On the road again; a mere 28 days that will encompass a trip around the world, west to east, eleven stops (packs!) eight flights, seven countries, a voyage and a birthday for me, and one for Rory, his 30th, hence the stop in LA for a few hours!
The planning started with the idea to take a Cunard voyage, once again. The cross Pacific trip from Japan to Vancouver gave us the chance to visit Japan, at the end of cherry blossom season, have 17 very relaxing days at sea, crossing the International Date Line, see a great deal of Alaska before disgorging us at Vancouver, a rival to Cape Town for favourite city in the world.
We love Hong Kong, what a great destination for 24/48 hours, we have our favourite places, and events while we are there and the opportunity to pop in to the UK on the way home also gives us the chance to see our parents, daughters and pals in London and the Midlands.
We are very lucky to have made two American friends, Justin and Samantha, who, as nomadic workers, have popped in to Cape Town, twice, as they have circumnavigated the globe, working remotely. Their love of Cape Town and Harry, our dog, meant they generously offered to return to Cape Town, despite having only just put down roots in Portland, Maine to look after our home and precious pooch, who had endeared himself on their previous visits!
The itinerary is the mandatory trip to Johannesburg to get anywhere in the world, 12 hours to HK for two days, a five hour flight to Tokyo for two days, including a sumo wrestlers training camp, before getting onboard QE2. We last saw her in Cape Town, in January, before she headed to Melbourne for a summer season poodling around the South Pacific. Two stops in Japan are at Sapporo and Aomori, before the cross Pacific voyage to Alaska, where we stop at Anchorage, Juneau and Kodiak. The final leg is to Vancouver where we stay for two days, as long as we walk around Stanley Park, I’ll be happy. Then, we drop down to LAX, spend the day with Rory on his 30th birthday, flying to Blighty that evening, two days in the land of Brexit mangling before heading for home. There is a chance that SA might change while we are away. There is a general election on May 8th which will see the “liberating” ANC party meet their strongest challenge in 25 years. It’s unlikely that they will not remain in power, however, a weakened majority could spell trouble for the ,so called, “new dawn”.
Stay tuned for regular updates and travel experiences!