i love going to wales,especially mid wales,the alam valley dams find the ppl there really friendly.would love to live there,have a place 1/2 way up a mountain side some where

Sitting in my conservatory when it's chucking down or sitting in the car watching the sea in a storm with a flask of coffee............... cosy!!!!!!!!!

Hmmmm. That's an easy question for me.

Can you say ~~~DOMINICA~~~ ?

We were only on Dominica for about a year but even if we had been there a lifetime, I do not think we would have seen all the wondrous and beautiful sites that are the island!

Morning starts when the sun pops up over the ocean at 6:00 AM and as the morning goes on you watch over the mountains (volcanos) as the mist accumulates and clouds form and it dumps rain on you from about 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Everyday.

There are no words to describe the beauty of the rainforests. It is hot and very humid but surprisingly not oppressive to climb through the undergrowth. Perhaps the excitement and the adrenaline kicking in?

Hummingbirds abound. Everywhere. The Sisserou parrot, the nation's pride, is a majestic bird indeed. They are THE MOST protected of Dominica's natural wonders. If one of a bonded pair of the parrots dies, the mate will cease to eat and soon will also die. The zoo there finds on occasion a lone bird mourning over a lost mate and capture it and try to feed them and get them to recover and find new mates. I saw one such male at the zoo but none in the wild.

Go to the open air market (don't stand under a coconut palm) on Saturday and take your pick of ferns (I have no clue what they were), orchids, flowering this and flowering that. Most times the seller is not aware of the identity of what was being sold. There was a Rasta we befriended and he would save \"plants of curiosity\" for me. (Legal.All legal!) Plants generally will cost you up to $5.00 EC. You want to but a pig's tail for soup or a cow t-bone steak all the same price per pound...$2.50 EC. That is roughly $1.00 US. Go early for your shopping (6:30 - 7:00 AM) before the flies set in and on your soon to be groceries.

Visit the old Brit. fort there and you can readily find cannon balls from early battles. Beaches near Portsmouth are black..from the volcano. Storms bring up squid, sponges, sometimes fish on the beach. Go for a walk early (5:30-ish AM) and rescue these guys and toss them back into the sea. (Do not pick up red or orange sponges with bare hands.) Look out over the ocean and you may well catch a glimpse of whales, dolphins, or sea turtles doing their thing. You may even be asked for a dance by a Coconut Crab as he waves his claw at you and does the side step left and side step right. Mountain chicken (little frog legs) is an island delicacy. So is Ting, a carbonated grapefruit juice drink. They have Coke..make from cane sugar rather than corn syrup.

Delonix regia (Flambouyant Tree) everywhere. Weedy little things. Wee seedlings sprouting like spring maple seedlings in Ohio. There is no rabies on the island. There are no poisonous snakes...but the snakes they do have are huge! So are their centipedes. I brought one back to the Ohio State University entomology dept. that was 11 inches long. (Yuck!)

The people are delightful and will go out of their way like no one else to help you or do anything for you. You step out on the balcony in the morning to be greeted by the absolutely perfect rendition of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik whistled by the neighbor as he has tea on his porch and watches the hummers at his Bird of Paradise patch. You just haven't lived until you have ridden into town in the back of a pickup truck with three pigs! LOL!!

Night comes at 6:00 PM. Fade to black..... Mosquitoes come out then so be sure you have your mosquito netting ready. Cholera and Dengue Fever are common. When dining at a restaurant, a word to the wise, look at the bread or rolls before eating them. There are very tiny ants that quickly move into baked goods such as bread, though the pastries they make seem safer.

Electricity can be iffy at times...where ever you are. The favorite saying seems to be: The lights will go on when the generator is working. But who needs lights when you have a sky full of stars and a meteor shower every night. Oh how you wish you had the nerve to lie on the ground and just be drawn into the starscape but there are things creeping about at night: lizards, crabs, snakes, something like fire ants (or maybe they are a type of fire ant) those darn centipedes and don't even mention the spiders.

They export bananas and fresh water. Much of the water goes to Antigua.
If I could I would go back to Dominicain a heartbeat. Oh..If traveling there try to get your prop plane to land at the Canefield Airport. The other airport is a blind approach over the volcano and more than a little scary.

C3D (The Domonica Tourist Board........Ohio, USA office!)

We hope FIJI is as good as the COOK ISLANDS were

What I loved about New Zealand were the wildlife:











the scenery ...







and not forgetting the friendly natives ....

Australia and failing that my bed!!!