More Redwoods

From Crescent City we were soon in another beautiful Redwood Forest with some wonderful old growth groves. This one was Jedediah Smith State Park.

Behind me is a fallen tree. Look how the width of the tre compares with my height.



Fast moving river through the countryside.

The boys were super impressed with this bike and trailer.

Crescent City Photos

We were thrilled to see this sign telling us what Poison Oak was and to look out for it. Touching it would leave a very itchy rash for 2-3 weeks.

This jetty/sea wall had signs not to walk along it as there are 'unpredictable life threatening waves' possible at any time.

After the warm weather we had been experiencing, suddenly it turned cold. This morning walk along the beach front I was exhilirating. I was grateful of my earmuff headband I had bought in Japan!!!

The island with the lighthouse. It could be seen from our hotel just to the left of our balcony.

The beaches had so much drift wood on the shores. Large and small, some of it had obviously been tumbled about for a long time due to the rounded and weathered edges.


Our hotel. From the outside not too exciting but it was great inside. The facilities available were great. Our room was one of the ones with the larger balcony near the middle of the picture.

Fort Bragg to Crescent City

After a great sleep we were on our way in search of Redwoods. They were not going to evade us!

We headed north on Highway 1, along the coast. It was very rugged and quite a bumpy road to boot. After about 30 mins the road veered east and joined up with Highway 101, the main freeway type highway.


From there we took the Avenue of the Giants which is actually the old highway north. It took us through the middle of the Humboldt State Forest. We were very happy with this decision. There several places to pull over and walking paths through different groves of trees. We were all in awe of the size and beauty of these trees.


We enjoyed a picnic in one grove of trees and a longer walk through another.

Otherwise we took short strolls through groves that were very close to the road.

John trying to 'climb' a tree. It really shows how small we are compared to these trees.

This is a tree that some type of bug/worm has got between the bark and the timber. The result is the bark has been weakened and has mostly peeled off and left this amazing pattern on the tree.

I took this pic looking straight up the trunk and you may be able to see the pattern, which was all the way up.


On a side road was a sign to the 'drive through tree'. Fascinated with the concept the boys HAD to try it and our car just made it when we folded the mirrors in

Our day ended in Cresent City. We had stopped in another town for a coffee break and a woman there keenly came to speak with me wondering who we were and where we were headed. She gave us tips for where to stay and eat.

We took her advice and stayed at Hampton Inn & Suites. We had a GREAT room in a resort hotel. Tina and I had a sauna and spa after dinner. We also followed the tip of going to the local Thai restaurant. The woman said it was great fresh food with quick service. The food was ok but not comparable with the lovely flavours we get in Thai food at home. The quick service meant tht within 5 mins of ordering all entrees and mains were on the table.

The hotel was on the waterfront again. It was very wild and blustery with a view across to a small island with a gorgeous little house and lighthouse.

I will upload photos of Crescent City in the next blog. xD

Fort Bragg pics

Leaving Sonoma fairly early .. our first stop today was Santa Rosa. Another very nice town with lots of statues of Peanuts, Lucy etc from the cartoon strip by Charles Shultz scattered through the town. Apparently he lived there for 40 yrs and died in 2000.

I had the first decent coffee since arriving at the Flying Goat cafe.

Before long we were heading to Ukiah. A quick stop into Walmart to grab a couple of basic things (like a knife and cheap t-shirt as its hot) and for the Barkers to look at this institution. (Mark to see the supermarket design & John to see how many Nestle coffee products were available.)

We had lots of laughs and were generally silly there before visiting a local organic Brewery which us Budgens had visited on our previous visit. It was just as we remembered with very consciously sourced products made into delicious meals.

Our main objective today was also to visit the Montgomery Woods State Park. Again because we had been there before and loved it. It turned out to be very disappointing. There were absolutely no signs at all and we just could not find it. I think because it has the tallest tree in the world they have stopped highlighting where it is to stop possible vandalism.

Though disappointed we figured there are many other redwood forests to see and crossed our fingers to see a couple tomorrow. Mark and John have been scouring maps and planning our route.

We are tonight in Fort Bragg. Not an interesting place... and wouldn't rush back here. Fortunately though we have found a great hotel right on the cliff overlooking the ocean. We have enjoyed a relaxed in house meal of nibbly food bought at the local supermarket. Tina even joined their mambers club so we could get a discount! It saved us nearly $10.. bargain!


These photos are the coast of Fort Bragg. Quite wonderfully wild. Our hotel was at the far end of the one with the buildings.


We were happy with the hotel. Also had a balcony over looking the ocean. This pic of the tree taken from our balcony.

One claim to fame Fort Bragg has is that one of its beaches was previously used as the local dump. Though they have cleaned it up much of the glass had broken up and is now part of the pebbles and sand on the shore. Mostly it is white glass with bits of green, brown and rare pieces of blue to be found. They now request we dont remove any from the beach... though I did think of you Sue!

xD

Finally got some pictures to load this morning.

A little sunburned. It has been hotter than expected. Up to 10C higher than it was in the past couple of weeks. We are in a rear courtyard of a wine bar/ bakery/ cafe .. for coffee only!


The front of the tasting room at Gundlach Bundschu



A rather large wine barrel at the end of the barrel room at Sebastiani


Imbibing in the grounds at Sebastiani

Sonoma

We picked up a rental car at San Fran Airport.

What an experience, the rental car companies are housed in a 4 storey multi-level carpark. Our check in counter was in a line with all other companies taking the whole top floor. Nearly as far as the eye could see, were car company counters.

Tina and John waited while Mark and I went up to handle the paperwork as we had done the pre-booking. We then realised that if John wanted to drive he would also have to present his drivers license. A quick call down to them and he was at the counter. The guy behind the counter took one look at John's license and said "no, we can't let him drive, he looks like a racing car driver". This put John out of place for a few seconds then the guy looked as us and winked... he was lovely and it all went smoothly.

It is a GMC Acadia for those who care! Mark & John certainly do!!!

After getting the final paperwork for the car we had to head down to the 2nd floor to pick up the car. It is a much larger car than expected but we got packed and on the way. Mark was first driver as he had the most recent experience driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.

Being a Sunday the traffic heading on the road to Napa Valley was very heavy. Though we had heard Sonoma County (the next valley to Napa) was equally great for wines we thought we visit a couple in Napa before heading to Sonoma. See the heavy traffic we decided to skip Napa's main tourist areas all together and head to Sonoma. We ere very glad we did and had a lovely day.

The first vineyard we visited was 'Sebastiani Vineyard & Winery' and what we thought would be a 20-30 min visit turned out to be about 2 hrs. They were setting up for a musical trio in the garden so we stayed to enjoy it. A bottle of wine, cheese, proscuitto, olive tepanade and crackers from their fridge and we settled in.

On recommendation we headed to another winery Gundlach Bundschu as it apparently had a great tasting room in a cave. Alas it was only for pre-bookings and not running that day. Non the less, we enjoyed their other tastings room anyway.

After that we checked into our hotel. On check in we were told they were holding their annual Ox Roast and artist market. We thought the ox roast sounded worth seeing but by the time we wandered down they were cleaning up.

Never hindered we strolled their very lovely town plaza and streets. A wine tasting here, a coffee there, then beers and dinner at an Irish Pub. Lots of fun... Its a really great town and had a very relaxing and laid back vibe.

No pictures Im sorry, they just wont upload properly!

more San Francisco

On our flight there was a dedicated crew member to act as concierge. He was very informative and gave some great tips on thngs to see and do.

One recommendation was for Dotti's True Blue Cafe. He did say it was a very traditional diner that was popular and could mean waiting in a queue. I figured it was worth trying so checked out the opening time and got there when they had been open for 5 mins. Well, it was already full with 6 people waiting before us. This is the boys in the queue.



We all voted it was worth the wait as it looked very rustic and the specials on the menu board looked great. Amongst other things, the sign on the door said "whilst we know you are waiting, we cook everything from scratch. Please don't ask us to requeast a customer leave their table if they have finished, and we will give you the same courtesy of not rushing you out"... anyway.. good ethos... and what was a great breakfast. I had Zucchini Fritters, with poached eggs, topped with a slightly tomaty salsa sauce. Delicious!

After this we did a little shopping. Around 11 we got onto one of those buses that do the tours of the city. A couple of places I wanted to see, that I missed last time we were here, were the 'painted ladies' & the neighbourhood of Haight Ashbury.



The Painted Ladies are 6 houses in a row, that we have all seen many times in movies. I wanted to see them for their architecture as well as the detailed paintwork. They are very iconic of the city.

Haight Ashbury is the neighbourhood where flower power in the '60's started. There are still signs of this movement particularly in the shops and the way buildings are painted.


See if you can see the fabulous long dresses in this shop window. Very groovy baby!


We were keen to also go over the Golden Gate Bridge as we didnt see it the previous day. Alas again the fog was rolling in rapidly. We firstly pulled into a car park about 100m from the commencement of the bridge and could not see it AT ALL!!

When we headed out onto the bridge it cleared a little but it was amazing to visibly be able to see the fog flying through it. It was also freezing!

We finished with a tour through Little Italy and back into the city. More than a little exhausted we went back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours before dinner. We all quickly slept for 1.5 hrs.



I had booked a Mexican restaurant called Colibri. It was a great choice. The guacomole was made to order at the table. Tina's fish soft shelled tacos were delicious as was my Chicken Mole, which has spice, nut & chocolate sauce.


It was far from the Mexican restaurants we are used to and it was great to try different dishes like sauteed cactus leaves with portobello mushrooms.

Tina and I also loved our Mexican beers served with ice and alot of lime in a salt rimmed glass. Very delicious. We finished with a couple of shared desserts - a mango creme brulee and churros....

We slowly strolled back to the hotel, stopping to watch 3 african american guys playing instruments on a street corner. They were great and had a couple of people dancing. They were very organised having thier own little generator running to power their amp & electric guitar. Only a block away was another guy on his own with a similar set up.

We took the long route back, window shopping and just enjoying a very balmy evening.

Not sure if this is making any sense.. the internet connection is a little unreliable. Some of the pictures will also be hard to make out but if you click on them to enlarge you will see more details.

Hope all are well.... take care
xD

San Francisco Day 1

A quick trip from the airport via taxi we checked in to our unglamorous but clean and sufficient hotel in Chinatown. A very central and great position.

Showered and a quick snack for lunch we jumped on a cable car towards Fishermans Wharf. First of all we thought it was full but the driver soon found 3 places to hang on the side for us. Tina was initially a bit nervous, giving the pole a bear hug but soon like all of us she was loving hanging out the side and feeling the wind in our hair.

John and I scored front position on each side. We travelled up and down hills and along some amazing streets. In particular was Hyde Street. So pretty and lined with beautiful trees and houses.

On the final stretch we headed down hill towards the Bay. It was when she saw this classic sight of San Francisco with Alcatraz in the distance, that Tina said "I feel like I am here now".

After a wander around the very touristy Wharf area we tried to find a vantage point to see the Golden Gate Bridge. We soon realised that due to the fog it wasn't going to be possible. So hopped on one of these amazing late 1940's streetcar around the water front.

Through the Embarcadero area and up the main street to the end of the line, which was was Castro, known predominantly as the gay neighbourhood. It was surprisingly not as busy as expected for a big city. The streets for a Friday afternoon were moving pretty easily and no great peak hour traffic to speak of.

Its surprising that the classic architecture we see in movies showing San Francisco is actually everywhere. Driving through the suburbs on the way from the airport right through to this street in Castro, there are these amazingly beautiful houses.

Though these are older and more ornate, even in new suburbs, there are rows of pastel coloured houses lining the streets of the hills.


In need of a drink by this time, we found a great little bar, called Blush. The boys each had one of these beers. The label had a little story about the background of the Speakeasy's during the prohibition period. A very strong beer in flavour and alcohol.

A few wines and a couple of shared cheese and charcuterie platters later we headed home. The boys decided to 'adjust' their shirt sleeves to local style. Bravely they waited until they were in the safety of the elevator of the hotel to do this so they wouldnt get hit on!!!

Auckland

After a half hour delay leaving Melbourne, what a thrill it was to arrive in Auckland and see the happy smiling faces of ‘The Barkers’.




We had about an hour between flights which was perfect for a beer and catch-up chat before being on our way to San Francisco.

The flight was uneventful but, as is often the case, it was difficult to get much sleep.

Tokyo - final days

Yesterday was our last full day here and after our big shopping day in the Ginza area we decided on a much easier and quieter day. After a lazy morning in the hotel room, blogging and relaxing, we headed to Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens. They are in a more suburban area of Tokyo (by their standards not ours)but are right next to Tokyo Dome and also there was an amusement park there too. We had some lunch while watching a band play in a communal eating area. We tried Octopus Balls which we had seen and been told were very popular but hadn`t tried previously. Mark in particular liked them. They are a type of savoury pancake batter with a piece of octopus inside as well as spring onions and finely chopped capsicum. Then cooked into a ball shape about the size of an egg in these special trays.

one of the walkkways in the garden next to one of the lakes that had very large Koi/ cat fish in them. The stones both small and large are set in concrete so are stable to walk on.

Engetsu-kyo (Full Moon Bridge) the reflection of the bridge in the pond produces a full circle with the appearance of the full moon. Apparently it was designed by a Confucian scholar. While many bridges and small shrine type buildings in the park were damaged by bombing during the war this bridge is the original.

One of the many paths through the `stroll garden` with the red Tsutenkyo bridge in the background.

Some parts of the garden were apparently designed to reflect particular geographical areas of Japan. One area was the Kiso river. We were thrilled we could recognise it from our previous trip to Japan when we walked part of the Kiso valley along the river and mountains. They had done a great job.

Time for us to check out from the hotel now. We will store our luggage at reception and collect it around 3pm to head to the airport. That`s another holiday over folks! See you next time to share our future travels with us.

Thanks for your comments and support.

xD&M

Fun in Tokyo

Can you believe this carb fest??? Yes that is half a loaf of bread with cream, ice-cream & banana on it. There were about 4-6 flavours to choose from. Who eats this stuff??

Because having a top of the range BMW wasn`t enough this owner had the symbol on the bonnet done in diamante`s!!! Want one of these Stacy??

Another dinner of Korean BBQ, we like these as we know what we are getting. We also got lots of fresh veg with this one. Yum..

We went to the famous Tokyo fish market yesterday morning. We did not bother trying to get to the tuna auctions as they are at 5:30. We got there around 7:30 for a wander around and to get a feel for the place. Mark was loving it from a retail/wholesale point of view. It was amazingly chaotic with men pulling ancient trolleys with orders on the back to literally 1,000`s of little vehicles which the drivers stood on and were also able to carry about 10 cases on the back. All craziness... the poor workers are having to doge sticky-beaking tourists like us everywhere as well as locals buying their one fish in a bag of water.

From there we wandered to the Ginza area. This is retail heaven and we chose it as a shopping day. We are not normally intentional with our shopping when away. Just usually buying something if we see it during our travels. Around 2:00pm they close one of the roads to cars. They also put a few tables and chairs out for exhausted tourists and locals. Here I am in the middle of the street enjoying blessed relief to be off my feet.

The cross street became a free for-all when the crossing lights went green. Try and spot the aussie bloke loving the madness.

After another couple of hours wandering we were thrilled to stop for a coffee in one of the best seats around. This is the view from our table.

And here I am at the table. We really do love the vibrancy of a big city as much as amazing and relaxing rural scenery.

Early evening we stopped for a pampering of 30min foot and calf massage. Delicious for our tired feet. We finished off with dinner at a Teppenyaki bar. Mark has been keen to go to one for the whole trip and was not disappointed. He even had teppenyaki ice-cream for dessert, which was a bit like crepe suzette with fruit and ice-cream warmed and half melted on the grill. He said it was great!