Coal Harbour 70 years later...

While looking around on the internet a few nights ago I came across some WWII era photos of Coal Harbour when it was a Royal Canadian Airforce Base (Seaplane operations). Just for the fun of it I put together a few before and after pictures. Still a few of the old buildings left...

Famous last words...

"Just one  more cast"

Maui Waves

Just another wave from last week. This spot turned out to be pretty good for sunset wave shots. I may head back out there today.

Some seaplane pics...

Some seaplane pictures from Coal Harbour this morning. 

Later this afternoon I found out they were practicing for a fly-by for a dedication ceremony to do with the RCAF station that was here in Coal Harbour during WWII.

Warp Speed

While on my last trip with Ron to Hawaii we went to the summit of the volcano to take photos. This was the last car to leave the top and then we had the top all to our selves. 

Stressful commute!

Between the Geese and Deer blocking the road this morning it took forever to get to work, nearly 5 minutes... Don't know how much longer I can handle these stressful commutes!

Sunset wave

I was out Sunday afternoon looking for photo opportunities when I saw some waves breaking really nicely along one of the beaches. This made me pull over and my wife and I spent an hour sitting on the beach photographing waves. 

This shot was taken about five minutes before the sun went down behind the clouds and the island of Lana'i.  The hardest thing about getting this shot was trying to get it without any surfers in the photo. We weren't the only ones that noticed the waves. Within about 30 minutes of us stopping we had about 15 surfers show up and head out into the water.

Hana

This is a little church I found while in Hana last time. It's in the actual town and just a few blocks away from the beach.

I don't know any of the history of the church but it seemed to be fairly old, probably from the early 1900's

Split decision

A true "local" of the islands.

Add to wish list...

Woodstove........................................... check
Woodshed............................................ check
Pickup truck......................................... check
Chainsaw.............................................. check
Wood splitter........................................ check
Good bush dog..................................... check

Excavator with log grapple................... add to wish list!


This a picture of some log salvage work taking place near to where I live, the fellow doing the log salvage is using an excavator with a log grapple to bring the wood out of the bush and up to the side of the logging road. This machine can move an amazing amount of wood in a short period of time, very impressive to watch!

Dragger...

Dragging for Hake in Hardy Bay. (Grainy crop of a much larger picture...)

"Dragging" is a method of fishing for bottom fish by dragging a large open mouthed net across the ocean floor. "Hake" are the target species of fish these days.

(Hake picture plagiarized off the internet)   

Now Paul....

... you should know better than to give me ideas!!

Watch that turn...

...or you might wind up in a black hole!

Just another milky way shot. I had stopped to shoot the night lights of the city below when I saw the milky way behind this sign. I'm not sure why but it just looked different so I took a few photos.

Another Haleakala Milky Way shot

The Milky Way is slowly moving across the sky here. I think by the end of October I won't be able to see it again until next spring. I've got a few more photo ideas for the milky way once it moves farther across the sky so you'll be seeing a couple of more of these types of shots before it's gone for the winter.

This was taken at the summit of Haleakala, 10,023 feet at the top. The building you see with the elevation sign is an enclosed observation room so that the visitors can get in out of the blowing wind. It has plexi-glass windows all around so you can still see out but they aren't any good for taking photos through.

Viktoria Viking

This is the latest and I think largest fish farm vessel to be working out of the Port Hardy area.

The Viktoria Viking is 187 feet long and almost 40 feet wide!

From the depths of Molokini

I took these underwater shots on a drift dive at the Molokini Crater. It is a dormant volcano that is off the shore of Maui. This is looking up at the back wall of the volcano from 60+ feet down. I love how the sun rays are broken up by the water and I can't help but always want to take a picture.

Seal of approval...

As long as we're posting old pictures from our Hawaiian vacations... Found this local sleeping on the beach at Waikiki a few years ago. 

Hawaiian Waterfall

 

This was on the road to Hana from the last time I was on Maui.

Same waterfall just from different angles. 

Nighttime on the island

The title pretty much says it all.

This is a shot from the volcano looking towards Kihei and McGregor Point on Maui. You can see the island of Lana'i in the background lit up by the full moon.  

The large mass of lights on the left is part of Kahului, the big city here on the island.

Wind Power

I would say that one day I will try this but.....

I'd probably be lying! The wind surfing and kite surfing looks like an awful lot of fun but I have been sitting behind a desk for so long I would have to go to the gym for about two years before I could ever think about doing these kinds of activities.

Moving to Maui has made me more active and I continue to do more and more the longer we are here. My goal is to get to where I am only working 3-4 days a week and enjoying Hawai'i the rest of the time.

I'm looking forward to my vacation this winter because all I'll have to do is get into the truck and drive to the beach!

The Island

Part of the island anyway. We headed out the back way to Hana today to shoot some on what is to us, "the far side of the island". We stopped along the way to take in the sites and this happened to be one of them.

It just never gets old!

Black sand beach

There are only a few of these in Hawai'i. This one is located along the road to Hana at the Waianapanapa State Park. You have to get there early though because the park fills up quick with people. That's partly due to the fact that they allow camping here and it seems the camping sites fill up quickly, especially on the weekends. 

You can't tell it but the beach was full of people when I took this shot. There was one end of the beach where the water wasn't as calm as the rest of the beach so the people were shying away from it. By carefully zooming and cropping I was able to get a shot with no one in it.

The "black sand" is technically not sand. It's pulverized lava rock that has been made smooth over centuries of wave action. This beach is relatively young, just 300 or 400 years old I think, and that's why the lava rock or "sand" is still there instead of the golden sand you normally see on a beach.

Making Waves

Just a couple of wave shots from Ho'okipa Beach I took on Tuesday. 

I may have to head back up to the top of the volcano this weekend. With it being a three day holiday the beaches here will be packed so I will be staying away from those to keep my sanity!

star gazing II

The view through one of these massive telescopes from the top of Haleakala has to be really amazing. 

Closer to sea level...

A couple of random beach pictures I took at the same beach where I got the pictures of the shore birds in a previous post.

star gazing

I went back up to the top of the volcano again last night. I had almost a half moon behind me so I decided to get my version of a selfie while I could.

I should have put a space suit on just to confuse everybody!

Practice makes perfect...

A picture of the local Coast Guard doing a practice beach rescue in Hardy Bay. At first I thought something serious was going on until I realized there were no Police cars or Ambulances involved.

Dinner for two

Back on the mainland my wife and I had a favorite restaurant we went to every Friday night. We got to know the owner/chef and the employees and they have all become very good friends. They are even coming for a visit this winter! I mean, who can turn down a free place to stay In Hawai'i, right?

Since being on Maui we have searched for a place that would give us that same feel as the one we had on the mainland and even though we can't replace our friends, we did find a new Friday night spot.

These two shots are the view from the restaurant, The Kula Lodge. They have a piano player , Francois, and the people and food are both great. Since the restaurant is upcountry (about a third of the way up Haleakala) they even have a wood burning fireplace that they light in the evenings. 

If you are ever upcountry Maui and want a great place to eat with a killer view, The Kula Lodge is the place to go! I highly recommend it.

And if you are thinking it's one of those "swanky" spots that costs and arm and a leg, it can be but it can also be a great casual dinner spot. They have a wood fired pizza oven and so far, it's the best pizza we have had on Maui and you can get a pizza for $22! Yea, it's not a Little Ceaser's $5 pizza but it tastes a lot better and $22 for a pizza is cheap here! 

At lunch they have sandwiches, pasta and pizza and at dinner they have the pizza and pasta along with steaks, prime rib and sea food, not to mention a great bar (and the fireplace).

You can come in and watch the sunset, set by the fire enjoying a cocktail and the piano player and then have a great dinner. What's not to like??

Formation flying...

Found some shorebirds putting on an amazing display of formation flying so I took a few pictures. It's a wonder there were no collisions!
In hindsight I should have taken some video also... Oh well next time.

Just a little too late

I was driving home a couple of days ago and saw this great rainbow in the sky. It was big and bright so I found a place to pull over but by the time I got stopped and set up the rainbow was disappearing.

I ended up with part of a rainbow and a lot of a great big rain cloud. I do like the way the cloud came out though!