Catching Up

So I've been really busy since I got back from Hawaii...that I forgot to post anything about Hawaii.

So here is a little run down of what I got up to in June.

We flew Jetstar...which was an interesting experiance, having only ever flown VAustralia. the seats were ok, but being a discount airline, there are no frills. We paid for the ipad entertainment, which was worth it, but there wasn't a great selection. I am considering buying an ipad for myself for future traveling, so that I can have my own stuff. We didn't pay for the food, we ate before we went through customs. Plane food is never good. I had snacks, but wouldn't do that for a longer flight. But for 10 hours it wasn't bad.
We tried to sleep, but had a bunch of screaming babies near us, and I think I only got an hour here or there.

We left Kay and Nick in Honolulu and waiting ages for our flight to Maui. We probably left a little bit too much time, but you always want to safe rather than sorry.
We then had to wait in line for ages at the car rental place. We were supposed to get a compact focus or something, but they gave us a jeep. It was pretty scary driving that at first, AND on the other side of the road, but I grew to love my jeep and with the GPS we managed to get to our hotel. I would totally drive somewhere else in the US (no major cities) in the future.

Our hotel in Maui was gorgeous. The Maui Coast Hotel was right across the road from the beach, had plenty of parking, wifi, a pool and a bar/restaurant. It also had a free laundry which we took advantage of before we left for Oahu.
In Maui we did a day of zip-lining and shopping and the beach. We drove to Ruby Tuesday for dinner and found a safeway supermarket...and did lots of shopping.
We drove up Haleakala (took 2 hours)  and saw the beautiful crater. We also hit the beach.
We did 1 tour in Maui down the Road to Hana. It was very wind-y and I was glad I was not driving that day. The tour guide was great fun too. So many beautiful sites.
Our 4th day in Maui was spent sleeping in, having breakfast out, shopping, and hanging at the beach before drinks by the pool. Then we did laundry and met up with Kay and Nick for dinner. We went to the aussie themed Outback Stakehouse which was funny.

After 5 great days in Maui we travelled back to Oahu. Our hotel wasn't as big or as fancy as in Maui, but the Aqua Waikiki Wave was nice. We had wifi and a fridge. We could also could see the ocean from our balcony, which was nice.
We had almost 2 weeks in Honolulu, and got up to a lot. We saw Waikiki Beach - which was soooo crowded and not a great beach.
We explored downtown and saw the palace. We went shopping at the mall...a few times. We did Pearl Harbour which was great. The submarine was very cool, the battleship was also pretty cool...and HUGE.

On Vanessa's birthday we went to The Polynesian Cultural Centre and Luau. -Which my last post was about.

We did Wet and Wild which was a lot of fun. I did get a little sun-burnt that day. But it was worth it for the waterslides.
We did a LOST tour which was a nice way to see The North Shore. But it wasn't as good as it could have been. It was actually a bit disappointing. But we did get to see some awesome locations from the show. It just could have been a better tour.

We walked up the Diamond Head crater...which was a big effort, and took me almost an hour, but it was worth it. The views and just how good I felt about myself once I walked all the way up there. But the stairs and the tunnels were pretty tough.

We got to shop at Walmart!

We swam with Turtles and took a cruise in a Catamaran off Waikiki.

We went to The Cheesecake Factory...a few times. And had a few different cakes.

We did a tour over to The Big Island. Which was amazing. A LONG day but we got to see volcanos!

We went to Kualoa Ranch where they filmed LOST and Off The Map and stuff. It was a great day. Gorgeous scenery. We ended the day with a Luau at the ranch.

We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I saw pretty fish and reefs.

And we did more shopping. Lots and lots of shopping. 

It was a great trip. I'd go back again, but I'd spend my time at Maui. Honolulu was too touristy and not as relaxing.

The only downside was getting up at 4:30am to head to the airport and finding out of Legally Blonde was finishing early back home and organizing tickets for the last show.

Aloha
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Carlie

12 of 12 June Edition - On Location

Hello from sunny Hawaii! Today I am in Oahu and it's also Vanessa's birthday, so I've been busy.

1 of 12

8:14am - Woke up to another gorgeous day. 

2 of 12

10:26am - Breakfast at IHOP. Yummy tiramisu pancakes. 

3 of 12 

2:31pm - Canoe parade at the Polynesian Cultural Center. 

4 of 12

3pm - Tree Climber at the Samoa exhibit

5 of 12

3:30pm - Next it was off to see New Zealand dancing. 

6 of 12

4pm - Over to the Tonga exhibit drum show

7 of 12

5pm - Tiki Idol from one of the villages as we take a canoe ride back to dinner. 

8 of 12

5:02pm - Idols wearing hats.

9 of 12

5:30pm - Time for our Luau buffet dinner. 

10 of 12

5:45 - Birthday Girl Ness and her pineapple drink! 

11 of 12

7:15pm - a backstage tour of the show HA - Breath of Life, then it's finally time for the show...the dancing with fire was very impressive! 

12 of 12

11:15pm - After a long day and a 2nd hour long bus ride, it was time for birthday cake from the Cheesecake Factory. Yumm-O!

Taking Time

So I've had another long weekend. Thursday was ANZAC day and then I took an RDO on Friday for a four day weekend.

Thursday I had a relaxing day, before a spontaneous trip to the movies with Jacinta to see Iron Man 3. I really enjoyed it. I liked the first one, the 2nd was ok, and I loved The Avengers.
We got there really early, turns out there were no lines so we had plenty of time to kill. We walked around a while, Glen Waverley has changed a lot since I've worked there. I miss it sometimes. 

Friday Mum and I went to Chadstone, which I haven't been to in ages. We went to Myer and I bought a new handbag and some other things. Then we looked at a couple of shops and then went to Koko Black for coffee.

Today I did nothing, which was nice. I watched Disney Movies, which I haven't done in a while. Its nice to have a lazy Sunday. I went for a walk, which I am not able to do as much now that day light savings is over, cause its practically dark when I get home.

Tomorrow is back to work, which is gonna suck. Its been so nice to have time to take it slow, and get things done. I've done all the washing, I started back organizing the rest of my bedroom. I've thrown out some more clothes and shoes. I'm a little afraid to start going through what's under my bed. But that's the next step.

Not a lot else on at the moment. Legally Blonde is coming up again in a few weeks. So glad its finally making its way to Melbourne. And of course there is always more Hawaii planning. Course now the big stuff is booked, the other stuff is less time sensitive.

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Carlie

A Long Weekend

So the last few weekends I have been quiet busy, between shopping, getting my hair done, reorgansing my bedroom, and other things. Its finally Easter weekend and I get to relax.

I haven't had my RDO for March yet, because I had nothing I wanted to use it for. But I was getting a bit burnt out. Mostly because I have been overloaded lately, so while it was quiet this week it was nice for a change.

Yesterday Mum and I went to see OZ at the movies. It was okay, very pretty, but messed with my head on the whole Land of OZ mythology. Between Wicked, The Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz and now OZ - I'm really confused!
Also being Good Friday it was pretty quiet out and about, with shops being closed. However 1 family decided to bring their 2 toddlers to the movie (which is NOT a kids movie) and let them make noise and run around the cinema. Not only did they do that, but the let them do it over and over again. I was ready to kill them!

Last night I went to Ness' we watched the usual Friday night tv and then some LOST. We didn't do anymore trip planning. But last week we booked inter-island flights and the hotels.

However this week we found out Kristin Chenoweth is going to be touring here in June...and its pretty much in the middle of our trip. Which really really really really bites. I mean I waited 2 years, and we waited to book stuff, but it wasn't long enough. I'm very depressed, but I figure...since the universe is making me miss this...I am due to get something else along the line. Balance and whatnot.
-I mean I used to be lucky with this kind of stuff!


Anyways...not much else planned for the weekend, just watching movies and then Jacinta and I are going walking tomorrow.

Its nice to have a quiet weekend.


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-Carlie

Musical March

So I'm a bit restless these days....

After C2B2, I saw Jersey Boys with Mum...it was soooo great to see it again, and even better than I remembered! Mum had a great time too.
It was weird having Anthony Harkin from Rock of Ages in it though...messed with my head a little. hah.


Last weekend Ness and I went to a benefit concert at Her Majesty's with the cast of C2B2, Jersey Boys and King Kong. It was cheap, but there was some good stuff. Francine Cain got to sing  - which is more of her than you get to see in Chitty....but anyways.
We were front row...which was not the best for this show, but still good.

Ness and I have booked our flights to Hawaii. We are looking at hotels and activities, and will book more soon.

Work is okay. I take a different way to and from work now - which is working out well. Less traffic, and quicker. So that is one thing that makes my days better.
Last week I was crazy busy, and this week its a little quieter...which is good, but can be a bit boring sometimes.

Next week is Easter, so yay for a long weekend. Looking forward to my trip in June though.

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Carlie