Rattlesnake plant (Calathea Crotalifera) is native to Central and South America. This one was at Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, but it also grows in the wild in some places here.
For more information about Hawai’i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden, go to htbg.com.
A view of the Kau coast looking down towards Whittington Beach Park and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park beyond.
The high winds of a few weeks ago caused a fair amount of damage around the island. At Lapakahi State Historical Park, this tree was toppled and took out a bench that had been set up in its shade. The bench will have to be fixed and set up somewhere else because that shade isn’t coming back anytime soon.
I saw this old carriage on the way home from Hilo yesterday, parked in a grassy area of one of the ranches along Old Saddle Road. These days it’s being used as a planter it seems.
The top photo is posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card challenge. (See more responses here.) The bottom photo is one I took a few moments earlier. I like it better because the carriage is framed better, the photo is crisper, and a few minimal photo edits give it more pop.
Neoregelia carolinae is known as the blushing bromeliad because, when it’s going to flower, the center turns red, as this one has done.
On Monday, an early-morning glance up at the sky showed this unusual sight. It’s a balloon designed to fly at an altitude between 70,000 and 90,000 feet. The balloon, which is about 400-feet tall, is part of Project Aether, which seeks to demonstrate the stratospheric communication capabilities of unmanned balloons.
The balloon was launched from the airport in Waimea and in the photos was at an altitude of around 5,000 feet, but climbing steady. I followed it’s progress on Flightradar24 and later it had drifted out over the ocean and reached 78,000 feet. The next day, it disappeared. Not sure if that’s because its tracking failed or because something else happened to it.
The intention was for it to fly across the ocean and the U.S. mainland before being retrieved on the east coast. A second balloon was supposed to be launched a couple of days after this one, but I haven’t seen any sign of it yet, though that might simply be down to unsuitable weather conditions.
More information can be found here.
… And my response was, “You’re absolutely right. I’ll put my camera away and just keep walking.”
Punalu’u is one of the more popular places to visit on the Big Island. For one thing, it’s a black sand beach that’s easily accessible. It’s also a great place to see Green Turtles and sometimes Hawksbill Turtles. There’s picnic tables and restrooms, you can camp there, and it’s a beautiful stretch of coastline to wander along.
On my most recent visit, I was happy to see that the area where the turtles tend to rest has been more obviously identified with a rock wall and signs. This is part of the ongoing efforts to deter the ‘Let’s get a picture of little Billy riding the turtle’ crowd. Oh yes, they exist and, sadly, they’re nowhere near as endangered as the turtles. There is one turtle in this photo, but it looks like a rock.
Here’s a closer look.
And a close up (with a zoom lens), getting some much needed rest.
I really like Punalu’u, especially early in the day as this was. Later on, it can get very crowded.
