My mental map of Christchurch is a triangle. The city center is near the top. The lower right corner is the Banks Peninsula, an ancient volcano that on the map looks like a huge pinwheel. The lower left corner is Lake Ellesmere, a very large, shallow lagoon that is barely connected to the sea throughContinue reading “Visiting Christchurch and the Banks Peninsula”
Tag Archives: Coast
North Island Highlights
This week we moved from the North Island of New Zealand to the South. During the past month we walked on beaches, collected glass, shells, and driftwood, drank coffee at a wonderful local cafe, visited museums and wineries, strolled in parks and botanical gardens, climbed hills, and watched birds. Every day held vivid and memorableContinue reading “North Island Highlights”
Northland, New Zealand
We wanted to see the far north of New Zealand. We didn’t get to Cape Reinga, the tip of a long finger of land that points north from the rest of the island, but we got to the knuckles, around Doubtless Bay. One long sandy bay after another stretches along the north end of NewContinue reading “Northland, New Zealand”
Cruising the Galapagos
Boarding a ship in the Galapagos puts you in a different world. Your cabin is compact, the windows and decks reveal water everywhere, the ship rolls, and you rapidly become accustomed to constant movement underfoot. I didn’t get seasick, and enjoyed most of the motion. Being surrounded by water was a pleasure. Any free timeContinue reading “Cruising the Galapagos”
Wonders of the Galapagos
What makes the Galapagos strange is not the variety of birds and animals. Most are familiar. Pelicans, cormorants, and other seabirds are in the air, sea lions and iguanas on the beach, turtles in the water. We’ve seen these before, on beaches and in documentaries about the Galapagos. It’s their indifference to us. We rideContinue reading “Wonders of the Galapagos”
Tumbes to the north, Cabo Blanco to the south
We went to Tumbes because it was there. We said we were going to northern Peru and that’s as north as it gets. The Plaza de Armas has two elaborate monuments facing each other, a condor and llama on one side and a giant band shell filled with faces and figures on the other. Continue reading “Tumbes to the north, Cabo Blanco to the south”
Sicily: Landscape, Beach, Archaeology
Sicily—Week One Having a guest really gets you up and going. With my sister Catherine we hit high spots of the region so that she could take away a sense of western Sicily. Three themes emerged, landscape, beaches, and archaeology.Sicily’s landscape is Dramatic. Huge rocky hills emerge from the sea, yet just beyond are broadContinue reading “Sicily: Landscape, Beach, Archaeology”
Riding the ferry along the Amalfi Coast to Capri
I’ve been lax on posting lately and will now catch up by posting a few pictures from some of the places we’ve enjoyed this month. Taking the ferry along the coast gave us a great look at Amalfi and Positano from the water. The ferry stops at both places on its way to Capri. WeContinue reading “Riding the ferry along the Amalfi Coast to Capri”
Sorrento
Need I say anything?We ate lunch looking over the Bay of Naples, Vesuvius in the background, a six-masted cruise ship moored nearby and a ferry to Capri at the landing. Sorrento is charming for a stroll, shopping and lunch. We had a lovely day. We did drive to Sorrento from Salerno, parking in the firstContinue reading “Sorrento”
The Wild Atlantic Way
Promoting the tourist potential of the west coast of Ireland is the Wild Atlantic Way, an initiative started in 2014 that marks 2500 km of roads, from Cork on the south to Malin Head, the northern tip of the country. I, for one, am not convinced that the west coast of Ireland needed to beContinue reading “The Wild Atlantic Way”
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