21 Godwin Crescent

Moved into our house yesterday, and it is very nice. Plenty of room for all the family when they come at Christmas, especially if the boys want to share with their uncles!

We also have a smart new car for the six months we are here. Despite the warm weather, we would like to go and investigate the local skiing at the weekend. However, there is still no sign of the box of winter clothes we shipped - last located in Auckland.

Wanganui

We've finally arrived at the place which will be our home for the next six months. Can't move into the house we are renting until next week, so for now we are in a lodge in a beautiful position just opposite the Whanganui river. There is a lovely park running alongside the river and play park which the boys will love when they come for Christmas!

Fortune has treated us favourably, we avoided both the flash floods in Las Vegas and the large earthquake which struck Wellington. However, we have felt a couple of disconcerting aftershocks. Wanganui lies right on the Ring of Fire, and people seem to just adjust to the odd tremble. We have downloaded an earthquake app to keep us informed! Beautiful though it is, New Zealand is just one earthquake or volcanic eruption away from disaster.

Today, Andy visited the hospital and has come back with favourable first impressions. We hope the next six months will be enjoyable.

Wellington

Our first day in New Zealand! Set off from LA at 11pm on Sunday 21st and arrived at 6am on Tuesday 23rd. Hope nothing important happened on Monday!

We will be staying here in wellington until Friday, and will then set off for Wanganui, which will be our home for the next six months. 

It was a long flight and we are tired and cold having come from 40 degrees in Vegas to about 13 degrees here. The winter clothes don't arrive for a few days so may have to go shopping for some jumpers! We have found a small supermarket and got some food in. It will be nice to eat at home this evening after 3 weeks of eating out. Tomorrow, Andy has an interview with the NZ medical council. Hopefully it's just a formality or we may be on our way home sooner than expected. 

These are pictures of the New Zealand parliament buildings. The roundish one is called the Beehive.

By the way, interview with medical council went well, so it looks like we are ok to stay. 

Las Vegas

Wow it's hot here! Up to 108 degrees today. Not sure what that is in centigrade, but about 40 degrees I think! We've spent a couple of days wandering up and down the strip, dodging into each of the hotels to get into the air conditioned interiors. Saw the gondolas in the Venetian and the fountain display in the Bellagio. Some of the hotels have really expensive shops inside. I even saw a jimmy choo shop! Rod Stewart is playing at Caesars palace tomorrow night, but unfortunately we leave for LA tomorrow lunchtime. Going to spend a few dollars on the slot machines tonight, so may be very rich by bedtime! 

Ok it's 10.30pm and we are back in the room. Sad to say we aren't rich, in fact we are probably about 50 dollars worse off! I wouldn't mind, but we lost the 50 dollars in about 10 minutes. How these people play the machines and tables for hours at a time is beyond me. They must lose a fortune! Also had a fantastic storm this evening. Forked lightening struck the top of the Empire State Building on the New York New York hotel, setting off the fire alarm in the restaurant where we we eating. 

I had wanted to come back to Las Vegas as we didn't get to see much of it when we were here before, but I think I've seen enough now, and I wouldn't rush back. I think Andy agrees, but no doubt he'll tell you what he thinks when he writes his next pearls of wisdom.

Andy's bit:

In this town they try to fleece you at every opportunity and in my opinion it's worth seeing but fundamentally a load of old c**p! Looking forward to New Zealand now, but missing family and friends.

Sequoia

What a beautiful  place, our favourite so far. Peaceful, vast and beautiful. What's more we saw a wild bear and a rattlesnake! The giant sequoias are amazing. The biggest one in the forest, General Sherman is the largest tree by volume in the world and over 2500 years old. They say if you filled its trunk with water it would hold enough water for a daily bath for 27 years! Another tree, The President, is over 3200 years old. There are very many equally beautiful examples in the same forest. A lovely place to spend time and the first place on our trip that we would definitely like to revisit.

Today we made another 5 hour trip to Barstow en route to Las Vegas. The first hour took us through the rest of the forest with breath-taking views of the Sierra Nevada and alarming vertical drops to the side of the road. Visited our first shopping mall this evening . Andy has bought some jeans and shorts which fit him perfectly and are making him reconsider dieting or they will be too big!!

 It is alarming to think how quickly the time has passed and we will be in New Zealand in just one week.

Yosemite

Another long drive to Yosemite. I managed to convince Andy that we really should buy a map, but even then we still went wrong 7 times. The Americans really have a thing or two to learn about signposting! We thought we'd have a quick look at the national park and then make our way to the hotel. What we didn't realise was how big the park is! It takes about 1 hour to drive from the main valley area to the south gate, and then another 20 minutes to the hotel. Needless to say we were very tired when we got here. Going back to the park for a full day tomorrow.

Andy's bit:

In common with many national parks, Yosemite has large rocks, waterfalls and trees. What makes it different is the vastness. The mountains are a white granite, different from any other I've seen. The trees are magnificent but somehow it misses the impact made by the much smaller Muir Woods in SF.

I've become a lover of trees . It is unimaginable to think that some of these trees are more than 2000 years old and can rise a magnificent 100 metres above the ground.

Another aspect of Yosemite is the bears. Sadly, we saw none. Just as well. The pamphlet said that if they start to approach you should make noise and try to look especially big. No further advice after this point!! As for mountain lions, they say we should try to put up a fight!

Finally, we saw this sign in the park. Personally, I blame the person who taught them to drive!

Napa, California

We arrived in Napa yesterday, July 10th. Napa is only about 50 miles from San Francisco, but as we had no map and no Sat Nav, it took us about 4 hours! Anyway, finally got here to find the Napa Inn to be a delightful, olde worlde place with tea and cakes in the afternoon. The region is really geared up to promoting its wines and I even saw a roadside cafe which offered wine with your burger! Today we had a trip out and visited a couple of vineyards for a wine tasting. Andy wasn't too impressed at the prices, so we didn't buy anything. Still, it was fun. Napa and the whole region reminds us of stellenbosch in South Africa with a sweet little town surrounded by wine estates. 

It is our 38th wedding anniversary tomorrow and we will be heading for Yosemite. Really looking forward to that.

The Oracle (Andy)'s contribution.

The recession seems well and truly over in USA: immense activity in all the cities we have visited. Hopefully some of the benefits might extend to UK soon.

Explored the Napa Valley today and tasted wine at 2vineries. Prices were outrageous and to be honest, my primitive palate cannot distinguish a 12 dollar bottle from one costing 5 times as much. A load of snobbish nonsense. The sommelier was unimpressed when I told him.

Missing UK and wondering whether a 9 month trip was such a good idea!

San Francisco

It's 8 days into the holiday and my first contribution to the blog. Impressions:

Vast and beautiful! But enough about me.

Weight rising despite best efforts. I think they must put hormones in the food, but I have a plan - to drink more beer to wash them out of my system. I will report on progress soon.

In our fourth city in one week. To be honest they all become a bit of a blur, but Vancouver remains my favourite. In San Francisco they are building increasingly tall skyscrapers which seems short sighted when one considers that the city is on the San Andreas fault line. The hotel information includes what to do in the event of an earthquake. Why are they building taller when there is so much space all around? Enjoying a hop-on hop-off tour of the city and visited Alcatraz earlier today. Tonight had one of the best Chinese meals I have ever had ( part of my calorie controlled diet!), you can't leave any when its so good!

On our second day we visited Muir woods and saw the beautiful redwoods and sequoias. The forest has an almost spiritual feeling. went back to the Chinese again tonight for an equally good meal. What a lovely day.

Portland, Oregon

Finally arrived after 6pm after deciding to take the scenic route from Seattle. It was a long way round, but the fantastic bridge at Astoria almost made it worthwhile. Managed to see most of the Djorkavic semi final and the start of Andy Murray match before we left.  Shame we couldn't wait to see the rest. Hotel here looks nice, but parking is $35 a night, so true to form, Andy has left the car on a meter and has to get up to put more money in by 8am! Portland looks to be a lovely place, very leafy. Off to explore now and get something to eat after a long day. Missing everyone at home.

Seattle

This is our second day in Seattle and its the 4th of July, Independence Day. I have to admit that so far it's no different from any other day in the USA. People are shopping, sightseeing, eating and drinking just as normal. Maybe it will liven up later on? No wifi at the hotel so this blog will be short. We've been to the waterfront which has an amazing market; visited the aquarium where we were wowed by a large octopus called Triton and finally a bit of shopping in a shop selling bankrupt stock - the highlight of Andy's day! Hoping to see some of Andy Murray tomorrow morning before we set off for Portland. Will he be a Brit or a Scot this time tomorrow?

Vancouver

Well, we've arrived, and Vancouver looks to be a lovely city, very clean and feels affluent. We had a day on a hop-on, hop-off bus today, Went to Gas town - a bit wild westish and named after a chap who opened a saloon and talked a lot, then on to the waterfront and finally to Stanley park, a huge and beautiful recreation area with beaches, lakes, park areas, totem poles and beautiful views. Also today sampled dim sum in Chinatown (as suggested by Paul) and very good they were too. No pictures downloaded as yet, maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow is Canada day and a national holiday. We are promised another hot day and a firework display in the evening.

This is the Lions Gate Bridge, over the Burrard inlet