AliVin New Zealand again!!!

New Zealand.. snowing heavily in a few places around the country as we got here!!! Must be spring.

Managed to get a few hours sleep on the flight.. Ali didn’t! and we had some pretty spectacular turbulence.. I’m used to it in light aircraft, but a chunk of Aluminium and steel charging through the sky at over 500 mph just should not be able to be bounced around like that. You have to wonder what stresses it put through the airframe. It wasn’t worrying, just sort of amazing to try and visualize what kind of movement the air was doing to jerk a 777 around like that!

Weather forecast is on tv at the airport here in Auckland.. lots of rain. For almost 35 days in the US we had only three encounters with rain of any significance.. the storm while with Vernon and Carol in Ten Sleep would have to rate as THE most impressive, and we did have a few hours of driving in rain after leaving Bryce canyon I think.. otherwise, we got completely used to having blue sky and then beauty starry nights. San Francisco was notable for fog, but only cos we just stayed on the Pacific coast until an hour or two before going to the airport, which is only on the inland part of the harbor, but was fog free. On the train to the airport, we noticed a large fire in the city.. it was a long way away, but a huge column of black smoke and flames that must have been big to be visible from where we were. Couldn’t help thinking that someone was having a bad day!

If you are wondering what we might say as lasting impressions of the USA.. it would have to be that we would like to go back, as we feel we have a number of things we’d like to do yet, or finish (Angels Landing) and places we would really like to spend more time at.. Zion.. and of course we never got to the Grand Canyon.. or to see a show in Vegas. ... actually, we would probably be happy seeing a show somewhere else! The experience was notable for all sorts of reasons, but the people would have to rate as one of the most impressive parts of the whole. Almost without exception, we had wonderfully generous, polite, friendly and helpful encounters that at times were almost humbling. I can see how/why wait staff can do quite well with “tips” as a lot of them go out of their way to ensure you get way better than you might expect.. or at least what we expected. We could be cynical, and give an allowance for our “foreign” accent helping us.. but even to have the check in staff at the airport use your first name, and wish each and every passenger a nice trip seemed different, and is even delivered such that you feel it may well be genuine! Another thought that occurred to us as we travelled around the National Parks, was that it was understandable as to why so few Americans have passports.. Their country is huge, and full of the most amazingly varied and wonderful places to go.. Much like us talking about seeing NZ before travelling overseas.. if you tried that in the US you’d either never spend any time earning a living, or you may just not bother getting a passport. Then of course the wildlife.. with NZ’s about 60 bird species.. compared to over 600!!!! With everything from the HUGE condor to the tiny hummingbird.. you could likely spend a lifetime “bird spotting” there and never see all of them. and then of course you have all the mammals! and some that just might eat you.. :(

We of course avoided “cities” so accept that our image is tilted in favour of wide open spaces and the people that prefer them. But maybe the cities, even though important, are no more the “real USA” as is downtown Auckland the “real” NZ.

So as cousin Stephanie said, we may have had our doubts about whether we would enjoy the States, but after being there for a bit, it was easy to see how one may consider buying a Van and just continue driving around.. it does “get you”.

So, that’s it for this AliVin USA blog. We’ve enjoyed sharing our experience with you.. and a huge vote of thanks to all those who we have encountered along the way who gave us such good advice and hospitality.

AliVin over and out! B-)

San Francisco again

ok.. we are back here.. found an RV park right beside the coast.. waves crashing at the base of a small cliff.. nice spot.. copy and paste this address to see where...

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=37.64494,-122.49337&ll=37.64494,-122.49337&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Pretty cool sitting here in the Chit Chat Cafe watching Pelicans soaring past on the updraft from the cliff, in formations of a dozen or so birds.. they are interesting to watch, as they are experts at using any air movement.. clearly "flapping" is only for emergencies!

on the way here spotted some whales just off shore.. pretty cool.. except that at the same time.. Ali shut the van door on her hand.. bugger.. anyway.. main thing is she is ok.. just some bruising.. the door was completely shut! yeah for rubber seals!

Now we have decided that RK news needed images.. or at least one.. so .. sorry if you are an animal lover (we class ourselves as that.. ..!!) but anyway.. here's proof that racoons are in the USA.. or at least were.. this of course could be the LAST one.. what a shame!. just so you know how dedicated we are, we actually turned the van around and went back for this photo!

OK.. short blog.. tired.. going back to the RV park to soak in the hot tub and then maybe get an early night.. probably do some "looking" for whales too..

Tuesday US Time

Tuesday.. USA time,.. about 2pm Monday NZ

Sad to say bye to Bill and Marci, we had such a lovely time with them.. really nice after the air races were over, we went to a small hangar where a young couple they know keep a Citabria, and had such fantastic hospitality from people we’d never met.. just cos we said.. “the Hanes said to meet them here”.. so it was .. “have a beer, pepsi, cheese crackers etc etc..” neat people. Gill (Jill ?) and Andy.. of course the aircraft is the connection.. sort of.. but we had a neat time there, discussing everything from the obvious (aircraft) to how hard it is to get wine in Utah.. so the Mormon belief system got a lively debate.. great fun.. and really great people.. would love to get back there again in a couple of years. Sitting there we had two or three P51”s taxying past and various boring executive jets.. ANG C130 (which used ALL the runway to get airborne!! Must have been HEAVY) to various light aircraft and even a great big amphibian.. Grumman.. not sure.. Once it was agreed that the traffic would be thinned out, they even gave us all a lift in a large golf cart, back to the car.. saved us all walking probably half a mile or more, which after a whole day was very welcome.. Bill especially as he has had a knee replaced only 3 week ago,.. so walking was a little too much by then. Only thing the Hanes did wrong was to NOT tell me that if I’d said hi to Bob Hoover, and that “Bill Hane told me to drop by” I may well have been given royal treatment.. bum.. cos Bob was there signing books! Darn.

Drive down here today was notable for the temperature change.. about 70 or so F when we left Tahoe.. hitting 107 F as we passed Sacramento, and now back to a comfortable 15 deg Celcius.. or 60 ish F.. I think the 107F or 42 Deg C we saw today was the highest of the trip.. at least that we can remember.. I briefly lowered my window to see what it felt like.. go get the hair dryer.. put it on FULL.. and aim it at your face.. you’ll be pretty close!!!! So we decided that being closer to the coast might result in us getting some sleep.. glad we did.. we are actually back at the first campground we spent a night at. Complete circle. 5083 miles. Fuel range from US$2.50ish /gallon to almost $4.00/ gallon. Spose tomorrow will be the last AliVinUSA blog.. but watch this space!

RK news.. yep.. bit of action today.. mostly raccoons today.. although I guess the usa’s got a fair look in too. Anyway.. time for bed.. going to check out another of the “Claude movies”” that are on this hard drive!!!!

Monday, US time..

Quiet here at Lake Tahoe. Although, before I got up I did hear at least a couple of fast piston engine aircraft whistle overhead.. sounded like warbirds heading home from the Reno Races..

We've had wonderfully relaxing time here with Bill and Marci.. needed it as I especially sort of crashed when we got here.. nothing some morhine/paracetamol and quiet couldn't fix! This is a really beautiful place, and being at some thousands of feet above sea level.. probably a good place to R&R. We spent Saturday catching up on sleep, and Ali got a load of washing done.. surprising how few clothes you use out of all that you pack!!! does everyone do that??? of course, being a guy, I can get fair few days outa my clothes.. Ali is a little more picky about this point.. but has the smaller of our two bags..!!!!! how did that happen.

Yesterday was brilliant. We all headed over to Reno at about 9am, (far too early for Marci!! :) very little traffic, and perfect weather. Quite a crowd there, but no hassle wandering around among the race planes. It was fascinating watching as the crews work on getting the engines ready for the next race. There’s a lot of spark plugs in those engines (two for each cylinder.. and a LOT of cylinders!!), and they seem to pull them between races. Camshafts were exposed, various items being replaced.. for the technically minded it is great to watch. The racing is just as good as I’ve read about or seen on tv, and there are moments where they are soo low. Top speeds are nudging 500mph now, which is almost ridiculous being that they are not diving, and are almost constantly in a turn. Really cool seeing Strega, and Rare Bear and others that I've heard/read about for years.. The Blue Angels display was LOUD and very tight.. went on for ages! Got some good photos.. There were some fantastic aerobatic displays, one with two Christen Eagles (kinda like a Pitts Special) and Patty Wagstaff in her Extra (I think) and the current US aerobatic team captain, again in an Extra.. I think.. very comprehensive display of complete mastery of the art. Kinda fun to watch, and think.. now I wondeif I could get our Pitts to do that!!! hmmmm. they also go VERY low.. Patty Wagstaff did a really interesting outside loop, and at the same time was slowing doing an aileron roll.. if you don't know.. pop in some time, and I'll do my best to show you how!! could be exciting!

Back to the jets.. We’d forgotten just how good a military jet sounds going FAST! I wonder if the RNZAF will ever again operate anything “jet” .. I hope so. The little F16’s that I’ve been up close and personal with recently would be ideal for NZ.. pity. Bill got to fly one a few years ago, and really likes them.. not as much as his P51 though.. can't say I blame him, as the F16 is stuffed full of computers, and likely the only computer i his 51 is in the watch on his wrist.

Had a very exciting bird encounter here at the Hanes.. just sitting in the lounge, looking out through the ranch sliders, and a hummingbird appears, checking out the fuschia flowers on the patio. how cool is that! . talk about cute!! I think a gum emperor moth would be about the same size.. some of you will know them.. looked about 3 inches long.. probably bigger .. but quite something to see as it hovered around the flowers.. not a chance of a photo.. way to fast.

Anyway.. packing up now and heading for San Fran again.. of course hopefully, I will sort out getting the blog up dated..

yipppeeeee.. got that sorted.. now.. how about some photos...

Yosemite Still.. whoopee

The Next Day…

Went to an evening around a camp fire with a park Ranger (Karen) giving a talk (with guitar and songs) about .. well all sorts of stuff.. had us all up doing “follow me” type singalongs.. hilarious.. learnt that over the winter, the marmot during hibernation breaths something like once every few minutes and its heartbeat is the same!!! They can take a week or more to wake up and can sleep for almost 7 months in a hard winter!!!.. we also learnt about bears, and their faecal plug!!!! Crikey! Apparently she even found an example of a “plug” once.. she said “you know what it is when you see it!!!” So all in all a very informative and fun evening. She knew all about NZ, having cycled from Cape Reinga to Bluff in 2001 with her husband and their two small children, one still in cloth “diapers” they made the front page of the Nelson Mail as well.... small world!

Left Ali in bed this morning.. (with a cuppatea and banana…) and went out to spot birds with the Ranger.. Karen again.. about half a dozen people.. beautiful morning.. hardly a breath of wind, and blue sky.. crisscrossed with contrails.. spotted lots of little sparrow type birds, one Falcon. And a couple of Red Tailed Hawks... the names mostly escape me.. except for the colloquial name of one.. Butter Bum.. you can guess why.. One of the highlights was a rabbit I spotted! Go figure! Anyway.. they are rare up here, and native.. oddly, compared to the bunny’s in NZ it was about half size. But Karen the Ranger, assured us it was fully grown.. interesting too, in that it didn’t run away and scamper down a burrow.. it just hunkered down in the shadow of a tree and let us all take photos of it! Wouldn’t have lasted 10 seconds in NZ!

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the granite slopes that have some of the smoothest, glacier polished surfaces I’ve ever seen.. in places it looks like a diamond tipped floor polisher has been in action. Juniper trees are abundant here, and quie a surprise, as some of them are 1000's of years old.. they are a tough looking tree, I guess not surprising, being where they grow.. mostly on what looks like barren rock.

Saw a number of lizards, mostly skinks, I think.. got some lovely photos.. and found a tiny wee frog, no more than 15 to 20 mm long way up on a granite knoll called Lomberts .. or something like that.. had to wonder what it was doing up there! Excellent photo of it.. will have to try and get a ranger to identify it. We were talking about this need to “label” everything.. makes no difference to the object/animal/insect etc, but for some reason we all feel better once its done! Sure the frog won’t mind if it is just left to “be”.

Hamburgers have been the meal of the day.. except for breakfast, which for me was a bread roll with ham lettuce and tomatoe.. camp made.. and Ali.. a couple of bananas. Coffee is 65 cents, if you have your own cup, nice! And free tomorrow morning around the camp fire with a ranger.. cool!! I had a Mammoth Brewing company IPA (???? Not sure what that means) beer for $1.40 plus tax! Anyway, the day is not quite over, as we are off to “Camp Fire” to hear the legendary “Margaret” (a local ranger identity) give a presentation on Mono Lake.. from all accounts its meant to be very good.. We’ve done a bit of walking today, and being that you start everything at 8500ft, I feel like it too.. of course, I’ve gone and got sunburnt a bit.. bugger!..

Lake Tahoe.. having left Yosemite.

The Campfire event last night was really great.. The Ranger .. Margaret … gave us a wonderful recital of the history of Mono Lake, using the character of the Old Man Coyote who told us all about the geology, birds , the Piute people (hopefully I spelt that right!!!) and how the whole area has changed, developed, for better and worse.. the whole story was wonderfully presented.. something to experience.

Had the folks at the campsite, beside us leave, and stock up our firewood supply (actually that was zero) so we had a lovely campfire ourselves.. a really lovely spot.. Tuolumne Valley, is a place I would love to come back to. This morning we had “coffee with the Ranger” and we figured out what the frog was.. a Pacific Tree Frog.. and felt a lot better for know ing!!

The drive out was a scenic stunner! Had to stop for a number of photos.. the Tioga Pass was a high point at around 9600ft.. view was good too! We took some local advice and stopped at the Mobil station at Lee Vinning, and had a “Fish Taco” meal.. early lunch.. good advice.. excellent.. Mono Lake is quite a spot.. a salt water lake, no rivers draining it, so all the inflow with the minerals from the mountains just stays and now it even has stalagmite type columns that have grown under the water and are now exposed as the lake level has dropped.

Yosemite

Day 29 Yosemite.

Got off to an interesting start today.. The High Sierra RV park is only the second place we’ve stayed that gets a large thumbs down. Couldn’t get the internet to work, the showers were in serious need of a bulldozer makeover, and they were going to charge us for a “full hookup” site which is for RV’s with toilet, shower etc.. mostly we are charged as a “tent” cos we pretty much are. Anyway, the proprieter didn’t believe me about the internet and couldn’t care less about the showers (nobody else complains!) Being as we were leaving, they accepted our “tent” only payment, and we hightailed it outa there!

So off to Yosemite. Now we had been warned by by a couple of folks that the Yosemite Village may be a little busy still.. they were SO right! The valley is an absolutely stunning place, and with more time, and research it clearly would be worth staying in for a day or three.. however, we didn’t have time, and our research wasn’t the greatest, so we left there as quickly as the 25mph speed limit would let us. We may have been able to get a camp site, but we were 35^th on the waiting list, and they call out the names at 3pm to allocate any remaining spaces.. even had the stats there to give you an idea of your chances!!! Bad.. to say the least.. so off we went. Now we are at the Tuolumne (not sure how to pronounce that!)Meadows camp ground, and despite being another “surrounded by lovely pine trees” site.. it is a haven for two slightly frazzled travelers. By crikey are they serious about stopping bears getting at your food.. not that I blame them, but you get briefed at the gate, issued with a document (you have to sign it) saying that you have received said briefing, and ensure ALL food, toiletries, dishwashing liquid.. actually anything with a strong scent, is secured in the massive steel containers that each site has.. as in.. there are something over 250 sites here, and each one has its own locker.. These bears are clever, and persistent.. don’t think I’d care to sleep in a tent! We saw a great picture of a soft top car that had it’s lid shredded by these bears.. we’d be very disappointed to have “our” van scratched.. we do have a can of “bear spray” so I will be out there protecting it with a mist of pepper spray!

RK news.. only a few usa’s today.. they tell us that about once a month a bear gets hit.. ouch.. they didn’t tell us the outcome… I can imagine a very pissed off bear and an interesting discussion with the insurance company

Day 28.. late posting :)

Day 28..Sequoia Nat Park

Woodpeckers woke us, destroying the wooden powerpoles. They really seem to like them. You’d think that the power companies might use concrete ones!

Anyway, headed up into the park. Would have to be the windiest road we’ve been on here. Sort of like the Takaka hill but without any straight bits at all! Finally had a woodpecker pose for us as well. This is a lovely place. Very quiet amongst the trees. Heaps of wildlife, squirrels birds and lizards. Coming round one of the myriad bends, and a black (but very brown) bear had just crossed the road, and we were the first on the scene. Ali spotted it, as I was busy steering around the corner. Caused our first traffic jam. Quite a nice looking animal, and not the least bit interested in us, wandered up the hill disappearing into the forest. Lovely to watch. The stillness of the forest is something else. May have something to do with how huge these trees are. They certainly have a presence. Apparently some are around 3000 years old, so I guess they have the right to be majestic. If only they could tell us what they have experienced. Nice that there aren’t that many people here right now.

Interesting to note that in something a little over 24 hours we have had a temp change of about 25 degrees C. Quite a cool 13 out here at the moment. We are stopped right now, in a que for road works.. been over half an hour already, but now less than 10 minutes.. oh.. seems like another bear has been spotted.. must go check it out..

Ok.. So Ali went and did the checking.. but nothing to report. So we left Sequoia and after a few hours found ourselves an RV park at a place called something like Oakdale.. or Oakridge.. anyway.. had dinner at a nice little place called the Ol Kettle.. and set up camp for the night. Forgot to mention a road name we thought would be great if you were able to use such whilst playing Scrabble… Zzyzc Rd. If you could land that on a triple word score it would be a game winner!

Day somethingorother..Escaped Las Vegas

so I think that without a shadow of doubt.. we are NOT city folks.. I think we found Vegas fun for about .. maybe an hour.. and then it was just tooo many people, and pushy salesman.. amazing place, but pleased to be not there.. The shopping is amazing.. would like to have seen a show, but maybe next time.. Likewise, the Grand Canyon.. next time.. time is against us, so the whole days drive to get out there and back wasn't available. Does mean we have quite a bit of "unfinished business" here.. including.. and have a go with a number of machine guns.. yep, for $50US you can have a blast with an old Thompson 45 or an MP40 (WW2 German) or even an Uzi.. if you prefer a belt fed cannon, that is available too.. of course the ubiquitous AK47 is on the line as well. Only in the US! and probably appropriate that Vegas is the place for it.

Having found a glass of wine hard to find in Utah.. we half expected a line of liquour stores just over the "state line" but no.. however, in Vegas no problem.. even went past a guy chatting with a couple about the "stuff I'm giving you is really pure" on the street .. didn't seem to be too worried about being covert!

Were a little reluctant to leave Zion.. but did.. and of course headed for Vegas.. on the way checked out the Kolob Canyon on Zions Eastern rim.. then hit the Interstate and blasted South in to Vegas.. Found a cheap Motel.. ($US43) actually cheaper than the camp ground, and it was really good.. clean, airconditioned, breakfast included, all the filter coffee you could drink, and right at one end of the "strip" as Las Vegas Boulevard is called.

Warmish... actually hit 38 degrees as we approaced the city.. over 100 F... so we hid in the airconditioned room till the sun was almost down then went for a walk.. it certainy is amazing to see that there is almost no "darkness" at night on the "strip" and the almost continuous line of expensive helicopters passing overhead on a racetrack pattern around the city is someting else. We did pass one the airports where the line up of private jets is also something to see.. We wondered just "who" was in town.. I think Cher was playing at one of the places, and there was a Donny and Marie show on.. one of the America has Talent winners.. Terry Frator.. ventriloquist had heaps of screen adverts going.. along with a number of Cirque de Solei (spelling!!!!).

So.. now.. we are just outside th Sequoia Nat Park in Ca.. having had a relatively hassle free drive here.. past Edwards AFB.. nothing to be seen other than a tanker landing.. and through a few arid looking mountain ranges.. along Interstate 15 (fast) and then finally up 65 I think which got to be pretty slow.. anyway.. at a nice quiet RV park.. actually, not so quiet, as there are hundreds of woodpeckers here.. funny little birds.. I thought they'd be bigger.. and the "clunk clunk" they make actually sounds painful .. they must have thick skulls. the line of holes in the trees looks like someone was bored (haha) and went mad with a 10mm drill.

Dinner.. some of a whole roast chook.. potato salad. and local Chardonnay.. and as there is plenty for tomorrow, at about 24$US.. pretty cheap.. oh.. we splashed out in Vegas for dinner and went to a posh joint.. called.. Denny's.. oh well!

RK news.. now that we have hit the road again.. a sad and tyred (oh I'm good!) looking coyote, one small deer and a fresh and "just having a wee nap" looking racoon.. of course there were one or two usa's.. but owing to the topography, and speed of the trafic, I would have expected more.. they must be getting wise! camera had a rest day.. mostly.. too busy driving.. and Ali doesn't like using it. I'msure some of you will be pleased at the slowdown of photos.. and you would be impressed to see us go through them one at a time and go "keep? delete? keep? delete? we junk a heap of shots.. digital photography is a wonderful thing.. B-)

Day 25.. Having trouble leaving Zion!!!

ok.. so this time we did make the 0545hrs ((definetly still dark!) bus, and again, had to evict Mickey.. although.. could have been Minney.. anyway the MOUSE left the back door of the van courtesy of a right hand forehander.. last seen disappearing into the hot evening.. talk about hot.. just checked, and it nudged 35 here yesterday, and dropped to 20 at the lowest last night.. whew!

So, anyway.. scoffed down a hurried breafast, slurped down some coffee and headed off.. the bus was full of likewise somewhat crazy people, and was quite a jovial atmosphere..

The walk up to AngelsLanding can best be described as short, steep and stunning!

if you go to www.nps.gov/zion and then look for something about Angels Landing E Trek.. you may well be able to see where we went. Never do I recall suffering from any kind of fear of heights.. but this put me close to the edge!! Some of you will have been there, and know what I mean.. for those who haven't, either put it on your "Have to DO" list, or find the highest tall building neaby, and add a walkway about 3ft wide to the edge (add a wee bit of outward slope!) and try walking along it.. Surprisingly it took us around an hour to the top, mostly in the dark, and then the best part of three coming down, due to stopping to go "WOW" ot take photos, or both! Even got to watch the sunrise from the top.. ok.. very small confession.. the TOP top was still about half hour away, but we both felt a little uneasy with the slightly sloping and slippery (due to sand) footing.. so stopped about Scouts Lookout.. still ridiculously good view and nothing between you and about a 1000ft vertical drop.. made for interesting and difficult photography.

Treated ourselves to a coffee (me) and yoghurt icecream (Ali) at the Zion Lodge Cafe. again really nice place.. icecream $2, coffee$2 (bottomless) hamburger $5.. then got caught in the trinkets shop.. dangerous place.. actually did ok.. left a a couple of postcards (30 cents each) and a stunning poster.. $9. We've had a lot of people recommend this place, and then also the Angels Landing and Narrows walks. TTHANKS.. cos you were right.

The Angels Landing walk is not for everyone.. and does have people fall off every so often.. apparently just in the last couple of weeks, a woman became another victim of the place. It is interesting to again visit a place where there are no real safety nets in place, and just lots of signs warning that it is dangerous.. in a way, it is refreshing, after having so many people do everything they can to make sure that once you leave your house, you should not be able to hurt yourself.. Kids would have a great time here, and probably scare their parents silly!

Had to get the Ranger to come give us a jump start, as I'd left the fridge running (0n purpose) but this time, it had been too much for the battery.. Nice guy, happy to oblige, and the cruiser all set up with an external plug just for jump starting cars for silly people like us!! He came equiped with 9mm auto and 3 extra clips on the right hip, a phaser (stun gun thing) on the right hip, handcuffs, torch etc etc.. wonder what a cop carries!

Day 24, Still in Zion National Park.

So much for the plan to be on the 0545hrs bus!!! All because it got to be overcrowded in our van last night. On the “threes a crowd basis”, our van is no place for a third party!!! Especially when one of the 3 is a ,,,…. MOUSE!! In that weeny space, it was making way too much noise to put up with.. so by about 3am, I finally managed, more by luck, to evict Mickey, and then try and get to sleep again.. so decided to kill the 5 am alarm, and besides it was still really windy, so didn’t entirely fancy calmbering up the side of a cliff with gusts trying to blow you off!

So instead, got some camp chores done, and then walked up to the park museum and listened to a rangers talk on the Californian Condor.. very interesting.. didn’t realize they were ancient.. as in they were around when mammoth carcasses would have been available. And they declined until there was only one female left (at least I think that’s what she said) much like our Chatham Island Black Robin. Then watched a free (great word that) movie on the park, jumped on the free ( J ) shuttle and headed “up canyon” for lunch on the lawn of the Zion Lodge. Nice spot. Ridiculously stunning scenery!

Another shuttle trip, and off to the end of the trail ( “track” in NZ) and a hike (tramp inNZ) in to the Virgin river for a walk. Yep, we got wet.. but it was really a lovely walk, into an ever decreasing in width, canyon.. and we turned around b4 it got really narrow.. oddly enough.. at that point, it is called “The Narrows” and is apparently super stunning.. but we’d started late, and decided to head down stream. Late enough to have weeny bats overhead.. they are really cute. Am really ebjoying all the lizards too.. they seem very plentiful around here.. lots of geckos and skinks, nothing very big.. but fun anyway., still hoping to see a decent sized snake, as all Carol could arrange in Ten Sleep was a tiny little excuse for a snake about 10 inches long. Maybe there just aren’t any here! That maybe be tempting fate!! Now we’ll probably end up with a rattler coming in to the van! Anyway.. with luck, 2morrow, we will get to the top of Angels Landing, and will report on that..

Still in Zion!

Lazyish morning.. brekky at about 8ish.. warm by then, and spent the night with the side door on the van open for airconditioning.. almost "Jackets Off" weather for those of you who know Martin!

Moved to a new camp ground, as it is half the price, but has no power and no shower! out with the fully automatic self heating shower in a bag. can't wait.. actually I didn't use my "shower token" from the up market camp ground yet.. so I'm going back shortly to have a 6 minute (yep, its on a timer!!) shower.. you have to make a plan! and practise! hehe..

This place has had a major problem with tooo many cars, rv's, buses etc, so now they run a free shuttle service which is brilliant. just park the car at the entrance parking.. and jump on and off as many times as you like for free.. they run every 5 minutes or so, and stop at all the best short walk spots. So today we have done a research trip to the end of the road and back, and have a plan for an early start for the 5:45am bus (omygoditsstilldark!) so we can get to the Angels Landing b4 the temp hits the 100's F. Its a 5 mile return walk.. but STEEP!! so expect to take about 4 to 5 hours .. with luck and enough energy left we will then get wet walking up the river in to whats called "The Narrows". google all this, and I bet you can see where we aim to get! on the "Angels" track, there is a section that is 3 ft wide with 800 ft dop one side and 1200ft on the other!!!! as you can imagine, they have installed a chain to make you feel a little secure. This was something we noticed at Bryce Canyon.. a lot of the tracks were comletely exposed to huge drops, and no security fence or even a rail.. kind of refreshing! They even warn you that falling can result in death! and maybe not to take small children,.

will report on our success or otherwise .. with luck and the library being open.. tomorrow. don't hold your breath. we may head for Vegas, and blog from there.. Photos.. small (very ) snail.. and they are unique to this HUGE landscape.. squirrel begging to join the RK News! and some mountain shots..

Day22. Bryce to Boulder and back to Zion.

Relaxed am, and hit the road North for Boulder Utah.. not far, but a slow and oh so many photo stop road!!!!!! had a few close up encounters with small lizards.. mostly they don't let you get close. but one or two did, and are now part of the trip album .. Boulder was very smal but nice. Found a genuine local cafe, with local art work and good coffee and coffe cake and chocolate chip muffins...yum.. Left there a fair bit poorer, with some lovely local clay pottery. Route 12 is designated destination itself, and it is well worth it. WAY better than the Cody to Yellowstone road. Boulder is at 6500ft amsl (above mean sea level) and apparently if we'd driven North another 20 minutes or so, we'd have been at 11500 ft.. yikes!!! and we met a couple of ; not young; guys on push bikes heading that way!!! whew!! they were biking "coast to coast". the lady at the cafe said that "the mountain does get a few people!!!"

Retraced our path back to Bryce Canyon, and then on to Zion National Park.. This place is HUGE.. I doubt very much that I will be able to give any real idea of scale with the photos, but I'll have fun trying, and you can all yawn as much as you like, or just not look at the web album.. that is of course if I actually make it work..

Bit of RK action today .. a few usa's and a deer that was occupying a few quite separate places on a piece of asphalt at the same time!!! short blog.. being mobbed by the local equivalent of san flies...

D21 Bryce Canyon.. WOW

ok.. first of all, we'd like to thank ALL the people who said that we had to get here.. Bryce Canyon National Park.. holy smoke.. we have decided that it is worthless trying to use words to describe this place.. so will post a few of the almost 200 photos I took today!!! flattened one set of brand new energiser batteries!!. Funny thing about Utah.. stunning place, and last night, as we watched the sunset from Bryce Point (look it up on google map) we decided that really what we needed was a glass of bubbly to complete what even then had been a wonderful day.. WELL THINK AGAIN!!! it is almost impossible to buy in this state.. this evening, we managed to buy a bottle of sav blanc and a pink sparkling for $US13.. and a corkscrew for 27cents.. had to leave the shop with the bottles in a brown paper bag, feeling like crims!!! hilarious really.. and then when I unscrewed the cap on the bubbly (yep.. a screw top) it erupted much like Mt St Helens, and by the time we could do anything to catch the fountain, a good half of the bottle was gone!! lucky it was cheap.. anyway.. nice way to finish a stunning day of ever more stunning sight seeing.. Lovely walk down into the canyon and back.. so many photo ops that you just have to ignore them in the end,.. clearly at almost 200 shots, I was a little reticent to do so!

Oh.. and we saw the space shuttle and space station pass overhead from Brycepoint, as we waited for the moon to come up.. very cool!.. oh.. no RK news at all today.. sorry to all those ardent followers of that!!! just nothing happening!

Day 20

Funny sort of day, seemed like there were a lot more hours in it than normal.. We were showered shampooed breakfasted and out of the RV park by 8:30, and headed back North!! Why????, because at the "Hill" air force base there is a free museum. We Like Free!.. very worthwhile trip.. I even touched an SR71.. probably one of THE most amazing aircraft built so far.. right up there with the Pitts! Other aircraft.. 3 or 4 Phantoms, B52, F105, and heaps more.. photos to prove it.. then a shopping event at some huge supermarket,and back on to Interstate 15, and South again.. It really is surprising how quickly you can chew up miles on these Interstates. A couple of times the posted limit was 80mph.. of course most people are doing close to 10 mpn faster.. worked for us.. We got to Bryce Canyon by about 4pm.. look at a map.. google earth it, and figure on 50 miles North of SLC to Bryce Canyon in about 5 hours, including stops for fuel.. we luv the Interstates! oh.. and just for Martin.. RK today.. a couple of usa's.. and one deer... oh.. and temp ranged from 28 or so at HillAFB.. to 35 as we blasted down IS15,, and is now cold.. about 6 I think.

Bryce Canyon.. wheeeew.. Derek (Photogrpher.. he knows who he is!!!) would have a ball here.. the views are unreal. glad I have a few extra storage cards, as we are going to be here for couple of days, and if this afternoon is anything to go by, the camera could get worn out!.. Late now, and we plan to be up well b4 sunrise to see the efect of the red rocks,, nite nite! B-)