Paris is the city for wandering. I think that you should be checked that you have both sensible walking shoes and blister blockers for when you come through customs.
We had a wonderful time seeing the sights. Together and separately, Simon and I wandered our feet off... in my case literally. Walking along the Seine, finding unusual parks that inspire us to create our own château. Across from our hotel was a market - mostly closed because it was summer and most Parisians go on holiday during summer - we bought fresh baguettes, French wine, cheese, and blueberry compote, pastries and took it to Belleview park. We enjoyed a very French luncheon in the shade near fountains over looking the city - would you want to live any other way?
Warm sun, good food, a truly romantic way to spend a few hours.
Whilst wanderings around the streets, we stumbled into Lafayette - a department store so stunning it would be a museum in Australia. A domed, stain-glass ceiling over-hangs floors and floors of exquisite designer clothes. From the roof-top, you can see all of sprawling Paris. The only hill - Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower, a breathtaking panorama.
The Louvre was like every museum, full of priceless works of art - it was however very crowded - I was a little sad was that I wasn't blown away by the artworks there. The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc. I have seen so many times in books and films that seeing them in the flesh - so to speak - wasn't as moving as I hoped it to be. Maybe there was too much build-up in my head.
Across the street from the Louvre is The Salon de Angelina - aka Angelina's. Join the queue out the front and wait for a table, then be prepared to enter a diabetic coma because they have the most fabulous hot chocolates and pastries and cakes... they are simply to die for. Given the opportunity I would move to Paris, just to eat there over and over again. Of course, by the time I had finished out the week, the staff wouldn't be able to get me through the door, but no-one would blame me...
My mother was a chef in a French restaurant for a time when I was about 5. We would often have croissants for breakfast, and always we would have butter and jam or honey with them. I made it one of my missions to find out how the French eat their breakfast bread. So I sat in a cafes eating French breakfasts - coffee, orange juice, bread (usually half a small baguette) and a croissant with a little pot of jam and butter. It turns out that the French only usually eat croissants on the weekend - like a little treat, and they don't usually put anything on them, apparently the jam and butter is for the warm baguette and the croissant is to dip into your coffee... or at least that's how it appears. I won't get over the taste of the fresh warm pastry, crisply crumbling smothered with butter and jam... just unforgettable.
I wandered the back streets of Montmartre, I climbed the steps and checked out the view from La Basilique du Sacré-coeur - well worth the walk and spent time in the Dali museum - which I think my dad would love it, if only I could get him to leave Australia.
One evening Simon and I had a hankering for Thai food. We checked out our guide book and found one that seemed to be exactly what we were after. So after trekking much further than we had anticipated, our brilliant plan of eating Thai goodness, we found ourselves at yet another closed restaurant. Not to be disheartened, we figured that mostly restaurants keep to their own kind so wandered a little further and found another place to sample. Although the waiter only spoke broken English, we managed to order a dinner for 2. I was feeling adventurous and a little rushed and basically chose at random from the menu when it was my turn to order. We received our main and mine had white meat and fine bones. It turns out that I had ordered fusion food. It was Thai spices with a French flair. Frog legs. (one wonders what they do with the rest of the thing) Frog tastes kind of watery.
We actually got out of Paris - sort of - for one day. It was just unfortunate that I had accidentally miss-booked the hotel - oops. We had found our way to Versailles when we received the call from our hotel, "Why haven't you checked out?" So regrettably after much embarrassment on my part and us only getting to see the outside of the estate, that we turned around and headed back to the city. Versailles is on top of my list of things to do when I get back to France. That and Angelina's of course. It was at Versailles that we encountered our first example of French passion. We were speaking with a woman trying to ensure that we could get back into the museum as our tickets had already been stamped. A misunderstanding ensued - as it often does with me - and the woman thought that we were hoping to see Versailles in an hour. She started yelling - not angrily but with great passion - "HOW could you think you could see any of Versailles in an hour!?! It would take 3 DAYS to see it properly!" Obviously very proud and passionate about her work. Sadly, we didn't go back to see it, but it will be the first thing I do when I get back to the most beautiful city in the world.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Ah Gay Parie
Ah Paris, the city of love, the city of lights, the reason that romantics - the world over - save their pennies. It is the most visited city in the world and from the moment that you step into it's streets, you can see exactly why.
The day before we found out about the news of Simon's visa, we had pretty much given up hope that we would be able to stay in Europe, so we decided that we had to make the most of our remaining time. We had about enough cash left to tour one city properly and we decided that Paris was our choice. I had been in Paris before - for one crazy day when in Europe two years ago - and fell hopelessly in love from the first moment. I wanted to share that with Simon.
More trains. We took the Thalys from Rotterdam to Paris with a brief stop in Brussels. We found the website a little broken, but there are some pretty good deals to be had - and when you take into account the hassle of getting in and out of airports, it's faster to travel by train than it is to fly. When the nice person comes around with the cart, don't buy the coffee. No cup of coffee should taste that bad.
We have been in Paris for only a few hours, and from the moment we stepped off out into the Gaue du Nord, we could tell we were in a whole different world. Everything about Paris is presented beautifully, it's just the way they choose to do things here.
We ate at a restaurant serving typical French cuisine, and as you would expect, it is very rich. Duck thigh with sauteed chats was more than enough for me. The skin was thick with fat and a small amount of this with the flesh that fell from the bone simply melted in my mouth.
I think I am going to leave this city spherical. But it's going to be worth it.
The day before we found out about the news of Simon's visa, we had pretty much given up hope that we would be able to stay in Europe, so we decided that we had to make the most of our remaining time. We had about enough cash left to tour one city properly and we decided that Paris was our choice. I had been in Paris before - for one crazy day when in Europe two years ago - and fell hopelessly in love from the first moment. I wanted to share that with Simon.
More trains. We took the Thalys from Rotterdam to Paris with a brief stop in Brussels. We found the website a little broken, but there are some pretty good deals to be had - and when you take into account the hassle of getting in and out of airports, it's faster to travel by train than it is to fly. When the nice person comes around with the cart, don't buy the coffee. No cup of coffee should taste that bad.
We have been in Paris for only a few hours, and from the moment we stepped off out into the Gaue du Nord, we could tell we were in a whole different world. Everything about Paris is presented beautifully, it's just the way they choose to do things here.
We ate at a restaurant serving typical French cuisine, and as you would expect, it is very rich. Duck thigh with sauteed chats was more than enough for me. The skin was thick with fat and a small amount of this with the flesh that fell from the bone simply melted in my mouth.
I think I am going to leave this city spherical. But it's going to be worth it.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Filling in the gaps...
Mandy's caught you up on our current predicament, so it falls to me to fill in the remaining gap - our experiences between Canada and The Netherlands.
Leaving BC
Our time at UBC was running out fast, so we tried to cram in as much fun as possible before leaving. A trip to a funky sushi restaurant (with a 'Miso Horny' neon sign, no less) and a last-minute tour of UBC's TRIUMF particle accelerator rounded out our delightful stay. (The TRIUMF tour was engrossing, and took more than two hours - we almost made us miss our next flight. Light speed packing and a very friendly taxi driver got us to Vancouver International on time, though, and on to our marathon trans-Canada, trans-Atlantic flight.)
Great Britain
Maybe it's the dyed hair, or the way we volunteer too much information - whatever it is, the staid, buttoned-down variety of airline staff just don't seem to like us. Case in point - our arrival at Heathrow. After trying to explain our plan to work in The Netherlands, the immigration officer explained that he had no idea if he could let us through (fearing that we'd be deported back to the UK if our crazy scheme failed) and dumped us on a bench for half an hour or so, while he talked to most of the Dutch migration department (or so it seemed.) When he finally staggered back (to find us slumped on the bench, nearly passed out from lack of sleep) he admitted that he really had no idea what he was doing, and that apparently people did go to other countries to work, and he was supposed to let them. We bit back a few choice words about clueless bureaucrats and headed for the train station.
It's seems a little weird thing to say, but I really like London's public transport system. The claustrophobic little trains, the complete absence of wheel-chair accessibility - nothing could dampen my ardour for the beautifully designed tube maps (the only present I asked for from my sister's visit to London) and the delightful station names (locals must be able to spot Aussies instantly by the giggling every time the female (and very proper) English announcer says 'Cockfosters'.) We picked up some Oyster cards and took our first trip into the grand old city of London. (The Oyster cards were our first experience with these (insecure) RFID public transport cards - Rotterdam has a similar system called OV-Chipkaart, and Australia is also supposed to be getting one - the much delayed Myki system.)
London turned out to a lot of fun. Our hosts were in the process of moving, so apart from the occasional pub quiz, we were mostly left to our own devices. We explored museums, parks, climbed St Paul's and shopped the Camden Markets 'til we nearly dropped. A week is nowhere near enough to do justice to this huge warren of a city, and we were sad to say our goodbyes, and climb on to the bus bound for Harwich.
...For that is where our ferry waited. We decided very early in our trip-planning that neither of us wanted to miss the scenery, so we'd like to avoid flying as much as possible - 'how you get there is the worthier part', as Shepherd Book says. So our trip from the US to Canada was a very pleasant scenic train ride, and a Stena Line ferry had been booked to get us from Great Britain to The Netherlands. And though the train trip to Harwich had been replaced by an uncomfortable bus, the ferry ride itself more than made up for it. Good rooms, nice food, and smooth seas made the crossing very pleasant - and although the the fog was near-impeneterable when we arrived at the 'Hoek Van Holland' ('Hook of Holland' - a small port on the west coast of The Netherlands) we were still standing excitedly on the deck, waiting for our first sight of land.
The Netherlands
It's strange to look back on that day now - leaving the boat early in the morning, negotiating slowly with the sleepy immigration officials, and finally climbing on to the Rotterdam train - because it took place only a short distance from where we're now living. All the train stations that seemed so alien then are now familiar, running along the line we use every day to get around; the language, the architecture, the faces - all changed from bizarre then, to common now.
Through trial and error we found our way to Rotterdam Central Station, and then a tram out to our hotel. Wrestling with heavy suitcases, our first properly foreign language signage (American doesn't count) and the frequent obstruction of canals, we finally reach our destination and signed in. And then we slept for about three days, interrupted only by meals and a few rambling explorations of the suburbs around the hotel.
Having recovered from our travels, I contacted my prospective employers and visited them, where I was disappointed the discover that my work permit still hadn't been awarded (little did I know that I'd still be waiting for it two months later.) Having little else to do in Rotterdam, I contacted some the Dutch side of my family and arranged to spend spend some time with them.
My 'aunt' Els (my mother's cousin, technically) has been a regular visitor to Australia, so we thoguh we'd start by returning the favour. She was tremendously welcoming - both she and her partner Cees (pronounced 'Case') had taken time off work so that they could show us around the area of Alkmaar, where they live (and where, apparently, my mother was born.)
The cheese market, the crazy canal boat ride (some of the bridges it goes under are 40 centimetres above the water! You basically have to lie in the bottom of the boat!) real working windmills, bike rides, crossing the dam of the IJsselmeer, sailing El's brother's yacht - we saw more of The Netherlands in that week than we have in the months since.
Then it was a week with Aris and Jeanet Kijper, and their sons Pieter and Martijn, where we enjoyed the luxury of having their whole campervan to ourselves. We toured Edam, visted Amsterdam, and managed to catch the Kijper family party, which celebrated birthdays for most of the family.
For most of those two weeks, though, we were in contact with real estate agents in Rotterdam - and in the second week we made several trips down to check out places to live. At first we were a little dismayed at the cost of apartments, but once we got a sense of the market we quickly found a place that suited out needs (Thanks to Heidi at RotsVast Group. :) ) With Martijn's help (specifically, his van) we were soon moved into our new home.
...which brings us roughly up to date: after almost two months of waiting in our nice apartment my work visa has finally been awarded, and as long as we can run the bureaucratic gauntlet involved to get residence visas for us both, we'll be here for at least the next six months. We're settling into Rotterdam, making friends and getting familiar with attitudes and the language, and generally trying to make the most of our time here. I guess the next adventure will be starting work, unless we find time for just a little more travel before then...
Leaving BC
Our time at UBC was running out fast, so we tried to cram in as much fun as possible before leaving. A trip to a funky sushi restaurant (with a 'Miso Horny' neon sign, no less) and a last-minute tour of UBC's TRIUMF particle accelerator rounded out our delightful stay. (The TRIUMF tour was engrossing, and took more than two hours - we almost made us miss our next flight. Light speed packing and a very friendly taxi driver got us to Vancouver International on time, though, and on to our marathon trans-Canada, trans-Atlantic flight.)
Great Britain
Maybe it's the dyed hair, or the way we volunteer too much information - whatever it is, the staid, buttoned-down variety of airline staff just don't seem to like us. Case in point - our arrival at Heathrow. After trying to explain our plan to work in The Netherlands, the immigration officer explained that he had no idea if he could let us through (fearing that we'd be deported back to the UK if our crazy scheme failed) and dumped us on a bench for half an hour or so, while he talked to most of the Dutch migration department (or so it seemed.) When he finally staggered back (to find us slumped on the bench, nearly passed out from lack of sleep) he admitted that he really had no idea what he was doing, and that apparently people did go to other countries to work, and he was supposed to let them. We bit back a few choice words about clueless bureaucrats and headed for the train station.
It's seems a little weird thing to say, but I really like London's public transport system. The claustrophobic little trains, the complete absence of wheel-chair accessibility - nothing could dampen my ardour for the beautifully designed tube maps (the only present I asked for from my sister's visit to London) and the delightful station names (locals must be able to spot Aussies instantly by the giggling every time the female (and very proper) English announcer says 'Cockfosters'.) We picked up some Oyster cards and took our first trip into the grand old city of London. (The Oyster cards were our first experience with these (insecure) RFID public transport cards - Rotterdam has a similar system called OV-Chipkaart, and Australia is also supposed to be getting one - the much delayed Myki system.)
London turned out to a lot of fun. Our hosts were in the process of moving, so apart from the occasional pub quiz, we were mostly left to our own devices. We explored museums, parks, climbed St Paul's and shopped the Camden Markets 'til we nearly dropped. A week is nowhere near enough to do justice to this huge warren of a city, and we were sad to say our goodbyes, and climb on to the bus bound for Harwich.
...For that is where our ferry waited. We decided very early in our trip-planning that neither of us wanted to miss the scenery, so we'd like to avoid flying as much as possible - 'how you get there is the worthier part', as Shepherd Book says. So our trip from the US to Canada was a very pleasant scenic train ride, and a Stena Line ferry had been booked to get us from Great Britain to The Netherlands. And though the train trip to Harwich had been replaced by an uncomfortable bus, the ferry ride itself more than made up for it. Good rooms, nice food, and smooth seas made the crossing very pleasant - and although the the fog was near-impeneterable when we arrived at the 'Hoek Van Holland' ('Hook of Holland' - a small port on the west coast of The Netherlands) we were still standing excitedly on the deck, waiting for our first sight of land.
The Netherlands
It's strange to look back on that day now - leaving the boat early in the morning, negotiating slowly with the sleepy immigration officials, and finally climbing on to the Rotterdam train - because it took place only a short distance from where we're now living. All the train stations that seemed so alien then are now familiar, running along the line we use every day to get around; the language, the architecture, the faces - all changed from bizarre then, to common now.
Through trial and error we found our way to Rotterdam Central Station, and then a tram out to our hotel. Wrestling with heavy suitcases, our first properly foreign language signage (American doesn't count) and the frequent obstruction of canals, we finally reach our destination and signed in. And then we slept for about three days, interrupted only by meals and a few rambling explorations of the suburbs around the hotel.
Having recovered from our travels, I contacted my prospective employers and visited them, where I was disappointed the discover that my work permit still hadn't been awarded (little did I know that I'd still be waiting for it two months later.) Having little else to do in Rotterdam, I contacted some the Dutch side of my family and arranged to spend spend some time with them.
My 'aunt' Els (my mother's cousin, technically) has been a regular visitor to Australia, so we thoguh we'd start by returning the favour. She was tremendously welcoming - both she and her partner Cees (pronounced 'Case') had taken time off work so that they could show us around the area of Alkmaar, where they live (and where, apparently, my mother was born.)
The cheese market, the crazy canal boat ride (some of the bridges it goes under are 40 centimetres above the water! You basically have to lie in the bottom of the boat!) real working windmills, bike rides, crossing the dam of the IJsselmeer, sailing El's brother's yacht - we saw more of The Netherlands in that week than we have in the months since.
Then it was a week with Aris and Jeanet Kijper, and their sons Pieter and Martijn, where we enjoyed the luxury of having their whole campervan to ourselves. We toured Edam, visted Amsterdam, and managed to catch the Kijper family party, which celebrated birthdays for most of the family.
For most of those two weeks, though, we were in contact with real estate agents in Rotterdam - and in the second week we made several trips down to check out places to live. At first we were a little dismayed at the cost of apartments, but once we got a sense of the market we quickly found a place that suited out needs (Thanks to Heidi at RotsVast Group. :) ) With Martijn's help (specifically, his van) we were soon moved into our new home.
...which brings us roughly up to date: after almost two months of waiting in our nice apartment my work visa has finally been awarded, and as long as we can run the bureaucratic gauntlet involved to get residence visas for us both, we'll be here for at least the next six months. We're settling into Rotterdam, making friends and getting familiar with attitudes and the language, and generally trying to make the most of our time here. I guess the next adventure will be starting work, unless we find time for just a little more travel before then...
Thursday, August 7, 2008
So it's been a while... let's skip ahead to what's going on now.
So it's been a while since our last post. Alas it has been both eventful and uneventful on this leg of our trip.
We arrived in Holland on the 2nd of June and it's been fun visiting family and meeting new friends (hey guys) but alas our adventures may be cut short. Since arriving in The Netherlands Simon and I have been working through the bureaucracythat is Immigration and alas we are not winning.
It was always the plan to work in Holland. Simon's mother is Dutch we decided to settle in Holland as he wanted to get in touch with his family's roots and I wanted to learn another language. So settling here seemed to be a great idea and opportunity.
Simon found his employers before we left Australia. When they decided to offer Simon a position, we requested they aquire a 'Knowledge Migrant Visa" for him, instead of the usual Work/Residence permit combination. There were several reasons for this; The application process would be over quickly (about 2 weeks compared to up to 6 months for a regular work permit), we would be able to live in Holland without the need for additional residence visas (mine alone was going to be E800 and Simon's would be an additional E450 on top of the cost of the work permit) and finally I - as Simon's partner - would automatically get a work visa. (I think this is because the Dutch government wouldn't want me to be bored or want to leave the country before I enticed my partner to spend all the money he had earned in Holland.)
Unfortunately they decided that Simon wouldn't qualify for a knowledge migrant visa because he was under 30 and they couldn't afford to pay him the minimum amount required by the visa. It was only when we arrived in Holland that we were told they were only applying for a regular work permit. (Actually the legislation allowes under 30s to use this particular visa type at a lower wage.)
That meant a couple of things:
Bummer.
His potential employers have now decided to apply for the Knowledge Migrant Visa as they found the updated information that means Simon qualifies for that process. Now the company themselves has to qualify for the higly skilled migrant scheme. They need to submit financial documentation to the government that they are a financially able to support and employ a highly skilled migrant.
So now it is a race against time. Our next flights are booked for the 27th of August, our tourist visas run out on the 2nd of September - will they be able to qualify for the knowledge migrant scheme and book us an appointment to become knowledge migrants? Or will the decisioon be reversed for the regular work visa? Or will we just go home...
Today I checked out hostels in Bangkok... just in case.
Simon and I have been wrestling with this problem for the past 2 months and it's been keeping us up at night.
We're both ambivalent about what we would like to do. Do we want to fight to stay? We have met some great people and we have a great opportunity to learn another language and experience a different type of life here in Holland. But it's difficult, we're missing friends and family and if we go home, we can save more money and try again. We can come back here or to another country and have some idea of what we can expect and what we will need to do before we go.
To miss-quote The Clash - should we stay or should we go?
We arrived in Holland on the 2nd of June and it's been fun visiting family and meeting new friends (hey guys) but alas our adventures may be cut short. Since arriving in The Netherlands Simon and I have been working through the bureaucracythat is Immigration and alas we are not winning.
It was always the plan to work in Holland. Simon's mother is Dutch we decided to settle in Holland as he wanted to get in touch with his family's roots and I wanted to learn another language. So settling here seemed to be a great idea and opportunity.
Simon found his employers before we left Australia. When they decided to offer Simon a position, we requested they aquire a 'Knowledge Migrant Visa" for him, instead of the usual Work/Residence permit combination. There were several reasons for this; The application process would be over quickly (about 2 weeks compared to up to 6 months for a regular work permit), we would be able to live in Holland without the need for additional residence visas (mine alone was going to be E800 and Simon's would be an additional E450 on top of the cost of the work permit) and finally I - as Simon's partner - would automatically get a work visa. (I think this is because the Dutch government wouldn't want me to be bored or want to leave the country before I enticed my partner to spend all the money he had earned in Holland.)
Unfortunately they decided that Simon wouldn't qualify for a knowledge migrant visa because he was under 30 and they couldn't afford to pay him the minimum amount required by the visa. It was only when we arrived in Holland that we were told they were only applying for a regular work permit. (Actually the legislation allowes under 30s to use this particular visa type at a lower wage.)
That meant a couple of things:
- When we arrived, we discovered that 6 months after the application process started, Simon's visa still wasn't ready. We weren't prepared for this and so didn't have the proper documentation for a alternative like a working-holiday visa, which would also have allowed us to stay in the county for up to 12 months. That means that we can only stay in Holland for 3 months, on a regular tourist visa. (Holland and Australia have a work exchange program running. Australians are allowed to arrive without prior processing in Holland and as long as they report to the IND within the first 3 days, they don't need special visas but can stay for 12 months and work for 6 of those if they choose to. We were prepared for this and visited the IND however we didn't see we needed to apply for documentation from Australia before we left. It turns out we needed a letter from the Australian Government stating that we were elligible for the work exchange program.)
- We needed to figure out getting residence visas and work our way through the bizarre application process. We had to apply to several different departments simultaneously, however, the process is difficult. Each department needs proof that the applicant is undergoing due process. Alas, the departments don't talk to each other but each department requires proof that you are applying for all the other relevant departments at the same time. We needed letters from the involved departments to prove to other involved departments that we had applied correctly before we could make an appointment to see any officials.
- I was stuck without a way to get a job. It turns out that you need a work visa before you can apply for a job through a recruitment agency and you need a job before you can apply for a work visa.
Bummer.
His potential employers have now decided to apply for the Knowledge Migrant Visa as they found the updated information that means Simon qualifies for that process. Now the company themselves has to qualify for the higly skilled migrant scheme. They need to submit financial documentation to the government that they are a financially able to support and employ a highly skilled migrant.
So now it is a race against time. Our next flights are booked for the 27th of August, our tourist visas run out on the 2nd of September - will they be able to qualify for the knowledge migrant scheme and book us an appointment to become knowledge migrants? Or will the decisioon be reversed for the regular work visa? Or will we just go home...
Today I checked out hostels in Bangkok... just in case.
Simon and I have been wrestling with this problem for the past 2 months and it's been keeping us up at night.
We're both ambivalent about what we would like to do. Do we want to fight to stay? We have met some great people and we have a great opportunity to learn another language and experience a different type of life here in Holland. But it's difficult, we're missing friends and family and if we go home, we can save more money and try again. We can come back here or to another country and have some idea of what we can expect and what we will need to do before we go.
To miss-quote The Clash - should we stay or should we go?
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Squirrels, Squirrels everywhere, but not a drop to drink... wait... what?
So after the gruelling exercise of arriving at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and falling into an exhausted sleep, we started our lives for the next week as graduate students.
Allow me to explain.
Green College is a graduate facility at UBC. It houses around 100 graduates where most of them spend several years excelling in their field of choice whilst they diligently forgo most of the fun things in life (except maybe Civ4) and work many many silly hours for a degree (doctorate usually) in their field of choice. So Simon and I were technically living like students only without all the hard work and study that usually goes along with it - probably more like the pauper friends of students, as we were actually sleeping on the couch of students.
One of the first things I noticed was the abundance of squirrels. (actually that's a lie, the first things that I noticed was the beauty of the Green College facility - but then my attention was right onto the squirrels) Australia is completely squirrel-less, so I wasn't used to their playful antics... bouncing across the grass... just so cute. Every time I commented on something of this nature within earshot of a native Canadian, for some reason they would shoot me funny looks mutter something about vermin. I guess that time spent with my rat Max Factor skewed my definition of what was cute. Most commonly the possum that you see in Melbourne are the Brushtail possums. They are about the size of domestic cats and they are very noisy at night. They often hiss in disconcerting ways if you wander around the suburbs where I grew up. They are also known to destroy houses if they are left unchecked in your roof.
Simon & I had a great time mingling with the students and meeting everyone. We had a bit of celebrity status because we were travelling and had seen the outside world. This Maciek put to good use by sampling our brains for the cool internet videos that we enjoy and putting together a showcase of them for his fellow students. Apparently they don't even get time to look at things like Zero Punctuation... tragic I know...
Vancouver
One of the most beautiful cities we have seen so far. Breathtaking snow capped mountains stretching far above the city skyline. What more could you want?
Mika, Maciek's amazing girlfriend at some point in her busy doctor-learning schedule found time to create a scavenger hunt for Simon and I in order for us to familiarise ourselves with the city and campus. When we get to upload our photos I will make sure to update this post with a scan of our scavenger hunts, the hints and our photos. For anyone that is in Vancouver or UBC, I would love for you to do the same scav hunt and post links to your work in our comments.
It was very strange to run into a friend of my friends from home who attends UBC. (more scarily it was an ex of an ex) I hope that he got back in contact with some of the crew from home. I'm sure they would all love to hear from James.
Being put to good use
Our good hosts demanded very little of us for our stay. Only company and to not be too distracting on our stay. But we were able to immortalise our stay in a video about trust that Maciek was putting together. Simon and I were required to show interest and disinterest (at different times) to people explaining the names of objects. It was a fun if strange task for the day.
Highlights
Having a bike. Riding around the lakes in Vancouver and a bit of the city was just brilliant. I didn't realise how much I missed having my own independent form of transport, my own way of getting around under my own power. I think that when we get to Holland a bike is going to have to be an early purchase.
Indiana Jones 4 - for those who haven't seen it yet. Please skip the next section - spoilers ahead.
We had a fantastic time heading out with Maciek's housemate Grant. Midnight screening of IJ4. The surprise sequel (I sure wasn't expecting a fourth film) to the beloved Indiana Jones trilogy both Simon & I grew up on.
The most surprising thing when watching the film was the wooden acting by Harrison Ford in the opening scenes in the warehouse scenes. It was almost like he had forgotten how to be Indiana. I have seen him play some amazing characters in his time from the scruffy scoundrel Han Solo to the hunted John Kimble in The Fugitive and it really surprised me to have the first lines of dialogue seem so stiff. I love Cate Blanchett... however I think the character was a bit like Darth Mall... potential (apart from the occasional accent slip) but ultimately no substance. She also didn't have the menace of some of the other villains from previous films.
I did absolutely love how they brought back Marion from the first film... ah... that woman has a pinball smile if ever I saw one. The ending was so disappointing. It was like Spielberg has run so completely out of ideas and so is re-hashing his old hits and trying to mix them together and hope no-one notices. The ending of this film was seriously a big let-down. The bad guy explodes because she had too much information in her head... um... that would probably leave someone catatonic or maybe Spielberg was trying to re-live the excitement of the bad guys melting from the first film. In my opinion, not a patch on the earlier films - but it was a fun action/adventure.
Second Hand Bookshops
Simon and I both love to read. We both have many many books at home and we are starting to carry quite a library with us on our travels. Here in Vancouver we have spent many hours wandering through many many book shops... And I found Player of Games - Ian M Banks (recommended to me by Michelle (thanks honey) which was awesome).
A real roller coaster ride even if it was a little like listening to Rimmer describe his Risk campaigns at times.
Allow me to explain.
Green College is a graduate facility at UBC. It houses around 100 graduates where most of them spend several years excelling in their field of choice whilst they diligently forgo most of the fun things in life (except maybe Civ4) and work many many silly hours for a degree (doctorate usually) in their field of choice. So Simon and I were technically living like students only without all the hard work and study that usually goes along with it - probably more like the pauper friends of students, as we were actually sleeping on the couch of students.
One of the first things I noticed was the abundance of squirrels. (actually that's a lie, the first things that I noticed was the beauty of the Green College facility - but then my attention was right onto the squirrels) Australia is completely squirrel-less, so I wasn't used to their playful antics... bouncing across the grass... just so cute. Every time I commented on something of this nature within earshot of a native Canadian, for some reason they would shoot me funny looks mutter something about vermin. I guess that time spent with my rat Max Factor skewed my definition of what was cute. Most commonly the possum that you see in Melbourne are the Brushtail possums. They are about the size of domestic cats and they are very noisy at night. They often hiss in disconcerting ways if you wander around the suburbs where I grew up. They are also known to destroy houses if they are left unchecked in your roof.
Simon & I had a great time mingling with the students and meeting everyone. We had a bit of celebrity status because we were travelling and had seen the outside world. This Maciek put to good use by sampling our brains for the cool internet videos that we enjoy and putting together a showcase of them for his fellow students. Apparently they don't even get time to look at things like Zero Punctuation... tragic I know...
Vancouver
One of the most beautiful cities we have seen so far. Breathtaking snow capped mountains stretching far above the city skyline. What more could you want?
Mika, Maciek's amazing girlfriend at some point in her busy doctor-learning schedule found time to create a scavenger hunt for Simon and I in order for us to familiarise ourselves with the city and campus. When we get to upload our photos I will make sure to update this post with a scan of our scavenger hunts, the hints and our photos. For anyone that is in Vancouver or UBC, I would love for you to do the same scav hunt and post links to your work in our comments.
It was very strange to run into a friend of my friends from home who attends UBC. (more scarily it was an ex of an ex) I hope that he got back in contact with some of the crew from home. I'm sure they would all love to hear from James.
Being put to good use
Our good hosts demanded very little of us for our stay. Only company and to not be too distracting on our stay. But we were able to immortalise our stay in a video about trust that Maciek was putting together. Simon and I were required to show interest and disinterest (at different times) to people explaining the names of objects. It was a fun if strange task for the day.
Highlights
Having a bike. Riding around the lakes in Vancouver and a bit of the city was just brilliant. I didn't realise how much I missed having my own independent form of transport, my own way of getting around under my own power. I think that when we get to Holland a bike is going to have to be an early purchase.
Indiana Jones 4 - for those who haven't seen it yet. Please skip the next section - spoilers ahead.
We had a fantastic time heading out with Maciek's housemate Grant. Midnight screening of IJ4. The surprise sequel (I sure wasn't expecting a fourth film) to the beloved Indiana Jones trilogy both Simon & I grew up on.
The most surprising thing when watching the film was the wooden acting by Harrison Ford in the opening scenes in the warehouse scenes. It was almost like he had forgotten how to be Indiana. I have seen him play some amazing characters in his time from the scruffy scoundrel Han Solo to the hunted John Kimble in The Fugitive and it really surprised me to have the first lines of dialogue seem so stiff. I love Cate Blanchett... however I think the character was a bit like Darth Mall... potential (apart from the occasional accent slip) but ultimately no substance. She also didn't have the menace of some of the other villains from previous films.
I did absolutely love how they brought back Marion from the first film... ah... that woman has a pinball smile if ever I saw one. The ending was so disappointing. It was like Spielberg has run so completely out of ideas and so is re-hashing his old hits and trying to mix them together and hope no-one notices. The ending of this film was seriously a big let-down. The bad guy explodes because she had too much information in her head... um... that would probably leave someone catatonic or maybe Spielberg was trying to re-live the excitement of the bad guys melting from the first film. In my opinion, not a patch on the earlier films - but it was a fun action/adventure.
Second Hand Bookshops
Simon and I both love to read. We both have many many books at home and we are starting to carry quite a library with us on our travels. Here in Vancouver we have spent many hours wandering through many many book shops... And I found Player of Games - Ian M Banks (recommended to me by Michelle (thanks honey) which was awesome).
A real roller coaster ride even if it was a little like listening to Rimmer describe his Risk campaigns at times.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The little detail...
And so we rolled into Seattle, in the summer twilight - on a collision course with our next travel adventure. :)
The moment we looked at the near empty baggage carousel we guessed something was wrong. The staff confirmed what our bag check-in slips had clearly stated for our whole train journey - our bags had gotten off the train at 'SLM' (Salem, Oregon) not 'SEA' (Seattle, Washington) with us. (We hadn't even thought to check the details on the slips, trusting that the staff in the Berkeley Amtrak station knew what they were doing - naive, I know.)
And so we entered the bag retrieval bureaucratic treadmill I'm sure most seasoned travellers are familiar with. Luckily the staff member we dealt with at Seattle was the most cluey and friendly cog we'd come across in the Amtrak mechanism - she promised to not only ensure personally that Salem would be contacted first thing in the morning, but that she'd start her next shift early to ensure she did it herself. With nothing more to we could do but wait for word via our next host's girlfriend's mobile (the only contact method we had available at the time) we boarded the bus that would take us north, to Vancouver.
The bus trip was uneventful (our lack of bags actually made our initial crossing into Canada easier, although there was some confusion at the border over which part of the building held the staff who would process non-US travellers, and then how to leave that part of the building...) but soon we were in another confusing city, in another confusing country, with the most problematic set of instructions yet.
Theoretically we would take the easily accessible (to locals) public buses to the University of British Columbia campus, and would then simply navigate to Green College. But we had seemed to have arrived after the buses stopped running. And the Amtrak station (bizarrely) has no public phone. And it was raining. In desperation we hunted for a cab - finally finding one, we attempting to overcome our lack of local knowledge and the driver's thick Jewish accent, to communicate our destination. After several false turns in the university campus, we managed to find navigate our driver to Green College, and our final surreal challenge.
Green College is an unexpectedly beautiful (for student accomodation) set of buildings, which in our exhaustion seemed majestic, ghostly, and completely empty. (Imagine something between a classic English university college and an Ewok village. I'm serious.) We staggered from door to door trying to find Matt's place (or rouse someone who could direct us) with a growing sense of unease. Finally, we found the correctly-numbered door - but pounding on it roused no-one. Another door was opened by a nervous student - in broken Canadian Mandy tried to communicate our plight. The poor girl had never heard of anyone called Matt living behind the door in question, but offered to call the occupants on the phone. This finally rouse the occupants - who turned out to be Matt and his housemate!
The confusion was soon explained. In Australia Mandy's friend had chosen to Anglicise his (originally Polish) name to Matt, but in Canada he was using the original. After a few brief introductions (to Matt's girlfriend, and to his housemate) we collapsed exhausted into our already prepared bed (thanks, Matt) and were soon fast asleep.
As an epilogue, I can tell you we did get our bags back - in less than two days, too. (And our travel insurance applies in this eventuality by covering $500 of new clothes - which goes some of the way to justifying that particular expense.) The final gauntlet involved retrieving our bags from the customs officials in the Vancouver Amtrak station, where they seemed to be taking special interest in one of mine. After asking me to unlock it (and taking special care to open it facing away from me) the staff member called over her cow-orker to point out something in the contents. She commented, "oh, they're only books." Alarmed, I asked, "Why, what do books look like on an x-ray?"
"Big bricks of drugs."
Travel is exciting, I'll be the first to say it. :)
The moment we looked at the near empty baggage carousel we guessed something was wrong. The staff confirmed what our bag check-in slips had clearly stated for our whole train journey - our bags had gotten off the train at 'SLM' (Salem, Oregon) not 'SEA' (Seattle, Washington) with us. (We hadn't even thought to check the details on the slips, trusting that the staff in the Berkeley Amtrak station knew what they were doing - naive, I know.)
And so we entered the bag retrieval bureaucratic treadmill I'm sure most seasoned travellers are familiar with. Luckily the staff member we dealt with at Seattle was the most cluey and friendly cog we'd come across in the Amtrak mechanism - she promised to not only ensure personally that Salem would be contacted first thing in the morning, but that she'd start her next shift early to ensure she did it herself. With nothing more to we could do but wait for word via our next host's girlfriend's mobile (the only contact method we had available at the time) we boarded the bus that would take us north, to Vancouver.
The bus trip was uneventful (our lack of bags actually made our initial crossing into Canada easier, although there was some confusion at the border over which part of the building held the staff who would process non-US travellers, and then how to leave that part of the building...) but soon we were in another confusing city, in another confusing country, with the most problematic set of instructions yet.
Theoretically we would take the easily accessible (to locals) public buses to the University of British Columbia campus, and would then simply navigate to Green College. But we had seemed to have arrived after the buses stopped running. And the Amtrak station (bizarrely) has no public phone. And it was raining. In desperation we hunted for a cab - finally finding one, we attempting to overcome our lack of local knowledge and the driver's thick Jewish accent, to communicate our destination. After several false turns in the university campus, we managed to find navigate our driver to Green College, and our final surreal challenge.
Green College is an unexpectedly beautiful (for student accomodation) set of buildings, which in our exhaustion seemed majestic, ghostly, and completely empty. (Imagine something between a classic English university college and an Ewok village. I'm serious.) We staggered from door to door trying to find Matt's place (or rouse someone who could direct us) with a growing sense of unease. Finally, we found the correctly-numbered door - but pounding on it roused no-one. Another door was opened by a nervous student - in broken Canadian Mandy tried to communicate our plight. The poor girl had never heard of anyone called Matt living behind the door in question, but offered to call the occupants on the phone. This finally rouse the occupants - who turned out to be Matt and his housemate!
The confusion was soon explained. In Australia Mandy's friend had chosen to Anglicise his (originally Polish) name to Matt, but in Canada he was using the original. After a few brief introductions (to Matt's girlfriend, and to his housemate) we collapsed exhausted into our already prepared bed (thanks, Matt) and were soon fast asleep.
As an epilogue, I can tell you we did get our bags back - in less than two days, too. (And our travel insurance applies in this eventuality by covering $500 of new clothes - which goes some of the way to justifying that particular expense.) The final gauntlet involved retrieving our bags from the customs officials in the Vancouver Amtrak station, where they seemed to be taking special interest in one of mine. After asking me to unlock it (and taking special care to open it facing away from me) the staff member called over her cow-orker to point out something in the contents. She commented, "oh, they're only books." Alarmed, I asked, "Why, what do books look like on an x-ray?"
"Big bricks of drugs."
Travel is exciting, I'll be the first to say it. :)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Trains (not planes)
So apparently, the rail system in the US isn't as well subsidised as air travel, so people don't think to use it to get around... which is a shame because it is a beautiful and peaceful way to travel.
Even as we were leaving SFO Airport to Berkley in the Bay Porter I was promoting it as a way to get around the country and convincing US locals to travel by train rather than fly. Chatty me was unloading upon some poor lady about our trip so far. She was excited about us being Australian and was sharing tips with Simon & I about the city sights and where we should go... and we happened to mention the train and spent the remainder of the drive talking about the pros and cons of air vs rail travel. She travelled about once every month or two to Vancouver - I wonder if she will actually take up the train trip adventure.
(I love it how one of the travel tips under what to do on the "Official SF Visitors" website is 'gay travel'.)
The scenery from San Francisco was spectacular. Beautiful mountains sprinkled with snow (in mid May) blue lakes and fir tree forests line the train tracks. The other passengers seem to be pretty much exclusively well travelled Europeans. Every time we turned around there was another chatty person to talk to.
The roomettes were really worth the extra $70. They were much smaller than they appeared online however. When we boarded the train in Emeryville, the beds were already set up and we were a bit taken aback by how much space they took up in our little section.
I went for a wander along the train and saw what it would have been like if we were staying in seats instead of in the cabin... much less comfortable. People crawling and trying to sleep everywhere, one guy was even snoring happily in the videogame room... it seemed like the only place where kids weren't wandering around and yelling at the top of their lungs. Actually there were no kids in there... I don't know if that was because of the guy or because most of the games were old (original Ms Pac-Man, a weird version of Tetris) or broken.
The food was ok - Simon tried grits, which are like a strange grainy kind of oatmeal, apparently you eat it with butter or some other form of sweetener... Next time I think I will have the continental breakfast.
It was a wonderful experience... except for one tiny detail...
Even as we were leaving SFO Airport to Berkley in the Bay Porter I was promoting it as a way to get around the country and convincing US locals to travel by train rather than fly. Chatty me was unloading upon some poor lady about our trip so far. She was excited about us being Australian and was sharing tips with Simon & I about the city sights and where we should go... and we happened to mention the train and spent the remainder of the drive talking about the pros and cons of air vs rail travel. She travelled about once every month or two to Vancouver - I wonder if she will actually take up the train trip adventure.
(I love it how one of the travel tips under what to do on the "Official SF Visitors" website is 'gay travel'.)
The scenery from San Francisco was spectacular. Beautiful mountains sprinkled with snow (in mid May) blue lakes and fir tree forests line the train tracks. The other passengers seem to be pretty much exclusively well travelled Europeans. Every time we turned around there was another chatty person to talk to.
The roomettes were really worth the extra $70. They were much smaller than they appeared online however. When we boarded the train in Emeryville, the beds were already set up and we were a bit taken aback by how much space they took up in our little section.
I went for a wander along the train and saw what it would have been like if we were staying in seats instead of in the cabin... much less comfortable. People crawling and trying to sleep everywhere, one guy was even snoring happily in the videogame room... it seemed like the only place where kids weren't wandering around and yelling at the top of their lungs. Actually there were no kids in there... I don't know if that was because of the guy or because most of the games were old (original Ms Pac-Man, a weird version of Tetris) or broken.
The food was ok - Simon tried grits, which are like a strange grainy kind of oatmeal, apparently you eat it with butter or some other form of sweetener... Next time I think I will have the continental breakfast.
It was a wonderful experience... except for one tiny detail...
Thursday, May 29, 2008
San Francisco
A quick dash back to Auckland International put us en-route to our next stop - San Francisco.
The Flight
Experience with New Zealand's 'airport tax' allowed us to skip the usual confusion and get pretty quickly to our plane. We were even given boarding passes for our connection (LA to SF) which was a new experience for me (and should have raised warning bells, I guess.)
Our flight was slightly delayed (and the flight attendant's definition of 'common-law marriage' was different from US customs, which slowed the processing of our entry papers) but we felt confident that we'd make our connection, even through the chaos of LAX. Qantas did not share our confidence, though - arriving at our connection we were told that they'd bumped us to a later flight. The staff seemed pretty familiar with this ploy, though, and managed to sneak us on to our original flight - even going so far as to offer us even odds that our bags would manage to do the same. A brief flight and a few anxious minutes at the baggage carousel later and they were vindicated, so we summoned a Bayporter and where whisked away to our destination - Berkeley.
Our Hosts
I doubt that in all our tavels, we will again stay in such salubrious surrounds. Our gracious hosts Kirk and Eric made us very comfortable in their guest house, and soothed our jetlag (which was vicious, in my case) with hotubbing and the contents of their spectacular cellar. And then they left; entrusting us with their home while they headed across the continent for varous conferences and events. Our experience with this charming and generous couple will always remain a high point of our trip, and a very happy memory.
Berkeley
Gushing aside, Berkeley was a comfortable and interesting place. Flying in the face of a few stereotypes the food was excellent, SUVs were rare (and hybrids plentiful) and the people friendly. And while everyone reminded me that Berkeley's not representative of the US (or even of other Californian cities) I still have a much more positive and nuanced sense of this frequently maligned country.
That said, we did hit some culture shock. My frustration over social inequality in AU was completely blown out of the water by the US - the rate of homelessness, for example, is vastly higher. I tried to convince myself that running their country was their own affair, but Mandy in particular found the ever-present destitute heartbreaking. And our row-companion on the flight over (hi, Mark :) ) made a profound point - while the beer he was enjoying would be counted as underaged drinking by the state, they already considered him old enough to join the army.
The City
Things are changing, though, as some delightful serendipity showed us - our stay coincided with the Supreme Court ruling anti gay marriage legislation unconstitutional. We headed straight for San Fran's famous gay district, the Castro, and joined the street party.
And that's just one of the districts we roamed over:
Japantown - a delicious meal after a grueling cross-town march. (We quickly learned to use the famous trolley cars.)
Fisherman's Wharf - bridges, seals and seafood.
Central - daunting architecture and kids begging me to buy GTA IV for them - what a mix.
Conclusion
All in all my first exposure to the US was really positive. As much as we were looking forward to the next part of our trip (the Coast Starlight to Vancouver) it was still hard to say goodbye to Kirk and Eric at the station. Thanks, guys - you made a good time great.
The Flight
Experience with New Zealand's 'airport tax' allowed us to skip the usual confusion and get pretty quickly to our plane. We were even given boarding passes for our connection (LA to SF) which was a new experience for me (and should have raised warning bells, I guess.)
Our flight was slightly delayed (and the flight attendant's definition of 'common-law marriage' was different from US customs, which slowed the processing of our entry papers) but we felt confident that we'd make our connection, even through the chaos of LAX. Qantas did not share our confidence, though - arriving at our connection we were told that they'd bumped us to a later flight. The staff seemed pretty familiar with this ploy, though, and managed to sneak us on to our original flight - even going so far as to offer us even odds that our bags would manage to do the same. A brief flight and a few anxious minutes at the baggage carousel later and they were vindicated, so we summoned a Bayporter and where whisked away to our destination - Berkeley.
Our Hosts
I doubt that in all our tavels, we will again stay in such salubrious surrounds. Our gracious hosts Kirk and Eric made us very comfortable in their guest house, and soothed our jetlag (which was vicious, in my case) with hotubbing and the contents of their spectacular cellar. And then they left; entrusting us with their home while they headed across the continent for varous conferences and events. Our experience with this charming and generous couple will always remain a high point of our trip, and a very happy memory.
Berkeley
Gushing aside, Berkeley was a comfortable and interesting place. Flying in the face of a few stereotypes the food was excellent, SUVs were rare (and hybrids plentiful) and the people friendly. And while everyone reminded me that Berkeley's not representative of the US (or even of other Californian cities) I still have a much more positive and nuanced sense of this frequently maligned country.
That said, we did hit some culture shock. My frustration over social inequality in AU was completely blown out of the water by the US - the rate of homelessness, for example, is vastly higher. I tried to convince myself that running their country was their own affair, but Mandy in particular found the ever-present destitute heartbreaking. And our row-companion on the flight over (hi, Mark :) ) made a profound point - while the beer he was enjoying would be counted as underaged drinking by the state, they already considered him old enough to join the army.
The City
Things are changing, though, as some delightful serendipity showed us - our stay coincided with the Supreme Court ruling anti gay marriage legislation unconstitutional. We headed straight for San Fran's famous gay district, the Castro, and joined the street party.
And that's just one of the districts we roamed over:
Japantown - a delicious meal after a grueling cross-town march. (We quickly learned to use the famous trolley cars.)
Fisherman's Wharf - bridges, seals and seafood.
Central - daunting architecture and kids begging me to buy GTA IV for them - what a mix.
Conclusion
All in all my first exposure to the US was really positive. As much as we were looking forward to the next part of our trip (the Coast Starlight to Vancouver) it was still hard to say goodbye to Kirk and Eric at the station. Thanks, guys - you made a good time great.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
New Zealand
We spent our time on the shores of New Zealand in the care of friends; Craig & Tracey at the Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood. Earthsong describes itself as: "...a cohousing neighbourhood based on the principles of permaculture, that will serve as a model of a socially and environmentally sustainable community" - values that really appeal to both Simon & I.
The first night we shared one of the twice weekly neighbourhood meals in the common room. Earthsong is divided into teams who take turns preparing these communal meals. This means that these teams cook for roughly 50 people about once every two months. With the amount of food that is grown in the gardens, the would-be chefs can select from a beautiful organic supermarket, right outside their door...
After dinner it was home to watch Invader Zim (Doom doom doom, da, doom) with some new friends (one of whom coincidentally has the same unusual surname and same first inital as Simon.)
The folllowing day we took the train into Auckland (an hour train trip compared to what is apparently a 20 minute drive - no wonder that people in NZ use cars to move around). From there we took a surprisingly short ferry excursion over the bay to Devonport. We explored some of the second hand bookshops - of which there are many - and then home to enjoy Stardust (the sequence of Robert de Nero as a pirate by day and a drag queen by night is certainly not easily forgettable...)
Raglan was our destination the last day and the highlight would was the Bridal Veil Falls. 55m high into a lagoon at the base... just beautiful. The sign from the road to the falls said it would be a 10 minute walk but I think that was only if you were an old lady... with a limp... and maybe a backpack.
One of the things that struck me the most about the foliage of NZ was that there were only subtle differences between Auckland and Melbourne. Looking around showed an odd combination of tropical plants like you would see in Brisbane and many of the the same species as are in Victoria. Seeing gum trees in another country was a little jarring too.
Interestingly, Simon's hair continues to make us new friends - apparently blue is a very difficult colour to achieve (we are often told) and vividness of the colour gets us both a lot of stares and comments. (As the person that is usually the one to attract the looks of others... it's kind of nice not to be the centre of attention for a change.)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Fight for your right for luggage
Packing for anything is a time of great stress... and luggage limits seem to be difficult goals to achieve for many. Especially when one is away for all seasons.
Thanks to my brother Rob for his much needed if overly hair-raising ride to the airport. I think we all would agree that the ride would have been much shorter if our 'last chance' petrol station hadn't been without power... that said; running on fumes always makes for an exciting journey - as does cornering a 10 year old station wagon on two wheels ;).
Simon & I had been 'discussing' (energetically) the baggage allowance for our trip since before leaving Albert St. By the time we were staying at Mum's I had decided to call Qantas, in order to have the most up to date information on what we could actually take on our journey.
After queuing for about an hour at Melbourne International airport (making friends in the queue as we went) we were disappointed to discover that, according to the check-in agent, we were only allowed to carry on 1 bag of luggage weighing 20 kgs for the NZ leg - although the Qantas agent I spoke to on the phone had assured me that we could take more than three times that limit, across 2 bags. Assuming that the airport staff had final authority, I found a storage place that would store my suitcase (until one of my long-suffering family would retrieve it) and proceeded to frantically re-organise what I was going to be living with for the next year. 15 minutes later I was running back to the check-in desk, because boarding time (never mind checking time) was growing close...
...when we happened upon another Qantas agent, who confirmed our initial information of 32kgs x 2 bags - arising from our 'P class' status as 'round-the-world' travelers. Apparently our initial check-in agent should have checked our tickets better - the new manager casually mentioned that she would delegate the re-education of said underachiever very soon. So after running back to the place where I stored my bag, we were finally on our way, being whisked by a Qantas escort through customs and all the way to the gate. What a beginning. I think it was to make sure that we knew we had started.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The calm before the storm
...or is that too theatrical? :)
We're tense, but trying to take this time to relax and charge our batteries. Last minute preparations - phones, insurance; final hardware check (music players loaded and charged, etc.)
We've already had our first major plan disruption (our LA stay became a connection after our accomodation fell through) but all our other hosts have been very responsive, so we remain confident about the rest of our itinerary.
The running joke currently is 'pre-jetlag' - sleeplessness before travel. Nerves and our volatile environment mean that we're fighting a losing battle to stablise our sleeping patterns.
All in all we're walking a knife's edge between excitement and panic. :)
We're tense, but trying to take this time to relax and charge our batteries. Last minute preparations - phones, insurance; final hardware check (music players loaded and charged, etc.)
We've already had our first major plan disruption (our LA stay became a connection after our accomodation fell through) but all our other hosts have been very responsive, so we remain confident about the rest of our itinerary.
The running joke currently is 'pre-jetlag' - sleeplessness before travel. Nerves and our volatile environment mean that we're fighting a losing battle to stablise our sleeping patterns.
All in all we're walking a knife's edge between excitement and panic. :)
Monday, April 14, 2008
'Is it really cheeky?' or 'Okay... so I know we were drunk, and it was two years ago, but...'
Like many budget travellers, we're staying with friends. Lots of friends. Friends in every city we're visiting in fact. We're still waiting on an answer on if we're set for LA but apart from that, until we get to Holland (and even then) we're couch surfing our way around the world.
As many of them are my friends, it's been up to me to hit everyone up with The Question...
So I know we were drunk when you invited me and it was two years ago, but am I still allowed to come and stay with you?... - and can I bring my boyfriend?
It's one of the most uncomfortable questions I've had to ask anyone, and I've been asking it a lot. It's especially uncomfortable when I've been asked anyone where I have been lax at keeping in touch with them.
Most of the offers for a roof and a patch of floor came after an evening of wobbly drunkenness at my place. Everyone swaying slightly around the table, voices raised and much laughter to be had, "Sssure. *hic* Anytime you're in the country, come and schtay with me *hic*". Knowing me, there was definitely some kind tasty food involved in gaining these offers. So this may have led to others been extra happy to do me a good turn... (I may onto something - note to self: Feed people good food to get more of these offers in future.)
I love having guests and entertaining so think little of offering this to friends and acquaintances. I already have guests lined-up to stay with us in Rotterdam. It's just, asking someone else for this has given me a really hard time....
The relationships of our hosts to me and The Cheeky Scale - out of 10 on just how cheeky I think I was me asking them to put us up;
To my surprise and pleasure, everyone has said yes and they all say they are looking forward to our visiting...
Thank-you to all our hosts in advance - without you, our trip wouldn't be possible.
As many of them are my friends, it's been up to me to hit everyone up with The Question...
So I know we were drunk when you invited me and it was two years ago, but am I still allowed to come and stay with you?... - and can I bring my boyfriend?
It's one of the most uncomfortable questions I've had to ask anyone, and I've been asking it a lot. It's especially uncomfortable when I've been asked anyone where I have been lax at keeping in touch with them.
Most of the offers for a roof and a patch of floor came after an evening of wobbly drunkenness at my place. Everyone swaying slightly around the table, voices raised and much laughter to be had, "Sssure. *hic* Anytime you're in the country, come and schtay with me *hic*". Knowing me, there was definitely some kind tasty food involved in gaining these offers. So this may have led to others been extra happy to do me a good turn... (I may onto something - note to self: Feed people good food to get more of these offers in future.)
I love having guests and entertaining so think little of offering this to friends and acquaintances. I already have guests lined-up to stay with us in Rotterdam. It's just, asking someone else for this has given me a really hard time....
The relationships of our hosts to me and The Cheeky Scale - out of 10 on just how cheeky I think I was me asking them to put us up;
- A very old friend (2/10)
- One of my ex-girlfriend's friends (which isn't as bad as it sounds) (3/10)
- An ex-boyfriend (7/10)
- And finally a guy that I met about 3 times in the space of a week and then emailed only twice before hitting him up to stay at his house for seven nights - apparently he's not even going to be there for most of it. (10/10)
To my surprise and pleasure, everyone has said yes and they all say they are looking forward to our visiting...
Thank-you to all our hosts in advance - without you, our trip wouldn't be possible.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Goede Reis!
As we complete the final preparations for our 'round the world escapade, we look forward to one final celebration with our family and friends. Join us, as we carouse and reminisce with you, our nearest and dearest.
Simon & Mandy's Going Away Party!
24th of April, 8 'til late
(On the eve of the ANZCA Day public holiday - contact us for the location.)
Simon & Mandy's Going Away Party!
24th of April, 8 'til late
(On the eve of the ANZCA Day public holiday - contact us for the location.)
What do you do at 5am and neither of you can sleep?
Well... aside from the obvious... which is hand puppets... why, what were you thinking?
Simon & I for no apparent reason woke up around 4am and try as we might couldn't get back to sleep. So after about an hour of struggling with the bedding, we gave up trying. It was a bizzare feeling similar to jet-lag but in your own home, and without the hassle of changing time zones (which is apparently difficult to organise on a planetary scale) We stumbled out the bedroom and into the kitchen lamenting we weren't still curled sleep's blissful spell
After rejecting horrifying thoughts of a early morning walk - at a time when not even insane bakers would be awake to give us warm rolls - we invented a plan; "perhaps we should finalise our connecting transport for our travels". The lack of connecting travel has been on both our minds and admitted it may be a contributing factor to our current irregular sleeping behaviour.
As we explored the modes of travel, we decided on a train journey and settled on Amtrak. We had previously struggled with the booking of this because we couldn't find how a non-US or Canadian resident could collect pre-booked tickets (FYI - they have kiosks like at Euro star stations or e-ticket collection points at Melbourne airport where you may pick them up. You can select this on the screen where you are entering in your identifying information like Passport details)
After following some excellent advise from friends in San Francisco we settled on catching a 10pm train from Emeryville CA to Vancouver BC (2 adult tickets with roomette) for only about US$340. Meals included - Lekker! (Dutch word with many meanings including but not exclusive to tasty, sexy, good, nice)
The route we're taking is the Coast Starlight and it journey's from LA up the West coast to Seattle - you can book (at the same time) a connecting bus to Vancouver through the Amtrak website.
From all accounts, this is one of the most beautiful train journeys in the Amtrak network. We'll keep you posted.
Simon & I for no apparent reason woke up around 4am and try as we might couldn't get back to sleep. So after about an hour of struggling with the bedding, we gave up trying. It was a bizzare feeling similar to jet-lag but in your own home, and without the hassle of changing time zones (which is apparently difficult to organise on a planetary scale) We stumbled out the bedroom and into the kitchen lamenting we weren't still curled sleep's blissful spell
After rejecting horrifying thoughts of a early morning walk - at a time when not even insane bakers would be awake to give us warm rolls - we invented a plan; "perhaps we should finalise our connecting transport for our travels". The lack of connecting travel has been on both our minds and admitted it may be a contributing factor to our current irregular sleeping behaviour.
As we explored the modes of travel, we decided on a train journey and settled on Amtrak. We had previously struggled with the booking of this because we couldn't find how a non-US or Canadian resident could collect pre-booked tickets (FYI - they have kiosks like at Euro star stations or e-ticket collection points at Melbourne airport where you may pick them up. You can select this on the screen where you are entering in your identifying information like Passport details)
After following some excellent advise from friends in San Francisco we settled on catching a 10pm train from Emeryville CA to Vancouver BC (2 adult tickets with roomette) for only about US$340. Meals included - Lekker! (Dutch word with many meanings including but not exclusive to tasty, sexy, good, nice)
The route we're taking is the Coast Starlight and it journey's from LA up the West coast to Seattle - you can book (at the same time) a connecting bus to Vancouver through the Amtrak website.
From all accounts, this is one of the most beautiful train journeys in the Amtrak network. We'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Preparations
Streamlining: a thorough haircut has certainly taken a load off my mind. Doing summer in both the southern and northern hemispheres sequentially with a ponytail of thick, heavy hair just didn't seem like a good idea, so now I'm down to easily maintained (and very light) stubble.
Networking: Setting up Dopplr account will hopefully encourage serendipitous contact with other travellers - running into Tim in Vancouver is the immediate target.
Working: Slightly overwhelmed by the options available for working in The Netherlands. The Undutchables have some good work permit information, but it sounds like contacting potential employers directly is the best way to go. So anyone looking for a Python developer with Zope, Pylons and Plone experience should leave a comment...
Networking: Setting up Dopplr account will hopefully encourage serendipitous contact with other travellers - running into Tim in Vancouver is the immediate target.
Working: Slightly overwhelmed by the options available for working in The Netherlands. The Undutchables have some good work permit information, but it sounds like contacting potential employers directly is the best way to go. So anyone looking for a Python developer with Zope, Pylons and Plone experience should leave a comment...
Sunday, January 6, 2008
To begin at the beginning...
Flights are booked, departure day is set - May 8th, 2008.
My intrepid partner Mandy and I will be visiting friends, seeing sights, working and playing our way around the world for up to twelve months - visiting Auckland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Bangkok.
We decided that we'd like to chronicle our progress, for friends and future reference - thus a blog (and pictures will be available on my Picasa account.)
Wish us luck - the adventure is just beginning. :)
My intrepid partner Mandy and I will be visiting friends, seeing sights, working and playing our way around the world for up to twelve months - visiting Auckland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Bangkok.
We decided that we'd like to chronicle our progress, for friends and future reference - thus a blog (and pictures will be available on my Picasa account.)
Wish us luck - the adventure is just beginning. :)
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