Tell Me (and Others)

Well, we had a great vacation in Hawaii and had lots of adventures.

We stayed near  Kapaa on the East coast of Kauai for most of our three weeks in Hawaii. We rented a condo at the Waipouli Beach Resort and it was perfect. Lots of activities/sightseeing on the North shore and on the South shore. So, here you are about half way between the two. Plus all the sights up the East coast.

• Zip lining
• Quad bike riding
• Downhill cycle ride
• Rain forest hiking

We did all that, plus the relaxing in the pools at the resort.

There was a family group of 6.

After the Kauai stay, we headed back to Waikiki Beach for three nights. That area of Honolulu is over-run by tourists, but is worth experiencing for a few days. 4 days/3 nights was plenty on Oahu.

Next we flew over to the “Big island”, Hawaii Island and had three nights there. The aim was to see the volcano erupting and the recent lava flows.  The lava was not flowing the days we were there, but had been just a few days earlier. We took a Helicopter flight over the coastal lava flows and could see lots of steam/sulphur fumes emanating from the recent lava. Also there was lots of trees that had been singed by the heat and were dying.

At night we visited the volcano itself and witnessed the firey red glow coming from the crater. Lots of steam, ash and red glow from the molten lava in the volcano tube.

When done there, we headed West on the island to the Kona region. There we relaxed a few days and then headed back to Australia. Thanks again Qantas for some great flights. We managed to use a whole bunch of our Frequent Flyer points for the trip

John

Aloha. We are heading to Hawaii next week and will be there into the new year.

This will be my second trip to “Sandwich Islands” having previously been to Oahu and Maui about 15 years ago for a few days.

This will be a family gathering on Kauai. Hoping to do some zip lines, bike rides and ATV ride. Plus sit back and relax a little, or a LOT!

Mahalo

Ella

Today we travelled up to Paradise on Mt Rainier, Washington. It is only about 1.5 hours drive from Seattle, where we are spending the Northern summer.

I was apprehensive about travelling there, as it is listed as a DANGEROUS volcano. see the wikipedia link. But we did survive the day.

It is a magnificent location. A National park and there are some great scenic views. I did drive there about two years ago, but at that time I did not know it was rated as such a dangerous volcano.

I am assured it is closely monitored and any preliminary signs of the next eruption will be broadcast well in advance so people can flee. If it blew its top with the same force as the nearby Mt St Helens did in 1980, then the local landscapes will change significantly. It was only driving away from the park that I noticed the warning signs showing “Volcano- Evacuation Route”.

But all in all, a great days outing. And I will go again.

John

This week we travelled on the inaugural Qantas flight 7 from Sydney, Australia to Dallas, Texas.

The flight time was about 15.5 hours.

Luckily we managed to get an upgrade to business class using frequent flyer points so the trip was not too bad.

There were some TV crews on-board to record the event and they just happened to interview the flight Captain right alongside Candace’s seat. After interviewing the Captain (About 2 hours into the flight), they then filmed the Captain walking up the aisle and stopping and welcoming Candace on the flight.

Next, the camera crew (Rob Penfold) interviewed Candace about how she felt about the new non-stop service to Texas. Being a Texan, she was naturally very positive that it was a good thing and that we could now by-pass the congested Los Angeles airport.

The interviews were shown live on Aussie national channel 9 on Tuesday evening and friends said she did great.

Upon landing at Dallas, (yes, the 747 made it) as we were taxiing to the gate, we were sprayed with water cannon by the fire service there as a welcoming gesture. Lots of photographers and waves all round.

Then, as we de-boarded and entered the terminal, there was another welcoming party headed up by none other than John Travolta. We both shook hands with him as we passed by. He was dressed in his usual Qantas Captains outfit. He bought one of the original Qantas Boeing 707s and still flies it himself.

All in all, a fun trip with lots of surprisingly good on-board food and drink!

In a few months we will be on a return flight, Dallas to Brisbane, Australia and this reportedly takes about 17 hours due to the prevailing westerly headwinds.

John

We have been in Denver now for our summer break and have been very impressed with the city and surrounding areas. One problem we have noticed is the traffic congestion, but that is pretty much the case in all larger cities these days.

The past couple of weeks we have been entertaining friends from South Carolina. We took a road trip to Moab Ut., Canyon de Chelly Az. and Grand Canyon North Az. We all had a great time but some of the travel distances were more than first thought.

The National Parks around Moab were most fascinating and well worth the visit.

John

Having lived most of my life in Australia, I first saw actual snow about 15 years ago on the Swiss Alps. But it was summer there at the time so I did not see snow falling, and had never seen it fall until last month. We were driving up Mt Rainier (just south of Seattle), and it started to snow as we drove higher.

This was a first for me, but Candace had seen it all before!

Hey! What is all that white stuff falling here?

John

We recently visited the Seattle and Port Angeles areas in Washington. There was some fabulous scenery. We also liked Seattle. It was a good time of year to be there (not too cold yet), and the leaves on the trees were just beginning to change colours.

After Seattle, we headed to Port Angeles where we caught up with friends Sue and Arnor shown here…

It was a cool day, and we had just been to the top of a nearby mountain. In this photo, you can see a glacier in the centre of the photo. This photo was taken up at about 5200 feet in the Mt Olympia National Park.

We also visited the Boeing plant just north of Seattle. It was a great tour. Managed to see a few of the new DreamLiner 787s on the factory floor.

We recently returned from LAX to Sydney an a new Qantas A380. This was a good experience and the very large plane was great to travel on. It was perhaps quieter than the usual Boeing B747 we usually travel on when taking this route.

We were in Cattle-class and the seating was (or seemed to be) a little more spacious than the B747.

See my notes at my test Joomla site for more.

John