Day 13: Sydney, Australia

Day 13                          7/18/06

Our last day in Australia started out with rain. Bummer!! We got our stuff packed and stowed and had breakfast. We walked down to Darling Harbor and when we arrived, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We had a nice (if not windy) tour of the harbors of Sydney.

I visited with Danna Maray, our tour director. She is in the business of tour director and guide. She is married to a French man and has one daughter. She has worked for EF tours and Globus for quite awhile and it showed as she did all the little things that helped make the trip special. She is interested in starting her own little guide business and perhaps making trips from Australia to France.

Sam, Tim, Chelsea, and Stephanie in front of the Opera House

Our Tour Director Danna Maray on the harbor in Sydney

Sam, Kayla, and Tim staying warm on the water

After the tour, Danna took us on a brief tour of the Rocks region of Sydney. It's by the water and got its name because of what the early houses looked like. They looked little houses made of stone and mortar.

The groups split up and took the last few hours in Sydney to do their own thing. I walked down and watched a didgeridoo performance by a fellow named Jeremy. He demonstrated how to play the Aborigine instrument. You have to have strong lungs and lips to play. The lips blowing together and the sounds made by the mouth are amplified by the didgeridoo. The noises are actually aboriginal words repeated over and over again, or in a story that is being told by song.

The day continued to be wishy-washy and rainy. After the performance, I started shopping and trying to buy some last minute stuff. I ate a Turkish pie and found them to be good for a cold day like the day was. The students made it back to the hotel and played cards as they waited for 4:30 to arrive. At that time, Danna gave the group evaluations to fill out. When done, we got our stuff and headed for the bus to go to the airport.

We got in line and said our good byes to Danna. We spent awhile mixing with the other groups and notice it was raining quite hard outside on the planes. So much for the draught while we were there. We got on the flight and headed to the U.S.A.

Day 14: Honolulu, Hawaii U.S.A.

Day 14 7/18/06 (Part 2) Honolulu, Hawaii U.S.A

I did not get much sleep on the flight. I started going to sleep at 2:45 a.m. Australian time. At 3:00 a.m. Australian time, the airplane turned the lights on because it was 7:00 a.m. in Honolulu. Breakfast was served and the morning routine started.

We got into Honolulu with no problem and met our contact Kimo. He took us to the hotel and gave us our itinerary for the rest of our stay in Hawaii. Unfortunately, we were ready for at 1:00 and the majority of the rooms weren't done. In fact, I got my key early accidentally and when I got to my room (at the Ohana West), the past tenants were still getting their stuff together. At least I got to keep my stuff in the room.  


Chelsea Wiles is greeted in Hawaii

The kids explored a little and enjoyed the warmer, tropical weather. They looked around and did a little shopping before they go in their rooms.

After I showered and changed my clothes, I was able to finish shopping at the huge market in Honolulu. I also went to Waikiki Beach and saw what was going on. There were a lot of people in the water, surfing and swimming. There was also a place where a concert was taking place.

 Waikiki Beach

At the hotel, the kids rested and showered. They spent the evening getting a meal and exploring the shopping opportunities. I had a nice meal at a restaurant that was suggested to some other members of our group. The four of us went to John Domini's restaurant and had a great meal. We didn't get back until 10:00 and we were tired. We prepared for the big day coming up.



 

Day 15 : Honolulu, Hawaii

Day 15                                  7/19/06 An early day as we had be ready to go on the bus by 8:00. Breakfast was a Perry's Smorgy Restaurant, which I remember from four years ago. We got on the bus and rushed to the Pearl Harbor area to secure tickets for the Arizona Memorial and program. We got in line at 8:30 a.m. and managed to score a 12:30 p.m. show. There are 30 shows of 150 persons each. If you don't get there early, you might be out of luck. We got back on the bus and Kimo our bus driver/tour guide (different than our contact) gave us the tour of Honolulu. He was entertaining with typical tour guide jokes. Sadly, the group had a hard time dealing with the jet lag. Going on the bus in long distances was very irresistible to most of us to sleep. Some facts about Honolulu/Hawaii: There is a water shortage because of all the people in Honolulu. There is no water desalinization on the island. The descendents of the Hawaiians match the Native Americans in North and South America in body structure and blood type. In military terms, who ever controls Hawaii controls the Pacific Ocean in terms of naval power. That was one of the reasons Japan bombed the U.S. during World War II. We got to Pearl Harbor a little early and had lunch and bought things. The Pearl Harbor presentation was well done and took one hour fifteen minutes. The first part was the film using footage from both the U.S. and Japan. Then the navy took us out to the memorial.  An early day as we had be ready to go on the bus by 8:00. Breakfast was a Perry's Smorgy Restaurant, which I remember from four years ago. We got on the bus and rushed to the Pearl Harbor area to secure tickets for the Arizona Memorial and program. We got in line at 8:30 a.m. and managed to score a 12:30 p.m. show. There are 30 shows of 150 persons each. If you don't get there early, you might be out of luck. We got back on the bus and Kimo our bus driver/tour guide (different than our contact) gave us the tour of Honolulu. He was entertaining with typical tour guide jokes. Sadly, the group had a hard time dealing with the jet lag. Going on the bus in long distances was very irresistible to most of us to sleep. Some facts about Honolulu/Hawaii: There is a water shortage because of all the people in Honolulu. There is no water desalinization on the island. The descendents of the Hawaiians match the Native Americans in North and South America in body structure and blood type. In military terms, who ever controls Hawaii controls the Pacific Ocean in terms of naval power. That was one of the reasons Japan bombed the U.S. during World War II. We got to Pearl Harbor a little early and had lunch and bought things. The Pearl Harbor presentation was well done and took one hour fifteen minutes. The first part was the film using footage from both the U.S. and Japan. Then the navy took us out to the memorial. The U.S.S Arizona and the Saranac Travel Club Our tour was done after that and so we went to the hotel for a break. The luau bus left about an hour later and five of us went to it. Sam and Alex went to the beach to learn how to surf. Alex even made it up a few times. The luau was just like I had remembered from 2002. There were shopping, games like throw the spear and lei making. It was mixed up with tree climbing, Polynesian tattoo painting, and showing Hawaiian customs. The all you can eat buffet was good. The show was very good also, complete with hula dancing and songs. The pork was even tasty and not dry. I was surprised at how nice a time I had at my second luau. We got back around 9:00 and had to get our stuff ready for going back home. Our last night in Hawaii was done.  Tim throwing a spear  The girls practicing their hula dance Stephanie creating a lei necklace

Day 16: Honolulu, Hawaii to Home

Day 16                7/20/06            Honolulu, Hawaii to Home

We got to the airport pretty early and got our luggage through the Agricultural check and checked through to Grand Rapids. We boarded our last flight to LAX with our group and arrived on time. We said goodbye to our groups and then retreated to the Northwest Terminal to wait out our six hour layover. We passed the time marveling at how expensive the food was at the airport, reading, and playing cards. We even got a fellow from Wisconsin and a girl who was returning home to Italy to play our card game, Class Struggle.

Having fun in the airport

Our flight to Detroit was OK, but we had to lap the airport because one of the runways was delayed. The reason was because a deer was hit by one of the planes on the runway.

We spent our last few hours at the airport exploring and getting excited about our last leg of the trip. The trip to Grand Rapids was uneventful and we were met by family. Our luggage also arrived and we said our goodbyes.