2012.12.07 Hawaii, Hawaii (Day 1)

The largest of the Hawaiian isles, the Island of Hawaii (or the Big Island, to avoid confusion) continues to expand geographically. Its growth contributed by the island's active volcanoes.

What kind of crazy people choose to live on an island with two (!) active volcanoes? Well, turns out my brother knew two such crazy people.

Our 6:30am flight (because who needs sleep when you're in Hawaii) from Honolulu to Hilo took about an hour. It was my first time boarding a flight right from the tarmac.

We picked up our rental car promptly headed out to explore the island.

Akaka Falls State Park
I'm a sucker for falling water. The first place we headed was Akaka Falls State Park. There are actually two falls in the park: Kahuna Falls (which is mostly hidden from view) and the park's namesake.

The shy-looking Kahuna Falls

Wild orchids! 

And the alien-looking wild fiddlehead (furled fern)!

Akaka Falls beckons!

Puuurty.

We shot a few "pretending to drink from the waterfall" photos, which required a lot of bending backwards. I learned something new about myself that day: I am no longer as young or as flexible as I think myself to be.

And I'm okay with that. Maybe.

Onomea Trail

Like many good things in life, we stumbled onto this trail completely by accident. We opted for the "scenic route" off Highway 19 on the way back to Hilo. To be honest, the route wasn't exactly scenic as promised - most of the coastal view obstructed by trees. After passing by the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens, we finally saw a clearing and a couple of people taking photos. We decided to follow suite.

After we parked, there it was - the sign for Onomea trail. We figured we'd check it out and if there's nothing spectacular after 15 minutes, we'll turn back.

And I'm so glad we took the time for this trail.

Because this was what awaited us.

We stocked up on water and other necessities at Cost-U-Less (a distant cousin of Costco?), where I was completely mesmerized by a jar of cheesy puffs the size of a small child (note, I wrote "child". Not "baby", a small "child". God bless the US of A). A part of me regrets not buying it but had I finished the entire thing, I probably would have turned fluorescent orange.

Lunch with my brother's friends, S&L, at the Puka Puka Kitchen was fantastic. The ahi was cooked to perfection. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Both S&L work in the field of astronomy (their job is to look at the frickin' universe! how cool is that?) and they were kind enough to offer us a not-for-public tour of the telescopes on Mauna Kea.

So we all piled into the rental and headed up the monstrosity that is Mauna Kea.

Fun facts about Mauna Kea: It is twice as high as Everest when measured from its oceanic base and is over a million years old. It is one of the most sacred mountains in Hawaii and houses (not without controversy) the Mauna Kea Observatories, one of the best in the world.

As our car climbed the Mauna Kea, the landscape started to change.

I don't think we're in tropical Hawaii anymore Toto.

We took a brief stop at the visitor information station. It gave us a chance to rest, put on our jackets (it was getting really chilly) and somewhat acclimate to the altitude before heading for the summit.

Left: Donation box at the station (some intern/volunteer clearly had too much free time on their hand).

Right: Ellison Onizuka, the first Asian-American to travel to space. He is from Hawaii and the visitor station is named in his honour.

How could anyone resist taking a photo of this sign? Hehe. Invisible cows.

Okay, technically, it's frowned upon for rental cars (actually, any non-4WD vehicles) to head up the summit. Simple reason, the road is rocky and very steep. There were times I thought we weren't going to make it. Gotta give props to my brother who kept a straight face as he literally put the pedal to the metal and our little rental slowly climbed the winding roads. 

Our little Mazda (zoom zoom) came through in the end though. Thank you, Japanese engineering.

Hello R2D2-lookalikes, I mean observatories!

Don't they look like something ripped right out of science fiction? 

Btw, they shoot lasers too. Seriously. Repeat that to youselves: THEY SHOOT LASERS.

 

The Gemini Telescope

The true summit of Mauna Kea. 

Inside the Germini Telescope. 

On the right: the back of a really, really big (and expensive) mirror.

While I wish we could have stayed until it got dark, the night sky of Mauna Kea is suppose to be spectacular, I was starting to feel the ill effects of the high altitude (Curse my weak predisposition!!!)

Seriously, Google "Mauna Kea Sky" and be prepared to lose at least two hours of your life.

Mauna Loa in the distance.

Mauna Kea silversword, a rare succulent species only found in Hawaii.

My memory is a little fuzzy from this point on. I remember walking around downtown Hilo, then nothing. Based from my brother's account, I pretty much passed out the moment I touched the hotel bed. (So I went to bed without any dinner?)