Bart Bear's Blog

Here's some more of the photos that Mum got from the rather dirty window of our aircraft on the day we flew to Maui. The top 3 are a series of Honolulu and Waikiki. First shows from the Kewalo Basin Marina to the Ala Wai Boat Harbour. The lagoon in the centre is the Ala Moana beach park. The twin towers just behind the boat harbour are The Prince, our favourite hotel. The next two show from here to the end of Waikiki beach. In my opinion, these beaches are not anywhere as good as Aussie beaches. The bottom three show some of the extinct volcanoes that made the island of Oahu. First shows the region from Diamond Head to Hanauma Bay and Koko Head. Next is the crater of Diamond Head. Final is Hanauma Bay and Koko Head. It is worth spending some time on Google Earth exploring the fantastic landscape of Oahu and the other Hawaiian Islands. Even better is to have Oldies like mine that take you there.

Labels: beach, Hawaii, volcano

Unka Scott lives on Leilani Estate, the place where the lava flows from last year's volcanic activity erupted. Fortunately his property was safe, but most of the lower part of the estate was covered in lava and many homes were lost. Because he is a resident, he was able to take us into the restricted area and show us the results close up. Over lunch he showed us images that he took during the eruptions, then took us into the estate. Many roads ended in a wall of lava, around 20m high in one case. Walking on these lava flows is forbidden.The surface is cool now but in places it is very thin and hot lava is just below. By the way, can anybody suggest why that chicken is crossing the road? The largest vent is Fissure 8 (lower left above) and the cinder cone it built is over 60m high. Where the roads have been cut through the lava flows you can see many colours due to various minerals in the lava. Just a year after the eruptions the lava is being "invaded" by vegetation, mostly ferns and small shrubs. Scott has purchased an acre of one of the lava flows from Fissure 8 and intends to record the way it recovers. I could walk on this and investigate the lava more closely. Some of the broken-off lumps had shiny areas from the hot minerals and others were full of holes from gas bubbles. Mum was surprised by how light the lumps of lava are. Our day with Scott is one I will always remember.

Labels: Hawaii, volcano

Highlight of our October time in Hawaii was our day on the Big Island seeing the changes caused by the volcanic activity of last year. Our guide for the day was my honourary uncle Scott. The changes to Halema'uma'u, the active crater of Kilauea volcano, are spectacular. The first photo is from our first visit in 2013. The crater was, relatively speaking, fairly shallow and flat with a small active vent. This year things are different. Firstly, the spot where the 2013 photo was taken is now inside the crater. The visitors centre and parking area that was there have been badly damaged and some has dropped into the crater. All tracks that let you near the crater walls have warnings that you had better take notice of. For example, the track we followed had steam blowing across it from cracks in the ground near the track The access road we used in 2013 is now cracked across in several places and is impassable. The crater itself is around 3 times the size and nearly 600 metres deep. The best place to see the crater now is from Volcano House where these photos were taken from. In the right-hand photo of the middle row, you can see the ochre colour of sulphur , and in the image below it there is a bit of the road we drove in 2013, now on a ledge that has slipped down the crater wall. The big photo shows how the crater walls are still cracking and slipping, the rock-falls inside the crater, and the ponds that are forming at the crater bottom. Things have quietened down now, but could start up again any time, the volcano is still classed as active. If you want a guide to the best the Big Island has to offer, contact Scott at Apau Hawaii Tours; you can't do better.

Labels: Hawaii, volcano

One of the highlights of our trip to Hawaii, back in October 2013, was the visit to Mauna Kea Observatory. This huge collection of telescopes is at the top of the tallest mountain in the world, measured from its base on the sea floor to the summit. The mountain is an old volcano, hopefully extinct. It should be OK, because the Hawaiian islands are drifting north over a hot spot in the Earth's crust, and have been formed when the hot spot is volcanically active. Hawaii, the big island, is still growing as lava is still flowing from the vents on Mauna Loa, the mountain to the south of the observatory. You can see the results of old eruptions as you drive up the road. The landscape is what you could imagine the Moon or Mars looking like. I had a bit of trouble seeing things at the top because the Oldies kept getting in the way. Fortunately, somebody had put in a line of stakes that I could climb to see over the obstructions. In the picture I am looking towards the largest telescopes in the world (at present; there are bigger ones being built). The most interesting telescope for Dad was Gemini North (top right image). This has a mirror 8m in diameter and started operation in 1999. It is operated by an international combine of astronomers from the USA, Canada, Australia, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. Dad actually had a small part in the program just before he retired. The smaller telescope in the background is operated by a combine of observatories from Canada, France and Hawaii. There is lots to see in Hawaii, and I need to get back there again.

Labels: astronomy, Hawaii, telescopes, volcano

As cruise ships leave Auckland harbour in New Zealand they pass through the Rangitoto Channel. This channel separates Rangitoto Island from the mainland and passengers get a great view of the island as the ship passes. Rangitoto is Maori for "Bloody Sky", named after the death of a chief during a battle. Rangitoto is a dormant volcano, one of the 50 or so volcanoes in the Auckland area. I am not sure that I would like living in the middle of a volcano field, even if the last eruptions were around 550 years ago. Auckland civil defence groups have evacuation plans ready, just in case. The island is about 6km across and the volcanic cone is 260 metres high. Over the years the island has been a Maori settlement, a quarry site, the site of many military installations during WW2, and a wrecking ground for old ships (you can still see some on the northern beach at low tide). You can visit Rangitoto via ferry from Auckland. Since 1890 the island has been a recreation reserve and day trips have been run pretty well since then.Today, there is a walking track to the summit and 4WD tours of the island. And there are little lighthouses marking the safe channel, so this small bear had a happy time as we passed by on Voyager of the Seas in December 2012.Actually, we will be passing there again on Christmas Day this year; Dad and I are taking Mum on another cruise on Voyager for her big birthday (if any of you are on this cruise, do come and meet me).

Labels: cruising, New Zealand, volcano

 Lava is not just impressive in big flows. It is also very interesting when you look at it close up. It is full of small crystals of various colours. The colors depend on the temperature of the lava as it flows from the volcano and the chemical composition of any impurities that are in the liquid rock. Colors can include black, red, grey, brown and tan, metallic silver, pink, and green. Here is a close-up of a bit of lava that we examined in Hawaii. It has stringy tan and silvery crystals, some clear black ones and beautiful small green crystals of Olivine. Some beaches on Hawaii are actually green, due to the breakup of lava. Be sure to take a pocket magnifier with you when you visit the lava fields. The most important thing to remember is to put the bits of lava back where they came from. It is a criminal offense to remove any. I made sure that the Oldies took all the bits we handled right back to where we found them.

Labels: Hawaii, volcano

These two gentlemen are the guides that we had for our tours of Oahu and Hawaii (the Big Island). In the top picture our Oahu guide, Roland, is introducing Dad to one of the delicacies of Hawaii. It is called shave-ice, but here in Australia we call it snow cones. The shop they are at is in a suburb of Honolulu called Waiola. It is also the shop where President Obama worked for pocket money when he was at high school. According to the locals he calls in here for a shave-ice whenever he is back in Hawaii. Roland was a perfect guide. His knowledge of Hawaiian history, traditions and culture made our day with him really special. Of course Mum tried the shave-ice too; there are flavours in Hawaii that we don't see at home. In the bottom picture, making sure that I can see over the fence, is our Hawaii guide, Scott. You should recognize where we are from previous posts. We are on the rim of the Kilauea crater. Scott took us to the volcanoes and up to Mauna Kea Observatory. He taught us lots about the geology of Hawaii and we taught him about astronomy. It is a great day when you can share knowledge and we had a ball. We will never forget these two guys. If you are visiting Hawaii and want tours tailored to your interests check them out on the website toursbylocals.com. You can't do better.

Labels: Hawaii, volcano

Lava makes interesting patterns as it cools and sets. Here's a couple of photos that show what I mean. The top one is of the crater of Kilauea Iki (Little Kilauea). This is a secondary crater to the main Kilauea crater. You can see where the lava broke through the wall of the main crater during the last eruption in November 1959. In the background you can see gases coming from the active vent of Kilaeua. The crater of Kilaeua Iki is around 130m deep. From the rim where I am you can see different colours in the lava on the crater floor, meaning different minerals in the mix. You can also see interesting crinkly  patterns in the lava. You can actually walk a trail that takes you right down to the old vent of Kilaeua Iki. I wouldn't like to do that, just in case the volcano decided to erupt while I was down there. The bottom photo is of a place where lava flowed through a forest. Of course it burnt the trees, but if you look carefully you can see the way that the lava has remained in the shape of the tree stumps (for larger photo, just click on it). I need more time at the lava fields of Hawaii, there are so many interesting things to see there.

Labels: Hawaii, volcano

One place that we just HAD to see during our time in Hawaii was Mauna Kea Observatory. This is one of the best sites in the world for telescopes. It is high above most clouds and is dry and usually calm. At 13,800 ft altitude it is one of the highest observatory sites in the world. It is certainly the highest this small bear has been without flying. The telescopes in the picture (from left to right) are the Japanese 8.2m Subaru, the twin 10m Kecks (the largest telescopes in the world at present) and the NASA 3m Infra-red telescope. Note that the NASA 'scope is operating; at this altitude the daytime sky is quite black at I-R wavelengths. There are lots of other telescopes at the Observatory, so expect more photos.
On the way up the road to the telescopes you have to stop at the visitors' centre. In fact you can only go higher if you have a driver with a permit. At the centre is one of the funniest signs I have ever read. We didn't see any cows on the way to the top, so I guess they must really be invisible. I didn't see any grass either, so maybe the invisible cows eat invisible grass. Evidently funny things live at high altitude.

Labels: astronomy, Hawaii, telescopes, volcano

One of the things that I wanted to see in Hawai'i was the volcanoes. Well, as luck would have it, none of them were very active while I was there. The most active one is Kilauea and the active crater , Halema'uma'a, was puffing gas and a bit of fine ash, but no lava. You can get fairly close to the edge of the crater of Kilauea and it is much bigger than you would expect. Click on the photo and look carefully. The smoke is coming from an obvious crater, but the main crater starts just in front of where I am sitting and covers most of the picture. The far edge is the line of cliffs just below the horizon. When the lava is flowing this huge area is full. The little plumes are coming from steam vents. There are thousands of these vents over hundreds of acres near Kilauea. I would love to see the volcano when it is more active, but you can't get as close then. You can get an idea of the amount of lava that flows in the bottom picture. This was taken on a lava flow that covers thousands of acres. It came from Makaopuhi crater, on the horizon behind me, and goes from the crater right down for 10 Km into the sea. You aren't allowed to take any lava away with you, or move it around, but somebody had made this small altar, obviously for the use of visiting small bears. This lava flowed about 25 years ago and you can see that plants are starting to grow in the cracks. Eventually, over centuries, they will break the lava down into very rich soil. More volcano photos to come :)

Labels: Hawaii, volcano