Snowing In Scottsdale!

If it’s Wednesday it must be…”Where are we Pat?”

That’s the trouble when need to travel 2000-odd miles in a limited time; you are often not sure where you exactly are, so you can probably guess we have touched down on the US mainland and are currently in cowboy country in Scottsdale, Arizona, staying with our pal Vaughn, surrounded by cactus and desert.

Our route here, since I last wrote, has been varied and very interesting. After a week on the beautiful island of Maui we flew the 30-minutes to Honolulu and to its beach resort neighbour, Waikiki. But not before I had got my ukulele which I am really pleased with.

Pat & Monica enjoy the sunset on Maui

"I'm Leaning On A Lampost......"

Waikiki  was much more full on tourism with loads of Japanese and Chinese in evidence. That was a bit weird when, on entering the Pearl Island Commemorative site, crowds of Japanese were taking various tours. I wonder how they perceive it?

Despite it’s “in your face” reputation, I rather liked Waikiki. The beaches were crowded but everywhere is beautifully kept and very clean with flaming Wiki torches on every corner. 

Pat on the beach at Waikiki

Statue of "Duke", the man who popularised surfing in Waikiki

We only had two days there so we hired a car for the second day and drove right around the island. On the north shore the big breakers attract the surfing crowd but there was little surfing going on though the breakers were very impressive.

Pat in the Pearl Harbour site. The sunken Arizona is in the background

From Honolulu it was a five-hour flight with American to LA. A note to all travellers thinking of flying with American. If you travel tourist class they will not feed you. We did not know this and wondered why the passengers around us had bags of food with them. They were generous with the drinks though.

Got a good view of the Hollywood sign as we banked to land at LAX.

The man at Avis persuaded us to upgrade to a Ford C Max Hybrid. I had never driven a hybrid before. It’s quite good fun and the car has loads of buttons and electrickery to play with. Satellite radio and the thing that parks your car for you, hands free, though I am quite nervous about trying it out.  Anyway, it’s very comfortable, which it needs to be. From LA we took the coast road down to San Diego where we had two nights in a really nice hotel at Luna Point. On Sunday I insisted we drove over to Coronado Island so I could see the hotel on the cover of the Eagles classic album “Hotel California”. The beach in front of the hotel was also used in “Some Like It Hot” and Rick Moranis danced the Merengue on the deck there in the film “My Blue Heaven”.

Roger welcomes you to "Hotel California". What a lovely place!!!

On Monday we drove over into Arizona through the mountains and parked our car on the Mexican border for the night. From there we crossed the border by foot and took the short walk into San Luis Del Rio Colorado where Alex put us up for the night. The town was far more Mexican than we had thought. Alex was a great host and took us to Munchies, a local restaurant where we ate a plate of very spicy shrimps, washed down with a huge glass of Modelo dark beer – very good it was too. Getting into Mexico was no problem – getting back took us around 45 minutes going through US immigration.

Pat with Alex, our Couch Surfing friend down Mexico way

Yesterday we arrived in Scottsdale, on the outskirts of Phoenix, in the middle of the desert. Here we are with one of our oldest pals, Vaughan, who lives in Saskatoon, in Saskatchewan, and has this as a holiday home to get away from the freezing conditions they experience up there. He reminded us on arrival that we had known each other for 43 years. It rarely rains around here. I think it last rained before Christmas abut today it snowed – unbelievable and the traffic couldn’t cope. We saw two weather-related car smashes today, just driving around.

Vaughn is a great host and we are having a great time. He is also Captain of the Maricopa County Police,  which comes in very handy, if you get what I mean.

Vaughn flashes his law enforcement badge. I tried to get the cactus growing out of his head, but the bugger moved

Unbelievable... Snow in Arizona

Route 66 beckons this weekend and we staying with three other members of the Couchsurfing community along the way.

Aloha from Hawaii

 

Aloha, my friends, from slap in the middle of the Pacific, on the beautiful island of Maui, in the Hawaiian chain of islands.

Aloha, my friends

We have been here now a week after our two-month stay in New Zealand. I think we both had mixed feelings about leaving NZ. I had got to know Wellington (the coolest little capital in the world) reasonably well, and it was a great opportunity for us to spend some extended time with the kids and our granddaughter Livi, but it was time to go and there is always good old Skype to keep in touch.

Wellington, "The Coolest Little Capital In The World"

 

It may be relatively small, but there always seemed to something good going on in Wellington and the weekend before we left saw the city the host of a huge international rugby 7s tournament. Now, it is hardly a secret that all Kiwis are crazy about rugby, but for this tournament everybody, and I do mean everybody, reverts to fancy dress for the tournament. It was quite a sight to be by the waterfront in the city for the two days of the tournament as groups of Roman soldiers, boxes of matches, Super Marios, Fred Flinstones and NY cops sauntered by.

A group of Snow Whites get ready for the Rugby

Looking at the map it looks like an easy journey from New Zealand to Hawaii. Oh no. It’s four flights with long hours spent in between In n noisy department lounges, staring at departure boards. Luckily you cross the International Date Line and gain a day. The long Qantas flight to Honolulu from Sydney was interesting. There were no TV screens on the back of the seats, so no in-flight entertainment. It appears that Qantas are trialling giving every passenger their own I Pad, on which they can pick up hundreds of films and TV wirelessly, via a server on the plane.

Hawaii is everything you would expect. Temperatures range from about 73 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit all year round, and this being the US, that is how the temperatures are reported. I had forgotten that petrol was still sold in gallons and anything you buy in a supermarket is bought in pounds and ounces.

We have been staying in Maui, with Pats sister Monica and her husband Garry, who live on Vancouver Island. They have visited Maui several times, so we have been spoilt a bit as Garry drives us around the island. It rains a bit now and then, and it is warm rain, but never more than a few minutes and then the sun pops out again. Loud Hawaiian shirts are the regulation issue here and everybody greets you with an enthusiastic Aloha. Nearly everybody is American/Canadian, and I haven’t heard a British accent since we arrived.

Breakfast on the balcony

 

The sea is warm, the beaches are clean and fringed with palm trees, and the local beer is pretty good as well. The only thing I do not like is that nearly every restaurant or bar you go in insists on having at least seven big screens pumping out sports coverage.

I persuaded Pat that while we were here we should go to a Luau and we got a great deal on one of the four held most nights on the island. Following a pork buffet, cooked in a big pit, the hula dancers entertain the crowd with a wide ranging programme of music and dance, finishing with a fire dance. Pretty impressive stuff and a must for any Hawaiian visit.

 

It looks like I will buy my ukulele here in Lanaika on Maui. I can get more or less the same model in the UK, but with a hard carry case, tuner, spare strings etc it is cheaper to buy it here and its nice to know it came from Hawaii, even if it is probably made in China.

The beach, across the road at Ka'anapalii

 

Later this week we leave Maui and have two days on Oahu in Honolulu, on Waikiki Beach, beach before we head on to LA and start our road trip across California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

For those interested we will be arriving back in the UK on Thursday 7^th March and drive up to The Cat’s Whiskers the following weekend.

Hang Loose (it’s what they all say here…honest)

Summer In The City

Hello folks. Hope you are all well and not shivering too much in “Good Old Blighty”. We follow the UK weather on a daily basis here in the colonies (as all good Brits should) and it looks like it’s been pretty white in most places over the last week or so.

Golam welcomes you to Wellington Airport

Pat and I were knocked sideways last week when we got an e mail telling us that Dai, from Narrowboat Jandai, had suffered a massive heart attack, while walking his dog on the towpath and had died. Jandai was the boat built by Kingfisher immediately before ours, and over the limited time we’d had on the system we had got to know Dai, and his lovely Partner Jan, pretty well. Dai was quite a character, and we will all miss his laconic wit, his encyclopaedic knowledge of the canal system, his almost fanatical obsession with foraging for wood, his partisan views on Welsh Rugby and his absolute conviction that Black Sheep Bitter was the best beer in the land. Our love and sympathy go out to Jan and their families. Dai was a very fit chap, and never had a health issue, so it really came as a bolt out of the blue. Thanks to Fred and Lisa, moored behind Jandai, for keeping us up to date.

We are still in Wellington and will be until the first week in March. Then we fly to Sydney and on to Hawaii, where we will meet up with Pat’s sister Monica and brother-in-law Garry. They know Maui well, so we should get the full tourist treatment. I have been doing some research in preparation at the local library here, and have checked out where I can try some ukulele’s out. It’s got to be the next musical project – uke’s are everywhere over here.

Pat & Livi enjoy a cup of tea in the Botanical Gardens

It’s the height of summer in the Southern Hemisphere, of course, but you wouldn’t think it. The weather in Wellington is very patchy and we have been getting as many wet and windy days as sunny ones.

Last week we caught the ferry over to the South Island and then a bus to Nelson, to visit my old pal Vic, who was staying at his wife Val’s house on the outskirts of Nelson. I have banged on about Nelson a few times in my blog. It was my favourite place in all of NZ when we last visited in 2003 and that view has not changed. The city is the right size, has a great climate, with beaches, mountains and vineyards, plus a bit of a vibe, that I haven’t picked up in other places we have visited. Vic travels the world a lot, and has a base in Nantwich in Cheshire, close to the canal system, and came on the boat a couple of times last summer so we had seen him regularly, but we hadn’t seen Val for ages. We had a great time with them, visited some rather good vineyards, cooked some great grub and the weather was warm, apart from the day we flew back to Wellington when it poured all day. I even managed to get a pint of British-style real ale at a very nice pub, in the city centre.

Vic scans the horizon and dreams of pies!

They do like their pies down under, and Vic has an ongoing mission finding the cheapest pies in Nelson. He’s got me at it now, and when we go into “Countdown”, one of the supermarket chains here in Kaori, I have to inspect the pies to see if there is one I haven’t tried, especially if it’s cheap as chips. And I can’t leave Countdown without purchasing a Whitackers Peanut Crunch. Yum Yum

Because of its micro-climate, Nelson has a bit of a reputation as being the retirement capital of NZ, with a number of gated retirement villages in the area, so naturally being “potential customers”, we thought we would visit a couple and see what they were all about, and we were all impressed. Spas, gyms, outdoor pools – it was like a country club. It certainly is something to think about as we get on a bit.

Pat & Val on Rabbit Beach, in Nelson

We have got to know Wellington pretty well now. It calls itself “the coolest little capital in the world” and that is a claim that most Wellingtonians would fiercely defend. It is a very manageable size, very, very, hilly, and has some very attractive beaches around its huge harbour. Most of our days revolve around our granddaughter, and that’s the way it should be, as we will not see her again for several months. We have been to a number of beaches with her, to the zoo, the pet shop, and most days Pat and I push the buggy up the hill to the shopping mall at Karori, where we are based.

That is changing slowly, as Erica gets ready to go back to school next week, and we will be looking after Livi for longer each day. Erica has put me on her car insurance, so I am able to drive their car, and I would imagine we will have a routine in places within a couple of days.

Free concert at The Botanical Gardens and not a Stetson in sight

Kaori, is only a couple of miles from Wellington city centre. Halfway into the city is the Botanical Gardens, and through January they have free outdoor concerts in the gardens most evenings, with a mixture of music from jazz to classical. The whole gardens are lit and it really is quite special. We have now been to two, and the last one was a local country band “Way Out West”, who we thought might be a bit tacky, but we ended up knowing nearly every song they played. Pat got her “Boot Scoot Boogie” and I got “Redneck Woman” so we were well pleased. All being well with the weather, we will return for the last night this coming Saturday, when the Wellington Big Band will be swinging the park.

 

Cook Island dancers perform for the public

Last Monday was a public holiday in Wellington. There was lots going on by the waterside, but we were drawn, as were hundreds of others, to the Birdman competition, where Wellingtonians in various disguises and in various vehicles, threw themselves into the harbour off a ramp, to huge applause. It was judged by the mayor who commented that one of her favourite tunes was “I Believe I Can Fly”, and she had not been able to get the tune out of her head throughout the competition.



 

Crowd favourite at the "Birdman" competition - the Pirate ship and crew

 

Finally, when we were in Lake Taupo over the New Year, we were able to help out two young Alaskans whose car had broken down on the outskirts of town. They needed to get to Auckland and we wedged them into the back of the car for the three hour journey. On the way they told us about the “Coachsurfing” world-wide community, who exist to promote travel and give independent

travellers a bed for the night. They only ask that you do the same, if approached.

We thought we would investigate and have been able to find some interesting people to stay with in Santa Fe and San Antonio which we are in the States. Should be illuminating.

 

 

Kia Ora And A Happy New Year

Greetings my friends from “the land of the great white cloud”, or its near equivalent in Maori, and that’s Maori, as in Maari, not Maori, as in Mowari, or so we have been reliably informed.

All goes well, and thanks to all friends, on the water and on “dry” land, for your Christmas and New Year greetings. We hope you had a restful and peaceful break. Like all good boaters, we follow the weather forecasts daily and my, haven’t you all had a lot of rain in the UK.

James and Livi concentrate on some mini golf over the Xmas holidays

Here in “God’s Own Country” it’s been a bit of a mixture of cloud, with the occasional very hot spell and overnight shower. Over the water in Australia it’s really cooking at the moment we hear. Stuart, if you read this, please report from the Gold Coast.

In Wellington, where we are currently based, it’s a balmy 24 degrees this morning and Pat is at the moment having her breakfast outside on the patio, as she watches the tractors cutting the grass in the park, that backs onto Erica and James house.

Any of you who have visited this part of the world will know, however, that things can change very quickly. We had a 500 Km journey yesterday and at 5pm, we passed through a small town that was displaying the temperature above its KFC as 26 degrees, and a half an hour later, we arrived in Wellington to a very cool and breezy 15 degrees.

The forecasters had predicted a cool and showery Christmas Day for this part of the world, but it turned out to be the hottest in Wellington for 15 years, and there was no wind, which, to me, was more amazing. We joined Erica and James and their pals for a picnic above the beach at Scorching Bay, about 20 minutes from here, and the photo, below, with little Livi was taken there.

Christmas Day on the beach at Scorching Bay

On New Years Eve, we drove up to the Coromandel peninsular, to spend a few days with our Kiwi pals, Kevin and Helen. Erica, James and Livi, flew up and we picked them up at Auckland Airport. The previous day we had driven up to Napier (one of our favourite places with some great Art Deco architecture) and then overnighted in Taupo, by its huge lake, which we had previously driven through, but had never stopped. Lovely spot, but it poured down on our arrival.

The Coromandel is a little ear of land that sticks out, west of Auckland. It is stunningly beautiful, and it’s got the lot. Fabulous beaches, quaint little towns,mountains, and lush, verdant valleys. It’s where most of Aucklanders have their holiday homes and is a favourite weekend retreat for many Kiwis. Our base was in Whitianga, (pronounced Fitihanga), which has a winter population of 4,000 and over Christmas and New Year, that swells to 40,000. There were 14 of us in the house, and although it was a bit crazy at times, we had a great time and Kevin and Helen’s family made us very welcome.

Every house seems to have a boat in the drive and theirs was no exception. We were hoping to get some cruising in, as I am feeling a need to re-connect with the water, and James was hoping to go fishing, but despite a service the day before, the engine would not turn over on New Years Day and all the boat shops were shut over the holidays. It didn’t stop us getting out and about though.

Kev and Helen run a small farm near Hamilton, and all the meat we consumed over the week, which was considerable, came from their animals. Even the venison sausages. Kev’s neighbour saw a stray deer on the property and promptly bagged it and they dragged it home. They all thought it was highly amusing that I preferred my beer warm, rather than freezing the life out of it. I’ve had a similar reaction in Canada, and I now just shrug it off. Once they even put a bottle in the microwave as a joke. Ha Ha!

With Kevin and Helen at Whitianga

We spent around two days coming back to Wellington and drove all over the place. Getting around is easy, as they drive on the proper side of the road over here, but getting your head around the names of the towns you pass along the way is something else. Paraparaaumi and Ngauruhoe are two that spring to mind. Another thing we have noticed is that everbody in red coloured cars seem to drive very fast here. Can’t work that out yet!

The Poms cook for the Kiwis at Whitianga

They also like to put their individual towns on the map by plonking a giant “something or other” in a prominent place on the main street. We saw a giant sheep, a giant wellington boot, and a giant carrot on our travels yesterday. I know there is a giant Kiwi Fruit somewhere. We saw it last time we were here.

Waterfall in Tongararo National Park

This Thursday we are heading across to the South Island on the Interislander ferry, to see our pals Vic and Val in Nelson, my favourite place in all of NZ. Only there for a few days but looking forward to seeing them both.

Warm & Windy in Wellington

It's not long now until we will be experiencing a proper upside-down Kiwi Christmas now we have arrived in New Zealand, which will be our home for the next few weeks, before we set off after the new year to visit friends in other parts of this marvellous country.

I did our last post on my little tablet and couldn't get all the Aussie pix I wanted on, so here are a few more.

Pat enjoys a paddle on Nobby's beach on the Gold Coast

Feeding the pelicans on the beach draws big crowds

Pat tries out Stu's pool

 

It will certainly be different to our traditional Christmas in the northern hemisphere, influenced, of course, by the temperature. It's the beginning of summer here, and although Christmas trees, santa hats and carols are very much in evidence, Santa is as likely to arrive carrying a surfboard with sunglasses on than on a sleigh pulled by reindeer, though I must say I noticed a number of cars with reindeer ears poking out on either side of their front windows while we were on the Gold Coast in Australia and a lot of the TV adverts feature snow falling in the background as they announce the huge savings they can offer, if you buy before Christmas.

And when I say upside down that goes for the Christmas colours too. The traditional green, red and white which we associate with the tree, Santa and snow are transposed here to the green of the grass, the red of the blooms on the  Pohutukawa tree, which Kiwis call their “Christmas Tree” and the white of their sandy beaches.

As we said in our last blog, written in the north of Tasmania, we were a bit underwhelmed with the island. I had spoken to a lot of people who had visited and really raved about its beauty, and there is no denying it is an attractive, lush island. Their annual rainfall and temperate climate see to that. But to call it “A World Apart”, is a bit of an exaggeration. It has some great beaches, but so do a lot of countries, and the terrain around Cradle Mountain, is very picturesque, but so is North Wales. Pat reckons we are now “over travelled”, and destinations we used to embrace have lost their “wow” factor for us. I am not sure that is completely true, but I was not unduly unhappy when we hopped on the plane for Sydney and then on to Auckland.

 

Our Tassy transport

Our base in Hobart

The only Tasmanian Devil we came across was at the Cascade Brewery

View looking towards The Bay Of Fires

The excellent bottle-conditioned Kentish Ale at "Seven Sheds"

 

Auckland is a city we have driven through a couple of times, from the airport, but never stopped to investigate so we decided to have a long weekend there, and I am glad we did, though our accommodation was not that great.

Apart from our first day, the weather was warm and sunny, and we took in as much of the city on foot as possible. Erica had recommended some nice beaches and on Sunday we caught a ferry over to Waiheke and had a lovely time exploring on the islands buses.

Auckland's downtown area from the harbour front

Onegeri beach on Waiheke

 

Now we are at Erica and James place on the outskirts of Wellington. They live in a new town house, that literally backs on to a park. The local professional cricket team, the Wellington Firebirds, have moved in, following a fire at their base in the city, so all week there has been the clatter of leather on willow and cries of “Owzat” reverberating around the park, which lies in a natural bowl, with steep hills on three sides and dense woodland behind us. It’s a very pleasant spot.

It’s early summer here and the weather has been quite hot for Wellington, but today (Friday), the winds that the city is famous far, have returned, and the clouds are scudding across the sky. We are baby sitting our nine-month granddaughter today and she is being as good as gold.

Livi helps her Grandpop to celebrate his birthday this week

Tanned in Tasmania

I am pleased to report that they are "Decking the halls" with Australian holly as I write from Tasmania, and earlier this morning I head Dean Martin pleading over a supermarkrt PA to "Let It Snow, Let it Snow". I think there is about as much chance of that happening round here at the moment as being bitten by one of those pesky Tasmanian Devils.

Anyway, all is well with Pat and yours truly. Our access to wi fi has been problematic over the last week or so. So this will be a short blog. Record summer temperatures have followed us from the Gold Coast in Queensland, down to Melbourne and south to Tasmania, though today has been decidedly cooler.
We had three days in Hobart and we are currently in the north of the island in  Swiss mountain resort. Think Port Merian and "The Prisoner " and youll get the idea.
We both like Australia. Whats not to like, and its been great to catch up with old friends and family as we have travelled south. Everything is so expensive though, thanks to our pound being weak against the Aussie dollar .
We like Tasmania, but think its a bit overrated. They have some stunning coastlines but no better than in New Zealand and their food and wines are good but not great.
In some respects its very much like being at home. They are as paranoid about their weather as we are. there are fears about mass immigration - electricity prices are out of control - unemployment is rising - retail sales are stagnant - and nobody has  good word to say about their prime minister.

Pat gets spiritual in a wat in Chaing Mai

My oldest pal Stu, Nikki, and us on the Gold Coast

New Zealand next week.

Tearing Around Thailand

It's been two weeks now since we left the UK, and all is well. However, it did not start that way and our Bangkok flight from Heathrow was cancelled, so we spent the night at at local hotel and flew out the following day.

So we had only two days in Bangkok, but fitted a lot in with a food tour of the floating markets on day 2. Yummy food, which is what I will remember most about our Thai adventure.
Got lots of good pictures and will upload a load when I get to Australia.
It is supposed to be winter here but most days its hovered around 34 degrees. We assumed when we headed north to Chian Mai it would get a little cooler, but it was much the same. Made this bit of our journey with my pal David and his Thai wife Nong.

After a few days there we headed south for the beach and currently in the city of Pattaya. The guide books describe it as the centre for prostitution, drugs and general debauchery, and I suppose  its like Blackpool on Speed. It's tacky in parts, though our hotel, to the north of the city, is very pleasant, and full of our German friends,  who are still at it, with their beach towels!
On Monday night we leave from  Bangkok and fly to Brisbane via Sydney before travelling south for a week in Tasmania.