
The North Kohala coast is largely inaccessible except by water or by air. This view shows a few of the many waterfalls that plunge into the ocean along that stretch of coast.
The North Kohala coast is largely inaccessible except by water or by air. This view shows a few of the many waterfalls that plunge into the ocean along that stretch of coast.
This photo tells you all you need to know abut the winds up here in North Kohala. It also says a lot about the cattle pastures here. Many are currently overrun by weeds of one kind or another thanks to an ongoing cycle of droughts and rain.
There’s still a bit of snow on top of both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Every time it looks like it’s going to disappear, a new dusting bolsters the coverage.
This view is from Kohala Mountain Road. The dark strip snaking through the center of the photo is housing alongside Kawaihae Road, which goes down to the coast. These houses are part of the town of Waimea, which sits in the saddle between Mauna Kea and Kohala Mountain. This part of Waimea is known as the dryside because it receives significantly less rainfall than areas on the east side of the saddle, which is known, correctly, as the wetside.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Churches, Temples, and Spiritual Centers.’ See more responses here.
Here’s a few of the churches that can be found in this part of the island.
Kalāhikiola Congregational Church (top photo) is located east of Kapaau, where rainfall is plentiful and the foliage lush. It was built in 1855, though previous versions had existed for some years before this. The church was badly damaged by an earthquake in 2006, but rebuilt in the winter of 2009/2010.
St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church (second photo) was founded in 1884 in Kapaau, and expanded in 1913. It sits on a small hill by the main highway.
Sacred Heart Catholic Church (third photo) was founded in Hawi in 1905, but this structure was built in 1925 and continues to be used daily to this day.
Kohala Baptist Church (bottom photo) is located on the road to Pololu at Makapala. It can’t be seen from the road, but there is a sign by the highway pointing out the way. Currently, the church is undergoing some renovations and services are held in the area below the Royal Poinciana tree on the grounds.
I saw these two fishermen on these rocks at the foot of a cliff in North Kohala. By the time I got organized, this is the photo I got. The photo I was after happened moments earlier, when the pair were being soaked by spray from a big set of swells breaking against the rock shelf the right of this photo. By the time the next big swells moved in the two of them had moved farther away from that spot and the photo opportunity had gone.
A paddleboarder heads back to the shore on a gray, but not too windy morning recently. That’s a slice of Maui in the background.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Out of this World.’ See more responses here.
Having managed to miss all the recent big astronomical events, such as the green comet and the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, I’ve dipped into my archive for a few other worldly photos.
The first two are of the moon, first rising, then setting. The third is a view of the night sky with distant stars peeping through a typically cloudy North Kohala night.
I still find it strange to see cacti in Hawaii. Stranger still is seeing them in flower like this prickly pear cactus on the Kohala coast.