john and rel

Cruise Day 7 - The Birthday of Rel

2011-10-10T02:54:00.000+10:00

Friday October 7 marked the birthday of Rel. And this was a special day, as Rel was turning 50.
In fact, our private name for the trip was Hawaii Five-0
(I know a few days have been skipped in the blog sequence, but they will appear soon)

The day would start early as we had to leave the ship at 6.20 for golf.
So we charged off for a walk around the boat to get the blood flowing, quick bite at the Cadillac Diner, and then met with Cory, the golf pro and organiser. Again, everything was organised well.

Once at the course, we had a sense this golf resort would make Rel’s day feel special.

Our carts were all organised before we got there, even labelled with the golfers name. Note that John was only listed as ‘Rider’. John knew his place in life.

The carts had towels, cold water, tees, and Cory even provided a flower for the ear.

And Rel had her own hot driver/caddy/general slave for the day

This was a classy course

In fact it was one of the most beautiful courses we had ever played on.
Those who enjoyed the series MASH will be fascinated to know that the mountains in the background were used for the opening scene of MASH, where the helicopters appear from behind the mountains. In fact it was surreal as a lot of helicopters fly over the course during the day. The only thing missing was the theme song from MASH.

Rel’s playing partners from a few days ago enjoyed playing with Rel so much, they signed up to play with Rel on this day.
Somehow John found himself spending most of the day with 3 ladies… again. :-)

So Rel hit off at the first tee, and her driving was on song from the get-go.

Interestingly enough, the bunkers on the first 9 used the red soil of the area, rather than the traditional white sand.

Rel’s play on the fairways was awesome, and she rarely strayed too far from the centre of the fairway

How much was Rel loving this day?

The course was quite hilly at times, and we would have struggled without the cart

John loved the challenging drive

Although on this steep descent perhaps John should have focussed on driving, rather than driving and taking photographs at the same time

This course was in immaculate condition

There may not have been too much to celebrate on the putting green, but some of Rel’s drives off the tee were sensational

Rel mainly stayed out of bunkers, but when she did find a bunker, she left herself with a real challenge to get out.

The back 9 was almost an entirely different course in terms of the scenery and layout.

But Rel’s driving was still on fire.

We then stumbled across this hole, which can be best be described as tee + deep rainforest valley + green.
There was no fairway. But Rel’s confidence was high.

And she landed the ball on the green! One of the shots of the day!

The birdie putt was a good attempt, but the putter was not on fire today. The tee can be seen in the background. This was a tough hole.

A nearby airport made for interesting scenes at times

It was then onto the signature hole of the course. And Rel hit a sensational drive off the tee.

After the second shot it was then a long downhill walk to to the green, whilst admiring the views, including the cruse ship.

This really was an amazing golf hole

Rel then went duck hunting, and nearly cleaned one up

We think these were Canadian geese

On the last hole, it was time for the happy snap

Rel finished with another sensational drive.

The final green had a ‘golden bear’ statue, not the bundy rum bear that John first thought it was

And finally a putt sank for Rel, on the 18th.

We then headed back on board the ship, where we had a bid’s eye view of the signature hole of the golf course.

We were ramped up into birthday party mode, so we played some games

Chilled in the deck chairs

Rel wore her swimsuit with bling

We found something to drink

Today’s room cleaning treat was our towels in the shape of a penguin

We then settled in for a long lunch in one of the classy restaurants, where we had seats next to window at the stern of the ship.

The boat pulled out of port as we had lunch, offering us a quite amazing view as we celebrated Rel’s birthday

After a quick rest to recharge for the rest of the day, we returned to the deck to see some amazing views of this island.

Was Rel enjoying this birthday ?

And then a rainbow appeared

Rel almost had a tear in her eye as she just marvelled at this amazing sight.

It was then time to watch the sunset from onboard the ship

Rel was just soaking it all up, and feeling so special.

Then the lights started to kick in on the boat

Eventually we left the deck to continue our celebrations

At some stage, Rel had done some secret shopping, and took John back to the store to show him some things of interest. Yes, they have jewellery stores on board the ship.

How could John say no to buying this gorgeous ring for her birthday. Was it expensive? Rel is priceless, and how often does one turn 50?

Rel had been disappointed that she did not get a photo with Cory, the golf pro. But John tracked him down, and there was yet another birthday treat.

So we headed off to the French restaurant for dinner. We were offered the chance to try escargot for free, so we jumped at the chance. We were feeling adventurous. And they were so yummy.

Had a glass of Rel’s favourite champagne

Then finished off with creme brûlée and chocolate fondue for 2.

Rel was then sung to by the waiters for her birthday.

To finish the Birthday of Rel, we went to a musical after dinner. Rel loved it. John loved the small part he saw. He had given his all for the Birthday, and sadly fell asleep he was so tired.

But this was a birthday for the ages for one very special lady!

Cruise Day 3 - Swimming with Turtles

2011-10-07T00:36:00.002+10:00

It was another fine day in Maui, and we were set for a half day snorkelling adventure.

The shuttle was waiting for us once we stepped off the ship. The only other passengers in the shuttle were Rick and Lauren, from Rochester, New York. We all wondered if we were the only 4 doing the snorkelling trip.
But once we got to the harbour on the other side of the island, it became obvious this was a very popular cruise.

Rel was starting to get excited about this day

The weather was still looking fine

The boat looked seaworthy

Once on board, Rel found a great seat on the top deck and the smile really lit up.

So off we charged to the reef at Moloki

As we got closer it was time to get into our snorkelling gear

And then we started to approach the reef, which was actually a crater, where part of it still pops out of the water.

Behind us was Maui

In front of us was our swimming spot

Rel looked fetching with her snorkel gear

Very large birds were circling, hopefully not an ominous sign

The water look calm and serene

Snorkellers seemed to be enjoying themselves

So we enjoyed our snorkel. It may not have been as amazing as the Great Barrier Reef, but it had different fish to the reef. And the water was so refreshing.
John also saw some things he did not expect, nor really want, to see.
In the interests of public heath and safety, John strongly advises that women should not snorkel only in bikinis, no matter how good they may look on the beach. When snorkelling, one has an amazingly clear view of what is going on under the water. When snorkelling, all sorts of weird things happen to one’s swimsuit when kicking and moving about in the water. John’s dreams are still haunted by what he accidentally saw.

At one point, one of the boat’s crew was taking underwater shots. When it came time to take photos of John and Rel, there was a small ‘incident’. John’s attempts to put his arm around Rel resulted in him submerging her snorkel, thereby nearly drowning Rel. Needless to say, we did not buy those photos.

Back on board the boat, it was time to head off for the 2nd, and final destination.

We would be snorkelling at a place known as turtle town, where apparently, we would see turtles. We were a little sceptical.

Turns out this place was literally just off the coast from where we played golf the day before. In fact, the photo below is of the golf course we played on.

And to our surprise, we actually saw a number of turtles. They were actually huge turtles. And looked so majestic when then swam. What was amazing was how much they blended in with the reef when they settled on the bottom. At times, once could not distinguish them from a large rock.
But this was truly another highlight swimming with large turtles.

(It should be noted that these photos are a re-enactment of the ones we swam with. Due to turtle protection programs, we could not show you the real turtles we swam with. In fact our experience was more vivid and closer than these photos show)

Once on board, the captain starting purring Mai Tais, some drink with rum and juice. They were free, we’d never tried one before, so we though we would try one. As the captain prepared the drink for us, we realised he was was not too scientific. The rum flowed freely, whilst he struggled to get the juice to flow in. At least the drink warmed our insides for the trip home. One was way more than enough!

Back on the boat, we discovered our towels were in the shape of a rabbit today.

It was then time to kick back and enjoy what the ship had to offer in the afternoon

We then strolled to the Cadillac Diner

Dropped into the Napa Wine Bar to enjoy one of our bottles of wine

Then we headed off for dinner, and finished with a make your own dessert

Another day of absolutely amazing adventures

Cruise Day 2 - Golf on Maui

2011-10-07T00:36:00.001+10:00

After leaving the island of Oahu, the ship sailed for the island of Maui. We would stay in dock for a couple of days at Maui.
For reference, Rel and I and cruise ship virgins. So there are lots of things we will marvel at, that sophisticated and experienced cruise veterans will just take in their stride.
But cruise ship is amazing. It can be as wild and as exciting as you like, or as relaxed or laid as you like.

We woke up after a good night’s sleep and rocked on to the Cadillic Diner for breakfast. Full of yummy food, but it is not going to win any heart foundation ticks.
John made an immediate impression on the waitress by ordering the big breakfast option without eggs. Her reply ‘That is strange, I have never had that request before’ indicated that she had already pegged John correctly as a weird one.

Rel did not want to miss a minute of on-shore fun, and with John’s encouragement, had booked a round of golf on Maui. John had decided to be caddy for day, or as it is called here a ‘rider’. There were a number of factors as to why John wanted to be caddy. He is hopeless at golf, and did not want to distract from Rel’s fun. The broken hand was still playing up at times, and a game of golf was unlikely to help. And the money we saved by John not playing could be spent on Rel playing golf again on her birthday.

We had heard this course, Waimea, was amazing, but even that did not prepare us for the scenery… This is the view just overlooking the practice green.

You know it is a serious resort golf course when they have parking bays for the buggies at the driving range.

So Rel headed off to the driving range to warm up.

Tries to get a feel for the clubs she had hired for the day

Got some tips from the PGA Professional, Cory, who had organised the day for us

Practiced on the putting green

Then it was time for a happy snap to start proceedings.

Rel mastered the onboard GPS/ information display

Then it was time to tee off

Rel took a little while to find her rhythm, and the middle of the fairway, but with such beautiful views, it did not seem to matter if a shot was bad.

Rel still looked powerful on the tee

Rel was struggling to get on the green in regulation, and frustration was starting to build

But the shoes, which were newly purchased when in Las Vegas, looked fabulous

Rel has always been a beach girl and enjoyed playing in the sand

John was having fun being a pseudo caddy, and just admiring watching Rel play

There’s that sand again

But again, the views made the game fun

Rel was playing with a couple of other ladies from the cruise ship, Vicki and Jo. They hailed from Boston, and were great fun to play with.

When Rel connected well, the ball just went ‘boom’

But the moments of frustration were still there.

Especially when visits to the beach were becoming regular

Cory dropped in for a few holes, and he was fun to play with.

He enthusiastically gave of his time and was a good teacher.

He could also hit a ball

Rel pondered what to do at the beach again

But responded magnificently

John continued to enjoy the scenery

By this stage we were at the 17th, Rel was not happy with her game, but had brilliantly got to the edge of the green in 2. This was her chance to define her round

There was a quick check of the vital stats on the info display, as well as Rel’s iPhone Golf program.
It should be noted that shortly after this a message came up on the scene saying there would be a sale at the resort golf shop.
Rel’s eyes narrowed and John could sense magic was about to happen

Rel had played a chip shot on to the green so well, she needed 2 putts for a par, which would have made her very happy.
Or if she sank this difficult putt, she would have a birdie.

And so magic happened! Rel drained the putt!

There were high fives and dancing going on everywhere.

And so it was on to the 18th and final hole of the day

We took time to take some photos of this magnificent looking fairway

There was the stock standard shot

Rel was so excited at scoring a bride the previous hole, she decided we needed something better than shots that made us look fat.

It was time to get some exercise in

Jo joined in the fun

Vicki was not into pushups, but celebrated in her own classic style

Rel then teed off with a massive drive that could only be described as ‘the shot of the day’

Time for a last look at the scenery

Rel had this approach to setup another birdie chance.

The air was thick with anticipation as Rel tried to drain this monster for a birdie putt.

And lightning had struck twice. Birdie-Birdie finish for Rel , something Rel has never achieved before. This was indeed a finish for the ages.

Back on board the boat, we went looking for a quiet place to celebrate. Instead, John accidentally found a bar that was having a Martini happy hour. Rel was well behaved, and John discovered what a Martini, or 2, is all about.

Then it was time to dine out in style with the girl of the moment

After dinner we wandered back to our stateroom to complete what had been another amazing day

Cruise Day 2 - Golf on Maui

2011-10-07T00:36:00.000+10:00

After leaving the island of Oahu, the ship sailed for the island of Maui. We would stay in dock for a couple of days at Maui.
For reference, Rel and I are cruise ship virgins. So there are lots of things we will marvel at, that sophisticated and experienced cruise veterans will just take in their stride.
But cruise ship life is amazing. It can be as wild and as exciting as you like, or as relaxed or laid back as you like.

We woke up after a good night’s sleep and rocked on to the Cadillac Diner for breakfast. Full of yummy food, but it is not going to win any heart foundation ticks.
John made an immediate impression on the waitress by ordering the big breakfast option without eggs. Her reply ‘That is strange, I have never had that request before’ indicated that she had already pegged John correctly as a weird one.

Rel did not want to miss a minute of on-shore fun, and with John’s encouragement, had booked a round of golf on Maui. John had decided to be caddy for day, or as it is called here a ‘rider’. There were a number of factors as to why John wanted to be caddy. He is hopeless at golf, and did not want to distract from Rel’s fun. The broken hand was still playing up at times, and a game of golf was unlikely to help. And the money we saved by John not playing could be spent on Rel playing golf again on her birthday.

We had heard this course, Wailea, was amazing, but even that did not prepare us for the scenery… This is the view just overlooking the practice green.

You know it is a serious resort golf course when they have parking bays for the buggies at the driving range.

So Rel headed off to the driving range to warm up.

Tries to get a feel for the clubs she had hired for the day

Got some tips from the onboard PGA Professional, Cory, who had organised the day for us

Practiced on the putting green

Then it was time for a happy snap to start proceedings.

Rel mastered the onboard GPS/ information display

Then it was time to tee off

Rel took a little while to find her rhythm, and the middle of the fairway, but with such beautiful views, it did not seem to matter if a shot was bad.

Rel still looked powerful on the tee

Rel was struggling to get on the green in regulation, and frustration was starting to build

But the shoes, which were newly purchased when in Las Vegas, looked fabulous

Rel has always been a beach girl and enjoyed playing in the sand

John was having fun being a pseudo caddy, and just admiring watching Rel play

There’s that sand again

But again, the views made the game fun

Rel was playing with a couple of other ladies from the cruise ship, Vicki and Jo. They hailed from Boston, and were great fun to play with.

When Rel connected well, the ball just went ‘boom’

But the moments of frustration were still there.

Especially when visits to the beach were becoming regular

Cory dropped in for a few holes, and he was fun to play with.

He enthusiastically gave of his time and was a good teacher.

He could also hit a ball

Rel pondered what to do at the beach again

But responded magnificently

John continued to enjoy the scenery

By this stage we were at the 17th, Rel was not happy with her game, but had brilliantly got to the edge of the green in 2. This was her chance to define her round

There was a quick check of the vital stats on the info display, as well as Rel’s iPhone Golf program.
It should be noted that shortly after this a message came up on the scene saying there would be a sale at the resort golf shop.
Rel’s eyes narrowed and John could sense magic was about to happen

Rel had played a chip shot on to the green so well, she needed 2 putts for a par, which would have made her very happy.
Or if she sank this difficult putt, she would have a birdie.

And so magic happened! Rel drained the putt!

There were high fives and dancing going on everywhere.

And so it was on to the 18th and final hole of the day

We took time to take some photos of this magnificent looking fairway

There was the stock standard shot

Rel was so excited at scoring a bride the previous hole, she decided we needed something better than shots that made us look fat.

It was time to get some exercise in

Jo joined in the fun

Vicki was not into pushups, but celebrated in her own classic style

Rel then teed off with a massive drive that could only be described as ‘the shot of the day’

Time for a last look at the scenery

Rel had this approach to setup another birdie chance.

The air was thick with anticipation as Rel tried to drain this monster for a birdie putt.

And lightning had struck twice. Birdie-Birdie finish for Rel , something Rel has never achieved before. This was indeed a finish for the ages.

Back on board the boat, we went looking for a quiet place to celebrate. Instead, John accidentally found a bar that was having a Martini happy hour. Rel was well behaved, and John discovered what a Martini, or 2, is all about.

Then it was time to dine out in style with the girl of the moment

After dinner we wandered back to our stateroom to complete what had been another amazing day

Cruise Day 1 - Leaving the port of Honolulu

2011-10-03T01:51:00.000+10:00

Saturday morning we wake with much anticipation. We would be joining our cruise around the Hawaiian Islands.

But first it was time for a beautiful swim before breakfast

We then checked out of our hotel

The shuttle bus collected us from our hotel, and took us to the port, where we spotted our new home on the way.

We checked in , got through the tight security, and it was time to walk the gangplank to get on board

Once on board Rel quickly found all the golfing options

We found our room, which turned out to be the same number as our home postcode. That made it very easy to remember.

There was not much room to swing cat, so we are glad we left the cat behind.
But it was amazingly classy and elegant, and designed cleverly to make the most of limited room.

John went and found the library. :)

Rel was just excited with everything full stop.

We passed our involvement in the emergency evacuation drill.

Rel made new friends easily

Rel quickly found the onboard putting green

It was time to quickly check in that all was cool at home… from the forward observation deck of course. Thanks Naomi.

Rel just loved this life.. and being near the pool deck.

We watched the sunset from the boat

Took a quick look at what was happening on the boat as the darkness overtook the light

One last look at Honolulu from the boat

And then we readied ourselves for another great adventure

LA to Honolulu

2011-10-03T01:32:00.000+10:00

It was an early start as we departed from LA to Honolulu.
Due to security checks, we had to be at the airport at 6.30 for a 9am flight. Go figure.

We wolfed down a quick breakfast at the hotel, jumped on the shuttle bus, and headed for the airport.

We are all concerned about the weight of our luggage, and the potential price of excess luggage. Turns out John was the biggest offender with his suitcase weighing 30kg. But Hawaiin Airlines are great airline to fly with, and took care of us very well.

Getting through security took quite some time, and ended up with some bonus events for Angela and John. Angela had commented that the last thing she wanted was to unpack her carry on stuff, as it was crammed in pretty tight. Yep, Angela was selected to completely unpack her carry on luggage in front of security officers. John scored well because he was selected for a detailed pat down. Memories of the rubber glove examination came to mind :-0 But the security guard, who seemed twice as tall as John, whose arms seemed as big as John’s legs, was efficient and good natured. This did not seem to be a time for making wisecracks as John thought this guard could crash John with one blow.
The security guard was so good at his job, he even found things that John did not know he had, like some lollies for the flight.

Then it was time to find coffee. We couldn’t find any, so reported to Starbucks.

Rel thought it funny that John was more interested in charging his toys for the flight than sitting next to her.

Ange had organised that all 4 of the amigos would sit together on the flight, so time passed quickly for this 5 hour flight.

Rel and Jen started looking for movies on the iPad. Tuns out Jhn had downloaded a movie ‘BottleShock’. This caught their attention as we had seen promotions for it when in Calistoga, Napa Valley. Turns out the movie wa filmed on location around Calistoga. So the girls were keen to check it out. It was a classic quirky, independent film, made all the better by seeing locations that had just been visited.
So time passed really quickly for Jen and Rel.

After the movie they started listening to John tell a story. The inevitable occurred.
Of course, by including this photo, neither Jen or Rel will probably ever speak to John again…

We landed on the airport, and were greeted by our cruise holiday representative, who gave us beautiful Lai’s and took care of us.
There was a small hick-up when we couldn’t find them initially, but all was overcome when we did meet them, because they took such good care of us.

Ange and Jen caught their own shuttle to their hotel, and we arranged to meet up with them for dinner.
The trip to our hotel was fun, as we were the only ones on board. Shuttle buses are amazing ways to discover people’s stories. John was chatting away with the driver and discovered he had been in the Army until recently. He in fact drove tanks during the recent conflicts overseas. John had a vague recollection that the US had Abrams tanks. So John asked our ‘shuttle pilot’ if he drove an Abrams tank. That unlocked some sort of key, because we then received an amazing treasure trove of stories of driving those tanks in combat. Amazing.

It was time to check in the hotel and reacquaint ourselves with Waikiki.

We drifted through tourist shops. John saw this shirt, and almost bought it for a very special friend going through a tough time at the moment.

As the sun started to drop, it was time to go back to the beach.

We then drifted over the Jen and Ange’s place for dinner. On our way, we discovered some pretty cool bikes we thought we could hire some time.

After a great dinner that included bruschetta, cheese, bread, apple pie, a bottle of yummy napa valley chardonnay, and a bottle of napa valley zinfidel , we set of home in readiness for a wonderful day exploring this island.

Honolulu - Day 3 - Pearl Harbour

2011-10-02T06:16:00.000+10:00

It was an early start today as the Tour Bus was picking us up at 6.30
As part of our Cruise Package we were entitled to a Pearl Harbour Tour. We had done one tour before and were not sure about doing it again, but we had heard that the whole place had been upgraded.

So Rel and I rocked on to the Pearl Harbour tour.

Everything about the memorial was so much improved. No queues to get in, and the place was a lot more open.

We rocked on to check the submarine museum. They had a WWII sub you could wander through, so Rel led the way, wanting to yell ‘Dive, Dive, Dive”

John was just fascinated by it all

A sub is not a place for the claustrophobic or those who kick their shins on things.

Rel tried to work out what was wrong with the engine room

John and Rel both decided the level of accommodation was not up to their minimum required standards.

And then there was the boy’s toys part of the sub. Where the ‘fish’ were kept and launched. Yep, the torpedo room.

It was one last look at the submarine aft,

Before Rel started checking for enemy activity through the binoculars. All she spotted was the Arizona memorial.

We then checked out Polaris missiles that get fired from subs.

John then met and had a great chat with a Retired Brigadier-General from the Marines. The fact that John bought a book from him was the reason for the discussion, but this marine was still as sharp as a tack, generous with his time, funny and compassionate.

Every Friday, they have guys who survived the Pearl Harbour attack come in and sign stuff.
They were only too happy to sign John’s recent book purchase, and even though in their 80s and 90s, were still funny and quick-witted.

We then jumped on the boats that would take us to the Arizona Memorial.
John was never sure which ear he should wear his flower in, but fortunately a fellow passenger solved that issue for him.

It was then time to visit the Arizona memorial, which is a small building sitting over the top of the sunken Arizona, still with many hundreds of men entombed.
It is not a place that glorifies war, but remembers with solemnity the sacrifice of many. Americans do these military memorials well.

This plaque always brings a tear to John’s eye. There is a huge wall with the names of all those who perished on the Arizona went it went down during the Pearl Harbour attack.
The separate plaque below lists those who survived the sinking, but who chose to have their remains interred with their shipmates when they eventually passed away.
Says something about the bonds of mateship.

The Arizona lies submerged beneath these waters, and parts of the superstructure can still be seen.

If you get to Hawaii, John recommends a visit to this memorial if you are into the history of World War II in the Pacific. Makes for an informative and educational time, as well as providing sombre reflection.

After the tour of Pearl Harbour we were taken through some of Honolulu’s key areas, as well as being shown some of Honolulu’s significant cultural sites. These included:-

Where the opening scenes of the original Hawaii Five-0 were shot
Where the opening scenes of the new Hawaii Five-0 were shot
Where common scenes of Magnum PI were shot
The Harbour where the SS Minnow left for a 3 hour cruise. According to John’s recollection. not much has changed from the opening scenes of Gilligan’s Island to how this harbour looks today.

Jokes aside,we learnt a fair bit about the culture heritage of the city, the things that have worked restoring indigenous pride, and the things that are still a challenge.

Once home we hit the beach

The weather here has been divine and rel has just enjoyed the opportunities to hang out at the beach. Waikiki has no real surf, but the water is clear, and the sand is nice (i think it is imported)

Whilst there we were entranced by how different cultures interacted with the beach and the water. It should be noted that there is a very sizeable Korean and Japanese tourist population.
There were groups teaching each other to surf in knee deep water, and they were having fun.

There was the young couple who came to the beach, and the guy bought his tripod and camera just so he could take one photo of them at the beach. Each to their own.

And there were the young couple who were doing snorkelling for what appeared to be the first time. Although given the amount of gear they had, one could be forgiven for thinking they were heading out deep sea diving on a reef miles off shore. It was fascinating watching the lady snorkel in a few feet of water, whilst on an inflatable raft, over a sandy beach with nothing of any real interest. One has to start somewhere.

Then as the sun started going down, it was time to get ready for the night ahead.

This night had special significance. It was the last night we would be with Angela and Jen, as we headed off on our cruise the next day.
They have been just the best travel buddies, and we will miss them terribly. Safe travels home to both of you.
And it officially marked the start of birthday week for Rel.
So it was suggested we go somewhere very classy, and the “BeachHouse Restaurant at the moana” certainly fitted the bill

It was a chance for the girls to frock up. Actually, it was more of a chance for the girls to buy new dresses. And they looked hot.

We were seated at a table overlooking the water and just had a very magic time.

Cocktails were ordered to start the evening and things just got better from there.

The girls looked pretty relaxed

How surprised was Rel to receive a beautiful gift from Jen and Ange.

The gang made one last appearance together

This trip together could only be concluded with a visit to the shops of course!

(and some takeaway cheesecake)

Many hugs and kisses to Ange and Jen. Mahalo.

Honolulu - Day 2 - The drive

2011-09-30T18:11:00.001+10:00

Aloha

John decided to go for a run in the morning. The views were awesome as he ran along the beachfront.

Sadly not everyone had a home to go to

Perhaps there were some who couldn’t decide which home to go to

Early morning, there were plenty of places to lock your bike to

Some had decided to relocate the bike parking options

We had decided to go for a drive around the island. Jen picked out a car that suited her style.

The girls seemed pretty comfortable with the car, if not John’s driving style.

First stop was walk to to the top of Diamond Head, a very famous crater in Honolulu. It is an intriguing walk to the top.
But it is hard work. Fascinating to see people walking it in heels.
Rel powered up these climbs though

Jen was psyching herself up… ‘I can get there’

Had a photo stop part way up

Rel admired the view part way up

It was then time to tackle the ‘small steps’

We walked through the cave

The it was the ‘big steps’, and John just focussed on the shoes in front of him. He was so relieved to hear Rel call ‘Only 3,2,1 steps to go’

Another tunnel

Then the climb out of the bunker

And we pressed on to the final set of steps to the top

The views from the top were amazing

How good was it to get to the top, finally

Then we walked back down… Via the claustrophobic staircase

the long steps down

the steps seem a lot worse when seen from the bottom… and John had been sweating up a storm as it was brutally hot

Jen was so glad to find her way out of the cave

Once all the way down, the girls raced for the shaved ice - it really was warm

The it was time to do some cruising in the Audi

Rel seemed to like the car

a lot ...

We hit Waimea Bay for a swim

Rel and Jen just did not want to leave the water. They were ‘home’.

Then it was time to check out the Bonzai Pipeline on North Shore, although it was a little quiet on this day.

Rel dropped onto the beach to suss out the action, being the beach girl that she is.

One of the local surfers deliberated before heading out

Rel spotted some paparazzi lurking...

The beach still looked inviting for a swim though

It was then time to check out some cute little villages

After heading back to Honololu. Ange and Jen crashed after a long day, but John and Rel were still fired up.

So they found a Japanese restaurant and had fun. Rel was a star, and all the staff in the restaurant wanted to talk Japanese, and her experiences of Japan. John was just glad he had someone who could read the menu for him

Honolulu - Day 2 - The drive

2011-09-30T18:11:00.000+10:00

Monterey to LA

2011-09-28T10:40:00.001+10:00

Today was going to be a great scenic tour, but also a long day in the car. We were driving from Monterey to LA

It was an early start to the day, and we were away by 7

The morning g sunrise had rewarded us for getting up early though

Only a small sample of the majestic scenery will be included. For now, sit back and get a small taste of our experience.

The girls always felt nervous when the saw signs like this. They knew that John read the sign as ‘great place to get some exciting photos’

Occasionally the sun broke through the tree cover to catch our attention.

But the 4 photographers were always keen to jump out of the car and take some photos for lasting memories.

Occasionay we had the chance to look back and see the road that was cut into the hill.

This flora looked very different depending on where the sun was coming from

We dropped into small places for the restroom and refreshments.

And special surprises, like being able to buy hard boiled eggs.

We encountered some roadworks at times

In this case they were building a brand new bridge next to the existing road

There was always the occasional sighting of some stunning models

Driving was rewarding but required intense concentration

The road was narrow at times with sheer cliff drop offs

It was tough sometimes to keep the eyes on the road with the scenery

There were some tight corners

Cyclists to be conscious of

And sometimes we had to stop for a while for roadworks.

The girls made the most of the stoppage to do productive things

People from other cars made the most of their time

And John, he just wanted to play

We encountered seals along the way. They’d obviously had a hard night the night before.

The other pressing problem was what to do with the ‘acquisitions’ that no longer fitted into suitcases

Find a post office!

Put on some charm to get good prices back to Australia

It seemed to work on this Postal employee

We then dropped into a bay previously owned/refurbished or something by William Randolph Hearst. There was sign with his name there anyway, and you could see the Hearst mansion up in the hills.

John asked one of the locals to show its best pose, and this is what he got.

As we drove there was a sudden call of ‘stop, photo opportunity’. Brakes screeched, and the paparazzi assumed positions without missing a beat.

What had they seen? Zebra. How random...

Then there was more scenic driving before we headed for Santa Barbara. There are stories we could tell about our time here, but they must remain on tour.

Went for a drive by the beach

And then headed for LA. Jen had the fun of driving through that world of hurt and Ange had the fun of navigating with peak hour traffic, and both did a stirling job.
Jen showed some previously unknown ‘frogger’ expertise when it came time to changing lanes.
We rocked into our hotel room for the night, repacked for the flight the next morning, and did not have many problems getting to sleep, as we were all pretty exhausted.

San Fran to Monterey

2011-09-28T10:40:00.000+10:00

Today we would leave behind San Fran and head for Monterey.

So it was off to find a coffee shop to caffeinate for the day. Luckily there was any number of promising coffee shops near us (Thanks again Ange!)
Peete’s came through for us with a very nice coffee

Our car had not been stolen and was still parked in the garage, so it was time to pack up and move on.

But we still had to see a few icons of San Fran. Just a few streets from us was the famed curvy, flowered street.

To set the scene, this is what it looks like from base of the street.

It is distinctly different from the driver’s seat going down though.

Jen showed she was not afraid of a driving challenge though.

This photo probably depicts all the challenges faced by the driver… Tight curves, buildings close by, garden beds, and lots of tourists looking to see if you make a mistake.

Rel was getting a little inspired by what we could do with our driveway at home

The Golden Gate bridge was next to be seen… sort of. The only fog in San Fran that morning covered the bridge. Not a hint of fog to be seen anywhere else in the Bay area. It was just like we were told it would be!

John had given up on running over the Golden Gate bridge by this stage, and decided to get a photo of him running in the vicinity of the Golden Gate bridge instead.

John had in fact wondered why we had to leave San Fran so early. There were many things he could have squeezed in with a mid-morning departure.
The ruse was soon unveiled. There needed to be time for … shopping.

Ange, Jen and Rel decided to set an initial timeframe of 2 hours. John thought ‘what the …’
The girls were so concerned about running out of time, they sprinted for the shops leaving John in their wake.

This vending machine had convinced John that an M&M ice cream could ease his pain at being abandoned so brutally by the girls.
To make matters worse for John, it would not dispense anything after he had put his $3. But he did get $3.10 back in change.
He wondered how much extra change he would receive if he put more money in…

The there were those bears again

In 2 days the car had turned from a roomy vehicle to one where there were shopping bags everywhere.

John had decided that if you can’t beat them, join them and then raise the bar.
He’d found a cycling outlet shop and went hard. John was actually having a great time.

After only 3+ hours at this one centre, the girls realised there may be consequences to buying all this fantastic stuff - that is getting it home.
So they called a temporary truce to their feeding frenzy, and continued the trip to where we would be staying for the night.
It is also gave a chance for the credit cards to cool down as they had been getting pretty hot, and John was mainly to blame. The girls have created a shopping Frankenstein.

So it was off the Monterey.

Ange has done a great job in organising our accommodation. This was the first occasion that we needed to do do a little ‘self plumbing’ to get the toilet operational.
Poor Ange had stumbled across something ‘lurking beneath’ when she was getting the bathroom sorted. Flushing did not help, so the photo depicts plan B.
The photos of the plunger in use shall remain in John’s private collection, and are not for family viewing.

This place was pretty good, offered the important things like a good bed, quiet, and of course the standard expectation of free wi-fi.
The layout of this place was interesting. The front door opened to the the main bedroom, which opened to the second bedroom, which opened to the bathroom/toilet.
Just glad we are all good friends as it was pretty cosy.

After checking in, and getting the toilet working we went for a drive around the local area. This area is famed for many things, including the famed Pebble Beach golf courses. So Rel was very very exited about seeing this place.
We set our bearings and took off.

Rel loved the greens...

The closeness to the water (even if it was blowing a gale)

But was not sure about the rough

Rel snuck in to the clubhouse, and bought a few mementos

We continued our drive along the 17 mile drive taking in other parts of the golf courses and the coastline

Rel decide to sneak onto the golf course

Not having a set of clubs did not stop her from dreaming of that big Major victory

We stopped by Pebble Beach. John raced back to the table after firing off the self timer, but missed the table when he went to lean on it.

He got it right the next time though

We discovered why it really was called Pebble Beach

It was certainly a rugged coastline

Jen tried to outstare the piece of wood

The sun was getting low allowing for some fascinating scenery

We could not figure out why all these binoculars were here

So Rel investigated and found this rocky outcrop was covered in seals

The seals were easy to see in the binoculars, but difficult to capture with a setting sun

The drive rewarded us with some magnificent scenery

Though we spotted Lance.

And as the sun set we checked out the golf course for a final time

Then drove back to Monterey

Found what looked to be the SS Minnow

John loves a place that puts value on books

It was then time to find somewhere to eat. So where does one go for everything… the local 24 hour pharmacy of course.

We fed, shared a bottle of very nice Merlot, packed, and then the girl dropped like flies. John was ready to kick on, but obviously this shopping thing had taken its toll on his companions.

A day in San Fran

2011-09-26T13:43:00.000+10:00

On the previous night Angela and Jen had declared they were going hard with shopping. Obviously this was not going to be any place for the faint hearted.
They strongly advised that Rel and I should jump on the sightseeing hop-on, hop-off bus. We got the hint.
John was keen to go for a run in the morning, but his weather forecasting gurus told him to sleep in as it was going to be terrible weather.

John awoke to a fine morning, and set out for an exploratory run.
He decided to avoid going up the steep hills to begin with

Going down seemed a much better idea to get going.

Managed to find his way to the Golden Gate bridge

But he did not run over, as he had sort of got lost getting there, and did not not know how long it would take to get back home.
But running through the streets of San Fran was pretty cool. Golden Gate bridge will still be there next time I come back.

Once back home, we got set for a day out.
Rel found a funky car, but we both thought it would be impractical for the day, especially as showers had kicked in by now.

John managed to control his desire to jump on a bike and explore.

We jumped on a hop-on-hop-off bus and headed for Union Square.
Once there, we set off in search of a coffee. John hoped Rel would not spot Macy’s, but that was not a realistic hope.

Macy’s was not opening until 11, but that did not stop Rel looking for alternate ways of getting in.

There were some interesting specialty shops

We decided to hit the Cheescake Factory for breakfast and coffee. The menus were an interesting read in their own right.

The coffees were actually pretty good. The double-shot tasted real good in fact.

Rel contemplated what lay ahead for the day in quite a grand ambience.

John just smiled knowing he and Rel would have a great day together, and that he had avoided a potentially brutal day of girl’s shopping. Very thankful that Ange and Jen had spared him that fate.

Rel always found John’s chips more interesting than hers.

Did we have room for dessert? This was a restaurant built on its cheesecakes, so how could we say no.
This one lept from the pages for us both

And it satisfied immensely!

Time to look out over Union Square from the top of Macy’s

Took John much longer to realise he was standing behind the letters on the top of the Macy’s building. Obviously not a natural born shopper.

Rel discovered the Christmas stuff was out in force. :-0

John had spent so much time in shops lately, he decided to try some part-time work as a mannequin.

Couldn’t find any fruit’n’veg here, but John did find some goodies. His advisor prevented any purchases though.

The hop-on-hop-off was a great way to see the key sights of San Fran. Looking forward to watching some classic movies/shows that were based in San Fran, to get a different perspective now that we have seen the layout of San Fran.

Rel was having a ball on the top of the bus.

But should we have got these cars instead?

Rel got to see the painted ladies again

John wanted to go help this lady in obvious distress, but Rel assured him that she was OK, and that he could stay on the bus.

Haight St was a fascinating street.

No tour would be compete without at least one tunnel ride.

It was then time to ride over the Golden Gate bridge. Or what we could see of it.

The fog had really set in, and the temperature had dropped.

The only consolation was that the view from the Northern side (Marin County) was just as impressive.

It seemed that the only part of San Fran in fog was the bridge itself. This photo was taken overlook the rest of the bay. Or maybe it was the warmth of Narelle’s smile that lit up the rest of the bay.

John was inspired by all the monuments to those who deal with the challenges of being at sea.

It was then time time to get back on the bus and explore downtown San Fran again.
The sky did not have a lot of blue downtown.

We wandered down by this bridge (whose name I will remember one day).

Saw paramedics attending to the injured at a car crash. It did not look flash.

John found a spaceship, but could not find his way in.

San Fran is a great place to explore by the water

We watched one of the ‘seagulls on steroids’ take off

Loved exploring this street

Dropped into a wine bar for a glass of 2 while we watched the world go by, and chewed the fat on some good topics.

We saw one of those 3 wheelers chugging up the San Fran hills. They really do work!

Saw a funky bike collection car/ute.

Which inspired John to find the bike shop around the corner from where we stayed

Just a shame it was closed

We had tentatively penciled in a night out with Ange and Jen, so decided to head back home. In a sheer coincidence we arrived back home much the same time as Ange and Jen. But they were shattered after going particularly hard at the shops. The only thing they missed out on was a congratulatory call from Barack Obama thanking them for their contribution to improving the US economy. They were so shattered by their hard work that they said their farewells until breakfast the next morning.

With Rel and John still wired and wanting to kick on, they wandered the local neighbourhood.
Ange had done a great of finding our accommodation.
Just down the street or around the corner we had ...

a 24 hour pharmacy that sold nearly everything including cordless home handy man drills

Pizza with a difference

Mexican marvels

Thai treats

John liked how they specialised in Thai cuisine.
Once they saw the specials, they decided they could not resist.

And the food was fresh, tasty, and plentiful

Not sure if a shop named like this would get far in Australia

We discovered some of the amazing things going on in the neighbourhood.

And the sunlight for another day was coming to a close.

So we went home, made our own fun and got ready for an early start.

An evening in San Fran

2011-09-26T13:42:00.001+10:00

We checked into our hotel late in the arvo, and decided to head out for the evening. The sun does not set til 7 or so, which gave us some daylight to work with.

We wandered down to the wharves, which is about 15 minutes walk from the hotel.
Saw the huge crowd gathered here

Watched the pterodactyl sized seagulls hang about for food.

At this point, Johnny was under the girls’ spell, and did what they said ...

He heard the call ‘pose for a photo’, and jumped to attention

Found some funky beanies

Found a SF icon

Whilst we knew the clam chowder at the Wharves was a bit touristy, and not the best on offer, we still decided to try it.
It was OK, but we look forward to having some real good stuff next time we return.
But the beers we had were very nice.

It was nice sitting next to the fireplace as the temp was starting to drop.

Big thumbs up to this beer.

There were all sets of strange creatures at this place.

Which sent Rel and Jen fleeing the store.

We wandered around the Wharves district at night, because it had live muss, a good sized crowd, and a good buzz, and most importantly, shopping.

Every time John found a place to visit that was deemed ‘unsavoury’, he was outvoted 3-1. He has to work on that voting system.

To be fair, he was allowed to linger as long as he liked in the NFL shop...

But everyone agreed to go to the chocolate shop.

John made some new friends

It was just a great fun night, seeing the sights at Fisherman Wharf, browsing through shops etc, although John now realised he had developed a serious injury to his hand. The pain would affect his sleep for a couple of nights. Turns out he had a quite painful outburst of RSI. Repetitive Shopping Injury. John thought it was a bit of a giggle too, until he realised he could hardly open and close his hand properly, nor get some sleep. Based on the amount of shopping to come, John realised it was just time to suck it up, and learn to adapt!

NB - any chance that this injury was somehow related to when he broke his hand when he hit a tree on his MTB late last year is entirely unfounded!

Then we walked home up Polk St, back to our home in Broadway St (for those familiar with SanFran). We had felt safe all night, which was good.

Getting to San Fran

2011-09-26T13:42:00.000+10:00

We packed up in readiness for our trip to San Fran. Time to pose for one last gang photo at this most amazing getaway retreat,

Saw some cool dudes on their segways.

There was also a lot of cycles on the Old Silverado trail doing an organised ride. For the riders, they had a massive headwind and it was hot. Fun times for them. Seemed an easy ride from the backseat of the car.

We had stayed way up in the north part of the Napa Valley, where it is quieter and less touristy. But we were keen to check out Napa itself, and discover the smells, the sights and everything else. It was more expensive to east and drink in Napa than Calistoga, but worth the visit.

They like their cars low around here.

Jen and Rel loved making new discoveries … and purchases

Tourist information centres were often funky places, and Napa was no exception.

It was time to find somewhere to eat and caffeinate.

We hit the jackpot here <insert drooling images>. Great options, great service, we didn’t mind tipping here.

Of course the term ‘flat white’ means nothing when it comes to ordering coffee here in the USA. We may as well speak another language when we say those two words.
Glad they had a sign where we could just point and say ‘one of those please’

There was a beautiful little ambience, and one of our supermodels smiled for the camera.

After we had fed, it was time to look for a … wait for it … a shop

But the store stocked all the important things

Rel can sniff out bargains from miles away. Here she is doing what she does so well … shop for bargains like a hawk circling its prey.

There were great mottos to inspire

Great displays that look good in tourist photos

And of course, a restaurant for Angela

When we got to San Fran, there was fog waiting for us. Surprise, surprise as Gomer Pyle would say.

They say that the weather is changeable here. We started on this bridge with blue skies ...

By the time we got over it, there was cloud everywhere.

The girls were kind enough to allow Johnny his indulgence for this trip. A visit to the 49ers home playing ground , Candlestick park.

It had a bit of a Griswald moment as the stadium was closed and empty, but that could not take the smile off John’s face.

Rel and John played their own game of gridiron to get that big match feeling going.

If only talent scouts were around, John would have been signed up straight away.

Then it was off to see one of San Fran’s landmarks, the painted ladies. They’ve only featured in about 300 movies and TV series.

Did we mention that the weather changes quickly here.

After we checked in , it was time to head off and explore SanFran

An amazing day and night in Santa Rosa

2011-09-25T01:12:00.000+10:00

We woke up in our new digs and were more amazed at how wonderful this place was.

We had the deck to chill on

The special bedroom retreat

It was a photographer’s paradise, and we could have spent a week taking photos.

So we chilled on the deck

The kitchen doubled as a writer’s paradise

It was pancakes for breakfast

And coffee

John was no help in the kitchen, but was happy for a photo to give a different impression

Our TV watching area

Yummy pancakes made by Angela

The drive to this place was an exciting a adventure in itself

Then it was time to explore Calistoga

There were things for the girls

And John could get his bike fix

One or two wine shops

Some inspiration for Rel

There were reassuring signs

Educational signs

Then it was time for a quick bite

John and Jen only spoke via Facebook now.

We visited a pretty cool winery

Jen seemed to enjoy herself here

Plenty of great things to take photos of

We then explored St Clements winery

It was a happening place

Well stocked

Jen was all class

John displayed no class after sampling too much wine
and was sent to the naughty corner

A highlight for the girls was a visit to this amazing place

Ange and Jen literally sprinted to this place

Rel was excited

The girls were very very happy to buy here

Hadn’t seen Rel this excited for a while ;-)

John made some new friends

And then we were off to have massages at Indian Springs resort. Followed by a rest by the pond, and a relaxing swim in a heated pool. All very civilised.

Back home it was time to put that inspiration into practice

And enjoy a divine night with friends

We drank some wine that our gracious host left us

And then some very yummy dessert

Then we did something we had not done in ages. Watch TV, and wear a hoody at the same time.

Night 1, Gates Rd, Santa Rosa

2011-09-24T00:07:00.002+10:00

We found our way to our accommodation… and as the info said it was remote and secluded.
Matt, the owner of this special place, ran us through everything, before he headed back home to SanFran. He was just amazing.

We were hungry and decided to head down to Calistoga for a meal.
Found a funky little restaurant and settled in for a great night

The staff were fun at this place

Rel was loving it

We were full after dinner, but the desserts looked so nice, we decided to share one between the four of us

Did we enjoy it? I think this photo says everything...

We then wandered downtown Calistoga before heading back home.

Back home John was looking to kick on, as he was wired from the day’s adventures. Sadly for John, the girls were all exhausted and headed to bed for an early night.
It was the wise thing to do ...

Getting to Napa Valley

2011-09-24T00:07:00.001+10:00

After leaving the national park, it was time to head for the Napa Valley.
We had accommodation booked in Santa Rosa, in a secluded and remote location up in the north of Napa valley.

We expected a straightforward, uneventful drive.
It started off well with some interesting sights.

But then our GPS stated to think for itself, we didn’t pay enough attention to the maps, there was roadworks, we were running low on fuel, running way behind our time schedule. John was loving every moment of it. This was adventure.

Jen meanwhile continued to make sure she always looked presentable, even if it was just in the back seat.

We found a Maccas, where we could eat, refuel, and reset our bearings. Little did we know what lay ahead.
But we did receive a phone cal from Rel’s friend Lee who is now travelling through the USA. She was having her own flight schedule dramas, so we did not feel too bad then.

As for finding our accommodation… We got stuck in a traffic jam that pretty much seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
We were looking for Gates Rd. To cut a long story short, our GPS unit had sent us to the wrong Gates Rd, about 30 minutes away from the one we wanted.
John was loving every minute of this adventure. Heading up narrow windy little tracks where you could not turn around… and finding the street was a dead end.
It was awesome. But we did finally make it to our destination in daylight, which was the objective.

Driving out of Yosemite National Park

2011-09-24T00:07:00.000+10:00

We’d spent our last night in our heated tents, and now it was time to move on.
A spot of sight seeing at a high lookout (Glacier Point) was scheduled before we left the park.

It was time for a last look as we passed some fave views.

And of course there was a tunnel

The view from Glacier point were awesome, as was the weather.

Rel wanted a few different options

Ange and Jen did their own modelling shoot

Looking down directly makes the head a bit woozy.

Rel just chilled out

There was some outstanding views.

John spotted a good rock for the models to pose on.

For some reason the girls kept shouting at John to get off the wall.

Rel enjoyed being on top of the world

Rel found a cute place to have some photos taken’

John continued to take unnecessary risks

Then it was time to move on

They were well prepared in the restrooms

Ange was nearly taken out by a bus going around a tight cover

John wasn’t quite ready for one of Ange’s quick bursts of acceleration… but Jen was ready with the camera

The views of the forest were amazing, from inside and outside the vehicle

Time for a last look at some fave scenes

We passed a couple of French cyclists doing it pretty tough

It was time to leave the park

Jen gave a parade of her purchases to entertain us

And then we had a pilot car guide us through the road works

The rest of this journey is covered in the ‘Getting to Napa valley’

A day in Yosemite National Park

2011-09-22T12:58:00.000+10:00

We had hoped to encounter some real wildlife in our journey...

Squirrels were everywhere, and knew how to act for the occasion

We did not think they were so cute when they tried to leap into the car with Angela

Deer were another popular source of photographic inspiration

Jen quickly became known as ‘the deer hunter’

John was not entirely sure what ‘heated tents’ really meant as a form of accommodation, and set some low expectation so as not to be disappointed
Turns out his fears were unfounded

There were some many trails to explore, and we did not now whether to hike (american term for walking), bike, drive, run, whatever.
Once we saw this poster we were inspired. Or maybe it was just John who was inspired, not really sure.

Rel set the fashion trend

Angela made sure we knew where to head

Jen just made us wonder if she would stay upright. Thankfully, the bikes had no gears, so that removed one level of complication

Rel took to the bikes like a duck to water

When John joined the girls he saw one of the party heading north, and the other 2 were heading south.
Some quick negotiating, and riding north and south with counter proposals, by John quickly saw everyone together as one.

We then made it to our first viewing point without too much drama.
Mind you, this was only 500m from our start point.

We included some hiking when bikes were not permitted

Found the most awesome scenery

The girls did get their confidence up on the bikes, but had their moments

It was all the more interesting then when John nearly collided with Jen.
John was busy taking photos while riding, Jen was busy taking photos of John rapidly approaching her, John forgot that these bikes have pedal brakes and no hand brakes, and neither know how they did not end up on the ground in a heap. John did cop a nasty blow to his shins from one of Jen’s pedals though. That served as a reminder for his carelessness.

Natural beauty everywhere again

John finally found a place he could park his bike and take a photo of the bike and the scenery together.

The trail was good because you could stop wherever you wanted to admire the scenes, or take photographs, or both.

Those photos demonstrate just how much Johnny looks up to his travelling companions

The girls said they had to stop into the village to post some letters

This ruse was maintained for a short while, where they even bought stamps and posted letters

But then the real reason for this stop at the village became obvious

Along the way, Johnny managed to find the time to trap a rogue bear and deal with it.

Meanwhile, Jen tried to coax it back to life

But at the same time wondered if the coat would fit her

By this stage we had become relaxed about the possibility of bear attacks. One still had be careful, because you never knew when something may happen.
These are just some photos of our bear sightings, and how close we were to real danger

There was the ferocious ‘Rel Bear’

The scary ‘Red Bear’

The silent ’Shop Bear’

This ‘Shop Bear’ was prevelant and had many forms.

And the little known ‘restaurant bear’

Jen and Ange proudly proclaimed that they were in fact ‘tree huggers’

After the village, we continued to marvel at the scenery

Don’t think we’ve seen a bike rack with such an impressive view

Time for a walk through the forest

These sisters were also rock huggers!

Jen decided to show off her supermodel form.

Rel was just starting to feel a little weary

But managed to find a second spark after a quick drink of water

One had to be innovative to find clear shots in amongst the crowd

Johnny always want to see an eagle flying overhead. So Jen kindly pointed out where she thought she spotted quite a large eagle.

It was time to get back on the bikes again.

More amazing sights

Found some more amazing hikes

Before jumping on the bikes for an amazing ride through the valley floor.

The photos indicated some very dark and ominous clouds forming,
so we raced home

The storm build up was impressive. We cancelled our planned drive into the mountains that afternoon.
As the storm continued to gather size, force, and darkness, we were a touch concerned.
We decided to ride the storm out in our tents. We wrote notes to loved ones, hugged as a group and wished each other well int his impending battle for survival.

And all we got was a few drops of rain. oh well…

We decided to celebrate our survival against the odds

Jen continued to demonstrate why she would have done well in Cirque De Soleil.

Then it was time to eat

Drive through Yosemite National Park

2011-09-22T12:57:00.001+10:00

It was a day that promised some rewarding, but challenging, driving.

We dropped into a little town for some lunch.
The girls couldn’t resist the shops of course.

Found a cool diner

And checked out the menu

There were some interesting options on the menu

Ange was impressed with her drink

Johnny and Rel are so much in love…

Rel loved her classic American Hamburger

John is pretty sure his lunch was under the mash and the gravy somewhere

After we lunch we took in some amazing scenery

John forgot what he had learnt from his days when modelling, and stood like a stunned mullet

But then he remembered how to pose with class and style

The scenery just kept rolling by

It was time to go through a checkpoint.
You can sense Jen’s anticipation (check the mirror) at seeing a hot ranger in his uniform at the checkpoint gate

So there was some disappointment when the window opened, and it was not Ranger Steve, but Ranger Stephanie.

There was natural beauty everywhere to be seen

There was plenty of fresh water

Fresh food was plentiful

And Johnny found an alternative if we ever ran out of toilet paper

One had to watch out for the paparazzi even in remote places

The scenery just continued to stun and amaze

Who knew that bears had to be told to not run so fast

Since we were now in Bear country, John decided to make everyone safe and ’mark’ his own territory - a guy thing

Time for a modelling shoot with a couple of supermodels.

Johnny picked a bad time to lose his balance

The tunnels were always fun

We took in a waterfall just before we reached our campsite

Took the required photos

We were always on the lookout for wildlife. Thought we had spotted our first bear in the grass, but maybe we got that wrong.

A great drive with more amazing adventures and scenery.
We were now ready to settle into our campsite.

Lone Pine

2011-09-22T12:57:00.000+10:00

Angela had booked us a place in this town on the outskirts of the National Park. It was our stopover before heading to Yosemite. It was with some excitement and trepidation that we approached his place. Our hotel had been described as ‘rustic’, which conjured up a wide variety of images. But our concerns were unfounded.

We received an escort into town

Found our accommodation easily, and it looked fine.

Inside it was very impressive. Turns out this hotel is where John Wayne stayed when making his Westerns.

We had a view of the mountains across the road (and the Pizza place as well)

The girls took the time to communicate with the outside world.

The little black dresses came out for the night’s extravaganza.

Dn’t worry about the storm/tornado/hurricane thingy in the background. We didn’t.

For our big night out, we wandered across the road to the pizza place.

Jen was hungry and pondered if her eyes were bigger then her belly.

But it turned out Jen was really really hungry that night.

Turns out this town has a lot of untapped fun and excitement. The local store was a mine of intrigue.
Not often that you see the aircon unit camouflaged so no-one notices it.

There were tasty treats on sale.

Then there was this tasty treat positioned right next to the junior livestock auction results.

And here was another inspired production positioning choice.

We wandered up and down the main street.
Discovered a food combination I was unaware of.

The girls started collecting intel for their shopping fix the next day

I think this is where they wanted to start.

Our accommodation that night was more than satisfactory, and many thanks to Ange for finding it.
It may have had its quirks, like you could not fully open the door into the bathroom.

But the girls found themselves a handy bag-boy, especially since they were up a flight of stairs.

The next morning was time to shop, work up an appetite and have blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

Then it was time to refuel, and head north. Before they left, John applied all of his mechanical expertise to ensure the car would run fine.

Drive through Death Valley

2011-09-20T14:48:00.000+10:00

The girls ended up driving today. Jen got us out of Las Vegas, Ange got us to Death Valley, and Rel got us safely out of Death Valley. Johnny was impressed with each of their driving, but special mention goes to Rel who had to drive through some windy/ treacherous passes.

So we left Las Vegas. I think Jen summed up our Las Vegas experience the best.

The Drive through Death Valley can be summed up in 2 words. Mind-blowing and hot.

Early parts of the desert had a certain sameness….

But there was the occasional unexpected sight

John found fun, and not always safe, ways of taking photos when not much was happening with the scenery.

In the middle of nowhere, there was a tourist attraction. (Or Point-of-Interest it is referred to here). This was not a long stop as it was over 42 degrees C.

Despite our thirst, we decided not to drink from the local water on offer when we saw the name for this place.

Due to the heat, the girls were no longer wearing jeans and jumpers at this point.

Rel so wanted to win at this golf course!

Then there was the occasional amazing sight in the middle of nowhere and nothing.

We rocked into Furnace Creek to get some permits and stuff. It was hot!
So hot that when Jen leant on the metal railing, we thought she may have to be medi-vac’d out to treat the 3 rd degree burns.

Furnace Creek offered a general store and a golf resort amongst other things. If you like to live life hot, this is the place to stay.

Despite his best attempts, Johnny could not get any interest in joining him for one of the local bike tours….

After leaving furnace Creek, Rel decided to test her mental toughness and go for a long walk.

And then showed how far she had walked

Johnny decided to go for a run, and the girls let him run, and run, and run before they finally picked him up…

Jen took a different approach to running through this hot and unforgiving area. She may not have run far, but she did run with energy and flair!

We encountered many an amazing sight on this drive, and at times the road ahead seemed like an optical illusion.

After all that fun, it was time for one last look back before we moved on.

The climb out of Death Valley was a tough drive for the driver, which sheer drops either side, narrow roads, and just generally required a great deal of concentration from the driver. It was made even worse when the passengers were gushing comments like ‘wow, look at that view’.

The view from the top of the climb was impressive. Seems everyone thinks they are a model these days...

The weather looked interesting as we were coming to the end of the drive.

It should be noted that these photos are only a small taste of Death Valley. It was a truly amazing experience.

And then we hit Lone Pine…

Fashion Show Mall - Las Vegas

2011-09-20T00:51:00.001+10:00

The day begin with an awesome breakfast at the Sugar Factory.
As the name suggests, there were not too many ‘heart foundation tick’ meals at this place.

Whilst John went and sorted his credit cards, because John had forgotten to tell the ‘falcon’ that he would be spending up big in the USA, the girls launched their shopping frenzy.
Once John was ready to engage with the girls, it was then his challenge to track them down.
Knowing the name of the shopping centre was one thing, finding it was another.

This was one of many wrong ‘buildings’ that John encountered on his way. And each of this buildings has its own ‘city’ underneath them, where you could reman self-sufficient for days or weeks, assuming you had a large enough credit-limit.

Once John eventually discovered the right place, he realised the girls had raised the bar in terms of classy shopping centres.

To his surprise, John discovered there are many distractions at shopping centres.
Ellise was happy to help out with a massage for John

There was a fashion show to watch

And of course there were the helpful shop assistants Lisa and Maria who went out of their way to help John.

John did find the girls in the afternoon. They were refuelling in readiness for another assault.
Fortunately they did not feel the need to pay ridiculous amounts of money for oxygen at an oxygen bar.

Rel discovered the delights of Macy’s department store

I think Rel liked Macy’s...

Jen seemed to be a fan too

In fact, I think they everyone like Macy’s.

It was then time to book a show. Fortunately we had Whoopi on hand to guide us.

The girls had tough decisions to make… which show, what time, how much, what seats…

In the meantime, John looked after the shopping acquisitions, and somehow managed to keep himself occupied.

Then it was finally time to wander home. John had already hit the wall by this time and was all shopped out. It was not a pretty sight.

But on our one journey home we found the stairway to heaven

Also found the stairway down from the light of heaven

Wandered through fascinating places.

Found some things John could try

Found dudes who seemed to have lost their way in life

And got home just in time to quickly get ready for a big night out.

Grand Canyon

2011-09-20T00:51:00.000+10:00

There are many ways to see the Grand Canyon.
Given everything else we wanted to do, the phase of the moon, and most importantly, what was still available on our 2-for-1 coupon, we chose a flight over the Grand Canyon.

The shuttle bus collected us from our hotel, drove out to Boulder City airport, and awaited our flight.

The flight would take about an hour, and we got to see Hoover dam, the Colorado river, and some amazing parts of the Grand Canyon.

Check-in for the flight was a detailed affair, here we got weighed, and filled out lots of forms.
We were then assigned our seats based on our weight and family groupings.
It was a cute plane with seating for up to 10.

Our fellow passengers - no idea who they are, but translations were required in English, Spanish and German.

And we were excited …

To say we were impressed was an understatement. Some people advised me that seeing it from the air was the best way to get an appreciation for the sheer grandeur of the Grand Canyon. Not that I have any reference point, but I would recommend seeing it from the air.

I’ll let a couple of our photos of Hoover Dam, the Colorado River and Grand Canyon speak for themselves

Rel got a little bored with the commentary, so decided to have her own music

Then it was time to land

and our amazing journey was over.

Next time we come back, we’ll do it via helicopter

We jumped on the shuttle to get us back home. Turned out to be an entertaining trip as we saw a coyote running wild through the desert. And we got a bit of a free tour of the car parks / drop off zones of some the other hotels/resorts we had not seen before.

For a 1 hour flight, we left home at 2, flight at 3.30, back to hotel by 6, and just enough time to get ready for our dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Another full on day...

Dinner at the Eiffel Tower

2011-09-20T00:46:00.001+10:00

For our last night in Vegas we decided to glam up and head to an amazing restaurant.
The Eiffel tower is part of this amazing complex, so we only had to walk a short distance.

So the girls outdid themselves and again looked sensational and very yummy.

Even before we sat at the table, there was a sense this would be a more expensive meal than Maccas.
We checked in at the left at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower, where someone greeted us, and organised a lift for us.
Then we were met by someone when the lift opened, who then showed us to the restaurant.
They then introduced us to someone who showed us to our seat.
We were then met by our waiter for the evening… Glad we didn’t have to tip all along the way.

Once we were seated at our table we had to do the photo thing...

The table setting was very impressive. Although the red plates were of show only. Once we ordered, those plates quickly disappeared.

The view over Vegas was stunning.

Deciphering the menu was a whole night’s entertainment by itself. In case we could not understand anything in the menu, there was a translation in French in about 6 point font.
The wine menu would take days to get through, and years to pay off for some of the wines.
We needed up with a ‘cheapie’ $100 bottle of 2006 St. Clements Cab Sav from Napa Valley.
It was a beautiful drop though.

The food was divine… Never had a blue cheese soufflé pudding for entree before.

The food was so well presented photos had to be taken

Because Rel’s birthday is coming up she was given a special treat at the end of the meal.

One of the most amazing meal experiences we have ever had.
The service was so impressive too.
They even had staff who opened the toilet door for you, and handed you a fresh towel when you had finished. But who goes to the toilet expecting to tip. :-0

And how much did this whole meal cost us? As they say ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’!

Viva Elvis - Cirque De Soleil

2011-09-20T00:46:00.000+10:00

We had to take in one show at vega.
So we saw Viva Elvis - Cirque De Soleil

We could walk over the Aria hotel, where it was playing.
You could sense our excitement building

The girls had glammed up, and looked as stunning as they were excited

We waited with much anticipation for the start of the show

And it surpassed our expectations
What can we say … It had a great story, great singing, great songs, great acrobatics and dance, plus more. We were just in awe.

After the show, John temporarily lost track of the girls, but one of the nice locals helped him find his way.

The King too time out to pose with us

Then it was time to try and find our way home… Ange found a store just for Johnny

We found some distractions, but had to leave as the stores shut at midnight.

But eventually found our way home…

Another amazing night in Vegas

LA to Vegas

2011-09-17T06:47:00.000+10:00

Our stay in LA was always going to be short. Rel and I arrived after midnight, Ange and Jen were getting in at 7am the next morning.

The hotel was fine, and we needed the alarm to wake us up. We had crashed. The sleeping tablets had helped John sleep, but he was in another planet that next morning.

We charged off to the airport, wondering how easy it would be to find the arranged meeting spot.
Jumped off the shuttle bus, found the escalator to the meeting point. On the way down the escalator, we spotted Jen, like an oasis in a desert of people we did not know.
Too easy - love it when a plan comes together.
Ange turned up shortly thereafter.

We rented the car, sped back to our hotel for a shower and change for Ange and Jen.

Later that morning John asked if we had signed for the car. Turns out he has a bit more of a space cadet than first thought.
But the girls treated him nicely as they knew he was on a planet far far away.
Even when he spilt his coffee all over the car, there were laughs not remonstrations.

Then Rel took the wheel (the left hand one of course) as we zoomed off for Vegas.

We hit an outlet shopping mall.

John had recovered from the sleeping pills by this stage, and had a blast, mainly because he found all this stuff he wanted.
Not all things he like could be taken home

Ange and Jen on the other hand were starting to fade after only just jump off a 13 hour flight..
It was aninteresting combination when Jen started to fade and John was still on another planet

We took some of the interesting sites in our stride

Do you want fries with that?

But the time we spotted all the buildings that indicated we had arrived at the den of inequity, we were ready to stop driving.

Taste of Honolulu

2011-09-17T06:40:00.000+10:00

We had 4 hours between our flight landing in honolulu, and our next next one heading off to LA, so we decided to go hard for a taste of Honolulu.

Our first little taste of Hawaii was just before we landed. Even though we nobly saw clouds, we imagined it was land.

We briefly hit waikikia beach

feasted, shopped

And we had so much fun exploring

I love talking with Locals and tourists, hearing their stories, their pain and joy, and what gives them hope.
On the shuttle ride back to the airport we experienced a microcosm of American life.
The young couple from North Carolina on their honeymoon, and a serviceman on leave with his wife and young girl proved a unique insight to people’s hopes and dreams.
Once everyone on the shuttle knew this young man was in the military, one could sense the mood in the shuttle changed to awe and respect for this young man.
Regardless of my own position on the war, it blew me away, and inspired me, to see such respect.

Then it was time to jump on the plane, once they had changed a flat tyre first. Never had to wait for that before.

Looking forward to going back to Hawaii in a couple of weeks time.

Getting from BrizVegas to LA

2011-09-15T20:10:00.000+10:00

Our trip is basically California, Hawaii, then home. You would have thought the cheapest option for flights would be Brisbane - LA - Honololu - home.
But no. In the end we saved ourselves a bucket load of cash by booking all the flights ourselves, and working out our own flights.
The only downside is that getting to LA meant BRI-SYD-HON-LA. Not too bad, but of course it means some more fun along the way.

For those who like stats, it took us 28 hours of travel, 16 hours on the air, 2 hours of sleep, no time in bed, and no change of clothes in that time.
Love it! Note sure my fellow passengers would agree though.

But so many interesting things happen.
Reading airline magazines is cool, because they are so disconnected from real life.

Being a chose one
As we were about to board the SYD-HON flight, one of the staff approached John and said “You have have been selected for a …” I immediately thought “upgrade to first class”. But no. I had been chosen for a ‘detailed screening’. When going through Customs Rel had already been screened twice, so I thought this was no big deal.
Until I was taken away to a specially curtained off area. Interesting. Then officer started to put on the rubber gloves. Really interesting :-0

Getting relaxed
After that we spotted the message chairs. A bit gimmicky I thought until we tried them. For $2 it was awesome in getting rid of some tension, bad memories, and sorting out a tight neck and back. Sadly they were a bit large to put in our onboard luggage.

Things people say
Some people amaze me. Whilst standing in queue to board the plane, this lady says to the toddler child in her arms ‘No one would think you were a terrorist would they’. I’m thinking ‘What the …’. This lady looks around and says to herself ‘I probably should not say things like that’. I’m thinking ‘The gene pool needs a little more chlorine’

Rel started her ‘coffee critique’ part of the Tour today. She’s decided to critique coffees and work out which is the best one out of all the different places we visit.
I like my coffee, but I’ll take on the role of the ‘red wine critique’. Those reviews may be left for the ‘Adults Only’ version of this blog.

Whilst having a coffee Rel spotted a group of ladies wandering by with tshirts that said ‘The 50 party’. Rel chipped in and say , ‘so am i’. I loved the priceless look and comment from the soon-to-be-50 lady ‘You are not serious, you look way too young to be 50’. That’s my girl!

Saving money
We are trying out Jetstar’s low cost service to Hawaii. Talk about turning back the clock. One or 2 screens drop down from the ceiling for all passengers, and everyone has to watch the same thing. Priceless. But the true highlight is that they are showing the series based on Rel’s life. Yep, WonderWoman. As a little kid growing up I liked the show but had not understood the real attraction. I am spoilt to live life with the real WonderWomen! - Side note : WonderWoman is now having a roll in the grass / cat fight with another woman dressed in a monkey suit. I thought this was a G rated show! As a kid attaching the show, I really had no idea what was going on.

Had a stopover in Honololu before charging to LA

Both our batteries were starting to flame out as we closed in on LA. Here’s John pretending to look alive on the plane not long before landing…

Landed in LAX just before midnight, Hotel shuttle collected us and we were checked in by 12.30. A little bit of room serveice to take the edge of the hunger, and then it was time to crash and sleep.

What are John and Rel doing now?

2011-09-11T19:32:00.002+10:00

Rel has a significant birthday in October (yep, turns 21, or looks like she is turning 21)

So we are going away to celebrate. Our celebration includes a bit of a road trip through California and Nevada with 2 of the most amazing people we know, Angela and Jen.
Then Rel and I jump aboard a cruise ship in Hawaii.

Angela has attempted to plan the holiday to minimise chaos, but she forgot that chaos, weird events, and lots of fun happen when John is involved.

It will be a safe trip, and surely there is no room for John style dramas….

Las Vegas - nothing there that will lead John into trouble

Camping in tents in Yosemite National Park, known for bear sightings - no problems expected there

Nappa Valley - nothing there that will get John into trouble

San Francisco- john can just indulge in some quiet cycling - no dramas there

Pebble beach - golf is safe, usually

Hawaii boat cruise - Doing fun things in a reef seemed like such a good idea when we booked it

So stay tuned for our adventures!

Wednesday - Singapore Fun - nearly the last post

2008-08-13T23:37:00.000+10:00

We thought we had successfully overcome jet lag. Sleeping in until after 10am was not part of the plan.
John doesn’t even know if he has ever slept in that long.

Getting back on the bike in Brisbane will be tough. Getting up after 10am with a minimum temp of 24 is a little different from a 4am start in Brisbane where the minimum temp is well below 10 at the moment. Perhaps John will hold off on calling his cycling buddies until it is warmer ;-)
The good thing about the church we attend is that it is air-conditioned. No excuses for non-attendance there.

We eventually drifted out of our hotel room by lunchtime. Then it was off to shop.

After that we met up with our friends Eugene and Jenny. Eugene healed John’s hip last time we were in Singapore. He hasn’t had a problem with his hip since.
Anyway, we went out for dinner to the East Coast Lagoon Food village. All was good and we were trusting their choices in food.
The satay chicken was fabulous. The banana, apple and orange juice was refreshing, particularly given how hot it was.
The sugar cane drink with a lime twist was a delight. Even the stingray was OK. Yep, we allowed ourselves to be talked into stingray. It was actually very good.
 This our last night in Singapore. Tomorrow night we fly to Brisbane, with arrival Friday morning.

There will be a post on the weekend to wrap things up. This blog is important to us as it is an important record of all our experiences. (the ones we could publish anyway - some stories can only be revealed verbally )

To those who have ready any of the blogs, thanks for coming along on our journey. We trust it provided some education, inspiration, entertainment, and insight into what we got up to.

 

Tuesday - Singapore Snoozing

2008-08-13T23:33:00.000+10:00

We knew we were tired. Didn’t realise that we were so tired that we both slept for 12 hours.
John hasn’t slept for that long since his ‘lost in space’ days back in 2001.
So much for the early start to the day.

Headed off to the Botanic Gardens. The orchids were very impressive.

Had a wonderful lunch in the gardens. We were keen to try local delicacies. However we thought the ‘blue fin tuna belly’ was pushing the friendship a little.

Then it was off to shop, shop, and shop.
Some of the shops had some classy walkways

Then Narelle did some study. And it was lights out shortly thereafter.

Monday - arrival in Singapore

2008-08-11T23:34:00.000+10:00

We are coping with the Europe to Asia long haul flights much better now.
The entertainment options are quite good, and the seats were very comfortable. The fact that we had kids in front of us who didn’t put their seats back did help.
John had no interaction with the people behind them except when it felt like they were drilling for oil via John’s seat. The other highlight was when they went to get out of their seat. A common method is to reach up to the top of the seat to help lift one up. John was not amused when the person behind him got it wrong and accidentally dug their finger nails into John’s head, and then dug them in further as they lifted themselves up. Don’t try it at home kids, because it really really hurts.

The flight to Singapore was OK, except for the fact that we only had about an hours sleep. By the time we had arrived at our hotel, it had meant nearly 24 hours of travel with only an hours sleep. Jet lag was going to hit at full throttle soon.

But we went for wander around where we were staying, and took in some pretty good sights, whilst trying to do all the right things to offset jet lag.
We had considered this for dinner, but weren’t really in a sushi mood.

We realised the sun sets a lot earlier here than where we have been. Late meals in daylight are now a thing of the past.

There were some other great night time sights near where we were staying.

  We expect it will be a deep sleep tonight.

Sunday - London to SIngapore, via Paris

2008-08-11T11:52:00.000+10:00

It was a 6.15 am flight from Heathrow airport to Paris, and from the dreaded T5 terminal.

That meant a ridiculously early departure to cater for :-
        Returning the rental car
        Catching the shuttle bus to T5
        Printing our boarding pass
        Checking in luggage
        Getting through security

Once John had calculated a departure time of 3.30am, he mentioned it to Narelle and she wouldn’t speak to John for quite some time after that. Mornings are not really Narelle’s thing. To make the morning even better, John woke early and decided to wake Narelle at 3. You’d think John would know better by now.

The drive to T5 was straightfoward. Dropped off the hire car just before 4.30.
The shuttle would be there at 4.30. So we even had time to watch Stephanie Rice’s medal ceremony.
This was special for Narelle as Stephanie had been a Clayfield College student. Recently Narelle swam in a relay team with Stephanie at a swimming competition.* Needless to say that their team won, mainly because of Narelle’s efforts.

* This is a true statement. Facts that lessen the drama of the story have been left out.

The original plan was to be at the airport by 5, to allow time to put in the baggage, and get through immigration and security.
We had printed our boarding pass and were at baggage drop at 4.45, and all was looking good. Until we saw the T5 terminal signs that said baggage check in would not open til 5.15.To say we were a bit miffed is an understatement. Narelle could have had an extra 40 minutes sleep!

But we checked in the baggage. We must give good credit to British Airways. Our bikes went for free! i.e. They weren’t included in our weight allowance.
Speaking of weight allowance, we had collected more stuff in our travels, and our bags were getting full. So full in fact that we were now wearing our bike helmets on to the plane as it saved space in our bags. Not really a good look, but very effective from a functional perspective.
So we took our bikes to the ‘oversize’ baggage area.
The operator asked if we knew anything about computers because he couldn’t log on. The pear shape was developing quickly.
John dived behind the counter, and based on some scraps of paper, tried a number of account name and passwords until he was logged in. The operator was very thankful. John was amazed that he had logged on so easily. John was not sure security would be too impressed with a tourist jagging a successful login.
Narelle wished she had a camera at this moment. The sight of John behind the airline check in counter, hacking away , whilst in a rugby jersey and wearing a bike helmet was an interesting sight.

Then it was time to cover the substantial number of kms to our boarding gate. Escalators, lifts and trains were all used.
The flight to Paris was uneventful. Getting through Charles De Gaulle was pretty much straight forward as well. The airport was operating much better than when we first arrived there at the beginning of July.

One of the duty free shops had a nice display of cheeses. This was to be our last chance to see and smell these wonderful cheeses whilst in France. We savoured every moment.

So then it was case of getting through the 13 hours to Singapore.

Saturday - London

2008-08-11T11:25:00.000+10:00

The day started with a focus on packing and getting ready for Sunday’s flights. Just the stuff you have to do.

Then we caught up for lunch with our good friend Farhanna, who lives in London.
Great restaurant, great company, and great conversation. It was a wonderful time.

The restaurant was only a few minutes walk from our apartment, so it was easy to get home.

Once home we finalised stuff for the trip the next day.

There is something that should have been added in Friday’s blog. Narelle has had many ‘without a trace’ moments with John on these holidays.
A quick explanation. There is an American crime drama called ‘Without a Trace’, starring an Aussie Anthony LaPaglia.
Anyway, most episodes start with a character walking somewhere and then they are just no longer in the scene. The next scene has the police investigating because the character has ‘disappeared with a trace’. Narelle would often be walking somewhere, look around, and John was no longer there. Quite freaky in the middle of a big city where you are not entirely sure which direction home is.
Anyway, Friday had quite a number of ‘without a trace’ moments where John stopped to take a photo, or look at something, and forgot to warn Narelle. Narelle had no idea what had happened to John. Poor form on John’s part really. Doesn’t do much for Narelle’s blood pressure either.

Friday - London

2008-08-09T19:54:00.000+10:00

Cruisy start to the day. Enjoyed our time with Kirsten’s parents. They are pretty cool.

Then we watched a little of the Olympic opening ceremony.

Late afternoon we headed off to the centre of London. At Trafalgar square there was a large screen showing the opening ceremony.
In the large crowd there was a substantial Chinese contingent. Not sure what preparation they had, but they all clapped in unison at the right moments. In fact they started clapping even before one knew what was happening. Very surreal.

Then we had a light bite before seeing a musical ‘Marguerite’. The meal was delicious at this Italian restaurant.
The musical was awesome. Great singing, great story set in France in WWII.
Some may have heard of the ‘low talker’ from Seinfeld. We had the ‘loud clapper’ sitting near us. In fact he clapped so loudly I expected some people to lose their hearing.
It was entertainment in itself, especially when he was the only one clapping.

Another day of great conversation, great food, and great experiences. It was effectively our last full day in London.

Random photos from the final time trial of the Tour

2008-08-08T23:40:00.000+10:00

I discovered a few extra photos I forgot about.

For cycling fans, there are a few treat. For non-cycling fans, enjoy all the colour.

We had good access to cyclists and officials at the end of the time trial. This is where the cyclists rode through after the finish. The finish line is about 200m down the road (eagle eyes will spot the curvy silver finish line symbol in the background)

One of the riders getting directions back to the team bus

Not sure where this dude finished, but he still had fans. I don’t think the Force was with him that day.

A few good Aussies here. Robbie, and Stuart O’Grady being interviewed by John Flynn

Robbie shares a joke with John. Joke wasn’t that good but John laughed anyway.

Thor in post race contemplation

Crowd was thick at the finish line

You couldn’t wipe the smile off Matt White’s face because of the success of the team he was managing.

Thursday - Cambridge,Warwick, London

2008-08-08T17:03:00.000+10:00

We had previously shelved plans to visit Scotland, and South West England, primarily due to the weather.
Turns out the weather has been OK where we are. A few showers, but generally not too bad.
The parts of Scotland we had planned to visit have had roads cut by floods.

Made us feel as though we had made the right decision in not travelling further afield.

We are starting to feel a little weary, so the starts to the day are getting later and later.

We had decided to visit Warwick Castle today. Rocked in about 12 noon.
What a great day. Interesting displays and some great events.
We had been looking forward to the jousting, but that was not to happen today as the ground was way too damp and mushy to support the horses running at full tilt.

They did put on a show with hand to hand combat with medieval weapons, which was quite cool.
They also had a great session with birds of prey. Eagles with 8ft wing spans swooping in just over the audience’s heads. Vultures swooping in. Impressive.
Even the displays in the castle were OK.

It was well worth our effort.

After this we then dropped into Oxford, for a bite and a quick comparison to Cambridge. Oxford seemed a larger place, and at the time we were there, a much greater student presence on the streets. We had dinner and then moved on. Very much a ‘Japanese Tour’ visit. i.e. drop in take photos, and move on. Although we didn’t really take many photos and were more interested in a good meal, which is what we managed to find.

We then headed back to our base in London. Rel did a great job driving through the streets of London, for what was essentially a hassle free drive. Our home base is only a couple of kms south of the centre of London, so it made her efforts all the more impressive. The only hiccup came when we were 2 streets from home. We just had to make 2 more right hand turns and we were there. Except one could not make a right hand turn at the lights. Oops. A quick rethink and we easily made our way home. We felt special as we waited for the gates to open to let us in. This apartment complex is in a gated community.

The apartment we are staying at belongs to Narelle’s friend Kirsten and her husband. But they are away, and sadly we won’t get to see them while we are in England.
But they have some other friends staying here now. Kirsten’s parents are also staying here, so it makes for a nice cosy arrangement.
Not sure if it has been mentioned earlier, but Tina Arena lives in this complex as well. (Just some trivia for fans of Young Talent Time).
We also discovered some other interesting facts about this area. When we first dropped in here we went out to dinner with Russell and Louise to a Thai restaurant.
Turns out that 2 nights later someone was stabbed and killed whilst eating in that restaurant.

Today was the first time we felt ready to come back home. Good timing, as we leave Europe on Sunday for Singapore. We spend a few days in Singapore before arriving home next Friday. We have had a sensational time, but do miss our friends and family at home.

Wednesday - Cambridge

2008-08-07T15:50:00.000+10:00

We woke to a fine day. Turns out the places we had been thinking of visiting (Scotland, South West England) were copping some rain, but this area wasn’t.

It would be a nice day for golf.
Before that John went for a massage to sort out some tightness in his back. (self inflicted when he didn’t look after his back when packing the bikes up a week ago)
It should be noted that Narelle’s health improved markedly a week and a half ago. She now has much more energy and vitality.

So we hit the golf course for the afternoon. Had some dramas with the clubs and the shoes we hired, but it was still a pleasant experience.
We were reflecting on how quaint things were, when suddenly a WWII vintage bomber flew overhead, only about 100m or so above us. I wondered if he had stepped into a time machine to play on this course.

The first hole

Quaint setting

Some locals

Even John had a good time

Then it was all over

And time to go and complain about the equipment that we hired

After golf we went back down into Cambridge for dinner. It was nice to wander around without rain.

The river/stream/creek looked nice that day

Then it was back home to plan options for the next day.

Tuesday - Cambridge

2008-08-06T07:51:00.000+10:00

We awoke to a lot of rain. No golf was likely to happen today.
It didn’t stop us from checking out the golf options though.
Rel is smiling, even though it is raining.

We eventually drifted off into Cambridge. Went on a walking tour of Cambridge, which was really good. Lots of info. The rain even held off during this walk.
It was encouraging to again visit a place where the car was not king. Bikes were everywhere, and pedestrians walked freely throughout the place.
The history of this place is amazing. We understand a lot more of the heritage of this place, and the rivalry with Oxford.
John now regrets not coming to this place to study.

They keep things in pretty good nick.

a few older buildings...

The rowing...

The most humorous moment of the day came when we caught the bus home. The 2 ladies sitting next to us started talking about some events in their lives. John thought they were trying out for a spot on ‘Kath and Kim’, their conversation was so banal and the accent set it all off. Narelle had to reassure John that they were just having a normal conversation and that they were likely to be 1st year uni students. Interesting.

At the end of the day we also decided to shelve plans to visit Scotland. The rain has set in for a few days, we really don’t feel like driving that far in the rain, and we like this area. It gives us a chance to head back to London a little earlier as well.

Monday - Copenhagen to London

2008-08-06T07:19:00.000+10:00

We are loving the relaxed starts to the day. Drift off to breakfast, take our time.
Actually our breakfasts have been so comprehensive we are pretty much down to 2 meals a day.
A large breakfast, a very small bite in the late arvo, and then dinner at night.

The day was a bit wet, but we decided to wander around Copenhagen anyway.
We ended up walking a lot today.
We just love Copenhagen.

A few umbrellas were out today.

Some nice streets

Around the middle of the day we headed for the airport. 15 minutes on the metro was all it took to get from one side of the city to the airport which was on the other.

We couldn’t check in for a couple of hours. So John found somewhere to print a boarding pass from our online check in.
Worked a treat, and we now had plenty of time to do some duty free shopping. John is not a natural born shopper though.
To keep him occupied, Narelle sent John off in search of some perfume. Little did Narelle know how much hurt she was about to inflict upon John.
By the time Narelle checked on John’s research assignment, John was deep in conversation with the sales assistant.
John may hate shopping, but he does like conversing with the locals.

The only really interesting aspect of our flight was when we went through immigration. Going into France, Czech Republic, Denmark, we only received a brief hello from immigration officials. But whenever we try to get into the UK, we get asked lots of questions. All good natured, but fascinating all the same. We must look like trouble making Australians.

Then it was off to Cambridge. Uneventful, but now Narelle was driving, and John was the navigator.
Narelle was very excited that we would be staying at a golf resort.

Then we had dinner at the hotel. Usually this can be a dull, but perfectly functional meal.
When we arrived for dinner, some diners were leaving with comments such as ‘ not such a good night’. This did not sound promising.
But we really loved our food. Interesting, tasty and just wonderful. And the service was really good.
We’re just glad we had the positive experience.

Sunday - Copenhagen

2008-08-04T03:29:00.000+10:00

Another easy start to the day. John has adapted to this European timeframe very well. No waking til 8am, breakfast after 9am.
He now hopes he will become a morning person once he returns to Australia. Narelle wishes otherwise. She has enjoyed seeing John at breakfast time.

We drifted off to the city after breakfast. Dropped in to see the royal museum palace. Then saw some art at the national gallery.

Whilst on the tube (or metro as it is called) I realised that I could not find a driver, because they may not have any. This means you can see out the front or the back. So you will see such things as the tunnel below. This was taken from the front carriage. Very cool.

Then it was off to see the final stage of the Tour of Denmark. Rel had seen some blurb on Saturday about a crit race near our hotel. We hadn’t planned to see it, but thought it was a chance to rest up and see some more of the local area in which we were staying.
Turns out it was the finish of the Tour of Denmark. A few Aussies (Scott Davis, Nick Gates to name a couple) were racing.
So we drifted off to it. It was a nice contrast to the Tour De France. A little more low key. The finish was well supported by the locals.

Lots of young children in CSC outfits, which was really cool.
We saw the boys come around 10 times, including the finish. We were about 100m from the finish.
One of the riders came by and offered up hist water bottle. John would have taken it , except he had his camera going. He was pleased that a local child managed to grab it.
We even saw a future generation of Danish cyclists.

Then we caught the metro off to the city for a bite to it. Before the restaurant opened for dinner we went for a coffee, and stumbled across an observatory. Very cool, with views over the city and to Sweden.
Here is the walk up the inside of the tower.

The restaurant was a real fondue place. John had only sampled cheese or chocolate fondue back in the 80s, not a real fondue meal. The waitress enquired about our origin when we apologized for not understanding danish. Turns out she had recently spent some time in Australia, and had worked in Brisbane. Small world.
Speaking of a small world, I forgot to mention a followup to the young lady we met on our flight to Copenhagen.
On Saturday we caught a bus into the city. You can imagine our surprise when someone said “Hello”. It turns out it was the young lady we had met on the flight.
We were able to give her some advice on a few aspects of inner city Copenhagen. Turns out she had fun with her accomodation as she had booked for 2009, not 2008.
Sounds like something John would do.

After dinner we returned to our hotel.

Tomorrow we head back to the UK. The forecast is for lots of rain on Monday.
We have been blessed with awesome weather thus far in our entire trip. But our charmed run is about to end.
Even today was forecast for rain, but it held off. At least where we were it held off.

Given all that we have been doing, the rain may give us an excuse to back off the pace a little.

Tour junkies

2008-08-03T22:17:00.001+10:00

Last week we saw the final stage of the tour de france. This week we are at the final stage of the tour of denmark. Helps when the finish line is only 2km from our hotel.

Lunch in copenhagen

2008-08-02T22:01:00.001+10:00

Classical music playing, bikes, boats , people going by. A fave bottle of red, and we've ordered local specialties (still not sure what fish it is). Life in copenhagen is ok:-)

Friday - Prague to Copenhagen

2008-08-02T17:42:00.002+10:00

We decided to have a relaxed start to the day, and have breakfast in the hotel. Later found out that it was complimentary (it never appeared on the bill anyway)

The previous day John had asked the hotel to book an airport shuttle for us. The price for the airport shuttle was reasonable on the way from the airport, and we had a discount voucher for the return. To our surprise, it turned out the hotel had booked an airport taxi. Sensing an expensive trip to the airport, John made a few enquires and discovered that this would be cheaper than the shuttle. Can’t work that out.

The flight to Copenhagen took about the same time as a Brisbane-Sydney flight. Hardly had time to start reading our books.
We were sitting next to a Chinese national leading an interesting study life. She is studying for a degree in Arizona, but doing an internship in Prague. She was off to Copenhagen for the weekend, as you do.

At the airport we didn’t even have to go through customs. Then we spotted all these bikes parked outside the airport. Sensational!

Life in Copenhagen is expensive, so we bought a CPHcard, which gives discounts and free travel.
Then onto the metro. In 15 minutes we were at the heart of city. Our stop was one more along the way, and we were only 300m walk from our hotel.
Love these cities with well organised transport.

We couldn’t check in straight away so it was off to explore. And bicycles were everywhere. People riding them, bike racks full of them. People riding in suits or dresses, young, old, heavily pregnant.
Had lunch, then walked down the main shopping street.

John hadn’t seen so many blue-eyed, blonde haired people since the last ABBA concert he went to.

Later we checked into our room. Now we knew this room would be small. Accomodation in Copenhagen is expensive, not helped by a 25% surcharge on rooms.
This place looked nice enough, but had a sense it was caught between being a backpacker’s hostel and a 2 star chain.
The first sign this place was small was when the room door opened outwards. Oh!
There is a saying ‘not enough room to swing a cat’. In our room, there was not even enough room to bring the cat in.

The ensuite (at least we had one) reminded us of our campervan, although slightly bigger. But it was clean, perfectly functional, and made good use of limited space.

Then we headed back into the city to check out the Tivoli Gardens. Words can’t quite describe this. It is like a mix between the Ekka, Lunar Park, Dreamworld ...
And lots of restaurants and entertainment. We saw 2 pop concerts, and a number of amazing things.

It was starting to get dark and it was 10.30 pm. But we were pretty wasted, so headed for home.

John had often wondered if any cars suffer major damage because of narrow streets. On the way home he got his answer
.

Saturday - Copenhagen

2008-08-02T17:42:00.001+10:00

An easy start to the day with a buffet breakfast at the hotel.
Then we caught a bus ready for the day’s exploring. We were so entranced by the sights we forgot to get off. Found ourselves in some suburb somewhere. So we just found another bus and headed back.

We then joined a boat cruise. Great way to see the city.

We found a very famous canal/street in Copenhagen, and decided to stay for lunch.
It was awesome. Great food, and they even had a bottle of red! Beer is the real home brew, and it is cheap. But we are not real big beer fans, and we’d had a beer the day before. We were told we would get a ‘house red’. Turns out it was from a fave winery that we visited in France. Narelle couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
It was the lunch one dreams of, but rarely has happen.
Awesome food, great wine, great company, great venue, great atmosphere, and no real time limit. (Lunch was over sometime after 3)

Then there was the bill. Danish currency is their Kroner. Currently 5 Kroners equate to one AUD. John was initially a little stunned when he got the bill. He thought it said 4100 Kroner. He knew the wine was good, but started to panic about what he was being charged for it. Until he realised the last 0 was really a decimal point thing, and the price was actually quite reasonable.

We also had a great chat to the people at the table next to us. Although this is probably where 2 versions of events are available. John just thought he was being friendly and wanted to find out some local information when he initiated the conversation. Narelle was a bit stunned with how easily John chatted up the young and good looking Swedish woman. Not that John had really noticed this.

After lunch we wandered off on our own walking tour. Copenhagen has free bikes for use, but we could never find where you get them from. All the bays were empty. We did find one, but there was only one... Tomorrow we will endeavour to be more successful.

We dropped into to see where Princess Mary lives, or will live, and the church in which she was married.
Then we dropped into a nice park, where locals were playing all manner of interesting games. Almost like croquet.

Then back home for a long nap.

After we finally awoke, it was time for a walk around town.

Thursday - Prague

2008-08-02T17:41:00.001+10:00

We strolled off to enjoy the day. Had breakfast in a nice cafe in the main street, before wandering off to see the Castle on the top of the hill.

Fascinating place, but we were a little dissapointed with the palace itself. Only because we had to pay and it looked like the removalists had been there the day before.
The churches were sensational, as were the streets and everything else. Well worth our time to come and have a look.

Then we had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the city. Had some local specialties, and their local beer. All good.

Another wander through the streets, and Rel visited souvenir shops, again. Must be in triple figures by now.

They have some really modern vehicles in Prague.

Then it was time to enjoy a classical concert. A sensational way to end the day.

We went for a walk in the nearby park. It joins to the central railway station. It felt dodgy with people loitering. We later read that a lot of pickpocketing happens here.

Back home by 8pm, to our room. We have been surprised by our hotel. Well appointed, very roomy, very classy, and only a few minutes walk from the city centre

Copenhagen concerts

2008-08-02T06:43:00.001+10:00

Thursday was a classical concert in prague. Friday was 2 pop concerts in copenhagen, 2 minutes walk from the building in the photo

Wednesday - Prague

2008-07-31T16:42:00.001+10:00

Got to Prague about lunchtime. Just had a fabulous afternoon wandering around Prague. Absolutely sensational city.
Most people speak English, or appear to. Narelle was a bit bemused that her ‘cider’ turned out to be mineral water. Oh well, could have been worse.

It was 30 degrees in Prague today. Very warm. The place is swarming with tourists. We probably don’t look like locals, but at least we don’t have bright lights flashing and announcing “We are American tourists” like most of the tourists from the USA seem to have going.

Not sure what this was, but it sure had some ‘kick’

Tuesday - chilling in the UK

2008-07-31T16:40:00.000+10:00

Today was much cooler than yesterday. Jumped on a bus to Trafalgar Square. Dropped into the National gallery for a while, checked out a few sights, just a nice day of relaxed touring really.

Monday - heading for the UK

2008-07-31T16:37:00.000+10:00

<A problem with wifi connections or the journalling software means photos don’t load that successfully at the moment, and John couldn’t be bothered working out why>
It was an early start as we had to finalise our packing, before having breakfast and jumping on the bus to London.

The coach was pretty comfortable and it was nice and relaxing on the bus.
The coach caught the ferry across the channel. At one stage it looked like we would miss one of the ferries and be delayed by an hour.
That was because there were 3 Aussies and a Kiwi on the bus and we had to go through customs. We were given the ‘64 questions’, and it took us a while to get through. Not sure why. Maybe jealousy that we live in such a great country. who knows.

Anyway, the ferry was a floating palace. We even got to see the white cliffs of dover.

The coach dropped us off at an Underground station on the northern side of London. We needed to get to the southern side.
A nice little bit of drama , involving closed stations, London’s hottest day, and trying to negotiate the underground with 2 bikes and 3 large bags.

So we turned up at our friend’s flat in Clapham. They were away on holidays, but their new flatmates had just moved in the day before. That was good, as it meant the hous was open and getting a good breeze. The day was still oppressively hot. Never thought we’d hear ourselves saying that about London. The amusing thing was watching people in the parks. They were doing what we would do on the beach, but never in a park, including sunbaking in bikinis or DTs. When in Rome...

We spent some time finding out about ‘our new flatmates’, and went out for dinner for Thai. We had not had Thai since we had left Australia, so we were looking forward to it.
It was nice, although the green curry was probably the worst green curry we have ever had. And that includes all the ones that John has ever attempted.

We crashed and burned that night after a long day.

Sunday - the final stage

2008-07-28T18:54:00.000+10:00

We awoke to a beautiful day. It was so beautiful that Narelle was sad she would not get a chance to play golf at this golf resort.
As we were eating breakfast we got to see the sunrise, which was a nice treat.

Since we were driving to Paris, it was an early start. Breakfast at 6.30, depart the hotel at 7.30.
 Our tour dropped us off at the Arc De Triomphe, and armed with our tickets we wandered off to find our grandstand seats.
The crowd was building. It was amazing to walk the Champs Elysses, since it had been closed to traffic.
John reflected on the last time he had ventured down this famous street. That was in a campervan, which seems like a lifetime ago now.

We saw some very interesting outfits that some people were wearing. The bravery award must go to the guy with pastel yellow shirt, and matching pastel yellow trousers. Very fetching. There was quite a considerable Aussie contingent too.

We found our grandstand seats, but discovered that no access would be permitted for another hour. So we sat in the park and had lunch.
Then there was chaos when it came time to getting in, but we got there. We had 2nd row seats just 100m from the finish line.
The views were pretty good.

To get more people in, the seats were close together, as you can see from the photo below.
But John easily befriended his neighbours, so it wasn’t really all that bad. There’s a whole other story there, but I’ll save that for another time.

It was a warm day and we were thankful they kept handing out free bottles of cold water.

The riders came in and it was all bit surreal watching them go by. We could not believe we were here and watching it.
A number of times we saw Stuart O’Grady driving the peloton for CSC.

And then they lined up for the sprint and the Tour was over.

We couldn’t quite see the podium presentations but we could see it on the big screen.

The whole proceedings were running late by an hour. The riders took their time getting in. The final part of the ceremony, the procession of the teams, was due to start at 5.30, but it didn’t start til 6.30. So just as they had the presentation of the teams, we had to leave. We did get to see Lotto go by. Cadel looked pretty relaxed, and seemed to enjoy himself. He would drop over to large Australian contingents, and even popped a wheelie after one visit.

Fortunately the bus had waited for us, as we were 20 minutes late.

Then it was off to our hotel. John had to pack up his bicycles on the street, so as to be allowed to take them in. By the time we checked in, sorted out the keys that didn’t work, and then John went back down to disassemble and pack the bicycles , it was 9pm.
So we had a glass of champagne with Barb and headed for dinner in the hotel. Very nice. Although it was midnight by the time we had finished.
The meal was a fabulous way to sign off on this trip.

But we did have a nice view out our hotel window

Saturday - 2nd last stage

2008-07-27T16:53:00.000+10:00

After a great night’s sleep we arose to have breakfast.
We had an option to ride to the start, or catch the bus.
This would be the last opprtunity to ride before we get back to Australia. (our bikes will be packed up on Sunday).
The weather looked overcast, but we rode anyway.

There was a group of 6 us who would ride the 60km or so to the start. It was a beutiful ride, with a few hills.
One of the guys on the ride was a Spanish guy, Marcellino Garcia. He is a former CSC rider, who had done Le Tour 5 times.
A great guy and he took the time to chat to both Narelle and myself. Turns out his wife is from Brisbane, and his parents-in-law live Albany Creek way. (Just up the road from us).
We could discuss the rides through Samford, Mt Glorious, Mt. Mee etc, as he was familiar with them.

Actually, just before we set off on the ride, John checked in with the Tour Leader, Peter, about specific details on getting back to London.
We had arranged for the Tour Operator to drop us in London somewhere. Peter said the bus was actually going back to Belgium.
That was an unexpected spanner in the works. John decided not to let that upset the day ahead, and follow it up at the end of the day. Getting out of Paris on Monday would be no easy task.

During the ride, we decided to let the other 4 riders go and just enjoy the countryside. Once we had made a certain village we knew we just had to follow one road into St. Amaud.
Once we got into the village we then had the task of finding our bus. We were cruising through the centre of town and we spotted our friend Barb. She was surprised we had got in so early. She told us how to find the bus. It was parked near where a number of team buses were.
This was where the real value of the tour kicked in. Peter gave us a few tips on where to stand and how things would operate. Even the coach driver offered a few tips on how to gain the best access. (John later found out he does some occasional driving for the Lotto team).

We mainly hung about a few hundred metres after the finish. We got to see the riders come through. It was fascinating watch the little kids chase their heroes. (and the big kids).
It was here we had much more access to riders and their teams than we ever imagined.

We even bumped in Murray’s wife. We are so glad she made the effort to come up to us. She thought we looked familiar. So we shared a few stories. During this time, another Hamilton club mate John Flynn dropped over to say hello. He was working for SBS doing inteviews. John kindly took a photo of John with Robbie McEwen. John was very impressed witht the time the riders gave to giving autographs, having photos taken, chatting with people etc.
Robbie looked pretty tired, but joked that I should have grabbed John Flynn’s microphone for the photo.
 We then had lunch in the park and a nap in the shade, before gaining a position for Cadel’s arrival.
We found a spot where we could see time splits. It was exciting!
Before we got Sastre’s late splits, we knew that Cadel had improved his position to at least 2nd.
When Sastre had one km to go, we realised that Carlos would hang onto the yellow jersey.
We were so proud of Cadel’s efforts, but felt saddened because of how Cadel would feel.

John then wandered back to team buses. There was a real buzz around the CSC bus. John even saw Stuart O’Grady with a huge smile on his face.
One of the tour group members introduced John to CSC’s bike mechanic. That mechanic had a huge grin on his face.
Over at Lotto there was a very different feel.
 During this time John had the chance to have a chat with Matt White, now a team director for Garmin Chippottle (Slipstream) Matt was understandably thrilled with how his team had gone. He was also very tired. After this Tour, his attentions would turn to his wife’s Olympic campaign.
 It was on to the team bus. John chose not to ride home. He was being soft, but it had been a big day out, he had no water, and noone else was riding.
But he would have been back before the bus as it took nearly an hour to get out of the carpark and the village.

Back at the hotel, we were told dinner would be moved to 9pm since had got back so late.
And that we would be leaving early the next morning to head to Paris.

Just as John went to grab his gear, Peter said that he had organised a spot on another tou bus to get us back to London. John has been impressed with the organiser’s abiltiies to solve any issues that arise.

Dinner was again another sensation. We had an interesting mix of people at our table. 4 Kiwis, and a father and son from the US.

It had been another amazing day. We felt dissapointed for Cadel, but were just so amazed with everything else that had transpired.  

Friday - Stage 19

2008-07-25T20:02:00.000+10:00

(somewhere along the way I have mucked up the Stage numbers. But we are on track again now)

We had hoped to hear from the tour group. At least our names were registered for us to check into the hotel, and there were signs saying what time breakfast was for the tour group, and when the bus was leaving. There was no word at breakfast about the tour group. The bus was leaving at 8.30 so we gathered in the foyer just after 8.
By 8.15 there was still no sign of the tour group. John set off in search of some detail. He found someone with a cycling shirt, introduced himself, and discovered that the buses were leaving from a bus parking area 4 levels below the official reception area. And there was an obscure lift to get to this place.

They also discovered another Aussie on the tour having a similar experience. Not such a great start to the tour from a communications perspective.
But the breakfast was good, and we slept soundly.
John appreciated the fact that he didn’t have to drive, and could relax about whether the bus was going to fit between some small streets.

So we drove off towards Montlucon.

The bus dropped us off 400m from the finish, which was pretty cool.
We then found a spot with 250m to go where we could see the video screen. It was a very excellent afternoon.
We had the usual fun of watching people do bizzare things just to grab some trinkets.
Part of the fun of doing these tours is the variety of people types and persoalities.
Forunately we quickly made a good friend in Barb, another Australian. Narelle, Barb and I all got on pretty well and so we hung out together for the afternoon.  We then were driven to our hotel.

The hotel was actually a golf resort set in the countryside. Narelle loved it!

Dinner that night was a real treat. 5 course menu of french delights. The quality was an unexpected bonus.
We got to meet a few of the others on the tour group over dinner.

We look forward to a night’s sleep in a proper bed.

Thursday - Stage 17

2008-07-25T04:14:00.000+10:00

We rode around this beautiful mediaval village in Provins. Just gorgeous.

Some of the streets we rode

It was then time to clean the camper, and head for Paris. Today we would be joining up with a tour group to follow the Tour for the last 3 days, finishing with grandstand seats on the Champs-Elysses on Sunday.

The plan was to find our motel, dump our stuff, then return the campervan, and ride back to our motel.
There was much prayer in anticipation for this battle with the streets of Paris. It would not be a place for the faint hearted.
Generally all was going OK. Until Gina said “You are now at our hotel”, and we could not spot a hotel.
We drove around the block and fortunately did find it. Turns out some road construction activities had hidden the entrance.

To give Narelle a break from the grind of navigating, John offered to drop the campervan off by himself. Brave move.
Turns out it was quite easy to find the location that was required. The handover was without incident and we got all our deposit back. And thus our journey with the campervan was ended.
We thank God that we survived with out any crashes or major incidents, and escaped only with great memories and stories.
The fact that John and Narelle survived 3 weeks together in such an enclosed space within the campervan bodes well for their continued life ahead together.

John then had to ride back to the motel, via outer and inner city Paris. John loves riding in Paris. The cut and thrust and excitement is awesome. Whizzing through roundabouts at 50kmh with lots of cars around , with understanding drivers, is just such a thrill. So much so that John forgot about heading to the hotel and kept having a great time riding. Eventually he realised Narelle would be anxious until he arrived back at the hotel, so he set off for ‘home’. Narelle was greatly relieved at his appearance.

Our first shower in a ‘real’ shower for 3 weeks was fabulous. None of the 60 second shower stuff for us tonight.
We were a little concerned about not being able to contact the tour group leaders. But after some nice cheese and bread, and sharing a nice bottle of beaujelouis (2007), we easily fell asleep. Actually there were no coffee/tea making facilities , so wine was the only drink we actually had available. Shame about that.

Wednesday - Stage 16

2008-07-25T03:46:00.000+10:00

The shops were a little of a disappointment to Narelle. Overpriced, nothing of real value.

So we rode our bikes into the city. All of 3km. We love riding in France. Cyclists are catered for so well.
Large wide paths, priority access at a number of locations, courtesy from drivers. (The one exception being young males - seems to be a worldwide phenomena that most young male drivers believe they are trialling for a spot in a motor racing team)

The city centre was truly amazing. The tourist stuff hyped it up, and the reality matched the hype. The buildings have to be seen to be believed.

We had lunch. John was adventurous and went for a local sausage specialty. It was fabulous, despite John having no idea what he was eating.

Then it was off to wander the streets. We found a hairdresser because we both needed a trim. They said “No”. We are not sure if it was because they were booked out, or just did not want scruffy looking tourists. At one point John found a mobile shop to sort out his prepaid mobile issues. Narelle dropped in to say she had found a hairdresser and that he should just drop in when he was ready.

John looks forward to haircuts much like a visit to the dentist. Something that needs to be done, but is something that is endured rather then enjoyed. John walked into the hairdresser. Narelle was obviously enjoying herself. John was half expecting to have his haircut by a flamboyant guy by the name of Jean-Paul. To his pleasant surprise, all the hairdressers were stunningly attractive young french women. John decided that he could easily endure this haircut. John was attended to by a young lady who looked more like she was ready for an elegant night out, rather than cutting someone’s hair. She was a little taken aback when John explained that he could not speak French. She could not speak English. John indicated that he wanted a no.2 shave using standard international hand signals. It turns out that a no.2 is much shorter in France than in Australia. Whoops. Meanwhile Narelle was enjoying her haircut immensely, despite the hairdresser being very nervous about not understanding Narelle. Somehow John struck up a conversation with his hairdresser and discovered that her brother was racing in the Tour for one of the teams, Francais De Jeux. She also knew Bradley McGee and Baden Cooke, some Australians who previously rode for that team. John continues to surprise himself with how much he can communicate, despite his lack of French.
It should be noted that no matter how stunningly attractive these women are, they do not compare to Narelle’s beauty in John’s eyes.

The end results

After our visit to the city, we returned to our campervan. Narelle hit the shops again and was pleasantly surprised with a different set of shops. So much great clothing, so little time, and so little baggage space. It should be noted that Narelle hit the shops to allow John time to hit the internet and find out what had been happening in the Tour. Turns out she has been a fantastic ‘antenna girl’, ensuring the antenna was in the right place to get the best possible TV reception for watching the tour.
So we watched Cadel as he struggled against the might of CSC in the climb to Alpe D’Huez. It is much more enjoyable watching this at 5pm, rather than trying to stay awake at 1am.

We then headed towards Paris, getting as far as Provins, about 100km from Paris.

Tuesday - Stage 15

2008-07-23T00:11:00.000+10:00

John was up early in anticipation of his ride.
Met Roger, and headed off. Roger has a very nice full Carbon Eddy Mercx bike that was personally provided by Eddy.
John became a little concerned initially when they were doing 39kmh into a headwind.
All that cheese, bread, and wine was taking its toll. But it turns out the entire ride was not that hard.
Even all the hills around the area weren’t that tough. The scenery was truly amazing. Words can’t describe how impressive it was.
John couldn’t wipe the smile off his face when he returned. He couldn’t remember the last time he rode with a former Paris-Roubaix winner.

Meanwhile Rel, went for a walk and even had people coming up to her asking for directions. She obviously has that ‘french chic’ thing happening.

Once home, we got ready for our session at Paulo’s. Roger and his wife collected us. Roger kindly gave John an Eddy Mercx cap and socks.
Pailo has a room filled with cycling memorabilia. Signed jerseys from different eras. Maillot Jaunes, King of the mountains, Sprinter’s jerseys, Pink Giro jerseys, World Championships, National Champions, in addition to framed and signed photos of riders from different eras. John did not want to leave.
And again we were plied with more Beaujolais red. Paulo gave Narelle a ‘cycling edition’ bottle of Beaujolais red that he made.

Note the large grin on John’s face.

The last 24 hours has just been amazing meeting these people. They are truly hospitable and went out of their way to engage us, despite their limited English.
We know at times they were talking about the Tour, but we couldn’t quite understand anything.
Our stay in Beaujolias has just been amazing and another unexpected highlight in our travels.

And now we are off to Troyes. Apparently not the place of wooden horses.

We chose not to go the motorway. The N road will be slower and more scenic. We were rewarded with amazing scenery of farmlands, forests, running streams, and just stunning vistas.

Once in Troyes, we chose to stay in the carpark of a series of outlet shopping stores. Now we couldn’t wipe the smile off Narelle’s face. She only has 10 metres to walk to the shops in the morning.

After dinner, we walked to the local Maccas for dessert (all of 400m).
As it was late, everything John was asking for unavailable. Once he confessed to not knowing French, the young lady serving him suddenly spoke English. Life was much easier then. At one point the young lady stared at John and with a smile on her face asked ‘You have one brown eye and one green eye?’. For those who know John well, they will know that his eyes do look very different in certain light. For those that didn’t already know this, you will just have to look more closely next time. John just told the young lady that it was something to do with being Australian.

Narelle is looking forward to the shopping the next day.

This will be our second last night in our campervan.

Monday - rest day

2008-07-22T15:29:00.000+10:00

We have no idea how Cadel went. TV reception we couldn’t get late in the afternoon, nor wifi. We will find out in good time. In fact , there are so many other good things happening, we don’t go out of our way to find out.

Overnight was interesting. When John got up to get a drink in the early hours of the morning, he noticed the fridge was not working. Turns out the gas had run out. Had to fix that in the cold and dark. Then the WC warning light came on. 5 more uses the book says. We discovered the hard way that you get 3.

We had a gorgeous view, but had to find a ‘service place’, or as John calls them, a dump’n’go. Found one only a few kms away. We have a better idea on how to track them down now.

Then had breakfast overlooking the hills of Beaujolias.

Thought we had found a brilliant location to stay for the night. We drove the few km to this village, only to discover the circus already had it.

So we parked in a village and went for a ride. Riding around this area is sensational. The lush greens, the variety of colours and vegetation. The sunflowers.

T
The streams flowing with lots of water. All so different to what we normally encounter at home. The impact on our visual senses almost bordered on overload. We had trouble keeping our eyes on the road. At least riding on the right hand side of the road has now become second nature for us. We also found a great bike path.

There were lots of families walking, riding, rollerblading. The ride just provided wonderful sights and views at every twist and turn.

After about 30km we then dropped in to a cave for a quick wine tasting. Amazing. You had to walk downstairs into this underground room.
The area is renowned for its reds, but we tried one of their whites. It is amazing how one little piece of information can impress someone else. The lady serving the drinks was quite impressed when John took a sip of the white and asked ‘chardonnay?’. Little did she know that John had done some research before the visit, and about the only thing he knew was that white wines in the area were were made from Chardonnay grapes.

On our way out, some men were looking at us and our bikes. Narelle’s Jersey was from one of the local rides in Brisbane and had the word Australia on it. ‘Diabetes Australia’ to be precise. The gentlemen enquired as to whether we were Australian. Produly we said ‘Oui’. Once they realised we were aussies and into cycling they invited us , actually insisted, back to the cave for some drinks.

Turns out one of them is a Belgian former professional cyclist who won Paris-Roubaix (cycling afficianodos will understand).
The other gentlemen is an avid collector of cycling memorabilia, in addition to being well known in the French cycling scene. And he makes wine, and I am not sure if there is anything he can’t do.

Turns out they knew where we had parked our campervan, as they were staying just around the corner. Anyway, John got invited to ride with Roger on Tuesday. And Narelle and John got invited back to Paulo’s place for pre-lunch drinks the next day.

Then we rode home 20km or so. Interesting, especially after we lost track of how many glasses of beaujolias our new friends plied us with.

Once home, there was a local play/production/whatever across the road from where we parked. Fascinating.

We slept well, although John was wondering how this ride was going to go.....
There was a lot of red wine flowing at the time, and our new friends could not speak much English, and we can’t really speak French. John was not really sure what he had got himself in for.

We weren’t worried about sleeping in. We had parked next to a church with a very large bell that rang on the hour.

Life in beaujolais

2008-07-21T21:52:00.001+10:00

Doing it tough at the mo. This was the view out our front window on sunday night, about 7pm.

Sunday - Stage 14

2008-07-20T20:35:00.000+10:00

Relaxed sleep in today, and then a quick brekky before heading off

The plan was to drive to the Beaujolais area for the evening.

Didn’t plan to take the A route (the motorway/tollway), but to take the scenic drive. Ended up on the A route with a wrong turn, but wasn’t so expensive a mistake.
We eventually found our way back onto quiet roads.

Found a winery - it wasn’t open. Sadly though we saw a cyclist being attended to by the ambulance. Wet and slippery roads had taken their toll.
We found another winery that looked open, but we had no response when knocking on the cellar door. We were about to leave when the lady of the place came up to us and asked if we wanted to try some wine. What a wine tasting it turned out to be. She knew a couple of words of English, and between her English and our handful of words of French we shared a lot of laughs. Most of the French words we know refer to grape varieties. That makes a conversation at a winery flow. Great wines as well.

Just past Vience, we stopped for lunch. Later John was tired and started to feel sleepy, so just past Vienne we stopped for a nap.

It had been an interesting drive. Passed a couple of nuclear reactors. John couldn’t help but wonder what impact that had on the local environment.
We decided to just pass through Lyon. It is too large a city to do justice in just one day. We were amazed at how large a city it is.

We finally dropped into the Beaujolias info centre 10 minutes before closing.

Found a great place to stay for the evening. This is the view from our front window.

Went for a wander through the village and watched a heated exchange between a chef and an unsatisifed patron. We had no idea what was going on, but there was some intensity.

Thought we’d treat ourselves to a little bit of TV tonight. Fired up the TV tuner on the notebook, only to start watching a fave show ‘Mid Somer Murders’ in French. It was quite amazing. John then found he’d previously recorded an episode whilst still in Australia. So we watched that.

An interesting side note. John’s French is improving. He doesn’t really know any more words or phrases, but he has become very proficient with the 3 phrases he does know. He has become very adept at saying ‘Pardon moi, je ne parle Francais’. He must say it well, becuase often he gets a quizzical look and is asked ‘are you sure you can’t speak French?’ At least that is what he thinks they are saying.

Saturday - Stage 13

2008-07-20T06:16:00.000+10:00

We woke early, and drove out of the town. This was to avoid being parked in by street closures in anticipation of the Tour’s arrival.
Then we we went for a ride over some of the course for the day. Clean up operations were in full swing. As we were on road bikes, we even got cheered and clapped by workers and those having breakfast as we rode down the main street. If only they really knew. But the ride through the city, and then out through the countryside was invigorating. We even stopped by the local bullfighting ring. Sadly, we did not stop and take any photos of the ‘Bouladrome’. Yep, they even have stadiums for playing boules.

After the ride, it was breakfast by a local river, then off to see the amazing Roman aquaduct at Pont du Gard.

We then headed to Avagnon. What an amazing place. Within the city, there is a walled city. This place caught us unprepared with the buildings, the people, the activity. It was engrossing. It is possible to drive in, but with the myriad of people, and narrow one way streets, it is not a place for the faint hearted. In the centre of this place, John spotted a couple in a car with maps, lots of pointing, and that absolute look of fear and dread in their eyes. They seemed not to know how to get out. John empathised with them. We had ridden our bicycles in, and we were unsure as to how to get out of this place.
We had lunch at a restaurant. John went for a German meat dish, but Rel is concerned with the impact of all that cabbage.
We then wandered around the place for a while. We just loved the visual, aurual and emotional impact of this place.

The ‘place of the popes’ is still within the ‘walled city’. This where the papacy resided at one point in time.

Then it was time to leave. It was actually a brutally hot day. After about 6 attempts to exit, we finally found a way out. Then we had to determine where our campervan was, as we had no idea which exit we had taken. Fortunately, John had saved the location of the campervan in Gina, so she was able to guide us the few km back.

After this amazing place, we visit a lavender museum. John actually found it quite interesting. The place did smell pretty nice.

Then we settled into Carpentras for the evening. Just happened to find a spot to park with amazing views. We could actually overlook Mt. Ventoux.
After dinner we went for a walk expecting to find something happening. But no. Just a few quiet restaurants, and lots of twisty winding streets with no people.
Then it was time to watch the sunset from our location for the evening.

But I’ll close with some unrelated things. Cadel is still in yellow, and tonight is brought to you by a nice glass of Rose.

Overnight views

2008-07-19T14:50:00.001+10:00

We rocked into beaucaire about 930 pm, with no idea where to stay. Sometimes we just land on our feet. This is the view out of our campervan window when we awoke.

Ride heaven

2008-07-18T21:07:00.001+10:00

It was time for a stunning ride. We found a ride that hugged a canal. In the photo the water is on the right, vineyards on the left. And i used to think the nudgee beach ride was scenic

Friday - Stage 12

2008-07-18T19:16:00.000+10:00

John woke early and went for a ride. He rode the Tour De France course for the day. Well, not the whole course, but part thereof. He even did the Cat 5 climb for the day.
As he rode through one little village he imagined himself being part of Le Tour. Then he realised that if he was riding the Tour, he would be so far off the back, the crowds would already have left. So in effect, it was like he was riding the Tour. Campervans were already strategically parked along the side of the road, and this was 25km out from the finish line.

Once home, Narelle was ready to join in on the ride. John was explaining the fantastic ride that we went on, and there was this little village that was awesome, but some distance away. Narelle got out the map. Turns out the course goes in a big circle, and this little village was one street away from we were parked. John was a little crestfallen. His revenge was to make Narelle do the Cat 5 climb, and she did it well.

Rel powers up the climb, just as they are getting ready to put all the barriers and signage up. Campervans are already in place.

Here is the ‘intersection of interest’. Turning left, and you have the Cat5 climb. Go straight head, take the first turn right and our campervan is 200m away. Little did John realise that at the time he surveyed the course. Note the yellow signs with the arrows. They are put up to show the course. And lots of people seem to like to souvenir them. Bad, Bad people! (i.e. John hasn’t had a chance to get any yet).

As we rode around we continue to be amazed at the size and impact of Le Tour. This was a small town that the Tour just passes through. Street sweepers were out cleaning the streets, hedges were being trimmed, roadside edges being mowed, the clocktower was being cleaned, barriers and tents were being put up. Amazing. Even though we knew the Tour was big, it is not until you see it that you fully comprehend it.

<todays blog still in progress, but I had to add this story>

Today we watched the tour ride through a small village ... Rel had her aussie hat and finger, John the flag. As he rode past, Cadel gave us a few head nods as acknowledgment for our support.

Thursday - Stage 11

2008-07-18T03:17:00.000+10:00

We awoke to the a sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea. Not bad for a free camp site.
Had some brekky, and then it was time for a gorgeous ride.

Rode for an hour and a half on a quiet path by a canal. The canal was tree lined, and the path was a nice bitumen, similar to the one that heads to Nudgee Beach.
The weather was gorgeous, and at times we had vineyards next to us as well. Could have ridden for hours. We were one of the few cyclists on road bikes. They seemed to be reserved for the ‘serious cyclists’. That may explain the looks we get from others.

Typical sights along the ride

Narelle hits the turbo through the tunnel

After the ride, we stopped by the river for lunch. It wasn’t a formal rest area, but we made it our own. Very relaxing.

We like the smaller townships and villages. So after our wonderful visit to the Meditteranean, we decided we would not bother heading off to the other meditteranean hotspots such as St. Tropez, Nice, nor Monaco. A lot of travel just to think that it was not as nice as our own beaches. We could be wrong.
So we decided to hang around this area and spend more time in the Provence region. Good food is calling.

So we decided to head to Sommelier, which is where the Tour passes through, and about 25km before the finish This will give us the chance to see the Tour along the course, and see Cadel wearing yellow.
We had a bright idea to head to Montpelier, which is a sizeable city, before heading to Sommelier.
 John should have learnt a couple of things by now. One is that whenever we wing it, we end up in adorable places, that far exceed our expectations. Whenever John ‘plans’ something, it all goes pear shaped. He thought it smart to tell Gina (the GPS unit) to find the tourist office in Montpelier. We were 100m short of the Tourist Office when we realised there was no tourism office at this address. That is when our fun began. Gina tried to direct us to the office via another way. Turns out this was via a construction site and roadworks. Lots of cars beeping horns as no-one had any idea what was happening, and cars were trying to squeeze into non existent gaps. Then Gina directed us down this tight one way street, with cars parked either side. Narelle was less then certain, especially when she said “Are you sure this is really a street”. John’s confidence about getting through wasn’t even rocked by the large ‘thwack’ as the mirror was clipped. Rule No. 1 - don’t look in the mirrors anyway. it is all too scary. Just when we saw actual signs to the tourist office, the mirage disappeared yet again. John, in a moment of madness, too the first turn at a roundabout. Gina had gone into meltdown at this point in time. 5 seconds after he took the turn John realised he has in trouble. It was an entrance to a carpark, with a height limit 1.4 m less then the height of the campervan. But this was not a degree of difficulty enough for John. No, he had to pick a place where there was no opportunity to do a u-turn, and the entry and exit lanes were seperated by a median strip, and there were 5 or 6 cars impatiently waiting behind John. To say Narelle was a little tense was an understatement. John was loving the challenge though. Some innovative lane changing across median strips, followed by a reverse up a tight and winding exit lane (in a campervan), and finished with a tight uturn at the roundabout saw them off and away again. Needless to say, we saw more of Montpelier from the car than we had anticipated.

Sommelier was fabulous. A beautiful town centuries old. We found a neat place to park for the night in a carpark.
We enjoyed quite walks, and having a cold drink in a local establishment. It is really quite warm here.

Narelle enoying the sights of the local river. We are camped about 30 seconds walk from this spot.

Narelle checking out the local shops

After dinner we wandered the city to get some dessert and check the place out. It seemed quiet, but then again, it was only Thursday night.

A glass of Chinon Rose was a good way to ward off the heat of the day, even at 9pm.

Wednesday - Stage 10

2008-07-17T03:13:00.000+10:00

After a great night’s sleep we awoke feeling ready for the day. The weather is warmer here , and we are loving it. 20 to 31 is the prediction for the day.

Plan A was to go for a ride, but with a combination of cloudy drab weather in the morning, and Narelle still recovering, we decided to have a relaxed brekky, do some washing and then move on.

So we explored the local beaches next to the Meditteranean.

Nice in their own right, but second class to where we live. The surf is redcliffe-esque, and the sand is more like dirt. But everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The place leaves me with an impression of what the Gold Coast would have been like if all building had stopped in the 70s.

the surf was up that day..

A real highlight was a visit to a local gardener. They sold local produce, and wine. You could even bring your own bottle and get it filled for 2Euro a bottle. We were disappointed that we had just thrown out our empty 1.5l water bottles. But we bought some olives that are simply sensational.

After having a very nice lunch by the beach we moved on. Once we hit Narbone, John started to feel sleepy at the wheel. Time for a trip to Maccas for a coffee and some wifi.
Found out what was happening in the stage to Foix. They had about 20km to go at that stage. Nothing too exciting from our perspective, so we left it at that.

We then moved to Cape D’Agde in the hope of finding a spot to stay. It looked a nice place, but it was particularly anti-camping car, so we eventually moved on.

A few kms up the road we found we could pull over beside the beach. Narelle had said she always wanted to spend a night by the Mediterranean. So this was awesome. There are a lot of camper cars that have done the same, so we hope we are OK here.

the view from the campervan

Narelle was looking up items of interest for the area. She has just told me that Agde has a beach resort that is famed for supporting nudist colonies of up to 20,000 people. Not really sure I need to see that much flabby and wrinkly skin though. I was happy to move on with the shirt still on my back.

Our location or the evening can be a little noisy as we are next to the road. But the sound of the sea (surf is not an appropriate word to use for here) makes up for it. A nice little treat was seeing the sunset out one side of the car, and seeing the full moon light up the sea out the other.

Tonight’s edition was brought to us by the leftover bottle from last night.

Tuesday - Rest Day for the Tour

2008-07-16T16:59:00.000+10:00

Narelle awoke feeling better than the day before, but still not well. She is now battling her 3rd form of infection since our arrival, and is on a 2nd course of anti-biotics.
The fact the we have have been able to do so much despite her illness shows how tough and resilient she is.
It was a rest day for the Tour and a travel day for us.

The plan was to head towards the Mediterranean Coast, specifially Perpignan, near the Spanish border.

Have you ever had one of those friends who tried to be too helpful, and ended up frustrating you? Our GPS unit was like that today.
It kept trying to plot these time saving routes for us. If we were driving Narelle’s Mazda 3, we would have been rewarded with a sensational drive.
But in a fully loaded campervan, it is another story. Low bridges, twisty, windy, one lane roads all made for a hard day behind the wheel for John.
Narelle was doing it just as tough as the passenger. Not sure how many cliff edges she thought we were going to go over, but her fingernails were a lot shorter by the end of the trip.

But it was not all a lost cause. We saw some amazing scenery, some stunning vistas, and some amazing roads through rock cuttings that made it a sensational day of taking in the countryside. Did I mention the amazing scenery. The Pyrenees mountains were spectacular, the drives were stunning. And the drive through the town of Foix was sensational. The rock walls, the bridge over the river, all awesome. And the Tour finishes here on Wednesday. You could already feel the buzz building.

By the time we rolled up to Perpignan we were stuffed, found a place to bunker down, and that was pretty much it.
A couple of spots we first stopped at did not give us a good feel. Lots of apparently disaffected youth hanging about.
So we moved on to a spot we felt comfortable in.

The white wine for the evening was a nice cold refreshment for parched lips.

We conquered the mountain

2008-07-15T06:28:00.001+10:00

Cadel is now in yellow, thanks largely to our encouragement up the climb to tormalet. Here we are waiting for him by the side of the road. What a tough climb!

Monday - Stage 9

2008-07-15T04:14:00.000+10:00

John awoke feeling fabulous. Must be the health giving properties of a glass or 2 of red wine every night.
The day had beautiful blue sky.
But on the other side of the bed, Narelle did not wake up so well.
We jumped on our bikes and headed part way up the Col de Toumelout. This would be the first big climb of todays stage.

It was such a beautiful day for a ride.
The ride was tough going, but we got a fair way up before we settled in. It didn’t help that John was carrying an extra 15kg. 5kg in the backback, and an extra 10kg around the waist courtesy of all the food he has been consuming.
Along the way, young children cheered and clapped us as we pedalled up the hill. Sensational.
The morning was so beautiful and relaxing.
Here’s a few happy snaps of our ride up.

All manner of outfits and bikes were in operation

The position out on the road is far more friendly than being surrounded by the crowds at a finish line.
We saw the carnival pass by, and got a bagful of the usual junk.
We had some supporters from Norway next to us, and they certainly were entertaining.

We cheered Cadel as he went by. We cheered Robbie as he led the last big group up the hill. Robbie did not seem to be enjoying himself, but the same could be said for the rest of those in his group. They were certainly going slower than on the flat stages.
The yellow jersey group, with rel’s finger cheering them on...

Then we rode home. What a sensational ride. Flying down the hills, mixing it with all the traffic. John loved it, Narelle had other words to describe the experience.
At one point John and Narelle got seperated. Narelle snuck through a traffic control point and kept going. All other cyclists, including John, were forced to take another route.
Somehow they found each other again in another village. They still don’t know how they managed that.
On John’s route, he had the time of his life, despite not knowing how he would find Narelle again. There was a heady mix of cyclists, pedestrians, cars, scooters, campervans all somehow moving in different directions. John had the time of his life riding at speed at the back of a pack of cyclists as they weaved in and out of all manner of situations.
John may have forgotten to tell Narelle about this.
Unlike Australia, the drivers are very courteous and understanding of cyclists.

Once back in the village it was time to find a place to watch the concluding stages of the Tour. This we did. John ordered the traditional ‘deux vin rouge’. 2 Euro for 2 glasses of wine. That is cheaper than coffee. We watched Cadel as he gutsed his way up to the finish. Sensational. If only we could have understood the commentary it would have made sense.

We decided to go for change of scenery for our last stay in this village. We were too weary to move to another place.
We found a nice spot next to a bubbling stream.
This was the view from our front door.

Being Bastille Day, we headed into town to find out what was happening. There were some fireworks planned, so we went and saw them. Awesome, and it seemed like the entire town was out for this event.

Sunday - Stage 8

2008-07-14T03:28:00.000+10:00

We awoke to a beautiful sound of no rain.
After a leisurely breakfast, it was time to ride to explore the town and the Stage course.
This included a ride of the last 6km or so of the course. It met with John’s approval. Given that he didn’t have to do any of the climbs today, that approval didn’t really mean much.
But Rel and John did contest their own stage finish.
Here Narelle chases John down with less than a km to go

It was then time to prepare for the afternoon. A wander around the village for lunch, and then find a spot by the side of the course. Found a good spot about 170m from the finish. Excellent. Only 4 hours til they arrive. :-0
The big screen was just visible but the angle meant it was hard to read any of the words.
We had a front row spot and thought that would be the end of our troubles.

Turns out that if you leave a 3 cm gap, others think that is enough for them to squeeze in.
Generally all was fine, expect when the handouts came. Then the pushing in the back started.
One old guy actually tried every trick in the book to squeeze in beside Narelle. She was too tough and wise for him.
Some tricks he tried included :-
        push the hand onto the fence and just force himself into a non existent gap
        Coughing and spluttering in the hope that Narelle would give way
        Loudly yelling abuse at Narelle for not letting him in. This was a time when it was good to not know French.
Eventually he left when he realised that Narelle was not going to give in.
Then it was John’s turn to outlast the thumps and shoves in the back, the knees into the back of the legs, the arms that came in every direction trying to get handouts.
Makes it all fun and interesting.

This time we weren’t really trying to collect much, but still came home with about 8 bottles of mineral water, numerous hats, fridge magnets, and other equally essential goods.
But we had more fun interacting with the people giving out stuff. Turns out asking people for photos is a fun way to get more stuff.

Narelle made a new friend

John made a new friend

The riders flashed by, but at least they arrived in several groups. The first riders and the first bunch were flying. Those in the autobus (or the last group) were pedalling much softer.
Ricco heads for victory

Then it was time to wander home. It was like walking home from State of Origin. The crowds and the traffic were thick. It took nearly 2 hours after the finish for the traffic to ease in front of our home base. It was an awesome day, but very tiring all the same.

We’ll stay in Bagnerres De B tonight and tomorrow we’ll ride part way up the first col, so we can then watch them ride up a mountain.

We’ve decided this next stage will be our last direct taste of the tour until we join a formal tour for Stage 19 through to the finish in Paris.
It means missing the Alps, but there is so much else to explore of France, and so much more bread, cheese and wine that we haven’t even touched the surface of yet.
We’ll just make sure we are somewhere to watch the last hour of each day’s stage.

The reformulation of our path has begun, but has yet to be worked out in detail.

Tonight’s episode is sponsored by a delightful red by the name of ‘Domain du Grand Bouqueteau’ that we picked up in Chinon.
Very smooth.

Saturday - Stage 7

2008-07-13T04:07:00.000+10:00

It was a fine day, so we jumped on our bikes and rode for a while around the Saint Emillion area. Sensational views and riding terrain.
This was just a typical scene we encountered.

Some vistas evoked visions of a different time period.

With more time, John could have ridden for hours. Given all the food he has been eating lately, that was probably needed.

We finished the ride with a large climb up a cobblestone path. Narelle did a fab job going up this climb.

We then set off for Bordeaux. Armed with our new found confidence in our navigational capabilities, we told our GPS unit (aka Gina) to find us some shops so we could stock up for a few days. It delivered us to the front door of the shops, only for us to discover that it was smaller than a local seven-eleven store.
We then stumbled inadvertently on to a large shopping centre just down the road. Narelle was in heaven! After many an hour spent here, we headed off towards Pau.

Along the way, the rain set in, and we decided to head straight to Bagneres-de-Bigorre. This was to be our base for a couple of days.
The Tour finishes here Sunday night, and passes by again on Monday. So it will be a great place to soak up le Tour. A magnificent shopping centre car park will be home for a short while.

John had found the driving (and the shopping) to be particularly draining today, so looked forward to a good nights sleep.

The bottle of bordeaux red certainly helped that cause. We thought this bottle was from the St. Emillion region. Turns out that was incorrect. We’ll just have to buy another bottle of bordeaux red to correct this error.

Friday - Stage 6

2008-07-12T06:11:00.000+10:00

We awoke to the beautiful sound of rain, rain, and more rain.
Although, the beauty of the rain was shortlived once we realised that we still had washing hung outside to dry.

So we decided to head off early. We dropped by the post office to get some stamps. Somehow we communicated what we needed.
We then couldn’t get out of the post office. Inadvertantly John hit a button which he thought ‘opened’ the door. Turns out it was a button that requests assistance. We then found out it helps to ‘pull’ the door, rather than to ‘push’ it.

We then headed to St.Emilion, a village in the heart of the Bordeaux wine growing region.

Found a car park, which turned out be our home for the night. We discovered the next day that it was actually a creche car park.

Wandered up to the information centre. We then joined a wine tour (in French and English) at the last minute.
It was a good move. Great little vineyard that we then visited. The host was very informative and helpful.
Narelle even got special mention for asking great questions, and having such a beautiful sounding name.

After finding about the grape growing, and processing, we then headed off to the caves where they store the wine.
Sensational. They even had a wine tasting section in the underground caves. Tasted some wine, and they didn’t hold back. Turns out what we tasted is at least $75 at the cellar door, so who knows what that would cost in Australia.

The wine caves...

The wine tasting...

There was a choice to catch the bus back, or wander back through the vineyards to the Village Centre. We chose to wander back through the vineyards.
We were taking photos, and looking at stuff, and John turned to say something to Narelle. Turns out it was not Narelle next to him, but one of the other people from the wine tour. A little embarrassing, but John is used to such stupidity and struck up a conversation regardless. John was initially concerned about not knowing where Narelle was, but he quickly realised everything would be alright. John’s new found friend from the wine tour was a young, and very attractive, Swedish backpacker. John knew it would only take a few moments for Narelle to appear on the scene once he was engaged in conversation with this young lady. And Narelle did not disappoint.

It was actually the first time in a few days that we had held a lengthy conversation in English with somebody else.

Upon our return to the village, we then wandered around to check it out. Went back to our accomodation, changed, and went out for dinner

Had a great meal at a little restaurant in the village.

We selected from the set menu. Didn’t really know what we had for entree, but it was sensational.
We went for different mains, and had no idea what they would be until they turned up. Turns out Narelle’s was a ‘steak and onion’, aka entrecote eschalotes. John still doesn’t really know what his meal was, but it was in the menu as ‘magret de canard sauce povine’. It was fantastic.
Narelle had pancackes for dessert, and John elected to have profiteroles.

The wine for the evening was a house red from the local area.

We then wandered home through the village. Still very light at 9.30.

Thursday - Stage 6

2008-07-11T01:30:00.000+10:00

At one stage we had thought of getting to a point along the side of the road and watching the tour go by.
But we decided there were more important things to do.

We dropped by Chateux du Chevre, and headed towards Bordeux.
By now we have the nav system working in harmony. (Rel, myself, the maps, the GPS unit) We know how to read the maps properly, and we know what makes our GPS unit happy. So we drove through the french countryside.

The little villages were awesome.

In fact one so caught our attention we decided to stay for the evening.
It will be a shock to the system, as we will have to pay, even if it is only 10 Euro or so.
But we get our washing done, as we are running out of clean clothes. And we can charge up all the camera batteries, which are running low.

We rode to another nearby village, hoping for a drink and a chance to watch le tour.
We got the drink but no-one was showing le tour.

So we moved on to the next village. It was even quieter.

We are so remote we are only just getting a mobile signal, but struggled to get TV reception.
So I had no idea what’s happening in the tour. But a little bit of innovation solved that.

Yep, as per the photo, John got the antenna to come out of his head.

But we have been riding through little villages and feeling very relaxed.
It would have be nice to go out for dinner tonight, but the village is so quiet we are not sure if the restaurants will open. At least we are self contained.
We have bread, cheese, and a few bottles of wine. We should be able to survive.

There haven’t been too many ‘john’ moments today. It has all been a bit tame. Even though the camp ranger couldn’t speak any english, we somehow communicated what we needed. Although John did get concerned about getting out of the shower. The door wouldn’t unlock. John contemplated going ‘over the wall’. But persistence paid off.
When the door did open there were a couple of primary school kids on the other side. The blood drained from their face when they realised it was an adult they had been mucking about with, and not one of their school mates.

The local red tonight was a Gamay. Tasty, without being overpowering.

Wednesday - Stage 5

2008-07-09T16:12:00.000+10:00

We may not be connecting with the Tour, but I’ll keep the stage numbers going as a way to remember things.
We have definitely got to the point where we have no idea what day of the week it is.

This morning it is absolutely freezing. As I write this, I am wearing a jumper, and wrapped up in a blanket.

It is really quite cool.

So we headed off to explore more of the Loire Valley.

First stop was Chinon. Absolutely beautiful scenery. Even did some wine tasting.

Then it was off to Chambord to view a chateux. Due to some navigational issues we ended up on a toll road.
Bugger. Even worse we turned up at a toll where there didn’t seem anywhere to pay.
After some inventive reversing, dodging large trucks, and leading across toll lanes, John discovered you collected a ticket here, you didn’t pay. d’oh.

We found our chateux. Decided this was a nice place to stay, and have dinner. So we did both. This was our picnic area for dinner.

This has been a very relaxing day and has almost been a perfect day from John’s perspective.
Had the opportunity to ride through a little village, buy bread from the local patisserie, and order ‘deux vin rouge’ from a local bar. i.e 2 red wines.

I hadn’t realised there was a dress code to visit the chateux, but we got through OK.

Tonight we witnessed a light show at the chateux. It was an ‘interpretative’ presentation , and happened by projection onto the chateux. Amazing. Didn’t finish till nearly 12. we slept well that night.

What’s been happening in ‘le tour’. we don’t know what happened in the time trial, and we think Thor Husholvd won today’s stage. But not really sure.
And at this point. we don’t really care. The bottle of Rose that John drank was very good!

Tuesday - Stage 4 Time Trial

2008-07-09T15:52:00.000+10:00

We awoke at Cholet. Love this sleeping-in caper. Don’t awake until at least 7.30. Mind you, none of France really seems to get going til 10.
We had stayed in some parking bays in a quiet little street.

After our own breakfast, we rode off to explore the time trial course.
During the course of this journey we discovered we had parked only 400m from the finish line. Amazing.

Anyway, we saw the usual sights... The occasional rider out on his bike, the team buses arriving, the mechanics working on bikes.

We found a spot about 100m from the finish line. So we waited there, and watched the entertainment happen all around us.

Even saw Cadel doing a warm up lap. Sadly, we only recognised him after he passed us.

We continued to receive hats, food, and other goodies as handouts.

At one stage, John eagerly opened his ‘yoghurt’, only to discover it was cream cheese. :-0
So it was off to find a baguette to have with it. He asked for the baguette with his brilliant french “baguette, s’il vous plait”
Then there was a smattering of french words from the lad behind the counter, and John heard the word cheese. So he was just said “oui”, expecting he was confirming his order.
The lad replied in English “Which one then?” Oops, but I quickly realised there was a choice of ham and cheese, or sausage.
So I managed to quickly avert an international incident.

We stayed for a handful of riders, then decided to move on. The first rider finished sometime before 11.

Cadel was not due to start until shortly before 5. We weren’t going to hang about for that long.

It was now time to leave the Tour, and explore the Loire Valley for a couple of days.

We entered Saumur, and dropped into the Tourist office. On our way there, some school students rounded the corner. One of them said “Yes, England”.
My hat is an Aussie flag hat, with the Union Jack covering one side, and the Southern Cross on the other.
They had only seen the Union Jack side. I turned around so they could see the other side of the hat and said “No. Orstralian, mate!”
That got a laugh from them anyway.

Went for a drive along the Loire river. Dropped in to have a glance at a Chatuex.

At 8 Euro each to visit, we thought we’d wait until we worked out which ones to visit.

So we found a nice little parking area and settled in.

It was actually a very warm afternoon, and we were now in tshirt and shorts, for the first time since Singapore.
The heat of Singapore is but a distant memory now.

Polished off a nice little bottle of Beaujolais , and then went for a walk around the village at 10pm. It was still light, and the sun was just setting.

Very pleasant way to finish off the day.

Monday - Stage 3 finish

2008-07-08T05:28:00.000+10:00

We were awoken after 8 by a knock on the campervan door.
Not only did I have quickly leap down from the bed, but I had to find some clothes.

Turns out they were reorganising the carpark in anticipation of all these cars expected for the start of the race.
So all the campervans in the middle of the park had to relocate.

Then it was off to watch the end of the stage.

Had a relaxing drive, and on our way we found a maccas that offered free wifi, and a place to recharge the notebook batteries.
So we stayed there a while. Even managed to skype with rel’s sister’s family.

We stumbled our way around Nantes, before finding somewhere to park, just near the end of the stage.

We found a spot with 450m to go. Didn’t have front row, but the spot was OK. They had a big screen showing the race, but it was set 100m from the finish line. It was too crowded there.

So we lined up, and were entertained by the events around us. Phil Andersen dropped by for a chat, and some other Aussies dropped by. Turns out this family was from Albany Creek, which is the suburb just next to where we live in Brisbane. Small world. And the young lad directly in front of us had us amazed with his intensity and drive to grab everything that was handed out. (I shall name him Carlos for the purposes of this story). It was like his life depended on it. At one stage some ankle reflectors landed at my feet. I bent down to pick them up. I grabbed one set, and reached out for the others, only to be felled by a knee to the head. Yep, Carlos had to get the ankle reflectors, despite the fact that he already had 3. And did he get upset when something didn’t go his way. Narelle caught something that was thrown to the crowd and Carlos then grabbed it out of her hands. Talk about having some red mist issues. Great entertainment for us as we saw him take out the elderly and the young in his attempts to collect all he could!

Carlos concentrates on the task at hand.

And the boys thundered past. After the race we went on our way to our van. Couldn’t see the presentations, as it was too crowded, but we could here them.

Then we passed the team buses. Jackie was keen for an Eric Zabel photo, so we sort of hung around the Team Milram bus. Eric came out, I took some photos. Narelle said she would go the other side, and for me to take a photo of Eric, with her in the background. It worked. Even better, at the end of the press conference, Rel yelled out ‘we love you Eric’. Eric had been about to get back on the bus. But he then stopped, turned to Narelle and smiled and waved. Then Eric retreated to the Milram bus, with a smile on his face. Afterwards a journalist even came up to Narelle and enquired about the interaction with Eric. Narelle and Eric are now on waving and smiling terms.

We then headed to Cholet. The weather is really wet, windy, and cold. It doesn’t even get this bad in our winter. We could have lined up by the side of the course, but thought that may have limited our options for moving on. So we found a spot in a side street to park, with a few other campervans.

Sunday - Stage 2 finish

2008-07-08T05:14:00.000+10:00

We walked to some spot, some where near the finish. Had no idea who far out we were. Later we realised we were somewhere between 1 to 2 km from home.
For those who have experienced a tour stage, I won’t be saying anything new.

The carnival of floats and vehicles that drive past ahead of the tour is just amazing. It is entertainment in its own right. Even more entertaining is seeing how keen people are to grab the free trinkets on offer from the floats that go by. The lengths they go to are amazing. So after standing for 90- minutes by the side of the road, they riders come flashing by, and then it is all over.

I knew they were close for 2 reasons. One was because of txt messages from Australia saying where they were. Had no idea otherwise. The other is the sound of helicopters overhead.

There had been a sole breakaway

But he was picked up quickly not long after he picked us up

The speed with which they travel is amazing. And the size of the bunch just blows you away. Even they guys trailing get huge applause. It is quit an amazing sight.

Narelle picked a great spot halfway up a steep pinch. From there we got to see the team vans come in (via a different road).

And then it was off to St. Malo for the evening.
This is where I got to dump’n’go for the first time. Had to empty the waste water (easy), the toilet (nowhere near as bad as I thought), and refill the water. All too simple really.

Sunday - Mont St. Michel

2008-07-08T05:10:00.000+10:00

This is an amazing place. It is a whole city built on an island, but was originally established as a benedectine monastery.
Look it up on the web.

Originally you could only get to it at low tide, but a road has now been built to it.

I was expecting to have some sort of spiritual impact when I went there, but was disappointed. It is architecturally awesome, but the spirit that drove its creation seems to have been lost or glossed over.

Having said that, I could only but be moved b y the vision, energy, and dedication that made this place.

Sunday - Stage 2 -interim notes

2008-07-06T22:10:00.000+10:00

Today we visited Mt. Sont Michel. I’ll write about that later tonight. An amazing experience.
Now we are currently waiting for the end of Stage 2 in Saint Brieuc.
 I have no idea where we are, but everyone is walking to somewhere, so we’ll watch the finish a few kms out from the finish. (I think)
 Have found a wifi spot, so blogs are posted and we can monitor what’s happening with the race, whilst having lunch.

And it is really really windy and cold.

Saturday - A new day, a new beginning

2008-07-06T03:21:00.000+10:00

After a good night’s sleep, we wandered off in to Bayeux. Mind you that took all of 5 minutes.

After breakfast it was off to the markets to buy some food. The strawberries are sensational, the cheeses are simply a delight, and I even find the tomatoes to be very tasty. And here I thought that all the food in Europe was stuffed because of environmental problems etc. How wrong was I? It may be stuffed, but it sure tastes good.

I always find it fascinating how different cultures have different tastes in seafood. It was intriguing to see fresh seafood at the markets, particularly to see sharks, stingrays, skinned eel, and other such delicacies laid out for purchase. Some of the fish on display I have caught before, but always considered it to be rubbish, and only good to be thrown back or used for bait. c’est la vie.

We wandered through the main street, again, and tasted some amazing local products. Cider is something the region is renowned for, and I thought that’s what we were tasting. Being an uncultured yobbo, when I think of cider i think of Strongbow cider. How wrong was I. Whatever it was that we were tasting was pure rocket fuel. Awesome stuff. Turns out it was an apple flavoured brandy.

This village was also holding a mediaeval festival. That certainly had the place coming to life.
The place has an amazing medieval cathedral and related buildings. Certainly the festival added to the whole gothic atmosphere and theme.
Then it was off to Omaha Beach and the US war cemetery. It looks impressive when you see it on TV or in the movies, but it takes your breath away when you see it with your own eyes. Actually we had been looking forward to cycling around. There is a nice 60km circuit along the D-Day beaches. But the day started with rain, and it was only blowing about 40 knots by the time we were ready to go. So we wussed out. Felt really soft when we saw some people riding, particularly those that looked like the had just started on ‘the biggest loser’.

We had planned to spend the evening near Mt. Saint Michael. (I will write about that place in our next blog)
  On or way we drifted through some beautiful towns and cities, including Greville. What an amazing place, with some amazing buildings, and lookouts. Sensational.

After wandering around this place, John fired up the notebook, and managed to see the last 10km of Stage 1 live. Very cool, although all the commentary was in French, so I had no idea what was going on.

Then it was off to stay at Mont-St-Michel. Will visit tomorrow.

Bayeux

2008-07-06T02:54:00.001+10:00

This is such an amazing place. This medieval town is a nice contrast to the crazy day we had in paris.

Another one of those days

2008-07-05T06:43:00.000+10:00

The day started filled with promise... We would collect our campervan and be set free!
Yeah right.

John decided we could ride over to the campervan rental place, collect the campervan, drive back to our hotel and head off.
He had carefully planned all routes, options and timings. Did they work? In a word, NO. It was a rollercoaster of a ride.

The ride started well enough. But just after the Eiffel tower it all went pear shaped, badly. We had gone a little further along the Seine thn intended. The GPS unit, in its attempts to get us back on track took us through a minefield of roundabouts, narrow streets, car horns, and wildly gesticulating french motorists. It was madness. The 45 minute trip of 18km took 2 hours, and I’m not sure how many kms. We thought our adventure for the day was over.

Then we got the van. Not the one we ordered, but an upgraded one. Seemed OK at the time. More on that story later.
After we had learnt how to operate the van, it was nearly time to hand it to us. But they couldn’t start it. So we got another van. And another run through. And removed all the stuff out of van1 into van 2.

All of this pales into comparison with what happened next. The plan was to take a short route to the ring road, follow it round, and duck down to the hotel. 30 minutes. A walk in the park. The first sign of trouble was when John took a wrong turn, the GPS unit panicked and sent us into a very narrow street. I’m sure my blood pressure will get back to normal by the end of the year. There were some very close shaves as we squeezed between parked cars and oncoming traffic, all in a street wide enough for 1.5 cars.

All this in a context where I don’t normally drive a left hand drive vehicle, and have never driven a motorhome before. Thinking that was behind them, there was another nice surprise when we turned a corner and saw the Arc d’ Triomphe. The words ‘beam me up Scotty’ were never truer. Here we were facing the crziest roundabout in the world. And I was driving on the other side of the road to what I am used to. And I hadn’t really got used to this high, wide campervan. This roundabout is crazy at the best of times, let onlone doing it in a motor home.

I felt more like Chevy Chase as Clark in the Griswalds European Vacation as I continued to drive. The roundabout at the Arc D’ Triomphe was like a huge vacuum force. It could not be escaped.

But I got through it somehow. But my level of high blood pressure was nothing compared with what the poor GPS unit was going through. For the next hour, our GPS unit didn’t know whether to send us North, South , East or West. It was brutal. I wondered if I was ever going to get out of Paris.

But we found our hotel, loaded up, and headed out of the city. This ended up being a straightforward process, although I’m not sure that driving a campervan in Paris could ever be described as straightforward. One of the highlights of our inner city intrigue was waching someone try to reverse park. Narelle said ‘surely there is not enough room’.
As they were reversing the Volvo, they hit the accelerator to give the Audi TT a solid front love tap. It jumped back about 1m. Obviously the gap as still too small, since the volvo driver just drove off.

The roads were busy as everyone was heading for holidays. But we eventually made it to highway speeds and arrived in Breux about 6pm.

But Bruex is such a beautiful village. We are glad we are hanging around tomorrow, despite the forecast being bleak.

As for sleeping, well that will be interesting, as our double bed requires a ladder to get to it.

Another day of unintended highlights. Negotiating the roundabout at the Arc D’ Triomphe would surely rate as one of the craziest things I have ever done.

Heading to Normandy

2008-07-04T14:29:00.000+10:00

Today we depart Paris.
We’ll ride off to collect our campervan. Spend some time learning about it. Then drive back through the centre of Paris to collect the rest of our gear.
Then it is off to Normandy. Rel would like to detour via Belgium, but we’ll see how we go for time.
 John is losing faith in technology. The internet connect at the hotel has become a little flaky in the last couple of days.
None of the photos I included in yesterday’s blog would load up, which explains the lack of context around some statements.
I can’t send emails, but I can receive them.
And the internet connection from my phone doesn’t work.
Looks like I will have to focus on having a good time. Rel will appreciate that.

The GPS unit sometimes struggles to find satellites. Actually it does find them, but I’m nearly at the destination by the time it comes to life.
I may have some fun finding the campervan rental place if that doesn’t work. :-)

And I have no idea when we’ll find an internet connection again.
So there probably won’t be a blog for a few days, or longer, I expect.

Today looks like it will be a beautiful and gorgeous day.
Min of 9 up to a max of 23. Doesn’t sound that different from Brisbane’s forecast.

Time to get ready to battle Paris traffic on the bicycle again.

Riding through Paris

2008-07-04T02:20:00.000+10:00

They have a set of scales in the hotel room. It is a fancy set that actually says your weight.
I stepped on them and it said to me “would one of you please get off?” Perhaps all that bread, cheese and wine was having an unwanted effect.

So it was time for some exercise. We set off on our bikes to ride through Paris.
We had no idea where we were going. That is different to the adventure in Singapore, where I thought I knew where I was going.
Riding in peak hour traffic through large roundabouts is a real buzz, but the drivers are very courteous.
At one stage 2 lanes were merging into one, and a truck braked heavily to allow us free passage. We’re not used to that, but we also realised it is important to aggressively claim the privileges. Otherwise the drivers get annoyed. At one stage we had to cross about 3 lanes of traffic to get back to the correct side of the road, and the drivers just let us drift through. That was fun, although I’m sure Rel has a different term for that experience.

Not long after that we were riding through a large open area. I remembered this as the ‘Place de la Concorde’, or however it is referred to in France. I finally knew where we were. We were about to enter the Champs Elysses. Visions of greatness flashed before my eyes, I glanced down to the speedo to see how fast I was going. 15kmh. I shouldn’t expect a call from any teams just yet.

But the ride through Paris was exhilarating, and an unexpected treat.

Rel battles the traffic. Love the guy in the suit on his bicycle.

Rel rides the Champs Elysses. Note the smooth section on the very right hand side. No wonder the cyclists in le tour prefer that part.

John battles the traffic on the Champs Elysses. The drivers were all very courteous though.

We rode next to the Seine for most of the way back. Nearly as good as Brisbane’s own river ride.

Nearly home. Our hotel is just around the corner.
  
So then it is time for breakfast. The kitchenette also makes for a great place to store the bikes.

After that, we went and explored a bit more of Paris.

Had lunch on the Champs Elysses. ( just a fancy way of saying we had a cold drink at McDonalds)
Dropped into the Eiffel Tower.
Wandered around the Notre Dame. This area was being worked over by the gypsies, and I had been ignoring them.
But I really got under the skin of one of them. Instead of the polite ’do you speak English’, I received an exasperated shriek of ’do you speak English!’ when I wouldn’t pay any attention to her. Made me laugh, but sad that they have to resort to their activities for a living.

On our way home we saw a big press conference for the lady who was rescued from kidnappers in Colombia.
 So once home it was time for a home made feast. I love Paris!