Joe Coeshaw Travel Web Blog

I arrived in Washington DC the capital of the United States at midday, quickly checked into my hostel and hit the streets as there was a lot of stuff to see in the city. Since the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC security is very tight at the entrances to most public buildings with metal detectors and searches in operation. Due to this heightened security, tours of the White House, Pentagon and FBI building have been suspended; the only way to tour the White House is by applying 6 months in advance to a US Senator and being a party of more than 10 people. Thus I was not able to tour the White House; I did go and have a look from behind the gates at the building. Like everyone says it is smaller than it seems on TV and you could clearly see security personal on the roof, probably snipers. I did visit the White House information centre which has lots of exhibits on the building and the presidents who have lived there. My next stop was the national Achieves; I probably would not have stopped here except my interest was piqued by my time in Philadelphia and learning lots about American Independence. The Achieves were actually really interesting, there was a small queue to see the original Declaration of Independence and Constitution but other than this they had created some interactive exhibits which basically told some key moments from American history through recorded data stored in the Achieves.

Next day I left the hostel early as I wanted to tour the US capital building, there are limited tickets each day, I got a ticket for 11am so I had to wait for about a hour, so I decided to visit the US botanical Gardens which were next door to the Capital Building. I understand the reasons for the increased security measures, though it can get tiring getting searched whenever you enter a building. What I don’t understand is why they these security measures in a Botanical gardens, who the hell is going to attack what is basically a park. I would not class it as a high risk target personally; the gardens were good and helped pass an hour. The tour of the Capital was fairly interesting, though it was short. Plus it did not help we had a bomb scare while I was on the tour, we were evacuated out of a section of the building for about 20 mins while a package was investigated. It turned out someone had left a camera case in a room from a previous tour.
After the tour I walked down the long Washington Mall and went up the Washington Monument, this is the tallest granite structure in the world. The view from the top was really good; you could look down on the White House, Pentagon and Capital Building.
The rest of the day was spent in the Holocaust museum which is one of the best museums I have been in. It is very moving and sad, but it is a place everyone should have to visit if only to convey the true horrors of what humans can do to each other. That evening I walked though the WW2 memorial to the Lincoln memorial which has a good view of the Washington Monument.

Next day I spent 6 hours in the American History museum, it was a massive museum which was really interesting, after this I quickly looked at a few things in the natural History museum but this is not a patch on the museum in New York.

The following day I was finally going to visit the National Air and Space museum, I have been wanting to go here since I was a child. Before I got here I walked though the National Sculpture Garden. The National Air and Space museum was massive and had lots of interesting exhibits such as the original Apollo 11 Capsule, Spirit of St Louis plane, old rockets, the capsule of the balloon which made the first non stop flight around the world a few years ago. I timed my visit perfectly as the day I visited was the day the museum put on show Spaceship One, the first non government re-usable spaceship which won the X-Prize last year. While I was at the museum there was a press conference where Paul Allen (Co-Founder of Microsoft) and main financial backer handed over the spaceship. I was standing about 10 meters from Paul Allen and it was weird to think that this normal looking guy is worth billions of dollars. In the museum gift shop I bought some space ice cream which is vacuum sealed, I brought this back to the UK and shared it with my family, it was a bit dry but not to bad really. That evening I caught the subway to Pentagon City south of the Potomac River where there is a big shopping centre. I had not done a clothes wash for about a week and I had no clean underwear, with a few days left of my trip I could not face paying for a wash and wasting my time doing one, so I bought new socks and CK underwear, more expensive I admit but it felt good.

The International Spy museum was my first stop next day, this is the worlds only museum dedicated to spying. It was very interesting and I stayed about 3 hours, it was very interactive getting you to solve crime scenes, bug places, go through air vents etc. As you leave the museum there is a sign which says “within 500 meters of this building are over 10,000 members of the Intelligence community”, this is quite worrying until I remembered that the FBI building is across the street. My next cultural stop was the museum of the American Indian, this was quite enlightening though very in-depth and lots of reading. That evening I caught the subway to DuPont Circle and looked around this neighborhood which is famous for its embassies and restaurants.

The final day of my Around the World trip was finally upon me, after such hot and sunny weather for the last month on the Eastern US seaboard my last days is torrential rain. I need to be at Washington Dulles airport by 7pm so I have most of the day to finish my DC sightseeing. I spend most of my time that day in the National Art Gallery and Contemporary Art Gallery, there were some famous painting here including a few great Monet, Warhol, Picasso and DaVinci. After my whirlwind art tour I went back to the hostel and picked up my backpack and walked in the rain to the subway where I caught a train to a station I could get a coach to the airport. I had no problems checking into my flight but an hour later while I was waiting at the gate the women who checked me in rushed up to me and was asking for my ticket, she had forgot to take my paper ticket. All I had done was hand her my passport and she had printed me a boarding card, she had not even seen my ticket, after this little drama the flight was fine. We actually arrived in London 45 minutes early (A rare occurrence), usually this would be good, but as we got there early BA had not got the buses ready to take us to the terminal, so we had to then sit on the plane for 45 minutes doing nothing. Soon enough though I was walking out of the Arrival area and was greeted by my Dad, it was great to see him again. After a 3 hour drive we were back home, where I find the backdoor has been done up with balloons and signs welcoming me back home. Then when we get inside there are balloons in the kitchen, living room and on my bed, this was a really nice touch. Though my dad was just a surprised as me as he did not put them up, Ruth and Ed had come over while he was at the airport.

It feels weird being back home, its been 3 weeks now and I do miss traveling and seeing new places, though its good to be home with family, and the food is a hell of a lot nicer. I now need to concentrate on getting a good job. It does not seem like a year ago that I left on my trip as I have done so much, seen so many cool places and met loads of awesome people on my travels. Traveling is one of the best things I will ever do and I want to go again, maybe not for so long but I defiantly have the traveling bug.

This will be the last update on this site for a while; all my photos and videos of the trip are now online.

I had been to New York before 2 years ago, that is why this trip I was only spending 3 full days as it’s an expensive city and I have already seen a lot of the major sights.

The cheap bus from Boston dropped me right into the middle of New York’s Chinatown area which can be a little crazy and hectic. I was staying in the Hostel International which was on 103rd St. I had to change 3 times on the subway, from the subway station to the hostel I had to walk a few blocks. The hostel was not in Harlem but it was close to the border of the dodgy area of NY, this was reflected by the run down neighbourhood and dodgy looking people hanging around the streets. The HI hostel was really nice though, that evening I went down to Time Sq to have a look around and wonder Broadway for a few hours. I always find Time Sq really spectacular at night like Las Vegas, the combination of tall buildings, thousands of lights and masses of people create a fast paced boiling pot of modern commercialism.

Next day I catch the subway back to Time Square, like Vegas it’s no where near as interesting during the daytime. I decided to walk down Broadway to Macy’s the world’s largest department store. After this I walked through Soho towards lower Manhattan. I ran into Sid the guy from Boston (this was the 3rd time we had just ran into each other in the street, what are the chances of this in cities the size of Boston and NY), we then went and looked at the World Trade Centre site. I was here 2 years ago and not much has changed in those 2 years, one new Skyscraper has been re-built on the edge of the site but no building work has happened yet on the Freedom Tower. The Freedom Tower aims to be the tallest building in the world when it is finally built. Next we walked past the Stock Exchange and then down to the Staten Island ferry terminal where we caught a free ferry across the river. On this 30 minute transfer you get a great view of downtown Manhattan as well as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There is nothing to do once you get to Staten Island, so like most tourists we got back on the ferry to Manhattan without leaving the terminal.

Next day I had arranged to meet Sid outside the UN building and go for a tour. After passing though the tough security measures we got on a tour. This was interesting and we were able to see both the UN Security council chambers and the General Assembly chamber as neither was in session, both seem smaller in real life. After this Sid had to meet a friend who worked at the UN so I walked to Central Park where I explored and relaxed for a few hours as it was a really hot sunny day. After this I walked down 5th Avenue past all the expensive shops to the Empire State building. I timed my visit here so I would miss most of the tourists who come during the afternoon. I got to the top of the tower at 6:30pm when it was still sunny; I got a great view of Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. I then waited around for an hour, by then it was dark and New York was lit up like a Christmas tree which was very pretty to look at.

On my final full day in NY I wanted to visit the Museum of Natural History as this is one of the only museums and art galleries in NY I have not been before. The Museum on its leaflets says admission is $14 by donation. By this stage of my trip I was very short of money so I thought I would be cheap and try to get in for free. I went to the ticket counter and the women says “That’s $14”, I say “that’s a donation right? I will give a donation when I come out if I enjoyed the museum”, she says “You need to pay before you enter”. I ask if it is a voluntary donation and she says it is. I then say “can I volunteer to pay nothing to get in”. She does not look happy and then calls her Manager to come over, I agree to pay a few dollars to go in, and unfortunately my smallest bill is $5 so I end up paying this to go in. It was a bit of a joke really, if they want people to pay $14, charge this and get rid of the whole donation crap as they obviously don’t like it when people pay less than $14 for something which is provided free in most countries e.g. UK, New Zealand and Singapore. The museum was really good though and I ended up staying 6 hours, so 6 hours entertainment for $5 was a bargain. After I finished here I caught the subway to Brooklyn and walked back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge, the view from the bridge is great at dusk.

My bus to Philadelphia was at midday and took 2 hours; I arrived in Philadelphia at 2pm and walked 20 minutes to my hostel. I arrived outside my hostel to find a note saying it closes between the hours of 10:30 and 16:30. I was extremely annoyed as it was a really hot day and I had a heavy backpack to carry around for the next 2 hours, no other hostel I had been to in North America closed during the day. I did not know what to do as I could not go to any of the tourist attractions with the big bag. I eventually went to the big new National Historic Parks Tourist office, which is a massive building that has tourist info on Philadelphia as well as videos and history. Philadelphia is a big city which after decline over the last few decades is re-building itself and has a lot of historical sites for a tourist to see. It is the birthplace of the American country; it was where American Independence was first conceived and later the first Capital of the United States. After leaning my Philadelphia history I finally checked in and dumped my bag before heading down to the old Philadelphia docks on the Delaware River. Now a days lots of old boats are moored here as tourist attractions. That evening on the way back to the hostel I stopped at Dairy Queen and had my first Blizzard, this is like a McFlurry but so much nicer. I had Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups flavour which was so good.

Early next morning I went and looked at the famous Liberty Bell with its big crack, next was a tour of Independence Hall, Old Senate Building and finally that day a trip to the Constitution museum where I spent 3 hours. This was a great museum which looked at American liberties, history, politics and where America is heading in the future.

Next day I visit the Ben Franklin Museum which is two doors down from my Hostel, this is based on the site of Franklin’s former house and business, and there are some interesting exhibits here. After this I go to the Liberty museum which is really interesting and looks at modern freedoms and remembers American and Worldwide heroes. After this I have a long walk through downtown Philadelphia, passed all the tall skyscrapers and passed weird pink fountains (see photo gallery) to the Art Gallery. This is where the famous scene from Rocky was based when Stallone is running up the steps.

One good thing about Philadelphia and Washington DC is that almost all the sights are free to go in and see as they are Government run or funded. This is great news for me after New York and Boston where nothing is free. One night at the hostel I watched a really great and moving film called “Hotel Rwanda” about the civil war in Rwanda.

Early the following morning I caught a bus for just under 2 hours to Washington DC the Capital of the United States.

I spent a week in Boston and it was one of my favorite cities in North America. My first full day there I started to explore some of the history which took place here. Boston was where the American Independence movement first kicked off and it was also the place of some battles against the British which followed. There is a trail marked by red painted stones called the Freedom Trail which goes for 4.5 KM winding its way through downtown Boston (It felt like I was following the yellow brick road in the wizard of OZ). Along this trail are most of the famous sites of Boston including the Old State House (Boston Massacre took place outside), Old South Meeting Hall, Quincy Market, Paul Revre house, Charlestown Monument and the SS Constitution. The Charlestown monument is the second tallest granite structure in the world after the Washington monument, at a few hundred feet the view of Boston is good, just a shame about the clouds when I was at the top. I spent a few hours touring the SS Constitution the oldest commissioned warship in the world (tours conducted by active military personal). This wooden boat was used to fight the British in the war of Independence over 200 years ago.

Other things I did in Boston include walking to MIT the famous University and catching the subway to Cambridge where Harvard is based. The Harvard campus is great, lots of old buildings and trees and it’s really big. I wish my university had been like this place.

While in Boston I did a day trip to Cape Cod, this is a famous holiday get away for celebrities and presidents. I caught a fast ferry to the Cape which took 1.5 hrs. On the way I was reading and looked up for no reason and suddenly saw a big spray of water close to the boat, a massive Fin Back Whale surfaces and then goes back underwater. Over the next few minutes I see numerous whales which were very cool. The Fin Back whale is the second biggest in the world after the gigantic Blue Whale. Cape Cod was amazing, the weather was very hot and sunny and the beaches here are beautiful. The Cape is like Fraser Island in Australia, mainly sand based with some big dunes but also some big forests. I hired a bike for 4 hours and rode about 20km of cycle paths and had one of the best days of my trip. At one point when I was trying to get the bike back to the rental store on time the chain came off, some of the way back was downhill so I still got on the bike for the downhill sections. After one of these downhill bits the chain somehow got back on the bike and I was able to peddle very fast back to the rental store by the ferry terminal, I arrived back with a minute to spare. I was very hot so I treated myself with a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. When I got back to Boston I headed to the Museum of Fine Arts as it was free after 6pm that evening, while in there I bumped into Sid a guy in my room at the hostel.

Next day I went on a Whale watching trip, I had already booked this before seeing the whales on the way to Cape Cod the day before. This trip was so cheap about £15 for 4 hours Whale watching, on the trip we saw loads of Humpback Whales. Some of the whales surfaced so close to the boat you could hear the noises they make when the surface. It was a great trip seeing these majestic animals up-close.

After the Whale watching trip I met up with a friend I had in Boston called Brody and we went to a pub to get some food and to have a drink, we kept on drinking and the night kept on getting later and later until Brody had missed 3 trains and would just make the final train home. During this drunken evening I got talking to a very attractive promotions girl from Rolling Rock beer and I am not sure if it was my charm or English accent but we got loads of free Rolling Rock gear like T-shirts, towels, beer holders, bags, loads of bottle openers and other useless stuff. The only problem is I had to now carry this stuff home.

I spent one day visiting the JFK memorial and the Commenwealth museum. The Commonwealth Museum was not that good, but the JFK memorial was a really great place telling the story of JFK from the war years until his assination. It was a very moving place which was located right on the waterfront in a nice looking glass building.

I visited the town of Salem (30 mins away from Boston on the train) with Sid from my hostel. Salem is famous for the Witch trials of the 18th Century where lots of people were killed for being witches. We visited a Witch museum which was quite interesting; it explained the history of the trials and tried to explain about modern Wicca. Later that day I decided it was about time to get a haircut, I could not find a cheap barber so I went to this nice place where it coast $25 for a simple haircut. The guy cutting my hair turned out to be gay and coming onto me while cutting my hair and asking me to go have a meal with him. What was I to say when he is holding sharp objects around my face, I think I shut up and grunted a reply. I am still not sure what I said though, after he had cut my hair he started to give me a head and neck massage, by this point I was like please carry on, I doubt this is normal service but he gave a great massage. It was a funny experience looking back on it after I was out of the shop.

Next stop after Boston was New York, I caught a very cheap bus costing only $15 and the bus took 3 hours.

Montreal was the next stop in Canada, this is the second biggest city in Canada and is also the second biggest French speaking city in the world after Paris. My French was very rusty but most people who we came in contact with spoke enough English for us to get by. There was a lack of cheap hotels in Montreal so we ended up paying more than usual which helped wreck my budget, though the suite at the Clarion was very nice.

On our first full day in Montreal we visited the Architecture Museum which had a exhibit on 60’s Montreal and how it developed the city due to the Expo in 67 and the Olympic games in the 70’s. After this we checked out the Planetarium which we got into for free as the front desk was deserted. Next we went to the famous Notre Dame cathedral which is very impressive inside.

Next day we caught the underground to the former Olympic site, there is an observation desk at the top of the worlds tallest slanting tower which gives a good view of the city. Unfortunatly the day was very hot and there was a lot of haze so the view was poor. In the afternoon we went to the islands on the river which were used for the Expo in 67, we saw the Biosphere building and walked around the Canadian Grand prix track. We caught the subway back to the city and walked around the old town / port area and had a nice Italian dinner.

On our final full day we went to the Museum of Fine Arts which was very large and luckly for us free, after this we went to Mont Royal which is a big park in the middle of the city, there is a large hill in the park which we climbed to get a great view of the city. The track we took to the top was not a proper path and we were almost rock climbing to get up.

Next day Chris leaves for his train back to Toronto at 9:30, I catch my train to Quebec at 12:30. Quebec City is the capital of the province of Quebec but the city itself is quite small. Quebec City is also the only walled city left in North America, the wall runs for 4.5km around the top of the city. Quebec City is really pretty with great views over the St Lawrence river as well as some great looking old buildings. The first night at the hostel I went on a great night tour of the city. The most famous building in Quebec is Chateau Fortnac which is a 25 story gothic style hotel which is very very impressive. Next day I walk along the city walls, did a tour of the citadel which is still a military outpost and I spent four hours in the Civilisations museum which was fantastic especially the exhibit on the Russian revolution and Murder crimes.

On the last day in Quebec I walk through Abraham Fields which is the battlefield where the British and French had a pitched battle over the city (British won in 20 minutes). I then visited the free Art gallery, French American Museum and Parc Royal Museum. Quebec was a great little city with some amazing views and buildings.

I caught the train back to Montreal where I was going to spend one night before catching the bus to Boston in the US. The hostel I stayed at was great, except Bed Bugs. I got bitten all over my arms, legs and back. Next day when I got to Boston the first thing I did was wash all my clothes which was not very plesent. The bus ride to Boston went quickly and uneventfully.

I miss Canada, I was there almost a month and prefer it to the US. The people have a different attitude which I can relate to more. I will defiently go back to Canada in future to see it in winter.

When we got to Ottawa it was still raining, this is the first real rain I have seen in about 2 months since I was in Fiji, it was quite a shock. The suite at the hotel we stayed at was really nice. That evening as it was Thursday most of the museums / art galleries are free. We took full advantage of things being free by visiting the Contemporary Photography gallery and National Art Gallery. The Photography gallery was not great and I am glad I did not have to pay for it but the Art Gallery was really good. Outside the Art Gallery just before we went in there was a road block and we wondered what it was for, then suddenly 10 police cars come around the corner, followed by a few black Hummers, then one long black Limo then lots more police cars and bikes. All the cars had a small Chiense flag on them, and in the Limo the passenger had a see-through window and we got to see the Chinese President. He had just arrived at Ottawa airport and was on his way to meet the Canadian Prime Minister. You don’t see one of the most powerful men in the world everyday. After this we went and had a big Indian Buffet meal.

Next day we planned to go on a tour of the Canadian parliament building but when we turned up the tours were cancelled because of the Chinese President visit. Outside the Parliament were a few hundred protesters complaing about human rights, Tibet and Tawain. As we could not do a tour we went to the National War Museum, this had only just opened a few months previously and it was an amazing museum. It was very informative and hands one with lots of great video and artifacts. That night at 9pm at the Parliament we went and saw the daily sound and light show put on for free. The show was really good, they used a big projecter to show images such as Canadian scenery, wildlife, famous people etc on the parliament building.

Our train to Montreal left Ottawa at 1pm so we went and did a tour of Parliament (finally) at 9am. The Canadian Parliament is similar to Australias where it has been based of both the British and American systems. I enjoyed my time in Ottawa, its a nice small city with a few excellent museums and galleries.

I arrived in Toronto tired after a serious lack of sleep the night before due to the time my flight left Vancover, I arrived at my hostel which was in a fantastic central location to find it was a real dump. Still I was only here 2 nights so it was not that bad. That first days I just walked around Dundas Sq which is Toronto`s Time Sq with lots of lights, shows and advertisement signs. I also went into the worlds biggest bookstore, though I am sure I have seen bigger.

Next day I got up about midday after sleeping for 14hrs straight. I walked to the Royal Ontario Museum and bought a Citypass which gave me entry to 6 of Torontos top tourist attractions at heavily discounted rate. The next day I would be meeting a friend from back home who had come out to see me and travel in Canada with me for 9 days. I enjoyed the museum it had an exhibit about flying dinosaurs which was interesting as well as lots of Native Indian artifacts. Next day I went to Toronto Zoo, it was a real effort getting there, I needed to catch 3 subway lines, and 2 buses. But it was included on my Citypass and I had time to pass till Chris showed up at 8pm that evening and I did not think he would want to see the zoo. It was really big and I enjoyed seeing the section on Canadian wildlife and I had not seen any of Canadas native wildlife in the wild except a Black Bear. Chris showed up on time in Toronto and we checked into our hotel, it was better than the hostel but not by much. Chris did not want to stay in hostels as he was on holiday and prefered the privacy of our own room.

Early next day we go to the castle Casa Loma which was built at the turn of the 20th century and is a really imposing building with a great view of downtown Toronto from its 6 floor towers. Underneath the castle is a 800ft passageway leading to the garage and stables. After this we went shopping in Toronto`s famous Eaton centre which is mostly underground, after an hour shopping we caught the ferry to Toronto Island which is only 15 minutes away but seems like another world. You get an amazing view of Toronto`s skyline from the ferry, there are a few different ferry terminals on the island and we caught the wrong ferry. We ended up 3.5 km from where we expected to be, but we had a nice walk along a wooden broadwalk by the lake to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

That evening we went to Toronto`s star attraction the CN Tower, built in the 70s as a communication tower, it was quickly changed into a tourist destination. The CN tower is the worlds tallest structure at around 550m, it also has the worlds highest observation platform at 450 meters. The ticket you buy entited us to go to 3 different observation platforms, to get into the tower we had to pass this very futuristic security scanner which used high pressure air to detect for guns etc. The lift took us up 350 meters in under a minute which is very fast. We timed our visit to the tower so it was still daylight at the first 2 observation desks and by the time we got to the highest one we could see the city at night all lit up. The view is amazing from the tower, on a very clear day you can see Niagra Falls, it was not clear enough for us but we still got a great view of the city, islands and surrounding countryside. On the second observation platform there is a section of the floor which is glass and you can see through it, its only about 15 meters long but walking along the glass is very scary, 370 meters above the ground with nothing below you but glass. Me and Chris started taking silly photos of us sitting on the glass which can be seen in the photo gallery. When we got to the highest observation point it was dark and Toronto was lit up like a Christmas tree and looking very pretty.

Next day we caught the train at 8:30 to Niagra Falls which was 2 hours away right on the US border. The train station is 3.5 km from the falls so we had a nice walk in the sun along the river to the Falls. There is not actually a Niagra Falls, there are 2 waterfalls called the American Falls (which is on the US side) and Horseshoe Falls (the bigger one, on the US & Canadian border) which make up the famous landmark. Both falls were spectacular but the Horseshoe falls are bigger and much more powerful. There is a bridge called Rainbow bridge which you can cross to get a good view of the falls, to get the view you need to leave Canada and enter Neutral territory between the US and Canada, to get back we needed to show our passports and get them stamped again. We walked to the top of the Horseshoe falls and got wet from the spray, but had a fantastic view from the top of the falls down to the bottom. Later we caught the famous Maid of the Mist boat to the foot of the falls, when you get on they issue you a very fetching blue raincoat, this is defiently needed as you get drenched by the spray from the falls. You do get a fantastic view of the falls though which is well worth the money.

After lunch we walked for 30 minutes to an outlet shopping centre where Chris bought some stuff from the Levis and Nike stores. We were rushing to get back to the train station for our return trip to Toronto, we turned up a few minues before the cut off time to find that no one had boarded yet. A hour and a half later and we finally leave, the train had been sitting there all that time, but they had not allowed us to board, when we finally got on we found out it was because the train had just come from the US, and Canadian customs had not allowed 5 people into the country.

Next day we caught the train to Ottawa the Canadian capital which was 3 hours away. Toronto was a nice city and I was very impressed with the CN Tower.

Vancover was a really nice city but I had a few problems when I first turned up. I arrived at Vancover station and cleared customs no problem, I did not have any Canadian money as I thought I would be able to get this easily from the station, I was wrong. The ATM at the station was broken, I went to the currency exchange office and they only except Mastercard not Visa which I thought was very weird. I needed money as the city centre was about 4 KM away and I needed to get the Skytrain there. I then walked across the street to a Starbucks but they do not do cashback on sales, I tried another ATM at a bank a few minutes walk away and it said my UK banks network is currently down. I was very frustrated by this point and ended up having to walk the 4km in 30c temps to my hostel, I turned up dripping wet. I tried an ATM later and it worked fine, I was worried I would not be able to get any money.

After a long shower I went and explored the city, I caught the ferry to North Vancover which provided a great view of Downtown Vancovers skyline as well as the mountains which surround the city.

From the look of the city it does not seem to different from any US city but its the little things like the Queens head on currency and big parks in the city centre which made the city remind me of the UK. I spent a whole day walking around Stanley Park and sitting on its many beaches. I paid a visit to the tourist area of Gastown, but it was not that interesting except watching the steam powered clock do a little tune every half hour. Close to my hostel was Granville Island, there is a great market of fresh food and art stuff here, including a stand selling the most amazing wildlife photos.

I was booked onto a 3 day tour from Vancover to Whistler which is a Ski town about 2 hours drive away in the mountains. Whistler and Vancover are together hosting the 2012 Winter Olympics. On the tour there were 3 English girls, an Aussie and 3 girls from Korea who did not speak English. I was very suprised to find that one of the English girls (Claire) was from Weston Super Mare as well, this is the first person I have met while travelling who is also from Weston. We were staying in a really nice ski chalet which in summer doubles as a hostel, there were lots of warning signs about Bears. Claire and me hired some bikes and went cycling around the area and covered about 30km, we stopped at a few lakes with amazing scenery e.g. Green Lake and the Lost Lake. Next day I went hiking on the top of the mountain with all three English girls, we caught the Gondola to the midway point and then hiked to the top, past ice and glaciers. We walked a different way down and ended up walking about 25km. On the gondola on the way down I spotted a big Black Bear below us, it was really amazing to see this big animal in its natural habitat. it was just a shame that we were moving and I only saw the bear for about 30 seconds before we lost sight of it. My final day in Whistler was spent walking around more lakes and watching some downhill mountain bikers trying to kill themselves doing tricks n the ski runs.
Whistler is such a beautiful area and I would love to see it in winter with snow as it would be so different.

Upon my return in Vancover I only had a day before having to catch a plane to Toronto, I mainly just walked around and relaxed. My flight was at 6am in the morning and I had to check in at 4am, but the first shuttle to the airport was not till 5:30. This ment I had to get to the airport the night before on the last shuttle at 11pm and wait 6 hours. This was so boring, there was nothing to do at the airport, everything apart from Subway was closed and I did not want to go to sleep as still had all my bags with me. Even if I did want to sleep there was no where comfortable. I just about managed to stay awake until I finally got on the plane, the flight to Toronto went prerrty quickly as I slept most of it. On the way I had some amazing views of the Rockies and the Great Lakes.

I really enjoyed my stay in Western Canada and just wish I had longer to explore the rockies. The next update will be from Toronto and Niagra Falls.

I have uploaded about half of my photos from my time in the Toronto area and well as some of my photos from my dad trip to Niagra Falls.

I have uploaded all my photos and Videos from my time in Whistler western Canada, they can be found in the normal locations.

After Meitra picked me up the next hurdle was to get out of the city, Meitra hardly ever drives there and I had been in the city 3 days, we eventually got lucky and found the road we wanted which would take us to the Golden Gate Bridge. Sonoma where Meitra lives in in the heart of Wine country which is about 75 miles north of San Francisco, it was good to drive over the bridge again and to get one final view of downtown San Francisco. We stopped quite soon for lunch at a restaurent at a small brewery where I tried a weird ale. After lunch we continued to drive north along the Pacific Coast Highway to Bodega Bay, this is a nice beach which can get some good surf. Along the way meitra found out I had never tried Salt Water Taffy, I did not even know what it was (it sounds like a fish). At the beach Meitra took me to a shop which sold about 20 different flavours of taffy like mint, cherry, vanilla etc…. , we got a variety of different flavour for the ride back to her house. Basically taffy is like a slightly more melted toffee available in lots of flavours. By early evening we got to her house which was a nice 3 bed room place in the suburbs of Sonoma. Her mum cooked dinner which was really nice, after this we went out to a few pubs. The first was a nice irish place and the second was called the Swiss Hotel, they would not serve me as I had forgot my ID so we went home.

Next day we went wind tasting, the first place we went was Benziger and they have an hour long tour of the processes they use to make wine which was really interesting, especially going into the caves where they store the wine. As most of you know I am not a big wine taster, but I must admit some of the wine at the 3 wineries we went to was quite nice especially the white wine. After all the wine that morning we went for lunch at the restaurant Meitra works at called “Red Grape” a nice italian place. After lunch we set off for Sacremento, Meitra was going back to University there the following weekend and needed to drop some stuff off at her house there. I was going to catch the bus from Sacremento as it was further north than San Francisco. What I saw of Sacremento it seemed nice, we quickly went to Meitras house and picked up here housemate, then we stopped at the State Capital building which was quite impressive, then we went for a nice Mexican in Old Town which is exactly what is says, the original part of town almost like a wild west style area. At dinner all three of us shared a massive strawberry margaretia, we were not able to finish this before we had to leave for the bus station as it was so big. I had never gone on a Greyhound bus in the US and I was a bit nervous about it due to some of the stories I had heard. After being on the bus for 15 hours I can say the stories are true, the only people who go on greyhound are freaks, weirdos and illegal immigrants. To start with the bus was an hour late leaving, then after 3 hours we stopped at Reding at about midnight where our driver left saying a new driver would be along soon, he also left the engine running. After 2 hours a new driver arrived, during that time the bus terminal was closed, there was no Greyhound staff around, some of the passengers were seriously considering taking the bus and just driving on up to Portland. Eventually we arrived in Portland3 hours late, I think I managed 2 hours sleep that night.

Portland was a very clean and welcoming city which I could defiently live it, its not that big (about half a million) but has everything you could want from a city. The hostel I stayed at was a big old house with grass growing on the roof to be more enviromentally friendly. In Portland I did a nice walk along the river, I went to the Oregon Historical Society which had a special day offer where you could get in for 25 cents the same price the World Fair was in Portland 100 years ago. I also went and saw the Portlandia which is the second largest copper statue in the world after the Statue of Liberty. One evening I went to a local cinema called Bagdad, it was decorated in a middle eastern style, the cinema sold beer and pizza and only cost $3 as they showed second run films (before they reach DVD). When I left Portland to go to Seattle I booked the train and not the bus even though the bus is cheaper. The train ride was really nice and a lot more comfortable, its just a shame the train never seemed to go above 50 miles an hour. Compared to this, English trains are really fast.

I really liked Seattle, it did not rain on me once. The common perception of Seattle is that it rains all the time, this is probably true for the rest of the year but summer is very hot in the Pacific North West. Close to the hostel I stayed at was the Pike St market which is a massive fresh food market. Next to the market is the original Starbucks Coffee shop, why I went to have a look I am not sure as I don’t even drink coffee. Later I went to the Bank of America tower which is the tallest building west of Chicago in North America at 1,100 ft. It only cost $3 to go to the observation platform at the top of the building where I got a fantastic view of the city, Pugnet Sound and Mt Rainer. Also on my first day in Seattle I walked around the new Baseball stadium and bought a ticket for a game later in the week. The last thing I did that day was go on an Underground Tour, most of downtown Seattle burnt down 100 years ago, they re-built but a few meters above the ground. There is now a big underground city of basements which have former shops in, the tour was really fun.

Other things I did in Seattle include going to the old World Fair site which Seattle hosted in the 60s, I got to the old site by catching a monorail from downtown to the Spaceneedle which is at the heart of the World Fair site. The Spaceneedle is a 600ft tower which looks like its got a flying saucer at the top. I spent a whole day at the Museum of Flight, this was really good fun and I was able to see how planes are made, go inside a real Concorde and retired Air Force One plane. On my final day in Seattle I caught the ferry to an island in Pugnet Sound, I got fantastic views of the Seattle Skyline on the way. Bainbridge Island is a nice island with some good walking tracks and a small community. That evening I was watching my baseball game the Seattle Mariners Vs Chicago White Soxs, I got to the game about an hour early and saw the pre-match entertainment. I had a good view of the game which Seattle lost 4 v 2 in the end, it was a fun match though. The game lasted 4 hours and it was past 11pm before I left the stadium, I think I finally grasp the rules of baseball which is handly when being in North America for a while.

The next day I caught the train to Vancover Canada which is 3 hours away.

I will add details about Vancover soon, I am currently in Montreal, eastern Canada.

New photos from Seattle and all my pictures from Vancover Canada are now online. I still need to upload my pictures from Whistler.

Tomorrow I fly to Toronto in eastern Canada, so my next update will be in the next few days when I hope to add a new Blog entry.

I have uploaded all the rest of my photos from my trip up the Pacific Coast highway and from San Francisco. Additionally all my videos up to Vancover are now in the Video section of the site.

I have just uploaded all my photos from my time in Fiji, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. They can all me found in the usual photo galleries (link on the right of the main page). Additionally I have uploaded my videos from when I was in Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

Enjoy the new pictures and videos.

I manged to meet up with my Dad at LA airport, he had a good flight from London. We then went to get our hire car and drove about 30 minutes to our hotel by the beach in Santa Monica which is a famous beach suburb of LA. By the time we got unpacked it was evening, we walked down to the beach for a quick look at the famous Santa Monica pier, then we went for a nice dinner where I updated my dad with everything I had done over the last few months.

Next day we explored Santa Monica more in the morning, including walking to the end of the pier, going along the beach, getting our feet wet in the sea and I used some of the free weights and work out equipment near the beach. After lunch we decided to see Hollywood, on the map Santa Monica looked close to Hollywood but in reality it took us about one and a half hours to get to Hollywood Blvd, LA is such a massive city with very slow traffic. On the way to Hollywood Blvd we drove through Bevilly Hills, this neighbourhood looked like it does on TV (very rich). The main area of Hollywood is a bit tacky to be honest but it’s in a fun way, the stars of celebrities are on the sidewalks, I got a picture of Govenor Arnie’s star. The Mann’s Chinese Theatre was funny as there was lots of people dressed up as famous film characters. After a few hours wondering around and seeing all the freaks of Hollywood Blvd we drove the short way to the Griffith Obsorbitory which is in a big park at the top of a large hill, the view of the city was amazing. Also you get one of the best views of the Hollywood sign from the top of the hill.

Next day we start our trek along the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), first stop is Malibu, this is only about 30 miles outside LA, most people will know the beach as this is where they filmed Baywatch. I was disappointed with Malibu, the beach was ok but nothing special. There were a lot of fancy houses along the beach but the back of them faced a 8 lane freeway which defiently is not shown on TV shows. That night we stayed in a nice beach town called Ventura where we watched the sunset come down over the beach.

Santa Barbara was the next town up the coast, this is one of my favourite places in California. The town has a great combination of not being too big, having a great beach, big student population from the University of California and an excellent main street with lots of good bars and shops. Once we eventually found somewhere to park we had a really good day here (Parking is a problem). On the beach there is a little cemetory which has lots of white crosses coming out of the sand, this marks the number of US soldiers who have died in the latest Iraq war. This is quite moving to see, especially as 90% of the crosses are after when Bush announced all combat hostilities have ended. We did not stay in Santa Barbara as it’s a very expensive town, instead we went to a small town 30 miles up the coast called Lompoc, this is a nice rural town. It’s one claim to fame is that the Vandenberg Airforce base is here, this is where NASA has its alternate space command centre. When the shuttle landed recently it landed over the top of our hotel room into another NASA base close by.

The following day we headed to the small beach town of Pismo Beach, this was a nice town with some big sand dunes, unfortuntly the weather was windy so it was quite cold. After a few hours here we headed inland to a larger town called San Luis Obispo (SLO), this town was only about 10 miles inland but the temperature went from about 65f to about 90f. SLO was a really nice town with an old Spanish Missionary and a good downtown, we stayed here overnight.

Next stop was Big Sur, one of the most famous sights in California and in numerous song lyrics including The Thrills song titled “Big Sur”. Big Sur is not a specific place but a 30 mile stretch of coastline. At the start of the Big Sur area we stoped at a beach which was famous for it’s Elephant Seal colony, most of the seals where at sea but there were still a few of these massive animals to see. As soon as you get out of the car these very cute and funny ground Squirrals run up to you and stand on their hind legs and beg for food, they look similar to normal tree squirrals but don’t have bushy tails. The drive along the coastline here was on single lane highway curving around the edge of the coast usually with massive drops into the sea. The scenery was stunning when we could see it, the problem was fog, this part of the Californian coast up to San Francisco is famous for it’s summer fog caused by ocean currents and warm air. As we were driving we could have a clear view for miles one minute and then not see more than 10 meters the next. Inland along the Big Sur coastline are a few excellent National Forests, one of these we walked to a lovely waterfall through a gorgeous Redwood forest. Redwood trees are the tallest trees on earth. They only now a days grow in California and most of them were cut down for their timber a few hundred years ago, most of whats left is protected and rightly so. These gigantic trees are stunning to see and walk under, when you look up all you can see is the tree climbing into the heavens. Big Sur was defiently one of the highlights of my Californian trip, we stayed at a nice town just north of Big Sur called Monteray.

Just south of Monteray is a small town called Carmel, this is a very rich town and is famous because the actor Clint Eastwood was the former mayor. At the southern end of town is the Point Lobos State Reserve, this is an amazing area of protected forest and sea. Point Lobos has the biggest Kelp forests (seaweed forstes under the sea) in North America. Lots of endangered wildlife live in the surrounding water including Whales, Seals which I saw quite a few, Sea Otters which are very rare but we saw one and lots of rare birds. That evening we went to the cinema and watched “Wedding Crashers” which I really enjoyed.

The next place we visted was Santa Cruz, this is a bigger sea town which is famous for it’s surfing, while we were there the surfing was not great but there was a big vollyball tournament on the beach. On the way out of Santa Cruz we drove to Big Basin Redwood forest, this is one of the biggest areas of Redwoods left. We did a really good walk here, on the walk we saw the tree titled “Mother of the forest” this is because it is about 110 meters tall, which makes it one of the tallest in the world.

The next day we would be arriving in San Francisco (SF) where we would be meeting with my uncle, he is a Captain for BA and would be flying in early evening, we were going to meet him at the hotel. During the day we did some of the sights of SF. We started out by going to the world famous Golden Gate Bridge, it really is a stunning bridge especially if you look up when you drive across it. The view back on the city of SF and of Alcatraz island are excellent. Next we went to Lombard St which is famous for being the most bending and curving st in the world. Finally we went up telegraph hill and got an excellent close up view of SF. That evening we met up with Gerald my uncle, we went out for a nice Italian meal. The hotel we were staying at was really fancy (lucky me), and the room was on the 29th floor with a fantastic view of downtown SF and the harbour.

Next day we walked to the ferry and caught a really nice ferry across the harbour to Sausalito, a small town with excellent views back across SF harbour. When we got back to Pier 39 in SF we went and had a look at the famous Harbour Seals lounging about the end of the pier. Next day we parted company with Gerald as he was flying back to London that afternoon, we just had a lazy afternoon wandering the streets of San Francisco.
Next day Dad left for his flight home at midday, it was sad to see him go after travelling with him for 2 weeks, but I would see him again in 7 weeks back in England. About 15 minutes after dad left a friend of mine from Sydney picked me up, I had arranged to spend the night at her house. Meitra lived in Sonoma which is famous for it’s wine.

I have finally added all the photos of my time in Fiji, look in the photo gallery.

When the plane from LA is landing in Vegas I get a good overhead view of the strip and it looks very impressive and the famous lights standout against the blackness of the surrounding desert. Especially the Luxor pyrmid which has a big light shining from the top of it. After I landed in Vegas I got a cheap shuttle to my hotel the “Excalibur”, this is a medievil themed hotel with suits of armour in the lobby and battlements on the outside of the building. To get into the hotel you need to walk over its drawbrige over the big moat.

After a long sleep to get over my jet-lag I get up and explore my casino and the Luxor which is next door and is connected to the Excalibur by a escalator. The Luxor is the more impressive casino with massive egyptian pillars and statues everywhere. When I finally venture outside I am faced with the 105f temperatures, at least the heat is a dry and not humid. The next stop is the MGM grand which is where a lot of big boxing matches are held, I stop by the resident lion enclosure but the Lions are asleep. I then get the monorail which runs from one end of the strip to the other, this way I could get a good view of the strip and will be walking back to my hotel down the strip. During the day the strip does not look as fantastic or magical as it does at night. I stopped at the toruist information office and booked a day trip to the Grand Canyon for the next day, this would be a long 14 hour day starting at 7am as the Grand Canyon is about 300 miles away. I would have loved to be able to afford a Helicopter tour but they are way out of my price range. I now started walking back down the strip, I stopped to see the Pirates show at Tresure island, this is a massive show at the front of the casino with 2 livesize pirate ships, 20 pirates and lots of explosions. For a free show which lasted half an hour it was very good. The Bellagio also had a good free show, this time a massive water fountain show with music. After this I went up the Effiel Tower at the casino Paris Paris, they have build a half size Eiffel Tower in the middle of the casino. I caught the lift to the top and had a fantastic view of the strip and surrounding city as by now it was dark and the strip was lit up like a Christmas tree.

The next day I was up early for my trip to the Grand Canyon one of the Natural Wonders of the world. After an hour we arrived at the famous Hoover Dam, this is a massive dam which blocks the Colorado river and provides most of the water and electricty for the surrounding states. The dam is gigantic and considering it was built in the 30s its a massive engineering accomplishment. Three hours later we got to the National Geographic centre where I saw a half hour IMAX movie about the canyon which was really good. On the final 10 miles to the canyon it started to hail really heavilly, but by the time we got to the edge this has stopped. My first view of the Canyon was astonishing, none of the pictures had done it justice. At over 25 miles across and a mile down its size is just mindblowing. I was standing and taking pictures right over the edge a mile to the bottom of the canyon which was quite scary. There are so many different rock formations in weird shapes you can look at the view for such a long time and always see something new. The bus took us to 3 different lookout points each with wildly different views. By the time we got back to the hotel it was about 9pm and I was so tired I went to bed early.

On the my final full day in Vegas I visited some of the famous casinos I had not gone to yet like New York New York which has a big rollercoaster running through it, Casaers Palace was very good with all the roman architecture, they also had a big escalator which went in a big curve to the next floor instead of in a straight line. The most impressive casino I went to was the Venetian which is based off Venice, on the second floor of the casino it has a full canal runing through it with gondalas. That evening I thought as I was in Vegas I should at least try my hand at gambling, I only played the machines and started off by winning $20 on electronic Blackjack, about 10 minutes later I was down $15 and decided to quit while I had not lost much money. I caught the bus to Downtown and the Fremont St Experience, this is a collection of 10 small casinos on one street, to get the tourists to visit they have added the worlds biggest video screen which runs down the 150 meter length of the street. At every half hour it plays a different mini movie which is very impressive over such a big screen area.

The next day I have to be at the airport for midday to catch my flight to LA where I was going to meet my Dad, he was flying over for 2 weeks to see me. He had rented a car and we were going to drive from LA to San Francisco up the famous Pacific Coast highway. I really enjoyed my time in Vegas, after a day I got used to the really hot temps. I would recommend people should go to Vegas at least for a day to see it at night. Everyone should go see the Grand Canyon as it just stunning.

Next stop LA and a family reunion.

I was sad to leave New Zealand but very excited about arriving in Fiji. After a short 3 hour plane ride I arrived in Fiji, we were greated by a band playing fijian music as we queued up to get through imigration. My first night in Fiji I spent in Nadi a town near the airport, first thing the next day I had organised to get off the mainland to a group of tropical islands (Yasawa Group) about 50 miles north-west. The first island I was going to was Nanuya Balava where I was going to stay at the Mantaray resort. I had arranged to meet up with Will and Xanthe my travelling buddies from NZ here. It was great to meet up with Xanthe and Will again and to hear about their adventures of the last few weeks. That afternoon I went snorkling with Xanthe and we got caught in an area of coral because it was low tide, we both managed to cut out feet on the coral. I was getting worried about sharks as they would be attracted to all the blood. Luckly as you can probably guess we got the 1km back to shore with no problems. That evening was a Fijian night at the resort, so we were served traditional Fijian food which included the most disgusting food I have ever tasted, some very weird root. Also a group of Fijians were singing and dancing in front of the resort guests which was very cool especially when they did a war dance with spears. Xanthe, Will and myself got very drunk on some blue cocktails that evening (we had not seen each other for a few weeks, any excuse to get pissed).

The next day was cloudy so I went on a hike around the island with a local guide, we found some wild goats and the guide ran off to catch one. He came back a few minutes later with a goat he was dragging by the horns, it turns out he was going to take it to the local village so they could get milk from it. On the way back to the village the guide climbed a coconut tree like a monkey and knocked off some large coconuts and then opened them with a big knife. The milk was sour but the fruit was very nice.

The next day we headed to the Sanawai Resort on Yaqeta island, this was about an hour north of Mantaray, the day we moved the weather was raining and stormy, when we got to Sanawai as they were not very busy I was upgraded for free to a private Bure (A bure is a tradtional Fijian hut), in my Bure I had an en-suite shower and toilet and a double bed (luxury for a backpacker). The weather cleared up later in the day and before dinner we played rugby on the beach with locals for a few hours which was lots of fun. The food at Sanawai resort was amazing, even the Veggie food which at Mantaray was terrible.

Yaqeta is such a beautiful island, the next day was a sunny day and we went exploring, we walked through the local village which was an experience, they live very basically but seem happy with what they have got. A Christian church is the centrepiece of the village, on the otherside of the village is the best snorkling on the island. Xanthe and me went swimming and snorkling for a few hours here, there was a big drop-off where the coral was fantastic. I did not see any big fish or animals but the coral was the best I have ever seen.

The next few days were spent relaxing and swimming, after 2 nights in the Bure I was asked to move out as people wanted to pay to stay in it, I was moved into a dorm (Booooo). One evening our hosts held a Kava cermoney, Kava is the local alcohlic drink made from roots, it is also a narcotic. It tastes like muddy water and quickly makes your tongue and fingers go numb. On our final night our hosts held a leaving party which was amazing. I really enjoyed my time at Senawai resort as it was a very small and personal resort with less than 10 guests all the time.

For my final 3 days in Fiji we headed up to the northen most island in the Yasawa group called Nacula and the Safe Landing resort, this place is very nice and the facilities are great. There was some excellent snorkiling here, one day we went on a trip to the famous Sawa-i-Lau caves where there are these big underwater caverns you can swim to with no lights. I spent a lot of my time at Safe Landing reading the sixth Harry potter book which I really enjoyed. Most evening I would go out after dinner and watch the stars from the beach as they were as clear as I had ever seen them.

After 10 days I had to head back to civilisation, Will and Xanthe were also heading back to the mainland, though they were going to spend another few weeks in Fiji. It was really sad to say goodbye to Xanthe and Will again as this time I knew I would not be seeing them for a long time (when we were all back in the UK). The 31st July is the longest day I have ever had, I was flying to LA at 10pm and landing at 2pm the same day (8 hours before I took off due to time difference). When I got to LA I had to wait around in the most boring airport ever for 6 hours because my plane to Las Vegas was delayed. I finally got to Vegas and my hotel the Excalibur at about 11pm Pacific time so the 31st July lasted about 34 hours for me.

My next update will be about my time in Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

More Later….

Its been a while since my last update, I have been busy making my way back up to Auckland where I fly to Fiji in just over a day (21st July).

When I last left you I was about to go Skiing in Queenstown, the first day of skiing I went to Coronet Peak, I was a bit nervous getting back into the ski’s after so long but I picked up from where I left off 4 years ago and really enjoyed myself. I was in a lesson in the morning but I was a bit advanced for the group (I was doing parallel turns while they they were still trying to stop). In the afternoon I went off with this girl called Jane from the lesson and we had a good time on some Green and Blue runs. I was not tired at the end of the day, but the next morning my legs were a bit stiff. That evening it was the Queenstown Mardi Gras, which meant lots of live bands in the city centre and entertainment like fire dancers. I spent a few hours wondering around looking at everything, I also met up with Aaron and Steph 2 of my friends from Brisbane who were in Queenstown for their honeymoon. For my second day skiing I wanted some different slopes so I went to the Remarkables ski area. This is a lot higher up than Coronet and the road here is very steep and scary, especially as there is so safety railing to stop the bus going over the 2,000 meter drops. There was more snow here and I had a good day except when I was on a ski lift and got stuck for about half an hour really high up (it was very windy and cold).
For my final day I went to Coronet and did an advanced lesson in the morning, this was a big step up, I crashed a few time. Up until now in the first 2 days I had only fallen over once, I was trying to be extra careful as my travel insurance did not cover winter sports like skiing. One of my falls I took out 2 stationary skiers, one of them was an instructor (opps, he was not a happy camper) and another few times I was just going far to fast down a steep hill and basically lost it near the bottom, once falling over and cutting my arm (not to badly though). I am very pleased I went skiing again as its a lot of fun it kept me fit for those 3 days.

I got a lift back to Christchurch with Aaron and Steph as they were catching their flight back to OZ from here the next day, on the way we stopped at Wanaka quickly which was nice to see again.

For the next few days before the next Stray bus north I was either very cheap or culturally enlightened depending on how you look at it. I basically visited the Museum which was free, Art Galleries which were free and the Botanic Gardens which you can guess are free as well. It was also my birthday, I got up late, did a free tour of the city during the day and went out with 3 girls (Floor, Pip & Philippa) I knew from the Stray bus. We ended up in Base and had quite a lot to drink, lots of table football followed and funny pictures. Before I left Christchurch I saw Fantastic Four at the cinema, I enjoyed the film and thought it was funny.

The first stop north on the Stray bus is Kaikoura which is 2 hours away. This is a small town which is famous for it’s wildlife especially in the sea. Around the coast of Kaikoura you can find lots of different types of whales such as Sperm, Minka, Blue, Killer Whales as well as NZ Fur Seals, 3 types of Dolphin (Bottlenose, Hector which are rare and Dusky) and finally Royal Albertrosses which are the biggest flying birds alive (wingspans can be around 3 meters). I paid to do a Dolphin Swim, it was a bit worrying when they took us into the changing room and handed us thick wet suits, gloves, hoods and booties as the water is so cold. In the end we spent about 3 hours out on the boat and an hour in the water, the first time in the water there was only 10 or so Dusky Dolphins but they quickly got us back on the boat and after another 5 min drive we got in and there were hundreds of the Dusky Dolphins swimming around. These animals are naturally here, we did not feed them to come to up to us, they are very curious animals and will swim up to you if you make silly noises under the water. Sometimes they will swim around you in a circle, whats fun is also to swim in a circle and trying to keep up with the Dolphin, this can go on for a while. Sometimes it tries to trick you by changing direction which is funny. Guess what I was singing under the water to attract the Dolphins?…
…
Give up, “So long and thanks for all the Fish” from Hitchhickers guide the the Galaxy, it felt right :).

After the swimming with the Dolphins we all got dry and warm and the crew drove the boat to find some more Dolphins which we could take some photos of. It was very good to see them playing from the boat as they would do loads of flips and jumping out of the water, they would also swim in front of the boat no matter what speed we were going, they made it seem so effortless to keep up. Also when in the water with the Dolphins a few Albertrosses landed a few meters away as they were probably attracted by all the excitment in the water (very cool and big birds).

That evening 6 of us from the Stray bus entered the local pub quiz and won, I think this is the first time I have ever won a pub quiz. The prize was only a bar tab but it felt good.

After Kaikoura I got off the bus at Picton (where the ferry goes to the North Island) along with Floor, Pip and Phillipa. That afternoon we did a nice 3 hour walk along some of Marlbrough Sound, after this we retired to the hostel hot tub which was very relaxing. The highlight of my stay in Picton was the free Apple Crumble and Ice cream at the hostel. I met this frecky Israli guy and over 2 hours he taught me to juggle with 3 balls quite well. I was impressed as I had never juggled before.

Next day we caught the ferry to Wellington, I stayed here 2 nights. The only notable thing I did was visit the National Museum “Te Papa”, this was very big and free (of course). There was a very good exhibit about Georgraphy and Natural Disasters.

I then caught the Stray bus up to Taupo where I spent 1 night just to break up a 10 hour bus trip to Auckland. The next day I arrived in Auckland early in the evening. I arranged to meet up with Matt a friend I have who lives here and I spent 4 hours the next day wondering around the city and art galleries with him.

Only 1 day left in NZ, I will really miss this country as I have fallen in love with the scenary and landscapes. I defiently want to come back here, though next time in the summer as I think it would be very different. I am looking forward to Fiji and its hot weather, 2 months on cold weather here is quite enough for me.

The next update of the Blog will probably come from the US as Fiji is not very wired up. Also all but 4 of my photos from NZ which I took today are now online in the photo gallery. All my videos are online as well.

I have uploaded a lot of new pictures from when I climbed the Franz Josef Glacier and my time in Wanaka and Queenstown. All the new pictures are in the South Island section of my picture section of the site (Link top right of this page). Enjoy….

Edit… I am now fully up to date with all pictures and videos now online including my second time in Queenstown when I went skiing and my birthday evening.

The next stop was Milford Sound which is not actually a sound but a Fiord (they spell it Fiord in NZ and not Fjord) the early european explorers did not realise the giant valleys were formed by glacier movement. The trip to Milford takes 5 hours from Queenstown, the Stray bus driver picked up myself and all my friends from our hostel but forgot to pick up 6 people from a different hostel, due to the time it took for these people to catch up with the Stray bus on a public bus we had to go to Milford Sound the next day. The day we were supposed to go to Milford Sound was sunny and clear skies, the next day was the complete opposite with strong winds and heavy rain. The weather did affect how far you could see on the Fiord, but it did create hundreds of new waterfalls tumbling down the hundreds of meter drops into the sea which was a phenomenal site to behold.

The next stop was Invercargil which is a town of 50,000 people on the southern tip of NZ, there is not much to do here, all we did was visit the cinema to see “Mr & Mrs Smith” and catch up on sleep. The next night stop was Dunedin, this is a big city by NZ standards of 150,000 people. It is also the biggest university town in NZ with 20,000 plus students. The city was originally formed by Scottish migrants, the name Dunedin in celtic means Edinbrough. On the way to Dunedin we stopped at a Sea Lion colony but did not see any sea lions, we then stopped at a beach where the rare Yellow Headed penguins nest. We did spot a Sea Lion here just off the beach, the penguins do not come ashore until dusk, we saw one penguin come up the beach though which was cool. We arrived in Dunedien at 8pm and went out drinking until 3am and left the city at 8am. So I only saw Dunedin at night. On the way out of the city, the Stray bus stopped at the steepest street in the world. It really is very steep, though Monks Hill in Weston Super Mare would give it a run for its money.

After Dunedin we drove straight to Christchurch, this is a really nice city and in my view is the most English of all the cities in NZ. The names of all the roads are English towns, the river running through the city is called the Avon, they even punt along it like Cambridge. The city centre is dominated by the Cathedral which is pretty. The first evening here I had arranged to meet up with Jenny and Naomi two girls I met in Taupo and seen again in Queenstown, this was a drunken evening with lots of wacky dancing.

On first day exploring in Christchurch we caught the tram around the city and got off at an old market which was supposed to have a great fudge shop with lots of free samples. The people from the Stray bus were making jokes about fudgepackers when a guy in a bellhops suit comes around the corner with a tray of fudge, man did his face turn red :). After finishing the tram tour of the city we went 10km out of the city to the Gondala which goes up a hill. The hill gives an excellent view back over the city and the surrounding countryside. You could see over the Canterbury plain to the southern Alpes which was quite amazing. The final day in Christchurch was spent relaxing and chilling at the hostel.

The remaining people on the Stray bus continued north but I was heading back to Queenstown for some skiing, also a friend from Australia was going to be there on his honeymoon so we had arranged to meet up for a ski. Today all I have done is walk around a park which hasa great view of the lake and mountains, go to the cinema to see War of the Worlds (Cheap Tuesday) and book my 3 day Skiing package.

Tomorrow I am having my first day skiing, I have a 2 hour lesson each morning then its up to me to spend the rest of the day how I like, there are 2 local slopes (The Remarkables + Coronet peak) which my ski pass is valid on so I will probably try out both of these. I will be heading back to Christchurch on the weekend sometime.

There are some new photos in the picture gallery of Wellington and Abel Tasman

I have finally uploaded all the videos of NZ I have had on my camera for the last month. They can be found here. Remember to order the video’s by date or you will not know which are the new videos I have just added.

There are also about 20 new photos from my time in Wellington and the ferry to the South Island in the usual Photo Gallery.