15 August 2007
Farewell, my lovely
Due to popular demand (yes, okay, actually ONE person), we have decided to resume keeping a blog. Since it will no longer be an exciting account of our travels, we’re going to start it up in a new spot, here.
06 March 2007
The Meaning Of Life
As most of you are aware - which is really just Wendy - this suburban family of four has returned to its version of suburbia in inner Sydney. I'd like to think that "the adventure" is not over, but at least in the conventional sense it is.
One of our last experiences in the US was to visit Tiffany's brothers in San Francisco. As this was only the second time she had met her older brother Mark and the first time she had ever met her eldest brother Jeremy, this was an important occasion. We were also welcomed by their respective spouses June and Wendy and a gaggle of cousins for Holden and Phoebe - Elizabeth, Alexander, Nathan and Lauren.
Walnut Creek is a fair way from the city and we also managed to go via two of San Francisco's three major bridges, making it a substantial journey. Which is just a round about way of saying we were late.
It might have been unsettling for siblings raised under such different circumstances to meet for the first time, but it was almost like an innate familiarity existed and within minutes the normal noisy din of family get togethers everywhere was underway. There were tears caused by the traditional swordfight between cousins; laughter caused by the traditional poking-of-fun at a shared relatives; and of course much photography.
We are extremely lucky to be part of such a strong and resilient family and I really look forward to seeing them all again "Down Under".
So the next day it was back to the airport to be fingerprinted and photographed - like the common non Americans that we are - and back on our 14 hour flight to Sydney. As soon as you step onto a Qantas flight the Aussie accent welcomes you back home and in a way you are.
The kids are back at school now and we're both well on the way to re-employment. Our journey is over, but hopefully not the adventure.
One of our last experiences in the US was to visit Tiffany's brothers in San Francisco. As this was only the second time she had met her older brother Mark and the first time she had ever met her eldest brother Jeremy, this was an important occasion. We were also welcomed by their respective spouses June and Wendy and a gaggle of cousins for Holden and Phoebe - Elizabeth, Alexander, Nathan and Lauren.
Walnut Creek is a fair way from the city and we also managed to go via two of San Francisco's three major bridges, making it a substantial journey. Which is just a round about way of saying we were late.
It might have been unsettling for siblings raised under such different circumstances to meet for the first time, but it was almost like an innate familiarity existed and within minutes the normal noisy din of family get togethers everywhere was underway. There were tears caused by the traditional swordfight between cousins; laughter caused by the traditional poking-of-fun at a shared relatives; and of course much photography.
We are extremely lucky to be part of such a strong and resilient family and I really look forward to seeing them all again "Down Under".
So the next day it was back to the airport to be fingerprinted and photographed - like the common non Americans that we are - and back on our 14 hour flight to Sydney. As soon as you step onto a Qantas flight the Aussie accent welcomes you back home and in a way you are.
The kids are back at school now and we're both well on the way to re-employment. Our journey is over, but hopefully not the adventure.
24 February 2007
Bridge to Terabithia
Did you notice I didn't mention the Golden Gate Bridge in my previous post of highlights? I was saving it.
After three days at Fisherman's Wharf, we decided to head for something a little cheaper. The place we ended up is between Russian Hill and Cow Hollow, both beautiful and upmarket areas of inner SF. Our hotel, however, is neither of those things. Free parking wasn't enough to stop us grimacing at the dingy corridor as we found our room. But you know what, this is our view. So we don't mind so much.
And Andrew took the kids up the Golden Gate today (you know me and heights - I went shopping).
Chinatown
So we're now in sunny San Francisco. No sarcasm, either. Apart from a couple of heavy downpours yesterday, we've had clear, sunny, beautiful weather, which apparently is atypical of SF in Feb.
We've done lots here, but here are some of the highlights:
Chinatown (and it's Chinese New Year), where we had excellent dim sum (that's yum cha to you Australians) and saw a fortune cookie factory ...
Sea lions at Pier 39 (there were lots, but this guy was special)
The amazing Alcatraz, where we had an excellent audio tour, and the view back over to the city was beautiful
There's more, but we need to go out and eat now ...
We've done lots here, but here are some of the highlights:
Chinatown (and it's Chinese New Year), where we had excellent dim sum (that's yum cha to you Australians) and saw a fortune cookie factory ...
Sea lions at Pier 39 (there were lots, but this guy was special)
The amazing Alcatraz, where we had an excellent audio tour, and the view back over to the city was beautiful
There's more, but we need to go out and eat now ...
East of Eden
The last part of our drive up to SF featured the bizarre juxtaposition of a visit to the National Steinbeck Museum followed by a couple of weird hours at an outlet mall.
The Steinbeck Museum was great - the US seems to do these kind of things particularly well, utilising volunteers, and incorporating simple activities for kids to keep them focused while parents can actually read and absorb the more serious material. We saw Steinbeck's RV - and realised that we'd done some of the same route that JS himself did with his dog Charley.
As for the outlet mall, well, now we can say we've been to one. Andrew, Holden & Phoebe all have new Converse sneakers.
And so we drove into San Francisco, a much less daunting and horrible experience than driving into LA. Our hotel for the first three nights was right on Fisherman's Wharf ... details to follow.
The Steinbeck Museum was great - the US seems to do these kind of things particularly well, utilising volunteers, and incorporating simple activities for kids to keep them focused while parents can actually read and absorb the more serious material. We saw Steinbeck's RV - and realised that we'd done some of the same route that JS himself did with his dog Charley.
As for the outlet mall, well, now we can say we've been to one. Andrew, Holden & Phoebe all have new Converse sneakers.
And so we drove into San Francisco, a much less daunting and horrible experience than driving into LA. Our hotel for the first three nights was right on Fisherman's Wharf ... details to follow.
22 February 2007
From Here to Eternity
We were happy to leave LA. And I mean that.
Movie trivia: You may not know this, but the famous love scene from 'From Here to Eternity' was filmed at the Big Sur. So there.
As we had three days to get from LA to SF, we took it pretty easy. On the first day we drove up to San Luis Obispo, and happened to luck on a nice hotel and the town's weekly Thursday night street market. Part of one of the main roads is closed off to traffic, and fills with stalls selling everything from fresh produce to chili dogs to Democrat slogans. And they have a HUGE Barnes & Noble. It really was the first time in the US I thought 'yeah, I'd like to live here'.
The next day we met spectacular scenery (the famous Big Sur) on our drive up to Monterey. You'll see this features in our new blog header.
Once again, through a bit of good fortune we ended up spending the evening in a great spot, right near the coast.
The following morning was so glorious that Andrew had to prove his manliness with a swim ...
And we had trouble getting Miss Phoebe out of the ice-cold water.
Movie trivia: You may not know this, but the famous love scene from 'From Here to Eternity' was filmed at the Big Sur. So there.
As we had three days to get from LA to SF, we took it pretty easy. On the first day we drove up to San Luis Obispo, and happened to luck on a nice hotel and the town's weekly Thursday night street market. Part of one of the main roads is closed off to traffic, and fills with stalls selling everything from fresh produce to chili dogs to Democrat slogans. And they have a HUGE Barnes & Noble. It really was the first time in the US I thought 'yeah, I'd like to live here'.
The next day we met spectacular scenery (the famous Big Sur) on our drive up to Monterey. You'll see this features in our new blog header.
Once again, through a bit of good fortune we ended up spending the evening in a great spot, right near the coast.
The following morning was so glorious that Andrew had to prove his manliness with a swim ...
And we had trouble getting Miss Phoebe out of the ice-cold water.
Fantasia
The kids and I would just like to add the following to Andrew's analysis of Disneyland - it was AWESOME!!! Corny, cheesy and fantastic fun, even if Andrew and Holden did trick me onto a roller coaster ...
But really, the only possible reason to go to LA. What a dump.
21 February 2007
The Truman Show
Just the word Disneyland conjures up so many images and ideas about America that I was quite excited about going there. It is a brand that has become inseparable from the country of its invention and although it may be less associated than McDonald’s with US hegemony and globalisation, it is probably more practically responsible for it.
However, excited as I was Holden and Phoebe were ten times so - which was a good thing as getting our family of four the most basic entry for a day cost close to A$300.
We were there mid week, mid winter and might have expected it to be half empty but of course Disneyland is never empty. It can’t be. It needs a constant flow of dollars and lots of them. It is a gargantuan effort of organisation and without a vast number of people arriving every day and forking over a lot of greenback it would collapse very quickly.
Nowhere is the science of handling high volumes of people as perfected as Disneyland. Everything runs smoothly, everything is clean and you don't notice how many people are there.
At first the employee greetings of “have a magical day” seem a bit lame, but it's hard to remain cynical when you see the extraordinary special effects and robotic technology of the rides and also the surprising sense of humour displayed by many of the ride staff. For example, on exiting "the jungle tour" - which had taken all of five minutes - the boat driver told us we had been a wonderful group ... and that she would miss us .... and she loved us .... deeply. Some of the Americans simply didn't get it and started grumbling about her having "lost it". We thought it was hilarious.
A visit to Disneyland also has an almost patriotic meaning to many Americans. There are literally hundreds of extended families running around the park wearing loud matching t-shirts with slogans such as “Jones’ family road trip 2007” with a map on the back of their journey from Iowa. Without even realising it they are on an odd secular pilgrimage to worship at Space Mountain, Frontierland and the Matterhorn Bobsled ride.
It may sound an odd description of what on the face of it is a children’s theme park, but I walked away from Disneyland astounded by what is possible with enough money, enough desire and enough brainpower. In my view Disneyland is as much a monument to US ingenuity as NASA. It may also encapsulate much of the unauthenticity, even fakery that is in the US national character. The same country that put a man on the moon mostly chooses to make 5 billion burgers that are cheap and taste exactly the same.
However, excited as I was Holden and Phoebe were ten times so - which was a good thing as getting our family of four the most basic entry for a day cost close to A$300.
We were there mid week, mid winter and might have expected it to be half empty but of course Disneyland is never empty. It can’t be. It needs a constant flow of dollars and lots of them. It is a gargantuan effort of organisation and without a vast number of people arriving every day and forking over a lot of greenback it would collapse very quickly.
Nowhere is the science of handling high volumes of people as perfected as Disneyland. Everything runs smoothly, everything is clean and you don't notice how many people are there.
At first the employee greetings of “have a magical day” seem a bit lame, but it's hard to remain cynical when you see the extraordinary special effects and robotic technology of the rides and also the surprising sense of humour displayed by many of the ride staff. For example, on exiting "the jungle tour" - which had taken all of five minutes - the boat driver told us we had been a wonderful group ... and that she would miss us .... and she loved us .... deeply. Some of the Americans simply didn't get it and started grumbling about her having "lost it". We thought it was hilarious.
A visit to Disneyland also has an almost patriotic meaning to many Americans. There are literally hundreds of extended families running around the park wearing loud matching t-shirts with slogans such as “Jones’ family road trip 2007” with a map on the back of their journey from Iowa. Without even realising it they are on an odd secular pilgrimage to worship at Space Mountain, Frontierland and the Matterhorn Bobsled ride.
It may sound an odd description of what on the face of it is a children’s theme park, but I walked away from Disneyland astounded by what is possible with enough money, enough desire and enough brainpower. In my view Disneyland is as much a monument to US ingenuity as NASA. It may also encapsulate much of the unauthenticity, even fakery that is in the US national character. The same country that put a man on the moon mostly chooses to make 5 billion burgers that are cheap and taste exactly the same.
20 February 2007
LA Story
As usual I’m writing this blog about LA in Monterey [but posting in SF - ed], so I need a little music to set the scene.
… as the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard … with apologies to Sheryl Crowe.
Crowe may not be the only one looking for some fun in the city of angels, but they’re all sure to be doing it in a car driven very fast and recklessly. As we discovered, our beloved and faithful RV George didn’t cut the mustard.
George gets the death wobbles at anything over 70 miles an hour and in LA’s 14 lane freeways and five storey freeway loops, our introduction to the city was…well…terrifying. What was to be an hour and a half afternoon jaunt from Palm Springs to an RV camp site for our final night, ended up being abandoned at about 7pm at the first motel we could find. Along the way we discovered that in vast swathes of LA Spanish is the preferred lingo and that the term “beach” in a suburb name doesn’t necessarily mean it's on the coast.
LA is a city based on the car. So we had to get one. We said goodbye to George and at great expense said hello to Bob, the world’s ugliest Chrysler, who will stay with us until we head home from San Francisco.
We also said hello to Venice Beach, which I must admit is a pretty cool place. It’s kind of like Bondi only seedier and a bit more colourful There were more drug casualties per square inch on Venice Beach than I have ever seen. Bums quite literally hold up signs reading “Willing to work for marijuana”. However, the homeless are everywhere in LA, even – and I had to admire this guy – in Disneyland. He must have had a very very good hiding spot because I doubt he was fronting the entry fee.
The LA beaches are ok, but not much on Sydney beaches. I really like their ocean piers, but the beaches we saw were about 200 meters wide which give a decidedly desert feel. The water is also quite murky and at this time of year very cold.
One thing that was interesting was just how much film production seems to go on in this city. It’s a cliché, but every second conversation overheard in a café seems to be about the film business and we saw at least three major film crews at work in the time we were in the city.
… as the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard … with apologies to Sheryl Crowe.
Crowe may not be the only one looking for some fun in the city of angels, but they’re all sure to be doing it in a car driven very fast and recklessly. As we discovered, our beloved and faithful RV George didn’t cut the mustard.
George gets the death wobbles at anything over 70 miles an hour and in LA’s 14 lane freeways and five storey freeway loops, our introduction to the city was…well…terrifying. What was to be an hour and a half afternoon jaunt from Palm Springs to an RV camp site for our final night, ended up being abandoned at about 7pm at the first motel we could find. Along the way we discovered that in vast swathes of LA Spanish is the preferred lingo and that the term “beach” in a suburb name doesn’t necessarily mean it's on the coast.
LA is a city based on the car. So we had to get one. We said goodbye to George and at great expense said hello to Bob, the world’s ugliest Chrysler, who will stay with us until we head home from San Francisco.
We also said hello to Venice Beach, which I must admit is a pretty cool place. It’s kind of like Bondi only seedier and a bit more colourful There were more drug casualties per square inch on Venice Beach than I have ever seen. Bums quite literally hold up signs reading “Willing to work for marijuana”. However, the homeless are everywhere in LA, even – and I had to admire this guy – in Disneyland. He must have had a very very good hiding spot because I doubt he was fronting the entry fee.The LA beaches are ok, but not much on Sydney beaches. I really like their ocean piers, but the beaches we saw were about 200 meters wide which give a decidedly desert feel. The water is also quite murky and at this time of year very cold.
The next day we made the compulsory trip for tourists along the Santa Monica Boulevard to Beverley Hills and Hollywood. It being Oscars month the kids got to hold an academy award as part of the academy’s PR attempt to compete with Cannes and Sundance, but in general the walk of fame, Sunset Boulevard, etc were a bit lame.
One thing that was interesting was just how much film production seems to go on in this city. It’s a cliché, but every second conversation overheard in a café seems to be about the film business and we saw at least three major film crews at work in the time we were in the city. The next day was Disneyland and that’s worthy of its own blog … hopefully tomorrow.
Postcards from the Edge
We interrupt our normal broadcasting for the following public service announcement:
It has come to our attention that a number of letters and postcards we sent from Peru have never arrived. So if you're sulking because a promise epistle has failed to appear in your letterbox, please forgive us. Perhaps they will turn up one day.
We are just hoping the 10kg box we posted with EVERYBODY'S GIFTS in it hasn't also gone AWOL.
It has come to our attention that a number of letters and postcards we sent from Peru have never arrived. So if you're sulking because a promise epistle has failed to appear in your letterbox, please forgive us. Perhaps they will turn up one day.
We are just hoping the 10kg box we posted with EVERYBODY'S GIFTS in it hasn't also gone AWOL.
18 February 2007
Raising Arizona
After the Grand Canyon, we headed down to Tempe (Phoenix) for our reunion with the Smiths, who lived in our apartment block in Bondi back in the day ... Hairy freeways aside, we made it to their house, and proceeded to be terribly spoilt for the next day and a half.
Harriet took us to the botanical gardens, which were quite incredible. I never realised what biodiversity the desert contains. And the cactus are something else.
Tempe is a very civilised place, with a lively main drag and the kind of buzz you get from having a huge university. On our second night there the Smiths took us to a fabulous Mexican restaurant, which happily wiped out the lingering taste of many third-rate 'Mexican' dishes we've had. And the frozen Margaritas were pretty good too.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to wallow in the Smiths' hospitality any longer, and hopped back into George to head for Joshua Tree National Park (after which U2 apparently named their album). Now I know where Dr Seuss got his inspiration for the crazy trees that feature in so much of his work.
We liked the rocks too. This one is known as Skull Rock ...
Harriet took us to the botanical gardens, which were quite incredible. I never realised what biodiversity the desert contains. And the cactus are something else.
Tempe is a very civilised place, with a lively main drag and the kind of buzz you get from having a huge university. On our second night there the Smiths took us to a fabulous Mexican restaurant, which happily wiped out the lingering taste of many third-rate 'Mexican' dishes we've had. And the frozen Margaritas were pretty good too.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to wallow in the Smiths' hospitality any longer, and hopped back into George to head for Joshua Tree National Park (after which U2 apparently named their album). Now I know where Dr Seuss got his inspiration for the crazy trees that feature in so much of his work.
We liked the rocks too. This one is known as Skull Rock ...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)