#01-21 “Girls On Tour” Beginnings

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My first trip outside of North America was in 1992.  I sailed on what felt like a pirate ship, to a small island in Fiji for 3 days.  This was followed by a bus tour of the North & South islands of New Zealand. I decided to go on a horseback ride in Queenstown instead of bungee jumping, being the scaredy cat that I am. Unfortunately, "Sam" and I were not a match! I ended up falling off which led to a back injury, a broken finger and an overnight stay at a hospital. 

The tour went on without me for a day but I joined them to climb a glacier, a catamaran boat trip and a genuine Maoro show.  The final leg of this trip was to Australia that included an overnight on a Barrier Reef island, Warner Bros. Movie World, riding a camel, climbing Ayers Rock, watching a sugar cane fire and Australia Zoo among many other fun adventures.

NOTE: Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them (click back arrow to return to blog).

    Movie World, Gold Coast                Franz Joseph Glacier, NZ

     Great Keppel Island                          Camel ride near Ayers Rock

Ayers Rock

“Girls On Tour” came into being on a 2016 trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.  Coralie arrived as my guest for my nephew’s wedding, with her usual gift of plentiful & varied Maltesers  - yum!  Along with these luscious & tasty treats was the card below and “Girls On Tour” became the theme of every trip thereafter (to be henceforth known as GOT).


Now to give a little background on how & when our friendship began.  In November 1996, I attended a function and heard a lovely accent from the woman sitting next to me.  Since I had recently completed my second trip to Australia, I inquired whether she was Australian. We chatted during the event, and afterward I asked if she’d like to go for a walk or to a movie sometime.

Several months later, after we had done many walks & movies, Coralie returned home. As was the only method of keeping in touch at the time, we communicated for years via handwritten letter (I have YET to read her handwriting easily!). 😉 We eventually moved onto email and in the past few years, we've been in touch almost daily on What's App.


My 1996 Australian trip included seeing kd lang in concert at the Sydney Opera House (3 times!) & in Perth, a stop in Melbourne and Queensland.

 
 Sydney Opera House                Great Ocean Road, Victoria
Perth
            
In 1998, I returned to Australia for the 3rd time, for a cycling trip into the wine & dairy country North of Sydney and then Coralie & I set off on some adventures together.  Prior to the cycling trip I had sprained my ankle badly and by the time we started off on our adventure, I was on crutches.  Coralie became my pack horse, lugging the bags everywhere, carrying my crutches and even pushing me in a wheelchair at one point. We visited the capital city of Canberra and went to the Snowy Mountains (there was even snow!) where we stayed in a ski chalet.

     
                                                   Cowjam                                              Bondi Beach                              My pack horse!                      


Coralie made her next return trip to Vancouver in 1999 which included a visit to Whistler, the year we both turned 42 - GASP!@  We looked like babies! 


In 2002, Coralie ventured to Vancouver again and our visit included a trip to Victoria, Tofino, Butchart Gardens, Sunshine Coast, Denman & Hornby Islands.

                    Whistler                                                        Tofino 


Her next visit to Vancouver was in the summer of 2005 when we kayaked at Deep Cove and went to the Maritimes. We spent the first part of our trip in Nova Scotia with friends Paula & Anne who toured us around to sites we wouldn't have seen on our own.  From there, we set off in a rental car to Prince Edward Island where we stayed in lovely B&B's, visited the Anne of Green Gables house and I even got her on a bike!  The Trans Canada Trail was close to our first B&B so we did a short ride and her butt survived it. ;o)  We ventured to the infamous Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick and ended in Halifax before Coralie flew off to visit relatives & friends in the UK.

  
Sugar Moon Farm                                      PEI

Following trips (including links to our photo books):  

2007 - London, England (London Eye, musical Mamma Mia, Brighton beach, Cambridge, Oxford)
2010 - Vancouver (Miracle Beach, bike ride around Stanley Park) / Boston (walked Freedom Trail, JFK Memorial, Provincetown, museums)
2013 - Vancouver / Portland road trip (home exchange, bike ride around the city, winery; Cannon Beach, OR and Mount St Helen's, WA)
2015 - Hawaii (Maui)
2016 - Hawaii Big Island (my oldest nephew's wedding) 
2017 - National Parks road trip (Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Parks); Victoria, Kelowna, Salt Spring Island
2018 - Scotland (my nephew's wedding in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Highland tour) / Spain (Madrid, Seville, Granada, Cordoba) and an overnight in London.
2019 - Hawaii (Oahu/Kauai)

NOTE: To see other trips where I can't share the photo books, click HERE.


With COVID, our next big trip in 2020 was sadly postponed but we were excited to be in the planning stages of the resurrection of that trip for 2022 once Coralie could leave "prison island"!


GOT 2022 finally happened!  Prior to Coralie's arrival in April, I attended Anne Lister Birthday Week in Halifax, England. 

Coralie arrived in Vancouver the day before I returned from my UK trip and visited for 2.5 months (April to June).

Jan 2023  Update - We now have GOT 2023 planned for our Portugal & Spain trip in April/May. I will also be attending Anne Lister Birthday Week  for the second time, in March/April, followed by a 1 week traipse through jolly old England!

August 2023 Update - I have finally finished the photo book of our GOT 2023 trip to Portugal & Spain! We are already talking about our next trip (hopefully September 2024) to Italy!


ALBW & UK Driving trip 2023 (2.5 weeks in UK, 3 weeks in Portugal/Spain):  https://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/interests/albw-uk-trip-2023-32862170?vk=Skm7RvIbFhrdZwT2Y9CI

Spain/Portugal April-May 2023: https://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/interests/got-2023-portugal-spain-kh-32271830?vk=KELXUTsgfpbpQb4ZG4EO


GOT 2024 Update Sep 2024 - Our next Girls on Tour trip will be to Italy was fantastic. Link to the photo book coming soon!



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