Blog 27: ALOHA!! from Hawaii.

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May 23rd 2008

Published: June 9th 2008

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MYLO

State numberplate

We'll continue to take one from every state we enter, except 'Drunken State'

The 14th of May would turn out to be, quite literally the longest day of our lives. Our flight from Sydney to Honolulu would cover some 5081 miles and take 9 hours and 20 minutes. That part is all very simple, but crossing the International Date Line whilst in the air meant that although we would be leaving Sydney in the evening at 7:45pm, we would be arriving at 9:30 in the morning of the same day!! Basically we would board nine hours ahead of British Summer Time and disembark eleven hours behind; that’s a 44 hour day - Garvan, you could have stretched your birthday out even further than normal.
We arrived in Honolulu, which has one of those names that (like the Bahamas and Bora Bora) conjures up a vision of paradise, and caught the shuttle bus to our hotel in the resort town of Waikiki. It was a bit like Groundhog Day as we went about our second morning and afternoon on the same date.

We’d already decided on splitting our time in Hawaii between the islands of O’ahu and Hawai’i (The Big Island) in order to get the best out of our short stay.
We would

Mensroom 'Hawaiian Style'

have two spells of a couple of days on O’ahu either side of five days on the Big Island as our flight to the mainland US flew out of Honolulu. For the first few days we lethargically dealt with jetlag while visiting some places of interest. We hiked to the top of Diamond Head which is a 150,000 year old extinct volcano that forms the famous backdrop to Waikiki. Climbing up to the rim (763ft) allows great views of the turquoise sea, its coral and the surrounding beaches. The volcano has an almost perfectly round crater that we got a great view of when we took off to fly to the Big Island.
The main streets around Waikiki are lined with fire, as lanterns on top of eight foot gas pipes (that feed their flames) bring a very native Polynesian feel to the modern streets. But there is never any doubting the fact that these remote islands are now firmly in the clutches of the gas guzzling American dream with big 4x4s, stretch limos and the low rumble of Harley Davidsons cruising every street. We spent an evening in a very popular beachfront bar called Duke’s. Duke’s is named after

It's behind you!

A lava flow only two months old blocks off the road.

Duke Paoa Kahanamoku who was raised in Waikiki and is Hawaii’s most famous citizen. As well as being a gold medal winning Olympic swimmer, he introduced surfing to the western and eastern seaboards of America, Europe and Australia earning the title of ’father of international surfing’. . It was in this very bar where Colin and Pam (Sam’s mum and dad), you were drinking 41 years ago; we clinked our glasses and gave you a toast.

Our second full day on a O’ahu, we educated ourselves with a visit to the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbour.
Here they have a museum containing artefacts, photos and first hand accounts of that fateful morning on December 7th 1941; it would be a defining moment that catapulted America into World War II.
The place is free and includes a documentary about the attack and a short boat trip out to the memorial platform that sits just above the sunken wreckage of the USS Arizona.
The USS Arizona remains the final resting place for many of the ship’s 1,177 crewman who lost their lives that day when the battleship was struck by a 1,760lb bomb that slammed straight through her deck igniting

Boiling sea

Red hot molten lava meets the sea with dramatic consequences

her forward ammunition magazine. All of the men’s names are engraved on a marble wall in ’The Shrine’ room at the end of the memorial. Known affectionately as ’Sailors Tears’, after more than 65 years oil still rises from the sunken vessel to the surface in small droplets before dispersing in the salt water .
Approximately 2400 individuals would lose their lives as a result of that calculated attack that saw 187 Japanese bombers arrive in two waves lasting two hours. Bringing America into the war of course would result in countless more deaths culminating in the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

What is disturbing (remembering that this is an observation made with the aid of hindsight) is the underlying naivety in failing to recognise a threat, which seems to crop up during America’s darkest moments in history.
Much like the failure to (or more accurately, the decision not to) mobilise fighter jets on 9/11, the warning signs were there on 12/7 (1941). Taking into consideration that relations between America and Japan had been deteriorating since Japan’s invasion of China 10 years previously in 1931, and that Japan’s continuing aggression and expansion of its empire in the

Floral Tribute

A flower floats among 'sailors tears' above the sunken USS Arizona

Far East was the reason for the US Naval fleet being in Pearl Harbour in the first place, you’d have thought that the region should have been on high alert! So when the destroyer USS Ward spotted and sank one of five midget submarines the Japanese had sent to cause further damage to the ships moored in Pearl Harbour, you’d have thought that the alarm bells would be ringing. That submarine was spotted (and reported) one hour and 13 minutes prior to the attack. Furthermore, at 7am with almost an hour to prepare, defend, and possibly even prevent what was to become America’s greatest maritime defeat, a radar signal indicated a large fleet of planes approaching from the north. This was ASSUMED to be either US aircraft flying in from the carrier ’Enterprise’ or an anticipated squadron of B-17s from the mainland.
“Don’t worry” was the returned message, and no action was taken. Now, is it just us, or does that seem like more than a coincidence and maybe worth checking out?? The rest, as they say, is history……..

So we made the short 40 minute flight from O’ahu to Hawai’i in order to make the most of our

Inside a lava tube

time on these remote islands. For their size, the Hawaiian Islands are simply loaded with things to do and see, and a place, if you have the wherewithal, you have to come and experience for yourselves. Besides beauty the islands have their own infamous place in history as well as a geographical grasp on the record books. We’ve already talked about Pearl Harbour, but what you may not know is that Captain Cook was tragically killed on the Big Island. As for the record books, Hawai’i is home to Mauna Loa, which measured from its base below the sea bed, is the world’s tallest mountain. Then there is Kilauea, which is the world’s most active volcano. The name Kilauea means ’much spewing’ which we may well adopt as a medical term for certain patients on our return to work. Kilauea has the longest ’rift zone’ eruption in written history, and has been constantly spewing lava since 1983. It’s hard to imagine without seeing it what that means, so here are some facts and figures:
*An estimated 1000 gallons of molten lava flow out of active vents every second.
*That equates to nearly 2 billion cubic yards of lava rock has

Turtle's Head

come (and keeps coming) from this eruption.
*That’s enough rock to pave a two lane road 1.2 million miles long. At that length it could encircle the globe 50 times!
*The lava flow has claimed nearly 200 homes and more than 8 miles of highway since the mid-80s.
*The vents exude lava through a 7 mile long lava tube that opens into the sea resulting in several hundred acres of new land being added to the southern coast of the Big Island since the eruption began. The eruption hasn’t been limited only to flows, there have also been regular, visible spurts of ‘fountaining’ too.

We made a visit to the viewing point where all that lava meets the sea at Laeapuki. During the day the billowing plumes of steam are dramatic enough, but as the light fades at dusk we were treated to the bright orange glow of the lava flow, itself which glows through the steam while the ocean in the vicinity boils. Viewing it is hit and miss depending on conditions including wind and flow direction.
Due to the potentially dangerous conditions surrounding a lava flow (a lava bench of some 58 acres crashed into the sea

On top of the world

Sunset on Mauna Kea

in the recent past), we are kept at quite a distance as you’ll see by the photos. However, just to stand there and witness an island still in the making, as nature’s work continues, is extremely humbling.

In order to see some of the sights the Big Island has to offer, we hired several different vehicles. I say several because for our second day’s hire we changed from a car to a Jeep Wrangler which gave us 4 wheel-drive capabilities. This was a must (no other vehicles allowed) to reach the 13,796 ft summit of Mauna Kea.
But first we would make the drive across the island from Hilo (our base) on the east side, to Kona on the west side. We reached Kona via the Saddle Road that runs between the giants of Mauna Loa (13,680 ft) and Mauna Kea.
Once on the west coast we realised that four days on this particular island was never going to be enough. The waters are clear and warm and the beaches are beautiful with endless things to do, and our time, following a lengthy chat with a well travelled 62 year-old surf-loving Californian meant we only had enough time to

Views from Diamond Head

visit one spot before beginning our return journey to Hilo with a detour to Mauna Kea.
The place where we stopped meant more to us now than it would have done a year ago. During our journeys through Australia and NZ we would often run into places and things named after, or plaques proving the exploits of, a man called James Cook. Tragic and untimely as it was, we couldn’t have imagined a better place for Captain Cook to end his days. When I think of all the places (as a European) that he discovered, this was as good as any. A simple white monument now stands in the relatively unspoilt Kealakekua Bay to mark the spot where the great explorer was slain whilst allegedly trying to stop a fight between some of his men and the natives. Legend has it that the Hawaiian natives regarded Cook very highly and so subsequently ate his body in order to gain courage and wisdom from his soul. Ironic that Cook may have actually been cook…ed!
But I’m sure his crewmen would have claimed their leader’s body for a proper burial. We stopped to watch some Spinner Dolphins in the bay, giving a

One of the world's top Astronomical Observatories

On top of Mauna Kea

fine display of why they are so called, and we wished we had time to join them by snorkelling or hiring a kayak but we needed to get going as time was moving on. I don’t know why it meant so much, but having now explored ourselves a small part of today’s ’civilised world’, I know little of the man, but his achievements are both outstanding and inspiring, although many a native albeit Maori, Hawaiian or Aborigine could justly disagree.

Our Californian friend couldn’t understand our need to drive to the summit of Mauna Kea, but as a keen surfer it’s understandable why he would prefer to stay at sea level. His warning that we may get halfway and have to turn back, or get to the top and not see anything due to weather conditions was valid; but undeterred we began our ascent.
We had to stop with eight meandering miles left to go to call into the Information Centre to get conditions briefing and weather update before continuing. This stop would also include at least half an hour break in order to acclimatise to the thin air in case of altitude sickness. The temperature had fallen by

Hawaiian coastline

Down on the south of the Big Island near South Point

at least 30 degrees Fahrenheit during our climb, and would continue to do so. We were told to engage our 4WD in a low gear for the remainder of the journey that would include four miles of unsealed gravel track.
We were making our way to the summit approximately an hour prior to sunset and the low sun, at times, caused absolute blindness giving us no option but to stop, or risk driving over the edge. We finally arrived at the summit where one of the world’s leading astronomical observatories is based. With wind chill factor the temperature was down to below freezing and shortness of breath was immediately apparent; but it wasn’t just the altitude that took our breath away….
This is why we needed to come here, and we wished our surfing Californian could have seen it. We were standing on one of the largest mountains the planet has to offer; no, it wasn’t Everest, but we were still almost 2000 ft HIGHER than when we jumped out of the plane to skydive!!…and the views were spectacular. On one side we had the setting sun, while on the other side we could see the shadow of the mountain

A road in the clouds

The road up to Mauna Kea

we stood on stretching out for miles to the east over the clouds below, with the moon already high and glowing orange from the setting sun. As the minutes ticked away, we were down to the bare bones of life on earth as the day ended to the west, and the night began in the east. It could have reduced a grown man to tears…if I didn’t have my breathing and warmth to contend with….it was that special!! We stayed until the sun had gone and our fingers were too cold to press the buttons on our cameras. It had been an unforgettable moment but it was time to negotiate the descent in the dark, and our experience on Mauna Kea didn’t finish there.
At the Visitors Centre they offer a free stargazing tour and there’s (arguably) no better place on earth. The observatories here are so important that all the street lights on the island are yellow to prevent any further light pollution, and in a few months Hawaii will find out if it will be chosen to house the world’s largest telescope which would be housed right here on Mauna Kea.
As it happened, we were there for

One of the Hawaiian Islands from the air

a special night in the astronomical calendar due to the fact that the full moon that was making its way up into the night sky, would be the smallest full moon in 2008. Apparently (and who are we to argue) the moon isn’t exactly round, and therefore there is about a 10% difference between the largest and the smallest full moons. The downside to the full moon is the light pollution that it gives off, which can reduce the amount of stars on show from as many as 3000 to only 600. The stargazing tours we’ve done so far are always fascinating and made slightly easier this time with the aid of a powerful laser pen to point out the stars and constellations being talked about. But the stars and the moon weren’t the only things we saw that night; a telescope about the size of an upright Dyson vacuum cleaner had been set up with its lenses trained on Saturn. Although small, the image was unbelievably sharp, with the planet and the rings around amazingly clear. We laughed like excited kids as we took ‘turn eaches’ to stare through the eyepiece in disbelief.
We began the final part of

Belching steam

As lava meets the sea at

our descent at around 9:30pm still full of the things we’d seen…..

The following day would be another memorable one as we were given a private tour around some of the sites in Hawai’i’s Volcanoes National park by one of the employees at the hostel. After a short film about Hawaii’s volcanic activity and how the islands were formed, we found ourselves staring down into the smoking crater of Kilauea, as we were reminded that it is the world’s most active volcano! Over the last two months there’s been unexpected activity in the crater, which has got the experts excitingly scratching their heads. As you can see by the pictures she’s currently belching toxic gases; these are blowing over to and affecting Maui, one of the other islands. Some might suggest it was a dodgy time to be there, as an eruption (going on history) is well overdue.

From the crater, we went somewhere that we've been looking forward to since we first heard about them, and that was inside a lava tube. They're pretty self explanatory, but just for the record a lava tube is an underground tunnel-like structure where lava flows, or has previously flowed and

Spectacular

The sunset casts a shadow of the mountain with the rising moon inset

can easily be twelve feet in diameter. We entered at a time when no-one else was there (as you can imagine it's a popular attraction) allowing us to get a picture of it empty.
From the lava tube we drove to an area where we stood on manmade platforms in complete awe as we stared at mile upon mile of old lava flows - some of these areas are beyond description and seeing is definitely believing. Nothing can stop the devastation that flows of this magnitude cause.
But with all this destruction comes creation and, as we arrive at the end of ‘The Trail of Craters’ (the aptly named road that leads down to the sea), we get amazing vistas of the land masses that these eruptions have added to the islands, and it’s astounding. All these areas are found in the Volcanoes National Park (another World Heritage Site) and whilst here we picked ourselves up an Annual Pass, which will get us in to every National Park in the United States for the ridiculously cheap price of forty pounds.

On our last day on the Big Island, we drove down to South Point, which since Hawaii became the

The sunken tomb of the USS Arizona

50th State, is the most southerly point in the USA, and apparently one of the places (if not the only place) in the world where you can catch Marlin from the shore?
A short drive up the coast we stopped at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach where large Green Turtles haul themselves up onto the black sand to bask in the sun, a great little spot.
On this same day we flew back to O’ahu to spend our last day on the Hawaiian Islands. It was supposed to be a relaxing stop but there is really too much to do here, and we could have easily filled a month on these unique islands. If you get a chance to visit these islands, try to make some time to explore them as they have an amazing variety of things to offer. I’m so glad we came here and would definitely come back, but until then we’ll keep an eye on the volcanic activity, as further eruptions become longer and longer overdue.
But no matter how good a place is, we still have to agree with Dorothy:
"There's no place like home"
"There's no place like home".....................

A cheesy link I

Hot Dog

Dog on an old lava flow

know, but the time has come to catch our connecting flight to Oklahoma (via Los Angeles) in order to join our storm chasing tour. We leave Hawaii with a great deal of apprehension, not only because at least 19 people have been killed by twisters so far this season, but also because since our final payment for the tour, although we’ve sent several emails and left numerous messages, with only two days to go before the ‘chasing’ is supposed to begin we’ve heard nothing from the tour director. We chose this particular company because of how professional they seemed, and for this sort of experience the decision wasn’t rushed. However, at this late stage we can’t help but wonder whether we’ve become the victims of an elaborate scam; it’s a horrible feeling.
Oklahoma is a long way from where we want be next, not to mention the money we’ve spent, and of course the only reason for coming here is for the tornados. It was going to be one of the undoubted highlights of the trip and we arranged a lot of our trip around being in Oklahoma at this precise time.
If we do start the tour, I certainly