Aloha All,
In 6 days, I will be on the road again for a six week adventure in the islands of the United Kingdom- islands certainly different from my Hawaiian islands.
My trip will take me to the "British Isles"-- England, Scotland and finally Ireland. My best friend, travel pal and super "blogger", Pat Holmes, has written an excellent explanation of the various "island" terminology: the UK, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland etc. It is silly for me to repeat his fun history lesson: Here is the link to his blog: http://zulusireland1.blogspot.com
A bit of history for me to add: The Hawaiian Flag has the Union Jack in the upper corner. Why?
Hawaii was once an independent kingdom. (1810 - 1893) The flag was designed at the request of King Kamehameha I. It has eight stripes of white, red and blue that represent the eight main islands. The flag of Great Britain is emblazoned in the upper left corner to honor Hawaii's friendship with the British. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
My island hopping adventure will begin on the the first weekend in June where I will visit family in London. I haven't been to London since my Peace Corps days (2012) so it will be nice to return.
I take the train to Edinburgh to spend time with a very dear friend. We plan to visit the Orkney Islands as part of my 10 days in Scotland.
The average temperature in June in the Orkney Islands is 52 F (Hawaii is usually 80 F) and the average daylight hours in June is 18 hours of daylight! Will be fun to wear a sweater or fleece and maybe real shoes instead of "slippers".
In mid-June, I fly to Ireland to begin a series of hikes about 400 km (250 miles) on the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry. Long distance hiking is new to me! But now that I am hooked on hiking - which I do weekly here in Hawaii, I gladly accepted an invitation to join Pat, my best friend and travel pal, to hike the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. This is definitely a new travel experience for me as I will be carrying what I need for three weeks - just under 20lbs-ON MY BACK.
I have been training since February. I am ready for the adventure although in the photo below I am only carrying 10 pounds!
I hope you don't mind that I am sharing the adventure with all of you.
I trust all of you will have a great summer!
Aloha and Mahalo.
In 6 days, I will be on the road again for a six week adventure in the islands of the United Kingdom- islands certainly different from my Hawaiian islands.
My trip will take me to the "British Isles"-- England, Scotland and finally Ireland. My best friend, travel pal and super "blogger", Pat Holmes, has written an excellent explanation of the various "island" terminology: the UK, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland etc. It is silly for me to repeat his fun history lesson: Here is the link to his blog: http://zulusireland1.blogspot.com
A bit of history for me to add: The Hawaiian Flag has the Union Jack in the upper corner. Why?
Hawaii was once an independent kingdom. (1810 - 1893) The flag was designed at the request of King Kamehameha I. It has eight stripes of white, red and blue that represent the eight main islands. The flag of Great Britain is emblazoned in the upper left corner to honor Hawaii's friendship with the British. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
My island hopping adventure will begin on the the first weekend in June where I will visit family in London. I haven't been to London since my Peace Corps days (2012) so it will be nice to return.
I take the train to Edinburgh to spend time with a very dear friend. We plan to visit the Orkney Islands as part of my 10 days in Scotland.
Here is a map of the Orkney Islands.
The average temperature in June in the Orkney Islands is 52 F (Hawaii is usually 80 F) and the average daylight hours in June is 18 hours of daylight! Will be fun to wear a sweater or fleece and maybe real shoes instead of "slippers".
In mid-June, I fly to Ireland to begin a series of hikes about 400 km (250 miles) on the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry. Long distance hiking is new to me! But now that I am hooked on hiking - which I do weekly here in Hawaii, I gladly accepted an invitation to join Pat, my best friend and travel pal, to hike the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. This is definitely a new travel experience for me as I will be carrying what I need for three weeks - just under 20lbs-ON MY BACK.
The Dingle Peninsula (below)
The Ring of Kerry( Below)
I hope you don't mind that I am sharing the adventure with all of you.
I trust all of you will have a great summer!
Aloha and Mahalo.
