How to break up a long journey ... Aloha, Australia!

Most of the photos here are unrelated to the post, and are just from our yard in summertime.

In my previous post, one month ago, I said that "once we leave summer and move into fall" we'd be thinking more about planning for our next season of house sitting. Well, I was off with that timing!

Since booking that first sit for 2017 in Australia, I've been actively monitoring the house-sitting websites for ones to fit either side of our January/February booked one. As well as three sites we currently use, we also joined another house-sitting website, mindahome Australia. It's not the only one dedicated to Australia, but it seems to have the most traffic and its design appealed to me.

Just loved the colour of this sky on a recent evening

We're happy to say that, since our most recent post, we've agreed upon another house sit, this time in Hawaii. We'll be spending Christmas and New Years (Dec 19 to Jan 4) on The Big Island, in the company of two dogs, Topo and Yogi. We also have the use of the homeowners' vehicle, so we're looking forward to discovering The Big Island.

This stop in Hawaii will break up the long journey to Australia, which was one of my goals. The other reason is that early on in our marriage, I'd promised Greg that we'd visit Hawaii for our 10th wedding anniversary. Well, we'll have been married 12 years as of this coming December, so I'm a little late in following through on my promise.

Our butterfly bushes are in bloom, but no butterflies yet

We've also booked a one-week cruise of the Hawaiian islands, starting December 10th. We'll be sailing with NCL - Norwegian Cruise Lines out of Honolulu on the recently-refurbished Pride of America. I found it interesting to learn that NCL, having its head office in the USA (Miami), is the only cruise line allowed to run cruises starting and finishing in Hawaii. Somewhat of a monopoly, I'd say.

NCL's Pride of America

Currently in Niagara, we're in the midst of high temperatures, running mid-day around the 34ºC to 37ºC in our yard (93ºF to 99ºF). I keep telling Greg it's just our training for Australia! However, before Australia we're off to British Columbia for a two-month house sit, starting in one month's time. There we'll need to adjust to temperatures way below what we're currently experiencing. It will probably feel quite cold to me, as I think my blood has thinned out from our travels.

A beautiful Rose of Sharon peeking through from our neighbour's yard

Each year we seem to start planning our house sits earlier and earlier. Our first year of house sitting we didn't arrange the first one until October, this past year we started in August, and this year it was June. So when will we start booking for the following winter, and where will we be headed?  Who knows! That's part of the adventure!