Travel with Joya: day two/3 in Hilo

Maui's in the background. Photo Credit Julia

Yesterday was a relaxing day.

We woke up and hung around the hostel for a bit to decided what we wanted to do for the day. At night we had planned on going to the observatory at Mauna Kea to watch the sunset, but before that, we wanted to see something nice. Some people at the hostel told us to go to Rainbow Fall, and if we went early enough, we could probably see a rainbow. So we headed out for Rainbow Fall, took an extra long scenic detour, but we finally made it. My camera decided to be a little bitch and stop working for me (the lens goes in and out when I turn it on and tells me to turn off and on my camera...) So I have to steal some photos. But it was a larger waterfall with some small paths. There was no rainbow though.

We got back to the hostel shortly after, where I did some laundry, and we made some lunch. Realizing that I was going to be cold, we had to pack sweaters, pants, and other warm clothing. I never thought I would need these pieces of clothing, but I'm happy we brought them!

The drive there was easy and we reached the Visitor Center very easily at ~9000 ft. After taking our thirty minute rest stop there to acclimate to the altitude, we realized that our car was not going to be able to make it up and we would not be able to hike up. So we decided to ask someone to join them on their journey up. We decided to ask this older couple who had a Jeep Wrangler who was more than happy for us to join. Mike and Loretta are from Oxford England and they were here on a two week holiday. Liz, Julia, and I explained our situations to them; about where we came from, how we got to Hawaii and how we all met. People are still surprised when they see an American with two Austrians. But we explained that we met at a hostel and got along and people seem content after wards. So after a very scary drive up to the top, we split up for a bit until after the sunset.

We went to the very top of the Mauna Kea. So we were 13,700 some odd feet above sea level, but it's technically the tallest mountain in the world because part of it is under water. Click on the link if you don't believe me! Wikipedia never lies... mwhahaha!
But anyways, there was a beautiful sunset, and it got very cold after the sun went down, so we went to the visitor center again and we looked through telescopes and saw stars, planets, nebulas and the Milky Way. It was a pretty awesome way to begin our trip on the Big Island. So enough rambling, here are some picture from Julia and Liz.