Blogging from A to Z 2026 - J is for Journeys

 

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 Oldest and Youngest members
of our family on Hamilton Island 

We took several journeys that included island visits over the past twelve months.

The first was a short visit to Hamilton Island, a tropical Island off the Queensland Coast. We were independent travellers on this journey but, as it included 40th birthday celebrations for a young cousin, we had a wonderful few days of family fun and fellowship.

"Hamilton Island is an island of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland, Australia.[3] It is approximately 887 kilometres (551 mi) north of Brisbane and 512 kilometres (318 mi) south of Cairns. It is the largest inhabited island of the Whitsunday Islands and a popular year-round tourist destination." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Island_(Queensland)

I'd be quite happy to visit and explore Hamilton again if they could turn on better weather for us. 

We escaped the Australian winter and travelled to Europe in the northern summer. We had two cruises and a minicoach tour that took us to some island sites.

The first leg of our journey was a cruise with Regent

After a couple of days R&R in London we flew to Edinburgh where we joined a Back-Roads Scottish Journey that included several Isles off the Western Coast of Scotland.

A Scottish Journey with Back-Roads

After the whip around Scotland we needed some more R&R so we flew to Paris where the Ile de la Cite was included in our wanderings. Footsore after a few days in the Ville lumière we were whisked to our floating home in Le Havre. 

Itinerary for Paris to Norway Regent Cruise

In October we flew to Papeete where we boarded our very first cruise with Silversea.

Our cross Pacific Cruise to South America

The end of our Cross Pacific Adventure with Silversea

After completing our cross Pacific journey it took a couple of flights to land us in the Atacama Desert where we found no Islands. A few days after that more flights took us to Guyaquil in Ecuador. Following an overnight stay there we flew to the Galapagos where we joined a National Geographic/Lindblad cruise around that Island Group. 

Around the Galapagos with National Geographic/Lindblad

Our December/January cruise included a few islands from little Phillip Island to the larger North and South Islands of New Zealand

With Regent in December/January

J Islands we have visited include Jar Island, Jersey, Jura

Bonus Posts St Helier  Lalique