Waterfalls and Stars

We made the short journey to Akaka Falls, it wasn't far from our house, maybe only a couple of miles as the crow flies. Supposedly there is a waterfall 5 minutes walk from the house but we don't know which direction! The falls were very tall and dramatic.

The walk to them was fairly short but scenic, which the kids appreciated.

In the afternoon we drove back to the house and the children had a swim in the pool.

In the evening we drove an hour to the Mauna Kea observatory visitor centre, which is about 2 miles above sea level and was a considerably chilly 7 degrees. The peak of the mountain is another mile up and has a large number of observatories on it, but the children are not allowed up there because of the high altitude. The visitor centre had some interesting videos about space things that Sam enjoyed and a number of telescopes looking at interesting things. We saw Saturn, rings and all. You could see a lot of stars with the naked eye up there!