On 7/1/08 15:00, in article ,
"Gary Woods" wrote:

Elt wrote:

Surely there is room on here for a bit of "topical" off topic chat?? Or
am I being naive again

There is, just as surely as there are people who would argue over whether
the sun rises in the morning.

A bit of an off-topic story... with the caveat that I am NOT a world
traveler, having done most of my travel all expenses paid many years ago
courtesy of the U.S. Navy!

In 2000, my dear wife took us on a cruise to Hawaii.... lots of stuff to
see; not enough time to see it all. But I especially loved Kaua'I for its
relative lack of touristyness. Sadly, she passed away the next year.
Soooo.... a couple of years later when I felt like living again, I found a
Bed and Breakfast on that island, rented a car, and just spent a couple of
weeks bumming around, taking all the time I wanted so grok the sights.

The National Tropical Botanical Garden is just spectacular, especially so
when you've got all day to wander around, and Limahuli Gardens on the north
shore (where I stayed) specializes in native plants and a nice view of
Makana Mountain, which played a movie role as "Bali Hai" some years ago.

We went to Kauaii for ten days in 2002, Gary and we visited the McBride
Gardens, too. They are absolutely spectacular and ISTR one area where we
weren't allowed out of the little bus because the plants grown there were so
poisonous! I agree with you that Kauaii is glorious. It's so peaceful and
laidback and we had the sea about 20 yards from the door of the condo.
By contrast we had a few days on Oahu and it was astonishing for being so
cosmopolitan. The visit to the Pearl Harbour Memorial was incredibly moving
and we were extremely impressed with the way it's kept.
snip
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'