On the road again....

The perfect end

2012-02-12T07:26:00.001-08:00

I found a restaurant showing the Wolves derby!

It was still 1-1 when we took the photo.

It wasn't the perfect end.

Ho An

2012-02-11T06:29:00.001-08:00

We happened to bump into a couple we'd been on a tour in Dalat with last night so ended up tieing one on at some skanky backpackers bar (pic of outdoor urinal below) until the early hours of the morning (vodka shots from the bottle for being a Brit and nearly paying 10 times what I should have for a drink - too many zeroes on their currency man!) . Hoi An shuts down at 10:30pm so we had the streets to ourself on the walk home. Also meant we had to climb over the fence to get back into our accommodation. We've transferred to a hotel near the airport for flight back to HCMC tomorrow morning. Even though we have another day in HCMC it's feeling like the start of the journey home. Especially as I'm hungover, have earache, and forgot to put repellant on this evening when I went out to dinner.

That's Dalat for now

2012-02-09T22:45:00.001-08:00

We had most of a day in Dalat before flying to Danang (for Hoi An), the highlight of which was definitely the swan pedalo we hired. Flight was on a sweet little twin prop. And now we're in the lovely town of Hoi An. Unfortunately they're just taking the lantern's down. Roads open as normal whilst they do tho'.

Weasel Poo

2012-02-08T17:51:00.001-08:00

Yep, they drink it. And so did we yesterday.

We also ate crickets but I don't have photos of that.

I put in a photo for Richie H.

And for those of you that know how much LC likes hole in the ground toilets, there's a picture of her flushing one.

LC

2012-02-06T08:07:00.001-08:00

Picking out our dinner. I haven't seen her so excited since I let her go shopping in a mini-mart in Saigon and she found a deodorant you could buy and get a free water bottle.

And definitely getting a lot less worried about getting the Eartha Kitts. Every time a look away for a second I turn back to see her at another streetfood stall.

My friend Big Reds final hour

2012-02-05T23:10:00.000-08:00

RIP

Blog Holiday

2012-02-03T09:52:00.001-08:00

We just travelled and slept. Place looks okay though.

Kumquat may

2012-02-02T15:07:00.001-08:00

Day trip to the Mekong Delta today. Saw a great variety of stuff. I will reluctantly admit that LC pulled off the traditional head gear look better then me. I reckon I could sell her for a sweet scooter here. Went out to the fancy side of town tonight for some rooftop cocktails and a posh meal. If you restricted yourself to a few blocks you could feel like you were in any major developed city. Glad we did the walk as saw a lot more of the city on our last night here (for now). Up at 5:45am to get the bus to the beach at Mui Ne. £7 for a 300km journey on a decent coach. Which reminds me, it was 40p for tube journey in central HK. Why can't Boris do that! Happy New Year by the way.

Just going to sing a song

2012-02-02T15:06:00.001-08:00

So the reason you haven't heard much about what we've been doing is that we haven't been doing much. Although yesterday we did actually do something other than lie on the beach. I had decided against the 7hrs of kitesurfing lessons but did get my adrenaline kick when I finally caved in to LCs persistent pleas to take her on a jet ski ride. And go too fast, and get some air (at least it felt like it), and drive fast enough into the sand at the end that she would scrape her hand on the handlebar. Good time had by all I think.

We also went for a little hike up a stream to a waterfall, and then ended the day with me insisting we both go for a massage. The highlight for me was the one minute break we had when we had to turn over. Other than that it was an uncomfortable hour of having the piss taken out of me by a little lady. I just lay there trying to remember to breathe and not lose my temper as she deliberately tried to irritate me. Even when she was giving me dead arms. Even when she was slapping my forehead. I could see her mouthing slaphead as she did it. A surprise given she claimed not to understand English earlier in the hour when I'd asked for 'more gentle, softer'.

I'm afraid there's no photos of any of this, so I just put a random one in.

You do not need to be handsome, you just need moped

2012-02-01T07:58:00.001-08:00

Today we had a pre-booked tour of some temple, which looked like a giant cake, and the Cu Chi tunnels, which it turns out LC has visited and even been photographed at before. I also found a puppet pulling off the whole 'camp whilst doing a tough guy activity' schtick even better than DBN. Picked up nice and early by a car with a driver and tour guide. I thought they were driving us to the coach, but they drove us all the way there. Bit of a surprise it was so personalized, though we did pick up another lady. Interesting day. Food continues to impress and had a few drinks in the evening in our area. We're in the backpacker part of town, and it was obvious. 2 for 1 offers being forced on us at every turn, but we found a chilled out place with sidewalk seating on a busy corner. Good people watching.

HCMC

2012-01-31T06:32:00.001-08:00

Our comfort blanket that was the 150 years of British influence in Hong Kong has been rudely stripped away today. It's hot, sticky and all hell has broken loose. We've reached Saigon. Not before checking out the famous Lan Kwai Fong district of Hong Kong. Bloody good for a Monday night. Big beers, live bands and top DJs. DJ bought us a shot in the last place cos he could tell we were digging the music. Unfortunately had to rudely leave straight after to catch the last tube at 1. We got a special mention by the station announcer as we dithered over our tickets as the last few seconds ticked away. I couldn't sleep and we had to be up at 5 for flight, but I'm still alive, and I've kind of written too much without even starting on Saigon. So far it's everything everyone said. Motorbike madness that I haven't managed to capture adequately on film. Bit of sightseeing today, so mostly boring photos. I've put one in. Had to wake LC up after she'd checked it on the camera LCD. Loving the food. Off to Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow.

Ya yee Sam say mmm

2012-01-30T03:03:00.001-08:00

Well today we definitely got a bit conked by the jetlag. I couldn't rouse LC until midday. To be fair, I should probably mention that I didn't wake until 11. But she did seriously delay our plans. So we (finally) headed off for Stanley beach and Murray House. Amazing bus journey. Pictures won't do it justice but I've never seen so many high rise residential blocks. Stanley was nice, if a bit touristy, and we had a good fish chips lunch there. We headed back and next got the ferry to Lamma Island. Lamma was a real strange place. But it was actually the first time I felt like I was properly abroad somewhere different. It definitely didn't feel like I was a 30min ferry ride from a a major financial centre. Anyway, the main must do at Lamma is sitting down at one of the restaurants and having some fish. LC's a big seafood fan, so we sat down at one of the restaurants and she ordered ... pork chops. It was a real yummy meal though. We may have been on the island slightly later than was the norm tho. Slight mixup at the ferry terminal which only LC can do justice in explaining, and we had an extra hour to kill. We got lucky and found some rugby. Has Six Nations started already? Pick of the seats on the ferry though, from where I type this. 10pm now and we might be on our way to the party district. Or we might not. We're up at 5am tomorrow to fly 'nam.

I XOXO HK

2012-01-29T07:58:00.001-08:00

Loving it so far. Bit jaded this morning what with the jetlag. Met up with an old FTSE bud Andrew Lee for dim sum at lunch. Took the Star Ferry over to dim sou jai before heading to Mong kok to experience a bit of proper HK market. LC in her element. Had to have my photo taken next to a big toy creature as Quyen wasn't there. We were saved by having to meet a friend of Lea's for dinner. Chinese hot pot. Well nice. Dave would have loved it. Spent 4 hours there boiling seafood, meat and fresh vegetables in a spicy broth. Sunday night so decided to take a raincheck on Lan Kwai Fong (party district). Chill tonight and check it out tomorrow.

Big trouble in little china

2012-01-28T09:21:00.001-08:00

We're safely here and somehow still awake. The trip started great. Some poor lady got so fed up hearing me childishly go on about being 30p short for a white chocolate magnum in the boarding lounge, she gave me 30p. The lovely lady is in the background of the magnum shot.

My flight companion was great company. She was in this position fr approximately 11 hours of the 12 hour flight.

Been out to eat but easing myself into the local cuisine.

Trying all the local booze though.

The End

2011-05-15T06:48:00.000-07:00

Dad stole all the good photos! Last day today, and just one adventure remaining before we head back. The Chicago Architectural Boat tour. If the last two days are anything to go by it's going to be a boat tour in the cold the rain and the mist. And then, unfortunately, it's off to the airport for the flight home. I second Dad's thanks to our great hosts in San Fran and Chi Town. Great to catch up with old friends in both places. Until the next time, I leave you with a dog playing a piano.

Stuart Day 16

2011-05-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

The Chicago Bean

Cold and wet but still smiling!

Our last full day dawned wet and cold! A gentle start to the day after the rigours of the night before. We met up with an old 5-a-side friend of Steve's from San Fran for lunch and then Ryan took us for a run round downtown Chicago and what a lovely place it is. Stunning buildings against the backdrop of the lake. Then on to historic Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs, to see them play San Francisco Giants (that's baseball, folks). We thought the game would be postponed because of the weather but it went ahead. Great experience but it was now very wet and the temperature was in the 40s. Time for a Chicago deep pan pizza in a buzzing downtown restaurant and an early night! One more event - a water tour of the city - and it's off to the airport. What a trip it's been. We've seen a different side of America to the normal tourist spots, travelled over 3,500 miles across 9 states and had great fun and unforgettable experiences. I don't think I shall be able to assimilate it all until I have been back home for a few days. Thanks to Steve for being a great travelling companion and providing much laughter along the way, Val for her support and encouragement and Tom and Aneesha and Ryan and Carrie for their outstanding hospitality. It's been a blast!

Stuart Day 15

2011-05-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

The extended Lincoln Family!

Great wall art everywhere

Restored filling station

Am I happy?

Rosa's Blues Club

Our last day on the road started with the Lincoln Museum in Springfield. It opened 6 years ago and cost $90m; predictably, it's stunning, particularly the two audio-visual presentations. We then followed the old road through Illinois and the towns along the way have made a big effort to preserve their Route 66 heritage; we found ourselves stopping everywhere. Our lunch stop was in Pontiac 100 miles south of Chicago - sunshine and 88 degrees. As we approached the city, the temperature dropped and dropped, finally reaching 58 - quite a shock. We stayed with R66 until we passed Joliet, at which point we reverted to the GPS to get us to Ryan and Carrie's apartment. I had the pleasure of driving us into the city at 5 o clock on a Friday! The skyline was amazing with the top of the Sears building poking out of cloud. Ryan and Carrie have a lovely apartment and after dinner they took us to a blues club. Couldn't believe my luck - another cherished ambition fulfilled! Great place, great music, too much to drink. So, the trip is over. One more blog perhaps. Today, it's raining and cold in Chicago, but no complaints, we've had wonderful weather.

Stuart Day 14

2011-05-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Gateway Arch

Chain of Rocks Bridge

The rowdy Australians!

Lincoln's Tomb

An early start from Pacific and straight onto the Mother Road. We were soon in the Visitors' Centre for the R66 State Park (63025), which is just a convenient name for a park, but it does have an excellent R66 Museum. Then, into the outskirts of St Louis, which surprisingly has a population of well under 400,00. Lovely city centre but grim apart from that. The city centre is surrounded for miles by completely derelict buildings, quite literally every one is abandoned and boarded up. That said, the Gateway Arch is most impressive (63102), as is the Court House in the centre of town. Getting out of the city centre was challenging but we made it and succeeded in finding our next stop, the Chain of Rocks Bridge (62040), which carried R66 over the Mississippi, which is a mile wide at this point and denotes the state line between Missouri and Illinois. The bridge was a cause of endless accidents, as it has a 24 deg bend in the middle. Our next stop was Litchfield (62056), and lunch at the Ariston Restaurant, another well-known R66 roadhouse. The food was good and the staff charming - we had to sign their guest book and another book of photos that they got everyone from abroad to sign. Another rowdy bunch of elderly Aussies (from Ballarat in Victoria) arrived and we had some good banter with them. On to Springfield (62703), the state capital of Illinois and the childhood home and burial place of Abraham Lincoln. We got to the family grave 5 mins after it closed but were able to see the monument. Everyone has been raving about the new Lincoln Museum in the town, so we'll be going there in the morning. Springfield is a most pleasant place and we are in the Hampton Inn, my favourite chain hotel in the States and our first stay in one on this trip. Our last hotel stop on our journey and onto Chicago tomorrow.

Just the two of us....Part II

2011-05-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

Day ?+2 Ho

2011-05-12T04:10:00.000-07:00

For all those that have seen Cocoon (a classic by the way), that was what the tiny town of Carthage was like. We were the talk of the town down the caf, being introduced to each new member of the male gang who arrived to join the ever expanding posse. I was tickled when one (sneakers, striped short dungarees, baseball cap) suggested we visit their civil war museum. "I've never been but I've heard it's real worth it". We had decided on a small snack in the morning. Dad's back on the bread and tucked in to a sandwich, packet of crisps and chocolate brownie to my oatmeal.

We actually spent most of the morning in Carthage as it's also home to Precious Moments. Dad's been a different man ever since we arrived there. He kept on insisting I took photos of him next to things and is now insisting I upload them to my blog post, see please find a selection herewithunder.

As we carried on to the Ozarks, our one real State Park and hiking segment of the holiday (with tonight our likely camping stop), dad started to point out the drop in temperature and the gathering rainclouds.

gathering rainclouds

I wasn't convinced, but we ended up at a Sleep Inn regardless. We got a bit of an early evening hike in in Ha Ha Tonka park. Most nice. We actually ate-in tonight, picking up supplies from the Walmart across the road.

Next day was off to another part of the Ozarks for more hiking. I suddenly became concerned as couldn't remember packing the brown paper bag with my gift for LC from Precious Moments. A very special little charm. However, we'd done a thorough room sweep to make sure nothing was left. I asked Dad if he'd seen a brown paper bag that I'd left by the rest of my things in the room. He said the only brown paper bag he'd seen was the one he'd put his half-eaten sandwich in and chucked in the bin.

Sorry LC.

This morning we did a lovely few hikes around the Lake of the Ozarks State Park. Beautiful, and lots of wildlife. We saw tortoises, deer, chipmunks. Only the tortoise was happy to stop for a photo. Although he didn't look thrilled.

It is a shame we're not here for a bit longer.

Stuart Day 13

2011-05-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Getting to know the locals

Stonehenge in Rolla

God Bless America!

The Lake of the Ozarks

Yesterday was slightly cloudy, keeping the temperature in the low 80s, and this morning was similar. We jumped into the car and made for the Lake of the Ozarks State Park (65049). We hiked three of the trails and very nice it was too. By lunchtime, the sky had cleared and it was up into the 90s again, so our hiking was well timed. We then drove south towards R66, which we joined at Waynesville (65583). After lunch at the Paradise Deli (we much prefer the independents to the chains), we followed the old road to Rolla (65401), where we discovered the original Stonehenge, which I always thought was in England. On we rolled towards St Louis, stopping to view the Meramec Caverns at Stanton (63079). Caves are caves, but these were quite spectacular, climaxing in a splendid lightshow around a curtain of stalagtites to the tune of, yes you've guessed it, God Bless America. Our guide's dexterity on the light switches was amazing (no hi-tech in Missouri!). By this time we were ready for our evening meal and plumped for the highly recommended Red Cedar Inn, a long-standing gem of R66, in Pacific (63069). We drove into the car park and immediately sensed that something was not quite right. All the restaurant signs were still there, including the neon "Open", but when we got to the door we realised that it was now a second-hand car dealership! Ho Hum. Undaunted, we returned to the strip in Pacific and the Rail Bar. What a fine place! The owner was brought over to meet us (and duly bought us a drink) and we were introduced to everyone in the bar, who dutifully came over and shook our hands. We are getting very used to being asked 'What are you doing over here?', replying 'Driving Route 66' and being told 'Why would you wanna do that?'. Well, we're enjoying it. 3000 miles turned over today and we have just over 300 to go to Chicago.

Stuart Day 12

2011-05-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Carthage Diner

A precious moment!

Rambo!

A new baseball cap

Having had the night to reflect that we had taken the Downstream Casino almost to the point of financial collapse, Steve decided to rub salt in the wound by investing a further dollar; unfortunately, we had to waste precious time while he found a machine that required a stake of less than $5. Eventually he did, and the casino was saved when his dollar bill was lost at the single press of a button. We headed off for Carthage (64836), where the first battle of the Civil War was fought. A lovely town with wonderful homes and a town square straight out of 'Back To The Future'. We parked in the square and approached the most impressive county courthouse just as a prison van disgorged its contents - young men in hooped prison suits in handcuffs and chained to each other round the ankles. Breafast in the retro Carthage Diner was a delight - it was clearly a meeting point for the elders of the town, who engaged us in lively conversation as their members came and went. Curiosity then attracted us to the Chapel of Precious Moments, which we expected to be a religious movement. In fact, Precious Moments was conceived by an artist and is a brand of cards and figurines featuring angelic children - the ultimate in American schmaltz. The grounds are beautifully tended and peaceful and the 'chapel' features murals of the angelic cherubs. As we left, the whole place was somehow summed up by the smallest dwarf I have ever seen concluding his gospel concert by singing 'God Bless America' to a desultory audience of half a dozen people, including an elderly Amish couple. On to Springfield Missouri (65807)(we shall also be going to Springfield, the state capital of Illinois). Interesting place, famous for the Bass Pro shop, the largest outdoor (huntin', shootin', fishin') shop in the world. Amazing place. We then took a detour up to the Ozark Mountains. Drove through pretty rolling farmland, dotted with Baptist churches and extracts from the Psalms on placards along the roadside exhorting us to repent. Steve has returned his winnings to Downstream! At this point, I thought a night under canvas was inevitable, but we eventually booked into the Sleep Inn in Camdenton (65020). We then undertook a couple of strenuous but enjoyable hikes in the Ha Ha Tonka State Park and look forward to more tomorrow.

Day ? Ho

2011-05-10T18:56:00.000-07:00

Oklahoma has definitely been a breath of fresh air. Probably because it's a state we've never been to before, unlike New Mexico and Texas which we covered on our last trip. There was a definitive landscape change, now much greener despite it having apparently been very dry for a long time. And there's been lots of real-life cowboys around over the last couple of days. Although the cowboys nowadays seem to ride tractors rather than horses. Generalising based on the small sample we've viewed, it seems like you're either a cool dude rugged cowboy or a slightly large and slobbish. Dad and I decided we'd both have been cool dude cowboys if we'd happened to have grown up here. Of course there's one cowboy they revere above all others here. The great man Will Rogers. Yep, we hadn't heard of him either. But there's mentions of him everywhere, and we felt we had to visit his memorial in Claremore (well, it happened to be near a pie-shop that was recommended - which was closed, annoyingly). It's quite the most impressive tribute to one man, who appears to have been set on the road of stardom through his cowboy roping skills, and ended up being a kind of jack of all trades - writer, comedian, film star, and all round good guy. He seems to have been a national treasure in the Stephen Fry vein, though the monument was more something you'd expect for Princess Di. Anyway, think that's enough about Will Rogers.

that's will, on my left

We stopped at a number of Route 66 stops through the day, and started seeing more evidence of route 66 tourists, which I'd just been saying had been suprisingly scarce since California. Couple of Brits doing the trip on Triumph bikes and a convoy 18-20 cars of Aussie's all at the Rock cafe in the morning.

Also had a delicious bbq brisket bun as a mid-morning snack. In my top 3 meals, and we got to leave our mark.

Also came with QFF, which we questioned and discovered stood for curly french fries. I decided not to correct them on their spelling given the clock debacle at the state park. We ended up at one of the oldest route 66 cafe's in Vinita - Clantons. Been in the Clanton family since it opened in 1926.

This was disgustingly unhealthy food. Everything deep fried and smothered in stuff. Only the second confirmed sighting of Dad refusing a bread product. We had our ups and downs with the waitress too. At one point she had to ask me if she could take Dad's plate as she was no longer talking to him, but cheered up enough to randomly launch into the details of some family member's visit for the prom on Saturday and the party they were having on Friday night. We feared we were being invited. However, she did close out by suggesting we go to Downstream Hotel and Casino. So we did. Dad definitely doesn't gamble, so he definitely didn't spend the evening at the blackjack table and definitely didn't end up $10 up. I had a bit of a pop though and ended up a nice $30 up. Spent a bit of time at the end watching a guy playing 2 hands at a table by himself (though lots of hangers on). $5G each hand. Old guy with a combover, and when he won one hand, he leant over to this hottie half his age and gave her a peck on the cheek. Dad suggested it was his daughter, which I thought was sweet.

Stuart Day 11

2011-05-09T21:58:00.000-07:00

Geordie Bikers

Russ's ribs - delicious!

Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in Tulsa

Galena

Downstream

Yesterday was Oklahoma's hottest for the time of year for donkeys - it was searing. Thought we might have storms last night but today has dawned clear and sunny. A comfortable low 90s all day, but quite windy! We got on R66 staright away and had a most pleasant drive up to Tulsa. Rolling farmland, quite prosperous towns and R66 a regular road in normal use. Stopped for coffee at the Rock Cafe, constructed in 1939 from lumps of rock from the original road. Bumped into a couple of bikers from Sunderland who were riding west on brand new Triumph Thunderbirds and a large group of very noisy elderly Australians who were driving to Las Vegas in 20 cars to raise money for charity. They were even letting off thundercrackers outside the cafe. After a delicious BBQ sandwich at Russ's Ribs in Bristow (74010) , we cruised into Tulsa (74101). Nice city with lots of art deco buildings, very quiet and loads of parking - very unAmerican. More miles on R66 and we had an early dinner at Clantons, a family restaurant in Vinita (74301) (and a recommendation for an overnight stop). Into Kansas for a 15-mile loop, including Galena, the most depressed town we have seen. Then into Missouri and the recommended overnighter in Joplin - the Downstream Resort and Casino (64804). Steve started to get very excited. A lovely room and over an hour on the Blackjack table - and we both won! It was all so quick and bewildering that I was exhausted by the end of it!

Stuart Day 10

2011-05-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

U Drop Inn

Texola

Sign of the times!

R66 Museum

Oklahoma City Memorial

Buoyed by the news of Wolves' win over WBA, we set off in good heart from McLean. Headed along the I-40 to Shamrock, where we picked up the Old Road. The art-deco U Drop Inn was impressive and then it was into Oklahoma and the town of Texola right on the state line - another R66 ghost town. Then into Erick (73645), the birthplace of Roger Miller and Sheb Woolley, and a place that time seems to have forgotten. Two hardware shops along Main Street looked as though someone had locked the door in the 1960s and they'd never been opened since. Also, a couple of places where it seemed that the owners collected signs and just left them in their gardens. Clinton (73601) is home to the R66 Museum and this was a real treat. Given that Oklahoma seems to close on Sundays, we were surprised, and relieved, to find it open. Onto Oklahoma City (73131) via some interesting small towns and the Memorial to the 1995 bombing (couldn't believe it was that long ago). The memorial was both impressive and moving and visited by many people. We're now in a Sleep Inn north of the city and will be heading off to Tulsa in the morning. Yes, we're less than 24 hours away! We had an interesting incident this evening with a surprise unmanned toll booth that took coins only (35c worth) and we had no change. How we got out of that one will have to wait for another day.

day 9/10 Ho

2011-05-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

I've read Dad's blog and he's done a really great job of covering the last couple of days. And he hasn't even done anything particularly silly that I can pick up on either. Well there was that time he insisted his hash brown was actually salad, but it's not enough for a whole blog. So I think I'll leave it as a happy US Mother's Day for Mops, and a selection of photos.

Stuart Day 9

2011-05-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

Glenrio Ghost Town

Halfway!

Palo Duro

Never done this before!

The raw Challenge!

Quite a significant day today. We left New Mexico after 3 good days and moved into Texas (another time change), we reached Midpoint (1139 miles to LA and Chicago) and we passed 2000 miles. Our first port of call was Glenrio, a R66 ghost town (except that some people are still living there and they have lots of dogs!). Scary! We then picked up R66 and drove into Adrian (79001) and the Midpoint Cafe - good breakfast and R66 memento overload. We continued on R66 to the Cadillac Ranch, indeed a bizarre place. A Californian millionaire has 'planted' 12 Cadillacs, 1957-1962, in a field. That's it but it certainly brought out the inner vandal in me - watch out Banksy! It was getting pretty warm by this stage, over 90, and we headed south from Amarillo (79101) to Palo Duro Canyon (79015), America's second largest canyon. After viewing some longhorn cattle we headed down into the canyon for a hik., As we set off on foot, the thermometer showed 110 and it was like a sauna. Don't worry, Val, I had water and sun screen! Amazing - two days ago we were throwing snowballs at each other, today we are hiking in well over 100. As a reward, we then sought out the Big Texan Steakhouse. We were hoping to see someone take on the 72oz steak challenge and about 15 mins after our arrival some young lad took his place at the raised table and away he went. We had the netbook with us and had the bizarre experience of watching him from our seats to the side while viewing him head on on the restaurant's website. It was a pretty pathetic attempt and he stopped chewing at about the half hour point. It's all fairly obscene - he's sitting on his own at a raised table with this monster in front of him and a big bowl on the floor alongside him! Despite that, we enjoyed our meal and then headed off on the Interstate to find some accommodation. We ended up in the Cactus Inn in McLean (79057). We asked the very nice lady on the desk if we could get some beer in the town and she told us that we could get beer 7 miles one way and liquor 20 miles the other. She told us that the restaurant at the back of the motel had a cowboy singer on tonight, and when we asked if we could get a beer in there, she told us that we couldn't buy it but we could take our own in! We're obviously in that part of Texas! We decided on an alcohol free Saturday evening. Lovely lady and lovely room, the cheapest we've had - still in the 90s at 7.30, though.
Today's fact: Tucumcari has a population of 5,000 and a strip 7 miles long (sadly, half derelict)

Stuart Day 8

2011-05-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

Church in Taos

Scary!

Bridge over the Rio Grande

Love it!

50s Neon

Even a R66 chair!

The only fixed point today is the need to be in Tucumcari (88401) this evening, so over breakfast we made a snap decision to carry on north, away from R66, to Taos (87571) in the north of the state (a place I have always wanted to visit). The drive there was terrific, running alongside the canyon of the Rio Grande for some of the way. Taos is a very fashionable ski and summer resort (and home to Julia Roberts which I think Steve may have mentioned!) but its main attraction is the Taos Pueblo, a 1000-year-old Indian settlement and World Heritage site.. A stunning place, even if the selling opportunities are rather overdone. You're not allowed to take a photo with an Indian in it without tipping. I even had to pay 6 bucks to take my camera in. I never realised that my travelling companion is such an inveterate shopper; not quite sure what he's going to do with a tomahawk. Fortunately, he managed to resist the bow and arrows! The Rio Grande Bridge was spectacular, though the river sadly seems to be not much more than a trickle, and burritos at Abe Cantina delicious. Long drive south to Tucumcari through several differing landscapes - snow-capped peaks, forested mountain slopes, rolling farmland, desert. Love New Mexico, town and country! We arrived in Tucumcari to find a very nice R66 sculpture, based on the tail-fin of a 1962 Cadillac. Our motel, the Blue Swallow, is a 50s throwback, with original neon, a garage alongside each room and 50s style rooms. Immaculately clean, but we were the only guests. The owner turned on the neon for us so that we could take photos. The only eating/drinking establishment was, we were told, a mile's walk away. Much further than that but when we arrived at the Lounge Lizard we found that it was Friday night dance, at $30 a pop. They very kindly ushered us into a side room for food and drink and we managed to smuggle ourselves into the dance at the end of the evening. They even ran us back to the motel! Tucumcari was 97 degrees today; it was still 78 when we got back to our room.
Today's interesting fact: American petrol pumps now spout adverts at you while you are filling up. Talking of which, we've encountered huge disparities in fuel prices - $4.89 a gallon in rural California down to $3.64 in New Mexico. The locals are dreading the average price reaching $4.

Days 7/8 Ho

2011-05-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

Last two days have been in New Mexico and it is establishing itself as one of my favourite states. Amazing scenery and colours, and as a result, loads of little artist communities, as well as the native american heritage which is still very prevalent. Having said that, we started yesterday in Grants, which is a complete dump. Lots of derelict buildings, drunks lying on the streets, but then the most amazing little museum with a recreated mine. Great, and they foolishly left us unattended.

After checking out Alberquerque, another neat New Mexican town in the style of Santa Fe, we spent most of the day in and around the Sandia Mountains. We hiked up to 10,668 feet for some amazing views at the Sandia Crest. And after returning to the car at 10,663 feet, it was a lovely drive back down the mountain.

10668 ft

snowball

Having had a few beers last night at a marvellous microbrewery pub just outside Santa Fe, we made the last minute decision this morning to take a significant side trip away from route 66 to visit Taos, somewhere Dad's always wanted to visit. Apparently Julia Roberts lives there. A big fan of her work, judging by how much he went on about it. So today we've seen a traditional indian pueblo, which has been continuously populated for over 1000 years. Is that impressive? I'm pretty sure that's less than Hemingford Grey, and I didn't see them boasting about it in their Parish Plan. But nonetheless, it was a wonderful little village to stroll around and lovely shopping. I'm particularly excited about the tomahawk I bought as a gift for Lea. And we continued further into the mountains for some great mexican food. And Dad thinks he saw Julia Robert's house. And we also saw the most photographed church in the US, which normally wouldn't be that exciting, except that when a coachload of tourists filed out and lined up to take pics, this scruffy dude rolled up dropped his transport off, and walked in.

Brilliant

So a good day all round. Tonight we make it to another of our booked accommodation stops, the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucamari.

Stuart Day 7

2011-05-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

Old Route 66

Albuquerque Cinema

The children at play

View from 10,600 ft!

One of those good days where we did not know where we were going to go, what we were going to do and where we were going to spend the night. We started off by going to the Mining Museum in Grants (87020) - a very interesting little museum which featues, underground, a reconstruction of a uranium mine. Uranium was discovered here in 1950 by a native American rejoicing in the name of Paddy Mendez! Poor old Grants - the Interstate is only a mile away but has clearly ripped the heart out of the town. All the motels on the main strip are closed but at the far end of town, over the Interstate, is a new complex of motels, Wallmart etc. We then picked up old R66, which is in pretty poor condition here, and trundled along to Los Lunas. Unending, stark but spectacular landscapes. We then picked up the Interstate and whizzed up to Albuquerque (87104), a lovely looking city. R66 is the main street of the city and is lined with refurbished 30s style art deco buildings. The historic old town is Spanish, but we were not quite sure what is original and what has been created for selling opportunities. Whatever, it's very pretty. We then took to the hills, literally, rising to 10,600 feet at Sandia Crest. Well above the snowline, so needless to say the children threw a few snowballs! Spectacular views over the city and across the surrounding peaks. By this stage we decided that we might as well continue to Santa Fe (87507) for our overnight. Well, the original pre-1936 alignment of R66 followed the Santa Fe trail to Sante Fe. This took us through a charming little town called Madrid, where the native Americans have moved out and the artists, sculptors and craftspeople have moved in. After choosing the delights of the Comfort Inn for our overnight, we spent a really good evening at the Blue Corn Cafe and Microbrewery. Nuff said!
Today's boring fact: something I'm surprised I haven't noticed before. Exits on Interstates are numbered according to the distance from the state border, eg exit 231 will be followed by 239. This means that the same junction will have 2 different numbers depending on direction of travel. How about that!

Day 6 Ho (I have wrong day numbers)

2011-05-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

empty bottle of groceries

Another busy day, with a mix of route 66 sights and native american parks (apparently there were people here before the road!). We treated ourselves to a Quality Inn tonight, and got very excited about all the facilities - particularly high-speed internet. We were out of groceries, and I was missing Lea and Sandra's cooking, so we also treated ourselves to something that wasn't a hamburger or steak.

One big drawback of holidaying in twos is the lack of photos with both of us in them. Dad and I had been lamenting this, and I'm sure you have too. So, we had a little play around with self timers, and, for your viewing pleasure........

Native American ruins

self-portrait

judge and witness

We had quite a lot of fun in the courthouse

what i learnt today - running on a treadmill in hiking shoes is not much better

new blisters, different toes

I'll keep you updated on progress

Stuart Day 6

2011-05-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

Home Sweet Home (on the range!)

Wigwam Village

Artistic graffiti

Insription Rock

Well, after a restful wigwam night, we set off to explore Holbrook, starting out with a chilli-laden breakfast at Jo and Aggie's Cafe. We then went to the old Navajo County Courthouse, now a local museum, the highlight of which is the old cells that were in use until 1976 and feature some extraordinarily artistic graffiti. The museum is just full of, well, stuff. As we arrived, a local schoolteacher pitched up with one of his special needs students, a 19-year-old lad with, among other problems, giganticism. He is 6ft 9 and still growing. He was dusting the exhibits and took on the task of being our personal guide. All very touching. The teacher was just wonderful with him. We then hit the Interstate (very little R66 here) and rolled into New Mexico and into Gallup. A quick stop at the El Rancho Hotel (yes, another one), which is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. It's on R66 and has played host to presidents and film stars by the dozen. Signed photos adorn the walls. We then went on another of our detours, this time south into the Zuni and Navajo Nation Indian Reservations. After crossing the Continental Divide we arrived at the El Morro National Monument Visitors Centre. The ranger outlined the trails and told us that we would have to be back by 1645. Steve confidently told her that their clock was wrong; at this point, we realised that we might have crossed a time zone. Gulp! Anyway, we took the trail to Inscription Rock, a 200-foot high sandstone cliff that has been inscribed by travellers who have passed ever since explorers in the early 1600s. We then ran into Grants, another old rail town with boarded-up shops and businesses. However, we found a Quality Inn at the far end of town, and very nice it is too. A little bit of down time and a chance to catch our breath.
Fact of the Day: if an American asks for your John Hancock, he wants your signature - John Hancock was the last person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Stuart Day 5

2011-05-04T19:50:00.000-07:00

Pueblo Ruins

The road to Sedona

Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona - takin' it easy

Have you slept in a wigwam - more photos tomorrow!

R66 memorabilia

Another healthy option - and this is a starter

Today, we started with a quick look around the sights of Seligman; apparently, many of the old cars that help decorate the town were used as models for the Disney 'Cars' cartoon. We were soon back on the Interstate, as it has been largely built on top of the old R66. So we decided to take a couple of detours. First we headed north towards the Grand Canyon and toured the Wupatki State Park. Lovely views of the Painted Desert and interesting ruins of Pueblo Indian communities dating from the 12th century. Then we headed south back to Flagstaff and on to Sedona, billed as one of the 10 most scenic drives in the US. And wonderful it was! Back onto I-40 with a few detours to R66 landmarks, bizarre places such as Twin Arrows and Two Guns (not Dogs!). So, on to Holbrook via Winslow and our overnight accommodation in a concrete wigwam! Yes, it's true. R66 used to have many of these Wigwam Villages and we are in one of the only two surviving ones. As I write this, Steve is complaining about the lack of hot water, but what can you expect in a wigwam. It was certainly very quiet and pleasantly cool, and also had all the facilities you'd expect in a standard hotel room (except hot water!). I had some problems inserting photos in yesterday's post, so I've added some relevant ones here.

Days 5/6 Ho

2011-05-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

The two lane blacktop

The last two days have been Route 66 proper. We first hit Amboy, population 2. The only thing still open was Molly Malone's Irish Bar. Joking. It was a Post Office. You know that wouldn't happen in the UK. Post office would have been the first to close. An entrepreneur bought the town a few years ago for $400k. Bit of a fixer upper (there's a bloody runway and school there, but he's got restoring electricity to get to first). Amazing the decay in such a short-time, just since Interstate 40 came into being in the 60's/70s.

burro

Then it was up into the mountains. First bit of tricky navigation, but we eventually made it to Oatman, a real-life cowboy town. Much better than Calico! Still a bit touristy, but a real little old mining town in the hills, with burros walking the streets and original buildings still hanging on.

A sweet drive down to the tunes of Steppenwolf and Bachman Turner Overdrive followed, with the occasional random one shop outpost along the way. We also came across a homemade cemetary in the side of a hill by complete chance (I wanted to try the car out in a bit of off-roading along the cliffside). Not mentioned in any of the guide books, and we figured it must be bikers that have died aloung the route. So I scrapped the offroading along the cliffside idea and took a few pics instead.

We made it down to Selgiman for our first night's unbooked accommodation, and got the last room at our preferred choice, the Canyon Motel. Ended up in the James Dean Themed Room. Sweet! If someone doing James Dean jigsaws and putting them on the wall counts as a theme. Still, at $60 for the night, I'm not sure what we could have expected. After the worlds biggest plate of nachos, some warm mexican beer and a generous slug of Makers Mark bourbon, it was another early night.

One (of many) blistered toes

What I learnt today - don't run bare foot on treadmills.

Day 6 started with the cars from Cars.We drove into Flagstaff (a bird flew into our grill on the way - I was slightly taken aback by Dad's "Got it! Did you see!"). He was in a great mood, and bounced into a proper American diner for breakfast. It didn't think of itself as an American diner, and our server thought it was so sweet that there were tourists there, and that we were so cute and polite. Flagstaff's a nice liitle town, with it's funny named streets.

red light at the entry to Steve's Boulevard

250 miles and two sightseeing trips later, we were back at Flagstaff. Sure Dad's covered it.

Twin Arrows!

By then we were in a bit of a rush to get back on route 66, and past Winona (tiny), the Twin Arrows (viewed at high speed), Two Dogs (more later), Meteor City (closed), Winslow (we stood on a corner) and on to our wigwam at Holbrook (I had my reservations).

Off-roading!

Two Guns was the highlight. We pulled off the road to this derelict group of buildings (which used to be a zoo), and there were two cars already there. We drove up and this bunch of goths asked us if we were here 'for the meet'. They'd obviously spotted a kindred spirit in the bird sacrificing driver. Intrigued, we pressed for info, but they were reluctant to share details. Instead we ended up with directions along a dirt track to an old bridge and view of Diablo Canyon which was 'kind of spooky' and 'where lots of people had died'. As the sun was getting towards setting, I was happy to nod politely, get the hell out of there and back on the freeway. Dad, however, wanted to do the drive. Mostly, he informed me, so he could see what the hell these kids were up to when we got back. I put aside my visions of being followed into the middle of the desert by these human-sacrificing devil-worshipping direction givers, and went along with him. It was pretty spooky.

And when we got back to Two Dogs, there was a different car and a lorry now pulled over. Following Dad's considered verdict on the driver ('don't like the look of him, not that I can see him'), we scooted on by.

What I learnt today - still to be discovered, once I've googled 'the meet Two Dogs AZ'

Stuart Day 4

2011-05-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Five more minutes and I'll have room for another burger

Neville on the Two-Lane Blacktop

My 88-year-old biker pal

Another early reveille and by 6.30 Steve was on the hotel treadmill. Two miles later, he was complaining about blisters, poor thing! We walked into the breakfast room, where local guests and the owner were glued to the TV. Steve asked with nonchalance and seeming innocence: 'Anything on the news?'. You can imagine the triumphal response! By 8 o clock we were on the road and after a bit of fiddling about managed to find the old R66. So, with MP3 players fully charged and the car stereo turned up to 11, off we went. And what a day we had. For the most part, the road is in pretty poor condition and you trundle through deserted and derelict communities. We were mainly running alongside or near Interstate 40 and the railway line, which used to provide employment for many of the communities. We were surprised at how much traffic was on the tracks, all of it freight. Just about every 5 minutes, a huge mile-long goods train comes trundling along. The first point of interest was Bagdad Cafe, the location of the 1980s cult movie of the same name. The road was generally fairly quiet, apart from literally thousands of bikers on Harleys, many of them from Germany. Amboy was interesting - another formerly thriving town now deserted but recently bought, the whole town including an airport, by an entrepreneur for $400,000. It failed to reach its $995,000 reserve on eBay! While we were at Roy's, an icon of R66 that used to employ 90 people, we noticed that the petrol attendant sporting a gun and I also got chatting to a bunch of bikers who rolled in. They explained that everyone was returning from a 5-day meet somewhere in Nevada. One of them was 88, a WWII vet and still cruising around in his leathers on his 3-wheeler Harley. We lunched in Needles, one of the hottest spots in the US. Temperatures reach 120 in the summer but it was only 86 when we were there. Talking of the weather, we actually saw a cloud briefly today! We then took a big loop through amazing back country terrain to Oatman, a hick Wild West town with wild burros roaming the streets. It was in the Oatman Hotel that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, in an attempt to escape Hollywood, spent the first night of their honeymoon. Unfortunately, the suite was being refurbished so we couldn't see it. Some of the locations in the town were also featured in 'How The West Was Won'. By now we were in Arizona and the next highlight was the Hackberry General Store, a treasure trove of rusting old cars and R66 memorabilia. Could have spent the day here. And so on to Seligman, where we managed to get the last room in Canyon Lodge. We spent most of the day on R66, probably the only time we'll do this, and it was just superb.

Stuart Day 3

2011-05-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Helping to regenerate the desert

Burger Bliss

Faded glory of the Mother Road

The calorie count (and no, I didn't have one)

We decided to make an early start to avoid SF traffic and were on the road by 6am. Forgot to mention that the 2-door economy car that we pre-ordered eventually turned into a Dodge SUV! Very large and very comfortable. Anyway, we headed out over the Bay Bridge just as the rising sun was hitting central SF - some stunning views behind us. There followed a long flog down the San Joaquin Valley to Bakersfield and then past Edwards Air Force Base (home of shuttle landings) to our destination Barstow, our first stop on R66. Lots of roadside placards on the way down about Congress creating another dust bowl - not sure what that is all about! As a result of our early start, we covered the 400 miles by 1 o clock, so we had my first experience of In-n-Out Burger, a chain found only on the West Coast. Good food, but talk about a feeding frenzy! This is obviously what the good people of Barstow do on Sundays. Hundreds of punters milling around and about 30 people cooking the burgers, fries etc with breakneck dedication. A masterpiece of organisation and logistics. With time in hand, we decided to go to Calico, a silver mining ghost town. Mainly a recreation of the original buildings to create selling opportunities but interesting, nevertheless as an indication of where and how people had to work and live not all that long ago. Onto Barstow Main Street and our motel. Sad place (Barstow, that is). Once a thriving rail town of 20,000 but now a long strip of closed down and boarded up retail outlets. The El Rancho Hotel, once a landmark R66 motel, now seems to be a squatters' haven and we were told has had drug and prostitution problems. Dinner and the final realisation that we will have to resign ourselves to the fact that healthy eating is not option on this trip! Restaurants are now obliged to print calorie counts on menus but it doesn't seem to make any difference to anyone.

Day 4 Ho

2011-05-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

The start of our Route 66 adventure proper. After 2 days being wonderfully hosted by Aneesha and Tom, and catching up with the good people of San Francisco, we had our car 'Nev' and our guide 'Tom Tom', and just an 8 hour drive between us and Barstow, our starting point on the old mother road.

Thanks to our lingering jetlag, the 8 hr drive got us in to Barstow for a 1 o'clock lunch, and then the realisation that there's not actually much else to do. But there is an In'n'Out, many American's favourite burger chain, with all the things you'd hope for from an American burger joint. Shiny surfaces, lots of neon, and secret menu items. We risked making tits of ourselves and ordered our burgers 'animal style' cos we'd read it on the internet. No one laughed at us.

And we went to a real-life ghost town.

We were wondering what mum had been up to. That was until Dad checked his email and saw the wine purchase confirmations on his account All was clearly well back at home.

tourist attraction pretending to be a ghost town

The Tom Tom Truth. We're taking 264 hours to do a journey that can take 32,

lucky, cos I nearly forgot where I was

large strawberry in california. i reminded him about suncream today

grocery shop

Stuart - Days 1 and 2

2011-05-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

Met Steve at Heahthrow and after check-in we had breakfast at Wagamamma's. Proceeded to the departure area where we bumped in to some American friends of Steve's who were on their way to Chicago. Seems that wherever we go we meet someone that Steve knows. Smooth flight with a good choice of on-demand movies. I managed to watch The Social Network, The Fighter and The King's Speech - all very good in different ways. We also found ourselves sitting next to a young lady who had arrived in the UK the day before, been held in a detention centre and then sent back to the USA. A very sad story but of course we only heard her side. Arrived in San Francisco at 2pm local to the cloudless deep blue sky that I associate with this city. An interesting ride into the city in a Supershuttle van followed. We were the only passengers and our driver talked to us non-stop all the way into the city, while fiddling with his mobile and satnav. As we sat at an intersection near our destination, he could not understand why there were traffic lights on the other three sides of the intersection but not on our side - at least until I pointed out to him that we had come up a no-entry street. He was definitely on something! By this stage, we were already fed up with people asking us about the Royal Wedding. Still haven't seen any TV coverage.
Arrived at Tom and Aneesha's - a spacious two-level condo in the Noe Valley area of San Fran. Went out for an early dinner at Liberties Irish pub, where we met up with Aneesha's parents. Finally, jumped (!) into bed at 5am UK time.
Day 2

Holi Day

Aneesha,s Mum in technicolor

5-a-Siders

After a surprisingly good night's sleep and a bagel breakfast, we wandered to the farmers market on 24th and then down to Castro, the gay area of San Francisco that I have never visited before. At the invitation of Aneesha's parents, we then went to to the Holi Day celebrations in Dolores Park. This is an Indian celebration for the arrival of spring and involves the participants covering each other in paint to denote seasonal colours. Needless to say, we watched rather than participated and by the time we got there, technicolor people were playing what semed to be a version of British Bulldog and throwing water bombs at each other. The evening was spent in a couple of dive bars and a Tackueria with Steve's old 5-a-side cronies, most of whom I have met before. Lovely, welcoming people and a great night.
Weather - 73 degrees and not a cloud to be seen!

Day 1

2011-04-30T04:08:00.000-07:00

So it's 2:30am and I'm awake, but we're here safe and sound. After an early start, we unpatriotically left these shores at 11:30am, but not before managing to soak up a little of the atmosphere of the special day.

My good friends Tony and Lina came to see us off at the departure lounge, which was a nice surprise. Apparently they were in the area. Dad talked me into the Wagamama's breakfast, which he seemed to enjoy.

I stocked up on a bit of reading (Macintyre and Caine autobiographies), and then we were off.

We were a bit disappointed to find that the other seat in our row was already taken, and surprised, as at check-in it had been free. It all quickly made sense when our new neighbour explained that she was a gay rights activist who had been in detention for the last day as she hadn't been allowed into the country. She'd been escorted onto the plane before us. We let her have the window seat.

The jouney was made quick by some memorable flicks. The Social Network was so memorable Dad and I spent about 3 minutes later in the flight trying to recall what the first movie we'd watched was. The Fighter was good though. And the Take That documentary brilliant.

This photo was actually taken before the previous one

I was just beginning to fade a bit when we had to endure 50 minutes non stop of our cab driver's views on life, women, children, average hourly earnings and courtesy flushes in correctional facilities. He appeared to be on something. We even had to put up with complaints that there were no traffic lights for him until dad pointed out that it was because he was driving the wrong way down a one way street.

Nice to get to Aneesha and Tom's, our kind hosts for the first 2 nights. Weather was nice, pub dinner was great (fish taco's and black pudding samosas), and finally, at 4am UK time, with me having faded about 5 hours previously and Dad still bounding about with the energy of a new-born lamb, Tom and Aneesha put us down and went to watch TV.

Stuart & Steve prepare for launch

2011-04-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sydney. The last stop.

2010-02-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

Sydney

Auckland Pics

2010-02-08T18:20:00.000-08:00

Auckland

Camp Capper - Spectacular

2010-01-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Following Capper's proclamation that I was 'up there' as a houseguest, I feel it safe to admit that he is definitely 'up there' as a host. A very good summary of the surrounding area was provided on my arrival, before being shuttled along to some kind of MTV beach party type event. Helpful tips about prepaid buses. Access to his surfboard. Really couldn't want for more, except advance warning of the 10% credit card charge on taxis. He even plans your days for you, and for Friday he'd suggested Watson Bay. As the beautiful weather had made Bondi beach too busy for amateurish surfing, I was resigned to following his plan. Luckily I'd paid attention to his explanation the previous evening. Although it wouldn't have mattered as he'd also handdrawn a map

It soon became clear I wasn't going to be able to run it as there was just too much stopping for photos and to take it all in. Unfortunately I only had my iPhone with it's crappy little camera, so I'm sure the photos don't to it justice, but here's a selection. Start point - Bondi Beach

Sydney Harbour Bridge in distance from playground on Page Dudley Reserve.

Views from Cliffside Walk

Entrance to the harbour

Watson's bay, in the harbour

Now Capper's day also involved a ferry across to Circular Quay, past the Opera House, and taking in views of the bridge. However by this point I had clearly had enough sun, especially with an evening down at the beach planned, so I made like a local

Cheers Capper. Blogpost done entirely on my iPhone!

2010-01-27T04:23:00.000-08:00

As I'm now back in Australia, it seemed right to add my North Island of New Zealand photos.

North Island

Bungy

2010-01-27T04:20:00.000-08:00

Bloody hell I almost forgot I had a blog until Mario just reminded me. You should all try this.

Nevis Bungy

And here's the official AJ Hackett photos. Yeah, rip-off, but had to have 'em.

http://www.ididit.co.nz/ididit/profile/2163

South Island, New Zealand

2010-01-14T22:32:00.000-08:00

Well it's been weeks since I had a proper internet sess, and I didn't take notes, so I'm afraid I ain't writing a blog. Suffice to say New Zealand has been fantastic. New places, new friends, new experiences. Hopefully photos can do it some justice.

South Island

New year's;s eve in new Zealand

2009-12-31T08:18:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you about my first night plan in new Zealand? I figured as I wasn't landing until midnight, what was the point in payin for that night's accommodation. Surely I could just kip in the airport.

As the time got closer, I started to get somewhat nervous about my plan. Was it allowed? Could I get arrested? What would I do of they kicked me out? Could be a bit late to find myself somehwere to sleep. I consoled myself with the fact that these international airports have flights landing and taking off at all times, so surely they'd always have people coming and going and not notice little old me. Regardless, all such worries were pushed to the back of my mind when it looked like they weren't even going to let me get on my flight cos I didn't have a ticket for onward travel. How did I miss that in my Internet research! So I had to buy a ticket out of New Zealand there at the airport so they'd let me into New Zealand in the first place.

However, once I did get to new Zealand, and make it past the world's cutest biodetector,

things were definitely looking on the up. There were a lot of people in the arrivals lounge who looked like they were not going anywhere quickly. Even more surprisingly, there were a number of couples who seemed to have romantically decided to see the new year in with a night at the airport. Something I'll remember for when I want to treat the good lady to something a bit different. And there were one or two families hanging around as well. It was quite a nice set up too. Plasma tv showing the nz v Bahrain world cup play-off. Little gaming zone in the corner. My confidence took a bit of a blow when I checked the arrivals board and saw there were none between 12:45 and 8:20. Surely the airport was going to close. And what was I going to do if security asked me what I was doing here. Should I say I was waiting for someone arriving in the morning? What if they asked more questions? Or should I say I was waiting for the city bus (first departure 6:22am) to save nzd7.50 on a shuttle? Or should I fess that I was trying to get a free night's accommodation. However, once a number of couples started cracking out sleeping bags and eyemasks

, with the security guards standing by not batting an eyelid, this whole thing started to look legitimate.

I tell you if my parents had known about this there'd have been none of that sneaking around pretending to be a family of four it get in a family room. I almost even began to recall having done this before in advance of a flight. Perhaps to sardinia. Me and stu holmes maybe. Will have to check. But how do they keep homeless people from just travelling to the airport every night? Clean bathrooms, a roof over your head, tv. It occurred to me that in my haste to get a flight booked out of new zealand I'd booked one departing at 9am. Check-in about 7. Hmm, I see an opportunity there! I even started get a bit annoyed that we'd paid for a night in the hostel at Melbourne and had to get a taxi to the airport at 4am for the flight to Brisbane. What fools! Anyway, it's nearly 2am so probably time for me to hunker down and see what happens. Night!

Discovering the Discovery Coast

2009-12-22T18:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided to cut the umbilical cord and leave Suze and DBN in Brizzy and set off on my own little adventure. Thanks to Gumtree I scored myself a lift up the coast in, get this, a 1971 Volkswagon Beetle!

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

We were initially going to Noosa, of which I had such fond memories from last time I visited. Have to give Rob Counsell and Sean Winstone a big up for the days we had out there 11 years ago. It's still a fantastic place. A bit busier, and some drunken idiots, but that was probably me back then. The car was getting attention wherever we went.

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

Not surprisingly, the Germans particularly loved it. Everyone thought we were proper dudes. I mean, it is a seriously old car. 1971 is before I was even born. Even my dad, who's ancient, probably hadn't been driving long when this was on the road. And it still has the original paintjob. Henry had done a good job bringing it into the 21st century though, which made up for the lack of functioning speedo and fuel gauge. cd player, ipod connector, powerpoints, and even airconditiong! (well, a fan)

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

I'd been going on to Susie about how it's like a nature park around you, and it didn't disappoint. Saw a proper wild koala as soon as we got to the beach carpark,

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

and there were big lizards everywhere

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

Didn't seem to all be completely harmonious though

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

This was the first of two days we spent in Noosa. I really picked a day not to bring my camera on the second. Koala's get to be pretty much 10-a-penny, but having a mummy koala with a baby on its back charge at you is not such a regular occurrence. The speculation was that it had confused my legs with a tree. Those of you familiar with my legs and eucalyptus trees may not find that to be such a surprise. Luckily, there was someone better equipped on hand who I did manage to get photos off.

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

However, I also missed the chance to share with you all the image of an old guy at the beach fishing in a thong. A real kodak moment. There's some people I like to see in a thong, but he was not one. I apologise.

Once we moved on to our second beach we also saw the full rescue crew steam past at top speed, and were slightly unnerved to learn there'd been a shark attack at the beach we'd just left.

I decided to stay with Henry on a bit further up the coast. A further 7 hours would see us in Agnes Water. And I even got to drive!

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

It's quite a different experience driving a car from 1971. Accidentally slipping it into reverse instead of 2nd gear wasn't much fun for the gearbox. I missed power steering. But the real shock was braking. It's like you're actually putting your foot against the wheel. I didn't stop in time for the first turn or two. And then for my 'easy' stretch started with roadworks, hill starts (which was when I discovered the handbrake was temperamental), and the GPS decided to take us through the back roads. Sometimes not even roads - just dirt tracks. Or single track where you heard to swerve half onto dirt if there was an oncoming car. And in the pouring rain! So fun though it was, I was perfectly happy to hand the reins back to Henry after a couple of hours.

On the drive up, I finally had my questions about why backpackers had never mentioned Agnes Water and 1770 back in my day.

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

The road there was only built in 2004!

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

But it was there I said my farewells to Henry and booked myself into a hostel.

From Brisbane to Noosa to Agnes Water

It's all about the kids

2009-12-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

Brisbane gets a really bad rap, but I think it's actually really nice, and it has unexpectedly leapt into my top three places to bring up kids. Everything is designed for them. Once you get over that being a bit annoying, it's actually very nice. Having said that, I don't have much to say about it. There's a few pics though.

Brisbane

Bringing in the New Year

2009-12-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

Big plans for this one!

So will I be celebrating New Years in the air, or taxiing on a the Christchurch runway? Either way, it's going to be special.

Au Revoir Nunnery

2009-12-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

I've done my time, and I'm out. It was time to leave the Nunnery hostel, home for nearly 4 weeks, and hit the road! On the agenda was

Day 1
Healesville & Yarra Valley
Driving DBN and Floos round the wineries so they could get proper lashed
Day 2
Check out the town of Healesville and the TarraWarra Museum
Day 3
Noble Park, Dandenong, the Dandenongs, and the discovery that Dandenong is nowhere near the Dandenongs
Day 4
William Rickets Sanctuary and drive to Phillip Island
Day 5
3 park pass at Phillip Island, including the parade of the little penguins
Day 6
Mornington Peninsula, Portsea, Arthur's Seat, and back to Melbs
I think.

Easier documented in photo's than words. Picture says a thousand words and all that. So here's my 51,000 word essay on our road trip.

Healesville, Dandenongs, Phillip Island

Pick-up (soccer)

2009-12-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Eddie, Little Jimmy's friend, I got to continue my pick-up soccer world tour. This time, me and DBN got to spend a Saturday morning playing amongst the world famous Albert Park AllStars, as featured on the tv show 'The World Game'. Unfortunately no pictures so here's a random one of happy Alan

From Dec Melbourne Activities

and we missed our week's game review on the website, but to sum it up, DBN both had chances to get ourselves on the scoresheet, which we fluffed, and decided to duck out at half-time. Given it had taken us 2 hours to reach half-time, I don't feel too bad about this. And it adds to pick-up games I've played in Austin TX (thanks Jesse and Amalia), San Francisco CA and New York NY.

DBN's Crime Spree

2009-12-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

After a few weeks of reconnaisance trips, DBN decided there were definitely weaknesses in the cinema's security. And he bravely decided to take advantage. He figured once you're in, you're in. It seemed like they almost timed the movies to allow you to see one after the other. And so it was time for DBN's day at the movies. When I got there for the afternoon, I realised Beardy Ticket Checker was going to be the problem. He had a roaming role, and timing was going to be crucial. Whether by luck or judgement, DBN managed to smoothly sneak past him whilst he was distracted, and it was on. Crime of the century. Two movies for the price of one reduced ticket. There was a scare as the movie started and Beardy appeared at the door. Were the lights going to go up and an announcement made, or a spotlight shone on the perpetrator? And then the cinema continued to fill. Were there going to be more people than seats? Were they going to have to check everyone's tickets and cause rather public humiliation? Despite being a legal, I was worried for the man. He didn't seem too concerned though as he cracked out his pre-prepared pack lunch. Anyone that knows DBN knows how he rolls - a chunky cheese sandwich. Once away from the crime scene, I did get a picture of this modern day Robin Hood with his daypack. Once more, the heroic little man strikes a blow to the corporates.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

Those capitalist pigs won't have everything their own way for one more day at least.

Being only a few thousand miles away in Brisbane now, and still not out of the woods, I'm afraid the exact location of the crime scene has to remain unknown for the time-being. However, if you're in Melbourne, you might like to check out Six Dollar Mondays at a place called Cinema Nova. I heartily recommend it for taking in a cheap flick.

Big Boozing

2009-12-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

So I got my night out in Fitzroy with the backpackers. The night was only really notable for getting to see two fights. One in the hostel courtyard! The remains of the second, at the Night Cat in Fitzroy, are featured below. This one included a flying karate kick, which I guess puts it head and shoulders above your average uk bar brawl.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

Chistopher Francis

2009-12-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Why is it, everywhere in the world I go, there's always a Fran lookalike.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

Now I'll admit, he doesn't look that much like Fran in the picture, but I assure you he did in real life, and my observation is definitely true.

Best Supporter in the World

2009-12-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

For my birthday treat I was allowed to kidnap DBN for the day to give him a taste of competitive cricket.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

Off to the world-famous MCG we went, to take in the highly anticipated top of the table Ford Ranger Cup clash between his Victoria and my Queensland (picked at random). This one definitely needed an early start. We got there slightly late so had to wait our turn for tickets.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

We fought the crowds to get ourselves some plum seats, and squeezed in on the end of a row right down the front.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

And boy did we pick a good day for it. Clear skies and the sun shining, and as you've probably realised by now, we virtually had the ground to ourselves.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

There weren't a host of household names on show, but Cameron White and Brad Hodge were names familiar to me, end we enjoyed a pulsating encounter, Queensland running out victorious,i.e. I won. The pie and chips weren't bad either. Of course DBN wasn't happy with any old regular seats, and as soon as I took my eye of him he was off to what he called his 'VIP' seats.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

Events in later days have made me realise I shouldn't have been too surprised by this disregard for rules and regulations. We were also thoroughly entertained by the fan who appeared to have come along with the sole purpose of spending the afternoon of barracking a Queensland outfielder. A late addition to the Susie's. I've rarely seen such persistance and dedication, and his delight when after 4 hours of constant abuse, the fielder finally flicked him the bird, is something I'll always regret not having captured on film. Although I did get a little pictorial evidence of the groundwork.

From Dec Melbourne Activities

Weird Beard

2009-11-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

So y'all may have noticed from photos that I've been a bit lazy on the old shaving front recently. Seeing the opportunity to fulfill a lifetime ambition (a tan line on my face), I figure why not let it continue? However, I need some help deciding on its development.

Should I go for a 'Brad enduring a hellish marriage' (especially as comparisons have been made in the past). A 'Joaquin when he lost it'. Or the pencil-line moustache that DBN assures me is the height of fashion. Answers on a postcard (or mouse-click on poll to the right). As I have only three months, anything I attempt is bound to be a huge disappointment, but what the hey.

I reserve the right to ignore the results of the poll. Particularly if it's one that takes a lot of effort.

Odds and Ends

2009-11-30T22:59:00.000-08:00

Had to give a few props to places and people.

First of all, Mihirangi, who I went to see perform at the Northcote Social Club on Sunday afternoon.

From Odds and Sods

Does that thing I love where she records herself live performing the different segments of the song, and loops them, building up a full song. She was doing every part - beatbox, bass, percussion, vocals. Lots of improv as well. Also allowed me take in Northcote and Collingwood, which I liked very much.

In response to a comment regarding the lack of excitement on my blog, I thought I'd post a pic of an illegal activity. Oooooooooh!

From Odds and Sods

BTW, if anyone recognises that top, I lent it to DBN 2 weeks ago.

The highlight of my trip to the ACMI (Australian Centre for Moving Image).

From Odds and Sods

Obviously the no.1 score is some kind of computer generated thing. Implausible that any human could score that highly.

Our cheeky trip to Danny's in North Fitzroy - the best burger joint in the whole of Melbs.

From Odds and Sods

A TV on the street

From Odds and Sods

And didn't anyone else think that Susie's pics of herself could have been from a real magazine?

Victory for Melbourne Victory

2009-11-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

Our activity for Saturday was taking in a bit of A-League Aussie Soccer. Top of the table Melbourne Victory were taking on 3rd place Gold Coast, at the huge ETIHAD stadium. A la the US, the stadium was designed for cricket or Aussie Rules rather than soccer, and the capacity of 50-odd thousand was less than half-full. Perhaps most exciting was Dad's favourite ever Wolves player, Kevin Muscat, turning out for the Victory.

At the age of 36, and now captain, he seems to have calmed down a bit, and we didn't even see a challenge close to worthy of a yellow card. Quite the changed man (see the reputation section of his wikipedia entry if you're not already familiar).

Anyway, Victory thrashed the Gold Coast 4-0, much to the glee of Aussie James Coleman and friends who myself and DBN had the pleasure of accompanying. As I'm sure no one wants a match report, I think a few photos of the experience will suffice.

Melbourne Victory at the Etihad

Suspension lifted

2009-11-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

After 3 days of talks, some late into the night, I'm glad to announce that a resolution has been reached, and the blog can continue. Now, because it seems to have caused some confusion, you do actually have to click on the button that says 'Follow' in the top bar to be registered as a follower. Don't worry. It doesn't mean you'll be bombarded with emails. It just a way of showing your love for my blog. A way of joining my followship of blogging. With me as ging-bearer. etc. etc.

Other things that may not have been clear - if you click on an outlined photo, that actually takes you through to an album of photos. You may have been missing out! And if you click on a video, there's the option to view a high quality (HQ) version of the video in the top right-hand corner. However, you may want to avoid this for DBN's magic tricks, where many readers have commented that the more pixellation, the better. You may not have missed out. If you'd like to try this it, I've included a vid of la floos considering hitting the dance floor at the Vic Market, but realising she couldn't live with the competition

From Videos

Thanks to all those already in the followship.

Blog suspended

2009-11-27T20:30:00.000-08:00

Following my realisation that my own flesh and blood, yes, those responsible for bringing me into the world, have not even deemed my blog fit to follow, I've decided to suspend my blog until further notice. Mother and Father, please contact me separately. Hopefully we can come to some sort of resolution.

Suzuki Night Market

2009-11-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Come on followers, come out of the woodwork. DBN is still sitting pretty doing bugger all at the moment. At least get him worried!

If you ever visit Melbourne, in the summer, on a Wednesday, you really must visit the Suzuki Night Market at the Victoria Market Place. Quite the little party going on there!

Suzuki Night Market

We were here for the first of the season. Food stalls, market stalls, and three music stages, all thronging with people. We were shocked, and frankly disappointed, to recognize the awful poet from open mic night at the hip hop club on the main stage when we arrived. We weren't sure if it was her at first, but once she opened her mouth and said 'the streams, the streams' in the same way she'd started her rap 'the boats, the boats', it left no doubt. However this didn't detract from a lovely evening. Choosing food was actually a challenge. Delicious looking curries, crepes, savoury pastries all had to be ignored for a roo burger, with emu sausage and croc on the side. And we couldn't pass a local wine stall without ending up with a bottle for immediate consumption. Chilli Shiraz. Probably an insult to the sophisticated palate, but it had two of my favourite ingredients in, and they can count me a very happy customer. The diverse crowd only added to the spectacle. it was people-watching heaven. From the hippies and children shaking their stuff on the dance floor, to hell's angels bikers, erm, biking. Another event to add to the weekly calendar. If we're not careful, we're going to have something to do every day. My how busy we are! Probably a good thing to keep me out and about as some beefcake fool broke the handle to the hostel room door getting frustrated with it. He's comfortably the worst hostel roommate so far. A light turner onner when everyone else is in bed, and a snoring juggernaut.

Monkeying about

2009-11-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

What a lovely day we had at the zoo. Second best zoo in the world, behind (as everyone seems to know) San Diego. We did wonder what makes a zoo second best in the world. And who decides these things. Which also got us wondering who decided that 2009 was the year of the Gorilla. I looked that one up. Apparently because several organizations have banded together to focus on saving gorilla populations in the wild and their habitats. If you wish to know more, visit http://www.yog2009.org/. No need to thank me. Anyway, everyone always loves other people's zoo photos, so here they are!

However, the undoubted highlight of the day (well, just behind the soy latte), was a bit of inpromptu street magic (see how the crowd behind are drawn to the amazing spectacle).....

From Videos

DBN (the mage) also gave us an exlusive insight into the first steps of practising a new trick....

From Videos

Now, he's promised that he will perfect and perform this trick if I get 50 followers on my blog. He's clearly sitting at home confidently doing nothing, such is his faith in my ability to fail to do this. We can't let him get away with this! Having discovered that I can't follow my own blog 50 times, I call on all you readers to become a follower. Go on. You know you want to see it. I won't blog often. You'll hardly even notice. Let's do this!

With thanks to....
the Gertrude Hotel for their $14 steaks on Mondays
the First Floor for $10 jugs of Carlton
the blue-haired teenager who let us in to Melbourne Zoo for a family rate
the magician

I may have got a bit over-excited at discovering how to link to websites. It's the little things.

Word to ya motha.

Man not at Work

2009-11-22T22:57:00.000-08:00

First Week In Oz

Flew over in a clapped out Boeing,
No restrooms dodgy breakfasts were their thing,
Now staying in a nunnery and exploring Fitzroy,
Seeing DBN & Susie's been a joy
And they said,

'You've come to the land down under
where internet costs and there's cakes a plenty.
Can't you see, can't you see there's more yonder,
it's going to rain, you'd better take cover'

2009-08-09T08:19:00.002-07:00

It wasn't.

2009-08-09T08:19:00.001-07:00

Sad to see hoff and k-seb off early in the morning. Kicked out of the hostel at 10am and have discovered that nothing opens until midday. So am killing time with a coffee and my book in peets coffee shop. I don't think much more is going to happen, so it may be time to sign off. I just hope that leavin my passport in the luggage I left at the hostel wasn't a mistake.

2009-08-09T08:18:00.002-07:00

We turned up and hoff had gone. The perfect start to our final full day. Just joking. The 'outdoorsman' had gone for a little drive to check out the area. Having reported back that it really was as ordinary as the guidebook suggested, we set off to our final destination, Denver, doing quick driving tours of the two sites of note - garden of the gods and the air force academy.

We got to Denver in good time. Civilisation once more. Although kind of depressing. Especially as we packed for departure. We had a bit of a wander around downtown Denver (which just seems to consist of 16th street), and then headed to the Rockies game for the vening. They were hosting the sf giants, and hoff was sure it wouldn't rain, so just wore a t-shirt. For really the first time on the entire trip it did actually rain properly, which kenny and me enjoyed. We sneaked into covered seats though. The Rockies won. We hit the bars. Again for the first time on th holiday. Good times until we lost hoff and he had to sit on the street waiting for us. Denver people were very nice, but it doesn't really seem to have much else going for it. Not a city I'd be desperate to visit again. And I'm stuck here tomorrow by myself

2009-08-09T08:18:00.001-07:00

Up early for rafting. Getting a bit quicker at the up and out. Last night's camping done. Not affected by the wind and rain, except my clothes being wetter than when I put them out to dry, so we obviously did everything correctly. Despite hoff's reservations about the campsite (we were rather exposed on the top of a hill), the views are spectacular. We decided to get the fire going again just cos we could, and brewed cups of tea. Just as with dinner, Breakfast wa snacks that we were still trying to get through from our first safeway shop. 3 jars of peanut butter had always seemed a bit excessive to me, especially as I don't eat it, but I had to admire some of broken pedal and lil c's sandwich creations.

Rafting felt like a bit of a rest day to be honest. The water was a lot lower than it had been earlier in the season, and flowing at 750cfs compared to over 3000 a month or two ago. It was food being on the water though, floating down the arkansas river. Nice lunch on the bank, and few rapids in the afternoon. One class 4 and the rest class 3. Guide was impressed by our paddling, saying it was the fastest boat he'd ever been in. That might be why he was a bit perplexed when part of his tip was a half-used propane tank. Have to shout-out lil c catching broken pedal unaware with a little nudge to send him over the side. Of course we all ended up in the river at some point. Lil c's sunglasses decided to stay there. His crokie's were still round his neck though. Good job they did.

We decided to give the cottonwood natural hot springs a miss as we were on our way to Colorado springs, where of course they'd have hot springs (I'm sure you see where that one's going).

Fortunately(!) hoff was reading the guidebook as we drove to cs, an discovered that we were passing close-ish to a casino town. It's quit difficult to keep hoff out of a casino, so it was added to the itinerary. And what a nice surprise it was. An old mining town with only one mountain road in and out. A high street lined with small casino's in the original old victorian buildings. We spent a while there winning (hoff, Harrison) and losing (k-seb) money, eating free popcorn and drinking free root beer, and annoying the dealers and other punters by not knowing any of the casino etiquette. I don't think there's ever been so long between two roulette rolls as when I sat down at the table. We asked about hot springs at Colorado springs and were surprised to discover there aren't any.

After our last mexican meal of the trip (B.O.O.K) it was back on the road, and eventually on to the day's inn nr Colorado springs. We got in at 10. Plans to go out again shelved. K-seb and I shocked to realise that we'd actually consumed fewer units than the recommended maximum in the last week. And while on holiday! Hoff decided to sleep on the floor so he could count it as a camping night.

2009-08-09T08:17:00.002-07:00

Best sleep. Up before others so got stuff sorted so I could watch the tdf. I did manage to leave the car unlocked with door open right where i'd left the ipods for about 2 hours. I suddenly had a feeling I hadn't locked it and went down and I was right. Didn't mention it to the others.
Mountain biking in breckenridge today. Same problem with bikes but we tracked some down. Full suspension real deal man. Hoff's was worth 3300. Ours just 1800. We'd picked an 'easy' offroad ride from the guide. I was in a whole world of trouble very early into the ride. I think only hoff wasn't exhausted by the climb. Cool at the top. Disused mine (sallie barber - 9.5 miles and about 1000ft elevation) perched on a ridge right at the top with the obligatory fantastic views. And then downhill all the way along a jeep trail to start with, narrowing to a single trail. Awesome fun, and also a killer on the hands and legs. Have to give hoff his due for leading us down in a much improved performance. Though I'm still holding a grudge that he didn't get a picture of me going down the steps. No damage to anything this time, so I think we have to say it was an unqualifed success.

Exhausted and starving (well me anyway), we made our way to jalapeño - a Mexican place the bike guy had recommended. Couldn't resist a few shops along the way. Breckenridge is a really really nice place. The Mexican was great, we got 2.5 hrs of proper mountain biking in, we all got som shopping done, so were kind of sad to be leaving so soon. Except Hoff's stomach that is, but that's his own fault for ordering the diablo salsa.

Now driving to arrowhead campsite in buena vista for our last night's camping. Rafting tomorrow.

2009-08-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

Up at 6 wantin to be on road by 7. We did ok. We felt a bit sheepish as we looke down the row of picnic tables at everyone creating their camping breakfasts whilst we unwrapped our leftover subway footlongs.
But we got out and on our way to grand lake, via the scenic trail ridge highway, which crosses the continental divide. It gets up over 14,000ft at that point. You're above the tree line and in alpine tundra, so the scenery (and temperature) are very different to lower down.

We found a 4 mile each way hike up to Mt Ida and decided to scrap our plans to got to Vail, and do this instead. Was a good decision as the hike was a testing one. I felt a headache coming on early and made the gang stop for fear of altitude sickness. The headache went once I removed my tightly tied bandanna.

It was a great hike for a variety of scenery an wildlife. We saw a herd of elk at a watering hole. A small herd of bighorn sheep on the path, and lots of something that looks like a beaver. Still no moose or bear's though.

We drove the rest of the trail to grand lake, and then on to frisco near breckenridge

Just pulled into ramada limited. Kfc next door.

Slight problem with the toilet meant we had to move rooms. I don't think I need to go into details

Lovely to have a shower for the first time in 3.5 days.

Breakfast of Champions

2009-08-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Tea again in the morning
I'd saved half a breakfast burrito from the night before. And I had an instant oats packet. Nice. Lil C had a samosa from the Indian the night before the night before. Not bad. Hoff had peanut butter and jelly and fig newtons.
We took our time and drove round to the southeast side of the park to see ouzel falls. We managed to time it for the heat of the day again, but the hike was very comfortable compared to the previous day. Only about 6 miles. All done fairly early in the afternoon, but then we found ourselves at the Stanley hotel again. We'd also popped in the previous day. Many of you will be familiar with the Stanley hotel even if you didn't realise it. It's where 'the Shining' was filmed. Quite a grand old thing. Of most interest to us though was that the 'steamers cafe' which was actually just a starbucks had free Internet with computers provided. So I got birthday wishes to my mother on the right day. We also planned out a few of the remaining days and got accoodation sorted. Took a while but had to be done. Even got ourselves in trouble with the coffee shop girl for hogging it.
Then hoff had the brainwave of a quick drive along the trail ridge drive. Cold, misty and eerily spectacular.

And we saw our first elks, who decided to cross the road ahead of us.

All that was left to do was dinner and an early night for an early start tomorrow. So we got the fire started and roaring away and cracked out the kfc bucket and subway footlongs we'd bought on the way down.

What a feast! And then hoff got to try out the marshmallow toasting stick he'd picked up 6hours previously (fearing there might not be any sticks in the acres of forest between where we were and home).

It worked. We also took a bottle red over for our lovely ranger. Unfortunately they were in and we didn't get to drink it ourselves. And so to bed (well tent mattress) with a warm feeling in our hearts an bellies full of fried chicken. Did I mention that we bumped into the coffee shop girl in the kfc. There didn't seem to be any grudges held.

Day 2 Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-08-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

If you ever get the chance, wake Kenneth up when he's asleep in a tent. It's quite amusing. We were up at 6:30 for the ranger's recommended hike. Still, it was 9 before we set out, although that had given me the chance to use my camping stove to start us off with a cup of tea. Hike was wonderful, but wasn't expecting to be hiking thru snow. The last bit was exhausting, and I have to admit to giving up. I got the fear about the afternoon thunderstorms we'd been warned were likely, and the descent. We were basically scrambling up rubble. All very unstable. The others went on, whilst I settled to a jerky lumch. They found an alternator route back down, so unfortunately we never found out how dangerous the descent would have been. By the time we headed back down after lunch, was about 2pm. We got back to car at 4 and realised we'd done ten miles. The last half mile uphill was a classic finishing touch. All kinds of day-hikers steaming past us, including a whole group of very large elderly ladies. We were all exhausted. However, we still felt fit enough for Safeway stop and a bit of a shop around Estes Park. Best shopping in the world according to Kenneth. We had a very average dinner at the local Mexican (casa grande). Once back at the campsite, we tracked down our helpful ranger at the campsite to ask if we could do something easier tomorrow, given that our acclimatisation hike had wiped us out. When we said we'd been to Andrews Glacier she nearly fainted. The cross on the map was supposed to be for the loch which we'd passed a couple of miles earlier. She couldn't get over that we'd been up to the snow line. Whoops! Got her husband over to laugh at us and suggested we to something rather less strenuous tomorrow. Hoff still couldn't resist asking about Long's Peak. We found out it's the hardest hike in the park. 14-16 hours. Oh, and someone died doing it today (that would have been why we saw a helicopter earlier). Got the fire going. Toasted some marshmallows. Bed by 10. Job done.

camping

2009-07-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

time to leave the youth hostel and start the camping part of the trip. We drove down to Estes park.

Kenneth pointed out a tornado. Was actually what was coming out of the back of a combine harvester. Our trip to safeway for supplies turned into a mission. I'm not sure we'll ever know how we spent 150 bucks on snacks for 3 days. Even longer was spent on the erection of the tents.

Hopefully that gets a bit quicker with practise. We were lucky enough to meet a lovely ranger who planned out our 3 days of hikes, taking account of our age, fitness level, and what altitude we'd flown in on. Hoff still thought Long's Peak was a goer, but we agreed to go with her recommendations at least to start with. This started with a hike to 3 different lakes. Not too long, not too much uphill, just to get us acclimatised. It was quite a shock. The effects of the altitude are very strong. It doesn't take long at all before your chest actually starts burning. Rather disconcerting when there's kids and elderly people on the same hike.

In true car camping spirit, we found a Nepalese Indian restaurant for dinner. Our big plans for going out for a few beers in the evening were once again hit by food coma. First night in a tent with Kenneth. No real complaints, except regretting the Flying Horse at the Indian. Would have been nice to get through the night without having to make the trip to the toilet.

shredding the trails

2009-07-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

We were up too early for Boulder. We had to wait for a breakfast place to open. And then we had to wait for a bike rental place to open. We took that opportunity to visit outdoor specialist REI and make sure we had our 10 camping essentials. I came out 100 bucks poorer, but at least now I have some matches that will light in storms and a whistle that's also a compass AND a thermometer. So we were at the bike shop half an hour after it opened, and already no bloody bikes left! So we rang a place in Fort Collins, reserved their last three, and jumped in the car. 12:30 before we finally hit the road on our ill-fitting mountain bikes. We'd been given a suggested trail. We should have noticed the warning signs when as we were leaving we told a guy where we were going and he said 'oh, so you like the technical descents'. I really began to feel like this was going to be fun when I was riding behind a distinctly unstable Kenneth who's legs were going like billy the wizz cos his 'gears weren't working'. Yeah right. We were only a few minutes into the trail up the hill before Hoff's chain had come off and we were all absolutely knackered. I'll forever cherish my clip of Hoff attacking the slopes. Real man vs nature stuff. It was SO difficult. At least now I know why they call them pushbikes. But I really enjoyed it. Could definitely give it another crack but I think Hoff's sworn off mountain biking for good. The old man on foot who we saw at the top of the hill actually got to the bottom before a despondent Hoff. And to top it off, he got charged to replace a pedal and chain-ring he'd manage to damage. Let's just say he pushed his bike to the limit and leave it at that. And then it was on to a couple of the famous Fort Collins breweries for some beer sampling. New Belgian Brewery (Fat Tire) and Odell's. We finally got back to Boulder and out to dinner at 9, and as with the previous night, plans to go out drinking afte dinner were shelved for sleep. Sorry no photo's. Haven't been able to add any.

Warning lights

2009-07-18T04:59:00.000-07:00

Great first day. Up early for the quality Quality Inn breakfast. Then it was off to pick up the car. Couldn't resist a little upgrade to a nice mid-size hyundai, and then short drive on to Boulder. Got the iPod going in the car so Kenneth could get into a bit of hillbilly blues. Finally worked out that the warning light was something to do with air in the tires.

We're in a youth hostel in Boulder for 2 nights, right in the middle of all the fraternity houses. They have some nice places man, proudly displaying their Greek lettering on the front. Boulder seems made up of 2 main areas, 'the hill' which is the student town, and 'downtown' with one of the 'largest successful pedestrainised shopping areas' in the US. We wandered through the UC Boulder campus towards downtown to get a nice mexican lunch and then traipsed along the creek looking for somewhere to rent tubes so we could float down the river. It's bloody hot. Tubes not that easy to come by, and when we eventually discovered we had to buy them, it didn't seem so worth it. So we tried the next plan of renting a bike. Biking obviously big business around here. Popular though, and all the suitable bikes were all rented. So plan C. Back to the hostel and drive to the trailhead to hike up to the Flatirons. Was about 5pm by the time we actually headed off on the hike, but we were glad the midday sun was past, and we did a good 2 hours of walking, spotting chipmunks, and completely missing the snake that everyone else saw.

Lovely views of Boulder nestled under the mountain range, and the Flatirons are a spectular set of jutting rocks, that a lot of people freeclimb, or use as album cover backgrounds.

Not us. We got back to the bottom after a couple of hours, and headed in to the 'hill' for a famous steak at Sink's and a few bevvies. Boulder's pretty quiet and we'd decided we couldn't live there for more than a year. That was before Hoff discovered that one of his favourite bands, the Black Keys, was playing at the Fox Theatre. Sold Out. Really sold out. Couldn't even scalp tickets. So the Hoff was in a bit of a huff, and we were all pretty tired so headed home to get some rest. Up early this morning cos of the jetlag. Plan is biking and then off to Fort Collins. Speak soon.

Steve

Arrival

2009-07-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

So, touch down in the US of A. And what more perfect way to welcome myself back than with a Ruby Tuesdays. I guess a Ruby Thursdays if you're being picky. As the clock struck 10 local time I realised I'd been up for 24 hours without a proper sleep. Time to go to bed really, but waiting for Kenny and Hoff to arrive is like waiting for Christmas morning. I'd just properly dropped off when they arrived about 1:15am, Barrack Obama having caused Kenny to lose his Metrocard and delayed their plane. So being on a different clock to them, I'm up at 6 doing a little update whilst they get their beauty sleep. It's great being back.

And he's off...

2009-07-16T05:19:00.000-07:00

Taking advantage of a bit of 3g signal on the tube to heathrow to get this thing kicked off.