http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Esclaw/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Esclaw en-us Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:18:51 +0000 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:18:51 +0000 Allow me to set the scene for you. As I type this itrsquos raining bordering on sleeting. I am wearing jeans wool socks slippers two shirts and a sweatshirt. In addition I have a hot water bottle on my lap and a mug of coffee in front of me. Itrsquos dark . . .and for the first time in recent memory I have a cold.Ah the Northeast of America in March home sweet home. Wondering how http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/North-Shore/blog-46726.html New Zealand written from Christchurch and BondiYes another long vacation blog but hey it's my second to last one indulge meThere's a commercial running down here in New Zealand promoting dairy farming as a way of life. The ad features people from various former careers talking about their new glamorous life as a dairy farmer. There is the expharmacist exfirefighter exshop manager http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-43766.html Odds And EndsFeb 19 2006Things are winding down here. Wersquove started packing and stopped buying the largest size of milk. We are also mostly eating takeout food again as we transition out of a permanent residence to justpassingthrough status. Naturally it is now as we are about to leave that I finally bought my one billionth smoothie and was promoted to the VIP level. It was all ver http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-40675.html Do we ship A's bike How will we get three HUGE suitcases two small suitcases two strollers a pack n play golf clubs three duffel bags and two computers to the airport WHERE ARE WE GOING TO LIVE WHEN WE GET THERE Do they have hazelnut flavored creamer there Only three weeks till we have answers to those many questions http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-16205.html Feb 8 2006Well I started this blog out today intending it to be primarily about Frangipani flowers as a local fashion statement. But thatrsquoll have to wait. Today I encountered the Australian Medical System and as a card carrying member of the ldquo10 Times or Morerdquo club a group that counts how many times the American HMOPPOs have made them burst into tears out of sheer frustrati http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-40134.html Feb 1 2006In Which My Worst Fear Is RealizedIt happened last night at precisely 1014pm. I got ready for bed turned off all the lights in the apartment walked into our room and started fluffing the pillows when out of the corner of my eye I saw something that Should Not Be. A Huntsman Spider. On the wall above Lesrsquo dresser. Five inches or so across. With catlike movements by whi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-38755.html It's another 'bobbydazzler' down here bright sunny day in OzSpeak. We already hit the beach this morning before the crowds descended. I suppose that's one of the advantages to the early morning routine that a toddler demands. We don't get to sleep in but we do get to hang out at the beach nice and early. So a few bits of fun news from our camp. First The Beverly Citizen a local new http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-37997.html The Bridge ClimbSydneyrsquos Harbor Bridge is the equivalent to our Golden Gate Bridge in terms of fame and its symbolic value to the country. It is the worldrsquos largest but not longest steel arch bridge built throughout the 1920s and opening in March of 1932. And of course keeping with the theme of all things dangerous and Australian the city of Sydney allows people to climb the Harbo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-36941.html Getting Off Kangaroo IslandOur last night on Kangaroo Island was hot. Super hot. And because we'd had the nocturnal tour the night before I went to bed dehydrated from all the walking. I woke up feeling like I'd swallowed a bottle of sand and consequently drank a bottle of water at brekkie. Not just any bottle but a mega 1.5 liter bottle. Dad looked over and asked. ldquoDid you just drink http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-34902.html Part 2 of 3 Kangaroo IslandThe Long Hot Drive to GlenelgThe drive out of the Flinders Ranges was a long one. We chose to take the more lsquoscenicrsquo route and it was scenic but it was also hot and dry. Further down here the day after Christmas is Boxing Day and even though it was Tuesday the day after Boxing Day everything was still closed in a retroactive celebration. This meant http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Kangaroo-Island/blog-34301.html We did a lot in the past week. Probably as much in one week as Les and I did in our first month here. As a result and since this blog is first and foremost my way of recording our time down here these will be some LONG blogs. Irsquoll be posting three in all but Irsquoll caption them. So if you feel like yoursquod like to read about Flinders Ranges you can skip to that section or yo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Flinders-Ranges-National-Park/Wilpena-Pound/blog-33745.html Back and BakingHappy 2006 We just got back from our fabulous South Australia trip this afternoon. We had a crazy adventurous and fun time blazing trails all over the southern bit of Australia. My plan is to post three postevent blogs over the course of this week one for each location we visited. However I have a personal rule of not typing or being near anything that emits even the sl http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/Bondi-Beach/blog-33598.html Of Arrivals and RiotsWell to begin with of course the big news is that my parents arrived yesterday And after flying from Miami to LA LA to Honolulu and finally Honolulu to Sydney they walked through the customrsquos gate last night none too worse for the wear with only their roller boards in tow. I will admit that out of an entire jumbo jet they were almost the first people thru the g http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-31880.html Some of you have been asking us about the riots that have been occurring lately in and around Sydney. While they have been in beach towns so far they have been south of us. The closest town experiencing the problems is Maroubra. Though itrsquos only a few miles south of us itrsquos not within walking distance of Bondi and itrsquos not part of the chain of beaches that we frequent. The p http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-31229.html Kookaburra Sits on the TV AntennaSince wersquove been in Australia Irsquove seen two Kookaburra. And they were quiet and very still. But in the past two days Irsquove seen four and yesterday afternoon right in the middle of town we saw two more. Rather I should say we heard them.When a Kookaburra does its laughing thing it is an arresting sound. Both Abby and I froze and looked up an http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-30339.html Well at about 1130 this morning it stopped raining. Irsquom not holding my breath or anything. Itrsquos been raining pretty much straight out for three weeks now but the sun and crisp air have a feeling of permanence that they havenrsquot had during their brief appearances over the past many water logged days. My hope is that we can actually hit the beach instead of the mall this aft http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-29450.html Happy Birthday MomToday Sunday is my Momrsquos 60th bday and while I realize we donrsquot generally give out ages big milestones arenrsquot included in that rule. So happy birthday Mom and wersquoll see you in three weeks I hope everyone had relaxing and fun Thanksgiving weekends. Unfortunately we werenrsquot able to feel too gloaty about being at the beach instead of in the c http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-28883.html Sculpture By The Sea Herersquos a disclaimer right up front before we even get into anything further. Les and I are not great art aficionados. We like some art and are happy to have nice paintings and photographs on our walls but we donrsquot regularly go to galleries and the last time we went to an art museum was to see the traveling Monet exhibit in Philadelphia. It was our first date i http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-28372.html Beware the Jabberwock my son The jaws that bite the claws that catch Beware the Jubjub bird and shunThe frumious BandersnatchI am starting to think Lewis Carroll wrote that with Australia in mind and he just wasn't sure what the official name were for the various things that bit and had claws.Early this past week Abby got attacked by a horde of lsquosea licersquo. These feisty organis http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-28011.html Ordinary DaysWell we had just another ordinary weekend. You know the type daily trips to the beach a few hikes over seaside cliffs a Guinness Book bungee attempt the worldrsquos largest airplane and of course a battle with a new nasty bug. Just your basic weekend down under where nothing is done on the small scale.We had read that there would be some sort bungee jump attempt down http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-27239.html