Oahu

Rented a bungalow for the month of January. Our first time in Hawaii so we wanted to immerse ourselves. Figured out the cheap bus system our first week here, but found we were limited to the trails we wanted to hike and the time it took to get places. So we rented a car for the rest of the month which gave us a new found freedom.

We have seen rainbows almost everyday, which means rain showers every day too. Nothing an umbrella won’t fix and snorkeling, who cares. Seeing lots of Pacific Ocean species, although not any lion fish as yet, guess they all moved to the Caribbean. Snorkeled with a Monk Seal, an endangered, earless creature.


Hoping for the big swell while we are here when the waves reach four stories in height. The surfers around the world are given 48 hour heads up and the competition begins. Now the waves are ten to twenty feet and the surfers abound waiting and practicing and hoping for the big ride.

Perhaps I have discovered a new business as a byproduct of our long leaf pine tree farm. Did you know that a cup of pine needle tea has three to five times as much vitamin C as an orange? Plus a multitude of health benefits. Still in the research mode, but as soon as I figure it all out the name will change to Mule Pond Tea Plantation. Reminds me of when we started looking for a sailboat, the name Will of the Wisp came first and the boat followed soon thereafter.

So a bit of history about our tree farm. Within our thirty acres lies one of the oldest ponds in the east which was mule dug at the turn of the century for providing water for the steam train that passed directly behind our property. The mules carted the dirt that was hand dug. Two older local gents told us the story of frog gigging at our pond when they were youngsters.

About five years ago we cleared the overgrown forest of loblolly pines and various hardwoods, did a burn and herbicide spray to keep the competition at bay. Then a small contingency of workers planted 10,000 long leaf pines in a morning. The seedlings were very small, 12" at best. There was still a lot of competitive growth, briars, scrub oak, loblolly seedlings, etc. So five years later, our work was really cut out for us. We needed to bush hog between all the long leaf pines that had grown between two feet and twenty. Plus we had to chain saw all the oak and loblolly that had grown equally as fast as the long leaf pines. Then came Hurricanes Florence and Matthew knocking a good many of the trees over. Standing them back up is a regular chore, for some I have propped back up ten times. The deer run into the string, a strong wind will blow them over again, the string chafts, the post comes up or gets eaten by termites, a multitude of reasons. However as spring is upon us and the ground is finally drying out, the trees are becoming more stable as the tap roots grow deeper.

We are enjoying the hard work as we can now appreciate the benefits of watching the trees grow and flourish and drinking the tasty tea.

Pictures include the five different stages of the tree cycle, the seedling, the grass, the bottlebrush, the sapling, and the adult. In a few years we can begin to harvest the needles that are used for mulch. In fifteen years the cones can be harvested for seeds. All a wonderful process!

Thoroughly enjoying the art here in Amsterdam, from Escher to Rembrandt and all those in between. Take a walk through the museums with us in the gallery.

One of the most beautiful places on this planet. We believe it should be one of the wonders of this world. Here are some facts:

There are about 30 full-time gardeners, who work year-round at Keukenhof.
Each autumn, the gardeners plant the bulbs, by hand, in a completely new design. It takes about 3 months. Keukenhof is only open eight weeks each year and, in that time, welcomes close to a million visitors.
Nearly 50 million people have visited Keukenhof since it first opened and, nowadays, 75% come from more than 100 countries abroad.
More than 7 million bulbs are planted in Keukenhof’s 32 hectares (79 acres), which are supplied, for free, by 100 bulb growers.
The gardeners dig out these bulbs, at the end of each open season, and destroy them (by order of the growers). Most are used as food for livestock.

The striped tulips, so popular in the 17th century, got their colouring from a virus, transferred by aphids, only discovered in 1931. These days, multi-coloured tulips are bred to look that way.

Tulip Mania’ reached its peak in Holland between 1634 and 1637, when one bulb could fetch more than a thousand guilders, more than the cost of a canal house in Amsterdam.

Despite its long association with the Netherlands, the tulip actually originates in the Tian Shan mountain region of the Himalaya.
Tulips came to Holland via Turkey, in the 16th century, where sultans organised tulip parties each spring.

What an amazing cruise we are having! Learning so much from geography to Tai Chi to energy healing. Not to mention all the different cultures we are visiting and witnessing the problems of the world.

Yes, what a life style. Could get used to this. There are 1500 passengers and 600 crew. We don’t have to lift a finger other than to do our own laundry, and even that can be doled out for a small ransom. I have begun to wonder about the daily chores of shopping and cleaning, will I abhor those mundane duties once we return. We are finding that many people enjoy this kind of traveling and have completed many world tours. What comes with a gold cruising status, free laundry and WiFi.

Left Sydney, Australia, and cruised up the eastern coast of Australia to the rebuilt city of Darwin, damaged in a cyclone years ago, and totally destroyed in WW11.

The sea state has been very calm, you hardly know you are at sea. I hope we can continue to say that. And yes we can, now that we have completed the cruise and reflecting back on what a journey it was. Tours of the galley, talking with the crew members from all over the world, a dinner with the captain, bonding with our nightly dinner mates, to learning Tai Chi for two months were the major highlights of life on board. Then there were the excursions at the ports of call where we touched on the the cultures of twenty different counties from Australia to Gibraltar, passing through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea.

Our first stop was Yorkey’s Knob, Australia where we snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. Learning how difficult it is to get to, it will be a place to come back to, for we just touched upon a very small crowded Reef with not many fish and bleached coral. Darwin, Australia, the next stop, and yes named after Charles Darwin, in honor of their former shipmate when the captain of the Beagle sailed into port. Today Darwin is a thriving city with one of the fastest growing economies in Australia after 70% of the city was destroyed in 1974 by cyclone Tracy. Darwin is known worldwide for its saltwater crocodiles, the largest living reptiles which can grow to be 22 feet. Also known as Australia’s gateway to Southeast Asia, a mere 2.5 hours from Indonesia.

Ko Samui, Thailand, lies south of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand. It was settled 1500 years ago by coconut farmers, which still provides a major source of income today along with tourism.

Another great hike in Queenstown around Lake Wakatipu. Beautiful houses on one side and the lake on the other, and in between a trail with sculptures interspersed along the way.