
This rustic bench behind the beach at Pololu is a good spot to just sit and watch the waves.
Posted for Jude’s Bench Challenge (here).

This rustic bench behind the beach at Pololu is a good spot to just sit and watch the waves.
Posted for Jude’s Bench Challenge (here).

I had these in my garden in Washington State, at least during the summer months. I still can’t get over them blooming here year-round.

I bet this is there because someone, down below, is sleeping with the fishes.

In Hawaii, it’s illegal to be within 50 yards of dolphins in the water. The idea is to give them space to carry on with their normal activities without being influenced or pressured by humans.
However, during my last swim a few days ago, I was startled to see a pod of Spinner Dolphins zoom into view and pass by just a few feet away. Short of having access to Star Trek’s transporter, there was no way in the world I was going to be able to put 50 yards between me and the dolphins before they put several hundred yards between them and me. I had time enough to realize my camera had gone into sleep mode, wake it up, and get blurry shots of the disappearing dolphins. Regardless of the photos, it’s always nice to see dolphins and it had been quite a while since I’d done so in the water.

A few minutes later another small pod went by, also at speed, also with no good photo opportunity. A third pod followed with even less chance of a decent photo. But then I saw a fourth pod approaching at a slightly more leisurely pace and managed to get a few photos as they cruised by. Most of my photos weren’t up to much, but I was very happy that these two came out better than I had hoped for. Definitely the highlight of the weekend for me.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 196. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.







On the Big Island, Mamalahoa Highway is known as the top road. It’s part of the original road around the island. In the 1970s, the stretch between Kaiwaihae and Kailua Kona was supplemented with a new highway along the coast, known as Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway or Queen K Highway.
Mamalahoa Highway travels father inland, up on the slopes of Hualalai Volcano. When it get towards Kailua Kona, those slopes are steep. It’s a big residential area with spectacular views out towards Maui and the sunset. The downside of the location is that anyone living there needs to make sure the brakes on their vehicles are always in tiptop condition.
Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card. See more responses here.

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Parks.’ See more responses here.
Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is the best known park on the island. It covers 354,461 acres, which includes, not just the Kilauea area, but up to the summit of Mauna Loa and down the southwest rift zone of that volcano. The park contains 106 miles of roads and 155 miles of marked trails, many of them well off the beaten track.
I’ve hiked a lot in the park, though I doubt I’ll ever cover all the trails, but these photos are from ones I’ve done with links to the original posts for those interested.













Also posted for Jo’s Monday Walk. See more responses here.

I saw this helicopter flying back and forth over these power lines. The power company hires the pilot to check out the lines to spot potential issues that can be fixed before they cause problems. These days, that work is being increasingly turned over to drone operators who can do it at less cost, though not as quickly as the helicopter.