Susan's Ramblings

Changdeokgung Palace

2009-10-05T00:38:00.004+11:00

After visiting Gyeongbukgung we walked to the Changdeokgung Palace, the second royal residence and built after Gyeongbukgung Palace, it is the best preserved among the five remaining royal Joseon palaces. Personally I preferred this palace it seemed more in harmony with it surrounds than the National Palace. Like all traditional Korean structures it also has an asymmetric beauty about it but te best was the "secret" garden that seems to have adapted to the topography and there has been very little artificial landscaping added. There are a number of ponds and a stream runs through the gullies. I couldn't help but compare this naturally stunning garden with that of Versailles where everything is manicured within an inch of its life! Here you wander through and, even though there are hundreds of people with you, you feel the serenity. 12 years ago the Palace was inscribed on the Unesco World Cultural Heritage list and when you walk through the grounds and gardens you can understand why.

Chuseok Festival and Gyeongbokgung Palace

2009-10-04T23:50:00.002+11:00

There are not many public holidays in Korea, Chinese New Year is the biggest and Chuseok is the next major festival. This weekend was Chuseok, the best way to describe it is as Korean Thanksgiving. It is held on the 15th day of august on the Lunar calendar - so it's my birthday all over again! From what I have learnt Chuseok started somewhere around the first century there was a month-long weaving contest between two teams. At the end of the month, the team that had woven more cloth had won and was treated to a feast by the losing team. Another thought is that it originates more as a worship festival from ancient shamanistic celebrations of the harvest moon (much like the moon festival). New harvests were offered to the gods and ancestors. In some areas, if there was no harvest, worship rituals were postponed, or in areas with no annual harvest, Chuseok was not celebrated. Like many festivals it comes with traditional customs in South Korea there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of one's ancestors. They worship the ancestors in the early hours of the morning. If possible they visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to offer food and drink to their ancestors. The crops are said to be a blessing from the ancestors. Of course food is involved for the living too, one of the major f eaten during the holiday is songpyeon a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed over pine needles. Other dishes commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruit. From what I am told, Chuseok is another word for slavery to the Korean women, they prepare for days in advance and rise early on the actual day. The custom is that the wife of the eldest son works under the instructions of her mother-in-law to make sure everything is in readiness when the men commence the rituals. The wives of the younger brothers make sure the house is prepared, they tell me this is the easiest part and no modern Korean women wants to marry a eldest son!
We were not sure what to do on this day, the hotel told us that most things were closed and our best option was to go to one of the five palaces in Seoul. They thought there may be some local festivities but did warn us that most places would be closed. We decided to take our chances and go to a palace or two. After consulting the hotel tourist map we headed off to Gyeongbokgung Palace, more easily pronounced as the "National" Palace. The palace was originally built in 1394 by the first king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo, but the majority of the palace was burnt down during the various Japanese invasions in the late 16th century. In the latter half of the 19th century the palace buildings were reconstructed and formed a massive complex with over 300 buildings and almost 6000 rooms. But then in 1895 along came the Japanese army again and they assassinated the then Empress, her husband the Emperor then left the palace and the Japanese government later destroyed all but about 10 buildings which they then used for the Governor General. Their aim was to destroy the symbols and heritage of the Joseon Dynasty that had reigned for almost 2000 years.
The government is currently 20 years into a 40 year restoration project to rebuild those structures that were destroyed to date they have over 300 foundations laid and almost 40% of the buildings that were destroyed have been reconstructed, including the main gate (called Gwanghwamun). The National Folk Museum is also there. We spent the best part of 2 hours going through the various buildings, including the Museum, and the surrounding gardens. As it was Chuseok there were any of the locals were in their national dress, the children were gorgeous and happily posed for photos, of course I took plenty.
We were fortunate to be there for the changing of the guard ceremony also, a chance for more pics.

N Seoul Tower

2009-10-04T22:29:00.003+11:00

Like many cities around the world there is a tower in Seoul, N Seoul Tower was originally built about 50 years ago as a communication and observation tower. In 1980 they added parks, shops and of course restaurants and opened to the public. I have been to a few of these towers in different cities and most of them are average, they are great though for giving you a view of the entire city but the restaurants are usually poor. One exception is the Sky tower in Auckland. Therefore, I did not have any great expectations for the dining in Seoul tower. Although there are a couple of ways you can get to the tower we decided to take a taxi. If you are ever going to be in Seoul my suggestion is that you take the cable car. My reason is that the tower sits on top of a very high hill and taxis are not permitted to go the entire way. So we had to walk the last 300 meters, not easy in high heels I tell you!
The site itself surprised me, it was full of people and they have performances at the bas every night through summer, they also showcase local artists. An attraction for the children is the teddy bear museum. We didn't have time to visit most of these, after the climb up the hill we were running late for our 8pm booking. The big surprise was the meal, excellent. The big disappointment was the photos I attempted to take. The new camera is great for night pics but I didn't take into consideration that the restaurant was revolving and therefore the camera was moving way too fast to capture anything but blurry (I call them "arty") light shots. Now if you are thinking that there is a typo error in this, it really is "N" Seoul tower, apparently it was originally Namsan Tower and now it is simply N Seoul tower.

Seoul City Plaza (City hall)

2009-10-04T21:40:00.002+11:00

Not far from my hotel is Seoul Plaza an open arena that during winter is turned into an ice skating rink but throughout summer and autumn it is turned into an outdoor stage and free concerts are held every night. If I open the window in my room I get serenaded every night.

Mind you some nights it is not quite to my liking and the window gets closed tightly! On a couple of occasions I have enjoyed it so much that I have walked over just to see what is on and sit in the park. The first night there was a magnificent orchestra performing. When I walked over I realized that the members of orchestra were all teenagers and they were having a blast, all very energetic and really putting their soul into their performance. It was not until the end of the show, when they were leaving the stage, that I realized they were all blind.

On Thursday night they had a "variety" night showcasing young Korean pop stars celebrating the coming Chuseok Festival (more on that later). Even though I could not understand what they were singing, it was very good. I decided to take my new camera and wander over to listen and take a few photos. What I didn't know was that it was being filmed for local television and a number of times I would look towards the giant TV screens and see my own face - very embarrassing-then I realized that as I was the only westerner there amongst about 3000 Koreans!

After the show finished and I was heading out of the arena, and still taking pics of the locals, I was approached by 3 Korean gentlemen who introduced themselves and one of them, Nam-il, asked if I spoke English. I get stopped by locals quite often just to say hello, it is one of the ways they practice English. Therefore I assumed this is what was happening here especially when in his broken English he started asking why was I in Korea and do I travel to many countries. As usual I was polite and telling him how I was enjoying Seoul. Then to my surprise he tells me that he was the Chief of Programming for the local English TV network and asked if I would be interviewed on local TV and radio! Nothing is confirmed at this stage but he is going to call me tomorrow (Monday) to arrange a time, this should be a real hoot and give me some more "Ramblings" fodder!

Cold day at the "G" and Hot day on the Junk

2009-09-27T23:56:00.002+10:00

Whilst my friends back home were sitting indoors watching the football final and trying to keep warm, I spent the day with my neighbors, Jonathan and Rumiko, and work colleagues Thomas and Kenny, along with Thomas’s girlfriend Sherrie and her family on the company junk. Now I must confess this is not the first time going out on the junk but I thought I would write about it a bit more this time. One thing that bothered me was that I really didn’t know much about why it is called a junk or what a junk originally was. Earlier in the year when Ian, Sandra and the gang were here I had to ask Ian and he explained that is was a particular design of boat. Basically a Junk is a Chinese sailboat design that dates back to the Han Dynasty and were used as ocean going vessels as early as the 2nd century. Classic Junks were built of soft woods with multiple compartments. Traditionally, the hull has a horseshoe-shaped stern supporting a high “poop deck”. The bottom is flat with no keel (similar to a sampan), so that the boat a very large rudder to prevent the boat from slipping sideways in the water.
They were found, and are still found, throughout South East Asia and India. Today they are most prominent in Hong Kong. Although the boat that I was on was of a much more modern version and did not have the traditional junk sails
Each time I go out on the boat I ask the skipper if we can travel to the south side of Hong Kong Island to Aberdeen Harbour and each time I am told the weather was not suitable. On Saturday it was perfect. The weather was hot still and steamy. Aberdeen is known indigenously as Heung Kong Tsai or Hong Kong Tsai, which means Hong Kong Minor. It is believed that Aberdeen is where the name of Hong Kong, or the more accurate transcription, Heung Kong, originates. It is famous to tourists for the “boat people” living in the harbour and the enormous floating seafood restaurant s. The boat people are generally associated with the fishing industry, although some are there for the tourists. This was the main reason I wanted to go there, to see more traditional junks and try out the new camera.We had a great day seeing the sights and of course the obligatory bottles of bubbles were opened whilst we were trying to find a cool breeze out of the sun. I know I missed watching St Kilda lose to Geelong in the rain but I know where I would rather be. I did think of those of you back home screaming at the TV or at the G freezing your butts off. Whilst I know one person who would be happy with the result (Erica), I know many more that I am sure were drowning their sorrows on Saturday evening. So Ian (IWB), Rob, Michelle et al, commiserations and like all good Collingwood supporters say – maybe next year!

Mid Autum Festival in Hong Kong

2009-09-27T22:51:00.003+10:00

I returned to Hong Kong for the weekend on Friday night and 30 minutes after arriving home I was heralded, by Rumiko my neighbor, downstairs where the building management were putting on a pool side Mid Autumn festival party. It is also known as the moon festival. So what is the Moon/Mid Autumn festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result. Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival.
According to another legend, this was day the "Man in the Moon" was spotted at an inn, carrying a writing tablet. When questioned, he said he was recording the names of all the happy couples who were fated to marry and live happily ever after. Therefore, just as June is the traditional month for exchanging nuptials in the northern hemisphere west , many Chinese weddings are held during the eighth lunar month, with the fifteenth day being the most popular. This year it fell on September 22.
The most famous legend surrounding the Moon festival is its reported role in Chinese history. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, the Chinese threw off their opponents in 1368 AD. It is said that mooncakes - which the Mongols did not eat - were the perfect place for hiding and passing along plans for the coming rebellion. Families were instructed not to eat the mooncakes until the day of the moon festival, which is when the rebellion took place.
Today, Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting and gazing at the moon. Not to mention mooncakes. Which by the way are basically a lotus seed or red bean paste inside pastry, many have a salty egg yolk in the middle to represent the moon is an and very gluttonous and I am yet to acquire a taste for, give me Christmas pudding any day. The festival is second of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, the other being the Chinese lunar new year. One of the lovelier customs is the hanging and carrying of brightly lit lanterns, the poolside looked magnificent and the children were mesmerized by them. There was a 4 piece band that accompanied a ribbon dancer, supposedly to represent a fire dragon – don’t know how that fits into any of the legends but it was great to watch.
Whilst I admit I was tired after a busy couple of weeks in Korea it was a great way to unwind and step back into Hong Kong.

The De-Militarized Zone Korea

2009-09-27T21:18:00.004+10:00

As I said in an earlier entry, after the truce agreement in 1953 Korea was split roughly in half creating two nations North and South Korea. In between the two nations is the De-Militarized Zone or known locally the DMZ. It is a place that is literally completely demilitarized, it plays role as a buffer region between North and South Korea. It cuts through the width of the peninsula and is about 4 km long (north to south). On each side of the DMZ there are armed forces patrolling and watching each other. After the first North/South conference in 2000 parts of this zone were opened up slightly. Despite the fact that it is the most heavily armed border in the world, it is extremely rare that any hostilities take place. These days the DMZ is a safe destination, and private citizens are allowed to visit DMZ; it actually is the northern-most place that we can visit. So on the weekend my Hong Kong colleagues, Thomas & Lily, and I decided to take a tour of the DMZ. We were collected from our hotel and along with 3 other “tourists” took the 2 hour journey to Imjinak Park where we met our tour guide. You cannot enter the DMZ without a guide. One thing I will mention first is that the names of all the places we visited were all positive ones. The first being the Bridge of Freedom. The significance of the bridge dates back to the turn of the century. Initially, 2 railroad bridges spanned the Imjin River side-by-side as part of a railway that stretched from between the now 2 nations. For many years the bridges served peaceful purposes, but with the commencement of the war1950, the bridges became arrows aimed at Seoul as the northern invaders stormed down the railway corridor. One bridge was destroyed in 1951. As hopes for a cease-fire grew, attention was centered on the one standing bridge for other reasons. It was the scene for exchange of sick and injured prisoners. Today there is little that remains of the bridge but a lonely beaten up train engine symbolically facing north in the hope of returning one day. In 1998 a new "Grand Unification Bridge" opened, replacing the 'one-way' traffic span Freedom Bridge that represented the only link to the south for so many years. Throughout the entire tour Elly, our tour guide, used the word “unification” repeatedly. Everywhere you went there was a monument or structure that has been purposely built for the day that Korea will be unified again and the south can welcome the people of the north. One that stands out the most was Dora mountain station. Have you ever seen a station with no train? Can you imagine a 'next station' where no one can ever visit? This station does not accept any passengers, even though number of people wish to board a train. It is Dora mountain station. Dora mountain station is the northernmost train station of South Korea that connects South Korea and North Korea; of course, it is not in operation. Unlike most stations, which are full of liveliness and people headed to their destinations, Dora mountain station is filled with a strange and almost bitter silence. Tourists, instead of passengers, visit this station, and you can feel the sadness of a nation divided in this empty station. The sign in front of the boarding gate awkwardly marks ‘Next destination: Pyeongyang’, the station even has immigration complete with x-ray machines all in readiness. The outbuildings ready to take incoming and outgoing containers of freight have been built but sadly have never been used. To enter this station you think that any minute now a train load of passengers would arrive and wake the place up. Other places in the DMZ are the “Park of Peace” and the “Bell of Peace”. They often have peace praying concerts in the DMZ. Of course there are still reminders of the tension, there are 4 underground tunnels where North Koreans secretly dug under the DMZ. They were discovered by the South Korean army and were blocked. We were allowed to visit one of the tunnels and were surprised to see how North Koreans cautiously dug these enormous tunnels through the rocks, there discovery was definitely fortunate for the south Korean people. One of the positives that has come from this “no go” stretch of land where no human had stepped for almost 50 years was a blessing in disguise. Because this zone was off-limits for so long it became a land of rare wildlife. Various types of plants, animals and birds and fish have now been found living there. As a result, the DMZ is also a natural paradise for wild animals and plants.
The DMZ is a symbol of both peace and division. Beyond the border of DMZ is the place where South Koreans long to go. As time passes, the difference between North and South Korea continuously grows larger. As the North Korea's nuclear armament grows, silent tension between the North and the South is becoming denser. It seems that the possibility of Korean unification is becoming harder. DMZ cannot forever stay as demilitarized zone.

Will Dora Mountain station ever operate someday?

Round 1, 2, 3...

2009-09-27T20:11:00.003+10:00

During the first week in Seoul our hosts, in the tradition of eastern hospitality, arranged a welcome dinner. Now in the past I have not been overly fond of Korean food but I had never experienced a Korean BBQ. Everyone that I know who has experienced it say it is wonderful. So with trepidation I went along. The dinner commenced at 6:30 in a restaurant near the office. We were shown our private dining area with its long table and two small barbeques built into the table. First thing I discovered was that the only drinks on the menu were beer and Soju, a Korean rice wine. So as not to offend my hosts, and because it needs to be very hot before I drink a beer, I decided on the Soju. Before long the table seemed to be overloaded with small bottles of beer and Soju. Thank goodness we were eating early, I would be able to recover before work the next day. After some discussion with our hosts the wait staff then took every available space on the table placing every .pickled vegetable you could possibly imagine. then came the first of many “toasts” and “cheers”. I don’t think I got through 1 shot glass full of Soju without at least 3 “cheers” being said. Then came the meat for the BBQ and it just kept coming and coming. By 8pm I thought I would burst! The meat was incredibly tender and delicious, I can’t same the same for the pickled vegetables but everyone else seemed to enjoy, just not my cup of tea. As we all departed the restaurant I was thinking it was good that I had been to the gym in the morning and would still get an early night, wrong! Apparently the custom is to then go on for the next round. I had overheard some discussion during dinner about extra rounds and I thought they were talking about rounds of drinks. No they were talking about food. So it was off to a Japanese restraint for round two! Another group of colleagues, who had also just finished their round one, met us there. Here again the beer and Soju flowed but at least so did the water. There were even more “cheers” along with piles of sashimi. At about 11:30 I said that I tried ever so politely to say that I needed to leave – protocol is that you need to ask the permission of the host – everyone decided it was time to go. My colleagues from Hong Kong and I said our goodbyes outside the restaurant and headed back to the hotel, along the way discussing how we now know not to eat so much at round one. Apparently the rest of the party went on to round three and finished at 3:30 in the morning! I don’t know how they all stay so slim, this has cost me over a weeks work out in the gym – I don’t think I can ever lose weight in this job…

Discovering Seoul

2009-09-27T19:36:00.004+10:00

I was not sure what to expect when I arrived in Seoul, Korea. Korea is the only divided country in the world. After the cease fire of the Korean War in 1953, South Korea and North Korea established a border that cut the Korean peninsula roughly in half. By all accounts it is still a country at war – only a ceasefire remains in place. I had heard that it was a bit like Tokyo but with less people. I arrived two weeks ago and I can’t say that I feel like I am in Tokyo (there are not enough buildings and you can see stunning mountains like Bukhansan from the office window, I must make a trip there whilst here! What I have learnt is that, like Tokyo, it has two very different faces. You can find simple and natural spaces in the midst of the city and then you find the dynamic and busy streets that symbolize a growing modern city. A great example is in the gardens of our inner city hotel is a Hwangudan, or Altar, a Hwangudan was a place where an Emperor performed sacrifices to heaven. In accordance with etiquette at the time, when an Emperor acceded to the throne, a Hwangudan was erected. The one in the garden of our hotel was built for Emperor Gojong in 1897. It is a 3 storey octagonal shaped altar and memorial tablets of the heaven gods are kept there. I look forward to discovering more about Seoul and Korea over the coming weeks.

Top Ten Canada

2009-09-19T23:28:00.003+10:00

OK here is my Top Ten Canada

1. Peg having to have her bag opened by a bolt cutter - just look at the size of the cutters!!
2. Shopping in Wal-mart for golf balls! 3. 2 mile trains
4. Going back to whistler just for more shopping! 5. Rocky Mountaineer gold leaf service – wow
6. Playing magnificent courses -8 rounds of golf in 16 days
7. Peg pinching me along the way just so I knew it was for real – and me doing the same to her.
8. Champagne breakfast before we left.
9. Seeing Bears in the wild – Zac helped too…
10. Having fun with Peg, a great travel partner.

There is so much more that I probably need a top 100 this time!
The bad bit… losing my camera on the last day… gave me a good excuse to buy a better one though.

Bungy Walking!

2009-09-19T19:57:00.006+10:00

For our last day before flying out we decided to cross town one last time and go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. The bridge was originally built when the owner , George Mackay , bought the property and realized he did not have access to half of it because it was 450 ft across the Capilano River and there was a 230ft drop below. Originally the bridge was built of hemp rope and cedar wood. Thankfully it is now much stronger, apparently strong enough to carry 10 heavy duty fighter planes – not that they would fit! Originally the plan was just to look at the bridge, take photos and head back to the hotel. But after paying almost $30 to get into what is now a thriving tourist park, we decided to tempt fate on our last day and cross the bridge or should I sa bungy walk across! Easy you might say but when you are staring down at a raging river from 230 ft above on a swaying creaking bridge that others seem to think that jumping, running and making it sway more is fun! We eventually made it across only to realize that the only way back is back across the bridge! Another highlight o the park is the totem park with it’s over 25 authentic totem poles that the family have been collecting for almost 100 years. After a quick visit through the souvenir shop it was back to the hotel to pack and make our way to the airport.

Northview

2009-09-19T19:51:00.002+10:00

It’s our last full day and our final game of golf, at this stage the score is Peg up by six in stableford and I am up by 5 holes in match play – problem was our bet was based on stableford! I had to pull out all th shots to win today! Today’s destination was Northview Country club about 30 minutes south of Vancouver in Surrey. Much further south and we would have crossed the border into the USA. As we were driving up Payne Stewart Drive we were both a little melancholy knowing this was the last of a fantastic “round” of golf. There are 2 courses at Northview and we played the ‘Arnold Palmer designed’ Ridge course that is part o the PGA tour. It was great to look out and realize, for the first time on this trip, e were not playing a mountain course, I think I might like Arnie! Maybe this one would be kinder to us. The terrain was what I would describe as gentle with streams and lakes (you can’t have everything your way) running through. We had no playing partners today and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Whilst I played better this time, so did Peg, we both finished with the same score and I didn’t get those 6 points back. When we went to the 19th hole for our final post game chardy I gladly handed Peg the $20 for the lotto ticket. We had played 8 games of golf in 16 days on some of the most stunning layouts you would ever see. I know there were many that were envious of our tour – even Canadians we met along the way.

Granville Island

2009-09-19T19:46:00.002+10:00

We were told by another guest at our hotel that Granville Island was a great way to spend a few hours in Vancouver, so as we ha a spare day before our final golf game that’s where we decided to go. Granville Island is a small peninsula connected to downtown Vancouver via the Granville Street Bridge. Again it reminded me of Melbourne. This was once an industrial area with ship building factories; it is now a popular area with a large public market as well as lots of artists galleries, shops and restaurants. We wandered through the market where the produce is wonderfully, almost artistically, displayed along with the handicrafts. In the galleries outside the market we could have bought anything from , hand weaved scarves, African carvings, and custom-built kayaks to musical instruments, stunning blown glass, ceramic and woodwork treasures. Yes of course we picked up a few more items – the luggage is now getting worrisome. We sat by the harbor and had the obligatory fish lunch – Halibut for Peg, wild salmon for me. Afrter lunch we realized just how tired we both were and headed back to the hotel for some R & R before dinner and to get ready for our final game of golf at Northview.

Vancouver and Furry Creek

2009-09-19T19:34:00.004+10:00

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the southwest of British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer. The population is approximately 2.5 million and is the 3rd largest city in Canada. It reminded me of home, it is ethnically diverse with more than half of the population having a first language other than English and its landscape is very much like Melbourne. In fact like Melbourne it has been ranked one of the most livable cities in the world. It was first settled by Europeans in the 1860s as a result of immigration to the Colony if British Columbia caused by, like Australia at the time, Gold rush. The area expanded in the 1880s into a city following the completion of the railway from Montreal. The one thing that we could not miss is the fact that Vancouver will be the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics with Whistler only 2 hours away they will be utilizing the resources there.

The day after we got off the Rocky Mountaineer we were headed back up the Sea to Sky highway to our penultimate game of golf at Furry Creek. If you have ever seen the movie “Happy Gilmore” with Adam Sandler, you will have seen this course. They had told us that the Furry Creek course would offers us a golfing experience like no other. Telling us how beautiful the rugged mountains and panoramic views of the Squamish Inlet were, other than telling us to take extra golf balls (remember our trip to Wal-mart), they failed to warn us of the difficulty. We were not going to shoot personal bests on this course, and we didn’t. I have since read it termed as "the best golf challenge in the Pacific Northwest" in other words – bloody hard and frustrating! Starting on the first tee box where there is a 165 foot drop from the tee to the fairway with water to the left and trees to the right – 2 balls lost! Whilst this course was really difficult and it would have been nice to play with others who knew the course, I think it holds the prettiest hole of this entire trip. The 14th par 3 fourteen, hugging the shoreline of the Squamish inlet, is stunning. Both of us carded very low scores and I stopped counting how many balls we both lost (I think Peg lost more than me!).
Throughout our drive across, and train trip back, the Rockies, Peg regretted (and told me many times) that she didn’t buy a jacket she saw in Whistler. So as Furry Creek is only an hour away from Whistler she convinced me to drive back there so she could get the aforementioned jacket. All well that we were close but to get back to Vancouver would take us 2 hours! It ended up being a fun drive and we spent most of the time talking about the course from hell!

Rocky Mountaineer

2009-09-19T17:34:00.002+10:00

Today it was off to what is claimed to be the most historic and arguably most scenic route operated by the Rocky Mountaineer. We were taking the original Canadian Pacific Railway route through the Rockies. At this point we needed to off load the 4WD that had transported us thus far. I parked Peg at th railway station with our luggage - we have heaps - and after dropping off the car it was back to Banff Station to start the next section of our journey - back to Vancouver. Peg had arranged our seat allocation and handed over the luggage. Whilst we were waiting for our train to arrive from Calgary we ere nearly blown off the station by a freight train going past, ok that’s an exaggeration but one thing we have noticed here is the size of the freight trains, they are 2 miles long and double stacked (2 containers on top of each other)! Could you imagine sitting at the boom gates waiting for that to go past! At about 8am the Rocky Mountaineer pulled in and we headed to our carriage at the rear of the train where the red carpet was rolled out and staff ready to help us board, we receive a welcome glass of champagne and all toast to the trip - this was going to be fun!
Once we were settled in to our seats we were off winding through the pine trees along the Bow River, with mountains, the most impressive being the aptly named Castle Mountain, on either side of the valley.
Soon after we are invited to the downstairs dining car for breakfast, the first of many spectacular meals on board. The food is first class. As we are having breakfast we pass the beautiful 'log cabin' style station at Lake Louise once used for the station scenes in the film 'Dr Zhivago'. The lake itself is up in the mountains, out of our sight. The train now crosses and briefly runs alongside the Trans-Canada Highway that we had driven days earlier. After breakfast we pass a small monument and wooden sign that marks the Continental Divide, and the boundary between Alberta & British Columbia. At this Rainwater falling east of the divide flows to the Atlantic, rainwater falling to the west makes its way to the Pacific. It's the highest point on the trip, we are now 5,332 feet above sea level. As we are travelling west, we put your watch back an hour, as BC is an hour behind Alberta and about now we are also offered our next glass of wine, hey for the first time on this holiday I am not driving so I plan to enjoy it! We were approaching Wapta lake and saw what can only be described as weird. We saw one of those giant freight trains entering a one of the famous “spiral” tunnels. From our vantage point above the other train on the line we watched it enter one tunnel and come our another the weird part was that you saw the tunnels that the front and back of the train were coming out of were on the same side of the mountain and the front of the train was coming out below where the rear of the train was entering. As I said weird and we were about to enter the first of two of the 'Spiral Tunnels'. Inside the Upper Spiral Tunnel, the train descends a complete spiral and emerges further down the mountainside, facing the opposite way. The train then crosses the deep wooded valley and plunges into the Lower Spiral Tunnel to descend even further. Even though we had seen this other train go through and Michael (our attendant) explained it, it's still disorientating. The spiral tunnels were built in 1907, replacing a dangerously steep section of line known as the 'Big Hill', where many trains came to grief. We then head through the Kicking Horse canyon, crossing and re-crossing the Kicking Horse river several times. The river is narrow, fast running, and blue with sediment from the mountains and glaciers nearby. The train follows the Kicking Horse River crossing bridges and through tunnels until we hit and valley of
wide flat valley full of pines - the Rocky Mountain Trench and the Columbia River.
After lunch we pass Craigellachie, where on 7 November 1885 the last ceremonial rail spike was driven in, completing the Canadian Pacific Railway and linking Montreal to Vancouver by rail. There's a monument and small museum by the tracks, where locals and tourists alike wave at the Rocky Mountaineer going past. As we pass through Sicamous and the huge and beautiful Lake Shuswap we pass a long line of osprey nests in the tops of telegraph poles and trees by the lake, it has become dubbed as 'Osprey alley'. If you look closely you see bald eagles too. We are unfortunate in that a wildfire was burning some miles away and the smoke from the fire reduced our visibility somewhat and we could not get a real feel for the size of this lake. After Lake Shuswap comes Lake Mara and the mountains give way to smaller hills along the South Thompson River. The hills are volcanic and the country is more arid here, rocky and sandy with fewer trees, very different from the morning's scenery. The smoke was increasing and the topography was familiar – we were approaching Kamloops again. Three “cowboys” on horses met the train as we arrived in Kamloops late the afternoon. One thing I really liked is that there was no need to carry luggage or check into the hotel. Room keys were handed out on the train and the luggage actually travels separately by road and was waiting for us in our hotel room. After arriving at our hotel, familiar as it was the same one we had stayed in on the way through, we had dinner and exhaustedly fell into bed. Even after doing nothing but taking in the views across the, over 300 mile, journey we were beat.
Early the next morning the bus collected us from our hotel to transfer take us back to the station. The train was now considerable longer and we were no longer at the rear of the train. Overnight the train was connected to the train from Jasper for the final leg into Vancouver. We all board again and head off across the Thompson River onto 'first nation' (Indian) territory, passing a small wooden church that was allegedly used in the film 'Unforgiven' with Clint Eastwood. We run along the shore of Kamloops Lake where there are more bald eagles and giant Osprey nests. Apparently the male Osprey build these huge colorful nests to attract the opposite sex and the bigger and brighter the nest the more females he attracts, from what we saw there are some Osprey that are getting more than their fair share of attention. As the train reaches the end of the lake and runs alongside the Thompson River. The countryside here is even more arid than before as it passes Ashcroft, the driest town in Canada. We then move on and pass 'Black Canyon', a black lava cliff. After Black Canyon Tunnel the train crosses the Thompson on a huge steel girder bridge and the scenery changes again, from dry & sandy back to rocky with pine trees. The train enters the Thompson River canyon and along the very edge of the river under a sheer cliff wall with avalanche protection sheds in several places. We then cross the Thompson River and we arrive at the confluence of Thompson & Fraser rivers. This is the narrowest and fastest-flowing point of the Fraser River. On the right on the far bank is the Hell's Gate cafe, with a suspension footbridge across the river below the train and a cable car over the river and up the mountain. By mid afternoon we are no longer right next to the Fraser River, which has become very broad. The train is in a wide flat valley, with farms and greenhouses starting to appear. The historic site of Fort Langley is just visible through the trees. We realize we are coming to the end of the journey when the train slows as we move through a rail yard filled with freight cars and then slowly cross the Fraser River with a much higher arched road bridge on our left. Once across the river we weaved through the Vancouver suburbs and into the Rocky Mountaineer Station. What is amazing is that even though we spent two days on a train we managed to do even more shopping – they had a great souvenir catalogue – we just can’t help ourselves.

P.S. I am limited to how many photos I can put here, if you are on facebook you will be able to see more pics there.

Banff

2009-09-19T17:12:00.002+10:00

We had a spare morning whilst in Canmore and decided to take the opportunity to visit nearby Banff. Banff is a resort town, and one of Canada's most popular tourist destinations, known for its mountainous surroundings, notably Mount Rundle, Sulphur Mountain, Mount Norquay, and Cascade Mountain; and its hot springs. It is also the highest elevated town in Canada (4,800 ft) situated above Bow Falls near the junction of the Bow and Spray Rivers. We were originally going to be playing golf at Banff Springs Resort but were told that a tournament was playing was the Whyte Museum that had a exhibition of Robert Bateman paintings and drawings. There was also an impressive photo exhibition of shots taken in the early 1900's around the Columbia Ice fields. It was interesting to note how far the glaciers have receded. The name of the photographer escapes me a the moment but I recall he was instrumental in recording the landscape around the ice fields. We also visited a local art gallery that displayed (and sold) works by local and national artists. After all this culture it was off to the shops. Peg seemed to find just about everything for everyone here, check out the photo and she hadn't finished!
As we were so close to Banff Springs we decided to take a look and also confirm there was a tournament going on. We knew as soon as we started approaching the course that in fact there was something going on there, it was overrun with people. This is where I had most fun shopping for golf apparel, I managed a shirt, sunglasses and visor. We had one last stop before leaving Banff, well Peg did. We were running late by now so I dropped Peg at the Bow river to take some pics whilst I drove the block before collecting her again * at least I saw the pics!

Mt. Kidd and Stewart Creek

2009-09-14T00:59:00.004+10:00

Kananaskis - Mt. Kidd

A short 30 minute drive south takes us through the Kananaskis Valley to another outstanding course at Kananaskis Country Club. With a landscape of surrounding mountains souring 10,000 feet above sea level and the courses themselves are at almost 5,000 feet. Amidst the forest and soaring limestone peaks is the Mount Kidd course. We met our playing partners, Norma and Annie, on the first tee and headed off to traverse the fairways and tackle the almost 70 bunkers, glacical fed lakes, ponds and river and off course the wildlife.

Stewart Creek

Today's game is at Stewart Creek and we are playing with father and son, Leif and Dale. I think this course is close to our favourite so far. The course layout, amongst the hills, pine trees and old mine entrances is a delight, with a variety of holes ranging from pretty challenging to fairly straightforward. It is hard to continue describing the courses we palyed, I am running out of nouns - time for a new thesaurus! One thing about this course is that the elevation certainly made a difference to our game. I have never seen a tee box as high as one of the par 3's

Jasper to Canmore - Icefield Parkway and Athabasca Glacier

2009-09-14T00:02:00.004+10:00

To travel the Icefields is to experience what I determine is one of Canada's national treasures, It stretches 230 kilomerters between Jasper and Lake Louise. The Parkway offers up postcard after postcard of the most spectacular mountain landscapes , a vast wilderness of magnificent peaks, ancient glaciers, pristine moiuntain lakes and broard sweeping valleys. Driving through the Icefields we leave the Province of British Columbia and enter the province of Alberta, the Parkway also marks the watershed point at which all water flows East or West
The Parkway takes us through the Columbia Icefield, a surviving remnant of the thick ice mass that once mantled most of Western Canada's mountains. Lying on a wide, elevated plateau, it is the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies. Not surprising as most of this precipitation over this area falls as snow; up to 7 metres a year! Since more snow falls in a year than can melt during the short summer season, it accumulates. As time passes, the snow transforms into ice and begins to flow outward through gaps in the mountains surrounding the icefield, creating great tongues of ice called glaciers.The Athabasca is easily accessible from the road and hence there were numbers of tourists visiting when we arrived. The glacial ice is in continuous motion, creeping forward at the rate of several centimeters per day. Spilling from the Columbia Icefield over three giant rock steps, the glacier flows down the valley like a frozen, slow-moving river. Because of a warming climate, the Athabasca Glacier has been receding or melting for the last 125 years. Losing half its volume and retreating more than 1.5 kms, the shrinking glacier has left a moonscape of rocky moraines in its wake.The glacier is dangerous! People have been killed falling into deep, hidden crevasses in the glacier.
As you can imagine the 5 hour drive took a little longer than planned - 8.5 hours!

Jasper to Canmore - Athabasca Falls

2009-09-13T23:54:00.002+10:00

It is a 5 hour drive to Canmore from Jasper, so we headed off early so we would arrive long before dinner! You think we would have learned by now that deiving across the rockies demands far more time. Every corner you tuurn is another postcard that just demands you pull over and enjoy the panorama and of course take more pics! Our first stop was the Athabasca Falls. The headwater comes from the Columbia Glacier about 70 kilometers south. Among the most powerful and breathtaking falls in the Rocky Mountains, the Athabasca River thunders through a narrow gorge where the walls have been smoothed and potholes are created by the sheer force of the rushing water carrying sand and rock. Don't come here expecting solitude, this place is extremely popular. The power of roaring water and trembling earth meet to battle with our senses. The falls are one of the most powerful and impressive in the Rockies. Even without rain you tend to get rather wet from the ever-present spray. The falls are a natural work of art, sculptured by glacical ice and river water. Like the crags and forests that surround it, the shady canyon is home to a different world. Erosion carves narrow steps and cracks where tiny plants and huge trees manage to find root to hold whilst being bathed by constant mist and sunlight. Apparently every couple of years someone decides to try and get the perfect picture and get too close to the roaring water. The rocks are as slippery as ice. Predicably the odd few fall in, the water is swift and glacical-cold. Within minutes of slipping into the water hypothermia takes over and you cannot pull yourself out. Obviously, as we wanted to finish to golf tour, we stayed on the designated trail.

Jasper Park Lodge and Country Club

2009-09-13T23:05:00.002+10:00

Today it was off to Jasper Park Lodge and game 4 of the "tour". This course is over 80 years old and meanders througha World Heritage SiteThe designer Stanley Thompson carved fairways from the surrounding forests whilst maintainging the natural contours of the mountains. As a result, the par 71 course features elevated tee boxes, bunkers and vistas that scan the surrounding mountain peaks. Aparrently it took 50 teams of horses and 200 men working together for a year in order to clear the land of boulders and debris to prepare it for what would become this premiere golf courses. This was the only time during our trip we played with 2 other ladies, Karen and Della, even they were surprised to have female guests from overseas, its almost always males who do a trip like ours.
The "girls" were fun to play with, with the exeption that we felt rather rushed and discovered later that Della was trying to get to an appointment. One thing that is difficult here, as the United States, all measurements on the course are in yards, it took Peg and I a little extra time just to figure out our distances and what clubs to use! One final note, Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club is rated by SCORE Golf Magazine as the #1 Best Golf Resort in Canada. It has also received 4.5 Stars from Golf Digest and numerous other awards. We feel humbled to be playing some of Canada's best championship courses.

Kamloops to Jasper and "One Amazing Hour"

2009-09-13T22:53:00.003+10:00

The idea was that we would depart after breakfast and, after a leisurely drive, get to Jasper soon after luch. Problem is that no-one told us how you can't drive at 100k's through the Rockies. No its not the speed limit, you just want to slow down and stop and enjoy the magnificent vistas along the way. We just kept stoping for another photographic opportunity.One major reason for our delay was whilst drriving along the highway towards Jasper we noticed billboards advertising a river safari and both looked at each other and said - why not, it will only be one hour out of the schedule? Well it was one amazing hour. What is a river safari you might ask? Well its an awe-inspiring one hour ride through Grizzly Bear Valley, in the Monashee Mountains, and an experience we almost missed. Gliding through the mountains* glaciers, jade coloured waters and spectacular wildlife we became eveloped in the beauty, the scenery and the hunt for wildlife. We had bears coming within meters of the boat, eagles and osprey souring above and a walk though bear country to a waterfall where you can see evidence of recent bear activity during this unbelievable journey.On another note, at times we had dubbed this trip our "Thelma and Lousie" tour of the Rockies. All we needed was to meet Brad Pitt, blow up a Petrol station and then drive off a cliff. Well we met out "Brad" - Zac our tour guide would have made the trip even if we didn't see the bears! No matter how hard I tried Peg wouldn't let me keep him. All we have to do now is blow up a petrol station and then find a cliff!On the approach into Jasper we also managed to see moose. The trick into finding out where the wildlife is... look for cars parked on the side of the road with people on to taking pics!
A 3.5 hour journey ended up taking us over 6 hours! Boy was it worth it.

Whistler to Kamloops

2009-09-13T22:41:00.002+10:00

After traversing the top of Whistler mountain we headed off for the next leg of the journey. Today we start the journey to Jasper. As it is about a 10 hour drive we decided to cut the trip in half and drive to Kamloops for the evening. The day was stunning and the sun was shinning. We had been advised to take the longer scenic route on highway 99. We were glad we did for no sooner had we left Whistler and we were driving through stunning mountains and lakes. The road passes through some amazing scenery. To start with we stopped at Green Lake and its magnificent mountain backdrop. We then travelled higher and higher up winding roads and between steep mountains to Pemberton. After Pemberton we headed towards Lillooet and the mountains became much more rocky, rugged and very steep. At Lillooet we stopped at Breton Reservoir where there was an amazing aqua lakefilled with tree logs. Further on down the highway we decided to stop for lunch and pulled off the road alongside yet another lake. Now we did as they say and picked up our rubbish and left only our footprints but I must warn you that when they say leave only footprints - don't forget to look at what else has left footprints behind. Bears! Time to move on. As we got closer to Kamloops the landscape was still mountainous but more open. We turned at Cache Creek for Kamloops and here the land was very arid and dry farming land (hay making and horse ranches) with the wideand fast flowingThompson river running through it.

Whistler Mountain

2009-09-13T22:22:00.003+10:00

The original name of the mountain was London Mountain, but this was changed in 1965 as the name evoked conotations of London weather and was bad for publicity when the resort town was built. With the advent of the ski resort in the late 1960s the name was changed to "Whistler" to represent the whistling calls of the marmots, which are also known as "whistlers", that live in the alpine areas of the mountain. We braved the chairlift to the top of Whistler Mountain summit to view the Fitzsimmons range. The Range is a small mountain range on the northwestern edge of the Garibaldi Ranges . Its most famous summit is Whistler Mountain, overlooking the resort town of Whistler and is one of the two mountains forming the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort. Most of the range is within Garibaldi Provincial Park,its northeastern extremity is part of the resort,. Other summits in the range include Oboe Summit, Piccolo Summit and Flute Summit, which are hillocks along the ridge running southeast from Whistler Mountain. Mount Fitzsimmons is at the opposite end of the range from Whistler Mountain and the location of Fitzsimmons Glacier. Whistler is to co host the 2010 winter Olympics and whilst it is primarily known as a skiers paradise, during summer, whilst we were here it transfors into a mountainbike mecca with its 1200 meter downhill trails and a further 200 kilometers of lift serviced trails for these enthusiast to go wild on.

At the top of the mountain is a Inuksuk, the means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person". In ancient times the Inuit people would errect these structures to tell future travellers that it is safe to go this way as someone has been before.

Bear Mountain & Whistler

2009-08-25T01:27:00.005+10:00

We spent the first night in Vancouver to recover from the flight. Prior to the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong in 1997 many wealthy Chinese moved to Vancouver and the area where we were staying (Richmond) was surrounded by every type of Asian Cuisine so we decided to walk to a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner. Now I live in Hong Kong but I have never heard of Hong Kong style Russian Borsch let alone curried spaghetti bolognaise before, or having the option of rice, fries or Spaghetti as a side! We were so tired from the flight we didn’t care all we wanted was sleep. The next morning it was a 40 minute drive to Tsawwassen to catch the ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. We then headed off to the first real stop of the tour, Bear Mountain where there are 2 courses, both designed by Jack Nicklaus. I must admit after playing both we are not the greatest Jack fans! Bear Mountain is at the foothills of Mt Finlayson. There are 2 courses, the Valley and Mountain courses.
We played the Valley course first – considered the easier of the two. It meanders through forest, borders lakes and traverses creeks and rivers throughout its 18 holes. All this with spectacular views of the British Columbia Landscape and beautiful deers (& Bambi's) greeted us along the way. The course is full of elevated tee boxes, wide fairways and huge undulating (and very slow) greens. The terrain is at an elevation of about 300- 500 feet above sea level and almost every hole would be considered a signature hole – how can we ever beat this! On day 2 we played the Mountain course, whilst similar in terrain this was considered the harder of the two courses but with its faster greens, Peg and I found it more to our liking. Some of the panoramic views across Vancouver Island where spectacular, at one point on the 15th hole you can almost see Seattle in the United States. They also had a 19th hole par 3, mainly a betting hole, nearest the pin, birdie etc. We took the bet for who paid for the first drink after the game, Peg put her ball into the rough – mine was so close to a hole in one it hit the pin! Peg’s shout! Now while the courses were great we did need a run down to Wal-mart after the games, for golf balls! If our current pattern continues this could be the most expensive part of the trip! Another great part of this resort was “Jack’s Place”, a bar come diner that served a great burger & beer after golf. We both agreed that it would be great to stay and play both courses again, just to see if we can beat them a second time round, but we had more to get to. We left Bear Mountain and headed north along the highway, hugging the Straits of Georgia through Duncan, known as the city of totems, On the way to the ferry we stopped at Malahat Lookout to again get some magnificent views across Georgia Strait towards both Canada and the USA. It was then on to Departure Bay in Nanaimo where we then took another ferry back to Horseshoe Bay on the mainland and headed to Whistler along the aptly named Sea to Sky Highway. Peg was thoroughly enjoying the spectacular views along the way. We took a brief bathroom (and ice-cream) stop at Shannon Falls in Squamish for another great photo opportunity. The falls had a substantial amount of water coming down but we are told that in winter the falls freeze and soon after winter it is a torrent, that would be great to see.
We arrived in Whistler late afternoon and after checking into the hotel room (and having maintenance come to bust open Peg’s bag with bolt cutters– she lost the key!) we went off to discover Whistler Village. I had my first experience with Doctors here when I needed to get a script. I went to the whistler clinic and was told that as it was an emergency facility it would cost $550 plus the Doctors fee – all this just for a prescription! Needless to say I decided to wait until the next day when the local doctor surgery would be open. Day 2 in whistler and we were off to play the Nicklaus North course – after Bear Mountain we were a bit over Jack – his course designs are rather challenging. We were joined on the first tee by a lovely couple, Doug & Berry, from Vancouver who had a holiday home (mansion actually) on the the 15th Tee on the course. First the golf, Peg had a day in the park, she managed up & down from horrid bunkers, great long putts etc, she could not do a thing wrong. I think she likes Jack again! The best part of my day is that Doug was a doctor and called through to the local pharmacy and ordered the prescription I needed, and all it cost me was a glass of red when we got back to the clubhouse. I wonder if I can claim it on my medical insurance?? Again the course was amazing with views of the mountains, glaciers and scary ski runs around Whistler, Wedge and Blackcomb Mountains. After a hectic couple of days we decided to have an early night before heading up the mountain tomorrow and then off to the next destination, Jasper, a 2 day drive into the heart of the Rockies. We will keep you posted on how it goes.
BTW Peg and I have a lotto ticket going on who gets the highest Stableford score over the 8 games, so far after 54 holes, Peg 94 Sue 90.

2009-08-23T15:23:00.004+10:00

The limo arrived and collected Peg at 6:30 and then proeeded to collect me a shot time later once we arrived at the airport Peg was amazed at the check in procedure in the first class lounge, instead of standing in a queue for ever, we sat in the lounge and they came to you. Unfortunalety, as much as I tried, Peg did not get the upgrade that I did but she was happy with the idea of headeing straight for the Qantas lounge, Peg said it was great hanging on to my coattails, instead of sitting in the uncomfortable chairs in the departure lounge we were ordering breakfast in the first class lounge and having a pre holiday French champagne with our eggs.- BTW it was about 8:30am. We were flying in the new A380, wow what an airplane. At a length of over 72 meters and over 5 stories high (at the tail) , its wingspan is almost 80 meters and holds 450 passengers. It can fly 14,800 klms which is a good thing considering we are flying about 14,000 klm to Los Angeles.The flight was uneventful and once arriving in LA it was a simple transfer to the next flight to Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver lies in the south West corner of British Columbia in Canada. It is backed by the coast mountains and fronts Vancouver Island across the Georgia Strait. The city is only 40 klm north of the US border.
Peg and I both arrived on separate flights, I arrived first and picked up the hire car and checked into the hotel before going back to pick up Peg. The adventure is about to begin.

Happy Birthday to me

2009-08-23T14:28:00.001+10:00

It all started 3 days before the party when Mum arrived from the Gold Coast. Whilst all the planning had been done months ago it was still chaotic in those few days before. Before leaving OZ in April I had already planned the day. 1st and foremost play golf then get changed at the club and then party. And that is exactly what I did, one minor change was that I won the comp! As for the party what can I say, it was lots of fun and went way too fast. Trying to get around to everybody proved to be difficult. It was great to catch up with everyone including some that I had not seen for years. Brian and Gary were wonderful in the preparations and I must make a special mention to Linda who organized all the invites, took the calls and even managed the fantastic cake. Mum made a heartfelt speech that had me panicking at one stage that she was going to tell my entire life story – we all have some things to keep in the closet! All went well and if you were there I hope you had a great time, those who missed it – see you in the next decade!
The best part is the present I gave to myself, I am off to Canada for 16 days touring and golfing with my mate Peg.

Point Lonsdale

2009-08-23T14:23:00.003+10:00

I arrived in Australia and after my usual medical check up (everything OK). Dale arranged a few days away on the Bellarine Peninsular at Point Lonsdale. We stayed in a wonderful B&B that had been built in the late 1800’s and spent 3 days visiting wineries and shopping, eating and relaxing. Walking the beach was a wonderful way to unwind and recover from the anesthetic. If you ever decide to head to the area it is really worth visiting the wineries and don’t just rely on the tourist guide books, there are lots of small vineyards that do not advertise in the guides. Whilst not exactly on the cheap side the dry whites were spectacular. The other highlight was a small restaurant in Point Lonsdale called “Kelp” what a find, if you ever go there you just have to have the Pavlova infused with Lavender –OMG.

Antwerp & Flushing

2009-07-31T03:09:00.003+10:00

Whilst I was in Paris I learnt that I was going to be going to Belgium in the first week back to Lausanne. It was only a quick trip to Antwerp for two days. The long summer nights in the northern hemisphere gave me a small window of opportunity to get out and see some of the historical sites.According to folklore and as displayed by the statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend involving a mythical giant who lived near the river Scheldt. He charged a toll to those crossing the river, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands and threw it into the river. Eventually, the giant was slain by a young hero, who cut off the giant's own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerp, from Dutch hand werpen— Old English hand and wearpan ( to throw), that has changed to today's warp. I am greatfult to the hero and still have my right hand! One of the most impressive cathedrals I have ever seen would be the “Cathedral of our Lady” it was built in the 14th century with a massive 123 meter clock tower.

Antwerp being the home of Rubens is covered in references to his painting, I only wish I had time to visit the museums that displayed the actual work.On my second day I went to Flushing about 50 kilometers across the border into Holland, now I can’t say that I really saw anything of Holland except I did see lots of windmills, the only problem is today the traditional wooden windmills have been replaced by wind turbines (the Dutch still call them windmills though).The final stop before heading back to Brussels and our flight to Geneva was for Antwerp’s famous steamed mussels with French fries and of course Belgium beer.A quick trip yes but I can now say I have been to Belgium and Holland. All I need now is Luxemburg and I could say Benelux!

A week in Paris (24/06/09-03/07/09)

2009-07-31T02:42:00.001+10:00

You may recall when I was back home a few months ago I met up with an ex boyfriend (from 25 years ago) Dale. Well since leaving Melbourne in April Dale and I have spent a large amount of time on the telephone catching up with what we have been doing with our lives since then. As a result I diverted from Lausanne and met Dale in Paris for a week. I had been to Paris once before on business and whilst I saw the main sites, it was a rather rushed business trip. I arrived in Paris after a brief 1 hour flight from Geneva and was met by Dale, who had just spent the past 30 hours commuting via Hong Kong – best to say that I was a little fresher than he was! We arrived at our hotel in Place de las Bastilee on the right bank of the Seine. For those of you who didn’t pay attention in history class, Bastille is where the Bastille prison was and on the 14th July, 1789 the Storming of Bastille occurred and the fall of the prison was the trigger of the French Revolution, the monument standing there today is seen as an icon of the French republic and the 14th July is now known as Bastille day. When we arrived at the hotel we found that our room was not yet ready and we left our luggage and headed off to get our bearings in the new surroundings. After finding the local cafes, there’s one on every corner, and a wonderful lunch of salad and fromage. We arrived back at the hotel and found it ready. Now this was not like going on a business trip, so no 5 star hotels but we did have a sweet little boutique hotel and we had the largest “suite”(room) they had, the first thing we discovered is that in Paris, unless you are in a major hotel, there is no air conditioning, heating yes but no cooling. Problem was that we were there at the beginning of summer, each day was over 28c! Lucky we were on the top floor in the corner and we could open the windows and get flow through ventilation. Does not sound good but we really enjoyed the room as from each window we had magnificent views and once you got used to the heat it was not too bad. Over the following week we did all the sights, mostly walking (I am sure I am at least an inch shorter as a result)

Day One – A stroll around Paris

2009-07-31T02:29:00.003+10:00

After Dale had caught up on his jetlag it was off to see the sights. We headed down Rue de Voltaire to the left bank and the Museum of Natural History, it was originally the Royal Medicinal Plant Garden created by Louis XIII in 1635 and in 1718 the medical function was removed to focus on natural history ,the museum itself was founded during the French Revolution in 1793. As we had not intended to visit the museum (we came across it on our way towards Notre Dame) and it was an hour before it opened, we decided to just walk around the gardens. They are quite incredible with some magnificent trees that have stood there since the time of Louis XIII, many people go to the gardens just to meditate amongst these giants. After our stroll through the gardens we headed down to the Seine and walked along until we reached the Latin Quarter on the left bank. Mostly known as a student district and its rather lively atmosphere and inexpensive bistros. Hence this was our first food stop for a late breakfast. We then headed across to the right bank towards the 12th centurty cathedral, the Notre Dame, Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) was one of the first Gothic cathedrals. It was one of the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The cathedral suffered desecration during the French Revolurion and when many of its religious images were damaged or destroyed. During the early 19th century the building was in a state of disrepair and plans had began to contemplate tearing it down. French novelist Victor Hugo, who was an admirer of the cathedral, wrote his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame to raise awareness of the cathedral's heritage. He conducted a campaign to collect funds to save the cathedral, culminating in its restoration in 1845. The structure itself is massive, we even determined that one stained glass window was the size of a small house! We were very fortunate to arrive there just before a dress rehearsal for a future choir concert was being held. Just to listen to the organ, that has been there since the 1700’s, and hear the angelic voices of the choir caused the odd tear to well up in the eyes. Our next stop was supposed to be Sainte-Chapelle but the queue was a mile long and we decided to leave that for another day. We headed off towards the Champs Elysees. On the way we spotted a very large building and wondering what it was and why so many people were coming from it we decided to take a look. For those that have been there you will know that we were walking past the Louvre. Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre is the national museum of France and the most visited museum in the world. It holds almost 35,000 objects from the 6th century BC to the 19th century exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet) or as Dale said when he saw the inner square (where the glass pyramid sits) “the MCG would fit here”. The building itself began as a fortress in the late 12th century and remnants of the fortress are still visible. It has been extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1672, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, during the Revolution, it was decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces. Originally just 537 paintings were housed, the majority of the works being confiscated church and royal property. The size of the collection increased under Napoleon when the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. The collections have grown steadily through donations and gifts since and as of 2008, the collection is divided among eight departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; and Prints and Drawings. Now with so may displays and a rather packed agenda we decided not to do a Chevy Chase in European Vacation and see “ hurry up we have 400,000 paintings and only an hour to see them” we decided that if we get time we will come back and maybe choose one area to visit. Next destination, after lunch, was the Champs Elysees. To get to there we walked through the original site of the Tuileries Palace, the Tuileries Garden. The garden runs through a line from the Place de la Concorde, to Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe and on further over the Seine again to the Eiffel Tower and La Défense. Our intention on this day was to get to the Eiffel Tower by the end of the day. We reached the Place de la Concorde, the largest public squares (over 86,000 squares) in Paris. Originally named the Place de la Révolution and is most famous as the location of the guillotine that executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. These days at the centre of the Place is a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics displaying the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II. It was a gift of the Egyptian Government in the 19th Century. We passed the Concorde and walked through the Tuileries Garden, the garden covers about 25 hectares and remains much the same as originally designed in 1664.I must admit that by now we were getting a little weary from all the walking but on we ventured into the shopping mecca that is the Avenue des Champs-Élysées with its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and stunning trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets in the world, and with exorbitant rents it is the most expensive strip of real estate in Europe. We had accidentally picked the best time of year to be there –sale time, now you would normally think that even on sale you could not afford shopping here, you would be wrong. It was great, and yes we did both manage a few purchases along the way towards the Arc de Triomphe, mind you as much as I tried I could not manage to get Dale into Cartier. Just past Cartier at the end of the Champs Elysees is the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc is primarily a monument that honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the inside and the top of the arc there are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Underneath is the tomb of the unkown soldier from World War I. It was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 but was not completed until 1836 after Napoleon’s death. At this stage after walking for 9 hours we decided to visit the Eiffel tower the next day. We headed back down the Champs Elysees and into the back streets away from the throngs of tourists. Dale was also adamant that I return home with a pair of shoes from Paris (I bought the handbag last time I was here in 2005). Little did we know that we had headed into Avenue Montaigne, this little Avenue houses all the high fashion stores, such as Dior, Chanel, Valentino and Ralph Lauren, as well as jewellers like Bulgari. As you might guess I didn’t get any shoes here! We did stop at a divine little café for afternoon coffee and fromage where we watched what can only be described as a fashion show walk past. It was at this point we decided that there is no such thing as an ugly French person! They were all stunning and immaculately dressed. After a chat with the couple at the next table (they are all very close), we decided we really had enough walking and we would hail a taxi back to the hotel – not so easy in Paris on a late Friday afternoon, it took a further 1 hour of walking before we managed to find a driver to pick us up. Needless to say b y the time we reached the hotel we didn’t even bother with dinner – 10 hours of walking the streets of Paris, whilst wonderful, was exhausting.

Day 2 - Cruise the Seine

2009-07-31T02:22:00.002+10:00

After the long day of walking the night before, we decided to take it a little easier today. After a big sleep in we headed down to one of the many local café’s for breakfast. We had read somewhere that there was a farmers market nearby and both having a love for food we decided to try to find it. When maps and asking for directions in limited French failed us, I suggested we follow the little old ladies who were carrying empty shopping bags. My logic being that they all seemed to be going in the same direction and when they returned past us they had full shopping bags. Seemed logical to me. No we didn’t find the farmers market but we did find some great patisseries’ and delicatessens selling amazing fromage (cheese) and of course the local bottle shop. After about 2 hours of wandering and absorbing the sights and smells we headed back to the hotel with our bread, cheese, cold cuts and wine for lunch. Besides air fares and accommodation we only pre booked one item on our itinerary, a dinner cruise on the Seine. As we were both still a bit weary from all our walking so it was a taxi to the Eiffel Tower and then a short walk down the Seine to the wharf. We boarded our vessel and to the sounds of a string quartet we sailed away. Normally these types of tourist attractions are over priced and under serviced, food is mass produced off site and the operators make their money on the reputation of the river. Not so with this one, the meal was superb, Dale even said the Asparagus soup was the best he had ever tasted. They call Paris the city of lights and on a clear summer evening you can see why. With every bridge, the Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay all sparkling in the twilight as we cruised past. The cruise ended 3 hours later after passing the Statue of Liberty (the minature of the one in New York) and finishing at the magnificent Eiffel Tower.

Day 3 - Montmartre

2009-07-31T02:18:00.001+10:00

After missing the market yesterday we decided to try and find one that was advertised in Montmartre. Montmartre is a hill (the butte Montmartre) at 130 metres high, it is the highest point in Paris. Montmartre (Mount of Mars) has always had a history with artists and has many studios and cafés in that the likes of Monet, Picasso and Dali frequented. I thought that, Dale being the bohemian artist that he is, would enjoy this. Montmartre is also home to the Basilique du Sacré Coeur. Again we looked at the map and decided it was not too far to walk if we took it slowly and stopped at a café or two along the way. We headed off down Rue du Voltaire and into Rue du Magenta towards Montmartre. As I said earlier, it is sale time in Paris and as we were walking along we passed a plethora of fashion stores. Of course we could not help but to have a browse along the way. Might sound boring for Dale but the area we were in was full of Menswear. He couldn’t believe the variety of clothes and shoes that were available and at unbelievable prices. So after buying shoes, shirts, jackets etc it was then off to buy another bag for him to be able to take all his purchases home in. At this point we still had not reached Montmartre! We finally arrived, 2 ½ hours after leaving the hotel, at the street market we originally headed out for. The market was more like a trash and treasure full of all sorts of bric a brac. Dale managed to pick up a very old copy of a Victor Hugo novel written in French (for his cousin who can read it!). My task on this trip was to find a painting or print for my apartment in Hong Kong, failed during this excursion. After an hour or so of wandering through all the stalls we headed to one of the cheap cafés that the area is famous for. The legs were weary again but we had one more stop before the trek back to the hotel. Basilique du Sacré Coeur. This Basilica, located at the summit of Montmartre, was built to honor the war dead of the Franco/Prussian war in 1873. The building is built of travertine stone that exudes calcite therefore ensuring that the basilica has remained white even with weathering and over a century of pollution. The complex includes a garden and fountain for meditation. The top of the dome is open to tourists and there is a spectacular panoramic view of the city. I know this because last time I was there I traversed the spiral staircase to the top. I convinced Dale (rather easily) not to go to the top as whilst the view is the highest one of Paris – Paris is best seen from the ground. So this is where we sat, in the garden, on the ground enjoying the sights of Montmartre.One of the things to watch out for both here and around the popular sights of the Seine is the touts. They are everywhere, one trick is to show you a magic trick and whilst you are being mesmorised by the magic, your wallet “magically” disappears. Another one is where an old lady bends down in front of you and picks up a gold ring, then asks if it is yours, if you engage them you loose your purse! This along with the groups of young Romanian girls who continually ask if you speak English and if you reply they give you a note telling you their story of woe and asking for money – again one to watch as they work in packs, best to just keep walking when any of them are near you.

Day 4 - Sainte-Chapelle and Les Invalides

2009-07-31T02:11:00.001+10:00

Today we decided to get up early and return to Sainte-Chapelle in the hope that the queue would be shorter than when we previously attempted to go there. With the feet feeling weary again we took a taxi and arrived there 1 hour before it opened. After a coffee and Pain au Chocolat and coffee at the nearby café we were at the head of the queue prior to opening – a good start to the day. Sainte-Chapelle is probably most famous for once housing the “crown of thorns”. The chapel was completed in 1248 and has been renovated and rebuilt a number of times over the centuries. The most visually beautiful aspects of the chapel, and considered the best of their type in the world, are the stained glass and rose windows added to the upper chapel in the fifteenth century. Although the chapel is no longer in use as a place of worship thousands of visitors come each year just to see the stained glass. I had been here last time I had visited Paris and it was very high on the list to see again, Dale agreed it is quite spectacular.Once we left the chapel we decided to go back across the Seine and take a slow walk along the Left Bank, stopping by the riverside vendors selling artwork and books, towards the Musée d’Orsay where we intended to spend the afternoon. Alas, we chose the one day of the week that it was closed. Paris being so full of sites within walking distance of each other we then decided to visit Les Invalides, a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the country’s military history. It also contains a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the complex's original purpose. Amongst the many museums is the Musee de l’Armee, the military museum of the Army of France, and the burial site for some of France's war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte. The museum holding some 500,000 artifacts, including weapons, armour, artillery, uniforms, emblems and paintings, is the 3rd largest of its kind in the world. The collections are organized into "historical collections", representing a chronological tour from ancient times through the end of World War II. Under the dome of Les Invalides is the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was initially interred elsewhere but, after a couple of moves, in 1861 Napoleon’s sarcophagus was moved to its current prominent location under the dome at Les Invalides. We managed to cover most of the collections, including Napoleon, by the end of the day and after another stop for a glass of wine and fromage we took the metro back to our hotel to plan for another day.

Day 5 – Versailles

2009-07-31T02:04:00.004+10:00

We rose early and after a 45 minute train ride taking us through the outer suburbs of Paris, where everyone who lives by the railway line seems to have a vegetable garden, we arrived 20 klm south east of Paris at Versailles. The purpose of this was to visit the Château of Versailles and it’s famous gardens.First of all the Château, this place is enormous, here are some statistics. The surface area of the roofing is 11 hectares, there are 700 rooms and over 2 thousand windows and 67 staircases. Artwork from paintings, drawings, sculptures and objects d’art adorn the walls, floors and every bit in between. And all this is before you get to the gardens. The room that everyone comes to see is the Galerie des glaces or Hall of Mirrors. It was the setting for many of the ceremonies of the French Court, you can almost imagine Marie Antoinette dancing across the floor. The principal feature of this “hall” is the 17 mirrored arches that reflect the 17 arcaded windows that overlook the gardens. Each arch contains another 21 mirrors, a total complement of 357 mirrors. The arches themselves are further decorated by marble pillars with gilded bronze characters depicting the symbols of France. Probably its most recent claim to fame is being where the Treaty of Versailles, that ended World War I, was signed in 1919.Whilst the palace, or should I say Château, is incredibly impressive, with it is way over the top opulence and knowledge that those who lived outside its surrounds were starving to death in the most horrid poverty, you can understand why it’s occupants ended up with their heads in a guillotine at the Place de la Concorde. Whilst Dale and I went through most of the building we really came to see the gardens. Now if you think the Château was big, get a load of these statistics – the grounds cover over 800 hectares, there is over 200 thousand trees and over 210 thousand plants are planted every year, there are 50 fountains and the grand canal is 23 hectares with 35 kilometers of piping just to get water to the gardens and fountains! Now that’s a hose. Could you imagine them with Melbourne’s water restrictions, there goes 500 years of history!

Day 6 - Musée d’Orsay & a final visit to Eiffel Tower

2009-07-31T01:57:00.003+10:00

This was our last full day in Paris and we realized we still had so much we wanted to see. We decided to try Musée d’Orsay again. This museum is housed in a former railway station that was built in 1900, it holds mainly French art and is best known for its very extensive collection of impressionist pieces by famous artists such as Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Cezanne. It was quite surreal walking past Van Gogh’s self portrait, Renoirs Bal au moulin de la Galette, set in Montmartre and Cezanne’s Apples & Oranges just to name a few. I had goose bumps and many of the paintings, that I have only seen in tiny 1 inch pictures in books, took my breath away. Just to get through the Impressionists and post impressionist areas of the museum took us about 5 hours we did not have time to see all the sculptures and photographs (something I enjoy). Once we left d’Orsay it was off to anoth café for a late lunch and beverages before going back to the hotel to start packing. We had discussed lashing out on a lavish French dinner for our last night and whilst the idea was good, we decided for something simpler and to us a last reminder of Paris. We decided to take a bottle of wine and a couple of baguettes to the park alongside the Eiffel tower and watch it light up every hour. What a great way to spend a summer evening in Paris. The atmosphere was delightful with picnickers everywhere, and not just tourists, locals were out in force also. There was impromptu dancing and singing, gendarme wandering around – not that they were needed – I did manage to get a photo with a couple of rather dashing ones though. Sometimes you just have to be a tourist! It was a great way to end the holiday.

Day 7 – CDG – HK – Top Ten

2009-07-31T01:54:00.001+10:00

We left Paris and headed for a weekend in Hong Kong, here is our Paris top ten
1. Arriving at the hotel and seeing our room, whilst small, it was on the top floor corner and had a magnificent view
2. Trying to pick an ugly French person or street – they don’t exist
3. Coffee, wine, cheese, bread, well food in general, we did not have one bad meal.
4. Shopping on the Champs Elysees – yes we did make purchases there
5. Saint Chappell – my favorite chapel in Paris
6. The gardens in Versailles
7. French people – contrary to popular beliefs the French were courteous and helpful in so many ways.
8. Practicing our French and being understood – problem when waiters started reading you the specials menu in French though – we were not quite up to that stage.
9. Listening to the choir in Notre Dame
10. The romance…. Not going any further here!!!!

Weekend in Hong Kong

2009-07-31T01:48:00.001+10:00

Weekend in Hong Kong
After such a hectic week in Paris and the 6 weeks prior in Malawi and Lausanne it was great to get home. Dale had not been to Hong Kong before so after recovering from jet lag and catching up with the domestic chores, including a visit to my hairdresser, it had been almost 3 months, I took Dale across to Kowloon and gave him a fix of the markets and a magnificent feed of Yum Cha. Most of the rest of the weekend was resting and me packing yet again because on Monday I was returning to Lausanne.