Lets go to San Francisco

... as the song goes.  

Well, we're here and just about to leave for our California road trip.  The last couple of weeks at home were a whirlwind of plaster-boarding (finished bedroom 3), gardening (trying to leave it reasonably tidy before 6 weeks of neglect), eating and drinking (surprise, surprise!).  Mixed weather with some days to hot to work in the garden in the afternoon, others quite cool.

 

Chris is at a conference in San Francisco while Judy does the tourist bit, although Chris is managing to be selective about what he goes to.  We have mixed feelings about San Francisco:  we're in a hotel on the edge of the centre and only a few blocks away there's a lot of poverty.  Have never seen so many people begging and sleeping on the streets.  And this in the world's richest country - make us feel quite pleased to have a welfare state.



We've done a few guided walks, one about the buildings in the financial district, one around Chinatown (the biggest in the USA apparently) and Judy did one about the people who made SF what it is.  Anyway, the cable-cars are fun and the cable car museum was very interesting - the cables run continuously at about 10mph under the street and the cars grab them to be able to move.








Managed the walk across the Golden Gate Bridge after taking the ferry to Sausolito.  In retrospect, perhaps we do like SF after all!



Heading to Jamestown and Yosemite National Park today.

Oh, one real irritation about the USA is the way they give you prices - always without tax and tip, the exact opposite from France!  So by the time they've added 8-15% for tax (8.5% in a restaurant, 15% for a hotel room) and 15% for the (almost compulsory) tip, the price really mounts up.  But we're getting used to it even though we don't like it.  Thank you, credit card.


 

Happy Easter

We've been hard at work finishing off our bedroom - including lots of IKEA cupboards for Judy's clothes.  We wanted to be in by Easter and moved in last week, but have only just finished the final touches.  All we need now is a new bedspread - we bought the current one at the Great Wall in China many years ago.  Then it's bedroom 3 after Easter.

The long weekend back in the UK was great, thank you Jill and Andy for a splendid time. The weather was kind to us - just as well because we had volunteered to lead a walk really good to catch up with everyone.

We also organised a walk for our French group, a circuit none of them had done before followed by a meal in the village bistro - it was Courrensan for those who were here last September.  The weather was good and there were masses of primroses in the fields and banks.  There were 34 on the walk and 35 for the meal so we were very pleased.

Managed another 4 days skiing in the Pyrenees and there was almost too much snow.  Had to use the snow chains on the car for two days and gave up early one day because the snow was soft, deep and still falling.   It was a nice break from doing the bedroom.

Chris got bitten by a dog while out cycling one day and so had to see the police, the doctor, then the police doctor so is getting to be well known by the authorities!  No real harm done, just lots of time wasted. 

Went so see a band called "Funky Style Brass" which was where heavy rock met brass band - quite a spectacle.  They are really weird but the music is good and they have a ball!

The last two weekends have been solid eating and drinking - two hunt meals, a charity meal and the walking group meal (slim-line self disappears ever further into the distance).  But surprisingly there's nothing organised for Easter weekend.  It seems the French stay home and do family things.

Need to work on the garden now as spring is starting, although it's a bit late this year due to mixed weather, but not nearly as bad as the UK.  It's been quite warm the last week or so and trees are beginning to leaf up.  Unfortunately the warm combined with showers bring on the weeds so lots to do and only three weeks before we're off to the States for 6 weeks.  Goodie!!

Back to normality

So we got back after about 36-hours of airports and aeroplanes, but all on time.  Took us a few days to go through the post, do the shopping, and catch up on sleep.  Then back to work on the house - our bedroom to be exact.  We moved out of it in October and put up the extra insulation, then went to Oz for 10 weeks.  Now we've put pine boarding on the ceiling and have plaster-boarded the walls.  Not so easy as we had to box in lots of ventilation pipes at ceiling level, build a cupboard and remember what all the wiring was for!  Anyway, looks OK now.  It's been a bit delayed because there was the magic combination of snow and good weather in the Pyrenees, so we went skiing for three days instead of working!  Happily Judy managed to ski, but not as much as she used to before her accident.  It's great to be able to go at the drop of a hat.

Our second weekend back there was a day of walks from Montreal, but the weather the previous week was appalling.  The river down below was over it banks and we had to paddle a bit even on the roads. All the fields in the valley were flooded.

We're just back from snow-shoeing in the mountains this weekend with the walking group.  Great walking as the snow was falling, then a really good meal.  The second day we went further up the mountains in the bus and met a snow-plough on the way down.  The driver went a bit too far right and we ended up in a snowy ditch. but almost the right way up.  So we left him to it and went walking again.  Fortunately the rescue arrived quickly and there was no real damage - a soft landing.  Never a dull moment with the walkers here.

Off to the UK for a long weekend of partying.  No surprise the house is going slowly - but it does keep wonderfully warm!

Tropic of Christmas

So we arrived at Donna's on December 12^th and completion date for her new house was 14^th. Needless to say, Judy spent her days cleaning and helping pack while Chris helped move stuff to the new place. Fortunately the weather was hot and dry, as the wet season was late arriving. The new house is a small Queenslander (on stilts, big verandah) in 7 acres with a big 3-berth garage/shed of which one bay is a bedroom with toilet and washbasin. That's ours at the moment. Lots of work for them to do here!
 

Fortunately, the lady they bought from was moving to a retirement complex so left them her tractor and quad-bike. So that pleased Jacko and his son, Renny, who is visiting for Christmas.

The world didn't end just before Christmas as predicted, and after hardly any rain for 5 months it arrived on 23/24^th December with about 5cm of rain, but then Christmas Day was hot and sunny again. So after unwrapping pressies, especially for Renny, we headed for the beach where Chris, Renny and the dog (Marlin) swam.

Worked on the house and in the garden but managed to find time to do a wicked jigsaw, and then the day before New Year's Eve the monsoon arrived with about another 12cm of rain which finally filled the creek which runs through the property. We saw the New Year in with heavy rain but then a clear patch so back to work! Everything has greened up now and there's grass to cut and plants to plant and a lot of heavy pruning to do.

Chris has been moving doors, Judy has been weeding but we've also done lots of shopping, dog walking and spent time on the beach. So now we're getting ready to come back home, leaving here on 8^th January. The last few weeks haven't been very touristy, but it's been a great trip and really good to see Donna again after nearly 2 years. Back to reality next week.

Blue Remembered Hills

Had a good few days in Sydney with Chris at the conference (mostly) and Judy doing the tourist bits we didn't do last time we were here in 2008. Had a great apartment right in the centre by Chinatown, so good cheap food nearby. Visited the Maritime Museum and saw a boat made of beer cans (empty of course) which they race at Darwin and a replica of Cook's Endeavour.

Managed a walk from Bondi Beach along the coast which was very pleasant.

In 2008 we had a day in the Blue Mountains and said we had to come back, so here we are for 5 days, after dealing with the worst car hire company ever (East Coast Rentals). Anyway, it's fabulous walking country and stunning scenery. It was cool and cloudy when we arrived but walked for a couple of hours from the Three Sisters.

Does this remind you of anyone?

Next day was sunny and warm when we did their 'Grand Canyon'...

… but had a good excuse to rest on the way back up to watch a pair of lyre birds scratching about in the undergrowth. We liked the scenery here in the Grose valley better then the rest. Then had a great meal at the Katoomba RSL – highly recommended if you ever get here.

Sunday Chris did National Pass, along one of the cliff faces and almost got back before the thunderstorms while Judy did a shorter walk to the best waterfall (although Chris did lots!), saving herself for Monday.

Monday dawned cold and grey and eventually turned into a typical (bad) Dartmoor day. But we were taken on a guided bush walk by an 'aboriginal' and had a lot of culture to absorb. Judy even tried her hand at ethnic painting. Very interesting and absorbing.

Still unseasonally cold but still had a good day's walking. Great memories of cliffs and waterfalls.

Now off to Mackay to stay with Donna and Jacko, and help them move house (again) but not 1000km this time!

North of Perth

Spent the first night at Cervantes, a small fishing/holiday village then went to the Pinnacles Desert National Park. Surreal landscape of thousands of limestone pillars. Saw emus and a Western Blue-tongue lizard which tried to see Chris off its patch.

Then went up to Kalbarri for three nights. Rented a small house for the same price as a caravan. Did a 3-hour walk through the Murchison River Gorge – stunning. Explored the coast as well but spent both afternoons on the beach.

Then continued north to Carnarvon with the idea of heading inland to Mount Augustus, stopping on the way at Gascoyne Junction. Fortunately we stopped in the information centre in Carnarvon who told us that Gascoyne Junction had been badly damaged in the floods three years ago and there was nowhere to stay – so we overnighted in Carnarvon. Then it was a 1000km round-trip to Mount Augustus, mostly on dirt roads and no town for the middle 600km, only Mount Augustus Station which had sort-of cabins in which to sleep. We were carrying food and water for 3 days, so no problem. Then up at 4:15 am to start walking up the mountain at first light. It was 25 degrees when we set off and 35 degrees when we got back down 5 hours later! But we had climbed the biggest rock in the world and the highest point in Western Australia.

Then we drove back to Carnarvon, but about 250km away we came across an Aborigine family who had broken down. We were the first car to pass and they'd been there 2 hours. Took mother and kids to Gascoyne Junction to get help, then on to Carnarvon – civilisation!

Next stop was Coral Bay where we lazed on the beach and booked a snorkelling trip to the Ningaloo Reef for the next day. Fantastic! Coral, amazing fish, sharks, turtles and the highlight, swimming above a manta ray and watching it feed. Never seen anything like it. It was a 7-hour trip with 3 hours of snorkelling – better then the Great Barrier Reef, partly because it's so close inshore, but also because of the marine life. Unforgettable, but no photos, sorry.

Then to Shark Bay where Judy brought her hat home – when we were staying with Jill and Andy in Malaysia we visited the Cameron Highlands. Judy had lost her hat, but hanging on a bush in the jungle was a hat saying “Shark Bay Australia”. Didn't have a clue where it was, but we do now! Stayed in Denham, the most westerly town on Australia, for 3 days.

Went to Monkey Mia to see the dolphins that come and visit almost every day. Never been so close to wild dolphins, and the real treat was they were two mothers with calves.

Next day was a long 4-wheel drive up to Cape Peron in the Francois Peron National park. Deflated the tires for lots of sand, but got a bit bogged with only about 15km to go, so reversed out. Met a very helpful ranger who checked our tyre pressures – still too high! Let more air out then almost floated over the deep sand all the way to the end. Watched a group of about 10 manta rays in the water below Skipjack Point, and, we think, a big old dugong.

Third day we visited the church in Denham, made out of blocks of compressed shells cut out of a quarry with a saw.

Then to a wonderful aquarium where we learned a lot about fish, turtles and especially sharks – very appropriate for Shark Bay. Then to Eagle Bluff where we watched sharks swimming below, before a long afternoon on a beach all to ourselves.

Have just done a long day's drive back to Perth to spend one last night with our friends Brian and Ann, then off to Sydney tomorrow so that Chris can attend a conference.

Big things in the south of Western Australia

Our second week in WA was our first week touring. Headed south to a place called Busselton where whales rest on their way south. Saw whales from the cliffs at Cape Naturaliste then went on a boat to get amongst them – superb, but impossible to photograph!

Headed south-east towards Walpole and stopped on the way to climb a tree. Diamond Tree was a forest fire lookout and you get up it by a 51-metre ladder. Although ladder is a bit of an exaggeration - it's reinforcing rods hammered into the tree at regular intervals so you can get to the top. Judy did it all!

Toured around Walpole and saw massive trees – karri and tingle trees which are both huge varieties of eucalypt. Fortunately now saved from loggers as this is the only area where they grow.

Lunch on the beach at 'Conspicuous Cliff' then off to see the Natural bridge near Albany which is a lot bigger than it looks here.

Then off to the Stirling Ranges where we climbed Bluff Knoll, the highest point in southern WA. Two hours up (only 3km) then down a bit quicker! The views were fantastic, even from part way up...

… as were the wild-flowers which covered the higher slopes.

We took the long way back to Perth via the famous Wave Rock.

It was much more interesting 20Km away at The Humps and Mulka's Cave which had aboriginal hand paintings.

Stopped at a nice motel in Corrigin on the way back as we were kn*****ed. Swapped car for a 4WD and now heading north from Perth, up the Indian Ocean.