Tagged With "Skomer Island"
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Re: Iceland: 'No we're not Disneyland'
Iceland is a great destination, but it has limited tourist facilities. The population of the entire island is about 300,000 and there aren't all that many hotel or B&B choices in smaller places. I think the lack of infrastructure is the main problem. They certainly have the space and ability to handle more tourists, but need to develop services for them outside Reykjavik.
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Re: March 3, 2020: St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Booked a wedding anniversary trip to St. Thomas and we had a fabulous romantic time. If you get the chance, take the Red Hook ferry to Cruz Bay at St. John's and explore the Virgin Island National Park. Lots of plantation ruins from back in the day when Denmark ruled the Virgin Islands. We had a wonderful lunch and view from the Caneel Bay Resort, which I understand has not reopened after being pummeled by two hurricanes.
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Re: Calabria to Sicily: A bridge too far?
I like it when people take on huge tasks and succeed at them. The American Space Program was like that -- expensive, risky, exciting and one of man kind's greatest achievements. This bridge would be a great engineering triump. And I think it would be important to link Sicily more closely to Italy. It would make the island much more accessible and allow freer flow of people. 9 billion Euros is a lot of money, but is probably comparable to the debt the US government runs up in a few days, so...
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Re: South America, part 3 - Nesting Leatherback Sea Turtles
Fascinating! I was just visiting Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia today and discovered that leatherbacks like to spend their summers off the coast feasting on jellyfish. Amazing what long journeys they make to lay their eggs.
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Re: Where Gumbo Was #14: A Sewer Journey
IslandMan - Good one ! Your island home of Malta is an interesting case in point of modern water and wastewater management. The limestone and clay geology there leads to rapid groundwater runoff during the winter rains. Because of this, precious water is reused after treatment in one of the two above ground sewer plants. Water has always been a very valuable resource on the island. Perhaps you might like to make a report sometime about the natural springs and history of the Maqluba doline in...
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Re: The Maltese Islands – Underrated gems or best kept secret ?
Thanks for your comments TatToo. Summer is the best time for water sports,from May to October. Most operators usually shut down over winter. There isn't much surf to speak of unless there is an exceptionally stormy day, but the northern parts of the island are more suited for windsurfing and paragliding as the winds from the northern Mediterranean tend to have more strength in them
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Re: Where in the World is Gumbo? 21.0
Well, I didn't expect anyone to twig it quite that fast, and it's not just because of a polar route. Although we usually don't think of Hawaii extending north of Kauai, in fact the state includes the entire Hawaiian Ridge/Emperor Seamount chain, running up to the Aleutian trench, just off Alaska's Aleutian islands. Mostly underwater, mostly administered by Federal agencies as a preservation/conservation area. Kure Atoll and Green Island is the northernmost habitable place in Hawaii, and it's...
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Re: Newgrange; Ireland’s ancient Passage Tomb
Walking the "Walls" that enclose the City - maybe 3 miles around - is a local ritual ! At frequent intervals there are Pubs to stop at. The idea being that you stop at each one , have a drink and proceed to the next. Its only the hardened drinkers who complete the circuit. A friend from Anna Maria Island, Florida sent his daughter to stay with us for a while. Same age as my daughter and they got along like a house on fire ! So when we arrived in Chester I told her our day was walking around...
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Re: Ellis Island Finally Open a Year After Superstorm Sandy
This is good news. Makes me want to go to NYC just to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
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Re: Spring Honeymoon Help
Congratulations SueZee! We're delighted in your marriage, and you've picked a great country in which to honeymoon. May is not too early to go to Italy, although pack a light jacket just in case. The crowds won't be there yet and you'll save some money when compared to the peak summer season. Where to go is very much a matter of taste. Most definitely you need to go to Venice and I'd say spend at least 5 days here, maybe with a day trip or two (such as to the glass making island of Murano or...
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Re: Island Air: Even Billionaires Get Airline Blues
Poor Larry Ellison. It's such a hardship owning your own Hawaiian Island.
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Re: Island Air: Even Billionaires Get Airline Blues
Billionaires are made, not born. Mr. Ellison seems to be making a business move - pressure the FAA to make things difficult for Hawaiian air, upgrade the Island Air service, achieve sole "Ohana" certification for Island Air. Ohana certification is keenly sought for this market. Here is a description. http://www.examiner.com/articl...on-spiffed-up-planes
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Re: Island Air: Even Billionaires Get Airline Blues
Well, it's worth noting that Hawaiian has still not gotten Ohana off the ground, literally. They're citing FAA's cutbacks due to sequestration and then the shutdown as the reason. Island Air used to be a Hawaiian affiliate, flying Dash-8s and ATR-42s into small airports and feeding passengers into Hawaiian. Ohana was/is their plan to stay in that market with ATR42s. Island is unhappy with its ATRs (both the 42 and the larger 72), but doesn't seem to be able to solve any of its problems. I...
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Re: Island Air: Even Billionaires Get Airline Blues
Mr. Ellison plays hardball. He comes by his wealth through calculated strategy. It appears that the matter of securing better aircraft for his airline is part of a larger effort to corner the market for premium service to "his" island. Who knows, maybe the island is for sale ? Make him an offer. When you own the island, let me know; I will be glad to come to Lanai and run the canoe livery.
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Re: The Valley Island of Maui: 2) Haleakala National Park
US Immigration is a bit of a hassle, although most Canadians receive about a smooth a ride as possible. In most Canadian airports, you can actually clear immigration within Canada, rather than the USA (infinitely preferable because the lines are so much shorter). Not sure if that's true of Montreal, though. Thank you for your kind words about the Hawaii blogs. Hawaii is a special place. I've always gone and explored it by myself, so in this setting I tend to drift to isolated places that are...
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Re: A Visit to Ireland: Part 1) An overview of the Country and its People
I didn't know that there were so many Irish in Liverpool. There are certainly many of them in Canada and the USA as well. One wonders how many more Irish live abroad than on their home island.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, March 18th, 2014: Chihuahua Man of Marsaxlokk
Island Man, just over a year ago I landed on Malta after my freighter trip from Singapore. I stayed first in Marsaxlokk for several days, at Duncan Accommodations, above the bar of the same name, which it appears Chihuahua Man is looking right at! I loved the town, especially fun on market day. Thanks for the memory.
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Re: Family Friendly Attractions in Malta
Hello Jason and thanks for the interesting and informative post about family Malta. I am resident here myself and I agree with the family attraction side of the island. It's a fun place to visit and I do notice many families enjoying their time together.
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Re: Cables mapped: How you're connected to the world
Very interesting. For those particularly interested in the history of the subject, there's a lovely little museum on Valentia Island in SW Ireland dedicated largely to commemorating the first successful transatlantic cable which I visited while staying with a friend there. Near the Skelligs if you need another reason to go. http://www.valentiaisland.ie/e...tia-heritage-centre/
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Re: March 19, 2018: Winter at Caraquet Wharf, New Brunswick
A lot of boats are dry-docked for the winter, but I did see others that were not. The Bay looks more like a field. That's an island out there!
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Re: Canada's 10 Best Kayaking Destinations
Great suggestions! Another excellent place to Kayak is Johnston Strait, on the inside passage between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Several pods of Orcas live here so your chance of seeing them is excellent!
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Re: Canada's 10 Best Kayaking Destinations
Thank you for that Suggestion! I'll have to keep it in mind. Canada has so many amazing places to paddle there could be at least 50 that could feature on this list!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day: May 6th, 2014. Cairo Roadside Cafe
I love these little slices of daily life, no matter what country, what city. Community rituals are so important to our being communities, not just populations! Thanks, Island Man!
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, November 25, 2014: Fall colors at Upper Kananaskis Lake, Alberta
My Wife - she who must be obeyed - loves a single Kayak and the open sea. So I presume this would be on a lake. Much safer I think. Sounds like you have the perfect location for a wilderness family like ours ! When we camp in summer you'd mistake some of the tents for aircraft hangers. But the kids and babies come too. Canoes and Fishing rods. Wet suits and waders. We go to Shell Island in Wales - but only when the tides out. Need to plan your journey ahead. They only have Grizzly Sheep.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#77)
More specifically, I think the first picture shows Toronto Island Airfield, and the second the mainland end of the Western Channel.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#77)
I think I knew this one right from day one, but saved my guess until now. I have to say the TravelGumbo members are great detectives, for I do believe they pretty much solved this puzzle. My guess is: Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is located on an island just 122 m (400 ft) from shore (downtown Toronto). I believe the ferry route is one of the world's shortest regularly scheduled ferry routes.
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Feb 11, 2015: Fruit of the Vine
The Finger Lakes area in the center of the state has long been a big white-wine producer; Taylor is originally from there. There's been a growing industry on Long Island in recent years, where sandy soil in some areas has been good to the grapes. On the whole, NY wines range from extraordinary to oversweet. And, of course, it's home to one of my guilty favorites: Manishewitz Concord Grape wine, kosher for Passover!
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Re: Serra's Church, Mission San Juan Capistrano, California. Where Gumbo Was #46
Somewhere I've got a snapshot of a very young me with a tiny lady holding an object who had insisted my friend take our picture in the garden together. It was in the village of Petra, Majorca and she officiated at the small museum commemorating Junipero Serra's birthplace. I was spending the summer on the island and every student educated in California knows his name almost as well as their own. The address of my high school was El Camino Real, Father Serra's road from mission to mission and...
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Re: Mont-Saint-Michel: Like no other (Pt. 2)
A visit to this church, almost exactly 30 years ago, is one of my fondest travel memories. I stayed on the island and went to mass, it was a dark and stormy night (really), the wind howled, we were welcomed in English, the only visitors present in the small congregation and I've never felt so included as a traveler. Part of what I remember was a distinct dip worn into the stone of the stairs on the climb into the church. It appears from the beautiful photo at the top of this page that the...
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Re: For those who hate Heathrow, Gatwick plans new allure
Gatwick, if selected, will have much better transportation than now; in fact, they are committed to building it even with one runway. Every 2.5 minutes, into Central London. DrF: Gatwick is hoping this will bring some North American flights again; US Airways was the last North American carrier into Gatwick, and they stopped in 2009, sucked into the great vacuum of Heathrow. Gatwick used to have a lot of N. America business back when restrictive legislation limited the number of their flights...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, May 3, 2014: Metropole Hotel, Hanoi
I too am a fan of Colonial era hotels. The only ones I've ever stayed at were in Sri Lanka where, at the time, they weren't much more than a night at a Howard Johnson's. When you make your way to Sri Lanka, PortMoresby, check out some that island has to offer. You might be pleasantly surprised. Sri Lankan people I interacted with actually were quite grateful overall for the contributions the British made to their island -- tea plantations, roads, railroads, and government. And, of course,...
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Re: Gallery: Bicycles, Lucca, Italy
I hadn't thought about that but, you're right, even as narrow a view as the width of a bicycle conveys a good sense of place. And my preference for towns and villages, rather than cities. I have picture of a ferry bicycle parking lot on Lantau Island, Hong Kong and, even though it's a rural place, it appears that every person on the island must be represented by a bike in the lot, there are so many. But, though crowded, I remember it as park-like compared to yours above and still gives an...
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Re: Gumbo's Pic of the Day, July 30, 2015: Spirit Island
I know what you mean. Maligne Lake is a beautiful area to see and the tour out to Spirit Island is certainly worth it. One of the most notable things about the lake is the colour of the water itself that is due to being glacier fed. Up there this past June and was treated to a young moose feeding along the water near the boat launch and then two young black bears dining along the cutline just off the main road. Chatted with a family from Washington DC and a young German couple. They were...
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Re: How loooong does it take to get to your airport?
There's certainly a lot of variation, as I also noted above. And sometimes the planners don't help much either, as is the case with all three of our New York airports, where the whole AirTrain concept is completely botched. At Kennedy, the AirTrain's stations are not in, but sort of near, the terminals. That means you have to drag your stuff outside, across the roadways, and then up stairs or elevator to the train. And then, you have a choice of going to the commuter rail station (about 3...
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Re: Top 7 Things to do in Avalon – Catalina Island
Thanks Samantha, great report! I'm from Southern California and I sure miss going to Catalina. My favorite thing has to be watching the flying fish as you take the ferry across. They used to rent motorboats to go around the island yourself, which was cool. Do they still do that?
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Re: Top 7 Things to do in Avalon – Catalina Island
I only visited Catalina once in the ~25 years I lived in Southern California, but I remember it being exactly as you describe it -- a quieter place that's well away from the glam, glitz and adrenaline-paced speed of the mainland. We also did an island tour and enjoyed that. Mr. Wrigley introduced a herd of bison on to the island which are still very popular.
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Re: Thinking Cuba? Tickets not so easy yet!
Many Americans travel to the Capital - Havana. Its a big - overgrown and mostly poor city. Not really a flavour of the real Cuba and its people. Wherever you go on the Island they do 2-3 day trips to Havana. The stores are mostly empty and food is strictly rationed to the locals. So you'll be better going to one of the hundreds of All Inclusive Hotels that line the coast. Inclusive vacations fly from Toronto to Resorts all around the Island. Very much like Dominican Republic - without the...
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo (#115)
This was a tough one. The first couple of photos made me think this might be Death Valley or possibly Saddle Road on the Big Island of Hawaii, but the last couple of photos clinched it for me. If you look closely at the rocks the vendor is selling, you can make out images of what appear to be animals, possibly birds. The last photo looks like it shows some carving in the sand. Such a desolate place...my guess would be the Nazca Lines, Peru.
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Re: Where in the World is TravelGumbo? (#113)
I suspect the background is real. I have never been to Hawaii, and remembering from a long time ago the opening credits of the TV series Hawaii 50, I wonder if this could be a carved bow of a canoe from there or some other Pacific Island..
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Re: Books That Sent You Packing (your bag, that is)
I get booksellers' e-newsletters and paper catalogs and run across interesting travel-related items from time to time. Many are on remainder sites so "quantities are limited" but when a post is fresh here, you'll likely get it if you want it. Spotted today in the Daedalus Books catalog is one by Ian Buruma, Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing , " a dissident's eye-view of the world's most secretive superpower, observing, "Strange things happen when Chinese dynasties near...
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Re: U.S. cuts most Cuba air routes
Whilst it certainly is true that many Cubans and some airlines overestimated demand, there can be little doubt that without the actions of the Trump administration there would by now be significant tourism flows from the US into the island. In that sense you probably were the leading edge of a wave, albeit not the giant one which some people expected.
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Re: Norway: No-Boat Whale Watching
Sounds good - but I suppose you still have to brave the choppy waters to get to the island in the first place.
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Re: Rambling South of Broad, Charleston
The "Holy City" is one of my favorite historical places. Gibbes Museum of Art and Bowens Island Restaurant are not to be missed.
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Re: Mosaic Floors, Paphos, Cyprus
I love this blog. I had the pleasure of spending 7 months in Cyprus in the early 80s and made several trips to Paphos (my favorite spot on the island). This was before the tourist resort invasion and there was only a couple of smaller hotels in Paphos. The town still had all the old charm, the harbor had some great family owned restaurants and the Tombs of the Kings was a pleasant 30 minute walk in the countryside. Sadly, like so many charming little places it has been caught up by the...
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Re: Rhode Iceland? State tourist video shows Iceland in error
Not a great day for Rhode Island tourism folks, I think. Besides the video, they are catching heat from people who dislike the state's new ad slogan: "Rhode Island, Cooler and Warmer." And they don't like the logo, either! Click HERE to read...
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Re: Visiting Erupting Mount Etna
We were there in 2014 and it was one of the most interesting days to walk around this area. We had no idea the volcano had so many side vents. We did not purchase the guided tour on the big tire vehicle, but were very impressed, nonetheless. We stayed in Taormina for a week and took day trips to various locations in the eastern part of the island. One place we spent an afternoon was a mountain to town with my last name. It was very cool. This place does not see many travelers and everywhere...
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Re: Lanai: Sorry, Island Closed for Renovation
Any idea how long the island is going to be closed? I'd hope to visit Lanai in about 2 years. Must be nice to buy your own Hawaiian Island -- and interesting to see if this "green" scheme will work. Lanai has limited resources, except for lots of sunshine a great weather.
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Re: Walking the Burgundy Canal
I received Melinda's newsletter this afternoon (she of ILoveWalkinginFrance.com ), and she confirms what I mentioned above about the down side of trying to follow French paths. "... I backtracked and turned right, thinking that walking around an island would be fairly straightforward. That path ended soon after, at the end of the port, so I backtracked again and followed another path which would join the coastal path at the eastern side of the island. It did, but was so badly marked that I...
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Re: Mar. 17. 2016. Why did the Chicken cross the road ?
Quote from Key West Guide Book "Luckily, the southernmost city outlawed cockfighting in 1970's, putting the Cubalaya chickens out of business, and out on the streets of Key West. Domestic chickens on the island were losing their homes at the same time when their owners moved away. Now the roosters & chickens were left to roam free, and nature took its course. So, some forty years later, we now have what we call 'Gypsy Chickens'. Like in the 1970's, they are still protected, and make Key...