Category Archives: Places

Old Saddle Road

Old Saddle Road on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Saddle Road was first established during World War II as a rough and ready route for military vehicles to traverse the Big Island. After the war, the road was handed over to civilian authorities. The road got paved after a fashion, but it was never upgraded or maintained to normal civilian standards. Consequently, the two-lane highway was rife with poor paving, potholes, crumbling shoulders, sharp bends, and one lane bridges. Add to this that the upper parts of the road are often cloaked in thick cloud with minimal visibility and it’s no surprise to learn it was considered one of the most dangerous paved roads in the state. Until quite recently rental car companies wouldn’t allow their customers to drive the road.

A little more than 10 years ago, significant upgrading of the highway began. Since then, sections have been realigned, repaved, or newly constructed altogether. In 2013, this new, improved road was connected with Māmalahoa Highway on the western side. Later this year, the last new stretch on the eastern side should be completed.

In 2013, the highway was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, honoring the longtime senator from Hawaii, but it’s still referred to as Saddle Road by most people. And on the western side, around milepost 44, the old Saddle Road veers off to the north from the new highway, up this hill with its flat spots for the one-lane bridges. This part of the old road was repaved a few years back, but the eastern end is very much in the tradition of the old road. Pockmarked with ill-matching layers of asphalt, it’s a bumpy ride. There are several places where I’ve been unwise enough to pull to the side only to clunk through a deep gulley running beside the pavement.

So, considering all this, it should come as no surprise to hear that it’s one of my favorite stretches of road to drive on the island. The curves, the ups and downs are fun – when the weather’s good. It passes through beautiful pastureland. And it’s a great place to see pueos, the endemic Hawaiian short-eared owl, cruising over the fields, sitting on a post, and, wisely, staying out of traffic.

Abstracts: Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles

This pair of yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles were waiting for something at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens

This pair of yellow-spotted Amazon river turtles were waiting for something at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens. Perhaps they were plotting a breakout, figuring out how to cut through the mesh, before making a plod for it.

For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.

Grey crowned crane

A Grey crowned crane at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens in Hilo.A Grey crowned crane at Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens in Hilo.

The grey crowned crane hails from eastern and southern Africa. It is decidedly not something seen everyday in Hawaii, unless you visit Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens just outside Hilo. The zoo bills itself as the only natural rainforest zoo in the United States.

While I was there, this crane was getting in some serious preening.

For more information about Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens, go to hilozoo.org.

Pololu beach

Pololu beach looks like an inviting place, but is a dangerous place for a swim.

Pololu beach looks like an inviting place to get in the water, especially if you get hot on the hike down. But it’s a very dangerous spot to get in the water with strong rip currents. Local knowledge helps, but even locals get into trouble now and again. One of those places that looks inviting, but only up to a point.

Turbine worker

A worker checks out a turbine blade at Hawi Wind Farm.

A worker checks out a turbine blade at Hawi Wind Farm. He looked like he was using the kind of tools one would use to patch a ding on a car, which seemed incongruous on such a large machine. But I suppose even small irregularities on the surface of the blade, especially the leading edge, could significantly affect the turbine’s efficiency.

Abstracts: James Clerk Maxwell Telescope mirror framework

Framing supports the mirror on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope.

Last year, when I went on the Kama‘āina Observatory Experience, I visited a couple of telescopes. One of them was the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, a single-dish telescope dedicated to detecting submillimetre radiation.

One of the things I liked about that telescope was the structure of the supporting framework. It reminded me of something found at Ikea, but on a giant scale. If I’d been involved in putting it together, at the end of the day, when congratulations were being bandied about, I’d have been the one saying, “Er, I’ve got a rod and three little hexagonal nuts left over. Where do they go?”

Hale o Keawe at Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau

Hale o Keawe at Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park.Ki'i seen at Hale o Keawe at Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park.

Pu’uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park sits on the coast south of Kealakekua. It features a huge masonry wall that encloses the pu’uhonua or place of refuge. As the name indicates, this was a place that offered sanctuary to those who had broken sacred laws (kapu) or been defeated in battle. If they reached this place, they would be spared, absolved by a priest, and allowed to return home.

A large portion of the remainder of the park is known as the Royal Grounds where Hawaiian royalty (ali’i) lived. Hale o Keawe sits on the edge of the pu’uhonua and is a heiau that housed the bones of 23 of those ali’i. This gave the heiau tremendous mana, or spiritual energy. The wooden statues are ki’i representing Hawaiian gods. It’s an important structure, both culturally and historically.

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

Ki'i seen at Hale o Keawe at Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park.