Tag Archives: Kohala

In need of repair

A damaged chainlink fence around Upolu Airport in Hawaii

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

Here on the Big Island, fences tend to be of two kinds – chainlink and painted wood. Walls and hedges are possibly more popular. Walls don’t need as much maintenance and hedges fill in easily all by themselves, though they do require trimming if they’re not to take over.

These fences are ones that have seen hard times. The top photo is the chainlink fence around Upolu Airport. Someone managed to take out a section of this recently. Not sure whether they got distracted or were going too fast and lost control, but several sections of fence got destroyed. Judging from the trail of damage, the vehicle can’t have fared well either.

Damaged fences around Kohala Ranch, on the Big Island Hawaii, following a brush fire

The other two photos are of fences around Kohala Ranch, a subdivision in Kawaihae. These photos were taken after August’s big brush fire. The tidy white fences surrounding the property have been rather battered. Fixing the damage will be a significant task, though I think most of the folks living there were probably happy to have been spared more than this largely aesthetical issue.

Damaged fences around Kohala Ranch, on the Big Island Hawaii, following a brush fire

A bevy of bridges

A bridge over an inlet on the coast in Hawaii

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

The top image is an elegant bridge on the coast, in the Hilton Resort at Waikoloa. It spans an inlet from the ocean into a lagoon. This bridge is part of the coast path, which is open for anyone to walk.

A bridge over a gulch in North Kohala, Hawaii
A bridge over a gulch in North Kohala, Hawaii
A bridge over a gulch in North Kohala, Hawaii

The Big Island’s main use of bridges is to span the numerous gullies that run from the mountains down to the ocean. On the east side, some of these bridges are quite long and high, with vertigo-inducing views over the edge. These three bridges cross gullies in North Kohala on the winding road from Kapaau to Pololu. The third has several houses nearby, so a walkway has been added. This is surely safer than walking on the road, though not by much judging from its appearance!

Two anoles meet on a wire in Hawaii
A green anole hangs onto a line.

Finally, bridges of a different kind. Anoles and geckos use lines, attached to the house, to get around. Sometimes these one-lane bridges lead to encounters with fellow travelers. In this case the smaller anole leapt off into the cane grass, but that was its intended destination anyway. In the second photo, this anole was using the washing line to bridge the space from the house to a hedge.

Relax and sit a while

A covered lanai in Hawaii

Looks very inviting, doesn’t it? A covered lanai in the late afternoon sun with a comfy, rattan sofa to relax on. The lanai above this is even more inviting, with a view toward Maui, currently blocked by trees.

But this is my neighbor’s old house, currently unoccupied and falling further into disrepair, with broken windows and a floor collapsing. I’d be leery of sitting on this sofa for fear of what’s living in it or that it might collapse. There’s also a chance that the hot tub on the upper lanai, could end up dropping on your head.

So perhaps, like many things these days, this is an invitation best experienced virtually.

Cattle Egret on a snag

A cattle egret on a snag on the Big Island Hawaii
A cattle egret takes off from a snag on the Big Island Hawaii

Cattle Egrets are usually seen flying or on the ground, in the company of cattle, horses, goats, and lawnmowers, as they forage for food. I saw this one perched on an old snag, and it remained there for some time, looking this way and that, before taking to the air and disappearing.

The other side of the road

A view of Keanuiomano Stream above the Queen Kaahumanu Highway on the Big Island Hawaii

I was driving home yesterday and I was struck by a contrasting view. The top photo shows the Keanuiomano Stream running down towards the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, the main road along the coast from Kailua Kona to the north.

I posted (here) about the river running high a few weeks ago, following the passage of Tropical Storm Calvin. Since then, there’s been a gradual decline in volume, but there’s still a trickle of water and the stream bed is full of pools. This area is popular with the goats, because it’s a good source of water and fodder after rainfall.

Crossing the road, the view is starkly different. The passage of Hurricane Dora triggered strong, dry trade winds. When fires broke out, they spread quickly (here). This view shows the aftermath of one of the relatively small fires, which burned about 500 acres next door to Mauna Kea Resort. The palm trees and houses on the left of the bottom image are part of the resort.

Ironically, when I took river running high photos, I checked out the other side of the highway for possible photos. I didn’t bother taking any, as I couldn’t see much because of the thick vegetation. Now it’s wide open down to the ocean.

A view of Keanuiomano Stream below the Queen Kaahumanu Highway on the Big Island Hawaii

A river runs high

A river in Hawaii after heavy rain

Keanuiomano Stream has been bone dry for weeks, but yesterday’s passage of Tropical Storm Calvin transformed it into a roaring river. There was a lot of rain up in the Kohala Mountain area, which is the source of the stream. It was interesting, though, that the gullies that carry water off the leeward side of that mountain were still dry, so all that rain must have fallen mostly on the windward side and the east end of the mountain.