House of the Sun

We drove up to the extinct volcano crater Haleakala this afternoon which in Hawaiian means House of the Sun. It takes two hours to drive up the long winding road from about 1,000 feet above sea level to the crater rim at over 10,000 feet, and about three quarters of the way up you break through the clouds and drive up above them, so you see the summit above you and then the layers of cloud below you, its a very humbling and spiritual experience. Its so peaceful and quiet up there, and the landscape becomes more and more like that of another planet. It's the fourth best place to observe space in the world, so there is a big "Science City" at the top where many countries have their own observatories, so it gives even more of a sci fi feel to the landscape. We walked around the crater edge and saw some of the very rare Silversword plants, and then sat in the car and waited for sunset. Just amazing! We watch the sun dip below  the clouds and then as it set on the horizon below us, it lit up all the clouds from below and painted the sky some amazing rainbow colours. We then had a picnic and waited for night to fall for some star gazing. I tried in vain to take some photos but nothing worked out, but it was so clear and we could see the milky way and hundreds of stars and galaxies, again it was totally silent and it felt like we were on top of the world! As we drove back down the moon cast light in waves across the clouds, which was eerie but wonderful to see! We then ducked back down under the clouds and zig zagged our way home! An amazing evening!