Page 6 of unpaidbill Travel Blog Posts


Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Melbourne » St Kilda September 22nd 2006

THE LAST GASP......It’s just gone 5am, first fady light, in the local jargon it’s picaninny dawn, or more locally accurate, sparrow’s fart. I’m not sure about their bodily functions but there are mobs of really rowdy birds in my neighbourhood. They all have their own tree, one full of sparrows, another doves, another pigeons, then there’s the raucous lorikeets swooping and screetching like teenage vandals, hooning around the back yard, the wattle birds in the gum tree with an extraordinarily evocative call that takes me back to summers at Rosebud. And I'm sorry that I haven't been in contact with many of you but I did run away after 7 days back and went to Towny for a few days...but mainly, being the clever little bugger that I am, I packed my Oz phone in a ... read more
New Pergola
World's Best Dog....2
Bloggees Party1

North America » United States » California » San Francisco August 28th 2006

Oh, I love this city…something very Melbourne about it altho’ they don’t have the same competitive issues, playing the heart-and-soul to LA’s superficial glitz that Melbourne does with Sydney! OK I have had some requests for pix of San francisco...the words have dried up...maybe I need another bike?...but it's short....and reflects some of my fond thoughts of this fair city....it's nearly midnight and the occasional screams still break thru' into my little room... Lots of archaeo-tectural building facades, Victorian era carved-faced edifices still hanging in, and glorious, amongst the high risers of concrete and glass….and a constant stark contrast between the crowded derro filled areas just near my hotel and only a block or two away, the ritzy galleries, restaurants, high-end boutiques, name brand stores, parks and museums…the heart of the tourist area it seems….I wonder ... read more
cityscape3
opposite my hotel
my street

North America » United States » California » San Francisco August 25th 2006

I took the stretch limo option ($10 extra) for the ride to the chopper depot for my tour of the Canyon, good but not really ‘grand’……on our return, we flew down ‘the strip’ , the heart of Las Vegas, and this was the Grand part…..I’ve seen many fantastic canyons over the past 14 months, this one is big and all that, but not the most speccy by far…..but the whole Las Vegas thing, Jesus wept, this is soo different…there is NOWHERE like Las Vegas…it’s big and glitzy, total BLING…plastic fantastic, phoney, skin-deep, rip-off-heaven, schmaltzy, smokers’ heaven, money, money, money (all going one way!) ..….and there’s nothing apologetic about the plastic glitz….fantastic..they know what they are and they are damned proud of it…and it works…a totally artificial, contained, cosmos, and all these hotel/casino complexes all trying to ... read more
The Chopper
The City in the (urban) desert
Canyon1

North America » United States » Idaho » Sun Valley August 15th 2006

It was the revered 'cocktail hour' like 5 pm or so and I'd got back to the fabulous Metropolis Hotel in the middle of what seems to be the druggiest, sleaziest, derro-filled part of town....the action centre, but most of these people are so off their tits on whatever, staggering, sliding, sleeping on the street...too much...anyway, I was having a small Absolut and some pistachios, the pistachios had been given to me, most kindly and thoughtfully, with a wholemeal cookie, by Rebecca, Michael's 'amour de moment' the night before I left Sun Valley, the 15th, my second birthday on the road.,....and thanks to all of you who remembered...both of you!...Ha.....anyway, the first sign was an unopened pistachio and you all know how frustrating that can be, and then I dropped one...omg...a sign indeed..it was time to ... read more
The Famous Jacket
What do you mean No Parking?
Last Off-Road

North America » United States » Idaho » Sun Valley August 10th 2006

I did want to call this one "obssessive-compulsive, anal-retentive, power-tripping, control freak...ie everything you want in a ship's captain" but things have transpired...as they always do...yes, my beloved bike, my home and heart for 14 months, 75,000 kms, longest, most stable and rewarding relationship of my life (except for a couple of notable others...and you know who you are) Yes "La Cuenta" has ben sold...despite all the forebodings of doom and hard work (always my nemesis) it all turned out to be pretty straightforward.....after the generous insurance pay-out I was able to discount the sale price and one of the Bro's buddies snapped it up...we went to the county office this arvo and it was all done in 10 mins.....if we'd been in California it probably would've taken 6 months...ahh the pleasure of living in Idaho...hohoho... ... read more
Malolo by moonlight
Wack of lamb...oh heaven!
Michael's B'day...Ganges


REFLECTIONS ON THE WATER….Sleepless in Seattle….Reflections of Vancouver and Seattle, the “World View” and The Seal of Approval…..AT THE POINT WHERE INFINITY BECOMES NOTHINGNESS…. BUT back to the beginning…I got the impression I was in the gay end of town in Vancouver, or else they were all really, really friendly…some odd looks as I went into some bars…too gay?…too straight?…who knows?…lots of couples…partners? Lots of homeless street people, always people with their hands out, putting the squeeze on, sleeping (passed out?) on the streets, forever botting smokes (altho’ this was understandable, cigs v exy here) some great bars/restaurants around the beaches and as it is an island, lots, giant-super-mega-cruise liners at the dock, size of small cities, 3,500 passengers on one…unbelievable, watched the ants loading tons of supplies thru’ the lower hatches…huge crates of fruits and ... read more
Achillles Heeled Over
The Good Ship Malolo
The Bro' Michael


Alaska, atlasta...shades of Ushuia, 20+ hours of daylight, my time orientation out of whack, time to eat? cornflakes and milk or steak and red??…looks like 2pm, actually 10pm, sunset is 12.30am, sunrise 3am!…helps to make me realise how much I wouldn’t like to be here at the opposite time of year! And it’s my anniversary, yes, 25 June 2005 I flew into LA, sometimes it seems like 12 weeks, other times, forever! The bike’s just clicked over 72.000 kms! In Vancouver I met Nigel, a ski club program director, on his 1200 Adventure (the few problems I have with the 1150 look to be sorted on the 1200….fantastic!) he invited me to stay in Whistler, it was on my way north so I did. Booked for the winter Olympics 2010, Whistler is picture pretty, big ragged ... read more
Bill on the Arctic Circle!
BMW Buddies, Rob & Micah and George
Check out the Guardrail!

North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver July 5th 2006

Riding into the ferry terminal carpark at Haines, Alaska, it’s a big carpark and I ride down the No. 2 lane as I’d been told, already a lot of cars and 8 bikes there, suddenly a car driving down lane 1 turns in front of me, I veer right, evasive action mode, to try and get around but he’s turning too fast and I smash into his right front corner, wobble on a metre or two and crash out!!…..Check fingers and toes, check everything else, feels ok, stagger up, the front end of the little Chevy has been torn off and dents on the door and bonnet, fark!, what about the bike, my heart sinks…a couple of BMW riders have raced over from the queue, the brotherhood again!…one takes a couple of pix, they help me ... read more
BMW v Chevrolet 2
Passing Barges
Petersburg 3am

North America » United States » Alaska June 29th 2006

Finally made it to the very top...Prudhoe Bay...the northernmost part of Alaska...from Ushuia to Prudhoe Bay is the ultimate South/North trip...66,000 kms, 1 year and 2 days, from the bottom of the world to the top...whoo hoo!! (well, from the centre to the bottom, back to the centre and up to the north) I'd thought of many reasonable excuses and logicified many reasons for not going further than Fairbanks, Alaska, after all, I'd got this far!...(grammar??) in the end, how could I refuse the chance to make it to the absolute end of the road, sort of Ushuia but the other end...and the same buzz when I got there. Thanks to George and Rob and Micah who encouraged me...I think the expression "pussy Aussie" was mentioned!! About 1,600 kms out and back, about a third asphalto, ... read more
a few beers after the run to Prudhoe
The Actual Arctic Circle...Brrrr
Atigan Pass....brrr

North America » Canada » British Columbia » Vancouver June 18th 2006

Her name was actually Renee but I called her Pandora because of her Porche Boxster, we met, duelling on the freeway…just like a worm, parts in the middle are perfectly motionless while other bits accelerate …but the system is fantastic, freeways get you a long way, very quickly…just don’t miss your turn off…aarrgghhh…hours later… the striated concrete often runs askew to the lane markings, (the striations made by a roadworker with St Vitus’ Dance dragging a huge rake down the line of the freeway, roughly) and at high speed, and with constant buffeting, gusseting turbulence, hazardous!…but the signage is great, but sometimes disconcerting, a huge electronic sign on the freeway advises a child abduction and gives details of the car involved!…..but once off the main routes, the signage is often missing…..I did an 80 mile loop ... read more
Yosemite Valley
San Clemente Car Show1
San Clemente Car Show2




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