Hawaii – Page 6 – A Darker View

Leaving Hilo I turn towards the shortest path home. It is also my favorite path by far. Not for me the twisting turns, small towns, and driving rains of the Hamakua coast road. I turn towards Saddle Road, to the pass between the enormous volcanoes of Hawaii.

Saddle Road seen as it was in 2007, before rebuilding

The road is smooth and fast now. The Saddle of legend and rental car prohibition is mostly gone, only fragments remain. While you can still drive bits of the old Saddle, they are no longer the main road, bypassed by the new highway.

Even before the road was re-built this was my favorite route to cross the island. The traffic is far heavier now, the new road no longer offers the challenges and dangers of the old road. Drivers no longer deterred by those dangers now use the new road to cross the island rather than driving around the northern belt road.

Continue reading “Crossing the Saddle at Night”

Moray Gallery

A Whitemouth Moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) in the reef at Mahukona

Yellowmargin moray (Gymnothorax flavimarginatus)

A young Whitemouth Moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) in the coral at O’oma

Roommates — A Dwarf Moray (Gymnothorax Melatremus) and Whitemouth Moray (Gymnothorax meleagris) sharing a cavity in the reef

Snaggletooth — A large Undulated Moray (gymnothorax undulatus) shows a toothy threat to the camera, 70ft depth at Tanks

Dwarf Moray — A dwarf moray (Gymnothorax melatremus) in the cave wall at The Hive at 30′ depth

A Snowflake Moray (Echidna nebulosa) in the reef at Three Tables, Oahu

Tiger Snake Moray — Tiger snake moray (Scuticaria tigrina) at 25ft depth, Suck-Em-Up Cave

A Stout Moray (Gymnothorax eurostus) in the coral at Dotti’s Reef, 25′ depth.

A Dragon Moray (Enchelycore pardalis) in a coral head at 40ft depth, Suck ‘Em Up Cavern, Kona

Banded Moray — A banded moray (Echidna polyzona) in the coral at 30′ depth, Pentagon

Face to Face — Coming face to face with a large Yellowmargin Moray (Gymnothorax flavimarginatus) in a cave

Zebra Moray — A zebra moray (Gymnomuraena zebra) in the coral at Hoover’s Towers

Connecting the Community

This island is a small community, anything that happens is likely to involve someone you know, or a friend of theirs. There are often only a one to three degrees of separation between you and nearly every event that makes the local news.

Mauna Kea Wreck — A wrecked Toyota pickup truck about a mile below Hale Pohaku

Even someone who has not grown up here seems to become quickly enmeshed in the community… One day I hear news of a body being discovered on a remote Kohala coastline by kayakers. The next day at work I ask Peggi about her husband’s kayak trip… As you guessed, they found the body. This may seem unusual, but here these sort of linked events are commonplace, amplified by the small community effect.

It is amazing how fast information moves from mauka to makai, the grapevine is very well connected on this island. This connectedness is accelerated by social media. Where once you would have to wait hours or days for official confirmation, or a newspaper report, we now know immediately.

There are specific places everyone goes for this type of informations. Two notable Facebook groups cover island happenings, Big Island Thieves and Big Island Popo Alert.

Continue reading “Connecting the Community”