second time around

Greetings from Middle Earth (not the Middle Kingdom). My apologies for the long delay in the blogging, but I have been too busy living the dream to write it down. I thought the Australians loved their sheep, nothing like the Kiwis! They seriously love their sheep.

Well I figured that I had dodged the bullet when I got on my flight back to Sydney one day before Quantas went on Strike. I didn’t realize that Poe’s American Airlines flight to New Zealand was actually a Quantas flight code sharing with American. So no flight for her. Fortunately the government forced Quantas back to work and it only delayed Poe a couple of days. I holed up in a hotel in Auckland since it was cold, raining like hell and windy. I used the time to look a bit ahead for planning Bali and Thailand. Hoping for the floods in Thailand to clear up. Poe finally got in Thursday and we spent a wonderful sunny day at the Auckland Botanic Gardens. The temperature was perfect and the plants a nice treat, spring is coming in well here. The next day we hit the Auckland Museum and learned some Maori history and New Zealand plants and animals. Did you realize that the only indigenous mammal in New Zealand is the Bat? All others are brought in by settlers. Humans have only been here since around 1000 CE. They had the world’s largest Eagle, the Haast’s Eagle until about 600 years ago when their main food the Moa bird was hunted to extinction by the Maori. The eagle was only 15 Kg. But had a 70 cm Talon span which allowed it to rip through the neck or pelvis of the Moa which were flightless 4 meter (12+ foot) tall and 230 kg. (510 pounds). Some kind of birds!

Flying on to Christchurch we had a chance to check out the roped off center of town which was destroyed in an Earthquake last year. Pretty incredible, it looked like pictures of a war zone. It was Guy Fawkes day, where British celebrate the capture and execution (of course after torture) of Guy Fawkes in 1620 when he tried to guard the gunpowder hoping to blow up the king and start a revolution. Not so weird or anything. Then off over Arthur’s Pass to the west coast of the South Island. It had snowed like crazy three days before and they needed chains to go over the pass then, but had cleared so we had Beautiful blue skies on the first half and wonderful views of snow capped peaks. The west side is foggy/cloudy with mist and winding road. Coming down we pulled into an overlook parking area and saw two parrots on the fence. Poe whispered, “Do you think we can get closer?” As I eased around oh so slowly we opened the windows to get a picture. The Kea (parrots) hopped off the fence and ran/hopped toward the car in an attack formation. “shut the window, shut the window” not in a whisper. They jumped up onto the car and started pulling at things. Turns out the Kea are the smartest bird in the world and love to tear things like wiper blades apart. We pressed on to Franz Josef Glacier for a couple of nights. The west side of the Island is like Washington State, lots and lots of rain as the wet air from the Tasman Sea hits the mountains.

The Glaciers were very cool and the forests thick and deep temperate rain-forests. I thought that the Australians were frugal with their use of asphalt on winding mountain roads, but the Kiwis are downright cheap. Poe had a few moments of puckering while we drove the South Island. Up through the passes and down through the hairpin turns (believe the sign that advises 15 and that is kilometers per hour not miles per hour!) The rivers and lakes have “stone flour” or super tiny particles of stone ground up by the glaciers long ago which makes them a wonderful turquoise color at times and at other times a deep, deep blue. Strikingly beautiful. Went to a Kiwi research center and saw some six week old Kiwis. In their wisdom the early settlers brought over animals to populate the islands for hunting and such. The rabbits got completely out of control so they brought in Stoats (a sort of weasel) to eat the rabbits. The stoats however prefer the much easier to catch flightless New Zealand birds Kiwis and such. So they are very endangered now. Also they brought the brush tailed opossum for a fur trade. More dead birds! The deer trash the forest but the export of venison was a big industry so now they farm the deer and have cut the wild population down to size. Just as in Washington some Scots missed their homeland and brought a wee sprig of Scotch Broom plant to remind them of home. Now the islands are covered in this expanding mess of bright yellow blight. Ain’t we smart?

A hard decision is whether to see the more dramatic Milford Sound or the more intimate and quieter Doubtful Sound. I found the solution though, do both. Even though we had a car, we took the two hour bus ride from Te Anau to Milford Sound so we could enjoy the view and not have to drive the road. It was spectacular from lake and fields through the Beech Forest and then Rain forest into the mountains and to the fjords. The driver kept telling us that we were unlucky to have the perfectly clear blue skies and dramatic vistas instead of rain. He thought the temporary waterfalls created by heavy rains were more dramatic. I was OK with the sun. It rains there 200 days of the year. The sight of Milford Sound was dramatic and something to experience. We had a group of Dolphin swimming along side the boat for a long time, the fur seals were out sunning and there were plenty of permanent long, long waterfalls.

Back to Te Anau and it started raining. Rained all night and the next morning while we took a short bus hop to a 45 minute boat ride across Lake Manapouri and a ride up over Wilmot Pass on the gravel road to Deep Cove the end of Doubtful Sound. We boarded the overnight ship and it stopped raining. The waterfalls were pretty amazing to see, sparkling sheets and raging torrents everywhere. Doubtful is more covered with trees and ferns which is in itself incredible as it is solid granite. There is virtually no soil, the plants all grow with tiny roots in minute cracks in the rock. We saw fur seals, and plenty of penguins (yellow crested and little blue like I saw in Philip Island Australia). Food was great, company was great and we slept well. The next morning the sun was out and the views were striking. As soon as we got up they announced on the speakers so we ran out to watch the dolphins jumping and playing around the boat. More penguins and Shag birds (cormorants) all morning.

We got back to Te Anau and drove on up the pass to Queenstown. It is full of young people and adrenaline rush activities; jet boats, mountain biking, climbing, rappelling, kayaking, white water rafting, bungy jumping and hang gliding on thermals. So we did our laundry and drove out of town. We did peek over the rail of the Kawarau Bridge, the birthplace of Bungy jumping. I decided it probably was not in my best interest to jump, I might like it too much. Going up the center of the South Island toward Aoraki/Mt. Cook we stopped for coffee and chatted with a local. We were getting a little burned out on spectacular mountain scenes and crazy blue lakes. She told us not to head up to Twizel and instead to go to the East coast to a town called Oamaru. What a great choice. Oamaru was a thriving port in the mid 1800s and has 20-30 great old buildings left in town. We got in early enough to go to the Little Blue Penguin colony research center and watch them come in at dark. This was not a gentle waddle up a sandy beach like Philip Island Australia. These guys ride BIG waves crashing onto a steep rocky shore and hop on up to their burrows. It was pretty cool. In the morning we had a plate of cheeses at the Whitestone Cheese factory and watched them empty a vat and separate the curds and whey. Then around the town and enjoyed the buildings and the amazing artwork (welded statues) all over town. Google Steampunk HQ to see what I had to put my $2 into.

Finally we dragged ourselves away and up the coast to a small town of Akaroa. It is inside the caldera of an old volcano the side wall of which is blown out, connecting to the sea creating a huge, huge harbor. The drive in was quite the puckering road with switchbacks and fortunately the tour busses passed us going the other way before we got to the steep descent. On the way out the next day we took the “summit road” and found out the first road really was the wide and straight one. Akaroa is a French city and was lovely. We bumped into some friends we had been on the Doubtful Sound overnight with and just marveled at the views. We went to the Giant’s House and toured the gardens (beautiful) surrounded by the giant mosaic artworks (mind boggling). In the afternoon we headed back to Christchurch to overnight before flying to the North Island.

After getting to the city we went to the place we had stayed before and it was full, and the one next door and the two down the street. We drove over to the main motel street in town and found one after the next “no vacancy” finally we stopped to ask if ther was something going on in town and the very nice lady explained that since the center of Christchurch was trashed and all the big hotels shut down the motels are full every night and without advance booking we were SOL. God smiles on fools; she made a call on the off chance of a cancellation and found us a room. Later checking in I overheard the desk clerk telling someone that all the motels help each other and there are no rooms in all of Christchurch, they could try Akaroa (a two hour drive).

A morning flight to Auckland, pick up the rental car and off to Rotorua, the area with lots of Geothermal activity and Maori culture. We got in and the very nice duty manager Darren told us all about the various activities around the area. We were just in time to go to a Maori village show and Hangi (earth pit cooked dinner). It was a bit “touristy” but a great show none the less, good dancing and lots of fun. The food was excellent and we saw some glow worms and silver leaf ferns. The next morning we slept in, had a breakfast at the “Fat Dog Cafe and Bar” before we went on to Waimangu Valley. It was an amazing 4 km walk through a valley created in 1886 by several volcanos erupting and creating the most recent geothermal area around. There are pools and steam vents and incredible views. It was a great walk and we saw very striking colored pools of boiling hot water with algae and silica forms.

Poe’s last full day in New Zealand was pretty good, we got over to see the glow worms in Waitomo caves which was interesting. The roof of the cave is covered with bioluminescent worms which look like a million stars at night. We couldn’t do the “pretty” cave tour because it was booked until later in the afternoon, but that left us time to drive up through Cambridge and take a left on Buckland Road which led us to “The Shire Rest” and a tour of Hobbiton. They recently finished shooting the Hobbiton scenes for the new movie “the Hobbit” and last week opened the set for tours. It was pretty cool seeing Bag End, the party tree and all the rest of Hobbiton in perfect condition. We took loads of pictures but have a confidentiality agreement to not put them on the web.

I left home with New Zealand as the number one spot on my list of where I wanted to see, based on the crazy beauty of the landscape and the rave reviews from everyone who ever came here. Now that I am set to move on I must say that it did not disappoint. The Kiwis are wonderfully friendly and giving people, always ready to help with advice or whatever you need. The landscape spans everything there is; spectacular mountains, fjords, waterfalls, rainforest, pastoral hills, evergreen forests, beautiful beaches and an amazing palette of green colors everywhere. The spring coming into bloom was just overwhelming and next time I will come in the fall to see those colors. Next stop: Bali.

My last bit of time in Melbourne was fun. I went to the Melbourne Museum and saw the “King Tutankamun” traveling exhibit. The detail work of the jewelry and carvings was exquisite. Given that these were done 1350 BCE or thereabouts, the workmanship is unbelievable. I took a walk through the “rainforest” that they have growing in a very cool outdoor atrium in the center of the building. The “wildlife” section was quite small but very well done. In a room maybe 15 meters by 20 meters by 10 meters high they had about 300 stuffed animal specimens all around the room on the walls and stages. In front of each section and at a few places in the center of the room were large touch screens with pictures of the area of animals. If I touched an animal it popped up a big picture and information about the animal. Worked wonderfully.

I had a nice flight on Quantas back to Sydney which was good, because 3 days later Quantas stopped ALL flights because of ongoing labor disputes. I took the ferry to Manly Beach (it is Australia there is no “Wimpy Beach”) so I could see the Sydney Harbor and the iconic view of the Opera House. I had some fish and chips on the beach while watching the surfers and again with the seagulls. One of the blighters actually flew in and took 1/2 a french fry right out of my hand as I was putting it to my mouth! It was quite windy that day and the sailboats were out in force which impressed me as it was mid-week. They love their harbor here and love their sailboats. Flying in I could see literally thousands of them moored in a series of inlets and bays all around the Harbor.

A rental car and off to the west of Sydney to the Blue Mountains and a town called Katoomba. The blue mountains are so named because of the bluish haze as one looks over them caused by the mist and eucalyptus oils in the air. They reminded me quite a lot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Kentucky. Of course when I arrived and went along the scenic cliffside drive which is at 3500 feet elevation what I noticed most was that the cloud level was 2500 feet and I could see about 15 meters (48 feet) out into the Jamison Valley. It stayed like that the entire day and into the night. But that actually turned out to be great. I was staying at the Carrington Hotel which was built in 1885 and was a wonderful throw-back experience. I checked in early and took the elevator (with the outer and inner door that you open seperately) to my room with a view, on the top (3rd) floor. The rest of the day I shot some billiards on their classic table, sipped on a schooner of Guinness and read in a nice overstuffed chair in the Henry Poste Room. The place was a wonderful sense of the past. During dinner (a very tasty lamb duo) they had Nat Cole, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra playing in the background and I was loving it.

The next morning I drove on to the Jenolan Caves. For those of you who don’t know or remember I would refer you to my blog post of June 6 “Carlsbad Caverns” to get a sense of how I feel about Carlsbad so you can understand when I say Jenolan Caves are the tiniest, tiniest bit less impressive than Carlsbad. The drive in is exciting as well. The last 10 km or so the road is one way from 11:30 to 1:45 to allow the buses to come in. That is good, because although around the curves they paint a striped line down the center of the asphalt to show the lanes, it is still only 2 1/2 meters (8 feet) wide!! Only once did several cars have to stop and help guide the local bus and the up-bound pickup truck back and forth for ten minutes to unwedge and get past each other. Once you reach the caves, the road goes right through a short but large cavern. I spent the day walking up and down steps and trails and saw three large caves. These caverns are not as large as the “big room” at Carlsbad (which is 1220 meters long 191 meters wide and 110 meters high) but are very impressive. The walkways here are quite narrow and lots of tight passages through to other cave rooms which put you very close to the formations. And the formations (speleothems) are spectacular, especially the Helictites which defy gravity and grow sideways and sometimes look like bushes. These are spectacular caves. At lunch I had a pair of Rosellas pestering me for some of my chips, what is it with the birds in Australia? And while I am at it, what is it with the Australians and chips (french fries)? They have chips with every meal at every restaurant. The only time I ever saw mashed potatoes was on a shepherd’s pie. Never saw au gratin, scalloped, boiled or any other kind except for the occasional adventurous change of “wedges”.

I drove back to Katoomba to find that the sun was out and the views were great. I particularly liked that the Jamison Valley is totally undeveloped so there are no roads or towns or logging areas, just a large carpet of trees all through this huge valley.

Back to Sydney and last night I had a great Indonesian dinner with Johan and Lily from my China tour. They live here in Sydney and they took me to a lovely Indonesian restaurant and treated me to a great sampling of their foods. They are transplants from Indonesia. It was very nice to see them and maybe someday they can visit me in Orlando. All in all Australia has been a great time; the people are warm and helpful, the scenery spectacular and the wildlife plentiful. Tomorrow I am off to New Zealand where I will meet Poe and together we will explore what I hope to be an astoundingly beautiful place.

Well sadly for those I left aboard the Spoilsport on the Great Barrier Reef it turned out that Tuesday was the most rainfall ever recorded in Cairns! I however had spectacular sunny skies and 72 degrees in Melbourne. I forgot to mention one of the more interesting things I found in Cairns. At dusk they have spectacled flying foxes that come back to roost in their trees. These are HUGE fruit bats! About a two foot wing span and shaped just like the classic Halloween cut outs. Sitting outside at dinner I saw maybe 20 or 30 of them flying around, it was a bit odd I thought.

I like Melbourne, the atmosphere is young and active without being too hectic. The architecture is an interesting mix of old stone buildings and very avant-guard almost whimsical ones. Transportation is good, but I mostly walk. The first day I went up to the Melbourne Zoo and enjoyed the local animal exhibits the most. I got some good looks at Kangaroo, Wombats, Platypus and Koalas. Then in the afternoon I went to the space exhibit at the Australian Center for Moving Images. It was all about the history of spaceflight in the movies and TV, back to some very early things in the twenties. Lots of fun. That evening I treated myself to a night at the Theatre. I had a great seat for “Love Never Dies” a sequel to “Phantom of the Opera” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was a wonderful production and I enjoyed it immensely. Occasionally one needs a bit of culture in a vagabond life.

I spent a morning cruising the Queen Victoria Market which was two blocks from my hotel. They sell everything from Fish to electronics, meats to shoes, produce to clothes to souvenirs. One gigantic flea market. They have a series of fairly bizarre 20 foot high black statues on display around the center of town. They are Demon/Angel Babies and I am a bit put off by them, not sure what the artist is going for. I also enjoyed listening to some of the speeches at the “Occupy Melbourne” camp of hippies and such on the lawn of the town hall.

Checking out of my hotel and walking around the block to the car rental place and for the next 2 hours of driving it did drizzle rain on me. Once out of Melbourne it stopped and was just overcast. I made my way to the GOR (Great Ocean Road) which follows the Southern Ocean coastline for a couple of hundred kilometers. Much like the Pacific Coast Highway in California, but I liked California’s better. There are high cliffs of Limestone and the ocean has been wearing them away for eons. By lunch the sun came out and the rest of the time it has been perfect. I stayed overnight in a small town about 12 kilometers from the famous site and viewpoint known as “The Twelve Apostles”. There were nine “stacks” or high (100 meter) columns of Limestone about 300 meters off the beach. Originally they were called the Sow and Piglets but as it became a big tourist draw the Australians naturally renamed them “The Twelve Apostles”. One of them has since collapsed and so there are only eight left, but it is still the Twelve Apostles. I got some nice views in the fading sunset light.

Driving back I came the inland route and enjoyed the beautiful rolling hills with pastures and forests. Had a nice walk to “Triplet Falls” and spent the night in Geelong. The colors are striking; vibrant greens with deep blue water and sky, and multiple shades of brown in the sandstone hills. This whole area is very heavily into sheep and cattle farming. It’s like they say: “Australia where men are men, and sheep are nervous.”
Today was a pleasant drive and a ferry ride to get over to Phillip Island. Cowes is a small beach town with lots of fish and chips places. While having dinner Al Fresco I was slowly surrounded by 30 or so seagulls. Combined with the small seaside village it was a very Hitchcock moment.

The real claim to fame on Phillip Island belongs to the Little Penguins. (That is what they are called and it fits.) These guys stand about 25 centimeters (10 inches) tall and every night as soon as it gets dark they come out of the ocean and back to their burrows in the hillocks and dunes of the beach. They group up in the water in “rafts” of 20 or so birds and then come ashore and make their way to the burrows. There are 20,000 mating pairs around the island and roughly 3000 pairs at this particular site. Since it is breeding season many are on the eggs or newly hatched chicks and so about 1000 come in each night from the water. Many oohs and aahs as the cute little things waddle their way in. Now it is back to Melbourne and on to the Sydney area before I meet Poe in New Zealand.

I spotted this sign in an antiques window along the way, and it struck me as the expression of why I am on this trip.

How am I? Well as everyone here says all the time for “you are welcome”, “Of course”, “it is fine”, and any generalized positive answer: “No worries, mate”. North Queensland has been wonderful and in another hour I set of on the live aboard dive boat for the outer Great Barrier Reef and some hopefully awesome dives.

Leaving Daniel was fine, although carrying a suitcase on the morning rush hour commuter subway was a little tight. I made all the right changes and got to Narita airport in good time. The long flights passed well, and although my flight out of Tokyo to Taipei was delayed an indeterminate length of time, they did get me on an Air Japan flight after two hours which left me plenty of time to connect in Taipei for Sydney. Overnight there and then on to Cairns. I took a day cruise out to the inner reef for a couple of dives just to get wet again. It was only so-so. Then I took a scenic railway ride up to a place called Kuranda which is up the mountainside north of Cairns. The rainforest was good, the walk around was excellent as all the tourists just do the main street shops, so I was alone walking the track in the jungle. It made me think about the Olympic rainforest and where I grew up in Washington. I did go into a Koala Gardens to see Koalas, Wombats, Wallabies, and Crocs. Then the ride down was on a gondola above the rainforest canopy for three 12 minute sections with stops to walk around. It was good fun and a great view.

After getting back to Cairns I got a rental car and headed north. Drove up (on the left side of the road) to Port Douglas and had some lunch. P.D. Is an upscale vacation town, much smaller, classier and pricier than Cairns. Very clean and pretty. The Australian schools have just gone back in session, so there are hardly any tourists Then the ride down was on a gondola above the rainforest canopy for three 12 m (gotta love that!) I spent the night at a place called the Thala Beach Lodge, an eco-resort in the rainforest. The rooms are bungalows on high poles built into the hillside so that the porch and view are in the tree canopy and it is hard to see another room at all. The whole place is on a peninsula out into the ocean and has spectacular views. Thanks to Jonathan Phillips for the suggestion, it was perfect.

From there I motored further up the Daintree Rainforest to my next stop, a tiny B & B in Daintree Village. Actually 8 km down the dusty gravel road out of town (population maybe 40). The area is heavily into cattle, mostly Brahma, and very little fencing. The Daintree Valley Haven was 4 units and a very nice couple that own/run the property. I had a couple of good walks around the place and saw many birds and a couple of wild Wallabies.

The second day there I drove on further up the Captain Cook Highway as far as Cape Tribulation, where the sealed road ends and only 4WD vehicles can go on. It was incredible, NO traffic at all, I was sailing alone through this ancient rainforest on a winding narrow road and the sun was peeking through the canopy here and there and I was loosing my mind. They say this is the oldest forest in the world and I would believe it looking into the amazing variety and balance of it. You wouldn’t know it to look here, but the Queensland area has been in a serious drought since last April. While it looks green to me, the locals are praying for rain. I spent a few hours at the Daintree Interpretive Center which has a wonderful elevated walkway and tower set up in pristine rainforest with all kinds of information and exhibits. A lot are about the Cassowary which is related to the Ostrich and Emu and just as big. It is only found here and Papua New Guinea, and is a threatened species. I didn’t see any at the Center which was a little disappointing, but it isn’t a zoo, it is just in the middle of the forest and as with any wild animals, it is luck of the draw. BUT… Driving out and up the road I saw a pair of them cross the road about 25 meters in front of me. No time to get a picture, but it was very cool to actually see them in the wild.

At Cape Tribulation I went a couple of kilometers past the roads end to have a beer and lunch at the Beach House Hostel, Bar and Bistro. It was a very fun place, lots of young people, back-packer types relaxing,so I had a great lunch at a great price. I enjoyed seeing the young travelers of today. To get to the end of the paved road takes a certain self-confidence and I liked seeing it in the eyes of the kids there. It made me smile inside. The beach there was also worth the drive, simply stunning. An equally relaxed, traffic free drive through the forest and across the cable ferry to my B & B where I ate the caught-today prawns I had picked up in the “town”. A sumptuous meal.

Yesterday I drove out of the Daintree and after visiting the beautiful Mossman Gorge I ascended the mountains and entered the Tablelands. Elevation of about 2500 feet and a very different landscape. Lots of dairy and coffee here, gentle rolling hills and millions of termite mounds. These are about 5 feet high and 4 feet across! After seeing the “Chinatown museum and Temple” in Atherton I checked into the hotel and went for dinner. Since they weren’t serving yet I headed down the road to Yungaberra to look for platypus! They come out at dawn and dusk so I figured a lot better chance of my being there at dusk! Some other folks were at the “platypus viewing platform” and were frustrated at not having seen any while they were watching for a while. I strolled on down the creek and bingo there one was swimming and diving in the creek. Very strange looking animals; about a foot long, fur, duck bill, web feet, poison spine on the leg.

Google: “Douglas Adams Australia quote” for a short humorous article on Australia that is so true. After a steak dinner, the next day I headed down to Cairns to replace my dive computer that got out of whack coming out of Tibet, and board the “Spoilsport” Mike Ball diving expedition boat to head out onto the reef. The weather is so good that they changed the route and we headed directly out to Bougainville Reef. They only get here a couple of times a year because the weather has to be just perfect. (ain’t it grand being lucky?) Three great dives so far today and I see the sun setting over calm waters and 360 degrees around is the Pacific Ocean (OK actually the Coral Sea). This one is for you, Pop.

Tuesday the 18th now and flying on to Melbourne. The rest of the Dive trip was some kind of wonderful. Perfect weather for four days, 12 dives in clear, warm water off a boat built specifically for diving and hence laid out perfectly. The crew was superb and the sites spectacular. They did a “shark feed” at North Horn on Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea. Three Tuna Heads in a can and the sharks were awake! It was exciting being very close-up forty feet down. I also got to swim up close to sea snakes at a site called oddly enough “Snake Pit”. One of the most venomous snakes in the world, but very docile and not aggressive, just curious and will swim all around your legs and body. The Queensland part of Australia has been fabulous and now I am taking the good weather with me south to Melbourne. Sadly for those still on the dive boat this morning’s weather is winds picking up and rain with 3-5 foot seas.

I am heading for Australia this morning. It was exciting riding the subway to get to Nagoya for my train connection, during rush hour with a suitcase and knapsack, . My car didn’t have a map so I had to keep a close eye out for my transfer station as we were sardines in the can. Now I have a 24 hour run to get to Sydney and then tomorrow fly on to Cairns. Actually as I sit here delayed in Narita airport they have just put me on a different flight, so I will make my connection in Taipei to get to Sydney.

The time here has been great. I had a good flight into Tokyo and did an overnight at a hotel near the airport. Thursday morning I rode the trains and subways from Narita Airport to Toyota-shi to meet up with Daniel. He kept me waiting at the station for about four minutes and then we had some excellent curry dinner. Friday morning I got to go to his school and watch him in a couple of classes. The kids all giggled and pointed a lot, as they didn’t know I was coming and thought we looked alike. I guess all white guys look alike.

It has been a wonderful visit with the boy, and I have enjoyed Japan immensely. It has a different feel than China, more polite and friendly, more open and easy. The Chinese have a great deal of empty space between cities and then very dense, super high rises for miles in the city. The Japanese have spread out more evenly; taking the train across the country there isn’t a lot of completely empty space. Rather there is a continual view of small buildings, individual houses and fields of crops and gardens interspersed the whole way. We have been walking and train riding a lot each day, my feet are sore but it has been great. We checked out the Nagoya Castle and Park and the next day the Nagoya Port Aquarium. They had lots of Dolphin and some Beluga Whales.

Once again the weather is perfect. It is sunny and around 72 degrees with a nice cool breeze. Daniel did give me the bed and slept on the floor the first night. I think the floor was the softer of the two. His “mattress” is about 1/2 inch thick and is on a plywood base. I actually think the carpet on the floor is more padded. The next day as I came home early from his school I stopped in at the local store and invested in a housewarming gift for him of a new 7 cm. Foam mattress which he will enjoy once I leave and quit sleeping on it. I did let him have the “bed” back and am on the floor with my extra thick mattress! His apartment is 8+ feet wide and 25 feet deep. It is so well designed that it actually is very comfortable. The bed is elevated up a small ladder with shelves and a large closet underneath. The galley “kitchen” is very tiny, but has refrigerator with freezer, two burner stove, sink and cupboards. A small washing machine, toilet, shower and sink and entry way for removing shoes. It is a little snug for the two of us, but fortunately I travel light.

Well the tour has taken a little change in flavor. Our small group (the Chinese Gang of Nine) is to hook up with another group and have a national guide to travel with us. We flew down out of Tibet into a rainy day in Chongqing where we were to board the cruise ship for the three day trip down the Yangtze River. Unfortunately they had just had a monumental rainfall and the river rose almost 50 feet in the past couple of days. So the river was running too fast to bring the ship all the way up to Chongqing and we got to ride the bus for a couple of hours to get to the boat. But first we had the chance to walk in the rain through the “old town” of Chongqing. Since it was completely bombed out in the second world war (“war of Japanese Aggression”) the old town is a fifty year old slum which is squalid and about to be torn down. Not so very historic and definitely not so scenic. The local meat shops did have quite the selection of pig snout on display though. Then on to the restaurant for dinner. Mediocre food with about 200 tourists and poor service. The Gang of Nine was not having much fun. Onto the bus and since now every seat is filled I got the back row which was fine until the woman in front of me slammed her seat back which made the space about 2 inches shorter than my thigh. She would have put it back up, but it got stuck like that so I had a fun ride. When we got to the boarding point I was amazed, they took all these elderly (and some infirm) passengers down about 100 steps of broken, slippery concrete steps in the rain and the dark with one flashlight at the top because they wanted us to see the cables across the path there. Then over the floating walkways for 30 yards or so to the boat. Norb and I immediately went up to the bar to capture a seat, and were almost the only ones there all night, which was fine as the drinks were reasonable and well made.

On the up side the boat was only 5 months old and very nicely fitted out. The food was excellent and plentiful, although a little too western, but still quite good. The weather was not bad, but not good either. Mostly cloudy and misty with not so great visibility. The excursions were a mixed bag, some better than others, but all were herding the cattle out and back. I am just not so comfortable being in large groups. I got a bad impression from the start, because the first one was to the “Ghost City”. Actually it is a 500 year old temple in a town associated with the underworld in Chinese mythology for almost 2000 years. Taoist and Buddhist statues and temples. Unfortunately they are building brand new “antique” temples with it for the tourists, and telling lots of cutesy stories and having the tourists do all the “tests” of the underworld and the final stray is at the end of the walk, entering the 500 year old temple is the table where they have the pictures for sale that they took of you crossing the bridge. Just a little too Disney for my taste. Of interest was the gauntlet of tourist shops had a lot fewer trinkets and everyone sold beer, wine and spirits. I guess they know the cruise ship crowd. The gorges were very nice to see go by, and it was worth the rest of the stuff to enjoy them. We saw the hanging coffin where they don’t really know how the people put the coffin 120 feet up this cliff. I saw some guys building a stone wall at the harbor moving the stones old-school, four of them with each stone being easily 5-600 pounds. They would sing a chant to keep their steps in time and not get the stone swinging. They just kept hauling stone all morning, one after the other.

We went through the locks of the Three Gorges Dam and the final morning had a short trip to the viewpoint over the dam. Mercifully the national guide never found us while on the ship, so we pretty well went our own way. The final morning we called the tour company and she found us and said hello.

On we flew to Shanghai. We got in late and found it to be a very upscale hotel. The next day we did the usual: stroll on the Bund, go up the Jin Mao tower for the view, and the Shanghai Museum. They were all fine. They had clusters of 8 story apartment buildings with different colored roofs. Lunch was fun, we hit a “hot pot” restaurant. Basically Chinese style fondue. A split pot (yin/yang shape) on a burner with mild and spicy side and lots of raw meat, fish and veggies to cook yourself. This was where we found that our group eats all the food on the table and the rest of the tables eat about half. We started getting their extra food (and especially beer) at the meals. The “Gang of Nine” held together pretty well and took it as a compliment when one of the other folks in our larger group mentioned to us, “you all don’t follow the rules much and just go where you want don’t you.” We went to the Chinese Acrobats show in Shanghai and it was impressive. The acrobatics, contortionists, jugglers, jumpers, plate spinners and even the five motorcycles in the cage of death at the same time were at least as good as the Cirque du Soleil. In Shanghai they have lots of buildings with the entire side being a light show screen with patterns at night. We are talking 40-50 story high buildings.

Our tour excursion was to a couple of gardens where you can enjoy the feng shui and find some peace and tranquility. After the extensive talk, talk, talk about the place we were given ten minutes to explore on our own so that we could “experience the peace.” It was just me and the garden and 400 or so of my closest travel companions. Then we went to the silk factory which was very interesting to see how they actually get the silk and reel it and weave it. Then surprisingly there was the opportunity to buy silk quilts and such. After that we had a trip to Tongli a small town called “the Venice of the East.” too much touristy for me.

Up at 0-dark-thirty to catch the plane to Hong Kong and meet our final guide for the rest of that day. “Erik” (all the guides pick an american name for the tourists to be able to call them something they can pronounce) was running on too many espressos. He flew us all around the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island for the day and left our heads spinning. But I did get to see Jackie Chan’s hilltop estate on Hong Kong Island. Erik pointed it out about five times with a very loud “JACKIE CHAN” each time.

Today is the final day in China and five of us wandered around on our own. We checked out the flower market, bird gallery street and navigated the subway to the wharf where we hopped the ferry to Hong Kong Island for 30 cents. At 8 PM every night they have a laser symphony light show from the buildings on the harbor. It was great. Now we have all said our goodbyes and are off on our own paths again. I am flying to Tokyo and then to see the son.

And just to ease your fears, no I didn’t use a ladder to get here. The time in Tibet has been wonderful. After the usual delay for the flight from Chengdu to Lhasa we arrived and met our local guide, Pema. The first night we spent in a small town called Tse Tang. On the way there we stopped in a small village the visited a local home. Pema explained that he picks different families all the time, so they don’t get jaded with visitors. The grandmother was carrying the granddaughter on her back while she fixed us some butter tea and bread. The butter tea is: Yak butter, a little tea leaf, hot water and salt. It was not greasy, but kind of “earthy” tasting. Pema said the nomads average 40 cups a day. I don’t think I could do that much, though it wasn’t so bad. They use Yak butter for tea, cooking, eating and to fuel candles. The Tibetans smile a lot and are happy to respond to and offer up “Tash delay” which is “hello”. Pema told us that if one knocks on a door in a village they will just invite you in and feed you. The hotel was fine, and the next morning we visited a local Temple/Monastery. After that we had a three hour bus ride and up a seriously winding switchback road to Khampa La (La means pass) at 15,700 feet for a scenic view of a beautiful lake. I passed on the “get your picture on a Yak”. I did use the public toilet there and it was a transcendental experience, though not in a particularly good way, the odor was something to behold, and that kind of altitude does have an effect. Then we had the three hour ride back to Lhasa the capital and largest city in Tibet.

It is interesting to be in a place where the signs are in Chinese and Tibetan but not any English. I went to the ATM and then the bank to get smaller notes, and it was fun using sign language to explain that. Monday was a busy day, we visited the Jokhang Temple which is considered the holiest temple in Tibet and walked around the “Barkhor” or Pilgrim’s Circuit. Pema explained that some Tibetans do a Prostrate Pilgrimage to this temple from their home city. That involves a mantra while stretching out prostrate and then walking as far as you reached and doing it again. It can take from one to two years to accomplish. Once they arrive at the temple they go around it three times on the Barkor and then go inside and finish in front of an original 7th century statue of Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama). This is one of two statues that the Tibetan king received as dowry from his Chinese Princess and Nepalese Princess wife.

The spirituality in Tibet is palpable. Not to say that ALL the people are deeply into their faith, but enough are that you feel it in the air. Many monks, people with prayer wheels, prayer flags everywhere and a general sense of calm and peace. At the temples there are monks and artists working on Thangka, which are multilayered usually religious paintings. The minute detail is unbelievable. It might take a year or more for a single painting. The insides of the temples are very ornately decorated, and every inch is covered with paintings, cloths, and statues. There are always many people prostrating and praying, chanting mantras. The statues are of the incarnations of the Dalai Lama and of Buddha and various Buddhist deities.

After lunch we went on to the Potala Palace. It was originally built in the 7th century by Songtsen Gampo and then taken over by the fifth incarnation of the Dalai Lama who ended the civil war and unified the Tibetan People. Every incarnation of the Dalai Lama lived there up until the current (14th) fled Tibet in 1959. The palace was slowly destroyed by natural forces and earthquakes until it was rebuilt on a more solid foundation in the 17th Century. The place is quite large and impressive. 380 steps to climb up which at 11,700 feet altitude is a bit of a challenge. The inside of the Potala was spectacular. No pictures are allowed inside, but let me tell you it is something. Room after room of statues and holy books and chapels. Mostly gold or silver, wood covered in carvings, stone with gems, all very old and with history behind them. The bodies of several of the previous incarnations of the Dalai Lama are in crypts along with many of their belongings. The fifth Dalai Lama’s crypt is 500 kilograms of gold, the 13th I think it was, is nearly 4000 kilograms of gold. They have many, many bowls of Yak butter with wicks in them burning and the Tibetans place Yak butter donations into them and money donations in piles at various statues while they pray.

I have to say that Tibet is the highlight of the China trip and maybe the whole trip. It was a chance to see some real people who live a very different life and not to feel like I was going to a Disney show put on for the tourists. The Tibetans see us watching them, but weren’t putting on a “traditional ceremony” for us.

I tried to get to the blog site in Chengdu and got in, so maybe it is just Beijing or even just that hotel that blocked the access to blog sites. Anyway here is an update:

One week into the China tour and all is well. The group seems to be meshing very well. We have Terry and Grace, a couple from Rochester, New York; Johan and Lily, a couple from Australia; Anne and Susan, traveling friends from Portland and the Bay area; Annaleise, a single girl from Long Beach, Norbert from Chicago whom I met in Fiji and myself. We saw the sights of Beijing first, hitting all the usual spots. Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall, the Ming Emperor Tombs, the Hutong area, and the Summer Palace. It rained a bit the first day and then was clear which was great as it cleared the air. Beijing is permanently hazy and so the clear day was very nice.

Some random thoughts on arrival in China:

I liked the opening page of the guide from Chinaspree. It said:
PARTING WORDS OF ADVICE
“Be patient, flexible, open and good-natured. China is a learning experience, not an escape: an adventure, not a getaway; a new challenge, not necessarily a holiday.” Travel with an Open Mind and Expect the Unexpected.

Flying over most big cities there are miles of city with the occasional areas of “downtown” that have high rises. Flying into Beijing there are miles of highrises. There are just rows and rows of apartment buildings and office buildings. They warned us in a memo that in China cars and not pedestrians have the right of way and they are not kidding. “Walker beware!” I was especially impressed by the railway station, on a six lane road the pedestrian light turns to walk while the middle four lanes get a red light and the outer lane each way gets a green U-turn light to cross the pedestrians twice! The lane markings are only for tourists to think there is some sort of order. Mostly it is just honk your horn to say “I am coming through out of my way.”

The history of the Forbidden City struck me deeply while walking through it. The Great Wall is all that and a bag of chips, except for the long row of stalls selling everything touristy. How can you sell T-shirts at “two for a dollar?” though I did like the one of Obama in a Chairman Mao hat and shirt. The locals call them three generation shirts: wear it once and wash it then your child gets it, wash it again and the baby gets it. Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum was closed as it was the Moon Festival holiday, but it is a big place and usually a long line to pay respects. I liked the row of tiny figures on the eaves to keep away bad spirits. The Temple of Heaven built with no nails. Exercise in the park by tossing and catching (not hitting) a birdie with a soft racquet. A very Tai Chi style of swooping and swirling and behind the back tosses. The dinner of Peking Duck was spectacular, the dinner on the airplane was not. The obligatory “see how they carve jade tour” and shopping expedition was interesting as far as seeing them carve the 5 layer ball inside ball from a solid cube of jade. The shopping was less interesting, although I did love one bowl which was white with orange fish inside, carved from a single piece of stone with the color pattern in the single stone. I just didn’t love it $6,000 worth.

Terra Cotta Warriors: “the eighth wonder of the world”. The farmer who found them while digging a well in 1974 was there signing a book about it. Xian is the former capital of China during the Qin and Tang dynasties. Now it is a small city of 7 million. We had a great Dim Sum (17 rounds of dumplings) dinner with a music and dancing show the way it was done in the Tang Dynasty time. The seven story “Wild Goose Pagoda” honoring Xuan Zang who was huge in spreading Buddhism in China was very nice.

Then we moved on to Guilin. The city with the Li River and the amazing Karst formations, those high skinny hills you see in classic chinese landscapes. That is actually what they look like. Very incredible to see. While on the boat we had to get a glass of “Snake wine” to try. It is actually a liquor of about 40% alcohol with a nice snake in the jar. I wonder if the liquid was yellow before the snake was in it for some time or not. Before going on the cruise we spent a day driving out to Long Sheng to view the “Dragon’s Spine Rice Terraces.” A two hour drive out of the city then transfer to a 45 minute shuttle bus up the hill. The shuttle was about like the road to Machu Picchu except it was paved. Several places where the guard rail posts were knocked over and one nice rock slide across the road. Once we reached the end of the road we walked through the village up to the viewpoint. 1000 vertical feet along a stairway made of slate and stone with very irregular heights and depths. It was 95 degrees and close to 100% humidity. But yes it was worth it! This is another one of the places that pictures don’t really show the place. Coming down I was tempted by the purse made from a leopard pelt but then my Karma meter got the better of me. We were aghast at the sight of the tiny, older Chinese woman porter carrying a basket on her back with a huge oversized suitcase in it up to the hotel near the top for some tourist. How can you possibly need more than an overnight bag in a remote village that barely has electricity?

We overnighted in Chengdu so that we could make the obligatory visit to the Panda Research Center in the morning before flying on to Tibet. It was raining pretty steadily, so the masses of people with umbrellas were trying to poke my eyes out again and again. The Panda were fun to see and I don’t mind the rain except for the umbrellas. Being a little cooler with the rain the Pandas were more active and we did get to see them out and about.

China does not allow access to blogs. Will write in 3 weeks. See ya

Here I am passing through Oz and at the end of the second leg of the trip, or should I say the third leg. I have seen North America and it was spectacular. The Rockies and the Canyon lands are truly incredible and worthy of the bucket list for sure. Carlsbad is still a place that touched my heart and soul. It was nice seeing the friends and relatives and to share with them a bit of time and perspective for the journey.

Ecuador, the Galapagos and Peru were amazing each in their own way. The Nature and animals of the Galapagos are something to see. I am still astounded that the animals don’t run and allow you to get right up next to them. Even the birds don’t fly away. How many times anywhere else can you stand five feet from hawks and they just stare back at you? The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu were stupefying for a different reason, the cultural aspect. To see what the Incas did in a short 700 years using stone tools is mind-bending. To shape huge granite blocks (not sandstone) and fit them together that tightly without mortar and to survive the earthquakes all at 9000-11000 feet elevation is unbelievable. I guess the coca leaves work after all.

The South Pacific was all that I hoped it would be. The locals were welcoming and friendly, the weather perfect, the lagoons and islands postcard picturesque and the diving was exhilarating and some kind of an experience. The Cook Islands were the best for seeing a less touristy side of life and a wonderful people. French Polynesia was just possibly the most beautiful lagoons and water in the world, and I got to swim with sharks and dolphins. While Fiji expanded my outlook on diving and taught me to at least think if not say, “Bula!” to everyone I pass.

Now I am off to northern Asia; China, Tibet and Japan. I expect it will be a change of pace and some great new experiences for me.