So every so often on this space on the internet I bang on about Climate Change. The last time was back in November of last year. At that time I had come up with the idea that you really need to relate the global problem of climate change and excess CO2 back to an individual level. You need to say that this is the level of carbon that you produce now and this is what you need to aspire to.
Turns out that someone has approached the problem from this angle. I was looking at tons of CO2, Saul Griffith's looks at it in terms of watts or energy. I think his approach has several benefits as it's not just a climate change issue but it is also a energy security issue and it relates the global problems back to an individuals experiences. It is also a more direct and complete measure of ones impact on the world.
This is a long video (bit over an hour) but a very worth while one. Please take the time to stream/download this and watch it.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Array
Saw a tee shirt for sale recently with this design on it. Really rather clever though only funny to a fairly select audience. I think it's great though.
A Perk of Our Evolution - Pleasure in Pain of Chilies - NYTimes.com
I just read this in the NY times (link below). interesting fluff piece but with a great line in it, "In my kitchen, as I turn my homegrown habaneros into hot sauce while wearing a respirator (I’m not kidding)". He is using Habaneros which I'm also growing in my garden. they are now the 2nd hottest chillies in the world. I would actually recommend elbow length chemically resistant gloves when handling them rather than a respirator.
A Perk of Our Evolution - Pleasure in Pain of Chilies - NYTimes.com
A Perk of Our Evolution - Pleasure in Pain of Chilies - NYTimes.com
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Roof Dog
LOL Cats have Ceiling cat. Well I've just spotted Roof Dog.
He Watcheth over us and sees all.
He Watcheth over us and sees all.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
First Time Ever
So here is proof First ever trip to the Ballet.
Ballets not bad. Great as an art form and is an amazingly athletic display. The dancers are definitely to be admired, but to tell a story I prefer a musical or a play. They are just better mediums for story telling.
Ballets not bad. Great as an art form and is an amazingly athletic display. The dancers are definitely to be admired, but to tell a story I prefer a musical or a play. They are just better mediums for story telling.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Where we're at now
Min and I have been back in the country for a while now. Min has been in hard training and just over 2 weeks ago ran in her first ever Half Marathon. It was at the Townsville Running Festival held by the local club the Townsville Road Runners. It was a hard slog for her but she made the 21.1 km in under 2 hours.
For me though my weeks and especially weekends have been all about my house. I have been doing paint prep, gardening, taking off gutters, and stripping floors nearly every spare moment. One good thing though is that I am finally getting very close to having the place finished. Another 3 or 4 weeks and I should have the first of two apartments ready then another couple of weeks and I will have both places finished. Not long now!! Just paint both places then sand the floors in one and replace the fans.
Once the house is finished I will have time to get back to my own training and prepare for the OC1 races that are coming up later in the year. I actually hope to start running as well, ot long distances mind just 4-5km once or twice a week. With paddling and cycling I should start to see a definite improvement in my fitness.
All of that though is a while off and we will have to see how the house goes. For tonight though I'm off to see the The Imperial Russian Ballet Company preform the Nutcracker suite. I'm quite looking forward to it I've never been to the Ballet will be interesting to see.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Please read before you go to vote
People should know who they are voting for and what those people stand for. Over the last few elections federal politics has definitely declined. Labour hasn't had a strong leader running on strong policies since Keating. The Liberals on the other hand had a strong leader more recently in John Howard. Now I didn't agree with many of Howard's Policies (Especially Work Choices and Lack of Climate Change action) but Policy was front and centre in his election campaign.
If Julia Gillard would put up a strong central Policy on say Climate change or some other area that the Labour party think needs improving in Australia's current system I think they would be further ahead in the polls. All of this is a bit beside the point that I am trying to make though. I want people to know what a bunch of lunatics they would be voting for if they vote for the Liberal party. Please read the direct and referenced quotes on this website and see if Tony Abbott is the type of man that you would want in charge of a country. Remember his policies will affect people you.
Also please be aware that Liberal Preference are being directed towards the Family First Party. If the Liberals are a bunch of right wing lunatics then the Family First party are foaming at the mouth crazy! Here is an example of the Family First party trying to Advance Australia as a Modern Country.His contribution to the passing of Australia’s first paid parental leave scheme in June was to VOTE AGAINST IT BECAUSE:
“Drug addicts and welfare cheats can go out there and get themselves pregnant and then after 20 weeks have an abortion and still pocket the government’s cash,” Senator Fielding told the Senate.
Then also there is the belief that the world is only 10,000 years old and we all descended from 2 individuals.
Please take the rather extreme views of these peopl in to account when voting in the election on the 24th.
Monday, August 09, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday 10th June – Plantation Inn
Lemon Grove to Bakersfield
We left The Plantation Inn after a stunning breakfast of sweet chilies in an omelet pie type of thing. Said goodbye to Scott and Marie and headed off to Bakersfield. We were only heading to Bakersfield so that we could get ready for the flight to Australia, wash and repack the bags. It would have been awesome to stay longer at the plantation inn and see more of the area around there but I felt that driving all the way to LA in one day would have been a bit much.
Min and I did some shopping in Bakersfield. and I have to say that without my iPhone we would have been lost a few times and never would have found the stores that we were looking for. We went to a Big 5 sports store and Min bought a nice pair of black runners. I was wandering around and discovered that sports stores sell guns. Not just any guns either but Automatic rifles and pump action shotguns as well as hand guns.
We then went to Action Sports Store, they didn’t sell guns but they did sell bikes very nice bikes. I wanted to buy at least 3 but, you know transporting them back to Oz would have been a little hard (let’s not talk about the price either). I ended up buying a long sleeve thermal base layer made from silk and merino wool. Also in the carpark outside Action Sports we saw a Humvee or Hummer H1 which is a stupidly sized 'car' that was never really sold in Oz. We only get the baby siblings the Hummer H2 and H3 here in Australia.
We also stopped at a Wal Mart, as Min wanted to show me how big they were. They are sort of like a Big W and Woolies rolled into one, only 10 times the size, and they sell Guns.
One bonus of the trip was that we got to eat at a Denny’s Diner again. I ordered a pan fried dish and the meat was so awesome. Really tender and only $5.50 how can they sell food that cheep, it’s just ridicules. Min got something from the $4 value menu then with a milkshake for me and a drink for Min the total bill came to about $12 Crazy.
We did laundry then went to the hotel and repacked our bags ready for the next day and the final drive to LA.
We left The Plantation Inn after a stunning breakfast of sweet chilies in an omelet pie type of thing. Said goodbye to Scott and Marie and headed off to Bakersfield. We were only heading to Bakersfield so that we could get ready for the flight to Australia, wash and repack the bags. It would have been awesome to stay longer at the plantation inn and see more of the area around there but I felt that driving all the way to LA in one day would have been a bit much.
Min and I did some shopping in Bakersfield. and I have to say that without my iPhone we would have been lost a few times and never would have found the stores that we were looking for. We went to a Big 5 sports store and Min bought a nice pair of black runners. I was wandering around and discovered that sports stores sell guns. Not just any guns either but Automatic rifles and pump action shotguns as well as hand guns.
We then went to Action Sports Store, they didn’t sell guns but they did sell bikes very nice bikes. I wanted to buy at least 3 but, you know transporting them back to Oz would have been a little hard (let’s not talk about the price either). I ended up buying a long sleeve thermal base layer made from silk and merino wool. Also in the carpark outside Action Sports we saw a Humvee or Hummer H1 which is a stupidly sized 'car' that was never really sold in Oz. We only get the baby siblings the Hummer H2 and H3 here in Australia.
We also stopped at a Wal Mart, as Min wanted to show me how big they were. They are sort of like a Big W and Woolies rolled into one, only 10 times the size, and they sell Guns.
One bonus of the trip was that we got to eat at a Denny’s Diner again. I ordered a pan fried dish and the meat was so awesome. Really tender and only $5.50 how can they sell food that cheep, it’s just ridicules. Min got something from the $4 value menu then with a milkshake for me and a drink for Min the total bill came to about $12 Crazy.
We did laundry then went to the hotel and repacked our bags ready for the next day and the final drive to LA.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday 10th June – Plantation Inn
Lemon Grove
Kings canyon (long drive really beautiful scenery) is to the north of Sequoia National Park and has some spectacular scenery. It did take us over an hour to get to the beginning of the Canyon though.
On the drive through the national park and into Kings Canyon was spectacular, steep cliffs covered in an interesting type of Yukka. Amazing bushes covered in white flowers, all with an amazing canyon with Kings River at the bottom.
It took over another hour to get through to the middle of the national park. At the end is a walk along King River just before it branches into 2 separate creeks. We were headed along the Mist falls trail which walks up the canyon then up to a spectacular waterfall. The area is very open woodland with the occasional Giant Sequoia but none of them were very giant. It seems at this lower altitude and with the dry sandy soil at the bottom of the Canyon they were struggling a little. We did see lots of Squirrels though and one in particular had the largest and bushiest tail ever. I mean he (We think it was a boy) had a tail that was bigger than he was. We stopped for a quick lunch of muesli (Granola they call it) bars and water. Min was a bit worried that Bears were going to try and eat her as she was the one carrying the food. While walking we met some people going the other way. They briefly mentioned that we should watch out for Rattle Snakes as they had seen 2 already on the walk. By this time on the trail the canyon had gotten narrower and the soil wetter so the trees and shrubs were much denser than before and closer to the path. We decided not to do the walk up the steep trail on one side of the canyon to Mist Falls and just do the loop at the bottom of the canyon. This was mainly due to there probably being more snakes up on the warmer sunnier more rocky Mist Falls trail, and also I wasn’t feeling up to going up steep slopes again. There was a small problem with our choice though, the snows had all melted in the previous week and had caused the river to rise blocking the loop track. So we happily turned around and wandered back down the path we had just come along. We didn’t see any rattle snakes even though Min kept a sharp eye out for them, what we did see though was Bear Poo. Min finally has proof (in the form of a Photo people) that Bears do Shit in the woods.
After our little adventure along the Mist Falls Trail we decided to have another last look at the Giant Giant Sequoia trees so we drove to General Grant tree. As you’d expect from the 2nd largest tree in the world it was huge. Again huge in a sense that words just don’t do it justice. Due to the higher altitude, the late afternoon and the lack of sunshine on anything but the top of the General Grant tree the temperature had dropped rather significantly by the time we were walking to the General Grant tree. Min quickly got cold and was shivering by the time we made it back to the trusty Dodge Charger. The walk around the General Grant Tree is awesome as there is a tree that has fallen down and you can walk through the length of the trunk. With between .5 to 1m of wood on the outside I was able to stand fully upright and walk through the 50m length of the tree. They truly are astounding plants!
We went to the Cider mill for dinner. With a name like the Cider Mill Lewis was expecting English type fare. Turns out that a Mexican couple owned the restaurant and it served Mexican food. Good food just not really what we were expecting from the name of the place. Then it was home and Jacuzzi under the stars again – lovely Lewis was big and brave and jumped into the pool (well rolled as it was only 4.5ft deep) the pool was 20 Celsius then climbed back in the Jacuzzi… there was no way I was doing it as I had only just finally got warm after the walk to the big tree earlier in the afternoon! Organized accommodation at Bakersfield for when we leave in the morning
Kings canyon (long drive really beautiful scenery) is to the north of Sequoia National Park and has some spectacular scenery. It did take us over an hour to get to the beginning of the Canyon though.
On the drive through the national park and into Kings Canyon was spectacular, steep cliffs covered in an interesting type of Yukka. Amazing bushes covered in white flowers, all with an amazing canyon with Kings River at the bottom.
It took over another hour to get through to the middle of the national park. At the end is a walk along King River just before it branches into 2 separate creeks. We were headed along the Mist falls trail which walks up the canyon then up to a spectacular waterfall. The area is very open woodland with the occasional Giant Sequoia but none of them were very giant. It seems at this lower altitude and with the dry sandy soil at the bottom of the Canyon they were struggling a little. We did see lots of Squirrels though and one in particular had the largest and bushiest tail ever. I mean he (We think it was a boy) had a tail that was bigger than he was. We stopped for a quick lunch of muesli (Granola they call it) bars and water. Min was a bit worried that Bears were going to try and eat her as she was the one carrying the food. While walking we met some people going the other way. They briefly mentioned that we should watch out for Rattle Snakes as they had seen 2 already on the walk. By this time on the trail the canyon had gotten narrower and the soil wetter so the trees and shrubs were much denser than before and closer to the path. We decided not to do the walk up the steep trail on one side of the canyon to Mist Falls and just do the loop at the bottom of the canyon. This was mainly due to there probably being more snakes up on the warmer sunnier more rocky Mist Falls trail, and also I wasn’t feeling up to going up steep slopes again. There was a small problem with our choice though, the snows had all melted in the previous week and had caused the river to rise blocking the loop track. So we happily turned around and wandered back down the path we had just come along. We didn’t see any rattle snakes even though Min kept a sharp eye out for them, what we did see though was Bear Poo. Min finally has proof (in the form of a Photo people) that Bears do Shit in the woods.
After our little adventure along the Mist Falls Trail we decided to have another last look at the Giant Giant Sequoia trees so we drove to General Grant tree. As you’d expect from the 2nd largest tree in the world it was huge. Again huge in a sense that words just don’t do it justice. Due to the higher altitude, the late afternoon and the lack of sunshine on anything but the top of the General Grant tree the temperature had dropped rather significantly by the time we were walking to the General Grant tree. Min quickly got cold and was shivering by the time we made it back to the trusty Dodge Charger. The walk around the General Grant Tree is awesome as there is a tree that has fallen down and you can walk through the length of the trunk. With between .5 to 1m of wood on the outside I was able to stand fully upright and walk through the 50m length of the tree. They truly are astounding plants!
We went to the Cider mill for dinner. With a name like the Cider Mill Lewis was expecting English type fare. Turns out that a Mexican couple owned the restaurant and it served Mexican food. Good food just not really what we were expecting from the name of the place. Then it was home and Jacuzzi under the stars again – lovely Lewis was big and brave and jumped into the pool (well rolled as it was only 4.5ft deep) the pool was 20 Celsius then climbed back in the Jacuzzi… there was no way I was doing it as I had only just finally got warm after the walk to the big tree earlier in the afternoon! Organized accommodation at Bakersfield for when we leave in the morning
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday 9th June – Plantation Inn
Lemon Grove
After an amazing breakfast at the plantation inn (Marie Cooked Dutch Cradles) Min and I headed into Sequoia National Park to see the giant trees. We had already seen Sequoias at Yosemite so we were not prepared to be as impressed as we were. The landscape is rugged and mountainous but we had seen Yosemite which has some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve seen anywhere. The park had restaurants, visitor centres and a post office but Yosemite had had those as well as millions more people. If you come to Sequoia National Park you come for the trees, nothing can prepare you for their enormity.
We had briefly popped in at the visitors center to find out walking trails etc and were informed that there was road works that only let traffic through on the hour and if we left in the next 5 minutes it should be right. So we quickly bought a map and left. Travel was up a steep windy road, apparently Americans are not very confident (one may say timid) doing 5-10 mile an hour around corners that were not even hair pin (it was more frustrating as we needed to make it to the road works –poor Lewis I was frustrated and was only the passenger but I had to just ignore it and look at the view. We just made the road works so got through without having to wait another hour and headed to the tree named General Sherman.
General Sherman is the largest living tree by weight and volume in the World. It is only 82m high but the girth of the tree is enormous and it stays incredibly think until near the top, it is truly a sight to see. The top was damaged at some stage but each year it adds more wood to the trunk (each year it adds enough wood for another normal size tree). Later wandering around another part of the forest we forgot how big the Sequoias are and started to think that some of those trees were big again. Then we headed on the Congress trail and saw some of the large named Sequoias again and remembered that the other trees might be large but nothing else had the same size and presence (they only name the biggest tress and have stopped the practice of naming trees). The photos will not do them justice, our memories will not do them justice they are just living monoliths.
It was well past lunch so we headed back to café in the park, Then we walked Bear hill looking for bears but we didn’t see any. We did however see chipmunks and Squirrels and naughty birds (stellas jay). Lewis “helped the sequoias to spread their seed” aka was throwing the pine cones as they only fell under the trees….I kept explaining they had been there doing their thing for thousands of years and probably did not need help but…. For such large trees they have little tiny pine cones.
Went to Morro Rock which turned out to be slightly more up than expected and with my (Lewis) sore legs I didn’t relish the walk. It turned out to be a really nice walk and not hard at all. We saw naughty lizards and there was an amazing view at the end of the trail. Spent some time looking around at the top and then some more time photographing the lizards and debating what they were (we think cameleons as they had the funny eye thing and changed bright bright blue under their throat and tummy when cranky or displaying or having just eaten) one ate a big termite ant thing and turned bright blue as he was wiping his mouth on the rock… very cool (Western Fence lizard – also known as blue bellied lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis).
On the way home we saw a black bear crossing the road heading to bear hill. See the hill did live up to its name, we were on a narrow road and the bear was moving fast so only chance for one photo. But it was very exciting.
We ate at the riverview tavern (a local hangout) once again overlooking the river. Not the best singers but at least there was a live performance from local musicians. Whilst we were eating a little panicked baby came steaming up the rocks away from the rapids and was peeping with alarm running all through under peoples chairs. One of the singers on a break caught it and another local put it in a box whilst looking for its mum (probably got washed down stream a bit in all the water) we hope they found a home for it – it was only little and still fluffy.
Then headed home, bought some Mikes hard lemonade so Lewis can try it and had a Jacuzzi out under the stars (very lovely). They rave about the number of stars that are visible due to the lack of light pollution… there were not as many as you can see is Aus especially if you are out somewhere near Dubbo or similar.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday 8th June – Yosemite Riverside Inn
Big Oak Flats to Lemon Grove
Time to leave Yosemite and head south to Sequoia National Park. Trouble was that we hadn’t been able to book accommodation through complete lack of planning and no phone and dodgy internet plus spending long days at Yosemite. This all meant that we were starting the day not really knowing where we would end up.
First off was breakfast provided by the riverside inn. Quite a nice breakfast and there was a lovely introduction from a little girl who announced “I’m having chocolate milk” as soon as I walked in the door. The family turned out to be from just near Santa Barbera and also hadn’t booked their rooms a year in advance so they were staying outside the park as well. Staying outside the park turned out to be good for them too, cheaper accommodation and food and still getting the natural wonders of Yosemite.
The plan was to drive down through Yosemite, out to the south, get phone reception and call some hotels to book a room for the next 2 nights on the edge of Sequoia national park. After a disasterous attempt to use a public phone (involving the phone eating millions of quarters, motor bikes starting up right next to us just when someone finally answered) we gave up and decided to keep driving until we had mobile phone reception. After a couple of places telling us that they were full we called The Plantation Inn Bed and Breakfast (thank goodness for the AAA accommodation book as everything listed in lonely planet was well and truly full and all run by the same company). Scott the owner was really helpful and he let us have his best room at a very good price and then explained exactly how to find them – just what we needed it was good to finally get a friendly voice rather than front desk of large corporations. Following the highways took us through Fresno, now we have been through Fresno and Modesto. If you have seen Monsters Vs Aliens you would know those names. With only one stop at a Denny’s Diner for min to get all you can eat Pancakes we made it to the plantation inn before dinner time (in Min’s defense it was well after 3 and we were eating lunch).
The Plantation Inn turned out to be a Gone with the Wind themed place which Min later told me she knew about (figured Lew didn’t really need this info up front as I was just relieved that we had accommodation). Despite this it was an amazing place to stay. Scott was a wonderful host and Marie was a fantastic Cook. You really looked forward to the Breakfasts that they served.
We had dinner that night at the Gateway Inn, right beside a fast and angry river (Rapids really did explain the river) apparently the snow had all decided to melt at once a week before.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday 7th June – Yosemite Riverside Inn
big oak flats
Lewis started out a little slow. Got up at 7:30
Breakfast at hotel. Coffee was a bit bad but they had a sign saying ‘don’t complain about the coffee you’ll be old and week one day too’
Drove into Yosemite and were set to go on the Yosemite creek falls walk to upper falls. However I was a bit concerned about our lack of food. I had to force min to buy a pack of 12 “Granola” bars. Min made me pledge that if she was eaten by bears I would be the one responsible.
The walk started off flat but got steep quick when we started heading up to the upper falls. We got spectacular views of the falls from below and above, well half way up any way. With the lower falls and half the upper falls walk we were walking for about 4.5 hours.
We got some amazing views of the valley on the upper falls walk. Min was very glad that I made her take food I was as well for that matter. I had started the walk off with a sore foot and feeling a little faint. After a bit of steep climbing a break to drink water and eat a bar I actually felt much better in the head. What did get worse though was my foot.
After the walk min and I got Cappuccino smoothies. Then we went into the Ansell Adams photography gallery then to the store for a memento or two.
I made min eat something again. Then we decided to head out of the park and maybe do a small walk to see a grove of sequoias on the way out. Saw a mother bear and 2 cubs on the way out.
The ‘small’ walk when we got to the trailhead the sign said it was a 3 hour walk. It was 5 in the afternoon so we really didn’t have time for a 3 hour walk. We said walk in for half an hour then out and home. Well we made it all the way to the Sequoia grove in just over half an hour so we got to see the giants of the forest.
When you’re away from the Sequoias and you see large trees you forget how big the sequoias and Redwoods are. You think to yourself “that is a large tree”. Then you see it next to one of the Sequoias and you realize that the Sequoias are large on a different scale. They make the giants of other forests look small. The largest of the other trees would only be half as high and a fraction of the girth of the Sequoias.
Hotel shower then dinner at the same place as yesterday.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday 6th June – America’s Best Value Inn
Modesto to Big Oak Flats (just outside Yosemite)
Had a terrible night’s sleep the room was about 29-30 degrees C all night, had to open the door around 4am to help it cool down and there was a huge bunch of people leaving Denny’s Diner so it was also quite noisy with the door open, so consequently did not get the crack of dawn leave that we had planned but that happens. We popped into Denny’s Diner to get some authentic American diner food, we both got all you can eat pancakes ($4) and a bottomless coffee ($1.95) easy to see how people can get ultra large in America, first lot of pancakes come out as 3 and then you get 2 more at a time until you are done. I only had 3 Lewie had 5 (well 4 and a bit) as we were just going to have a light lunch. Grabbed some GAS (petrol) and headed, got a smidge lost but nothing we could not handle as we rock and headed to Yosemite, got a little lost again and had to back track for 15 minutes or so but all good. Then passed a sign saying turn air con off for next 5 mile (or something like that) so we were thinking what is coming ie car needs the power etc it was steepish and windy but nothing crazy, it was also interesting noting that the other drivers were more timid than Lew even though he was driving normally they just must not be used to curves???
So had a debate as to the colour of the purple/pink flowers beside the road, Lewis swears they are pink but his is wrong, although I will admit to lilac rather than purple – regardless they were pretty. Found our accommodation and managed to book in early (score) it is really nice there is a glacier stream bubbling away and a nice sitting / picnic area with swinging chairs overlooking it – and there were a heap of butterflies hanging out in the mud (and lots of people trying to photograph them – me included) which were cool. So we ate our lunch (apple for me and bran and apple muffin for Lewis) see we were allowed to have pancakes for breakfast! And then headed into Yosemite.
On the way in we hear on the radio that they have free entry into Yosemite this weekend for whatever reason so it was very packed but we didn’t have to pay (we will tomorrow) there are just people and cars everywhere but we don’t really know where we want to go or see and we are just so busy looking at the massive mountains and awesome view really cool. At the entrance you got some info and in it they said if there is a sign on the side of a road with a red bear picture that a bear had recently been killed here and please DO NOT SPEED so last year there were 27 bears killed on the road and 19 a year is average… not cool so then Lewis instructed me to find him a bear… and we did see one! It was chilling in a meadow really cool we pulled over (with a million other excited people) and took some photos yay. Just before the bear we saw snow – Lewis did not believe me until he could see it too, it was patchy, covered in leaves and dirt etc. but it was snow… so there was Lewis in his Hawaiian shirt and sandals in snow… fairly cool. So to the visitors centre and get some hiking maps etc., went through the display history of Yosemite – interesting that Roosevelt was significantly involved in the declaration of Yosemite and John Muir was again substantially involved. Yosemite was originally declared to protect the sequoias from logging and ended up protecting the whole ecosystem and area which was cool.
We walked to mirror lake which was a little less mirror as the moment as the water is quite high (one of the bus ladies said as high as it has been in 25 years due to snow melt) but also they are letting it go back to its natural state which is a developing meadow that forms a pool in high snow melt times so it was cool to see. In the late 1800s they put in a toll way, a lodge that had boats on the lake and also put a dancing floor over the lake (for visitors pleasure) thank goodness they no longer have these “comforts” and it has just gone back to the original natural way. We saw a little snake on the way back, and saw a deer beside the road, completely not fussed by the cars or people, lots of naughty squirrels (and not naughty ones, that were actually hunting their own food). You do get a sore neck from consistently looking up it was just gorgeous. On the way out of the park we saw the same bear in the same place (very cool, and some very dumb people walking closer to it to get photos) and then Lewis saw another in the woods not far so quickly pulled over and ducked out to get a few photos on my camera – very very cool as this one was quite close and no one else was there so Lewis spotted it all himself. We had dinner at a restaurant just up the road which was a normal American small town restaurant but around us were a table of Germans, a table of Italians, French, Japanese, us and we think a table of Americans but unusual that for such a small town feel that there was just a international flavour.. crazy then back to plan tomorrow and get an early night back again tomorrow
Had a terrible night’s sleep the room was about 29-30 degrees C all night, had to open the door around 4am to help it cool down and there was a huge bunch of people leaving Denny’s Diner so it was also quite noisy with the door open, so consequently did not get the crack of dawn leave that we had planned but that happens. We popped into Denny’s Diner to get some authentic American diner food, we both got all you can eat pancakes ($4) and a bottomless coffee ($1.95) easy to see how people can get ultra large in America, first lot of pancakes come out as 3 and then you get 2 more at a time until you are done. I only had 3 Lewie had 5 (well 4 and a bit) as we were just going to have a light lunch. Grabbed some GAS (petrol) and headed, got a smidge lost but nothing we could not handle as we rock and headed to Yosemite, got a little lost again and had to back track for 15 minutes or so but all good. Then passed a sign saying turn air con off for next 5 mile (or something like that) so we were thinking what is coming ie car needs the power etc it was steepish and windy but nothing crazy, it was also interesting noting that the other drivers were more timid than Lew even though he was driving normally they just must not be used to curves???
So had a debate as to the colour of the purple/pink flowers beside the road, Lewis swears they are pink but his is wrong, although I will admit to lilac rather than purple – regardless they were pretty. Found our accommodation and managed to book in early (score) it is really nice there is a glacier stream bubbling away and a nice sitting / picnic area with swinging chairs overlooking it – and there were a heap of butterflies hanging out in the mud (and lots of people trying to photograph them – me included) which were cool. So we ate our lunch (apple for me and bran and apple muffin for Lewis) see we were allowed to have pancakes for breakfast! And then headed into Yosemite.
On the way in we hear on the radio that they have free entry into Yosemite this weekend for whatever reason so it was very packed but we didn’t have to pay (we will tomorrow) there are just people and cars everywhere but we don’t really know where we want to go or see and we are just so busy looking at the massive mountains and awesome view really cool. At the entrance you got some info and in it they said if there is a sign on the side of a road with a red bear picture that a bear had recently been killed here and please DO NOT SPEED so last year there were 27 bears killed on the road and 19 a year is average… not cool so then Lewis instructed me to find him a bear… and we did see one! It was chilling in a meadow really cool we pulled over (with a million other excited people) and took some photos yay. Just before the bear we saw snow – Lewis did not believe me until he could see it too, it was patchy, covered in leaves and dirt etc. but it was snow… so there was Lewis in his Hawaiian shirt and sandals in snow… fairly cool. So to the visitors centre and get some hiking maps etc., went through the display history of Yosemite – interesting that Roosevelt was significantly involved in the declaration of Yosemite and John Muir was again substantially involved. Yosemite was originally declared to protect the sequoias from logging and ended up protecting the whole ecosystem and area which was cool.
We walked to mirror lake which was a little less mirror as the moment as the water is quite high (one of the bus ladies said as high as it has been in 25 years due to snow melt) but also they are letting it go back to its natural state which is a developing meadow that forms a pool in high snow melt times so it was cool to see. In the late 1800s they put in a toll way, a lodge that had boats on the lake and also put a dancing floor over the lake (for visitors pleasure) thank goodness they no longer have these “comforts” and it has just gone back to the original natural way. We saw a little snake on the way back, and saw a deer beside the road, completely not fussed by the cars or people, lots of naughty squirrels (and not naughty ones, that were actually hunting their own food). You do get a sore neck from consistently looking up it was just gorgeous. On the way out of the park we saw the same bear in the same place (very cool, and some very dumb people walking closer to it to get photos) and then Lewis saw another in the woods not far so quickly pulled over and ducked out to get a few photos on my camera – very very cool as this one was quite close and no one else was there so Lewis spotted it all himself. We had dinner at a restaurant just up the road which was a normal American small town restaurant but around us were a table of Germans, a table of Italians, French, Japanese, us and we think a table of Americans but unusual that for such a small town feel that there was just a international flavour.. crazy then back to plan tomorrow and get an early night back again tomorrow
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Saturday 5th June – Golden Haven Spa
Calistoga to Modesto
Slept in (Lewis needed it) then tried to organize accommodation in Yosemite but had internet issues and had to check out then my computer battery died in my computer – all with min having no food… not good! So we decided that we would find accommodation the old fashion way – turn up in the area and then just see….Grabbed some food from the local super market, Lewis got a “bun” that turned out to be a cold potato stuffed with meat, cheese etc.. funny! Not really what Lewis was expecting to eat but did the spot. Then headed off to Modesto. Passed a massive wind farm - probably had 400ish turbines super impressive. (stopped at MacDonald's on the way to try and use their free Wi-Fi which of course for whatever reason was not working Grrr) got into Modesto and had absolutely no idea where the main street was or anything, managed to fluke a main street and asked at a “gas station” and we were only few blocks away (nothing special but somewhere to sleep) still had no place to stay in Yosemite so as wi-fi was not working at the hotel (for whatever reason) we headed into the town to find a Starbucks or similar found one but apparently to have access to the free wi-fi you have to have a card and buy 5 things on this card and etc etc the dude was embarrassed to tell us but also mentioned that there was a pizza shop around the corner with free wi-fi so we ordered a pizza and booked accommodation (pizza was nice) and rang mum. So we will be off early to Yosemite yay!
Slept in (Lewis needed it) then tried to organize accommodation in Yosemite but had internet issues and had to check out then my computer battery died in my computer – all with min having no food… not good! So we decided that we would find accommodation the old fashion way – turn up in the area and then just see….Grabbed some food from the local super market, Lewis got a “bun” that turned out to be a cold potato stuffed with meat, cheese etc.. funny! Not really what Lewis was expecting to eat but did the spot. Then headed off to Modesto. Passed a massive wind farm - probably had 400ish turbines super impressive. (stopped at MacDonald's on the way to try and use their free Wi-Fi which of course for whatever reason was not working Grrr) got into Modesto and had absolutely no idea where the main street was or anything, managed to fluke a main street and asked at a “gas station” and we were only few blocks away (nothing special but somewhere to sleep) still had no place to stay in Yosemite so as wi-fi was not working at the hotel (for whatever reason) we headed into the town to find a Starbucks or similar found one but apparently to have access to the free wi-fi you have to have a card and buy 5 things on this card and etc etc the dude was embarrassed to tell us but also mentioned that there was a pizza shop around the corner with free wi-fi so we ordered a pizza and booked accommodation (pizza was nice) and rang mum. So we will be off early to Yosemite yay!
Friday, June 04, 2010
Friday 4th June – Marina Inn
San Francisco to Calistoga.
Lewis picked up our clean washing and the car from the parking lot, we drove Lombard street (not really as scary or cool as it looked walking but still fairly cool) Min was “taking video” on Lewis’s camera… well let’s just say that it helps if you press go!
Then out of San Fran over the golden gate bridge (the day was misty) and into Muir woods, they are just amazing the trees are huge. It is impossible to explain the sheer size and majesty of them.. I expected to be amazed but was not prepared for the prehistoric feel of the forests also the misty atmosphere really added to the feel of the woods. We saw baby chipmunks, a spotted owl and a whole heap of annoying people (whilst we were there too we did not feel the need to yell to one another in the woods, fortunately we took a higher, slightly longer much quieter walk which was lovely, we saw a squirrel eating bark/moss some wrens and just got to enjoy the feel of the woods which was lovely). The café / gift shop had baby redwoods for sale it was a battle with Lew to leave the tree there and no he could NOT get it into Australia (he wanted 3). A medium tree that had come down had been aged at over 1000 years old and it was a medium sized one. They were MASSIVE One of the trees had had its original trunk destroyed by wildfire or lightening due to the size of it this original tree was over 1000 and the babies were about 1000 years old themselves CRAZY! The root system covers about an acre per tree.
Headed from Muir woods to Sonoma valley (winery area) called into the info centre and got some info, we headed to the oldest winery in the region Buena Vista 1859? The area is known for its Cab Sav tasted some good wines the Chardonnay was really lovely, they called Shiraz something different. The dude knew his stuff but we had to head to make our spa in time, on the way we had to pass through a tiny town called Saint Helena and it took FOREVER to get through this area (about 15 minutes to transverse through a tiny town) so we were late for our spa in Calistoga (most stressed I have been on this trip as we were late it turned out ok however they just moved our spa booking back ½ an hour). Plus they had over quoted me by $100 so double bonus! Dropped our stuff off in the room and headed down for the mud spa. We had a couple’s one so you got in a mud bath (sphagnum moss, mineral water and clay) it was hot on the bottom so you had to slide in sideways and then squiggle down to get in the mud. It was a very weird feeling as you were completely supported by the mud – quite relaxing but didn’t smell that great. Had a tea mud thing put on our faces and lay there and stewed for about 15 minutes. Then out of there and rinsed off in a mineral shower, mine was cold so was a bit of a shock.. The mud stuck to Lewis hairs so that was funny and took FOREVER to get off him, then into a hot Jacuzzi again with mineral water, by now Lewis was cooking, then from there into a room to cool down, wrapped in blankets… not sure how that worked Lew was still sweating for hours. Then back to the room, I read whilst Lew slept for about 2 hours, then went to dinner in the main street at a nice Italian place, I had spaghetti Bolognase (apparently this place was famous for this) and Lew had lasagne (very nice).
Lewis picked up our clean washing and the car from the parking lot, we drove Lombard street (not really as scary or cool as it looked walking but still fairly cool) Min was “taking video” on Lewis’s camera… well let’s just say that it helps if you press go!
Then out of San Fran over the golden gate bridge (the day was misty) and into Muir woods, they are just amazing the trees are huge. It is impossible to explain the sheer size and majesty of them.. I expected to be amazed but was not prepared for the prehistoric feel of the forests also the misty atmosphere really added to the feel of the woods. We saw baby chipmunks, a spotted owl and a whole heap of annoying people (whilst we were there too we did not feel the need to yell to one another in the woods, fortunately we took a higher, slightly longer much quieter walk which was lovely, we saw a squirrel eating bark/moss some wrens and just got to enjoy the feel of the woods which was lovely). The café / gift shop had baby redwoods for sale it was a battle with Lew to leave the tree there and no he could NOT get it into Australia (he wanted 3). A medium tree that had come down had been aged at over 1000 years old and it was a medium sized one. They were MASSIVE One of the trees had had its original trunk destroyed by wildfire or lightening due to the size of it this original tree was over 1000 and the babies were about 1000 years old themselves CRAZY! The root system covers about an acre per tree.
Headed from Muir woods to Sonoma valley (winery area) called into the info centre and got some info, we headed to the oldest winery in the region Buena Vista 1859? The area is known for its Cab Sav tasted some good wines the Chardonnay was really lovely, they called Shiraz something different. The dude knew his stuff but we had to head to make our spa in time, on the way we had to pass through a tiny town called Saint Helena and it took FOREVER to get through this area (about 15 minutes to transverse through a tiny town) so we were late for our spa in Calistoga (most stressed I have been on this trip as we were late it turned out ok however they just moved our spa booking back ½ an hour). Plus they had over quoted me by $100 so double bonus! Dropped our stuff off in the room and headed down for the mud spa. We had a couple’s one so you got in a mud bath (sphagnum moss, mineral water and clay) it was hot on the bottom so you had to slide in sideways and then squiggle down to get in the mud. It was a very weird feeling as you were completely supported by the mud – quite relaxing but didn’t smell that great. Had a tea mud thing put on our faces and lay there and stewed for about 15 minutes. Then out of there and rinsed off in a mineral shower, mine was cold so was a bit of a shock.. The mud stuck to Lewis hairs so that was funny and took FOREVER to get off him, then into a hot Jacuzzi again with mineral water, by now Lewis was cooking, then from there into a room to cool down, wrapped in blankets… not sure how that worked Lew was still sweating for hours. Then back to the room, I read whilst Lew slept for about 2 hours, then went to dinner in the main street at a nice Italian place, I had spaghetti Bolognase (apparently this place was famous for this) and Lew had lasagne (very nice).
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Thursday 3rd June – Marina Inn
San Francisco
We had our complimentary breakfast at the Marina Inn. Not a very good breakfast but at least it was something to eat, wouldn’t want Min to get grumpy!
The first item for the day after breakfast was that we had to move car from the street to a parking lot. Parking in San Fran seems to be a problem as there are many more cars than spaces; also many hotels don’t provide parking. Still $22 was not much extra when we considered that we got the rooms for $45 a night near the centre of San Francisco.
We had a very big day planned with a tour on the ducks and then hire bikes and ride across the golden gate bridge. First though we did a bit of looking around the Fisherman’s Wharf area. Min and I both found leather jackets that we wanted. They were at least half the price we would have paid in Australia. There were a lot of touristy shops selling crappy souvenirs, so we really didn’t see much else we wanted to buy. Fisherman’s Wharf seems to be the tourist area of San Francisco so I am sure that there are nicer parts of the city if you are only there for a couple of days this is the place to go to get tours and hire bikes etc.
The first part of our day long adventure was a ride on the Ducks with Captain Jeff and toured through north beach down town then around the stadium and the bay. The Ducks are amphibious vehicles… well trucks really first built for WWII and they can move on land and sea, though to be fair not very well on either. They’re big and unwieldy but they give you a great couple of hour’s tour of San Francisco. Captain Jeff was fun and a great tour guide and the best part was we got Quackers. Quackers are a bright yellow duck bill shaped noise maker… needless to say Min loved hers.
Once we were done with our whirlwind tour of some of the central suburbs of San Francisco we needed some sustenance, so we ate ice-cream at Ghirardelli’s where (According to our tour guide) cocoa powder was first made.
After our healthy lunch of a chocolate fudge Sunday for min and a Banana Split for me (Mine had fruit in it, Fruit is healthy right?) we ambled back down to the Fisherman’s Wharf area and hired bikes. We cycled along the water front then up some stupendous hills and across the golden gate bridge. The view of and from this bridge is spectacular to say the least
On the way back along the foreshore of the bay we saw a store called sports basement. Min and I both wandered around inside for over an hour. Min bought some running shoes and I bought myself another pair of Keen Sandals. This time though I got the Venice model. I have to say I had a very tough time fitting my Jacket, water bottle some gloves and a hat in my little bag once I bought the new sandals. Once we were finally on our way again out the back of the store we saw the canoes of San Francisco Outrigger Canoe Club. Everything was going well but we were starting to run a little late for returning the bikes.
We made it on time and returned the bikes before the shop closed. Next stop was to quickly go to Golden Gate Leather and buy the jackets we saw earlier in the day.
Then walked to north beach area and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant. The restaurant ended up being quite a walk and after the long day already we were not only tired but starving by the time we made it to Pellegrini’s. Pellegrini’s is an Italian restaurant that was pointed out to us by Captain Jeff on the Duck tour earlier in the day. It may have been due to comparison but at the time it certainly tasted like one of the best meals we’d ever eaten.
After an excellent dinner we started off home on foot again. As we were walking down Columbus St back towards Fisherman’s Wharf we passed Lombard St and our hotel was on the corner of Lombard and Octavia and for some reason I suggested to walk back to the hotel via the more direct route of Lombard St. The problem with the walk ‘down’ Lombard St is that it goes over Russian Hill before descending to the relative flat area around our hotel on Octavia St. Lombard St climbs 88m in the space of a couple of city blocks achieving a grade of 27% on a stretch that has to have switchbacks for the cars to be able to safely drive along it. Anyway we walked over Russian Hill along Lombard St the crookedest street in the world (Captain Jeff recons that Lombard is the second crookedest street in the world behind Wall St).
Great day we saw amazing things but we were very tired.
We had our complimentary breakfast at the Marina Inn. Not a very good breakfast but at least it was something to eat, wouldn’t want Min to get grumpy!
The first item for the day after breakfast was that we had to move car from the street to a parking lot. Parking in San Fran seems to be a problem as there are many more cars than spaces; also many hotels don’t provide parking. Still $22 was not much extra when we considered that we got the rooms for $45 a night near the centre of San Francisco.
We had a very big day planned with a tour on the ducks and then hire bikes and ride across the golden gate bridge. First though we did a bit of looking around the Fisherman’s Wharf area. Min and I both found leather jackets that we wanted. They were at least half the price we would have paid in Australia. There were a lot of touristy shops selling crappy souvenirs, so we really didn’t see much else we wanted to buy. Fisherman’s Wharf seems to be the tourist area of San Francisco so I am sure that there are nicer parts of the city if you are only there for a couple of days this is the place to go to get tours and hire bikes etc.
The first part of our day long adventure was a ride on the Ducks with Captain Jeff and toured through north beach down town then around the stadium and the bay. The Ducks are amphibious vehicles… well trucks really first built for WWII and they can move on land and sea, though to be fair not very well on either. They’re big and unwieldy but they give you a great couple of hour’s tour of San Francisco. Captain Jeff was fun and a great tour guide and the best part was we got Quackers. Quackers are a bright yellow duck bill shaped noise maker… needless to say Min loved hers.
Once we were done with our whirlwind tour of some of the central suburbs of San Francisco we needed some sustenance, so we ate ice-cream at Ghirardelli’s where (According to our tour guide) cocoa powder was first made.
After our healthy lunch of a chocolate fudge Sunday for min and a Banana Split for me (Mine had fruit in it, Fruit is healthy right?) we ambled back down to the Fisherman’s Wharf area and hired bikes. We cycled along the water front then up some stupendous hills and across the golden gate bridge. The view of and from this bridge is spectacular to say the least
On the way back along the foreshore of the bay we saw a store called sports basement. Min and I both wandered around inside for over an hour. Min bought some running shoes and I bought myself another pair of Keen Sandals. This time though I got the Venice model. I have to say I had a very tough time fitting my Jacket, water bottle some gloves and a hat in my little bag once I bought the new sandals. Once we were finally on our way again out the back of the store we saw the canoes of San Francisco Outrigger Canoe Club. Everything was going well but we were starting to run a little late for returning the bikes.
We made it on time and returned the bikes before the shop closed. Next stop was to quickly go to Golden Gate Leather and buy the jackets we saw earlier in the day.
Then walked to north beach area and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant. The restaurant ended up being quite a walk and after the long day already we were not only tired but starving by the time we made it to Pellegrini’s. Pellegrini’s is an Italian restaurant that was pointed out to us by Captain Jeff on the Duck tour earlier in the day. It may have been due to comparison but at the time it certainly tasted like one of the best meals we’d ever eaten.
After an excellent dinner we started off home on foot again. As we were walking down Columbus St back towards Fisherman’s Wharf we passed Lombard St and our hotel was on the corner of Lombard and Octavia and for some reason I suggested to walk back to the hotel via the more direct route of Lombard St. The problem with the walk ‘down’ Lombard St is that it goes over Russian Hill before descending to the relative flat area around our hotel on Octavia St. Lombard St climbs 88m in the space of a couple of city blocks achieving a grade of 27% on a stretch that has to have switchbacks for the cars to be able to safely drive along it. Anyway we walked over Russian Hill along Lombard St the crookedest street in the world (Captain Jeff recons that Lombard is the second crookedest street in the world behind Wall St).
Great day we saw amazing things but we were very tired.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Wednesday 2nd of June – Fireplace Inn
Carmell by the Sea to San Francisco.
Breakfast at the inn (lewis liked the bagels) , really nice really clean and simple. Chatted to a dude at breakfast about Napa valley, packed up and headed to the Monterey aquarium. Got a little lost on the way there (just after Min states that “wow I know where we are and how good am I” we just spun around and then followed the signs, missed the parking lot then had issues with one way streets but finally sorted it out and got a car park. Walking out of the parking lot a lady asked if we were going to the aquarium as she had 2 tickets she could not use and could not get refunded, it appeared legitimate and she waited for Lewis to come back from the car (had forgotten to lock it) so we bought them off her (saved us $20 and she got $40 that she would not have got as could not get a refund so worked out all around).
In the Aquarium we went straight to the otters and only had to wait 10 minutes for feeding/training time, they are so cool they only had 3 on display the other 2 were out the back where they act as companion animals or surrogate parents to sick or injured wild otters. They were just rolling around and around in the water, washing faces, scratching bellies and just generally grooming until the gate opened and someone came in they were on high alert and trying to scam food. They got ice blocks to start (just like the ones in your freezer) and one little one snitched ¾ of the blocks and had a pile on its chest, they are so clever he was banging them on his chest but then would hold all the blocks on his chest and role in the water (to wash off the bits) and then bang it again. They are no longer allowed to have seafood with a shell in the display area as they were banging the food on the glass and scratched it so badly they had to replace it, they still get proper shelled food out the back.
They had a very cool giant kelp forest which was massive the tank must have been 25ft high 20 meters wide, sardines/anchovies were in a massive school and all the other fish were cruising very cool. We also saw really cool sea horses , weedy see horses. They also has some wave generator that went over a Perspex walkway cool. The rest was fairly normal with the highlights for us listed above, oh and in the ocean out the windows you could see wild otters hanging out.
Lunch at Bubba Gump shrimp (as in Forest Gump bubba gump shrimp), it was an experience, food was good great view of the wild otters. Made it out of Monterey safely and much easier than on the way in.
Stopped at Santa Cruise – lewis was hoping to see the bike shop but to no avail, ended up at the beach which was just weird… there were roller coasters all up and down the strip, cable cars and merry go rounds people on the beach but there was no one in the water. We did see some brown pelicans including one that was diving for fish.
Lew noticed a lighthouse on the drive so we stopped and had a good look it was Pelican point lighthouse, and unfortunately the mist rolled in again just as I was getting out of the car to take a photo, oh well at least we saw it :)
San Francisco – great driving by lew , we made it to the correct street on the first go, intersections were very funny Lewis basically would stop and then just hope and go it seemed to work quite well. Many more horns here. Our street is incredibly steep with a park in the middle of it then down the other side – through a chicane which we JUST fitted through the dodge charger is not the skinniest little beast out there. But managed to find a park about ½ a block away which was great. Room is not massive but has everything we need and is quite good $$ and has breakfast included (double bonus). We walked down to the fisherman’s wharf which was a nice walk but starting to get a little chilly, we had a bread bowl of clam chowder and ate it looking over the water, saw some crazy people swimming (with wetsuits) and 3 old long boats rowing – fairly cool then really started getting cold so walked back to the hotel, in the morning going to do a tour and hire some bikes.
Breakfast at the inn (lewis liked the bagels) , really nice really clean and simple. Chatted to a dude at breakfast about Napa valley, packed up and headed to the Monterey aquarium. Got a little lost on the way there (just after Min states that “wow I know where we are and how good am I” we just spun around and then followed the signs, missed the parking lot then had issues with one way streets but finally sorted it out and got a car park. Walking out of the parking lot a lady asked if we were going to the aquarium as she had 2 tickets she could not use and could not get refunded, it appeared legitimate and she waited for Lewis to come back from the car (had forgotten to lock it) so we bought them off her (saved us $20 and she got $40 that she would not have got as could not get a refund so worked out all around).
In the Aquarium we went straight to the otters and only had to wait 10 minutes for feeding/training time, they are so cool they only had 3 on display the other 2 were out the back where they act as companion animals or surrogate parents to sick or injured wild otters. They were just rolling around and around in the water, washing faces, scratching bellies and just generally grooming until the gate opened and someone came in they were on high alert and trying to scam food. They got ice blocks to start (just like the ones in your freezer) and one little one snitched ¾ of the blocks and had a pile on its chest, they are so clever he was banging them on his chest but then would hold all the blocks on his chest and role in the water (to wash off the bits) and then bang it again. They are no longer allowed to have seafood with a shell in the display area as they were banging the food on the glass and scratched it so badly they had to replace it, they still get proper shelled food out the back.
They had a very cool giant kelp forest which was massive the tank must have been 25ft high 20 meters wide, sardines/anchovies were in a massive school and all the other fish were cruising very cool. We also saw really cool sea horses , weedy see horses. They also has some wave generator that went over a Perspex walkway cool. The rest was fairly normal with the highlights for us listed above, oh and in the ocean out the windows you could see wild otters hanging out.
Lunch at Bubba Gump shrimp (as in Forest Gump bubba gump shrimp), it was an experience, food was good great view of the wild otters. Made it out of Monterey safely and much easier than on the way in.
Stopped at Santa Cruise – lewis was hoping to see the bike shop but to no avail, ended up at the beach which was just weird… there were roller coasters all up and down the strip, cable cars and merry go rounds people on the beach but there was no one in the water. We did see some brown pelicans including one that was diving for fish.
Lew noticed a lighthouse on the drive so we stopped and had a good look it was Pelican point lighthouse, and unfortunately the mist rolled in again just as I was getting out of the car to take a photo, oh well at least we saw it :)
San Francisco – great driving by lew , we made it to the correct street on the first go, intersections were very funny Lewis basically would stop and then just hope and go it seemed to work quite well. Many more horns here. Our street is incredibly steep with a park in the middle of it then down the other side – through a chicane which we JUST fitted through the dodge charger is not the skinniest little beast out there. But managed to find a park about ½ a block away which was great. Room is not massive but has everything we need and is quite good $$ and has breakfast included (double bonus). We walked down to the fisherman’s wharf which was a nice walk but starting to get a little chilly, we had a bread bowl of clam chowder and ate it looking over the water, saw some crazy people swimming (with wetsuits) and 3 old long boats rowing – fairly cool then really started getting cold so walked back to the hotel, in the morning going to do a tour and hire some bikes.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Tuesday 1st of June - Raggard Point Inn
San Simeon to Carmell by the Sea.
Disappointingly the fog was thicker than ever in the morning so did not get to capitilise on the great views that were obviously around our accommodation. We saw another humming bird (they are so tiny) Lewis hunted it for a while with his camera but to no avail, so grabbed a coffee and some fuel (Lewis got one called the red eye – 3 shots of coffee then topped up with drip coffee and if needed you can add cream) then off to the Elephant seals again – they were a little more active with mock battles going on in the water AND we saw ground what we think are ground squirrels (California Ground Squirrel Otospermophilus beecheyi) they were cool, one tried to get into the car engine to warm up as it was COLD. I had jumper, jacket and beanie on (lucky Lewis bought 3 beanies).
The off to Hursts castle, next tour didn’t leave for 2 hours and would take over an hour so just went to the loo, bought some food (yoghurt) and headed off to big sur. Still foggy which was a little disappointing but still massively beautiful area huge mountains (well to us) that reach the sea in spectacular cliffs. Around 12 the sun came out and wow was it even more beautiful – great scenery on both sides of the road, we even saw a light house – though some of the photos are dodgy as they were taken in the car whilst moving through the window (no real place to stop) we did try and do a walk but the walks were damaged by fire and were closed. Saw some naughty birds (stellers jay) were stealing biscuits (unfortunately could not get a photo without a biscuit) they were cool but cheeky.
Stopped for lunch at Big Sur bakery and Restaurant which had an art? Shop attached with crazy African inspired art and didgeridoos made in Indonesia – needless to say we did not purchase anything from here. There were more naughty birds (Stellers Jays) at lunch diving and stealing crumbs they were quite bold, lunch was nice and the coffees great (surprising as in the middle of nowhere for a place to to have a barista was not expected). Then drove on – stopping regularly for photos until we got to carmel, drove past our accommodation and went to the beach – water was freezing (apparently – Lewis touched it but I did not) people were on the beach in hooded jackets, lumber jackets and all the surfers had full wet suits but there was one crazy man swimming in just swimmers.
Looked at doing 17 mile drive (costs $9.50 just to drive on a road to ogle rich people’ houses… not really our thing) but Point Lobos State Reserve was just a few miles around so we headed there paid our $10 and had an awesome time. It is only a small reserve but it had a lot of animals there. On the first trail we saw Deer, then we saw Cormorants not very exciting but you tend to spot a lot of them when you’re looking for Sea Otters. After many many Cormorants Lewis spotted what could have been a sea otter but it was a very long way off and even with my big lens it was hard to tell what it was exactly. We also saw the stick piles produced by the stick rat. It was really the pretty scenery that was the highlight on the first walk. The scenery on the second walk was not as nice but there was an absolute bonanza with animals. We saw SEA OTTERS, cutest things ever. We saw Harbour seals, Sea Lions, couple of cool birds including maybe a canary.
At 5 we decided to leave the reserve and check into the hotel.
The hotel was cute but what we really needed was dinner. We had planned to get some fish and chips and go down to the beach and eat. Lewis though was feeling tired and just wanted to eat and get back to the hotel to rest. Changing the plans all the time doesn’t sit well with me so Lewis had to pick the restaurant. We ended up eating at a very nice Italian place. Meals were lovely as was the Napa Valley Cab Sav that we had with dinner.
Soooo Mannnnny Sea Otter photos to sort through.
Disappointingly the fog was thicker than ever in the morning so did not get to capitilise on the great views that were obviously around our accommodation. We saw another humming bird (they are so tiny) Lewis hunted it for a while with his camera but to no avail, so grabbed a coffee and some fuel (Lewis got one called the red eye – 3 shots of coffee then topped up with drip coffee and if needed you can add cream) then off to the Elephant seals again – they were a little more active with mock battles going on in the water AND we saw ground what we think are ground squirrels (California Ground Squirrel Otospermophilus beecheyi) they were cool, one tried to get into the car engine to warm up as it was COLD. I had jumper, jacket and beanie on (lucky Lewis bought 3 beanies).
The off to Hursts castle, next tour didn’t leave for 2 hours and would take over an hour so just went to the loo, bought some food (yoghurt) and headed off to big sur. Still foggy which was a little disappointing but still massively beautiful area huge mountains (well to us) that reach the sea in spectacular cliffs. Around 12 the sun came out and wow was it even more beautiful – great scenery on both sides of the road, we even saw a light house – though some of the photos are dodgy as they were taken in the car whilst moving through the window (no real place to stop) we did try and do a walk but the walks were damaged by fire and were closed. Saw some naughty birds (stellers jay) were stealing biscuits (unfortunately could not get a photo without a biscuit) they were cool but cheeky.
Stopped for lunch at Big Sur bakery and Restaurant which had an art? Shop attached with crazy African inspired art and didgeridoos made in Indonesia – needless to say we did not purchase anything from here. There were more naughty birds (Stellers Jays) at lunch diving and stealing crumbs they were quite bold, lunch was nice and the coffees great (surprising as in the middle of nowhere for a place to to have a barista was not expected). Then drove on – stopping regularly for photos until we got to carmel, drove past our accommodation and went to the beach – water was freezing (apparently – Lewis touched it but I did not) people were on the beach in hooded jackets, lumber jackets and all the surfers had full wet suits but there was one crazy man swimming in just swimmers.
Looked at doing 17 mile drive (costs $9.50 just to drive on a road to ogle rich people’ houses… not really our thing) but Point Lobos State Reserve was just a few miles around so we headed there paid our $10 and had an awesome time. It is only a small reserve but it had a lot of animals there. On the first trail we saw Deer, then we saw Cormorants not very exciting but you tend to spot a lot of them when you’re looking for Sea Otters. After many many Cormorants Lewis spotted what could have been a sea otter but it was a very long way off and even with my big lens it was hard to tell what it was exactly. We also saw the stick piles produced by the stick rat. It was really the pretty scenery that was the highlight on the first walk. The scenery on the second walk was not as nice but there was an absolute bonanza with animals. We saw SEA OTTERS, cutest things ever. We saw Harbour seals, Sea Lions, couple of cool birds including maybe a canary.
At 5 we decided to leave the reserve and check into the hotel.
The hotel was cute but what we really needed was dinner. We had planned to get some fish and chips and go down to the beach and eat. Lewis though was feeling tired and just wanted to eat and get back to the hotel to rest. Changing the plans all the time doesn’t sit well with me so Lewis had to pick the restaurant. We ended up eating at a very nice Italian place. Meals were lovely as was the Napa Valley Cab Sav that we had with dinner.
Soooo Mannnnny Sea Otter photos to sort through.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday 31st May 2010 – Main Street Santa Monica (LA)
Santa Monica to San Simeon
Started off this day with the aim of driving up to San Simeon. Min though had never seen and had heard of Venice Beach so we headed to the next suburb south and had a quick stroll along the promenade on Venice Beach. It consisted of an uninterrupted stream of tourists, homeless and some rather strange people. It was the homeless people who had stalls on the beach that were the most depressing.
One highlight though was the Gym that is situated on the beach, open to the air. The Gym was holding a bodybuilding competition. There were some very orange and strange people involved in that contest. It seems that the place to go if [your into bodybuilding and] want to be seem in Venice Beach is the gym on the beach. One ‘lady’ who was not in the competition but seemed to be famous was rather disconcerting as I had assumed she was a lady until she spoke. After ‘she spoke I thought ‘she’ was male, well until I sore the bikini that she was wearing and thought there is nowhere to hid your bits (if you have them) in that tiny bit of material.
After that we said goodbye to the smog and craziness of LA and headed north. We had no real plans to stop anwhere except our hotel for the night at Ragged Point north of San Simeon. First stop though was a small beach just north of Malibu for Coffee (from Starbucks where else you gonna get coffee when your in the US) and a snack of Strawberries. It was much better than The Beaches in LA and I recommend anyone heading to California to Surf that you head north of LA to at least Malibu to surf for health reasons. The water is BROWN in LA.
On the way to where we might stop for lunch we spotted a sign “Buelton the home of the split pea soup”. Sorely tempted as we where we decided to press on to at least Santa Barbara for lunch.
Next stop was Santa Barbara for lunch a it had been recommended but Mary-jo at my work and one of Min’s host families in South Carolina. After getting lost for about half an hour we found the main street and a park. Walking around a little we spotted Joe’s Café. We decided to eat there not just because Min was starving and refused to look for another café but also because it looked nice.
Back on the road next stop was San Simeon the home of Hursts Castle. Though I made the executive decision to stop at one of the many Vista Points along the way and looked at a colony of Elephant seals. I have to say I did this for my own benefit as much as Min’s as I have never seen Elephant seals in the wild before either. Min took a million photo’s. Well OK min only took about 50 photo’s of Elephant seals but still it seemed like a million.
Last thing of the day was stopping at the Ragged point hotel situated on a cliff over the pacific ocean. A beautiful spot and quite a nice hotel with a fantastic restaurant.
Started off this day with the aim of driving up to San Simeon. Min though had never seen and had heard of Venice Beach so we headed to the next suburb south and had a quick stroll along the promenade on Venice Beach. It consisted of an uninterrupted stream of tourists, homeless and some rather strange people. It was the homeless people who had stalls on the beach that were the most depressing.
One highlight though was the Gym that is situated on the beach, open to the air. The Gym was holding a bodybuilding competition. There were some very orange and strange people involved in that contest. It seems that the place to go if [your into bodybuilding and] want to be seem in Venice Beach is the gym on the beach. One ‘lady’ who was not in the competition but seemed to be famous was rather disconcerting as I had assumed she was a lady until she spoke. After ‘she spoke I thought ‘she’ was male, well until I sore the bikini that she was wearing and thought there is nowhere to hid your bits (if you have them) in that tiny bit of material.
After that we said goodbye to the smog and craziness of LA and headed north. We had no real plans to stop anwhere except our hotel for the night at Ragged Point north of San Simeon. First stop though was a small beach just north of Malibu for Coffee (from Starbucks where else you gonna get coffee when your in the US) and a snack of Strawberries. It was much better than The Beaches in LA and I recommend anyone heading to California to Surf that you head north of LA to at least Malibu to surf for health reasons. The water is BROWN in LA.
On the way to where we might stop for lunch we spotted a sign “Buelton the home of the split pea soup”. Sorely tempted as we where we decided to press on to at least Santa Barbara for lunch.
Next stop was Santa Barbara for lunch a it had been recommended but Mary-jo at my work and one of Min’s host families in South Carolina. After getting lost for about half an hour we found the main street and a park. Walking around a little we spotted Joe’s Café. We decided to eat there not just because Min was starving and refused to look for another café but also because it looked nice.
Back on the road next stop was San Simeon the home of Hursts Castle. Though I made the executive decision to stop at one of the many Vista Points along the way and looked at a colony of Elephant seals. I have to say I did this for my own benefit as much as Min’s as I have never seen Elephant seals in the wild before either. Min took a million photo’s. Well OK min only took about 50 photo’s of Elephant seals but still it seemed like a million.
Last thing of the day was stopping at the Ragged point hotel situated on a cliff over the pacific ocean. A beautiful spot and quite a nice hotel with a fantastic restaurant.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Day 1ish – Sunday 30 May 2010 -Main Street Santa Monica (LA)
Nothing opens until 11 on a Sunday (except the farmers market across the way – which despite having recycling bins etc in place still hand you food in a plastic bag…. Getting there but still some work required).
Found some astero turf apparently you get a rebate back from the government if you install astro turf… great! But was really cool as some real grass was pushing through – go nature!
Lewis ordered a pirate chai which turned out to be a GREEN spiced coffee… apparently tasted nice until he hit the green gritty bits at the bottom – funny. Nice lavender and kangaroo paws at the café.
Found some astero turf apparently you get a rebate back from the government if you install astro turf… great! But was really cool as some real grass was pushing through – go nature!
Lewis ordered a pirate chai which turned out to be a GREEN spiced coffee… apparently tasted nice until he hit the green gritty bits at the bottom – funny. Nice lavender and kangaroo paws at the café.
Did some shopping at Patagonia and REI (adventure equipment stores) cool stuff but not really needed right now. Then checked out the beach from top of the cliff (overlooking the pier) Pollution was insane, could hardly see Marina Del Ray which was about 5km away. Planes would appear out of the smog towing signs, water looked brown lots of people at the beach one or two people in the water… not sure why water brown??? Cool plants on the cliff top (cool old twisty tree that looked like flossy) and statue of a saint.
Headed to whole foods which is a food shop – massive choice in lots of great things, eg huge range of fruit and veg, massive selection of bulk rice, grains, flour, nuts etc can buy wine (section included wine bar) out of all the cheese lewis managed to pick Sheeps cheese (because it was in a orange mould) roasting coffee in store (cool) sushi chefs, grill area with fresh meals prepared, full pizza oven, soups, salad bar INSANITY but cool. Car in carpark for compact car… was filled with a 4 wheel drive dodge ram… compact????? Only in America. Lewis doing a great job of navigating, he somehow knows his way around… crazy.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Haibach Germany
First stop on my travels was Frankfurt where Kathryn Graciously had agreed to pick me up at 6am in the morning. The flight to Germany had been a 10hr flight from Sydney to Bangkok then a 14hr flight to Frankfurt after a 4 hour stopover. So by the time I arrived in Germany I had been awake for about 48 hours with no more than a couple of ten minute kips on the plane. Arriving at 6 in the morning I decided that the best way to get over my Jet lag instantly would be to stay up until about 9 than night. It worked! 64 hour awake and then a good nights sleep and I was adjusted to the German time zone in one day.
The week in Haibach passed with much needed rest and reading which I hadn't done in ages. Also lots of discussion with Kathryn ranging from women's right to choose to the effects of high doses of coffee, this later topic actually involve experimentation.
I finally got to meet Kal who is a lovely guy and told me many a story from his hospital giving me new insights and horrors from the world of hospitals. Mum being a pharmacist has already introduced me to the medieval torture chamber that is the Hospital but Kal being a doctor and surgeon just had those extra few details that really top off a good story.
One of the major highlights of the trip to See Kathryn was the trip we took to Nuremberg. I had heard the term the Nuremberg Rallies before but I didn't link them to the name that Kal suggested as a little trip. First off the Congress Hall that the Nazi Party built is huge. Huge really doesn't do it justice, it's Colossal. It was never finished and the most of the plans for the Nazi Party Rally grounds were never even started. They have turned the Congress Hall into the Documentation Centre which is basically a museum detailing the rise in power of the Nazi Party and the ways in which they dismantled and rebuilt Germany's systems of government to suit their own ends. It also details many of the social systems the Nazi Party put in place to get the German people to follow them. I cried a few times on the tour but one of the most startling thing from it is the understanding of how the people of Germany were manipulated. Kal and Kathryn both were startled to realise they would have been Nazi's. Kal would have joined whichever group would have given him the most badges. I figured that it would depend on how old I was when it all started. If I was in my 30's or older I would have been killed by the Nazi's well before the war even started. If I was in my 20's or younger I would have ended up joining up and either would have been in the SS or in some secret lab conducting secret super soldier experiments (or having them done to me). If ever you find yourself in or near Nuremberg please go to this museum and see this for yourself, it is well worth the visit.
After Germany I had a flight to America and a short stay in Santa Monica before Min turned up and we started our big Californian Holiday.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
This Blog has been Co-opted
So over the next few posts Min and I will be updating you the reader about our travels in California. The next post though will cover most of my trip to Germany.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Desert Island
Every so often the XKCD comic just posts an amazing strip that says so much with one frame. This one really struck me. so I thought why not share it around.
Enjoy
Enjoy
Saturday, April 24, 2010
New Toys
Just wanted to introduce people to my new toys. Well not really toys more like tools but it is fun having things like this especially when you need to get a job done. So with out further adieu Let me put up these photo's
On the left is the Water Blaster a Kartcher G2500 with a genuine Honda engine. Water pressure goes up to 2500psi hence it's name. When looking for a model to buy I found I could buy a Petrol powered one cheaper with much higher pressure output. It also looks like it will do the job and last quite a while. I have cleaned mine and Mine paths and drive ways with it so far and I am very impressed with the pressure and ease of use.
On the Right is a Spray painter a Wagner project 115. It has a 10 litre paint hopper on the top and the same gun as the professional models that sell for over $4000. have used it with some water and spraying is easy. Hopefully there wont be a lot of over spray and the quality of the finish will be what I'm after. I will let you know when I do some actual spraying of paint.
On the left is the Water Blaster a Kartcher G2500 with a genuine Honda engine. Water pressure goes up to 2500psi hence it's name. When looking for a model to buy I found I could buy a Petrol powered one cheaper with much higher pressure output. It also looks like it will do the job and last quite a while. I have cleaned mine and Mine paths and drive ways with it so far and I am very impressed with the pressure and ease of use.
On the Right is a Spray painter a Wagner project 115. It has a 10 litre paint hopper on the top and the same gun as the professional models that sell for over $4000. have used it with some water and spraying is easy. Hopefully there wont be a lot of over spray and the quality of the finish will be what I'm after. I will let you know when I do some actual spraying of paint.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Report on the Dambala
Well I've been a little remiss. I have had a new working, fully built bike for a couple of months now with no report on what it's like. Though in my defence I've been busy trying to renovate a house, which doesn't actually work as an excuse for my lack of posting as I really should be putting up at least a little information about that.
Anyway enough of my waffling on, time to show off the bike.
First off I want to say that I bought this bike piece by piece and assembled it myself. I bought most of the bits from eBay at I have to say excellent prices. One piece, the Handlebars was given to me as a birthday present, so I have to say a big thanks to Dad.
While the price was good and I had time to research each piece before I bought it, it did take an excruciating 6 months of purchases to finally have enough pieces for a working bike. Six months of riding a barely working bike around. I did get impatient several times but there was not much I could do.
What I did get out of it though is a bike that fits perfectly with what I want. I needed a commuter bike to get me around the 'Ville' with speed and with more ease than I've had with my dual suspension bike. Because of my size though I needed a tough bike that could handle the bumps. To that end I had decided on a mountain bike frame but build it up with more road or hybrid type parts.
Most hybrid bikes have large Road bike size wheels but I needed strength as well so I needed to buy a mountain bike wheel. This prompted me to look into an emerging part of the mountain bike market called 29ers.
The basic concept of the larger diameter is simple: there is less of an angle when ever you encounter an obstacle and it's easier to roll over the obstacle. The larger wheel offers increased centrifugal force, which in turn improves the bike’s stability. The extra three inches also increases the amount of tire contacting the ground at any one moment offering better traction.
So I decided to buy a 29er, probably in steel to keep cost down. I needed a slick or semi-slick tyre to keep rolling resistance down so I looked into Schwalbe tires and found the Marathon tires. In the end the Marathon Supreme seemed to suit my purposes best. Next I had to think about a drive train. I had decided to simplify the drive train on my new bike and only have a nine speed bike. I love the clean look of a single speed bike but I'm a slacker and decided I needed at least a few gears. the solution was to only have the rear gears (see the third photo). Lastly but definitely not least I had to figure out the Forks for my bike. I wanted simple and long lasting so I decided not to get a suspension fork. They need maintenance occasionally and are much more prone to failure than solid forks. With that decision made I chose to go with some light weight Carbon forks.
The last important piece was of course the one less car sticker.
I now have a fast fairly light and above all reliable bike that gets me around. Ride Quality is not nearly as forgiving as my dual suspension Specialized, but it is fast and brilliant on the roads where I ride it %90 of the time. I have so far beaten my previous best time to the strand from uni by nearly 10 minutes.
I really have enjoyed building and then riding my new bike. I hope it likes me too as over the next probably 10 years we will be doing a lot of Kilometres together.
Anyway enough of my waffling on, time to show off the bike.
First off I want to say that I bought this bike piece by piece and assembled it myself. I bought most of the bits from eBay at I have to say excellent prices. One piece, the Handlebars was given to me as a birthday present, so I have to say a big thanks to Dad.
While the price was good and I had time to research each piece before I bought it, it did take an excruciating 6 months of purchases to finally have enough pieces for a working bike. Six months of riding a barely working bike around. I did get impatient several times but there was not much I could do.
What I did get out of it though is a bike that fits perfectly with what I want. I needed a commuter bike to get me around the 'Ville' with speed and with more ease than I've had with my dual suspension bike. Because of my size though I needed a tough bike that could handle the bumps. To that end I had decided on a mountain bike frame but build it up with more road or hybrid type parts.
Most hybrid bikes have large Road bike size wheels but I needed strength as well so I needed to buy a mountain bike wheel. This prompted me to look into an emerging part of the mountain bike market called 29ers.
The basic concept of the larger diameter is simple: there is less of an angle when ever you encounter an obstacle and it's easier to roll over the obstacle. The larger wheel offers increased centrifugal force, which in turn improves the bike’s stability. The extra three inches also increases the amount of tire contacting the ground at any one moment offering better traction.So I decided to buy a 29er, probably in steel to keep cost down. I needed a slick or semi-slick tyre to keep rolling resistance down so I looked into Schwalbe tires and found the Marathon tires. In the end the Marathon Supreme seemed to suit my purposes best. Next I had to think about a drive train. I had decided to simplify the drive train on my new bike and only have a nine speed bike. I love the clean look of a single speed bike but I'm a slacker and decided I needed at least a few gears. the solution was to only have the rear gears (see the third photo). Lastly but definitely not least I had to figure out the Forks for my bike. I wanted simple and long lasting so I decided not to get a suspension fork. They need maintenance occasionally and are much more prone to failure than solid forks. With that decision made I chose to go with some light weight Carbon forks.
The last important piece was of course the one less car sticker.I now have a fast fairly light and above all reliable bike that gets me around. Ride Quality is not nearly as forgiving as my dual suspension Specialized, but it is fast and brilliant on the roads where I ride it %90 of the time. I have so far beaten my previous best time to the strand from uni by nearly 10 minutes.
I really have enjoyed building and then riding my new bike. I hope it likes me too as over the next probably 10 years we will be doing a lot of Kilometres together.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Mandatory Internet Filtering
Something every Australian should be concerned about. If Steven Conroy and the Labour Party get their Mandatory Internet filtering bill through Parliament the Australia will be one of only 3 countries in the world that have mandatory and un-opt outable internet filtering. The current countries are China and Iran. What great company we are putting our selves in.
If you want to know more or decide that you want to do some thing please read This Article on the ABC unleashed website and/or click on the No Clean Feed sticker at the top of the page on the right.
Can I urge everyone to write to your local Green, Liberal or Independent senator and ask them not to support this bill.
If you want to know more or decide that you want to do some thing please read This Article on the ABC unleashed website and/or click on the No Clean Feed sticker at the top of the page on the right.
Can I urge everyone to write to your local Green, Liberal or Independent senator and ask them not to support this bill.
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