19th November 2016. Stunning Santa Fe , New Mexico

We awake and find ourselves in the desert with the most stunning morning and perfect clear skies, snow on the mountains and the birds are still flying about and eating red berries following the recent rains. 

Breakfast is cereal and a cooked breakfast and confirmation of our plans for today.  Most activities in the key Plaza area do not get under way until approaching 10.00am so there is no point in being earlier, but Karen and Sandy want to show us the key areas.  We drive both cars downtown to the Capital building, which is a round building, park and then for the next 45 minutes they give us a drive around Santa Fe including most of the tourist and world famous art precincts of Canyon Road, then back to Plaza place . They then drive us out of town up to the hill where the Museums are located and suggest we visit the Indian Culture Museum later in the day. 

Then back to the city where we are dropped off and we quickly orient ourselves basing the Cathedral and Plaza as the two critical reference points. 

First stop is the Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi, which is another remarkable Catholic Church / Cathedral again superbly decorated inside but most importantly reflect the 400 year history of the Spain influence and rule here. This came as a surprise as we had thought the area was dominated by Mexican philosophy and history, but that is later , whereas the real focus is Spanish and real wealth from the original Spanish settlements. 

We leave the Cathedral at about 11.20am and fir the next 45-60 minutes wander around the Plaza and the artist workshops as well as the street stores in the Plaza (square).  It is just beautiful and on such a superb day cannot ask anymore.   

Lunch was at Angels Bakery and Cafe where Ken had Mexican soup and Tortilla, whilst Jeanette had a Santa Fe burger.  We enjoyed the lunch and we relaxed and rested our feet. After lunch we eventually ride the Santa Fe free shuttle around the town for about 45 minutes, when we eventually found the bus stop. 

This is a small but very beautiful city , easy to get about , with 400 years of colonial history predominantly from the Spanish influence, but more latterly from Mexican and now Southern USA factors. Political life is strongly democratic and liberal in approach and attitude.

From here we return to the Capital building, pick up our car , then drive up through Canyon Road and around to the Museums in the hill overlooking downtown and spend a fascinating 2 hours enjoying our visit to the Indian Culture and Arts Museum, where we take in a wonderful presentation format of the Indian history, particularly the Navajo Indian and their stunning struggle against the Spanish and then the History of their life with the pains and successes under the white mans law. 

Then we drove back to Sandy and Karen's home arriving back at about 4.45pm in time before showering and changing as they gave invited guests for dinner to meet and talk.  At5.30pm we sit down for cocktails.  Sandy with a Manhattan and Karen's drink of lime and vodka.  Jeanette had a soft drink and Ken red wine.

our dinner guests arrived at 6.30pm Bobbie and Doug close neighbours 5 minutes away. We had an enjoyable evening although Doug was really talkative. Bobbie grew up in Sydney and came to the USA to study and has built a successful film distribution business out of LA, but they retired here some 5 years ago.

We enjoyed the evening, although we think  Sandy could have throttled Doug who was very talkative.

Sandy and Karen are great hosts and excellent cooks and have fed us like royalty. Just a great day. 

20th November, 2016. Santa Fe, New Mexico

We continue to experience great weather with clear blue skies and crisp mornings.  Today we are going back into the city centre, looking at some art work, but Jeanette has reservations as to carrying a beautiful pottery piece back home.  Following this we travel some 70 mile up the I25 to Toas to see the Rio Grande river as well as taking in the desert scenery and the various Indian townships and Reservations, with their casinos.  Then we are scheduled to have lunch with Suzanne, who we met on our Indian Tauck tour in March / April 2016. 

So after breakfast and reading the newspapers, then talking to Sandy and Karen we make our way back into the Plaza area, walk around, have another good look at the pottery, but Jeanette whilst loving it decides it is just too hard and risky to either post it or carry it.  We then travel to Dickson, because Toas, seems to be just a bit far given our time to arrive back in SantavFe for lunch with Suzanne at 12.00pm.  The trip is enjoyable, we are surprised as to the number of Indian towns, but also have difficulty getting close to take photos of the mighty Rio Grande river.

From here we then travel about 1 mile to the renovated old Masonic Temple, now a government building and museum, then turn left and Park down the street from Suzanne's home, we are a little early, before following her instructions as to entry.  She has purchased one of the Fairmont townhouses for this as her winter home, with summers still in Illinois.   

Suzanne is delighted to see us  and we chat for 15 minutes before walking some 300-400 metres to lunch at Santa Cafe. This is a great venue serving wonderful food and whilst it is booked out we can still hear all of our conversations. We enjoy almost 2 hours together before we walk back to her townhouse, where her little dog, Mac greets us enthusiastically at the front door. Suzanne says she had fallen in love with Santa Fe for the 5-6 months from September through to March. She is active in a range of groups, still intends to travel regularly. 

We enjoyed our visit to catch up with Suzanne, who is a lovely lady with a friendly disposition and is great company.  Suzanne also pays for lunch as her shout.  We have a great time.

From here we decide to visit the nearby ski resort areas, there is snow on the mountains, but we will also see a significant contrast in vegetation with Pines and Aspens replacing the desert bushes, cactus etc.  Santa Fe is at an altitude of 7,000 plus feet and we climb to nearly 10,000 feet as we go up the mountain. There are higher mountains nearby at 11,000-12,000 feet.  But we enjoy the climb and te scenery, but the higher altitude is certainly noticeable as your breathing is impacted quite significantly.

Whilst there is snow higher up the road only leads to the village and the ski lifts. But there are hundreds of people hiking the many walks.  But we enjoy the stunning views and the many varied clay colours of the houses of Santa Fe at the bottom.

We take our time driving back as our hosts are busy preparing a superb meal for this evening.  Ken purchases Cloudy Bay Sav Blanc and a Sterling Napa Valley Cab Sav.  Our small contributions as well as our Australian book.  We meet Cynthia and Kurt and Pat and Doug as the other friends for dinner and enjoy a scrumptious dinner and excellent company. 

This has been a great stay in a beautiful little city. The car has worked well and GPS has done the job. 

Tomorrow we drive back to Albuquerque, having said our farewell and fly from Albuquerque back to Sky Harbour, Phoenix, then pick up a SUV and drive , over 4 hours to Palm Desert, staying at Embarc (Club Intrawest) for 5 nights.  The drive will be long but on excellent freeway / I10. 

21st November 2016 Travel day to Palm Desert

We depart Santa Fe after breakfast and we do feel a little sad saying goodbyes to Sandy and Karen who have been wonderful hosts. We drive the Interstare 25 from Santa Fe to Albuquerque drop off the car at Hertz then catch the shuttle to the terminal, check in and again benefits from pre TSA approval advancing through security in quick time.  Our light due to depart at 12.25pm for the short flight is delayed by a numbers issue, but they eventually agree on 77 passengers and we depart 10 minutes late. 

Good flight to Phoenix, Sky Harbour, then gave s lengthy wait from 1.55pm for our luggage to arrive at th carousel then a long queue fir the car rental shuttle and further delay at Dollar car rental. 

We finally depart the airport car rental after 3.00pm and then run into a severe traffic jam as we get on to I 10 heading toward Los Angeles.  We use the 2 person HOV lane andvthat helps but it remains a slow process and our drive to Palm Desert takes 4 hours 40 minutes even travelling in speed limit areas of 75 mile per hour and doing more like 85 mph in several places.  The number of trucks continues to amaze us. 

Jeanetre then drives the last 2 hours and 30 minutes, we arrive check in at Embarc at about 7.40pm. 

Jeanette wants to shop for our basic groceries so we found that and buy chicken and salads for a late dinner. 

The resort and our accommodation is just terrific. 

A long hard day, we should have flown from Santa Fe to Palm Desert. 

This is a superb part of the world in this time of the year.  But it is very busy with Thanksgiving on Thursday.

22nd November, 2016. Beautiful Palm Desert - Shopping and dinner at Pacifica Restaurant

We woke early still impacted by the time change back to Pacific time, to see th most perfect sunrise and the start of a beautiful day.  After breakfast we went for a drive yo Premim outlets looking at basketball shoes and on the way passed the wind farms with their massive generating arms.  This is one of the largest installations in the USA and it is surprising to see the thousands of these white fan like objects all turning at varying pace.

Our drive also took us past the Waldorf Astoria in Palm Desert, where Ken has booked dinner, but may now need to cance.

We also saw several vets long trains with in excess of 150-170 carriages and 5 diesels crossing the desert from Los Angeles. Despite the many trucks on the Interstate 10, the railway still plays a lesser but significant role.

Then we drove back tomCook Street and visited The Market Place / Village Market here at Palm Desert to complete our shopping needs for groceries for the week.

We had made arrangements to meet Lani Sexton and Jim Bennett (friends from outside LA) for dinner this evening at Pacifica Seafood Restaurant .  Ken had a swim and hot tub after taking pictures.

Dinner was joyous in catching up with good friends in a very good restaurant which is highly regarded.

We enjoyed the seniors meal , talked then went back to their condo for deserts.  All in all an excellent day in perfect conditions with clear blue skies, 77 degrees and no breeze.  Life is good

23rd November 2016 Golf at Desert Willows and Dinner at Shogan- Superb

We again woke early to another superb day, with clear blue skies, no breeze and temperatures which will rise later to 77F degrees.

Following breakfast dropped in to the Supermarket, then walk s around this beautiful resort.  Ken is playing golf at Desert Willows next door at 11.20am and picks up good rental clubs from here at Embarc.

Jeanette drops Ken off at the bag drop at 9.45am , then she goes shopping as well as other bits and pieces. 

Ken hits  range balls then is called via the small remote to go to the starters box and present the location receipt. He is playing with a couple and one other good player off 8.

The course is wonderful, picturesque and a good test. It is a championship course, with wid slope variations and testing greens with multiple levels.  We play well, with Ken shooting a 92 for 70 net, given his 18 handicap is 22 here.  One of the players shoots 78 off the stick for a net 70.

Just a wonderful experience, enjoyed by all.  The highlight was on the 9th green, where Ken in front of he luncheon set sitting on the balcony enjoying brunch, sank a 25?foot putt, but Ross as mentioned above then promptly sank a swinger Ng 65 foot putt and people on the balcony then cheered and clapped. It was an exception afternoon.

Followingbthevround we retired to the balcony where we enjoyed drinks. Hope you enjoy the photos.

We had arranged to meet Lani and Jm for dinner at the highly regarded Japanese restaurant named Shogun, here in Palm Desert.  We had a 10 minute drive to this stunning restaurant, right next to Manhattan Steak House. 

The meal was cooked by a Japanese chef in front of you on a hot plate. It was a delicious meal, with a select range of choices of appetisers, soup and fried rice before our entire/ main was cooked perfectly then played right in front of us.

A very special night.

Lani and Jim dropped us off and we are sharing thanks giving lunch with them tomorrow. The experience here at the golf and dining at Shogun, reflects a truly memorable day.

24th November, 2016. Thanksgiving Day in Palm Desert with friends

As in our prior updates the mornings are unbelievably beautiful and we have a great day planned. We are up early and following breakfast and completing a load of washing, we depart and drive along Scott Street and then onto the Interstate 10 West and we head toward Palm Springs to photograph the Wind farms and the desert colours. Just amazing colours, topography and the stark beauty of the desert.

Then at 11.45am Jim and Lani, visit, we show them the beautiful resort and our lockout 2 bedroom suite before we depart for a family Thanksgiving lunch at Hilton Palm Spings, which is about a 30-40 manure drive.

There we enjoy a beautiful buffet luncheon, meet Jim's daughter, son and grandsons.  We enjoy a most enjoyable afternoon.  We feel privileged to have such friends who involve us in special family events on this very special American day.

26th November, 2016 Departure Day from Palm Desert drive to Los Angeles and flight Delta 1149 to Honolulu

  We checked out of Embarc Palm Desert at 9.45am, then topped up our gas then got onto the Interstate 10 from Cook Street Palm Desert and headed west toward Los Angeles with Jeanette doing the driving.  It was another mostly clear morning, but with a change due to arrive in the desert later this afternoon.

Jeanette is driving and with the use of the GPS gets us through the major traffic and headed toward Sunset Beach, California where we are to have lunch with Lani and Jim. We have a good run and Jeanette does a fantastic job negotiating the freeways and also the multi lane issues with exits and changes from both left and right and often across up to 7 lanes of traffic. 

The travel via the GPS takes us to Sunset beach arriving at 12.10pm, where we are greeted by Jim, following Ken's call on his US cell phone (206 900 1002) to Lani.  We then are shown their 3 level, very comfortable home in a great location one block back from the beach .

Lunch is left overs of Turkey , salad and vegetables from Thanksgiving followed by lemon meringue pie. We have a good time and talk like magpies and we meet and are joined by Mary-Sue a friend they met on a cruise.  We enjoy lunch and the conversation, but Lani, suggests we need to be on the road again by 1.30pm if we are to drop off the car at LAX car rental return.

As we begin to depart, there are some light showers, but this quickly changes to a tropical downpours, the first real rain in LA  for several months.  We have a long and difficult drive on the 405 to the airport and Jeanette then finds signs which guide us to the Car rental return facility at 2.50pm .  Miraculously, the rain eases and then stops just as we are about to enter the facility.

At this time we are surprised as we are selected to be a recipient of a pilot scheme by Dollar, using a private individual driver service in a vehicle to the terminal.  We are flying Delta and from terminal 5.  Ross is the driver who selected us for the service. We are dropped at the Terminal just as the rain recommenced, we check in and progress through pre TSA security check very quickly.

We progress to Gate 57 but have a long wait and given the deteriorating weather conditions with continuing heavy rainfall, we expect further delays, but are pleased when we are advised that our flight is on time.  Boarding commences at 6.50pm and we are sitting in 1A and 1C, we are quickly boarded and enjoy a comfortable flight after departure at 7.10pm.

Jeanette sleeps for in excess of 3  hours following an enjoyable meal. Ken also has a couple of hours sleep.  We land a little ahead of our scheduled time of 10.44pm, we disembark very quickly and our luggage is to hand within 10 minutes of landing.  We have a Blacklane driver and greeter meet us.  they deliver excellent service and we are driven in a very comfortable Cadillac Escalade to Hilton Grand Vacation Club , Waikiki in quick time. In under 25 minutes.  

Checkin is prompt and we have a one bedroom suite with lock off (making it a comfortable 2 bedroom.  The Suites are 2163 and 2162 and the Lagoon has been totally refurbished with excellent results.  We are delighted but very tired so only unpack essentials for the night and fall into bed at 12.20am.  Jeanette comes some 15 minutes later by which time Ken is fast asleep. 

This has been a long day of travel with extensive driving, adverse weather conditions and then a 5 hour flight from LAX to Honolulu, Hawaii.

27th November, 2016. Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki , Honolulu

We woke early at 7.15am, although we both feel a little jet lag following our 5 hour flight and 2 hour time change. This is a beautiful unit and we subsequently opened up the one bed lock off which has 2 queen size beds.

This is very comfortable and our King bed is extremely comfortable. Ken goes out to Starbucks to get something for breakfast. He returns with yoghurt, muffins and coffee and we enjoy an expensive but practical breakfast. We eat breakfast out on our balcony overlooking the Waikiki beach and really enjoy sitting outside, lapping up the warmth, the spectacular beach scenery and the ever changing outlook.  Following breakfast we decide to catch up on our correspondence, then mid morning, we go to Walmart, which is a large super store and purchase our initial requirements. But we find that this is a large store, but lacks many of the items we require. So we purchase the basics accepting that we will need to shop later in the week at Foodland at Ala Moana Shopping Centre or find our way to Safeway, a little further away.

We return to the Lagoon Tower Rome 2163 and 2162, which is our home for the week and Ken sits outside on the balcony reading a novel on his I-pad whilst Jeanette googles looking for caps and gear for the boys.

Lunch is rolls and fruit again outside.  Then a walk around the resort and Ken subsequently goes for a swim before a longer walk, whilst Jeanette does her emails and responds re Leisuretime activities and planning for the Christmas function.

Ken emails Dean, our builder re looking forward to the finished product and receives a response indicating they are still working on it.  At the same time he receives advices from the firm installing cupboards in the garage wanting to undertake a final measure.  

We also have Skype conversation with Chris and Peita and try David, without success.  We look forward to seeing them next weekend.

An excellent day in all respect and we had needed the break.  Ken has also decided not to play golf, with the blustery wind and occasional showers , it is not worth it after the great golf at Palm Springs.

We are both tired and struggling to stay awake at 10.00pm. So off to bed early, although Jeanette comes a little later.

29th November, 2016. Beautiful Waikiki - Wet and Windy!

We have enjoyed our first 2 days and 3 nights in Paradise, but the weather whilst still warm has also been showery in the morning.  The afternoons have then cleared to perfect blue skies and sunshine, but Tuesday has remained showery all day and, as a first, more rainfall has been forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

Monday was an enjoyable and relaxing day to do some shopping for our food requirements, then just to relax and lounge about after the last 3  weeks of frenetic activity.

We dined out after an enjoyable but lazy day and chose a different restaurant, being Red Lobster, at 1765 Ala Moana Blvd.  We arrived at 6.15pm after walking through the resort and the foyer of Grand Waikikian Resort.  There was a crowd waiting, but we were informed that a short wait would follow,  we were seated in a booth and then enjoyed a superb meal.  We had chowder, then a main course of surf and turf for Ken and Jeanette shrimp.  Then we were "forced" to have dessert. Just a terrific meal in pleasant surroundings a short walk from our resort.

Back home and Ken watched the Monday night football being Green Bay Packers vs Philadelphia and it was an interesting contest.

We had enjoyed the day and the weather was superb in the afternoon and Ken again had a long walk and swim mid afternoon.  Then back for a quick shower and change for dinner.

Tuesday morning was our annual review, where we were met by our consultant, Terry Adams 808 362 8481, of Hilton Grand Vacation Club.  We spent 45 minutes updating him on our Spinnaker changes and then visited the display suite for the Grand Islander, which we own in, which is due to open in March 2017.  The fitout and furnishings are first class and our elite plus level entitles us to added benefits.

From here we returned for lunch, before we walked to Ala Moana shopping centre, where we spent over 2 hours shopping for Christmas presents, then went to the Foodland Supermarket adjoining the shopping centre and Jeanette purchased goods and food for the balance of our week here in Honolulu.  Importantly, this supermarket is very important for us in terms if shopping  being in close proximity to our accommodation here at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

We also posted cards at the post office. Jeanette had been holding these for almost a week.

Then we caught the double decker Pink Line bus back to the resort area, then walked through the  Grand Waikikian lobby to the Lagoon Tower. Surprisingly, the weather has changed and there is a cooler blustery wind and frequent showers.  This is something we have never seen previously on our frequent visits to Honolulu, Hawaii on our way home to Melbourne.

Dinner tonight is in our suite with Jeanette cooking chicken and salad , followed by apple pie and ice cream.

It is truly strange to see black clouds and heavy intermittent showers here in Honolulu!

1st December, 2016. Our last days in Honolulu and return flight to Melbourne.

Our holiday is coming to an end and we are preparing to pack for an early rise in Friday morning for our Jetstar flight departing at 8.05am.  So we will have a 5.30am rise and depart at 6.15am, so all packing and clean up following dinner this evening.  We have enjoyed a wonderful 8 weeks with many highlights including the cruise, but the most enjoyable aspect has been catching up with several of our American friends.

But let us go back to yesterday and the unseasonal and inclement weather has impacted our time here at Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Hilton Hawaiian Village - Lagoon Tower.  It was a wild and windy morning with heavy showers rolling through Waikiki every 15-20 minutes.  Jeanette wanted to do some final shopping at Ala  Moana shopping  centre, which required us walking 15 minutes or catching the Waikiki Trolley (Pink Line) or taxi.  We decided to walk, and Ken closed our balcony door.  

The walk was pleasant in 25C degrees with the wind moderating somewhat between showers.  We got to the shopping centre, purchased a number of items and another Post Box to ship some items back to Melbourne, via post tomorrow.  As we were about to leave there was a full orchestra together with a Soprano and Tenor and 2 dancers who put on a concert for Christmas.  It was very enjoyable and about 200 people were stopped to listen and enjoy the concert from the Ala Moana centre stage.

Ken also picked up information to open an American Bank Account, which he will fill in tonight and return on Thursday morning.

But our return to Hawaiian Village resort was impeded by a severe storm of very heavy showers, so we decided to wait for it to pass before making our way out to the Shuttle Trolley stop adjacent to the car park in the lower level if the centre.

However, despite our best planning, we got a good soaking crossing the short distance under cover.  The Trolley doesn't have window shutters just plastic blinds but these are rolled up, so we do get wet.  The trip is no more than 5 minutes, we alight and have to walk 300 metres to the Grand Waikikian tower building in our resort.  In that short distance, we get another shower. We have enjoyed the morning.

Following lunch Ken rides the Pink Line Trolley around to T1, which whilst a shopping mall in Waikiki is also one where the various Trolley buses change and cross over.

Ken then catches the Red Line and goes for about an hour ride through the shopping and historical areas of Honolulu and Waikiki.  An enjoyable two hours on the Red and Pink Trolley routes, allows hm to see quite a deal more of the city.

He also inquires as to getting to the north of this island to see the rolling surf, turtle beach and a number of other attractions.  The concierge advises that it is a 3 hour public bus trip, a tour at cost of US$89 will take 5-6 hours or we could hire a car/ minibus.  Jeanette decided that is all too much for our last say with washing, ironing as well as posting the box and completing the new account process at the Bank, were more important.

Back here late afternoon and a walk around the lagoon, prior to dinner of steak and salad followed by apple pie and ice cream.

Jeanette was on her iPad doing Facebook messages, whilst Ken watched day 1  of the Australian PGA From Royal Pines RACV resort on the Gold Coast.  Bedtime at 10.45pm.

We woke and the grey clouds remain with threatening winds, too wild to have breakfast out on our balcony.  So we eat inside on the dining room table, but there continues to be significant shower activity. 

At 8.50am we decide to go back to Ala Moana Shopping Centre firstly to the Post Office to post our box, which we carry in our arms.  We subsequently find it is almost 14lb and costs US$108 to send home, but it is worth it because we are very close to our luggage limits.  Ken then goes to the bank and opens a new account with balance of US$200.  We complete our tasks then ambled about before aariving back at 11.45pm.

Following lunch a walk around the resort, taking some mire photos (the last fir thus trip), then complete our washing so that everything is clean.

The afternoon is relaxing and we get the cases out and place them in the bed in the second bedroom, continue to organise our gear, ready for our packing early this evening.

Ken checks with the luggage area, because we want our bags picked up at 5.45am and taxi available at that time.  We are assured of such. Jeanette wants a wake up call for tomorrow. Our chauffeur is picking us up in Melbourne and all our interim arrangements are completed.  

This has been another exceptional holiday, with many  wonderful moments and memories.  We are indeed blessed.

We do look forward to seeing our family and hopefully the work on the house gas progressed.

3rd December,2016. Arrival home in Melbourne

Our Jetstar flight from Hawaii to Melbourne was comfortable and sitting in 1A and 1C allowed us the luxury of relative peace and quiet after a good meal service.  We both slept on and off, but despite the early morning trip to Honolulu International Airport and 8.05am departure, the body still didn't feel like sleep. 

This was accentuated by the turbulence which we experienced some 90 minutes from Honolulu and then later over Fiji.

We arrived home in Melbourne at 4.35pm and had a quick exit through the e-passport service and then an expedited Customs clearance. 

On our exiting the arrival area through Customs we are greeted excitedly by Sebastian and Oliver.  We were surprised and delighted.  We talked to them and Peita and Chris for 10-15 minutes and then Gavin called and following another few minutes we made our way out of the terminal to the car park and his limo.  Jeanette said a special goodbye to the boys, thanked Peita and Chris for coming out.

Gavin had an excellent trip home along the freeways and we arrived home in Wheelers Hill at 5.45pm. 

The house looks good, still work to be done on the water feature. 

We have enjoyed an excellent holiday, catching up with friends, seeing new and different places and enjoying our time very much.

25th November Golf at Desert Springs , Palm Desert - Marriott Resort and Spa

It was another perfect morning here in the desert.  We showered, enjoyed breakfast then drove to Walmart Super Store here in the desert, where Jeanette looked for clothes for the boys, and Ken  looked at the electricals on a this special Black Friday morning.  The crowds were frenetic , we still don't know if the special deals are real, but all really interesting. 

This is an especially important time for all Americans as they celebrate family and their nation via Thanksgiving.  We had enjoyed yesterday with Lani Sexton and Jim Bennett, at Hilton Palm Springs for a superb Buffett luncheon.  We were a little surprised as there were no speeches or entertainment, but rather a strong family get together.

So this morning, Ken is scheduled to play golf across Country Club Drive at the beautiful Marriott Desert Sands resort and the stunning Palms resort.  He is scheduled for tee time of 11.37pm, but on arrival the starter advises that there is about a 20 minute hold up on the Palms and 40 minutes on the Mountain course. It appears that this is due to frost which has frozen some of the carts.

We do spend time having a coffee and introducing ourselves. Ken is in a four with a family from California, the father was a partner in E and Y, the daughter is a programme manager on the Today show.  We enjoy a delightful round, but it us slow because after hitting off at 11.57am it takes 2  hours 40 minutes to play 9 holes and it us frustratingly slow, but the magical scenery compensates.  It us a beautiful course with stunning scenery. Not as difficult as Desert Willow, but still testing and very enjoyable and the water features particularly on the last 4 holes are out of this world.  Ken plays really well with a 46 on the first 9 including a double bogey on one of the par 4, where he lost a ball, then found a bunker.  The second 9 was looking very good until the 16th, where he again went into the water, took a drop then missed his putt so a double bogey was very disappointing, but finished solidly on the par 5 with a very good 6 resulting in 47 for the 9 and a gross 93 being a net 71 ( my 18.4 becomes 22 with slope of 127).  Tat was an excellent result.  We had enjoyed a superb afternoon in near perfect conditions on an excellent track.

That evening, we dined at Shogun a highly recommended Japanese restaurant with Jim and Lani ad enjoyed an excellent meal in superbly decorated restaurant with a Japanese chef cooking on a hot plate at the table.  Good company and excellent food made it a high class meal in wonderful surroundings.

Hoe to Embarc at 8.45pm ten watched College football.  Another first class and enjoyable day.

21st October 2016 Extremely wet in Montreal, Quebec

Not much to report today despite our original plans to ride the hop-on and hop-off bus around the red route here in Montreal. The weather has continued to be dreadful with heavy rainfall all morning, then diminishing to heavy showers in the afternoon. 

We had breakfast and hoped for an improved situation, but things failed to improve throughout the day and we were laid low here at our loft apartment.

Ken went out mid afternoon for a coffee and to take some photos. 

He returned wet and bedraggled.

Dinner tonight where we have breakfast next to the hotel.  We enjoyed fish and chips (ala French). 

18th October 2016 Vancouver wet and windy with friends from Victoria, Vancouver Island

The morning came quickly and we woke to a gray overcast morning with the promise of improving weather with the heavy rainfall diminishing.  After breakfast we received a telephone call from Linda and Alec our friends from Victoria to advise that they were about 10 away and would pick us up from reception at the Sheraton Wall Centre, the hotel complex where Embarc s located.

we quickly packed raincoats and caught the elevator from level 29 to the ground floor and awaited their arrival.  Shortly thereafter they arrived in their Mazda5 and there was great excitement as we hugged and were all excited to see each other. 

From here we developed our plan to drive by Stanley Park and gardens, then up the mountain to the Capilano Suspension bridge and park, with its magnificent elm trees and luxurious rain Forrest environment.  We exited the car park, crossed the road to the entrance and walked to the suspension bridge, just as the heavens opened. We crossed the rickety suspension bridge above the fast flowing river and it was expected that the heavy shower would pass. Alas the downpour continued for almost 2 hours , before there was any let up but we thoroughly enjoyed our time here and departed at about 12.15pm , very wet but well satisfied having seen another part of this beautiful city.

Alec then drove up to the Cleveland dam which provided much of Vancouvers drinking water, we enjoyed a quick stroll before the rain agIn forced us to retreat to the car.

Lunch was at UBC Golf Club which in a prior world had been a private golf club, before being taken over by the University and converted to a public course for all to use. It is a picturesque set up with narrow fairways and expansive garden beds and rough creating quite sharp dog legs on several holes. 

The club house had specials of soup and a variety of enter and we had soup and sandwiches and a hot coffee. We then strolled back to the car and made the short trip to the UBC Anthropology Museum, in ne to f the premier museums in the world highlighting indigenous and native history with many displays of totem poles, artefacts and clothing and festival collections. 

A most enjoyable 2 hours plus walking through outstanding displays and exhibitions of the local indigenous groups of North West Canada and USA, together with an inspirational presentation of the anthropology work being made undertaken in Sempik River and Valley region of PNG.

We all decided the time was right to find a local pub after a short drive and tour of UBC (University of British Columbia) and after a short drive found a pub that had been around since their uni days.  Here we enjoyed "Red Truck" ales and the ladies enjoyed hot apple cider. We talked like magpies and reminisced as to our travels together and also looked at photos of their recent bicycle holiday in France and in particular the Loire Valley.

Our day was passing far too quickly, and they selected a local West Vancouver restaurant nam ed Enigma, where we enjoyed a superb meal of west coast fresh ingredients.  We shared a bottle of Sav Blanc from Oregon, USA and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Alec and Linda have been superb hosts showing us several areas of this beautiful city, which we haven't seen or visited on previous visits.

We left the restaurant at approximately 8.45pm and the ran has stopped, and they delivered up back to Embark by 9.15pm.

Jeanette decided that we did not need to pack for tomorrow's flight from Vancouver to Montreal.  We have enjoyed a relaxing excellent day with good friends. 

Ken at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. 

The raging torrent of the river below the Suspension bridge

The totem poles signify an entrance welcoming. 

The Raven Man

The ceremonial masks of the North West indigenous Indians

Mask protesting the he planned pipeline across the native lines to the coast and the waiting super tankers

14th and 15th October Visit to Betty and Gene Oakdale California

We woke on morning of 14th to a very wet San Francisco and the first challenge after breakfast was how to get our cases and luggage over the road at O'Farrell from the Hilton.  But the bellman came to our rescue and assisted us over the road to National Car Rental where we hired a Nissan Altima, plugged in our GPS and made ur way into it of San Francisco.  It was still pouring rain and the wind could be described as cyclonic crossing the Oakland bridge.  The next hour was just a hard slog in heavy traffic speeding along at 70 plus miles per hour. Yet after crossing the Bay and the lower foothills the weather suddenly had improved. By about 11.15 after about an hour we were driving in broken sunshine with clouds clearing and entering agricultural land predominantly almonds and dairy cattle and some crops.  We drove for another 50 minutes and eventually came to Oakdale a small semi agricultural township, where we stopped for a muffin and coffee, to make up for the early breakfast.  We relaxed and for the first time saw several cowboys with boots and spurs.

Following this break we drove 15 minutes through the township and arrived in a small court, where Gene and Betty reside in a very attractive home with superb gardens dominated by her 100 rose bushes.  We were greeted like long lost friends and then sat and chatted before a sandwich lunch. Betty and Gene are in good health and still very much active as we remember them from our cruise.  Gene shows Ken the beautiful garden , Betty has the house festooned with bouquets of roses and they are just stunning.

During lunch we talk as to our families and travels, Jeanette shows Betty photos of our new home and we are advised that dinner will be at "House of Beef " restaurants a local eatery adjoining a whole beef farm and meat works.  We are joined by David, Robin, together with their daughters Sidney and Allison and we enjoy a most enjoyable evening before returning home for desserts and coffee.  David also commits to purchasing cinnamon rolls the following morning for Jeanette.

This has been an enjoyable day in many ways, rekindling our association and meeting their family as well as seeing some real farming country. 

Bed comes quickly, we are relaxed and sleep well through until 7.30am the following morning, David does indeed bring the delectable cinnamon rolls for Jeanette for breakfast.  We talk for the morning and then depart at 1.20pm for ur return journey to San Francisco.  Weather is sunny but there is a storm warning in the forecasts. It is an easy drive of approximately 2 hours and we come back in via the San Mattel bridge to come in close to the airport and our accommodations at Homewood Suites by Hilton at Brisbane some 5 minutes drive from the airport.  Ken arranges to check in then Jeanette stays at the hotel with all of the luggage in our suite #235, whilst Ken fills the car with gas / petrol and returns the rental car to the airport Car Rental return and then catches the shuttle back to the Hotel. By this time there are s a severe storm threatening and fortunately Ken returns just ahead of the weather arriving. 

A severe electrical storm then lashes the area for the next. 90 minutes with a lashing of rain and hail and regular lightning. 

We are both hungry and decide to eat at the adjacent Doubletree Hotel where there is a bar and restaurant called Whitecaps.  But we need to ge across from Homewood to Doubletree and we are given umbrella, but it is still frightfully wet. 

Dinner at Whitecaps is enjoyable with a starter of calamari followed by a delicious burger and salad and fries and a couple of beers.  Just what we needed.  We are tired but also sense we are over the jet lag associated with the flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Jeanette comments that she is very pleased that we made the decision and effort to travel to see Betty and Gene.  We had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed the meal with David's family.  Gene met the cost of Dinner and we sensed he was pleased to see us and for us to meet the family who live locally. 

Tomorrow we fly to Vancouver, Canada and stay at Club Intrawest / Embarc for the next 3 nights and 4 days during with our friends from Vancouver Island , Linda and Alec are coming across to show us Vancouver from a locals viewpoint. 

Homewood suites has been a comfortable stay in spacious suites.  The location with shuttle access to the San Francisco International airport makes our transit very easy. 

Jeanette enjoying our afternoon with Betty and Gene in Oakdale.

A beautiful bouquet of roses from Betty's superb ga den of over 100 roses. 

19th and 20th October Flight from Vancouver to Montreal and day 1 in this beautiful city

We packed and left Embarc for the 30 minute drive to Vancouver International Airport having enjoyed 3 terrific days although the weather has not behaved.  This morning is overcast and dry and traffic flow is easy.  Our AirCanada flight is on time with departure at 11.30am and arrival after a four hour 21 minute flight. Air Canada has improved quite dramatically and the Airbus 320 is very comfortable with first configuration in a herring bone pattern.  Jeanette is 13A and Ken is in 13 G.  We enjoy and excellent meal and fantastic service from pleasant hard working service staff.  Ken watches 2 movies as well as having a brief sleep. 

Our arrival is on time, we are met by our Blacklane driver and quickly driven to our hotel which is a group of loft apartments in old converted warehouses in the Old Port area of Montreal.  A fantastic location close to the water and in the heart of the restaurant and bar area of the old port, with cobblestone drives and paths. 

We change and unpack but our body clocks are all out of whack and we each have some trouble sleeping at midnight local time, but would have been 9.00pm in Vancouver. The hotel is called Auberge du Vieu-Port, which is a boutique group of hotels over 4 buildings superbly restored from old warehouses into superb up-market suites and apartments.  Our apartment is a deluxe loft with upstairs bedroom, mezzanine lounge area with gas fire place and then down 4 stairs to the kitchen and sitting area and bathroom, all superbly furnished and fitted out.   They are truly beautiful residences, although the lack of lifts does create another challenge for old geriatrics like us. Not that you carry luggage or anything, that is all looked after by very friendly porters here at the hotel. So we are delighted with the location and quality of our accommodation for the next 3 nights prior our boarding Oceania Regatta, here in Port of Montreal.

Ken eventually woke at 7.40am and Jeanette had suffered a poor nights sleep. 

Following changing and getting ready for the day, we went back to the central reception area and hotel building ( about 4 minutes away)  where we had a superb French style breakfast, which was large enough to ensure that we don't need lunch.

From here we decided to walk to several of the city highlights including the superb Basilica of Notre Dame , one of the most beautiful churches we have seen on our travels.  we stayed quite some time, took in a detailed explanation of its construction by a quality guide who spoke perfect English, then came out and walked further along the major street and took in the horses and carriage rides.  

The architecture is superb in this Old Town area and it is a pleasure to peacefully walk along the major avenues.  

Unfortunately, the rain has returned so we have come back to rest and collect our coats and umbrellas before we go out again.  There is much to see in the area and Ken wants to see the Town Hall as well as  collect details of the hop on hop off bus tour for tomorrow.

Jeanette is completing post cards , whilst Ken finalises details of the people with whom we are doing a tour in Sidney, Nova Scotia and a 4 hour visit to Baddeck on 25th October. So he has sent emails and is trying to organise a get together when we are all on board Regatta. 

Our upstairs loft bedroom

The formal living room- just a superb contemporary living space

The kitchen and eating area, beautiful with every required facility. 

Jeanette in her little cubicle ready to enjoy the luncheon. 

The first class configuration of Air Canada flight Vancouver, BC to Montreal, Quebec.

Ken awake and chirpy after an enjoyable flight. 

So the weather has forced a major change to in our plans, because it is now a consistent downpour and far too heavy to go outside and walk through the bustling tourist area of the Old Port area.

We decide to venture outside mid afternoon, but it is just too wet for us to enjoy the area.  Jeanette posts her cards and we venture into several stores.  So we return and enjoy the afternoon in our beautiful deluxe loft and then go out to dinner at the nearby Vieu-port Steakhouse, where we enjoy a superb meal including a Bordeaux red to die for. 

Jeanette decides that it us just too wet to do anything more, so we return to our room and decide to spend the evening here.  A frustrating day, but we did enjoy nearly 2 hours out and about before the rains came.  We can only hope tomorrow brings better weather and an opportunity to explore this interesting and beautiful city with a distinct French influence. 

17th October,2016 - Vancouver BC - Wintery and Wet

We had enjoyed our trip flying from San Francisco to Vancouver on Air Canada, despite the lengthy delay due to a severe storm in the San Francisco Bay Area, which we subsequently found caused havoc up and down the west coast. 

The flight arrived and the rain had stopped, but we were in for a shock because our limo driver didn't arrive and Ken's case had another wheel missing , broken off. So we travelled in a taxi with an Indian gentleman from Vancouver Airport into The Sheraton Wall centre where Embarc Resort is located n 29th and 30th floorwith superb views across the city.

Subsequently, we began to unpack and found Jeanette's case had been left out in the rain and the contents were quite damp, so we then had he clothes draped everywhere to dry and will send one jacket out for dry cleaning, because it has a water mark stain.

The local IGA market is the supermarket close by, so we shopped and also purchased food for dinner. 

We were in bed by 10.30pm and slept really well not waking until 7.30am only to find Vancouver shrouded in very low cloud and heavy rainfall, with a forecast of improving weather with rain diminishing to showers this afternoon. 

Our friends, Linda and Alec are arriving this evening and staying with his son and we will spend the full day together tomorrow, hopefully with better weather. 

Following lunch of soup and panini Ken is walking down to Canada Place , taking photos whilst Jeanette is staying inside. 

The island bar in the kitchen lounge of our Vacation home. 

The lounge area looking out over the city

Our large bedroom with superb views. 

So whilst this has been a wet start to our stay in this beautiful city, we do have a luxurious "home " to make the best of it all. 

16th October, 2016 Flight from San Francisco and arrival in Vancouver

The morning arrives with further threat of significant storm activity.  We pack and then enjoy a buffet breakfast at Homewood Suites Hotel in Brisbane , Near San Francisco Airport before catching the 9.45. Shuttle for the airport. 

Upon arrival we subsequently find that our flights departure schedule has been deferred until 12.50pm because of heavy storm activity. Suffice to say that the airport is chaotic and the prior Toronto flight is fully booked , ie over booked and many disgruntled people remain in the terminal boarding area. 

Our flight remains scheduled for 13.50pm but we envisage further delay options and their is a degree of anxiousness. Fortunately, our plans for the day are our uncomplicated and revolve around our travel from San Francisco to Vancouver, with limo,pick up and then transfer to Embarc at the Sheraton Wall Centre on Burrand Street.

Our flight is delayed and our aircraft has just arrived. 

Very very wet in San Francisco at the airport with 2 hour delay.

Unfortunately, the delays flight also impacted our ur Blacklane limo transfer from the airport, but we then jumped in a cab and were in downtown Vancouver in 35 minutes and checked in at Embarc with our condo being 2952, with superb views over the city. 

We unpacked the clothes and set up our IT gear.  Weather again decided to change, but we decided to go out shopping for breakfast and other gear at the local IGA store, but half way back it again commenced to rain heavily. 

13th October 2016 - Tour of Alcatraz and then Cable Car ride in San Francisco

Having rushed from the Hilton our cab got us down to Pier 33 arriving at 12.28pm and whilst they had commenced loading the 1.00pm cruise we were asked to wait and were subsequently admitted to the vessel just prior to the closure. We were fortunate and excited, we had made it and we stood on the aft of the crowded vessel and took photos of the Island and the penitentiary with so much history, whilst in the background we had the sky line of San Francisco. 

The weather was clear but slightly overcast, but dry with heavy rainfall forecast for the night.  On  arrival you exit the vessel and then are greeted by a Park Ranger who provides the introduction and information briefing.  We were advised that those with injuries could avail of the transfer via the tram / trolley which saved the long walk up the equivalent of 13 floors. We then walked through the various areas of the prison and you could sense the historical perspective through the displays and presentations, although we were surprised as to the quality and amount of food provided.

This was the harshest of environments and the whole programme of stringent control was reflected by the control and behaviour standards.  Yes some tried desperately to escape to the mainland, the whole focus was to maintain the tightest of controls.  There are about 5,000 visitors per day in decent weather, but you clearly wouldn't want to visit on a wet or windy day. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the visit, the displays and the historical perspective.  

The walk down quite steep roadway was interesting and took about 20 minutes.  We found the whole visit and experience very worthwhile and our 2 hours and 30 minutes was about right in timing.  We caught the 3.00pm ferry back from Alcatraz to Pier 33 then walked along the major roadway and hailed a cab to return us along Hyde Street to downtown San Francisco and back to Hilton.

Upon return to our room on 17th floor we called and had our luggage delivered, unpacked what we needed for our visit tomorrow to see Betty and Gene Williams in Oakdale about 100 mile from San Francisco downtown.

Ken then went for a walk to see the Cable Car at Market and O'Farrell Streets. Ken decid d to ride the Cable car at cost of $7.  He took several photos and then saw 2 women waving madly to him, he initially didn't recognise them , but they got off down at the bottom and he realised they were golfers who he knew from Portsea Golf Club. They wanted a drink so we went into Irish pub , had a drink and laughed, as to what a small world it is.  They had been to New York and have a 2 day stopover here in San Francisco. 

Back to the Hotel and we decided that we were dog tired and would have an early dinner at Lori's Diner, where we had a scrumptious meal of Bay Shrimp (Jeanette) and Lasagne (Ken) then a 5 minute walk back to the Hotel.  It has been a terrific first day after a great flight and the excursion and Alcatraz visit was great. 

Approaching Alcatraz. 

The cold hard reality of jail life at Alcatraz. 

The radio n is falling on Sunday morning as we cross the street to pick up the rental. 

The busy bustling foyer of Hilton San Francisco

12th October 2016. Preparations and Packing- afternoon of 12th October, 2016 and Arrival 13 October 2016.

The late afternoon of 12th October came upon us very quickly and at 5.00pm we have just commenced packing and the usual discussions have occurred such as "you won't need that" as well as "you have more clothes than me. "

We are now genuinely excited as to meeting several friends in both Canada and USA.  The weather in Melbourne has continued to frustrate our efforts as to the garden and completion of the water feature as another feature and highlight of our new high home.  Much remains for Dean his team to complete prior to our return in early December.

Jeanette and Ken have each had duties to complete earlier today as to Church activities as well as the last minute completion of family activities. Jeanette visited Chris's home to leave keys and garage door Zappers to allow entry. 

This evening will be quiet as we finalise advices to friends, complete packing apart from last minute issues and finally determine what will be included in our hand luggage. 

During the week Ken spoke to Gavin, our driver, who confirmed he will pick us up shortly after 7.00am tomorrow. Prior to his arrival Ken will switch off our boiler and turn the HWS to vacation mode.

We have checked in, but need to have our passports verified at the airport tomorrow morning.  We are flying UA99 Melbourne to Los Angeles on a new 789 Dreamliner with seats 8a and 8b.  It is a 14 hour 15 minute flight and an early arrival in Los Angeles where we have a 2 hour stopover to get through to migration and customs then to the terminal for our Virgin America flight to San Francisco.

Upon arrival there we are met by Our Blacklane driver and driven into Union Square where we are staying at the Hilton San Francisco for one night.  That afternoon we are doing a cruise out to Alcatraz and doing a two hour excorted walking tour.  We come back following the excursion and will hopefully ride a cable car, have a meal then turn in early. 

We do hope to get several hours sleep on the plane as the beds are quite comfortable and we should be tired after the early start.  Well we did sleep quite well and can say it was an excellent flight.  Breakfast was served at 5.00am and we both felt pretty good. We landed ahead of schedule and were through immigration in some 35 minutes using the new automated system.  We picked up our luggage quite quickly and made our way to Terminal 3.  We were through checkin and security in a quick time of 20 minutes and had about 45 minutes before our flight was scheduled to board.  But we then found out that there would be a delay due to heavy fog.  That really threw a spanner in our plans, but nothing you can do, but accept and hope to make it up. 

The aircraft eventually departed close to an hour late and this meant we eventually checked in using our HHonors membership at about 12.00pm so we had less that 30 minutes to get down to Pier 33 by taxi from Union Square.  We were really pushing the time envelope to get down to the pier and then join our cruise for our tour of Alcatraz Island.