Pu‘uwēkiu

Man könnte meinen, dass es schon eine Tradition für mich wurde, die Insel mit einem Sonnenuntergang über den Wolken zu beenden. Diesmal machte ich mich auf zum Mauna Kea, der in Wirklichkeit ein Vulkan ist und dessen Summit sich auf 4.207m befindet. Um hier hoch kommen, muss man auf halber Strecke eine Pause einlegen und sich für eine Weile akklimatisieren, denn ganz oben hat man 40% weniger Oxygen zur Verfügung. Oben angekommen fuhren wir an ein paar Observatorien (unteranderem auch von der NASA) vorbei. Es war total interessant als sich dann auch einige der Kuppeln öffneten um erst die Teleskope herunter zu kühlen, damit sie dann ganz weit in die Galaxien schauen konnten. Selbst bei den gerade mal 1,6 Grad, die wir an diesem Abend hatten, liefen die Klimaanlagen der Teleskope auf Hochtouren. Total Hightech und wahnsinnig spannend. Und somit hatte ich wieder meinen letzten Abend auf einem Vulkan weit über den Wolken.Read more

The bay, and spot of shoreline on which Captain Cook was killed, is marked by a white spire of a monument. This sits in Kealakekua Bay just down the hill from the town of; you guessed it, Captain Cook. We Kayaked and snorkeled here today. But, prior to this we started our day with a great breakfast and “Kona” coffee at the Coffee Shack overlooking the bay. As we ate Portuguese sausage, eggs and French toast, and I drank 2 cups of coffee with cream and sugar, we were being observed – geckos crawled on the railing of the porch, the floor and the chairs. Kim couldn’t handle the handsome little creatures crawling so close to her, so we switched seats.

In a cove at the bay, we paid our $60 for the kayak, a double, and set out paddling. The water was choppy and the current strong. Kim really stretched her boundaries on this one. She was scared to be out on the ocean like that with nothing but a life vest and a plastic boat between here and drowning. She so fears the water. Won’t even get her face wet in the shower. However, when we spotted the first dolphin her whole mood changed. Maneuvering close to them, there must have been 20 or 30 total, they performed jumping acrobatics and swam right under our kayak. Well worth overcoming her fear for this. I spent a little time in the water near the monument snorkeling. Yellow fish, black fish, stripped fish, huge blue fish and sea urchins. Quite a show of color and marine life. Getting out and back into the kayak was tricky and this made Kim very nervous as she felt like she would capsize. But again, she came through with minimal panic. 3 hours later we were back at the cove turning in our kayak. There would be no drownings today.

This afternoon also was our planned summit of Mauna Kea, the highest point in Hawaii at 13,796 feet above sea level. Though, from the ocean floor Mauna Kea is 33,000 ft. high. That’s taller than Mt. Everest and is therefore the tallest mountain on earth! We drove all the way to the top, with 10 minutes to spare, to witness a one-of-a-kind sunset in this place of telescopes. Here the sun sets above the clouds, not below them. This was a spectacular sight. Getting to the top was also an adventure of sorts. The guy at the visitor center, at 9,000 ft., told us we should acclimate for 30 minutes before driving to the top. Wait, I’m from Colorado! I don’t need to acclimate. The rough volcanic cinder road bed again pushed Kim to her limits and I drove too close to the edge and too fast. Hey, I had to get to the top before my ten minute window closed.  Following the orange and red view from above we drove back to the visitor’s center and looked through telescopes at the night sky. A guy there used laser light to point our worthy objects and corners in the sky. For the first time, at least that I can remember. I saw the Southern Cross in the south sky, 85% of the southern hemisphere’s sky is visible here. So many stars, a milky galaxy of them, a universe packed full. Kim said she had never seen so many stars before. This is why they put those big observatories on the summit here. It’s the darkest sky on earth.Read more