Tag Archives: landscape

Gulangyu. “Drum Wave Islet”. Named for the sound that the waves make as they roll off the Taiwan Strait and hit the off-shore reefs and rocks, Gulangyu Island is a delightful place. Just a short ferry ride from downtown Xiamen, in the south east of the People’s Republic of China, it is a popular destination for local visitors. Gulangyu’s charming pedestrian-only streets are filled with traditional […]

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“The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears, or the sea.” –  Isak Dinesen “… sweat, tears, or the sea.” Sailing provides all three. I love being on the water. And – even with the sweat, tears, and frustrations – being on the water under sail is even better. I’m not a particularly good sailor. That is in no small part because […]

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I loved New Mexico. What’s not to love about a state that reveres spiritual ancestors, country and western legends, Mother Mary, and extraterrestrials – seemingly in equal measure! It’s not that I have any particular affiliation with any of the above, but I admire a culture that allows for – and celebrates – such diversity. […]

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The writers at the Lonely Planet call it: “one of the world’s most spectacular coastal drives”. They are not wrong. Officially starting in Torquay, gateway to Victoria’s “Surf Coast”, and hugging the rugged coastline along the Southern Ocean for 243 kilometres (151 miles) to Allansford, just outside the Victorian regional centre of Warrnambool, The Great Ocean Road is worthy of its listing […]

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It seems like half the North Americans I have ever met have at least a drop or two Irish in them! Not surprising, I suppose, in view of the continued growth of the Irish diaspora.  Three million people outside Ireland  (a country of less than 5 million internal residents) have legal claim to citizenship, and between 80 and 100 million more have […]

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