Tag Archives: Kapaau

No Bike Tours

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A sign alongside the road at Pololu, Hawaii

Pololu is at the end of the main highway through North Kohala. It was popular with bike tour operators who would drop their clients in Hawi for the 15 mile round trip to Pololu lookout and back. However, the stretch from Kapaau is narrow and winding and the shoulder is slim to non-existent. It also gets a lot of traffic with people keen to see the views without getting all hot and sweaty. So after some accidents and more near misses, people lobbied to have the bike tours banned. This duly happened and is, on balance, a good thing I think.

I did like this sign, about 100 yards from the road end at Pololu. It seems a bit late to warn about the ban, but perhaps it’s meant to discourage tour operators from driving their clients to the end of the road and having them cycle back!

The brown and the gray

A praying mantis and it's shadow in Hawaii
A Praying Mantis casts a its shadow on a rail.

This month’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Any shade of brown and/or gray.’ See more responses here.

Also posted for Becky’s Squares: Shadows. See more responses here.

A black and white image of grid shadows in Hawaii
Grill shadows.
A Reticulated Cowrie in the waters off Hawaii
A Reticulated Cowry.
A harrowed field in Hawaii
A newly-harrowed field in North Kohala.
Wooden handles on a door in Kapaau, Hawaii
Door handles in Kapaau.
Brown moss or lichen growing on a tree in Hawaii
Growth on a tree trunk. Not sure if this is moss or lichen or something else!
A sonoran carpenter bee near a sign in Hawaii
A Sonoran Carpenter Bee confirms that it’s not forbidden to drill nest holes in the fence.

Scary Nurse

A scary nurse in a Halloween window display

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Scary.’ See more responses here.

I saw this in a local Halloween window display and imagined her as a real nurse entering my hospital room. Possible conversations soon followed.

“You say you had the same wrist surgery as I’m going to have! How did it go?”

“So you have my test results. How do they look?”

“How much blood do you need to draw?”

“Nice to hear you like giving your patients a hand.”

“Oh, you don’t use a machine to take x-rays.”

The Numbers Game #91

A Green turtle, with a slender remora on its shell, checks out the photographer
A Green Turtle gets up close and personal. Notice the Slender Remora along for the ride.

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

An endangered Palila.
Rows of produce at Sage Farm, a local organic farm.
The sun sets behind Hualalai volcano.
A swing set and its shadow in Kapaau.
Enter at your own risk!
An old Civilian Conservation Corps cabin on the slopes of Mauna Kea.

Jalousie windows

Reflections in Jalousie windows in Hawaii
Reflections in Jalousie windows in Hawaii

Jalousie windows, or louvered windows, are quite common in Hawaii. The old versions provide good ventilation, but aren’t great for keeping out rain, bugs, or people! I believe newer models are better in that regard. What I like about them is the interesting reflections they offer.