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Slimy, Glowing Things

Slimy, Glowing Things

  • Travel
When I first arrived as a new immigrant to what was then immodestly known as “God’s Own Country”, there were far fewer major tourist attractions than there are today. The mud pots of Rotorua bubbled as they still do, Queenstown was a charming village set amongst mind-numbing scenery between
Matia Island

Matia Island

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Unlike Sucia Island, where the Spanish pronunciation is not commonly used, Matia is pronounced Mah-tee-ah more often than not. You will find some who say May-sha, but not many.

Most of this 145 acre Island is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a National Wildlife Refuge.

Sucia Island

Sucia Island

  • Travel
Arrrrrgh! Grab a chart me mateys and follow along as I tell ye a tale o’ social distancing on the high seas. Arrrrrgh (again)!

Or, you can have a look at the route we took here.

Let me begin with a short history lesson. These Islands were “discovered” (in the

Left Unsaid

Left Unsaid

  • Travel
This is supposed to be a travel blog and one thing’s for sure, there won’t be much traveling for a while. So I’ve decided to say a bit more about our February trip to New Zealand.

Let’s begin in Rotorua.

Back in the day, this North

Moving On (again!)

Moving On (again!)

They say that the third time’s the charm. I hope so because I’m getting tired of moving this blog!

So, what’s going on? It’s not easy to find a good place to host a blog. Some are free, but insert ads into posts. Some are difficult

The Ninth Wonder of the World

The Ninth Wonder of the World

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It’s been said that the thousands of kilometers of dry stone walls found in the United Kingdom and Ireland might be considered the Eighth Wonder of the World because of the unimaginable amount of human labor put into constructing them.

If you’ve ever stood at the bottom of

Rocks, rocks, rocks… Trees, trees, trees…

Rocks, rocks, rocks… Trees, trees, trees…

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We met a woman who had been in the Broughtons for several months and was ready to go home. “After a while”, she said, “it’s just rocks, rocks, rocks, trees, trees, trees.”

Perhaps if you stay anywhere long enough you become inured. We never got to that point, but

The Floating World

The Floating World

  • Travel
During Japan’s Edo period the phrase “the floating world” evoked an imagined universe of wit, stylishness, and extravagance—with overtones of naughtiness, hedonism, and transgression.

But that’s not the floating world we’re here to talk about today.

Like other places around the globe where folks make their

Welcome!

Welcome!

The Islands are full of unexpected, sometimes amusing, things. In the Octopus Islands, someone once left a bit of driftwood in an old shack to commemorate their visit. Now it’s a tradition, with some pretty clever efforts.
Symmetry

Symmetry

Sometimes the water is so still that you can see an almost perfect reflection. One local writer suggested that if you look at these images sideways, they might have served as inspiration for the totem pole.
Billy Proctor’s Museum

Billy Proctor’s Museum

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Bill Proctor has lived all of his 85 years in the Broughton area. He worked as a logger, trapper and fisherman for many years. Later in life, he became a passionate advocate for habitat restoration, primarily salmon.

During his time, Bill met many of the true old-timers; men and women

Tsatsisnukwomi

Tsatsisnukwomi

  • Travel
That this native village , better known today as New Vancouver, exists is a testament to the vision and determination of one man.

A combination of government policy and economics resulted in many people leaving their villages for larger, one might say more Caucasian, places. The grandfather of our guide, Amy,