Back at home

That's right, I'm back in Melbourne and even though the trip is over I thought I would write one final post and also show you some photos from San Francisco and Hawaii. The photos below are of the two English girls I told you about who I met in San Francisco, me in front of Lombard Street (the famous crooked street), a Christmas tree in Union Square and then me on my last day of my trip in Hawaii.

Should I say something significant or sentimental about my trip? I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity and while it has been lovely to see friends and family I was not really ready to come home. The trip exceeded my expectations and was one the most fabulous things I have ever done but I am sure I will travel again soon. Thank you to all the wonderful people who I met in my travels and to the wonderful people who welcomed me into their homes. I appreciate your friendship and I look forward to keeping in touch - you are always welcome in Melbourne!

Bye!

 

Aloha!

Yes I am in Hawaii and the weather is beautiful. I have not been doing any sightseeing but have simply been going for walks along the beach and around the streets of Waikiki and relaxing. I have discovered that I am unable to sleep in but this hasn't stopped me from having a couple of very lazy days. It is a lovely way to end my trip. The hotel has been great. I decided to stay in a nice hotel as a final treat and it has been worth it. It is not on the beach but it has a balcony with great views and I have enjoyed not packing everything each morning. In fact, because it is my last stop I have been throwing things out. My shoes didn't make it out of San Francisco. I was in a dilemma as to whether to keep them out of nostalgia and there would be absolutely no other reason to keep them as they had gone well beyond the point of respectability but when I was showing them to some friends in the hostel at San Francisco we discovered a huge hole in one of them (this would explain why one of my feet was always getting more wet than the other one!). The hole sealed the deal and they went in the bin but not before I took a photo of them! I didn't need them anyway because the weather is really warm (funny how that happens in a tropical climate!!) and very relaxed.
I can't believe five months has gone by so quickly. I leave for home early tomorrow but I won't get into final blog mode because I will probably post some photos of San Francisco and Hawaii when I get home. I am now going for my last walk along the beach. I have been told that I need to try a fish taco while I am here so I might do that as well.
See you all soon!

San Francisco - is there a song about it??

Hi all, I am at the last night of a five day stopover in sunny San Francisco. In this time I have walked up and down all the hills and my feet are feeling the pain! The hostel has been great and there are some lovely English girls in my room and most nights we have met up for dinner and chatted about what we have done. The weather has been great here. The only day that was cold and really foggy was when I went to Alcatraz so it added to the atmosphere. Actually Alcatraz would have been creepy enough without the added ambience. There were all sorts of awful people who were at the prison (which I guess happens at a maximum security prison) and awful things happened so I felt quite uncomfortable walking around. People were taking photos of themselves in the cells but I couldn't quite bring myself to do that.
The other days have been sunny and I have been able to visit Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, Haight Street (centre of the sixties hippy movement), the Museum of Modern Art, Berkeley, Lombard Street (the crooked street), Golden Gate Bridge, Sausolito and the list goes on! It is so compact compared to LA so I have been taking advantage of walking everywhere and only catching the bus if absolutely necesssary.
It is a beautiful city but I think if I lived in America it would only be the climate that would keep me on the west coast because I felt more at home in places like New York and DC. Despite this it has been great having a good amount of time to explore the city. It has gone by too quickly though and I can't believe I leave for Hawaii tomorrow.
See you in Hawaii!!