Tag Archives: Upolu

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

Storm’s a comin’

Rain falls near Upolu Airport in Hawaii

This photo is from a while back but it could be right now as Tropical Storm Calvin approaches the Big Island. The storm was a hurricane while in the Eastern Pacific, but it weakened as it neared Hawaii. Yesterday afternoon, the storm strengthened again with winds up to 60 mph. Who knows what will happen to it overnight, but I’m scheduling this ahead of time in case the power goes out.

Hurricanes here have been a mixed bag. Hurricane Lane, which hit the island in 2018, stalled off the west coast of the island, bringing gray skies but little wind or rain to the west coast. The eastern part of the island had a different experience. They had 54 inches of rain in three days!

I got the blues real good

A broken window in Hawaii
One of the broken windows in the next door house mentioned in yesterday’s post.
A blue blur
I was photographing monarch butterflies and this photo was one of them. Use your imagination.

The Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge theme is ‘Blue.’ See more responses here. After sorting through some photos, I found a cluster of abstract blues that I like so here they are.

Chainlink fencing over a blue tarp in Hawaii
Some chainlink fencing wrapped around a blue tarp covering something or other.
Goatfishes congregate over a sandy bottom in Hawaii
Goatfishes swimming in blue-green water in the company of a bluer parrotfish

Passion Vine Butterfly on Blue Heliotrope

A Passion Vine Butterfly on Blue Heliotrope

At Upolu Airport, there’s a mock orange hedge and through it grows a passion vine. The hedge used to be trimmed once in a while, but the flowers attracted to all kinds of insects and was teeming with life. Passion Vine Butterflies laid eggs there and their caterpillars ran amok munching on leaves.

These days the hedge is kept trimmed and is the poorer for it. It’s basically lifeless. I see the odd butterfly, an occasional caterpillar and that’s it. So Passion Vine Butterflies, which I used to see all the time, have thinned out considerably in that area. However, I did spot this one feeding on Blue Heliotrope flowers not too far away.

Cow on the run

A cow on the road at Upolu, Hawaii

Heading down for my walk at Upolu, I saw this cow on the loose. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence, but the main road is a mile up the hill and the escapees rarely get that far.

A cow on the road at Upolu, Hawaii

This one gave me a suspicious look as she passed. Perhaps she was trying to get rid of the ever-present cluster of flies on her back!

A cow on the road at Upolu, Hawaii