This will be the last blog entry . I can hear the sigh from here. :)
So to catch you up, on Tuesday we spent 5 hours driving from Jasper to Kamloops. It was a surprising picturesque drive. On Wednesday we left Kamloops at 7am and arrived in Honolulu 17 hours later. At Vancouver Airport we said goodbye to our travelling buddies for the last 3 weeks, Grant and Linda flew to San Diego and will start a 30 day cruise in a couple of days. Sigh....
As we were flying to from Canada to US territory the US immigration did there security checks at Vancouver. It took over and hour for Sandy and I to get thru the immigration checks. We were interviewed twice and our bags were x-rayed twice. There was no issue found and we don't know why it occurred. But it doesn't matter as we got thru unscathed and without a body cavity search. Though I did get felt up by a less than attractive US immigration officer.
International flying is changing. We had a 6 hour flight to Honolulu and we had to pay for our checked in luggage and pay for the entertainment and pay for any food or drink other then water .
We are flying Premium economy from Honolulu to Brisbane tomorrow so for that 10 hour trip we wont have to pay for food and entertainment. Well we have already paid for it I guess.
This is our first time in Hawaii and we have only a day and bit here so we wont see much. As our hotel is at the eastern end of Waikiki beach and our room looks at Diamond Head Crater that became our goal. Getting to the highest point on the crater and return to our hotel took 3 hot sweaty and thirsty hours. After being in ice and snow for weeks it was quite strange. We recommend the walk to anyone who comes to Honolulu. In the afternoon we wandered up along the Waikiki beach for a couple of klms and it was all quite pleasant Waikiki beach is not a patch on all our good Aussie beaches but the locals and tourists certainly makes the best of what's here. As I said its quite pleasant to roam around the shopping precinct of Waikiki beach but its really just a tourist trap. If we were to come back here for a few days we would not stay in Honolulu . This visit was just to break up the return home.
So my musings on the holiday. Please forgive me if this offends anyone.
- Americans at home are embarrassingly polite. Every interaction was helpful and polite. I would like to think that Australians are like this as well but doubt we are.
- Americans on holiday can be different. On the Alaskan cruise I watched an elderly American spend ages trying to get the ship staff member to give here something other than vanilla or chocolate. She asked if she could have a Kit kat in it, or sprinkles on top or nuts. It was terrible watching the poor employee try to explain for the 5th time that the free ice cream was just vanilla or chocolate. The elderly American was not rude but just wouldn't except the limited options. There were other examples of this where Americans wanted options that where not available. Sometimes it was just plan rude but mostly it was just a fussy customer. But we met many very helpful and polite Americans who were on holiday and were interested in us. I don't really understand why Americans can have s uch a bad reputation for some. Yes they can be quick to give you their opinion but then so can I, but if you ask for help I am confident that most will instantly help.
- Japanese tourists have a difference sense of personal space. At the Columbian Icefields Glacier tourists are everywhere. Every now and then someone would push past and bump you. I always assumed it was some teenager but when I looked it was always an elderly female Japanese. I don't think they are trying to be rude but they just have a different sense of what is acceptable.
- Lets talk about Germans. I know Germans, well one at least, and they/he wouldn't do this. If there was a group of people blocking a walking track you could guarantee they would be German. I don't know why. I saw a couple of times where a group of hikers/walkers were milling around and making it hard for others to get thru. Invariably they were German I am sure they are nice people normally but they had not sense of others around them when on a walk.
I am certainly not profiling anyone and I know that Australians can be terrible tourists at times. I think my message here is that you have to look for the good rather than expect the worst. Over the last month we have visited so many popular tourists spots and they are full of international visitors. Most respond positively if you say hi. (quick note. the term "Gudday" does not work so well) Please note that I am more interested in doing walks on holidays and my normal is to say hi when you pass someone on a walking track. Maybe others who do walks are a certain type of people but mostly people will respond well on a hike.
I do recommend the Alaskan cruise. But then I am fascinated by Glaciers. I suggest a room with a balcony as you are so often close and sometime very close to land. Vancouver has a lot to offer visitors and they appreciate visitors .The Rocky Mountaineer Gold class is very expensive but its certainly an excellent trip. I don't understand how people could do more then the two days but many do.
I could visit the Rocky mountains around Banff every few years. I don't think I would every tire of looking at them.I am thoroughly sick of working thru the tipping process. I have been amazed at how much button pushing I have had to do on an eftpos terminals. I just want to simply pay and leave. But no. My other beef is that nothing has the correct price on the label. EVERYTHING will cost more. Every state in US and Canada has a different tax process. So its a lucky dip when you go to pay. The only thing that your assured of is that the cost will NOT be the ticketed price.
I have just finished my 2nd Mai Tai so I had better stop now.
Thank you Grant and Linda for being excellent traveling companions and I love travelling with Sandy.
We fly out of Honolulu tomorrow afternoon for home.
Good bye allBaz and Sandy(I love holidays)
2025-02-08