flow. The picture below doesn't have any signs of vegetation at all. Give it a hundred years or so and scrubby stuff will grow and then many hundreds (millions) of years after that it will eventually have topsoil and vegetation on it unless, of course, that one of the volcanoes decides to do another makeover.

After we drove through the lava fields we eventually arrived at our destination, a resort which looked like the standard pictures of Hawaii we are used to, a place which had likely been built on added topsoil.

We had dinner here, they did good pulled pork and had some other great Hawaiian dishes too. It was Marian's birthday and we had a great time. There was also a local musician playing on the terrace upstairs which wafted nicely down to where we were and of course we were forced to endure another one of those Hawaiian sunsets in the middle of dinner. What a life ey !

While we were doing lunch another day, I think it was at the Yacht Club as it was waterfront, Mike said to Marian we had better get our flights sorted out if we were going to go or the visit would be over with everything booked out so Marian got on the blackberry and rang the helichopper people but their prices were over US$500.00 for a 1 hour 40 minute flight with no guarantee of a good view unless you paid extra so she rang Big Island Air a company that they had flown with before, they had planes. They also had options, did I want a day or night flight?
I said "both".

I couldn't pick between them so Marian managed to get an excellent Kama'aina (locals) deal because the last time they had flown with Big Island Air Tom, the owner, had said he would give a good deal to their guests. Marian also kept telling people I was a travel writer to get good deals, sometimes it worked. We booked two flights, one day and one night for less than one helichopper flight.

Just after we had made our bookings and were getting excited about the prospect of flying over volcanoes (Marian had done it before but she still likes it) there was this horrible wailing noise coming from a siren stuck on a post. I asked what it was and, in unison they casually said its a tsunami warning and kept on eating, I looked around and everyone else was still eating and taking no notice, you can imagine what was going through my mind, it was a wonder I didn't up and bolt straight away but then I asked why aren't we running - Oh it must be the first Monday of the month, they are just testing it. Sheesh it gave me a scare for a moment or two.

The picture above is the peak of Mauna Kea where the observatories are, all huddled together like pimples on a great big mountain .
I do get closer to them but not on this day.

It is difficult to photograph lava at night without special cameras but Marian managed a couple of shots of the lava as it flowed into the sea and flared up sending steam and gasses into the air to drift around the island as vog. The lava flow itself came from a rift near the Halema'uma'u crater of Kilauea and it flows down the side of the mountain forming lava tubes. In the day time it usually just looks all gray but at night it glows with what looks like red embers. It flows steadily at a regular pace, you could probably out walk it as it slides down the rift zone and into the sea forming 1/4 to 1/2 an acre of new land per day. In a million years or so there will probably be a realtor banging in a for sale sign but right now it is an amazing live work in progress. I was saying to my friend Colin the other day the Big Island of Hawaii is like going to a new housing estate and seeing the finished homes, the ones half way done and the vacant land as mother nature(and Madame Pele) are at work sculpting new things, there were some definite areas where the landscaping was not finished yet and it was quite mind blowing to see it and also to know I was probably standing on a piece of land that had a huge hole under it where super hot magma was just a few miles beneath the surface. I was and still am in awe.

The three pictures below are obviously when it was pitch black and we were flying over the lava flow and then the two at the bottom are where the lava flows into the sea. Hard to show in a still picture but in real life as the hot lava hits the cold sea it flares up and puts on a very nice and natural fire works display. The Pilot was great too, he banked and circled so many times so we could get a really great look at the activity below

They have a volcano monitoring site on line, you can read about the activity, history and there are web cams click here to go see. They also have information about Mauna Loa too, apparently they can see thermal activity on the surface of the peak caldera which just goes to show you it might look like a big dormant hump but Madame Pele is still doing her thing.

Marian and I did the day flight, Mike opted out as he had done it many times before. Marian had got me the co pilots seat but in the end I said she could have it as I was happy with my window seat. The good thing about the plane was the overhead wings so they did not obscure the view. I really loved the night flight but, in the end, I could not tell you which was better, they both were very good and covered different areas and views so I recommend doing both if you decide you want to have a look at what is going on.

Uhoh, in the pic below it looks like Marian is in control. There is a horrible picture of me on the plane somewhere but I reserve the right not to publish it nyah !

The birthday girls, Marian, Claire and Hazel are all Leo's and we don't fight when we are together. Claire bought a cake over for us to celebrate with, she was at Marian's house to help with the clean up before an inspection. Talk about above and beyond the call of duty how many real estate agents would put on their work clothes and come over and pitch in. Not many I am sure but Claire is different.

I mentioned the property was for sale and while I was there Claire took us around to look at some prospective new properties. Very nice houses but some looked as if no one lived in them, they don't, I was told, these are holiday homes. The one with the 1600 bottle climate controlled wine cellar and fur coat closet was particularly nice but is not under consideration. Below is a picture of Claire on the real estate job, multitasking, she is showing Mike and Marian this home and doing business on the mobile. It's a nice picture and on this day there was no vog.

Aloha from Claire ! Visit her web site

I loved the koi pond at Mike and Marian's so you get to see two more shots of it. Nice landscaping Mike.

We were faffing around and Marian said today we are going to surprise you. oooh goody I Like surprises. Well the first surprise they were taking me to lunch and didn't say where but I could tell they were smirking. We pulled into the parking lot of what looked like a small convenience store with a pile of junk out the front. That is the junk to the right of the first picture with the witches hats around it. Mike and marian walked up to the window and asked me if I wanted beef chicken or fish, I said beef and they said go sit down and we will bring it to you. Well ok, Jake's wasn't fancy as you can see but I got the best smoked beef I have ever tasted, in fact the best beef I have ever had, it was so tender it was amazing. It came on a tray with some beans and slaw, seems the pile of junk in the parking lot was the smoker. The lemonade was home made too and it was just wonderful, I wish I could make it like that myself.

Big Jake's Big Island BBQ doesn't have a web address but you can find it at 83-5308 Mamalahoa Hwy # B Captain Cook on the Big Island of Hawaii, if you are headed there and need directions just Google it. Don't blink or you will miss it, it is just a small roadside stop but well worth a visit.

Jake's wasn't the only surprise that day, we also went to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. I think the pronunciation is poo ooh hoe nua oh hoe now now, anyway it is a national historical park and they have examples of typical huts to show what would have been here once. When you build out of grass the structures don't last all that long and the odd hurricane blows them away too I guess. This bit below is from the official web site

"In old Hawaii, if you had broken a law the penalty was death. Perhaps you had entered into an area that was reserved for only the chiefs, or had eaten forbidden food. Laws, or kapu, governed every aspect of Hawaiian society. The penalty for breaking these laws was certain death. Your only option for survival is to elude your pursuers and reach the nearest pu'uhonua, or place of refuge.

As you enter, the great wall rises up before you marking the boundaries between the royal grounds and the sanctuary. Many ki'i (carved wooden images) surround the Hale o Keawe, housing the bones of the chiefs that infuse the area with their power or mana. If you reached this sacred place, you would be saved."

Anyway it was a great place and really what I had been looking for when I went to the Polynesian Cultural Centre on Oahu, not something flashy but something simple, as it once might have been. This area had a very nice peaceful feel about it. The rock with the stones on it is Konane, a kind of Hawaiian checkers or draughts game complete with some rather hard stools, I don't suppose the beds were much better.

The hut below is one way of showing the construction of a building, this was some kind of spiritual building and just to the front and left, near the tree I had another one of those flashes of energy running up my legs and hanging around the front of my torso. Very strong energy, it makes you feel peaceful for some reason but alive at the same time. This was a village for Royalty and it had one of those ingenious pools where they kept fish they caught. No refrigeration so I guess it was one way of keeping the fish alive until they were needed.

Holualoa is the village near Mike and Marian's place, it is on a narrow road and has lots of quaint buildings which were built in the early 1900's. Holualoa is of historical interest and is in the Kona district where the best coffee comes from. Holualoa was once a busting town with commercial sugar cane, Kona Bottling Works, a telephone company and many stores such as pool halls, a theatre, garages, barber shops and of course it still has the Kona hotel.

Today it has lots of galleries and a coffee shop and the local produce markets are held out the back of the coffee shop restaurant. The pink building below is the Kona hotel, it is a bit shabby but so full of character and the nice lady let us walk out the back where there is a terrific view and this odd walkway to the toilets. most unusual even if they hadn't painted it pink. Unlike Big Jake's Big BBQ you cannot miss this place.

Lots of interesting buildings too the green one was a church. the one at right above you see dotted all along the roads, not sure if they are dwellings or some kind of store. The building below left is part of the coffee shop restaurant and when I said how come we haven't eaten there Marian said she thought it was closed. Seems like it is a bit of a hit and miss affair so I cannot comment on the food. We checked out the markets and Marian bought some home made dips and crackers. It's a bit bohemian as it attracts artistic people but I found it charming. The building below right is the Hongwanji Mission, I really liked it.

I am still amazed at how flimsy the buildings are considering the Hurricane threat, these old buildings seemed to be made of nothing more than packing case timber or something similar. We have our Queenslander houses but they are solid. Amazing that the little building above is still there.

Mauna Kea Stargazing and Observatories

Boy I did a lot of things on this trip hence the number of photographs. I am coming to the end now, this was the second last thing I did on the big Island well perhaps not but it is the last thing I have photos of that I will share with you. I had seen the observatories from the plane twice and really wanted to get up there for a closer look and I love star gazing. There are different stars to look at in the Northern Hemisphere so off I went with Mauna Kea Summit Adventures for a look see at the top of the big hill. I had to meet them at Buns in the Sun, a Bakery, nothing to do with naked bums or anything. When I got to BITS there were lots of other people hanging around so I bought a drink in the bakery and sat down to wait for the bus. One arrived, it was one of those small ones, seats about 16 to 18 people, too many people waiting to fit on one bus but it turned out there was another one coming and I was to sit in the front, being the only single person on the trip. Mike and Marian did not come on this trip as it was booked out so they very kindly drove me down to Buns in the Sun and picked me up again, quite late at night when we returned, thanks guys I really appreciate it. Of course if I could have driven on the wrong side of the road .......

There are reports that the road is not a good one, you start off on the Saddle road between the two mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, you can see it in the aerial shots too. The maps are marked as no go zones for rental cars, the saddle road is good but there is a dirt section on the road to the top of Mauna Kea. We drove through the old rift zone so there were lots of Pu'u's dotted here and there. Sparse, scrubby vegetation which gave way to old lava fields in places it was an interesting drive and the driver told us all about the history of the area. We heard that there were once some sandalwood forests but one of the kings let someone cut them down and take them away, there would have been somecompensation and all the trees were removed from this area of the island. The Cattle that were given as gifts nibbled on the new trees as they sprouted naturally and so eventually all that was left was a dry scrubby desert. Seems they imported the cattle and didn't have anything much to feed them on so they ate everything in sight. There is another sandalwood forest south of Kona which would have gone the same way as the other forest but the damage done was enough to deter the king from allowing it to be sold.

We are getting above the clouds now and the landscape changes from scrubby savannah to desert. We are in an air conditioned bus so not sure what the outside temperature is but we have been told it is freezing up here. Coats, hoods and gloves are provided as part of the tour as is an evening meal. The landscape is awesome very vast and different. We stop at the gift shop and information centre which is crawling with people from other tours, mostly Japanese, we grab out dinner boxes and go sit and eat and get acquainted. Americans are nice friendly people, there was a family on board, rather a lot of them very noisy and boisterous and they apologised for being so and said I was welcome to become part of their family. There were other travelers to from all over America and one family from South America. We were at 9,300 feet and I found it difficult to breathe, one of the reasons we were there was to acclimatise a bit before we headed up to the top at over 13,600 feet. We also were issued with our jackets and things and put them on because it was quite cold and very dry. There are some hiking trails around that area but I had enough trouble walking back to the bus.

We passed the accommodation area for the people who work at the observatories and we passed the snow plows sitting in a huddle in a locked compound. The driver said that they can get up to 10 foot of snow up there and people actually came to ski. He said there are no ski lifts so friends drive the skiers up the top and pick them up at the Information centre. The dirt section of the road wasn't bad, anyone can drive up to the top but access to the observatories is not allowed. Pity, I would have loved to have gone in one of them. There is free star gazing at the information centre too but you have to bring your own food and take your own rubbish down with you again.

Dinner over, facilities used, off we went again for the final climb to the top. Sounds like it was hard work but you should try climbing into a bus at altitude, ok so it wasn't that high but I still had a bit of trouble breathing. We passed into yet another climate zone, arctic desert, a place where the driver said only one species of small beetle lived and no other living creatures. What's that bird doing here then? I asked, probably lost he replied, probably come up here to eat beetles.

It looked like the surface of the Moon in places, as I mentioned before I haven't actually been to the Moon yet but if I had I am sure it would look like this, Interesting colours, especially with the late afternoon sun on them.

Here I am again Muriel, the doubting Thomas, all rugged up in my arctic gear, it was freezing up there, so much for visiting a tropical paradise but it was totally, totally amazing. The ground was brown as anything, the air was dry as anything and it was cold but we were lucky with the weather (shades of visiting UK again) as it was not blowing a gale so it was not as cold as it might have been. Our guides were good as were the buses so I can recommend this trip to people or you can drive up here yourself for free and make your own stories up as you go.

There is more information on the Mauna Kea Observatories if you are interested. There are Maps which show which telescope is which and links to their respective web sites. They are all owned by different countries and some are operated remotely. They also have differing purposes too but they have a great vantage point up here on Mauna Kea and so did I for a short while.

After the Sun had gone down and the Moon risen we drove back down the hill for a quick stop at the restrooms in the visitor centre. The car park was crawling with people and there were lots of telescopes out ready for stargazing. We went a bit further down the hill in the buses away from the light and the crowds and there were two great big telescopes for us to look through. We saw the North Star, Vega and a few constellations and Nebula had some great hot chocolate to warm ourselves up with. It was a great tour, I loved the stars but even the guide admitted we have some pretty good constellations in the southern hemisphere and he wanted to come down and have a look for himself one day

So now I had been around volcanoes, flown over them and stood on the top, The Big Island was a lot of fun with loads of things to see. The fact that it has so many climates and is still a work in progress is amazing. I managed to miss the earthquakes and tremors though, there was one at the airport about half an hour after I flew out to go back to Oahu. I guess you have to expect a bit of rumbling when someone is building a new island. I also missed a potential hurricane, how lucky can you get? The hurricane passed but while I was in Oahu on the last few days there were some anxious moments that the hurricane would stop me going home on the allotted day. Oh well. it didn't happen and Hawaii was safe so that is all that matters.

We had Breakfast in The Big Island Grill the next day, I came face to face with some local food called poco loco, Mike asked did I want to try it. One found it's way to a table near us, it was a big hamburger pattie on top of a bed of rice with two fried eggs on top and smothered in gravy. I passed on that and ordered bacon and eggs instead and tried some of Marian's pancake.

We did a luau that evening complete with traditionally cooked pig which was then "pulled" and it was ono (delicious). We met some interesting people, there were hoards of them and we watched the hula show. They had all the usual stuff including a fire dancer and a Tahitian Princess and it was hot and humid even though we were down on the shorefront. It was a lot different than my previous evening on an arctic desert bundled up in a big coat.

Thanks to Mike and Marian I had a great time and I did love The Big Island best of all. There are still some things I want to do there so maybe I will go back one day.

Oh did I tell you they eat pu-pu's In Hawaii? Don't panic, Pu-Pu are small bites of food like appetisers. Mike, Marian and Claire were organising a musical open house to be held after I left and someone asked would there be pu pu's, my first thought was - I hope not.

Mahalo, aloha nui loa a hui hau