http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/herewego/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from herewego en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:16:59 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:16:59 +0000 A fun day trip with Tina and Lachlan at Grouse Mountain about an hour and a half from home. We will definitely come back during the winter but the summer activities included some nice walks chairlift action some mediocre films about the mountain's history and a couple of very cute grizzly bears. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/North-Vancouver/blog-446257.html The first of many inexpensive and awesome gigs that we are going to over the next few months and hopefully the entire duration we are living in North America. Gigs are sooo insanely cheap here Aimee Mann was only 35 incl fees and taxes and most of the others are 25 or under. It feels great to go to music gigs again to enjoy music with great crowds and atmospheres in pretty decent venues too. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Burnaby/blog-445874.html We celebrated our first Canadian holiday this weekend by giving thanks...for good food and good company None of the locals can give me a reason for why the holiday is celebrated a month before the American Thanksgiving and many of the locals thought it was a worldwide tradition Clearly there are many misunderstandings about the holiday...So looking up trusty Wikipedia this is the reason we a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Burnaby/blog-445864.html So we've officially been a temporary resident of Canada for 2 months now and I think this is an apt time to write about what we think of Vancouver. We've settled in quite well both are working full time making a bit of money and generally living each day as it comes. It's not a fancy life we didn't land awesome jobs in architecture and film as we fantasized we would but we're beyond that now http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Burnaby/blog-439803.html a short film about our travels over the last 6 months http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Burnaby/blog-426922.html Hello So we've sadly finished our round the world travels and have finally touched down in Vancouver. We are absolutely exhausted The last 5 months have absolutely killed us and we need a holiday for our holiday don't get us wrong we had a myriad amazing experiences but after almost half a year of sleeping in hostels with up to 20 other smelly backpackers living on bread and jam for days at http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/blog-422899.html Seattle was very very cool. Most notable is its skyline which we saw as we drove in from the south on a clunky old Greyhound winding around the concrete highways and slowly revealing the uniquelooking Space Needle and tall steelandglass skyscrapers. Seattle is grunge at its grungiest it is hip at its hippest and it is the definition of alternative. Alternative music alternative fashion a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-422902.html First of all HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY AARON YOU ARE AN OLD MAN HAHA.We stopped in Portland due to the advice of our friend Sam back at home. I think things have changed since she visited a couple of years ago. Donrsquot get me wrong itrsquos a lovely city one of the few places wersquove visited where sporadic green parks and places of solitude actually work and scores of antichain books http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Portland/blog-419390.html Close your eyes and imagine this.You navigate through the early morning traffic of a small city with treelined boulevards seeing remnants of dawnrsquos misty fogs roll over the snowcapped mountain ahead juxtaposed against a foreground of a small handful of mediumsized skyscrapers. Leaving the cityrsquos boundaries within minutes you are gliding smoothly along the highway windows rolled http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-419379.html ChinatownHungry and poor we decided to make Chinatown our first stop in San Francisco. We beelined straight to a cheap dim sim restaurant 5.99 all you can eat dim sims now I know saying this we sound as though we are total buffet endorsers but we maintain its not about the quantity its about the pricehellip oh it was gastronomically heaven even the regrettable third plate passing myr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-419356.html It is a surreal and beautiful experience to meet up with friends from home whilst yoursquore travelling overseas. We have been lucky enough to share our journeys and experiences with many of our dear Australian friends. We gatecrashed Rohan and Jodie's holiday on the last week of their honeymoon in Phuket. We had a trashy and good olrsquo catch up with Libana and Mel in Amsterdam. We travelled http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Napa-Valley/blog-419343.html Southern California or lsquoSoCalrsquo as the locals like to call it is the place to be. Oozing with trendiness and confidence overflowing with bronzed bodies and hyperreal colours. Whilst Santa Monica had a considerably different atmosphere to more laidback and less imageconscious Long Beach they both uphold their Southern Californian roots and traditions of promoting excessive sunbas http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Long-Beach/blog-419338.html Itrsquos a Friday and the sun is shining. We are currently in Long Beach and by all good reasoning I should be joining Jian on the sands scrambling for the skeletal shade thrown from all these palm treeshellip But instead I found myself on a train Blue Line all the way back to L.A. My solo trip is a personal one more or less. Not just a day of indulgence a little deeper this time. An adve http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Hollywood/blog-415572.html Welcome to Los Angeles home of the Largo Lullaby and the swan song home of Jackson Michael professional moonwalker. They call it lsquoHollyweirdrsquo. And they are right. Itrsquos actually incredible how offkilter this place is. I thought that Berlin had this slight quibbiling nature just below the surface of its shining veneerhellip Well here in Hollywood and even moreso Downtown http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Los-Angeles/Hollywood/blog-414942.html ldquoThat guy's being awfully forward with that donkey.rdquo Clerks 2So I obviously have nothing better to do with my time right I can hear people saying thathellip casual readers who only put down their travelling guitar to type up their blogs. I can hear them now. lsquoThis kid this Aussie yeah hersquos in one of the biggest cities in the world New York hellip and what do http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Jersey/Jersey-City/blog-414938.html Demonic possession congress and cardio a typical day in D.CldquoAgent Mulder I'm Dana Scully I've been assigned to work with you.rdquoHe shakes her handrdquoOh isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded So who did you tick off to get stuck with this detail ScullyrdquordquoActually I'm looking forward to working with you. I've heard a lot about you.rdquordquoOh reall http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-414910.html Paris left me feeling hollowed out a bit. Like looking at a beautiful apple and biting into it and itrsquos not bad per sehellip itrsquos just a little floury and every fourth bite has a couple of seeds in it. As some had warned me gay Paris isnrsquot the glazed cherry some make it out to be so Irsquoll save that kind of savouring for the South. So a little irritated and a little sad http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-414254.html It is a strange experience going back to a city you once visited years ago. You hold particular expectations and hold onto fond memories and sensations that you cannot quite let go of. It is really disappointing to fall out of love with a city you once fell in love with.I first visited Paris 9 years ago when my father had to attend a conference and decided to bring our family there for 10 days to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-409301.html Hold me up.I have just been to the most amazing country on this planet. Well that I have visited anyway. I have always wanted to travel to Iceland since I was a wee little boy associating the exotic country with eskimos and polar bears and that crazy singer Bjrk. Instead we were greeted with cyancoloured hotsprings ginormous geysers thunderous waterfalls volcanic craters breathtaking land http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Iceland/Southwest/Reykjavik/blog-409307.html I have been finding it very difficult to write about our travels in the last few weeks. There is so much I want to write about yet when I start to type I become overwhelmed with everything that we have experienced. It is now officially 3 months since we have left Australia and we have met so many interesting people experienced so many exotic cultures heard so many foreign languageshellipit is http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Cambridgeshire/Cambridge/blog-405603.html