East coast - 28-29th June

We left the rather weird condo complex we'd been staying in, after submitting the girls' entries for the drawing competition, and drove to Wai'lo Valley (think I've spelt that right). We walked down the half-hour path to the valley; a path so steep that only 4-wheel-drives were allowed to go on it. Jenny and I both had wobbly legs at the bottom.

We walked to look at a waterfall (which we couldn't reach), then back up the hill at tortoise-speed with Joanna lagging all the time. We made it to the top - I think it was actually harder going down than up.

We drove on down the coast to a look-out, then on to our accommodation: a shed in the middle of a field. At least, it's the size of a shed - a single room about 15 foot square, with 2 beds, a kitchen area and a partitioned-off bathroom area. It's a lovely quiet area with a view over the distant ocean below, although it's a bit surreal being in what is the smallest house I've ever been in.

We went for a meal in the hillbilly village at the bottom of the road, then back for back-to-back Merlin repeats on US TV and bed.

The next day (today) we went for a walk up the road to 2 impressive waterfalls, then to a less-impressive river-mouth (where you were meant to be able to swim, but couldn't really). Then 10 miles down the road to Hilo, where we found a beach to go swimming and made Jenny's day. Lots of people were standing round looking at something, and it turned out there was a mummy and child turtle feeding off the rocks. Jenny stood taking photos and videos for at least an hour, watching them swim round, while Pippa cut her toe on the rock.

In the last few days Pippa has: fallen over and grazed her leg, cut her toe and made her nose bleed surfing.

We're now sitting in our single room, watching TV before bed. Just taken our penultimate malaria pills. Girls send their love to everyone reading this, as do we!

Fair Wind II - Saturday 27th June

VIDEOS AT BOTTOM!

Booked a trip on the "Fair Wind II" - a boat which takes about 100 people to a secluded snorkelling spot in a marine reserve. The one-hour trip out was a bit up-and-down, but on the way we stopped above a "bait ball" (lots of fish thrashing the water, and birds dive-bombing), and when we got there a pod of dolphins passed in front of the boat and put on a show. Lots of oohing and aahing on the video Jenny took ... it was very impressive watching these beautiful creatures leaping through the air, and swimming right under the edge of the boat. Definitely a wow moment!

The snorkelling was fantastic, because you could either swim round above the coral, looking at the fish, slide down the water-chutes off the boat (which was as much fun as it sounds) or jump off the high-board (ditto). We spent about an hour and a half there, but it was far too little. I hope I'm right in saying that everyone enjoyed it - a great trip.

On the way back, we all watched a video of previous sightings of fish, then back on dry land we drove back to the condo for more pasta.

To the beach: 25/26th June

We left our forest cabin and drove 2 hours down to the sea, where Jenny went to an eye hospital to get someone to look at her eye, which had been bothering her for days. It turned out to be an ingrowing eyelash! American hospitals are very plush, and we felt a bit out of place sitting there waiting while the girls wrote their diaries.

We then went to sit in a cafe while we alternately searched on the Internet for somewhere to stay that night (nothing like leaving things to the last minute!). We eventually sorted somewhere out, and then at the last minute booked onto a Lua'u that evening (a Hawaiian feast followed by singing, dancing a impressive fire-eating). The food was delicious, and it was nice watching the show with the waves crashing on the shore in the background.

We drove to our apartment for 3 days, arriving about 9.30 - another late night!

The next day (today, in fact) we had a leisurely morning, then drove down to a lovely local beach, where we spent a couple of hours body-boarding on HUGE (but safe) waves. We all finished when one of them managed to make Pippa's nose bleed. Had another "shaved ice" (slush puppies Hawaiian style), then drove back here for pasta and bed. Katy's face is a bit sunburnt - we're not sure what went wrong.

Volcanoes: 23rd/24th June

On Tuesday we flew to the "Big Island" (actually - and confusingly - called Hawai'i, but universally known as the Big Island). We drove up to volcano park, and to the visitors' centre, where once it got dark you could see the red reflection of the lava in the steam emitting from a crater. It was a bit frustrating, I thought, as what you really wanted to see was the lava, but you couldn't get close at all. We then returned to our mountain chalet and went to sleep in the cold with the rain drumming on the roof - it was just like a Lake District youth hostel.

The next day we went on a walk through a lava tube (the tunnel left behind when molten lava flows out), which was fun, then drove on a road through lots of impressive craters and surreal bleak volcanic landscape. We went on one long walk in the heat of the day to see petroglyphs (ancient Hawaiian rock graffiti), then another to get to where a perfectly good road had been smothered by lava flow. It was weird to see tarmac ending at solid rock.

We then drove (via a macadamia nut factory, where we stocked up on chocolate nuts) to the other end of the same road (a round trip of about 1 and a half hours), where we waited with about a thousand other people for darkness. What happens then is that you can see a red glow - and occasional red sparks - where the lava flow falls into the sea. Personally, though, I found this even more frustrating, as health and safety rules meant that we were at least half a mile away, and separated by a rocky outcrop. It must be amazing to see molten lava, but we didnt', and for me the volcano in Guatemala was much better. Hawai'i may have fantastic volcanoes, but you don't see them when you go there. Another instance of paranoia about perfect safety preventing anyone enjoying themselves. Rant over.

End of Kaua'i: 21st to 22nd June

A quick entry just to keep up to date (if anyone still reads this?).

After Kipu Falls (where a part of me will always remain), we stopped off on the way back to see some strange Japanese line-dancing ceremeony. Then had a quiet day on the Sunday. Went to a lighthouse (where Pippa and Katy played with the public binoculars), then went looking for "Secret Beach" (which remained secret, as we didn't find it). On the way "home" we stopped off at a surfing beach, where the waves were enormous; fear meant we didn't stay long. Went for a swim in the condominium pool, then we had a game of Uno. Modesty doesn't let me record the winner.

On Monday we went on a canoeing trip: Katy and Jenny in a double kayak, the rest of us in a triple. We kayaked up a big, calm river for 40 minutes, then walked for another half hour to a waterfall, where you could swim. Although it was a lovely location, the water was quite shallow and cold. On the way there and back we had to wade waist-high across a river, which was fun. The highlight of Jenny's holiday was seeing Matt Damon (he was carrying his very young daughter in a backpack across the same river). We paddled back (much harder, since against the wind), then went for a final Kaua'i meal that night in a pizza restaurant (slow service, good food).

Kipu Falls (what a place) - 21st June 2009

CLICK ON PLAY BUTTON IN VIDEOS AT BOTTOM

It was worth flying to Hawaii just for this! I kept thinking of how much the Dunnes and Baldwins would have loved it ...

We parked by the side of the road next to a few other cars - there were absolutely no clues that this was the way to a waterfall, other than the driving directions we'd got off the Internet. We all walked apprehensively on a path (through sugar cane which came over all of our heads, and at one point engulfed us) to the top of a waterfall. There were quite a few people there - they even bring tour groups - but plenty of room at the top for jumpers.

The waterfall was nothing special, but it had carved out a huge deep pool into which you could jump. The drop was about 20 foot (which may not sound much, but it felt a long way!).

Jenny's rules were that daddy had to go first, so that I could be in the water in case anything happened to the girls. This was fair enough ... but daddy was petrified. I stood on the top, looking down, with Pippa going "Come on Daddy! We want to go! What are you waiting for?" Eventually ... I jumped. Joanna, Pippa and Katy followed me in much quicker succession. If the video download works you should be able to see Katy doing it below, although you may have to hold your head sideways to see it. I love the way it captures the fear of that first jump.

The other way down was to hold onto a rope and swing out over the pool. The one thing you had to do was to remember to let go, otherwise you swung back into the rock. One guy there told me that he'd been taking groups for 3 years, and had seem some horrible accidents. You can see Joanna doing this below in the video - the second time she did it she DIDN'T land on her back.

One woman was trying to pluck up the courage to jump, and was a bit taken aback when 7-year-old Pippa jumped off in front of her. We were both very proud of the girls, who showed considerably more courage than their father (although I did do the rope swing and a few jumps too).

What an AWESOME place!!!

Friday 20th June

Groan, not more beaches! Drove north (through the rain!) as far as the road goes. Found the beach Andy was waiting for: Tunnels beach. So-named because of the lava tubes full of marine life. Andy gave it the big thumbs up and so did the rest of us. Joanna also loves snorkelling, Katy and Pippa are OK until they see a fish... First Hawaiian beach with any shells so that was me sorted and then we saw the huge turtle followed by a (very rare) Hawaiian monk seal! All on the same day and on the same beach. Ok, there was a little bit of rain too.

Thursday 19th June: Cycling

Hired bikes and had a lovely ride on the coastal cycle path - right next to the sea - no barriers! Poor Joanna had a "local" bike - no brakes, you have to back pedal to stop. Apparently all the island children learn on this type of bike. I wonder what the accident rates are like...?

Wednesday 18th June

Took a drive up to the north of the Island to have a look at some of the famous beaches there. Only famous if you're old enough to remember South Pacific (musical) and Donovan's Reef (John Wayne). The mountains in the background are the fictious "Bali Hai" from the South Pacific. We stood on the beach where Mitzi Gaynor (who?) sang "I'm gonna wash that man right outa' my hair" and very lovely it was. Shame there were no toilets (yes, I'm obsessed!).

The girls have a new passion: "Shave Ice". Crushed ice flavoured with anything you like and made to look like a rainbow. Any excuse to shove E numbers down children it seems to me...

Nice sunsets here...

Kauai - Sun June 14th onwards

Sorry, we don't mean to brag but we couldn't not show you the view from the patio of where we are staying now. We're just outside of Kap'aa on the east coast of Kauai and very beautiful it is here. Kauai is very appropriately called the "Garden Isle". Green sea turtles are meant to come up onto the beach in front of us - everyone else who has stayed here seems to have seen them, not us yet (could it be the 3 noisy children keeping them away...?)

Spent our first day up in the Waimea Canyon - the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific". Very impressive, very cloudy after a while unfortunately so we didn't get to see the fantastic view of the Napali coast - just a glimpse and we managed to imagine the rest of it. The one oddity you do notice here is the chickens and cockerels that are everywhere you go. Apparently they escaped to freedom during a hurricane in the 90's and now roam free all over the island.

There are lots of very beautiful beaches here, but unfortunately most of them are only for walking along. The collections of warning signs at some of the beaches are quite impressive. We are constantly being warned not to go in the water. You can see why when you see the size of the waves...

There are quite a few blow-holes created by all this wild surf. We had a look at one near Poipu on the South coast and of course we popped in to the nearby beach there too, just for a quick look...

King Kamehameha I Day & Pearl Harbour - 13th June

This more than made up for missing this year's Charlesworth Carnival! Princesses on horses, at least 5 marching bands, displays by the police motorcycle teams and a fantastic, comical (really it was very entertaining!) marching display by the Hawaiian home guard. And all in the sunshine in front of Waikiki beach. Maybe that's what Charlesworth Carnival needs to add a bit of pizazz, some sand...

Headed off for Pearl Harbour unsure of its suitability for the girls. We shouldn't have worried, it was all very tasteful and incredibly well explained - fantastic history lesson for us all.

Since it was our last day in Oahu we had a drive through the lush green (and wet!) interior across to the east coast to have a quick peep at some of the beautiful beaches there - all in the name of research, of course!

Also had a quick snorkel stop at Hanuama Bay - it is actually a sunken volcano crater and advertises itself to be like "swimming in an aquarium". Joanna raved about some of the colourful fish she saw, but Andy reckons the island we are on now (Kauai) is better.

Friday, 12th June: Oahu & Maui, Hawaiian Islands

ALOHA!! Couldn't start this entry any other way. Wonder how many times we're going to hear that? Disappointed that we weren't greeted with Leii at the airport (I think you have to be famous or VIP these days - flowers are expensive!).

Spent a few days on Maui - rented a condo on the internet and I think Andy and I were both disappointed to realise that it was in the middle of a very touristy area. Lovely, but full of tourists (yes, I know that's what we are too!).

Drove out (as fast as we could) and towards the mountains (always Andy's moto: head for the hills!). Several 1000 bends in the road later we eventually found a beach with absolutely no facilities (unfortunately that included toilets which is always an indication that sooner or later one of the girls will need to go big time!); not before Andy managed to swim next to a (green?) sea turtle (well he would wouldn't he!).

Didn't really do Maui justice as we wanted to get to Honolulu in time for the King Kamehameha I celebrations (no I didn't make the name up); so we took a quick (cheap, maybe too cheap when I saw that the pilot was only just out of nappies and there seemed to be a GAP year student as the flight attendant!) on Oahu.

Couldn't believe that the OK price hotel was actually only one block from Waikiki beach and we could see it from our hotel balcony (sorry couldn't help mentioning this). Waikiki just as touristy, but somehow it is OK here. Think it could be because the beach is just SOOO gorgeous. Crystal clear, warm water.


Celebrations this afternoon were worth the journey over here (we girlies think). Cute children doing hula dancing in front of the huge statue of King H as they drape him with huge leii. Katy just kept saying how amazing the dancers were because they were so perfectly synchronised.








Hula dancing, crystal clear waters, sea turtles, leii and lots of friendly people. That's our Hawaii so far. Maybe Pearl Harbour tomorrow to jolt us all back to reality!



Aloha and mahalo (that's goodbye and thank you BTW - seems you can say Aloha to mean anything you like!)

San Francisco: 6th to 9th June

Hi to anyone still reading these photo-less blog entries ...
Another airport blog post! Sitting in Seattle airport for 5 hours, waiting for our flight to Maui (one of Hawaiian islands to leave). Everyone tired and on edge, as we got up at 4 am to catch underground to airport, then flew from San Francisco to Seattle. May come back after Hawaii to see Microsoft head office!
From Mexico City we flew to SF and went straight to bed (2am our time). In the morning we went in search of breakfast and discovered:

1. There are a LOT of homeless people in SF, most of whom congregate round our hotel; and


2. There are very few breakfast places, and those that there are all have a queue outside.

But it was worth it! 30 years on from my first SF blueberry pancakes, I was able to repeat the experience - what a great breakfast, consuming thousands and thousands of calories in a single meal. Not sure Jenny would agree ...

We queued up for ages to catch one of the old-style cable cars, and rode up and over a hill and down to Fisherman's Wharf (think Covent Garden by the sea, with the odd seal). After free chocolate-tasting at Ghirardelli's (an SF institution, apparently) we had a Subway sandwich (unbelievably, our first this trip), then I took the girls into "Ripley's Believe it or not!" (I'd always wanted to go). There was one glass screen where you had to practice pulling different faces - touching your nose with your tongue, curling your tongue, etc - and we all enthusiastically indulged. When you got to the end there was the same screen from the other side; it turned out to be a one-way mirror. We enjoyed watching other people make fools of themselves ...

On to see the seals (hundreds of them have taken up noisy and smelly residence on the wooden pontoons next to Pier 31), then by trolley bus back to the hotel.

We had our evening meal on the 8th floor of Macy's (a huge department store) in the "Cheesecake Factory". The portions had to be seen to be believed - a photo of Joanna's chocolate sundae will appear here soon, if we get round to it.

The next day we did a maths lesson, then took a bus out to the Golden Gate Park where we hired bicycles for the afternoon. After the sunshine and heat of the previous day it was cold and windy, but we cycled through the park to the beach and had a meal in a warm restaurant, where the girls found another family of 3 girls to play with. We cycled back (poor Pippa has been ill, and was a bit tired, and Katy's bike had no gears and ineffective brakes) via a great playground, where Jenny chatted to a gopher:

(a small, cute underground chipmunk type thing), returned the bikes, collected our laundry and went back via a clothes shop to the hotel for sandwiches and a pot-macaroni-cheese.

And that was San Francisco! It'll be nice to get away from big cities in Hawaii, and (I never thought I'd say this) nice to escape the cold.

Byeee!

Mexico: 4th - 6th June

Hi all

I see neither Joanna nor Katy mentioned that I got hideously sunburnt on my back snorkelling (in cloud?) - I'm now spending all my time peeling (which IS fun).

Sorry - no photos for now, as I'm writing this quickly in Mexico City airport, waiting for a flight to San Francisco. We booked the flights last night, and Jenny's just reserved our hotel room for tonight, ready for when we get to SF at 10.20 pm (we should be in the hotel about 3am our time). By the way, Mexico City is big - you can see where the 20 million people live as you fly over it.

Anyway, we left you in Caye Caulker. Next morning we got the water taxi back to Belize City (nowhere near as bad as you'd described it, Nikki and Jerry), then got a bus to Chetumal in Mexico and from there an overnight bus to Palenque. This is the site of another beautiful lot of Mayan ruins, which really deserve some photos. The overnight bus journey was fairly easy, and we all slept - fools that we were, we assumed all bus journeys are this relaxing ...

We checked into a nice hotel in Palenque on arrival at 7am, then had breakfast and went for a walk. The intention was to go and see the Mayan ruins, but we got about 300 yards and ground to a halt. You know it's hot when you consider getting a taxi 3 blocks into the centre of town (I'm not joking). We put some clothes into a local laundry (becoming a tradition) and walked into a restaurant in town for lunch, abandoning all plans to achieve anything that day. Had a swim in the hotel pool, went out for a meal in a local restaurant with thunder crashing all round, and went to bed.

The next morning we got up early and caught a taxi to the Mayan ruins. These were as impressive and atmospheric as Tikal. Plus points: they had a superb museum, in which you could see Lord Pakal's tomb (although Jenny swore it was a plaster replica) and watch a video of its discovery, and it was more interesting for me because I'd just finished a book about the decipherment of the Mayan ruins. Minus points: the heat. Mind-boggling, energy-sapping, drenching, draining jungle heat. This was at 10am - I'd hate to be there in the early afternoon.

We went back to Palenque town, and caught a bus from there to a place called San Cristobal de las Casas. I'd read on the Internet that the road was windy - no kidding. It curved up to about 7,000 foot: Pippa and I started feeling sick at about 2,000 foot, Jenny and Katy joined in at about 2,500 foot, Pippa was sick at 4,000 and 6,000 foot (into a small plastic bag, since you ask), and we arrived at 7.30 pm all feeling like death ... except Joanna, who felt absolutely fine. So next time you're sailing round the world, she's your person.

Found a scary hotel in San C - nice rustic hotel with antique Mexican furniture and loads of local Mayan people eating there, but to reach our "chalet" we had to climb up flights of steps, and the hotel door lock would have embarrassed IKEA. We ate in a posh local restaurant - lovely food, but odd mango creme brulee.

The next morning I frantically searched for flights on the Internet (a time-consuming job) while Jenny got the girls to write their diaries, then we traipsed to another hotel with a better, safer room. We then walked around San Cristobal - it's a beautiful place, with bright colours everywhere, gorgeous old-style buildings - even the people seemed much more friendly. Then again, I'd be happier not living in a furnace. I even had a haircut, while the girls insisted on sitting watching and the staff of the hairdressers giggled about me in Spanish behind my back (in the nicest possible way). I discovered that before you go to get your hair cut in Mexico you should make sure you know at least one of the following words: hair, cut, long, short. Asking what I wanted was like playing Taboo with no squeaker.

We had a nice meal in the Via Vai (Joanna's choice), then back in the hotel room in the evening I finally booked flights: from nearby Tuxtla to Mexico City, from Mexico City to San Francisco, from SF on the 9th to Maui via Seattle, plus a bus, cancelling the WestJet flight from Vancouver to Maui, plus getting our 5 American online visa waivers. Why do we always get things done at the last minute?

The next morning we caught a bus then taxi to Tuxtla (about an hour), passing yet another horrific accident, with at least one dead body lying beside it half-covered in a shawl. Our taxi driver had problems keeping his eyes open, but at least this one wasn't texting as he drove. We caught a flight to Mexico City, and in about 15 minutes time we're catching another one to San Francisco, a city I went to once when I was 15 and am looking forward to revisiting.

Thanks for reading all of this!

Caye Caulker: June 1st Scuba tours and rays

Written by Joanna!

Everyone gets flippers and snorkels then loaded into a speed boat that looks like it'l only just hold the amount of people it has to.


First stop: manta rays,needle fish and eagle spotted rays, oh and don't forget the loggerhead dad saw! We all went snorkelling over the rays, which couldn't have been more than 4 feet below us when they lay on the sea bed.


I took some photos of the rays with our 25 photo underwater camera which ran out after the first snorkel. Logger head turtles big and beautiful but only dad saw them under the water. MOVING ON!





Second stop: nurse sharks, 'the monster under the boat' and the draw size fish.






While dad goes on a snorkel trip we watch for turtles and stick the hired digital underwater camera upside down and take wonky, rubbish photos of the boat, the fish, the sharks and 'the monster under the boat' (oh yes, and the floor)!




NEXT STOP!








Third stop: sandwiches, bumps, nachos, an accident, strawberry juice with rum punch,lots of nice coral and beautiful fish!



Tuna sandwiches and water before snorkelling 6 feet above coral and fish. i chased a yellow and blue fish for ages only for pippa to promptly drop the camera in the coral and dad to dive down and rescue it! Fwoof!


3-finned turtles and dry children followed by strawberry juice for sensible people and rum punch for the others.


Bumpy boat trip back then snorkels dumped in a bucket of soapy water.