Ultimate Vacation Spots

Summer is here again - and the sun is shining!

And just about the time of year when you are planning your summer vacations and short weekend trips - and also the time when the kids want to be out in the sunshine but you still have regular chores to do and need to keep them occupied!

So first off we have a short one for the journey to start the trip on the right foot, so Host Bee helps us with her Tip Tuesday - Easy Travel with Kids on Board!. Phew, step 1 complete!

And to add to this - for journeys, airports, bus stations or just while you just need some rest yourself try Wendy’s inspirational ideas for Summer Worksheets. Add to this with this short article - with ideas that could keep the kids quiet for hours - Rachel gives us her idea for a Fun Activity Box.

Mike Vogt steps in next with his twist on 10 Great Mission Trip Ideas, for an adventure that is totally different to anything else you might have planned.

Next up we have 2 stories about holiday adventures already in the making: First up is this little one from Michele Hays: Sundays with Sparky - Sparky’s excellent Strawberry Adventure, followed by Roger Elmore’s ideas for the 10 Best Amusement Park Resorts from his experiences.

And finally, a very helpful article from Sandrine Berges about her journeys with a special little person and how to overcome any difficulties with some forward planning with her experiences of How to get an autistic child onto a plane and out again..

So, I hope you can all use these stories and tips to make you vacation even better - and to make sure that you enjoy your trip as much as the kids!

Send me the photos!

Easter Island is a must see for anyone with a taste for something unique!

Stranded out in the Pacific Ocean just south of the Tropic of Capricorn - and around 3700km’s west of it’s mainland ‘owners’ Chile - Easter Island: Rapa Nui - sits proudly atop 3 joined volcano cones (all extinct).

This delightful island was home to an amazing but mysterious Polynesian culture who carved and mounted huge statues between 1300 to 1890 years ago according to current research, but have since died out.  Polynesian people have since repopulated the island and still live there today.

Easter Island Facts:
Technically the most remote inhabited island in the world, this tiny land mass is no longer than 25km long and around 12km wide at it’s extremities - perfect for exploring on foot, bike or horse.  The whole island is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The island has moderate weather all year although July and August are the coldest months and January to March the warmest - and hence their busiest season.  Throughout the rest of the year, you could virtually have the place to yourself!

There is only really 1 town on the whole island - and this is where everything is - so if you are planning treks, hikes and overnight camping - you had better take all your supplies with you!  And as there is only 1 town - you can be sure that that is where everyone will be for the islands’ main Tapita Rapa Nui festival through February - so book ahead to be involved in this amazing festival - or make sure you visit at another time if you want a room!

As there is virtually no large scale development here, you will experience a real feeling of community, with everyone knowing everyone else and family run businesses on every corner.  Great for getting things done out there - just ask your landlady and she will know someone who can help!

The Easter Island Statues:
These huge rock structures are the main draw of Easter Island - and when you come face to face with them you will see why.  Hand-carved and dragged across the island these massive monuments are made of solid lumps of volcanic ash and can weigh as much as 82 tonnes!

Often referred to as the ‘Easter Island Heads’, these hand-carved monuments are mostly whole bodies and torsos - very few are ‘just heads’ and some of the ‘just heads you might see are actually buried whole statues - just swallowed up by the soil moving down hill over the centuries!

The statues are called Moai, and they can be found all over the island in groups or alone, facing the sea or facing inland, with or without brightly painted eyes and clothes.  But never-the-less majestic!

Some are not even complete - they are still laying on the ground half-carved beside the very rock face they were chipped from all those years ago.  It does however give us a valuable insight into their construction.

There are 887 Moai on the island or in museums - all completely unique faces and body size - so a few days on the island will allow you to find and admire several hundred of them - and many of them are found in groups on top of platforms called Ahu and are very symbolic to the local people (so please don’t walk on them!).

What Else Is On The Island?
Well, as with any ancient culture, there are traces of the past and here that involves much stone work including caves and a variety of petrographs - images etched into the surface of important stones.

There are many other stone structures and with possible astronomical significance (although not widely accepted as such) as well as wall, graves and other archaeology.

There is hardly any wildlife mind you - with no large or even small native mammals.  Infact nearly all the animals on the island have been brought in by local people either for farming or a stowaways on boats! 

And due to the nature of the islands history (very turbulent and very tree chopping) there are no remaining endemic trees or other large vegetation - most of the trees currently on the island were only recently planted.  It is a very barren place - with no permanent streams or rivers either!

There is plenty of open space though - and some amazing and isolated sandy beaches to enjoy - with some great surf too!  But is island life for you? 

Well - you should go there for a week or 2 and find out!

Ireland is a country of hidden gems - and there are a whole host of ancient sites for you to look at in awe!

It’s not just shamrocks and Guiness that you will see in this amazing country - there are years and years of history to be found here as well.  And I have put a few of them together here to whet your appetite.

So, let’s get started here with the most amazing and mystical, across some rocks, and through to the political!

1) Newgrange: Southern Ireland
This huge enclosed ‘temple’ is coated in a glowing casing of white - and can be seen from some distance away.

According to Celtic lore, the legendary Kings of Tara were buried here, but excavations have proved otherwise - putting this megalithic structure at over 5200 years old!  That’s older than the pyramids of Egypt!

With an entrance tunnel to funnel the morning sunlight into the centre of the structure at a certain time of year - it is completely unique.  There is apparently nothing else in the structure apart from this ’sun funnel’!

2) The Giant’s Causeway: Northern Ireland
You must have seen a picture of these amazing rock formations - and they have set off many an amazing legend of their origins due to their bizarre appearance on the northern coast.  Protruding out into the sea and bashed by the waves all day everyday - but why are they there?

No words can really do them justice, but they are crooked plateaus of (mainly) hexagonal rocks completely vertical in the ground.  They have all eroded over time - but at different rates, so they look like some sort of giant board game - with around 37,000 columns! 

3) Blarney Castle: Southern Ireland 
Visitors from all over the world (like me) travel to this small castle to see the Blarney Stone.  Luck is apparently bestowed on all those who kiss it - but they don’t tell you that it is susspended away from the main castle wall and that you have to lay on your back hanging off the wall to kiss it!

The history of the Stone is engrained in the ‘wars’ between England and Scotland over this historically important stone - well, according to myths and legends.  But there are some great caves and gardens around the Castle.  Well worth stopping off.

Of course there are plenty of other great sites here, and these are just 3 of my favourites as highlights!

Go there yourself - and find your own best bits!

It is really easy these days to get information on any type of travel - so why not try something completely different! 

Imagine being in the absolute middle of nowhere - places that noone else you know has ever seen. places that aren’t even on your friend’s list of places to see this year - or in the next 10 years - like shark-watching 10,000 miles east of Australia, or watching a hit movie just miles from the Antarctic?

You want this?  If so - you need to get yourself on a cargo ship.  You can find them heading out around the world every day of the year from almost every big port in the world!

Now I know that doesn’t sound appealing to everyone - but the things you see will certainly be ‘once in a lifetime’.  Imagine the adventure of being 3 months at sea! Or sailing through the Panama Canal - and out past remote uninhabited Pacific Islands.

The Ultimate Vacation?
It could really be a vaction like nothing you have ever done before - or are likely to do again!

Of course it doesn’t have to be that long a time away, and you can choose some routes that are a lot closer to land and stop of at some pretty nice looking destinations along the way.   And you don’t need to stay onboard for the entire journey - you can hop off at any port along the way and just see where life takes you.

Those less adventurous might want to know exactly where they are going in advance - but that’s OK too - as the ship’s cargo has to go from A to B - that’s the whole point of them crossing the oceans in the first place - so you can guarantee a definite stopping point at the end - whereas you can’t always guarantee a stopping point in the middle!

Maybe you would prefer a trip from the UK to Australia like in the pioneering days of exploration - thankfully there is luxury these days, and it only takes around 84 days rather than the 6 months it probably took the average passenger a few hundred years ago!

Or maybe the 2 month trip from South America to the Far East, the 35 day trip from the US to the Mediterranean, or even the 7 day voyage around the British Isles checking up on all the lighthouses!

The Result:
Well, rather than telling your travel stories like everyone else - ‘when I was in Mexico…..’ or ‘when my family went to Hawaii’ - you can start your story with how many continents you cruised past, or how many miles you traveled in 1 day!

It will certainly be like nothing you have ever experienced before.  The people you will meet, the countries you will encounter - and the extreme weather you could get to witness first hand!  Imagine writing a travel journal of your voyage - just like Darwin did!

It might be worth trying out a few shorter boat journeys before you settle for something long-haul - as if you get seasick, this might not be the vacation for you!

Of course, check that your travel insurance covers your whole journey, and your passport is valid for the whole time you are away - and your vaccinations are current for all countries you might stop off at on the way.  Bad weather or maintenance could land you at any time in any country - so be prepared!

If you are still interested, then visit GeoCities Freighter for other peoples experiences on Cargo Ships and read their tips before booking your own once-in-a-lifetime ‘mega-cruise’. 

Having been trying to learn a new language for the past few months, I have tried a few different courses along the way.

They both had very different approaches for beginners, yet both seem to work well for my style of learning. So below I have put together a quick review of each one to see if they could be of use to you too!

Course 1: Pimsleur Language Program: Quick And Simple Course.
Format: 4 Language CD’s - plus 1 CD for Course Introduction.

Style:
This course was all about the listening and repeating of parts of the language.  For example, the narrator would say listen to the following conversation (conversation in the new language), than you would repeat sections of it out loud to such an extent that you would then be able to string simple words together, and then string these sentences together in a conversation similar to the original one.

There were 8 courses as part of this introductory course, but they were all quite similar in content.  So as a result, I didn’t really learn a whole lot of actual ‘new words’ throughout the 2 days it took me to complete it - however I did complete the course quite easily, and felt very confident with the words and phrases I had learned.

Overall: 5/5 

Course 2: Teach Yourself Instant ‘Whatever’: Holiday Basics.
Format: 1 Small Paperback Book - Accompanying CD is optional.

Style:
This course was used completely visually, so you did need a basic knowledge of pronunciation before setting off into Unit 1!You could get a copy of the accompanying CD if you wanted which plays out the conversations, but none of the exercises rely on the verbal content.

Basically, you are given 6 Units to complete.  Each Unit starts with a full page conversation in the new language on the left page and an identical conversation on the right page in English, so you can instantly see what you have been saying.  After the conversation part, you get a few basics on grammar and translations as well as several short exercises, followed by the Unit Test at the end. All answers are in the back of the book as well as some cut out and keep double-sided flash cards - which are great fun!

The problem with this course was that although I easily completed it and had great fun along the way, I had actually just learnt all the new words as part of the sentences - basically like learning words to a play.  So I could complete the exercises only by remembering where the words where on the page rather than actually learning what the words were on their own.  And, after several attempts at the course - I actually managed to memorise the answers as well!

Overall: 4/5