TravelStream™ news feed for member janmalc on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/janmalc en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:23:14 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1246600392/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1246600392/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1246600392/tpod.html Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:23:14 -0400 Adventure to 100 Mile House

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Invercargill, New Zealand

We spent our last day driving around about four different shopping malls that were within 30-45 minutes drive of where we were staying. Some were larger than others - some had car parks you could drive around for hours in, and you could walk for miles from one end to the other because they were all on the one level over several blocks, and the others were more like the Auzzie malls - 2-3 stories.

We had breakfast at a Whole Foods supermarket, which focuses on stocking organic produce, and whole foods (i.e. not much processed/packaged stuff). They also provided cooked breakfasts using these products, or you could do the coffee and donuts style of thing (which Malc and I did - given it was our last day). He was amazed at what was on offer. We had been in one or two of these in other cities. They don't use plastic bags - you are encouraged to use your greenbags, or they provide the old paper saks that we used to have. About one of the only supermarkets I saw using this appraoch - and yet that is all you see on the US tv shows (the paper saks I mean).

Anyway, we headed back to our hotel to drop off the rental car, pick up our bags, and catch the shuttle to the airport at about 4.00 pm. Were at the airport by quarter to five, and then had the wait! We needed to check in by 5.30 pm and then were loaded on the plane at 9.30 pm.

Our flight back was not was chocka block as the flight over. We were pretty much in the same seats coming back - which I think is probably the best area of the plane to sit (at the back). You have more room to move around without disturbing others. Watched a couple of good movies (The Boat that Rocked and Last Chance Harvey), watched some TV, and slept off and on for about 5 hours - which I though twas stunning. I would say the flight was relatively smooth - lots of jiggles but nothing that worried me. Malc commented that I was much more relaxed this time (and I thought I had been relaxed on the first flight!!!).

When we got to Auckland we had a glitch. Nobody had told us we needed to go to the Transit Lounge. We thought we had to go back to the domestic terminal, so we ended up being in the wrong place and unable to get back to our bags. This was partly our fault, but mostly the airport people's fault (well that's my story). We were told we had to pick up our bags at Auckland (by all the staff around) which was contrary to what we had been told in LA and by our travel agent.

However, Air NZ sorted it out. It only meant a 15 minute delay for us in Auckland, and we were soon down to Christchurch, and then on again to Invercargill and home by 11.30 am - which was just great.

It was bloody freezing in Invercargill (4 degrees), but a better day there than in Auckland or Christchurch. Clearer skies and no wind. Great to see the boys and sleep in our own bed again (although we didn't have any trouble sleeping whilst we were away). Left the unpacking until the next day - managed to stay up the rest of the day but hit the hay at about 7.30 pm, and slept for 12 hours. So back on normal time again.

Wonderful, wonderful experience, and we will do it again - but focus more on Canada next time. Yes Ev - we will be back. Just have to save the pennies again. We had a ball!
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Hollywood, California, United States

We spent the entire day at Universal Studios. Were there by 9.00 am, and initially thought there wasn't going to be anybody there! We were surprised at the low numbers - which did increase slightly as the day wore on.

Initially we had intended to buy a "front of queue" pass, which we thought was an additional $40 each, but found it was going to cost us $120US, so opted not to do so. This was one of the best decisions we made all day. There were no problems with queues. AT the most we had a 10 minute wait for anything - and really it was only on two things - the initialy tour around the Universal backlot, and one other ride we did. The longest wait of (20 minutes) was to get in for lunch at 2.45 pm!!! We had left it later thinking the crowds would die down, but they didn't - they just seem to eat all the time over there, it is astounding.

In talking to the staff, they said that the downturn had affected their numbers. In the past everything had pretty much a 20 minute queue at as a minimum, whereas now the numbers were more like what we experienced. This was wonderful for us. We had a very relaxing day. We did absolutely everything - saw all the shows, did all the rides, and visited every display that was available.

It is not Disneyland, but it has enough rides of interest to keep kids (and the kids at heart), and a number of different kinds of shows as well. We did a kind of "musical" show for the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Didn't know what it was going to be, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Also did the Water World show - which was an action packed event, where those sitting close got absolutely drowned. It was also heaps of fun just watching - and very spectacular with fire works and planes flying into the arena, and things blowing up!

Eventually we made our way out to the Airport Mariott Hotel (a mere 9 miles but took about 45 minutes) which was for our last night's accommodation in LA, prior to departure. I must have been tired, as I took a couple of wrong turns on the way in, and managed to get ourselves right into down town LA, and of course the GPS system acknowledged that I had gone off the rails, but wouldn't give me any directions to get back to the freeway. I guess it was because of all the tall buildings. I managed to fall over a sign to the I105, and got back on to that, and our GPS picked us up again and got me back on track. A little stressful, as we had been told to keep out of down town LA - but really, it wasn't a problem.

In all our travels we made a few wrong turns, but never managed to get ourselves into an area that was uncomfortable, or where we felt we could be in danger. The place that gave us both the most creeps was the Hollywood area. Ultimately Malcy was happy with where we were staying, but I wouldn't like to have walk the streets in the dark. However, as it is daylight until 10 pm, that was never an issue anyway, and we never went out alone either.

Only one day left! Hard to believe.
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Hollywood, California, United States

Sunday turned out to be another stunning day, and the heat was kicking in even at 8.00 am. We went for breakfast early, and found a Farmers Market near where we were to stay. It was lovely - and once again, great fruit. Strawberries, peaches, nectaries and apricots. This part of our trip has certainly been much more fruity than the early part. At the market they also had a petting zoo, and a carousel, which had real horses. Wonderful!

Malc was keen to get out of the heat, however, so we initially arranged new accommodation for the day, close to Universal Studios, which we had agreed we would visit on Monday, rather than our last day of our trip, and then headed to the beach.

The trip on a Sunday morning was amazing. 9.00 am, and the freeways were chocka. Everyone was either heading to the beach, or heading out of town.

The most stressful part was finding a park. We found a "parking area", the cost of which was $11.00 for the day (relatively cheap as it turned out), but the parks were few and far to be found, and everyone driving in the park had one of those SUV's - except for the chap sitting there in his White Rolls Royce!!!! We couldn't believe it. Fancy taking a car like that to the beach, and risking it in the car park. I suppose he had the money not to worry about that!!

Once we had settled in a car park (which was small - I don't know how those SUV's do it, but they do seem to squeeze in, and you feel intimidated when they are around you in such confined spaces), we got our walking shoes on and walked around the civic area (initially) and the older part of Santa Monica where they were holding a type of market day, with local entertainment on display. Then we found the Promenade - which is one of their main shopping areas, and walked that.

It was amazing to see the number of people with dogs in this area. They were everywhere, and walking around so well behaved, and not worried about anybody else. There were the posers with their little dogs that were being carried, but there were big standard poodles (looking like poofy poodles) and dogs of that size, everywhere. We commented on how well Tess would have been behaved in such an area (not!!!). And the shops had dog bowls at the doors for the dogs, and all the trees had sawdust for them to have a pee at. And of course the owners in the states are far better trained/behaved than we are here in NZ - they all pick up their doggy doo - and bags are provided everywhere for them to do so. So of course you never step in the stuff, so it's not a problem.

It was much cooler at the beach than in Hollywood itself - 10 degrees lower. Ultimately it was nearer 90 in the hills that day, but Malc was much happier on the coast at a 78-80 sort of temperature, with a light breeze.

This is a much used area - people on bikes, skates, roller blades, sun bathing, swimming (between the flags), and lots of life guards around. Funny though - didn't see any Baywatch Babes around at all - most disappointing (ha, ha).

We had a lovely day there, and found our way back to the motel for another Chinese Takeaway later that night. We had paid for our motel in cash at 9.00 am, without receipt provided (as was often the case at these lower end deals), and were a little skeptical about getting the room we had been promised - but not problems. Told the new person on the desk (Manager's wife) and she handed over the key. Unfortunately, no pool at this place, but was a bed for the night and brekkie in the morning - so what more could you ask.
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Hollywood, California, United States

Well the trip down from Santa Monica to Hollywood was trouble free, and we soon found (interesting) accommodation at the Value Inn on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and North Kingsley Drive in Hollywood. Once that was sorted we headed out to see the famous streets.

The weather was stunning once again. Blue sky and temperatures in the early 80s - just yummy. We made it into Hollywood central and the walk of fame area, and it was crawling with people. In fact the place made Malc's skin crawl. He was really uncomfortable. We both agreed the area itself was sleezy, but I was happy enough walking around and just seeing the sights. He stuck it out for a few hours. Part of the problem with the main area was with Michael Jackson's death. The part of the street where his "star" and "hands/feet" stuff was blocked off and just chocka with people, so this was forcing the normal crowds over to the other side of the street. We couldn't get near Michael's famous place, and didn't try. We took a few pics of the area, and can now say we have been there, but wouldn't be rushing back in this lifetime.

From there we drove around Burbank and found Rodeo Drive, and drove up that as well - just to see how the other half live. Malc commented that we went from one extreme to another - that both areas were "places to be seen in" and we didn't fit in to either place. This was a pretty good summation.

We went back to our motel and walked to the local "Panda Express", which was getting quite a bit of business from us in this part of our trip. We were enjoying sharing Chinese takeaways - particularly Orange Chicken (by Malc) and Kung Pow chicken (by me).

I had a swim at our motel - yes, although it was a bit on the lower side, it did have a pool that you could do about six strokes in, and then I sat on the lounges and read for half an hour - a nice way to unwind. Despite it being later in the day, the temperature was still just lovely.

Another interesting fact was that across the road from our motel was a 95c store. Malc paid it a visit and was astounded at what it contained. It was groceries of every kind. He bought us another pound of strawberries for 95c. Have I mentioned the strawberries before?!? They are wonderful. We will look like a strawberry by the time we get home.
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Santa Barbara, California, United States

We left San Luis Obispo at about 9.00 am this morning - much more civilised hour - given we only had a couple of hours to travel to get to Santa Barbara.

Fancy us being in "Michael Jackson country" when he died. Michael lived in the greater Santa Barbara area for many years, and was actually tried at the Santa Maria court on "those" charges. As you will all be able to imagine, we can't get away from it here - Michael Jackson on the radio and tv almost non-stop.

Anyway, the trip here was uneventful, on the 101 - two lane highway all the way through. We started off in foggy conditions - the sea fog comes in about 4 pm and takes half the day to burn off in many areas. However, by the time we got to Santa Barbara the fog had well and truly gone. The temperatures got as high as 78 today, but tended to sit between 68 and 72 for much of it.

Santa Barbara is a real holiday area, and so we had some difficulty in getting a hotel that was up to standard and yet still a reasonable price. Those that we had sussed out on the net/coupon book the day before were full, and a couple of others were just dives. However, after spending about an hour driving around, I suddenly drove into this one (Sandpiper Inn) as there were two side by side. Thought it would be too expensive for us, but at least we had the one next door to go to which we knew would be cheaper. However Malc turned on the charm, and his kiwi accent. The guy on the front desk spent his school years in the North Island of NZ, and so took pity on us. The normal cost is $154 plus taxes for a room here, but he agreed to reduce it to $135 plus tax initially, and then when confirmed we were kiwis, dropped it to $125 plus tax. The dearest we have had to pay anywhere, but as it is for just one night, who cares. The room is nice, and the pool actually took five strokes to get from one end to the other!!!! Many of the pools here have been the size of a hot tub really - wouldn't be able to swim in them, and so I haven't.

Anyway, once we were booked in, we had a break from the car before we spent the afternoon looking around local malls, and also State Street, which is the main/historic area of the town. It was surprisingly long - several miles - with the end we are at being the historic/art/museum end, and the lower end at the beach being the boutiquey end. It was lovely to get down and have a paddle along the beach - which once again was a well used area by all kinds of recreationalists. Although there was a breeze down at the beach, it was pleasant, and kept the heat out of the sun.

The beggers were back today, but they tended to be silent - just with signs saying they needed food - no personal approaches. What a life! I'd slit my throat if that was all there was to life - sitting there all day, and then they seem to sleep around the local baseball diamond - we saw them on the way back to our unit tonight.

A quiet chinese takeaway back at the unit, and reasonably early night (10.00 pm) for us. We are once again feasting on strawberries. We have been able to buy them for about $1.50 per lb - which is heaps cheaper than at home in the summer time, as for a pound you probably get the equivalent of two punnets worth. And they are huge. And they are delicious! We buy a couple of pounds at a time and eat them over two days - they can be our morninig tea snack in the car! Boy are we rich eating food of kings like that!

Another thing we have noticed and commented on throughout our trip, is that the US has tended to keep its old picture theatres (on the outside), although they have turned them into multi-plexes on the inside. They are lovely, with the cashier sitting out in her cubicle in the front. It is not cheap to go to the movies here at night. About $12 NZ per person if you go before 6.00 pm and $20 per person if you go after 6.00 pm. Was surprised at that. But people must go, as it is not uncommon to see 5-6 movie theatres in the towns, and they each have 3-6 theatres in them.

Tomorrow we will head into greater LA for the remainder of our trip. The weather is looking to get even warmer over the weekend. The inland areas are prediciting tempeatures into the 100s and are warning people to drink heaps and use sunscreen. Should be cooler on the coast, but still in the 80s, so maybe looking for another pool tomorrow.

Must say, was nice to get back into the water again and do a few lengths!!!! Hah, ha. Has been 3 years since I did any kind of swimming. The pool was salt water and heated - like getting into a cool bath - lovely!

Sorry - no pics today, as the internet isn't sufficiently fast enough to allow them to be loaded up.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1245990452/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1245990452/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1245990452/tpod.html Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:27:32 -0400 Adventure to 100 Mile House

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San Luis Obispo, California, United States

Today we left Monterey, in the fog, at about 8.30 am. We travelled the coastal route to Hearst Castle, which was approximately 93 miles from Monterey. It was a pity about the fog, but for all that, the trip was great - the scenery wonderful, the road winding (40 mph much of the way) with little traffic, and odd little inns/restaurants/galleries along the way - and not a McDonald's in sight all the way - just great! We also managed to catch up with a group of Elephant Seals along the way, and stopped at many of the vista points for fresh air, a foggy view, and just to look back where we came from. Some of the roadway was more bridge than road, where the sea and the hillsides have been eroding the land away. They would be working on the area much of the time I should imagine. It is Highway 1 - the USA considers it to be their first scenic highway.

We arrived at the Hearst Castle visitor centre around 11.00 am, and managed to get on the next tour, at 11.10 am. Funnily enough, neither of us had spotted the 'castle' which was on the hill above us, as we travelled to the area, which is San Simeon - you may have heard of it.

Hearst castle was built by William Randolph Hearst over a period of 20 odd years. It is just stunning. Doesn't look like a castle from the outside - more like a church, but it is definitely a castle on the inside. The swimming pools - outdoor and indoor - are stunning. Graham - I have found somewhere for the lunch time swimmers to do laps in the future!!!! It is an indoor pool, probably 25 m in length, and is tiled in 14 carat gold and blue tiles. Hopefully will get a pic of it included today.

The tour, and the guide, were excellent. You start at the base from the Visitors Centre and travel by us (takes 15 mins) to the top of the hill, about 1300 feet up overlooking the San Simeon area and the Monterey peninsula. The views are fabulous, and by the time we got to this area the fog was well and truly gone - blue sky and sunshine all the way. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and added hugely to the tour. You get to view the Neptune pool, one of the three guest houses on site, the main reception room, the dining room, the pool room and the "home theatre" as well as the tennis courts and the indoor pool in this tour. There are three other tours that can be taken, all costing about the same amount, that do varying other things - view more rooms, give more indepth information, provide a good view of the entire grounds, and also a night time event with dress up characters adding to the authenticity.

The Castle is part of the National Park, and also is a registered Art Museum. The paintings (originals) some of which we got to see, were stunning. In fact the whole place was. This was somewhere I had wanted to go, and Malcy was happy enough to come along, but even he was blown away by the place. He didn't stop snapping pics the whole time we were there.

We left the area around 3.00 pm, and were unsure where to head. Chose one area slightly inland, but ultimately changed our mind and headed to San Luis Obispo. However the detour gave us some great views of stunning wine country which is prevalent in this area. Made me think that it must be much like the French areas - very arid, but acres and acres of grapes.

San Luis Obispo was an area I had heard positive things about, and wanted to visit, and am pleased we have ended up here. We struck the right day - market day, which started at 5.30 pm and went through until 9.30 pm. The local farmers bring their produce to town to sell, and local artists entertain. The place was just stacked with stalls and people - something Invercargill would envy enormously. And the strawberries, and apricots and peaches and nectarines and apples and oranges and, and, and,..... were just endless, and cheap!!!

We had tea in town (which was forgettable), and then found a patisserie on the way home - probably shoudl have missed it, but we succumbed! We shared a lovely Raspberry/Lemon cake - which was probably made for 4, but who was counting!

Tomorrow we have a short jaunt to Santa Barbara. Have decided to stay around the coast area - it is just lovely. The spanish influence is very prevalent here, but not so much in the people - more in the buildings, etc. And no beggars to be seen in this town so far - much better! Temperatures also slightly warmer here - got to 75 today.
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San Francisco, California, United States

We left Eureka bright and early - were on the road by 8.00 am, after a quick coffee for breakfast. Followed the I101 (Redwood Highway) down to San Francisco. It was a lovely morning - brisk, but clear skies, when we left. We found the town was quite a bit larger than we had first envisaged, as we were in the older part of town.

Anyway, we were soon back in the Redwood forests, and it was wonderful. Even the bit from the I101 was good, but as we were making good time we decided to take the "scenic alternative", which we think was probably the original road before the freeway was installed.

This scenic highway was stunning. Narrow roads, we travelled about 25 mph, and just enjoyed the trees, the ferns and the feeling of solitude. Were surprised to see quite a large camping ground in the area. Their Parks Service certainly look after people, allowing them to get away into the park areas in well serviced camping areas. After rejoining the main drag again, we soon found that it would run out of "freeway" status and we would be back in the Redwoods a bit like the scenic diversion - but only for brief times. We were really pleased we took the detour.

We also managed to come across two "world famous drive thru trees" - one on the scenic route and one on the main drag. Pics to prove we drove through the tree!! Strange things you get to do over here.

As we made our way south, we found clearer skies - cloudless, and the temperature went up to 88 degrees (briefly) before settling at round 82 for much of the trip. Just lovely.

We had no problems getting into San Francisco, or crossing the Golden Gate bridge. Malc had said he wanted to take some pics before we went across, and I managed to flounder my way across the freeway to the park at the side. From there he took pics (which hopefully we can load up) and then he drove the rest of the way. The toll is still in place - it is the only toll we have had to pay in all of our 3,000 odd miles of travel so far - $6.

We are here for a couple of days. Tonight we walked down to China town and had a good look around there, then moved to Union Square - which is the wealthy shopping area - way out of our leage. Found a Westfields shopping mall in the area, but even that was more up market. However, we shared a stunning steak dinner there in the food court, before heading back to our motel. We are within walking distance of China town, the crookedist street (which we hope to get to tomorrow) and Fisherman's wharf - and about 10 blocks from the Golden Gate bridge - so quite central for us.

We hope to hire bikes again tomorrow and bike around the various parks in this area, and bike over the GG bridge, as well as visit a couple of museums, etc. Malcy has it more or less planned out.

Feel quite safe in the area we are in. It is clean, only seen one beggar so far, although have seen a couple sleeping in sleeping bags in doorways; but it certainly has the feeling of size that some of the other cities we have been in have lacked. The steeps streets are stretching the archilles - no bad thing - and certainly giving us some much needed exercise. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be good again - 70s-80s - so looking forward to that.
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Monterey, California, United States

We left San Francisco at 9.00 am, with fog hanging around the place, and the likelihood that it would continue to follow us down the coast.

We had decided to drive to Monterey today and stop, on the way down to visiting Hearst Castle, also on the coast. Interesting driving out of San francisco at that hour. Traffic was heavy, but progressing at "reasonable" speeds. The speed limit on the inner city freeways is 55 MPH, but was tending to travel at least at 65 MPH - the fast lane going faster. I eventually decided I was sick of people driving past me and caught the flow of traffic, only to have a Highway Patrol car weave his way through us all, and head away at about 70 MPH - he certainly had no interest in slowing anybody down.

As we made our way our of SF the fog disappeared, as we were tending inland, but as we turned to the coast and Santa Cruz the fog was back, and the temperature was down to about 60 - quite cool. Initially I liked Santa Cruz, but when we started to make our way around the town (around lunch time) there were heaps of beggers (well half a dozen - which was probably more than we saw in SF for two days). They were young, and white, and saying things like "I need a drink", or "returned serviceman". Some people shouted at them to "get a job", most (like us) just ignored them. But we were surprised at their numbers, and couldn't wait to get back on the road. We had intended to stop there for lunch, but decided to get to Monterey instead.

So we travelled down the coast to here. There are a few towns that run together on the Monterey Peninsula - Sand City - which we later discovered was mainly a "warehousing" area. Used to be the main area for providing sand for cement factories. There are sand dunes everywhere there - would hate to live in any houses there! The dunes hide the sea from the road.

Then you run into Seaside, which appears to be the "workers" homes area for Monterey. Monterey itself is the weekend holiday area for SF people by the looks of things, although the cost of accommodation isn't out of the way (mid week being a key). You add $20 per room for Friday/Saturday accommodation. However, the shopping is expensive - exclusive, classy type shops - even in the malls.

Clearly they expect to get high temperatures here much of the time, but it ain't happening at the moment. The fog has hung around a lot today, and even when it wasn't here, the wind from the sea was cold. No shorts and t-shirts for me today!

After booking into the motel we had a good look around the three town areas, and then came back to the motel for a break. Whilst there, discovered we could take a drive around the Pebble Beach golf resort area - for a cost of $9.25. They provide maps and a route to travel (17 miles in length). We did this and Malc got a real thrill out of it. The home of many successful tournaments by Jack Nicklaus, and of course we have seen the course on TV on many occasions. It is to host the US Open next year and they are promoting it now. He got to crawl over one course (and found a golf ball!!!!) - the Spyglass course. We also took pics around the clubhouse and 18th hole as we (the general public/plebs) were allowed in that area. Made his day for him. As we were heading to the area the fog started to come in and I was wondering if we would see anything. Unfortunately couldn't get pics of the coastline from the top because it was pea soupy, but as we progressed, it had moved on again - quite flukey like that.

We came back to the motel and had a chinese takeaway for tea, and have just had a quiet night. Looking forward to heading to the Castle tomorrow - will take about a couple of hours to get there from here, and the rest of the day will be spent in and around there. Hoping the fog disappears, so that the temperatures warm up again. It is supposed to.
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San Francisco, California, United States

We had a wonderful day in San Francisco - it turned on the weather and everything went beautifully.

We started off with breakfast in the Fisherman's wharf area - at a place that only does breakfasts. Had their "world famous" waffles with strawberries and maple syrup, and a coffee - sitting outside in the sunshine watching the traffic go by. We shared the plateful, as there was no way I could have eaten them all on my own. Boy the meal sizes are huge over here!

We then went next door (funnily enough) and hired a couple of bikes for the day. From there we biked around the foreshore area, and up and over the Golden Gate bridge. It was a much easier ride than the Stanley Park bridge in Vancouver. However, I was surprised at the strength of the wind, particularly on the far side of the bridge. Over and back was straight forward, although we were dodging pedestrians and other bikes all the way, as they only have one side open for this trip until 3.00 pm, when they open up both sides and separate the pedestrians and the cyclists. Obviously biking the bridge is more popular in the afternoons over here!!! Saw the chaps walking on the bridge - what a wonderful view they have every day they go to work.

From there we continued around the foreshore and streets, finding our way to the Golden Gate park in the middle of the city. This is a well used area, but few people walk to it. There are cars everywhere. But there were areas within the park for everyone - archers, kite flyers, picnicers, large ball sports, small ball sports, etc, etc - not to mention the de Young gallery and the California Academy of Sciences - the latter of which we visited.

This was a stunning place to visit, and if you ever get the chance I would encourage a visit. The exhibits are interactive, and there is lots of chat going on. They have staff members discussing exhibits with anyone who wants to talk about things. The aquarium part of it was awesome, and was where we spent much of our time. The rain forest exhibit was closed for maintenance, but we could see in and didn't feel we missed too much by not getting to it.

We did miss the planetarium, purely because we didn't understand the system. We were there for 3 hours and found out that we should have picked up a pass to a show in there as soon as we came in. By the time we got there (at the end of the visit) we found we had to wait another 1.5 hours before we could get into a show, so decided to flag it.

From there, we continued biking around the Presidio district, up hills (and boy are some of them steep) and down dale. This city is certainly bike friendly - they have cycle lanes everywhere and cycle tours marked up so you can follow them by sign-post. Didn't feel at risk despite biking through all that traffic.

We returned the bikes at about 4.00 pm, and then spent the rest of the evening wandering in and around the Fisherman's Wharf area. The weather all day was lovely - they said it got to 75 degrees, which I found surprising. Malcy found it warm, I thought it was good to slightly cool with the sea breeze - but didn't need anymore than a t shirt and shorts on, so wasn't complaining.

To finish off we had Clam Chowder in a Sour Dough bowl for tea (well I had the tomato soup - but most people seemed to be having the Clam Chowder, including Malc), direct from the bakers of the Sour Dough bread.

We then had a 20 minute wait in the queue for the Cable Car to take us in the general direction of our motel. Did this from an "experience" perspective. We were generally surprised at the inefficiency around this operation, which is typically un-American in the way they deal with crowds of people etc, but more typical of what you would expect from the NZ railway system!!!! Gave us a giggle, however, and caused much discussion in the queue of people around us.

So back to our motel at a reasonable time, for coffee and bed - after a strenuous but very enjoyable day. We both like San Francisco very much - and along with Vancouver - it is a city we would come back to and spend more time in.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1245552900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1245552900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/janmalc/1/1245552900/tpod.html Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:13:10 -0400 Adventure to 100 Mile House

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Portland, Oregon, United States

Well we were up bright and early (4.30 am!!!!! - unheard of on my part) and made our way down to the Ferry (5 minutes walk from the hotel). Believe it or not the sun was starting to come up at that time of the day, and the street lights had been turned off by 5.00 am.

We had joined the queue of cars the night before, so were more than happy all was well. But when the customs/immigration people were doing their checks, they didn't start with our line, which made me wonder why. Then I discovered that our car (and another couple's) was in the queue for the 10.30 am sailing. Apparently their staff had not directed us correctly. Thank goodness we were one in front of the other, and were able to get out of that line of cars, and not blocked in by a second row!!!

Anyway, we were on our way by 6.00 am, with the sailing taking approximately 1 hr 30 mins to Port Angeles, Washington State, from Victoria (Vancouver Island, Canada). So we said our goodbyes to Canada - another overcast day unfortunately, and it was about 8 degrees - v, v, cold compared to the temperatures we had been enjoying in the interior!

The weather followed us to Washington, and by the time we landed it was starting to drizzle. Port Angeles through to Olympia was what we commented to each other on as "hicksville". The roads reminded Malc very much of NZ roads, but the forests around each side of it were wonderful (although somewhat patchy).

We managed to flounder our way down to the I5 (the drag strip) and then found a number of factory outlet stores in the middle of nowhere. Malc bought himself a stunning pair of Addidas shoes for $40 US and another pair for me for $17. Were thrilled with that. Hit the road again, and arrived in Gresham (a city within the city of Portland) and found accommodation at the Howard Johnston. A mere $44 US a night for a lovely room, pool, exercise room (not that we are taking advantage of either - weather is lousy) high speed internet and breakfast for us both all inclusive. A barg!!!

After a break from driving, we found another suburban mall, and Malcy found himself in an Addidas outlet store, where he found a S/shirt for $20 US and shoes for $25 US. Made the big decision to splash out and spend so much money on himself, only to be stunned to find he received a further 30% discount. He continues to float on a cloud! Another pair of old shoes to be thrown out.

That will be it for the malls and shopping for a while. Tomorrow we head down to Salem, and then out to the coast, where we will be travelling through some redwood forests, and just generally taking in the scenery. Biggest towns we are likely to go through have about 4,000 population. Will take a couple of days to get down to San Francisco, and then spend a couple of days there. Not sure when we will get to update this blog next, as the accommodation we are eyeing up doesn't mention it yet. But we have been surprised before when we have turned up at the door.

We are finding that you get good deals for accommodation if you just turn up, rather than book at the net. They don't like you walking out the door, and will do their best to make you an offer you can't refuse. We tend to look for high speed internet for free, and if possible breakfast (although that last one isn't an essential).

I must say, I was happy to leave Victoria. Not a place I would be racing back to. Strange place, and at night, i.e. after 5.00 pm, the beggers came out in force. There were always some on the streets anyway, but they would actually come up to you at night and ask you to your face, or try and engage you in conversation. We learned quickly, but really, it doesn't leave a nice feeling.

Only five pics in all taken today, and as one is of me not looking my best (shivvering my butt off on the boat before we left Victoria), there isn't a lot to see. Hope to improve on that tomorrow.
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