Fitted so much into our 3 days in Seattle that it's been a struggle to find time to write this post. The first day was cold & rainy - very common for this place where the sun only shines for about 85 days per year! We ignored the weather & went on a great tour with Shuttertours to some famous & some more obscure areas, all with a focus on taking good travel photos. This was so good - right up my alley & Geoff loved it too. Lunched on the famous ch...

Spent most of the day at the Pearl Harbor Memorials which was one of the main reasons for a stopover here. After a very early start & pickup at 5.45 we were in the queue for the first tour of the day at 7.30am and spent 9 hours there. Starting with a short film & a boat trip to the Arizona Memorial everyone paid a quiet tribute to the lives that were lost when this ship was bombed & sunk on 7th Dec 1941. The ship sits mostly under the water right wher...

After a long day & night of traveling we arrived in Hawaii on the same morning that we left - a bonus Mother's Day. Walked on the sand & into the water of Waikiki beach & have been pleasantly surprised by how lovely it is here. Our last visit was 14 years ago & everything seems more prosperous & well maintained now - there's a Singapore feel to it without the humidity. Dinner at Bills Sydney (Bill Granger) was delightful & had a cocktail t...

Have the "dreaming poster" up (as we always do before a holiday), made a packing list & printed an Itinerary. Now to send it to Bessie so she can follow our trip in detail & know what the weather's like before we're even out for the day!

Happy to board a Qantas plane & be greeted by Aussie accents, friendly cabin crew & best of all - Australian wine with supper! Not much sleep (as usual) but safely home to Sydney then Canberra where it was wonderful to be met by our lovely Sarah. She had prepared our house with a thorough clean, a welcome home balloon, bedroom with fresh flowers & dinner for our first night. Thanks so much Sarah - for everything.