Located at the eastern end of Waikiki Beach, the Diamond Head Crater is a familiar landmark to the throngs of tourists who today pack the high-rise hotels in the area. For mariners of yesteryear, Diamond Head also served as a landmark for their approach to the harbor at Honolulu from the west coast of the United States. In the 1820s, sailors discovered what they believed were diamonds in the rocks on the volcano's slopes. Although the sailor's diamonds turned out to be clear calcite crystals, the name Diamond Head has been associated with the crater ever since.
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During the night of October 2, 1893 the SS Miowera grounded on the reef just off Diamond Head. As Diamond Head was obscured that evening, the vessel's captain had mistaken the high land to the north of the crater as Diamond Head and had brought his ship too close to shore. All passengers and cargo were safely off-loaded, but it took six weeks to free the Miowera. Four years later, the magnificent steamship China also ran aground. It was widely believed that both of these incidents could have been avoided had a light been shown from Diamond Head. Captain King became weary of hearing the pros and cons of the case, and after a few trips to the vicinity with Mr. Rowell, the Superintendent of Public Works, drove a stake for the site of the beacon. ... There was ordered at once the material for the illumination and for the towers. The iron for the structure has arrived and as soon as some road is made to the slope point, work on the structure will begin.
Besides continuing its nightly vigil over the reefs at Diamond Head, the lighthouse also serves as one end of the finish line for the biennial Transpac Yacht Race, which starts 2,225 miles away in Long Beach, California. During the race, members of the Transpacific Yacht Club are allowed to use the tower as a lookout for recording finishing times. The road near the lighthouse is packed with people watching the beautiful yachts, under full sail, riding the trade winds towards Honolulu. Even when there isn't a race to watch, the pullouts near the lighthouse offer amazing views of the surf and those who are drawn to ride it. Maria sent me this nice card.
Svolvær is the administrative centre of Vågan Municipality (9,200 inhabitants) in Lofoten, Nordland County, Norway. The town itself has a population of 4,378 as of 1 January 2006. Svolvær was separated from Vågan as a town, and municipality of its own, in 1919 - but it was again merged with Vågan January 1, 1964. The place is first mentioned in 1567 ("Suoluer"), but it is probably much older. Svolvær is located in Lofoten on the south coast of Austvågøy, facing the open sea to the south, and with mountains immediately to the north. The most famous mountain, Svolværgeita, was first climbed in 1910. Svolvær is partly located on smaller islands, such as Svinøya, connected to the main island by way of the Svinøy Bridge. Sheltered by the mountains to the north and west, the Svolvær area has less fog and experiences somewhat higher daytime temperatures in summer than the western part of Lofoten, but the same mountains also create more orographic precipitation on rainy days (weather forecast). Precipitation is heaviest in autumn and winter; October averages three times as much rain as does June. Svolvær has an average frost-free season of nearly 6 months. My friend Sissel sent me this lovely card.
From its location on a small island south of Juneau, the Five Finger Lighthouse has guided ships through Alaska’s scenic Frederick Sound since 1902. After fire destroyed the original wood station in 1933, a concrete, Art Deco – style tower and lantern were erected. The lighthouse was automated in 1984. This nice card was sent to me by Maria.
Merja sent me this card with a serene background and about twenty people straining at the oars. This is a Churchboat of Siitama Village in Finland, built in 1875. It has 10 pairs of oarlocks. And, is 15.5 m long. Some of you may wonder, where this place Siitama is? It is a village in Västra Finlands Län, Finland. It is 102 miles (164km) north of Helsinki and 97 miles (156km) north of Espoo.
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the north of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the south of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours, mostly north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. The number of days per year with potential midnight sun increases the farther poleward one goes from the equator. Although approximately defined by the polar circles, in practice midnight sun can be seen as much as 90 km beyond the polar circle, because the sun is a disk and not a point, and the exact latitudes of the farthest reaches of midnight sun depend on topography and vary slightly year-to-year.
Where is the Land of the Midnight Sun? The sun shining at midnight in the arctic or Antarctic summer is known as the midnight sun. Norway is popularly called the “Land of the Midnight Sun” because this phenomenon has been more frequently observed in that region by visitors from western Europe and the United States. The description would be equally applicable to other high latitudes above the Arctic Circle, such as northern. Russia, northern Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland, where in midsummer the sun does not sink below the horizon at any time within the twenty-four hours of the day. Instead of setting as it does in our latitudes, the sun in these regions merely goes around and around above the horizon, being part of the time in the north. In Iceland, for instance, during June and July, daylight is perpetual and a person can read a book by natural light at any time of the night. Within a distance of about four minutes of arc from the North Pole the sun rises and sets but once a year; in other words, the year is composed of one day and one night, each six months ‘in length. The number of sunrises in a year increases from one at the Pole to 365 at a short distance south of the Arctic Circle. Strictly speaking, only the northern part of Norway lies within the domain of the midnight sun. Similar conditions with the seasons reversed exist in the Antarctic. On March 21 the relative positions of the earth and sun are such that the latter illuminates exactly one-half of the surface of the former, and on that date night and day are equal in length in all parts of the world. Three months later, when the earth has completed a fourth of its circuit around the sun, the North Pole is turned toward the sun and the South Pole away from it. Another three months later the days and nights are once more equal in length everywhere on the earth. By December 21, when the earth has completed three-fourths of its circuit around the sun, the South Pole is turned toward the sun and the North Pole away from it. Of course, the land of the midnight sun is also the land of midday night. In the far north and the far south a person can observe the interesting phenomenon of a sunrise and sunset at the same time. This card sent to mr by Sissel depicts the Land of the Midnight sun appropriately.
