tough going!! It was worth it though, the views over the clouds were great, and there was actually a shadow of the mountain on the surface of the clouds - amazing!! Just to complete the picture, Mauna Loa appeared right on cue!! After hiking back to the telescope area we were rewarded with one of the most amazing sunset’s we’ve seen - right over the clouds, and setting significantly later than at sea level. All the telescopes were opening up their doors as well, quite an eerie scene all in all. There aren’t actually any people up at the telescopes - they are all operated by remote control back down in civilisation!!

We got back in the van and made our way down, with only hazard lights in the fading dusk, as apparently headlights upset the sensitive telescopes!! It went dark very quickly, and we were given a fifteen minute “star show”, with the two guides pointing out all the stars

they knew. Because Hawaii is near the equator, it is possible to see both the pole star and the Southern Cross, as well as constellations of the zodiac, like Scorpio for instance, a huge constellation which looks ace - you can only see half of it from the UK!! Our final treat though was a visit to the amateur astronomers back at the visitor centre, who showed us Saturn’s Rings and Jupiter’s moons through their telescopes, a perfect end to a great day!

The next day was the day we left Arnott’s - we wouldn’t’ be too sad to see the back of this place!! Typically as well, tonight was free beer and pizza night - they do it once a week, and we were there six nights and missed it!! Still - can’t complain too much on the free food front - some guy turned up earlier in the week with leftover food from his wedding, including a huge bag of Marlin, and annoying Bob gave me a massive piece of wild