In Hawaiʻi May first is lei day…
Lei Day
Category: Hawai’i
Exploring the islands
Lava Flow Blooms
Banyan Tree Cat
Farmers Market with COVID-19
Local farmers markets have thankfully been declared essential businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Weds I had to run into Keck for a quick pickup and gladly noted that the mid-week market at Pukulani Stables was open. I would stop by after completing my errand.
The market was running light on vendors, but doing just fine on customers. Many of the non-food vendors were not there, Warren and his photographic prints were missing, the candy gal with homemade cakes and brittle absent, as were the various gift and craft vendors. Selling non-essential items they are likely not covered in the closure exemption, and the usual tourists who are their real customers are gone.
Who was there are the usual produce vendors. I immediately head to Honopua Farms table looking for beets and lettuce. To my pleasure they have both and I scoop up a bag of beets. Fresh veggies will go well with all of the basics from our last Costco run.
Continue reading “Farmers Market with COVID-19”Return to Goat House Tube
This week’s solo quarantine hike was to Goat House Tube. I have been here before, but had not explored downhill from the entrance, the first time I explored uphill.
Goat House is my name for this lava tube, there is no official name I am aware of, I just came up with Goat House when I needed a name for it. Climbing into the tube one finds the reason for the name rather obvious.
An early start saw me walking down the power line road shortly after sunrise. This walk is dominated by the large transmission poles and lines overhead. The lines make an ominous 60Hz buzzing, some of the poles are louder than others, with a buzz and rattle of the wires and insulators.
Continue reading “Return to Goat House Tube”Puʻu Hinai in Video
How bored do you have to be to make a video of a walk to a hill just a few miles from the house?
Yeah, that bored.
A combination of still and drone photography with a Mavic Air.
I did get out of the house for a few hours.
Exploring Puʻu Hinai
After two weeks of being stuck at home I really wanted to get out and stretch my legs. A hike is in order.
The governor specifically allows outdoor exercise in his stay-at-home order, including “surfing, swimming and walking pets”. I took that to cover a local hike near home. Just outside Waikoloa Village are quite a few rough roads that allow access to big areas of land, much of which belongs to the village association.
Puʻu Hinai would be my destination, a prominent landmark that sits 200 feet above the surrounding plains, a feature that I have seen on every commute for 13 years and wondered what was out there. A short walk of about a mile off of Waikoloa Road it was an easy target.
A large part of the puʻu has been carved away by a cinder mining operation. A decade ago trucks carrying cinder were a common sight on Waikoloa Road, no longer, the quarry lies abandoned. The side of the puʻu that faces the road is mostly untouched. The far side? It appears much is gone, I wanted to see just how much.
Continue reading “Exploring Puʻu Hinai”Flying the Summit
Governor Ige signed the new public access rules, drones would be illegal on the summit in ten more days.
With a deadline looming much sooner than I had contemplated there was a narrow window of opportunity. While I had wanted to fly the summit for a long time, I now had a few short days in which to do so. On January 23, 2020 the new rules would take effect.
The Office of Mauna Kea Management has attempted to restrict drone use on the summit by posting signs that drones are not allowed. Problem, they did this with no legal authority to do so. In conversations with OMKM staff I had pointed this out and received a quiet admission that it was true.
The new public access rules would change this… Flying a drone would be specifically prohibited on the science reserve, a civil offence with steep fines involved. With the governor’s signature those rules would be in force.
Continue reading “Flying the Summit”Keck in the Snow
SMA and Subaru
