Yellow plume flower (Justicia aurea) hails from Mexico and Central America. This one was at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
For more information about Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, go to htbg.com.
Signs: Mauna Kea summit
Above: The sign by the start of the trail to Mauna Kea summit.
Below: Two disrespectful people and one more on the way, dwarfed by the scale of the volcano.
2017 Ironman World Championship
Yesterday was the Ironman World Championship race on the island. The race, comprising of a 2 mile swim, a 110 mile bike ride, and a running marathon, starts and ends in Kailua Kona. I usually check in with the race in the vicinity of the bike leg turnaround at Hawi.
Top: The race leaders head up the hill toward the turnaround, accompanied by support vehicles, race marshals, and cameramen.
Second photo: Pumping the pedals is hard work, but can be colorful.
Third photo: Lionel Sanders of Canada led the race at this point, but lost the lead before he got back to this spot on the return journey. However, he retook the lead later and only lost it a couple of miles from the marathon finish, to Patrick Lange of Germany.
Fourth photo: Bentley Walker of the United States digs deep approaching the turnaround at Hawi.
Bottom: Like Sanders, Lucy Charles of Great Britain led the women’s race heading toward Hawi, but she, too, ultimately finished second, behind Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. Charles and Lauren Brandon of the United States were well clear of the rest of the women’s field at this point.
Gargantuan blenny
This week’s WordPress photo challenge is on the theme of scale. The idea is to “experiment with placement and scale to show how big (or small) you can feel in a photo.”
These photos don’t do that. It’s not the image that speaks to scale, it’s the name. I mean, this isn’t a big blenny, or a huge blenny, or even a giant blenny. This is a gargantuan blenny. I feel like I should type the word in all caps – GARGANTUAN – to do it justice.
The photos were taken on different days, but in the same area, and it’s probably the same fish. The bright spots are more numerous toward the front and really catch the light in the second photo.
And just how big is this blenny? Typically, they top out at about 7 inches long and this fish was probably about that, but in blenny-world, 7 inches is, well, GARGANTUAN.
Kilauea Iki Crater trail
These views of the trail across Kilauea Iki Crater, taken from the rim of the crater, give some idea of the scale of Kilauea Volcano.
Above, a group of people, looking very small, walk the trail across the crater floor.
To the left, smoke and gases from the active vent in Halema’uma’u Crater can be seen. Halema’uma’u Crater is part of the Kilauea Caldera which is much, much bigger than Kilauea Iki Crater. And, yes, that same group is still visible on the trail in this second photo, along with several others hiking the trail.
For more information about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/. For more information about Kilauea Volcano and it’s eruptions, go to hvo.wr.usgs.gov/kilauea/history/main.html.
Stick insect
One thing I like about macro photography is that, sometimes, something in the photo gives a twist to the scale of things. This stick insect could be any size, but the tire tread suggests it’s fairly small. Except the tread looks so big and imposing, perhaps it’s a tire on one of those huge earth moving machines, which would make the stick insect a formidable size.
In fact, it’s just a truck tire and if the insect doesn’t move, it will become even more closely acquainted with the treads.
Mini helicopter
This mini helicopter was parked at Upolu Airport recently. A single seater, it looks like a home-built aircraft. A little while later, I heard a clattering noise and saw it airborne, headed east along the coast.
Abstracts: Kohala grass
Cattle trails wander through pastureland on Kohala Mountain.
