Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Luckily avoided the lure of mountain bikes. Sounds a little like hard work.
1st Feb 2023 4:03 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Well watched The Rock last night, I think I remembered it as a much better film than it actually was. A few. “We were there today” moments but the big bits that I was sure were where I thought they were weren’t where I thought they were, if that makes sense. And the USAF F-18s ( again) flew under the Golden Gate Bridge, not the Bay Bridge. Plus for an island that was meant to be a museum exhibit at the time of the plot had a lot of steam and flames going on in those tunnels! Oh, forgot to say “spoiler alert”!
1st Feb 2023 4:37 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Last day in SF was divided between riding the cable cars:
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Someone had fun doing the “do’s & don’ts” sign. Mind you it’s all “don’t” the “do hand over $8” sign was elsewhere, though we had a web-app day ticket.
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We weren’t brave enough to hang onto the sides. Besides it was a bit parkie!
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And the winding mechanisms in the Cable Car Museum, really worth a visit if surfing the CCs. It’s free. And as recommended by someone here, many thanks.
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Then back to the O’Brain for a good mooch around.
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Damage to the life raft from the 2020 fire.
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They were lucky not to loose the ship, VERY lucky!
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We got right down into the engine room, deep in the oily areas. And this is a fully working ship, everything in it works apart from the guns. Spoil sports.
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Big enough spanners?
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And up on deck and in the main people bit of the ship.
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WW2 equiv of iPhone.
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And loved the oldie worldie nav stuff with a PC.
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The gun tracking (to be technical up/down and side-to-side) all works. Just the gun bit doesn’t go bada-bing bada-boom.
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Then out of one hotel and bus to airport hotel at SFO. Saw quite a few self driven cars undergoing training on the SF streets (that’s what it said on the back of them), was great seeing them come up to an obstacle, stop, think about things the gingerly crawl round. Most un-SF driver-like. And a couple have been Jags. Truly their life in JLR’s hands, no thanks.
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We got the bus from the waterfront in SF to here, initially right along Mission St, past our previous hotel. Within a block of that hotel it became one of the worst roads I’d every been down re homelessness and drugs, really bad. Then it was like a switch being flipped once out of SF central area, in the suburbs virtually nothing. Really sudden change.
Last sleep tonight in Californ-i-ia, off to parts new tomorrow.
2nd Feb 2023 4:55 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Another day, another day’s travelling. On this bird, haven’t been on a 757 for decades, with a 6 hour flight and 2hr time zone change. Just hoping we don’t have to wear grass skirts.
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2nd Feb 2023 4:56 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
And Aloha from Hawai’i, specifically Kona on the left side of Big Island. Bit of a flight here but was treated to sight of volcano (Maui) and whales in the waters off the coast of Hawaii, the island rather than the state.
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First sight of Big Island, whales were off to right.
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Beautiful blue skies at the airport, an outdoors type airport, really strange.
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And to the subject of the rental car. It was meant to be a Mustang but ended up with a Jeep, bit of a wreck but it runs and the AC works.
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PS And sunset of Kona. First Hawaiian sunset, hopefully there will be a better one later.
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3rd Feb 2023 2:50 am
Rescue01
Member Since: 14 Jan 2008
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 2432
Say hi to Magnum and all the Five O team Its not the height of the fall but the sudden stop at the bottom that hurts!!
3rd Feb 2023 7:04 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Will watch out for red Ferraris, cheesy moustaches and very dubious shorts.
3rd Feb 2023 7:28 am
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26701
Huge contrast from the train journey! I Don’t know much about Hawaii, looking forward to your visit!
3rd Feb 2023 8:47 am
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
Ditto
Never got to Hawaii so also looking forward to your pics and travelogue
PS I do NOT want to see a pic of you in a grass skirt
PPS and to everyone else - try now to erase that image from your mind Uncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
3rd Feb 2023 2:14 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
OK, you folks have heard about the recent Hawaiian volcanic eruptions? When we booked this hotel/lodge didn’t think we’d be staying a couple of miles from said active volcano!! Here’s hoping it doesn’t decide to do anything too wild over the next couple of days. Crater S of the pink pins is the lava lake, pink pins are the parking area. Setting alarm for 5am to go and see it in the dark, esp the fire fountains. If it goes PT then I guess this isn’t a situation where outrunning SWMBO is the solution! R01 and Nigel can fight it out for the firewood.
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Live link:
Now that’s scary!!
And to take mind off live volcano lava lake building up a mile away some pics from today.
Visited coffee farm, here coffee 4 coffee cherries.
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And lunch! They were getting soft when we ate them as it was about 30c in the car where they were being kept.
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And aren’t these the most stupid looking fruit? These are white pineapple so top end price wise.
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Then to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. Great views over the ocean and a bit of historical stuff. Local sacred site so Ps and Qs minded.
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SWEEEEEET yellow tang (as opposed to yellow thang) fishies! Just like out of Finding Nemo/Dory
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From the ring road round the island, massive lava flows from Moana Loa (I think) down to the ocean.
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Last pic, a beach at the SW of the island. Black sands obviously but bleeding cold! Deffo not warm enough to go in for a dip! It was pretty hot in the morning but cooled down to a positively parkie 20c!
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Did say we were staying 1 mile from an active lava lake? It’s been nice knowing y’all.
4th Feb 2023 2:54 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
PS And on our little drive in Hawaii so far, we’ve noticed a lot of Thai food joints and trucks, hence would have been rude not to sample their wares.
This in the local van in Volcano, the town not the crater. We got there ~4:30pm so the queue line was pretty short, but it easily quadrupled in the half hour we were there.
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Really, really good nosh. Soup came in 32oz mini-buckets, luckily we were warned that it was a lot of soup so only bought the chicken Tom Yum (very Yum) soup, we have half of it left for tomorrow.
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Prawn Shrimp Pad Thai for me and Pineapple Curry for SWMBO. Really scrummy.
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Might be a fitting last meal if the early morning crater viewing goes wrong!
4th Feb 2023 6:13 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Survived the volcano visit. More pics later, BBQ or marshmallow roasting anyone?
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And like Groundhog Day, waiting for Thai food outside our fave take away out trailer.
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PS And for those with the midnight munchies, penang curry, pineapple curry and spring rolls. And they ratcheted up the heat!!
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5th Feb 2023 1:39 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Few pics from the Volcano NP. It was piddling down when we left the lodge just after 4:30am, and nippy at ~18c and windy. Luckily we still had our cold weather gear handy! Was a bit weird walking to an active volcano in the dark, kept the torch off, and low power if needed, luckily enough light to see the wet road and the line down the middle. Plus it was a case of head towards the red apocalyptic glow on the horizon.
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View from the S, the red hot stuff is 1/2 mile away.
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View from the N, this is the small lava pond in the other pics. Not a sign you see every day.
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Great sunrise with morning light on Mauna Loa.
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Another day, another caldera, well same day just with sunlight. There was a track right across the middle but wasn’t sure the crust had solidified enough since it filled up in 1959. Too much Thai food. The steam in the background is from the eruption that’s going on now.
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Luckily just about fitted in this lava tunnel.
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Fissure eruption site, one of the most interesting sites as the ridge is the result of the fissure fire fountain eruption, the lava was light as a fluffy thing.
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Lots of lava flows.
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Right down to the ocean. The crater wall is at about 4,000ft and from a geology map it’s produced all the lava flows in this corner of the island. That’s a shed load of basalt, and that’s just from the little volcano on the island.
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Tomorrow heading north a bit, then heading up to 9,000ft on the observatory road. Just hope weather is better than today.
5th Feb 2023 3:10 am
Moo D3 Decade
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: Wiltshire
Posts: 13909
Good to know you've not been cooked.
Never been to Hawaii but is on the list, however, much to my daughters horror I have some lovely shirts... New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!)
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
5th Feb 2023 10:28 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Resisting the lure of Hawaiian shirts as I’d never wear them. A happy wife is a quiet life.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
again) flew under the Golden Gate Bridge, not the Bay Bridge. 
Plus for an island that was meant to be a museum exhibit at the time of the plot had a lot of steam and flames going on in those tunnels! Oh, forgot to say “spoiler alert”! 
