Thursday, May 16, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney in a Nutshell

Following is the itinerary for our trip home from San Francisco.

San Francisco to Sydney - Days 31-32

Day 32 : Diamond Head Crater, Oahu

What better way to finish your stay in Hawaii than by attempting a 560 feet (170 metres) climb up the ridge of a volcanic crater in 80°F (27°C) heat along a track 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometres) long with 2 tunnels and 227 steps? We couldn't think of anything better, so, this morning, we set off for the Diamond Head State Monument to make the climb.

Tuesday, May 14, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Days 29-30

Day 30 : Grand Circle Island Tour, Oahu

Today, another tour, this time a 140 mile (200 kilometre) bus tour around the island of Oahu.

Sunday, May 12, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Days 27-28

Day 28 : Stars and Stripes Tour, Oahu

We arose this morning with the Sun - personally, if I were the Sun, I'd be asking the boss for a later starting time - to make sure that we met our tour pick-up bus at 6:40am, downstairs and across the road.

Friday, May 10, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 26

Day 26 : Honolulu, Oahu

There was no storm last night, just a few showers, so today was like yesterday : humid and overcast.

This is the first hotel room we've stayed in on this trip that has had cooking facilities, so this morning we made use of them. Debbie made French toast, which we had with Vegemite, making for a breakfast that's about as close to at-home as it's possible to get while not being at home.

Thursday, May 9, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 25

Day 25 : San Diego to Honolulu, Oahu

Regular readers will know by now that I don't like early starts. So you can guess how I felt about getting up this morning before 6:00am for a short flight to LA, followed by a lengthy transit stop and then an even lengthier flight to Honolulu. In truth though, it wasn't all that bad.

Tuesday, May 7, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 24

Day 24 : Balboa Park, San Diego

Look at that. Before you know it, it's Day 24 and tomorrow you're due to fly to the last place on your itinerary.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 23

Day 23 : San Diego Zoo

Everything in the US, it seems, is world-famous. Well, that's how they bill themselves, anyway. Today, we visited the world-famous San Diego Zoo, though it does have some genuine claim to this description.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 22

Day 22 : San Diego and Surrounds

Yesterday, I had no photos for the blog; today, I've got too many.

Saturday, May 4, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 21

Day 21 : Palm Springs to San Diego

There are no photos today. We spent most of the day, again, on buses - one from Palm Springs to San Bernardino and another from San Bernardino to San Diego. Greyhound buses are clean and reliable, but if I don't see the inside of one for a while, I won't miss the experience.

Friday, May 3, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Days 19-20

Day 20 : Palm Springs

With so much hiking and travelling over the past two days, and with another five or so hours of travel ahead of us tomorrow, we decided to have a quiet day today.

We spent the morning walking the streets of downtown Palm Springs, stopping occasionally to enjoy the air-conditioning inside a souvenir or a book shop. It's about 85°F (30°C) outside, the warmest I think it's been here since we arrived.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 18

Day 18 : Palm Springs

About fifteen minutes from downtown Palm Springs are a set of trails collectively known as the Indian Trails. There are around twenty trails in the set, ranging in difficulty from easy to life-threatening. Debbie and I walked two of the trails today : Victor Trail (2½ miles or 4 kilometres and rated moderately easy), and Andreas Canyon (½ mile or 800 metres and rated easy, with 'some rock scramble').

Wednesday, May 1, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Days 16-17

Day 17 : Palm Springs

Aerial Tramway On the outskirts of Palm Springs is an Aerial Tramway that takes visitors from the base station 2,600 feet (800 metres) above sea level to the mountain station in Mt. San Jacinto Wilderness State Park 8,500 feet (2,600 metres) above sea level. The tram ascends at an average angle of 50° and the 2.5 mile (4 kilometre) trip takes about a quarter of an hour.