Kyoto’s Magical Mountain – hiking from Kurama to Kibune
18 March 2019 I really wanted to hike the Nakasendō, a 534-kilometre ancient highway between Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo). It …
Author Archives: Alison and Don
An Unconventional Life
Hey! I did a thing! The lovely Heather Markel of Heather Begins fame interviewed me as part of her Inspired …
Gateway to God: Haridwar on the Ganges
5 March 2019 We first went to India in 2012 and lived in Tiruvannamalai in the southern state of Tamil …
A Tale of Two Seasons – summer and fall on Vancouver Island
3-6 July and 22-25 Oct 2019 Sitting on the ferry carrying us across the Salish Sea to Vancouver Island I’m …
The Harbinger of Spring – plum blossoms at Kyoto’s shrines
12-25 March 2019 I’m either too early or too late. The best time to see the wisteria in Tokyo is …
Just Don’t Call Me Sprightly: musings on turning seventy
I’m astonished to discover I’m seventy. It feels surreal, as if it doesn’t belong to me, as if I’m wearing …
Spectacular Whistler – a #covidbubble escape
11-14 August 2020 So the five of us are sitting around on some bleachers in the shade, intermittently watching a …
A Portrait of India – a photo essay
When I travelled in my twenties and early thirties I never wanted to go to India. I’d heard of the …
Jungle Adventure – a Kinabatangan River cruise in Borneo, Malaysia
15 March 2020 There are two things I remember about the very long bus ride from Sepilok to the lodge …
Here Be Dragons – Kiyomizudera Temple and the Seiryū-e Festival, Kyoto
13-14 March 2019 It begins with a long mournful drone on conch shells. The sound fills the air like a …
Wild Majesty: Pacheedaht Beach and Botanical Beach on Vancouver Island
24 October 2019 It is bigger than Belgium, much bigger than Crete, about the same size as Taiwan, and nearly …
Born Of All The Sacred Waters – rituals and devotions to the Ganges River in India
She begins high in the Himalayas, a rivulet from the Gangotri Glacier that becomes a stream that becomes a river …
People of the Forest – the orangutangs and other wildlife of Borneo, Malaysia
13-17 March 2020 Initially Don didn’t want to go at all. As usual when we’re planning a trip he checks …
A Moving Work Of Art – a glimpse into the world of the geisha
A short anecdote about childhood curiosity: When I was ten years old and living in Melbourne, I was in a …
