Have just spent the last couple of weeks in East Africa (Kenya/Tanzania) on safari. Amazing wildlife viewing including lions, cheetahs, Vervet Monkeys, Olive Baboons, zillions of Wildebeest & Zebras, numerous species of gazelles, antelopes etc, elephants, 3 species is giraffe, black rhino, white rhino, hippos, warthogs, hyenas, jackals & loads of different types of birds, too numerous to mention here. The highlight of the trip was most definitely the sunrise Hot Air Balloon ride over & subsequent game drive in the Masai Mara. When the balloon landed we were surrounded by wildebeest & zebras as far as the eye could see. We've been blessed with the number of lions we have seen (at close quarters) including a pride of 18 lions in the Serengeti & lions eating a kill in the Ngorongoro Crater, both with very sweet looking cubs (with not so sweet looking teeth). We travelled with a fabulous group: 7 Aussie's (3 WA, 2 QLD, 1 VIC), 4 Brits from UK, 1 Guyanan who now lives in London, 1 Brit from Iceland with her Icelandic husband & a Kiwi. The Kiwi & 1 Aussie were on their honeymoon & 2 of us had Birthdays on the trip (for those that don't know mine was a milestone one - 21 again!!! ;-)). The cook made some brilliant meals on camp esp given limited facilities & often dark (daylight 6-6). Weather has been similar to that we were experiencing in the UK before we left. It's beautiful today but gather there's a heatwave in UK on our return. Kwaheri from Kenya. Globetrotters K&A!
Friday, 18 July 2014
Sunday, 8 September 2013
USA Part 2: The North-West Corner of the Pacific North-West
Stan and Kay live on Gooseberry Point overlooking Lummi Bay just north of the city of Bellingham. To the south/left of their view over Lummi Bay is Lummi Island, one of the many San Juan Islands.
"Don't ask what the world needs - ask what makes you come alive and then go & do that.
With a population of some 80,000 people, Bellingham is a busy seaport with both working and pleasure boats in abundance. It is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the State of Washington. Situated about 1.75hours north of Seattle and 1hour south of Vancouver it has good access to major metropolitan areas but also the large expanse of the San Juan Islands, an archipelago between the northwest corner of the US mainland and Vancouver Island.
Arriving in Bellingham just before midday, our first afternoon involved lunch at the Boundary Bay Brewery (and a sample of their beer!), a tour round the city and then dinner in the evening with some of the extended family out on the deck.
Saturday started with a tour of the area north of the house up to the Canadian border, visiting other bays and stopping at one or two little fishing places. After a late lunch and a leisurely afternoon soaking up the sun on the deck, we headed to a curious sculpture park nestled in a grove of evergreens above Lake Whatcom; Big Rock Garden Park has 37 permanent works by international and local artists (some good, some weird). The day was finished off enjoying wine and cheese on their boat, a 36ft Grand Banks Yacht, as the sun set over the harbour.
Sunday's itinerary was a drive down the cliff side byway that hugs the base of Chuckanut Mountain and weaves its way through evergreen forests along the rocky shoreline of Chuckanut Bay to the oyster beds and tidal flats of the Samish lowlands. Our first main stop was La Conner, situated on the delta near the mouth of the Skagit River. It was founded in the early 1860's and is Skagit County's oldest community. Deception Pass is a strait separating Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island that is spanned by twin bridges (the bridges have been a National Historic Monument since 1982) and the viewpoints offer the dramatic seascape of Puget Sound. Its nearest town is Oak Harbor, now supporting a large naval base. Our final destination of the day was Coupeville, the second oldest town in the State of Washington, where we enjoyed a fantastic seafood dinner including freshly harvested mussels that are farmed in the town.
"Behind" Bellingham is the impressive Mount Baker, still snow topped, about 31 miles due East. It has the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount Saint Helens and is the second-most heavily glaciated after Mount Rainier. At 10,000 ft., it is the third-highest mountain in Washington State and also one of the snowiest places in the world apparently. This is where we headed the following day to follow one of the trails. The weather was great and we had good views of the peak.
Since Kay and Stan have access to the beach from their garden, Tuesday allowed us the opportunity to take a walk along the beach and a paddle in the sea. We also got introduced to Stan's cinema room in the evening!
After promising a ride in the boat, we finally got out into Bellingham Bay on Wed. Initially hugging the coastline along Chuckanut Bay, Stan then took the boat through to and around the nearest San Juan Islands of Vendovi, Eliza and Lummi. The water was rough as we left harbour and the wind had got up rather a lot. By the time we were returning the wind had dropped, the sun was out and the bay was like a mill pond. The boat is called "Slow Dancer", its max speed is only 10 knots, but that's still faster than my non-existent yacht! ;-)
Thursday, our final day with Kay and Stan, we popped across the border into Canada. In Vancouver we met up with two other people off last year's Peru trip – Gord and Linda. We had lunch together on Granville Island followed by a trip round Stanley Park. Including our visit to Dublin in July where we met up with two lads off our Peru trip, we have now successfully met up with 60% of the group!
So, Friday we returned to Seattle for the final leg of our trip. And that's where I will pick up on the final email.
Until then,
Kath & Andy
---------------------------------------------------------"Don't ask what the world needs - ask what makes you come alive and then go & do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Howard Martin
---------------------------------------------------------
Unleash the passion, indulge the dream
www.passion4travel.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------------
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Sunday, 1 September 2013
USA Part 1
Our big trip this year has bought us back to the USA. This was prompted by meeting an American couple on the Peru trip last year that resulted in an invite to visit a town called Bellingham in Washington State, part of the US Pacific North West area, close to the Canadian border. As I write this we are currently travelling north from Seattle to Bellingham.
On the way we had a stopover in Washington DC on the other side of the country, 5 hours from here by plane. Our first evening was a quick visit to a local pub for snacks and bed. By the time my head hit the pillow we had been awake for 21 hours and needless to say I slept like a log!
Our first day was spent exploring the National Mall, an area approx. 2.25 mile long stretching from the Lincoln Memorial in the West to Capitol Hill in the East, with a short leg jutting off to the north. This is where the USA commemorates those who served and were killed in action with numerous war memorials. It is also the place where some of the nation's greatest Presidents are honoured here. Unknown yet familiar, many of the landmarks along here have featured in films and programs so the whole experience was a little surreal.
Our first stop, on this northern leg was 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, better known as the White House! A 1.5 miles walk directly south of our hotel led us to the North Lawn, the bit normally seen on the backdrop to news reports emanating from there. Security was tight, Obama due back that day for the 50th Anniversary of the March for Freedom speech he was to give the following day. It was then that we realised he was not home to invite us in for morning tea so we didn't stay as long as we'd hoped!
Actually it is difficult to visit the White House, even for American Citizens and even when they do "you only get to visit about 4 rooms" we were reliably informed, but there is a small informative White House Visitor Centre set up in the Presidential Park on the south side of the Treasury Building. Although the building isn't as impressive as our own Buckingham Palace in size, stature or gardens (we visited very recently), it still boasts 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms and 6 levels in the Residence and the grounds cover just over 18 acres.
After passing the South lawn of the White House with a couple more obligatory photos we moved onto the Lincoln Memorial. I remember seeing this in the movie "In the Line of Fire" starring Clint Eastwood. It is an impressive memorial reflecting the design of an ancient Greek temple but with the entrance of the long side. A statue of Lincoln sits facing the Mall. From the memorial you can see right up the Mall over the Reflecting Pool and WWII Memorial to the Washington Monument. From there are the Smithsonian Museums and beyond them, Capitol Hill. Preparations were being made for the 50th Anniversary Freedom March. It was here 50 years ago that Martin Luther King made the famous "I have a dream" speech.
We walked up the Mall past the Reflecting Pool to the WWII Memorial that honours the 16 million Americans who served in the war and the millions who supported the war effort at home. Gold stars revere the 405,000 or so Americans who died in the war. This was only opened surprisingly recently in 2004. The Washington Monument was closed for repairs following earthquake damage in 2011. It is the tallest structure in the city and reputedly the best place to get views over DC. We had to settle for the 2nd best – the tower of the Old Post Office Building. This we did after sampling a "Chicken Dog" as opposed to a Hot Dog. Didn't really taste of chicken or sausage so I dread to think what was actually in it! I'd probably go for guinea pig again before one of those if ever given the option in future!
From the Post Office Tower there are good views down Pennsylvania Avenue towards Capitol Hill including some government and legislative buildings such as the Edgar Hoover FBI Building. It was at Capitol Hill that we finished our day's activities before meeting up with an Aberystywth Uni mate who had moved over here (Ben for those Aber people reading this).
The following day was a little quieter. We started with the Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Complex. After a not so healthy lunch (McDonald's has the monopoly at that museum) we encountered Barack Obama, though it would be fairer to say we heard him more than we saw him, as we went down to the gathering for the 50th anniversary freedom march speech - it was heaving. Then it was back to the Smithsonian for a few hours looking round the Natural History Museum – a huge, impressive museum that ideally warrants a full day to do it justice. On display in the Rotunda is an Angolan African Bush Elephant, apparently the largest of its kind on display in the world. At around 13 feet from the forefoot to the top of its shoulder, it is imposingly high! We finished the day having dinner (bison burger) with another DC acquaintance (for those other than family reading this - Mum & Dad had offered a homestay to Elizabeth when she visited our school with other Americans on a People-to-People programme way back in 1986 and continued to offer homestays for four years after that).
Our final morning in DC involved a visit to the National Museum of American History and the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, an architecturally striking building worth the look inside.
And so eventually we made it to Seattle and then onto Bellingham, that is where I am finishing this mail from. Stan and Kay have a lovely house overlooking a bay that faces out onto the San Juan Islands and the northern Pacific, but this part of the adventure must wait until the next instalment.
So until then,
Happy globetrotting
Kath & Andy
---------------------------------------------------------
"Don't ask what the world needs - ask what makes you come alive and then go & do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Howard Martin
---------------------------------------------------------
Unleash the passion, indulge the dream
www.passion4travel.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------------
If you have received this email in error, no longer wish to receive these emails, or would prefer to read the blog, please email me. I will not be offended. Absence of such emails presupposes that you still wish me to send them.
I will never pass your details onto unrelated third-parties.
To stop my emails being seen as spam, please add me to your email account's address book.
If I've missed anyone who would like to read this, feel free to forward it on.
Friday, 21 June 2013
Peru Pics finally online!!!!
Yes, it's only taken me a year, but finally they are available online for viewing.
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"Don't ask what the world needs - ask what makes you come alive and then go & do that.
The link is http://sdrv.ms/107G6UD
If this is coming to a work email, the photos may be blocked so you will need to forward the link to a private/home email for the link to work.
Apologies, there does also appear to be a glitch on the site which puts portrait photos into landscape orientation annoyingly. I hope that the Skydrive team resolve this soon.
---------------------------------------------------------
"Don't ask what the world needs - ask what makes you come alive and then go & do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Howard Martin---------------------------------------------------------
Unleash the passion, indulge the dream
www.passion4travel.co.uk
www.passion4travel.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Hola! from Peru Part 3
The final part of our trip has probably been the best bit of it overall. After a free day wandering round Cusco (where I left off on the last mail), the following day we headed off to the Sacred Valley to explore archaeological sites and get ever-closer to our final destination of Machu Pichu.
Our first stop was the Chinchero Inca site which had essentially been a food store and consisted of limestone walled terraces and store houses. Crops like cereals, potatoes and vegetables were stored here by the Inca. Now there is a preserved section and another part where the walls form the foundations of a Catholic Church (Spanish colonial style) and other buildings.
From there we visited a small community of about 10 families where we met the community leader Daniel & several women. Outside the community enclosure was a valley, lake, eucalyptus woods and terraces where the community grow food. We helped dig & collect "Lisa", a type of small yellow potato-like tuber. These were sorted into tubers for eating, future seeds, tubers for drying and animal feed. The community gave us lunch while we were there – quinoa soup followed by shredded "Lisa" and rice and finished with mint tea. After lunch we were shown how they dye wool for clothes & other items and how they spin and ultimately how they weave the items that they sell.
About an hour from there was the Moray Inca Site. This is shaped in concentric terraces that were built into a natural depression in the hillside. Analysis of soils on terraces revealed that this was experimental garden with different microclimates – there was a range of 15'c from top to bottom and it faced east to absorb heat and prevent frost damage.
The Sacred Valley (El Valle Sagrado) is a steep sided mountain valley with a flat bottom which was and is used for farming. The main town here is Ollantaytambo (pronounced Oyan-tay-tambo and known to locals as Ollanta), a rustic town with narrow dusty cobbled streets. This is the best surviving example of Inca city planning and the town has apparently been continuously inhabited since 13th century.
The following morning we visited the Ollantaytambo Ruins which consists of huge steep terraces and an unfinished ceremonial centre. This was one of the few places where the Spanish lost a major battle. The site was built (though never finished) as a temple – some fine stonework & well-engineered walls are found at the ceremonial centre at the top of the site. The stone for this was quarried on the adjacent mountain 6km away, across the Rio Urubamba. Moving the blocks to the site was a huge feat and the Incas built ramps down to the river. Rather than crossing the river, the Inca created parallel channels which they drained when they needed to move the blocks over them. The area is at the intersection of three valleys and so was chosen as an important administrative centre for the area.
After a few issues with a de-railment causing delays, we took the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. Also known as Machu Piccu Pueblo (town), Aguas Calientes is like the Blackpool of Peru. It was very touristy, but the nice bit about it was that there are no cars and a railway line ran down what would be the High St. The hotels and shops on this main street looked like they were poised on the railway platform. Although the town wasn't that exciting, the area in which it was situated was in a deep gorge below the Machu Picchu ruins, where it is enclosed by towering walls of stone cliffs and cloud forest.
At 5am the next day, we were up and heading to a very early breakfast so we could catch one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu. It was worth doing as we virtually had the site to ourselves for the first three hours which allowed us to concentrate on the guided tour around it.
There are many theories about the reason or reasons that the site was built – as a Royal Retreat (most popular) although from its position it (5 sq. km enclosed by high mountain forests / cloud forests), it is also believed by some to have been a very important economic, social, military, religious and administrative complex. The location provided a defensive location in the case of a surprise attack. Its many cultivation terraces in the agricultural sector would have allowed the growing of crops year round whilst the industrial sector of skilled tradesmen would have been busy producing metallic objects as well as day to day pottery and ornamental ceramics etc. The city was made up of more than 200 houses, squares, granaries, palaces, temples and observatories. Connected by a network of aqueducts and steps, the terraces are 3.5m tall by 3.2m wide. There is much that I can say about the site, but no doubt the ones reading this who have already been will recall these things and everyone else, I recommend reading up on it if you are interested (try visiting http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/machu-picchu-mystery/ and http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/machu-picchu/ for starters).
After the tour and to avoid the hordes of visitors descending on the site (about 2,500 people a day for a site that was built for around 500 people!), we did some of the trails around the site. The first was to Puerto Inka (the Inca drawbridge or Inca Bridge) and then we hiked a section of the Inca Trail to Intipunku (the Sun Gate). After 8 hours on site, we headed back to Agua Calientes to catch the train to Ollantaytambo and a bus back to Cusco.
Yesterday we visited two museums in Cusco – the Inka Museum and Machu Picchu Museum. The Inka museum was displaying mainly ceramics / pottery from pre-Inca civilisations through to the Inca period & some Spanish displays. The Machu Picchu museum showed us the history of Hiram Bingham's scientific "discovery" of Machu Picchu and what has been determined from the information already available. A lot of the artefacts collected up until 1997 were also on display.
Today we had a somewhat eventful journey getting from Cusco to Lima. The flight was delayed and so we didn't get to Lima until mid/late afternoon. We went out with some of the others for a "last supper", as the first two from the group were flying out tonight. Dinner was ceviche with Pisco Sour. Ceviche was very nice but spicy, the Pisco sour helping to sooth it somewhat. Ceviche is a chilled concoction of just fish in my case, but in others fish, shrimp, octopus, squid and possibly other stuff, marinated in lime juice, onions and chilli peppers (which gave it its bite) and served with sweet potato and boiled corned / maize.
Tomorrow is souvenir shopping and our flight home.
So, until the next exciting adventure.
Adios,
Kath & Andy
Hola from Peru 2
Taking advantage of another bus journey, this time on a public bus between Puno and Cusco, I am drafting another mail which I hope to send from Cusco. Outside the bus is the stunning scenery of the "Altiplano", a high altitude glacial valley littered with farms and surrounded by mountains. The altitude is somewhere between 3,400m and 4,312m. Puno, which is at an altitude of 3,830m, is behind us. Cusco, our next destination is 3,400m. At these elevations, even simple tasks such as climbing stairs can leave you breathless and out of puff due to the low levels of oxygen.
When I left off from the last mail, we were heading to Arequipa. It was, as well as a visit, an acclimatisation stop but that didn't stop most of the group feeling the effects of altitude sickness once we'd reached Puno later. Cusco, fortunately, is a little lower so we should all be getting a bit better soon.
Arequipa, nicknamed "The White City" because the off-white/pale volcanic rock which most of the buildings are built of glisten in the sunshine but also because it was originally populated by a lot of Spanish (white) people, had a very nice historic centre, but otherwise it's a massively sprawling, extremely polluted & dusty city. The brown smog hanging over the horizon isn't the best sight to wake up to in an otherwise fairly blue sky and sunny day.
We had a busy city tour starting with a lookout over three of the volcanoes that surround the city and a sample of "Queso Helado" (literally translated "Cheese Ice-cream") but actually made from milk, ice, vanilla and cinnamon.
We returned to the City Centre to visit one of the Jesuit Churches. This has a chapel with a dome roof covered with murals depicting rainforest plants and animals.
The Monasterio de Santa Catalina (Santa Catalina Monastery, actually a convent) is a 20,000m2 citadel complex occupying a whole block in Arequipa where we had an hour-long tour. It was founded in 1580 by a rich widow. Unlike most convents where nuns lived a life of poverty, these nuns came from the best Spanish families and had servants and slaves. When they became an apprentice nun, they had their own (fairly large) room, but once they became a fully-fledged nun they had their own apartment. One of the trees in the gardens had a Hummingbird nesting in it.
We had a short tour of the Cathedral where we got to go to the top by the bell towers and got a 360' vista over the city, before heading to a Creperie for a late lunch.
"Museo Santuarios Andinos" was our afternoon visit. It is now the home of "Juanita (pronounced Wan-e-ta), the ice princess", the frozen body of an Inca teenager (12-14yrs) sacrificed on the summit of Nevado Ampato, a snow-covered volcano to north-west of Arequipa, more than 500 years ago. A tour of the museum climaxes (if that is the right word) in respectfully viewing the frozen body in a freezer.
Finally dinner was at a rooftop eatery overlooking the main square & mountains beyond. I had Alpaca steak with risotto, but it wasn't as nice as the previous night's Alpaca Lomo Saltardo (for anyone thinking of sampling alpaca).
Arequipa to Puno was another reasonably long drive but in a cramped bus on a rough road. It was fairly uneventful apart from the wild vicunas, domesticated alpacas and the dizzying heights of 4,500m where a stop for coca tea was a necessary option.
Puno is a melting pot of Aymara and Quechua cultures. Most of the inhabitants speak at least Spanish, Quechua and Aymara, with different levels of English comprehension. It is also the gateway to Lake Titicaca (pronounced Te-te-kar-kar). A boat tour across to Islas de los Uros was an informative trip. These are floating reed islands built from buoyant Totora reeds on which up to half a dozen families live. We had a demonstration on how the islands are built and maintained. The reeds grow abundantly in the shallows of the lake and are used by the Uros people for houses, boats, crafts that they create to sell to tourists and are even partially edible. The Uros began their unusual floating existence in an effort to isolate themselves from other aggressive tribes including the Incas. The visit included two islands (picked on a rotation basis so each island gets their fair share of visitors), the trip from the first to the second on an optional reed boat ride. The islands are fairly basic living standards though some of them now have solar panels and so some of the houses also have a TV and radio!
Now we are nearing Cusco, the old Inca capital and gateway to Machu Picchu. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city and was home to the Incas for two centuries before the Spanish conquered and built their capital here.
So until the next instalment,
Hope you have or have had a nice Jubilee weekend,
Adios
Kath & Andy
PS Cusco has been a very interesting couple of days. After arriving yesterday, we were taken on a city tour round some of the plazas and narrow cobbled streets. There was a stop at a Coca Shop, which sells Andean Coca Teas (coca leaves, lime and sugar). After wandering round for a while, we had dinner in a little restaurant near the main square. Depending on how people were feeling with the altitude (traveller's tummy, dizziness, breathlessness) the group had meals ranging from Andean Chicken Soup up to large meals of duck in some kind of salty sauce with arroz and papas fritas.
Today we have enjoyed a relaxing day just mooching round Cusco, walking to a lookout over the city, meandering round the crowds of the main square and generally just taking it easy after what has already been a very packed itinerary.
PPS Due to some technical difficulties, I am actually sending this from Lima, almost a week later. With luck, I should be able to send you the third and final installment of our adventures before I get home (maybe!)
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Hola! from Peru
Birthplace of Paddington Bear and Land of the Incas, our first encounter with Peru was an adventurous trip to the hotel dodging other vehicles, narrowly missing bumpers and weaving between lanes – both real and invisible. We arrived safely, but exhausted after what amounted to a 22 hour trip and enjoyed a well-earned sleep.
The first morning, waking at a respectable time, we wandered round the new commercial area where our hotel was located – Miraflores. Part of the walk took in small bits of green (parques), busy roads and a seaside promenade looking out onto the Pacific Ocean (with an outdoor shopping mall).
After our group introductory meeting where we met our fellow travellers – our guide Holga (pronounced Olha, Olly for short), two other Brits (though of South African and Slovak origin), two Americans, two Canadians, two Irish lads and two French Canadian sisters.
The afternoon visit was to the historic centre of the city including the main square with its Cathedral, Archbishops Palace and Presidential Palace, the square dedicated to one of Peru's liberators, (Jose de San Martin) and a tour of the Franciscan Monastery and its underground catacombs containing lots and lots of bones. Many of the poor in the city were buried here in chambers clothed then covered in sand for the next one to be buried on top. A few mausoleum-type chambers existed for specifically wealthy families who had been benefactors to the monastery. My first dinner was Lomo Saltardo – Stir-fried fillet of beef with onions, tomatoes, chips & rice; Andy had Taco Taco Seafood, a rather orangey coloured sauce with seafood served with rice.
Day 2 was a 4am start for the 3.5-4 hour trip to Paracus town and nearby Pisco Port, the gateway to the Ballestras Islands (pronounced Bayestras). Pisco shares its name with one of the national drinks, which I'll come to shortly. Known as "The Poor Man's Galapagos" or "Peru's Galapagos", the Ballestras Islands are home to the Peruvian Booby, Turkey Vulture, South American Sea lion (known also locally as 'common sea wolf'), Humboldt Penguin, Guanay Cormorant, Red-legged Cormorant and Peruvian Pelican. It consists of 22 islands, islets & groups of dung islands and 11 coastal guano concentrations which are all protected. On the outward boat journey, we also saw a three-pronged "Candelabra geoglyph" 150m high and 50m wide, a taster of what exists at Nazca.
Via Bodega El Catador where we had a tour of a vineyard, showing the traditional way of making wine and pisco, followed by tastings of pisco sour, local wine, pisco shots, Peruvian baileys and different jams made using pisco (the national alcoholic beverage made with grapebrandy ), we headed to Huacachina (pronounced whatchachena), an oasis in desert for lunch. It had a large picturesque if smelly lagoon surrounded by towering sand `dunes. My lunch was "Arroz con pollo", green rice with chicken. Here we also tried Inca Kola, a national non-alcoholic drink drunk instead of Coca Cola. It has a nuclear waste yellow colour but with a taste that resembles bubble gum. Andy & I both really like it, but some of the group don't.
Back on the Pan-American Highway, we stopped at a lookout near Palpa to view the Palpa Lines and a second lookout 20km north of Nazca to view some of the Nazca Lines (tree, hands and bisected lizard – cut in half by the highway before the lines were "discovered"). The Nazca Lines, made into a World Heritage site in 1994, contains 800 straight lines, 300 geometric shapes and 70 animal, plant and humanoid figures or glyphs. There are a number of theories on whom, what and why, which we listened to at the Planetarium Maria Reiche in Nazca. Whilst we were there we also got the opportunity to view the moon and Saturn through one of their telescopes. Some of the moons craters and seas could be clearly seen while Saturn along with its rings and moon Titan was visible.
The day was wound up with dinner of "Chicharron de Pescado" - Peruvian Fish & chips for me and Chilli Chicken with potato & rice for Andy. One of the others had goat which I also tried. The meal came with complimentary Pisco Sour and we also sampled some Cerveza Premium (local beer).
Yesterday we started the day with a visit to the local fruit and "super" markets in Nazca for some fruit, snacks and water before an excellent visit to the Chauchilla cemetery. The cemetery dates back to pre-Inca civilisations of Wari & Ica-Chincha cultures (around 1000AD). Mummies, some a little grotesque, can be seen arranged in a dozen or so tombs. However, the history and archaeological finds to date were fascinating and it is a shame that they have little funds to do more in-depth work such as DNA analysis etc. A lot of the tombs were damaged or destroyed by grave robbers so there are numerous bits of bone debris spread out along the landscape.
From there, we drove to Puerto Inka or Puerto Inca (lit. Inca Port). Just two minutes' walk from the hotel was an archaeological site from where (fresh & dried) fish were sent to Cuzco during the Inca Empire. Runners used an Inca highway to carry messages and goods. Although Incas are the best known cultures in Peru prior to the Spanish Invasion and one of the greatest empires that has existed, the Empire period was a mere 85-100 years and some of the Pre-Inca civilisations including Paracas, Nazca, Wari and Ica-Chincha are emerging to be a lot more fascinating. That said Machu Picchu is on our itinerary so I may not think that at the end of the trip.
The Hotel Puerto Inka was set into the hillside overlooking a very pretty horseshoe shaped bay. Accommodation was on several levels / terraces overlooking the bay. Dinner consisted of "Pescado al Ajo" – Fish with garlic sauce served with arroz (rice), papas fritas (chips) and ensalada (veg consisting of beans, carrots and broccoli) - for me and "Pescado a la Chorrillana" – fish with onions, peppers, sweet corn – for Andy, washed down with the now obligatory glass of Pisco Sour. We went to sleep with the sound of very large waves crashing against the shore.
We awoke early this morning again to the sound of these waves and wandered around the hotel & ruins site watching the sunrise and taking photos before breakfast. Then we set off on one of the longest drives of the trip from Puerto Inka to Arequipa.
As I type this, we are travelling along the Pan-American Highway. The road has ranged from long straight drives to winding roads clinging to vertiginous mountain edges, long expanses of coast, beach and lofty sand dunes to vast plains of dry arid terrain as far as the eye could see, snaking through small villages, townships and communities to large cuttings in the Andean hillsides. The 38,000km Pan-American Highway stretches all the way from Alaska in the north of the Americas to Chile in the South, a journey that would take around four months to complete top to bottom. However, we are leaving it at Arequipa, where I hopefully will be sending this from.
Arequipa, at an elevation of around 2,300m, is where we may feel some symptoms of altitude sickness before we acclimatise. Fortunately we were prepped at the beginning of the trip so we know what to expect and how to deal with it, so hopefully not too many problems there
Anyway, I say Adios for now and will write later when we've had further adventures.
Mundo de viaje (I think that's how you say it!)
Kath & Andy
PS Made it to Arequipa OK. Had a quick walk round then found a nice restaurant round the corner from our hotel. I enjoyed a lovely meal of Alpaca Lomo Saltado – stir fried alpaca with onions & tomatoes, served with papas frites and arroz (chips and rice).
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"Don't ask what the world needs - ask what makes you come alive and then go & do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Howard Martin
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Sunday, 6 March 2011
Kimberley Walkabout
Originally written 13th June 2010:
Three times the size of the UK, the Kimberley region is one of the remotest parts of Australia - and we were heading there! The journey from Broome to Darwin through the red dirt, open eucalypt forest, savannah woodland, tropical monsoon rainforest, semi-arid desert of the Kimberleys past termite mounds and lumps of spiky spinifex grass was via the unsealed dirt track called "The Gibb River Road" (The Gibb), originally a cattle droving track to move cattle from the stations in the Kimberleys to the port at Derby. It is approx the equivalent of travelling from northern Scotland to northern scandinavia (the Perth to Broome flight was approx like flying from Spain to north Scotland by comparison) - and with added little side trips something in the region of 2000-2500 km! We were told that we were particluarly lucky. Unusually they'd had torrential rain storms which didn't normally happen in "The Dry" which meant that the area was going to be lush green and the waterholes flushed out with fresh water. Most of the waterfalls and streams would be flowing. Also fortunately the rains had stopped which meant The Gibb was open and we'd be able to see all this!
We had a lovely mixed group, approx 50:50 male:female with ages ranging from 20 - late 60's and several nationalities represented - 1 Canadian, 1 French Canadian, 2 French, 3 Dutch, 1 German, 1 Japanese, 2 Americans and 6 Aussies including the driver. We gelled together well which was good considering we were stuck in the middle of nowhere together!
Our first day was Broome to Windjana where we learnt the story of a local outlaw / hero (depending which side you're on) Jandamarra. We saw the Boab Prison Tree (boabs are huge with hollow trunks, many of the bigger ones were used as a jail with this particularly one reputedly being able to hold 12-14 aboriginal prisoners - wouldn't have been a comfy nights sleep I'd imagine) which he was held in overnight, and Tunnel Creek which was his hideout for three years. Tunnel Creek was formed by a creek carving out a tunnel (hence the name) through an uplifted limestone reef. Its big enough to walk through, with some wading (up to waist deep in places) to emerge on the other side to a small swimming hole and gorge. On the cliff face was an example of local aboriginal art - Wandjana Spirit. There were fruit bats in the dark part of the cavern screeching at us as we trudged past. We camped out at Wyndjana Gorge and after a honey & soy vegetable stir-fry, we did some star gazing up at the immense ceiling of stars.
We woke with the sunrise approx 5.45am (maximised daylight hours as it was pitch black by 5.30pm at night) with the first visit of the day to Wyndjana Gorge, a steep walled limestone gorge with devonian fossils. Ibis flew overhead and a flock of white cockatoos squawked at us friom the trees. Then, heading through the Napier Ranges, we were aiming for the King Leopold Ranges and Bell Gorge - a 3km hike each way to a swimming hole at the base of a picturesque waterfall. We spotted a monitor lizard enroute. We had to wade through a river part-way along but it was only ankle deep. It was mostly uphill coming back and I desperately fancied an ice-cold coke, icecream and a shower but I had to content myself with an apple! We camped out on a large layby in a saddle of the King Leopold Ranges, watching controlled bushfires burning in the distance, This was a minimal facility campsite i.e. none - a true bush camp! So if nature called, one was required to find a bush!!! In the middle of nowhere we enjoyed pasta bolognaise for tea and enjoyed the twinking show of stars above us!
Probably some of the best sites we visited were on the third day. Breakfast was bacon & egg sandwiches with the bacon & egg cooked over the campfire. After stopping at the Iminji Roadhouse owned by and adj to one of the local aboriginal communities we had a 20min walk to an absolutely beautiful horse-show shaped gorge surrounded by palms with another swimming hole / waterfall plunge pool where we spent quite some time swimming. It was refreshing to say the least and gave us all a good wash! From there it was onto Manning Gorge Campsite. The 6km return walk involves swimming across a billabong at the beginning and end using polystyrene boxes to float walking boots and rucksacks etc across. It was very hot and the quartzite boulder & rock track was open with little shade. We climbed an escarpment overlooking the valley for miles around. There was bush, bush and more bush. We eventually climbed down into a beautiful gorge with another waterfall and plunge pool / swimming hole. Dinner that night was roast lambs, veggies and jacket potatoes cooked over the campfire. Its amazing what you can cook in the middle of nowhere!!!!
From Manning Gorge we were headed for El Questro through more savannah woodland and open eucalypt forest. After passing the Kalumburu Turn for the remotest part of the Kimberley (Mitchell Plateau & Falls, Drysdale River Station & Bradshaw Aboriginal Paintings which we unfortunately weren't seeing on this trip), we had to cross the infamous Pentecost River. We were warned not to go within 5m of the riverbank (we stpped for piccies) as we might become crocodile dinner. Saltwater Crocs (aka Salties) inhabit this river. Incorrectly named - they should be called Estaurine Crocs as they live in both fresh & salt water, they will take humans for lunch, they're not fussy!
El Questro Gorge was a 2.5km walk each way over very rocky terrain with some scrambling over bounlders through a narrow gorge lined with palms giving plenty of shade. Unfortunately the swimming hole, though refreshing, didn't match up to those we'd visited prior to this on the trip. We stopped overnight at El Questro Station, which had preiovusly been a fully working cattle station (still partly doing it), but had been mostly coverted to a luxury tropical resort. After thai green curry & rice we headed up to the bar to enjoy a few chilled drinks and local entertainment!
Zeberdee Hot Springs was our first stop on Day 5 - a stream with a series of pools fed from a hot spring, only 10-15mins from the campsite and a short walk along a dirt track shaded with palms. After an hour playing in the springs we set off to Emma Gorge 15-20 mins away from that. A 3.2km part-shaded walk predominantly surrounded by lush palms over large boulders and rocks bought us to a large plunge pool at the end of the gorge with steep-sided (50m+) walls surrounding the pool in a semi-circle. The pool was very deep and cold and fed a small stream down the gorge which was choked with rocks and boulders. Most of the water was supplied by a waterfall which was dripping rather than flowing over the walls into the pool. Under the waterfall if was like having ice crystals hitting you on the head, but on the other side of the pool we discovered a small hot spring also feeding into the pool and the water was more pleasant to swim in. Then it was an afternoon driving leaving the Gibb and heading to The Bungles where we arrived after dark to pitch our tents. The drive involved a 50km track through Mabel Downs Cattle Station which was pot-holed and rutted and worse than anything we'd driven over on The Gibb. Burritos with sweet chilli sauce, sour cream, onions, peppers and salad was tea for the evening. The Bungles were only "discovered" in 1982 when the farmer collared a TV crew filming geological features in the area and asked them to see what was on his station...
Day 6 was spent in Purnululu World Heritage Area aka The Bungle Bungles. I did a flight over them when I was here on my working holiday 12 years ago. Since then the area has become world heritage listed. Formed 360mya this ancient sedimentary rock was eventually eroded to form the landscape we see today - domed beehive shaped banded mounds dotted across the landscape. We did several walks through the Bungles including a lookout over the Bungles, Cathedral Groge, a Domes Walk and Echidna Chasm, a lot being trails winding through or round the mounds or through narrow chasms.
We had to come out of The Bungles the same way we'd come in along the 50km bumpy track. There were a lot of people feeling green & queasy by the end of it. This was a long driving day to Lake Argyle though we did have a quick stop in Kununurra, the main township in the East Kimberley. At Lake Argyle we did a boat trip on the lake and saw short-eared rock wallabies, archer fish which would shoot water at a piece of bread held in your fingers. Mostly they were accurate but sometimes they'd miss and shoot you in the eye instead! Also catfish and silver cobblers shoved with the archer fish to get the bread crumbs. On one of the islands in the lake we saw the nests of Whistler Kites and Golden Orb Web Spiders. Lake Argyle is a 80x40km body of water that holds 20x the water volume of Syndey Harbour and if required can hold up to 53x. Built between 1969-1971 it is mainly used for irrigation and hydro-electric. Back at the campsite we enjoyed a sweet chilli stirfry round the campfire after a hot shower!!! The campsite facilities were excellent, some of the best (in terms of showers etc) that I've probably ever seen.
From Lake Argyle it was 1/2hr to the Northern Territory border & putting clocks forward by 1.5hrs before another long drive to Katherine. We had a few stops along the way including Bradshaw Bridge over the Victoria Rover where we spotted a huge saltie on the riverbank, Timber Creek lookout and a couple of roadhouses. Katherine is NT's 3rd largest township and is at the intersection of the Victoria & Stuart Highways (we were on the Victoria, Stuart Highway comes from Alice Springs). We stopped at a permanent campsite between the town and Katherine Gorge where we enjoyed barbequed kangaroo with mashed potato, coleslaw & veg round the campfire. Dessert was a chocolate damper, a bush loaf made of flour, beer & chocolate & cooked in the camp oven on the campfire.
Our last day started with a 2km return trip to a lookout over the 1st of the Katherine Gorges. Although called Katherine Gorge there is in fact 13 separate gorges carved out of the Arnhemland plateau. It is also technically incorrect to call it Katherine Gorge because it has been renamed back to its original aboriginal name of "Nitmiluk" meaning Circada Place. We also had a stop at Edith Falls (correctly called Leliyn) with a 2km return walk over an escarpment to a plunge pool and Adelaide River, home of the now-deceased (but stuffed and stood on the bar of the pub) Charlie The Water Buffalo who starred in Crocodile Dundee. If I recall rightly, last time I was here 12 years ago he was still alive & signing autographs!
Then we arrived in Darwin. After checking into our various hostels, we met at The Jetty for A Steak & Seafood All You Can Eat buffet with the rest of the group before saying our goodbyes.
So we've been (and still are) enjoying a bit of chill out time in Darwin. We've done a Heritage Walk though a lot of the place was either bombed in 1942 or destroyed by Cyclone Tracey Christmas Eve 1974. We had barramundi & chips for tea one night. Yesterday was a free tour of the Parliament House & a walk round the Botanic Gardens before having a free backpacker tea at The Vic, one of the few places to survive the bombing and cyclone! Our final plans include the Wave Pool at the harbour, Darwin Museum and Mindl Beach Sunset Market today. Tomorrow we might go to Crocodylus Cove, home to all things crocodile where you can allegedly swim in a pool next to the croc pool or go down in a cage in the croc pool itself. Maybe not eh...?
Three times the size of the UK, the Kimberley region is one of the remotest parts of Australia - and we were heading there! The journey from Broome to Darwin through the red dirt, open eucalypt forest, savannah woodland, tropical monsoon rainforest, semi-arid desert of the Kimberleys past termite mounds and lumps of spiky spinifex grass was via the unsealed dirt track called "The Gibb River Road" (The Gibb), originally a cattle droving track to move cattle from the stations in the Kimberleys to the port at Derby. It is approx the equivalent of travelling from northern Scotland to northern scandinavia (the Perth to Broome flight was approx like flying from Spain to north Scotland by comparison) - and with added little side trips something in the region of 2000-2500 km! We were told that we were particluarly lucky. Unusually they'd had torrential rain storms which didn't normally happen in "The Dry" which meant that the area was going to be lush green and the waterholes flushed out with fresh water. Most of the waterfalls and streams would be flowing. Also fortunately the rains had stopped which meant The Gibb was open and we'd be able to see all this!
We had a lovely mixed group, approx 50:50 male:female with ages ranging from 20 - late 60's and several nationalities represented - 1 Canadian, 1 French Canadian, 2 French, 3 Dutch, 1 German, 1 Japanese, 2 Americans and 6 Aussies including the driver. We gelled together well which was good considering we were stuck in the middle of nowhere together!
Our first day was Broome to Windjana where we learnt the story of a local outlaw / hero (depending which side you're on) Jandamarra. We saw the Boab Prison Tree (boabs are huge with hollow trunks, many of the bigger ones were used as a jail with this particularly one reputedly being able to hold 12-14 aboriginal prisoners - wouldn't have been a comfy nights sleep I'd imagine) which he was held in overnight, and Tunnel Creek which was his hideout for three years. Tunnel Creek was formed by a creek carving out a tunnel (hence the name) through an uplifted limestone reef. Its big enough to walk through, with some wading (up to waist deep in places) to emerge on the other side to a small swimming hole and gorge. On the cliff face was an example of local aboriginal art - Wandjana Spirit. There were fruit bats in the dark part of the cavern screeching at us as we trudged past. We camped out at Wyndjana Gorge and after a honey & soy vegetable stir-fry, we did some star gazing up at the immense ceiling of stars.
We woke with the sunrise approx 5.45am (maximised daylight hours as it was pitch black by 5.30pm at night) with the first visit of the day to Wyndjana Gorge, a steep walled limestone gorge with devonian fossils. Ibis flew overhead and a flock of white cockatoos squawked at us friom the trees. Then, heading through the Napier Ranges, we were aiming for the King Leopold Ranges and Bell Gorge - a 3km hike each way to a swimming hole at the base of a picturesque waterfall. We spotted a monitor lizard enroute. We had to wade through a river part-way along but it was only ankle deep. It was mostly uphill coming back and I desperately fancied an ice-cold coke, icecream and a shower but I had to content myself with an apple! We camped out on a large layby in a saddle of the King Leopold Ranges, watching controlled bushfires burning in the distance, This was a minimal facility campsite i.e. none - a true bush camp! So if nature called, one was required to find a bush!!! In the middle of nowhere we enjoyed pasta bolognaise for tea and enjoyed the twinking show of stars above us!
Probably some of the best sites we visited were on the third day. Breakfast was bacon & egg sandwiches with the bacon & egg cooked over the campfire. After stopping at the Iminji Roadhouse owned by and adj to one of the local aboriginal communities we had a 20min walk to an absolutely beautiful horse-show shaped gorge surrounded by palms with another swimming hole / waterfall plunge pool where we spent quite some time swimming. It was refreshing to say the least and gave us all a good wash! From there it was onto Manning Gorge Campsite. The 6km return walk involves swimming across a billabong at the beginning and end using polystyrene boxes to float walking boots and rucksacks etc across. It was very hot and the quartzite boulder & rock track was open with little shade. We climbed an escarpment overlooking the valley for miles around. There was bush, bush and more bush. We eventually climbed down into a beautiful gorge with another waterfall and plunge pool / swimming hole. Dinner that night was roast lambs, veggies and jacket potatoes cooked over the campfire. Its amazing what you can cook in the middle of nowhere!!!!
From Manning Gorge we were headed for El Questro through more savannah woodland and open eucalypt forest. After passing the Kalumburu Turn for the remotest part of the Kimberley (Mitchell Plateau & Falls, Drysdale River Station & Bradshaw Aboriginal Paintings which we unfortunately weren't seeing on this trip), we had to cross the infamous Pentecost River. We were warned not to go within 5m of the riverbank (we stpped for piccies) as we might become crocodile dinner. Saltwater Crocs (aka Salties) inhabit this river. Incorrectly named - they should be called Estaurine Crocs as they live in both fresh & salt water, they will take humans for lunch, they're not fussy!
El Questro Gorge was a 2.5km walk each way over very rocky terrain with some scrambling over bounlders through a narrow gorge lined with palms giving plenty of shade. Unfortunately the swimming hole, though refreshing, didn't match up to those we'd visited prior to this on the trip. We stopped overnight at El Questro Station, which had preiovusly been a fully working cattle station (still partly doing it), but had been mostly coverted to a luxury tropical resort. After thai green curry & rice we headed up to the bar to enjoy a few chilled drinks and local entertainment!
Zeberdee Hot Springs was our first stop on Day 5 - a stream with a series of pools fed from a hot spring, only 10-15mins from the campsite and a short walk along a dirt track shaded with palms. After an hour playing in the springs we set off to Emma Gorge 15-20 mins away from that. A 3.2km part-shaded walk predominantly surrounded by lush palms over large boulders and rocks bought us to a large plunge pool at the end of the gorge with steep-sided (50m+) walls surrounding the pool in a semi-circle. The pool was very deep and cold and fed a small stream down the gorge which was choked with rocks and boulders. Most of the water was supplied by a waterfall which was dripping rather than flowing over the walls into the pool. Under the waterfall if was like having ice crystals hitting you on the head, but on the other side of the pool we discovered a small hot spring also feeding into the pool and the water was more pleasant to swim in. Then it was an afternoon driving leaving the Gibb and heading to The Bungles where we arrived after dark to pitch our tents. The drive involved a 50km track through Mabel Downs Cattle Station which was pot-holed and rutted and worse than anything we'd driven over on The Gibb. Burritos with sweet chilli sauce, sour cream, onions, peppers and salad was tea for the evening. The Bungles were only "discovered" in 1982 when the farmer collared a TV crew filming geological features in the area and asked them to see what was on his station...
Day 6 was spent in Purnululu World Heritage Area aka The Bungle Bungles. I did a flight over them when I was here on my working holiday 12 years ago. Since then the area has become world heritage listed. Formed 360mya this ancient sedimentary rock was eventually eroded to form the landscape we see today - domed beehive shaped banded mounds dotted across the landscape. We did several walks through the Bungles including a lookout over the Bungles, Cathedral Groge, a Domes Walk and Echidna Chasm, a lot being trails winding through or round the mounds or through narrow chasms.
We had to come out of The Bungles the same way we'd come in along the 50km bumpy track. There were a lot of people feeling green & queasy by the end of it. This was a long driving day to Lake Argyle though we did have a quick stop in Kununurra, the main township in the East Kimberley. At Lake Argyle we did a boat trip on the lake and saw short-eared rock wallabies, archer fish which would shoot water at a piece of bread held in your fingers. Mostly they were accurate but sometimes they'd miss and shoot you in the eye instead! Also catfish and silver cobblers shoved with the archer fish to get the bread crumbs. On one of the islands in the lake we saw the nests of Whistler Kites and Golden Orb Web Spiders. Lake Argyle is a 80x40km body of water that holds 20x the water volume of Syndey Harbour and if required can hold up to 53x. Built between 1969-1971 it is mainly used for irrigation and hydro-electric. Back at the campsite we enjoyed a sweet chilli stirfry round the campfire after a hot shower!!! The campsite facilities were excellent, some of the best (in terms of showers etc) that I've probably ever seen.
From Lake Argyle it was 1/2hr to the Northern Territory border & putting clocks forward by 1.5hrs before another long drive to Katherine. We had a few stops along the way including Bradshaw Bridge over the Victoria Rover where we spotted a huge saltie on the riverbank, Timber Creek lookout and a couple of roadhouses. Katherine is NT's 3rd largest township and is at the intersection of the Victoria & Stuart Highways (we were on the Victoria, Stuart Highway comes from Alice Springs). We stopped at a permanent campsite between the town and Katherine Gorge where we enjoyed barbequed kangaroo with mashed potato, coleslaw & veg round the campfire. Dessert was a chocolate damper, a bush loaf made of flour, beer & chocolate & cooked in the camp oven on the campfire.
Our last day started with a 2km return trip to a lookout over the 1st of the Katherine Gorges. Although called Katherine Gorge there is in fact 13 separate gorges carved out of the Arnhemland plateau. It is also technically incorrect to call it Katherine Gorge because it has been renamed back to its original aboriginal name of "Nitmiluk" meaning Circada Place. We also had a stop at Edith Falls (correctly called Leliyn) with a 2km return walk over an escarpment to a plunge pool and Adelaide River, home of the now-deceased (but stuffed and stood on the bar of the pub) Charlie The Water Buffalo who starred in Crocodile Dundee. If I recall rightly, last time I was here 12 years ago he was still alive & signing autographs!
Then we arrived in Darwin. After checking into our various hostels, we met at The Jetty for A Steak & Seafood All You Can Eat buffet with the rest of the group before saying our goodbyes.
So we've been (and still are) enjoying a bit of chill out time in Darwin. We've done a Heritage Walk though a lot of the place was either bombed in 1942 or destroyed by Cyclone Tracey Christmas Eve 1974. We had barramundi & chips for tea one night. Yesterday was a free tour of the Parliament House & a walk round the Botanic Gardens before having a free backpacker tea at The Vic, one of the few places to survive the bombing and cyclone! Our final plans include the Wave Pool at the harbour, Darwin Museum and Mindl Beach Sunset Market today. Tomorrow we might go to Crocodylus Cove, home to all things crocodile where you can allegedly swim in a pool next to the croc pool or go down in a cage in the croc pool itself. Maybe not eh...?
Back Down Under...
Originally written Monday 31st May 2010:
We arrived in Perth just after midnight last Tuesday morning which meant that once we'd got back to Andy's friend's house in Duncraig, a suburb in the northen part of Perth, and had a Welcome to Aus beer we could head straight off to bed!!!
Suffice to say our first day was not an early start but after sleeping like a log we headed into Perth City Centre which had changed dramatically - as had the prices of everything! A beer in a pub now costs on average 6 pounds sterling each. Long gone are the days of the $2 schooner (which was less than 1 pound back then). Most people buy from the bottleshop (off-license).
We had been hoping to go swimming with the bottlenose dolphins at Rockingham during our time in Perth but disappointingly there were no dolphin swimming trips running during the duration of our stay. Last time I was here I'd been hoping to do that but didn't have the extra day I needed. Looks like we'll have to come here again ;-)
Otherwise the first day was pretty quiet. We met Andy's friend John after work and went for a beer with him before heading back to his place to spend the evening with himself, his wife Vikki and daughter Milly for pizza and beer.
Day 2 saw us visit Hilary's Marina, a shopping complex and tourist attraction with lots of sporting, sea-related and souvenir shops. We enjoyed breakfast at a little cafe in the sunshine. It was probably the warmest day in Perth as the temperature never really exceeded 20'c and being as it is their winter went dark & cold early, but not really any different to much of the weather we had at home in May. Anyway back to breakfast: crepes with icecream, strawberries & bananas. Yum! We spent most of the day strolling down the harbour breakers and along the beach but eventually took the bus back to the City Centre to arrange an alternative trip to do instead of the dolphins. We checked out a few other Perth landmarks before heading back for home-made Shepherds Pie - and beer!
The third day we were treated to some Perth winter weather and had heavy showers all day. Undaunted we headed off on the train to Perth's port - Fremantle, known as Freo to the locals - for a look around and to meet up with some friends. Despite the weather we enjoyed a delicious Shark & Chips (yes as in Jaws) at the Sweetlips Cafe in the Fishing Boat Harbour. Unfortunately the History Museum (still in brochures and the Lonely Planet) was now gone and the markets were closed. Despite that we wandered down Cappacino Strip and around the town. We sampled a glass of Pale Ale from the popular Little Creatures Pub which has its own micro-brewery. Later we met up with Jim & Tash at Mad Monks Bar, another pub & restaurant with its own micro-brewery. We first met Jim & Tash in Egypt in 2007 and it was good to catch up with them again. They took us out to dinner at the "Norfolk Pub" where Andy had a good steak burger and I enjoyed a smoked salmon pasta dish.
Our final day in Perth started with a stroll round Kings Park - a city nature reserve with a lot of original native bush still surviving. We are both sure its been developed a great deal since our last visits but must check the photos! ;-) From there we caught a tour bus which took us out to the Swan Valley. Caversham Nature Park was our first stop where we got up close and personal with several native animals including laughing kookaburra, red kangaroo, western grey kangaroo, wombat, blue-winged kookaburra, dingos, echidna, potaroos, koala and Tasmanian Deveil. They also held a farmshow demonstrating sheep shearing Aussie style, swinging the billy, whip cracking and the like. The Swan Valley arm of the Margaret River Chocolate Factory was next. Though the stop was brief it did allow an indulgence in a little chocolate tasting. Margaret River Chocolate is re-refined Belguim chocolate. Our final visit was to the Sandleford Winery for some wine tasting. Here we managed to arrange a very short & sweet meet-up with Rod & his girlfriend Cathy. Rod & I were part of a group that travelled together in Canada in 2005. Dinner that night was from the Carilion Food Hall - a number of food companies have stalls around and share the seating area including Red Rosster (Aus version of KFC), Hungry Jacks (Aus version of Burger King), fish & chips, carveries, chinese, thai, mexican etc.
An early start the next morning for our flight to Broome. Proving that I still have a dynamite character, I was checked for explosives at the airport!!! Once in Broome a courtesy shuttle dropped us at the "Beaches of Broome" backpacker hostel and after checking in we wandered down to Cable Beach which is all of 10 mins away from here! Along the way we spotted a black-headed ibis, magpie larks and wedge-tailed eagles.
At 5-ish we joined the throng that was catching the bus to Town Beach for the phenomen known as "Staircase To The Moon". Given the correct weather conditions and tide levels etc this can happen up to three times a month between about March & October. The Staircase is an illusion created as the full moon rises over the mudflats of Town Beach in Rowbuck Bay at low tide giving the appearance of a staircase to the moon. Did exactly what it said on the tin! Was phenomenal! Before jumping on the bus back, we wandered round the Town Beach market which appears on the Staircase to the Moon nights with its food stalls, jewellery, nicknacks etc.
Yesterday we did some Broome sightseeing. I can only describe Broome as what I thought every Aussie town would be like before I actually came here. Its very close to nature and the outback here with boabab and eucalypts lining the streets. Town Beach by day was our first stop. Apparently the bay is littered with flying boat wrecks which were distroyed by the Japanese Air Strikes in 1942 and on shore is the Pioneer Cemetary. Jutting into the sea is the remains of the old jetty. We learnt more about this at the Broome History Museum which covered the local history of the area particularly the pearling history of the area as well as shell collections, geology, white fella artifacts, information on the aboriginal tribes of the area.
We washed our history lesson down with a sample of Ginger Beer made by the Broome micro-brewery Matso's. In addition to Ginger Beer, this brewery makes chilli beer and mango beer amongst its collection. The ginger beer came chilled with ice. Was delicious & very refreshing :-)
Pearl Luggers is a shop that also offers trips to a pearl farm & its own local talk/tour. However within the grounds of the shop are two dry-docked pearl luggers (boats) which are free to walk around. Displays provide further information on the boats, their crews and more history of the pearling industry.
Then it was back to Cable Beach for a 1hr Sunset Camel Trek. Seeing Cable Beach from atop a slow-moving dromedary is an interesting and enjoyable experience (though there is some saddle soreness by the end of it! ;-)). We were paired up to ride the camels. We have both previously ridden a camel in Egypt but had our own camels. Here we "shared" a camel called "Lazy Daisy". Mr Daisy, for it was an 18-year old boy camel, actually got the name from his racing days - as a racing camel in his youth he won many trophies. The sunset was gorgeous with fiery reds, oranges and yellows piercing the sky across the sea whilst other colours were brush stroked across the sky above us as it slowly turned dark and the horizon crimson.
We left the beach once the sun had completely gone down. Twilight here is very short or non-existent and once the sun has gone it quickly goes dark. We had dinner at the hostel - a seafood basket for me with fish, prawns, crab, squid and chips - washed down with WA-brewed Swan Draught Lager. Fortunately the hostel food is relatively cheap, as are the beers (similar to British prices).
Today we went out to Gantheaume (Gan - the - am) Point 5km south of Cable Beach where cliffs have been eroded into all sorts of curious shapes and show beautiful layering of reds, yellows, oranges, blakcs, whites and greys. I would imagaine that it would be particularly stunning at sunset, but with only one (very early) bus to the point each day, we had to see the early morning sun on it. This is also home to 120million year old dinosaur tracks - there are concrete casts on the cliff top as the real ones are usually only revealed when there's a low tide - and Anatasia's Pool, an enlarged pool built by the first resident of the old Lighthouse Keepers Cottage after the lighthouse was automated and the cottage sold off. The resident's wife suffered with arthritis and bathed in the pool to ease her joints.
In between some dips in the sea, we walked the 5km beach walk back to Cable Beach before heading to the hostel for lunch and a cold refreshing dip in the pool. We did wander back down to the beach when it got cooler to see another gorgeous sunset.
Today we are off into town for a wander round. Tonight we have to get packed up and have an early night as we have a 6:30am pick-up for our trip to the Kimberleys.
We arrived in Perth just after midnight last Tuesday morning which meant that once we'd got back to Andy's friend's house in Duncraig, a suburb in the northen part of Perth, and had a Welcome to Aus beer we could head straight off to bed!!!
Suffice to say our first day was not an early start but after sleeping like a log we headed into Perth City Centre which had changed dramatically - as had the prices of everything! A beer in a pub now costs on average 6 pounds sterling each. Long gone are the days of the $2 schooner (which was less than 1 pound back then). Most people buy from the bottleshop (off-license).
We had been hoping to go swimming with the bottlenose dolphins at Rockingham during our time in Perth but disappointingly there were no dolphin swimming trips running during the duration of our stay. Last time I was here I'd been hoping to do that but didn't have the extra day I needed. Looks like we'll have to come here again ;-)
Otherwise the first day was pretty quiet. We met Andy's friend John after work and went for a beer with him before heading back to his place to spend the evening with himself, his wife Vikki and daughter Milly for pizza and beer.
Day 2 saw us visit Hilary's Marina, a shopping complex and tourist attraction with lots of sporting, sea-related and souvenir shops. We enjoyed breakfast at a little cafe in the sunshine. It was probably the warmest day in Perth as the temperature never really exceeded 20'c and being as it is their winter went dark & cold early, but not really any different to much of the weather we had at home in May. Anyway back to breakfast: crepes with icecream, strawberries & bananas. Yum! We spent most of the day strolling down the harbour breakers and along the beach but eventually took the bus back to the City Centre to arrange an alternative trip to do instead of the dolphins. We checked out a few other Perth landmarks before heading back for home-made Shepherds Pie - and beer!
The third day we were treated to some Perth winter weather and had heavy showers all day. Undaunted we headed off on the train to Perth's port - Fremantle, known as Freo to the locals - for a look around and to meet up with some friends. Despite the weather we enjoyed a delicious Shark & Chips (yes as in Jaws) at the Sweetlips Cafe in the Fishing Boat Harbour. Unfortunately the History Museum (still in brochures and the Lonely Planet) was now gone and the markets were closed. Despite that we wandered down Cappacino Strip and around the town. We sampled a glass of Pale Ale from the popular Little Creatures Pub which has its own micro-brewery. Later we met up with Jim & Tash at Mad Monks Bar, another pub & restaurant with its own micro-brewery. We first met Jim & Tash in Egypt in 2007 and it was good to catch up with them again. They took us out to dinner at the "Norfolk Pub" where Andy had a good steak burger and I enjoyed a smoked salmon pasta dish.
Our final day in Perth started with a stroll round Kings Park - a city nature reserve with a lot of original native bush still surviving. We are both sure its been developed a great deal since our last visits but must check the photos! ;-) From there we caught a tour bus which took us out to the Swan Valley. Caversham Nature Park was our first stop where we got up close and personal with several native animals including laughing kookaburra, red kangaroo, western grey kangaroo, wombat, blue-winged kookaburra, dingos, echidna, potaroos, koala and Tasmanian Deveil. They also held a farmshow demonstrating sheep shearing Aussie style, swinging the billy, whip cracking and the like. The Swan Valley arm of the Margaret River Chocolate Factory was next. Though the stop was brief it did allow an indulgence in a little chocolate tasting. Margaret River Chocolate is re-refined Belguim chocolate. Our final visit was to the Sandleford Winery for some wine tasting. Here we managed to arrange a very short & sweet meet-up with Rod & his girlfriend Cathy. Rod & I were part of a group that travelled together in Canada in 2005. Dinner that night was from the Carilion Food Hall - a number of food companies have stalls around and share the seating area including Red Rosster (Aus version of KFC), Hungry Jacks (Aus version of Burger King), fish & chips, carveries, chinese, thai, mexican etc.
An early start the next morning for our flight to Broome. Proving that I still have a dynamite character, I was checked for explosives at the airport!!! Once in Broome a courtesy shuttle dropped us at the "Beaches of Broome" backpacker hostel and after checking in we wandered down to Cable Beach which is all of 10 mins away from here! Along the way we spotted a black-headed ibis, magpie larks and wedge-tailed eagles.
At 5-ish we joined the throng that was catching the bus to Town Beach for the phenomen known as "Staircase To The Moon". Given the correct weather conditions and tide levels etc this can happen up to three times a month between about March & October. The Staircase is an illusion created as the full moon rises over the mudflats of Town Beach in Rowbuck Bay at low tide giving the appearance of a staircase to the moon. Did exactly what it said on the tin! Was phenomenal! Before jumping on the bus back, we wandered round the Town Beach market which appears on the Staircase to the Moon nights with its food stalls, jewellery, nicknacks etc.
Yesterday we did some Broome sightseeing. I can only describe Broome as what I thought every Aussie town would be like before I actually came here. Its very close to nature and the outback here with boabab and eucalypts lining the streets. Town Beach by day was our first stop. Apparently the bay is littered with flying boat wrecks which were distroyed by the Japanese Air Strikes in 1942 and on shore is the Pioneer Cemetary. Jutting into the sea is the remains of the old jetty. We learnt more about this at the Broome History Museum which covered the local history of the area particularly the pearling history of the area as well as shell collections, geology, white fella artifacts, information on the aboriginal tribes of the area.
We washed our history lesson down with a sample of Ginger Beer made by the Broome micro-brewery Matso's. In addition to Ginger Beer, this brewery makes chilli beer and mango beer amongst its collection. The ginger beer came chilled with ice. Was delicious & very refreshing :-)
Pearl Luggers is a shop that also offers trips to a pearl farm & its own local talk/tour. However within the grounds of the shop are two dry-docked pearl luggers (boats) which are free to walk around. Displays provide further information on the boats, their crews and more history of the pearling industry.
Then it was back to Cable Beach for a 1hr Sunset Camel Trek. Seeing Cable Beach from atop a slow-moving dromedary is an interesting and enjoyable experience (though there is some saddle soreness by the end of it! ;-)). We were paired up to ride the camels. We have both previously ridden a camel in Egypt but had our own camels. Here we "shared" a camel called "Lazy Daisy". Mr Daisy, for it was an 18-year old boy camel, actually got the name from his racing days - as a racing camel in his youth he won many trophies. The sunset was gorgeous with fiery reds, oranges and yellows piercing the sky across the sea whilst other colours were brush stroked across the sky above us as it slowly turned dark and the horizon crimson.
We left the beach once the sun had completely gone down. Twilight here is very short or non-existent and once the sun has gone it quickly goes dark. We had dinner at the hostel - a seafood basket for me with fish, prawns, crab, squid and chips - washed down with WA-brewed Swan Draught Lager. Fortunately the hostel food is relatively cheap, as are the beers (similar to British prices).
Today we went out to Gantheaume (Gan - the - am) Point 5km south of Cable Beach where cliffs have been eroded into all sorts of curious shapes and show beautiful layering of reds, yellows, oranges, blakcs, whites and greys. I would imagaine that it would be particularly stunning at sunset, but with only one (very early) bus to the point each day, we had to see the early morning sun on it. This is also home to 120million year old dinosaur tracks - there are concrete casts on the cliff top as the real ones are usually only revealed when there's a low tide - and Anatasia's Pool, an enlarged pool built by the first resident of the old Lighthouse Keepers Cottage after the lighthouse was automated and the cottage sold off. The resident's wife suffered with arthritis and bathed in the pool to ease her joints.
In between some dips in the sea, we walked the 5km beach walk back to Cable Beach before heading to the hostel for lunch and a cold refreshing dip in the pool. We did wander back down to the beach when it got cooler to see another gorgeous sunset.
Today we are off into town for a wander round. Tonight we have to get packed up and have an early night as we have a 6:30am pick-up for our trip to the Kimberleys.
Friday, 18 September 2009
Land of FIre & Ice
Somewhere in the North Atlantic lies a 103,000 sq km island known as Iceland. Despite the name, only 10-15% of the country is covered by ice of which the majority is by Vatnajökull reputedly the world´s 3rd largest icecap after Antarctica and Greenland. However, this is also a country of geothermally active hot spots, of geysers, hot springs, volcanos and lava flows. Then theres the highlands, river valleys, farmland and harbours. Despite this I think the most appropriate name would be Icy_Cold_Wind_&_Rainland!!! It might give a hint to the predominant weather conditions during my visit 
Iceland has a population of approx 320,000 of which more than a third live in Reykjavik City and nearly two-thirds live in the Greater Reykjavik area. It was here in Reykjavik where I began my adventure...
On arrival in Reykjavik on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, there was a somewhat desolate-looking drive to the city. Once there and settled into the hotel, Peggy (who I´d met on the flight - and turned out to be a few doors up on the same floor of the same hotel!) and I walked down to the Nautholsvik geothermal beach. The beach was a nice sandy yellow, but the geothermal bit, the small constructed area of beach fed by a hot spring, was on winter hours and closed. We used the complimentary shuttle bus into town to try out the locally recommended "Cafe Paris" for the meat dish of the day, roast pork.
My first full day there started with a walk up Öskjuhlid Hill to the Perlan. Here 6 big thermal tanks hold the 4 million litres of thermal water for the city. On top of these is a big glass dome holding a gourmet restaurant and a cafeteria. It was in the latter I sampled Pönnukökur, a stuffed savoury pancake. V filling. The Perlan also has an artifial geyser that spouts every 4-5 minutes. In the afternoon I enjoyed a highlight of the main attractions of Reykjavik on a "Grand Excursion" including the tallest building Hallgrimur´s Church, the Old Town, Harbour and National Museum. The evening meal was Fish Meal of the Day at Cafe Paris again. This was Plokkfiskur - a traditional icelandic fish pie.
Tueday was the trip to the Golden Circle. First stop was the Hellisheidi Power Plant where electricity is produced from geothermal energy for Reykjavik. Then it was onto Gulfoss (The Golden Waterfall), a double waterfall that cascades 11m and 21m respectively into a steep sided canyon kicking up a huge amount of spray in the process. On a nice day you can apparently see a rainbow in the spray, but that´s on a nice day. It was very cold and very wet so I didn´t benefit from the full wonder of the occasion.
Geyser Geothermal Field was our lunchstop. Featuring the now inactive "Great Geyser" Geysir and its faithfully spouting buddy Strokkur which spouted and soaked an already wet me! At least the water was warm! I sampled a traditional icelandic lamb stew at the somewhat tacky tourist complex to warm myself up after!
Our last stop of the day, where I had almost dried out was þingvellir National Park where the first national parliament (Alpingi) in the world was created. It first convened in AD930. þingvellir also sits on the mid-Atlantic Ridge where the continental plates of Eurasia and North America are pulling apart creating earthquakes and volcanic activity. This is causing Iceland to grow. Indeed the land in the Almannagja Fissure where the Alþingi met literally sits between the two continental plates.
Take a walk on the ice side was the theme of Day 4. This was a guided glacier hike on the glacial tongue of Solheimajökull off the main icecap at Myrdalsjökull reputedly Iceland´s 4th largest, with the dormant volcano Katla lying underneath. Our guide cheerfully explained that Iceland usually gets an eruption every 2-5 years before quietly adding that there had been none for 5 years so "we´re due one now"!
We had an exciting walk up the icefield viewing ice ridges, sculptures, crevasses and cauldrons. It was an "easy" walk for about 3.5hrs but I´d recommend it to anyone needing a good workout! We stopped off at Skoafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls on the way back to the city.
Yesterday afternoon I went Whale Watching out in Reykjavik Bay where we spotted Minke Whales, White-Beaked Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises. As Iceland does still hunt whales, supporting whale watching does help with keeping the whales alive rather than them being eaten. It was an excellent trip despite the sea being rough and the ever present cold wind and drizzle being ever present. We were out at sea for about 3 hours so feeling somewhat chilly, I had a small stopoff at a minute seafood cafe called Sea Baron on arrival in the city. This was almost a greasy spoons version of a seafood cafe but good nonetheless and relatively cheap. Lobstersoup and Grilled Shrimp Kebab were on a special and they were hot!!!
By then the rare sunshine had decided to make an appearance and the relatively warm evening was ideal for a walk round the postmodern City Hall and Tjörn Lake (the pond). The lake is apparently visited by over 40 species of migratory birds and laps at the base of the City Hall. Inside the City Hall is a huge 3D map of Iceland.
Last night I was hoping to go on a Northern Lights viewing trip. Unfortunately the weather put paid to that option and the trip was cancelled. I don´t hold out much hope for tonight either, especially as it is raining again (which is why I am in here typing this and not outside getting wet!
)
Today I´ve been for a walk round Laugardalur Park & Sports Grounds and the Botanic Garden, about 10 mins by bus from the city centre. Back in the city I´ve sampled Pylsur (an Icelandic Hot Dog) before writing this. This afternoon I will be checking out the shops (though judging by prices, it´ll be more window shopping than buying!)
Tomorrow I head home, but not before I´ve had a long dip in the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal pool created from wastewater from the nearby Power Plant. Its suppsed to be very therapeutic and great for poor skin conditions.
Well that´s about it for this trip. Before I go you will have noted that I have tried to sample a range of local foods during my stay here. However there are a few tastebud teasers that I´ve decided not to munch on (hope you´ve not just had lunch or about to eat as you´re reading this):
Lundi - Puffin
Grilled Minke Whale Steak - exactly what it says. I´ve seen it on offer in quite a lot of restaurants.
Svið - Singed sheeps head complete with eyes but minus the brain, sawn in two and boiled. It can be eaten fresh or pickled.
Slatur - Mishmash of sheep leftovers tied up in a sheeps stomach
Sursaðir Hrutspungar - Ram´s bits (I´m talking Crown Jewels here!) pickled in whey and pressed into a cake.
Hakarl - Putrefied Shark Meat
Yum!!!! Anyone brave enough to try these is a braver person than I, so drop me a mail if you´re one of those rare beings!
On that note, and until the next globe-trotting adventure,
Bless (as they say in Iceland)
Kath
Iceland has a population of approx 320,000 of which more than a third live in Reykjavik City and nearly two-thirds live in the Greater Reykjavik area. It was here in Reykjavik where I began my adventure...
On arrival in Reykjavik on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, there was a somewhat desolate-looking drive to the city. Once there and settled into the hotel, Peggy (who I´d met on the flight - and turned out to be a few doors up on the same floor of the same hotel!) and I walked down to the Nautholsvik geothermal beach. The beach was a nice sandy yellow, but the geothermal bit, the small constructed area of beach fed by a hot spring, was on winter hours and closed. We used the complimentary shuttle bus into town to try out the locally recommended "Cafe Paris" for the meat dish of the day, roast pork.
My first full day there started with a walk up Öskjuhlid Hill to the Perlan. Here 6 big thermal tanks hold the 4 million litres of thermal water for the city. On top of these is a big glass dome holding a gourmet restaurant and a cafeteria. It was in the latter I sampled Pönnukökur, a stuffed savoury pancake. V filling. The Perlan also has an artifial geyser that spouts every 4-5 minutes. In the afternoon I enjoyed a highlight of the main attractions of Reykjavik on a "Grand Excursion" including the tallest building Hallgrimur´s Church, the Old Town, Harbour and National Museum. The evening meal was Fish Meal of the Day at Cafe Paris again. This was Plokkfiskur - a traditional icelandic fish pie.
Tueday was the trip to the Golden Circle. First stop was the Hellisheidi Power Plant where electricity is produced from geothermal energy for Reykjavik. Then it was onto Gulfoss (The Golden Waterfall), a double waterfall that cascades 11m and 21m respectively into a steep sided canyon kicking up a huge amount of spray in the process. On a nice day you can apparently see a rainbow in the spray, but that´s on a nice day. It was very cold and very wet so I didn´t benefit from the full wonder of the occasion.
Geyser Geothermal Field was our lunchstop. Featuring the now inactive "Great Geyser" Geysir and its faithfully spouting buddy Strokkur which spouted and soaked an already wet me! At least the water was warm! I sampled a traditional icelandic lamb stew at the somewhat tacky tourist complex to warm myself up after!
Our last stop of the day, where I had almost dried out was þingvellir National Park where the first national parliament (Alpingi) in the world was created. It first convened in AD930. þingvellir also sits on the mid-Atlantic Ridge where the continental plates of Eurasia and North America are pulling apart creating earthquakes and volcanic activity. This is causing Iceland to grow. Indeed the land in the Almannagja Fissure where the Alþingi met literally sits between the two continental plates.
Take a walk on the ice side was the theme of Day 4. This was a guided glacier hike on the glacial tongue of Solheimajökull off the main icecap at Myrdalsjökull reputedly Iceland´s 4th largest, with the dormant volcano Katla lying underneath. Our guide cheerfully explained that Iceland usually gets an eruption every 2-5 years before quietly adding that there had been none for 5 years so "we´re due one now"!
We had an exciting walk up the icefield viewing ice ridges, sculptures, crevasses and cauldrons. It was an "easy" walk for about 3.5hrs but I´d recommend it to anyone needing a good workout! We stopped off at Skoafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls on the way back to the city.Yesterday afternoon I went Whale Watching out in Reykjavik Bay where we spotted Minke Whales, White-Beaked Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises. As Iceland does still hunt whales, supporting whale watching does help with keeping the whales alive rather than them being eaten. It was an excellent trip despite the sea being rough and the ever present cold wind and drizzle being ever present. We were out at sea for about 3 hours so feeling somewhat chilly, I had a small stopoff at a minute seafood cafe called Sea Baron on arrival in the city. This was almost a greasy spoons version of a seafood cafe but good nonetheless and relatively cheap. Lobstersoup and Grilled Shrimp Kebab were on a special and they were hot!!!
By then the rare sunshine had decided to make an appearance and the relatively warm evening was ideal for a walk round the postmodern City Hall and Tjörn Lake (the pond). The lake is apparently visited by over 40 species of migratory birds and laps at the base of the City Hall. Inside the City Hall is a huge 3D map of Iceland.
Last night I was hoping to go on a Northern Lights viewing trip. Unfortunately the weather put paid to that option and the trip was cancelled. I don´t hold out much hope for tonight either, especially as it is raining again (which is why I am in here typing this and not outside getting wet!
)Today I´ve been for a walk round Laugardalur Park & Sports Grounds and the Botanic Garden, about 10 mins by bus from the city centre. Back in the city I´ve sampled Pylsur (an Icelandic Hot Dog) before writing this. This afternoon I will be checking out the shops (though judging by prices, it´ll be more window shopping than buying!)
Tomorrow I head home, but not before I´ve had a long dip in the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal pool created from wastewater from the nearby Power Plant. Its suppsed to be very therapeutic and great for poor skin conditions.
Well that´s about it for this trip. Before I go you will have noted that I have tried to sample a range of local foods during my stay here. However there are a few tastebud teasers that I´ve decided not to munch on (hope you´ve not just had lunch or about to eat as you´re reading this):
Lundi - Puffin
Grilled Minke Whale Steak - exactly what it says. I´ve seen it on offer in quite a lot of restaurants.
Svið - Singed sheeps head complete with eyes but minus the brain, sawn in two and boiled. It can be eaten fresh or pickled.
Slatur - Mishmash of sheep leftovers tied up in a sheeps stomach
Sursaðir Hrutspungar - Ram´s bits (I´m talking Crown Jewels here!) pickled in whey and pressed into a cake.
Hakarl - Putrefied Shark Meat
Yum!!!! Anyone brave enough to try these is a braver person than I, so drop me a mail if you´re one of those rare beings!
On that note, and until the next globe-trotting adventure,
Bless (as they say in Iceland)
Kath
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