North Shore Shrimp Truck

North Shore Shrimp Truck

Wordless Wednesday

Really Big Tree

Really Big Tree
Oahu, Hawaii

Shower of Orchids Vine

Shower of Orchids
Congea tomentosa
(KON-jee-a) (toh-men-TOH-suh)
Synonyms: Wooly Congea, Wooly Shower Orchid
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This plant had me totally fooled until doing some research on it. First it is actually a vine but I would have sworn it was a shrub. Second the wholly parts are actually bracts (modified leaves) and not flowers. The flowers are what is called inconspicuous and are borne in the center of the bracts. They have appeared to have gone by in this photo.

This plant is a tropical only growing in frost-free areas of USDA Zone 10-11 (35 °F and above). It is a native to Southeast Asia but has become naturalized in he warmer areas of the world including some parts of the United States (like Puerto Rico). Despite its common name it is not related to Orchids. It belongs to the Verbenaceae or Verbena family (ver-be-NAY-see-ee).

Since the Congea picture was taken on Oahu I thought I would include these two landscape photos. The first one is Chinaman’s Hat Island off the North Shore. According to Wikipedia it is actually named “Mokoliʻi” and “is a 12.5 acre, 206 foot tall basalt island one-third of a mile offshore of Kualoa Point, Oahu, in Kāne'ohe Bay, Hawaii. Geologically, it used to be connected to Oahu before erosion cut it off. It is also known as "Chinaman's Hat" for its likeness to the straw hats Chinese immigrants wore. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are the only species of bird that nests here; previously there were a few."

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"Mokoliʻi is open to the public from dawn to dusk. On weekends it is somewhat a popular secret with tourists and locals. It can be accessed by kayak, boat, surfboard, or by swimming; depth soundings are only four feet on its west side. [1] This may be dangerous during any other time or inclement weather. The area is home to stonefish and sharks are often seen around the island, often in early mornings.”

I had read about the island before seeing it and wanted to get a picture. While pulled over on the busy highway taking this shot and having the P6000’s battery dying I turned around and saw this scene. These mountains were amazing and at the base was some sort of ranch, which was opened to tourists. There were raising fruit and vegetables and offering tour up into the fields. The fog seemed to be swirling around the tops of the peaks as we drove up the road presenting different views of the steep terrain. Imagine having that as a backyard view.

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For more flower pictures from around the world check out:
Today’s Flowers .

Senor Frog’s Restaurant Waikiki

Senor Frog’s Restaurant
Waikiki, Hi
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We didn’t get to eat here but it looked fun and the menu looked like something we would like. This place is inside the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, which is an interesting and beautiful mall.
Snor Frog’s Website

Aston Waikiki Circle Hotel
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A distinctive looking hotel directly across from Waikiki Beach.
Waikiki Circle Hotel

White Shell Plumeria

Plumeria
Plumeria rubra 'White Shell'
(ploo-MEER-ee-a)
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After shoveling the 10 inches of snow yesterday and cleaning off the cars I decided to go through some more Hawaii pictures. One place that we enjoyed was the Plumeria Grove at Koko Crater. It was a fairly quick visit but a lot of the pictures came out. That usually means that the light was good (late afternoon), the sky was blue, not too windy and of course that the flowers were beautiful. Everything kind of came together that afternoon making it a pleasure to walk the garden and snap some photos. Previously there were a few photos posted here from this garden and since there was a bounty of photos there will probably one or two more posts.

Koko Crater and the smaller Koko Head are located on the Windward side of Oahu. It is the hottest part of the island and from the looks of things one of the driest. The Botanical Garden is the arid more brown type than the lush green kind. The scenery is dramatic and is a nice drive.

That first shot was inspired by Kala and her imaginative use of Bokeh (that is the out of focus background patterns a lens makes). She has inspired me to try and capture some nicer backgrounds.

Plumeria rubra 'Kaneohe Sunburst'
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Since most of the leaves were not out on the trees this shot seemed like a good idea. Shot in Monochrome with the Nikon D700 and 105mm macro lens.
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This beach is also along the south east coast and looked wonderful. This picture was taken with a FujiFilm J38. It was the widest lens I had at the time. We just pulled off the road onto the wide shoulder and took a few pictures. I think the park is called Makapu'u Beach Park and the islands are Manana Island (Rabbit Island) and Kaohikaipu Island (Turtle Island).

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Black and White Jasmine

Black and White Jasmine
Jasminum
(JAZ-mih-num)
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I a pretty sure this was Angelwing Jasmine (Jasminum nitidum) but it didn’t seem to have the twining vine habit of that plant. This is a photograph that I wish had paid more attention to the plant for identification purposes. The fragrance was enchanting and is still lingering in my mind. This picture was shot in monochrome with the D700 and the 105mm Vr lens. Looking back it probably could have been slightly more exposed but at least the whites didn’t blow out.

It will be a little while until we are back on east coast time. This next picture is pretty much what my day consisted of yesterday, watching the planes pull in and out of LAX. This was shot with the Coolpix P6000. It is nice to have kind of a small incognito camera because I am not sure about the photography rules at airports these days. This plane is an American Airlines 767-200 and it was bound for JFK. According to Wikipedia the 767-200ER is:

“The extended-range variant of the original Boeing 767, the 767-200ER, was first delivered to El Al in 1984. This model became the first 767 to complete a nonstop transatlantic journey, and broke the flying distance record for a twinjet airliner on April 17, 1988, with an Air Mauritius 767-200ER flying 8,727 nautical miles (16,162 km) between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Port Louis, Mauritius. The 767-200ER became popular overseas with smaller operators seeking wide-body airliners but not needing the 747's capacity.”

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Ours was the next flight an hour later but was cancelled.

Honolulu Cactus

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Honolulu Cactus

Finally made it home after a somewhat arduous journey of 48 plus hours. The blizzard that hit New York really messed up my travel plans. Yesterday I had boarding passes for 5 different flights and finally got one from Los Angles to St. Louis and to La Guardia today. It sure wore me out but exploring Hawaii for a couple of weeks was well worth it.

The trip home took a lot out of me and I am still real tired but wanted to share another plant that I saw in Hawaii. This Cactus was growing in Kapiolani Park on the quiet end of Waikiki. We saw quite a bit of Cactus on the islands especially in the hot dry areas. The climate of the Hawaiian Islands is totally amazing. Here is a reference page to the climate of Hawaii from the Western Regional Climate Center. The link gives a good overview of the weather there and in rainfall section it has a few interesting facts:

“If the islands of the State of Hawaii did not exist, the average annual rainfall upon the water where the islands actually lie would be about 25 inches. Instead, the actual average is about 70 inches. Thus the islands extract from the air that passes across them about 45 inches of rainfall that otherwise would not fall. That the mountains are dominantly responsible for this added water bonus is evident from annual rainfall maps, which show the tremendous amounts of rainfall deposited in mountainous areas in the average year. In many mountainous areas of the State these depths exceed 240 inches, or 20 feet. At Mt. Waialeale, on Kauai, the annual average reaches the extraordinary total of 486 inches – over 40 feet. This is the highest recorded annual average in the world.”

“An average of 70 inches of rainfall over Hawaii is equivalent to not quite 8,000 billion gallons of water per year. This is more than 10 times the annual water use of something over 700 billion gallons. According to the 1965 figures, irrigation accounted for 74 percent of this total use; industrial uses (chiefly for cooling) accounted for 19 percent, while the remaining seven percent was used for domestic and miscellaneous purposes.”

“There are very few areas elsewhere in the World and none elsewhere in the United States where rainfall gradients are as steep as they are in Hawaii. In a great many places in Hawaii the annual rainfall gradient exceeds 25 inches per mile; that is the rainfall increases 25 inches for each mile transversed along a straight line. In a very extreme instance, the gradient is 118 inches per mile along the 2-1/2 mile line from Hanalei Tunnel to My Waialeale on Kauai.”

And good for the cultivation of Cactus:

“The driest areas are on the upper slopes of the high mountains, on leeward coasts, or in leeward locations in the interior of the islands as in central Maui. In the driest of these areas the average annual rainfall is less than 10 inches; and one area, around Kawaihae Bay near the northern end of the west coast of Hawaii, the rainfall is less than seven inches.”

Needless to say I like the wetter areas, as the lush tropical jungle always impresses me with a huge selection of different species and abundant growth. Going from one type of climate to another to another all in a relatively short time period is a nice experience and fun to see what is going to be growing next.


This is a partial shot of the Cactus Planting the first two macros are from.
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It is going to take a few weeks to sort out the pictures from this adventure. Some of that time will be used figuring out what plants are which. I am looking forward to the research.

Two from Waikiki Beach

Two from Waikiki Beach
Wordless Wednesday
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Today's Flowers: Hua Pala Vine

Hua Pala
Pyrostegia venusta
(py-roh-STEEJ-ee-uh)
Synonym: Flame Vine
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This vine is growing at my sister’s house in Makawao. That is the Hawaiian word for “edge of the forest”. It is considered Maui’s paniolo or cowboy town. Located on the mid slopes of the volcano at about 1600 feet above sea level it is now an gallery and café type of town. This vine is covering a large part of the eastern part of the property and seems to be just bursting out with color. It can become invasive under the right conditions and in this case it is borderline. It sure is beautiful and for me a welcome sight. This next picture shows a real hazard with Hawaiian parking.


For the first time ever I am posting a non-nikon flower picture. This Plumeria flower was taken at the Koko Crater Botanical Gardens on the dry side of Oahu. The camera is Karen’s Fujifilm J38. It seems like a good camera but I will have to evaluate it more as time goes on. It is amazing in its smallness.


Plumeria
Plumeria rubra 'Kaneohe Sunburst'
(ploo-MEER-ee-a)
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For more flower pictures from around the world check out:
Today’s Flowers . The links open at 1400 GMT.

Plumeria 'Maui Beauty'

Frangipani
Plumeria rubra 'Maui Beauty'
(ploo-MEER-ee-a)

The aptly named ‘Maui Beauty’ from the Plumeria Grove at the Koko Crater Botanical Gardens on Oahu. Many of the Plumeria trees were dormant but there were a few that had some blooms.

We are off to the airport to catch a flight to The Valley Isle (Maui) so I thought this flower’s name was appropriate.


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Hawaiian Hibiscus

Hibiscus
(hi-BIS-kus)

This going to be a short post because I am enjoying the sunshine too much to be inside blogging. This pale Hibiscus was one of the nicest I have seen so far. The flowers were huge! The 10 inch flowers were such a delicate color although the plant itself was not healthy looking.
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Since I have heard there is some snow back east here is a shot of a garden we saw on the North Shore. Our trip over there was a little rainy but the lushness easily made up for that. It sure takes a lot of time to make the loop around Oahu. There was some big surf and the water looked beautiful. This is our last day here as we head over to Maui tomorrow. I am excited to see my sister and my little nephew. This picture was taken with the Coolpix P6000 and that means it is a big file. I crushed it down (w/jpeg compression) as best I could.

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I am nursing a slight sunburn but that isn’t stopping me from going outside as the tropical sun is nourishing and recharging my batteries. It is hot here today but a little hazy. I think the volcano is acting up a little.

Aloha!

Cannon Ball Tree

Cannon Ball Tree
Couroupita guianensis
(koo-roo-PEE-ta) (gee-uh-NEN-sis)
Synonyms: Castanha-de-Macaco, Couratari pedicellaris

This tree was blooming at the Foster’s Botanical Garden in Honolulu. It is an amazing garden partly because of the collection of trees and flowers and partly since it is right downtown. As you are viewing the various tropical plants they are completely ringed by high rise buildings. It is easy to blot out the cityscape and focus on the plants.

This is a tree I had never seen before and it had the appearance that its flowers and cannonballs were growing on a vine that was climbing up the trunk but closer examination showed the vine looking parts were actually short branches coming from the trunk. The blooms were fragrant and highly detailed. The “watch out for falling cannonballs” sign was funny. It was nice that the flowers were almost right to the ground because there were several trees that were blooming that you couldn’t really see, as they were very tall and the branches started 20 or 30 feet from the ground. You could only see spent flowers around the base.
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We are holed up on the quiet end of Waikiki Beach very near Diamond Head. I read that Diamond Head is one of the most recognizable geographical features in the world. Not sure about that but it certainly is one of the most recognizable craters. Since the sky was a little hard to shoot yesterday I took this in black and white and it is the view off our balcony.

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Today the hunt for more flowers and rare tropicals continues on Oahu’s fabled North Shore.