FINALLY Leaving on a Jet Plane.....

After lots of domestic flights this year, mostly to see my delightful new niece Zara, but also to celebrate my birthday, and sadly mourn my dear Auntie Liz's passing, I finally made it past immigration, got an Air NZ flight on October 25, and made it to San Francisco, USA, and then Vancouver, Canada.

I hadn't been back to North America in four years, and I really missed the place, and my very good friends in Vancouver, Sandra and Ken, and their gorgeous kids, Katie and Graham. There is something about Canada particularly that feels like home, and I love going back and doing a mix of tourist stuff and just chilling with my friends.... and oh, shopping....lots and lots of shopping! Needless to say VISA and Mastercard encouraged me to go...

First stop was a city I have visited 3 times before - San Francisco. Why visit a 4th time? Well for starters it's a beautiful city from the stunning harbour to the one-of-a-kind neighbourhoods (and the oyxgen tank required effort it takes to walk up and down...or bike.... the hills connecting them!) to the icons that dot the city like confetti from an exuberant wedding. My decision was made mainly because my friend Warren was going to be there on his way back to Australia after business there and a trip around the USA, and I thought it would be cool to catch up with him in a totally exotic locale (plus try as we might we hadn't found a time or place to catch up in Sydney for 2 months so why 10000 km away?!).

So I joined him and his wonderful friends, Warren & Leith, and Jason & Melinda, in SF, and hit the ground running visiting Alcatraz on the first day, which was amazing and had audio guided tours (with commentary provided by old guards and prisoners), and which also involved a boat trip across San Francisco Bay with the stunning views afforded by that of the skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge. Finished off the day with a wander through Pier 39 and Fisherman's harf, where we were staying, before dinner. Jet lag then claimed and I crashed for the night.

The next day was spectacular. We went bike riding around the Bay, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and via Vista Point down to lovely Sausilito, a cute village on the opposite side of the bay with great shopping and seafood. We caught the ferry back and then the four guys cycled up Hyde Street (SO steep!) before cycling down Lombard Street (the zigzaggy one you would have seen in countless shots of the City). We finished an exhausting but fun day in The Castro, SF's gay quarter with dinner at Nirvana, after dinner drinks at Blush Wine Bar and after-after-dinner drinks at Twin Peaks.

I left the SF the next morning after a quick trip to Ghiradelli Square near the hotel, and headed straight to Vancouver for 10 days with my lovely Canadian friends, Sandra and ken and their delightful kids. Since I have been to Vancouver 9-10 times before, I didn't have to overdo the tourist bits - although I did make it to Granville Island (artists market), Kitsilano (funky neighbourhood with a mix of unique shops and main line chains plus the delectable Sophie's Cosmic Cafe!) and Stanley Park (love the sea wall walk! Bliss!) again - and so concentrated on shopping, lazy cocktail-fueled lunches with Ken, hikes around local parks like Minnekhada (which looks so wild that you'd swear you were in The Rockies - awesomely beautiful!), and enjoying special family moments like celebrating Halloween where I even got to give out the candy dressed in a monster mask, long black haired wig and a pink cowboy hat! It was my firstv real Halloween and an absolute bundle of fun! The neighbourhood was decorated to within an inch of it's life, everyone dressed up, and the kids were having a ball!

I also got to do some very ordinary stuff like drop off and pick up the kids from school, run errands, chill and watch cable TV, and Ken and Sandra mangaged to get me totally hooked on Farmtown, this cool game you play on Facebook where you establish and run a farm. Sound boring? I only wish it was then I might be able to leave it alone!

The flights there and back were wonderful - Air NZ is great! - and I got to see some cool movies like Moon, The Time Traveller's Wife, and the whole holiday allowed me to wind back the stress from my highly stressed, full on job as an Executive Assistant to the MD of the Wholesale Division at Optus. I had such a good time that I have no intention of leaving it another four years to go again!