On Top Of The World
Together with Adam and Marco who I met in the Hostel in Hilo, I went up to the top of the world, or more precise to Mauna Kea on Big Island, Hawaii. Well first I thought Mt. Everest is the highest mountain on this plant. But little did I know, that they are not only counting the above sea level hight which is 4.207m but also including the parts from the Ocean level and here Mauna Kea wins with 10.200m.
Coming from sea level to 4.207m in a couple of hours was already challenging and I felt a bit dizzy but the view was stunning. With the massive telescopes and a great sunset it felt like a place far away from earth and thus like on top of the world.
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- That’s the destination for today: Mauna Kea Summit
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- Impression on the way up to Mauna Kea
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- Together with Adam and Marco we went to the top
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- Mauna Loa
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- Impression on the way up to Mauna Loa
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- View to Mauna Kea
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- Yeah this is amazing stuff walking onto lava
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- Small mountain
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- Big car
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- Mauna Kea impression from Mauna Loa
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- GoPro always ready to take some pictures or videos 🙂
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- Keck 1 Telescope
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- Keck 1 Building
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- Yeah mates we made it to the top
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- Keck 1 and Keck 2 Telescope
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- Thumb up for being
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- On Top of The world!
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- Rainbow seen from above the clouds
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- sunset at keck 1 and keck 2
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- Trip to the Top of the world was awesome
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- Can you spot some figure in the nightly sky?
Night Snorkel with Manta’s on Big Island
What an amazing encounter with Manta Rays at Kona Coast on Big Island, Hawaii. The boat tour started at 5pm and just before sunset we were at the spot where at night time often Manta Rays go for feeding. Manta Rays are very graceful animals hunting plankton all day and night.
And as plankton likes light we were soon in the water holding onto a surf board with light bulbs attracting plankton which as you can imagine attracted the Manta Rays. And over years the Manta’s have figured out that they can eat the most plankton if they do a roll. Very amazing to see them so close.
SUP – Stand Up Paddling in Hawaii
Stand Up Paddling or short SUP is a very famous sport in Hawaii and my couchsurfing friend Jen introduced me to this sport on a Saturday morning in Kihei, Maui. The board was 25$ for 2 hours with a brief introduction how to do SUP. Basically you are standing on a big surf board and you have a paddle to navigate yourself around. Here some impressions from a sport which is very good for your balance and body and just great to be on the water and enjoy the scenery. We even got to see a baby whale nearby.
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- Jen introduced me to SUP. Thank you Jen!
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- Ok and action
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- So this was the easy part sitting on the board
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- Oh yeah the balance part was hard in the beginning …
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- There we go! Posing for the picture 🙂
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- Yeah now it is more fun after being relaxed on the board
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- Spend at least two hours per day with physical, mental, spiritual or social activities (here Stand-up Paddling in Hawaii)
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- Mmmhhh some delicious breakfast after the exercise
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- And some more 🙂
Thank you for your Birthday wishes
Thank you so much for your birthday wishes from around the world. I had a great day, starting with sounds of wave from the ocean and a great run on the beach. Then some healthy breakfast (at least the carot cake sounded healthy :P), talking and messaging to friends and family, enjoying the day in a spa and talking to a surf guru here in Hawaii who will take me surfing tomorrow.
If you haven’t figured out a birthday present yet 😉 Here is an idea and the awesome part of that present: You become a part of my trip. How good is that! As you might know I’m traveling to Nicaragua in April to help building a school in a coastal area. With your support now, we will have sufficient material to build the school. How awesome is that!
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- Thumb up for the sunrise here in Kaua’i
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- Running on the beach
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- Yeah, running on the beach is awesome!
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- Birthday breakfast with view to the ocean. No, I’m not in a prison 😛
Pu’u’ula’ula Mountain Sunrise in Maui
Wow what a great spectacle on Pu’u’ula’ula Mountain in Haleakala National Park. After catching the sunset the evening before and sleeping at the summit (Thanks to my couchsurfer friend Jen I had enough blankets for the night) at
5:30am and the nightly sky awakes with hints of red on the horizon. Watching this at 10.000 ft and above the clouds awesome! Check out some pictures and the timelapse video from my trip to the top of Maui.
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- Sunset on top of Maui
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- Sunset thumb up 🙂
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- After a night at the summit the next day awakes …
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- Sunrise thumb up 🙂
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- Sunrise above clouds
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- A small crowed shared the sunrise experience
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- Just after sunrise
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- “Sea clouds”
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- Yeah parking slot where I slept at 10.000 feet
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- Silver cactus
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- Great moon landscape
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- Thumb up for the Moon landscape
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- The sun is out at the top of Maui 🙂
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- View down to Maui
Whale watching in Hawaii
Beginning of February and it is whale watching season here in Hawaii especially on Maui. So I boarded the whale watching cruise from TRILOGY in Ma’alaea and saw some amazing creatures in action. What an awesome experience. Check out some pictures:
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- First some instructions from the captain
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- And then almost immediately a baby whale showed up
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- And the mother was not far way
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- Wow, how amazing
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- Yeah
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- So much action just in front of our boat
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- Sail Boat impression
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- Stay curious and ask lots of questions
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- And more action
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- The sun is out and the whale tail as well
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- Close up of the whale tail
Waikiki Sunset
Waikiki was my first stop in Hawaii and I had the opportunity to watch some sunsets. Beside that I organized my trip to the other islands (Maui, Big Island and Kauai), stocked up my equipment, went running, snorkeling and enjoyed some amazing food but this is for another blog article.
Bronte2Bondi run
This famous coastal walk was many times my running track for the last couple of weeks here in Sydney.
Surf Australia
Surfing is an amazing sport for me and so in the past weeks I spend some days surfing on the beach. Most of the time I was surfing in the morning, which was amazing. Wake up just before sunrise and then see how the day starts in the city and on the beach. One day I arrived at 6:20am at Bondi Beach and the whole beach was already packed with people: Swimmers, Runners, Surfers, Exercise Groups, Boxing Groups, Walkers, Kayakers. It was amazing to see how many people are enjoying this amazing beach life and I had the honor to be part of it. Check out the video and support me …
Summer in the City
The last couple of weeks I spend in Sydney enjoying the summer time in this amazing city. With great city beaches, Nature, National Parks, Culture events, Great Rock Pools and Friends.
Here some impressions:
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- Birgit used to study with me at Macquarie University and we haven’t seen for 9 years. Great catch up, thanks 🙂
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- Christmas eve and time to go to church in Manly
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- Bronte beach, yeah!
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- Sydney Opera
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- Opera with Petra
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- Great evening
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- And a lots off entertainment
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- Anja visiting Australia and we had a short time to catch up
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- yummy, some delicious food
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- Sunrise on the 31st of december
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- Celebrating New Years eve together with Lily, Ken and Yuka
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- Trying to catch some waves at Marouba
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- Bondi Beach Graffiti
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- Sunrise at Maroubra Beach
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- Bondi Beach
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- Catching up with Iris after her trip to Korea, New York and Japan
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- Catching up with Simon
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- Sufer budy Jake
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- Impression from Bondi Beach (Actually I was chassing those birds a couple of time for this picture :P)
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- Tamarama Surf Club
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- Tamarama Beach
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- With Anna and Yoke at the Sydney Festival
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- With Yoke, Anna and Carol ot the Sydney Festival
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- Petra surfing at Bondi
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- My favorite flower
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- Hug others and use physical touch to radiate positive feelings
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- Major Brain freeze 😉
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- Great coastal walk with Carmen and Lily
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- Enjoying the beach life at Bronte with Petra
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- Coastal walk in the Royal National Park
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- Petra Surf Impression
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- Yeah riding the wave
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- Bronte Rock Pool: With some nice waves coming into the rock pool
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- Carols in the Domain
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- Carols in the Domain with Hailey
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- Botanical Garden Impression
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- Wave from down under
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- Impression out of the window in the Bronte apartment
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- Yeah some fun time in the water
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- Trying to catch some waves
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- Josh at Little Bay
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- Surf lesson
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- Ok that’s how summer should be, dry and 41°C awesome!
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- Big duck in Darling Harbour
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- Olympic Swimming Pool
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- This was a great pool next to the Harbour Bridge
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- Macquarie University where I used to study back in 2003
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- Impressions from Bondi Beach
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- Yeah, be your best in 2013!!!
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- I love this view from the Harbour Bridge