Santa Cruz, and the 'Tour of California' continues. Not ours, I hasten to add, but the AMGEN 'Tour of California'. Through a contact we had blagged some passes for the finish line hospitality tent. Most of the other occupants were a little surprised to find a pair of Brits in there, even moreso when they found out that we don't have an abiding passion for cycle racing. I did have a bit of interest though, mainly because it was the return of Lance Armstrong. Even if you know nothing about cycle racing you've gotta know about Lance, dontcha? Apparently there's a [View Full Entry]

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As they say here, we 'lucked out'. Pacific storms have been bringing in some much needed rain. Not needed by us, but certainly needed by the natives. Luckily the rain kept away for our drive up to Santa Cruz. US1 is prone to rockslides, mudslides and all sorts of mishaps, many of them closing sections of it. If it gets closed you can find yourself with a looong detour involving much retracing of steps. The only place where we hit heavy rainfall was Big Sur. That was a shame 'cos I intended to take a bit of a break there and [View Full Entry]

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So enjoyed Montana de Oro State Park yesterday that we went back to explore some more today. The name comes from the golden flowers that carpet the place in spring. There's a photo of a few of the early arrivals. Did a three hour hike along the Bluff Trail that follows the coast line (did we mention that we like to be close to the sea?). In that whole time we saw maybe a dozen people, it was as good as having the place to ourselves. It was cold and windy but the sun was shining, the sky was blue and [View Full Entry]

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What a difference a day makes! When we left the High Desert it was in the midst of a snowstorm and to tell the truth it was a bit scary. Most of the drivers on the road weren't making any concession to the weather conditions, any space you left between yourself and the car in front was immediately seized on as an opportunity to swoop across from lane 1 to lane 4. It's not surprising that there were a number of collisions. Once we got past the hills and down into Greater LA the skies cleared and the sun came out. [View Full Entry]

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Here we are then in our room in an authentic Tuscany-themed villa in an authentic Tuscany-style village setting ............ in the middle of the desert. And it's pouring with rain!!!! As in pouring. Unheard of. It notices too, Vegas drivers aren't very good in the wet, there were an enormous number of accidents. Hey guys it's not like NASCAR, this is real life, when it rains the show still goes on. Is it cruel of me to say that I find Vegas bizarre in the extreme? Tacky? Sleazy? Maybe I'm missing the point of it all, but everything is just so [View Full Entry]

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We left the relative peace, quiet and calm of Maui and flew off to Honolulu. A 30 minute plane ride somehow managed to take up most of the day. Checked into our 'boutique' (read 'all we could afford'!) hotel and hit the mean streets of Waikiki. The contrast to Napili bay couldn't have been more stark. Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Bvlgari, Tiffany.......... and thousands of people walking around, most of them looking like they only had Wal-Mart pockets. The people who could afford them were safely tucked up in the Pink Palace or one of the many other high-end resort hotels. [View Full Entry]

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It's been quite a laid back experience here at Napili Bay. Much laying around on the beach. In between times we did manage to do a few things. Went out whale-watching, took a snorkeling trip and went to see Ozomatli at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. The whale watch was excellent, at this time of year it would be quite hard for it not to be, the waters are absolutely heaving with Humpbacks that have come here to attend to all the necessities of life........... except eat. The females come here to give birth to their calves and the males [View Full Entry]

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Started off our last day in Kihei with a typically large American breakfast. At least the beach was long enough, and the late check-out long enough, to walk some of it off before setting off to Napili Bay. The move didn't get off to the best start when I locked the car keys in the trunk! Naturally the car itself was locked so no chance of popping it from inside. I've never been so pleased to have paid $4.99/day for the roadside assistance insurance. Otherwise I may have been facing an unpleasant bill. The very friendly guy (who apparently spends most [View Full Entry]

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"As this flight terminates in the US, regulations demand that passengers do not congregate, particularly around the lavatories" was the announcement. Sniggering, was the reaction. "It is important that you remain in your allocated seat for the duration of the flight" was the second announcement. "Fuck that" was the reaction from everyone, at least at our (back) end of the plane. Never again will I badmouth JetStar. The plane was more empty than full, and a comfortable nights flight beckoned. As pushback got nearer there were nervous glances up the aisles from everyone, all hoping tha [View Full Entry]

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Sydney. Another Sunday, another hangover. Will we never learn? It was meant to be a restrained evening. Chrissie had to fly off to Brisbane for work the next day, wasn't going to have a drink. We've been inhibited a bit by last Saturdays effort, so all was looking good. The clue though is in where we were going. Met up at the Opera house bar, sun shining but not too hot. Tragically the first bottle of sav. blanc slid down all too easily. As did the second. 8 o'clock came and it was time for us to head off to The [View Full Entry]

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