Author Archives: Graham

About Graham

I take photos when I'm out and about, recording life on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Pololu

Pololu is at the end of the highway in Kohala. A popular destination for visitors, social media coverage has now boosted it into the burgeoning overrun category. Last week, I headed out there for the first time in ages, intending to walk down to the beach and see if the place had changed.

When I got to the end of the road, I found several people involved in organizing parking and giving out information. This was certainly new. The parking is still inadequate for the number of visitors, but a parcel of land, near the end of the road, is supposed to become a parking and information area, though the time frame for that is a bit vague.

With rain pushing along the coast, I didn’t go down to the beach, but the views along the coast and up the valley are still wonderful. Do me a favor though, and keep that to yourselves!

The birds

Birds perch on wires and a fence under a brooding sky in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Eerie.’ See more responses here.

These birds were on the ground when I approached, but then took to the air in unison. They quickly landed on the fence and overhead wires and it became eerily quiet again. I immediately thought of the Hitchcock film, and hastened on.

Spotted Coral Blenny

I saw this Spotted Coral Blenny perched on a small coral head, as they typically do. I snapped a quick photo an instant before the fish zipped down behind the rock. I’ve seen the same fish there a few times since, but it disappears before I can try another photo. Given its elusiveness, I was happy this photo turned out pretty well.

Whittington Beach Park

Whittington Beach Park sits on Honuʻapo Bay, a few miles northeast of the island’s southern tip. There’s no beach at the park, but there are old fish ponds and a lagoon where it’s relatively safe to get in the water. This makes it popular with locals, since such places are few and far between on this wild and rocky stretch of coast.

The early Hawaiians established a fishing village here that lasted until the mid-1800s, when drought, earthquakes and a tsunami brought about its demise. Some years later, a port was reestablished where goods could be brought to and from the surrounding area, which was home to a large sugar plantation.

The remains of a concrete pier, built in 1910, can still be seen at the southeastern end of the park. I’ve read conflicting accounts of the cause of it’s demise, including a tsunami and bombing by U.S. planes in 1942 to prevent it being used by the Japanese in WWII!

The old pier at Whittington Beach Park, Hawaii

These days, it’s a good spot to watch the waves, and the noddies, twirling through the air as they go to and fro from their homes on the nearby cliffs.

Hawaiian Noddys on the old pier at Whittington Beach Park, Hawaii

Sleepy Orange Butterfly

A Sleepy Orange Butterfly rests on dry vegetation on the South Kona coast.

Water abstracts

The look of clear water depends on what’s below.

The Numbers Game #44

Billowy clouds over the Alenuihāhā Channel between Maui and the Big Island, Hawaii — Clouds pile up over the ʻAlenuihāhā Channel.

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 165. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

A rainy day at Upolu Airport, Hawaii — A plane parked at Upolu under ominous skies.

A giant trevally in the waters off Hawaii — A plane parked at Upolu under ominous skies.

A black saddlebags dragonfly — A Black Saddlebags Dragonfly.

The remains of a building at Kiholo, Hawaii — A Black Saddlebags Dragonfly.

Sanderling

Sanderlings are common winter visitors to Hawaii and are found mostly on the many beaches here. I saw a couple at Hapuna, probing the sand around a lagoon left by the floods earlier this year.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii