NZ by Air, Canada by Sea
We are starting a 6 week, 7 country trip to New Zealand, Australia, the South Pacific and Hawaii this Monday (woohoo!) It’s only our second cruise ever, close on the heals of an Alaskan cruise last year. So how did this come about? The story goes something like this…
Lois and I have always made yearly vacationing an important part of our life, especially as we raised our kids in Colorado. We value time away from our normal routine, exploring new destinations or returning to our go-to places. Traveling did not stop when we moved to California and transitioned into empty nester’hood. Yearly Fall trips have become a favorite. We especially enjoy staying in rentals along the Northern California coast — in Humboldt and Mendocino counties — frequently staying in the small town of Trinidad near giant coastal redwood forests.
Unfortunately, in 2020 our yearly vacation tradition was suddenly wrecked by the pandemic. In spite of Covid, smaller trips were taken in 2021, but nothing like before. As the pandemic wore on, and cabin fever intensified, we yearned for time away. And like so many others, we longed for not just any old vacation, but big trips to heal our soul and make up for lost time.
Eventually the pandemic faded, and we ventured back to normalcy. Yearly vacationing became a thing again. Hawaii was first on our “big trip” list - 3 weeks of complete R&R in Kauai in the Fall of 2022.
And then as we rolled into 2023, Lois kicked off the conversation about our next trip. I think we both assumed we might default to the normal vacation in Trinidad, CA. But when Lois asked me what I would like to do, the very first thing I blurted out of my mouth was “Maybe we should go some place new. How about Alaska?” And just like that, at lightning speed, we binge watched Alaska tours, found a fantastic travel agent, and booked a 14 day trip at the end of May. The first week we flew to Fairbanks, then wandered south to Denali National Park, Anchorage and Seward. For the second week, we embarked onto a Holland America ship, our first cruise ever, and sailed the inside passage to Vancouver, Canada. For whatever reason, we had never given cruising serious consideration. But wow, what an amazing trip it was! From that moment forward, we were hooked.
Fast forwarding to the present, our next cruise is here. Checklists are made, essentials are bought, and suitcases are starting to fill. This Monday, it’s Rocklin-to-Auckland! A rental car and a 2 hour drive get us to San Francisco International Airport where we board a one-way, 13 hour flight to New Zealand. After recouping in Auckland for 3 nights, we embark once again on the Holland America Noordam — the very same ship we sailed last year — on its way back to Vancouver and Alaska after wintering in New Zealand and Australia. For Holland America it is a “repositioning cruise”, but for us it’s the trip of a lifetime.
So the 3rd Act of life begins, celebrating retirement in the South Pacific — 7 countries, 18,000 miles, 42 days.
