Aloha! We're coming to the end of our first segment of our trip. I visited Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial early (7:00) this morning. Ellen and I swam at Waikiki Beach and later in the afternoon we took a bus to Diamond Head. We did about 6 miles, including the long trek to the entrance. Good practice for our Australian Safari. Off to Sydney tomorrow on a ten hour flight, overnight there, then off to Auckland and Christchurch. Aloha...

Passport and visas finally arrived this morning. I cancelled our Christchurch hotel. Ellen and I are trying alternative arrangements for our van pickup, originally in the earthquake zone! Stay tuned...

Blogging is getting me down. Many hours spent trying to add photos. You may only have text these next few weeks.

Busy, busy, busy...packing, buying, washing, unpacking...

In just a month, I will be on my way.  It's hard to figure out what to pack for a bit over two months...and to keep it to 33 pounds (requirement for my Australian Safari!)  With a backpack and messenger bag, I hope to become the world's best female packer!  

This is the first day of learning how to "blog"...to say it is time consuming would be an understatement...ahhh, that infamous learning curve!