Kona – A Darker View

Anchialine Pool

An anchialine pond is a brackish water pool near the ocean. The Kona coast of the big island is scattered with such pools.

Near the ocean the water table is quite high, often just a meter or so beneath the surface. These recent lava flows are highly fractured, riddled with cavities and lava tubes. Here the abundant fresh water from the mauna comes down to meet the seawater. The young lava rock is rich in nutrients and life flourishes in the dark crevices and chambers.

An Antonov AN-124?

At the south end of the runway there is a parking area for transient aircraft. The hard stands here are usually populated with a flock of private jets that ferry the well-to-do to their Hawaii vacation homes. Occasionally there is a regular cargo 747 that is parked here, looming above the Learjets and Gulfstreams.

This was a bit different…

From a distance I thought it was the usual 747, not paying much attention during my routine commute. A bit closer and I did a double take… This was no 747, but rather an Antonov. I knew immediately it was an AN-something, but could not remember which.

Social media chatter later that day provided the answer… An Antonov AN-124 making a stopover from Asia while headed to Seattle. A Ukranian aircraft currently operating out of Germany on charter for special cargoes.

Playing Tourist

The dentist’s office is just behind the historic Moku‘aikaua Church, and just a block from Ali‘i drive and Kailua Bay. With an appointment at 9am on a Saturday morning this leads to the question… What do I do after the teeth thing? Deb is off teaching a class at the local sewing store, thus I am on my own.

Hulihe‘e Palace on the waterfront of Kailua Bay

Leaving the car in the office parking garage I decide to walk that block from the office to the bay, just walk about and play tourist for the morning.

It is a rough surf day, not bad, but a decent swell is sending water spashing over the seawall showering the occasional tourist.

Keahole Morning

Looking towards Hualalai from Keahole Point in the morning

Puʻuwaʻawaʻa Video

Another hike… Another video…

A little drone footage, a lot of stills. With the drone, the phone, and the little mirrorless M5 I was carrying three cameras for the morning. Most of my daypack was camera gear, along with a small first aid kit, 1/2 gallon of water and iced tea, and munchies.

I seem to have solved some technical issues that plagued my videos from earlier this year. Using a ND32 or ND64 filter really does help slow shutter speeds in full sunlight. You can see some choppiness in the faster pans, but that is mostly from using 30fps for the final rendering rather than in the source.

What did cause trouble is the vibrant greens of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa, some shots came out muddy yellow-green. Need the check how I am setting the white balance in the drone, need to use fixed sunlight rather than auto.

Kealakekua Bay

Keauhou Bay

Walking Old-A

Several hours without transportation. My vehicle is in the transmission shop for a checkout, have been having some rough shifts. Stranded for the morning without wheels in the old industrial area I had no intention of sitting in the shop’s waiting area for a few hours.

Old Airport Beach Park Kona — Looking down the old runway at the Old Kona Airport Recreation Area

Just up the coast from the old industrial area is a large beach park. Called Old-A’s or Old Airport, it is the site of the original landing strip just north of town. Abandoned when the jet age rendered this airstrip far too small. The area was used for a while as a drag-strip, the old airport was eventually converted to a park. The old terminal building was renovated into a multi-use pavilion. The old runway is still there, now an enormous parking lot that fronts the rocky shoreline along one side and a community garden on the other.

Continue reading “Walking Old-A”

Garden Flowers

Flowers along the path in the Old Kona Airport community garden