2024 – USA and Canada

Goodbye Vancouver

And just like that it’s the final day of our holidays. The morning was spent making sure everything was packed across both the rooms. One of the advantages in the US is that normal checkout at hotels is quite late in the morning, and in this case we didn’t need to leave till nearly 11.… Continue reading Goodbye Vancouver

Final Food Tour

We had one last food tour organised for Vancouver which was going to be focussed on the Asian food in the city. It wasn’t an early start so the kids had an opportunity to do their journals after breakfast. As part of the tour we went to 4 different restaurants and sampled different Asian foods.… Continue reading Final Food Tour

Vancouver Tour

We had a lazy start this morning and didn’t need to be out the door till 10.30. We have a tour booked called the “North Shore Discovery Tour” which takes us out of the city of Vancouver and up to the north shore. We started the day at a Salmon Hatchery where we learnt about… Continue reading Vancouver Tour

Food, food and more food

Given we didn’t end up in our hotel rooms till well after midnight it was a lazy start for everyone. I went by across the street and got some milk for breakfast and slowly everyone dragged themselves out of bed. We had 2 rooms with 2 bedrooms each, so there is ample space, however the… Continue reading Food, food and more food

Rocky Mountaineer

We spent 2 days on the Rocky Mountaineer travelling from Banff to Vancouver via Kamloops. We arrived at the “station” by 8 and were greeted on board by the crew. I use the term “station” very loosely as it appears most of the stations we went through don’t actually have platforms. Our bus brought us… Continue reading Rocky Mountaineer

Picturesque Banff

I woke up early today because I wanted to take some photos of the sunrise from our hotel window and I wasn’t disappointed. Over the course of the hour the sky blossomed and the mountain ranges changed shades. We started the day with a Gondola ride up Sulphur. It was a 10 minute ride up… Continue reading Picturesque Banff

Goodbye Seattle, Hello Canada

We end the US part of our trip today as we depart Seattle for Calgary in Canada. The morning was a Hove of activity as we did our final packing and headed to the airport. The lines for check-in were quite long but we were there with enough time to still have time for lunch… Continue reading Goodbye Seattle, Hello Canada

High Above and Down Below

Today we had two tours booked that I have been looking forward to the most on this trip. In the morning we visited the Boeing Factory for a tour. Unfortunately they didn’t allow any cameras on the tour so we don’t have any photos of the actual workshop. The factory/assembly line floor is the largest… Continue reading High Above and Down Below

Walking around Seattle

We had organised a private walking tour of Seattle and met our guide at 9 in the morning. Right next to our hotel is the first train station built in Seattle and it was reminiscent of an old colonial library or bank. Seattle has a complex history which includes a gold rush in the 19th… Continue reading Walking around Seattle

Hello Seattle

The one place Matthew really wanted to visit was IHOP for pancakes. There was one close to our hotel in San Francisco so we decided to go there for breakfast today. They had pancakes served every which way with multiple toppings and additions. Emily and Thomas got chocolate pancakes while the boys and I both… Continue reading Hello Seattle

Food Tour

We try and do a walking food tour in most places and had one booked to cover Chinatown and Little Italy. We took a couple of Waymos to get us to our destination, mainly because we wanted to experience a driverless car. Matthew, Thomas and I took one Waymo which dropped us off directly where… Continue reading Food Tour

San Francisco tour

I had bought tickets for a half day San Francisco group tour which departed from Fishermans Wharf, quite close to our hotel. The tour took us to some of the notable landmarks, however it was incredibly foggy today which limited our views. We started with a visit to the Palace of Fine Arts which was… Continue reading San Francisco tour

The Rock

We all had a bit of a sleep in today as we didn’t need to leave till 9.30. It was a short 20 minute walk to Pier 33 where we were to board a ferry to Alcatraz. There was a queue to get the tickets and then a queue to board the ferry and then… Continue reading The Rock

More driving

We took off from San Luis Obispo today for the rest of the drive to San Francisco. Along the way we say quite a change in the vegetation. This reached from green vines and plantations to mines and oil drilling through to stark arid landscapes. We stopped at Monterey Bay for lunch at a Mexican… Continue reading More driving

Happy July 4th

We check out of LA today and Ben and I went up to Avis this morning to rent a car. While we were away Bron and the kids went down for a couple of games of bowling. Emily got her stride and was leading till the last frame when Matthew got 3 strikes in a… Continue reading Happy July 4th

Down in the Pits

For once we didn’t have an early start and everyone slept in. I went to a local shop to get more milk for breakfast and even snuck in a gym session. Ben and I then had a cup of coffee at the hotel foyer while the rest of the family roused. It’s the first time… Continue reading Down in the Pits

Universally Enjoyable Day

It was another early start today as we headed out to Universal Studios. There was a severe heat warning as well from the National Weather Service so we packed up on water and sun screen. We had booked the VIP experience as and the day progressed we are very glad that we did. To start… Continue reading Universally Enjoyable Day

City of Angels

We had a private tour booked for today and we were collected by our guide at 9 in the morning. The guide was Monty is an actor and comedian and runs tours during his spare time. We started with a visit of celebrity homes in Beverly Hills and Bel Air. There were too many to… Continue reading City of Angels

Happiest Place on Earth

We were out the door even earlier today at 6.45, ready for a day at Disneyland. Things didn’t start well when we got stopped by security for having a selfie stick, which wasn’t allowed in the park. I needed to make a mad dash back to our room and then run back to the park… Continue reading Happiest Place on Earth

California Adventure Park

It was an early start for us as we wanted to be at the California Adventure Park by 7.30 in the morning for early entry. The last time we visited a Disney Park – DisneyWorld in Orlando – Bron had used an app called RideMax which scheduled our day to help ensure we got to… Continue reading California Adventure Park

And the Journey Begins

After weeks and months of planning we finally took off from home today for our holiday to the US. It was a day full of final packing, cleaning and getting the house ready to leave. Finally after school we were on the road to Sydney. We are staying at a hotel near the international airport… Continue reading And the Journey Begins