Spring in the desert is a lot different than in ‘Raincouver’ and we enjoyed our condo’s pool everyday. Our condo was in Chandler and we took side trips to Phoenix, visiting the botanical garden (my pick) and the zoo (Peter’s pick), and trying the famous In-N-Out burger… they were pretty darn good. We did many hikes, the favourite being the Mormon Trail to Fat Man’s Pass. We drove out to Saguaro Lake and found a fun floating cocktail bar… sometimes it is about the destination!

Our biggest highlight was a day trip to Sedona, a beautiful little desert town that’s surrounded by red-rock buttes and steep canyon walls. It was a 2 hour drive from Chandler, but worth getting on the road early for! We started off with a hike around Bell Rock, visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross and also hiked at Cathedral Rock. We had dinner at the Mariposa restaurant, that has one of the best views in the world. Sedona is one of our favourite places we have ever visited and would recommend it for an adventurous yet still beautifully romantic honeymoon!

We did catch a few sunsets as I like to do. Even though it is a bit of a pain to bring along a tripod, I am always glad I to have it for those long exposure sunset shots. The last sunset of our stay was especially colourful and as long as I pack a cooler with snacks and beer, I have a happy partner!

Peter and I like recommend Hawaii to our wedding couples for a romantic (and adventurous as you want) get-away! It is so nice to spend some time together after the busy days of planning and the wedding day itself. In fact, this was Peter and my fourth honeymoon and we plan to keep having them!

Peter and I took an amazing trip to Portugal where we stayed in the Pousadas of Portugal, chain of historical and luxury hotels. Included in our trip was a rental car (our little Fiat was great but the GPS left a lot to be desired!) for five days and you could stay in one to five pousadas depending how much travelling you would like to do. This was our ‘third honeymoon’, and would definitely recommend this tour package for a first, third or tenth honeymoon!

Our first stay was in the small city of Viana do Castelo at the Pousada de Monte de Santa Luiza. After leaving the airport and getting to the pousada in the dark of night, we woke to the most stunning view of the Basilica de Santa Luiza. It is designed in the shape of a greek cross with granite and marble construction and gorgeous stained glass windows. We booked two days here and we enjoyed the sights and the beach in the northern part of Portugal.

Our second stay was in Guimarães, the ‘birthplace of the Portuguese nationality’. It was not a far drive… only about two hours, so we thought. We made a pit stop in Amares for lunch and we didn’t think it would take us too far off the beaten track. Oops…  we had issues with the GPS again and had a round-about mountain drive for an hour. It was beautiful but I only took one photo, I thought we might be lost forever! Some of the roads we were on were only as wide as our tiny little Fiat. We were relieved when we reached our next stop, the Pousada de Santa Marinha, an ancient 12th century Augustinian Monastery. We found a quiet place to chill on the grounds… where monks once walked, we had a beer.

Poudasa number three was the Pousada de Rainha de Santa Isabel in Estremoz, a castle from the 12th century. Because of the previous day’s misadventure we decide to stay on the main road as we had a four hour drive ahead of us. The castle was a absolutely ‘marble-ous’ in fact Estremoz is well known for it’s marble, even the cobble stones and white wash on the buildings were made from it.

Our final pousada was a short drive to Alcacer do Sal where we stayed in the Pousada D. Afonso II. This one was a mix of original structure of the 5000 year old castle with ultra modern updates. After a little pool time we walked beside the Sado River and had dinner under a strikingly clouded sky.

Our pousada tour was now over but we still had two days in Portugal. We drove to Lisbon and said goodbye to our trusty little car. We were now in the heart of the city and able to use the metro, buses and even a ferry to get around. One of the highlights was visiting Cristo Rei, the Christ Statue of Lisbon. Our hotel was passable but centrally located and we didn’t spend much time there. In fact we messed up on the reservation and arrived a day late. Since our flight home was early we decided not to book another day there. So our final day in Portugal we walked and saw every sight (and Peter managed to get a Euro Cup game watched) until midnight, then went and crashed at the airport… always an adventure.

Portugal you have my heart!

I was so excited to have so may sunsets at my shutter finger tip on our 30 day adventure on the Big Island! At first I paced myself and enjoyed leisurely sunsets at our condo, where there was a nightly get-together with the residents and guests to celebrate the end of the sunshine with happy hour.

On our travels, I always had some sort of camera with me, so I would always get a few sunset shots in, even if it was just out the car window as we were driving home. We had a few planned outings where I took a tripod for me to take some long exposure shots… and a couple of beer for Peter to keep him occupied!

As our stay was nearing the end, I would start to get that itchy trigger finger when the sun started to dip towards the horizon. At one point after Peter was yet again waiting for me to get my shots, he said with exasperation “How many sunset shots do you need?” Hmmm, 42,004 sounds like a good number to me.

I have always wanted to go to Hawaii and Maui didn’t disappoint! Most of these photos were taken with my little Fugifilm x100s, it is small but mighty .  When I take this camera along it lets me be more present in the moment, rather than lugging gear around.

We spent a lot of time driving around the island, doing what we love, exploring!  We crossed a few things off our bucket list that I didn’t even know were on it!

• Riding in a helicopter which was fun and a little scary, but the view was breathtaking.
• Driving the winding road to Hana and the narrow road around the west side of Maui, which is so narrow that it is recommended that you drive it clockwise.  We only met a few cars coming the other direction (those daredevils) and fortunately no one fell off the edge!
• Getting up in the middle of the night to drive up to the top of the Halakeleah Crater to watch the sunrise in the bitter cold.
• Snorkelling while holding hands with my husband (so not to lose each other) was lovely and made me feel like we were the only two.
• Drinking mai tais, watching a luau and the setting sun. The sunsets… I can never get enough!

Peter and I have the pleasure of working with a lot of couples as they marry and I wish them all the happiness we have found over the last 25 years.  If we can give a little advice… love each other madly, have adventures always and stay young at heart!

My wedding photographer was none other than my mom!  Peter and I had a very small wedding, but a big fat honeymoon.  I don’t even remember how many countries we travelled to in six weeks, but it was a lot.  We had an amazing time, we both love to travel, so for our 25th we are heading to Maui.  Aloha!