Hawaii - Day 4 (Big Island)

Today we woke to another overcast morning. We visited the Historical Capital of king Kamehameha I. Not much remains as most of the land around is now owned by a hotel. This is a replica of 'Ahu'ena Heiau, the king's personal temple.

'Ahu'ena Heiau

For the rest of the day I took a tour to the top of Mauna Kea, the biggest of the 5 volcanoes that make up the Big Island. To get there we took a road to the saddle between Mouna Loa and Mauna Kea. We stopped here for a short walk around an old lava flow and this ancient Hawaiian stone structure.

Prehistoric Stone Structure

Since Mauna Kea is 4205m high we stopped at the visitors centre (2800m) for a few hours "acclimatisation" which should reduce the risk of any altitude sickness. We were also allowed to walk around the area and being above the clouds we were afforded some stunning views.

Clouds stretch across The Saddle

Lava rocks above the visitor's centre and clouds. Those hills are pressure buildups that didn't end violently.

Disfigured Lava Rocks

Finally we get to drive to the summit. We were on the summit for about half an hour tops. It was quite short but also well timed to catch the sunset and avoid any altitude problems.

Sunset from Mauna Kea

The Gemini Observatory (north) opening it's doors in preparation for a nights work. It's owned by several countries, including Australia. There is a second (south) Observatory in Chile which together provide almost complete coverage of northern and southern skies.

Sunset on Gemini Observatory North

After the sunset we returned to the visitor's centre and did a little star gazing ourselves. However our equipimet was much smaller than what these scientists get to play with.