nicemittens
Kate Forrest Joined: October 8th 2005
Logged in: February 1st 2010
Logged in: February 1st 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Yellowstone
So our point of entry back into the US after Canada was to visit Yellowstone national park. We didn't make it in one day so stopped at the first of many dodgy little towns in our travels, Helena, Montana. There was nothing to do in this place except watch cable TV and watch Rob flirt with the (straight) guy on the front counter. Both equally entertaining activities. The next day we made it to Yellowstone National Park, where, shortly after we'd paid the entrance fee, we found out that only a small proportion of the park was open to visitors because of the snow. Despite the fact that even Old Faithful was out of bounds, the small amount that we did see of the park was amazing. We saw some geysers, a whole lot of deer ... read more
Vancouver
Just when you think I've slipped off the slippery side of the globe, I'm back, and just in time to report on adventures that happened quite some months ago. So, I'll be brief, as I have a lot to catch up on... Many months ago, in a country far, far away, Rob and I left the USA, bound for the bonny shores of Canada. The plan was to stay a couple of days but, as most of our brilliant plans go, we scrapped that one and stayed longer. Our extended stay in Vancouver was mostly due to our excellent hosts, Dom and Andrea, friends of Peta and Adrian, who welcomed us with open arms and took us all around and out on the town for some hi jinx. It was whilst recovering from aforementioned hi jinx ... read more
Seattle
Portland was the next stop after Eureka, and just in time to experience Portland's record low temperatures. It was cold, VERY cold and Portland will forever be etched in my memory as the place with the freakish weather. We stayed with Theresa's friend, Scott, in his house that instantly felt like home. Scott was cool and Portland was a cool place, not only because of it's weather, but also because it seemed like a really young city with lots of musical and artistic happenings. We didn't indulge in any of these happenings, instead, we hit the gay bars for a trashy night and then felt crap the next day. We gave ourselves some time to recover and then motored on up to Seattle and met another of Theresa's friends, Bruce, and his fiance Renee. They were ... read more
Golden Gate Bridge
From LA, Rob and I hit the open road and headed for San Francisco where my friend, Tana, had organised a place for us to stay through a friend of a friend. Steve's house was a mansion, complete with big screen TV's, hot tub and Sensory Deprivation Tank and served as a luxury base to explore the (extremely hilly) San Francisco. It's fair to say that San Francisco is now among the top 10 places I would love to live in, possibly because it had a very 'Melbourne' feel to it. Rob and I did all the sight-seeing things that you do: we ate Clam Chowder down on Fisherman's Wharf, we marvelled at the Golden Gate Bridge, drove down the 'World's Crookedest Road' and then hit the gay bars. After 4 days in San Francisco I ... read more
Santa Monica Pier
San Diego to LA was 'The Hoff's' big drive and all went smoothly. Santa Monica was a cool place to hang out. After we'd had enough pretending we were Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff (Rob-Pam, me-Hoff), on the beach where they filmed 'Baywatch', we moved to the couch of my friend Tana, in Venice Beach . Here we flexed our pale, tuckshop arms on the famous 'Muscle Beach' and showed the steroid boys how it's really done. Venice Beach served as a good base to do all the sightseeing things around LA. We went to Universal Studios, saw a live taping of a sitcom ('According to Jim'), went to Mann's Chinese Theatre, drove down Rodeo Drive and Mulholland Drive and, of course, went up to the big Hollywood sign and dreamt of stardom and what life ... read more
San Diego Zoo
Firstly, I am extremely slack. Rob and I are already 4 weeks into our US road trip and I'm only just now updating the adventures of the first week in San Diego. Fear not, Rob is forever on my case so I have to keep up otherwise I'll never hear the end of it. My excitement at my USA adventure was kicked into overdrive the moment my bus driver asked me, "ken I help'y'there lit'l lady?", and the excitement just kept on continuing as Rob and I were finally reunited at the Airport. It was everything we had hoped for and more. There was slow-motion running towards each other, there were tears in our eyes and there was a long embrace when we finally became one. Not really. Neither of us recognised each other until we'd ... read more
Palenque
The first of only four destinations in Mexico was Palenque, to see some more ruins. These ruins, again, were set in the jungle and it was a bit more peaceful than Tikal. It was nice to spend the day there, wandering around and listening to all the jungle noises. Second destination was San Cristobal de las Casas, a really nice colonial town with lots to see and do around the area. I took a tour to the small towns of San Juan Chamula and San Lorenzo Zinacantan. In Chamula, we went to the amazing church, lit up by thousands of candles, to witness the weird ritual that the local Mayans partake in, which is to drink rum and then drink Coca-Cola, in order to burp and release their evil spirits. This is a ritual for the ... read more
Antigua
I had a lovely Christmas in Antigua. The plan was to go to a big lunch somewhere in the town but I went to the town's plaza in the morning and this is where I stayed all day, watching the passing parade and chatting to folks. Everyone, it seemed, was in the plaza, dressed in their Sunday-best and wandering around, buying lunch from the food stalls on the roadside stalls and then eating it in the plaza. Next stop was San Marcos la Laguna on the shores of Lago de Atitlan. I was going to stay here for New Years Eve but, even though the lake was beautiful, I didn't really like the town so I headed on to Chichicastenango (Chichi for short) for their awesome markets. Market towns are funny little places because the people ... read more
The Boat to Isla de Ometepe
Panama was cool: I saw the Panama Canal and got an opportunity to stock my backpack with what I like to call 'non-backpacker fashion' (ie. not cargo pants). Costa Rica was fun: I got to meet up with George, I got to go screaming through the canopy of the cloud forest on some zip lines (19 to be exact) and I got to see (and hear) lava falling down the side of a volcano. BUT, the real winner is Nicaragua. It seems the poorest country in my travels so far but I've found that the poorer the country, the bigger the smiles adorning the people. Everyone is just so, so lovely in Nicaragua. First stop in Nicaragua was the Isla de Ometepe, an island of two volcanoes in Lago de Nicaragua. I did a spot of ... read more
Crazy Person at the Wheel
At 7pm on Tuesday 22nd November, after 10 hours spent waiting for our paperwork to be stamped by one official, signed by another who would be "back in 10 minutes", witnessed by someone who was currently away on vacation, signed by someone else, and finally copied, stamped and returned by the official head of the Officious Officials only in the minutes between 3:23pm and 3:27pm whilst both reciting 'the Officious Officials Official Statute' and smoking a ceremonial pipe, our high seas adventure began. Those present were yours truly, Jessie (see previous blog entry), Johannes (a German), Drew (an American), Andre (another American), Captain Hernando (aka El Capitan and 'that massive pain in the arse' by the end of the journey) and our trusty stead, 'Marie-Jo' (a 31 foot sailing boat). The skies that had been shedding ... read more
