Honolulu and goodbye

Honolulu:

Here are the highlights of our stay in Honolulu to round off this blog. As we had been here before we took things easy rather than running around doing the tourist stuff we had been doing since May.

One night we went to the show put on by our hotel – the Magic of Polynesia, which is a kind of ‘Las Vegas meets Hawaii’ show. It featured lots of really good Polynesian dancing and an excellent performance by local illusionist John Hirokawa. Magic shows are not really our thing, but this guy was amazing.

We decided that we had clearly not added sufficient stimulus to the American economy in the last three months so we made amends by getting the bus to the Waikele factory outlets. No doubt thanks to our efforts the US will soon start to pull out of its current mess!

Phil decided to visit the US Army Museum, and especially enjoyed checking out the World War Two tanks and other boys toys on display. That night we went to a luau at a lovely beach about 40k outside Honolulu. It was a night of great Hawaiian cooking and Polynesian entertainment. Phil wants to know how women move their hips like that. Sue says he is not likely to find out J.

On the Tuesday before we left we decided it was time for a swim at Waikiki beach. Most of the beach seems to be the domain of surfers, but we found a semi-enclosed area that had good waves and was free of boards. The water was perfect – a bit of a bight when you get in, then wonderfully refreshing. That night we enjoyed a dinner cruise on the Star of Honolulu, which seats 1500 passengers for different dining styles! We had the three course dinner and enjoyed the sights of Honolulu from the water and the magnificent sunset. What a great way to finish an excellent adventure!

Train and Whistler

Toronto to Vancouver:

On Thursday night we boarded the train for Vancouver. After walking miles down to our carriage near the rear of the train – it had 21 carriages pulled by 4 engines – we found our luxurious first class stateroom. Well, not exactly. It is very cramped and had a toilet and sink, but we had to share a shower with the rest of the carriage. We had double bunks, so Phil had all the joys of climbing into and out of the single top bunk!!! A far cry from the Royal York Hotel which we left on Thursday night!! We also had no wifi so checking email was an impossibility. It felt like we had our right arm cut off!!! But those were the only negatives. The staff were really friendly and helpful, and the food in the dining car was plentiful and really great.

The scenery was beautiful. Through Ontario it was mainly forests peppered with pretty lakes and streams. We arrived in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Saturday and took a short boat tour on the river. The river is about 9 feet above the normal level as you can see from the picture above. The steps are under water!! One of the more interesting sites was the Catholic cathedral which was originally a huge structure built long ago when Winnipeg was a booming rail junction, the gateway to western Canada. It was burnt out in a fire many years ago leaving only the vast shell. As the city was less prosperous at the time they built a smaller cathedral inside the old shell. It is an odd sight.

After we left Winnipeg the scenery changed to fairly flat farmland where many crops were being grown, most notably hay and canola. We were lucky enough to spot a coyote among the hay bales. Subsequently spotted deer and mountain sheep, but no elk which we had expected to see in Jasper L.

We reached Edmonton on Sunday morning at 6.30am and raced up to the station lounge to check the emails. It was frustrating not having wifi, but at least we were able to send a few replies that morning and let people know why they weren’t hearing from us. The train then took us through forest country to the Rocky Mountains and a stop at Jasper, Alberta. Up till then the weather had been patchy, but it grew worse once we got into the mountains. We took few photos due to the rain and the fact that most of the snow had gone from the peaks. But as we had driven through the Rockies in 1998 we did not feel that we had been cheated.

The food on the train was first class. On Sunday night, for instance, we had a choice of fish chowder or tomato and spinach soup, then salad followed by either rack of lamb with a blueberry glaze, salmon in filo pastry with maple butter dressing or stuffed chicken something. That was followed by chocolate caramel torte or carrot cake, followed by tea or coffee and after dinner mints. We are sure going to have to walk miles (or kilometres) to make up for all the food we have eaten while on the train!!!

We arrived in Vancouver on Monday. Rob picked us up on Tuesday and drove us up to Whistler, venue of the last Winter Olympics. Summer has been very mild in western Canada and there was still a surprising amount of snow around. The drive to and from Whistler is pretty spectacular and the Whistler Village has that wonderful alpine feel that you might expect. All up we had a great day, but we did miss Marg who was unable to join us.

We are now in Honolulu so the next blog will probably be the last before we get home.