[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Hawaii (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 2/15/2017 10:01:15 AM EDT
So I'm getting sent to work in Hawaii for the next two weeks. Can't believe the company would do me dirty this way. 
I've made it from CHO to ATL, and now I'm waiting on my ATL-Honolulu flight. 10.5 hours in this rattletrap. Then I have to take an island hop to the Big Island where our site is. Herbicide work, we have to burn down a bunch of eucalyptus sprouts. I get to Kona at 8pm local time this evening, which will be 1 am for me. I left my house at 3:30 am so I'll be travelling for 21.5 hours. Yikes! More to follow as time and network connections allow...  ATL-Outbound A330 by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Hope you get some time off, so you can enjoy it. I was a pilot for 30 years so I've been to a hell of a lot of places. But in many cases, all I ever got to see was the airport and a hotel.
It's been years since I was in Hawaii. I have some very good friends there, so I'd love to get back out for a visit. And it's even possible that one of them will be flying you from HNL to KOA. |
|
Quoted:
What side of the island are you going to be based out of? If you are on Hilo side, I can point out a lot of neat stuff. Used to live there, but didn't have a camera other than an iPhone then.  I'm staying on the Kona side but our site (old cane plantation now in eucalyptus) is at Honokaa. We have some local folks that will show me around. In Honolulu right now waiting for my connection to Kona. Things on my list are Mauna Kea, Volcanos NP, and there's supposed to be some native temple ruins on a beach somewhere. |
|
Quoted:
I'm staying on the Kona side but our site (old cane plantation now in eucalyptus) is at Honokaa. We have some local folks that will show me around. In Honolulu right now waiting for my connection to Kona. Things on my list are Mauna Kea, Volcanos NP, and there's supposed to be some native temple ruins on a beach somewhere. Enjoy your time there.  When you are going through Hilo towards Volcano, stop off at the Farmer's Market. If it is a Saturday, try some of Mistah D's BBQ. Dude can cook. Ken's House of Pancakes on the corner of Kam and the highway is a classic as well, that I'd recommend over it. Cafe 100 is awesome as well.
Up in Volcano, the Volcano Vinyards does a pretty good macadamia white wine btw. Out that way, you also have McKenzie Park with ~100' cliffs with the waves shooting water way above. Punalu'u black sand beach usually has turtles and isn't that much further either. Waimea, about halfway between Kona and Hilo is kinda a beautifully weird spot. Great town, largely based around ranching, but the terrain and everything screams that you are in Wyoming instead of Hawaii. If I were filthy rich, I'd live out there in a heartbeat. |
| If you like driving and scenery,follow rt19 up to rt 250 Kohala MNT road. On 250 you go from about sea level to 3500ft in a few min. There are horses,cows,goats,vog. All sorts of stuff. Go left at the end of 250 to head back down 270. I think that's where your ruins are on your right. At least some small ones on the side of the road. |
|
First day of work. 7 hours of sleep since Monday night, so I'm pretty beat. Sunny first thing but then overcast/haze/light rain sprinkles in the afternoon.
AMAZING scenery. You can see the observatorys from our site, but I spent too much time getting organized with the crew and then the clouds rolled in. ISS has a good transit tomorrow night, hoping for clear skies. Tonight cloudy so not even going to try any night star field shots. Plus, I'm TIRED. Going to try to get out there before sunrise and catch that in the morning.  Merch Eucalyptus by FredMan, on Flickr
 Merch Eucalyptus by FredMan, on Flickr
 Eucalyptus Sprouts by FredMan, on Flickr
 Spray Rig by FredMan, on Flickr
 Spray Ops by FredMan, on Flickr
 Old Cinder Cone by FredMan, on Flickr
 Goats by FredMan, on Flickr
 Waikoloa Highlands by FredMan, on Flickr
 Sunset 20170216 by FredMan, on Flickr
 Surf'n'Rocks by FredMan, on Flickr
OK, last one tonight.  Purple Flower by FredMan, on Flickr
|
Great photos Fred 
A thought just occurred to me since you are on Kona side. Keep an eye on the sunsets. I don't know if it is a daily thing or what, but right at sunset there is a phenomena called the green flash. It's when the sun is just getting the last dip below the horizon, sometimes refraction in the air turns the sun green for a second or two. |
|
Quoted:
Great photos Fred
A thought just occurred to me since you are on Kona side. Keep an eye on the sunsets. I don't know if it is a daily thing or what, but right at sunset there is a phenomena called the green flash. It's when the sun is just getting the last dip below the horizon, sometimes refraction in the air turns the sun green for a second or two. Isn't that when a soul comes back to this world from the dead? 
But I'll be looking tomorrow! |
|
Quoted:
Isn't that when a soul comes back to this world from the dead?
But I'll be looking tomorrow! Quoted:
Quoted:
Great photos Fred
A thought just occurred to me since you are on Kona side. Keep an eye on the sunsets. I don't know if it is a daily thing or what, but right at sunset there is a phenomena called the green flash. It's when the sun is just getting the last dip below the horizon, sometimes refraction in the air turns the sun green for a second or two. Isn't that when a soul comes back to this world from the dead?
But I'll be looking tomorrow! Good luck and enjoy yourself. I'm probably signing off here in a second. Aurora is just starting to pop up over the trees, so I want to see if anything good happens. Takes a bit to get focus on my 18-55 kit lens dialed in.
|
|
Long day, and gotta crash, but here's a few from today.
The ocean panorama and the observatory are shot about 180 degrees apart from near where I park my truck every day at the site. Elevation there is 1600 feet, the cell tower (thin white tower) is at the gate to the tract at 800 feet (and 3,600 feet away!), and the observatory is about 14,000 feet. And yes, that's snow you see there. A guy on the inter-island flight I took from Honolulu to Kona Wednesday was snow boarding up there a few weeks ago. Our contractor was also kind enough to take me to another job site where he's clearing fields of ironwood about 6 miles away, cutter man is dropping trees with the ocean down below. This place is amazing. Every time you turn around there's a postcard staring you in the face. Breathtaking doesn't even begin to describe the beauty.  Mauna Kea Observatory by FredMan, on Flickr
 Mauna Kea Observatory by FredMan, on Flickr
 Ocean View Panorama by FredMan, on Flickr
 Ironwood Harvest by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Quoted:
Oh that reminds me. If you have the time, drive south of Kona through Captain Cook, etc to Hilo. TONS of photo spots about 2/3 the way there. That's one area I HAVEN'T been. My daily travels are taking me from Kona (Waikola Village, actually), clockwise around the island to Hilo. If I ever get a day off I'm going to take the counterclockwise route from Kona to Hilo. |
|
Quoted:
Damn fine shots Fred. Were those all taken with the 11-16 Tokina? Most are actually with the 24-120. Panos are all 24-120. Observatory is 70-300 for the close-up and 24-120 (cropped) for the widescreen. The 11-16 is getting some use, but I'm not posting everything (yet!). I'm leaving the hotel around 5:45 am and getting back either right around sunset (which have sucked, by the way, fog rolling in at dusk) or after dark. Typical spray schedule. |
|
Pano day! I spent some time stopping at all the streams and gulches between Hilo and Honaka'a getting some pics. And dscovered that I had the freakin' VR OFF. Figured that out on the ride home, so the Kohala pics are the only real sharp ones. Kicking myself.
Cloudy/foggy all day, so shutter speed was way down (lots of 1/50-1/80 shutters). Damn me and my lack of checking my gear!  Laupahoehoe Gulch by FredMan, on Flickr
 South Kohala Panorama by FredMan, on Flickr
 Kohala Mountain Panorama by FredMan, on Flickr
Oh, and a turkey!!  Rio Grande Strut by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Quoted:
That's one area I HAVEN'T been. My daily travels are taking me from Kona (Waikola Village, actually), clockwise around the island to Hilo. If I ever get a day off I'm going to take the counterclockwise route from Kona to Hilo. Quoted:
Quoted:
Oh that reminds me. If you have the time, drive south of Kona through Captain Cook, etc to Hilo. TONS of photo spots about 2/3 the way there. That's one area I HAVEN'T been. My daily travels are taking me from Kona (Waikola Village, actually), clockwise around the island to Hilo. If I ever get a day off I'm going to take the counterclockwise route from Kona to Hilo. Going south through Captain Cook, you hit a lot of scrub and there is a mini zoo with a zebra and a bunch of other stuff like that. Probably 30-45 minutes out of Kona, but right before you get into the area with the "fresh" lava fields. Once you hit oceanview (when the road turns East instead of South) the view starts to get amazing. I can't find it on google earth, but before you hit Naalehu, there is a pretty decent sized wind farm on the shore. Right outside of Naalehu on the north side has an epic view. Seriously. There's a crook in the road, and then you're looking down this slope to a cove with a washed out dock that has waves crashing way above it. Hell of a view. Then you go through Volcano a bit later and then Kurtistown (where I used to live) Keaau, and Hilo. For the sake of memory, I had to look up the in laws house where we stayed for that year. There is a black sand beach out in Pahoa that is a great drive to get to. I regret not having the presence of mind to take more photos. One minute it's jungle, then next you're driving through a crowd of honest to god hippies that have a commune out there. More often than not lately, I've been considering moving back. Just no way I could manage it on what disability pays, plus their gun laws are garbage. Absolutely loved it there though. 
|
|
Quoted:
Season opens march 1 and I leave on the 2nd  Quoted:
Quoted:
And yeah, the freaking turkeys  Was driving through Captain Cook and wondering why someone had a dummy turkey at the end of their driveway till it ran into the road.  Season opens march 1 and I leave on the 2nd That's just bad luck. Next trip maybe? Looking at some of my other photos, it looks like the wind farm is around 55-60 miles from Volcano, a couple past the Milolii turnoff. So that should put the little zoo between Captain Cook and Milolii. |
 Mauna Kea Mauna Loa by FredMan, on Flickr
 Mauna Kea Cloudbank by FredMan, on Flickr
 Spatter Cones by FredMan, on Flickr
 Lava Field by FredMan, on Flickr
 Sunset 20170219 by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Quoted:
Mauna Kea Mauna Loa by FredMan, on Flickr Mauna Kea Cloudbank by FredMan, on Flickr Spatter Cones by FredMan, on Flickr Lava Field by FredMan, on Flickr Sunset 20170219 by FredMan, on Flickr Wow. Thank you for posting these pictures. They are beautiful!!! |
|
Got rained out again at the tract, so today was Mauna Kea day.
Sunrise at the tract which is on the east slope of the mountain. Driving back to the hotel it had a nice little cloud cap. I made a second attempt at the summit today; road was open when I left the hotel. It takes about 75 minutes to drive there, and in that time they shut it down. They got 4-5 inches of snow in about 3 hours and had several wrecks on the access road; I was passing cars coming down with snow all over them. So, not wanting to waste my trip, I hung out at the visitor center at 9,200'. There's a few hills near the visitor center, one of which offers some pretty good sunset views (about 9,400'), Mauna Loa and Hualalai provide the backdrop. It was in the low 50's until the sun went down (keep in mind it was 86 when I left the hotel at sea level), then it dropped to the high 30's in about 30 seconds. Note the clouds, fog, and rain streaming in from the east through the saddle between Loa and Kea; that's what rained us out today. I figured as long as I'm there I may as well try some star trails, and maybe a Milky Way shot (that arm of the galaxy fell just off the west shoulder of the mountain). Amazingly enough the North Star fell directly over Mauna Kea with it's fresh snowfall. A Ranger decided to come down from the summit while shooting my star trail shots. The lower right is the visitor center and housing for astronomers. They put on a nightly star viewing event at the visitor center, open to whoever shows up, for free. Never a dull moment here on the Big Island!  Sunrise 20170220 by FredMan, on Flickr
 Mauna Kea Cloud Cap by FredMan, on Flickr
 Sunset 20170220 by FredMan, on Flickr
 Mauna Kea Startrails by FredMan, on Flickr
 Mauna Kea Milky Way by FredMan, on Flickr
|
Another washout today. It's getting a little old. Here's a pano looking west from Mauna kea, our tract is down there under the clouds somewhere and those clouds (or the rain associated with them) are harshing our work. 9,410'.
 Mauna Kea W Panorama by FredMan, on Flickr
Here's what happens when you seal a plastic bottle at 9,200' and bring it down to sea level.  Bottle Altitude by FredMan, on Flickr
It's a small consolation, but we had the best sunset yet this evening.  Sunset 20170221 Reflection by FredMan, on Flickr
 Sunset 20170221 Cloud by FredMan, on Flickr
I guess the whales liked it too, becasue this humpback decided to breach. I figure he was a few miles out. I was looking through the viewfinder, taking shots as the sun approached the water, when he went up. I wasn't quick enough on the shutter becasue all i caught was the splash. But MAN! Imagine if he had been a degree or two further north and a half second later. Breaching whale silhouetted by the sun!
 Sunset 20170221 Humpback Breach by FredMan, on Flickr
Ahh, the idyllic paradise of island life...  Sunset 20170221 by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Quoted:
Another washout today. It's getting a little old. Here's a pano looking west from Mauna kea, our tract is down there under the clouds somewhere and those clouds (or the rain associated with them) are harshing our work. 9,410'. Mauna Kea W Panorama by FredMan, on Flickr Here's what happens when you seal a plastic bottle at 9,200' and bring it down to sea level. Bottle Altitude by FredMan, on Flickr It's a small consolation, but we had the best sunset yet this evening. Sunset 20170221 Reflection by FredMan, on Flickr Sunset 20170221 Cloud by FredMan, on Flickr I guess the whales liked it too, becasue this humpback decided to breach. I figure he was a few miles out. I was looking through the viewfinder, taking shots as the sun approached the water, when he went up. I wasn't quick enough on the shutter becasue all i caught was the splash. But MAN! Imagine if he had been a degree or two further north and a half second later. Breaching whale silhouetted by the sun!
Sunset 20170221 Humpback Breach by FredMan, on Flickr Ahh, the idyllic paradise of island life... Sunset 20170221 by FredMan, on Flickr I think I need to get myself to Hawaii again 
|
|
There's a bunch of gun shops here. I've driven by at least 3 in Hilo, one in Waimea, and heard tell of a few in Kona area.
Got to talking with the crew about CCW and they were shocked and amazed that people walk around with concealed pistols back home. These guys have guns, but they're long guns, and mostly for hunting. One of the crew likes to go pig hunting and wades in after them with a knife. But anyway, today we're finally back to work, so you get some shots from the past few days I'm getting around the processing. Doing these on the LZ, with lots of sun, so can't really tell how well my post work is.  Akaka Falls State Park by FredMan, on Flickr
 Paheehee Stream by FredMan, on Flickr
 Lantana Scrub Hairstreak by FredMan, on Flickr
 Sunset 20170220 by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Bonus pics!
No whales, palm trees or sun sinking to the ocean horizon, but sunset on the LZ has its own charm (not to mention it means acres are getting sprayed!)  Pano Sunset 20170222 by FredMan, on Flickr
 Skidder Tracks by FredMan, on Flickr
 Ocean Spray by FredMan, on Flickr
 Sunset LZ 20170222 by FredMan, on Flickr
|
Kohala and Hamakua. Property has lots of cliff frontage on the east side of the island.
 Kohala Panorama by FredMan, on Flickr
Guinea grass taking over the pavement.  Hamakua Road That Time Forgot by FredMan, on Flickr
The trail down to the ocean. They used to haul sugar cane molasses down this trail to waiting ships.  Hamakua Ocean Trail by FredMan, on Flickr
 Hamakua Ocean Trail by FredMan, on Flickr
 Hamakua Ocean Spray by FredMan, on Flickr
 Hamakua South Pano by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Man, I have GOT to quit LRing in the truck on the LZ. Too bright and can't see what I'm doing.
But, a few more from today:  Hamakua East Pano by FredMan, on Flickr
 Banana by FredMan, on Flickr
I just like the name of this one... Grows helically  Pandanus-Screw Pine by FredMan, on Flickr
 Pandanus-Screw Pine Detail by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
So my first week they put me up in the Hilton Waikola Village. Pretty nice place, even if it was 3/4 mile from my room to my car, and neither the boat nor the tram ran at 5:30 in the morning.
Yesterday I moved to the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. This place is in a class by itself. Next week I move to a condo for a few nights; the guy coming in after me will be at the condo or maybe a rental house for his term. We expect this project will run through April (and maybe, just maybe, I might get to do a second tour). Behold... Classy entrance. Guard shack down the road, can't be letting the riff-raff in.  Hapuna Prince Entrance by FredMan, on Flickr
My room comes complete with a patio and back yard!  Hapuna Prince Room by FredMan, on Flickr
Atrium surrounded by ballrooms.  Hapuna Prince Atrium by FredMan, on Flickr
The "lobby"  Hapuna Prince Lobby by FredMan, on Flickr
And a low-level view  Hapuna Prince Lobby by FredMan, on Flickr
From the beach side. It's all open air, beach is right down the way from the lobby.  Hapuna Prince Lobby by FredMan, on Flickr
I'm getting spoiled... |
Well, it can't all be lolling about the fancy resort, there's work to do. I have to look at these high-rise slums all day long . Keep in mind these trees are only 20 years old. Running 100-120 feet tall.
 Grandis Stems by FredMan, on Flickr
 Grandis Tops by FredMan, on Flickr
Can you believe they have the nerve to put an OCEAN down there? What were they thinking??!??  D2A Pano by FredMan, on Flickr
 D2B Top Pano by FredMan, on Flickr
And then this is what I have to look at on my commute home. Sheesh. The big 3 mountains are visible, from left to right Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa (low bump in the middle) and Hualalai on the right. It's the shortest of the three.  Long Sunset Pano 20170224 by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
Quoted:
So my first week they put me up in the Hilton Waikola Village. Pretty nice place, even if it was 3/4 mile from my room to my car, and neither the boat nor the tram ran at 5:30 in the morning. Yesterday I moved to the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. This place is in a class by itself. Next week I move to a condo for a few nights; the guy coming in after me will be at the condo or maybe a rental house for his term. We expect this project will run through April (and maybe, just maybe, I might get to do a second tour). Behold... Classy entrance. Guard shack down the road, can't be letting the riff-raff in. Hapuna Prince Entrance by FredMan, on Flickr My room comes complete with a patio and back yard! Hapuna Prince Room by FredMan, on Flickr Atrium surrounded by ballrooms. Hapuna Prince Atrium by FredMan, on Flickr The "lobby" Hapuna Prince Lobby by FredMan, on Flickr And a low-level view Hapuna Prince Lobby by FredMan, on Flickr From the beach side. It's all open air, beach is right down the way from the lobby. Hapuna Prince Lobby by FredMan, on Flickr I'm getting spoiled... This looks like a nice place to stay. My aunt and uncle are on the big island for the next 6 weeks or so. They are in a condo next to the ocean somewhere on the island. |
There's a pattern to today's offerings, wonder if anyone can figure it out...
 Storm Cloud Pano by FredMan, on Flickr
 Vertical Grandis 11mm by FredMan, on Flickr
 Banana by FredMan, on Flickr
 Alocasia by FredMan, on Flickr
 Fern On Rock by FredMan, on Flickr
 Plumeria by FredMan, on Flickr
 Small Yellow Orchid by FredMan, on Flickr
|
And now for some critters.
 Mongoose by FredMan, on Flickr
 Pacific Golden Plover by FredMan, on Flickr
 Black Francolin by FredMan, on Flickr
 Hawaii Northern Mockingbird by FredMan, on Flickr
And maybe finish off with a wave.  Hapuna Surf by FredMan, on Flickr
|
|
How about some crappy, shaky, perhaps drunken video of Hawaii spray ops?
Look no further...  Eucalyptus Sprout Control |
My time here is running short, only two more days...
 Alae Cemetery Monkey Pod Perspective by FredMan, on Flickr
 Waikalmalo Stream Waterfall 1/5s by FredMan, on Flickr
 Alae Cemetery Monkey Pod 31mm by FredMan, on Flickr
 Palm Explosion by FredMan, on Flickr
|
Last night on the island.
 Mauna Kea Snow Pano by FredMan, on Flickr
 Hilo Street Banyan by FredMan, on Flickr
 Broad-tailed Day Gecko by FredMan, on Flickr
|