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Sunday, April 29, 2012

A few new piccies!

Some photos from yesterday and today, in which we flew over to the Big Island and went on a bus tour around lots of volcanic sites, mostly hardened lava but one or two active ones!

Do you like my totally awesome Hawaiian shirt?? I fit right in here!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Dolphins!!

Today we went to the Sea Life Park. Anyone who's seen the movie "50 First Dates" would recognise it. While there, we got the amazing opportunity to swim and interact with a real life dolphin, a lovely 45-year-old girl named Laka. Here's a couple of piccies.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Aloha!

Well, we were much more alert and awake today! I slept 11 hours, Naomi did 12! Housekeeping came to the room and we were both still asleep! (Luckily I'd locked the door!)

Last night was great. After our second powernap (only 20 minutes) we tried out the hotel's pool. AWESOME! Not that big, but pretty deep, and the temperature is just PERFECT!!

Speaking of temperature, Honolulu weather is stunning. Mid-to-upper 20s, sunny with moderate breeze. Heavenly.

After our swim last night we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner which was great. They've made an entire wave out of guitars. So awesome!

We also took a walk down Waikiki beach. Quite nice, but not earth-shatteringly amazing. We've got better beaches in Australia, that's for sure!

Funny thing. Last night we turned on the TV to see some genuine American programming, and what do we see? Rove McManus hosting Entertainment Tonight!

Today (after our ridiculous sleep-in) we did some booking of upcoming adventures (more on them in a sec) and then took a bus to Diamond Head for a mountain hike. Very cool place, although a bit of a workout doing all that climbing in the afternoon sun!

The view from the top was worth it though! And how's this? On the way back down we bumped into some of Naomi's relatives!! Of all places!!

Tomorrow we're going to an aquatic park to swim with dolphins. Can't wait for that! The day after that we're taking a full-day trip to the Big Island, flying over to see all the awesome lava and Jurassic Park/LOST type wilderness. Then the day after that we're going snorkelling amongst the coral and the fishies! Lots of fun ahead!

Hawaiian people seem super friendly, we've been made to feel so welcome. Watch this space for more to come!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Made it!

It's amazing how LONG 9 hours and 5 minutes is! We're here enjoying the free wi-fi in our hotel. The sun's shining, Honolulu is begging us to come out and explore. And I'm so incredibly tired!!

A couple of hours into the flight I *almost* dozed off, but not quite. All future attempts were pretty much futile. I don't know why I'm so terrible at sleeping on planes, but it drives me crazy. Ironically, when I DID actually manage to nod off for 30-40 minutes it was right towards the end of the flight and I missed the dawn!

Oh well, I managed to watch 4 episodes of Family Guy and read a third of my book on the iPad.

We're here!!!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Pretty Much Ready!



Final pre-take-off post on the new blog.

I'm 99% packed (just stuff like the toothbrush left) and ready to head off tomorrow into the great unknown.
(Actually, it's not that unknown, I've booked every single night of accommodation. I know exactly where I'm going to be at all times. So much for being spontaneous. I'm not happy unless I know what's going on)

For anyone visiting the blog for the first time, welcome! I've got the funky new iPad and it looks like most hotels have free wi-fi, so I'll hopefully be able to update fairly regularly, including pictures with the cool photo transfer device that Stacey lent me! (Thank you!)

Here's the overall itinerary (in basic form...)

25th April:
Melbourne -> Sydney -> Honolulu
* Relax on Hawaiian beaches and go on tropical adventures for a few days

1st May:
Honolulu -> Orlando (I go via Dallas, Naomi goes via Atlanta)
* Walt Disney World!!
* Universal Studios (including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!)

9th May:
Orlando -> New York
* Naomi flies home
* Live it up in NYC
* See countless shows on Broadway
* See New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on 13th May

15th May:
New York -> London
* Sight-see in London for a few days
* Harry Potter Studio Tour on 18th May

20th May:
London -> Dublin
* 1 week "Shamrocker" bus tour around North and South Ireland

29th May:
Dublin -> London
* Hire car in Maidstone
* Drive around U.K. in anti-clockwise direction
* Sleeping destinations: Dover -> Brighton -> Bath -> Wolverhampton -> York -> Norwich -> Southend-On-Sea -> Cambridge

9th June:
London -> Tokyo
* Ghibli Museum
* Akihabara
* Shibuya by night
* Tokyo Tower
* Random Japanese weirdness

13th June:
Tokyo -> Melbourne (via Hong Kong)
* Sleep. Zzzzzzzzz

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To finish off this post, here's some pictures of a couple of hopeful travellers who unfortunately weren't able to come. That didn't stop them from trying though!!



Friday, April 20, 2012

Bon Voyage Party!

Had the farewell party last night for Naomi and myself. A good night had by all. Lots of laughs, great travel-related conversation and some Buzz-related craziness. Thanks to everyone for coming!

I'm testing this out on the iPad at the moment to make sure I can upload stuff to the blog using wi-fi. Provided this works, you can expect to see semi-regular updates throughout the holiday.