Our Travels

The Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Vancouver to Banff with an overnight in Kamloops was, as they say, "a trip of a lifetime". 

Incredible scenery, engineering, and comfortable train with excellent host who served great meals. 

After reaching Banff we took a tour on a small bus from Banff to the Columbia Icefields. 

This was a spectacular experience, the highlight of which was climbing up on to the glacier in enormous all-terrain vehicles - as well as plenty of wildlife and a great driver/guide.

We met many of Dave's relatives from UK and USA at Cape Cod. 

We enjoyed picnics, swimming, sailing and walking and then a memorable dinner with many relatives, partners and offspring present - with much reminiscing, good food and drink. 

Sadly, Janet, Steve and Tony are no longer with us and they are both missed.

After our wonderful family gathering, the Johnsons explored the Cape Cod region, including: 

• exploration of Woods Hole, Hyannis and Chatham; 
• whale watching from Barnstable; 
• a very wet trip to Plimouth Plantation and Plymouth; 
• a local bus tour of Martha's Vineyard;  
• Dave and Anne went to New London CT to meet friends; and
• the UK Johnsons explored Providence RI. 

We bade farewell to the Beach Rose Inn, our residence for the visit, and headed back to Boston to continue our various journeys.

We visited the north island of New Zealand to meet some of our New Zealand- based friends and explore the north island. 

The normally lush green landscape was quite noticeably affected by the unusually dry conditions. 

The highlights of our trip included: 

•  the Volcanoes Flight from Lake Taupo; 
• the Waimangu Volcanic Valley near Rotorua; and
• Waiheke Island (thank you Alex).

We had 3 days on Kangaroo Island, the first and last days being with Exceptional Kangaroo Island, who showed us lots of interesting places, transporting and feeding us as well. 

Highlights included the wonderful beaches and wildlife (mainly sea lions), Cape du Coudec and the many reserves and parks. 

We then enjoyed visiting our friends at Goolwa, exploring Hindmarsh Island, Port Elliot and Victor Harbour.

Our wonderful trip on the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin with a stopover in Alice Springs to see Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. 

The train was very comfortable and the food excellent. While the train rested, we all enjoyed a cruise up the Katherine Gorge.

A tour of Darwin included the War Museum and the Botanic Gardens. We then completed our holiday with a 2-day tour of Kakadu National Park and East Alligator River - really worthwhile. 

Thanks to Paul and Heather for helping organise and enjoy the trip with us.