Thursday 25 December 2008

Road Trip USA. A short stop in San Francisco

We only had a day in San Francisco but we made the most of it. The Alcatraz tours were sold out so we did a harbour cruise instead in order to see it from the outside at least.

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This is the famous Golden Gate Bridge - or as much as we got to see of it anyway - apparently thick sea fog is normal in San Francisco.

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The old cable cars were fun, running on the steep San Francisco streets that you see in the movies.

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Our motel was an experience. We stayed out of town in Oakland to try to save some pennies but we gathered when we got there that it was in the 'not so great' side of town, which is probably why it was so cheap. The receptionists sat behind bullet proof glass, there was an armed guard at the entrance to the carpark and signs in the room advised you to keep the door locked and dead bolted at all times whilst inside the room. Nice! Our stay passed uneventfully though so the security measures are obviously working.

Road Trip USA. California & the giant Redwoods

Oregon to California

Back on Highway 101 we crossed the border into California and headed to the giant Redwood forests. Now these trees are amazing. Up to 52 feet wide and 350 feet high, and up to 2000 years old. Unbelievable.
We went on a few walks in the forest and drove our car through a tree!

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We booked ahead to ensure we could camp in the forest itself with these majestic trees and were astounded when we got to our appointed site at the size of the 2 gigantic tree stumps in it.Here's a photo of Mike climbing one for scale, he looks child-sized in comparison to the stump!

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These trees are so majestic and humbling, it was a truly awe inspiring experience seeing them.


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It's easy to see why tree hugging is popular here!


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The campsites in America are great. Well laid out, clean, great facilities and a Ranger service that is excellent. You can get free guided walks with the Rangers every day and they do Ranger talks around the campfire in the evening. We went to the talk taking place whilst in the Redwood forest on the geology of California, and more specifically earthquakes and the "Big One" (the anticipated earthquake that is going to wipe out most of the west coast of America). It was really informative and I have to say, I'm glad I don't live in California with the constant threat of earthquakes and tsuanamies.

As we drove through California we saw the effects of the wild fires that we had been watching on the news first hand. We rounded a corner and were suddenly in smoke so thick we couldn't see past the end of the bonnet. Scary. Apparently the fires had been burning since the beginning of July, after a lightening strike.

Road Trip USA. Crater Lake National Park

Oregon

We left the coast on a detour to Crater Lake National Park, which took us on a gorgeous drive through the countryside and farmland of Oregon. The lake is astounding, a perfect azure blue. We spent a day driving around the edge of the lake and hiking to the top of a nearby peak.
We'll let the pictures speak for themselves.


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Snow in August!



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Road Trip USA. You call this summer?

Washington State to Oregon

Our camp craft improved after our first night, but the weather did not. We continued around the Olympic Peninsula, stopping for a night in the Hoh rainforest where the weather was pleasantly warm during the day but bitterly cold at night and I had my first go of driving the car which was quite scary, but I didn't crash and didn't worry Mike too much so I was quite pleased.

We crossed the border into Oregon and were greeted with a scorching 90 degree day and thought that we'd finally made it to summer. We camped at Cape Disappointment, which I thought was a rather harsh name for a beautiful little beach with a lighthouse, and cooking dinner was proving no problem now (we had bought a new stove after the first one broke on the second night - lesson #1 it's false economy to buy the cheapest campstove).

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As we'd had such a great day we thought we'd stay another day and hang out at the beach. Wrong! We woke to a cold, grey sky and rain so we went to Astoria instead - there's nothing there. But we did get some shopping done and treated ourselves to thermorests as the nights are so cold, and foam mats are really uncomfortable; camping could easily become really miserable. We also bought a an extra blanket - we were sleeping fullly clothed, with woolly hats on. It was quite comical and certainly not what I was expecting in America in August.

We continued to Cannon Beach, further along the Oregon coast, where we walked on the beach, under grey, grey skies and ate fish and chips inside the restaurant as it was too cold to eat outside. Our next stop was just outside Newport where we found the 2 campgrounds full and we ended up in a motel. Now I wasn't complaining - a proper bed, warmth, a shower, TV... but things just weren't holding up to expectations. It was cold, grey, we had to stay in a hotel and the Pacific Coast road doesn't run along the coast very much so we had spent a lot of time looking at pine trees. We were in great spirits though, as it's all part of the adventure, and we had high hopes that now were were in Oregon, where the spectacular rugged coastline is supposed to be, that the road would start hugging the coast as promised, the weather would improve, and that we would be able to find campgrounds with vacancies further on.

A few photos of the Oregon coastline:

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Road Trip USA. Day one: Things can only get better!

Washington State

Having started day one of our road trip full of myself about how easy camping is and how wonderful I would be at cooking on a camp stove, I came to realise that all is not as rosy as imagined, but I am getting ahead of myself, I will start at the beginning.
The day started well enough, we picked up the car and Mike drove away, getting the feel for a left hand drive and being on the wrong side of the road. It's weird being a passenger on what should be the drivers side of the car.
Using our new GPS, "the GPS Lady", as she was known, directed us to Walmart to stock up on everything we would need for 3 weeks of camping - tents, food, sleeping mats, a camp stove, pans etc, and then we were off, living a long time dream of Mike's to drive the coast road from Seattle to LA.
Mike did a great job of following "GPS Lady's" instructions and avoiding the mad Amerian drivers as they swerved without indicating, wherever they wanted across the 5 lane highway. We didn't see a lot on the first day but that was planned, we just needed to get out of Seattle, (a lovely, very hilly city with a few interesting museums and the Boeing factory and not a lot else -we had fun though), and out to the Olympic Peninsula.
Our first night's camping was left to chance as we hoped we would just happen across a sign posted campground along the way, which we did. We camped right on the sea's edge in a beautiful spot where we could hear the waves crashing and the ships horns out to sea. If only we could see it.


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We went from glorious sunshine, with not a cloud in the sky, to dense fog in a matter of seconds as we rounded a corner. So suddenly in fact that we thought we might have stumbled into a forest fire (of which there were many burning across the West Coast). It turned out that it was only seafog but it gave new meaning to the phrase 'fog like pea soup'. We could hear the ocean but not see it, and we could only just see our fellow campers (in their gigantic RV's); it was mightily chilly, but a good spot none the less for our first night on the open road.

Here started the trouble. I had planned what I thought would be an easy, tasty meal of tomatoe sauce, veg, pasta and sausage. How wrong could I be. We put the water on for the pasta and one hour later we were still waiting for it to boil. A strop and a few tears later about my inability as a camp cook and how were we going to survive if we can't even get water to boil on the first night, we abandoned the pasta idea and thought that sausage sandwiches might be a bit easier. The sound of sizzling sausages at least drowned out the sound of Mike's stomach rumbling, and then he confessed that he had just discovered he had the stove on the lowest setting whilst trying to boil the water, that's why it took so long. Men!

So to bed on the first night with full stomachs, our woolly hats, thermals and a full set of clothes on to stave off the freezing cold. Camping is great!

Saturday 18 October 2008

Up the creek...with a paddle

After a few weeks on the east coast of the States we headed north to Canada to visit family and experience life in the wilderness. Our destination was Mackenzie, 14 hours by road north of Vancouver, which we reached by overnight Greyhound bus 16 hours, 2 breakdowns and 3 buses later, to find a town that I could never have imagined. So far north and in existence for the logging trade and saw mills, it is a small, quiet town with so little crime that no one locks their doors or their cars. It was amazing to be in a place like that.

We were there to visit Mike's aunty Maureen and uncle Ralph, and his cousin Wayne & family (wife Kim, kids Scott & Hannah) - a family reunion as Mike had not seen Maureen, Ralph or Wayne for years, and had never met his second cousins Scott & Hannah. Upon arriving Maureen took us on a drive around the town to see the lake and the wonderful pine forests that stretch as far as the eye can see, up the mountains and beyond. It looked like the perfect place to do a spot of hiking whilst there, and I was disapointed to find out that there were no trails. With hindsight it all makes sense - no one "in the know" wants to go walking in the woods where Grissly & Black Bears are roaming.

We were treated like royalty by Ralph and Maureen who had arranged a camping trip with Wayne, Kim and the kids and their friends Tina, Marlin and kids. We were to head even further north for a few days of camping, boating and exploring. We were on the road early on Saturday morning and despite 4 pairs of eyes watching for any sign of wildlife (i.e. bears) by the side of the road , we were the only ones in the convoy of 3 cars and a boat not to see a bear and her cub standing on the verge as we left town - doh! (When I say cars I really mean trucks, of the monster variety, so massive I've never seen anything like them!).

After a few hours of driving through stunning scenery we arrived at Willaston Lake and launched Wayne's jet boat. 12 of us, plus lunch, piled in and we set off - 4 on the front and the rest huddled in the back.

Wayne opened the jet to full speed and we were off, searching for the "hole in the wall'. Up the lake we went, bouncing across the waves, then back down, until we found the place where the bank opened into an inlet and we headed in. The goal was to get to the far end to see a waterfall and have lunch, but as we rounded the final corner we found the pool at the base of the falls blocked with hundreds of logs, pushed in by the current. This, however, was no deterrent for Wayne who simply aimed the boat for the logs and pushed his way through. We got to the other side easily and moored the boat to the cliff with a lovely view of the waterfall.




When it came time to leave and we got back onto the lake we found that wind had got up quite considerably and so the trip back across the lake was even more bone shatteringly bumpy - but good fun at high speed!

Back at the boat launch everyone got out except Mike & I and Wayne took us for a 'burn' in the boat, performing high speed turns and gernerally getting us wet! Great fun!

A town called Tumbler Ridge was our destination for that evening to camp and to see dinosaur footprints! After dark we headed to our meeting point with the guides and a short walk by lamplight to the riverbank revealed 3 sets of dinosaur footprints fossilised in the rock. They were very shallow, like the impressions our feet make in wet sand, but you could definitely see they were dinoasaur footprints (3 pointy, claw like toes) without a doubt. They were a lot smaller than I expected, but I suppose not all dinosaurs were of T-Rex proportions. The best print was the one partially covered by the next layer of rock, which showed that there were probably lots more prints hidden beneath the cliff we were standing beside. It was fascinating.

The following day we packed up camp and set off up river to find the Monkman Falls - spectacular falls about 2 hours up river that have more water flowing over them than Niagra Falls. The trip up river was quite nerve wracking as the river was very shallow in places, and the river bed was pebbles which could easily be sucked up into the jet boat's propeller.


Wayne did a great job negotiating the shallows and we rounded the final corner to be confronted with the Falls. I think it is safe to say we were all astounded. The size of the Falls and the volume of water coming over the top, together with the spray generated was just immense. We moored and spent a few hours exploring, mesmersied by the waterfall.



With full bellies we got back on board for the return trip down the river, at high speed, and here the fun really began!

10 mins into the journey we were going well, really fast, and Wayne was handling the shallows with expert precision, when suddenly the engine cut and Wayne started yelling at everyone to get down. No one moved as none of us had any idea what he was talking about or why he'd cut the engine. He hadn't, as it turned out, we'd run out of fuel, and thus lost steering, and we were headed, at full speed, for the bank and a fallen tree over hanging the water.

Those on the front managed to either make a dash for the back of the boat or lie flat, and those at the back started hugging the floor. We came to a thundering stop underneath the overhanging tree to find Kim hanging over the side of the boat, holding onto the tree for dear life. There were no major casualties - Ashley bumped her head and Mike had cut his forehead, eyelid and hand as the tree had gone overhead - and I think we were all a bit shaken but we freed ourselves from underneath the tree and moored on the bank whilst we figured out what to do. We could hear a boat coming and waited for a while, but the sound didn't get any closer. Wayne decided that we should try to paddle down stream until we got to a bridge, then at least he could hitch a lift back to town to get fuel; if a boat hadn't passed us by then.

Well, this paddling down stream was not as easy as I thought it would be! We still had to negotiate the shallows so we didn't get stuck; so with Wayne & paddle on the front and Mike & Scott with paddles at the back we set off.

A short way down, after successfully negotiating several corners, we were grounded and we all had to bail out to help shift the boat back into deeper water. Now that water was cold, and I'm not being a wimp about it (!) and the pebbles on bare feet were hard and slippery. The main worry was that once we had the boat back into deeper water, the water was moving so quickly that if anyone let go of the boat they might not catch up to it again. We all successfully clambered back on board though, and we were off again.

We negotiated several rapids (small ones mind but in a floating speed boat with no steering, scary none the less) and a log jam, and Mike fell in not once, but twice, whilst paddling at the back of the boat. My nerves were well and truly frayed, which was made worse when we all had to get out of the boat again to move us off a pebble bank, but we made it to the bridge after about an hour. Our paddlers did a magnificent job of negotiating the water flow and getting us to the bank where we moored and found that we had missed people by just a few minutes as a camp fire was still burning.

We managed to flag down a passing boat who kindly took Wayne back to the boat launch and we estimated that we had about 3 hours to kill before he would make it back so we got the camp fire going and cooked hotdogs. The reason for the fire was 2 fold - 1. to cook dinner, 2. to keep bears away. A scary propect when you are quite literally stranded in the wilderness.

All's well that ends well though, Wayne made it back in record time in the truck with gas for the boat and we made our way back to the boat launch. The rest of our trip in Mackenzie passed less eventfully, but still with lots of excitement as we took the mountain bikes to the top of Morphy Mountain and rode back down. Proper mountain biking and a bit scary, but it was good fun. If a little hard on the wrists, legs, bum...

On our last day Maureen and Ralph took us on a bear hunt (sans guns I hasten to add) as we hadn't been lucky enough to see one. We took the truck up onto the logging trails deep into the forest, but had no luck. We were going for several hours but there were no bears to be seen and we gave up looking. Ralph gave Mike a go at driving the truck back along the trails and across some quite tricky bits where the road had been washed out (real 4WD!) and whilst we were all concentrating on Mike's driving we rounded a corner and there was a bear!


He took fright at the truck and hurtled headlong into the bushes. Ralph, fearless (!), got out of the truck and found the bear again a little further down the road so Mike & I got out of the truck to have a look. He was only a small bear, maybe 2 or 3 years old, which is why we were so brave. We stood by the side of the road and watched him eating berries for about 10 mins. Bears have very bad eyesight and he didn't see us. It was amazing! He loped off into the bushes and we lost sight of him so we headed back to the truck. As we carried on down the road the bear crossed right in front of us, took fright at the truck again and ran down the road in front of us. A real lolloping run that was great to see!

A wonderful end to a wonderful trip!

Friday 19 September 2008

New York, New York

After a 2 month hiatus, we're back to blogging about our trip, which is odd as we arrived back in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago. We both have secured jobs now and are waiting for the money to start coming in. One of the things that we discovered is that there are very few Internet cafes in North America and when you do find one, they are really expensive (at least $5/hour which was a huge expensive on our small budget), so we didn't do much blogging while we were there.

Getting to New York from Quito was the worst journey of our entire trip, we started by getting up at 2:30am to get to the airport (the requisite) 3 hours before departure. As soon as we arrived we found that our flight was delayed by 1.5 hours and we wouldn't be able to make our connecting flight, so they put us onto a different connecting flight. When we landed in Miami (world's worst airport BTW) at around 1:00pm it took so long to get through customs and immigration we only had 10 minutes to make our flight. Given that this is the US we were moving from an international flight to a domestic one we still had to check in again. Therefore we had to change flights again, to one that wasn't departing until 5:00pm. Once we finally got onto our flight (again delayed an hour) after rechecking our bags etc. and sat ourselves down on the plane the pilot came over the intercom and told that the plane would not be taking off for another 3 hours. We eventually made it to our hostel at 12:30am that evening.

On our first day in New York we spent most of the time wandering around some of the really well known parts including Macy's, Broadway, Fifth Avenue, the Rockafella Centre, Times Square, Tiffany & Co. (Gemma's choice) and had a look out from the top of the Empire State Building.

Times Square

Atlas Statue, Rockafella Centre

On the second day we went back to the Rockfella Centre (also where NBC is located) and went on an art history walking tour. It was one of those odd things that you don't really think about doing ahead of time, but it turns to be really interesting. One of the funniest bits was an engraving made either side of one of the doors. It's intention was to symbolise American industry and agriculture (the Rockafella Centre, when it was built, was a shining beacon of western capitalism), however the artist had taken a few liberties and it was quite obviously the communist representation of the peasant and worker (although the offical guide to the centre said that they were holding a shovel and a short-handled sycthe, we're pretty sure it was a hammer and sicle!) The whole communist vs capitalist thing turned up in a couple of other places too.

Later that day we headed down to the ferry buildings with the intention of going across to see the Statue of Liberty, but when we got down to the pier we were put off by the huge queues and and the fact that we could see an enormous thunderstorm rolling in over the harbour. We decided to go the following day instead, but got drenched anyway.

Storm Over NY Harbour

We spent the afternoon at the Natural History Museum, the highlight being the 37 tonne iron meteorite, whose support structures had to be built right into the foundation of the building.

While walking through Times Square we were stopped and were sold tickets for a show at the comedy club owned by Jerry Seinfeld. We were both sure that it was a have and that we were had just been ripped off but we went down to the club in the evening anyway and were pleasantly surprised that there was actually a show there, which was really good! Although there was a 2 drink minimum and an 18% service charge that pushed the price up a bit - they always get you somewhere!

On the third day we finally got ourselves across to Ellis and Liberty Islands to see the statue and do a tour of the original immigration facility that was housed there. We manage to spend the entire day wandering the islands. On the way back we stopped in at Ground Zero to see the construction of the new Liberty Tower which, incidentally, was stopped the following day due to being massively over budget and behind schedule. It was eery to see what is still a large hole in the ground after all this time, and astonishing that some of the surrounding buildings had not yet been repaired.

Gemma and the Statue

After 3 full, and very exhausting days, in the big apple, we jumped on the Chinatown bus and made our way to Boston...