2013 Vacation Plans – Where To Go?

I have a bit of a reputation I think. As soon as we got back from Burma, the first question people were asking was, when are you off again? Where’s the next trip to? Well frankly I’m not sure, but never one to stay at home too long I thought I’d see what was being recommended by that greatest of all travel resources: Lonely Planet – and I checked out their Best In Travel – Top 10 Cities for 2013 And I was bemused: Hobart,  CHRISTCHURCH? Seriously? I suppose it’s unusual in that it’s a wrecked city in a developed country, where you can easily travel to, but really, here’s the insider secret: it was a bit of a non-event for the tourist even before the quake. The city centre always struck me as deserted and run-down and lacking a real centre. I’ve struggled in the past to even find somewhere to eat in the CBD – so in that sense – nothing’s changed!

Hobart? To be fair Hobart  is a pretty town, not a city really, but I have exactly zero outdoor photos of it because in the three days we spent there it not just rained, but snowed at the top of the lookout! Anyone who think Australia’s always hot, hasn’t been to Tasmania. To be fair, and LP skipped over this- they have the most unlikely, and impressive model railroad, developed by a couple of expat Swiss: Model Railway, Hobart

So the Lonely Planet list was not really inspiring me, I had a bit more of a think about my vacation plan for  2013?

It could be time to go to the US – for the first time in many years, family members moving there means the chance of free lodgings/food/car  to bond with my nearest and dearest, that’s  hard to resist. Also Hawaiian Airlines have just started flying to New Zealand  so we could stop off  at the beach in Hawaii for a some beach time, on the way to continental USA.  I’ve never been to Hawaii, and the ex-geologist in me would love to see the lava fields of the Big Island, so I  might just have to start browsing some Hawaiian vacation destinations .

Actually we are heading south to Queenstown for a long-weekend in January, but neither of us can now make it through a whole winter in Wellington without a break somewhere warm. The place of choice used to be Queensland (not to be confused with Queenstown!), but Australia has got darn expensive. Last year we went to Samoa, but the recent cyclone has probably left that place a bit of a mess for the next year or so (reconstruction doesn’t move fast in the Pacific). Which sort of leaves Asia , which we’ve just come back from, another Pacific Island (maybe Cooks or Niue) or the Hawaii/USA plan. We shall see how the bank balance is in a few months!

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