I saw the stars

Throughout our week on Big Island, the enormous presence of the volcanoes was inevitable and because there was only 1 main road across the island, therefore we passed the sign for the Mauna Kea Observatory at least 3 times before we finally made a group decision to go and have an explore.

We drove up the 6km road during the day to see the conditions at the visitors centre, when we got out of the car it was a shock for our bodies as we were used to late 20s heat then suddenly we were back to the familiar 10's. After speaking to the guide at the visitors centre he informed us that our Hertz Saloon car wasn't appropriate to finish the road up to summit.

When we returned in the evening about 4:00 a large crowd had already gathered, ready to watch the sunset. We followed the flow up a small rocky path to get a good view on the sunset. I have never seen anything as beautiful in my whole life. An ocean of clouds surrounded the small oasis, the sky was stained with deep blues and soft oranges as the sun disappeared into the horizon. The enormous volcano left a shadow in the crowds as the sunset. 

Once the sun had set, we precariously skidded back down to the visitors centre where the university students had set up an large collection of  telescopes.

The guide explained to us that we were at the best place in the world to view the stars as:

• You could see both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere due to our location on earth (I didn't quite understand this)
• It's a clear sky around 98% of the year
• We were above the clouds
• We happened to chose the only night when the moon wasn't present, so the stars and planets were as bright as they would ever be

It's amazing how you can unite with a group of strangers when reflecting on the universe, we saw planets with and without telescopes, asteroid showers and the most beautiful night sky.

So my advice is if you are ever in Hawaii and want to escape ( if that's the right word) from the beautiful beaches, then go look at the Stars at the Mauna Kea Observatory. If you don't have a 4by4 car, there is an option to go up in a group bus but for quite an added expense. At the summit is where they practised for the moon landing due to the terrain and conditions. Some misbelievers believe that they performed the real 'moon landing' there.