Some travel posts.
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!
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
In late July, 2010, I attended my first ever Rodeo. It took place in Cheyenne Wyoming. We had been on vacation in Denver Colorado and the Rodeo just happened to be on whilst we were in Colorado.
It was a fun event and I learned a lot about Rodeo. I travelled there with my wife and our grand daughter Ella. We all had a great time.
Here is a Cowboy roping a calf. There was also bull-riding, bare-back horse riding and bucking broncos.
Cheyenne is the capitol of Wyoming, and about a 90 minute drive North of Denver, Colorado, where we were having a summer vacation.
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 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.
For the past ten days, we have been travelling around U.K. with some great friends (Skip and Sharon) from Columbia, South Carolina. Astoundingly, the weather was just great the whole time, apart from one day when driving in the very North of England. That day we had periods of light and heavy rain.
The scenery around the Lakes District and North was fabulous. We had a fill of Castles and Churches and Ruins and Gardens.
The worst feature of the whole trip was the airport security checks. These are a farce.
Once I find and unpack my camera, I will post a few photos (or at least some links) here.
John Griffiths
One of the things I enjoy after hours is keeping up with “The Dakar“. For the past fifteen years or so, I have thought that if I could afford it, I would charter a chopper and follow “The Dakar” across North Africa. The scenery shown on the TV coverage has been magnificent.
Last year I was very disappointed that the race was cancelled due to political turmoil in the race route countries.
But This year, the race organisers have made a very brave decision, to move the race, even to a new Continent!
What was North Africa is now South America, in particular, Argentina and Chile.
I have been following the race this year with much interest and (initially) doubt. But the route selected this year has amazed me thus far. It has made me want to visit Argentina and Chile to see some of the landscape with my own eyes. Just as I wanted to visit North Africa.
Valparaiso Chile looks very inviting! Who Knows?
I know that Qantas (my favourite airline) flies to Santago, which is close to the beautiful coastal city of Valparaiso. Perhaps one day ….
In the meantime, around here, life stops when the daily Dakar highlights are on TV. I even set an alarm so as not to miss the show!
Recommended viewing for Rev Heads!
John
We have just returned from our recent trip to Italy alive and well.
We went on a two week tour organised by GoAheadTours.com and had a fabulous time. Everything went according to plan, apart from two very long airport lay-overs (both in New York’s JFK – 1 of 7 hours and one of 6 hours). Go Ahead was great and we would not hesitate to use them again. The Atlantic crossings were flown on Alitalia. This was the first time we had ever flown Alitalia, and would try to stay away from them in the future. Service was not up to the standard we have become accustomed to with Qantas. The Boeing 767 we flew in from Rome to JFK was pretty much fitted out in a vary basic format (no in-seat video), and the most seats had broken support under whatever cushion was left. In all, a very tired plane. My wife had a broken seat. Our two fiends had broken seats. They partially overcame the problem by placing their blankets on top of the seat cushions. As the flights were all full to capacity, there was no option to switch seats.
The highlights of the trip for me were the Lake Como region of northern Italy and the isle of Capri. Also, we enjoyed a few days in Assisi.
Our route was Lake Como Region, Milano, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Assisi, Pompei, Sorrento/Capri and finally Rome/Vatican City. We were away 15 days to May 10 2008.
I will post some photos in the next few days and place a link here when I get the chance.
John