USA - California, Apr 07

Cruising Long Beach

My Easter treat was a trip to Long Beach to visit Kat my lovely girlfriend who I met in Venice in August 06. I took a few days off work and headed over to California for 12 action packed days. Kats apartment is just a short distance from the beach and downtown so on the first day we jumped on the bikes and headed out on a mission.

The classic RMS Queen Mary docked at Long Beach

We stopped in Kats favorite coffee shop for breakfast before heading on to the Aquarium. We got great views of the RMS Queen Mary a large ocean liner built by the White Star Line in the 30's. They were the same company who built the Titanic and you can see the similarities. The boat is a bit of a legend because it served as an allied troop carrier during WW2 and ferried thousands of troops from Australia/New Zealand and US/Canada to Europe. It was hunted my many Nazi U Boats but proved too fast for them. We finished our bike tour at a great little Mexican resturant which had awesome Tacos. It was happy hour and the Tacos were only 1 dollar each.. Yep we ate a few!

Kats treat, a Gondola tour of the Long Beach canals

I was totally suprised when we got back to the apartment and found out that Kat was going to take me out on an authentic Venetian gondola complete with an opera singing gondolier. As we met in Venice but never got round to doing it there it was the perfect idea. We sat eating bread cheese and drinking wine. Every time we passed under a bridge the gondolier stopped and burst into song, was great. He sang in Italian, German and English!

Brunch Party, my nephew Nicholas making sure Angus was not missing out

The first weekend was very festive, Kat had planned parties both sat night and sunday brunch. I met a good number of Kats friends and family, they were very freindly and welcoming. My brother Stig, sister in law, Joko and two nephews Nicholas and Criffer (Christopher) who also live in LA made it to both parties so that was great. Kats rabbit Angus was pretty tired after the parties as he was busy entertaining kids most of the time.. well he surely did not go hungry!

Huntington Beach

The brunch finished late in the afternoon and we felt like some fresh air and relaxation so we headed down to Huntington Beach in Orange county to catch the sunset.

We were not the only ones with that idea

It got pretty chilly as the sun lost its strength but definately worth hanging out for. After the sunset we headed into a Mexican resturant for dinner, it was a majic evening.. The next day we went for a walk, or prehaps I should say a hike.. It was great, I got nice and sunburned and we saw a 1.5m snake crossing the track too which made it exciting. The day after Kat had to work, I spent the morning surfing with one of Kats mates Qzar and the afternoon interviewing with an engineering company.

At the Angels Baseball Game We had a cool day at the baseball with Kats mum and aunt who are both big Angels fans. I did not have much of a clue about baseball so it was a learning experience. Luckily we were sat in the shade as it could have been pretty tough in the sun. After the game we went out for dinner at another mexican resturant.... yes there is a bit of a theme developing. Some of the best mexican in the world is found in California so it has to be done! We went home and packed our bags for our next adventure, a ski trip to mammoth.


The crew, Stig, Joko, Kat and I on the chair lift

Kat and I left early the next morning as Mammoth is a 600km drive north east of LA. Unfortunately it also mean travelling through LA during rush hour so we decided to leave at 6am to beat the traffic and avoid any delays. We got to mammoth around lunchtime and went for a nice walk around Lake Convict. We also stopped at some natural hot pools but unfortuately they were small and full of naked blokes so we thought better of it. Stig, Joko and the boys arrived that night and we got ready for an early start up the mountain.

Criffer learning the snow plough

It was Nic and Criffers first proper ski trip so they spent the first day in Ski school on the learner slopes. This was good as it gave the grown ups (and semi grown ups) the day to ski together, and ski we did.. We skiied most parts on the mountain which is pretty massive and even got a couple of runs in the half pipe.

The boys picked it up really quickly and by the end of the second day they were skiing the blue, intermediate runs.

Coronas for Lunch - Nice!
Feeling the effects of a big day followed by a couple of Beers
Everyone was pretty tired after a couple of big days and it showed. Our condo was great and it had a good sized spa which we used every day.

Snow balls fights on the way up to Panarama Dome Get him! You suck stig!!
On the last day at mammoth we went for a walk up Panorama Dome which would be pretty gentle apart from the fact that every few steps we sunk a meter into the snow. We had some awesome snowball fights on the way.. No one was spared!!

We were taken back by both the views and gusty winds at the top

After the walk we jumped back in the cars and headed home to LA only stopping only for lunch and a milkshake along the way. It was a great holiday and it was very sad to fly back home again the next day.

Joshua trees on the way back to LA

Denmark-Copenhagen, Autumn 06

Poul and Christinas wedding in HolstebroAfter my Eurail adventures I was broke so needed to put my head down and work. As part of my "Gap year" I was keen to live for the remanding six months in Denmark. The aim of this was to spend a decent amount of time with my danish family which is actually bigger than my NZ including my brother neils who I had only seen a couple of times the ten years we lived in NZ. I was also keen to try learn Danish and experience the unique Scandinavian culture. Almost as soon as I came to Denmark in August I went to my mate Poals stag party in Holstebro and a couple of weeks later he and Christinas wedding.

The lovely Christina looking stunningThe Autumn Colours on DamhussøenAs soon as I got to Denmark I wrote off to a bunch of Engineering companies in the hope that they would have use for an english speaking structural engineer. This was not actually too unlikely as Danish engineers are well regarded worldwide and Danish firms undertake a lot of large international projects in which the working language is usually english.. Soon after I got replies back from the companies saying thanks for the application, we will review our situation and get back to you in 6 weeks. I could not have afforded to sit idle even if wanted to so I got myself a job soon after with Jacob Neilsen and his gardening firm Sønderskov in Vanløse. I worked there from September until January when I was offered a good engineering job. During these four months we did range of work including, tree pruning, laying paving stones, chopping trees down and stump removal. We also did a lot of driving around Copenhagen cutting grass which was a good way to figure out the local geography.

My brother Neils, Bror 5, Bjork 2 and his wife Linda

The family gathering in OdenseMy other brother Stig from LA travels a lot with work so he pops into Denmark often when he is working in Europe. On one occasion we all met up in Odense at mormors house and had a big family gathering. As always with mormor the food was excellent! It was good times, everyone got into the wine and we carried on into the small hours.

Poul and Christina at the Nyhavn MarketsI got a visit from Poul and Christina in late november, we cruised around town making the most of the christmas markets that were in full swing. Of course no chistmas market is complete without a cup Gløgg (danish mulled wine)

The lights of Tivoli Gardens
Drinks at Jespers apartment After a quick trip to Tivoli we headed around to Jespers apartment for a few drinks. We got into the beers and fishermans friend which is a mean brew of vodka and fishermans friend cough sweets. Things got a bit messy later on that night but not before some scratching on Jespers record player and dancing on the couch.

The night starting to warm up

The Ice rink at Kongens NytorvThe weekend after I had a visit from Hillary and Marissa which was always going to be a good laugh. I picked them up from the airport on friday night and after we headed straight into town for a late pizza. On the Saturday we got up around 9ish which is probably the earliest I have ever seen hillary up. We then headed over to Christiania to start our tour before returning to Nyhavn. After that we took a tour through the Royal Palace, Amalienborg and cracked up big time at some of the photos of the royal family (great facials). By the time we returned to Kongens Nytorv the Christmas lights were blazing and the ice rink looking really inviting. We had a lot of fun cruising around and trying to workout how to use our skates much to the amusement of the spectators. We finished the night off with beers at the Dubliner pub, after a brief snooze on the pub bench Marissa woke up and started chatting up the locals.

Sunday in Tivoli

Hillary and her mate from FinlandOn the sunday we were not so quick to get up after the late night and the girls had a early evening flight so we had only time from a trip to Tivoli that day. We all bought the unlimited ride pass and so we tried as many rides as we could, the non existent queues meant this was quite a lot. Marissa and I were particularly keen on the golden tower which is probably the best ride in the park, its a ride which takes you up to 80m and then fires you down faster than gravity. Was great, while we were up there Hillary befriended a charming Finnish man. After Tivoli I took the girls back to the airport, it was an awesome weekend and had a lot of good laughs.

Italy - Capri and Positano, Aug 06

A boat trip around CapriOur next adventure was a day trip out to the Island of Capri, a popular scenic spot since the Roman times. We had a short half hour ferry trip from Sorrento out to Capri. The best way to check out Capri is by water as it has some amazing features along its spectacular rugged coastline, hard if not unaccesible by land.

Faraglioni the symbolic stacks of CapriThere was only a little shade on the boat and as we were the last on board we were out in the sun, it was hot!

The entrance to the Blue Grotto - yep hard to seeThe climax of all Capri's wonders is the Grotto Azzura or Blue Grotto and it certainly drew the crowds while we were there. To get in you must pass through a tiny opening in the cliff and once inside a massive cavern 40m in diameter opens out in front of you. Unfortunately when we arrived there was a one hour wait to get in. A row developed on our boat as half of the people wanted to wait, while the other half wanted to head back to the town. Mutiny was narrowly avoided and we headed back to the town.

The town of Capri We got back to Capri and the headed down to the local beach for a swim. After the swim we read Kat's travel book and discovered an interesting fact. The boat tours into the Blue grotto stop at 5pm and after then you can catch a bus to the road end, clamber down the cliffs and swim in. It was the best discovery we could have made and turned out to be one of the highlights of my entire travels.

The Blue Grotto - the forbidden cave We jumped off the bus, changed into our togs and dived in. We swam through the tiny entrance hole and found ourselves inside a truly amazing cavern. Inside the grotto the sea is lit from underwater, it is a magnificent fluorescent blue colour and hence its name. This is due to another opening to the grotto, completely submerged, and the limestone bottom. It allows the sunlight to enter and light the water from below. The water in the grotto is pretty deep, up to 30m. There is only one small ledge you could stand on and that is located at the far end of the cavern so you need to be a pretty confident swimmer. We were enchanted by the place and floated around in the fluorescent blue water for an hour. There were other groups of locals who swam in but they stayed only about 20 mins. I can recommend it to anyone who is on Capri and keen for a little adventure, it is free, no tourists and truly amazing.

Sunset dinner on cliffs above the Grotto After the Grotto we celebrated the end of a great day in style with a meal at one of the cliff side restaurants close by. That night Kat treated me to a night in flash hotel, our room had air conditioning and was luxury compared to the stuffy hostels we had been staying in previously.

Sunset over the bay of Naples
Capri and the Faraglioni from the Monte SolaroThe next day we headed up to the highest peak on the island, Monte Solaro. Its a long way up but the ascent was made a little easier by the chair lift that took us to the top. The chairlift ride was pretty awesome as we cruised up only meters above the canopy of terraced gardens and citrus orchards. Kat had a great time waving to the stream of friendly Japanese tourists who were coming down and shared her enthusiasm for greeting. Unfortunately there was a cap of cloud hugging the top of the peak which killed the views when we got there, so we sat down had a coffee and wrote postcards hoping it would clear soon. Well actually Kat wrote post cards, I have a reputation for being notoriously bad at writing which I was keen to uphold so I simply observed.. 5 postcards later our hopes came reality and amazing views opened up all around us. We could see all around the Island and across the bay of Naples to the Sorrento Peninsula and Mount Vesuvius.

Finding our way back down
We were keen for a bit of exercise so we headed off across country to find a trail down the peak. We headed over to a small cluster of houses as that seemed like a good place to pick up a trail. Amongst the houses we found a cute little church perched on top of a very large cliff, the views were stunning. I think the idea of placing a church up there is you are higher and therefore closer to the mighty one. It certainly was an amazing spot and I have a lot of respect for the people who go up there on a regular basis. Anyway, we picked up a trail and one hour later we were back at the base of the chair lift after stopping for another top picnic.

The crazy roads of Capri a tough place to be a bus driver

We returned back to the mainland that evening on a very crowded boat, the ride was fantastic though. When wondering around Sorrento after getting off the boat we bumped into our friend Mat, the crazy Aussie guy we met in Venice. We had no idea he was planning on coming to Sorrento so it was a total surprise. We grabbed dinner, drank some beer and then hit the pubs, it was another great night.

The town of Positano from the roof of our HostelOur next port of call was the little cliff hugging town of Positano on the spectacular Amafi coast. The average gradient of the town was about 45 degrees which ensured great views from every house but also made you think twice about nipping down to the shop.

Hanging out on the main beach Our hostel was located about 200m above the beach so it was a great workout to get home again. We spent most of the days on the beach with a good mixture of reading, drinking and swimming.

The town of Amalfi
Our last night together Kat and I had our last night together in Positano, it was a sad, but very good night too. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant on the beach and after that went out for a night swim. It was still and calm where we were but we watched an awesome lightning storm out to sea, the reflections off the water were amazing.. After the swim we went back up to the hostel where we sat on the roof looking over the lights of the town and drinking wine late into the night. The next day I headed back up toward Denmark as my 2 month rail pass was about to run out. After Positano Kat had a couple of days in Rome before heading back to LA. It was a very sad night but also a celebration of the amazing adventures we had together.