The trip ends

KWe ended our wonderful stay on Maui on Tuesday afternoon.    We tried to squeeze in everything we could!   I have Monday and Tuesday mixed up in terms of sequencing, but I remember what we did.   We visited Baldwin Beach, drove to the Whale Sanctuary museum in Kihei where we met two lovely ladies who recommended a great place for lunch, drove to Makawao, which was a great town in the mountain above Haiku,  drove to Napili and Kapalua, and went to a movie before going to the airport.  We also went to the sugar museum which was very interesting.

On Monday night we went to the old Lahaina Luau.   It was great, especially the show!

The whole trip was such a great experience.   We were both sad that it was ending, and excited to get home.   We parted at the Kahului airport, where I boarded a flight to LA and Flo headed off to Seattle then Baltimore.

I stayed in California for two days.   I drove to Escondido and had a nice visit with my cousin Don Carlisle.  We always go to a movie when we get together, so we saw The Theory of Everything.   A really great movie!

On Thursday Don took me to see the Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado island, near San Diego.  what a beautiful old place.  I had a nice long walk along the beach, then we had a leisurely lunch and headed off to Orange County so I could meet Don's daughter Susan and her boyfriend Matt.   What a treat that was.  We had a great dinner at Maggioni's.

Up early on Friday to drive back to LAX.  Easy flights home!

On the trip home I thought about how wonderful it was to be able to make the trip that I had just finished, and now to return to my wonderful home in my great town.   My neighbors Mike and Carlee picked me up at the airport in New Bern, brought me home, fed me, and generally made me feel great!  

It is great to be here.   I have unpacked and put most of my stuff away.   I even put my Christmas tree up today and had my sailing friends over tonite for a pot luck (the original hostess had been sick, so we had our gathering here).   So, I am settled back in and am so glad to be here.

Here are some pictures of Hawaii, Coronada, my sailing friends, and my Christmas tree!

Happy Holidays!   

Sunday on Maui

Flo and I tried to go to Mass this morning, but we arrived when Mass was almost over.   The time on the website was incorrect!  So, we had coffee and did a little shopping in Paia, a really cute town right down the road.   We keep finding neat places.  Today we went to Keihi and Makena and saw some lava fields from an eruption in 1790.

Getting ready to head back to the mainland on Tuesday.

I took a few pictures of the treehouse!  It is in and above a grove of trees on a beautiful hill outside of Haiku.  It is an adult style treehouse!  Very nice!

Haleakala National Park

Flo and I had a wonderful drive to Haleakala National Park today.   It was amazing.  Driving a convertible definitely enhanced the drive up the mountain!  Here are some pictures.

Beautiful Maui!

Maui is everything they say it is.   So Beautiful and rugged, somewhat citified, and just amazing!   We are staying Ina home we booked through airbnb.  It is called the treehouse.  When we first arrived we were taken aback.  It does look like a tree house, and has a long flight of steps leading up to it.

The tree house is a 1000 square foot open concept home with windows everywhere, high ceilings, a great kitchen, and a view that does not stop.   What a great find.  Our landlord, John Dunbar, is a nice and interesting guy.    He shared his Thanksgiving Turkey and his friends with us yesterday.   What a great dinner!

We have been exploring the island.  We drove to Hana, saw lots of waterfalls, went to the beach, shopped, and generally had a good time.   Exploring here is fun, and we have a great. White Mustang convertible to drive around in.

Tomorrow,we hope to go to Haleakala (the National park with an old volcano.   Should be fun.   First we will stop at the flea market to look for our new friend Elena who sells tea there.

I will add lots of pictures here.  In varied order, a sunset from the Tree house, our Thanksgiving dinner, our car, then some beach scenes and waterfalls.     

Leaving Sydney

Our time has flown by.   After the wonderful wedding, we packed up our suitcases and came back into downtown Sydney to our nice apartment hotel for our last three days.    We are a little travel weary at this point, but we muster up the energy to go to the Zoo.    It made a nice afternoon.   We ate at the Thai restaurant by our hotel, and ran into two couples we had met on the cruise ship!  Small world, even in a big city like Sydney.  On Sunday, we took the train to the Blue Mountains.  It was over a hundred degrees!    Lots of people at the Blue Mountains and on the train.

On Tuesday we left for Hawaii, took a Jet Star Business Class flight (beware , it was not much for business class!).   Arrived in Maui ready to see Hawaii.   We picked up a lovely convertible (we are in Hawaii, after all), and took. Off.   First stops was Mama's Fish House for a spectacular lunch and a great view!      More coming soon!

Various New Zealand pictures.

When we were on the ship, a few things happened.   We stopped at a new place each day, which was fun at the beginning of the trip.  At the end, we had rough seas and had to be rerouted, so we were at sea for four days straight with no stops.   We never had good internet connections, so it was a challenge trying to keep the blog in order.   So, here goes with some out of order pictures!   Enjoy!

The first is a tug boat showing off for us when we were getting ready to dock in Wellington, NZ.  The next is coming into Wellington.  The next one is on a hike in Tauranga, NZ at our first stop in New Zealand.  The next two are taken as we left Auckland, NZ, and the last two are in Melbourne, AU.

Regrouping

I am regrouping (with myself) this afternoon.    We have been on the go for over five weeks.   It caught up with me today.   Flo and I took the train to the Blue Mountains, a two hour ride.    When I got off, the old motion sickness and the heat both hit me at the same time.   The temperature was 108 up there today!!!   And I had not totally recuperated from twelve days on the ship.  Anyway, I am learning lots of good things about myself for future travel!

So, I am chilled and cool right now in my hotel room.    It is quiet and it is good to be quiet!

I love Australia and New Zealand and hope to return some day.   If I have that chance, I will take more time to be in each place so there is time to really enjoy everything.   I have not had much chance to hike, and I have missed that.  It was too hot today, and I missed out on some good hiking.   The temperature will be a lot cooler tomorrow, but we are in Sydney for our last day and a half here. 

We will have lunch with Bill tomorrow.    We had so much fun at the wedding and the next two days.  We caught up with Bill, Erin, Shane, Michael and Casey, and met most of Michael Wilton's family.   At the wedding, we were reminded that what is important in life is our relationships and we had time to work on old and new ones.   Flo and I have definitely had time to work on ours these five weeks and it has been really good.  

Then off to Maui for a week, and a two day stop in LA to visit Don Carlisle before getting into New Bern in the evening on Dec.5.

Wedding and day after wedding pictures

Here are several wedding pictures and lots taken the next day at lunch.