Tuesday, March 21, 2006
All things Well and good
Greetings from Wellington.
Lauren never told me it rained so much here. I knew it was known as the "Windy City" but I didn't twig on the rain part at all... Good thing I bought that Kagoul after the day up Rangitoto in Auckland huh?
I've just been chilling out for the last few days. I spend Saturday and Sunday at the cricket - New Zealand are playing the West Indies - it's quite different watching it at ground level than on TV, but it was a nice way to spend a couple of days sat under the clouds and watching NZ kick ass... Maybe I'll even catch a game of... horror of horrors... rugby while I'm here.
Hope everyone is well, email me all your news, or give me a bell some time.
Love and hugs,
Suz xx
Lauren never told me it rained so much here. I knew it was known as the "Windy City" but I didn't twig on the rain part at all... Good thing I bought that Kagoul after the day up Rangitoto in Auckland huh?
I've just been chilling out for the last few days. I spend Saturday and Sunday at the cricket - New Zealand are playing the West Indies - it's quite different watching it at ground level than on TV, but it was a nice way to spend a couple of days sat under the clouds and watching NZ kick ass... Maybe I'll even catch a game of... horror of horrors... rugby while I'm here.
Hope everyone is well, email me all your news, or give me a bell some time.
Love and hugs,
Suz xx
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
From 12,000 ft to zero
I did it! See, Austen, I told you I would...
I fell out of a plane at 12,000 feet with a man attached to my back and lived to tell the tale.
[I'm screaming with joy although it might look like I'm crying?]
We tumbled out of the airplane, did a somersault and then freefell for 7,000 feet for about 45 seconds and then pulled the parachute out for the last 5,000 and spun around and around and around... I actually felt a bit sick. The freefall wasn't a problem, I could have done that for longer, I think it was the spinning that did it.
After the guy pulled the cord for the chute he loosened the straps a bit to make it more comfortable, and I thought he was gonna drop me out of the straps completely - it was the bigges inch of my life ... but I hung on, spiralled around and around and hit the ground on my ar$e (as instructed, that wasn't an accident) - my ar$e is getting a real workout on this trip huh?
I want to go again... but I can't afford another one quite so soon.
I'm enjoying New Zealand a whole lot, there's just so much to do, I'm turning into a real adrenaline junkie...
Hope everyone's well,
Love and hugs
Suz xx
I fell out of a plane at 12,000 feet with a man attached to my back and lived to tell the tale.
[I'm screaming with joy although it might look like I'm crying?]
We tumbled out of the airplane, did a somersault and then freefell for 7,000 feet for about 45 seconds and then pulled the parachute out for the last 5,000 and spun around and around and around... I actually felt a bit sick. The freefall wasn't a problem, I could have done that for longer, I think it was the spinning that did it.
After the guy pulled the cord for the chute he loosened the straps a bit to make it more comfortable, and I thought he was gonna drop me out of the straps completely - it was the bigges inch of my life ... but I hung on, spiralled around and around and hit the ground on my ar$e (as instructed, that wasn't an accident) - my ar$e is getting a real workout on this trip huh?
I want to go again... but I can't afford another one quite so soon.
I'm enjoying New Zealand a whole lot, there's just so much to do, I'm turning into a real adrenaline junkie...
Hope everyone's well,
Love and hugs
Suz xx
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Zorbing is da bomb!
I went zorbing as promised this morning... not just once, but three times! It was so cool, a total rush.
Unfortunately the photo files are too large to load up to this site so I had to create another one. Go to www.flickr.com/photos/suzistravels for photos of me rocking and rolling down the zig zag track and popping out sopping wet at the end. You need to view them from the bottom to the top as they loaded back to front.
Enjoy,
Suz xx
Unfortunately the photo files are too large to load up to this site so I had to create another one. Go to www.flickr.com/photos/suzistravels for photos of me rocking and rolling down the zig zag track and popping out sopping wet at the end. You need to view them from the bottom to the top as they loaded back to front.
Enjoy,
Suz xx
Monday, March 13, 2006
The end of Hawaii
Well, that's it folks. If anyone wants to see more photos, I'll do my best to load them up for you, but it's taken me two hours to load up this last lot for Volcano Hilo and Maui. I'm sending the CDROM home for the family to have a look.
There's quite a bit underneath this blog - for Volcano, Hilo and Maui so please do check out the photos. I've had a blast taking them and experiencing half of what Hawaii has to offer, so I hope you enjoy looking at them.
Suz xx
There's quite a bit underneath this blog - for Volcano, Hilo and Maui so please do check out the photos. I've had a blast taking them and experiencing half of what Hawaii has to offer, so I hope you enjoy looking at them.
Suz xx
Maui = Whales
You just can't go to Maui and not go whalewatching. Whether you go on an organised tour like I did, or simply drive up the Lahaina coast, you will see them strutting their stuff... Here's a few of the best from whalewatching trip with the Pacific Whale Foundation (pls see the post from Maui for more details on this).
Banyan Tree Square, Lahaina
This one single tree takes up an entire block in Lahaina. When the banyan tree branches out, its vines drop to the ground and dig in to give it support. So what looks like two dozen trees when you get underneath, is actually just one. Pretty impressive.
Wood carving dude
This one's for the family - this is the dude who carved the statue I sent home - he's carving the figures name and the date on it in this photo.
Banyan Tree Square, Lahaina
This one single tree takes up an entire block in Lahaina. When the banyan tree branches out, its vines drop to the ground and dig in to give it support. So what looks like two dozen trees when you get underneath, is actually just one. Pretty impressive.
Wood carving dude
This one's for the family - this is the dude who carved the statue I sent home - he's carving the figures name and the date on it in this photo.
Big Island continued - Hilo side
This next set were taken after I left the volcano for the eastern side of the island for a couple of days.
Akaka Falls
This waterfall is the tallest on the Big Island, at 400 ft. There had been quite a bit of rain in the days before I went there, so the waterfall was roaring a bit. It's really dramatic - the viewing point is I guess about two thirds of the way up, so not for those with vertigo.
181- Lava tree monument
When lava flooded this area, it cooled down around the trees and solifidied - so when the lava subsided the solid structures remained. The trunks inside would be burned to charcoal and disintegrate - which you can see when you look at the ones which are lying down on the floor having been toppled over - they are hollow inside.
Kumakahi lighthouse
We nearly didn't make it there in one piece - we were barrelling down the highway at about 60mph when with about 20m to go, it signposted a crossroads and the end of the highway - obviously we weren't expecting this so I carried on across the intersection at a high speed and ended up on a gravel 4WD track! I had actually intended to go straight across this intersection, though perhaps not quite that fast to end up on a dirt track... And then we found out that the lighthouse we thought we were going to see had been pulled down some years ago, leaving just this steel structure! Oops...
Akaka Falls
This waterfall is the tallest on the Big Island, at 400 ft. There had been quite a bit of rain in the days before I went there, so the waterfall was roaring a bit. It's really dramatic - the viewing point is I guess about two thirds of the way up, so not for those with vertigo.
181- Lava tree monument
When lava flooded this area, it cooled down around the trees and solifidied - so when the lava subsided the solid structures remained. The trunks inside would be burned to charcoal and disintegrate - which you can see when you look at the ones which are lying down on the floor having been toppled over - they are hollow inside.
Kumakahi lighthouse
We nearly didn't make it there in one piece - we were barrelling down the highway at about 60mph when with about 20m to go, it signposted a crossroads and the end of the highway - obviously we weren't expecting this so I carried on across the intersection at a high speed and ended up on a gravel 4WD track! I had actually intended to go straight across this intersection, though perhaps not quite that fast to end up on a dirt track... And then we found out that the lighthouse we thought we were going to see had been pulled down some years ago, leaving just this steel structure! Oops...
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Volcano
Some of the pics I took at Volcano don't look like much. The landscape was really barren in place, so I'll try to be selective so it makes sense to people who weren't there...
Kilauea Caldera
This is the view across the caldera of Kilauea. It's an 11 mile drive around the caldera - so the picture doesn't really show the breadth of it, but it was pretty cool.
Halema'uma'u
This is the crater of Halema'uma'u. This crater used to be much deeper, but the floor has been rising for the last, what, couple of decades or so I guess. The lava is pretty close to the surface underneath - and sulphurour gasses are continually being released - so I couldn't stick around too long. For the first hundred years of it's life it was a lake of boiling lava. It last erupted in 1982, spewing out 1.3m cubic yards of lava. It is the home of the goddess Pele, and throughout the year people perform hulas are performed in her honour and people leave offerings such as flowers and alcohol to her.
South West Rift Zone
This is the southwest rift zone - a crack in the earth that runs from the caldera summit down to the coast and then under the ocean floor.
Thurston Lava Tube
This is a lava tube which if I'd been walking through about 500 years ago, I would have been boiled alive due to the lava that would have been coursing through it. [The tunnel is lit, that's not lava in the discance... just in case...]
Chain of Craters Road
Chain of Craters Road goes all the way from the Caldera down to sea level. It used to go quite a way along at sea level, but since the volcano has been erupting, it has flown down the mountainside to the sea and has cut the road off. This is the point at which lava crosses the road at what has become the end of Chain of Craters Road. It's a good foot high at this point - and is quite dramatic - you'd expect it to keep flowing and self-level but it doesn't.
The steam plume at night
I'm not sure if you can see anything in these two. The print outs I have show quite clearly but I'm not sure if they're coming out on here. This first photo is slightly out of focus, taken from the lava field past the end of Chain of Craters Road - it's about a half a mile walk over the lava just before sunset to the viewing poitn. You can just about make out the orange tinge to the steam plume. This is where the lava hits the ocean. It flows out of a vent called Pu'u O'o further up the mountain, through lava tubes underground (just like the one above) and makes its way to the ocean at which point gases are released and you see the plume of steam. You can only see the orange tinge at sunset and after dark because the cloud comes in and the lava lights up the steam plume then. The second photo is taken after sunset and I think shows the colours better.
Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs
The ancient Hawaiians carved petroglyphs into the hardened lava - the dimples served as receptacles for the umbilical stumps of babies. They hoped that carving these, then placing the umbilical stumps inside the dimples and covering them with stones, the gods would allow their children to live long lives.
Kilaeua mountainside
You can see by the different shading the various laval flows that have gone down the mountain over the years, the most recent being the darkest.
That's it for the volcano. I'll post the rest separately by location.
Kilauea Caldera
This is the view across the caldera of Kilauea. It's an 11 mile drive around the caldera - so the picture doesn't really show the breadth of it, but it was pretty cool.
Halema'uma'u
This is the crater of Halema'uma'u. This crater used to be much deeper, but the floor has been rising for the last, what, couple of decades or so I guess. The lava is pretty close to the surface underneath - and sulphurour gasses are continually being released - so I couldn't stick around too long. For the first hundred years of it's life it was a lake of boiling lava. It last erupted in 1982, spewing out 1.3m cubic yards of lava. It is the home of the goddess Pele, and throughout the year people perform hulas are performed in her honour and people leave offerings such as flowers and alcohol to her.
South West Rift Zone
This is the southwest rift zone - a crack in the earth that runs from the caldera summit down to the coast and then under the ocean floor.
Thurston Lava Tube
This is a lava tube which if I'd been walking through about 500 years ago, I would have been boiled alive due to the lava that would have been coursing through it. [The tunnel is lit, that's not lava in the discance... just in case...]
Chain of Craters Road
Chain of Craters Road goes all the way from the Caldera down to sea level. It used to go quite a way along at sea level, but since the volcano has been erupting, it has flown down the mountainside to the sea and has cut the road off. This is the point at which lava crosses the road at what has become the end of Chain of Craters Road. It's a good foot high at this point - and is quite dramatic - you'd expect it to keep flowing and self-level but it doesn't.
The steam plume at night
I'm not sure if you can see anything in these two. The print outs I have show quite clearly but I'm not sure if they're coming out on here. This first photo is slightly out of focus, taken from the lava field past the end of Chain of Craters Road - it's about a half a mile walk over the lava just before sunset to the viewing poitn. You can just about make out the orange tinge to the steam plume. This is where the lava hits the ocean. It flows out of a vent called Pu'u O'o further up the mountain, through lava tubes underground (just like the one above) and makes its way to the ocean at which point gases are released and you see the plume of steam. You can only see the orange tinge at sunset and after dark because the cloud comes in and the lava lights up the steam plume then. The second photo is taken after sunset and I think shows the colours better.
Pu'u Loa Petroglyphs
The ancient Hawaiians carved petroglyphs into the hardened lava - the dimples served as receptacles for the umbilical stumps of babies. They hoped that carving these, then placing the umbilical stumps inside the dimples and covering them with stones, the gods would allow their children to live long lives.
Kilaeua mountainside
You can see by the different shading the various laval flows that have gone down the mountain over the years, the most recent being the darkest.
That's it for the volcano. I'll post the rest separately by location.
More photos
I hope this all comes out ok - I'm in an internet gaming room as my hostel has no cd-rom facility for me to upload my photos...
This is Pu'uhonua O Honaunau - the place of refuge at Honaunau. It's a beautiful, serene spot down the Kona coast from Captain Cook - it's one of the places I snorkelled at the day before. Much of the structures they have there now are recreations but I think the one in the second photo is the original.
You can just see a turtle coming out of the water to nest in the sand. Over the last couple of years they've started using this place as a breeding ground - so we can't get within about 6 feet of them.
This is Pu'uhonua O Honaunau - the place of refuge at Honaunau. It's a beautiful, serene spot down the Kona coast from Captain Cook - it's one of the places I snorkelled at the day before. Much of the structures they have there now are recreations but I think the one in the second photo is the original.
You can just see a turtle coming out of the water to nest in the sand. Over the last couple of years they've started using this place as a breeding ground - so we can't get within about 6 feet of them.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Photos at Last!
Ok, I've got my photos downloaded at last.
Here goes with the first installment ...
This is Hanauma Bay, the first stop on the tour I took around O'ahu on Feb 12. It's a great spot for snorkelling and seeing turtles. I've had plans to head out that way but haven't got back there so far... maybe tomorrow huh?
Here's me standing on a beach made up of lava rocks, just along the south coast of o'ahu from Hanauma Bay.
This is a beautiful Japanese temple called Byodo-In, attached to a Hawaiian cemetary. It's a really peaceful place set on the western side of the island. The cemetary contains a grave plaque for someone who only wished to be remembered as "Wholecheese". We spent a while wondering who it could be...
Chinaman's hat island. So called cos it looks like one.
On the day I went snorkelling on the Big Island, I took some photos of some spinner dolphins who decided to swim alongside us. Unfortunately they didn't come out - they swim so fast and duck and dive out of the water so fast that my digital camera couldn't keep up. But my photos of the monument at the place where Captain Cook died came out fairly well.
I'll load up some more photos tomorrow - I need to go get some food right now. It's exhausting work, spending the day on the beach and then loading up lots of photos.
More soon,
Suz xxx
Here goes with the first installment ...
This is Hanauma Bay, the first stop on the tour I took around O'ahu on Feb 12. It's a great spot for snorkelling and seeing turtles. I've had plans to head out that way but haven't got back there so far... maybe tomorrow huh?
Here's me standing on a beach made up of lava rocks, just along the south coast of o'ahu from Hanauma Bay.
This is a beautiful Japanese temple called Byodo-In, attached to a Hawaiian cemetary. It's a really peaceful place set on the western side of the island. The cemetary contains a grave plaque for someone who only wished to be remembered as "Wholecheese". We spent a while wondering who it could be...
Chinaman's hat island. So called cos it looks like one.
On the day I went snorkelling on the Big Island, I took some photos of some spinner dolphins who decided to swim alongside us. Unfortunately they didn't come out - they swim so fast and duck and dive out of the water so fast that my digital camera couldn't keep up. But my photos of the monument at the place where Captain Cook died came out fairly well.
I'll load up some more photos tomorrow - I need to go get some food right now. It's exhausting work, spending the day on the beach and then loading up lots of photos.
More soon,
Suz xxx
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Onward from Maui
Thursday 2 March 06
You'll be glad to know that my ar$e is recovering nicely. Ditto my shoulders, back, legs...
I took it easy yesterday. I did a little shopping in the morning, and then went whale watching in the afternoon. We saw so many whales I couldn't believe it, but apparently if you drained the water, you'd have 1,000 whales in your view at any one time. We saw two main pods, both of competition whales - i.e. a group of about 8 male whales competing for the love of one woman. Oh to be a whale...! They were butting heads, diving down, slapping their fins - it was really great and this time I got some really good pictures. I'm going to get all my pictures put onto disc when I get to Oahu (flying there tomorrow) so will be able to post a load then. Afterwards, I did a little more shopping before heading back for a thai takeaway. There's a thai restaurant just over the road from the hostel I'm staying at that does really good food. Pad Thai to die for.
Today I took a drive down the south west coast to see what was on down there. There were lots of nice beaches, and lots of posh hotels. I decided to drive back up to Lahaina and rent some snorkel gear and go snorkelling at Black Rocks. This is a small spot in Kaanapali at the Sheraton (the beach is public unfortunately for them) which has loads of fish, reef and the odd turtle who let me swim alongside him/her for a while before surfacing for air - they're really cute when they surface - just poking their heads out of the sea for a gulp of air. There are the few inevitable idiots who actually climb out on the black rocks and dive into the sea. I'm not sure what the accident rate is, but it must be pretty high because once the water gets say 5 feet deep, you can't see how deep it is and the rocks and reef are relatively shallow. I didn't stop to find out if they made it...
Tomorrow I fly back to Oahu to stay in Waikiki once again. I'd really like to stay in Hawaii for another 4 weeks but I don't think I could afford to change my flight to NZ at this stage...
Ah well, next time, as I said, I'll have pictures.
Suz xxx
You'll be glad to know that my ar$e is recovering nicely. Ditto my shoulders, back, legs...
I took it easy yesterday. I did a little shopping in the morning, and then went whale watching in the afternoon. We saw so many whales I couldn't believe it, but apparently if you drained the water, you'd have 1,000 whales in your view at any one time. We saw two main pods, both of competition whales - i.e. a group of about 8 male whales competing for the love of one woman. Oh to be a whale...! They were butting heads, diving down, slapping their fins - it was really great and this time I got some really good pictures. I'm going to get all my pictures put onto disc when I get to Oahu (flying there tomorrow) so will be able to post a load then. Afterwards, I did a little more shopping before heading back for a thai takeaway. There's a thai restaurant just over the road from the hostel I'm staying at that does really good food. Pad Thai to die for.
Today I took a drive down the south west coast to see what was on down there. There were lots of nice beaches, and lots of posh hotels. I decided to drive back up to Lahaina and rent some snorkel gear and go snorkelling at Black Rocks. This is a small spot in Kaanapali at the Sheraton (the beach is public unfortunately for them) which has loads of fish, reef and the odd turtle who let me swim alongside him/her for a while before surfacing for air - they're really cute when they surface - just poking their heads out of the sea for a gulp of air. There are the few inevitable idiots who actually climb out on the black rocks and dive into the sea. I'm not sure what the accident rate is, but it must be pretty high because once the water gets say 5 feet deep, you can't see how deep it is and the rocks and reef are relatively shallow. I didn't stop to find out if they made it...
Tomorrow I fly back to Oahu to stay in Waikiki once again. I'd really like to stay in Hawaii for another 4 weeks but I don't think I could afford to change my flight to NZ at this stage...
Ah well, next time, as I said, I'll have pictures.
Suz xxx
