At home with the Salts!

Top of my list of things to do in New Zealand before I arrived was to see my old partner in crime Kim, who was sadly deported from the UK about 4 years ago and shipped home to New Zealand for crimes against humanity. Me and Kim used to have a ball in work and I cant speak for her but it was certainly the most creative period of my career to date. We didn't concern ourselves with trivial tasks such as designing buildings rather the more pressing job of superimposing each others faces onto a range of bizarre and unlikely images. We also had mascots; a Lego monkey called 'snoogans' and a Zebra finger puppet called 'Steve-O' which we would photograph around the office and have each other guess where they where. Prank calls, high jinx, banter and caper, victimisation, we did it all- except work!

TheFamily Salt

It turned out that Kim, who lives in Wellington, was visiting her parents in Papamoa for the week. She'd actually fled Wellington cos some nut had predicted another massive earthquake and Kim's house is on stilts!

Papamoa is only 45 minutes (2 hours on th bus) away from Roturua so we jumped on the Intercity bus and went to stay for a few days. We were picked up at the bus stop and introduced to Bruce (dad) and drove around the corner to the house to meet Judy (mum) and Rochelle (sis) and shortly after to the sound thunder Glen (bogan). It was great to see Kim again after all this time and her family were all lovely. Rarely have i felt so welcome or at home in someone else's house so quickly! which brings me to the house; it was a nice modest bungalow that Kim's Parents had built themselves, but more importantly it was clean, the kind of clean you only get at your parents house where the towels are fluffy and smell like fabric softener! Myself and Joe each had a room with a lovely clean comfy bed- lets just say after roughing it I was looking forward to spending the night here!

stunning view of Papamoa beach

We had some lunch then headed straight for the beach which was about a 5 minute walk away! We also took some surf boards with us; Bruce admitted he wasn't a very good teacher but we were excited to give it a try. Turns out Bruce was right; 'catch the wave and try n stand up' whilst salient wasn't very constructive! Me: 'Like this Bruce?' Bruce (not looking in my direction at all) 'yeah that looks about right'.

The waves weren't very big but I still left the beach with a head full of sea water and didn't stand up once.



drunken revelry;
well, kim only had a shandy



That evening we headed out to nearby Tauranga. It was Kim's friends birthday and we were going to Luigi's for a meal. The meal was delicious, I had the fish of the day which was huge and came swimming in garlic butter; a nice change from packet noodles! Afterwards we went for a few drinks, after a while the other guests left and we decided to drive across town to meet Rochelle and Glen at another bar. Here we were introduced to Nadia who immediately took Joe and myself to the bar and bought us jagerbombs, followed by more Jagerbombs, followed by...you get the picutre. Nadia is Maori and one of the first things we were told when we arrived in NZ was that Maori's can drink and Nadia can drink!



Glen on an important business call to himself
deface this picture how you will

We had a great night and met loads of great people. After the bar closed it was suggested that we all went back to glens to continue drinking...Disaster! I'd been looking forward to getting into that bed all night and now we were going to sit up all night at Glens! To make matters worse it was dusty and with my dust allergy I pretty much started sneezing as soon as I stepped through the door!  

My only conciliation was the drunken bemused ramblings of Glen who appeared to have stepped into an alternative reality much to my amusement. Rebuked by long suffering girlfiriend Rochelle and Kim being a lightwight they both deserted us and went to bed. Meanwhile Nadia was making shork work of bottle of vodka but unbeleivably was still corpus mentis enough to have a conversation about Maori culture. Me n Joe eventually gave in and went to a dusty bed around 5am!

  

We returned to Papamoa the next day and blasted away the hangover with a good swim and then lazed about in the garden all afternoon. Well, I passed out on the lawn, Joe went to bed and everyone else went about their daily business. I awoke to the sound of Bruce saying "thats one of them there" as he was explaining to some impromteu visitors what the contorted heap in the garden was. 

That evening we had a lovely roast for dinner. I say lovely but the conversation could have been better; Kiwi's have a very relaxed attitude towards earthquakes and Kim and her folks chatted casually about all the earthquakes that had occured recently and all the ones that were coming! Myself and Joe shot each other a nervous glance and I knew we would be reworking our route to avoid all the places that had just been mentioned! In the evening Kim and her Mum went to bed and we sat up and watched some random Bollywood film with Bruce, just like home, apart from the beach and the weather!



Catherine bigalow look no further for 'Point break 2'



The following day Kim had arranged to visit a friend in Raglan who'd just had a baby, she suggested that we go with her and check into a hostel there and see what Raglan had to offer. We were glad we did because the magic bus doesn't go to Raglan but it is a beautiful place and has one of the most famous surf breaks in the world! It also has a decent Point Break so it was a better place to learn and this time we forked out for a 'proper' surf lesson! 2 hours later I still couldn't stand up and I was lucky to have any teeth as on my way out I got caught by a big wave which broke early pushing me back of my board allowing the board to fall back into my face! Joe had better luck but he was hardly catching any rad lines. There was no doubt we had a great time though, it was early evening and as the sun went down with the waves crashing around us it made for a really cool moody atmosphere at the beach!

Raglan is a cool little surfer town but it all but dies after nightfall so we stayed in and watched 'Return of the King' at the hostel that night (when in Rome) and in the morning walked back into town for some breakfast! If you're ever in Raglan check out the Eggs Benedict at 'The Shack' Best ever! We spent a few hours wandering around Raglan (we watched a dog nearly get swept out to sea) before poor Kim returned to pick us up. Kim had pretty much been cleaning the house and doing other chores for her friend the whole time!

Headed back to Papamoa that afternoon for one more night before returning to Roturua where we would rejoin the Magic bus and continue our journey south! Up early in the morning and went to the beach for one last swim and one last crack at surfing. Said our goodbyes to everyone, and headed back on the intercity. It was great to see Kim again (I hope they let her back in the UK) 

It was on the bus that the sneezing which hadnt really stopped since staying at Glens turned into shivers and a blocked sinus; by the time we got back to the hostel in roturua I was feeling rough as. It felt like i was trying to blow an apple out of my nose and all I could do was huddle in my dorm bed shivering and sniffling wishing I was back in papamoa in a nice clean bed or even better back home! It seems a sad admission that since this point ive wished i was back home numerous times on my journey but have resolved its no bad thing, it could be worse I could wish the opposite!

I'm glad to say it wasn't the last time we'd see kim on this trip, nor Rochelle and Nadia, or Petra (who was too quiet to get a mention earlier, you are lovely all the same) we would meet back up with them in Auckland on our return!

PS: its taken me a while to post this blog and ive fallen way behind; I'm in Vietnam now! I was trying to upload some photos to accompany this blog but the computers in the hostels weve been to have barely been capable of uploading one let alone several pics!

Bay of Islands and Roturua

On the 12th March we arrived at the 'Bay Adventure' Hostel in Paihia; Paihia being the main town in what is collectively known as the Bay of Islands; a peninsula to the north of Auckland full of bays and islands.

It couldn't have been any more different to Base in Auckland, The rooms had windows for a start! Big windows full height, the hostel was lovely. It even had a pool which was utilised to ease all the tension out of my shoulders that had built up in Auckland.

Our second but first full day we did the 'Cape Reinga' trip. Cape Reinga is the most northerly point in New Zealand, to get there we had to drive along '90 mile Beach' and sand surf down some massive sand dunes! 90 mile beach is a 73 mile beach (sic) designated as a state highway and it was a trip driving at 70mph along a beach...

but not as much fun as the sand surfing! It also remains the one thing I've been better at than Joe since we've been away- cos of my extra weight apparently.



Cape Reinga

 OK so we didn't 'have' to sand surf to get to the cape, we did however have to keep moving to get to the dunes as we were driving over quicksand and had we stopped would have been up to our nuts within 20 minutes! we survived and moved on to Tapotupotu Bay were we had our first swim in the Pacific Ocean and what a place to mark the occasion, truly stunning! Likewise the cape, when we got there, was awesome. Our driver said it was the clearest day he'd ever seen and looking out where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea you could almost see the curve of the Earth!


The following day we took some bikes from the Hostel and headed out to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the Maori and the Occupying British. The Visitor centre was a rip off so we rode a bit further up the road to a trail that led to Haruru Falls. Que Mat n Joe's bogus adventure #2 and 10km hike in flip flops through the jungle! The falls were far less spectacular than the views along the way!


Sulphur Point at Lake Roturua

 On the Tuesday we returned to Auckland for one night before heading south to Roturua 'The Smelliest Town on Earth'! On the way we stopped at Hobbington which I was totally looking forward to, however by the time we got there I didn't even want to do it. Hobbington has been reconstructed out of papermache since the filming, so it wasn't even the original set and the tour was padded out with a Sheep Shearing display! All for the bargain price of $100! yeah right! what do they think I am a Nerf Herder?

OK, so 'Smelliest Town on Earth' isn't on Roturua's postcards but it does stink; something to do with all the sulphur apparently, I don't know I wasn't really listening. It did mean we got a thermally heated pool at the Hostel tho' which was sweet!

That night we went to Tamaki Village to see a Maori culture show which was actually really good. we got the whole Huka display (gesticulating Maori warriors giving you the funny eye) and a traditional Hangi feast (tastes carcinogenic). 

When buying the tickets for the show I noticed there was a Maori chap next door to the visitor centre who did tattoos. I've been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo since forever and I'd seen a cool Jade pendant in a shop in the shape of a Maori symbol called a 'Koru' meaning 'new life and growth' and some other stuff that seemed really appropriate for someone who had recently quit his job and left his life back home to go travelling around the world! It also represents the 'new me' in that I hope to be a more decisive person in future and getting a tattoo even if it looked contrived and rubbish was also very symbolic of this 'do it now worry about the consequences later attitude'. However when I returned the next day I was disturbed to see the guy had completely changed the design. He also said he didn't want to put it on my foot (only girls have tattoo's on their feet) but on my leg! Also when i said i wanted it in Black and Green he said 'i've only got blue and red'. So my procrastination would last a bit longer and my tattoo would have to wait.

There wasn't really much to do in Roturua that's unique to Roturua, everywhere you go in NZ you get sky dives and bungy jumps rammed down your throat any they cost a fortune so we opted for a gondola ride up a big hill and went luging which turned out to be great fun and, oh, the second thing I beat Joe at! He will argue that it was a draw but the first race didnt count.

As you can probably tell things are getting quite competitve between myself and Joe which recently culminated in a video of me on facebook being pushed off a canyon backwards strapped to a garden chair!

Let me tell you, the luge was equally hair raising when you have a crazed 18yr old with a demented look in his eye trying to run you off the road- haha (nervous laugh) we're just like brothers :o/

Next time: Papamoa and a reunion with foul mouthed Kim...

New Zealand- Auckland

Bit behind sorry fans; the Internet is still in its infancy in NZ and due to popular demand the hostels are cashing in by charging $4 per hour! However, being the resourceful scouser I am I've found a way to bypass the system and now gets my web time for free ninety nine! Sweet As Bro!
I'm writing this from Franz Joseph on the South Island, it is the 3rd April and we've been here since the 10th March so I'm going to have to back track a bit. I've been writing in my journal everyday though so hopefully it will all come flooding back. It feels like we've been here for ages, I guess that's what moving around every couple of days does to you, We've been to so many places and seen so many things that Auckland seems an eternity away but this is where I'll start.

For no other reason than sheer convenience I booked us into Base Hostel in downtown Auckland and picked the cheapest room available. We soon found out why it was called 'Base'. I gather it works a bit like Ryan Air whereby if you want a window in your room that's extra and I obviously forgot to un-tick the 'No Slags' box as well as, upon entering the pitch black broom cupboard we woke Clara up who was sleeping off the previous nights exertions- it was 3.30pm. We introduced ourselves and chatted briefly. Clara was Australian and was over here with her friend Grace from Ireland who was renewing her visa before going back to OZ. Like Abbie Hoffman Clara liked to say the 'F' word, a lot! and we where to find out that she liked to do the 'F' word just as much!
We left Clara to convalesce while we went out to explore Auckland which on first impression seemed very nice. Everyone seemed very athletic looking and tanned which made both myself and Joe feel a bit self conscious but apart from that it was a glorious day and this was the start of our travelling 'proper' so we were in good spirits. We also went to the Magic Bus office and booked a couple of 'add-ons' to our trip including the Bay of Islands and Milford Sound which were both on offer.
Side note: Everyone who knows me knows i like a bit of a moan and I've grumbled a bit about the Magic Bus over the weeks but it has to be said we got a fantastic deal $350 to do the whole of the North and South Islands, that's less than 175 pound!

To give you an idea of the kind of hostel we were staying in there was and Hi-de-hi style intercom throughout the building from the bar next door informing everyone of their various offers. One of the offers was a 'Free $1000 bar tab' which meant from 8.00pm drinks where free until $1000 had been reached. we got there at 10 past and it had ended!! Clara and Grace where already there slightly inebriated and we got chatting with a few lads from Nottingham as well. We also met a girl from Essex Lucy who filled us in on Clara and Grace. 'They like shaggin, those two..' she said. This coming from an Essex girl was cause for alarm! Imagine the music from 'Psycho' as we turned around to see Clara leaving the bar with a bloke! This was only the beginning and we watched in horror as Clara returned to the bar alone and within the hour leave again with another random stranger who thought his luck was in. I remember thinking to myself 'he wont be smiling when the test results come back.' Both myself and Joe where scared to go back to the room that night and we had to be up at 7.00am cos we where going Canyoning!

Canyoning was ace, walking uphill for an hour in a wet suit with a headache and carrying a bag of wet rope wasn't! For those of you who don't know Canyoning involves making your way down a series of waterfalls and rock pools by jumping, sliding and ab sailing! There where also some pretty awesome views and we got up close and personal with some massive fresh water eels. Check out the pics here!
Back at the Hostel we had signed up for a charity pub crawl in aid of Christchurch; by the second pub I heard one of the barmen comment that it was the biggest pub crawl he'd ever seen. It was seriously like freshers week! A bunch of horny kids running around trying to mount each other. I wasn't having a great time. I also had one eye cautiously on Clara to see how often she was leaving with someone trying to work out when it would be safe to go back.

Day 3 we went on a bus tour around the city. By this point we were starting to realise that Auckland didn't really have that much to offer. When the highlight of your day is watching a short fat German trying to get a rugby ball out of a tree you know its time to move on. We did go to the Museum though which was good; although its Volcano/earthquake room was a little unnerving, especially the 'apocalyptic scenario simulation'   -less than two weeks after what had happened in Christchurch! I was nearly on my way back to the airport!
I had also had enough of Auckland's 'nightlife' but went out for a few beers that evening anyway cos the room was so depressing. By 10pm I was shattered and we had an early start in the morning to go to the Bay of Islands so I went to bed, but not before pleading with Grace not to let Clara come back with anyone while I was in the room.
Grace it turns out wasn't nearly as bad as Clara and I'd begun to feel a bit sorry for her. She found out that day that her visa extension had been rejected and for some reason desperately didn't want to return to Ireland. Clara was evidently leading her astray and I couldn't help thinking she was in a pitiful situation- not all travellers are living out their dreams.
Clara on the other hand was a law unto herself and not bringing anyone back to the room was sadly too much to ask! Thankfully I slept through it but Joe was awake throughout the whole ordeal and was traumatised come morning. I awoke at 6.00am to the sound of Clara and Grace arguing. Grace was telling Clara how I was going to 'kick off' when I woke up and she wasn't wrong! Clara bolted for the bathroom and I politely requested that the young gentleman vacated the premises and advised he took himself off to the nearest GUM clinic at his earliest convenience. I also suggested that Clara found Priest and Grace some new friends, and with that we were out of there; we havent stayed at a Base Hostel since!

Next Week: Bay of Islands!

Tahoe Baby!

I'm a little behind and there are a few things I wanted to write about before getting to Tahoe that are fading from my memory fast. Slicing my hand open trying to get the cable ties off Molly's fishing rod is one I'd happily forget, not to mention the lost man points by nearly fainting at the sight of all the blood! However, we all had a great day up at Lake Sonoma again and this time we came prepared!
The fishing rod plus rubber dingy was actually Molly's 'early' birthday present. You may have seen me using both in my photo's on flickr but she asked for them I assure you. We had picnic blankets, towels, food and drink this time! The weather was great and we wiled away the day playing games, trying to get the bloody fishing rod to work and blowing up the dingy. There was an amazing sunset as we stoked up the BBQ and ate hot dogs as the sun went down. It was only after the sun had gone down that we realised we were now standing in pitch darkness with all of the said towels, blankets, toys, food scattered over a 50 metre radius with nothing more than a couple of lanterns between us! I'm sure Jen was hoping we wouldn't find the fishing rod...

Ok, so onto Tahoe. Lake Tahoe, for those of you who don't know was until recently one of America's best kept secrets and it is Truly Stunning; as beautiful in the summer as in the winter! I'll let you do you're own research suffice to say its the nuts!
Jen estimated it would take us  3 to 4 hours to get there and that if we left after school on Thursday we could get there, get unpacked and get a good nights sleep ready to hit the slopes Friday morning. Early in the week we were looking at the weather reports and it was bucketing it down with snow so when it got to Thursday we made an executive decision to postpone leaving till Friday morning and avoid going over the pass in the dark and potentially getting stuck like they did a few years back with my parents. We aimed to set off about 7.00am and by the time Selena dragged herself out of bed we eventually left about 11.30am minus her ski jacket! Kids! Grrrr!
The decision to postpone was a good one as the weather was terrible and the traffic was worse. Just after we drove through Sacramento we hit a tail back of pick up trucks that, no exaggeration, was about 70 long! Luckily for us they were heading for a smaller road that led to Tahoe, not the route we would be taking.
We eventually made it there by 5.00pm and stopped at a supermarket to get provisions. The lazy kids stayed in the car and cranked the heating and music up and by the time Jen and myself returned with the food the battery was flat! so there we were stranded in a supermarket car park in the freezing cold with the snow getting thicker by the minute. Tempers wore thin, mine in particular but we eventually got a jump and where on our way again. another 15 mins down the road we missed the turn for the condo because it had snowed up completely and we had to dig out the entrance just to get the car in.
If it had stayed like this we'd have been in for a pretty dire few days but when we awoke the next day there wasn't a cloud in the sky and so followed 3 great days of skiing.
The first day was difficult to get off piste as the snow was so fresh and deep it was impossible for someone of my ability to ski. I made the mistake of sounding it out and it took me 40 minutes to climb back out again! The next day it had bedded in a bit and we found some sweet spots that hadn't been ruined by snowboarders. Homewood isn't the biggest of the resorts in Tahoe and so even much of the off piste was tracked out but we found a bit of fresh powder which is always worth it! what Homewood lacks in size it makes up for in scenery as it is the closest ski area to the lake so the views were unbelievable!
during day 2 Molly had found her confidence again so we took her off with us for a bit of aggressive down hilling, she's a real speed demon and I get a real kick out of watching her fly down the mountain. she went down a black diamond and only fell twice. dead proud of her. Jen, Lily and Selena all prefered to take it easy.
In all we had a great time, the pictures on flickr speak for themselves and i still cant do a 360. everyone should ski!

Never a dull moment...

A quick recap on the weeks events!

Its an unwritten rule that if the sun is out and you're from Liverpool you wear shorts, a t-shirt and flip- flops. It doesn't matter if its not that warm, which it hasn't been really. We're also compelled to swim in something/anything (Albert Dock) even if the waters not that warm (frozen). Well, I drew the line at the stagnant pond at the foothills- Joe didn't, he was right in with the dog!
This leads me to following tale of idiocy.

Firstly, last Sunday (06.02.11) as a preamble we drove up to lake Sonoma. Once there we obviously fancied a swim in the lake. It was a bit chilly to dip your toe in so we went for the jump in head first get it over with approach. It was the coldest thing I've ever done and I've rolled in snow with nothing but swim shorts on! It was so cold I actually has a burning sensation in my neck and chest. Not sure what it meant but it didn't feel refreshing!
Not to be put off, on Wednesday (09.01.11) myself and Joe decided to hike up the Russian River (even colder) and look for a good spot to swim. Jen dropped us off and said she would pick us up on her way to get Molly from Basket Ball practice. I suggested that rather than us turn back and meet her where she dropped us off, we'd keep walking up river as there was a road that roughly followed it and when she called we would cut through the embankment to the road where she would no doubt see us on her way.

The walk wasn't what I imagined there was a lot more wading against the flow of the river and through mud than I remembered (probably the time of year) and soon we found ourselves on the wrong side of the river with out the proverbial paddle; this is when we got Jens call. We surveyed the embankment on the other side, the river was running quite fast but there was a fallen tree that was half in, half out of the water. We couldn't see through the thick trees on the bank but Joe thought he heard a car so we decided we would wade across to the tree climb up onto it and shimmy along to the embankment then up onto the road.

This turned out to be a somewhat naive and optimistic ill thought out plan. Firstly the water got deep and we had back packs with phones and cameras in them so we devised a plan where I would hold the bags and Joe would swim up to a point where he could climb onto the tree, he would then shimmy out to me where I would pass him the bags and then swim across myself. As soon as Joe started to swim the current got him and swept him into the tree nuts first. He then had to fight the current to get out of the water and onto the tree and then fight the branches and twigs to get out to me amidst ominous sounds of wood cracking! I eventually handed him the bags and proceeded to be swept into the tree nuts first myself. Once we'd fought our way to the bank, we found ourselves knee high in mud and in thick overgrown thorn bushes. By the time we'd fought our way to the top of the bank we were covered in scratches, nettle stings and mud. We were also greeted by a 7ft high fence with not a road but a vineyard beyond it! Joe ended up digging a hole under the fence like some kind Wiley fox trying to get into a chicken coup whilst i looked out for any angry wine makers with guns! Once through (covered in even more mud) we moved stealthily through the vineyard and scaled the fence on the other side and only then did we reach the road. A few minutes later Jens car appeared like a celestial vision; it was like a happy ending in a horror film, we were saved!

As if that wasn't enough drama for one day we got home to be greeted by a mangy one eyed Chiwawa pissing on the carpet, but thats another story for another day...

San Francisco



[30.01.11] Sunday: Drove into San Francisco today with Jen, Molly, Lily & Joe. Selena had Volley Ball practice. She is actually very good so Jen is forking out a small fortune for her to play club VB during the close season at the school cos if she doesn't she won't get back in the school team! Don't get me started on the schools here; that's just one observation I may at some point tear into Windsor High like I did Daryl!

 The trip had the duel purpose of giving myself and Joe a lift to the city (only homeless people get the bus in America) and, more importantly, take Molly to a dog show in Daly City. I have to say I was a little disappointed, I thought it was going to be all 'Little Miss Sunshine' with Dogs. Full of pampered, yappy little Bichon Frise's dressed up as former First Lady's. I think Molly was hoping the same cos even she was bored. Lily was so bored she tried to knock herself out by eating an entire carton of nacho cheese. It was  a much more normal affair than I give most Americans credit for plus there weren't even any funny pooing incidents so I'll move on.

Phallic dog toys



dog shortly after being groped





After the Show Jen dropped us off at the Hostel which was fine and in a good location a couple of blocks away from Union Square. The week prior when booking the room on the web I asked Joe 'Shall we get a private room or a dorm?' he was non committal so I said 'we should probably go for the dorm. I think we should try and meet people and it will be good practice for when we're proper travelling...you never know we might get lucky and end up in a room with 3 Swedish girls...then again we could end up in room with an old man that snores...' Not one but two snoring old men!!! and two German Lads, one was mute and the other was sound [Thomas].

That evening we decided to walk/hike to China Town. I don't need to tell anyone reading this that San Francisco is famous for its hills and I foolishly said to Joe at the bottom of a particularly steep one 'race ya to the top!' Turns out there are two ways to do a 'whitey' in California.

The dorm was good practice for travelling, Chinatown was good practice for China! Its an amazing place, very authentic sights and smells and no one speaks English. After the meal we decided to try our luck going for a drink. As Joe is only 18 we wondered if he'd have trouble getting served, he did, however after a few knock backs we ended up in a dive bar just around the corner from the hostel with a Korean barmaid that could barely speak English and probably didn't want the hassle of having to pronounce identification. It had a pool table and a duke box so all was good.

[31.01.11] On Monday morning we got up and went down for breakfast. In reception they had Sky Sports News on, we sat and watched in amazement as Torres was sold and Andy Carrol was bought! I actually thought at the time we'd bought Charlie Adam too, gutted we didn't get him.

Buoyed by a bit of shrewd business in the transfer market we went off to Alcatraz which despite being my 7th time in San Fran' I've never actually done before. It was well worth it and very interesting but I'm not going to bore you with the details; other than it was the reason the Spanish never discovered San Francisco bay. Apparently they sailed past it twice a year but never noticed it because the opening to the bay is only a mile wide and because of the position of Alcatraz in the bay it plugged the gap so to speak on the horizon! Also it was only a federal penitentiary for 30 years and its now Americas second busiest National Trust attraction.

That evening we walked/hiked to an area called north beach to try and find more bars, we found a few but none of them had more than 3 people in them (an improvement on the night before) so went to a liquor store and ended up back at the hostel playing scrabble (not in the Luke Traynor sense).

View of GG Bridge from Lincoln Park

[01.02.11] Tuesday we went for a cracking bike ride. The route took us up through Haight Ashbury, through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach, up through Lincoln park, through sea cliff, down through Presidio, over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito where we had pizza and got the ferry back to San Francisco. It was a beautiful day but there was a thick looming fog that sat just off the coast all day that made for some dramatic views.

I also got my architecture fill- I don't normally visit buildings when abroad unless I'm forced to, but two of my favourite architects Renzo Piano and Herzog & De Meuron have new buildings adjacent to each other in Golden Gate Park so they graciously made it very easy for me to visit them. I'm not going to harp on about architecture but they where both very impressive in very different ways, see for yourself...

 

H&M's de Young Museum

  

Piano's Academy of Sciences



When we returned to the hostel we were shattered so a quiet night was in order. There was a notice up in reception for a Poker night in the rec room with a $5 buy in so we decided to do that. I started off well but soon got bored. Myself and Joe decided that a woman at the end of the table had been consistently bluffing so we conspired to 'out bluff' her. Turns out she had a flush, me and Joe went to the cinema.

Went to see True Grit which was, as usual, good but over hyped and somewhat self indulgent for the Cohen Brothers. would you agree Mike?

Trans America Pyramid

[02.02.11] Wednesday. Basically we walked around the areas Joe had not seen yet and in particular I wanted to take him up the Bank of America Building where you get great views across the city. I did it once before with Rich years ago but unfortunately since 2001 America's paranoia hasn't abated and they still wont let anyone with a backpack into a tall building. We also went to see another of my favourite buildings now that i was suitably inspired: Mario Botta's MOMA! It was closed so we turned our attentions back to getting drunk.

Back at the Hostel that evening a guy from New York, Johnathan, did a sterling job of rounding up a group of us to go out partying in the Mission district. We were well up for it and I told Joe straight "If you don't get in to the bar I'm putting you in a cab home by yourself!" Joe got ID'd in the first place and we where left standing outside whilst everyone else had gone in.

Joe + One

I just didn't have the heart to leave him there so we walked down the road and soon came to a bar with no bouncer, we dove inside and Joe hid in a corner while i went to the bar. We must have been stood there for 5 minutes when a girl came over to us and started chatting, her mate had pulled so she was left standing there like a lemon and decided to talk to us. After I'd finished my beer I left Joe with her to run back to the first bar to tell everyone which bar we had gone to so they could come an join us when they were done. When i got back, well I'm sure you've all guessed, Joe was in a passionate embrace with a certain someone; so resisting high fiving him there and then i took myself off to the bar, got a round in and sat and waited... and waited. Joe eventually came over and said she wanted to take him to a bar over the road for cocktails so i said OK, I'll finish your beer and follow you over. After another 10 minutes it struck me that everyone else was having a great time in a bar up the road, Joe was obviously having a great time and here was me, sat at a bar by myself like billy no mates!

The rest of the gang eventually tuned up and we had a great night, we even went to another bar where Joe was ID'd only this time the bouncer couldn't be arsed to do the Math and work out how old he was!

I was talking to an Aussie couple most of the night who had the right idea, working for 6 months and travelling for 6! they'd even been to Liverpool! They said they loved scouser's and laughed at everything i said. It was a nice change.

[03.02.11] Thursday. Got the bus home- ran like clockwork and completely uneventful. Jen and Selena had missed us, Lily hadn't noticed we'd gone, Molly meow'd like a cat all night...

California, Land of replica Italian Medieval Castles

[WB 23.0.11] Not much to report this week, I feel like myself and Joe are becoming Americanized. All we do is sit on the couch watching TV eating fast food. Dougal's leg is playing up again so he cant go for walkies and consequently neither do we. In fact we're walking less and less and piling on the pounds. However even I baulked when Lily asked for a lift to guitar practice at the local gym the other day. By local i mean the gym across the street and by across the street i mean it would be quicker to walk there than drive- I'm not even joking!!!

On Thursday we drove out to a little town called St Helena in the Napa Valley which is packed full of wineries and one in particular is shaped like an Italian Castle! Its actually a bit more than that; the patron/narcissist who commissioned it imported over one million bricks from Italy because of his 'deep love of Medieval Architecture (sic)...and his Italian Heritage' His name is Daryl, recently changed to Dario because of his deep love of Italian names... Experts call it a masterpiece apparently- experts in what? replica medieval castles? Anyways it was impressive nonetheless.

Upon entry there was a pay desk with two women standing behind it. one of them was attending a couple whilst the other was busying herself with some files. We stood at the desk for a couple of minutes roughly in front of her after which without looking at us she walked to the other end of the desk and said "I can take the next customer over here, thank you" so myself and Joe walked to the other end other desk and declared our intentions to customersize the winery. I don't know why but that really pissed me off; is that unreasonable?

After walking around for a bit looking at the faux banquet hall and fake turrets etc. we got round to the tasting. Joe being a minor was given a plastic cup of grape juice and told to stand 3 feet away from the bar whilst i was tasting the hard stuff- truly bizarre! The Sommeleir tending us was actually a top bloke, his name was Tim. The price of the ticket included a taste of 5 wines but thanks to Tim I was tipsy by the time we left.

Yet More Basketball to report on, this time it really was a grudge match! Windsor High Vs Neighbouring Healdsburg High. It was a scintilating game and the baying crowd threatened to erupt in to violence a number of times. I dont know what they feed these kids here what with 10 of them 6'5" plus on the court and the rest threatening to shoot each other in the stands. Windsor won!

San Francisco to follow...