tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50028032080220294302024-03-14T01:13:52.884-07:00Beats working...Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-80804358985677201142009-08-26T16:41:00.001-07:002009-08-26T16:41:49.422-07:00End of the LineNo, it's not Optimus Prime<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SpRHu-PkxrI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/TxHfSK09p-M/s1600-h/P8201159.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SpRHu-PkxrI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/TxHfSK09p-M/s320/P8201159.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373999127667721906" border="0" /></a>'s embarrassing great uncle. This is an Inunnguaq, standing on top of Whistler Mountain north of Vancouver. Innunnguaq apparently means "Imitation of a person" in the language of the Inuit tribes in the north of Canada, but it's also becoming a universal Canadian symbol of welcome for travellers. So it's being used as a symbol of next year's Vancouver Olympics, an awfully long way from Inuit country as the pedants are keen to point out.<br /><br />This seems an appropriate way to finish this blog, as warm welcomes and extreme generosity have been perhaps the most memorable feature of the last 6 months. Since I left home I've been welcomed in 22 separate homes (ok, one of the homes was a tent), including those of 9 Couchsurfers, and can't think of any where I've not felt relaxed and comfortable. Provided I don't stay too long - as they say, visitors are like fish; after 3 days they start to smell. I've also slept in 36 hostels, 1 hotel, 3 trekking huts, 1 other tent, 1 boat, and 5 planes, and they've all been good sleeps except the planes. And Milford hostel, boy could that big lass snore.<br /><br />If I've any regrets it's that I didn't go off on any really unexpected tangents. But maybe I should treat that as a compliment to my initial planning. And an incentive to do it all again sometime, there's lots more countries that I could be touring when I should be working. And if the Scottish climate, which has taken only 5 days to give me a heavy cold, carries on like this, the next trip may be sooner than my bosses expect. But till then, thanks for listening.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-75652991863861218342009-08-26T16:02:00.000-07:002009-08-26T16:50:21.787-07:00People are strange, when you're a strangerWhen being asked for highlights of the trip, I tend to slip into autopilot and reel off dolphin swimming, parachuting, scuba diving, mountain summits, getting my 1st proper suntan for 20 years etc. But it's the people who really made it memorable. In no particular order<br /><ul><li>The American who turned up in Bollywood without a penny, and now dubs generic Yankee voices onto local films when a local actor is playing an American but sounds nothing like one;</li><li>The girl who was dumped by her live-in partner of 3 years the night before setting off on 4 months of travels; </li><li>The girl who admitted she's still with her boyfriend because she likes his family, even though she's felt little for him for several years;</li><li>The oldest fellow-hosteller I met, a cheery Midwest American in Waikiki who looked about 90.<br /> </li><li>the 14 year old daughter of one of my couchsurfing hosts who calmly informed me that she had a boyfriend and a girlfriend but neither of them should expect her to be faithful (Mum named her after a song by The Damned, so I've little sympathy);<br /> </li><li>the girl travelling with her somewhat dissolute father, reluctantly meeting his costs rather than the other way round;<br /> </li><li>the Chinese girl who lectured me for half an hour on why the leadership were quite right to massacre the Tiananmen protesters;<br /> </li><li>the Kashmiri in Sydney who claimed to have had both Indian army and Pakistani-affiliated rebels interested in kiling him in his teens;</li><li>The guy at Darwin hostel haranguing his female companion about "What you just don't realise is that music is my LIFE" - my 'total wanker' detector has never gone off so fast or so loud.<br /> </li><li>And the weirdo who left his job for 6 months without pay, but still checked and answered his work email about once a week - oh hang on, that was me. </li></ul>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-45748306083810080432009-08-26T15:45:00.001-07:002009-08-26T15:51:03.711-07:00Lost in some good booksOne last selection of the books that have kept me company through bus trips, coffee shops, and airport departure lounges various over the last couple of months. Apologies for inflicting this on my own readership, know it's not to everyone's taste. Wonder if my Blog will get any reviews?<br /><br /><br />Exit Lines - Ian Rankin: It's a mark of how little impression it made on me that I've no idea what my one previous Inspector Rebus book was called. This is his last adventure before retirement, and I still don't really like the character (much too snide and unnecessarily confrontational) or rate Rankin as a writer. Can anyone have overused the verb 'shrug' as much? It's addictive and the solution holds together, though of course it involves a ridiculous number of coincidences. And why do characters called Stuart always turn out to be murderers or weirdos?<br /><p><br /></p> <p>First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde: Desparate grab from a hostel bookshelf when I had nothing else to read. 5th book in a comedy series (lazily compared to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett - aren't they all?) set in an alternate contemporary England, that assumes the hero can visit 'Bookworld' and meet every character in every novel ever published therein. And that she has to solve crimes that take place among them. I like the idea and Fforde is good for a few cheap laughs, but his inventiveness swamps the plot - it's hard to feel any tension when a new authorial device turns up to rescue the hero every time she's in trouble.</p> <p><br /></p> <p>Fiasco - Thomas Ricks: Another dissection of the US disaster in Iraq, this time focusing on the military angle rather than the politics. US generals and most of their subordinates seem to have been as incompetent as Bush and his ideologically-blinded team. Ricks is more willing than Bob Woodward to draw conclusions rather than leave that to the reader. I think he relies too much on anecdotes drawn from his visits to the country, but still an absorbing and convincing account.<br /></p><br /><p>The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon: My favourite literary discovery of the trip (just edging out Andrew Greig) for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. This time he mixes alternate history, a whodunnit, and chess, so presses lots of my buttons. The book assumes that in 1940 European jews were given refuge in Sitka, Alaska (apparently an offer Roosevelt seriously considered making), and built a yiddish-speaking society there. The plot is a standard detective yarn, though with added doses of the 2nd Coming (well, 1st Coming as far as the Jews are concerned) and Holy War. The detective format, so soon after reading Ian Rankin, and featuring a detective with lots of similarities to Rebus, is perhaps too conventional for this to match Kavalier & Clay in my affections, but Chabon's a fantastic writer and I'm keen to see what else he's done.</p><p><br /></p> <p>The Android's Dream - John Scalzi: Bought partly to support a science fiction bookshop in Vancouver that actually sells only books! No figurines, fanzines, Star Wars tie-ins or other such mince. It'll never survive, but it won't be my fault. Scalzi's nothing special as a writer, and despite sci-fi setting (sort of a David Brin-type Universe in which Humans are lowly but resourceful) it reads more like a contemporary US-based thriller with hokey dialogue and added exposition, which Scalzi downloads in random plot-choking blocks. But it's a fun action-packed plot with some nice twists, and an oddly touching moment between a human and the alien that's about to eat him. Which tips it into the 'thumbs-up' column.</p> <p><br /></p> <p>And that's all, folks!</p>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-12714347614219535622009-08-19T00:16:00.000-07:002009-08-20T11:20:49.812-07:00Take me down to the ball game<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/So2Su_WO8KI/AAAAAAAAAJA/iWjx6s9B7xM/s1600-h/P8181141.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372111266499195042" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/So2Su_WO8KI/AAAAAAAAAJA/iWjx6s9B7xM/s320/P8181141.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Baseball doesn't get much respect in the UK, but much to my surprise it became my brother Mike's favourite sport during his 3 year sojourn in the US. Alan and myself went to one game with him then, at the widely disliked New York Yankees (the Man Utd of baseball) and we repeated the experience at grass roots level with the Vancouver Canadians last night. And I mean grass roots; we hadn't realised how humble an operation this is. Vancouver play in the Northwest League, which glories in "Short Season A" classification. This seems to translate as <em>'about 3 levels below the major leagues and based in an area with too few teams to put together a full season.'</em> Sort of like the Magners League if it mislays any more teams.<br /><br />Vancouver's play was distinctly humble too, a 10-3 defeat to Tri City Dust Devils, with two of their runs scored at the bottom of the 9th, i.e. meaningless consolation prizes. But baseball is a family occasion and no one seemed to mind much. About 2000 fans, well short of full. Maybe Vancouverites are keeping their powder dry for bigger events. The Ice hockey (or just 'hockey' to the locals) season starts soon, and the big one is the Winter Olympics next year, which in true Olympic style is dividing the population, many feel it's a complete waste of money. More negativity than I've sensed re London's Olympics, I'm guessing that Montreal's experience in 1976 (they finally paid off the associated debts a couple of years ago) makes Canadians pretty cautious about this sort of thing. </div><div> </div><div>The big TV sport seems to be UFC - Ultimate Fighting, which can be spectactularly brutal but can also degenerate into a boring variety of wrestling. It doesn't get reported in the papers, but I've seen it on TV a lot, far more than boxing, and one bar we were in was full of people who'd come just to see that night's big fight.</div><div><br />As a dry run for the Olympics, Vancouver has recently been hosting the World Police and Firemen games. So no point in Alan or myself trying to impress the local talent...</div>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-86010968137590863772009-08-13T22:41:00.001-07:002009-08-20T11:23:32.762-07:00The Trees<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/So2UhKN4RSI/AAAAAAAAAJI/8G2tb3lm7cg/s1600-h/P8141078.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372113227922031906" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/So2UhKN4RSI/AAAAAAAAAJI/8G2tb3lm7cg/s320/P8141078.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Canada has no shortage of trees (their finest rock band, Rush, even sang a song about them), but the locals still campaign hard to keep the loggers at bay from those they think are special. Which includes those on today's kayaking destination, Meares Island (7 km by kayak from Tofino, where we're staying). Apparently loggers had the whole place in their sights, but a groundbreaking 1980s campaign dissuaded them and was the start of a far greater emphasis on conservation. The benefits can be seen everywhere; Bald Eagles are common as muck, and this has been the finest year for salmon fishing that anyone here can remember.<br /><br />It's ironic that one of the trees the conservationsists were trying to preserve was the Sitka Spruce, a native of western Canada, but better known in Scotland as the centrepiece of lots of ugly forestry. Even there the worst excesses are in the past, but I don't see anyone mounting campaigns to save them, as they're doing here!<br /><br />With no human interference, Meares Island is covered in thick temperate rain forest. Not ideal walking territory, potentially rather harder than kayaking in fact, even though today was my first attempt at the latter since my teens. There were some alarming thunderclaps while we were out on the water, but the local sounds, channels and inlets were all flat and still except for motorboat wakes, and you would have to paddle appallingly to capsize the kayaks. Even Alan managed to stay dry.<br /><br />Talking of intrepid sailors, I also had another encounter with my old pal Captain Cook in Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island. Yet another coastline he touched on his travels, and everywhere he visited seems impelled to raise a statue to him.<br /><br />2 more nights here, 2 more nights somewhere between here and Vancouver (we haven't yet decided where), 3 more nights in The World's Most Livable City (per this year's survey in the Economist) and then home. Whether I want to be returning to a country that can concede 4 goals to Norway is a question I'm still pondering.</div>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-55885931679089302362009-08-10T13:29:00.000-07:002009-08-10T13:41:22.459-07:00Doon the watter......on an inflatable raft, to the constant accompaniment of "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!" from one of my fellow crewmembers. And as certain rocks approached, I thought she might be right, especially with turkey vultures hovering overhead, looking like they felt lunch was just a matter of time. But these rafts are deceptively robust, even when stuck on the rocks. We mislaid an oarsman at one point, and his name was Mackenzie, but I'm evilly delighted to say this was Alan rather than me, and nothing hurt but his pride.<br /><br />This was about 3 hours upriver from Vancouver, and in lovely conditions, but today we're going in the opposite direction, across to Vancouver island, where I hope to see the sun again. Vancouver is soaking today (the weather gods must have heard us discussing a game of golf), and even when dry, has been grey and hazy throughout our stay. I can tell there are impressive mountains nearby, but it's hard to get excited about them when all I can see are fuzzy silhouettes. But this means temperatures are ideal for walking and cycling in town, especially in Stanley Park where the tourists tend to congregate. And it's ideal for homeless people - apparently in Canada they tend to congregate here as it's the one city with a year-round climate where it's more or less comfortable to be homeless.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-3462316194186063182009-08-08T23:20:00.000-07:002009-08-08T23:39:34.711-07:00Mr Mackenzie, I presume?<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5teMRo8XI/AAAAAAAAAI4/auuY8UhGi7w/s1600-h/P8081057.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367848171330924914" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5teMRo8XI/AAAAAAAAAI4/auuY8UhGi7w/s320/P8081057.JPG" /></a>Vancouver, less than 2 weeks to go, and at last I've met my ideal travelling soulmate. Able to share my appreciation of unchilled ale, debate the relative merits of Buffy and Doctor Who, and join me in deploring American pronunciation ("there's no such thing as 'aluminum'!") And an even more pathetic excuse for a suntan than mine. Yes, my brother Alan is in town. Only drawbacks are having to listen to his sleeptalking and indulge his enthusiasm for culinary experimentation - tonight's vegetarian restaurant has gone down in the 'learning experience' file.<br /><br />Our couchsurf host Rain (pictured with us - as usual, the level of hospitality goes way beyond what we've any right to expect) exposed us to more culinary experiments at what must be about the world's biggest ice cream parlour. I don't think we're ready for wasabi, garlic or curry flavours, and I'm sure these and many others are produced for the shock value - having sampled them I can't imagine anyone actually ordering a full cone of the stuff. But with over 200 other flavours there's no shortage of palatable alternatives.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-76026136431123433762009-08-05T10:06:00.000-07:002010-01-14T08:07:38.712-08:00Sleepy in Seattle<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5p_HxvpGI/AAAAAAAAAIw/1cA9YuSHxPE/s1600-h/P8010992.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367844339012576354" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5p_HxvpGI/AAAAAAAAAIw/1cA9YuSHxPE/s320/P8010992.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Yesterday started at 6:15am waiting for bus, and finished about 2am in a spartan club a few blocks from current home, the Green Tortoise hostel. Had to celebrate last night in US. So not much energy today. Hope the bus to Vancouver doesn't pass too many amazing views, because chances are I'm going to sleep through them. And hope my brother Alan doesn't want a big night to celebrate his arrival in Vancouver, though after flight from UK, not too likely.<br /><br />Early start was for tour of Mount Rainier National Park. Usual mix of short walks, photo opportunities, and waterfalls that might have impressed in the spring but after an unusually hot summer, look weedy now. Tour was excellent, featuring by far the best guide I've had for one of these things. The mountain is a picture perfect volcanic peak, though the Park is full of reminders of how dangerous it could be if it blows its top a la nearby Mount St Helens 30 years ago.<br /><br />This is the furthest from town I've managed in Seattle. Partly due to hospitality of most recent couchsurf hosts, there's been lots to do here. One favourite was the laser dome where we saw a midnight light show to backing music of Pink Floyd. This and several other tourist attractions stand in the shadow of Seattle's signature building, the Space Needle. My Mum told me the other day she was here in 1962 for the World Fair, the event for which the needle was built - this impresses the locals! All cities should have a building like this. Excellent for navigation; as long as you can see the Needle you can find your way back to your hostel.<br /><br /><div></div><br /><div>As the home of Boeing, Seattle is aircraft-crazy. Two huge museums on the subject, including an ex-Air Force One and one of the remaining Concordes (which has horrible grey decor; not surprised they couldn't find enough people willing to pay several thousand to cross the Atlantic like this latterly - but externally it's still by far the coolest machine I've ever seen). Plus several days of displays by the Blue Angels air display team (pictured) as part of the Seattle Seafair festival. </div></div>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-63037195988857765422009-07-28T12:45:00.001-07:002009-08-08T23:07:46.666-07:00View from the top...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5lEiDUlTI/AAAAAAAAAIY/FNjt4HoGxpQ/s1600-h/P7260922.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367838934406829362" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5lEiDUlTI/AAAAAAAAAIY/FNjt4HoGxpQ/s320/P7260922.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5mqsX5gkI/AAAAAAAAAIg/o0V7ZuJQn6g/s1600-h/P7280956.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367840689524146754" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sn5mqsX5gkI/AAAAAAAAAIg/o0V7ZuJQn6g/s320/P7280956.JPG" /></a>...is mainly a view of other people. Huge numbers climb Half Dome in Yosemite (pictured from nearby Glacier Point), and they spend lots of time on the summit. Not surprising, the views are amazing, and it's a great place to sunbathe. Plus everyone's shattered by the temperatures, the climb (4,800 feet) and especially the last few hundred feet, for which you have to pull yourself up cables.<br /><br />There's an assumption that, being a litigious society, America is very safety conscious, except where guns are concerned. This isn't the case at the top of Half Dome. The cables are old, the posts they're attached to rattle alarmingly, and if you lost your grip on the cable, especially at the point where it starts to traverse across the slope, you'd reach terminal velocity long before anything stopped you. That said, there were no fatalities for 80 years, until 2006, but a few since, perhaps because the walkway is getting worn and shiny. Granite grips shoes well everywhere else. Some climbers make it look easy, a few others come prepared and clip themselves to the cable which makes it much safer, but I had my heart in my mouth watching a clearly scared 10 year old girl pulling herself up without them.<br /><br />I asked a ranger about all this when I got down, and was told (a) that it's the wilderness and it's meant to be dangerous, they seem almost proud of it, the park bookshop has a book describing in ghoulish detail all the deaths-by-misadventure that have occurred in Yosemite's history; and (b) that because National Parks are federally administered it practically takes an Act of Congress to change anything about how they're run. I can think of several easy ways to make this cable ascent safer, given the numbers climbing it I'm amazed this isn't an issue.<br /><br />Discarding your pack for the cable climb is one way to make life easier, but has its own risks. The local squirrels know all about this trick, and as soon as the owners leave they either burrow into the packs or just bite their way through them in search of grub. Several of my fellow climbers were in for a shock when they got back to their packs.<br /><br />The descent was perhaps even tougher, because by then it was afternoon (I started at 7:30am, when temperatures are pleasant), and I was descending into the 100 degree valley floor. I took lots of water but had long since exhausted it when I got back to the highest drinking fountain, never been so glad to see one.<br /><br />Felt I'd earned a lazy day after this, so have so far spent it in the spa at the Midpines hostel, where I'm staying. Back to San Francisco tomorrow, flying to Seattle the day after.</div>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-31146349156643249432009-07-26T00:07:00.000-07:002009-08-05T09:57:52.957-07:00Regrets - I've had a few...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SmwB4M_rGhI/AAAAAAAAAIA/ys-s5Ts9xqo/s1600-h/P7260908.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SmwB4M_rGhI/AAAAAAAAAIA/ys-s5Ts9xqo/s320/P7260908.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362663321364011538" border="0" /></a><br />...but then again, too few to get het up about. But lest anyone thinks this trip has been as smooth as a baby's bottom (which is more than can be said for my bottom), here's a few moments when it wasn't:<br /><br />- Lost or stolen camera (Melbourne) : Looks like I'll have to rely on my memory for the last few days in Tasmania and Melbourne.<br />- Accidental deletion of several days photos (New Zealand): And the same goes for my time on the Queen Charlotte Track and near Nelson in the South Island. Still not sure what button I pressed, still grumpy about the result.<br />- $300 car damage (NZ): Apparently only about 1 in 25 people take the accidental damage insurance from car rental companies. I'm one of the 24, which bit me in NZ when something wooden fell off a moving timber truck, and demolished the mirror on the driver's door of my hire car.<br />- Badly fitting flippers on my diving course, and failure to take protective measures. I had spectacular blisters, especially on the upper part of the balls of my feet for a couple of weeks afterwards, which made walking, or just wearing shoes come to that, very uncomfortable.<br />- Walking into wall: Happened while trying to find toilet in darkness in unfamiliar house. Embarrassing swelling on forehead for several days.<br />- Flight from Oahu to Big Island, Hawaii: This flight takes its passengers along the south coast of 3 big islands, past beaches, volcanoes and other fantastic scenery, all visible if you sit on the left of the plane. I sat on the right, from where you can see the Pacific Ocean.<br />- Theft of t-shirt from washing line in Cairns: This was my black one with a picture of George Best above his most famous quote about how he spent his money. Acted as an ice-breaker in several hostels and hostelries. People tended to assume I was Irish, but this isn't always a bad thing.<br />- Eating paua (Local NZ Shellfish) in Thai restaurant in Kaikoura: The shells are beautiful when polished. The contents are rubbery, gritty and bitter, and should be discarded, not cooked.<br />- Oedipus Rex by awful local theatre company in Darwin: I resent the fact that I'll never get those 2 wasted hours back!<br /><br />Another regret is making definitive statements on my blog which turn out to be nonsense, such as "I'm not going to Yosemite in temperatures over 90". It topped 100 today, but I've come anyway, too many people in San Francisco said I couldn't afford to miss it. And while hiking's very hard work (4 miles on the flat left me shattered), the park is so well organised and gorgeous that I can forgive. Though even Yosemite has its bad moments. The photo shows Mount Watkins (one of many stunning lumps of granite) in the background, and shattered trees and rubble in the foreground cause by a major rockfall a couple of months back. The damage these can cause is impressive, the relevant path is impassable for the foreseeable future.<br /><br />Hiking is essential to avoid the crowds in Yosemite, but California has state parks as well as national parks. I visited Pacheco park (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=560) on the way here. 7000 acres, 28 miles of trails (I covered about 6 of them), beautiful scenery (not as dramatic as Yosemite, but what is?) perfect walking conditions (it's close enough to the coast that the temperatures are bearable) and I was the only person in the whole park. Or at least I saw no one else and there were no other cars parked, which is all the evidence needed in the US.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-27823250444044305032009-07-22T10:36:00.000-07:002009-07-28T12:45:03.104-07:00ARE YOU READY TO ROCK??!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Smv_5yYD-MI/AAAAAAAAAH4/SGSIXlurWrg/s1600-h/P7210840.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Smv_5yYD-MI/AAAAAAAAAH4/SGSIXlurWrg/s320/P7210840.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362661149555030210" border="0" /></a><br />This could refer to Alcatraz - 'The Rock' - which is the most popular tourist attraction in San Francisco. I was there on Monday (am I the 1st Scotsman pictured in one of these cells since Sean Connery in the film "The Rock"?), but I'm really blogging about the once-mighty Blue Oyster Cult, who I saw in action at a non-descript nightclub the same evening. It was one of these crusty ugly audiences I seem to specialise in these days (see also Rush, Australian Pink Floyd and Richard Thomson, and apologies to anyone who was at those gigs with me), and it's easy to see why BOC are playing clubs while some of their contemporaries are still filling stadiums. Only 2 original members, both of whom look embarrassed about the whole process - they're probably respectable husbands and fathers in real life. The lead singer finished the evening with injunctions to drive home safely and take no drugs - not very rock and roll. And not much inspiration about the music, the original BOC sounded a lot more distinctive, this was just generic dadrock. From a selfish point of view, disappointing they played no songs from the 2 albums I know and like, apart from their only big hit Don't Fear the Reaper because there'd be a riot if they didn't play it. But still glad we went - I need a fix of this stuff occasionally!Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-26487633160345450052009-07-19T01:49:00.001-07:002009-07-28T12:41:19.398-07:00Flowers in my hair<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SmwNyLe1EfI/AAAAAAAAAII/URiiYMxjLkU/s1600-h/P7200828.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SmwNyLe1EfI/AAAAAAAAAII/URiiYMxjLkU/s320/P7200828.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362676412018135538" border="0" /></a><br />San Francisco is considered a great place to be, rather than necessarily to do things. And so I'm doing my best to tune in to the vibe, man, and be one of the dudes. Which isn't really me, to be honest, but I'm trying.<br /><br />A criticism the city gets is that it can seem self-satisfied, and I can see something in that, a typical example was all the whooping and hollering that went on at a bike film festival I went to. It seemed cliquey, and not especially welcoming if you weren't part of the clique, though lots of the short films were good. But it's much the most interesting city I've been to on these travels for just wandering around, there's such variety and character, though far too much facial hair, even on quite young guys. But even the oldest are keeping up with the times - photo was taken at a very well attended free concert by Sergent Garcia in a park to the west of the city - though most of the crowd were a bit livelier than these two.<br /><br />There's far more begging than anywhere in Oz or NZ. I've no idea how SF's homeless percentages compare to elsewhere in the US, but I suspect they're quite high, as a lot of people who feel they don't fit in elsewhere (not just homosexuals, though inevitably that's quite central to the culture here) gravitate to SF, and just as inevitably, a lot of them don't fit in here any better than they would elsewhere.<br /><br />Note: I subsequently read that SF is fairly relaxed about people sleeping on its streets - the local Big Issue started here too. Other cities tend to run the homeless out of town, or at least out of the town centres.<br /><br />This is turning into a social critique, which will bore people faster than - er - well, even faster than the rest of the rubbish I write. So will get back to what I've done and what I'm doing. Fisherman's wharf yesterday, Asian Art Museum today, Alcatraz on Monday. And heading north a couple of days after that, though this may depend on the weather. It's perfect here, but inland California is having a heatwave, and I won't be walking far in Yosemite in temperatures of 90 degrees, so will give this a miss if it stays this way.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-70850123557315823342009-07-18T01:56:00.001-07:002009-07-18T02:13:17.118-07:00The next big thingMyself and my San Francisco couchsurf host Laurie have been out drinking this evening, and we met this band - http://www.myspace.com/thebarbaryghosts - on their way home from a gig. They played their song 'Rio Grande' to us on the street corner, it was lovely. They deserve to be megastars, the campaign to make them megastars starts here!Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-50260665427355722812009-07-16T02:28:00.000-07:002009-07-16T02:35:56.209-07:00Spot the odd flag out<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sl7y95K2QmI/AAAAAAAAAHw/tyx2NCpOHEM/s1600-h/Picture+032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sl7y95K2QmI/AAAAAAAAAHw/tyx2NCpOHEM/s320/Picture+032.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358987751749730914" border="0" /></a>I visited Hawaii's most popular attraction, Pearl Harbour, to see the sites of America's 2 most famous battleships. Arizona, a war grave which sustained the heaviest casualties during the attack and was left as a tomb for the 1000+ who died inside. And Missouri, the last working battleship, on which the Japanese surrendured in 1945. It was only decommissioned in the 1990s.<br /><br />I also saw this collection of flags on a US WW2 submarine, showing the ships it sank. Suggests that US-French animosity predates the whole 'Freedom Fries' nonsense! For extra points, can anyone tell me why the US was sinking French ships?<br /><br />Now in San Francisco with my latest couchsurf host.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-90025813990760394472009-07-13T12:53:00.000-07:002010-01-14T08:20:19.841-08:00Building more real estate<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sl7iCLRFCBI/AAAAAAAAAHo/l7cZf_6DadU/s1600-h/Picture+024.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358969133629507602" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Sl7iCLRFCBI/AAAAAAAAAHo/l7cZf_6DadU/s320/Picture+024.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Most of Hawaii is shrinking, but the Big Island, which is the newest and contains the active volcanoes, will be growing soon as a new undersea volcano reaches the surface and joins the rest of the land sometime in the next few thousand years. So here's what it has to look forward to. Constant rain (on this east side of the island), questionable fashion sense, far too much country, reggae and christian music (at least 4 christian radio stations so far), and lots of non-indigenous life that's busy eating the indigenous stuff. In New Zealand stoats were public enemy number 1, here it's mongooses/mongeese (pictured), which were brought in to tackle snakes but decided the local birdlife was much tastier.<br /><br />One of the smaller existing volcanoes, Kilauea, is the liveliest at present. I visited the point where its lava is hitting the sea, or at least the viewpoint half a mile away which is the nearest we're allowed to get. The summit is less lively, but currently producing enough sulphur dioxide that parts of the 11km road round the crater are closed. But it's possible to walk through a smaller crater nearby, full of incredible lava formations. I've seen nothing like it anywhere else. Volcanic scenery (I'm comparing it to Iceland and New Zealand) takes lots of different forms.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm currently sat at a table in a hostel in Hilo doing lots of passive smoking, and talking to 3 gorgeous French travellers (one of whom bought this laptop solely because it's pink), so blogging isn't the best use of my time. Later dudes...Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-41496522934524350842009-07-10T23:06:00.000-07:002009-07-11T00:28:46.899-07:00Island Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg-wBEhqbI/AAAAAAAAAHg/6rtIoZfeMGQ/s1600-h/P7100759.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg-wBEhqbI/AAAAAAAAAHg/6rtIoZfeMGQ/s320/P7100759.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357100751399266738" border="0" /></a><br />Hawaii's meant to be the laid back bit of the US, and here on the Big Island that's certainly true, unless the volcanoes come to life and give the locals a hurry-up. Hopefully this isn't their plan for tomorrow, since I'll be in the vicinity. Molten lava and pyroclastic flows I'm happy to experience on TV rather than in real life.<br /><br />I've been donning mask and flippers again to test my new found diving and snorkeling skills. See photo - if a giant 'S' on the chest stands for 'Superman', what does the giant 'B' here mean? The corals and varieties of fish don't compare with the Barrier Reef, but it's nice to be able to step off the beach straight into prime reef territory, as opposed to taking a 50 mile boat trip first. Highlight was the biggest turtle I've seen; some turtles on the barrier reef would have made good snacks, but this guy had good-sized snacks living on his shell. One lowlight was having swotted up on my diving stats on the plane, then discovering that America's rejection of all things metric made these irrelevant. The other was watching my dive buddy for the day succumbing to seasickness, emptying her guts over the side of the boat and thinking "I've got to swim in that..."Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-58455278610209224672009-07-07T06:46:00.000-07:002009-07-11T00:23:59.589-07:00In search of Captain Cook<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg9fSLOmjI/AAAAAAAAAHY/p3Pi30fAtv8/s1600-h/P7070748.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg9fSLOmjI/AAAAAAAAAHY/p3Pi30fAtv8/s320/P7070748.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357099364421376562" border="0" /></a><br />I hadn't thought about it before today, but much of this trip has parallelled the journeys of Captain Cook, who made the first detailed descriptions of NZ, Oz, and much of the Pacific in the 18th century. I've seen statues or museums commemorating his landfalls in the Queen Charlotte Sound in NZ and at Cooktown north of Cairns. He was also in Sydney long before it became Sydney, and today I toured the replica of his ship Endeavour at the Maritime Museum in Sydney. And tomorrow I'm off to Hawaii, where he came to a grisly end - hope this is where the parallels stop. The histories are a bit delicate on the subject, but it seems the British only got some of his body back from the Hawaians who killed him. Not sure what happened to the rest, but 'Long Pig' was definitely on the south seas menu in those days.<br /><br />Finally, big shout to my pal Ronnie, who was going to come and meet me in Canada at the end of the trip, but has just broken his leg so sadly won't be going anywhere for a while. My brother Alan is still scheduled to come, can I ask his fellow footballers to treat him with kid gloves for the next few weeks please?!Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-69624257560095475382009-07-07T06:28:00.000-07:002009-07-11T00:18:12.065-07:00Journey to the Dark Side<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg8l5AeowI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/iN0uBrkROI0/s1600-h/P7050734.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg8l5AeowI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/iN0uBrkROI0/s320/P7050734.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357098378412860162" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, rugby league, the wriggling code. Never been to a game in the UK, and a couple of decades ago my name would have been mud in the Scottish amateur union code for even considering it, but times change, and sadly this is the number one sport in Australia. Mainly because it occupies the place in the national psyche that football does in Scotland, with all the positives and negatives this implies. An incredible number of players have been in the papers recently for alcoholic and sexual misdeeds or general loutish behaviour, and some of their excuses are very entertaining. But it brings in the fans.<br /><br />We went to a game in Penrith west of Sydney (the Sydney couchsurf hosts were laughing hysterically at the thought of tourists heading so far into the backwoods) for a game with local rivals Parramattah, the sort of local rivalry (think Ayr v Kilmarnock in Scotland) the rest of the world ignores but means everything to people in the two towns. Who seem pretty rough diamonds. One fan we conversed with in a hostelry was interested in Europe only as a source of dope, and we saw a cracking fight after the game featuring about 10 people including a pregnant woman, with not a policeman in sight, despite a 16,000 attendance. And in the midst of it all was an excellent game, about 38-34 to the home team with the lead changing hands at least 8 times, thanks to a mix of good skills and useless tackling. The game doesn't have enough variety to displace Rugby Union in my affections, but I wish Union (especially in Glasgow) could draw crowds like this. And we saw some more traditional Aussie dancing - pictured. Myself and Erich spent much of the game congratulating ourselves on our choice of seats.<br /><br />This is my last night in Oz. Think Sydney is still my favourite city here, even if inevitably it's not as exciting when there isn't a rugby world cup on. Spent part of the evening watching a film with a Sydney setting. Yes, Finding Nemo, featuring the clownfish I swam with on the Barrier Reef. Hoping to see a few more on my next stop, Hawaii.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-43507494749372103372009-06-27T19:37:00.001-07:002009-08-22T17:30:40.606-07:00Hostels<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg6QRePzmI/AAAAAAAAAHI/7WAHMucJihg/s1600-h/P7010682.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357095807999790690" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Slg6QRePzmI/AAAAAAAAAHI/7WAHMucJihg/s320/P7010682.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />There's a certain rhythm to hostel life - you meet people in your room, and have the following conversation:<br />- Where are you going?<br />- Where have you been?<br />- Where are you from (usually Germany, which the Germans say very apologetically - I think they came here to get away from each other)?<br />- What do you do (I hate this one, in my case it takes too long to answer and leads to lots of follow-up questions)?<br />I'd have gone stir crazy if I'd spent all my time on this trip in hostels, but I've had enough variety (friends, friends of friends, couchsurfers, camping) that I'm not yet sick of them. Sick of some aspects, mind - overcrowded kitchens (the word 'sorry' is constantly employed by the 20 different cooks reaching across each other), ancient literature, and casual theft of my beers from the communal fridges. Some have hardly any character (usually city centre ones like Sydney where I'm staying now), and some have rather too much. The proprietor in Deloraine, Tasmania who hadn't bothered to take down the xmas tree by late March fell the wrong side of the eccentric/scary weirdo line.<br /><br />But the good ones make it all worthwhile. They're usually small, Murchison and Te Aroha in New Zealand, or St Helens in Tasmania. Another of my favourites is Katoomba in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. I was there for a night between rugby games 6 years ago, and went for a proper stay last week. Lovely rambling 1930s art deco building with the most comfy hostel beds of the trip, though with a 1930s attitude to draught exclusion. The town looks tired though, funny how some parts of these new countries can feel rather old fashioned. But the blue mountains scenery is different from any I've seen, and parts are surprisingly inaccessible and unexplored given proximity to Sydney. About 15 years ago, botanists discovered Wollemi pines in one of the gorges, apparently this is the botanical equivalent of finding small dinosaurs running around.<br /><br />Today's photo was the scariest of the trip to acquire; in a howling gale on Hanging Rock, one of the blue mountains' more inaccessible viewpoints. It has 300 metre vertical drops and no railings. I crawled on and crawled off, hope my readership thinks it was worthwhile.<br /><br />NZ hostels are much better than their Aussie equivalents for recycling. They tend to have about 6 different rubbish bins for different classes of recyclable items, which have me crying out for a 'normal' bin for rubbish that's definitely not recyclable. The whole recycling concept has much less priority in Australian hostels, a difference which mirrors the countries as a whole, one of the reasons I prefer NZ.<br /><br />Talking of hostels, I'm making a point of not seeing the horror film 'Hostel' which would apparently discourage me from staying in any of them. In the same vein, a recent aussie horror-flick called Wolf Creek is constantly referenced by travellers considering a farm-stay anywhere in the outback.<br /><br />In Sydney now, hooking up again with Sandra and Eric. A major Scotland v Switzerland duel was scheduled for tonight, but Andy Murray lost his Wimbledon semi-final, so guess Scottish honour depends on my performance with the Canasta cards instead. We're going to my first rugby league match this afternoon - not planning to be tempted to the dark side permanently, but you never know.Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-66525458684575216362009-06-26T01:19:00.000-07:002009-08-26T16:45:00.345-07:00Step out of the vehicle please, Sir<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSKTqh4qrI/AAAAAAAAAHA/ckdFxGycoSA/s1600-h/P6230596.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351554327661554354" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 300px; height: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSKTqh4qrI/AAAAAAAAAHA/ckdFxGycoSA/s400/P6230596.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSIvbHheWI/AAAAAAAAAG4/90cCDjKWpPw/s1600-h/P6240641.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351552605537532258" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSIvbHheWI/AAAAAAAAAG4/90cCDjKWpPw/s400/P6240641.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><p>You could spend an entire life visiting Aussie National Parks, but Kakadu has the advantage of being near a city, so gets more visitors than most. Like much of Oz, it has long stretches of extreme tedium (straight roads through scrub) linking sites of jaw-dropping beauty and grandeur. I joined a camping tour for this one - many of the roads are not for the faint-hearted, tempting as it is to give 4w driving a go. Weather was kind, perfect for swimming in plunge pools (well, the croc-free ones) at the foot of waterfalls, and the wetlands are gorgeous, especially at sunset. I'm not sure about the common sense of teaching crocs to jump though. They've done fine without evolving for the last 200m years - if they really get the notion for self-improvement we're all in trouble.</p><p>And my tentmates were the first Scots I've met on the trip! And they're recent graduates (DMEM Department) of Strathclyde Uni! We're pictured trying to describe current University strategy - only joking, if any Senior Officers are reading this.</p><br /><p>Not all plain sailing. Darwin has a reputation for hard drinking and unfortunately this extended to our guide who made the most of the last night at the campsite (your correspondent doesn't recall all the details, and is VERY glad he wasn't doing the driving), and was breathalysed the following morning. He would have passed a conventional test but tour guides are judged by a higher standard and he had to pass the steering wheel to one of the passengers for the rest of the morning. Not sure if this will have implications for his career, we were all too embarrassed for him to enquire at the time, but the tour-group is reconvening this evening at a Darwin hostelry and he plans to attend so we'll perhaps find out then.</p><br /><p>I've decided to head back to Sydney in a couple of days. Alice Springs and the attractions thereabouts (well, 500km away which qualifies as local down there) appealed but not enough to justify the time and cost of getting to them and then getting to Sydney in time for my flight to Hawaii. Last time I was in Sydney I thought it was my all-time favourite city, but that was during a World Cup so not exactly normal circumstances. Plus I read a colour supplement article the other day in which a local writer deplored the way the city has gone to the dogs in recent years. Hope not, but we'll see.</p></div>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-54574458487061531532009-06-26T00:25:00.000-07:002009-06-26T01:18:29.763-07:00Bust by the dust<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSEBSHTeLI/AAAAAAAAAGw/Xf25iF8Wzns/s1600-h/P6200556.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351547414800201906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSEBSHTeLI/AAAAAAAAAGw/Xf25iF8Wzns/s400/P6200556.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSDTk0CfvI/AAAAAAAAAGo/9r820McTtD0/s1600-h/P6200559.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351546629545688818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkSDTk0CfvI/AAAAAAAAAGo/9r820McTtD0/s400/P6200559.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>The washing machines in Darwin YHA are being replaced today. I think it's coincidence, but they spent yesterday evening wrestling with the dust I collected at Cape Tribulation, The Laura Aborigine Dance Festival, and the Kakadu National Park, and perhaps they just gave up the struggle. Dancing Aborigines in particular can kick up an incredible duststorm.</div><br /><div>The trip to Cape Trib and the Dance Festival also covered the Daintree National Park, Cooktown, some beautiful beaches and some of the many wild crocodiles I've seen over the last week. My chauffeurs were Eric and Sandra (better known as 'The Doll' by truckers on the Cape Tribulation road...) from Switzerland, who I met on my dive course. Just enough space in their 4WD for me and my luggage, though as it contains 8 months worth of travel debris, it was cosy - if you missed seeing something on the road, there was no way to look backwards or even sideways at it! It's the first time I've camped on the trip, and their 8 months of experience made it a much smoother process than if I'd gone it alone. They're on their 3rd tent and I doubt the first two would have repelled the rain at Cape Trib or the ant colony that took up residence under the tent at Archer Point beach. Many thanks to them both for excellent campsite cooking (pancakes an especial highlight), good-humoured and entertaining company whatever the rigours of the trip, and teaching me canasta, though Eric may be regretting this now - the cards were very kind in my first couple of games!</div><br /><div>The dance festival (<a href="http://www.lauradancefestival.com/">http://www.lauradancefestival.com/</a>) was the highlight. It seemed a properly aboriginal event, with spectators as well as performers, but at the same time one where non-aboriginals were welcome and had no need to feel self-conscious. No alcohol, which makes the whole thing almost too well mannered, but having seen a little of the more unfortunate side of aborigine society in Cairns, I can see why this is banned. Most of the dancing tells simple stories of hunting or tribal conflict; a lot of impersonations of kangaroos, emus, crocodiles etc. though the most exciting dances are 'shake-a-leg' efforts which encourage the real showmen and women to strut their stuff. The groups all represent tribes or regions from throughout Queensland, and with many it's about participation rather than excellence; some groups (such as the Yarrabah in the first picture) had child performers as young as 3, who were among the most popular participants. Dancers aren't averse to modern technology either - see the lady on the right in the 2nd picture.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>It's now nearly 4 months since I set off - a month longer than I've been out of Scotland since 1980. Still not really missing it, though a bit of Scottish weather would be welcome right now. I couldn't handle Darwin temperatures (or mosquitos) for long. Unbelievably this is considered to be the cold season here - not on my planet, it isn't.</div></div>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-76382933750945620842009-06-16T19:53:00.000-07:002009-08-22T17:20:59.368-07:00Finding Nemo<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkR30oEDahI/AAAAAAAAAGg/Ab24FFq0gK0/s1600-h/P6130438.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351534003214314002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 286px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SkR30oEDahI/AAAAAAAAAGg/Ab24FFq0gK0/s400/P6130438.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>...and all his friends, they don't make it difficult on the Great Barrier Reef, the fish (and turtles, and rays, and nudibranches, and lots of things I can't identify at all) seem totally unconcerned by divers. The variety is astounding, though sadly I didn't encounter any sharks underwater. They usually make an appearance during night dives, but the one time I did this it was on a reef they don't frequent for some reason.<br />Anyway, after 2 days in the pool, 3 at sea including 9 dives, I now have the PADI Open Water certificate, so can dive anywhere, provided I do it soon enough that I don't forget everything I've learnt the past few days. Hardest thing I found in the sea was 'equalising', i.e. squeezing the air out of my ears (as you do when a plane is ascending/descending) to stop my head exploding. This is necessary to adjust to different depths, but eventually got the hang of it. Equalising is incidentally a problem with skydiving as well, though not one they tell you about before pushing you out of the plane, my ears were popping like crazy all the way down, though I didn't give it much thought till I hit the ground; skydiving gives you other things to think about.<br />Being Scottish spared me one problem, I didn't feel cold in the water at all, no matter how deep we went (18 metres maximum). The Taiwanese lad in our group was shivering uncontrollably every time he came out of the water. He did better than his mate, who was disqualified from the course for not being able to swim!!! Seems amazing that you'd sign up to a scuba course without this particular skill, but apparently it's quite common with Asians, who seem able to convince themselves that this isn't necessary.</div>Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-23923696964897574872009-06-12T05:48:00.001-07:002017-10-02T17:02:58.705-07:00Fun, fun, fun, in the sun, sun, sun<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SjhZ4XJWqcI/AAAAAAAAAGY/svUs-4x_o1o/s1600-h/P6070406.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348123382323259842" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/SjhZ4XJWqcI/AAAAAAAAAGY/svUs-4x_o1o/s400/P6070406.JPG" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div>
Yes, I've been watching old Red Dwarf episodes at Sam (pictured, with Brisbane in the background) and Rod's but anyway, Cairns is what Australia is meant to be like. No culture or rain or any of that other non-Aussie nonsense , just sunshine and bars, and impossibly good looking girls (and some pasty-faced British ones, but never mind) wondering round in bikinis - I saw 2 in the supermarket yesterday. And here comes the weekend! So of course with typical bad timing my 5-day dive course takes me offshore tomorrow, to the Great Barrier Reef for 3 days of Finding Nemo and shark dodging ("Remember, Fish are friends" - "so what are you planning to eat, then?") Which doesn't sound so bad, though the rate of attrition on my course is worrying - 7 people and we'd lost 3 for various reasons before we completed the swimming pool and paperwork stage.</div>
</div>
Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-3469071641437004482009-06-08T19:24:00.001-07:002017-10-02T17:05:01.868-07:00In my considered opinion...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
More blether about the books that have been keeping me company. Don't worry, blogfans, I'll get to back to the usual nonsense shortly.<br />
<br />
The Whole Story and Other Stories - Ali Smith: Bought on the strength of her brilliant novel The Accidental. But these short stories are much less brilliant, or at least much less memorable, far too slight and thinly plotted for me to get my teeth into.<br />
<br />
<br />
When They Lay Bare - Andrew Greig: Eagerly anticipated on the strength of In Another Light, which I read previously on the trip. Especially because it's set in the Borders, albeit in the dodgy bit south of Hawick which doesn't really have much in common with Melrose. It was written before In Another Light, and they have things in common - the intercut of past and present, a magnetic but brittle lead female character, a strained relationship between father and son. But it isn't quite as good, it's too portentous and could do with a few laughs. But great to read a gripping adult novel about the Borders.<br />
<br />
Surveillance - Jonathan Raban: Set in contemporary Seattle, and a good intro to another city I'm planning to visit. It's about the growth of surveillance and associated paranoia in the US in the aftermath of 9/11, though not sure I'd have identified this theme if the blurb hadn't told me. But it's got good characters and very well written. Some intriguing plot points that are all swept away at the end by the biggest Dea ex Machina (I always wanted to write that! Just hope I've used it in the correct context) I've encountered in literature.<br />
<br />
The War Within - Bob Woodward: The 3rd of 4 books I've read by the Watergate Investigative journalist about the politics of George Bush's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This covers 2006-8, during which the carnage in Iraq peaked and started to decline, perhaps partly due to changes in US policy. Unequivocal evidence of just how intellectually under-resourced Bush was to be President.<br />
<br />
The White Divers of Broome - John Bailey: A history of the attempts by the Oz government to replace the Asian divers who dominated the pre-WW1 pearl diving industry with whites, as part of the 'white Australia' policy; as well as being a fascinating account of what was then a lucrative business, it reveals how racist Australia was in those days, as bad as South Africa at the time. According to some Aussies I've spoken to, attitudes in some areas haven't changed much either, even if goverment policy has.<br />
<br />
Emma - Jane Austen: A long overdue 'classic' - I read about one a decade. I knew the story, but the pleasure is in the prose and dialogue, though over 500 pages is a bit much of it, especially when characters like Emma's pathetic father are wittering on. But I can totally see why some people go back to Austen again and again, it's as pleasurably escapist as any fantasy.<br />
<br />
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene: Another classic, provided the reader has patience for the knots that catholics tie themselves in - mine was being tested by the end. But it's a gripping story, and reveals some fascinating history about anti-clerical campaigns in Latin America. It's full of ghastly moral dilemnas, strong characters (I wish the fate of more of them was explained), and simply very well written, like Our Man in Havana, the other Greene book I've read. I can see why he got considered for the Nobel prize, though I've read he believed he was denied it by an anti-catholic member of the relevant committee.<br />
<br />
Killshot - Elmore Leonard: A very spare direct crime novel by the doyenne (another word I always wanted to use!) of such things in the US. Gripping story, though it didn't much make me look forward to arriving in the US. The 'baddies' are utterly amoral (they quite separately and unnecessarily murder 18 year old girls) and while the 'goodies' (a couple who witness and prevent a crime) are attractive characters, even the things they like about their lifestyles sound awful to me. And the various law enforcement agencies portrayed are useless at best - sometimes much worse. But at least it's all set in the Midwest, another reason not to go there! <br />
Note: I didn't post this entry until June 16 (by which time I'd read all these books), but started it much earlier. The blog system inserts newly published items on the date I started them.</div>
Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5002803208022029430.post-3599390324773032732009-06-07T06:10:00.000-07:002009-06-07T06:47:57.171-07:00Brakes? What brakes?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Siu8kyFdXYI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/OYGDwDWNzvs/s1600-h/P6050365.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Siu8kyFdXYI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/OYGDwDWNzvs/s400/P6050365.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344572722911206786" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Siu8dkhNwxI/AAAAAAAAAGI/XGpRz9LM140/s1600-h/P6050368.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xt0J7BaRaf4/Siu8dkhNwxI/AAAAAAAAAGI/XGpRz9LM140/s400/P6050368.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344572599010444050" border="0" /></a>Here's another of my "Don't think, just do it" moments - sand-tobogganing in 'the desert' on Moreton Island off Brisbane. Not very sophisticated, they give you a piece of flexible chipboard, wax one side of it, tell you to lie down and face downhill, and give you a push. No chance of backing out, there was a 73 year old lining up behind me. It's easy to get a mouthful of sand if you don't hold up the front of the board, and when you go over a bump it feels like you've been punched in the stomach. But could be worse, one stag party (or bucks party as they're called in Aussie) lined up on the hill and used their boards on the naked rear end of the groom as he came down; apparently he was unable to sit for the entire wedding! It's an ideal island for swimming too, in lakes and the sea, at least from the Scottish perspective; the Aussies thought it was much too cold. Wussies.<br /><br />Everyone I know in Oz seems to live in Brisbane; it's not just for cast members who leave Neighbours. I met Liam on his own travels in Glencoe Youth Hostel a few years back and introduced him to Glasgow rugby. He repaid the favour here by taking me to an Aussie Rules game, Brisbane v Carlton (from Melbourne, very much the home of the game). About 30,000 fans at the Gabba (better known in the UK as a test cricket ground) and I have to say a much better atmosphere than the Super 14 rugby games I attended in NZ. I think the sport is a bit of a shambles at times, but impressive at its best. Brisbane are going well in this year's championship, but despite a late rally Carlton were too good on Saturday. Thought I was going to get a bonus in the pub later when the British Lions game came on TV, but after 20 minutes the Aussies 20:20 cricket game in England began and rugby was shunted off the agenda. Though watching the Aussies lose was still entertaining. Not as funny as watching England lose to the Netherlands was for the Aussies though!<br /><br />Otherwise it's been a very civilised week; art galleries, vineyards, botanic gardens and lots of shower dodging in cafes. Heading for the national parks south of the city with Sam and Rod tomorrow. It's a Monday holiday for them, as it's Queen's Birthday weekend - much to my surprise this rates as a holiday in both Australia and New Zealand. Which should discourage thoughts of a republic anytime soon!Stuart Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02536577729339809858noreply@blogger.com0