Goodbye America

This is it! Our last few hours in America before flying home. So we decided to get up early and go to our new favourite breakfast place, and then head to the beach for one last swim.

Given we were a bit far from the main Waikiki Beach, we decided to go to the one right near our hotel. The water and stuff was nice and warm, but there were too many rocks.

We only stayed at the beach for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel and having a shower and packing for the last time.

Having to be at the airport at around 11am, it was now time to leave. We grabbed a taxi and pretty much got straight through customs through to the terminal without even having to wait in a queue. Score!

Now it was the dreaded part, sitting around waiting for our flight. It was a fairly small airport with not much to do, so we just sat around killing time playing on our phones and laptops before it was finally 1pm and we could board.

Returning to economy class after flying across in business was not something we were looking forward to, but as luck would have it we got two little seats next to each other on our own on the side of the plane which turned out pretty good.

It was a 10 hour flight to Sydney for our stopover. We arrived at about 9:30pm, then had to go grab our bags, check them in to the next flight, go grab a shuttle bus to get to the domestic terminal and then fly one hour to Melbourne, arriving at around midnight.

We came up with the idea of staying in Melbourne the night and getting a train home the next morning, rather than stuffing around coming home at this time of night. It turned out an inspired choice too because we found a nice little hotel near the trainstation.

It did not take us long to check in, then fall straight into bed and not wake up till the next morning for our free breakfast. So that was it, our trip was finally over!

92 days, 50 states, over 21,000kms and the best time of our lives.

Finally back home

The last of our hotel rooms. This one in Melbourne

Roadtrippin' around Hawaii

Today is a sad day as it is our last full day in America after an amazing three months. So we decided to do it in style, getting back on the road by renting a car and going for a tour around the O’ahu island.

We get up at 7am and go sort out the car. We actually had a choice from a lot of different cars, including a convertible Mustang, but end up going for an old faithful in a red Hyundai Veloster. How could we say no to that??

After sorting out the paperwork and getting the keys, we go grab some breakfast at the restaurant we have been to the last couple of days, go grab our bags and then hit the road.

First stop was Pearl Harbour. Expecting to spend a couple of hours there, we only stayed for around 15 minutes. The next tour was not until 1:30pm and it was boiling hot and we were getting a bit sick of military stuff. So we had a quick look around and moved on.

Next stop was the Shopping Outlets. This would be our last time to go shopping, but for some reason they were missing a Nike! We grabbed a coffee from Starbucks (for the last time), Adam grabbed some new jocks from the Calvin Klein shop and then we were back on the road, again.

On our agenda next was a little beach cove area that was highly recommended for snorkelling. After an hours drive arrive there and find an epic park right at the front. This was great as the area was absolutely packed.

We wacked some sunscreen on and while we were waiting for it to soak, we noticed a cool little van selling Mexican food. So we grabbed a quesadilla and hot tomale and at it outside with some ducks. We got pretty full, so the ducks were more than happy to eat our leftovers.

Now it was time for snorkelling. It was a superb little area with tons of fish floating around. We even found a big tortoise swimming around looking for food underneath the rocks. It was one of the funnest things we had done on our trip in Hawaii so far and we stayed there for about an hour.

With the day getting on a bit now, we decided to hit the road again, this time to go for a swim. Another recommended swimming beach was Kailua, on the west coast of the island, so we set our GPS for there.

Along our travels we saw some great scenery, including the area where Jurassic Park was filmed. It took about an hour and a half to reach the beach where we got yet another great park.

It was a pristine beach with blue/green waters and more great scenery towards the horizon with an old volcano overlooking us. We stayed here for a couple of hours, lying in the sun and having a swim, before it was then time to take the car back.

It was about a 45 minute drive back to the car rental place and we filled up along the way, accidentally leaving the petrol cap lid off and driving around for a few minutes before realising. Doh!

We decided to spend our last night in America by going to the Hard Rock Café for tea. This is now a bit of a tradition after we did the same thing on our South America trip last year. As usual it was a really good feed and then we walked back to the hotel for the last time.

Just like that, our trip had come to a close. It felt like a blink of an eye, but it was 3 months of brilliant fun which we could now look back on with this blog. Tomorrow we fly out at 1:35pm, so we thought we’d get up early and go for one last swim before heading back home.

Hard Rock Cafe, our tradition on the last night

Lovely water at Kailua beach

This is where Jurassic Park was filmed

Ahhhh, the pack up begins

A loooong day of relaxation by the water

Today was another day of relaxation, almost identical to yesterday actually. We woke up and wondered around looking for a breakfast location again, something that was harder than it sounds.

We finally settled on a location underneath the sports bar we ate at the previous night. We ordered some eggs and toast and unlimited coffee and it only cost us about $10, so a nice bargain to start the day!

Heading back to the hotel, we get changed into our bathers and head back to a similar swimming location that we were at yesterday. There was even a pretty cool restaurant near by where we grabbed some club sandwiches.

Then it was back to the hotel resort where we would lay by the pool in the sun for hours and have a swim. A perfect way to spend the day we thought.

By now it was getting pretty late in the arvo, so we thought we’d go check out the Premium Outlets to do some shopping. On our way we walked past an Outback Steakhouse, so thought that would be a good place for tea on the way back.

Unfortunately as it was a Sunday, the outlets were closing at 7pm instead of the usual 9pm that they do on the other six days of the week, so we head back for some steak.

But now there were people everywhere at the steakhouse with a near 30 minute wait, so we thought screw that and headed back up the main street. One bonus though was we come across one epic sunset near the docks, so that made us happy.

Given there was a severe lack of decent restaurants near our area, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings, the sports bar from last night again.

We both ordered some pull pork buns and were served by a pretty cool dude of a waiter who was a doppelganger of “Oz” from the original American Pie movie.

Then, like the rock stars we are, head back to the hotel to watch some telly and chill out even more from a looooong day of chilling out.

The sunsets over here are amazing

Beach, pools and lagoons

We rise and shine in our beautiful big room, well compared to where we had been living for the last seven days, this room was nearly 3 times the size of our room aboard the celebrity cruise liner.

Today we had one place in mind to go, the beach! So we pack a little bag, sunscreen up and make our way down past the pier, past a lagoon and down to Waikiki beach.

We try and fail to find somewhere for breakfast as by this time it was 10:30am, so off to Starbucks for some granola yogurt and a coffee, good old reliable Starbucks.

Wandering back onto the beach, we throw our towels down and park here for the morning, the water was a clear blue with hardly any waves, it was warm and about shoulder level all the way out, one of the best beaches for relaxing times.

After a nap and a couple more stints in the water we decide to make our way down the strip of beaches to see what else we could find, as nice as our original spot was, there was a lot of people, canoes and big boats all in the one area, so we try to find somewhere a little more peaceful.

Peaceful yes, but as good, noooope, the ground was covered in pebbles and sharp shells which would freak anyone out, especially when you out your foot down and the rock was slimy... So we don't persist too long at playing 'don't touch the bottom' and head up to a nearby resort and make good use of their pool.

Not too far away from our hotel we decide to head back and check out the pool area there. We didn't have a resort, but the pool area was just as good. Loungers everywhere and even an adults only pool with floating lounge chairs and relaxing music. So we drop our stuff and decide to stay here and order up some food.

A few more hours go by of relaxing on a sun bed when we change it up yet again, we go back to the lagoon that we had passed earlier to see what it was all about.

As it turns out the lagoon was icy and cold, so with the slowly going away we set ourself down on the grass by the water and have, yep you guessed it, another nap whilst under the shade of towering palm trees.

Getting onto dinner time we head back to our room and have one of the most epic showers of the trip, it was quite refreshing after a day of sea water, pool water and then lagoon water, not to mention about 4 layers of sunscreen.

All scrubbed up we head out to dinner and find a sports bar and enjoy some good old fashioned USA food. With not much on sport wise except for the baseball we don't hang around too long, but on our way out we see none other than Dermott Brereton on the big screen, the damn afl was on! It didn't surprise us really, about 50% of the tourists here had been Aussies, it's probably the only state that we have found so many Aussies in, I guess we all want to get away from the cold!

Back in the hotel room now we sit out on our 4th floor balcony and watch the hustle and bustle of the street below until it was time to head to bed, for yep you guess it, another loooooong nap.

Hawaii now marks our 50th state

Today is the day we finally hit our 50th state as we head to Hawaii later on in the day, but first we had to disembark the ship.

It was pretty sad to be leaving the Solstice after an awesome week travelling around Alaska. In fact it was probably the best part of the entire trip so far with some of the scenery we come across blowing our minds.

We awake pretty early at around 7am and have a shower and then head off to the breakfast buffet for one last time. Then we headed back to the room for one last time, said goodbye to Edwin and then went to wait to disembark in one of the cafes.

After about 15 minutes of waiting we got to leave the ship which was less time than we’d expected. We’d pre-booked a shuttle bus to the airport while we waited which was an inspired choice given the taxi line was about 50 metres long.

Still, it was a good 45 minute wait until the bus left with people everywhere. It didn’t matter too much because our flight was not until 5:55pm and it was only 10am.

We finally head off and arrive at the airport around 11am. Annoyingly we couldn’t check our bags in until at least 6hrs before the flight, so we had to go kill an hour at an overpacked coffee shop.

About midway we go and check our bags in and then buy ourselves in to the Delta business lounge. It wasn’t the best lounge of all time, but it was better than hanging out in the public area.

It was a good chance to catchup on some emails and some work given we hadn’t had any internet connection for a week. We even spent time planning next years holiday. Another cruise, maybe to Rome this time?

Finally it was time to board the plane. It was a 6hr flight which we spent watching shows on the iPad and it felt like it wen pretty quick. We arrived at 9pm local time and got a taxi to our hotel.

The hotel was pretty epic. It was right on Waikiki beach with some pretty cool views. Feeling hungry, we head to a restaurant around the corner and grab a very late tea, then head back to the hotel and conk out after a long day of doing…. nothing.

Already planning our next holiday while waiting at the airport

Very nice room here in Honolulu

Canada bound for our last day at sea

With nothing too scenic to look out of the window today as we wouldn't hit any land until about 6:00pm, we decide to have an ultra chilled out day until it was time to get off the ship in Victoria, Canada.

Starting our day off in true chilled out style, we slept in til 10am and then head up for a late breakfast out on the deck, just in case there were any whales to spot.

Then we head up to the gym to listen to a trainer talk about posture, turns out we were the only ones interested so we ended up with a pretty good one on one session where he shows us some great ways to stretch and better our back muscles.

Feeling pretty limber we go for a walk and find a game show going on in the theatre which was a mock up of Top Chef, there were two of the ships master chefs and then two contestants from the audience, it wasn't too bad but we ended up leaving before the end to go grab a coffee and have another wander round the top deck of the ship.

Not hungry at all from our late breakfast we end up having lunch anyway, you have to eat with the hoards or you'll feel left out, so super full we make our way back to the theatre where our best mate Ryan Joyce was doing a seminar on how hypnotism can help you change aspects of your life that you don't like.

He even got us all to try a relaxation technique while we were sat in the seats which would have worked save for a very annoying baby crying right in the middle of it.

After the show Ryan stayed back to answer questions which we both found very helpful and will definitely take back home with us to try.

Quite relaxed from our session we head back to the room for a nothing lounging session... Hey I did say it was a super chilled out day!

Back in the theatre again they were showing a 'best of' some of the entertainment we had had in the previous day's. We got to see 2 singers and then our all time favourite Ryan Joyce was back again where he performed a few more magic acts which left us puzzled, this guy was good.

Pulling into Victoria after a long day, we get off the ship and head out into a whole new country, Canada!

We grab a map of the city and walk into town which took about half an hour, Victoria was really quite pretty with pots of colourful flowers, perfectly manicured gardens and you could see the ocean form nearly everywhere you went.

The docks were spotted with yachts, boats and seafood restaurants and tour operators, it was one busy little town.

We find a few shops to peer into and wander around some more, we grab some free wifi at Starbucks and then make our back to our happy place, the Solstice ship for what would be the very last time.

One more feast was in order, even though it was late we were starving hungry and Adam had only just realised that they serve his favourite dish, fried rice, so he had 2 good helpings.

Before bed we end up going to a late night comedy show, this was t in the schedule but they decided to throw her on stage since she had only just gotten on in Victoria. We didn't hold very high hopes for her and even predicted what she would joke about and sure enough.... all our predictions come through and she was about as funny as Fred Klett, the other comedian who you felt like aiming a sniper rifle to.

We snuck out of the theatre without being heckled and end up calling it a night, it was already past midnight and we were buggered, a sad night as it would be our last.

Adam with his new friend

Our home for the past week

A taste of some of the deserts we could have nightly

Damn we're gunna mss this place

Another of our favourite spots up in the observatory

A very hypnotic day at sea

A full day at sea today and we had a pretty full schedule of chilling out and catching a few shows.

With nothing much on until about 1pm we have breakfast and then head up onto the top deck to see what the day was like, bloody freezing it was with no sun in sight, it was like all the clouds had moved down and filled the sky with a hazy white.

We head back to the room and pull up our recliner chairs on the balcony, being a little lower we could see the ocean, with Linnie on whale watch we hang out here and read our books for the morning, it was quite peaceful.

Wandering back out to see if the weather had improved we find a hot glass demonstration just near the lawn area and watch this until we couldn't bare the cold nipping at our legs any longer so we go back inside for some warm and tasty lunch.

The buffets here are amazing, every small dish, even down to the steamed corn was damn good and every day was different, always spoilt for choice we opt for a make your own salad sandwich and take it down into the sky observatory lounge where they were running an art auction.

Not wanting to buy anything this time we simply come as spectators, although we were very tempted by a few things, our will power won out and we left empty handed, phew, art is damn expensive!

Next on our schedule was the great Ryan Joyce, the very same Ryan that we saw performing magic but this time he was doing a hypnosis show which are always a good laugh. And laugh we did, he got a bunch of people up and had them down in no time. They were stripping, singing like divas, yelling at us for laughing and even hopping like kangaroos, it was brilliant.

After a quick stop by our room for a rest, cause we really needed one, we go up for dinner and have yet another feast.. And no, we haven't really put any weight on yet surprisingly, maybe it's because we don't use the elevator and climb about 50+ flights of stairs every day!

As we walk out of the restaurant Adam pulls out one of the cutest little chocolate cupcakes and declares it a birthday cake for yesterday for Linnie, what a nice guy :)

Then it was time for the main show called "Solstice: The Show". It was very much like a compressed Cirque du Soleil with acrobats, jugglers, dancers, guys that can balance like a boss, and a couple that could bend and stretch into amazing shapes, it was a really good show.

Going back to our room we find the cutest little towel elephant that we name after our amazing server Edwin that has looked after us and made our room spic and span not only once, but twice a day. We also find out next daily schedule that we always look forward to reading every night and 2 very delicious chocolates waiting for us on our pillows, this is the life!

Going for our usual nightcap, this time at the Aquaspa, we take a lounger by the window and read our books while sipping hot chocolates. Linnie being an amazing watcher for whales looked up from her book and spots something jumping out of the water, as it turns out there was a huge pod of dolphins coming from underneath the ship and jumping up out of the water right in front of us, it was spectacular and went for for s good 5 minutes, we couldn't believe our luck.

Before bed we decide to go to a game show being hosted in the main theatre called The Liars Club, basically there are 3 people on stage and they get given a word that they have to give us a definition of, and then we have to decide who is telling the truth.

It sounded pretty good however, the shitful comedian Fred Klett from the first night was one of the people on stage giving definitions, our favourite entertainer Ryan was also up there, and as the comedian was telling more awful recycles jokes, you could see the pained expression on Ryan's face as well as ours and yet.. the crowd ate it up..

More than ready for bed now we make our way up more flights of stairs to our room, only one more full day left and one more stop in Canada, let's hope the sun comes out.

Linnie on whale watch duty

The cast of Solstice: The Show

Skagway, Alaska

Pulling the curtains open in the morning and all we can see is a wall of trees and rock, we had already made port in a very small town called Skagway.

Once again we load up on breakfast and then head off the ship to explore the little town.

It being quite warm, I'd say around 28 deg, we headed out in shorts and t-shirt which felt odd for an Alaskan adventure, we had pictured glaciers and icebergs and white everywhere we looked, but their summers are actually quite nice and the only white you can see is at the very top of the many many mountains.

Our ship being the furtherest away from the town as usual we had a 20 minute walk into town, not that we minded as we loved being able to stretch our legs.

Arriving into Skegways Main Street it was like stepping back in time to the days of Sovereign Hill, the buildings were all made of wood and only one storey high, if it weren't for the paved road you would swear you were in another time.

Being that most of the shops sold jewellery or crummy Alaskan souvenirs we didn't hang around too long, opting to head back to the ship and spend our day sprawled out on a lounge chair by the pool whilst eating one of the best hot dogs ever for lunch.

We hung around the pool for majority of the morning and afternoon, then peeled ourself off the lounge and made our way down to the ensemble lounge for a spot of quiz.

First we tackled the TV theme quiz, while Adam wasn't the most helpful of players, Linnie who spent most of her childhood watching TV managed to get 11 out of 15, mind you all of the shows were American and about 20 years old. We ended up losing by 1, again...

Right after that quiz they ran a general knowledge quiz, knowing that we weren't the best ever at general knowledge, we decide to go head to head against each other to make it more interesting. Correcting each other's sheets Linnie, on her birthday mind you, lost... By 1... On the very last question, argh.

Then we grabbed our books and made our way up to our favourite spot on the ship, the lawn area, with there being trees on either side of the boat, the green seemed to continue from the grass on the ship and then seamlessly scale up the mountain with no other colour in between.

We laid out in the sun on our blankets until tea time where we made our way to the buffet, opting not to go to the dining room tonight. We found an amazing table at the very back of the boat and had a birthday feast, Linnie even had 3 different desserts for her birthday cake.

After that we climb back up to the top deck to witness yet another spectacular sunset and to our delight as the sun was going down, we spot not one, but 4 killer whales making their way past the ship.. What an amazing night.

To top Linnie's birthday off, we go to a show in the theatre featuring Ryan Joyce the magician, not expecting toooo much he turns out to be pretty damn good, even pulling off some tricks that we had only seen David Copperfield do, and this guy was funny!

After the show we make our way to grab a nightcap but stop at one of the shops and buy a very adorable little bear holding a fish carved out of jade, we thought this would go perfectly on Adams office desk at home where he keeps mementoes of every trip we've been on.

Night cap in hand, we bypass another of our favourite spots the observation deck as there was a horrid band playing in there and drunk people dancing...

So we walk back over the other side of the ship and drink our hot chocolates in the serenity of the Aqua spa indoor pool which is always warm and plays that sort of music you hear while getting a massage.

Now tired from all our relaxing, it was time to pull the curtains on one of Linnies best ever birthdays.

Perfect afternoon for a swim

Linnie's book that she has been reading

Linnie enjoying yet another epic sunset