This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Summer.’ See more responses here. Seemed like a beach-related theme worked for this. And at the beach…
Life’s a beach
Tag Archives: Kohanaiki
Picture yourself here
Yes, it’s winter in the northern hemisphere. The nights are drawing in and the temperatures heading south. So pull up a chair, set that tall, cool drink on the little table, and just relax!
Merry Christmas everyone.
Surfing looks easy
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Sports and Hobbies.’ See more responses here.
Hawaii is the home of surfing, a sport that accommodates everyone from the casual weekender to fixtures on the professional circuit. On this day, Pine Trees surf break at Kohanaiki Beach Park was thronged with surfers in the water, but not many catching waves. Those that did tended to be far away from where I was. But I liked watching these two surfers casually glide back to shore on white-topped blue-green water, under a blue sky.
Also posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Past Squares – Blue.’ See more responses here.
On the beach
There’s nothing like spending some time on the beach at Kohanaiki Beach Park. Even when it’s busy it never seems crowded. All a person needs is a chair and a beach umbrella for shade and then you can sit back, relax, and read a book or watch surfers trying to catch a wave.
Dive boat off Kohanaiki Beach Park
On my last visit to Kohanaiki Beach Park I noticed this dive boat a little way off shore. Not being a diver, I’m not familiar with the best spots for diving around the Big Island, but there are usually one or two boats to be seen here.
Red-masked parakeets
I’ve lived in Hawaii for more than nine years now and had previously never seen any of those most tropical of birds, the parrots. One reason for this is that parrots aren’t native to Hawaii, but a variety of different parrots have become established here.
Red-masked parakeets were first seen here in 1988 and are probably the most common parrot on the Big Island. They’re natives of Ecuador and Peru, but are now fairly well established on the Kona coast, which is where I saw this a pair, in Kohanaiki Beach Park. While they forage along the coast here, they roost high up on the slopes of Hualalai Volcano.
Alexandrian laurel
Alexandrian laurel (Calophyllum inophyllum) is known as Kamani in Hawaii. It’s a canoe plant, which means it was brought to Hawaii by the early Polynesian voyagers. They would have carried this evergreen tree because of its importance for building their ocean-going outriggers.
The small white and yellow flowers usually bloom twice a year and are followed by round fruits with a single large seed.
Signs: Ala Kahakai Trail
The Ala Kahakai Trail, which used to run from the northern tip of the island to the south-eastern tip, can be followed for a good stretch of the South Kohala Coast. The part south of Kohanaiki Beach Park is well marked and signed. That’s not the case in many other places.
Graham's Island 