A New Year...IZ says it all....Remote Islands and Manners....

King Kamahemeha Day Parade , Hawaii 2008 (photo the author)

It’s a new year. And when I was preparing for friends to visit today I listened to IZ Somewhere over the Rainbow He was inspirational…and has now sadly passed. I hope, as you enjoy the first day of 2012 you also enjoy this inspirational clip.

I have spent many months of my last few years with my companion traveling around remote islands while he researched them for his books. To be able to live with and enjoy and learn from the people of these islands has been an unexpected gift for me.

These buses were everywhere...feeding the participants in the Pipeline Competition

While the remote islands of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, Yap, Palau, Norfolk Island and more have intrigued me, when I went back, through IZ's music, to the time when I was travelling with my companion in Hawaii in 2008 I found my memories just there. And here I share some photos.

"So, did you leave me some coffee?" (the gecko in our house in Hawaii photo the author)

Happy New Year…please don’t forget to dance as if there is no tomorrow….and to remember to be kind, considerate and genuine. To yourself, and those you love. It’s all about the manners…

The island of Molokai...and the resting place of Father Damien

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