Well that's that then....

Three weeks ago I departed on my first holiday to the United States.  I have been to 5 of those states in the past 3 weeks and have been left wanting more.

Hawaii - only stayed in Waikiki, but did an island tour around Oahu.  Feels like so long ago now but it was only 2 weeks ago.  Had a great time with two of my nieces and got to meet some great people.  I like Hawaii but honestly don't think I would go back on my own.  It was nice but just not my kind of place.  Must say it was a nice place to spend my 40th tho :).  Highlights: Cousin Duke on the Grand Island Tour, Waikiki sunsets, Teddy's Burgers, Pearl Harbour

New York - stayed in NYC and managed to get to 3 of of the Boroughs of New York City - Manhattan, Brooklyn & Staten Island.  Went around Manhattan a few times on the hop on hop off bus, which was great value - especially if you use it right.  I know I've said already but whilst it has been an experience, I can't see NYC being on my list of places to visit any time soon.  I have enjoyed my time here but again it's not my kind of place.  Highlights: seeing the Brooklyn Bridge, view from Top of the Rock, Staten Island Ferry, The Rockettes, seeing Jake Gyllenhaal in a play (he was really good!)

District of Columbia - Washington D.C... loved this place.  Did a night tour the first night, which was great.  Got to see heaps.  Then did another day tour the next day (more on this in the Virginia section), and got to see the same places but in daylight, which I think gives another aspect of things.  I really did enjoy my time here.  There are some amazing buildings - huge buildings and not so huge buildings (The White House is way smaller than I thought it would be).  Highlights: Seeing the US Capitol Building for the first time, seeing the Lincoln Memorial (that was impressive!), the Korean War Memorial (because my dad was in the Korean War, it was very poignant), seeing the White House, Union Station.  Another thing I loved is that in D.C no building is higher than the US Capitol.

Virginia - technically I have to include this because 3 of the places we visited as part of the day tour are in Virginia.  The highlight of my entire trip was one of these places.  Mount Vernon - I loved this place so much!  Mount Vernon is the estate of George Washington and has been rebuilt as much as it was back in his day.  It is a really special place in a really beautiful setting.  I recommend that everyone goes there.  Another place visited was Arlington Cemetery.  As much as it was sad, it was also impressively massive.  Rather sad seeing all those headstones.  

Pennsylvania - Philly Baby.... Philadelphia!  Ok so if I loved D.C, I really, really loved Philly.  It was definitely my kind of city.  I can't even describe it, but there is so much history.  There are so many little side streets with so much going on.  There are a lot of different neighbourhoods and the people are really friendly.  I really enjoyed my day here and the night was great too - the bed at the Best Western Independence Park was one of the most comfortable I've ever slept in.  Highlights: Independence Hall, Philly Cheese Steak (even tho I didn't really enjoy it), 30th St Station (seriously, if you need food then this is the place to go!!)

All in all it's been a successful trip.  I have learnt things about myself this trip and isn't that the whole point - to learn and discover things.  At first I thought I would not be back to the States in a hurry but now having been to a few other places, I really want to discover more of this county.  I want to go outside the big cities and discover the smaller cities and towns.  I have learnt that each city has it's own identity and just because they are in the same country, doesn't make them all the same.  I mean I already knew this but I think this trip really opened my eyes to it.  I also learnt that just because someone likes something or a certain place, doesn't mean that everyone is going to like it.  This really came to my attention with I got to NYC.  I was kind of disappointed that I didn't like it more because everyone said I would love it.  But because I didn't I kind of felt guilty and didn't really want to tell anyone. But then I thought "Stuff it, this is my opinion and I'm entitled to it as much as the next person".

I am glad to be going home to be in my own space but I also wish I could spend more time here and go around this country further.  It's been a great 3 weeks and I am sorry to see it end.  

Reflections on a week that was....

Just over one week ago I left Brisbane for a 3 week holiday.  I am only one week into it and have already done so much!  My travelling companions were two of my nieces, one came with me from Brisbane and we met the other one in Honolulu.

Adele & I had 24 hours in Sydney on the way to Honolulu and we crammed so much into that 24 hours, now it seems rather crazy, thanks to Adele's friend Russell...   We saw the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, did a ferry trip from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour, took the monorail back to the Queen Victoria Building, had dinner at the Star Bar, relaxed at Russell's place before heading to a bar on Oxford Street, then on the way back to the hotel Adele & I took in Circular Quay & the Opera House at night.  The next day we started a little late, had breakfast at Maccas, met Russell again and got the bus to Chinatown and the Chinese Gardens before test driving a Ford Titanium and being scared out of our brains by another Ford drive (luckily I wasn't driving that one!!), then headed to Paddy's Market and then to Starbucks to relax before heading to the airport for our 9 hour flight to Honolulu.  To save Adele about $400-500 we actually flew on different airlines about 3 hours apart.  So Adele had to wait at Sydney Airport for 3 hours before her flight and I had to wait at Honolulu Airport for her to arrive.... rest assured, I would never complain about spending 3 hours at Sydney Airport after waiting at Honolulu Airport where is isn't even a vending machine!!!  One of the highlights of our trip - seeing Robbie Deans at Sydney Airport...

Then onto Honolulu... got to our hotel a little early for check in so we left our bags and headed down to find the hop on hop off bus - which for $29 for 48 hours is a bit of a bargain I reckon... there are 4 loops to choose from including Diamond Head, Ala Moana and Pearl Harbor.  So we did the Diamond Head and the Ala Moana one to fill in time.  We got back to the hotel about 2pm and luckily our room was ready because we were both exhausted and promptly fell asleep for a few hours.  Stacy was arriving about 8pm so when she got to the hotel we sat around talking for a few hours.

Once we got sorted the next day (after the world's most expensive buffet!!!) we ended up heading to Pearl Harbor - which was awesome!  Very moving and very educational.  We also happened to run into some NZ Navy people and one of them happened to know my brother Mike really well... small world!!!  After Pearl Harbor, the girls went to Ala Moana and I headed back to the hotel - I am really not a shopper at all.  Adele is kind of and Stacy is totally!!!  So we all have our own thresholds.  I got back to Waikiki in time for my first Hawaiian sunset... let me just say it was not my last!!!!   That night we discovered Teddy's Bigger Burgers... let me just say this... once you go Teddy's, you NEVER go back!!  All other burgers pale in comparison to Teddys!!!

Monday saw another slow start - not that it matters here because everything is open till late!  Today we headed to the International Market and then took The Bus like a local and headed into Downtown Honolulu... so The Bus!  Well, I will say it is reliable but I won't say it was that good an option... ok so it is cheap at $2.50 and you get a 2 hour transfer (sometimes more!!!) but they seem to have a stop every block so a trip might take 2 or 3 times as long.  And they can get crowded... very crowded!!  I was pretty happy to see Iolani Palace and King Kamehameha Statue - especially after seeing them on Hawaii Five-O, but it was a hot day!!  Lunch considered of a packet of chips and coke on the side of the road - or a boiled egg for Adele!  We managed to get ourselves back to Waikiki for another kick arse sunset and Teddy's for dinner - seriously.. THE BEST BURGERS!!!!!

Tuesday was my birthday - not that it really felt like my birthday... just another day really.  We had breakfast at Wolfgang Puck's Express.. strawberries on waffles... hmmmmm good!! We were booked to go on Grand Island Tour around Oahu... this was pretty cool, we got to see a bit of this beautiful island that isn't a man made beach and condos.  Our driver was pretty awesome too... Cousin Duke - very informative and a great tour guide.  Because we were the last people he dropped off, we found out about this place that did a changing of the guard so after watching the sunset, headed down there to watch that and have our photo taken with them.  That was pretty awesome.  We then had dinner at a nearby diner called Rock Island Cafe... it was completely decorated as a 50's diner... very, very cool - I have never seen Stacy so quiet!!!!

 

Wednesday was shopping day - we headed to Ala Moana mall, Walmart & Ross Mart... bought a few clothes - not as many as Adele & Stacy mind you!  So we got back to the hotel and had a bit of a fashion show... bloody funny!!  I was completely knackered so the girls headed down to Teddy's for take out :)  It was fast becoming our favourite place to eat!

Thursday we went to the Bishop Museum - it is a wee way out of town so had to get the #2 bus.. it took about an hour to get there with all the stopping & starting!!  The museum was awesome!  Learnt a hula (of course I've forgotten it already!), the grounds were amazing.  It was a very special place.  Headed back to town and had Denny's for dinner - yeah something different!  Then walked through the International Market to the Cheesecake Factory and got dessert to take away.

Friday Stacy was going shopping and Adele & I went to the Sea Life Park... holy moly!!  We got the #22 bus and it was PACKED until we go to to Hanauma Bay where there is good snorkeling apparently... then there were about 6 of us left!!!  Got to Sea Life Park - which is awesome.  Adele was going to be doing a dolphin encounter so we wandered around a bit until that time.  I got to see Sea Turtles and touch a baby one... very cute!  Adele loved her dolphin experience and has and awesome photo of the dolphin kissing her.  We had a pretty good day.  Got back to the hotel and Stacy arrived not long after - we then headed down to the pier for our last Hawaiian sunset and to have some photos taken - it was pretty cool... we then had our last meal at Teddy's and came back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before heading back down to the pier for the Friday night fireworks by the Hilton Hawaiian Village... it was a great possie to see the fireworks... not that great for photos!  Back to the hotel to finish off packing as Adele was leaving at 8am the next morning.  Stacy & I are leaving later in the day....

 All in all it has been a great week... have I loved it?  I have loved the experience, I love the fact that people actually talk to you here - you will be in the elevator or at a mall and people will actually talk to you.  I have to be completely honest, I don't think I would come back - unless it was with a group of people.  It has been great but I am not a beach or shopping kind of person, nor do I like to rough it so Hawaii for me - whilst lovely, is not my ideal holiday.... in saying that, you have to experience these things to know that.  I am glad I came with the people I did because I think that's what made it more special.