Place of Refuge

Pre-European Hawaiian culture was ruled by a strict set of moral codes called "kapu (taboo)". Those who broke the codes - by, for example, treading on the shadow of a chief - could expect a summary execution for their transgression, unless they were swift and strong enough to escape to a place of refuge.

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau - the place of refuge at Honaunau - is surrounded on two sides by a high dry stone wall, and on the other by shark infested water.


Hawaii's ruling class were overthrown by the American and European "Committee of Safety" in 1893 and Hawaii became a territory of the United States in 1896, and a state in 1959.

Today the rights of Hawaiians suspected of criminal activities are protected by the American Constitution. In particular the Fifth Amendment states that "no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury...." and the Eighth Amendment that no "cruel of unusual punishment [shall be] inflicted.



These rules of course do not apply to anyone labelled a "terrorist" by a Republican administration.

Land of the free indeed.

Amnesty International USA

Mauna Loa

Hawaii's Big Island is made five separate shield volcanoes which exude thick gloopy lava in overlapping flows. Two of them - Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa dominate the island of Hawai'i with their sister eruptions. The taller of the two - Mauna Kea - is in a post-shield stage, with historic eruptions covering the peak with cinder cones. The larger of the two - Mauna Loa - stands a few meter's shy of Mauna Kea, but eclipses her majesty with a massive 75,000 cubic kilometers of rocky mass - the largest volcano in the world.


With shallow sloping sides that rise from sea level to over 4000 meters, hiking up Mauna Loa is a long slow three-four day slog though a hellish world of lava fields and ever thinning air.

Not for the faint-hearted.


I started my adventure with a drive up the Mauna Loa Strip Road to the Look Out carpark. At 2000 meters high, the forest is still thick with trees and the first few hundred meter's of the trail are shaded and cool. Pretty soon, however, the trees give way to a bleak and rocky landscape of seemingly endless lava. Red. Black. Yellow and Green.



After a steady but shallow climb for 12 kilometers, sits the Red Hill Hut. At 3000 meters above sea level, the air is markedly thin, and I stopped for the night to aclimatise my body. A breathless and fitful sleep - waking occasionally to fill my lungs with air.



The next day I woke at dawn to a gulp of green tea and a bowl of porridge to start to longest, hardest day of my life. 20 kilometers to climb 1000 meters wouldn't be much at sea level - but at this altitude, every step is a chore.





At 3900m the track crests the edge of the rim and decends into the caldera across a sixty year old lava flow. The cairns, clearly visible across this flat plane of shiny black lava lead the walker past the dramatic Lua Poholo - an enormous hole, once over brimming with hot lava.


Eleven hours after setting out, with heavy steps and gasping lungs, I finally reached the Mauna Loa Cabin. Perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Mokuaweoweo Caldera, I fell into bed for a even more restless sleep as I switched back and forth between my body's competing needs for rest and oxygen.



The next day I woke late and fixed my camping stove which had been spluttering the night before. I stood in wonder at the edge of the cliff, staring down into a lost lake of black rock. The sun was high and hurt my eyes as I read my book by Carl Jung on dreams and meaning. The air was rice paper thin and my brain throbbed. The hut - squeezed between two opposing worlds of blue heavens and black rock - was a homely refuge against the brutal pure elements of earth.

I found a bottle of whiskey in the cabin and decided to spend the day dancing naked in this place of undeniable magic.

Monkey Monster Mercury

Valley of the Kings, Hawai'i

Lava Dance

Down the Chain of Craters Road in the East Rift Zone of the Hawai'i Volcano National Park lie a series of craters and steam vents which rise out of an expansive lava field laid in the early 1970s. The landscape is stark - with only occasional ferns and scrubby ohia trees breaking through the rock.

Though the Napau Trail is closed beyond the Makaopuhi Crater because of the toxic volcanic fumes, a one day walk is possible by turning south along the Kalapana and Naulu trails to Kealakomo.

An unplanned detour off the main path took me to Mauna Ulu - a bottomless steep sided crater pumping sulphurous steam into the wind.

The path is difficult to navigate despite the wellplaced cairns. Black lava, sharp and unstable, droops down hills in twisted liquid forms. At one point, the remains of a road is visible - reclaimed by the earth as a foot of black lava smothers the tarmac.


When the sun finally burnt through the clouds and the hot blue sky opened overhead, there seemed only one appropriate response.

Hawai'i Volcano National Park

Mathew and I went to Volcano National Park on the Big Island to gawp at lava flows and the sulphur dioxide which is pumping out of Halema'uma'u.


Much of the park is closed because of the toxic fumes, which react with sunlight and cover the Kona coast of the Big Island with toxic 'vog'.

Map Courtesy of National Geographic

Lava, Rocks, Sea, Steam and Sky

If he bites you hard enough

Jay (n)
\ˈjā\

Middle English, from Old French gai.

1. A noisy and vivacious bird (1310).
2. Flashy dresser (1623).
3. Impertinent person who breaks pedestrian rules. Jaywalker (American slang, 1920s).
4. A marijuana cigarette (American slang, 1970s).
5. Australian visual artist (AceJayAce 2008).