The cement works at the port of Kawaihae catches the early morning sun.
Category Archives: Weather
Hualali sunset
The sun sets behind Hualali, as seen from the lower slopes of Mauna Kea.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘Rise/set.’
Mauna Kea sunrise
Sunrise casts soft light on Mauna Kea and the town of Waimea, as seen from Kohala Mountain Road.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘Rise/set.’
View from Pu’u Kalepeamoa on Mauna Kea
One of my favorite places on the Big Island is Mauna Kea. Besides being an imposing volcano, it also has a surreal quality with its mix of smaller volcanic cones and high tech telescopes around the summit.
This view is from Pu’u Kalepeamoa, otherwise known as Sunset Hill. Pu’u Kalepeamoa is lower on the mountain, at about 9,400 feet, a short hike from the visitor center. On this day, those low-hanging clouds ruled out a good sunset, but the light and shadows on the pu’us still made for a worthwhile view.
Posted in response to the WordPress photo challenge, ‘Favorite place’.
A black-crowned night heron snaffles a tilapia
This juvenile black-crowned night heron swooped down and snatched a large tilapia out of a pond in front of a house by the coast. Trouble is, the fish was a bit big and the heron struggled to swallow it. After working on it by the pond, the bird flew to the top of a tree where a strong wind added to its difficulties. It hopped over to a taller tree, which only made things worse, before setting down on the rocky shore nearby.
I saw the bird a few minutes later without the fish, but don’t know whether it finally managed to swallow it or gave up and ejected it. Either way it wasn’t a good day for the fish.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘Out of This World.’
Telescopes at sunset
Mauna Kea always has an out-of-this-world feel to me with its barren landscape dotted with high-tech telescopes. Then there’s the fact that those telescopes are searching beyond this world for information about the universe.
Here are two of those telescopes, with Maui in the distance.
Posted in response to this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge, ‘Out of This World.’
White sand and palms
White sand, towering palms, blue sky, and almost invisible in this quintessential Hawaiian image, a single small figure.
In response to WPC ‘A face in the crowd.’
Green Sand Beach
This week’s WordPress photo challenge is ‘Tour Guide’ which I’m happy to use as my theme for this week’s posts. Since this is Hawaii, a good place to start is at the beach. This one is Papakōlea Beach, better known as Green Sand Beach. It’s about 3 miles northwest of South Point, the most southerly point in the United States.
The beach lies in a bay formed when the ocean eroded one side of an old cinder cone, Pu’u Mahana. The green color of the sand is a result of olivine in the lava. Since it’s heavier than other things in the lava, it stays on the beach. Swimming is possible in the shelter of this deep bay, but be careful. This coast is notorious for dangerous surf and strong currents.
It’s 2 1/2 miles to the beach from the parking area. There’s a very rough four-wheel drive road, which you can drive, or locals will ferry you out for a fee. The other alternative is to hike out along the coast, which is what I did.
You’re not likely to have the beach to yourself, but you will have a share of a beautiful, remote beach, a view all the way to Tahiti (you might have to stand on a rock), and the opportunity to broil on the distinctive green sand.
Graham's Island 