Author: Cheryl & Pat
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Maui
Day 72 – 80 We arrived in Oahu and flew to Maui for the last leg of our journey. While we were there, we spent our time at the Grand Wailea hotel. This is a beautiful property that has the most amazing pool we have ever seen. It features seven waterslides, six waterfalls, a lazy Read more
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Cruising the South Pacific on the Royal Princess
Day 58 – 71 Due to the fierce winds and high waves, we were unable to leave Auckland until April 17th, two days behind schedule. Because of our late departure, the captain had to cancel our first stop at American Samoa. This was rather disappointing since we only had 3 scheduled stops in our extended Read more
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New Zealand – North Island (Wellington, Ohakune, and Auckland)
Day 50 This morning we headed to the train station in route to Wellington. The storm from yesterday that canceled the afternoon whale watching had left snow on the mountain tops. Across from the snow covered mountains, the locals were surfing. Another interesting thing we observed on our train ride was the Saltworks, which is Read more
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New Zealand – South Island (Christchurch & Kaikoura)
Day 45 This morning we said goodbye to Australia and caught a flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. We had so much fun in Australia and are already thinking about coming back to see more within the next 5 years. We love a plan! Despite having an early flight, our room was ready when got to Read more
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Melbourne, Phillip Island, and The Great Ocean Road
Day 40 Today is another travel day. Pat was up early and went for a walk along the Esplanade and enjoyed a “flat white” (similar to a cappuccino, but only espresso and steamed milk, no milk foam) from a local coffee shop along the beach. Pat forgot to include in the last post that Lizard Read more
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Cairns & Lizard Island
Day 34 Today was another travel day. With an 11:30 am flight, we had a leisurely morning. Pat picked up his favorite belt from Argentina that needed some repair work from a local shoe repair shop, then we said “farewell” to Brisbane. We arrived early afternoon following a 2 hour flight in the same time Read more
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Brisbane
Day 30 Today was another travel day. We had to reverse our path and drive about 5 hours back to Alice Springs. We encountered more traffic on the way back, seeing about 65 cars and trucks heading to Uluru (at least 3 times as many as before). Making the long haul are semis pulling four trailers Read more
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Uluru – Palya (welcome)
Day 27 Today was a travel day. We were up and out the door headed to the airport by 8:15 am. We caught a flight to Alice Springs and got a rental car to drive to Uluru. It was 4 hours and 45 minutes of very monotonous driving. The road continued straight ahead for as Read more
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Barossa Valley
Day 23 We had a short plane ride from Launceston to Adelaide. We entered a new time zone which was 30 minutes earlier than before. How strange to jump 30 vs 60 minutes. We got our rental car and headed north to Barossa. Remember that great tip about using your outside arm as the one Read more
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Tasmania
Day 16 – Hobart We said goodbye to Sydney this morning and headed to the airport. Interestingly, in Australia, they don’t check IDs at security or when boarding. As long as we had a ticket, we were all set. They are also “old school” in that anyone can go back to the gates as long Read more