Sydney, N.S.W. Australia

Date:  22/07/09 to 26/07/09
Accommodation:  The Menzies Hotel, Sydney
Weather:  25 degrees,
Rain:  Cool wind every now and then and a bit of rain
Season:  Winter
Agenda:  See the sights that Sydney has to offer in 3 days

After experiencing the cooler weather of New Zealand it was a welcome change to arrive in Sydney and it was 25 degrees.  Our experience leaving Auckland was not one I care to remember, maybe it was because we were up at 6:30 a.m., we dropped the hired car off and Emily was inside playing with the toys, when I rushed her out to the van which was going to drop us at the airport she left all her new stickers behind.  Then the lady at McDonalds at the airport was so rude to her, I still threatened to report her to someone I knew personally at their head office, which I haven't yet. 

Thank goodness the flight from Auckland to Sydney was only 3.5 hours as the plan was maybe one grade up from an old Dakota (exageratting of course).

We arrived in Sydney and I am not sure what it is about Sydney, the fact that I love it and hate it.  My father lived in Sydney back in the 20's and it has some kind of familiarity about it that I love, but the taxi drive ripped us off from the airport to the hotel, charged us $66, this happened to me once before in Sydney in 1998, so I was really pissed off, but we were so tired that I did not feel like an argument with a foreign taxi driver.

The hotel was brilliant, right in the centre of town, once we had unpacked and settled in we went on the hunt for somewhere to have dinner.

The next morning we started our sightseeing, after breakfast at the hotel we wound our way down to circular quay to take the ferry over to Manly, as I had been to Sydney D was leaving me to be the guide however I was hoping to see things I had not seen before.  So we took the ferry over to Manly, walked down to the beach, had lunch and got the ferry back.  We then walked over to the rocks, and back to the hotel where Emily and D went for a swim while I caught up on some emails.  We were all tired so room service was the order of the day and it worked so well that we ended up having room service every night after that.  Our friend Melina phone and we made a plan to meet up on the Saturday.

The next day was Friday and we decided that as time was limited we would do the hop on hop off bus round Sydney which included a trip to Bondi beach as well.  This is definitly the best thing to do as it gives you an overview of what the city has to offer.  I realised that Sydney had changed quite a bit since the last time I was there, in 1998 they were gearing up for the 2000 olympics and by now the monorail was in place and the whole Darling harbour area had changed. 

As time was limited we did not get off the bus at any stage except of course to change buses and go to Bondi, I had not done this on my previous trip so was really looking forward to it and I was not dissapointed.  After Bondi I really thought I could live here!  We walked along the sea front passed all the shops and then headed down to the beach, when Em saw the sea, the shoes, jacket and everything came off and she sprinted down to the sea, well needless to say by the end of it all we had one little girl who was soaked from Head to toe.  We took her dress off and put her jacket back on and D tried to dry it in the wind on the bus on the way back.

By the time we got to the stop close to our hotel, both Em and I needed the toilet.  There was a place we had been eyeing out round the corner from the hotel, called "Max Brenners Chocolate Bar", I thought they would probably have coffee if not a hot chocolate would go down fine, so we rushed in found the toilet and then met D back in the Chocolate Bar.  Well yes Ma, Willie Wonka is real!!!  The place was packed but we managed to find a table, the menu was CHOCOLATE in any shape form or size.  I wanted Em to have some healthy food, but the strawberries were $1.00 each, then there was a frutti tutti waffel which came with Bananas, Strawberries and ice cream.  I knew that Em would not eat the waffel but at least she could have the health stuff, so I ordered 1 Tutti Frutti Waffel, 2 small bowls of dipping chocolate and 2 cuppaccinos, well talk about chocolate heaven, it was a bit of an overdose - even the cuppacinos needed no sugar for D as they had put chocolate on top.

Saturday we wer up early and after breakfast headed down to the camera shop, D wanted to get a new camera before Lawrence came to pick us up, so needless to say we were there for about an hour while the sales man did his stuff, but at the end of it he walked out with a brand new Nikon D300 for a lot less money than what it would have cost him in Ireland, I was almost the proud owner of a new Cannon digital camera / camcorder, oh why oh why did I say no!!!  No sooner had D taken his purchases back to the hotel and Melina, Lawrence and Alex arrived.  It was so good to see familiar faces that had not changed in over 13 years. 

Melina had pre booked ticket at the Wildlife park at Darling harbour, so we headed there first.As with all the tourist attractions, they took our picture and then we headed inside, first stop was all the spiders and reptiles and then onto cute and cuddley's, after our walk through the park, we were treated to a wonderful lunch at Wagga Mamma and then off to the Lindt Chocolate shop for coffee.  Lawrence then drove us out to a Nature reserve where you can see the view over the bay of the heads, (I did not write down exactly where we went so will have to investigate it) actually you can read it up here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Heads.

After that they took us to their beautiful house and Lawrence went out to get dinner.  We sat and chatted over a glass of wine, Em took a liking to Alex and spent time playing computer games with him, and all too soon it was time to head back to the hotel as we were leaving for Perth the next day.  The generosity and kindness that our fellow Premier friends had shown us was so overwhelming.

So back to the hotel for a good nights sleep and then a 5 hour plane trip to Perth.

By the way please excuse any spelling mistakes in this post, but the new blogger won't allow me to do a spell check or for that matter backdate this post!

Auckland, New Zealand Photos

Auckland, New Zealand

Date: 17th July to 22nd July
Accommodation: Quest on Nelson, Serviced Apartments
Weather: 16 Degrees
Season: Winter
Rain: Yes and wind
Agenda: Meet up with Friends and sigh see

The flight from Tahiti to Auckland was 6 hours, so how come then did we leave on the 16th at 7 a.m. and arrive on the 17th at 11:00, simple Auckland is 22 hours ahead of Tahiti and we crossed the date line, had we done it the other way we would have arrived before we left, well you know what I mean.

I decided I would put the photographs separate for this post as it just takes so long to upload photos here on blogger.

So as it goes we arrived, got our hired car, found our way to the hotel apartment and were really disappointed coming from the Radisson, but it is understandable. From the air New Zealand reminded us of Ireland, and it with the rain it looked like we were back in Ireland.

Once we had got settled, Daryl came through and took us for dinner at the waterfront.

The next day we relaxed and did some washing, Daryl came through to the apartment and we all went off to Devonport to see the view of Auckland, we then had to go and meet another friend Callum who I had not seen probably since my wedding in 1995. We arrived there and the first thing Em saw was a bungy swing, so whilst we all drank coffee and had lunch, Em had fun on the bungy swing.

Sunday we headed for the Sky tower to see the sights, the weather was miserable so it was good to be doing something in doors. They also had some scientists from a TV channel entertaining the kids which kept Em happy for a while, she also wanted to do a free fall from the tower and do the skywalk outside with a bungy rope - she is going to grow up to be an adrenalin junkie.

Later we headed off to an Irish pub for dinner where I had the most awesome Mussells!

Monday, Daryl took the day off work and met up with us at 10:00 a.m. to go sight seeing, the weather wasn't too bad which helped. Our first stop was Kelly Tarlton's penguin experience, which is an old sewer which has been turned into an aquarium. We then had lunch at St. Heliers Bay and ice-cream at mission bay.

We then headed out to Butterfly creek and back to the apartment for pizza.

Tuesday we were on our own so we headed to Chancery lane for a walk around the shops and then to the Auckland Museum which was very very interesting. All the tour guide books recommend that you start your holiday in Auckland with a trip to the museum and I would definitely agree with them - although Daryl still hasn't been and his been living there for 2 years now!

Later we met up with Daryl and had dinner at the Seafood Grill and bar down by the harbour. It was so good catching up and sharing a bit of how our friend lives in New Zealand. The next day was off to the airport and then to Sydney.

Tahiti, French Polynesia

Date: 9th July to 16th July
Accommodation: The Radisson Plaza Resort, Arue, Tahiti
Weather: 25 Degrees +
Season: Austral Winter
Rain: Some tropical downpours over the mountains very few on the beach
One word: Awesome
Agenda: Rest, Relax, Explore
Tahiti is one of those countries that everyone dreams of going to, but not many people do, so when I saw it on the itinerary it really made up my mind to do it. However once I had booked, I realised the reason why not many people make the journey, Tahiti is very expensive - however there is a way of doing things cheaply, but for our trip we decided that this would be where we spoilt ourselves.

The journey from LA to Faaa airport in Tahiti was 8 and a half hours, we flew Air Tahiti which was awesome, the food was wonderful, the air hostesses looked like they were on holiday it was really magic. We left LA at 23:00 and with time difference arrived in Tahiti at 4:30 in the morning, however it was already about 20 degrees at that time of the morning.

We made our way to the car hire place, as I said everything in Tahiti is very expensive, so we ended up hiring a very small car for the week, not like in the States where a little money gets you a very big car. After a few wrong turns we finally ended up at the hotel, I had booked us in from the previous night so that we did not have to wait until 2 in the afternoon before we got into our room - very wise!

The porter took us to our room which turned out to be and upstairs downstairs, two balconies, the biggest shower I have ever seen and totally awesome.
This photo is the view from our room, looking over the pool and Matavai Bay.

This photo was taken from the upstairs balcony looking down onto the downstairs balcony. Once we arrived we decided to first go down for Breakfast, which was a buffet with loads of tropical fruits and all kinds of stuff, we then headed off to the pool where we spent most of the day, and then went off to sleep as it had been a long day.

The next day after Breakfast we headed out to find a supermarket, which was interesting, what was most interesting was the fact that a lot of their tinned fruits and sweet corn came from South Africa. We stopped at One tree hill on the way back and marvelled at the scenery. After a bit of shopping we headed into Papeete to the Market.Then back to the hotel to spend the rest of the day by the pool and on the beach.

The sand on majority of the beaches in Tahiti is black as it is volcanic sand.

The next day was Saturday, we decided that the hotel was becoming a wee bit too expensive to have breakfast there every morning so we headed to a village close by called Mahina and had brunch, after brunch we drove to the Cascade waterfalls where we stopped to walk to the falls.They were awesome, I also took a picture of our hired car which you will see why further down in my story. We decided from there to drive around the Island, according to the map, there was one road around the Island which takes about 2 hours and then a road through the middle of the Island which intrigued Derrick.

Half way round the Island we decided to stop at a beach on the west coast called Papara so that Em could have a swim, well this was obviously surfers paradise as the waves were rough and their were hundreds of surfers, Em ended up losing the bottom half of her new Bikini. After a swim we headed back to our hotel where D took this amazing photograph of the sunset.

The next day Monday 13th we headed to the supermarket to get Em some strawberries for Breakfast and found a snack bar where we stopped for breakfast, well the difference in cost was just phenomenal, where they had charged us about 7000 xpf (french Polynesian francs) for a buffet breakfast at the hotel, we could get and omelet and coffee at the snack bar and an ice cream for Em for 900 xpf, so we had found our new breakfast bar.

After breakfast or brunch we went to Papeete again and then once again spent the day at the pool and on the beach.

The following day was a public holiday in Tahiti a very important French holiday Bastille Day, we started off with breakfast at our new found snack bar but first a stop at the supermarket for Emily's strawberries. D wanted to find the road that went through the middle of the Island, which he assumed was a short cut and here the story starts:

Indiana Rowe and the tunnel of Doom

We picked up the road at Papenoo which winds along the river bed, there are loads of camping spots and because today was a public holiday there were loads of locals camping, swimming and generally just enjoying their day off. The road was mainly dirt and had some scary bridges but the scenery was beautiful. We stopped in a few places where there were 4x4 tours, and then we got to the sign that said something in French and 4x4, D said that he is sure the trail would be the same as what we had just come through, well ...

We first had to go through a tunnel, with dongas and ditches and water running down, now remember we were in a small 1100 little KIA, I was sitting in front with D and Em at the back, this is the very last picture I took before our adventure as I held on for dear life.As we came through the tunnel there was no road so to speak of but just a trail with big and small boulders winding down and down, with lots of hairpin bends. With almost every movement the car made we could hear the boulders hitting the car underneath, as we kept going down we thought it couldn't get any worse but it did, however there was no turning back as there is no way the car would be able to go up the path it had just come down. Emily was having great fun, and she even said so, in the words "this is so cool, just like a movie". Little did we know but we were actually driving through the crater of the Volcano, we had obviously come up the 4,800ft on the other side of the tunnel and we were now going down.

I kept thinking that if anything happened to us, nobody would know we were missing and would not look for us, and we could be swallowed up by the mountain and be trapped in the rain forest forever, yes I am a bit of sensationalist ;).

After bashing the car underneath about 50 to 100 times over dongas and boulders we finally saw the road (trail) coming to a straight bath at the end of the mountains, and it was now just a matter of heading towards the main road near Mataiea.

The Highway Man

As we headed towards the end of the trail, we noticed a guy on an off road scrambler come past us and then stop, he told us to stop and asked us where we were going, when D told him he told D that the road was closed, my first thought then and there was I was going to get out and walk. We felt sick, but then the guy said not to worry as he can open the road if we paid him 200 xpf which is equivalent to about 2 Euro, so we said no problem.

Then as we passed the first house we had seen in forever, a deranged looking woman wearing a T-shirt with Vietnam on it came running in front of the car telling us to stop shouting at us in French, the guy on the bike then spoke to her and they let us continue.

We then got to the gate that the guy had to unlock and of course he came to collect his money first which had now gone up to 2000 xpf, which is probably because he now had to give some money to the deranged old woman. It felt like we had been hijacked and could not wait to just get out of there.

Once we eventually got to the main road, we thought that by now the exhaust had come loose and who know what other damage had been done to the car, but thank goodness only the front fender was dragging on the ground all the way back to the hotel. Once there Em and I headed for the pool while D proceeded to do a cosmetic job on the car, get rid of the scratches and fix the fender.

I think D and I had about 3 tequilas each that evening just to stable our nerves, we decided that dinner in the restaurant at the hotel was the order of the day, which we all enjoyed.

Our last day

29 Degrees Celsius

It was Wednesday and our last day at the hotel, our flight was leaving for Auckland the next morning at 7 a.m. which meant we had to leave the hotel by 4:30. So today we went into Papeete for the last time, there were two Cruise ships docked, one huge one from London called the "Princess Dawn" and the other smaller one called "The Regus", some of the passengers had come back to the Radisson and while I was watching Em swim I got talking to some of the passengers. I met Claudette and Jim from San Fransisco, what a lovely couple. After sunset we went back to the room and had a wonderful Room service meal.

I would do it all over again, I can see why Marlon Brando fell in love with Tahiti after filming Mutiny on the Bounty, but just a word of advice, go in the Austral winter there are no mozzies or flies and no humidity either.

California U.S.A.

Date: 2nd - 8th July
Accommodation: Residence Inn by Marriott
Weather: 28 degrees + most days
Season: Summer
Rain: None
One Word: Wow
Agenda: 3 days Disney & California Adventure Park, 1 day Sea world, 1 day Universal Studios
So as I mentioned in the two previous posts we spent our first two days at Disneyland, it was absolutely awesome and it is a true fact when people say that the adults enjoy it just as much as the kids.
On our 3rd day we decided to do the California Adventure park which is right next door to Disney, the previous day being the 4th of July, Disney was jam packed and today looked like it would be the same, so we rather decided on the Adventure Park. From the moment you enter the gate, the Beach Boys are blaring out of a loud speaker, surfing U.S.A. and the Mama's and the Papas singing California Dreaming, you get the feeling that you are really in Sunny California, however by the time they had replayed the CD for the 20th time, you are dying to hear some other music.

The adventure park was a good choice as there was hardly anyone there, Emily got to be first in line for a few autographs with Snow White and Pluto and Mickey, we also saw loads of other characters and went on some wild rides. After a whole day of fun filled adventure, in which Emily even got to star in High School Musical 3, twice it was time to head off to Dave & Amy for a Braai, which was everything we had thought it would be, huge steaks and lots of salads.

The next day we headed down to San Diego, to Sea World the intention was to meet up with a friend of Emily's from school and their parents, but alas the Irish Mobile phone company failed us and so we were on our own. It was a good day and we saw Shamu the Orca and the dolphins, my highlight was the starfish pond where you could pick up the starfish under water. At about 5 p.m. we decided to head home it was about an hour and a half drive back to Anaheim.

On the way we decided to stop at a restaurant that Dave had told us about at Laguna beach called Mozambique, well I am so glad we did, the biggest best prawns I have ever had in my life. Got to make a plan to go back there.

The next day which happened to coincide with Michael Jackson's memorial service in downtown L.A. we headed towards Hollywood and Universal Studios. The place was packed but we had an awesome time, Emily got to see Sponge Bob and Dora, we went to see a reenactment of a scene from Water world which was awesome.

We then went on the ride to the studios where they take you through scenes from Movies, there was the lake where Jaws was filmed and even some fake blood, then past the Bates Motel from Psycho and even saw Mr Bates taking a body to the car. We were in the desert while there was a flash flood, over a bridge while it collapsed and in a tube station while there was an earthquake. We then went past a few TV scenes, Ghost whisperer and of course the place I wanted to go past which was Wisteria lane from Desperate Housewives.

It was all over too soon, we had to head back to the hotel to do washing as the next day was our flight to Tahiti, Emily wanted to swim which didn't happen as they had closed the pool (someone got sick) yuk.

We checked out of the hotel at 11 and then headed to the Mall to do some last minute shopping, word of advice, don't ever buy anything at Disney until you have been to the supermarket, everything is 70% cheaper. After that we headed towards long beach and Emily had a swim in her clothes and then headed to the airport for our flight.