We checked out of our hotel this morning and took a short taxi ride to Honolulu’s port to board our cruise ship; NCL’s Pride of America. The ship is pretty big (holds 2,146 passengers) but not quite as big as the one we went on for our honeymoon (NCL Jade). The ship wasn’t due to… Continue reading Pride of America Cruise Ship
Diamond Head Crater
Diamond Head Crater is a volcanic crater that was created around 150,000 years ago. It sits on the edge of Honolulu, right next to Waikiki beach. Since the base was just 10 minutes by bus from our hotel, we decided to take an early morning hike up to the top. We left about 8:45 and… Continue reading Diamond Head Crater
Outrigging on Waikiki Beach
We woke up this morning to another beautiful day in Honolulu, Hawaii. We grabbed some bodyboards and chairs from the hotel reception and headed over to Waikiki Beach. We spent the morning sunbathing, bodyboarding and watching the pro surfers launch past us! Part of the beach has a wall built across to break the waves… Continue reading Outrigging on Waikiki Beach
Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii
We arrived just after lunchtime in Honolulu after a relatively short 4 and a half hour flight from San Francisco. The weather was beautiful – mostly blue skies, with a dash of clouds and the temperature was 28C. After a quick stop at our hotel to drop off our bags, we headed straight for Waikiki… Continue reading Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Sights of San Francisco
There is so much to do in San Francisco, but we are only here for a few days so are squeezing everything in! We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge a few times because our accommodation was in Larkspur just above the bridge. I expected it to be golden but actually it’s red, the best… Continue reading The Sights of San Francisco
Alcatraz
Today was really fun, we packed in as much as possible as it was our only full day in San Francisco. This morning we drove into Fisherman’s Wharf for our trip to Alcatraz, the rock is just over a mile from the bay so they offer a boat ride as part of the trip. The… Continue reading Alcatraz
Muir Woods
This afternoon we decided to visit the giant Redwood trees at Muir Woods just across the Golden Gate Bridge, it is a beautiful park with a stream running through and has humungous trees. Paul enjoyed taking photographs and I enjoyed the twinkling sunshine peeping through the treetops. The drive in San Francisco was beautiful, it… Continue reading Muir Woods
Monterey Aquarium and a Corn Dog
We left Carmel Valley this morning and headed for San Francisco, we found out the main tourist attraction nearby was the Monterey Bay Aquarium which has homed several great white sharks over the last 6 years. We decide to check it out as it was on the way; there were penguins, otters and a huge… Continue reading Monterey Aquarium and a Corn Dog
Wine Tasting in Monterey
We left Los Angeles at 9am this morning for the 6 hour drive to Carmel Valley; a mountainous village in Monterey well known for its vineyards. The drive was really nice, loads of green mountains and great scenery. We arrived at the Country Garden Inn at about 3pm and went straight out to a local… Continue reading Wine Tasting in Monterey
Santa Monica and Hollywood
We had a late night last night so didn’t get up and out of the door until midday! Dannie took us to her favourite Dim Sum (Asian tapas) restaurant in town called Sea Empress which was really different to the typical Asian inspired food we get in the UK. The food was healthy, fresh and… Continue reading Santa Monica and Hollywood