Tuesday, 14th August Today was a day of travel. After a good night's sleep we were up and about by 6am. Whilst the sheets were being washed and dried we had our last breakfast in SF and Judy prepared a few rounds of sandwiches before we left as you have to pay $5 for a mediocre round on the plane! The transfer bus picked us up as arranged, getting us to the airport in plenty of time. Here we joined a short queue for check in. By the time we finally got through, this line had more than quadrupled in length-American Airlines are so slow! We were both sad to leave San Francisco as once again, we have found this to be a lively, fun city with lots to do and see. By the time we ... read more

Sunday 5th As we had packed our bags before dinner last night we didn't have much to do before leaving this morning so we decided to go for a walk. We walked down the road toward the water and found a beautiful bay surrounded by trees with a fantastic view over the port of Hilo. After dropping our hire car off we were driven to the aiport where we reported our damaged phone and broken bottle of Scotch. Of course we were told that the fine print said we were supposed to do this within 4 hours but a report was duly completed and we handed over our dead phone as evidence. (removing our sim card in the hope we'll be able to purchase a phone elsewhere.) An uneventful flight found us once again in the ... read more

We are planning to leave on August 1st 2007 on another adventure. Our destinations in order are: Hawaii, San Francisco, Mexico, Croatia, England (Essex), Scotland, Amsterdam and China. Somewhere during the England stay we will take a mystery flight to somewhere in Europe by selecting a RyanAir cheapie. We have already pulled the backpacks from hibernation, greased the zips and attached new tabs as the old ones had snapped. A visit to Mountain Design and Kathmandu in Hay St, Perth ensured that we had some travel clothes - layers as we want to travel light but will need clothes for the heat as well as the cold. These are all washed and waiting on the spare bed. Meanwhile we have been putting together information for our exchangees - where to find the shops, best local eateries ... read more