Texas & Florida

Texas

Why not visit America’s most iconic state and catchup with a friend whilst heading to Florida to join a cruise.

I arrived without my luggage which was a good start but managed not to let it get the better of my blood pressure by worrying about it. Easiest way to forget about complications of replacing everything in my bag…go eat! This became a Texas theme…not something that most people go to Texas for I sure.

I met Lacie whilst on the African Safari tour in 2008, she has kept in contact and offered to put me up for the weeks adventure whilst showing me the best Texas had to offer. Lacie is studying to be a pharmacist with UT (University of Texas) and hence I also spent a week talking shop...boring for most but I/we? enjoyed it.

Pharmacy in the USofA…a good reason for Australia not follow the USA in every aspect! We are often referred to as glorified label stickers in Australia however one can truly appreciate the extended services offered to patients/customers when you compare to the USA model of community pharmacy. They don’t counsel! How can you responsibly give out a medication without talking to the patient about it? Anyway…one last point showing a great difference between Aust/USA pharmacies was the day I decided to try and purchase dry cough liquid…lets say 6 bottles at the same time…I gave them every possible chance by even going to the pharmacy counter in the SUPERMARKET and asking the pharmacist where the cough liquids were…he just pointed to the shelf/isle! I then got to the front of the supermarket where I had also picked up some BBQ brickets to bulk out my sale. The checkout chick was pleasant enough and asked me to say "G’day" again for her then scanned the 6 bottles (dextromethorphan) and BBQ brickets. The total came up and I noticed they we already in the bag ready for me to go when I “realised” I had forgotten my wallet…after I really didn’t need BBQ brickets or x6 bottles! Yep I could have brought them without a single question being asked!

Austin Texas is a city which has a visible pulse, the large university crowd, the alternate crowd, the network of bar’s and cafe's make it a very vibrant city. We spent the first day kayaking on the lake, perfect weather made for some very sleepy sailing but plenty of turtles and crystal clear water to play in. The next day I locked Lacie inside her apartment to make sure she spent some time studying for her exam. I went walkabout across the city, through the capital building and the numerous parks, found a brewery and went back to the park to sleep off the taste testing…yep I am on holidays!

One of the highlights of the week was going back to pharmacy school…I am a nerd! on holidays and choosing to go to school again. The 2nd year pharmacy class was as detailed as we covered in our 4th year! How then do these over qualified university students go from the stimulation of university to working in a community pharmacy that wants them just to be able to push through a 1000Rx per day? Hopefully they end up in hospital pharmacy which apparently has far to many applicants, is paid at the same rate as community with better hours, overtime and holidays. Yep hospital pharmacy in the USof A sounds better than at home and they have broad discretionary powers such as therapeutic substitution within a class without having to even getting the doctor to write the order again i.e. re-write perindopril for accupril if it is the ACEI on the formulary! (Enough nerd speak)

For my last 2 days in Texas I was taken to Fort Worth/Dallas area where Lacie's parents live. Poor Lacie loves to travel, wants to travel but her family are scared about the dangers of the world outside Texas/USA. Yep just like traditional conservative family’s anywhere in the world, why would you want to leave home soil when you have everything you need right there and at Walmart! I was shown around her grandfathers farm which now makes more money off having companies put natural-gas wells on his property than from cattle.

My last evening in Texas was spent at Billy Bob’s...the ‘Largest Honkey Tonk in the World’. This took my favorite things from a country bar and increased its size by about 20 times…it was huge, once a department store, now a huge area of bars, boot scooting-dance floors, stages and more bar areas…WOW…

The drive to the airport couldn’t be just normal…this is a big state and things have to be better then elsewhere…yep I was blown away by the fields of wildflowers…blue bottles, Indian paintbrush, yellow ones, pink ones…hence if you plan a trip to Texas you must go during the second week of April…perfect weather and beautiful flowers.

Florida

4 Days in southern Florida (pre-gulf oil leak) and x2 things must be seen.

Everglades National Park - This rivals Arnhem Land/Kakadu, not better or worse, different. Just like any huge wetland it offers a stunning variety of wildlife, flora and picturesque views. The opening credits to CSI Miami are the obvious Everglades image...whizzing across the swamps in a airboat! Once I relaxed to the idea that you can't brake (there is no brakes) and that I realised my captain/pilot knew what he was doing it was extremely fun. Wind, spray, a big block V8 and the propeller noise added to the fun and sights of the mangroves whooshing past, skimming across the grass, gators and python tracks.

The sunset and sunrise across such a vast expanse of flat water and sculptured miniature pine trees is beautiful. See the photos to understand why!

Flroida Keys - This is a long long drive down and back but very scenic. The road simply goes hopping from one out crop of coral/rock to the next for 100 miles. Each Key (island) could be as big as small town or not much wider than the double lane highway running through it. The white rock, the blue water and the copious sunshine make this a paradise that in turn has become a economic power house for Florida. The cars and mansions ooze wealth but in all it has been tastefully developed and still ranks high as one of the best drives I have done. It was a long day down to Key West allowing me a total of 30min before I had to turn around and head back (piss poor planning) so not to get the hire car back late.
An extremely stunning part of the world and hopefully it remains that way with the oil leak happening so close.

My parting memory of the Florida Keys would have to be driving across the 7 mile bridge...the same bridge filmed so well in "True Lies"...hard to believe you can still be driving on the same bridge 15min later with stunning blue waters still lapping at the pylons.

:)

Tim

Canada after the Para-Olympics

Following the para-Olympics I spent a week in Whistler staying with cousin-Laura. My hat goes off to anyone who can put themselves through what she and hundreds of other Australians put themselves through to live and work a ski season in Canada. Accommodation is phenomenally expensive, food and beer the same high cost as in Australia and they work for around $10 per hour. The fun of going out and partying with hundreds of other Australians "poorer than Uni-students" and skiing/boarding in between shifts is the fun part.

In Whistler I put back on the ski's and board after a few years off...both are just like riding a bike, you never forget how to! My summation of Whistler/Canadian Mtns = better than Australia's! People complained about the long lift ques...10min waiting...they complained about the snow...least there was no rocks or glassy ice! Skiing between the tree's was different as pine tree don't have multiple trunks and twisted branches trying to snag you like gum trees. The sensation of boarding on fresh powder was like no other and can see why people love to snow board however the control of ski's still makes my day more enjoyable. I realised again how much like my old man I have become when a good day was not to crash/fall over/wipe out!

One of the more novel things I did was to ride a bike through the snow packed trails...the bike had no brakes and the handlebars didn't stay up but the constant comical crashes onto soft snow made up for any lack of control.

After realising I was spending my Canadian experience pretty much entirely with Australians I decided to go to Jasper and find my hiking boots again. Jasper was gorgeous, a small town in the mountains and offered some stunning mountain views, lakes and elk encounters. I had the chance to snow shoe through the beautiful pines and bald mountains of Magilne Lake, mountain bike the trails often still covered in ice, walk on a frozen river in the canyon to an ice waterfall and then bed-sled. I tried the local brewery tasting collection and found out after ordering that it was 3 pints of beer, I hadn't eaten for 5hrs and had been hiking all day so finishing them in 30min so that I could catch the bus back to the hostel put me in a jolly mood. Bed sledding was great fun til l sobered up and realised the potential for injury, when you landed on the mattress after going over the jump it was a hell of a lot of fun, if you miss the mattress you tumbled over and over though the snow till coming to a stop also fun when not sober!

I jumped in on the offer to share a car and drive to Banff. This drive CAN be stunning but the day we drove the icefields parkway we had nice foggy weather suitable for sitting inside and drinking hot chocolate. Lake Louise was fun to walk across but we couldn't see the other side and then it started to snow...such fantastic powder snow, 50cent piece size flakes whose shapes actually looked like the snow crystals hung from Christmas trees. The ensuring snowball fight and random attacks on other people made my first time at Lake Louise fun never the less.Johnston Creek Canyon was spectacular to wall/slide into as it was also frozen and the stunning ice water falls and glacial coloured ice made some fantastic photos.

I took and instant dislike to Banff...it is like comparing Wanaka and Queenstown in NZ. Banff was a town without a soul, pumping to the tune of the rich spending big on ski holidays. It had enough walking tracks around it to amuse me for a few days, then a days skiing (skiing by yourself is never great fun, there is no-one to talk to on the lifts or watch for when you crash and help pick up the pieces).

Hence I found myself back in Lake Louise for a second time and hired ski-touring skis. These are like Cross-country ski's (heel comes up) only they are wider and were perfectly suited to the fresh snow in the National Parks. I headed off solo ski camping, this was a new experience for me as was being in bear country! The amazing views, the silence (snow muffles every sound) and the speed at which you can cover ground skis made some fun days. The fresh snow was not without its drawbacks, avalanche danger meant I followed the river on the valley floors and kept moving until the crust of hard snow gave away and I was up to my waste trying to get out of a hole with ski's and pack still on.

The snow also covered Lake O'hara which I assume being higher than Lake Lousie would also be solid enough to ski on. Half way across the lake realised that when I pulled my pole out that it had slushy wet snow on it...DANGER...I got out of there quick smart and used up a fair amount of luck to have not gone through (going though would have meant a summer trip for M&D once/if I was found). I later found out Lake Louise is packed by the resort all winter long and hence the surface is much stronger ice! Camping in the snow was great fun, my tent and sleeping bag paid for themselves as it was minus 9deg Celsius (inside the tent) and I was still warm. The last night however I could not find the campsite so I could not put my food in the bear proof lockers (hidden under snow) so I left my food, stove, lip balms and other bear attractants 100m away from my camp and crossed my fingers (the trees were not high enough to dissuade a bear!)

After four days of peace & quiet skiing by myself I was back in Banff and I got out of there ASAP. I went to Calgary (a bigger city ???) and planned to hire a car to travel around in, fortunately I was also able to get tickets to a NHL hockey match. What a great game...I'd never play it but enjoyed watching it as it is fast and rough. Nothing compares to the atmosphere and crowd inside the stadium. The non-stop music, chants, flashing lights and crowd engaging beats turned the stadium into a crazy seething mass of of supporters. When the "Calgary Flames" got a goal the response was crazy, the first sign of a goal was the release of a ball of gas/flame above the rink and then the crowd took over. It may have been a bit commercial and over the top but was one a fun experience.

My road trip took me 2000km through west Canada's most impressive national parks. Soaking in hot springs in the mountain valleys and inside a cave I will remember for a long time as I will the vista's of mountains, snow, lakes, wineries and ALL the crazy Canadians overtaking me when I was driving 20kph over the limit already. The wineries offered ice wine which is picked when the temperature is below minus 8deg Celsius and this has to be liquid gold. My last day in Canada was stunning weather, crisp, cold, clear sky's and fresh snow on everything. Hence I took another stab at driving the icefields parkway and was suitably impressed...possibly the most beautiful 200km through mountains ever!

I spent the last night in style by sleeping in the higher car at the airport carpark in order to ensure got to airport for my free cavity search by the USA immigration on time ...lucky for me that I did so as they had massive ques.

Next chapter...Texas!

Para-Olympics (12th March 2010)

With the road trip finished Adrian and myself were in Vancouver for the winter para-Olympics.

During the Winter Olympics (non-disabled) what coverage I saw of the games I did feel a twinge of regret that hadn't decided to attend those games...BUT the decision was a great one as the para-Olympics were better than I could have ever imagined.

The first event that we attended was the Wheelchair Curling, it was a first for me on both accounts as I had never seen a wheelchair sport or curling. Essentially it is a form of lawn bowls on ice! These athletes complete from their wheelchairs and they push the stones down the ice with tactics and precision. Fortunately the Canadians were playing and the crowd was going wild with every shot...can I remind you that it is like lawn bowls...hardly a sport you can cheer for but we managed. Can't say I would go out of my way to go again but it was a fun 4hrs watching the crowd and the tactics at work.

The next event we went to was the Sledge Ice Hockey. These guys are crazy, they push themselves across the ice with their upper bodies and at the same time receive and pass the puck with precision. The best part undoubtedly, like any ice hockey was the crashes and brute force used against each other. It kind of looked like watching hermit crabs play soccer on fast forward...hope that image is not to complicated to conjure. Also just like any ice hockey half the fun comes from the antics off the ice and in the crowd. Dancing, music, drums, t-shirt canons and more.

The most rewarding event to attend was the cross-country skiing and biathlon. The track was set up really well so that you could see the entire race unfold, it had many loops that wound around the stands. Events included sitting, standing and visually impaired...yep shooting blind! (they have a gun that connects to headphones and they use sound to aim the gun). Every event was inspiring to watch but 2 of these moments are worth writing about.

• The women's sit down 12.5km biathlon had a lady who finished about 15minutes behind the rest of the field, I'm not sure why or what happened to her but she never gave up. You could see the pain and exhaustion from the close up TV shots and how hard it would be to push yourself uphill on a sled/toboggan with only your arms. The crowd went wild when she finished showing there support for her outstanding effort. Thing amazing thing really is that her time was approx 50min...12.5km in 50min...this is the same time that I run 12.5km and she is just using her arms! Then consider that FOUR times during the 12.5km she deliberately tips over her sled, controls her breathing/heart rate and shoots the 5 targets (each miss being a 1min penalty). AMAZING!
• The men's standing biathlon had German athlete who's disability was that he had no arms...fair enough that you can still ski without using your arms but biathlon involves shooting? He had a modified gun that he shot with his teeth!

The final events were the downhill & super-G. It was fascinating to watch the athletes with different levels of disability all competing in the same event. It seemed unfair that someone with 2 legs could have less time penalty than someone with only 1 leg...I later found out she didn't have either leg below the knee. The other category that I was most impressed with was the visually impaired, these athletes often had NO sight what so ever and were skiing at ridiculous speeds. The bond between them and their guide must be the highest level of trust I will ever see.

I admit coming to the para-Olympics to see some spectacular crashes but the accidents I did see were not as "fun" as I would have thought watching on TV. Watching a skier strapped in a chair tumbling out of control right in front of me wasn't amusing at all and horrible to watch. The only somewhat amusing accident was the visually impaired skier who when the crowd started cheering couldn't hear the guide telling her to stop and skied straight into the fence at the bottom...she was fine...needless to say we didn't cheer until the blind skiers had come to a complete stop after that!

Vancouver is a beautiful site for a city with the huge Stanley Park, the state and National Parks 20min from city centre (see Lynn Canyon if you get there) and also ski fields 20min from the centre and did an outstanding job of hosting the para-Olympics. One of the best things was that family's and school groups could go to events and afford to also with the ticket price being only $19...the full Olympics had tickets typically x4-x5 that amount. Security was near non-exisitant...after all your not making much of a statement by blowing up a bunch of disabled people and their supporters.

Following the Para-Olympics I headed to Whistler, Jasper & Banff...read about these in the next post...at the rate I am going it will be mid-May before I get it out...I have better things to do than type story tales whilst on holidays!

:) Tim

Roadtrip - LA to Vancouver

When in America you have to do BIG things, go over the top and only then you may fit in.

Adrian is a high school buddy from GVGS days now working in LA, his latest vehicle needed to fit in so he went for the biggest thing on the road...a F350 truck. This vehicle is not only the biggest thing I have driven legally on the road but no doubt also the most powerful...why not learn to drive it on the wrong side and in freeway traffic! (Thankfully Adrian loves driving and did most of it)
So we had a BIG vehicle and the road trip was a drive of 1200miles via the main freeways from Los Angeles to Vancouver we had some distance to cover in a week. We didn't stay on the freeways long...the Pacific Coastal Highway or Highway no.# 1 take a much more scenic drive right along the cliffs and beaches of the coast.

What did we see?

Landside(s) blocking the road


Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco...this is a stunning sight but the size of the Golden Gate Park was astounding - as was the look on the faces of people as Adrian shattered the silence with his 8 cylinders and turbo hissing with each red light in the city.

The Redwood Forrest's - such amazingly HUGE trees

Oregon's Coast line

Mount St. Helen's in fresh snow, what a fantastic camping spot!

Forrest of Mt Rainier NP and Seattle were great spots to see but a pity to not be able to stay longer.

The lakes, trees & moss of Mt Olympic NP

Vancouver Island will no doubt draw me back to do some more walking but we were suitably impressed by the size of the Kinsol trestle bridge

San Jaun islands between Vancouver Island and mainland Canada offered some amazing real estate the only downfall would be having the ferry service passing to and fro on your fantastic vista.

Vancouver...read more in my next post.

Food along the way has been interesting:- San Fran offered sour dough buns filled with clam chowder was the first meal in the USA without cheese!- Bagel's for breakfast...mmmm
- Out of the way "dinner's" (i.e. the name of the place you eat at) offering simple staple meals...the all day breakfast being a huge hit.
- French Dip...dunk your roast beef roll in the juices from the roast beef!
- Wondering why the metho was burning with so much smoke and soot...well done to the clowns who picked up the turpentine bottle instead of methylated spirits!

Til next time!

LA & Catalina Island

Best thing about Los Angeles has go to be the weather, it is winter and still I am in shorts/t-shirt and the sun is shining.

Hence why I spent x2 days riding around LA on a push-bike (pedal power). It is a great way for me to learn the road rules...I have been comparing riding a bike in traffic in LA to playing Russian Roulette, and when you still get confused by the road rules it is like pulling the trigger twice each go!

Santa Monica and the beaches are busy even in winter, cant imagine the crowds in summer. The bike path offered some respite from large metal cars. No swimming however...water would be fine its just the sand in between me and the water I dislike. Best thing was the skate park...I spent at least an hour watching them do insane tricks on skateboards.

Palos Verde Drive offered great views and a hill to ride over...why does that appeal?

Adrian has been quite the host showing me around LA...cant believe how big the place is but nothing really took my attention enough to want to get the camera out.

To escape the city and do what I came to the US to do (hike) I headed to Catalina Island.
This island is 15miles off the coast and particularly the interior is free of hustle and bustle other than a few bison and squirrels. 2 days hiking was great except for the minor miscalculation on distances when I forgot that everything is in miles...hence my casual walking distance of 21km was actually closer to 33km...a big days walk!

The Catalina airport was interesting as to get a flat area big enough they just scraped the top off a large hill...this it is known as the airport in the sky!

Heading north today on the road trip to Vancouver.

Ciao

Tim

America Canada

I'm off again...7 months to see USA west coast, Canada and Alaska

Not trying to be another Alex Supertramp (Into the Wild), but wanting to spend as much time in a tent as possible.

Trialling the blog idea...have a day in LA and seeing Hollywood/Beverley Hills and the film star houses or Disney World is not my cuppa tea so, will spend the day 'productively' producing this blog...

See you on the road.

Tim

PS: pic is the freeways in LA...never seen so much traffic in my life

Great Ocean Walk (Victoria)

In order to have some bonding time with Mum & Dad before I flew out to LA on my next adventure we (Dad) organised to complete the Walking track version of the Great Ocean Road.

I had never been past Lorne on the Great Ocean Road so this was an opportunity also to see some spectacular country. The drive down was jaw dropping...this is why it attracts so many tourists. The road cut into the cliffs edge was as impressive as the West Coast of NZ...perhaps better even as it was sunny and warm!

The car shuffle was tedious but hopefully Parks VIC people and tourism operators are keeping this in mind for areas to improve as the walk grows.

We started the walk at Cape Otoway and Finished just east of the 12 apostles.

Mums pack was exceptionally heavy allowing me to do little finger curls as weight training, Dad's looked heavier walking uphill and the dense items such as water, wine and tents were left for me to carry.

The walk is not challenging, certainly not steep and not isolated...I had phone reception every night but the views make it a fantastic walk to remember. The sandy beaches made it heavy going at times but for 13-15km a day it is a fantastic walk anyone can do.


Points I will remember:

• The 2 Melbourne girls who completed the whole track (8days) and carried only canned food...their packs were half their body weight at the beginning...amazing achievement and amazingly stupid!
• The Blackberry feast(s) we had along the track. They are a weed and take over, but get there at the right time of year and it is luxury to have fresh fruit when hiking.
• Mum's amazing meals, she pre-prepared everything at home then dehydrated it. Simply add water for gourmet pumpkin risotto or fried rice.
• The amazing views of the campsites. Always on the highest point, great views but terrible for having a swim after you have finished walking (maybe it is a safety consideration).
• The toilets...positioned so you had a view
  

Great location, great food, great company...the Great Ocean Walk

T