Blogging from A to Z 2026 - Reflections

I am pleased to report that I completed the 2026 challenge on time. 

My challenge was Island Hopping. 

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.

If you scroll down the page you will find a list of links to my 26 posts in the 2026 challenge. 

I enjoyed the opportunity the Challenge gave me to reminisce on our travels and relate some of the Happy, Hairy and Humorous moments we experienced. 

Preparing posts and reading and commenting on others' posts makes for a hectic and  nerve-wracking April schedule. I found it useful to have had about 2/3 of my posts scheduled prior to the beginning of April. This gave me more time to concentrate on the remainder of my posts and to read and comment on others' posts. 

As I like to encourage fellow Australian bloggers I tried to read and comment on each of these posts most days. I'm sorry if I missed other Australian blogs. Each of these Aussies has previously participated in the Challenge; after several challenges I count them as friends. 

https://brizzymaysbooksandbruschettasite.wordpress.com/
https://earlieryears.blogspot.com/

https://ancestralresearchjournal.blogspot.com/
https://argonautsite.com/
https://anneyoungau.wordpress.com/
https://trackingdownthefamily.substack.com/
https://bysarahwhiley.wordpress.com/

I particularly commend Linda from Argonautsite who took us on a very personal journey. The episodic nature of her posts left us with a cliffhanger each day. I hope that, by sharing her story, she gained some emotional support from fellow bloggers.

As a family historian I enjoy reading genealogy blogs. I was pleased to see Kristin from https://findingeliza.com/ in the challenge again this year.

The other blogs I read from over the seas were on a mixture of topics of interest - art, books, history and travel. I learnt from each of these:

https://thisandthatablog.blogspot.com/

https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/

https://waffle-with-wendy.blogspot.com/
http://kajmeister.com/

https://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/

I gave up on a couple of blogs from people whose thoughts did not resonate. There was also one blogger who ditched the challenge very early.  I found it more difficult to access and navigate the blogs using the Substack platform so I did not follow some there that I may have otherwise visited on Blogger, Wordpress or other friendly platforms. 

As my prime purpose in participating was to record and preserve some of my adventures through my photographs it was a very successful venture. If my purpose had been to have others read and comment on my posts it would have been a disappointment. As a person who thrives on positive reinforcement I was thrilled to receive comments on my posts. I tried to respond to them all and apologise if I missed any. 

I have taken part in several challenges over the years and will probably participate next year if I am not travelling. I already have a couple of ideas for a theme - one was suggested by a fellow participant. 

Finally I thank those volunteers who curate the challenge. I am saddened to see that participation rates have declined over the years so I commend all those bloggers who supported this challenge. 

My Challenge Posts

A is for Alexander Selkirk and Austvagoya
B is for Baltra and Bornholm
C is for Churchill Island
D is for Devil's Island
E is for Easter Island (or Rapa Nui)
F is for Fatu Hiva
G is for Genovesa and Gotland
H is for Hiva Oa and Hinnoya
I is for Iona and Isabela
J is for Journeys
K is for Motu Kōkako and Kvaløya
L is for Locating Loos
M is for Magaroya and Mull
N is for Nuku Hiva
O is for Onwards from Orongo
P is for Pitcairn
Q is for Quays
R is for Rangiroa and Robinson Crusoe
S is for Santa Cruz
T is for Tahiti and Tahuata
U is for Urupukapuka Island and Neighbours
V is for Vikingen
W is for Isle of Wight
X is for Xenodocy
Y is for Young
Z is for Zealand

Keeping Up

I only managed to read seven books last month. One was a long tome that required a great deal of concentration. Not surprising I was otherwise involved in the April AtoZ Blogging Challenge that I managed to finish on time. Reading other entrants' blogs chewed up a lot of my reading time.

I'm quite pleased with my 2026 Report Card from Goodreads.

2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

books completed

1 book ahead of schedule

33/100 (33%)

View Challenge

The good news was that I really enjoyed six of the seven books I read. Animal Farm didn't resonate. 

Alphabet Challenge

Over on Bluesky Sheena, a Glaswegian living in Northern Ireland, curates a weekly photographic challenge.

I have been participating in these challenges for a couple of months It gives me an opportunity to dig into my rather large snapshot archive and share a few images related to the weekly theme related to a letter of the alphabet.

This is the current theme announcement from Sheena.

‪"🆂🅷🅴🅴🅽🅰‬ ‪@sheena-mck.bsky.social‬· 4d
Attention Alphabetters!

This is your reminder that Mon 27 Apr is the start of Week Q and the theme for the #AlphabetChallenge is Queens. Pics of real queens, places named after queens, any kind of queens. Be creative and cut me some slack-it’s Q😂"

I just got to thinking that this blog would provide an extra outlet for the digging I do to find my images for the challenge. When I remember and if the theme resonates with me, I'll also add my weekly pics here. Some weeks there will be slim pickings when my creativity is similarly slim.

Here goes with a few #WeekQforQueens images from this week's challenge.

QEII in a souvenir shop in Berlin in 2012

Victoria loved Osborn House on The Isle of Wight

Exterior of Queen Victoria Building in Sydney

Interior of Queen Victoria Building, Sydney

Found in my handkerchief drawer

Queen Victoria gets around. Here she is sitting above
the door to the old GPO in Sydney

A Plate fit for a Queen - Osborn House

Queen Victoria in Belfast, Ireland

Queen Victoria in Liverpool, England

On my keyring - souvenir of QEII's Coronation Festival
 at Buckingham Palace in 2013

Entrance to Queen Street Mall - Brisbane, Australia

Hats worn by Queens Margrethe and Ingrid on display
at Amalienborg Palace in 2006

Paintings in The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London

My last Q post was a post-mortem image of Queen Victoria

on her deathbed in Osborn House

How about joining me on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/geniaus.bsky.social

Blogging from A to Z 2026 - Z is for Zealand

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.

"Zealand (Danish: Sjælland [ˈɕeˌlænˀ]) is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020, comprising 40% of the country's population." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealand

Nyhavn is on Zealand

In August we spent two wonderful days in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, which is located mostly on the eastern shore of Zealand. The remainder of Copenhagen is located on Amager Island.

We made the most of the glorious weather in Copenhagen and participated in both indoor and outdoor activities.

As we toured the waterways we noticed many locals out enjoying the weather and water. 

It must have been school  holiday time as at the Tivoli, a fun park which we had visited on previous trips, there were plenty of young thrill seekers enjoying the rides. 

Entrance to the Tivoli

As per usual there were many Danes out and about on their bicycles. I presume that wearing of helmets is not mandatory.

Our second day on Zealand took us to a new-to-us site, The Glyptotek, which was rather stunning internally.

"The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ("ny" means "new" in Danish; "Glyptotek" comes from the Greek root glyphein, to carve, and theke, storing place), commonly known simply as Glyptoteket, is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. The collection represents the private art collection of Carl Jacobsen  (1842–1914), the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ny_Carlsberg_Glyptotek

Outside the Glyptotek

. 

Once inside we found a decent collection of artworks by Cezanne, Degas, Gaugin, Matisse, Monet, Pisarro and Van Gogh. As we didn't know what the collection held this was a super surprise. Sadly our tour didn't give us enough time to savour all the works. There will be a next time. 

I highly recommend this site for a visit.

Other Z islands we have visited include Zayatsky, Zanzibar and Zakinthos.

Blogging from A to Z 2026 - Y is for Young

 

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest. During the year April 2025 to March 2026 our travels included visits to many islands large and small. My theme for 2026 Island Hopping will give precedence to Islands visited in the past year but for those difficult letters like X and Z I will dig into my photo archives for content.

The young people we met on our island journeys, with their innocence, curiosity, and innate friendliness,  brought an added richness to our travels. Some of them happily posed for us while I caught others enjoying their environments.

In class - Highland Folk Museum, Scotland

Dad's Little helper - Plockton, Scotland

Digging - Isle of Iona

Safe and secure - Vaitahu, Tahuata Island

Scooting along - Napier, NZ

Pink speck on the beach - Roberton Island, NZ

Chasing the Pink Speck - Roberton Island

Demolishing - Urupukapuka Island, NZ

Walking the dogs - Napier, NZ

Grandpa's girl - Nuku Hiva

Poser - Nuku Hiva

Shy - Vaitahu, Tahuata

Happy family - Vaitahu, Tahuata

Running free - Wellington, NZ

Oblivious - Hatiheu, Nuku Hiva

Peepo - Hanavave, Fatu Hiva

Running to greet us - Hanavave, Fatu Hiva