Any Excuse to Travel

Stories from travels in

January 2013

It’s all about the emphasis

Isn’t it odd how, when for all your reasoning life, you’ve heard a word pronounced in one way, and then you hear it, from a

This beach was made for walkin’…

‘So how many beaches do you think there are on Hawaii’, I asked. After a few seconds of mental arithmetic, she said ‘I can count

My new house

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to where I’d move, if I had to move. The political situation in Hungary is getting a

2013 Grateful 50

Driving around the biggest of the six Hawaiian islands is like reading a book of fascinating and at times, amusing, roadsigns. You’d think they’d be

Mark Twain’s monkeypod

Mark Twain visited the Hawaiian islands back in 1866 and took copious notes of what he encountered. He had a particular fondness for trees, as

Spewing forth

Volcanoes are monuments to Earth’s origin, evidence that its primordial forces are still at work. So read the opening lines of the Hawaiian Volcanoes National

Turtles and black sand

Down on Punalu’u beach, the sand is black. Very black. Hence the name – black sand beach. It sits between Pāhala and Nāʻālehu on the

Waipuna’ula Red Spring Farm, Hawaii

What I know about coffee could be written on the back of a small jar of instant Nescafé. I’ve done the unmentionable and ordered a

Peace and war

When it comes to actor Kevins, Kevin Bacon, Kevin McKidd (remember him from Trainspotting?) , and even Kevin Spacey rate higher than Kevin Costner. He’s

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau

Casting shadows on sacred ground

Back in the day, if Hawaiians violated kapu, (the sacred laws), they had 24 hours to reach a refuge, confess to the kapuna, and duly