Week two in Sydney – Don’t Rain on our Parades!

Experienced some more temperamental Australian weather last week. Apparently it’s been the worst summer in Sydney for over 50 years. It’s not like Scotland though. Although it rains now and again (mostly intermittent showers, occasionally it can be the ‘take cover’ torrential rain), it doesn’t last long and it’s been so hot recently, you actually welcome it. It did mean, however, that we postponed our out of town trip to the Blue Mountains to next weekend instead. Fingers crossed next Saturday will be lovely and sunny, with beautiful blue clear skies!

Despite the unpredictable weather, we still managed to get up to a lot of fun things last week....

•    Australia Day
Thursday marked Australia Day, a national public holiday. The city was packed with people (a lot were kitted with full outfits donning the Aussie flag) and the pubs were even busier. We spent most of the afternoon in The Rocks (a small historic part of Sydney near the harbour. The cobbled streets give it a real Edinburgh feel), with three stages of live music and lots of stalls. After deciding the Harbour Stage had the best mix of music, we settled there for a while and watched a couple of bands. We ended the day in Darling Harbour, where we joined the masses to watch the boat parade and fireworks.

 
•    Surrey Hills
A really funky part of Sydney; all the streets are named after English streets, such as Oxford St and Crown St and they are packed with interesting restaurants, bars and independent clothes shops. We only really went to the area to use the internet at the public library, but we plan on going back next week to try out some of the bars.

•    Gallery of New South Wales
There’s lots of interesting museums in Sydney, unfortunately the majority are quite expensive, but there are a couple of gems that are free. We spent Sunday afternoon in the Gallery of New South Wales. Amazing building, great contemporary art exhibits and...free Wi-Fi.

•    Chinese Twilight Parade
The Chinese New Year Festival is currently in full swing in Sydney, with lots of events on over the next couple of weeks. Really glad we are in Sydney to experience this. Last night we attended the twilight parade – a parade spanning a couple of miles along the main street, from the town hall to Chinatown. We managed to get a good spot to watch the parade (although, there did seem to an unusually high number of trams going past to block our view every now and then!). It was great seeing the masses of dragons (2012 is the year of the dragon), floats and dancers. Although, I think the best part would have to be the mini panda parade (a mass of children dressed up in panda costumes!).

Today seems to be one of the hottest days in Sydney so far (and there’s no sign of rain), so it seems a pity to waste it in the library. Off to find a beer garden for a couple of schooners (small pints) in the sunshine. 

First week in Sydney...

And I never thought I’d have to put suntan lotion on my toes!

Really enjoying Sydney (and the fantastic sunny weather) but there is a couple of downsides to the beautiful city. Firstly, free Wi-Fi is nearly non-existent (hence the huge gap since our last blog posting) and secondly, it’s a very expensive place (especially in comparison to the States) e.g. pints are around $5/6 and everyday essentials like bottled water are around $3.

We had originally intended to stay in Sydney for around 2.5 months to make use of our working visas, but after looking into apartment rental and hostel prices we decided to cut our stay short, to just one month. Luckily, our friends Laura and Katie (who arrived in Sydney last year and are set up with jobs and  a nice apartment) offered to let us stay at their apartment while we are here, which is an amazing help to our travel budget – thanks guys!

Sydney is a great city, there’s so much to do and there seems to be a different festival or event on every weekend. So far we have...

• Watched live music in the Domain during the Sydney Festival. Was all going well until the torrential rain hit and the whole crowd had to run to the subway station (the only bad weather we’ve experience in Sydney so far).

• Chilled out in Hyde Park. Named after the park in London; it’s a mini replica.

• Walked over Sydney Bridge in the blistering sunshine. Not quite the same as walking over the Forth Road Bridge or Brooklyn Bridge, as the walkway fence is extremely high and covered in mesh and barbed wire! But you can still get some good photos through the slight gap and the views were still good.

• Visited the Botanic Gardens in the Domain. Amazing place, with flying foxes nesting in most of the trees – We’ve never seen such big bats!

But I think our main highlight so far, was riding the ferries over to Cockatoo Island and Manly beach, last weekend.

Cockatoo Island (a former prison, school and shipyard) is a historical site with regular art shows and events. We spent a good few hours walking around the small island and taking in the exhibits. We had a quick drink in the Island Bar, before catching our next ferry.

Manly beach is a lovely bay in Sydney Harbour; lots of funky restaurants and bars and surfer chic shops. We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out on the beach with a couple of beers, watching the surf! Ended the day with fish and chips in the pub overlooking the beach.

Looking forward to celebrating Australia day this Thursday (a national public holiday) and heading to the harbour to watch the ferry races and taking in a band or two.

Melbourne and someone’s Birthday

Had a fantastic few days in Melbourne. Stayed in St Kilda, a small seaside town, really lovely place much like Portobello in Edinburgh and our hostel was just round the corner from the beach.
Great bars and restaurants (especially the “cake street”) and little boutique shops. We spent most of our first few days chilling out on the beach and shopping.

Had mostly beautiful hot weather the whole time we’ve been here...apart from the morning of Arran’s birthday when we woke up to torrential rain! Luckily the rain went off before we departed on our animal expedition. First stop was a small Kangaroo ranch just outside of Melbourne where we spent ages feeding kangaroos, wallabies and wombats. Really nice little ranch and it was amazing being able to pat the tame Kangas!

After a quick bbq at the ranch (we had Kangaroo sausages, sorry guys) we headed over to check out some sleepy koala bears in a sanctuary just up the road. Apparently Koala meat is one of the only meats Aussies don’t eat as its poisonous (they also eat crocodile and camel).

We stopped off for dinner in a small coastal town on Phillip Island called Cowes, before our final (and best) stop – the dusk Penguin Parade.
Part of Phillip Island is a protected conservation site for the penguins as every night at dusk, they waddle out of the sea across the beach, up to their dens to feed their babies. The National Park now protects the area and monitors the penguins, but people are allowed to come down and view the dusk parade within a restricted area. You're not allowed to take photos though, as the flashing lights and clicks disorientate the little penguins. We had a VIP pass to the parade which meant we had an exclusive front row seat on the beach, with a headset to listen to our very own park ranger commentary (it was like something out of a David Attenburgh documentary!). It was fantastic to see the penguins pop up out of the sea and wait for patiently for the rest of their pack to walk across the beach with. It was a lovely night too and great being able to watch all this, by moonlight.
Last day in Melbourne today, so we are going to spend it in the city centre before our overnight train to Sydney this evening.

Last few days in the US

Spent our last couple of days in LA like proper tourists - took in an open top bus tour to see the sights (as LA is sparse and difficult to navigate on foot) and spent yesterday at Universal Studios. Worth every penny and luckily it wasn’t too busy, given the time of year, so we had little to no time to wait for most of the rides and tours.
 

 

The best bits of Universal Studios had to be...

• Seeing the sets on the studio tour - Psycho, Whoville, Wisteria Lane and Jaws.

• The 360 degree 3D King Kong ride.

• The WaterWorld show with full pyrotechnics, full sized crashing planes and hammy American acting. 

 

We are now just getting packed up before heading out for the day in Santa Monica. Later tonight we will leave the States and head to our next continent – Australia!
After an arduous plane journey we will arrive in sunny Melbourne on Friday 6 January.

US Road Trip Video

Finally found enough time to put together some of the video we took from our road trip around California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. So here it is...

Road Trip Video Link

 

Venice Beach

Venice Beach is described as a haven for the artistic and creative...I would tend to agree with this, given some of the amazing street art, murals and musical performances...however i’d probably chuck in “...and for the pot heads and eccentrics!” really lovely vibe to the town, laid back and chilled out people. The promenade feels like how we imagined San Francisco may have been back in the 70s. 

The promenade is bustling with shops, bars and street performers. It’s really good for people watching and entertainment, but it’s a real mixed bag from talented musicians and artists to just a chap walking around in his speedos with a boom box on his shoulder or a chap selling two jokes for a dollar (good value though, it was one joke for dollar in New York). Note to anyone visiting Venice Beach, there’s lots of a street performance to see on the promenade, but if you are going to stop and watch you have to be prepared to pay!

Promenade near the beach

We started this morning by shooting some B-ball on the courts, just past muscle beach (a small caged courtyard with gym equipment and oily swartznigger wannabes)...I have to say Arran was looking like a semi-pro (playing basketball that is) while I tried to profile my best netballing skills! We ate lunch watching a couple of street basketball games. Apparently basketball scouts for the NBA regularly hang out here to spot potential future stars.
A really beautiful part of town is the Venice Canals area. Apparently its one of the most sought after property areas in LA. I’m not surprised, it’s seems like an idyllic setting – just off the main promenade and you receive an optional row boat for commuting to and from your house. A lot of celebrities are meant to own properties around the canal.

Lovely house on the canal

 The murals in Venice beach are pretty spectacular. We walked past one young chap beginning to paint a wall in the morning and by the afternoon it was finished with a queue of people queuing up to take pictures. Apparently the wall changes every day and anyone can go up and have a go.  There’s a massive mural of Jim Morrison just around the corner from his former home.

Jim Morrison, Speedway Street

We’ve spent most of our time so far on the beach – three miles of lovely white sands and blue sunny skies! There’s no better place for chilling out, listening to your iPod and reading a good book. 

Venice Beach

Looking forward to celebrating Hogmany here. It’s early evening now, so we’re just getting ready to go out for something to eat and some drinks before heading over to Marina del Rey to see the New Year in with fireworks and bubbly. Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas at The Biltmore

Had a great three day Christmas break at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, it was great having a little bit of luxury for a little while. It was incredibly strange spending Christmas in a hot, sunny climate, turning the air conditioning on instead of the heating - but a lovely change too!

Was great catching up with our families on Skype...can’t believe we hadn’t tried Skype before this trip, it’s a fantastic way to keep in touch (really cheap for calling landlines and mobiles too from overseas).
Christmas seems to be celebrated very differently over in the states. There doesn’t seem to be the usual back to back Christmas / feature type films on Christmas day or boxing day. Actually,  they don’t have a boxing day here. Most people return to work and it is referred to as “the day after Christmas”. Still, we managed to stay in the Christmas mood with Christmas tunes and movies on our laptop (it really can’t be Christmas until I have watched Elf a few times!).
Spent Christmas day watching Christmas movies and then chilling out in the sunshine in Perishing Square, just across from our hotel. We then had a lovely meal in the hotel’s restaurant (without any Christmas crackers though) followed by some drinks in the Cognac Room, it was very a stylish Christmas (and very filling!).

We checked out of the hotel this morning. We were sad to leave our comfy room, bedside coffee maker and onsite pool but it was time to go on to our next abode – the Venice Beach Hostel.
We took a local bus from Downtown to the beach. It took just over an hour but was dirt cheap at a $1.50 (better than the cab we were originally intending on taking) and dropped us off just outside our hostel. The hostel seems great so far and right around the corner from the beach. We will be calling this place home for the next eight nights. Really looking forward to spending the next few days just soaking up the sun on the white sands of Venice beach!

Oh the weather outside is...lovely!

We got up early today, as I couldn’t contain my excitement about checking into the Millennium Baltimore Hotel for Christmas! Our one true extravagance during our round the world break, I couldn’t wait to see the Christmas tree at the hotel and our hotel room (as lovely as hostel rooms are and sleeping in a van, it is nice to have a bit of comfort now and again!).
Apparently the hotel has been used in lots of films including Ghostbusters (where you first see slimmer) and Vertigo and has housed at some point, celebrities including JFK and The Beatles (apparently the Beatles were flown to the hotel’s roof by helicopter and they stayed there for a few days, in secret).
We checked into the hotel early afternoon and then headed out for the day in downtown LA.

Really looking forward to catching up with our families on Skype tomorrow morning (hope all my little nieces are still up by the time we get to speak!) and then it’s off down to the Biltmore’s restaurant for a semi-traditional Christmas dinner (it’s going to be strange spending Christmas in the sunshine and warmth. Not to make you too jealous, but it’s 23 degrees at the moment!) I’m not sure if I can get away with wearing my elf hat in this establishment, but I will give it try!
Happy Christmas everyone and in the words of Tiny Tim - god bless us, everyone!

The Pacific Highway

Really enjoyed San Francisco and the Hostel we stayed at in Fort Mason. It was definitely the best one we’ve stayed in so far - it had a mini cinema onsite as well as a cheap cafe and huge lounge. The staff were all really friendly too...including the very loud, but funny, Chinese laundry lady.

We left just after breakfast on Thursday morning. On our way out of San Francisco, we drove up to the idyllic Twin Peaks part of town, to get some views of the city on a sunny December’s morning.

The drive back to LA along the Pacific Highway was beautiful. Amazing beaches round every corner and vista points for stopping and taking pics/stretching your legs every half mile...it meant we filled up the memory on our camera within a couple of hours.

Our final stop on Thursday was the Big Sur State Park, where we stopped off for a little walk along a secluded beach (equipped with its own waterfall!).

We had hopes of camping on the beach, but once we arrived we realised there was no way of getting our camper down there, so we set up camp a mile down the road. It was one of the nicest spots camping spots during our road trip, with good views of the pacific (and within ears distance of a very loud barking seal – bliss!).

Got up early on Friday morning to get a good start on the last six hours drive to LA – it was such a nice feeling making breaky in the warm sunshine for a change and not battling with extremely frosty temperatures of the mountains.

Main highlight during our drive home was stopping off at Malibu beach. Huge beach, which really makes you wish you could surf and had a spare few million kicking around to buy one of the amazing houses on the shoreline. 

Got back to LA early evening after clocking up over 2,388 miles on our wee RV overall. After saying goodbye to our camper, we checked into a cheap hostel for the night.

San Francisco

Had a fantastic time in San Francisco. Beautiful city, with some of the most amazingly ornate apartments and houses. It really is the hilly city, which makes for some fantastic views of the bay and city...but it is an uphill struggle during your walk home or anywhere for that matter!
The marina, just a stone’s throw from our hostel, had a great vibe. So many restaurants, bars and shops, it was probably our favourite part of the city. We had some lovely cold beers in the sunshine of the marina on our last day.

On the marina pub crawl

We only really had time for one main attraction so we opted for Alcatraz. Really glad we did, it was a beautiful day which made for fantastic city views and ferry ride and the tour was great. I was slightly disappointed, that tour guide “Vicky” (see “So I Married an Axe Murderer” film) was not on hand to give us the unofficial Alcatraz tour, but apart from that it was a great day out.

In the patrol yard on Alcatraz

Loved our time here, we would definitely come back and visit some of the other main attractions, like Golden Gate Park. At the minute, it’s probably our favourite city so far.
After our waffles and coffee tomorrow morning, we head start the last leg of road trip – the drive back to LA via the Pacific Highway.