Blogs from Oahu, Hawaii, United States, North America - page 9

Sunny and warm 77°F It's 7am as we dock in Honolulu. We're here until 11pm so we have plenty of time. Our alarm is set for 7:30 and , while Karen gets up, I allow her to get ready before me and stay in bed another 20 minutes. Then it's up for our usual breakfast. It's almost 9am and the ship appears empty. Few people are in the buffet and we relax out by the pool. That is, until Mom decides to call Queenie. "It's just a quick call", she says. I know there is no such thing and fear we're going to be stuck here for some time. I set my phone timer for 5 minutes as she dials but as I predicted, the timer just rings and rings while Karen continues to talk and ... read more

I wrote this before I left for eastern Europe. Does it seem like everyone we know is headed out on a vacation or journey this fall? Yes, I am headed out on Tuesday. My cousins are headed to Japan. Some Washington friends are headed to the east coast. So, this begs the question, of why travel in the Fall?? I have several reasons, not necessarily in order of importance, but nonetheless, important to me, and obviously, some of you. First, most the kids, young, teens, college students, are back in school. This makes for quieter (thank you Bose Quiet Comfort) flights, fewer lines, and in general less perturbation in around famous tourist sights and popular casual restaurants. Now, I often travelled with my kids, mostly to Hawaii (winter or spring break), as well as Spring Training ... read more

Day 16 Our last day in Hawai'i ? and I wasn't feeling the best. I was still swaying from the boat or the rum, couldnt really tell to be honest ? I was struggling so I packed the suitcases and had a shower. Kym was keen to go back to the Hilton and find their other pools, I wasn't keen on getting there but agreed, the pool would be nice. The hotel next door had a sign saying Dole Whip which is a pineapple gelato (probably the best description for them) They were yummo and I felt a bit better. It also had a sign saying poolside bar 3rd floor... well that's just an open invitation to use their pool isn't it? ? So we swam and I did feel better. Kym wanted to surf so ... read more

Day 3 A real lazy morning, check out at 12, so we took our time doing a whole lot of nothing. The White Sands Hotel, where we stayed was budget accommodation but to be honest it was great. The rooms were clean, small kitchen; stove, microwave, blender, toaster, coffee maker... it had a decent bathroom and a comfy bed. The air cond worked well although it was very loud. Each room had its own lanai and ours led out to the pool. The pool wasnt anything like the Hilton but there was always a lounge chair available.. unlike the Hilton where you had to get in early to get a good spot. The staff were friendly and once we checked out we had them hold our luggage while we grabbed a quick bite to eat; Oscar ... read more

Journey begins We changed our flights as it was an option last minute to fly to Sydney rather than Melbourne. It gave is an hour extra sleep in time .. which is important when you are spending a whole day on a plane. When we got to Adelaide airport we saw all the Crows fans waiting to board and we both thought it would have been a fun flight if we did go to Melbs first. Even though we had booked through a travel agent and having flown to the US and other overseas destinations where you check your bags in once, we found out that we had to get our bags off at Sydney and then catch the bus (and pay!!) to get to the international airport. We had 5 hours so it wasn't a ... read more