History:
On February 24th, 2020 we embarked on an epic 3-month journey to Australia and New Zealand to celebrate retirement. The trip to Perth took 4 days. Perth was our first stop, and we traveled via Delhi and Bangkok to get there. We had to avoid China in our travels. In Perth, we had a great time visiting the “west coast” of Australia. Then, two weeks later, we flew to Auckland, New Zealand. We were there to catch a cruise on the Noordam (Holland America) back to Australia. This cruise would then take us home 4 weeks later to Vancouver. In Auckland is where our luck ran out, and our trip came to an abrupt halt due to COVID 19!
Being stuck in New Zealand was wonderful. We made the most of it by renting a cheap car and driving down to Christchurch on the South Island. It was there we were contacted by the Canadians Abroad department of the Canadian Government. They informed us on how to get home with about 3 hours notice to pack and get to the airport! Now, after 18 months of planning, we are going to re-do this trip in pieces!
The Trip:
Our next journey departs from Vancouver, by taking the train to Seattle to board the Noordam (deja vu!), to sail to Sydney, Australia. This is a 28 day sailing. It will take us to 3 Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, and 3 Fijian Islands. We will then visit Vanuatu and arrive in Sydney in early November. We will then visit Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, and Melbourne. Next, we will go to Sydney, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Brisbane. Finally, we’ll head back to Sydney to fly to Singapore on our way home.
We will spend time in Singapore, along with take a day trip to Kuala Lumpur. Our original plan was to take Air Canada’s longest flight home, which is a new flight on a 787 (14.5 hours). We will fly from Singapore to Naha, Japan (Okinawa). I need to finish the paperwork for the Estate of my friend Karen’s mother, Kiyoko. She was born in Okinawa and I have visited the island with Karen and her parents in 1998. We will fly home through Tokyo, which is the same that we did in March 2020, during COVID! I hope will have our luggage with us, instead of in Dubai where it ended up in 2020 by mistake!
Again, like last year my goals for this journey are 1. Yarn in suitcase 2. Take lots of pictures 3. Have fun and share both my Celiac/gluten free finds and accessible travels with you!
See you online in a couple of weeks!