Johnson’s Christmas Vacation 2022

24/01/2023

Day 49 - Sydney to Mandurah: FINAL POST (yay and ‘get back to work and school’ we can hear some of you say).
After finishing literally on a high with the Sydney Bridge Climb on Monday, we left Sydney and took our final of ten flights home to Perth with Jetstar. We were very relieved it was on time, no dramas and all our cases arrived too!
Shout out to Poppy J for collecting us from the airport ready for a nice catch up with some family members to celebrate missed and upcoming birthdays.
Great to be reunited with Bindi, who loved her holiday with Chino and Nanna Lynne.
So nice to get home to be greeted by Nan and Poppy Steve who had sorted our dinner and stocked our fridge, plus kept an eye on our place, with everything looking amazing!!!
We are all so grateful for such an amazing trip, filled with: incredible experiences; greater knowledge of other places; and catching up with with friends from our past. Now all that is left is special memories and to pay off the credit card!

Finally, while we are glad to be home to beautiful Mandurah, it will be forever different with the tragic loss of two of the most fun and loving women, who we were so fortunate to know and spend many good times with.
Our hearts are breaking for Deb and Kylie’s families, friends and the Mandurah community, who are all hurting so badly.
We will be forever grateful for all the joy, fun, laughs and good times you both created and shared with us, and so so many others in Mandurah and beyond.
You will remain in our hearts forever. XX

23/01/2023

Day 48 - Sydney: on the last day of our adventure, the blue skies helped to brightened a very sad day, and not just because it was our last day. Wandering through the city was very chilled (helped by the Starbucks Frappe), the National Maritime museum was amazing and our final experience, the Sydney Bridge Climb, didn’t disappoint. This was Eme’s bucket list request and it was the perfect end to an amazing time away as a family.

22/01/2023

Days 43-47 - Hawaii to Sydney: Thursday was our last full day in Hawaii and we took a catamaran out to snorkel at turtle canyon and it was incredible! We saw up close heaps of turtles, fish and some coral. Friday morning we left Hawaii at 8.30 am and arrived in Sydney at 4pm on Sat. We had dinner from an awesome Thai restaurant close to our appt and this morning, we headed to Market City and enjoyed the Chinese New Year celebrations including lion dancers blessing all the stores. Sunday lunch was a classic chicken parmi at the Great Southern Hotel and this afternoon was low key due to rain and jet lag!

19/01/2023

Day 41 and 42 - Honolulu: two very chilled days surfing (we will share a video of Eme surfing soon), hanging by the pool, eating delicious food and sipping cocktails while watching amazing sunsets. Our highlight however was watching Hamilton last night. So fantastic.

17/01/2023

We have reached 40 days away !!! What lucky ducks and we are only just starting to think it might be nice to sleep in our own beds.
Early start to make it back to San Fran before our flight to Hawaii. Drove through Silicon Valley and checked out Google, Meta, Amazon and more. Great flight and managed to catch the sun set from our hotel balcony and fantastic dinner. Going to enjoy the next 4 days in the sun.

16/01/2023

Day 39 - Monterary to Big Sur Drive: Another spectacular drive with amazing scenery, bridges, few mud slides and the most incredible lunch at Nepenthe Restaurant, perched high on the mountain, with views up the mountain and across the Pacific Ocean. Great day driving this iconic section of Highway 1 for our last full day in California. Tomorrow we drive back to San Francisco and fly to Hawaii 🌴

15/01/2023

Day 38 - Monteray & Carmel-By-The-Sea:
we started with a drive through the hills of Monteray where Averley spotted some deer. We then made our way down to the old town wharf and learnt how Monteray, firstly a Spanish colony, was the Capital City of California in the Republic of Mexico, before becoming part of the USA slightly prior to the San Fran gold rush in the 1850s which resulted in Sacramento becoming the capital. After, we wandered the old wharf and between us tried 20 different flavours of saltwater taffy.
Next up, we walked along Cannery Row and Eme insisted we get some Dippin’ Dots and they were awesome. We had lunch at Bubba Gump watching the high seas before driving to the Carmel Valley to Folktale Winery. We then made our way down to the Carmel coast and drove the 17 Mile Drive through exclusive Pebble Beach and it’s five famous golf courses. The coast was spectacular and the houses were mind blowing !!! The golf courses were also very impressive. Flooding risk still extreme and heaps of fallen trees and erosion but rain was not too bad today so hopefully it won’t be too bad over the next two days.

14/01/2023

This is the weather and possible flooding situation.

14/01/2023

Day 37 - San Fran to Monteray: with storms and serious flooding predicted, we weren’t overly motivated to leave our nice hotel and it’s breakfasts, but we collected the hire car (Santa’s Fe same as mine, just slightly newer) and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge before setting southward on Highway 1.
The coast was copping a battering with incredibly huge surf. All State Parks were closed, as were a few sections of the highway, where there had been mud slides or sections of road washed away.
We drove through Santa Cruz (boardwalk didn’t look open due to storm) and arrived in Monteray about 4pm. We took a drive through Cannery Row and the old section of town before checking in our hotel, in the hills (away from possible floods). Looking forward to looking around more tomorrow and hopefully heading south to Big Sur, if the road is open.

13/01/2023

Day 36 - San Francisco: Pier 39 and Sausalito.
The weather was beautiful today so we walked down to Pier 39 to watch the sealions and get a view of the Bay. We then walked along the Pier and 30 mins around to the Waterfront to the Ferry Building where we caught a ferry to Sausalito. The ferry went past Alcatraz and provided amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge. We had a nice morning exploring stunning Sausalito and enjoyed baja style burritos for lunch, before ferrying back across the Bay. It was 19 degrees in the afternoon and the San Francisco waterfront was beautiful.

12/01/2023

Day 35 - San Francisco: our plans of a sleep in were interrupted by a 5.45am false fire alarm which ended up with all guests out on the sidewalk. Given we were up, we decided to get going earlier despite the rain. The hotel breakfast buffet was awesome so we were too full for chocolate at Ghirardelli first up.
We then jumped on the famous Powell-Hyde Cable Car, took a look down crooked Lombard St and looped back to the Wharf area. After walking along the piers in the rain, we warmed up with Clam Chowder and tomato soup served in Boudin Sourdough bowls.
We headed back to the hotel to dry out a bit, where we played cards and planned our upcoming road trip along US1 - working around the flooded sections.
The rain stopped for a bit so we headed to Chinatown with the idea of dim sum for dinner but after walking six blocks, we crossed into Little Italy, so we decided on pasta. The walk downhill back to the hotel was great and we are hoping the weather continues to improve so we can explore more tomorrow.

11/01/2023

Day 34 - Florida Keys to San Francisco: on our last day in the Sunshine State, we got a bit ‘snappy’, swapping out beautiful waterways filled with turtles and manatees, with the alligators filled swamps of the Everglades.
We got the chance to learn about, feed, hold and even eat ‘gators’, plus go on a hovercraft out into the Everglades, which was so much fun! After we dropped off the Ford Expedition, we boarded our plane to rainy San Francisco and began the journey towards home. It will be tough adjusting back to 10 degrees and winter clothes for the next 6 days before adjusting back to summer temps in Hawaii.

10/01/2023

Day 33 - Key West: we drove south across Seven Mile Bridge and made our way to Key West for the day. We learnt about the role of Wreckers recovering the goods from the 50 plus ship wrecks per year off the Keys in the 1800’s, which resulted in Key West being the wealthiest town in the USA per capital for a period of time. We explored the old town and headed to the harbour which was a beautiful spot for lunch and also for watching the tarpons. Spectacular sunset over one of the smaller Keys on our way back to the resort in Marathon.

09/01/2023

Day 32 - Florida Keys: breakfast at the resort was nice before a day at Sombrero Beach, where we had the place nearly to ourselves but it got busier quickly. Lunch was poolside and then we spotted a manatee in the canal from our room. We headed down to see it up close and it was so beautiful! Dinner was at Porky’s BBQ down the road and while the sunset was a bit of a fizzer, the happy hour drinks and tasting plates were delicious. It was a very relaxing Sunday.

07/01/2023

Day 31 - Miami to Florida Keys: The Johno’s travel luck continued with our van upgrade to a truck! Most beautiful drive through Miami downtown to Coral Glades and then to Pinecrest to see Tomas Dambo’s Giants in Florida to find they had been disassembled 2 months ago! So headed on to the Keys and first stop was Jimmy Johnson’s for lunch and it was amazing sitting waterside. Checked into our our resort in Marathon and enjoying a quiet night pool side. Johnsons back in their natural habitat for sure!!!

07/01/2023

Day 30 - Miami: we had a pool morning and then went to Bayside Market for lunch and did a boat cruise around Miami. Headed past some famous homes and floated past Miami city which was amazing - kinda like a large scale, super charged Mandurah! Great day, and we had Brazilian for dinner, which was a first and yum.

06/01/2023

Day 28 & 29 - on Wed 4 Jan we left Washington DC and arrived in sunny Miami at midday. We have a great view over the Atlantic Ocean from our appt which is north of South Beach and we are all enjoying temperatures in the high 20’s for the first time in a while. Family goal for January is to swim in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Loving the cocktails, tacos and Latin American vibes of Miami.

03/01/2023

Day 27 - DC & second day of Smithsonian exploring: first up was the National Air and Space Museum which was fantastic and lunch was at a DC institution, Old Ebbitt Grill and catching up with our friend from travel past, Alexa! After a great lunch, we headed to the Natural History Museum where the mummies and human evolution sections were amazing. Two of us were digitally transformed - one into Homo Erectus and another into Australopithecus africanus - guess who?
Tomorrow is an early start to catch our flight to Miami.

03/01/2023

Day 26 - DC and Georgetown: First stop was the US Holocaust museum to learn and reflect on such a horrific time in history. We then saw the National Christmas Tree, the Jefferson monument, and the Capitol, White House and Eisenhower Building from different angles. In the evening we did a history and public art walking tour of Georgetown, including the Waterfront area and current Glow installations.

01/01/2023

Day 24 and 25 - Montréal to Washington DC:
Our travel luck continued yesterday with a great flight to Washington DC and easy check into our appt in Georgetown. We headed out to the Georgetown waterfront for a delicious New Year’s Eve dinner at Farmer, Fishers, Bakers. 2023 started with blue skies and a delicious breakfast at Founding Farmers before taking the metro to the Smithsonian Zoo to see the pandas, gorillas and prairie dogs. We headed to the Mall to explore the monuments as the sun set after reaching 17 degrees. We then checked into the Capital One Arena to watch the Georgetown Hoyas play the Butler Bulldogs. Both teams needed the win. So nice to see the sun and head out without jackets!

31/12/2022

Day 23 - Montréal Old Town: another great day with Gui, Thaissa and Arthur exploring and learning the history of the Port and Old Town area, and eating delicious food!
Our first stop was the Notre Dame Basilica which was also our finishing point for the stunning Aura light show, thanks to Aunty Mel and Uncle Dan for the girls tickets.
We had breakfast at Crew Collective which was set up in the old Royal Bank then headed to the waterfront to walk along the partly frozen St Lawrence River. We headed through some markets and tried maple taffy made on snow.
Lunch was at Creperie Chez Suzette and then we went to Chateau Ramezay, established by an early french Governor in 1706 and now a museum covering the History of Montréal.
We looped back to the Basilica to see it lit up at night and went inside for the incredible light show.
Dinner was burgers and poutine at 60year old diner as we wandered back through the winter light installations along Saint Catherine’s Street. 10kms covered today but with nearly all the snow and ice melted with the 6 degree celsius temperatures, it was much easier going for our last day.

30/12/2022

Day 22 - Montreal friends catch up & Cirque du Soleil: it was so special to catch up with Thaissa and Gui, after 15 years and meet their son for breakfast this morning and again for an exceptional french dinner experience at Le Pois Penche. Sandwiched between these two beautiful meals with fantastic company, we experienced the incredible Corteo show at the Centre Bell. Thanks Aunty Julz and Uncle Ryan for the girls tickets. Another great day enjoyed by all.

29/12/2022

Day 21 - Montreal:
Started the morning with a snowy hike through Mont Royal to the Belvedere and Chalet lookout for stunning views over the City. We walked on to Beaver Lake to check out the sledding hill and ice skating, then made our way to Place des Arts for the winter market and then the Luminothérapie light festival. Even the lights in the Des Jardins shopping centre were incredible and a good way to warm up. The ice skating at the Esplanade Tranquille instillation was so fun with the lights at 6.30 turning the rink into a body of water with whales, fish and sting rays projected onto the rink. We walked back up Saint Catherine Street to see more of the Luminothérapie installations, which were amazing. Fantastic fun day in this spectacular snowy city and looking forward to more fun tomorrow.

28/12/2022

Day 19 and 20 - Whistler to Montreal:
Our bus to Vancouver airport collected us at 6.30am Boxing Day and after a night of heavy rain, Whistler was flooded but our bus made it out just as the road was being closed! We also managed to dodge the airport chaos of the days prior to Christmas and arrived in Montreal at 8pm last night.
We ventured out this morning to explore ‘downtown’ Montreal literally, as much of the city is connected underground and we only surfaced a few hours and five metro stops later, to try two of Montreal’s food institutions: St Viateur Bagel and Schwartz Deli. Both featured on ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ and were amazing!!!
We ended up heading back to the hotel after walking 9kms - 5kms above ground enjoying the -5 and fine conditions, but walking on icy/snowy/slushy paths was tough.
Looking like snow tomorrow but keen to head to Mont Royal, and the Winter Markets at Place des Arts. Ice skating may be on the agenda ⛸️❄️🥶

25/12/2022

Day 17 - Whistler Ski Day 3:
Snowy view from our hotel balcony was stunning and Christmassy but once skiing, it was soggy and wet. Still had fun, and got over to Whistler mountain before the peak lifts closed due to ice. We dried off and stayed in the hotel as the buses stopped running, also due to icy conditions. So a very quiet Christmas Eve for us. Great being able to share the Aussie Christmas with our families via FaceTime! One more sleep for us … 🎄❤️🇦🇺🎅🇨🇦🥶

24/12/2022

Day 16 - Whistler ski day 2:
Great day exploring the top of Blackcomb as the snow fell and it was 15 degrees warmer than yesterday at -7. Every one skied well the whole day and finished exhausted!
The girls made their own stockings last night and hung them by the fireplace, adding to the festive charm.
Eme checked out the pool after skiing and then we headed into the village for the evening and had dinner at Milestones, and while a bit cold for it, their Bellini’s are still amazing!
We had a bit of a wait for the bus in -15 as it was colder in the village than the mountain, but walking through the village as it snowed was so worth the cold toes!

24/12/2022

23/12/2022

Johnson skiers in action day 2

22/12/2022

Day 15 - Whistler ski day 1: the mountain was beautiful but the -22 temperature was a test! Eme made one long run before she was frozen solid, Ave made three runs down Blackcombe with a break between the 2nd and 3rd runs to warm up, and the oldies managed five runs - 2 then 3 after warming up and putting up the Christmas Tree 🎄. When we came in at 3pm, it had climbed to -15, and while tempting, we have decided to park the idea of a swim in the heated outdoor pool until tomorrow!