Visiting Kailua Kona, it’s never hard to know if a cruise ship is in. They invariably are the largest thing in view, dwarfing any and all of the downtown buildings. On a recent visit, I got this photo from the Walmart parking lot (a solid contender for the Walmart with the best view in the world!).
It used to be that Wednesday was cruise ship day, but currently there are three or four ships a week stopping by. This one is the Europa 2, which is operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. It carries up to 516 passengers, which means it is less crowded than most cruise ships.
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 136. Captions are on the photos.
I saw this sign in Kailua Kona during a downpour. Original post here.The lovely plumage of a zebra dove.A watchful pueo.A stick insect blending in.Vampire horse on the loose!
A Cattle Egret stands on a resting cow. No, it’s not dead!
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 129. You can see more responses here.
A Mourning Gecko on a Bird of Pardise flower.A Gold Dust Day Gecko on a Bird of Pardise flower.This stink bug landed on my shirt as I was trying to photograph it.A dive boat off the Kona Coast.Two Zebra Doves enjoy the late afternoon sun.A drop of water on a Passion Vine leaf.Sunset from the lanai.
The Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway was built in the 1970s to connect Kailua Kona to Kawaihae and Waimea along a coastal route. This also opened up the south Kohala coast for resort development that had been led by the Mauna Kea Resort, which opened in the late 1960s. Mauna Kea Resort is in the foreground of this image.
The approach to Kona Airport passes over barren lava fields and I often feel for people who must look down from the plane and wonder what the heck happened to the beautiful, tropical Hawaii they were looking forward to visiting. I know I felt that way on my first visit.
It was nice to get out of work earlier than expected yesterday. What wasn’t nice was to be five minutes into my return home and finding this scene.
This is the northern end of the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, the main coastal highway north of Kailua Kona. There aren’t a lot of alternative routes on the island, so this blocked road would have converted my 20 miles, 25-minute commute to three times the distance and at least a 90-minute drive over slower roads.
I was about to do just that, when I noticed the shipping container had already been moved off to the side of the road. I figured it must have been empty for them to be able to do that, which was probably the reason it blew over in the strong winds we had yesterday.
I’d been stopped for 10 minutes before a couple of police cars arrived. I watched for a while and then walked down to see how long they thought the road would be closed. As I approached, I saw the container’s trailer being bounced back onto its wheels. Typically, I got no useful information about how long the road would be blocked, but by the time I returned to my car, the trailer and two semi-trucks had driven off. All that remained was for the container to be removed. I decided to stick around.
The container retrieval truck, with its flashy green arms, was maneuvered into place and the rescue operation began. It took three tries before the container was successfully snagged and hauled aboard the truck, but once it was, traffic started to flow quickly and I was on my way again after a delay of not much longer than half an hour.
Easy does it.Not this time.Here we go.Got you this time.
I was very glad I decided to wait it out, though my happiness was rattled when, about five miles farther on, I saw blue lights flashing and traffic slowed. Luckily, it was just a couple of trees blocking one lane and I didn’t even have to stop.
The high winds are supposed to diminish today and I’ll be happy to see them go!
Almost like a video. Nothing moving, but the police lights flashing!
Another of the neon signs at the Harbor House restaurant in Kailua Kona. I like this one for the chair and the setting sun, but not for the beer I have to say!
Graham's Island 