ISLAND OF HAWAI'I: NORTH SHORE TO HILO

On one of our days on the Island of Hawaii earlier this spring, my wife and I drove from our resort on the northwest side of the island to Hilo, on the east side.  Here are a few of the photos that I got on that jaunt.

Our resort was on the coast a couple of mies from the highway.  There was a line of palms at the turnoff from the highway, and I took the following shot that I turned into a (mediocre) black and white.

The highway reaches the north coast at the quaint town of Honoka'a, and I got the following shots of local storefronts.

By backtracking to the northwest for about 10 miles on a local road, we reached a beautiful lookout 1000 feet above the Waipiʻo Valley.  My goal here was to preserve the glimpse of the point of land beyond the primary point on the other side of the valley.  There was enough haze in the air that the further point was quite faint.  Here is the best I could do.

Perhaps the better shot was following in which I framed the points with nearby foliage.

This demanded a narrower aperture to keep the foliage in good focus.  For the record, f/16 at 1/100 second.

The main highway from Honoka'a to Hilo pretty much hugs the coast and is scenic if not fantastic.  Along the way, again a few miles off the main highway, is Akaka Falls.  There is a very modest fee for this small state park, very well worth it to see this, the highest falls in the state of Hawaii.

The problem with this shot and in general with viewing this waterfall is that there is little to indicate how high this falls really is, namely 442 feet.  Perhaps if I had included more of the surrounding terrain, I might have done a better job.

Then it was on to Hilo.  This town was, in my view, a bit sketchy.  Later we learned that parts of the downtown closest to the water had been severely flooded by tsunamis in years past.  As a result, new construction in those areas will not be undertaken and the buildings that remain are on the shabby side.  We ate lunch at a friendly little restaurant with the following bike out front.  Meh.

Afterward we visited a nice little urban park that included a small bas-relief sculpture and a manmade pond where I took photos of the resident water lilies.

We drove back to the west side of the island on what is known as the Saddle Road, which passes between the islands two behemoth mountains, MaunaKea and MaunaLoa, neither of which was visible in the low overcast.

John