Ispirato

I’m so sorry to have neglected my blog for so many weeks. I have just returned from a big vacation! I really planned to write a few blog entries while I was away … but every day was so busy and every evening I collapsed into bed!

In late June my son Chris, husband George and I left Australia for Indiana where my parents live. We have a family reunion there on 4th of July weekend each year. This one was our BEST REUNION EVER - my parents, my brother, my four sisters and nearly all my nieces and nephews came this year, along with my four cousins and their families and my Dad’s two sisters. We were at Brown County State Park in Southern Indiana, where our clan hired four cabins and held our reunion. There were special meals, a talent show, crafts, bingo and a family trivia match. It was awesome.

I also got to catch-up with friends. It was a special time.

Here’s a little picture of me as a hula girl in the mid-1960’s. The photo was taken in our yard in Indiana - not Hawaii, sadly. But I finally got my chance to go to Hawaii after we left Indiana a few weeks ago. Wow - what took me so long? I loved it.

We spent our first week on the island of Kauai. It was such a beautiful, laid-back place. We did some kayaking, hiking and we drove a little ATV rhino through a farm where many movies have been filmed, including Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark. We swam in water holes fed by beautiful waterfalls. We ate mangos from trees growing wild along the roads. We hated to leave Kauai …

Our next week was spent on the island of Oahu. We stayed in a hotel on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. This place has a big city feel about it! Our favorite day trips were to Pearl Harbor and the Polynesian Cultural Center. At the Polynesian Cultural Center we learned more about Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, New Zealand and Tonga. My teenage son took a shine to the Tahitian dancers. He wants our next trip to be to Tahiti for some strange reason.
We couldn’t get a direct flight back to Melbourne on the day we wanted … something to do with the Pope being in Sydney at that time. So the travel agent suggested a quick stopover in Fiji. We had two days at a resort in Denarau. Finally we spent some time relaxing instead of constantly being on the go in Indiana and Hawaii. The Fijians were so friendly and the resort was heavenly. I lounged at the pool and sipped tropical cocktails. That’s something I would definitely like to do more of in the future.

I took a couple of craft projects on the trip with me but didn’t touch them, nor did I manage to write in my journal. I guess that just goes to show how busy I was enjoying the holiday!