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Above the clouds, another side of Hawaiʻi comes
into

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view.

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This is Mauna Kea.

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Welcome to Travelscapes.

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See the road.

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Hear the story.

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Today, we are following the road up Mauna Kea,

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on the island of Hawaiʻi.

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Filmed in summer, this journey takes us from the

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mountain road to the observatories high above
the clouds.

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We will take time to look around, before
following

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a little of the road back down.

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At first, the landscape still holds some green.

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Grass and low shrubs soften the volcanic slopes,
and

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the road gives us a familiar line to follow.

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But the mountain is already changing the scale
of the view.

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The further we climb, the more space there seems

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to be between us and the rest of the island.

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The paved road gives way to gravel.

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Pale dust, dark rock, and warm brown earth

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begin to dominate the picture.

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It is a different kind of Hawaiian landscape
from the

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beaches and tropical forests.

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Here, the journey is shaped by the mountain
itself,

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with bends and gradients that ask us to slow
down.

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The route keeps turning across the slope.

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One bend reveals a wall of dark volcanic rock;

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another opens a glimpse of cloud beyond the edge
of the road.

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Rather than rushing through the climb, we can
follow

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these changes at the pace of the drive.

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Each corner gives us a slightly different view
of the mountain.

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Mauna Kea rises to roughly four thousand two
hundred metres above

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sea level.

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That makes it the highest point in Hawaiʻi.

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The road does not take us to the exact summit,

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but it brings us into the high mountain
landscape around

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the observatories.

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Even through a camera, the change in
surroundings is

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striking.

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These slopes were built by volcanic activity.

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The rounded cinder cones and scattered rock
record different chapters

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in the mountain’s history.

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The upper landscape was also shaped by glaciers
during past ice ages.

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It is a reminder that this tropical island has a

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much more varied story than its shoreline
suggests.

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Look at the colours beside the road.

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The soil moves from grey and charcoal to rusty
red and brown.

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Against that clear blue sky, even a simple curve

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becomes a strong shape.

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There is very little here to distract from the
contours

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of the land, and that is part of what

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makes the view so compelling.

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By this stage, the vegetation has largely
disappeared from the view.

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The mountain is reduced to a few strong
elements:

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rock, soil, sky, and the line of the road.

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The upper slopes can seem simple at first, but

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the longer we watch, the more clearly the
different

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ridges and cones stand apart.

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On the upper road, the horizon begins to open.

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The clouds are no longer just something
overhead.

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They become a layer below the mountain,
stretching away

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from the slopes.

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Let us leave the narration for a moment, and

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follow this final part of the climb.

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The observatories bring a new set of shapes into
the

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landscape.

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White domes stand against the dark ground and
the blue

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sky.

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Mauna Kea’s altitude, dry air, and clear
conditions

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make it an exceptional place to study the
universe.

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Much of the atmosphere lies below these
telescopes, helping

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astronomers observe the light reaching Earth.

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A few steps can change the whole composition.

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The observatories rise above the road, while the
slopes

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open out beyond them.

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Let us take a little more time to look around.

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Our visit stays outside the observatory
buildings.

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From here, the wider landscape is as interesting
as

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the structures themselves.

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Roads thread between volcanic ridges, while the
cloud layer

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gathers beyond them.

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These are working scientific facilities, set
within a mountain

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whose meaning reaches far beyond astronomy.

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Mauna Kea holds deep spiritual and cultural
significance for Native Hawaiians.

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Its importance is rooted in relationships
between people, ancestors,

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and the land.

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Views about the mountain’s future are diverse,
and its

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stewardship remains an important responsibility.

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Visiting with respect means recognising that
this is more than

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a scenic viewpoint.

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Beyond the buildings, the mountain draws our
attention back

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to the land.

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The dark ridges overlap against the cloud layer,
and

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the light reveals the texture of the ground.

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We can pause here, and let the view speak for
itself.

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Walking around the observatory area changes our
perspective again.

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From the vehicle, the road carried our attention
forward.

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Here, there is time to turn towards the ridges

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and to look across the cloud layer.

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The scale is difficult to capture in a single
frame.

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Moving views and still photographs each reveal a
different part of it.

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The photographs give us a chance to linger on
details

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that pass quickly in moving footage.

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The reddish brown soil, the curves of the cinder

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cones, and the light across the volcanic terrain
all

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become easier to study.

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There is an extraordinary amount of texture in a
landscape

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that, from a distance, can seem almost bare.

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For a little while, we can simply look.

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The domes sit on the skyline, the roads curl

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across the slopes, and the clouds stretch out
below.

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No night sky is needed to appreciate this place.

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In daylight, the mountain offers its own quiet
sense of scale.

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Now we turn towards the descent.

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This is just a short part of the return journey,

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enough to see how the same landscape changes
when we

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face the other way.

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The road draws us back towards the cloud layer,

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and the high mountain begins to recede behind
us.

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From the climb to the observatories, Mauna Kea
has shown

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us a remarkable side of Hawaiʻi.

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Thank you for travelling with Travelscapes.

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I’ll see you on the next road.