Enjoying a Garden, a Lighthouse, and Hanalei Beach

Thursday we were ready to travel north again to Hanalei. After being thwarted on Tuesday, we now knew when the highway would be open. We had everything timed out, and we were ready to go. Our first stop of the day was the Na ‘Aina Kai Botanical Gardens (Lands by the Sea). Like many gardens, this one began as a private garden. Joyce and Ed Doty moved to Kauai in the late 1970’s and began to create a garden. As…

Kauai Travels: A Waterfall and Cliffs to Explore

We arrived in Kauai on a Saturday afternoon. We spent the rest of the day getting settled and checking out the resort we were staying in. The resort was right on the beach, but it also had a nice pool area with a lazy river and a number of hot tubs. It was a great place to relax. Surrounding the pool were a lot of hibiscus bushes, and they were putting on quite a show. The colors were really beautiful.…

Discovering Washington’s Record Setting Beach, Long Beach

Long Beach, Washington claims their 28 miles long beach is the longest beach in the United States. That makes it a good place to visit because in reality Washington does not have the greatest of beaches. Those in California and Oregon are generally better than Washington’s. Part of that is because a major part of Washington’s coast line is in the Puget Sound region. Here you don’t normally get the crashing waves one thinks of when going to the beach.…

A Sunday in Malawi

Since I went to Malawi to teach, getting out to see the sights was not a top priority. However, my one Sunday between teaching did make for an interesting day. It began with participating in a worship service from which I learned a lot about Malawian church culture. The day ended with a quick trip to the best known tourist area of Malawi, Lake Malawi. It was definitely a good day. The church I attended was on the campus where…

Discovering Australia: Bondi to Coogee Walk

When we researched our trip to Australia, one of the experiences that popped up was the Bondi to Coogee walk. We are big walkers, and a lot of our vacations are spent walking around various cities we visit. We had heard of the famous Bondi Beach, and this walk was a top priority for us to do. Yesterday we had walked in the city. Today we would walk the coast. Fortunately we had a beautiful day for our walk. The…

Melbourne’s Victoria Market and famous St. Kilda Penguins

Our second full day in Melbourne was the day of the Grand Final, but we had other plans. We started with a visit to the well know Victoria Market. For us it was a stop on our tram ride to the city so an easy stop. We planned to eat breakfast there. Later we would continue our tram ride out to the beach community of St. Kilda and see the St. Kilda penguins. To begin our day, however, we needed…

Whimsical Art and Cultural Opportunities in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

When you think of international travel, what places come to mind? Caribbean countries and Europe probably come to mind most readily. However, there are many places to travel which will not have the hordes of tourists you might find in some of these places. May I suggest Taiwan as one such place. In 1971 when I toured around the world, we stopped in Taiwan. So when my daughter suggested my wife and I meet her somewhere in Asia, Taiwan seemed…