Hi there, I'm back after a few weeks of looking after sick Oldies, so here's more of my Hawaii trip. Most people think of surfing when they think of Hawaii and the waves along the tourist beaches of Waikiki are easy on beginners. Every alley leading to the public beaches have lots of surfboards of all types for hire and most hotels have instructors to teach you how to catch that wave. Of course you do not have to have a board to catch waves, even Dad is a good body-surfer (or "cork topper"). And if you don't want to battle with the waves you can just sit on the sand and enjoy the antics of those who try. Of course there is lots of shopping you can do. The closest big mall to the tourist area is the Ala Moana Centre. The name means "Path to the Sea". It is the 7th largest shopping mall in the US and has over 300 shops on 2 floors, so you can easily spend a day and hundreds of dollars there. There is always something happening on the main streets, so you can just wander along and watch the show. We were there at the same time as the Pan-Pacific festival and the street outside the Moana Surfrider hotel had almost non-stop performances going on. The bottom pictures are of the Royal Hawaiian Band, which was founded by King Kamehameha III in 1836, and a spectacular Japanese drum group. We saw and heard choirs, bands of all types from classical to country and Hawaiian, and several flash dance groups there. It is hard to be bored in Hawaii.
Labels: Hawaii
16 years ago Mum was feeling very low, so she wandered into the Canberra Teddy Bear Shop. Down at the end of the store was a small bear hoping somebody would take him home and love him. Eye contact was made and the rest is history. So, how does a small bear celebrate his 16th birthday? For starters, visits to some favourite wineries in the weeks before. On the day, a drive down for lunch at the Sir George, a 103 year old pub in Jugiong, 80 minutes down the Hume Highway. Then the main event - finding out what is in the package that appeared on the dining room table. You may think that 16 years old is a bit much for somebody to like toy-type presents, but as Dad says "small bears have the personality of 12 year old kids". I don't wish to argue against that because it gets me lots of great stuff. In this instance there was a Batmobile in the package, just the right size for me. I already had the Batgear from a previous adventure, so there you have it; a ready-to-go BartBatman and car. Now to work on the Santa lurk, Christmas is only 2 months away...
Labels: Canberra, family
