We began the planning for our homeleave vacation well in advance of the actual trip. The weekend before leaving, I played in a slow-pitch softball tournament, worried that I might hurt myself just before vacation. But I didn’t and we won the tournament so that worked out well.
Our trip began on Good Friday, April 14, with a very early flight from Canberra to Melbourne on Ansett airlines. Our flight from Melbourne to Auckland, New Zealand was late departing and we arrived in Auckland about 5:30 pm. We took a shuttle bus to our bed and breakfast accommodation, the Ascot Parnell, run by a nice Scandinavian couple. Our first impression of Auckland was that it was nice and clean. The weather was warmer than expected for this time of the year - the beginning of autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. For dinner we walked down Parnell Road, a neighborhood of Victorian buildings turned into shops and restaurants, and ate at Bad Habits. I had a good salmon steak dinner. We drifted off to sleep quickly to a tropical rainstorm.
We woke Saturday morning to a somewhat cloudy day. We had a good, big breakfast at our B&B then caught an early shuttle bus to the airport where our rental car company was located. We received a good tour of the Auckland suburbs as the bus picked up several people to take to the airport. We were right, Auckland is clean with very nice, orderly suburbs. We picked up our rent car and were on our way by 10:30. We took Motorway 1 through Auckland and north through Warkworth, stopping in Wellsford for a muffin and cappuccino, our lunch. We stopped in Whangarei for gasoline and stopped at Paihia where we toured the Maori Meeting House, Treaty House and a Maori war canoe several feet long with intricate carvings. We walked around the pretty town of Paihia and had an ice cream cone, the Hokey Pokey flavor unique to New Zealand and Australia. Then we drove to Opua and took a ferry to Russell, once called “the hellhole of the Pacific”. In the mid 1800s it was a whaling town with little law and order. It is a nice town today with New Zealand’s oldest church and pub. We stopped at the pub, the Duke of Marlborough, and had a Lion Red beer. We stayed at the Russell Lodge, which is run by the Salvation Army, for an inexpensive, but good, room. We had a good dinner at Gannett’s restaurant. Rita had fettucine with salmon and I had fresh fish teriyaki. We had shrimp cocktail for starters and chocolate pecan pie for dessert.
Easter Sunday we checked out of our hotel and drove to the Duke of Marlborough for breakfast but they were finished serving by the time we arrived. Which turned out fine because we had a better, cheaper breakfast at the Strand cafe. We burned off some breakfast by walking to the oldest church in New Zealand, reading the tombstones and looking into the church. We drove up to the flagstaff, which was erected by the British and cut down by Maories several times, for a beautiful view of the Thousand Islands region of New Zealand. We took the ferry back to Opua then headed further north on Highway 1. We turned off to Opononi where we stopped for coffee and good views of the Tasman Sea. Then we drove along the coast to Waipoua Forest with kiwi signs (we didn’t see any kiwis here) and we viewed the biggest and oldest Kauri tree in New Zealand. We saw many more of these big trees which were used by the Maoris to build large war canoes. We drove south, stopping in Dargaville for gasoline. We took highway 12 south through Ruawai and Maungoturoto to highway 1, then south through Auckland. We encountered lots of traffic coming into Auckland for the Rolling Stones concert. We drove on through Hamilton and Otorohanga to Waitomo Caves. We checked into the old THC Waitomo Caves Hotel with nice cozy rooms. We cleaned up and dressed for the hotel’s Easter buffet in the hotel restaurant which was okay but nothing great.
On Monday we woke early after a good sleep. We went to tour the Glow Worm cave and took the second tour of the day. The first two and last two tours of the day get to see an extra part of the caves. We ended the tour by taking a boat through the end of the cave where the lights are turned off and you can see thousands of the glowing worms. Then we headed out in the car, driving south through Te Kuita, the sheep shearing capital of the world. We took highway 30 through pretty forests, arriving in Rotorua about 1:00 pm. We checked into the Cedar Inn, a nice motel, and went to a grocery store for breakfast items. Next we went to the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and the Whakarewarewa thermal area. We took the tour viewing geysers and mud pots much like Yellowstone National Park but smaller in scope. We stopped in a Maori village and had corn on the cob that was cooked in a hot spring. Then we drove to Green Lake, Blue Lake and the buried village of Te Wairoa. We drove to Lake Tarawera and Mt. Tarawera that erupted in 1886 burying Te Wairoa. We had a good Italian meal at Zanelli’s restaurant in Rotorua then went to the Sheraton Hotel to see a Maori show that had folk singing and demonstration of a haka or Maori war chant. It was very good entertainment.
By Tuesday the Easter holidays were over for New Zealanders and traffic, which was not bad, became even better. I went for a short run around a racetrack so we got off to a late start. We stopped at a post office to mail postcards then headed south through forests and thermal areas. We arrived in Taupo about mid morning. Taupo is situated on a large lake with the same name. This is serious brown trout fishing area but we didn’t have time to drop a line. We cashed travelers checks at a bank and had a coffee break. We also picked up sandwiches for a picnic. We drove on towards Napier driving a twisty road through forests and hills. We arrived in Napier about 1:00 pm and stopped at the Kiwi House where we saw two live kiwis. Up until last year people could touch the kiwis but recent laws forbid it now. We had our picnic overlooking the beach and Hawke Bay. Next we checked into the Mon Logis B&B, a nice, small house run by a Frenchman and his New Zealand wife. We unpacked then drove off to visit some wineries in the area. This area has some of New Zealand’s best wines. First we stopped at Mission Vineyards where we bought a bottle of their semillion-sauvignon blanc. Then to Church Road Vineyards where we picked up a bottle of chardonnay. We found the Brookfields winery on back roads but didn’t buy anything there. We went back to the B&B for a few minutes before walking into the downtown area. We took a walking tour of Napier, home of New Zealand’s best remaining art deco buildings. The town was destroyed in the 1920s by a serious earthquake and rebuilt totally in the art deco style popular at the time. The downtown is a builder’s delight for studying art deco design. We had dinner at Wisconsin hamburgers which were big and tasty. We turned in fairly early, reading books in bed.
Wednesday, April 19, started out cloudy but soon cleared off. We woke early at 7:00 am and were ready when Jacqui brought us our breakfast to the room. Breakfast consisted of good, homebaked breads, fresh fruit and coffee. We were away by 9:15 and took highway 2 south through Hastings, Waipukuau, Dannevirke (Danish immigrants), Woodville, Eketahuna, Masterton, Featherston, Upper & Lower Hutt and finally Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. On a back road near Waipukuau we were nearest a town with the world’s longest name - Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu. Don’t hold me to the spelling of that! We didn’t have time to go there but enroute to Wellington we saw vineyards, plenty of apple orchards and the most sheep we’ve seen so far on our trip. We found our car rental office, where we checked on the next days ferry crossing and confirmed our bookings. We had to turn our car in and get a new one on the South Island. We spent the night at nearby Apollo Lodge Motel, not great but adequate. We did some laundry and some grocery shopping. In the afternoon we walked quite a lot throughout downtown Wellington. We walked as far as the US Embassy which was a good distance in the suburbs. We walked back to an Italian restaurant near our motel and ate a good, large dinner. We had to walk a little more after dinner since we ate too much.
On Thursday we ate breakfast in our room and returned our rental car at 8:00 am. The rental company took us to the ferry terminal and we checked in our bags like an airport. While waiting we heard of the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City on CNN. Our ferry, the Arahura, left on time at 9:30. It was a very large ferry and the trip was calm. Rain did begin about halfway to the South Island in the Cook Strait and by the time we arrived in Picton on the South Island the rain was pouring down. We picked up our rental car and headed out in the rain. We took the very windy Queen Charlotte drive in heavy rain. The drive was curvy and up and down hills along the coast but the scenery was pretty even in the rain which began to let up as we drove along. We arrived in Nelson about 3:00 pm after stopping for lunch in Havelock. We checked into the Trailways Motel and walked into Nelson. We bought post cards and stamps at a post office. We walked back to the motel and took a drive to Mapua on the Tasman Bay. The rain had stopped and we saw a beautiful sunset in Mapua at dusk. We went back to Nelson and went to a movie, “Muriel’s Wedding”, with a dinner of popcorn and coke.
Since we had a long day’s drive ahead we got up early and away by 7:00 am. We had a quick breakfast at a McDonalds then took highway 6 south through beautiful, rugged country - hills, lush forests, farms and old gold towns. The real gold towns were around Murchison where we followed the Buller River through the Buller Gorge to the coast. We stopped for coffee and a bank in Westport. We also stopped at a tourist bureau and made reservations for the night at Franz Joseph. This west coast of the South Island is known for its isolation and strong, individualist people, known as “coasties”. We stopped at Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks, a natural outcrop of rocks eroded into unusual shapes, many looking like stacks of pancakes. We went on through the dull town of Greymouth and Hokitika. The surf was very strong and pounding onto rocky beaches along the coast. We arrived in Franz Joseph around 5:00 pm and checked into our motel. We could see the Franz Joseph glacier from our hotel but we drove to the parking area at the end of a dirt road near the end of the glacier. Recent rains had washed out the trail and we couldn’t walk to the glacier. But we had good views of it. It was very impressive. We had fresh, local salmon at the Blue Ice cafe with our Mission wine. We settled down to a cool night.
Saturday April 22 was a day Rita and I won’t forget for a long time. The day was clear and crisp with great views of the top of Mt. Tasman and Mt. Cook. We got up early for a helicopter ride we had booked the day before. We left about 9:30 am with one other couple and the pilot. First we flew up the Fox glacier, barely clearing mountain tops by a few feet. We had fantastic views all around. We landed at the head of the Franz Joseph glacier and got out onto the slippery ice. We took lots of photos while out on the glacier then got back into the helicopter to fly down the Franz Joseph glacier. Our flight only lasted about 30 minutes but it seemed longer and was great. After landing we drove on to the town of Fox Glacier and turned south to Lake Matheson. We hiked through rain forest with lots of ferns to the View of Views and Reflection Island. Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman were clear and beautifully reflected in the calm lake. We took lots of photos then hiked back to the car. We drove to the Fox glacier and hiked to the glacier terminus. It was impressive and scary. We saw and heard huge chunks of ice break off at an ice cave and float by us down the river. We had to jump over several streams of icy water. We went back into town for a quick lunch then drove to Haast where we stopped for gasoline and coffee. We decided to press on instead of staying at Haast. We drove to Wanaka through the beautiful Gates of Haast. It was a pretty drive over mountain passes with views of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. We decided to go all the way to Queenstown arriving at dusk (about 6:30 pm). We got a good bargain at the Quality Hotel, checked in and walked into town where we had a good Italian dinner at Avantis. We walked around the pretty, touristy town of Queenstown in the coldest night we had encountered yet.
We had picture post card perfect weather on Sunday. We decided to stay two nights in Queenstown. We slept in late and leisurely got ready for the day. Our room had great views of Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables, a nearby mountain range with skiing. We walked back to Avantis for a big breakfast. We did a little shopping and mailed postcards. Then we drove to Arrowtown and walked around this old gold town. It has been transformed into a nice village of shops and restaurants with lots of visiting tourists. We drove to an old historic bridge and watched the bungy jumpers jump into the Shotover River. This is where bungy jumping originated. We went back to Queenstown and walked through the gardens on the peninsula at the lake. We saw the old steam boat, Earnslaw, sailing on the lake. Next we took the gondola to Bob’s Peak for super views of Queenstown, the lake and mountains. We walked more around town and had dinner at Gourmet Express before walking back to our hotel and relaxing for the evening.
The next morning, Monday, we woke early to get away early. There was ice on our windshield and frost coated everything. We had a quick breakfast at Gourmet Express and headed south on highway 6. Soon out of Queenstown we noticed an oncoming car with a sign saying there were sheep ahead. Sure enough we had to stop as a herd of several hundred (thousand?) sheep, herded by two people on foot and three dogs, hurried all around the car. It was quite amusing. We pressed on towards Te Anau and into Fjordland National Park. Several deer farms in the area raise deer for food. We stopped at Mirror Lakes for a pretty lake reflection view. When we received our photos from this area we had a hard time telling the reflection part from the real thing. Very clear, calm water! There was still a lot of frost in the area and it was a tense drive down a narrow, windy road past the Homer Tunnel. We arrived at Milford Sound about 11:30 and checked into the only hotel, the THC Milford Sound Hotel, where we made reservations. The sky was cloudless and we had super views of Mitre Peak. We took a 1:30 cruise on Milford Sound on the “Milford Wanderer”. The cruise was nearly three hours long and afforded great views of waterfalls, mountain peaks, dolphins and seals. We cruised out of the sound into the ocean for a short distance and then turned around. The entrance is well hidden from the ocean. The clear, sunny skies were a rare treat as the place gets seven meters of rain a year and is usually cloudy and rainy. In the evening we nearly had the hotel to ourselves. We played cards in the bar over a beer then had a very good meal in the restaurant. Rita had smoked salmon and fresh terakihi fish while I had local scallops and lobster, or crayfish as it is locally called, with a good New Zealand white wine.
Tuesday showed us what the weather is normally like in this area. It was misty and foggy with clouds obscuring the mountain tops. After a light breakfast we got away and made the steep, primitive climb out of Milford Sound. We stopped for a few photos at the 45th parallel and park entrance. We detoured off the main road into Te Anau for gasoline and a look at this pretty town. We pressed on through Mossburn to Gore where we ate lunch. Outside of Gore we stopped for photos of a direction sign showing the towns of Gore and Clinton in opposite directions. We drove on to Dunedin where we checked into Farry’s motel for the night. Since there was plenty of daylight left, we drove out Otago Peninsula, stopping at Larnach Castle, a nice estate built in the 1870s with great views. We drove through Portobello to Taiaroa Head, the end of the peninsula and home of the Royal Albatross. We saw an albatross flying briefly as they have nesting grounds here. We drove and walked down a path to a viewing area over a beach where we saw about 25 rare yellow eyed penguins. They were quite big and playing in the surf on the beach and we also saw seal pups body surfing. We walked to a seal rock with several seals just a few feet away. We had a beautiful sunset to view on our way back into Dunedin and ate a good dinner at Cargills near our motel.
The next morning we slept in late. I went for a short run and then we had a large breakfast in our room. We walked around parts of Dunedin in the morning stopping at the park called the Octagon with the statue of Robert Burns with his back to the church and front facing the pub. Dunedin was settled and named by Scottish immigrants. We viewed the church, town hall, court building and train station, all pretty buildings. We went inside the Settlers Museum for a visit then walked back to our motel via the university with a stop in their book store. We drove back to the Otago Peninsula stopping in Portobello at the Happy Hens where we bought a hen and coffee mug for Mom. We went to Taiaroa Head again, had a quick lunch at the Information Center, and took a walking tour of the albatross nesting area. Since it was late in their season, we only saw two albatross chicks and two or three adults flying around us. They are a spectacular sight with nine foot wing spans! We also saw several Stewart Island shags and New Zealand fur seals. We drove back into Dunedin and had very good pasta dishes at Cafe Cena. After a large dinner we had to walk some more before bedtime.
We were late getting away the next morning and headed towards Christchurch with a stop in Timaru for lunch. We arrived in Christchurch mid afternoon and checked into the Amross motel. We walked down Victoria Street and stopped at the casino to buy some used playing cards. We walked through Victoria Square, Cathedral Square, viewed the Scott statue and walked along the river Avon. We saw old boathouses, toured the botanical gardens and ended up at the art center of Canterbury College where Rutherford first split the atom. Christchurch is a very pretty city and reminds us of a New England Ivy League town. We had a beer at Dux de Lux and walked back to our motel via Cathedral Square and Colombo Street. In the evening we drove back and had a good meal at Dux de Lux. I had grenard, a local fish.
Friday we walked to the nearby Daily Bagel for real bagels! The small cafe is run by a couple who had lived in New York and were introducing bagels to Christchurch. While Rita did some laundry at the motel, I ran errands to the post office and bank. We got away about noon and drove to the suburbs to tour the International Antarctic Center near the airport. New Zealand, United States and Italy use Christchurch as their entry to Antarctica with re-supply posts located here. The Antarctic exhibit was very well done. We bought some souvenirs and checked the weather at the US base in Antarctica which was -29 degrees Celsius. We drove back to the art center at Canterbury College, walked in and out of several craft shops and purchased a basket and ceramic dish from the Salamander Gallery. In the evening we walked to a T.G.I. Fridays that we spotted earlier for a good American style dinner. I had a club sandwich!
We complied a list of some interesting New Zealandisms in road signs. Speed bumps are called judder bars, change down means to shift down, and slips are falling rocks.
Saturday morning we got away early. The weather is quite cool on this coastline of the South Island with highs reaching only about 12 - 13 degrees Celsius, windy and some clouds. A short ways out of Christchurch we detoured to the village of Horrellville. We found Horrell road and a Horrellville church but only about four houses where the village was located on the map. We also found several Horrells in the telephone directory. Inquiries showed that several Horrells immigrated into the South Island but we can’t tell if they came from England or Scotland. We drove back to the main highway and headed north through pretty country. We stopped at Kaikoura for lunch and drove out to seal rock but only saw one lonely seal. We had hoped to see sperm whales as this is considered a good viewing place but it was too windy. We pressed on with pretty views of the coastline and ocean with plenty of whitecaps whipped up by the wind. We decided to stop in the town of Blenheim and checked into the Aorangi motel. We walked around the town but almost everything was closed up and it wasn’t very quaint or pretty. We did have an excellent meal at d’Urville restaurant in a historic building. We had good grouper fish with local Jackson Estate Riesling wine and good chocolate cake dessert. We talked a lot with our waitress who is an American whose husband is with the US Navy and is stationed at the local observatory. Small world!
We took our time Sunday morning as we were only 25 kilometers from Picton where we get the ferry back to the North Island. We made it to Picton about 10:00 am and walked around the town looking at some of the shops. We turned in our car at 11:00 and were taken to the ferry terminal. We had some sandwiches there and our ferry sailed away on time at 1:30 pm. It was sunny and cold in Picton when we left. We had great views of the Queen Charlotte Sound but in the Cook Strait the wind and sea picked up. The ferry pitched quite a lot and rocked Rita and me to sleep in our chairs. As we approached Wellington about 4:30 pm, the sky darkened more and it began to rain hard. Our car was at the ferry and we found our way to Tinakori Lodge near the US Embassy. We had a very nice room at this bed and breakfast lodge. We packed our boxes for shipping back to Canberra and walked in the rain to the nearby Shamrock bar and restaurant. We started with a glass of Guinness stout then had a good meal of fresh, local terakihi fish. We shared a large dessert sampler dish of all their desserts. We walked back to our B&B and read in bed listening to the rain.
Monday morning was cold and rainy again - what can you expect in “wet and windy Wellington”? We had a good, big breakfast at our lodge and sat and talked with a French couple visiting from Tahiti. I got to practice some of my rusty French as the wife didn’t speak English. We checked out and drove to the US Embassy where we pouched two boxes back to Canberra with sweaters, coats and maps that we wouldn’t need in the US. We talked with Steve Leach, the Admin Counselor who I had met in Washington DC, for about 30 minutes then headed north on highway 1. As we left Wellington the weather cleared up too and we changed to highway 3 to Wanganui where we stopped and stretched our legs. We got tea and scones for lunch and walked around this pretty little town before heading north on highway 4 to the center of the island. The road became very windy and we had a close call with a car heading towards us in our lane. He passed a truck on a curve up a hill! But we missed him and concentrated more on the highway than the pretty countryside. At the town of National Park we had good views of the base of Mount Ruapehu, the tallest mountain on the North Island. The top was cloud covered and little did we realize that within the year this volcano would erupt sending mud, lava and ash throughout the area. This is the main ski area of the North Island. We pressed on to Te Kuiti, Otorohanga and Hamilton where we spent the night. Our motel had a nice swimming pool and Rita and I went for a refreshing swim, sauna, and swim again before dinner. We walked to a nearby Pizza Hut for dinner. After dinner we stopped at a store and picked up a Snickers candy bar to share. A part of my lower tooth broke off but wasn’t painful.
Tuesday we took our time getting ready as we are close to Auckland and near the end of our New Zealand trip. The skies are clear and sunny and the temperature is mild again. We got away late but it only took a short time to reach Auckland. Because of an Asian-Pacific banking conference, we couldn’t stay at the Ascot Parnell B&B where we stayed before in Auckland. In fact, all the hotels in the city were booked up. So we checked into the Oakwood Manor motel near the airport then drove into the city. We parked in a garage and had lunch at Dejuner. We walked to the Ferry Building and took a ferry ride across the Waitemata Harbour to Devonport, a pretty town across from Auckland. We walked around the town then caught another ferry back to Auckland and walked around Hobson Wharf with its racing yachts. We walked to Queen Street and QEII square and up to Cook Street, down Wellesley Street to the Art Gallery and Albert Park where we stopped for a rest. We walked around Auckland University some and then back down Queen Street stopping at bookstores and bought a few souvenirs. We drove back to our motel in rush hour traffic (not too bad) and had dinner at our motel as we were too tired to go back into town.
Wednesday, May 3, we took our time getting up and ready as we knew it would be a long day. It was. We had spare time so we checked out of our hotel and drove back into Auckland. We drove along a pretty shore drive and stopped to walk out a long fishing pier for views and photos of Auckland. We drove through some pretty waterside suburbs then back to Parnell Street. We walked in and out of shops again and had lunch at the Bad Habits restaurant, ending our New Zealand trip at the first restaurant we tried when we arrived. We drove back to the AA office near the airport and turned in our car with a full gasoline tank. On our New Zealand trip we drove about 3000 miles. Our flight arrived from Melbourne on time but left three hours late because of mechanical problems. We had to make an unscheduled stop in Honolulu, Hawaii, for a crew change. We couldn’t get off the airplane. We arrived in Los Angeles five hours late and missed our United flight. We did get on a direct Continental flight to Houston, Texas and arrived at 10:00 pm, just a little later than scheduled. We caught the bus to Mom’s house and she, thoughtfully, had Oreos and milk waiting for us. We were tired and got to bed late.
The Texas part of our trip was very nice, getting together with relatives and old friends. We also ate our share of Mexican food, chicken fried steak, and barbecue plus the junk food we missed over the years. But we didn’t overindulge. I got my tooth patched up temporarily. We spent some time touring around the Industry and Bellville areas one day and found some of Rita’s childhood homes in Bay City and Palacios another day. On Mother’s Day we surprised Mom with a microwave oven and took her to Gaidos in Galveston for good seafood.
On Monday, May 15, we flew to Washington DC where Gretchen met us at the airport. We reunited with our cats, Pippa and Cinders, and spent time with Gretchen, eating again at some of our favorite restaurants. The big event in Northern Virginia was Rita’s graduation from George Mason University. We got together with my brother David and Helen and for the big graduation, Rachel and Deana came up from North Carolina as well as Joyce Fraser and her sister Kathy Wiedner. We sneaked Joyce and Kathy in and Rita didn’t see them until she walked down the aisle at graduation. She was pleasantly surprised. I had to go into the State Department for some consultations and we did some shopping over the time in Washington area. We met with a lot of people in a short time in Virginia but we had a good time.
On Friday, May 26, we drove to Knoxville, Tennessee, to stay with my younger brother Danny, his wife Melissa and daughter Morgan. David and Helen drove to Knoxville, too, and my Mother flew there as well so we had a family reunion in Knoxville. We had fun getting together, visiting and eating as usual. We barbecued enough food for winter storage and my Mother taught her sons (and daughters-in-law) how to play dominoes, especially 42. One day we went to the Cross-eyed Cricket campground and had fun fishing for rainbow trout. We caught one for everyone, had them cleaned at the restaurant, and ate them an hour later. Very good and fun.
We left Knoxville on May 31 and drove through the pretty country around the Smoky Mountain National Park. We drove to Maryville and the windy highway 129 to Dean’s Pass - 318 curves in 11 miles! We drove through Robbinsville, Bryson City, Waynesville and Brevard (one of David’s Safe Places) before stopping at Hendersonville for the night. The next day we drove through Bat Cave, Chimney Rock and Lake Lure then into South Carolina where we toured the Cowpens National Battleground, site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1780. We drove to Gaffney, SC, and up highway I-85 through Charlotte, NC, and I-40 to Durham where we stayed at the pretty Washington Duke Inn where Deana Merrel works. We had fun visiting with Rachel and Deana. One evening was spent eating at a great country restaurant, Fearrington House, where I had a starter of antelope capriccio and duck with wild rice for a main course. Rita had goats cheese for a starter and salmon steak for main course. Desserts were great (chocolate soufflĂ©, chocolate & caramel cake and apple tart with cinnamon ice cream) and we had a good Kenwood “Jack London” cabernet sauvignon to accompany the meal. The meal took place during a super thunderstorm, too.
We spent a few more days in North Carolina and a few days in Northern Virginia before flying off on June 8 to San Francisco. We broke up the trip and spent the night at the Crown Sterling Suites near the airport. We took a shuttle bus into town and got off at Union Square. We caught a cable car to Hyde and Beach where we had Irish coffees at the Buena Vista. We walked around Ghiradelli Square and had a difficult walk back to Union Square via Lombard Street, Russian Hill and Chinatown. We met Jeannie Dorward in the lobby of St. Francis Hotel and had an excellent meal at Palomino restaurant in the Embarcadero area. I had a Copper River salmon which is only caught for a short time in Alaska to limit the take. We told Jeannie good-bye and collapsed after a long day.
Our flight the next day was on time and uneventful. We made it to Sydney and eventually, Canberra, falling into bed without unpacking. However, it was one of our best home leave vacations and one we won’t forget for a long while.
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