That's all folks!

Well everyone, in the immortal words of Porky Pig, "Th-Th-Th-Thats all folks!".  Everything has to come to an end at some point and after 330 days, 5 countries, 4 continents and tens of thousands of miles on the road, we're now heading home.

In a weird way it's hard to believe that 11 months of travelling has gone so quickly and before we know it we'll be settled back into our "normal lives", but thats how it is.  It's been an incredible journey during which we've experienced plenty of highs and the occasional low, but I think I speak for both of us when I say that it's an experience neither of us will ever forget.  In many ways I think it has been harder than either of us expected, but at the same time, something that neither of us would have wanted to miss.

Although we've been on this trip together, in many ways it has also been a very personal experience that has had its own particular impact on us as individuals - maybe in ways that neither of us were expecting.  So it seems only right to say a few words as individuals:

Rob's thoughts:

"Well it's been quite a ride!  It's been exciting, entertaining, challenging, tiring, fun and plenty of other things over the last 11 months.  If you'd asked me last July how I thought I'd be feeling at the end of the trip, I'm pretty sure it would be different to the feeling I have now.  Back then I believed that I would be able to do this sort of travelling for as long as the money lasted, but turns out I couldn't.  It probably sounds really odd, but all of this travelling lark is actually quite hard work - now I know you probably won't believe me, but until you do it you really don't know.

I've also been surprised by how much I've missed "normality" and some of the more routine elements of your average day-to-day life.  Sounds mundane (and maybe a bit mad) but having some sort of order in your life really seems to work (well for me anyway) - that said I'm sure I'll still be looking forward to a holiday in a few months time!  Now I realise that all of that sounds a little negative, but it's not meant to be as it's just the reality of a trip like this.

Having said all of that I've had an amazing, memorable time and I have absolutely no regrets about doing it.  It sounds cliched, but I truly believe this is one of those "once in a lifetime" experiences and doing it now whilst we are both young (ish) and fit (ish) was definitely the right thing to do.  We've done so many great things during the trip that it's hard to single anything out, so I won't!  Suffice it to say that Iceland was incredible, most of the USA was awesome, Canada is just Canada (therefore great) and Australia had its highlights.  Without doubt though, the revelation of the whole trip for me was Japan - it is a truly astonishing place and probably the best country I have ever been to (praise indeed as that includes Canada).

So, would I do it again?  No probably not.  For me this amount of time away from home is a bit too much.  It's not that I was homesick in anyway, but I certainly missed having a place to live for a prolonged period of time and after a while it became progressively more and more difficult to get the energy to move on to the next place.  So if I did anything like this again, I reckon 3 months would be the right amount of time - maybe thats something to think about for retirement!!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of our family and friends that have supported us every step of the way along this journey.  Without your help (no, I'm not going to name you all as I'm sure you know who you are) there is no way we would have been able to achieve one of our life ambitions, so for that I will be forever grateful.  Thank you all.

Finally I have a few words for Lisa.  Congratulations for putting up with me for 11 months - it's not always easy when we're at home so when you're in each other pockets every hour of every day, it's even more of a challenge!!  Thank you for sharing this experience with me and making it so special - I hope you've enjoyed it as much as me :-)"

Lisa's thoughts:

"The good - oh, there is so much of it!  I have had so many moments where I have thought "wow, I love this" and the ones that stick out in my mind are:

• Night snorkelling with Manta Rays in Hawaii
• Walking right next to oozing molten lava on Hawaii's Big Island 
• Camper van experience in Western Australia - so much freedom
• The whole Japan experience - loved everything about this country
• Tennis Open in Australia - I can so get into this sport
• And many many more....

I am so lucky to have been able to do this, it has been something we have talked about doing for quite a few years and now it has been our reality.  I am so very grateful to our friends and family for their support which has helped us to achieve one of our ambitions so, thank you.

I have had so many great adventures and experiences that will last a lifetime and I have  so many wonderful memories to call upon as well as stories to tell.  I would be lying if I said everything was fab all of the time as there have been times when it's become very tiring - moving around all of the time does take its toll after a while and this sounds odd but sometimes it feels like you just need a day off from travelling.  It has made me realise that I couldn't do this all of the time but back in 2012 before we left I thought I could actually be a nomad!

I feel we have achieved everything we wanted to since we first set out (apart from South America).  It is amazing how different the travelling experience is compared to a regular holiday.  Having spent an extended period of time in certain countries it is strange how you start to see them in a different light and this happened to me in Australia and the USA.  I think the time is now right to start exploring new countries and I believe the incredible Japan experience has opened our eyes to this.

So, Rob and I have spent a huge amount of time together (well pretty much all of the last 11 months ) and I think it's only human that when you spend that much time with one person you are bound to have disagreements.  Fortunately, our disagreements have been really quite petty and the most important thing is we return home still being the best of friends. Thanks for being there and putting up with me when I have had 'my moments!'.

I am actually quite looking forward to going home and returning to something referred to as 'normal' - but not looking forward to all aspects of normality you understand! It will be great to see all our family and friends who I have genuinely missed and I am also rather excited about seeing our Henry cat.  Will he want to check out of his luxury hotel on Tuesday? I'm thinking not!  I am expecting tears and yep they will all be mine.

Finally, I have to just say that the most upsetting thing about the last 11 months was losing my lovely nan in October.  Even though she was 88 it is still a shock to lose someone you are close to.  I am just so glad that we made the decision to return home to say goodbye, this was definitely the right thing to do.  I miss her and it will be odd her not being there when I get back, but she will always be in my heart.

So, Tuesday we will be back in Ipswich!  I wonder how long it will be until I say - I wish I was still on holiday - I'm thinking not that long!"

So, that's it from us.  Thank you for reading about all of our trials and tribulations and we hope you've enjoyed following our trip (nearly) as much as we've enjoyed doing it.

Until next time… ;-)

Our yummy steak dinner on the last evening of our trip - cheers! 

Last stop - Los Angeles

So we had 8 nights booked in and around Los Angeles - 4 in Santa Monica and the other 4 closer to the airport (just to make our lives easier for the flight home).  Whilst in Santa Monica we still had our faithful hire car so decided to do all the things that would be difficult to do on public transport.  

When you hear about LA, you're always told about all of the famous roads, celebrity homes and imagine loads of glitz and glamour - thats not really what we found.  We took a drive around Beverley Hills to check out the swanky homes and it was alright, but you obviously had no idea who lived there.  We cruised around Mulholland Drive for some views over LA (none of which were very impressive) and to check out some of the houses of the rich and famous - turns out you couldn't actually see very much and most of the time all you could see was the gated entrance to their very long driveways!  Some of the houses that you could see were pretty excessively large - just like their massive motor homes which are the size of a coach but for just 2 people!

One of the large houses we were able to see - nice!

We diverted off Mulholland Drive to a little spot we had read about on the internet that was good for photographing the Hollywood sign, turns out the internet was right!  We were pretty close and got quite a good shot of it.  That was one of the most interesting things we have seen in LA - how bad is that!

Rodeo Drive was designer shop alley and anyone who knows us will know that we're not really into labels, so a lot of it didn't really mean much to us and the whole area is pretty pretentious as well as very expensive.  Rob did actually collect the new car he had ordered whilst we were there and as he was so happy that he treated me to cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory (I actually think he was hoping to bump into Penny & Sheldon - Bazinga!)  The cheesecake was good but we did feel a bit sick afterwards.

Rodeo Drive

Rob with his custom made Bugatti!

Oreo milkshake at The Cheesecake Factory

No wonder we felt sick!

Before we had arrived in LA we had got some freebie tickets for a live recording of the Chelsea Lately show - we were hoping to get tickets for something like Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune but as they weren't recording those we had to settle for Chelsea Lately.  We had seen Chelsea Handler (apparently she is a comedienne) hosting her show whilst we have been in the States, but I haven't really found her to be funny.  Putting that aside it was the experience of being in a live studio that we were looking forward to.  

We arrived at Universal Studios and waited around for almost 2 hours before we took our comfy seat in the recording studio, which was actually much smaller than we imagined.  There were some right odd characters in the audience - some loud, some wannabes and some that were just down right weird!  The warm up man came out to tell us when we needed to laugh, clap etc and told us a few jokes.  After a while it was time to welcome Chelsea Handler, so we did and oh my god how cold was she?! Honestly I don't even think she realised an audience was there as she didn't acknowledge anyones existence during the whole recording and I think if she smiled her fake face would have seriously cracked!  Leanne Rimes (with her troweled on make up) was the celebrity guest and she did at least wave to the audience.  She came across quite warm and friendly but told us she wasn't wearing any underwear (ooh too much information!). All in all we really enjoyed the experience but would have preferred a show that was a bit more audience friendly.   We now have our names down for some UK shows to see how they compare.

We also took a drive to Venice Beach = rough, visited the Malibu coast which was underwhelming and took a drive down Sunset Strip which also wasn't up to much (just loads of shops and places to eat - but not as posh as Rodeo Drive).

Santa Monica was a nice place and we did check out the pier and beach which looked OK but nothing extraordinary or worth spending a whole day there.  We had been told and read many things on the Internet that it was a safe area and fortunately whilst we were there it was.  Unfortunately for some others that all changed the day after we left. Sadly a loonie decided to go on a rampage with a gun and killed 4 innocent people - he was shooting at cars and then went to the Santa Monica College where he gunned down those poor people.  We were really glad we had moved on as we were staying literally just a few blocks down from the college.  Just goes to show how unpredictable things can be over here...

So, after moving hotels we handed the car back and relied on public transport for the last bits and pieces we wanted to do.  To be honest we didn't really do very much as there wasn't really much left to do (that interested us anyway).  We got the bus to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the 'walk of fame' and the famous Chinese Theatre. Now we had read reviews on this area and the reviews weren't great so when we arrived we weren't really surprised at how cheesy it was - nothing like you see on TV. There were loads of people dressed up as film characters/actors like Darth Vader, Superman, Marilyn Monroe (how she would have looked today as she was old with loads of wrinkles!) all just trying to get money for photos.  As well as this there were lots of young guys trying to force their 'hip-hop' cd's onto you, loads and loads of seriously tacky souvenir shops and I can't count the number of times we were asked to go on a crappy sightseeing tour.  It's absolutely nothing like the showbiz razzamatazz that is portrayed when you see it on TV.  Suffice it to say, we didn't spend long there before we were back on the bus to the hotel for a beer!

Part of the Walk of Fame

When she saw John Travolta she just could help
Stayin Alive... She actually blended in quite well with the loonies!

The real Hollywood Boulevard

Yet more tackiness from Hollywood Boulevard

Loving the new look ... if the hat hadn't have been
so heavy I would have bought it ;-)

So tomorrow (Sunday) is our last full day on our trip.   We have decided that we are going to have a relaxing one and probably not do too much, but we'll be treating ourselves to a nice meal and a few drinks and finish our trip in style...

USA National Parks

After having a much easier crossing back in the USA, we headed in the direction of Yellowstone National Park.  Once again we have been here before but as we were driving in that direction we had to give it another look.

We stayed in Gardiner for 3 nights and spent time travelling around Yellowstone, taking in the sights but mainly checking out the wildlife.  Here are a few snaps of some of the things:

Travertine terrace, Mammoth

Travertine terrace, Mammoth

A young grizzly checking us out

Frozen Yellowstone lake

A few pelicans and blue heron

A beautiful pronghorn

This baby bison was only about an hour old

A mama black bear, just chilling whilst.....

Her baby was up the tree!

When we were done in Yellowstone we stopped in Grand Teton National Park just for one night (slumming it in the car again).  The main draw here for us (apart from the Grand Teton mountains) were moose.  We always manage to spot at least one and we managed a couple this time along the Gros Ventre river.  The weather was a bit rubbish when we were in Grand Teton so we started to head south where we heard the sun was shining.  That said, we did get lucky and had a nice sunset on the night we were there.

Arches National Park in Utah was next.  This park was all about rock formations and yep you guessed it, in the shape of arches!  It was quite a small park but there was plenty to see and the weather was gorgeous so we managed to get a little bit of a tan.  We had quite a relaxing time in Moab (the place we stayed) as there wasn't much else to do except visit the national park.  The day we left Moab we paid a visit to Canyonlands National Park which didn't have too many things to see and to be honest was very similar to Arches - frankly we were a bit arched out by that point, so we didn't stay for long.  Also managed to have a "heated debate" with some Germans as to whether I should be allowed to have a driving licence (how rude!) - Rob gave them the bird for good measure, so I think they got the message!

Rob is there, somewhere!

North window

Sunset at delicate arch

Mesa arch, Canyonlands National Park

Next we crossed the state border into Arizona and stayed in a place called Page.  Like pretty much every tourist that comes here, we were here for 2 main reasons - to visit Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.  We booked ourselves onto a photography tour for Antelope Canyon which meant that we got 2 hours in the upper canyon at the time of day when the beams of light shine through to the canyon floor.  It was actually a really good experience, like nothing we had seen before and the tour guide did a grand job of keeping people out of our photos.  We got chatting to a Russian couple who were also on the tour and they recommended the lower canyon to us as well so we decided to do that the next day.  I (Lisa) didn't actually take the lower canyon tour as I didn't feel too great that day :-( but Rob did the 2 hour photography tour where he got to wander about on his own taking photos - obviously he hated it!

A beam of light in Upper Antelope Canyon

Upper Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope Canyon

As for Horseshoe Bend, it is basically a great viewpoint over a horseshoe shaped meander of the Colorado River.  After a short walk we arrived at the viewpoint where we were met with a sheer drop to the floor of the canyon with no guard rails (scary!).  The view was pretty spectacular though.

The next park was Bryce Canyon.  Now we had read really good things about this place but were actually quite disappointed as it was a tad dull.  There were loads of people around but the sights weren't too spectacular, maybe because we have seen so many beautiful sights so far and this one didn't really measure up.  There were a couple of main viewpoints to see, Bryce Point and Sunset Point and once you had seen these you've pretty much seen all of the park, as every viewpoint was pretty much the same.  We were here for 2 days and that was plenty enough.  The next place we were heading to was Zion National Park and so many people had told us that this one is amazing and how much we will love it here, we'll see.

Bryce Point

We arrived in Hurricane which one of the closest towns to Zion and made our way into the national park each day.  Now this park was quite small and you had to get a shuttle bus to see the main sights - a bit annoying.  This park reminded me of Yosemite National Park, there were mountains, water and lots of people.  We took in the popular sights within the park which were pleasant enough but we wouldn't rave about it.

So after leaving Hurricane we decided to have another night in Vegas, as the accommodation was really cheap.  It was also good to go to the hotel buffet and have a roast dinner - so much better than the tins and pasta we have been living on over the last few days!  As we had already done most of the popular things in Vegas we just stopped by the famous sign to take some snaps and couldn't resist becoming a slot jockey (again) just for a few hours!  

Yosemite National Park in California was the last park on the list.  We did come here a few years ago and to be honest we remembered it being better than it actually was, maybe a second visit wasn't the best thing to do.  Anyway we cruised around and took in some of the main sights, spotted a few bits of wildlife and took in a nice sunset at Glacier Point which was really good.  Rob also tried some night time photography as he only had to stand outside the car to do it!  

Yosemite falls

Sunset at Glacier Point - the rock is known as half dome

So really that was pretty much it for the national parks.  The best thing we did was antelope canyon and that wasn't even a national park!  Now we are heading for Los Angeles, our last destination before we get our flight home on the 10th June - I cannot believe 11 months has gone by so quickly!  We have heard mixed reviews about LA so will check it out for ourselves….

Canadian Rockies

From Vancouver we took the Sea to Sky Highway for some dramatic scenery and headed in the direction of a familiar spot for us - Jasper, nestled in the Canadian Rockies.  We've been there quite a few times, but we were a few weeks earlier than we had ever been before so we were hoping (and expecting) to see quite a bit of snow.  Sadly we were disappointed.  It turns out the whole area was experiencing a bit of unseasonably warm weather and the town itself was completely clear of snow, although a few of the nearby lakes and surrounding areas were still slightly covered.

Helmcken Falls

A little snow on the way to Jasper

We spent some time at Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake, both of which looked very different to how we usually see them.  Medicine Lake was practically empty and that's how it stays until the higher elevation snow melts.  Maligne Lake was still frozen - usually its a nice shade of blue so it did look very different.  We also took in a decent sunset at Athabasca falls and the massive mosquitos had a bit of a feast on Rob.

Medicine Lake

Maligne Lake

Sunset at Athabasca falls

A coyote wandering around close to Jasper

We roughed it a bit around Japser and slept in the car a couple of nights.  On the third night we treated ourselves to a nice room next to Pyramid Lake - it was great to be in a proper bed and to have a proper bathroom and everything!

Anyway, we made our way out of Jasper and headed down the Icefields Parkway (which is gorgeous and got even more snowy as we gained elevation).  We stopped at lots of viewpoints on the way, overnight we slept at Lake Louise (in the car again) and it was cold!  Last time we stayed here we had ice on the tent, this time it was ice on the car! Lake Louise was still frozen and snow covered, but it looked a bit rough as some people had scraped a load of the snow away to make an ice skating rink and this had spoiled the natural snowy beauty.

Athabasca river

Columbia icefield

Lake Louise

After thawing out, we paid a final visit to Peyto Lake which is one of our absolute favourite spots and this time it was even better than normal.  The whole area was still covered in fairly deep snow, so the walk to the lake was great fun.  Rob completely sunk into the snow at one point as he stepped off the trail - it was hilarious trying to get him out!  When we got to the lake we were the only ones there which is very unusual as its usually swamped with tour buses - it was amazing, so peaceful and beautiful.  We stayed a while, took lots of photos and then slid our way back down the hill to the car, stopping for a snowball fight on the way.  It was a really great and fun morning.

The walk to Peyto lake

Peyto lake

Left leg disappeared in the snow!

Both legs disappeared in the snow!

And he made it out!

Radium Hot Springs next.  This is where we usually see some bears and this year it didn't disappoint, sadly no grizzlies but we did get to see some black bears.  In total this trip we saw 4, we think we were a couple of weeks too early for all the others.

On the way to Banff we drove my favourite road, the Bow Valley Parkway, we didn't see much on the wildlife front and sadly no moose were frolicking in Moose Meadow - they never are, it's so inappropriately named.

We stayed two nights in Banff and to be honest it was probably one night too many as we ran out of things to do.  As much as we love Canada and especially the Canadian Rockies, this kind of confirmed our thoughts that we are right to take a break from North America for a few years and start to explore new countries.  That said, we still had a few new places to visit further south.

Sunset at Mount Rundle, Banff

Next .... We head back to the USA towards Yellowstone National Park and a few others in Utah.