Unearthly Sunrise

Ten thousand feet is a long way up for Australians -its 3000 feet above our tallest mountain. It's airplane height. So when the opportunity presented itself to ride bikes down from the summit of a ten thousand foot high volcano, we weren't going to refuse.

The trek up involved a 2AM get-up and drive to the far side of Maui, then a bus trip to the summit of Haleakala in time for first light. The Southern Cross (which we hadn't seen for a year) was low on the horizon, like a welcoming beacon. And when the sun finally rose the colours and view were spectacular. It was like a scene from another planet.

This shot was taken on the rim of the crater, looking out to the SouthEast at the far crater wall about 6 miles away.