The Spirit of Aloha

Rachel over at And So It Goes is lucky enough, not only to be marrying the man of her dreams and the love of her life soon, but she's also going to Hawaii for her honeymoon! The lucky devil!

As I went to Hawaii for my honeymoon two years ago, I have promised her a blog post with some photos and great places to go. So this one's for you Rachel.

First stop, Honolulu - Oahu.

The first thing that hit me when I stepped off the plane in Oahu (other than the jet lag), and the thing I loved most about the island was the smells and the scenery. You don't have to drive more than ten minutes and you will find totally different scents; the sweet honey scent of the tiare flowers crushed under foot as they fall from the trees, the smell of freshly cooked fish from the roadside shrimp shacks, the grass, the sea, the rain - it's all new and lovely. The scenes; miles of beaches, jagged cliffs, mountains, dessert, lush green fields, little brightly coloured surf shops and the houses - every one is different and full of its own unique character.

On our first day in Oahu, we had a walk along the beach from our hotel to Waikiki beach. We walked through the marina and watched hundreds of tropical fish swarming around the rocks - a rainbow of colours flickering and glimmering beneath the water like hidden treasure. We walked all the way into Waikiki. I had not expected to like the area much - I envisaged the kind of scene you see somewhere like Tenerife - row after row of sun loungers, lobster red tourists just hanging on that minute longer until sunstroke really is inevitable... but it wasn't like that at all. In Honolulu, time stops still. Minutes merge into hours and hours into days.

Waikiki beach was beautiful; powdery white sand, crystal clear water, turquoise sky and swaying palms. The vivid colours of sun umbrellas and lifeguard huts; a contrast against all the blue and white.

We stopped for a drink in "The Oceanarium" a bar which encircles a huge aquarium full of every kind of fish you could imagine - spotted eagle rays, manta rays and even a shark! I had the best Mojito I've ever tasted in there whilst completely mesmerised by all the fish just floating around me. I felt like Ariel and half expected a crab on the steel drums to start singing "Under Da Sea" at any minute.

On the way back found a nice International market, very similar to the Hutong in China; selling pearls, shells, carved wood and lots of other things.

On day two, we tried to go to Hanauma Bay (a giant crater which is famous for wonderful snorkelling) but there is very limited parking and because it is so famous, after driving up and down for an hour we gave up and went to Manoa Falls instead. We had to hike up a really steep, really muddy slope to get to the falls but we saw some amazing plants (like nothing else on this earth) on the way. 

Ferns, twice the size of me. Trees with roots growing down from the branches and wrapping themselves around the trunk or forming arched walk ways. We visited Lyons Arboretum which is thousands of acres of ten thousand year old trees with really bizarre names... like the bread fruit tree (?!)

On day three we visited Byodo-In temple (we saw an identical temple of the same name in Japan this year). It was a long drive but well worth it. It was set high up on the mountain side over looking the sea and a beautifully kept grave yard (you could reserve your spot for when the time comes with sea view, mountain view or temple view!) 

The temple was only small but it had a moat around it full of gigantic koi karp, turtles and black swans. You walk across a beautiful Japanese bridge to get into the gardens surrounded by trickling streams and big shady trees.

It was the most peaceful, tranquil place I've ever been to. The only sound around was the gentle bird song and the giant gong - I could have stayed forever.

We decided to drive the long way round the other side of the island (you can drive the circumference of the island in one day and it's definitely worth it - just follow the ocean road all the way round), stopping at various beaches along the way to enjoy the view. 

A perfect way to end our stay in Oahu. Tomorrow: The Big Island.

Note to Rachel: A couple of tips - Wherever you go in Hawaii, hire a car. There is so much to see and you just wouldn't be able to do it all if you were using public transport. Also, make sure you take a SatNav with you - in the centre of Honolulu, it's all one way systems and a complete bugger to find your way around!!! 

We stayed at Ala Moana Hotel in Honolu - very reasonable prices and gorgeous hotel and pool. Very close to the Marina and plenty of restaurants around for your evening meal. Including a huge shopping centre with great food court just opposite.

The Oceanarium

Byodo-In Temple

Manoa Falls

Lyon Arboretum

Starry, Starry Night

I've been avoiding writing a new post because it will hide away my last Scotland post as if it never happened and I was never there! I'm still pining after that big old lighthouse, with it's clean air, it's stunning sunsets and all those sparkling stars.

Click on the image to enlarge, see if you can count the thousands of stars... and I mean thousands!

I can't believe Scotland has been right there on my door step all these years and I have never thought to go! I loved it so much, I might even give up one of my foreign holidays to go back (a European holiday, not long haul, there is still too much I want to see before I start giving those up)!

I hope you all enjoy hearing about my travels; this started out as a design blog (which is I think how most of you found me) but over the last few months, I have noticed that it has steadily become more and more a travel blog. I've also noticed that I've spent less and less time doing anything crafty or creative and more time fantasising about my next trip.

Well, I'm thinking that perhaps the Princess with a passport ought to pack a bag and move out on her own to a separate blog, where she can talk about travel to her hearts content. Leaving Princess with a pin cushion here to talk about all things crafty and life in general.

What do you all think? I'd really like your honest opinions... and I hope that if the left hand side of my brain moves out that you might all come along to see where it's going anyway!

I love that you all take time out of your days to read what I have to say and sometimes leave me a comment and I hope that you continue to do so, no matter what happens with my two sided Gemini mind!

Go out and have a look at the stars tonight and make a little wish...

Love,

the Princess xxx

The last King of Scotland

On Monday, we left our lovely tranquil home of the last few days (and it's murky water!) and started the long ride back down the UK stopping in Edinburgh over night.

We pretty much blasted heck out of the minibus all the way, only stopping twice all the way - once to visit Loch Maree and once because I was dying for a pee!

Loch Maree was lovely but very marshy so difficult to get close. We did manage to get some great photos though. I have to say, Scotland is the easiest photography I have ever done - you just cant seem to go wrong! The scenery is forever changing, in colour, light and even texture. If you don't like how a photograph turns out, just wait a couple of minutes until the sky changes and a new shadow is cast, or the sun shines a slightly different shade of gold against the peat earth.

We had a bit of a stress getting into Edinburgh - the SatNav got us lost and we nearly ran out of petrol! But we made it in the end. In the evening we tried out a few of the local bars. One of them was called Banshee's Labrynth which is supposed to be the most haunted pub in Edinburgh and was made up of several rooms including a dungeon complete with shackles! It was all pitch black just with the occasional red or green light paving the way through the corridors. I had a whale of a time jumping out and frightening the life out of people! Childish? Probably. Fun? Definitely!

On Tuesday morning we got up bright and early to visit the castle. Edinburgh is stunning during the day, it's still very medieval - you can see that it was never bombed during the war!

On the way up to the castle, I met a lovely old man called Tom who will be ninety one on his next birthday! I think I made his day by saying he didn't look a day over seventy so he let me take his picture in full Scottish attire.

And a man playing pagpipes - the only one we saw during the whole trip, I was beginning to think they were made up!

The castle was huge and had some great views of the city below.

At one o'clock every day, they fire a canon through the turret wall. Unfortunately, we didn't get any decent footage of the canon going off, Paul took a photo but jumped so much with the bang that all he caught was a big blur of city and a puff of smoke! One of our group videoed it but got "memory card full" just as the fuse was lit! Never mind, I think our puff of smoke serves as a great memory of the trip!

After the castle, we walked back into town for lunch and bought some of the most amazing (and definitely theee most expensive!) fudge I've ever tasted!

Home now... time to start planning the next trip!

Whale watching

We went on a whale watching mission today. Starting at Gairloch and going right out to sea.

Bear in mind, we are a good ten hours drive from Sheffield, you would expect people around here to have thick Scottish accents... They don't. I haven't heard a Scottish accent since Glasgow! When we got on the boat, the man started doing the safety speech and ended by saying "we might not see owt". We've driven all this way to get away from Sheffield and our sailor is from Sheffield! Small world!

About half an hour out, we spotted a load of birds feeding in the water, apparently that is a good sign as the birds eat the same type of fish as the whales. We hung around for a while and then saw something bobbing towards us. A few minutes later, a little head popped up to say hello...




She swam round the boat, looking at each of us individually, "have you got fish? How about you, have you got fish? You? What about you? No?" and with that, she was off!

We set sail again, eyes glued to the water, hoping to see a glimpse of a fin or a plume of water.

We saw plenty of bird life and some gorgeous scenery but still no sign of anything fishy!










Sailing back with sunken hearts, I thought I spotted something in the distance. Jumping up and down I shouted to everyone else to have a look too. Drew stopped the boat and turned off the engine. He'd seen something else. It looked to me like five dolphins frolicking in the water, leaping in and out.

Drew said they were porpoises and he'd seen two on the other side of the boat. We waited a while, hoping that they would come close enough for a photo. They didn't, but our friend from earlier came back to see if we'd managed to find any fish.

Knock, knock, knocking on heavens door...

It was great to see the lighthouse in daylight today and have a proper explore. We went out early this morning and had a good scramble about on the cliffs investigating rock pools and taking silly photos around the lighthouse...

I can't believe I've been missing out on Scotland all these years! It's such an amazing place.


All this sea air is giving me loads of energy, I just feel like running around like a child and rolling down hills! It must be something in the water... like peat!

Yes, that's tap water in the bottle - not wee or apple juice. It tastes like when your teeth bleed. Bleugh.

We found what looked like a grave stone resting against one of the cliffs. It didn't say anything on it but there was a body there... Dum dum dummmmm...

After lunch I went out and climbed one of the cliffs where I could sit in the heather with a good view of the lighthouse and paint a picture. I ended up rushing it though, my hands got so cold I just wanted to finish it!

Once I'd had a nice hot chocolate and warmed myself up, the sun started to set, casting a rich auburn glow over the water and cliffs. The sky was a mix of dark moody clouds, salmon pink, coral and blue. You could have mistaken it for heavens gate... or perhaps I've fallen off a cliff and it was heavens gate? Who knows?!

Perfection. I will sleep well tonight, my dreams filled with golden light, fluffy clouds and cherubs singing Disney songs.

Location:Scotland

Lighthouse on the rocks

Two days of driving and we are finally here! You can see why I wanted to save the location for the photos! This is one of the most picturesque places I've ever seen and certainly the most photogenic sky.

We were driving the five mile dirt track during golden hour and managed to get some great shots as the sun went down.

We have just been out exploring, in the pitch black. Millions of starts glitter in the sky above while the light house sends out flares of light, searching over the ocean and the wind whipping against your face. It's completely exhilarating. The wind is so strong as was crouching down with my tripod I got blown over!

I haven't managed to get any pictures of the stars but I got some good ones of the light by lying on the floor!

We stopped for lunch on the way up at Lochness. And we saw Nessie...

We had a break in the rain and caught some golden fingers of sun creeping through the cloud above the loch.

Of all the places I've been in the world, this is beyond a doubt one of the most awe inspiring!

Message to parents: there is no mobile phone signal here and we're about ten miles from the nearest phone but we are still alive!

Location:Scotland

On the move again...

We're off again! I'm currently squished in a minibus like a tin of sardines with ten friends and a lot of luggage. We're off to Scotland for a big adventure.

Well, adventure it is, starting this morning when we picked up the bus. We arrived at the hire shop and just as we were about to punch in our code to pay, the bailiffs arrived and did a wheel spin in the forecourt to block the entrance! They were refusing to let any vehicles out and said that they were seizing everything there! Nightmare. I know, these things could only happen to us!

Anyway, long story short, there was a big scene,the police got called and they let us take the bus. So we're on the road again.

The country side through the north of England is just beautiful - rolling hills, crumbling farm houses, hundreds of sheep... Oh and rain. Lots of rain. But that's fine, we're going to Scotland, we expect rain.

We're spending the night in Glasgow tonight where we'll pick my little bro up from the airport then off to the very northern tip via Lochness tomorrow. I can't wait to show you where we're staying tomorrow, but it's so special, I think I need to save it for the photos!

In other news, I got a very exciting email last night... Something I wrote for the Lonely Planet magazine ages ago is getting printed in the December issue! I won't tell you what it is yet, I don't want to jinx it in case they change their mind! But it is thanks to this photo which I took in Iceland.

Location:Scotland

Vive la France!

I've been home over a week now. Home to miserable, muggy, wet weather. Away from my Grandad and his lovely sunny weather. Back at work and stressed as ever! The rested feeling never lasts long does it?

My desire for anywhere but here seems to be getting stronger with each trip abroad. The minute my feet touch English soil, I feel my jaw start to tighten, my shoulders becoming tense... I have to start planning my next trip straight away. I never used to be like this, I used to be happy to wait a whole twelve months for my next holiday. But now? I feel completely depressed if I haven't got something else in the pipeline, something else to plan for and look forward to.

The space between trips is getting shorter and shorter - this time we only have a month between one and the next. But it isn't so much the need for a holiday to me anymore, it's just me, it's who I am. I am a traveller. I don't want to be still. You never know when it all could just end, I don't want to miss one thing. I want to see the world, see how other people live, I want to absorb as much information as will fit into my brain and then I want to come home and write about it... while planning the next journey.

Our last few days in France were lovely. I spent hours at night, sat with my Grandad in the crisp cool air in the garden, talking about his life, the places he's been and how he ended up there. I love hearing my Grandads tales. He is a traveller too. So is my Mum. We always have to be heading somewhere.

We didn't do much for the last two days, just had a nice relaxing time on some long walks with the heat on our backs. We went to my Mums favourite little town - Auvillar. A lovely sleepy little place.

Full of lots of quaint little houses, with flowers dripping off the walls, each in competition with its neighbour.

We ended up getting stuck in there as well! It's a tiny little place, you have to go through a clock tower to get in and it's all walled with only one way out. When we came to leave, there was a wedding just starting up. The wedding car had parked right in the middle of the road so nobody could drive out! the way we came in is a no exit but we thought we had no choice. We reversed all the way back round the one way system to the entrance... only to find someone had parked a van right in the middle of the clock tower!!! we were stuck for over half an hour!

We had a long walk through the orchards with the dog...

...and took some silly photos along the way, playing in the dead sunflowers!

I wanted to measure myself against the sweetcorn - it's not even fully grown yet (I'm small, but not that small - I look like a hobbit here!)

I miss those big skies and that gorgeous scenery! My heart belongs to you, French countryside!

My hubby smells like river!

You know how they get, they see the water and get all excited, wanting you to throw something in for them to go fetch and once they're in you just can't get them out.... No? Is that just mine?

We drove up to St Cirq Lapoppie today which is a good two hours away - Paul has been dying for a swim in the river ever since we got here! The scenery is beautiful up there. The swimming spot is a really still section of the river and always quite warm but still cool enough to be refreshing on these hot days.




In the summer, the kids dive off the bridge into the river but I don't think it's deep enough at the moment, Paul could stand up right in the middle.

The main village at the top of the (very steep) hill is one of my favourite places in France. It's like a Hansel and Gretel gingerbread town with its lovely little turreted buildings and crumbly plaster, all decorated with rosy coloured geraniums and grape vines.




The streets are lined with quaint little craft shops and teeny little bars. Each building is slightly different and has it's own distinguishing quality.




The view back on the road is stunning, especially during the golden hour where the glint of the sun on the buildings makes it look like you could just break off a little corner and have a nibble.




Lovely day!

We had a quiet one yesterday, after a big lunch at "Petit Robinson" we went back to the house for a long walk into Moissac with the dog. We walked along the canal and you could practically see the autumnal leaves changing colours in front of your eyes. Rich oranges, yellows and some almost pink. I've never seen autumn here before but it is lovely.



When we got into town, we were stopped by a parade of hundreds of soldiers walking through the streets fully armed and singing the French national anthem.


I think it must have been something to do with the second world war. Today marks the first day of the war so perhaps their procession yesterday commemorates the last day of peace before the war. I'm not sure.



A lot of people were very brutally killed in this area by the invasion of German armies. One village we drove through yesterday had all the men hung from the balcony of their mayors house. Another town still bears the bullet holes on the outside of one of its buildings where all of its men were lined up and shot dead. There are memorials on most of the country roads in this region.

Once we got past the troops, we enjoyed having a nosy at all the boats, especially the Moet Chandon boat! Very posh!



We had a little walk around town and up to the cathedral but the long trek had almost killed the dog so we didn't stay long!






Can we go home now???