Wednesday, October 10, 2012

6 weeks away - some random ramblings..

OK,  I know it's been a while since I (Calum) posted anything but there is a couple of reasons for that. Those being:

1.  Jo is much better at this than me (just like she's better at driving the left hand drive car)

2.  She hogs the computer trying to keep you guys up to date, in fact she actually gets annoyed when she hasn't posted for a few days....

3. And finally I'm generally having to good a time to really care about how up to date it is .  Chris , I guess this is where my lack of empathy comes in handy.

Jo, however, has been hassling me to write something so I've finally relented and will now bore you  with some random thoughts on the trip so far. If you're looking for pictures and interesting facts about the places we've been stop reading know, because they isn't any the following text. If you are looking for pointless drivel.. then read on.

What have I missed. Stuff all really but here's a couple of things. 

1. Triple J radio....  UK radio was rubbish.... for those in Nowra, they were slightly better than Power FM, so that's how bad they were

2. Anthony's coffee (for those who don't know he is/was the local coffee guy) ... I can count on one hand how many good coffees I've had.

3. Peanut butter on toast. Now I'm in the USA maybe I'll find some. 

4. Watching the All Blacks win the Rugby Championship in style. 

What haven't I missed. 

1. Work.....nope haven't missed it at all..In fact I haven't even thought about it, except for now.

2. Power FM : -)

Some whys from the trip.

1. Why does every country have to have a different power socket. Especially those of us who use the same voltage. It's a pain having to cart about an adapter and plug board (or two.)

2. Why do shower taps overseas have to be so complicated, and different. Seriously what is wrong with the traditional one hot tap and one cold tap. You can't screw that up and burn yourself..... 

3. Continuing the theme,  America, why does every place have to have taps that work different, some you have to pull out, some you have to push in, some counter-clockwise is on but the next place counter-clockwise is off. A bit of consistency please!. 

4. And whilst I think about it, America, what is it with the light switches, down is On, Up is Off. The rest of of us have got it sorted, time for you to jump on board.

5. OK..last one.. America, why does the toilet have to be 2/3's full of water before you use it. This one really confused Cam as he thought the toilet was always getting blocked. 

Some Observations 

1. After 4 weeks of sampling various English and Scottish real ales most Australian beer is tasteless rubbish in comparison.

2. The national side dish of the UK is chips and beans. The whole place is a farm but try getting a cheap meal with a vegetable (other than chips and beans) ... Lucky I like both chips and beans

3. On the other side of the pond the Americans insist on adding cheese to everything, not nice cheese but some horrible looking orange substance I suspect has a half life of 500 years.... 

4. Free Wi Fi is virtually everywhere, pubs, cafes, hotels, in Dubai even shopping centres have it. With no limits on time and data. Some days I've downloaded nearly 1 gig of data whilst caching Google maps for the next few days. Hopefully this idea will catch on at home, I see no reason why it shouldn't. 

5. It is compulsory at every attraction to exit though the gift shop.

6. When you pay people in service industries crap money , and they have to rely on tips, the service to the customer is usually excellent.

7. Next time we're leaving the kids at home..

8. Iceland....Maybe it was because I got sick but I wasn't overly taken with the place. It had nothing that NZ doesn't have.. Volcanic Plateau - Yup NZ has one, not as big but really once you've seen one, Geysers... Yeah NZ has those as well... but again not quit as big, Volcano's ... Yup NZ has those too, Glaciers same again , Waterfalls same again.. Puffins... well OK you have us there.  Sure Iceland's was bigger but as we all know size doesn't matter. 

But the most annoying thing was the speed limit, maximum of 90km per hour on the open road. It seemed to take an age to get anywhere, especially after driving the UK where 60mph was the limit on many small roads. To make matters worse the roads were better than those in Australia (OK, I cansay that about everywhere, but the point remains).

Highlights (in no particular order)

1. Duxford Airshow
2. Bovington Tank Museum
3. RAF Museums, but particularly Hendon
4. Buckingham Palace Tour
5. Diggerland 
6. Beamish Museum, Durham
7. Secret Bunker in Cupar
8. Walking around Mum and Dads home town with my Uncle Brian.
9. Beer tasting (and other things) with Morag and Graham at Drumnadrochit
10. Jacobite Steam Train Ride
11. Drive from Fort William to Glasgow 
12. Drive from Denver to Durango
13. Durango to Silverton Train Ride
14. Drive from Durango to Monument Valley, including Mesa Verde 

Lowlights.

1. Getting crook in Iceland
2. Doing my Back somewhere bewteen Iceland and Denver
3. Flight from Iceland to Denver (hardest seats ever)
4. Realising it's all over in 2 weeks

 
Well if you're still reading, that's it from me for a while. Considering there are only 2 weeks left this may be my last post.

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