Category Archives: Places

Hualali from Old Saddle Road

A view of Hualali volcano in the late afternoon sun, sandwiched between the lower slopes of Mauna Kea, in the foreground, and heavy clouds overhead.

Birds bathing

Two Japanese white-eyes and a yellow-billed cardinal take a dip in one of the ponds at Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, also known as Place of Refuge. The ponds are very popular with birds and it’s a good spot to sit and watch them for a while.

For more information about Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, visit https://www.nps.gov/puho/index.htm.

Better Days: ’Aimakapa Fishpond sluice

’Aimakapa Fishpond is one of two fishponds at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. The other is Kaloko Fishpond, which is separated from the ocean by a huge rock wall, currently being restored. ’Aimakapa Fishpond’s barrier is made up of sand dunes.

A channel was dug to the ocean to allow water to circulate back and forth and, at the ocean end (seen here), a sluice gate (makaha) installed. The sluice gate helped keep predators out. These days it isn’t used and so the channel has silted up with sand.

Fishponds are different to fish traps. Ponds allow for the rearing of fish from small fry. Traps are shallow walled enclosures, which fish can cross at high tide, but cannot escape from when the tide goes out.

For more information about Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, go to www.nps.gov/kaho/index.htm.

Barges that pass in the day

The photo above poses the question as to whether this barge captain is entirely clear on the concept. The photo below reveals that, yes, he or she is. These are two of the inter-island barges passing in the Alenuihaha Channel.

Clouds from Pu’u Wa’awa’a

A few days ago I did another hike up Pu’u Wa’awa’a, a large cinder cone north of Kona. I planned the hike to coincide with one of the days of latest sunrise here, just after 7 a.m.. My idea was to arrive at the trailhead at 6 a.m., when the gate opens, and head up as quickly as I could in order to get the best shot at early morning light from the summit. This meant getting up by 4 a.m. and setting out by 5 a.m.

Defying all historical precedents, I was there five minutes early. The new automated gates opened before me and in no time I was hotfooting up the trail, flashlight in hand, in order to avoid breaking an ankle in the one of the many potholes in the old road that makes up the first part of the trail.

One advantage of hiking in the dark is that I didn’t stop every five minutes to take a photo of a goat or bug. Still, an hour into the hike, as the light improved, I couldn’t help but pause when I spotted a large wild pig excavating – no other word for it – a large hole in the hillside in the search for worms and the like (alas the photos weren’t great – not enough light).

By 7:30 a.m. I reached the top of the climb. I already knew I wasn’t going to get the hoped-for blaze of early morning sun – too many clouds from the get-go – but this photo shows the moody light that greeted me. I considered this a worthy consolation prize. And then there was the fact that I had the summit to myself for 90 minutes, and the mamane trees on the west side were in bloom and attracting Hawaii ‘amakihi and hordes of bees (look for several dozen photos of these in the near future!).

For more information about Pu’u Wa’awa’a and its trails, go to puuwaawaa.org.

Orchids

This week’s WordPress photo challenge is ‘Variations on a theme.’ One of my first thoughts was orchids. It’s a family of flowers that is constantly changing as one plant is crossed with another to produce something a little different. So this is a collage of some orchids I’ve photographed at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.

For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.

Mauna Kea telescopes at sunset

A final post based on the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which is ‘Silence.’

Unless the wind is howling, the top of Mauna Kea is a quiet place. The immensity of the volcano below and the sky above seems to swallow all sound. There’s no wildlife up there, just a few visitors wandering about, and telescopes silently probing space.

At sunset, the quiet is enhanced, despite an influx of people for the event. Perhaps it’s the dimming light or the muffling layer of billowy clouds around the volcano, but there’s a profound silence and a tranquility not easily found elsewhere.

Billbergia pyramidalis

Another post based on the theme of this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, which is ‘Silence.’

I like to visit Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden a few times a year. The last time I was there, I got the last spot in the parking lot and expected to spend the morning elbowing my way through crowds. Imagine my surprise when I set out on the path into the garden and found it deserted. No one going down ahead of me, no one puffing their way up either. For a few minutes it was just me and a profusion of tropical plants, one of which was this Billbergia pyramidalis.

Billbergia pyramidalis is a bromeliad, also known as ‘Flaming torch.’ I wonder why?