9/5 - Park Hopping I

This was one of our drive between attractions days - in this case from the Grand Canyon, up north to Bryce Canyon. It was a day for scenic wonders seen (primarily) through car windows as we passed through some incredibly rugged and varied terrain. It was also, simply, a day for quite a lot of driving.

We were up and doing the checkout at our lodge before 9:30, so on the road at quite a reasonable time. However, we had the road leading tothe park's southern exit - and all the great scenic locations along that 30-odd miles of canyon rim - to travel first. We ended up stopping at a couple of locations, and in particular spent quite a while at Desert View - which I highly recommend to anyone visiting the canyon.

Then it was out of the park and the longish drive to "hook around" the canyon before we could truly head north. It was fascinating seeing all the little road-side stores run by Indians along the way. These are typically small wooden sheds with no sides and a tin roof, under which the Indian display their wares. These roadside stores can be noted by the number of flags they fly above them. We eventually stopped at one of these (around Marble Canyon) and Maria picked up a very nice bead bracelet - but I didn't think much of their tomahawks.

The countryside changed throughout the day and was like something out of a western movie. Sweeping plateaus with sparse low vegetation leading to plunging gorges; "badlands" of coloured sands and strange mounds that look man-made; great cliffs of shattered red rock running beside the roadside; pine forested slopes with swift running streams, and bright red and orange sandy-rock formations in strange shapes - these are some of the sights and environments we drove through today.

I had to repeatedly ask Maria to video and photograph it all for me soI wouldn't be too distracted and drive us off the road. Indeed my overwhelming urge was simply to get out of the car and immerse myself in the terrain - seeing was not anywhere near sufficient. But that's all we could do.

Today I came to understand why so many people are so passionate about these areas. I know that if I had grown up here the country would be deep in my bones and something I had a great attachment for.

We stopped for lunch at Page - grabbing the food from that American institution Wallmart; before heading down to Lake Powell (artificial -formed by a dam) to eat lunch. The day was hot (mid 80s fahrenheit), particularly on the sandstone layers that ring the lake. Unfortuntely we didn't get all the way down to the waterline and into the ohh so cool looking water. There simply wasn't time (particulalrly as we lost one hour on crossing from Arizona into Utah).

As we drove into the afternoon the landscape changed to a more lush environment as we approached the Zion and Bryce area...though lush is a relative term - we're still talking high country mountain and desert.We arrived too late to visit Bryce Canyon, but even the drive to Tropic (the town in which we're staying) was quite a sight - including driving through 2 tunnels/arches carved from the red rock/sandstone.

In town we found a laundromat, so while Maria and the kids watched over the machines I went and made the first post on the blog for nearly a fortnight as we've been getting a number of emails wondering if we were Ok.

8/5 - Flying High; Going Shallow

This day was our full day at Grand Canyon. The previous day we had ummed and ahhed about what to do with the day, and we were still uncertain in the morning.

After having breakfast in the room we headed over to the main lodge area for Maria do some some online tasks and to enquire about a helicopter flight over the canyon. It was possible for that day and while expensive was a once in a life-time opportunity,and one for which mum (thankyou) had given us extra money. So we were booked in for a 1:20pm flight.

Next we took a drive out along the eastern rim to a couple of the famous observation points along that way. As you'd expect, quite stunning. Before we knew it, it was getting near the time for the flight. So back we went through the park and out the southern exit, grabbed some mexican for lunch then headed over to the airport.

The flight business stands at the entrance to the airport and the helicopters can clearly be seen (and heard!) coming and going. Maria (who's idea the flight was) had been expressing nerves about the flight since mid-morning, and now hers and Grant's faces told a clear story... (which the video I shot shows clearly - drop by for a viewing sometime). Anyway, in we went, paid, and watched the 5-minute safety video. The thing that made me laugh and raised Maria's eyebrows was a casual statement that if the door of the chopper came open during flight not to panic and just tell the pilot.

We had each been weighed when paying for the flight and these values were used in assigning locations on the chopper. We were each given little plastic cards with a number on them, prior to going out on the field. Zoe got 1, and hence had the highly desirable position beside the pilot. Grant, Maria, I and 2 others were in back.

Up close the choppers appear small and fairly flimsey, and this feeling continues in flight where, similar to a plane encountering turbulence or airpockets, you can feel the chopper slip or shift unexpectedly at times. The route taken by the chopper was from the south rim across to the north at one of the widest points in the canyon. It certainly allows you to see far more of the canyon than you can see from a dozen rim locations and is a fascinating experience. I had the video, and shot nearly as much footage of Maria and Grant's faces as the scenery -they were that interesting to watch.

The biggest disappointment of the flight is that the chopper flies level and does not go down into the canyon. Ohhh well.

Back on the ground and Maria recovered from her queasiness we decided to head back to the rim and give one of the trails that descend into the canyon a go. There is a lot of information available about the different trails, round trip times, steepness, way stations etc. Its important to understand that the canyon is so deep that its repeatedly advised not to attempt to descend to the canyon floor and return in 1-day. If you're going that far you should camp overnight at Phantom Ranch. There's also many tales of walkers dying in the canyon (the most popularly used poster details a young female marathon athlete who despite her physical endurance still died), and these stories are found on posters at trailheads, in shops, etc. Further, the impressive exposure of the trails - the fact that in many (most) places you could simply step off and fall to your death...the place is that sheer -really had Grant in fear.

So its was about 3:30 or so that we got out to the trailhead of South Kaibab. This is rated as a very steep trail but excellent for views in the first mile or two of its length. So down we went - sloowly - withGrant hugging the inner wall. Personally, this is the thing I live for and love. I could happily spend a couple of months in this area exploring the different trails and the different vistas they reveal. So, for me it was frustrating to be in such a place and yet only "dip my toe" based on the rather short descent we made. Still, even the little we did was good for me in a deep way. Indeed, I think it was good for all of us, even much of Grant's fear had left him, though he was still extremely cautious.

After a long chat at the top with another walker, we headed back into the park centre and a different lodge to grab dinner (this one was far better and less like a poor school cafeteria). Then we headed over for the 7:30 park talk. This one on cutural aspects of the Hohokam indians. Unfortunately, while interesting intellectually, it consisted of many powerpoint slides of pottery and other artifacts, combined witha rather matter-of-fact delivery (which the previous night's was anything but). Then back to the lodge (hard to find a park because of work in the carpark). Now the kids are in bed and Maria is watching"Ninja Warrior" (a kind of weird obstacle course show from Japan that has been voice-overed and subtitled in English by the G4 station). Time for me to sleep - another longish drive tomorrow.

7/5 - A Grand Birthday

Maria's birthday - starting in Kingsman Arizona, and ending in the Grand Canyon.

Our hotel room for the night was a suite, and while there was some road and rail noise (the length of the trains out here must be seen - each carriage with 1 or 2 shipping containers - and you can see the entire length of them because of the sweeping plains) everyone got a good night's sleep. We sang Happy B'day to Maria and the kids gave Maria their presents - birth-stone mickey mouse earrings (small and as tasteful as Mickey Mouse earings can be...) from Zoe, and a Pluto "doll" (that Maria thought Grant was buying for himself as his memento from Disney) from Grant. She was very touched by both gifts.

Checking out of the hotel we took a short drive around town because it is famous as a historic Route 66 township that has preserved some ofthe buildings and flavour of that time. Certainly the road is massively wide with a number of large businesses (hard to explain butI mean set right back from the road, with large tarmaced areas surrounding them), and strange 50s style signs (think of Happy Days). Then some quick shopping at a local k-mart and we were set to go.

As for yesterday's drive, more interesting country greeted us, treeless desert slowly graduating into pine country - with the occasional dust-devil (in my mind I can still see a large one swirling around a Subways that sat beside one of ther Interstate exits). It wasn't long before we were on the out-skirts of the park - with the usual suspects for such locations ... Park information centers, over-priced souvineer and food places (heh, even the McDonalds had higher prices than usal and a sign to explain why).

For those who haven't been to the canyon I should say that on the South Rim (where we are and the usual tourist destination), you can't see the canyon till you are right up on it. Most of the buildings are set back a mile (well, I've been thinking and working in the old imperial farenheit, gallons, and miles for the last couple of days) or so from the rim and there is good tree cover. So the kids still hadn't seen the canyon when we went to checkin.

We were too early (checkin at 4pm - about the latest checkin I'm aware of anywhere) so we took the short drive to Bright Angel - one of the famous places on the rim and the site of the main trail that descends into the canyon. Again, to create the scene I should say that the canyon is not all fenced-off, but rather has massive exposure at every turn. That is, dramatic drops of, in many cases, 100s of metres, right along the rim wall or the trail that descends into the canyon.

I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of extreme reaction from the kids on seeing the canyon for the first time. I don't know if its because they have become jaded world travellers (and seen places like Santorini's caldera), were tired, or whether I'd talked the place up too much; but there you go. To try and give them some feel for the size of the canyon (which has a depth of more than 1 mile) we walked10 or 15 minutes down the trail - a piddling amount in the scheme and size of the place (Maria and I had walked down past the Plateau - the last stop before the ranch at the bottom - with Jim and Sue many years ago...a trip that the guides say takes 6-9 hours as a round trip).Grant was very nervous due to all the exposure; though the path isabout the width of a car. On the other hand Zoe's flippant, and at times less than 100% controlled, approach made me very nervous - ohh the joys of parenthood.

Then some browsing of the various rim curio shops (several of which are historic monuments in their own right) and back to the Lodge to checkin. After discussing possible plans for the next day we jumped over to the cafeteria for dinner (unimpressive) before buying a quart of icecream as a treat to share for dessert (Maria got to pick as b'day girl). It was rather comic rushing to tuck into the quite hard icecream with our plastic spoons - the rush because we wished to attend a ranger presentation at 7:30 (there's one each evening on a different topic) on how the canyon was formed.

A further point I should add about this area is the temperature range. Today it will range from a low of 27 to a max of 61. If I haven't forgotten my translation formula we're talking about a high of 21 Celcius or so, and a low of -3 or so...I thought we'd left such temperatures well behind in Japan (indeed we sent considerable warm clothes home from Greece). Anyway, that knowledge precipitated a change in evening clothing for all into trousers and warm jackets (particularly as we thought the presentation was to occur in an ampitheatre outside - it turned out to be inside).

The presentation was excellent - the ranger (Jim) had been doing it for 23 years but was still extremely passionate and very good at conveying the complexity of major geology to a lay audience. One thing that struck me was that twice or perhaps three times during the presentation he'd say something like "with science we know that the oldest rocks on earth are 4.6 billion years old, but not everyone accepts the scientific view; I realise that". It was kind of a rote chant and made me realise just how strong creationism must be in the states. Sad.

Anyway, with the talk finished we came back to our room. Maria and the kids are playing cards Greek style, while I've been writing on the PDA here in the bathroom so they wouldn't have to whisper so as not to disturb me. Think I'll go join them.

6/5 - I get my kicks on Route 66 ...

I'm sitting here in the Dambar Steakhouse in Kingsman Arizona - we've just come out for dinner, and there is actually sawdust on the floor, photos of rodeo queens on the wall, exposed beams, farming paraphenalia, and some country music playing in one of the other rooms. The kids are colouring in the "kids menu" given them, and both Maria and I have massive (2 litre?) red plastic cups of water sitting in front of us. The waitress just asked us where we are from and when we told her Australia she told us she'd heard on late night radio that we had a terrible drought and that she'd pray for us... All these signs make it clear we're in the American west.

This morning we said goodbye to Anaheim and began the road-trip portion of our adventure. Tomorrow we'll be at the Grand Canyon for a couple of days, then northwards to other parks. But today we made it west as far as Kingsman, leaving us a drive of under 3 hours tomorrow to get to the canyon.

The surprise of the day came about at the car rental firm. Online I'd booked a mid-size vehicle - a Pontiac 4-door sedan or equivalent was what the Alamo website listed. Once we'd finished the paperwork and walked out into the parking lot I had to ask one of the attendants whether I had the right vehicle bay. What we found was a Chevrolet HHR. Think a Beachboys film clip or a Gigit movie - one of those shortened hood, curved vehicles. Made me want to go out and bleach my hair and weld an old surfboard to the roof. I was a little bit dubious of its suitability for 25 days of round the country driving, but so far it has done well .. and all the luggage fits; which is important!

The drive was not particularly difficult - lots of multi-lane highways. Getting out of Anaheim was a bit stressful - several changes of highways and some signage that was less than clear got us off track once, but we were heading back in the right direction within 5 minutes. The scenery is very beautiful in a similar way to much of Australia - a stark beauty that not everyone can appreciate. In this case its sweeping deserts of dusty sand and rocks in which every metre or so low shrubs can be found - and in the distance (20 miles away or more usually) tower up various mountain ranges. I like it a lot but its clearly a very harsh environment for much of the year.

Anyway, time to go - we've paid the bill (and whether because of the tip or not) the waitress again told us that she and her friends would be praying for us and our drought problems. Ahhh, I can sleep easy knowing it'll all be good now.

5/5 - Preparations for the Road Trip

This was our last full day in Anaheim - we had already used our 3-day pass to Disneyland, so it was a matter of trip preparation and some shopping, plus looking around at things other than the two parks.

So while Maria went and started on laundry duties with the kids, I sat down and started planning routes, and times at various locations (yes, I know this sounds like its all gender role based - but it just worked out that way). We knew what we were doing out to the Grand Canyon, and had a vaguish plan to then go onto Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, before heading up to the Browns (and perhaps going to Yellowstone first). It was time to solidify those plans.

Then it was a matter of trying to book accomodation online, and thats where (according to Maria) I had a "hissy fit", walking away after becoming frustrated. Ask Maria when we're back - I'm sure she'll tell it far more colourfully. :)

Eventually we decided to head to "Downtown Disney" for some lunch, as well as shopping and a general look around. This is a region of shops just past the 2 parks - there's a number of up-market restaurants, Disney merchandise stores etc.

As for the McQuigins before us (from whom we have received so much good advice) we took in the Rainforest Cafe (I think I got the name right) for lunch. Imagine a building that looks a bit like an aztec temple on the outside, has its own shop full of merchandise that would put a small national park to shame, and a 2-level dining area full of animatronic (robotic) animals and plastic rainforest, fish tanks, and the recorded sounds of the forest (and animals). Ohhh, and the usual huge servings of food. Thats where we had lunch.

To be honest I don't recall that much of the afternoon. We certainly did some shopping in that area before returning to the hotel. Mustn't have been too exciting ehh (or more the fact that 2 weeks [the interval between the date I am writing about and today] is a long-stretch for my poor memory).

4/5 - Doing Two Parks

This was our third and final of 3 days at Disneyland. We'd initially intended to go Wednesday, Friday, Saturday; but due to advice about how busy the parks become on the weekend, we chose to go 3 days straight. This was a good decision because even Friday - this last day - was so much busier than the previous two. It meant that we didn't have as many rides on the top attractions as we'd intended - as the day went on shifting to lesser attractions - but we still had a very good time.

In order to determine what we'd do with our last day we each "voted" for our favourite rides in the 2 parks. Everyone was guaranteed to have at least one go on their favourite ride from each park; with 2nd and 3rd favourites also highly likely to receive a visit. This system worked pretty well. It became clear that with a couple of exceptions everyone's favoured rides were in California Adventure Park (CAP). As such we chose to go to Disneyland first; then transfer across to CAP after doing our favoured Disneyland rides.

Starting in Disneyland we visited that family favourite Indiana Jones first, before moving onto Pirates, and Haunted, perhaps a couple more that I no longer recall. We then shifted over to CAP, and as noted earlier found the crowds much larger than on previous ocassions. For this reason we made much use of the "Fast Pass" system moving between one major attraction and the next. Said attractions include California Screamin' (the favourite ride of the family), Grizzly Mountain, and the Tower of Terror.

As lines grew longer and longer we started shifting our attention to other attractions. We visited Crush (Finding Nemo's surfer turtle) in his tank; and Grant, Zoe, and Maria all got to speak to him. Grant took part in a sidewalk song-and-dance show dedicated to animators. We also watched the Aladdin stageshow, which was of very high quality and particularly enjoyed by the kids.

With dusk descending we said goodbye to Paradise Pier - turning our backs on the lights of the large ferris wheel and rollercoaster, as well as the attenuated high-pitched screams of those doing the loop on California Screamin'. We then made our way down to take in the "Electric Parade" (floats bedecked with hundreds of lights and very striking at night). With that finished and (fortunately) dinner already eaten, we joined the crush of others leaving the park. It was with a feeling of wistfulness over what a great time we had had together and that it would be a long time, if ever, before we 4 returned together, that we said goodbye to the park. The last act for the day was to watch the fireworks from the balcony of our hotel.

3/5 - California Adventure Land

The previous evening Maria's luggage had still not arrived; but the woman at the hotel reception said bags were often delivered in the middle of the night. So heading down around 6am (another near sleepless night for me had passed) to reception I was particularly happy to find Maria's suitcase there. Back in the hotel room I contacted Alamo (our car rental firm) and discovered that if we didn't have a credit card (almost a crime here in the US - I saw an advert on the TV yesterday that implied paying by cash (it was for food) was somehow wrong) that we could pay a large amount up front. So that dictated a new approach (that still informs our approach to the US even now 2 weeks later) - I called The Commonwealth (yet again) and had the withdrawal limit raised on the keycard, and withdrew "hefty" sums across the next 3 days.

All that sorted and with buoyed optimism we headed off to California Adventure Park - the "sister" park of classic Disneyland, and literally just across the way. We knew little of California Adventure Park other than some things Jenny and Scott had told us - the names of good rides, etc.

As for the previous day we found that the park was not at all crowded and were once again able to enjoy all the "top" rides with minimum waits. We did Soar (our first ride) - wonderful, Grizzly River Run (the white water rafting ride in which we all got very wet - we did it twice and the kids 3 times) - exhilarating, the Tower of Terror (Grant evetually getting the courage to go on) - adrenaline pumping ... but the most popular region of the park for the family was Paradise Pier. Here was found California Screamin the high-speed roller-coaster that launches you off with immediate speed. This was the family's favourite ride and a ride we revisited again and again. It was interesting observing the change in Grant (who did not join us the first time on the ride and took some convincing to give it a try), who by the last rides, was aware of where the camera was and thus assumed a suitable pose, as well as doing most of the trip with hands raised. On the other hand Zoe seemed unphased by any of the rides - certainly excited, but never frightened. The Maliboomer - a vertical tower where you are launched 60 metres straight up - was also ridden by all and was quite hair-raising (literally - at the peak of the ascent the seats then plumet, so you feel yourself momentarily leave the seat as you continue with the upwards momentum), while Mulholland Madness was not a favourite, and the kids rode the Orange Stinger over and over again.

We all agreed that the rides in California Adventure Park were particularly thrilling and though often stripped of the window dressing back-story or theme of the Disneyland rides, could not be beaten for the sheer "physical experience".

By the park's 6pm closing time we were all again very tired, and should have taken this as a warning sign. However aware that we were to set off for a long road-trip in just over 2 day's time, but had no maps or other detailed knowledge of roads and where we were going; we decided to take a trip to the "nearby" Target to pickup a road atlas and a couple of other things.

Nearby as in 5-blocks, but 5 massive LA blocks - nescetating a cab or hire car (our case) for the trip. By the time we were there the kids were so exhausted that Grant was lying on the floor of Target all-but refusing to move. We got the atlas (which has proved invaluable), but it would have been better not to have gone out. Once again we fell back on Maccers from next door to the hotel, with the kids needing to be awoken to eat by the time I was back (being "across the road" from Disneyland this Macdonalds has the longest waits I've ever experienced as many people exiting the parks use it to pick up an "easy" meal). All in all a great day, though it finished poorly.

2/5 - Traditional Disneyland

Whether it was jetlag, accumulated worries or over fatigue, that night was an emotional low point for me. Awake from 1.30am I (needlessly?) worried over the possible scenario of 5+ weeks in the US with a credit card that didn't work, no key cards and aparently inaccessible cash in an Australian account; and how they might be achieved. It was a very dark night for me, but as always, Maria grounded me when I needed it most.

The kids awoke excited at the prospect of a day at Disneyland but financial concerns took first prescedence. Without going into boring details, the creditcard failed yet again and lengthy phonecalls ensued with both Mastercard Intl and the Commonwealth Bank. Little was resolved. To cut a tedious story short we changed our Euros into US dollars, crossed our fingers, and decided to have a good day at Disneyland regardless.

After a small hiccup with the tickets, we were finally in 'the happiest pace on Earth" (cough...splutter!). Consulting the map we immediately headed for Adventureland and found the Indiana Jones ride with a wait of '10 minutes' posted. So in we went and before you could say 'I don't like snakes' we were hopping onto the ride. Grant was extremely nervous - the atmospherics were great.

I won't try and describe the ride, but when we hopped of some 5 (?) minutes later, both Grant and Zoe were stumbling over their words and babbling in excitement (just think of Dash from The Incredibles in the car ride near the end of the movie). Neither of us can recall seeing the kids that excited.

That set the scene for the rest of the day - crowds were almost non-existent and we could almost always walk on to a major ride in around 10 minutes. And that's exactly what we did. We did The Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Starwars, Buzz Lightyear, Wilderness Ride, River Cruise, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, Autopia, and, for good measure, Indiana Jones another time or two.

One highlight of the day was that Zoe got to become a Jedi in their Starwars stage show. She was taught the moves and ended up taking on a very fierce (a couple of other kids ran off in tears) Darth Maul.

Family favourites were Indiana Jones (Grant), Pirates of the Carribean (both Maria and Zoe) and The Haunted Mansion (Spike - I loved the holographs). The kids also met and got signatures from a number of characters including Mickey, Mini amd Pluto.

We stayed the whole day including seeing the 'obligatory' parade at the end of the day. Getting back to the hotel, we had the wonderful surprise that the 'care package' from Australia (our key cards and licences) had arrived. We can't thank Jane and Frank enough for seeing this matter through for us.

By this time everyone had "hit the wall" energy-wise (particularly as in Europe - which our bodies were synched with after 4 weeks there - it was something like 3am) so we sucuumbed to that evil lure awaiting all travellers - we (for the first time on the trip) purchased dinner at McDonalds (which was right next door). While everyone crashed I again spent a round of phone calls talking to Commonwealth and Matsercard International operators (making somethin like 6 different that day) and eventually ordered another card. I was glad to finally climb into bed.

1/5 - Changing Countries and Cultures

This was the day that took us from Paris France, all the way out to Anaheim California, and due to time differences it all occurred in a single afternoon.

While our flight wasn't until around midday, the usual packing, traveltime (to airport) and checkin requirements meant a relatively early start. Generously, Jean Marc and Krissoula decided to take us to he airport, so with a last goodbye to Barbara and Agape, and some added tension when the handle on Grants bag popped as we were packing the car and due to leave - we were off. As the previuos days post notes, our time in France was too short and we were left wondering how old Barbara would be when we saw her again; while also feeling genuinely grateful to Jean Marc and Krissoula for all the hospitality they had shown us.

Just as our trip from the airport 7 days before was not without problems, so it proved for our return to the airport. Our documentation said we were leaving from terminal B, while all signage (and Jean Marcs and Krissoula's knowledge) listed terminals 1, 2 and 3. Fortunately we had time to spare, and is always the case in these situations we were suddenly saying a rushed goodbye to Krissoula and Jean Marc in front of terminal 2.

The idiosynchracy's of Charles De Gual airport continued (see the entry for the day we arrived) when we found (after some searching) that we had to do a self checkin and take our luggage through ourselves. The bizzare element was that there were at least as many British Airways staff standing around explaining the self checkin system as would have been required to perform the usual checkin.

The flight to heathrow was a short one hour, but way too much for one woman (in thr row in front of Maria and Zoe)who was already throwing up before the aircraft had moved a meter. Fortunately no-one succumbed to the miasma arising from her locale and joined her in sympathetic vomitting. At Heathrow we had 4 hours to kill and lunch to find, before catching our fligh to LA. We elected to eat at 'The Giraffe Cafe' (We just asked around and none of us could remember the name) - the food as good, but very pricey. The irony is we were fed soon after getting on our LA bound flight. Anyway, Hearthrow was one of those moments of dislocation - large enough that it has a cultureof its own, but simply a transition point for us from one culture (France) to another (USA).

The LA flight was long and nearly subscribed, so we were unable to spread out from the centre seats assigned us. The one redeaming feature was that there was a wide selection of films available for viewing. We (Maria and Spike) ended up watching Casino Royale, The Persuit of Happiness, Children of Men, and some stupid Hugh Grant romantic comedy. Spike particularly enjoyed Casino Royale and Children of Men , because despite the fact that our destination was LA, they did not have a Hollywood happy-ever-after ending.

A point of minor humour occurred an hour out of LA after the cabin crew handed out immigration papers for America. Aparrently no-one told the pilot who preceeded to find every pocket of turbulance available, resulting in immigration papers that appeared to have been completed by a 4 year.

Getting through ustoms and immigration took so long that all our luggage had already been removed from the carrousell. All but Maria's..... Finally, getting the attention of the harrassed BA staff member we learnt that Maria's luggage was one of a dozen or so peoples luggage that had not made it out of Heathrow. For 'our troubles' BA gave us a credit card with $50 on it and promised tne luggage would be delivered to our hotel when it arrived. Not happy Jan!

Then (Spike) ignoring Jen and Scotts advice to catch a cab, we caught a shuttle out to Anaheim. This prooved to be a mistake because the driver circled the airport again and again until the shuttle was full...you can imagine how crankey Maria was!! Rightly so! The drive was long and by the time we got to the hotel everyone was asleep or drowsing.

Mini dramas were not over however, no cards from Australia were waiting for us (as we had hoped) and our

credit card was declined by the hotel.

30/4 - Towering to new Heights

Despite the flash hotel and environment, I was woken early by the sound of the garbage truck outside. However, I did fulfill one of those hollywood cliche's of wearing the hotels bath robe after having a shower. By the time I'd showered and watched CNN'S news, Pete had already left, but I found Adam downstairs. We nicked out and grabbed some pastries for breakfast, and beforw long Maria and the kids showed - Maria having thoughtfully brought along a change of clothes. Aware of the pre_existing appointment,

At the school Miles Franklin Draws penpals from, we (accompanied by Adam) rushed down to the Eiffel tower in order to accomplish one of the kids main goals for the trip -to climb the Eiffel Tower.

Arriving we found massive lines already formed, but were relieved when we realised that these were for the elevator, and that the queues for the stairs were much much shorter.

Climbing the stairs did not prove difficult, though we did pass a young woman collapsed (in a kind of feint) part way up. I was surprised by the fact that it was possible to climb outside the stairwell and onto the towers structure if you were even mildly determined. This also applied up on the landing where it would have been possible to toss things through the central hole, onto the people way below.

We went as high as possible on foot, did not have the time or inclination to join the long snake of people waiting to ride the lift to the highest (for the public) point.

Descending, we headed over to,Jules Roman College, only a few blocks from the tower, arriving at the appointed time. Here's where our story splits with Maria Zoe and Grant doing 'the school thing', and Spike and Adam heading for some brainstormimg in the park beside the tower.

Adam and I discussed a number of things, between watching Boule (they were very, very skillful), being chased from one location to another by groung staff, who were mowing the park; as well as noting that a number of women were taking advantage of the beautiful weather to sunbathe in the park. Before we knew it, it was time to rejoin Maria and the kids.

Maria here.....well the kids and I had a slightly less restful time it seems than Spike and Adam had, but a totally enjoyable one. After speaking with the English teacher Mrs Lefebvre the night before, I had no doubt that we would be warmly welcomed. She is a very warmhearted and generous person whom we felt very comfortable with. We started off with a tour of the school and grounds which was very interesting for the kids. Particularly Zoe as this school bridges our primary and high schools. It's really a highschool that starts at year 6, so Zoe got a brief glimpse of what it may be like next year for her. The school has no uniform a cafeteria of basic but fairly healthy food, and not a lot of space for 'play' (particularly no grass...seems like Australiai's the only place we've seen grass in school playgrounds..definitely none in Japan).

It was then time for lunch and we walked out of the school and around the corner to a beautiful French Café/Boullangerie for a very delicious lunch and some spectacular looking French cakes for dessert. Then back to school to join the first year English class.

The classrooms are much like our classrooms, with projects pinned up round the room. Zoe and Grant were introduced and then it was time for a questions and answers session. Mrs Lefebvre stepped aside and the kids were left out the front to take the class. The main questions were of course, who's your favourite singer, have you ever been to France before, and what kind of pets do we have. The students then got to introduce themselves one at time and told us of their families, pets amd their fave bands. It was a fun time for all, and Zoe and Grant got to feel like teachers for the day. At the end of the lesson I asked how many children had travelled abroad and every child had travelled to at least one foreign country with most listing 5 - 6!! Very different to most Aussie kids. Guess that's a big advantage of living in Europe.

It was then time for goodbye's. Zoe got to choose a Penpal that had similar interests to herself and as Grant hit it off with one of the more lively boys in the class, they decided to correspond as well.

It was then back to the school entrance where we thanked Nicole sincerely for making us feel so welcome and for treating us to one of the nicest meals in one of the cutest cafe's in Paris.

Rejoined, a train for Adam to catch before 6pm, and so much of Paris as yet unseen,we selected the famous MONTMATRE DISTRICT as a lovely way to spenda warm spring afternoon. Montmatre has a different feel to the more sedate and ordered tourist attractions we had visited to date. Famous for its artists it is stii heavily tourist focussed but with a more bohemium atmosphere. Climbing the steps of the Sacre Cour, we witnessed an exceptional diablo performance before moving on to the square of the portrait artists. Both areas were packed with tourists, while it was possible to witness many different artistic styles - each artist having their own small area for an easel a display of their work. It was an enjoyable time strolling from artist to artist, made even more fun when adam bought us all icecreams. Too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Adam, we wish we could attend his wedding, but look forward to seeing him (and his new wife Sarah that we are yet to meet) back in OZ later in the year.

We took the opportunity to do some last minute souvenir/omiyage shopping before catching the trains back to Sannois.

Maria's memory served us well for the bus leg and we were able to get off at the right stop and navigate back to Krissoula and Jean Marc's place.

That evening we enjoyed another good meal in the company of Barbara, Jean Marc, Krissoula and Agape. The enjoyment was tempered by practical concerns such as cutting discs of photos and packing suitcases, but moreso by the knowledge that tomorrow we were leaving.

Our time in France had been too short.

29/4 - The Da ADFA Connection

This was the day for meeting Adam and Pete - two ex-students who I like to consider very good mates. Both had done their honours with me in 2001 and it was the best year at ADFA I've ever had. Adam went onto win a Rhodes scholarship and is nearing the completion of his phd at Oxford - I hadn't seen him for 4 or maybe 5 years. Pete is closer to home as lead developer on VBS2 and until a year or 2 ago was in Canberra and a regular in my lab. This coming together again after such a long time apart, and in the "exotic" locale of Paris to reminisce but also possibly plan possible future ventures was something I'd been eagerly anticipating since before the trip began.

The meeting had been set for 12:20 in front of the Louvre pyramid -the main entrance. As such, in the morning we had the opportunity to say goodbye to Flora (too short a meeting) before catching the trainin to St Lazarre and then the metro to Pyramide. Arriving at the Louvre entrance exactly on time (perhaps a first for us but something we have been working on due to the deadlines associated with a trip like ours) we found Pete waiting coolly. It was good seeing him again. We waited 15 or 20 minutes with no show from Adam. We then decided to call Adam - which resulted in a humorous technology-overkill-dance which roused the interest of many tourists (perhaps they thought we part of some Da Vinci Code conspiracy). Pete had Adam's number on his laptop - which is a flash, large-screen Dell number. However his battery was flat, so I was pulled in to act as "laptop holder" (a position I've always aspired to), then it turned out the email was on an external hard-drive which had to get connected (Grant as holder) and decrypted. Of course, just as all this was completed, Adam showed up.

First we had drinks in the nearby gardens - with a very interesting waiter. Lots of catching up. Then we went in search of lunch(eventually at a Parisian Café - what else?) - all the while heading along the Seinne in the direction of the Eiffel Tower and theTrocadero - which was where Adam's hotel was, and where Pete also hoped/planned to stay for the evening.

We ended up performing a bit of a dance with the hotel, when the original hotel had no spare rooms - eventually heading over to a"sister" hotel halfway up to the Arch de Triump. By then it was late afternoon and there was still "business" to talk. Maria and the kids decided to head back to Sannois, while with Pete's generosity I stayed in the same hotel, with a separate room. Business was concluded relatively quickly in the hotel and it was decided to go "out on the town", travelling about Paris and drinking at different locations - I came to think of it as a Metro pub crawl.

First we headed over to Montmarche only to find it raining and quite cold (I'd headed into a sunny Paris that morning in shorts and polo-shirt, so I was soon cold and wet), we eventually took cover in an Irish pub (the only thing Irish being that they served Guiness) for our first beer. Then down-hill and along to see the Moulon Rougue - a very seedy district with adult shows all along that area. We ended up in a bar run by Vietnamese women where a 3-piece male French band sang 70s American songs in English while European soccer was shown on TVs about the room. Viva la difference. Quite an atmosphere and the beers were cheap too. Then it was time to move again - this time down to St Michelle (across from Notre Dame). It was a lot of fun and a heady atmosphere, rushing through the evening streets and metro tunnels with the guys. We found a fixed-price 3-course meal restaurant (15 Euros - great value) and I got to try Escargot - not bad at all. Just as I feared a night with no sleep - indeed waking up in an unknown part of Paris, Pete and Adam seemd to "hit the wall" (ahh, how they have aged, lol) and decided to call it a night. So it was one last metro ride across town and we were back to the hotel by midnightish, with the knowledge that Pete was leaving early in the morning, but that Adam's return train wasn't till after 5pm the nextday.

28/4 - Moving

I've already written this entry once sitting in the lobby of the BestWestern hotel here at Kingsman (see the entry for 6/5), using this PDA, with the intention of posting it directly on the internet. Only to lose it all - so this may be even terser than other entries written on the PDA.

Saturday morning we moved from our less than salubrious hotel inSannois (famous for windmills and Cyrano de Bergerac) to Krissolua andJean-Marc's place (also in Sannois). This was great for us - closer tothe family, more time to play with baby Barbara, a very nice house(even a soccer ball in the yard for Grant), and lots of interesting conversation. Flora, the third sister of the Marika-Krissoula-Flora triumvirate also came for a visit and overnight stay.

It was nice finally meeting all three sisters, whom I consider very different in personality. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Marika and Krissoula for the generosity they have shown us on this trip; but equally as importantfor contacting Maria all those years ago and making her aware of her father's side of the family. In many ways the genesis of this trip lies in those first communications.

The "anecdote of the day" concerns our minor adventure at the swimming pool with particular regard to its dress regulations. Jean-Marc swims each Saturday arvo for 1-hour, and he invited the kids and I along. Issue was, board shorts are not allowed, nor are rash tops. Its straight speedos for the guys, and a 1 or 2-piece for the girls. Ok for Zoe and I (no, I didn't wear a bikini) but not for Grant. First we asked the cloakroom attendant. No! Then we tried the higher authority of lifeguard. No! So in our speedos and dripping wet we needed to go out into the centre's lobby to buy Grant a pair from a vending machine. Guess what - not enough money. So back to the locker-room to get money.

The real strange thing is that with all this stricture about correct wear you'd expect a very "professional" swimming environment inside. By which I mean very skilled lap swimmers, roped off lanes with different speeds, etc. Nope - just one lane roped, people "swimming"all over the place, and almost no one doing (or appearing capable of) freestyle. Makes me realise that Australia's approach to swimming skills for the populace is probably way ahead of most countries. Ohhh, and the water was extremely chlorinated - I had red stinging eyes after a single lap.

That night it was a big family dinner, with Flora providing the dessert (something she is apparently famous for). One "nice result" for the day was that the airbed I have been carrying on Maria's behalf - one of the best travelled airbeds ever I suspect (Tokyo, Santorini, Athens, Paris) -finally got used (due to the large number of people staying in the house). It would be used for the 2 following nights before an even better outcome - we left it behind in France when we flew to the US. Yay.

Up to 9/5 - Bring Everyone Up-To-Date

So, here I am in Tropic, Bryce Canyon, USA on May 9 ; and painfully aware that there hasn't been a blog posting since the 27th of last month.

As you can imagine this is not because we haven't been doing things and hance have nothing to report. Indeed, quite the opposite we've been so busy and on the move that I haven't been able to make postings as I'd like. Thats still really the case. This is going to be a quick summary of some of the things we've done. However on my PDA I'm keeping a much more complete account and when we get to a stable location I'll give a far more thorough account of everything.

OK, so Sunday and Monday the 28th and 29th were full days in Paris for us. Sunday we met Pete and Adam my two favourite students from way back and spent most of the day with them. Business was discussed and some sites seen before Maria and the kids returned to Sannois and I stayed in the city with Adam and Pete for a metro pub crawl. The next day Pete headed out but Adam stayed with us when we climbed the Eiffel tower. Then while Maria and the kids visited the Paris school that provides pen-pals for Miles Franklin Adam and I continued discussions. One memory is of women in 2-piece bikinis sunning themselves in the park just near the base of the tower.

Tuesday we flew to the US. It was a long flight but nothing too dramatic - till we got to the other end and found that Maria's luggage had not arrived. We got into the hotel (eventually) tired and deflated.

The next 3 days were Disneyland and far exceeded my expectations of the place. First day was traditional Disneyland, 2nd day was California adventure park, and the 3rd day we spent time in each. We all loved the extreme rides of both places and did the most "scary" such as California Screamer (everyone's favourite), the tower, the blast, soaring, etc. Really, it exceeded expectations, but did remain the commercial "happiest place on earth" (blah!) also - which took the edge off a bit.

Then after a day of rest and planning it was time to hit the road. We have a hire car that looks like some sort of surfer's vehicle from the 60s - curved hood and roof. Quite stylish - if you like that kind of thing. So on the Sunday we drove partway to Grand Canyon (a place called Kingsman - one the famous Route 66), then the next day all the way.

The Canyon was as awe inspiring as ever - all that exposure and space is something that a human mind and perceptual system used to limited horizons and spaces finds it hard to deal with. Grant was very disconcerted by the exposure of the place - most of the rim and trails into the canyon have no railings and sheer drops that go down and down and down. We ended up doing a helicopter flight and also walked partway into the canyon (it is a full day's walk for fit people to descend the more than 1 mile vertically to the bottom of the canyon). Great fun, but too short a time.

Today we have driven from the canyon north to Bryce Canyon, arriving in the evening. As I write this Maria and the kids are a couple of hundred metres away at another hotel using the laundromat there (yes, I know its not as romantic as talking about the Seinne or as sweeping as the Grand Canyon - but these are necessities of a trip also!).

Anyway, we are all well and happy. There were some further minor dramas of a financial nature - simply to do with cards not working etc. But all is good.

We will be here at Bryce for another full day then drive over to the nearby Zion National Park for 2 days. The most likely course from there is a 2 to 3 day trip up to the Browns at Eugene in Oregon. Grant has been "hanging out" to see Nate again.

Well, I've been feeding this machine 1-dollar bills about as fast as I type a paragraph. I'm not sure how much time I have left and the last thing I want to do is to lose my work (that happened to me at Kingsman). Our love to all our friends - at home in oz and all those great friends who have helped us along the way - we're thinking of you.

27/4 - Boats, Buses, and Cathedrals

Based on Krissoulas guidance from Thursday we felt up to the task of getting into, around, qnd out of Paris by ourselves, and thats what we did. ((Aside: I am using a French keyboard which has a subtely rearrqnged keyboard - most notably a repositioned a/q, the m in a different location, punctuation all over, etc. So please forgive any typos qnd perform the transliteration in your head when you see things like qnd - read as and)).

After a quick and simple breqkie in our hotel room we wandered down and caught the bus and "regional/country" train that tqkes us from Sannois (where we are staying) into St Lazare station in Paris itself. It is a trip in total of some 30 minutes only - ignoring wait times. Again a truly beautiful dqy - shorts qnd t-shirts weather all day.

The plan for the day was to travel qround on one of the open topped double decker buses, getting off and seeing whatever sights interested us, visit Notre Dame cqthedral, and stay in Paris till qfter dqrk so we could see the Eiffel Tower lit up (Paris - City of Lights). Pretty much we did exactly that.

We grabbed a metro (Paris underground - a truly great and easy to use system - but so is all the other French public transport we have used) over to the Opera stop...which is, as its name suggests, the Opera House. This is one of the 9 or so stop locations for these bus tours that we wanted to join - once you hqve bought your ticket you cqn hop on or off these buses for the next 2 days. They come by every 15 minutes or so, are lqrge qnd red, give an alternqte view from on-top to what you see at ground level, and hqve an audio commentary system (in about 7 languqges) that has about a 50 % chance of working - depending on the seat you are in.

So we took a quick look at the Opera House - extremely austentatious - even the French of the time criticised it - with all its busts and statues, and lqck of sufficient seating for an audience (see, in hindsight I can say the bus audio commentary was useful). Then we chased the tour bus round and round the block (opera house is its own block) until we caught up and were on. Phew. Maria and I plugged in (audio), within 10 minutes Grant "jacked-in" and was deep in his DS game.

I was interested in Notre Dame, and more generally the island on which Paris was founded. These were at the other end of the bus route, so we stayed on for an hour or more - going past sites we hqd visited the day before (e.g., Arc De Triump), and others we hadnt visited. By the time we got to Notre Dame it was lunchtime. So the first order of the day - after gawking at the cathedral exterior qnd the lqrge crowds outside, was to find some lunch. Like true Parisians (of the I-hqve-no-money-kind, those that are cashed-up dine in the little cafes and restaurants) we grabbed some baguettes, a quiche, and water qnd sat between the Seinne river qnd the cathedral - enjoying the sunlight and the food.

Then into Notre Dame. Admission is free (it costs to climb the towers or visit the tresury), and you could even tqke confession there if you zere so inclined. The cathedral is extremely beautiful qnd awe inspiring with its high vaulted veilings and exquisite stained glass windows cqtching the early qfternoon light. I cqn only imagine what effect seeing such an edifice and artwork must have had on medieval residents of the city and their belief system. Its quite qn experience joining the swirl of tourists as they traverse the cathedral counter-clockwise, and one I highly recommend.

Then its outside if you wish to climb the towers for the famous views, and even more famous gargoyles - each different. Access is in groups of 20 at a time, with qbout a 10-minute wait at eqch of the "way-stations" (shop, bell room, lower tier etc.). The system works quite well but does mean you wait outside in a line for some period. The climb was surprisingly strenuous - very narrow winding stone stairs thqt seem to ascend and ascend. However the views truly were great and I loved all the different gargoyles (most qre sheltered but some uncovered show the ravages of the elements). The bell loft with its massive wooden beams was also wonderful.

The climb back down left us hot qnd sweaty. After a long drink break followed by some souviner shopping (Don, I found a hat to replqce the Pork-Pie hat I lost in 1983 one night at Wgong Uni) it was back on the bus qnd qll the way over to the Eiffel Tower in the early evening (around 6pm).

After a bit of a sit on the grass just people and tower watching, and an envious look at a nearby group that had brought picnic supplies, we headed down to the Seinne (only the matter of 200 metres or so) and straight onto a 1-hour cruise on one of the large flat boats that specialise in these things. Maria and I love the movie Charade (Cary Grant - my favourite actor, and Hepburn) which is set in Paris and features a river boat cruise - so this was a must-do for us. Certainly the experience was highly enjoyable qnd gives yet another perspective on this wonderful city (yes - I am another one of its admirers/victims) - but not only the romantic side such as boqt restaurants and strolling couples but qlso the seamier such as homeless under some of the famous bridges.

Back qt the tower and with dusk fallen we went up to the Trocadero (famous area up-hill from the tower) and found a tiny store from which we could buy the makings of q picnic dinner - tatziki dip, bread, ham, lettuce, juice. Then back partway to the tower to find some "comfortable" grass with a view of the tower. Of course, there qre lots of other people with similar ideas, as well as skqters using the hillsides for high-speed slalem practice, the every present police qnd militqry (walking about with assualt rifles), the "Afgan-women-beggers-with-their-postcard-messages", the guys hocking key-rings of the Eiffel tower etc. etc. - the light show is almost an after-thought ... but not quite. Lying on the grass, in the warm evening air, gazing at the golden tower (just the scale of the tower qnd the "open spqce" it implies tends to draw your eyes back to it again and again) is yet another of those special memories to be slotted away.

Just before 10pm we realised the light-show was not going to improve (wed had hopes thqt the fountains of the Trocadero would be lit qnd running) we decided to head home. Getting back to Sannois proved no difficulty - metro to St Lazare, then the regionql train. However in the final leg we hit a hitch. No buses running, the station very quite qnd almost "dead" and no taxis at the taxi stand. Public telephones here need a card - and we had no card (so couldnt call a cab). So we decided to "leg it" - walking the 3 or 4 kilometres bqck to the hotel qnd qrriving tired just before midnight. The walk was particularly hard for Zoe as her stomach had continued to play-up throughout the day...but she soldiered through and I was very proud of her.