Category Archives: Places

They’re back

A Humpback Whale dives in the waters off Hawaii

The Humpback Whale season here has been underway for a few weeks, but I hadn’t seen many until a few days ago. Then, on one of my coast walks, I saw half a dozen or more.

This whale was in the company of another one, which had dived just before this. I like the curve of the tail and how the water drains off it, just before it’s full submerged.

The Numbers Game #53

A Black-crowned night heron struggles o get out of an algae covered pond
A Black-crowned Night Heron in a spot of bother in a pond at Kawaihae.

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

A Lesser Brown Scorpion in Hawaii
A lively Lesser Brown Scorpion.
A passion vine butterfly on a tasselflower
A Passion-vine Butterfly getting to grips with a tasselflower.
A white-tailed tropicbird flying over North Kohala, Hawaii
A White-tailed Tropicbird.
Two Kona Brewing Company beer taps
Beer taps.
Footsteps mark the way at Kaulana Manu Nature Trail in Hawaii
Just so you don’t get lost at Kaulana Manu Nature Trail.
The breakwater at Kawaihae, Hawaii
The breakwater at Kawaihae appears to lead the way to Maui.

Railway remains

Remains of the old sugar port at Mahukona, Hawaii

Mahukona was the terminus for the railway which served the sugar plantations of North Kohala from the 1880s until its closure in 1945. There was no proper dock at Mahukona, so ships anchored offshore and the sugar was boated out to them.

There are quite a few relics from that time at Mahukona, including a terminus building. The area in this photo was likely a place where railway engine and equipment maintenance took place.

For more information about the Kohala sugar railroad, go to https://coffeetimes.com/blogs/history-culture/sugar-and-steam-in-kohala

The Eddie

A surfer catches a wave at Keokea Beach Park, Hawaii

The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, commonly known as “The Eddie,” is scheduled to be held today. This big wave surfing event, at Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu, only takes place when open-ocean swells reach a minimum height of 20 feet. Such swells result in wave faces of 30 to 40 feet in the bay. Because of this requirement, this event will be only the eleventh to go during the 40-year history of the tournament.

The tournament is invitation-only with 45 competitors lined up this year. If you’re interested in seeing the activities, the contest will be streamed on ripcurl.com or rogue.tv, starting around 8:00 am local time.

For more information about the event, go to https://www.theeddieaikau.com/ or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eddie.

The photo was taken from Keokea Beach Park, and features much, much smaller waves!