Barney and Liz do North America

---

“HIPCRIME You committed one when you opened this book. Keep it up. It’s our only hope. “

– <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hipcrime Vocab Chad C Mulligan

I write this on the very jerky Amtrak Cascade train on the way to Vancouver. That is why my typing is so shaky and misshapen. We leave on a train that runs parallel to the harbour between the city and the foreshore. As we pass I noticed no burghers of Seattle with signs demanding the track be torn up.

Seattle has been great but jet lag has put a dampener on our stay here, particularly as we walked so far on that first day. Acclimatising is about more than adjusting to the weather.

Some observations about America (based upon a scientific study lasting 5 days)

· They tend to like Australians.

· You run into Australians everywhere. Not only that you run into people from the Hunter everywhere. Last 2 days Medowie and Wyee.

· They have no concept of a sandwich that does not include industrial quantities of cheese.

· Their Jack cheese is tasteless.

· An America a pre packaged sandwich by law is not allowed to be sold on the day it was made. Preferably it should be kept for at least 2 days before being sold.

· Like everywhere you can find people who wouldn’t give you the time of day and within a minute another who cannot do enough to help you. This should be enough for me to avoid into the future even the contemplation of national stereotyping.

· Like England they have pre-packaged sauces and condiments with everything.

· Amtrak is on a par with NSW railways.

We have just passed a marina that contained at least 1500 yachts. You can almost touch the affluence here. It is almost visceral in its manifestation. Unfortunately poverty is also in your face. The homeless are everywhere.

Today we went to the Museum of Flight. I love these kinds of museums. As a kid i used to collect pictures of WW 2 planes. We actually got to go on the 707 Air Force 1, that was used up to the time of George H W Bush. We also got to stand inside a space shuttle (or at least a re-creation). There was a model of the original moon buggy. What was so amazing is how “tinny” it all looks now. The seats were made of the kind of canvas strap backs that you used to see on mini mokes and the controls were primitive. Guess it shows how far technology has come – or how fly by the seat of your pants the whole thing was.

Will be interesting to arrive in Canada. The worst thing you can call a Canadian (from Canadia) is an American.

Liz speaking:

Trying at the moment to make a cup of tea using a coffee maker – takes forever and never boils.

When ordering brekkie this morning we asked the waiter to ask the kitchen staff to add the tea bag to the pot while still in the kitchen please, rather than waiting til it got to the table. We are on a continent of big time coffee drinkers – have never seen so many places to buy coffee, every second person walking on the street is carrying coffee....no wonder the streets are busy til the early hours, no one can sleep! Have been told that Vancouver has 370 Starbucks and 170 Sushi bars (Miri would be happy).

I disagree with Barney about the trains being on a par with NSW ones: smooth ride; nice food from the bistro car; polite audible understandable messages over the PA; clean disabled friendly loos; digital display of next stop, current stop, time and speed; apologies for track work which extended the trip by 30 minutes; comfortable seats.....

I have to mention the “park” opposite our Seattle hotel. Called Regrade Park, “a place for community activities”, it was about 20 metres by 20 metres (looked like a building had been removed), fenced, with airlock type double gates because this is where the locals take their dogs for off-lead exercise. Not a blade of grass – all concrete and gravel, with a few trees for shade, and lots of concrete structures for dogs to run up and around on. There was a tap and bowls for water and a bin for those little bags we collect when walking our furry friends. What other community activities occur there I can’t imagine - nothing for kids to do, for example. It was well used by dog owners.

Differences between Seattle and Vancouver – Seattle very relaxed, most women wore flat sensible shoes (necessary with all the hills you walk), not a lot of ‘fashion” or clothes shops, many homeless in the downtown area (some areas considered no-go), and of course many African Americans. Vancouver feels more like Sydney, with more clothes shops and a sense of fashion in the women, very few African Americans but lots of Asians (there is a Chinatown). Both interesting places. Met 2 roving tourism volunteers today who just wander around offering help to those who look like they need it, like anyone carrying/consulting a map or with a camera around their neck. Started with the winter Olympics in 2010. Great idea! And Newcastle is getting rid of all visitor info kiosks etc.......

CANADA

The train trip from Seattle to Vancouver has echoes of the Gosford section of the Newcastle Sydney trip, mirroring the hugging of the shoreline and except for the 1500 odd yachts domiciled in a 1000 metre section of the shoreline you might be lulled into thinking you were home .

We arrived after midnight and i couldn’t sleep. Finally dozed off about 2am. Next day we walked. Along and down to the foreshore. Vancouver is the second largest port in N America after NY. It has a long history of working people’s struggle for decent wages and safe working conditions. This struggle along with the appalling treatment of First Nation peoples and the Chinese is outlined in the interpretive signage which is a feature of the boardwalk which runs along the shoreline of the harbour. As you walk you get a feel for the history of the place punctuated by ferries coming and going and the constant arrival and taking off of seaplanes.

This morning i awoke with gout. Walking and gout are like oil and water, they do not meld. Luckily i had a prescription filled before i left but the medication is slow to work and does not work as well if you don’t stay off the affected area. I’m a slow learner.

First night we ate at the Flying Pig in Gastown. Ok but nothing to write home about (so i’m not). On our way home we spotted a Lebanese restaurant. We have taken to dining Lebanese on every trip we take.

On Friday we decided to do a hop on hop off bus tour because of my foot. Highlight of the day was a trip to Granville Island. Granville Island is a long abandoned industrial area. Beginning in the 1970s the city govt began encouraging artists to establish themselves there. Today there is a community centre, 3 theatre companies, a range of on-site craft and arts businesses where you can see the art being made, glass artists, ceramicists, a huge farmers’ market plus a children and youth arts centre as well as a community centre where the workers were setting up for the Vancouver Fringe (beginning Sept 3 wouldn’t you know it?). The children’s and youth arts centre seems like a really good concept. Perhaps Newcastle Council should give it a try. There is an opportunity there to establish a world class youth arts and cultural centre which would probably win state and national awards and really engage kids from all walks of life in the greater Newcastle area.

Granville Island was packed with people and you could get there by taking the world’s smallest ferry (included in our hop on hop off price) to and from.

In 2003 or 4, Newcastle Council came up with a magnificent concept – the Civic Cultural Precinct. This was going to see a new Council headquarters straddling the railway line at Civic thereby facilitating access to the foreshore. The library would be incorporated into the new building and the round building would become part of the university. The Fred Ash, the Bennett and the Library would become artists’ studios where working artists would ply their trade in full view of the public. The Civic playhouse, town hall and civic theatre would be incorporated into the concept along with Wheeler Place.. A water feature would run from the current gallery down to the harbour. Fred Ash and what would become the old library would become artists’ studios and home for arts organisations. The University would move into town as it is now doing. Had it proceeded we would have had something like Granville Island. This would have served to activate the city in much the same way that Granville Island is now a seething mass of people on a daily basis. Alas we now have an alternative vision driven by dollars alone. So it goes.

ART - A friend of mine in Tulsa Oklahoma. When i was 8 years old. I’d be interested in hearing from him. There are so many pseudos taking his name in vain. – <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hipcrime Vocab - Chad C Mulligan

If there is a purgatory then we have had a preview. Today we boarded our cruise liner. To do so took 4 hours of my life that i can never get back. For reasons best known to the cruise lines, 2 cruise ships, 5000 people, were processed, over a period of 4 hours. This meant lining up in a queue that went for more than 400 metres, carefully scripted via the mandatory bollard and tape backward and forward “ticketing” rows until we got to present our boarding pass and pass through electronic screening.

We were then funnelled down to a holding area where we were offered juice and a cookie while we waited for an hour and a half in order to be granted the privilege of lining up for another half hour to be finger printed and photographed, the exact same procedure which we had done in Honolulu. Tell me why did we have our finger prints taken in Honolulu and then again in Vancouver? Doesn’t one set of fingerprints talk to the other? I thought that was the whole idea of computerisation – to eliminate repetitive tasks. More American efficiency! All the while my gout is killing me.

Finally we got on board and head to our cabin. Wifi is $99 for 100 minutes. We declined and will do without until we get to Juneau where i’m sure some enterprising cafe will offer free wifi. To rub salt into the exploitation wound, the cruise has a coverall disclaimer that the service may drop out at any time for undisclosed periods.

Dinner was Cardiff RSL buffet with an extra star. Went back for some salmon off the bone. Couldn’t believe how overcooked it was. Virtually at the dryness level of tinned salmon. Aren’t these the people who invented salmon cuisine?

Went to the gym this morning. Well set out with lots of treadmills and steppers. Bare minimum of other apparatus. Still, managed to do pretty much my normal routine.

We spent the AM going through heavy fog. Has pretty much burnt off now. Temperature is probably low teens. Some brave souls in the pools. I will pass. The ship is now in open water and there is a steady pitch and roll which means that you tend to slightly stagger rather than walk to your deswtination.

Liz is doing the choir event and we look forward to trivia later this afternoon (yes we’re high flyers operating close to the edge). Missed out in trivia by 2 points. Brenda and Philip Carter where are you?

Did my first Karaoke in more than 15 years tonight. A creditable miss would be the most positive spin i could put on the attempt.

Tomorrow is Ketchikan. Hopeful that we can get some wifi access.

---