Entering a Tunnel (GIF) Up in Nago City

It's Some Sort of Bypass

 

 

After leaving the Hydrangea flower viewing in the mountains, it started to rain.

Good buddy Doc Graff was driving and, I started fooling with the camera.

We were bouncing around a bit, cruising down the highway.

The speed limit, posted, is probably, a good idea. It said "50" and, that's what we did.

Er, maybe just a little bit more because, we're not tourists. We live here.

Pentax K1 Spoils Me

 

It has this GPS feature, I turn on and, it Geo-tags all my images.

That way if, I upload them to Google Maps, it saves me lots of work.

Well, sonovagun if, the K1 wasn't in the back seat and, I used my old camera.

Usually, I would carry a Garmin handheld GPS device, when using the Pentax K3.

But, the batteries were removed and, it  stays in my office, these days.

Now, I have to fool around with translation services and maps, to Geo-tag this image.

Futami Suwaehisa Tunnel

 

That happens to be, all I have had translated about this tunnel, so far. 

Looking a maps, can get a guy lost so, I quit doing it for the time being.

The translation, looks a bit strange, to me so, here's what I'll do next.

Take a screenshot of it with my smartphone and, go bar hopping.

If 5 or 6 people, drinking beer, agree with that translation, I'll be good to go.

The thing will be called Futami Suwaehisa tunnel, from then on ! 

An Update

 

The translation above, was almost perfect; just drop the "e" from Suwaehisa.

And, you get the Futami By-pass Tunnel or, Futami Suwahisa Tunnel.

12 Photos from a GPS Waypoint Trek in Kin Town Okinawa

What the Heck is a Waypoint ?

 

 

This is something I have been experimenting with for the past week.

With a camera and a handheld GPS gadget, you can record where you have been traveling.

Each time you take a photo, take a reading with the GPS device and, save them.

Today, I just used the Canon G12 and a Garmin Etrex 20.

The rock is a landmark in Kin Town; remains of a castle wall, maybe.

The purple berries caught my attention so, I shot them to see what flowers blossom, later.

Up to this point, the trek was mostly along city sidewalks.

Now, it was time to go off-road for a little while.

It would be nice to know if the satellites, in the sky, can find me when I go in here.

Each time, I stopped for a photo, I entered a GPS waypoint on the handheld gadget.

Things were slightly wet and slippery in the woods because of recent rains.

The fresh air and smell of composting leaves in the forest felt good.

Cabin fever sets-in after a few days of being house bound during rainy season.

This park bench gave me an idea.

Get out of the woods and buy some iced coffee and sandwiches, it made me think.

This little journey was through a sacred site called Tomusuzu Utaki.

 A little ways down a hill from the Utaki, is this convenience store.

Once a few sandwiches and coffee were packed away, it was time to go back in the woods.

There are some mysterious sights along these trails through the woods.

A Kin Town pamphlet says there are records of this site dating back to the 18th Century.

It says, before World War II people prayed here for prosperity.

Have a look at that cup in the center of the photo.

It has been placed at the entrance of a cave and, someone put it there recently.

Another bench looked like a nice place to rest with my lunch.

But, I decided to carry it back to the office and, eat there, where nobody could sneak up on me.

Do you suppose, someone comes out of that cave and, drinks the sake from that cup ?

When the hairs on the back of your neck, stand up, it's a good idea to move along.

This stone marker is in front of a special tree at Kin Temple.

With over 100 trees called cultural assets, I GPS marked it and took a photo.

One of these days, we will GPS them all.

This is Kin Kannon-do, a Buddhist Temple in my neighborhood.

It doesn't matter what your religion may be. Everyone is welcome here.

Back at the office, I download the camera and the GPS device and, do some magic.

If everything worked, as planned, these images will have been Geo-tagged.

Look at Google Earth and, you can follow the trail, I took today, without getting wet !


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10 Photos from a Two Hour Flower Walk

Bird Photo: Black-crowned Night-Heron Adult

Yesterday's post was of a juvenile Night Heron.

Today, I got closer to an adult and will attempt to get farther downstream as weather permits.

It seems Okinawa's late-starting rainy season will hit tonight or, tomorrow morning.

Good news -- Bad News, I guess depends on how you look at things.

To reach this bird, I have been slashing my way through some rough jungle.

Rain, will make things much cooler and, dampen some of the noise, I have been making.

Once I eliminate a few hundred yards, between us, I'll get a much more detailed photo.

Camera:  Pentax K3

Lens: Sigma 50-500 at 500mm

Exposure:  f/11  1/60   ISO 100

Location: Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

GPS Coordinates embedded as EXIF Data

Flower Photos: King's Mantle or Bush Clock Vine

Every Flower Comes with a Story

 

A person could bore them-self to death researching flowers.

The best thing to do after getting a positive ID on them, is to do a little more digging, I figure.

First, have a look at these purple, white and yellow flowers I found near Todorki Waterfall.


GPS: N 26 33.766 E 127 59.294

They look something like morning glory flowers but, they aren't.

A book, Sub-tropical Flowers in Okinawa ISBN4-9901917-3-0, gave me the ID.

Page 69, told me I found some Thunbergia erecta.

Next, I went poking around on the internet to see what the story behind these plants might be.

The scientific name led to to King's Mantle or Bush Clock Vine.

Well, you can do a search yourself and find all kinds of plant talk about the flowers, if you want.

It was time for me to try and learn where these flowers get their names from.

Like, who decided to call the thing a King's Mantle ?

 Pushing some of the buttons on Wikipedia gave me this juicy story to tell you.

After the name, Thunbergia erecta, you'll see, T. Anderson.  I had to find out more about him.

The guy was a botanist from Scotland and he lived from 1832 until 1870.

Thomas Anderson was an award winning collector of plants and did a lot of work in India.

Somehow he became involved in a mutiny down there.  Who knows why ?

They have a Scottish biography, the Wiki people would like someone to help them expand.

It seems, Thomas Anderson, went back to Edinburgh, Scotland .

Some disease in his liver ended his life October 26, 1870.

Anyhow, I think he was who named this flower.

And, I'm glad I don't drink Scotch (the way I used to)  anymore.
 

Spooky Stuff: Maybe We Have an Apparition at Tonuka

Back up on the Motobu Peninsula today we took some photos at a place named Tonuka.

My good friend, the Map It Okinawa Dude, is in the red shirt over there to the left.

He'd be the one to get GPS information from when he maps this place.

It's a pretty spooky looking area, to me.

The first time we went there exploring I made sure it was OK to take photos.

A local assured me that  there was nobody residing in the graves that line both sides of the river.

There's something in the right side of the picture frame.

Is that an apparition, or what ?

Visit my homepage for today's Feature Photo

Thursday's Travel Photo: Another Waterfall in Okinawa

There are still a few hundred more photos of this waterfall waiting for developing.

The name of the place is Hira Taki (waterfall) but, don't ask me how to get there.

Map It Okinawa will be doing his GPS magic for travelers going off the beaten path.

He's the guy who got this stupid, dead tree off my back after it landed on me today.

Not to worry.  I'm not hurt.  

It would be nice if the government donated a helicopter and pilot to get us around.

Heck, we keep finding all their hidden waterfalls for people.

It just takes a toll on the old hiking shoes, sometimes.

But, getting to them and back is half the fun. Hah !

Coming back down from this one, I got lost.

The Map It Okinawa Dude found me and saved me a few more hours of being...

LOST IN THE JUNGLE

If you decide to go to this waterfall after RyukyuRu gives directions, remember this:

Don't go bumping into dead trees. They fall on you.

Welcome Chinese New Year with a Bang: That's My Plan

Today is New Year's Eve by the Chinese calendar.

So, when my camera shootin' buddies came by today my plan was to go find some fireworks to end the 
Year of the Rabbit and welcome the Year of the Dragon tonight at midnight.

Buy some party goodies and shoot a new photo of a dragon.

That was the plan.

It is a cold, wet, cloudy day in Okinawa.  All I wanted to do was buy some stuff and shoot something like, a gold dragon bottle of sake.  These are things that could be done indoors.

Don't ask me how this stuff happens.

We got sidetracked, somehow and found Cherry Blossoms way up in the mountains.

And, we found another WATERFALL !

This one is at a not to be identified location.  It will be a closely guarded secret.

That's mostly because I don't know the name of the place or where we were at the time.

Map It Okinawa Dude with the GPS and Google Map know-how will have all that information for you, shortly. 
See, it was his bright idea to show us this waterfall and I'm glad that he did.

Here I am wearing a contraption around my waist and popping pain pills from the last time I fell down a waterfall (SEE CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND WATERFALLS IN OKINAWA).

Crynoutloud, I didn't need to be climbing a waterfall with my camera.

But, this one was a real beauty.  So, I did.

Only this time I was careful not to slip and fall.  Got me some great shots to show you.  Later.

RyukyuRusty and Ryukyu Ryu, those guys went all the way to the top.  Not me baby.

Somebody had to slip and fall on their fanny.  It wasn't gonna be me.

One of them young guys did it this time.

And, I'm glad that he did !

PS:  As an afterthought, we found some noisemakers (gentle fireworks) to pop at our party tonight.

According to the plan, we'll welcome the Chinese Year of the Dragon with a BANG !


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VISIT MY WEBSITE FOR THE PHOTO OF THE DAY: BE HAPPY !

Forest, Rocks and Salt: The Less Traveled Path in Okinawa (Photo)

The past few weeks I've been traveling all over the Ryukyu Islands with that dude I keep calling RyukyuRu.  It's a blast but, the young guy acts like he's about half my age, goes up and down mountain trails, into the dark corners of caves and through the jungle like some kinda wild animal.  Half the time, I have no idea where we went.  He'll have to tell us where I took this photo of forest, rocks, and salt.  He pays attention to where he's going while I just tag along to shoot the camera.

Ru has one of those GPS gadgets.  It's great for finding stuff on Google Maps.  I just wish it had a few more important features built into the system.  Like, it would be better if it had a built-in flashlight for dark places.  And, it would be nice if it reminded people the sun is going to go down a few hours earlier when you're in the jungle or a cave than it does when you're at the beach.

RyukyuRu's real name is Lou.  It's just easier to say Ru, around here, because they don't have any "L's" in the Japanese dictionary.  Whenever I introduce him to anyone here,  I just say his name is Ru.  That way I don't get stuck giving free English lessons to everybody.

One of these days I may do a blog interview and Lou can let you know all he wants to about himself.  Meanwhile,  you can snoop around MAP IT OKINAWA and learn things about him while seeing more photos of where we've been in the Ryukyu Island Chain.

Today, I chose to title this post Forest, Rocks, and Salt: The Less Traveled Path, because of what we experienced yesterday.

We observed two women at worship in a well-marked UTAKI (SACRED SITE)  early-on in the day and steered clear so as to not disturb them.  They had placed three piles of salt in different locations throughout the Utaki.  Some were placed alongside the trail,  some on rocks, some at the base of trees in the forest, and others at small stone or cement shrines.

After we left that sacred site, we went to the less-traveled paths.  Places where we found caves, water wells, springs, thick brush, jungle, and hills a mountain goat wouldn't enjoy climbing, we kept running across three freshly laid piles of salt.  We're fairly certain the same two women had traveled off the beaten path and reached every location ahead of us but, never saw them again the entire day.  Dozens, if not a hundred, or more, remote locations and probably a few kilos of fresh salt had been placed in locations where we had to beat our own path.  Big mystery here.  Hmm.

After I'm done picking all the burrs out of my undercarriage, I wonder if I should go try and solve this mystery about the forest, rocks and salt piles on the less-traveled paths of Okinawa. 

Or, should I  just stay home and drink beer?