Category Archives: Activities

I’m red, white and blue for you

A sign on a business in Kailua Kona Hawaii
The sign above the ABC Supply Company building in Kailua Kona. These letters always make me think of Elvis Costello’s song, Brilliant Mistake, which includes the lyrics: ‘She said that she was working for the ABC News. It was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use.’

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Red, White, & Blue.’ See more responses here.

Here’s my selection this week with captions on the photos.

A Ring-necked pheasant in Hawaii
A Ring-necked Pheasant.
A Yellow-billed cardinal in Hawaii
A Yellow-billed Cardinal ready to take a dip.
A Hawaii Life Flight helicopter at Upolu Airport, Hawaii
Hawaii Life Flight helicopter training at Upolu Airport.
An inflatable snowman outside a store in Hawaii
It’s not too early, is it?
St Augustines Episcopal Church in Kapaau, Hawaii
St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Kapaau
Canoe paddlers practice in the waters off Hawaii
Canoe paddlers out on the blue Pacific.

The Numbers Game #28

A view into Waipio Valley.

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

A Scrawled Filefish swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Scrawled Filefish.
A Flowery Flounder swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Flowery Flounder.
A green turtle swimming in the waters off Hawaii
Green Turtle.
The Pride of America anchored off Kailua Kona.
Two Nenes confront a mongoose.
An old bomber which crashed in the Kohala Mountains. Original post here.

Big Island landscapes

Puus on Mauna Kea summit in Hawaii
Pu’us are volcanic cinders cones from past eruptions. These are near the top of Mauna Kea.

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

There’s a bit of everything on the Big Island, so these are just few of the landscapes to be seen here. Captions on the photos.

Colorful Lava in Hawaii
Lava is a major landscape feature here, but it can be colorful.
A tree on the Hilina Pali Trail in Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii
The Hilina Pali Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
A views of Pohoiki Beach in Hawaii
The landscape here changes regularly. A view of Pohoiki Beach. Lava from the 2018 eruption on the right, new black sand beach on the left, and a smothered boat ramp with little swimming pool near the center.
A view of a valley in the Kohala Mountains in Hawaii
A view into one of the valleys of Kohala Mountain.
Part of the Pu'u O'o Trail in Hawaii
The Pu’u O’o Trail passes through old growth forests isolated by past eruptions.
A path winds through palm trees in Hawaii
On the coast, a path wanders through palm trees.
Pasture land on Kohala Mountain in Hawaii
Pastureland on Kohala Mountain.
A view of ranch land on Kohala Mountain in Hawaii
Cattle ranches border Kohala Mountain Road.
A View of Mauna Kea from The Fairmont Orchid in Hawaii
A view of Mauna Kea from the coast at the Fairmont Orchid Resort.

Scarface Blenny

A Scarface Blenny Peeks out from under a step at Mahukona, Hawaii

You don’t have to go far to see something interesting in the water. This Scarface Blenny hangs out around the ladder for getting in and out of the water at my local snorkel spot! I’d seen it before, but not been able to get a photo of it.

A few days ago, I had my camera ready as I approached the ladder. Sure enough, I saw the blenny’s head sticking out from below one of the ladder’s rungs. It quickly disappeared, but I hung on to the ladder to see if it would return. It did, and I was able to get a couple of shots.

I thought this was a Gargantuan Blenny, but when I got home and looked at the photos, I realized that the red eye ring and red marks on the face meant this was actually a Scarface Blenny. Both these blennies are endemic but the Scarface Blenny is slightly smaller than the other.

A Scarface Blenny Peeks out from under a step at Mahukona, Hawaii

The Numbers Game #27

An F-22 Raptor flies by at Kahului Airport, Maui.

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

A spinner dolphin doing what it’s named for.
A grasshopper wondering if it could do that!
A Great Frigatebird knows it doesn’t have to do any spinning because it glides supremely well.
A manta ray swims in the waters off Mauna Kea Resort, Hawaii
A manta ray swims in the waters off Mauna Kea Resort, Hawaii
A manta ray swims in the waters off Mauna Kea Resort, Hawaii
This Manta Ray is quietly confident it can spin and glide with the best of them!

Gotta have rain for a rainbow

A rainbow off the Kohala Coast, Hawaii, seen from the water

A couple of mornings ago, it was teeming down with rain at home. I still headed out for a swim because that spot, a few miles down the coast, is usually warm and dry. This was not one of those days. The sky was solid gray, the precipitation steady.

I have an irrational dislike of it raining when I swim! I mean, I’m getting wet anyway. What’s the difference? The main compensation on this occasion was the presence of this rainbow offshore. This rainbow stayed steady throughout the swim and was still there when I drove home, with the heater cranked up and the fan blowing strong.

A rainbow off the Kohala Coast, Hawaii

Fishing from the breakwater

A man fishes from the end of the breakwater at Kawaihae Harbor, Hawaii

There are signs asserting that fishing is prohibited in Kawaihae Harbor. This fisherman could argue he’s not in the harbor, but on the edge of it. However, since walking along the harbor breakwater is also prohibited, he’d still likely be in trouble. A lot of potential drama for what was a very tranquil scene, with Pu’u Wa’awa’a and Hualalai in the background!

Beware

A sign at Mahukona, Hawaii
A sign at Mahukona, Hawaii

The old boat hoist at Mahukona has been replaced, though it’s not yet ready to handle boats apparently. But recently, two new signs appeared at the site.

The top one, advising swimmers to beware of boaters is OK, though it implies there are boaters out there, cruising the waters, searching for swimmers to run down. If those boaters exist, I’ve yet to encounter them.

The second sign was the one that caught my eye though. Beware of swimmers! What do they think we’re going to do? Bite a hole in the boat? Attach a mine? Reach a long arm over the side and drag the boater to a watery grave? I guess ‘Watch out for…’ was too many letters!