Three Nights in Sydney

Sydney is one of the world's most beautiful cities.  Incredible modern buildings tower over sandstone structures built by convicts going back to the late 1700s. And of course the iconic Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are international landmarks. We spent our first full day just walking around the Harbour area, window shopping and stopping for a coffee or a drink. We discovered that former president Obama was in town on a speaking tour and we even saw his entourage drive by. We took a ferry over to the town of Manley to watch the surfers and lunch on seafood overlooking the ocean. Margaret 's brother Jerry arrived on Tuesday to spend the afternoon and evening.  We started out at the Fortune of War, Sydney's oldest pub (established 1828) and ended up back at the Lord Nelson for dinner. It was wonderful to catch up after eight long years. Next stop: Albermoor Farm near Melbourne. 

Australia

Arrived Sunday afternoon after a really long, but very comfortable flight. Midway through we crossed the Equator as well as the International Dateline. Our jetlag has been minimal and that is something to be grateful for!!! We are staying at the Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. Established in 1841, it is the oldest continuously licensed hotel in Sydney and Australia's oldest pub brewery.  Mileage from Honolulu: 5164  Travel Time: 9 hours and 30 minutes.

Three Days in Honolulu

     Hawaii is an incredible place....even when the weather doesn't cooperate. We spent two days walking the Waikiki beach, stopping for coffee and a lunch at Duke's (shout out to Ann). Duke was a full-blooded Hawaiian who became The Father of International Surfing. He participated in four Olympic games between 1912 and 1932 winning 3 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze in swimming. 

     We stopped for a drink at the Hale Kulani Hotel which is where Marg's family stayed while en route to Australia in 1972 (shout out to Jerry, Jane, Paul and Kate). It has changed a lot over 50 years but still brought back some bittersweet memories.  

     Our third day here brought beautiful sunshine so we were poolside for the most part. The best part of travel is often the unexpected. Jack's cousin Dave and his wife Julie were also in Honolulu, and we were able to meet up for some great Hawaiian and Chinese food while catching up after several years.

     Margaret added the white tern (internet stock photo) to her life list (shout out to Parker).

     Next stop.....Sydney, New South Wales,  Australia 🇦🇺. 

Albuquerque to Honolulu

After taking the local Railrunner train from Santa Fe to Albuquerque,  we met up with our wonderful friends, Mike and Sherry, who are baby-sitting our camper van, Casa Moto. We had an uneventful flight to San Diego and flew over the WW2 battleship USS Midway (shout out to Gary). Another uneventful flight to Honolulu and a good night's sleep.  Total miles traveled  = 3242

Ready to Go

Greetings from Albuquerque! We leave early tomorrow for Hawaii and then on to Australia. We hope you enjoy following us on our Big Adventure. We promise not to make these entries too long or publish too many photos. See you next in Honolulu!