Leaving Tokyo
10 мая 2017 г., Япония ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Last hours in Tokyo and the inevitable has happened. My budget has been blown and I've ended up in McDonald's - albeit having a teriyaki burger 😉
I had a few hours spare this morning so took aЧитать далее
Aloha from Waikiki!
10 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Wowzer! I'm actually in Hawaii!!!
11am, Wed 10 May for the second time, having crossed the International Date Line overnight: Maybe it's because I'm tired, but I just refilled my mug of tea from theЧитать далее
Honolulu Museum of Art
11 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
I regret not giving myself more time here (I was up late and it closes at 4:30pm). The museum/art gallery seems beautifully curated so it's a joy to go around.
Because I only had a little time IЧитать далее
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A guy on the bus started fiddling with some long leaves he had in his bag, and 10 minutes later gave me this!
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HMoA has to be one of the best museum/art galleries I've ever visited. The building was purpose built and is utterly charming in its own right, with 3 courtyards and numerous galleries, arranged with Asian and Islamic gallerie to the left, European galleries to the right representing the world with Hawaii at the centre.
O'ahu trip
12 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
I did a minibus tour around O'ahu (this island) today. The stops at retail outlets were too long for me, but I did get to see the most beautiful and dramatic scenery, and once we were out ofЧитать далее
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At Sunset Beach on the North Shore. I admit there were more people on the beach looking the other way, but only a couple of dozen. This is part of the 'seven mile miracle' of great (winter) surfing beaches which include the Banzai Pipeline. Apparently surfing comps don't take place unless the waves exceed 20'. Last year for the Eddie comp the waves were consistently 45-50'. Totally incomprehensible given today's near millpond!
Hanauma Bay ... fish!
13 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
At last I've got to the snorkelling section of my trip 😎
Hanauma Bay is a flooded extinct volcanic crater - cool in its own right, but also a safe and rich snorkelling site. I'll go at least onceЧитать далее
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I think this is a bullethead parrotfish. It was a good size, probably about 16". Amazingly I could hear it biting chunks off the reef!
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Oopu hue (oo-poo hoo-ee I imagine), the Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby. The cutest fish I saw today
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Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa 😎 the reef triggerfish and state fish of Hawaii
Spam, spam, spam, spam
14 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
My Hawaiian food entry ...
Spam musubi (grilled spam with a block of rice wrapped in seaweed (nori) sheets) really is a thing, and popular. I got mine at Bishop Museum cafe, but they're available allЧитать далее
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Mochi icecream. Mochi is a type of Japanese rice cake made of a special glutinous rice. The Hawaiians (and I guess others) wrap icecream in mochi so you can hold it. Neat and tasty. So far I've tried choc, strawb, pistachio, lychee and guava 🙄 Those last two perfumed flavours really work mmm mmm!
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Moonfish (opah) steak. Thought I'd try moonfish since it was on offer in the supermarket. It's a bit like tuna but less dense and with a very delicate flavour.
Helen MaguireIt looks like it should be savoury not sweet. You are very brave to try all these new foods, I'm not sure I would be! 😮
A feather cloak and my tears ...
14 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
I went to the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, which is the Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History.
I'd been told an important feather cloak was on display having returned to Hawaii fromЧитать далее
Myra Smith
Do you mean 'tears' as in 'rips' or 'tears' as in 'weeps'? And where are they? Just love your fish pics - truly amazing and beautiful.
ПутешественникTears as in weeps. I read the Captain Cook link and started crying! Not sure why ...
Myra SmithI can see why that would be very emotional - things past and gone and will never be seen again.
Hanauma Bay again ... more fish
15 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
More snorkelling and fish pics, I can't resist!
However ... the first thing I saw, as I settled on the beach, were 2 mongooses sniffing around someone's bag! The mongoose was introduced to controlЧитать далее
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Another triggerfish ... this time the lagoon triggerfish. I followed this one around for a little while until it had had enough of me, turned around and made little darts at me to see me off. It worked. No pics, I was too startled, impressed and a little concerned about being bitten. I know they're territorial and can attack so was happy to back off!
Hanauma Bay yet again - even more fish!
15 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
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I got a bit of water in my mask, stopped for a moment to clear it and when I put my face back in the water I was in the middle of a shoal of convict tangs! Just beautiful.
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I just love the lighting in this pic. So many uw pics are of half a fish, or too dark, or too cloudy, it's really nice to have one with some (accidental!) compositional merit as well as a clear-enough view of a fish 🙄
Goodbye Waikiki (for now)
16 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Waikiki isn't my kind of place - I don't need high-end shops - but I've found plenty to do and getting around has been easy on TheBus. I still haven't got a handle on being on the right side of theЧитать далее
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A more realistic view of the beach compared to the one I posted when I arrived!
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The main strip in Waikiki goes from high end to everyday. The beach is behind the buildings on the right.
Hawai'i
17 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
I've made it! When I was first planning this trip the thing I really wanted to do was to see the Hawaiian volcanoes. Hopefully I'll see volcanic activity next week, but I saw the tops of Mauna Kea andЧитать далее
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The top of Mauna Kea. It doesn't show on the 'Penguins' version, but on the original there's just enough resolution to make out the domes of the famous observatory right at the top, and if I'm not mistaken I think I can just make out Brian Cox 😉
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I'd been pootling along quite nicely through the lush Hawaiian countryside then, only a couple of miles from where I'm staying, suddenly came to this lava field from 1960. Startling and exciting 😁
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On my drive over to where I'm staying I called in at the Lava Tree State Park, without any notion of what the name meant. OMG … the lava in this area is that runny ropey version, called pahoehoe (pa-hoy-hoy) that spreads evenly. When a lava flow engulfed the area in the C17 or C18 as it passed through it left lava outlines of the tree trunks to the depth of the lava. Really astonishing. I'll go back for a proper look another day
Rainforest home
18 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
This is my pad for the next few days! It's a cabin on an organic fruit farm, so not as isolated as it looks - I can hear voices in the distance and a lot of chicken puk pukaw-ing. They are part of theЧитать далее
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One side is entirely mosquito netting! The other sides are half net. The SE side also has glazing - I guess that's the direction of the prevailing wind.
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My outdoor (hot) shower 😎 The rest could be called a studio apartment ... I have an indoor bathroom with flushing loo, a kitchen area with 2 counter-top gas rings, a sink with hot and cold water and a somewhat effective propane gas fridge.
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I have help from a couple of these little gold dust day geckos in keeping the other critters at bay
Kapoho Tide Pools
19 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Tide pools can only mean one thing ... fish!
But what a remarkable setting. Basically there are several tidal pools protected from the ocean by a reef, so the water in them is really still - noЧитать далее
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A new one for me ... a Teardrop Butterflyfish. Photo slightly affected by convection currents.
Anti-mosquito tips #10,872 (non-vegan)
20 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
You'll not find this in a book.
Dogged by a mosquito I had a plastic bag to hand ready to swoosh the mozzie up and take outside (I can't manage the intentionality of killing outright).
Well theЧитать далее
Kilauea caldera
21 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Yay, made it to Kilauea! The most active volcano in the world 😃 It's been erupting from its east rift zone since 1983 - that's before I started work! Tomorrow I'll be moving to stay near where theЧитать далее
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Now that might look insignificant but it's a tiny thin thread of volcanic glass known as Pele's Hair, Pele being the Hawaiian goddess of the volcanoes and creator of the Hawaiian islands. I overheard a tour guide finding some in a scrubby bit of land at Steaming Bluff so had a hunt around after they'd gone. The tiny strands glint in the light if you look carefully, then snap like ... glass. I'm mighty chuffed with myself! 😎
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There's steam rising all over the place at Steaming Bluff, with a couple of vents right by the parking. Obviously I had to stand in it ... hot, wet (of course) and sulphurous - fab.
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The western end of Kilauea caldera and Halema'uma'u Crater - really breathtaking. The crater is captivating because there's stuff happening, but it's so much more mind-boggling and interesting to look at the whole (inner!) caldera
Lava field home
22 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
I've struck gold! Well I chose gold. This is the loveliest place (with one caveat, the composting toilet needs a spare part so there's only a portaloo 😝). The whole thing makes me think ofЧитать далее
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View from the road. The green building is my lounge and kitchen, with shower room at the side, and the yellow building is my bedroom!
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See the steam in the distance? That's where the lava is entering the sea...
Kalapana lava flow
23 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Wow, wow, wow.
I headed off in the scorching heat at 3pm towards the viewpoint for the current flow entering the sea and stayed until dusk/dark. I'd meant to set off back while I could still see myЧитать далее
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It's 4 miles to the viewpoint from the last point cars are allowed. A 4WD shuttle buggy goes half way (for a price), or bikes can be hired. Anyone using the shuttle/bike hire is given a first aid kit. No matter how you travel the very last section is over pahoehoe.
ПутешественникMy shuttle guy was in high school in 1990 when this flow overran the village of Kalapana
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Not a great pic, but it shows that what I thought was just a thin line of lava is actually huge. I'm guessing at at least 1/4 mile wide. The woman at the shuttle stand said no-one knows what will happen when it reaches the sea - the whole viewing path may have to be closed. There's nothing predictable about living here - although the changes aren't explosive they are relentless
Sea view!
24 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
I took a boat trip from Issac Hale Beach down to the lava sea entry point, about 15 miles each way. What an experience. Hours later and I swear I can still taste sulphur in my mouth. I don't know whatЧитать далее
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A lump of lava fizzing away on the surface. All the time I could hear the clattering of pieces hitting the bottom of the boat. The skipper has a sensor fitted to the hull to check water temp and they pulled a bucketful in for us to test (obvs wasn't scalding where we were!)
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The chopped off end of a lava tube, which can form where the edges of a channel in a flow cool, eventually sealing over. We passed loads
To Kailua-Kona
25 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
It's evening and I'm settling in to my new suburban home just outside Kailua-Kona on the west coast enjoying a bottle of local beer, Kona 'Big Wave' (4.4% golden ale).
I struggled to leave my lavaЧитать далее
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The rainforest walk from the Kilauea Iki crater car park to the lava tube (Nahuku) on Chain of Craters Road. Lovely 10 minute walk through really lush vegetation I'd admired as I drove past it earlier. Then the landscape changes dramatically due to C20/21 lava flows.
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This was my favourite spot all day. It looks as if a subsequent a'a flow has petered out over some pahoehoe. I was just mesmerised by this scenery (which is only just down the coast from the current flow, so maybe 7 or 8 miles from where I was staying), but it took me about 2 hours and 60+ miles to get here because Chain of Craters Road is cut.
Pu'uhonua o Honalunau (place of refuge)
26 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Bit of an odd day today. My Kona Airbnb host had suggested an itinerary which sounded pretty good, so I headed to Pu'uhonua o Honalunau (place of refuge) to try to get some cultural understanding.Читать далее
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View from my host's pool deck towards the sun setting over the ocean 😃
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The US Mail office in the local mall is run by a real eccentric, and helpful, guy. He liked that I appreciated his collection of bells!
Kohala exploration
27 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Great tour round the NW and N coasts (Kohala district, named after the oldest volcano on the island) as far as Popolū Valley. On the the spur of the moment I stopped at another historic site,Читать далее
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The west coast north of Kona. The area is full of very pricey resorts (I've seen $600 per night - yowch!) but you'd never know it from the road. Great scenery again 😎
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The heiau - a very impressive structure, built without mortar from the stones at Popolū. Reminded me of some Irish stuctures I've seen. Again visitors can't go in because it is still a place of worship for some Hawaiians
Travel and transformation
28 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
I may have over-egged the title a little, but on my last morning in the home of world-renowned Kona coffee I made myself a cup, and tried it. Well it's still coffee, but I reckon it would make a veryЧитать далее
Towards Hilo
28 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Today was my last major drive on Big Island; I've nearly finished my circumnavigation.
I had to retrace some of yesterday's steps in the opposite direction and was amazed by the differentЧитать далее
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At a new home and I have a somewhat eccentric keyring ... don't suppose I'll lose it!
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I have a sea view! Albeit a bit of a sideways squint from the top of the stairs
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Spacious new pad above a garage on a 5 acre fruit smallholding/organic garden. I'm back in the east, in the rainforest and the coqui frogs are going strong as dusk falls "co quee!"
Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden
29 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
This is a lovely place for a visit. It's only a couple of miles from where I'm staying, on the Old Mamalahoe Highway. Goodness knows how people coped when the road was part of the 'belt' road aroundЧитать далее
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Onomea Falls in the HTBG. I think 'ono' has a meaning like 'good', depending on context. And 'mea' is 'place'
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Out of focus but I don't care because the gecko is licking the heliconia!
Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea
30 мая 2017 г., Соединенные Штаты ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
I had the most fitting final day on Big Island. There would have been something missing for me if I hadn't made it up to the 'saddle road' which runs E-W (or W-E ...) across the island on the saddleЧитать далее
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View from my private cinder cone 😎 The visitor centre is the single building at the right, the other buildings are accommodation for astronomers working at the observatories
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View the other way towards Mauna Loa in the distance. It can be very misty down to a 'tropical inversion cloud layer'. The mist swirled in and out - pretty but chilly
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I had the foresight to plan a little experiment with 2 empty water bottles. Sadly I didn't control all variables, like make of bottle, but I still like the results. The bottle on the right I filled with air (the skills I have!) at the recreation area, which is at about 2000m. The one on the left I filled with air at the MKVC at 3000m. When I got back to base, maybe at 50m, this was the difference. All fortnight my water bottles have been squashed and expanding as I explored - that's what prompted the experiment 😎
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A satsuma segment as a key ring tickles me pink ... it's so realistic how come it isn't squashed up?! I just know I'm going to chuckle endlessly 😅
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Effective but slightly creepy work wear display
Sarah Berthelemy
Yep, I'd be looking over my shoulder every time I went past that display!