January 2010 Holiday

Summary of Holiday

2010-02-14T08:59:00.000Z

I have included a link to out Professional Pictures taken on our Holiday.

Pro Pics

For those who may be interested, here is a summary of the distances covered during the course of our trip.
Edinburgh to London 331 Miles
London to Sydney via Bangkok 10610 Miles
Cruise around New Zealand 3591.8 Miles
Sydney to Honolulu 5070 Miles
Honolulu to Edinburgh via Los Angeles & London 8321 Miles

If my calculations are correct we have covered 27923.8 Miles in the course of our trip from 19 January to 13 February 2010.

It has been a great trip with so many lovely & interesting places to visit. For me the highlight was New Zealand & Sue the highlight was Hawaii.

Just as a footnote.From talking to various people we met, it is very clear that Scotland is a country very much admired especially the cities of Edinburgh & Glasgow.

Last Night

2010-02-12T07:17:00.000Z

Unfortuantly this is the last night of the trip.
I do not know what has happened to the last month as time has just flown.
We have had such a good time.
Today we went to the Diamond Head Crater & climbed up to the top. After that we went to the Aloha Tower & Marketplace.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/grantonchaz/sets/

Pearl Harbor

2010-02-11T05:18:00.001Z

Just spent a nice morning come afternoon at Pearl Harbor where the Jap's attacked the US Fleet on 7 December 1941 which brought the US into the Second World War.History lesson now over.Quite an interesting place as the memorial to USS Arizona is actually on top on the sunken ship. Had a 20 minute film about the attack & then a boat ride out to the Memorial.
Please see the pics below & the Flickr link.

Flickr Photo's

Aloha

2010-02-10T08:10:00.000Z

Hi all.
Having a nice time in Hawaii at the moment.A bit too commercialised for my liking but the island is nice.

So far we have been to Honolulu Zoo which is well worth a visit with the park very nicely laid out.
Next was the Aquarium which is a small place but interesting as well.

After that there was a whole day visit to the Polynesian Culture Center which was superb.It has six little Villages from the different Polynesian islands. Every Village has an attraction to see then there is a Boat pageant at 2:30 pm.In the evening we had a Buffet Dinner followed by an Evening show lasting 1½ Hrs.

Today we have been to the Capital District in Honolulu which houses the old Palace of the monarchy which was disbanded in 1895.The Palace is called the Iolani Palace.Apart from that there are some nice places near by to see.

Just back from a Dinner Cruise which was nice with a good Sunset.

Please find below the Flickr links below to the places i mentioned above.

Capital District,Honolulu Polynesian Cultural Center Waikiki Aquarium Honolulu Zoo

Hawaii

Photo's update

2010-02-07T04:14:00.000Z

Hi all

I have now updated my Flickr Photo's.Please see the links below.

Bay of Islands,New Zealand

Auckland

Tauranga

We have now arrived in Hawaii

2010-02-06T08:50:00.002Z

Hi all.
After a 10 hour flight we have now arrived in Hawaii.
We went past the international date line so the clocks are now wayward.We left Sydney 10 hours ahead of the UK but we are now 10 hours behind the UK.

When i have more details of our progress in Hawaii i will let you know

Chaz & Sue

New Ports of call

2010-02-02T22:42:00.000Z

Hi all
Have not had a chance to update recently.Been really busy.
Since we left Wellington we have stopped at Napier,Tauranga,Auckland & The Bay of Islands.
As like the rest of the trip so far these were really nice places to visit.

Napier was stunning with its Art Deco Buildings.There was an Earthquake in 1931 which demolished most of the town, so they rebuilt it in Art Deco form.

Napier Mermaid

Napier Town

Unfortunately in Tauranga it monsooned it for about 4 hours which meant we did not see alot but we did see Mount Maunganui which is below.

Auckland was a standard large City with some nice sights like the Sky Tower.

Sky Tower

The Bay of Islands was really nice.I will post some pictures when i get a chance.

In Wellington

2010-01-29T01:56:00.000Z

Hi all.
Just arrived in Wellington which for those who dont know is the capital of New Zealand.
Had a great day yesterday in Christchurch. Nice coach ride,went to a farm to watch Sheep shearing & then onto the transalpine express from Arthur's pass to Christchurch.

Been on a really nice coach tour of Wellington.Some wonderful sites Please see some pics below & the rest of my Flickr links.

Fiordland National Park

Dunedin

On the way to Arthur's Pass in Christchurch

Arthur's Pass

Just a recap.Places we have visited so far are Sydney,Fiordland National Park.Dunedin.Christchurch & Wellington.

Fiordland & Dunedin

2010-01-27T04:43:00.001Z

Hi all.
First Blog for a while.Been at sea for a while.Fiordland was beautiful with som stunning landscapes.Just back from Dunedin which has a Scottish flavour to it.Did not know that Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh.
Street names such as Princess Street,George Street etc.Had a Bus tour of the city & then a tour of Speights Brewery. There is even some Pipers by the Ship.

Princess Cruise

2010-01-23T20:33:00.000Z

Arrived on the Cruise ship yesterday.Ship really nice with a nice Cabin.
Just relaxing for the next two days until we get to Fjordland National Park

2010-01-22T12:49:00.000Z

Had a really good day today.
First on the agenda was an open top bus tour of Sydney.Sydney is a lot smaller than i imagined.Bus tour took about 90 mins.Well worth it with some great views.

Next was a tour of Sydney Cricket Ground.This was superb and being a Cricket nut this was a must for me to see.Took loads of pictures and they even let us onto the the outfield which i thought was excellent.The ground is a work of art with the old stands blending in with the new ones.

Next after the mecca of Cricket was a Dinner cruise around Sydney Harbour.Lovely meal was had with some stunning views as the sun went down.

Chaz at Sydney Cricket Ground. I'm in heaven

Sydney Opera House

Sunset on Sydney Harbour

For all the pics see link below

Sydney Pics

Sydney

2010-01-21T12:23:00.000Z

As Sue has said we has a good first day in Sydney.Flight was good considering it was 21 Hours.
Places we have visited so far are Hyde Park (Not London),Sydney Sky Tower which had great views,Opera House & Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Quite Hot & humid but not complaining.

Chaz & Sue at Sydney Harbour Bridge

Click on the Flickr link below for extra pictures.
Sydney 2010

Sydney

2010-01-21T11:37:00.000Z

Hi this is Susan.
Having a lovely time on our first day in Sydney.Seen a lot off sites took lots off pictures .
Going to Sydney cricket ground & bus tour tomorrow.

Accommodation

2009-12-22T21:08:00.004Z

Hotel in Sydney for 2 Nights

Quality Cambridge Hotel

Cruise Ship for 13 Nights.Sun Princess

Hotel in Hawaii for 7 nights

Outrigger on the Beachwalk

Holiday

2009-12-20T15:37:00.002Z

Just starting a Blog for our Holiday in January 2010.

We are going to Sydney,Australia. Cruise around New Zealand & then a week in Hawaii.

I will try & update this regularly during the course of our trip

Feel free to comment & say hello