Day 84 - 90 -- Hawaii

Day 84

Last early morning start to get to the shuttle from Monterey to SFO. The sun was up though, and it was a nice walk to the shuttle pick-up.. seeing all the wildlife feeding and being careful not to stand on seals.

2hrs got me to San Fran airport, and 5ish hours on a plane got me to Honolulu. Such a great place.. kinda reminds me a bit of Rarotonga, except the skyscrapers and the big city plonked on the island.

After checking into the hotel at 5, I took a walk along Waikiki beach. The beach is a block from the hotel, and the zoo is across the road.

Had a full-on list of things to do in Hawaii, but chucked it in the bin and decided to just relax. One thing I scrapped was Pearl Harbour, as I saw it from the plane and I'm not related to the incident in any way. Justified.


Day 85

Walked around, spent money. Beachyness.


Day 86

Was raining, so went to the aquarium. Small, but some of the tanks were better than Monterey's, and it was cool to see more Nautilus (I'm obsessed) and some cool set ups that I'd like to copy at home someday.

Later, more window shopping, people-watching and relaxation in my room.


Day 87

Beachyness, then visited Honolulu Zoo. A small zoo combined with bontanic displays. Has an African area, primate corner, bird aviaries and reptile house.

Their primate and african animal collection is similar to ours, so was cool to see it done differently.. but it wasn't long before I had seen the whole zoo. The African area is built well, but needs a bit of work for it to reach it's full potential, but it totally can be done - especially with the great keepers and volunteers that I had met there.


Day 88

Killed time at the beach again, and then the outlet mall (lame) before going to hte airport.

Sat by the check-in desk for a good 2 hours, wondering if I really did want to go home, or fly to somewhere else new and exciting.. but the bank balance decided that for me.. and flying home doesn't stop me from booking the next trip, right? Flight at 10pm, would land in NZ the next morning.


Day 89

Today only lasted a couple hours before crossing the date line. I'm really good at time travelling.


Day 90

Cruisy flight, some mega turbulance, but was nice to hear some kiwi accents again, and 'get back to reality' as many people kindly mentioned to me.

Killed a couple hours at AKL airport, and then a 45min flight to Welly. Got picked up by the whanau (bless).. and then just tried to readjust back into my old life.


Maybe in a week or so I'll post some reflections.. but thanks to you all for sharing this journey with me. The support has been great, you are all great people.

Day 81 to 83 -- San Francisco and Monterey

Sorry for all the spelling and typing mistakes.. Using an iPod which autocorrects.. Can't get the hang of it.

Day 81

After being surprised yesterday about how small San Fran really is, I decided to walk the rolling hills under an overcast sky to the blue-green bay. 

The hotel sits between the skyscraper-laden Financial District and the colourful Chinatown, and to balance it out I headed along Columbus towards the green areas below the Golden Gate Bridge via the crookedest street in the world - Lombard St.

The views around the waterfront are great, and by following them I accidently came across Fisherman's Wharf so turned around and went towards the bridge stopping at Fort Mason, Marina Green, Fort Point, and Crissy Field. After a fair amount of walking, I headed along the bridge which was a nice walk, and chatted to other tourists on the way - the people here are great, locals and visitors alike.


Day 82

The clouds still hung around overhead and threatened to rain, so I kept local and visited the touristy Pier 39. Watched the sea lions snoozing for a long time, and later headed down the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building to eat some good food.  Had plans to explore more of the city but the weather isn't obliging.

Up early tomorrow to Amtrak my way to Monterey. 


Day 83 

Two buses, one train and 4hrs got me to Monterey, south of San Fran, to visit the aquarium. Sadly the big Outer Ocean exhibit was closed for redevelopment, but I was meeting an aquarist there who showed me behind the scenes in the other areas which made up for it.  Had a great time there - sea otters were great - but the best part was being able to step out of the aquarium to see them out in the bay, and then back inside to see the captive ones closer up.  I think I'll have to come back again (when I visit San Diego and LA on another trip) to see the aquarium again and explore the area some more, as I didn't have time on this trip - tomorrow is Day 84, in Hawaii