Little Big Adventure

Summer (cricket) is almost upon us

2017-09-12T16:12:00.002-06:00

As the weather slowly begins to warm up, the plants and flowers start to wake up and people start mowing their lawns again.... the smell of fresh grass clippings in the air on Saturday mornings brings without the memories of past summers of cricket. At least that is the feeling I get.

This year my son proudly announced to me, "Daddy I want to play cricket.." Quickly followed by "When can I start playing cricket?" He is going to have to wait until mid October, but I look forward to it. As I look forward to this up and coming home Ashes series.

What will happen, I do not know. Will Nathan "Gary" Lyon continue his rich vein of recent form? Will Starc and Hazlewood be fit? Are Smith, Warner, Renshaw and Handscombe going to rack up huge numbers? Finally, will Wade survive more than 2 tests?

The last few years have been an interesting time to be a cricket tragic. Having grown up watching a dominate team build up steam then conquer all before it, the last few years have been a reality check and also a nightmare at the same time.

I can remember pretty clearly when the cricket bug first bit me, it was the 1992/93 West Indies tour of Australia. Up until that point I had a passing interest in the game. My Dad had taken me to a number of boxing day tests, but at that point in my life I was bored pretty quickly. This series however, for reasons I can't explain, I started to take a more series interest in the sport.

We attended the boxing day test that year, I got to see Mark Waugh and AB score 100s, but I missed Warnies first big haul late in the game. This was an interesting team, in a transitional period of the Aussie team.

The thrashing of the 80s had long ended, we had the main stays, who began their careers in that era (Border, May, Boon). Steve Waugh was still a year and a bit off being the most reliable and at times, best batsmen in the world. Shane Warne was still just at the beginning of his career, having not yet destroyed a teams innings, that is until the boxing day test of this series... Mark Waugh was, well Mark Waugh, beautiful right up until the moment he flashed at one outside off stump or lobbed an easy catch into the outfield. Tubs was set as opener, Marsh had been caste aside along with Jones. We had a few players audition for the newly vacated positions. Healy was pretty well set and the bowling line up relied on McDermott and Hughes, both very close to the end.

My strongest memories of that series are of Ambrose killing us, Boonie being the only Aussie batsmen who looked comfortable and standing up test after test to the barrage of bowling from Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop and co. Ritchie Richardson looking super cool in his wide brimmed hat, daring the bowlers to bowl short to him, then playing amazing pull shots when they did bang it in short.

This series saw the emergence of a couple of future stars of the game, namely Warne and Lara. Lara made his first hundred, the sublime 277 at the SCG. I recall watching this innings and thinking that they would never get this guy out. Warnes 7/52 in the fourth inning at the G showed the world for the first time just what he could do with a ball.

The most memorably test for me was the Adelaide test, specifically the last day when May and McDermott ALMOST held on to snatch an unlikely victory. My dad was glued to the screen, my neighbour and I would run between the lounge and the backyard, replaying overs then rushing back to see if the Aussies had survived another over. Cricket broke my heart and excited me at the same time for the first time in my life that day. I still don't think McDermott hit that ball :).

Within 2 years, the team completed a transition that saw them beat the Windies in their own backyard for the first time in a long time, and after that we rarely lost until the greats all retired. By 1995 Taylor was the captain of the ship and had Slater as his partner, and boy was Slater something to watch in his prime. Boonie was still sticking around but Blewett (briefly) looked to be the answer when he retired. Mark Waugh owned number 4. Steve Waugh was our solid rock at number 5. Blewett had 6 for a while. Healy was a good keeper and a cheeky batsmen. Then there was Warne and McGrath..

McGrath sort of snuck up on everyone. When he was initially selected I think most people wondered who the hell this tall skinny bloke was, then after the series in the Windies, everyone knew who he was.

It was an amazing experience growing up and watching this team come together, then take out everything that was put in front of them.

Osaka

2016-05-14T16:23:00.002-06:00

Rise bright and early, packed up for the trip to Osaka, headed out for breakfast. Another interesting Japanese take on western style breakfasts. Flynn scarped down sausage and pancakes. Walked back to the hotel, unable to find an espresso machine this morning. Checked out of the hotel and waited for a our hire car.

Driver was supposed to be in the lobby at 10am with a sign waiting for us. By 10:15 I started to get a little concerned. Went to reception, they called the drivers number for me, the driver had been sitting out the front of the hotel in the mini van waiting for us. The drivers name was different to the one I was given and there was no car seat for Flynn. After all the confusion had been cleared up, caught our ride to Osaka. Initial impressions, much bigger than Kyoto. During the ride Flynn said to me, "Daddy, I am hungry... I want crab!"

Dropped the bags off at the hotel, which looked very nice in the lobby, jumped on the shuttle bus service to the Osaka station, met our 2.5 hour Osaka walking tour group at the Granvia Hotel attached to the station. Flynn was in the stroller, tour guide led us down to the subway, she sped ahead, I had to take the elevator to met the group in the subway, by the time Flynn and I got down the group had vanished. I walked around in a few small circles looking for familiar faces when Lee come out of the sea of people. The group took off without us, 2 minutes into the tour.

We decided to find the JTB office and see if we could get a refund. Found an information kiosk, got a map of the humungous station and directions to the nearest JTB office. On the way to JTB, spotted a coffee shop with an espresso machine, picked up some coffee and headed for the exit. On the way to the exit we ran into the tour again, the guide had left them near a ticket machine to go and find us. She stopped to buy tickets and noticed we where missing. Waited for the guide to return, I pointed out to her that with a kid and pram, we can't do escalators and stairs, need her to wait for us to do ramps/elevators.

Jumped on a train to Osaka castle, walked around the moat then entered through the main entrance. Very impressive Castle, probably the most impressive structure we have seen in Japan. Multiple layers, outer wall is huge, taller than the palace in Tokyo I think. Inner wall and moat is on raised land, with the castle itself sitting high above. Went up inside the castle, great view of the city... pity we forgot the camera :). Flynn picked up a mini samurai sword in the gift shop, well behaved all day.

Walked out of the castle grounds, across to a boat tour. Osaka is very green, has many parks and some cool bridges. The roof of the boat lowered at one point, which was a bit strange but also fascinating. Enjoyed the boat cruise, back to the subway and returned to the sea of people at Osaka station. Guide lost us again, but the tour was over so we didn't care, found our way back to the shuttle bus and returned to the hotel, by this time it was 6pm. Checked into the room, our travel agent messed up again, only booked us for 2 beds, 2 SINGLE beds... not big enough for 2 people. Hotel charged us extra to setup the couch bed. Sent a scathing email to travel agent since we told her about this before and asked that it be resolved. Agent is in Canada, so no chance of return business in foreseeable future, I suppose that is incentive for them to do nothing about it.

The silver lining is that the hotel is very nice. So people, if you are planning on travelling to Japan, they have single beds in most hotel rooms which means 1 person = 1 bed, make sure you book accordingly otherwise they do make you pay extra!

Tired, went for a meal in the Euro inspired restaurant at the hotel. After an interesting Martini, which I might add took 3 different waiters to order due to some language difficulties :).. tucked into a very delicious meal. Started with salad and pickled octopus for myself, smoke salmon for Lee and corn soup for Flynn. Everyone enjoyed the starters, Flynn liked my Octopus and proceeded to eat half of it along with most of his soup.

Seafood pasta for Lee, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Flynn and I had hamburger steaks, mine with vegies, his with some other things. Burger was delicious, Flynn scoffed all of his down in quick time. Kid finished his meal off with some ice cream. Best western style meal in Japan.

Today we are flying back to Australia to start our new lives, we are all ready to get back now I think. It has been an interesting trip to Japan, I have learnt a few things about the country that I didn't know previously and I love Japanese food even more than I did before.

Kyoto

2016-05-13T14:06:00.001-06:00

Woke up this morning and we ditched the last day of touring, decided to walk around in our own. Found a cafe for breakfast, had another interesting mixture of I think Italian inspired food for breakfast which combined cold meats, toast, fruit and salad.

Walk to nijo castle, wondered around the outside checking out the mossy moat and high barrier walls then headed to the Kyoto imperial palace. Walked around the extensive gardens, found a pond with fish and turtles, nice big trees everywhere, green and lovely walking paths. Very quiet and peaceful place, not many tourists around. All the entrances to the palace where closed and heavily guarded by gun carrying officials.

Went for lunch at a place lee found in a back street hole in the wall called Haffu Honten, ordered wagyu steak meal which was amazing. This is the best meal of the trip so far, creamy, melt in your mouth steak. Flynn was being a grump and only decided towards the end that he wanted to eat so he missed out big time. Nice day, sunny and high 20s.

Walked around the city a bit after our awesome lunch, found a custom seal/stamp store, had our names made up as stamps. While we waited for this we walked towards the nearby town hall and side street markets.

Kyoto is an interesting city, the main streets are big wide sprawling boulevards lined with office buildings, but between them are tiny little lane ways with just a single lane one way road containing many small businesses, houses and in some cases, entire markets that stretch for blocks at a time. Lots of interesting off the beaten path places to discover. Depending on where you go, it feels like you are in different cities or even countries.

Back to the hotel around 4, relaxed for a bit then tried the hotel Chinese restaurant. Flynn decided he was in an eating mood, had to order extra food to satisfy the hunger of the growing lad.

Nara

2016-05-12T13:56:00.000-06:00

This morning we got up early and had a quick and expensive breakfast in the hotel, met up with our tour group at 8am. Tour guide took us to an awaiting bus, shipping us to a nearby Shinkansen (fast train) station.

While waiting for our train we spoke with some of the fellow Aussies about our travels. Bloke insisted that I have picked up a few changes in my accent in my 7 years away, I questioned him further and he had specific examples so now I am thinking it must be true. Saw a few trains zoom by at the platform, amazing to watch so fast and powerful, anything that got in the way would be smashed into tiny shards.

Boarded train to Yokohama, changed there to a Kyoto bound train. Arrived in Kyoto, met by another JTB guide, led to restaurant for lunch. Guides are very good, no confusion, we are led all the way to our destinations so there is little chance of getting lost.

Lunch wasn't great, perhaps the first average meal in a while. Boarded a bus for Nara sites. Nara is about an hours drive from Kyoto. Checked out the scenery, I see some similarities between small Japanese towns and those I saw France, the small shops close together situated right on the road with very narrow streets.

Visited a temple and shrine in Nara, Flynn got to feed some deer. I think we have seen enough to temples for s while :). Visited a gift shop, Flynn got s reward for being such a good boy. He managed to find a little train set amongst all the Japanese souvenir stuff. Lee and I got a nice bottle of sake.

Back to hotel in Kyoto. Asked reception for s restaurant recommendation for tree tired people, he recommended next door and was spot on, food was amazing, probably the best we have had in Japan. Went to bed full and happy.

Mount Fuji and Hakone

2016-05-11T06:48:00.001-06:00

Woke up nice and early again this morning. 4am, unable to get back to sleep, watched some lecture videos until Lee and Flynn woke up. Got our baggage ready, breakfast then down to the JTB bus terminal to join the 4 day sunrise highlights tour.

Bus took off without incident. First stop the Hakone rope way. Weather was muggy and about 25c on leaving Tokyo. Flynn and I both dressed in shorts. En route the tour guide informs us that the weather around Hakone/Mt Fuji is not great and we may not be able to complete some of the planned activities. Arrive at Hakone rope way about 1.5 hours after leaving Tokyo, it is raining outside, however the cable tram is operating so we can do that.

We rode up to the top of the rope way, due to fog and cloud, Mt Fuji was not visible at all. Great view of lake and Hakone however. Ate some strange Japanese dumplings at the top then went back down the rope way.

Bus to local restaurant. Another delicious Japanese lunch, Udon noodles, chicken, prawns, scollops, fish ect. Flynn had some ladies at our table very amused with his noodle eating technique.

Guide informed us that the planned boat ride (which was on some other lake), had been cancelled due to weather, however he was about to score some tickets on the lake next to the Hakone rope way, told us to go and kill 30 minutes, come back and jump on boat.

Took Flynn for a walk, bought him some ice cream. Lot's of school kids around, every so often one of them would holler at me "Hello". I decided to play along, looked right at one of these kids and said "Hi", he turned to his school buddy and they giggled.

Gathered at boat pier, jumped on and went for a nice 20 minute put put. Half way around we noticed that the fog and cloud had began to clear and we could actually see the allusive Mt Fuji. By the time we boarded the bus again it was almost completely visible. Guide asked driver to take us to a visitor centre with prime views, however other guides had the same idea so we couldn't park the bus. Guide pulled a trick out of his sleeved, called a mate at a hotel nearby who allowed us to stop in the car park and take pictures.

Jumped back on the bus, 1 hour later arrived at Yumoto Fujiya Hotel. Checked in, tried out the beer vending machine, yes it works and the beer is cold. Took a walk around town, found a place that served real coffee.

Started to get hungry, tried to go and order some food at a restaurant. First of all the lady thought we had arrived with another lady who entered when we did, so we got seated with a stranger. Then the lady got a menu but we didn't. Waiter comes around, tries to take our order, we explain that we haven't seen a menu and don't actually know the lady at the table with us. Waiter walks away, discusses this with another lady. 2nd lady comes up and barks at us that we must hurry up and order because they close at 7. It had been a really long day, we were not putting up with any of it, got up and left without ordering.

Ended up at the hotel restaurant, after another mix up in the lobby. The only restaurant that appeared to be open was a fancy french place. A bit uncomfortable for us, in casual clothes after a day of being tourists. Had a nice, if overpriced meal, retired back to the room.

Tokyo tour

2016-05-10T04:51:00.003-06:00

After breakfast this morning we headed to the bus terminal at the Hamamatsucho station, joining a JPT Dynamic Tokyo day tour of the city. Jumped on a bus with mostly Aussies and some Americans. First stop the Tokyo tower, which basically looks like a giant antenna. Flynn decided to pick this moment to throw a bit of a wobbly, had to take him off and have a bit of a chat with him. His attitude improved.

The tower has a very strange mini almost shopping mall in the base, which can best be described as a bunch of the stores you find in most western city China Town areas, on steroids.

Next stop on the tour, the gates to the imperial palace. All you can really see is the moat and the very impressively constructed high stone walls.

Tour bus took us to a quiet spot with temples and a tea ceremony. The surrounding gardens had a bunch of little ponds and streams. A swarm of carp live in the large pond, Flynn got a lot of pleasure from watching the carp swimming up to the surface. He was well behaved in the tea ceremony, managing not to cause any trouble or get us kicked out :).

Had lunch at a hidden restaurant located inside a park which in turn is hidden behind a hotel. Japanese BBQ style food, delicious! BBQ pork, beef and some veges. Kid ate a bunch of food, then 2 lots of ice cream before smashing his bowl on the floor. Got to meet a fellow Aussie family.

Noticed a number of tiny cemeteries put in available spaces around the city. Some are made up for a hand full of head stones, others contain maybe a few hundred. Some of the english translations have been funny.

After lunch we took a river cruise, ending at Asakusa. Walked to the Senso-ji temple. Walked around and checked out the strange shops, then the temple. Bus back to our train station. Had a yummy dinner at a Japanese restaurant near the hotel. Big day, but tomorrow will be even busier!

Japan arrival

2016-05-09T14:10:00.000-06:00

Yay for jet lag. As I write this Lee and Flynn are sitting on the hotel bed making origami things and its 5am.

Yesterday (or the day before?) we flew out of Vancouver. At the Air Nippon (ANA) checkin, there was an option to upgrade your ticket to business class for 500 CAD, we jumped at the chance and it ended up being the best decision ever. On board the plane we each had our own little cube with a bunch of gadgets and reclining bed seats.

The flight went well, apart from Flynn spewing up Chocolate twice. The little man decided to buy mummy chocolate for mothers day, then proceed to eat them all before the flight. Other than this the flight was very comfortable and the food served to us was pretty amazing, an array of Japanese food, most of which I had never seen before. I was lucky enough to be given a number of glasses of sake :).

Arrived at Tokyo international airport about 6:30pm local time, went through customs. The customs officers here don't just stamp your passport, they fill out a bunch of paper work, placing stickers and such in the passport then like the US take the finger prints and a photo. Leaving the airport the customs lady decided to do a thorough search of Flynn's checked in bag.

Caught the monorail to our hotel. The ticketing system was pretty easy to figure out, friendly lady assisted me.

After a short monorail ride and a 4 minute walk we arrived at our hotel, by this time it was about 8pm and we are all tired. Kid is hungry, the hotel has no food outside of breakfast. Lee gave Flynn a bath and I went out for a very confusing walk to find something to eat. Came back with some kind of Japanese hot dog.

Found that Flynn's bed had no sheets or blankets, Lee went to the front desk and we were told that the room was on booked for 2 people not 3 so we would have to "rent" sheets. At this point, even though we booked for 3... so tired, gave up and chucked the little man between us in bed. All of us over and out before 10pm. And now we are making origami in bed at 5am :).

Alaskan Cruise

2016-05-08T12:13:00.002-06:00

It has been a few days since I last blogged. Currently we are sitting in the Vancouver airport waiting to board our flight to Tokyo. In the meantime here is what we got up to on the cruise ship:

The Cruise Blog

Saturday 30th April

Arrived at Sheraton hotel in Surrey, Vancouver early afternoon. Checked into room with mountain views then went looking for a new stroller at the nearby shopping centre. Somewhere on the way the sturdy stroller became so broken that it is now unusable, picked up a new stroller and a new checked in luggage bag for Flynn.

Had a lovely meal at the hotel restaurant, Lamb Shanks that did not disappoint. Meat fell right off the bone, yummy sauce. Chatted with Grandpa on skye, early night.

Sunday 1st of May

Drove into downtown Vancouver to Canada Place for cruise ship boarding. Our embarkment date coincided with the Vancouver marathon, getting to Canada place was a bit of a challenge, but we made it eventually.

During the check in process an enterprising gentlemen had a stall setup selling binoculars which you had to walk past on the way to security. We bought a pair naturally enough. After some security checks, receiving room cards we boarded the ship.

We had room 6023 assigned to us on the starboard side of the ship. Found our way to the room, found it to be much larger than what I expected. At this point Flynn was extremely excited. Ate a nice lunch then registered Flynn in the onboard kids activity room. Short ribs and blood sausage for dinner. Ribs a bit dry but the blood sausage was delicious.

Monday 2nd of May

Flynn woke up feeling seasick. Lee went to the gym and he proceeded to throw up 3 times. I took him down to the ship doctor, they gave him a pill which started working about 20 minutes later. By this time I was starting to feel a bit green around the gills as well. After attempting to study, I felt pretty horrible, went and had a nap with Flynn. Both of us woke about 1 feeling much better.

Lunch, Flynn to the kids room, Lee and I to the art auction. We registered without any intention of buying anything, until we spotted a picture that we both really liked. We won the item in the Auction (only bidders!). After the auction we walked around the ship a bit before heading to a wine tasting. Sat at a table with 3 older Aussies and a Canadian couple. “Barry from Brisbane”, claimed that I had lost my aussie accent. Raj the caller master took us through a tour of wine tasting. He was very bossy and told a few people off for tasting too soon. Aussie bloke, Bruce from Adelaide, dobbed in the Canadian next to us for sipping too soon. After the tasting we chatted to Bruce from Adelaide for a bit. He shared his experiences of living in Canada in the early 70s.

Picked up the Flynn man, out for dinner. Duck breast on stuffing with figs. Delicious meal.

Tuesday 3rd of May.

Woke up early, went to the Gym, breakfast and walk around ship interior.

Arrived in Juneau around lunch time. The streets and some of the bright coloured houses reminded us of St Johns in Newfoundland. The night before we had been told that we should take a shuttle bus from the boat into town as it was “a bit of a walk”. We got off the boat, saw how close it was to town and made the executive decision to walk. This proved to be a good decision as it was about a 20 minute walk. Found our way to the Hangar restaurant over looking sea plane landing/take off area. Flynn got to see a bunch of planes come and go.

Halibut and chips for lunch, they actually had almost proper chips! Washed it down with an Alaskan Amber Ale, one of my favourite beers. Good medium body, caramel taste and easy to drink with a touch o bitterness.

Near the restaurant we found a wild game store, bought some Pate and Deer Sausage. Walked around town for a while, Flynn got himself a new whale from a book store. I promised him one if he did a piddle at the restaurant loo, when he held up his end of the bargain, I then had to hold up mine.

While Lee was looking at Jewlery, Flynn and I found the dodgiest taxi in the world. Green top, chevy cargo vans, all rusted out and pretty manly. Overtime Fynn saw a green car from then on he would say “There is a dodgy taxi daddy1” Lee came out of the store, Flynn runs over, grabs her hand and insists on showing her a dodgy taxi. Proud moment for me :).

We went up Mt Thomson on a cable tram, Flynn loved it. Saw 2 eagles sitting in a tree at the top. Several eagles circling the town. Nice view from up top, worth the ticket price. Tram back down, dinner at The Fish restaurant, which had the same staff as at the Hanger earlier in the day. Flynn ate a bunch of spaghetti, not sure where it was being stored… Lee and I ate some yummy oysters and blackened smoked cod. Best smoked fish I have ever had. Amazing rhubarb dessert. Walked back to ship, asleep early! Ran into Bruce from Adelaide and wife.

Today was the first day off the boat since departing, the longest time I have ever spent on a boat in one continuous trip. Sitting down anywhere today, I felt a rocking sensation. I remember having this for maybe a few hours after spending the day out fishing with dad, but this feeling lasted the whole day. We walked back to the boat, tired, satisfied.

Wednesday 4th of May

Today I woke up at 4am and could not get back to sleep. After laying wide awake for about an hour I got up and started to walk the exterior deck walk. The sign outside informed me that 3 laps of the walk is about 1.6km, I walked 11 laps. It was pretty amazing, each lap the scenery would change. I walked and observed the entry to Skagway. By the time I got back, Lee and Flynn had woken, we went to breakfast and it was immediately obvious that the young man was in a grumpy mood.

Skagway… makes me think of that scene in Waynes World when they are doing a little skit on each state and they get to Delaware, Wayne stops and says in a monotone voice “Delaware, Hello… we are in Delaware.” It’s a small town with a bunch of made to look like gold rush era stores selling the same kinda of wares you could find in similar stores in Juneau. Except Skagway has a population of about 800 residents. We jumped off the boat sometime before lunch, the wind was pretty strong and it was about 8c and overcast.

We walked around the main street then decided to check out the residential part of town. The place had a really strange feel about it, strange houses in pretty bad shape and not a lot of locals walking around. Had a local law enforcement electric powered vehicle follow us for a bit. Parked out the side of a petrol station we spotted a rusted out truck with TRUMP 16 hand painted all over it. Another interesting sight was the car with a smashed front end all duct taped back together. It is true, you can fix anything with duct tape.

The town itself reminded me a lot of the setup at sovereign hill in Ballarat, lots of ciche victorian era style gold rush buildings selling over priced “unique one of a kind” gifts. I do get the impression that the tourist junk really shadows what used to be a very rough place that would have been extremely difficult to live in during the gold rush era.

We had lunch at the Skagway Brewing Company, had a decent burger and a nice local beer. Flynn ate 3/4 of a giant hotdog. I had a massive pickle. Headed back to the boat since there was nothing else to see in town. Lee had a nap and Flynn went to the kids room. I headed to the card game meet up, hoping to learn some new card games. Only 2 other blokes where there, started talking to one of them. He was a retired Coast Guard helicopter pilot. He had lost his wife a few years earlier from a 19 year battle with Hodgkins disease. Gentle had previously scattered his wife ashes on a past cruise. After departing the none card playing event I played a spot of mini golf, attended by mainly Aussies and won by a gentlemen from Detroit.

Gathered up the troops, out for dinner. Had a lovely New York Steak. Flynn tried a bit of Lee’s then decided he liked it, we ended up feeding him about a quarter of our steaks the the hungry little meat eater. Flynn informed us he wanted to go and play more with the kids, so we dropped him off there. We headed to the BB King blues club, towards the end Lee picked up the kid and brought him in, he was fascinated by the whole production and said he like the music afterwards.

Thursday 5th of May

We all had a slow start, late night on Wednesday night for all members of the lewis family. Lee and I both went to the gym, had breakfast and coffee. Flynn went to the kids room, we wondered around the deck and watched the approach to the big glacier in glacier bay. I walked out onto the deck and instantly saw a bunch of sea otters paddling around the ship, about a dozen or so, heads bobbing up and down like a breast stroke swimmer. We saw a few glaciers and as we got closer to the main glacier, ice began to appear in the water, crashing into the boat.

The big glacier is at the end of the inlet, it was spectacular , about 30 metres taller than the ship and completely breath taking. The deck became crowded, Lee suggested why not view it from the verandah on our room? Great idea.. headed back to the room and watched it for sometime. At one point a big chunk actually broke off and fell into the bay! Very exciting.

Had lunch, then the grown ups in the family went to the piano bar. The piano man began paying Neil Diamonds Sweet Caraline, this seemed like a good time for me to go and get us 2 glasses of red. When I returned everyone was staring at Lee and the piano man was teaching her how to do the hand motions for the “hands touching hands” part. Obviously he doesn’t know my girl well, she doesn’t like following the flock :P.

After the piano bar fiasco, we went to the latest art auction.. and bought another bit of art.

Went out for dinner, Flynn was sick again. Ate some amazing bass then took the boy back for an early night. Had half a sea sick pill left, gave it to Flynn. We had hit 10 foot swells so the boat was really rocking. I felt a bit green around the gills as well, hit the sack and fell asleep.

Friday 6th of May

Arrived at Ketchikan, got off the ship and boarded a bus right away to go on a crab excursion. Crab tour was about 20 minutes out of town. The driver informed us that the island Ketchikan is located on has about 30 miles of road (45 - 50km), the only way in and out is by plane of boat, like most of Alaska. Seeing a third city, I can see why… lot’s of water and mountains make it difficult to build roads.

At the inlet, boarded a boat and headed out to look for a crab pot. On the way we stopped by an eagles nest. 1 eagle was home, the bloke on the boat pulled out a fish and while whistling to the eagle, chucked it into the water. The eagle quickly swooped down and took the fish. Flynn was very excited about all of this. When we found the crab pot the gentlemen running the tour asked for volunteers to pull it in. A small, 70 year old woman stood up. She pulled it in all on her own. When the pot was on the boat, Flynn really become excited. We had the opportunity to hold a crab, I decided to give it a crack holding it by the pincers in each hand. Crab fought with me a bit, afterwards Flynn said to me “Daddy, the crab was fighting you… he was fighting you…”

On the return boat ride a second eagle had come to the nest. The tour guide threw out more fish and both swept down to take a fish each. Headed back to the land and settled in for an all you can eat crab feast with 2 locals at our table. Flynn ate a decent amount of crab, Lee and I could have eaten more :)., but we gave it a good solid crack.

By the time we returned to town the rain had settled in for the day, did a quick lap of the town going to the boardwalk which is located in the old red light district. By this time we were all soaking wet, headed back to the boat to dry off.

Dinner, another lovely meal, this time a rack of veal. Flynn went to the kids room to play, Lee and I went to the chocolate martini event. The lady running the event had a bunch of trivia questions, which I had no answers for. However when a free martini was up for grabs, she asked the question “What was Charlie’s last name from Charlie and the Chocolate factory?” Since this is a book I read many times as a child, my hand was up even before the question had finished coming out of her mouth. Free martini for me :).

We headed to the final art event of the cruise, the guys put on wine and nibbles for the faithful fans. Spent a lot of time talking to the polish gent Arthur. He was sneaking food form the platter and hiding it form his boss before sneaking around the corner and eating it, very amusing to watch. We found out that he too had done the crab trip and showed us some pictures. We picked up Flynn who was dressed like a pirate and insisting that he needed to find the treasure. Headed back to the room, Flynn and I retired for the evening while Lee had a night out.

Saturday 7th of May

The last full day on the ship, a day at sea. Lee and I had signed up for the around deck 5k walk (9 laps). The time changed overnight, we woke up 20 minutes before the start. Rushed around, got the kid ready and fed then dropped him off at the kids room. Made it to the charity walk just in time. Walk was nice, woke us both up, cleared our heads out with the lovely sea air misty and humid. Completed the walk at a leisurely but good pace. Had lunch, took the little man back to the kids rooms.

Headed down to an auction/raffle hoping to win something free, didn’t win anything so off to wine tasting. Tasted 2 whites, 2 reds and a champagne. Walked around a bit before picking up the kid. Packed out bags, which had to be outside our rooms before midnight.

Lamb shanks for dinner, very nice, fell off the bone and also a bit of marrow as an added bonus. Flynn had chips in one hand and spaghetti in the other. He went to a pyjama party, Lee and I went for a couple of after dinner drinks. I attended a whiskey tasting, met some senior aussie gents at the end of a big holiday. Chatted for a bit then I headed to the piano bar for the rest of the evening. I managed to get a few requests played, went to bed after maybe 2 too many beers but it was a nice way to end the trip.

Woke up early, off the boat and shuttled to Vancouver airport.

Seattle - vancouver

2016-04-30T22:22:00.000-06:00

Friday was our last full day in Seattle, we spent it at the science centre then walking around a bit before dinner and a pretty early night. Had the wild bore stew at the bookstore restaurant previously mentioned as a breakfast option on the trip.

Saturday rose early, quick breakfast and hit the road for Vancouver , apart from some road works which slowed us down, the drive was event free. Checked into the hotel and did some last minute shopping before our Alaskan cruise tomorrow. Lamb shanks for dinner at the Surrey Sheraton. Love shanks, and they didn't disappoint yet again. Had a few ladies who work in the hotel flirt and play with Flynn, apparently he is the cutest little guy they had seen for the, we are not biased but tend to agree :).

Some final thoughts on Seattle. Before I ever visited the city it was always surrounded with a bit of mystique. As a kid who was a teenager in the 90s and loves alternative rock/grunge music the idea that one city had, at the time, some of the musicians and bands that I loved made me want to go and experience the place one day. We have been to Seattle twice now and it is hands down one of my favourite US cities. It has a laid back vibe, people are friendly, there is lots to do, it is beautifully and the food is amazing. It is a pleasure just to walk around and see what the day brings you. If you are a fan of good coffee, it has some of that too. If your idea of good coffee is Tim Hortons however, you may not like Seattle coffee :).

We have had some mixed experiences travelling the US, Seatttle is a place I would go back to over and over. The next place we want to go is Portland Oregon for a longer stay, Boston and I would really like to take lee and Flynn to San Francisco, another time, another trip.

More Seattle

2016-04-28T20:47:00.002-06:00

Yesterday (Wednesday), we woke up early and hit the streets looking for somewhere to have breakfast. After wandering around for a while we ended up having a half decent meal at the Marriott. We headed across the street to the Aquarium.

Flynn has a lovely morning checking out all the different sea creatures, he found Dory and Nemo. There was a tank housing 2 octopi, which became Flynn's favourite spot, dragging us by the hand back several times to see the the tentacles. He showed some interest in the seals, and the see/river otters. The experience tuckered him out, we headed back to the hotel so he could have a nap.

After a well deserved rest we did a spot of shopping, then ate at Vons 1000, a Gastro pub near the hotel. The meal was pretty amazing. Flynn had a sourdough pizza, I had a Vietnamese style roast beef burger, Lee a bouillabaisse style soup. A few appetizers on the side, delicious meal. So far we still have not had a bad meal in Seattle, great place for eating. Heading back to the hotel, greeted with glasses of wine on arrival.

Thursday we had breakfast in the bookstore cafe attached to the Hotel, another delicious meal and one of the best espresso's I have ever had. We walked down to the space needle then jumped on a duck tour, which took us downtown (past the hotel and some places we have been), then across to Fremont and into Lake Union. Flynn had his mind blown when the duck went into the water and became a boat.

After the duck tour he fell asleep in the stroller. Headed back to the hotel for a change of clothes. After some much needed rest we had the best meal to date of the trip at The Brooklyn. Flynn had the crab cake, Lee and I started with 4 white wines matched with 4 amazing oysters. Lee had short ribs with scollops and I had bouillabaisse. It's a tough job, someone's got to do it...

Seattle Day 1

2016-04-26T20:51:00.000-06:00

Today we arrived in Seattle from Spokane.

Last night in Spokane we had an amazing chefs taster meal at a Spokane restaurant The Wandering Table . Flynn enjoyed spaghetti stuffed meatballs, while we dined on a chefs selection which included the most amazing burger sliders, tempura spring onion, glazed duck, duck prosciutto and a few other dishes that escape my memory. We walked home and had a very relaxing night at the Grand Davenport.

This morning we woke and had a nice breakfast at a french patisserie before heading for Seattle. At breakfast we met a couple of locals who love to share stories. The guy wanted to know what sports team my polo top represented. After a bit of chit chat we checked out and hit the road.

1 stop on the way at Vantage WA, had a look at some of the petrified trees and the amazing lake with scenic bridge. Hit the road again, Flynn fell asleep in the back so we decided to go all the way to Seattle. Arrived about 2:30pm and checked into our Hotel. Flynn woke up on the outskirts of Seattle.

After checkin we went for a walk down to the water front. Flynn's little head almost exploded from all the action. Did a spot of shopping, ate lunch/dinner at Elliott's Oyster House. We discovered that Flynn loves Crab, he ate almost all the crab on our platter :) as well as a good chuck of his Seafood chowder.

Went for a ride on the Seattle Wheel then headed back to the hotel for the evening. Great day driving, saw lots of different terrain, from mountains to plains, to foothills and a bit of sandy desert like areas. Great trip, great city!

Spokane

2016-04-25T16:57:00.002-06:00

Today we arrived in Spokane, after leaving Lethbridge on Sunday morning, dropping through one of the dodgiest towns and gas stations I have ever seen.. Browning Montana. On the way to Spokane we stayed at The Lodge at Whitefish, pretty awesome Hotel with some great creature comforts.

We arrived with enough time on Sunday night to spare to enjoy the indoor pool (with waterfall), dine in the restaurant over looking the lake. The food in the restaurant was pretty amazing, Elk Meatball, charcuterie board full of yummy cheese, meat, patte and various other nibbles, followed by a delicious piece of salmon on a spinach and ricotta salad.

After a comfortable rest we jumped in the car and headed towards Spokane via Kalispell, Hot Springs ect.

We gassed up in Hot Springs, didn't like the look of the cafe so continued on until our stomaches made us stop at a proper redneck diner in St Regis. It was one of those jukebox stopping entrances, locals staring at us. After we got through the entrance, the food was actually pretty good. Continued onto Spokane which brings us up to today. It was a nice drive, through some pretty amazing scenery. Tomorrow we plan on continuing on to Seattle.

Away we go

2016-04-23T10:24:00.002-06:00

Today I post from a Starbucks in Lethbridge. I swear I have been studying Lee.... I wrote this at the end when my brain needed to let go of IT for a few minutes :).

The last 2 weeks have been long, tiring and a bit emotional. You don't pick up and leave a place which has become home over the span of 7 years without having some feelings about it. Yes, I have tried to mask those feelings but every so often I drop my guard.

We have had a number of farewells with friends and family in groups ranging from 1 person to up to 30, each and everyone of them have been good and positive. We certainly didn't understand just how may people's lives we have had some part of.

Yesterday the house sale finalised and we drove out of Calgary for the last time for a couple of years. Now we are homeless and without work :P, we are also free. We will be spending the weekend in Lethbridge, then making our way across Montana, Idaho and Washington state until we reach Seattle sometime next week. After that there is a cruise to Alaska and a 6 day stop over in Japan before landing in Cairns on the 15th of May.

The future is very exciting, we don't have a lot of firm plans, on purpose, it is time to let go of things and enjoy life for a few months and focus on the things that are most important to us. The last few years have been eventful, but ultimately ruled by work and day to day routine. We have the rest of our lives to go back to that, for the next few months we can just do what we want each day.

Yes it is a bit scary, it is also exciting :). Every couple of days I will write a post and update everyone on where we are and what we have been up to!

The beginning is the end is the beginning

2016-04-09T14:14:00.001-06:00

Today is my first day of an extended holiday. I finished my job yesterday with a big adventure waiting for my family and I. We are about to finish selling our house, travel through the USA, go on an Alaskan cruise, visit Japan then rest in Cairns for sometime. After that, well who knows, its a new chapter in ours lives.

7 years ago we came to Canada for an adventure, which is has been, a lot has happened in that time. We met a lot of people, learnt a lot about ourselves and the world, bought and sold our first house, had our first child. And now it is time to head back to Australia for whatever may come next.

I don't think that it has fully sunk in for me or Lee. The dogs left for Australia a couple of days ago, so there is a bit of an emptiness around the house. Flynn is running around looking for them, the reunion is going to be special. There is some sadness about leaving Canada, but there is also some excitement about returning to Australia.

Newfoundland, New York and Washington DC.

2015-10-05T14:20:00.002-06:00

We have been back in Calgary for a couple of days now, since I was a bit slack and didn't blog at all during the trip, now I have the task of writing up a reflective summary of the trip.

On September 11, the three of us boarded a plane and headed off for St Johns NL, via Halifax Nova Scotia. We arrived around 11pm local time, our stomaches thought it was 8pm due to the time difference so as you would expect, we where a bit hungry. After getting the rental car and finding the hotel, we discovered that there was no food available at the hotel. Long story short, 40 minutes later a pizza arrived at the hotel. Then it was time to rest.

The next day we got to explore the town a bit, ate the best mussels I have ever eaten, before heading up to Twilingate for a boat trip the following day. After hastily organising some accommodation, which was not easy, we jumped in the car and drove 400 odd KM to Twilingate. Twilingate is a small fishing village to the north of the island. It has about 2000 people, separated from the "mainland" by water.

Sunday the 13th, Flynn's birthday. We booked a boat tour, he is obsessed with boats and sea animals, so we figured this should keep him interested. We rose early, headed out to find a decent coffee and after talking to some locals, found a very good cafe about 10km down the road. After coffee and a light snack it was onto the boat tour. Flynn loved the trip, we saw some pretty amazing coast line, no whales or icebergs, but the boy was very happy.

After the boat trip we found this very strange little cafe, not really near anything and sitting in it's own little cove, built out over the water. At this strange little place I had the best Chowder I have ever eaten, "with no potato's the way chowder SHOULD be". I followed this up with a delicious snow crab meal. We tipped of the waitress regarding a certain little boys birthday, after desert they brought out a singing teddy bear and ice cream with a sparkler on top.

The next 2 day we spent slowly making our way back to St Johns, stopped overnight at a cute B and B Lee found with a nice gourmet restaurant. Once back in St Johns, we hung around the city, ate a bunch of interesting food and generally rubber necked our way around town. Took Flynn down to the port to check out all the boats, he was lucky enough to see a giant german cruise ship.

On the 17th we flew to New York via Montreal. The apartment we had rented was a bit dodgy, and without getting into it too much, was an overload to the sensors. After dropping off the rental car we walked up to central park and made our way back to Harlem. The next day we checked out the High Line, very cool place to go and found an awesome roof top pub for lunch.

Harlem was an interesting blend of characters, rat infected apartments and soul food restaurants. Although we did enjoy our time there, some issues we had with the apartment did put a bit of a damper on it. We spent our first couple of days exploring Queens and central park before hastily relocating to the Sheraton in Brooklyn after the infamous dead mouse/rat poison incident.

In Brooklyn we tried, unsuccessfully to secure another place to stay for the remainder of our time in New York, apparently it was not a good time to be looking... Our friend Fiona met us at the Sheraton the day after we checked in and we finally found a new place to stay, but only for 2 nights, in the Clinton Hill area, about 1.5km from the Sheraton we stayed in.

Clinton Hill was an interesting place, a blend of cultures, dirty and gritty, with some nice restaurants, but at the same time a bit safer than Harlem. During our 2 night stay in Clinton Hill, Lee and I discovered that our passports, all of them were missing. The place Lee stored them in had been opened, unsure if we dropped them or they had been stolen, we hit the panic stations. 3 foreigners in New York with no passports.. scary.

We called the consulate and decided that we should wait until the next morning before proceeding down the, cancel the passports and get the f out of dodge plan, spending the evening retracing our steps and trying to call anyone who might have found them. We went to sleep that night very nervous. The next morning with still no signs of the missing passports we decided to head to the Canadian Consulate in Manhattan to begin the process. About 10 seconds before we walked out the door my phone rang. A lovely lady had found them, Lee had written my phone number inside one of the passports... She found them on a street, which it looks like we had walked passed the day before.

Flynn has become very curious about zips, we suspect he unzipped the compartment storing the passports, and they fell out as we walked the previous day...

The lovely lady who found our passports gave us her work address, we immediately went and picked them up.. what a relief. Now all we had to do was find a place to stay for the rest of the trip, with my Mum and Dad arriving the next day.

After a nice day in the city and a soul meal, we spent that night looking for places to stay. We ended up resorting to a Hotel right near times square. Time was running out, we had enough stress for the trip and decided to just take care of it no matter the cost. The hotel was lovely and did make for a much better New York experience.

Mum and Dad arrived the next day, we got them safely checked into a hotel and took them out for a meal. Afterwards, Lee and I got some hard earned time together alone. We went for some cocktails, then a lovely horse and cart ride through central park at night. Afterwards we slowly walked back to the hotel.

The next couple of days involved a lot of sight seeing. We went up The Rock (Rockefeller centre), visited the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, caught up with our friend Geraud and his girlfriend. We spent a day walking around the east side and Greenwich Village. We checked out the Chrysler building and the daily news globe across the street.

At the end of the New York segment of the trip, Flynn and I bid farewell to Fiona and Lee, then embarked on a trip to DC with Mum and Dad. We spent 5 days in DC, checked out The National Mall, Congress, The Lincoln memorial, The White House, Washington Monument and Arlington.

Unix Exams, TOGAF exams, citizenship.

2015-03-09T07:40:00.001-06:00

It has been a pretty busy 2 weeks, for some reason 3 things I have been waiting on or preparing for fell within a 10 day period. On the 26th of February I became a Canadian citizen. This has been a goal since we arrived back in 2009 and I started the process by applying for Permanent Residency in November of that year. After filling out mountains of paperwork, dealing with bureaucratic process and a lot of waiting...almost 6 years of waiting I finally completed the goal.

The following Thursday I had my first Uni exam in a long time. Back in around 2007 I attempted to do uni for the first time and to be brutally honest I was not ready for it then. I didn't put in enough time and probably was doing it for the wrong reasons. At the end of last year I decided that if I wanted to give it a crack then it was now or never.

This time around I put in a lot of hours and really learnt the material. By the time the exams came around I felt pretty confident as I had done well in the assignments and mini tests along the way. I have to wait a few weeks for the exam results but I feel pretty good about it this time around.

The final item was my TOGAF exam. Back in September I did the TOGAF training on advice from my manager. After I completed the course I decided to sit the exam, when I went to book the exam I found that the next available time in Calgary was January 2015, 4 months from when I took the 1 week course. I was a little annoyed but booked it in.

When it came to the day before the exam I get an email telling me the test centre in calgary had closed permanently and I had to reschedule in a different city! I called up prometric and found that there is a test centre in Edmonton, however the next available test was in March! Talk about drawing it out. On Saturday I sat the exam and passed, now it is all done and dusted. I don't have anymore exams until May :).

2014, another good year!

2014-12-31T16:07:00.002-07:00

Well it is still 2014 here, I have been watching all our Aussie friends celebrate the new year in, in warm weather :). Over here there is snow on the ground and it has been pretty cold! The last 2 days though things have warmed up and it is currently 2c.. warm for Calgary at this time of year.

It is strange celebrating New Years Eve in winter, I spent much of my life celebrating it on what can sometimes be some of the hotter days of the year. Walking around late at night, beer in hand, wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Its a different ball game over here.

It has been a pretty awesome year. From our adventured in Australia and Portland, through to new work opportunities, both of us taking on studying, Flynn growing up so fast. It seems that the time is just screaming by.

I was thinking about 2015 and what lies ahead, very exciting times. Next year will mark 9 years with Lee, 3 with Flynn, 6 in Canada and 4 in our house. Since 2006 everything has been moving in the right direction.

Bring on 2015.

Struggling student

2014-12-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

I become a student this week. I have decided to have another crack at earning a degree, undertaking it online so that I can continue working during the day. RMIT in Australia offer a good, flexible IT degree for those of us who are not able to attend physical lectures and such. Lee is also doing some online study with UofC so I made the joke that we are 2 "struggling students".

Initially I will just be studying one unit at a time, maybe increasing that load if my brain has the cycles and it doesn't interfere with family life too much. I attempted to do Uni and work ect in 2006 while living in Brisbane. At that time online learning was not available, so I was not able to keep up with being at Uni and work at the same time, something had to give.

Why am I doing this?

I have something to prove to myself. When I was at high school I was not what you would call a model student. I like to think I have some intelligence, otherwise I wouldn't be doing what I am now, however that doesn't always translate to being a good student. I was not really interested in school and just figured stuff would work out for me. I didn't do homework or really pay attention in class. I used to spend time outside of school playing with my computer, playing cricket, kicking the footy, all non school related stuff.

When I finished year 12 and didn't get an offer to study at Uni, it dawned on me that maybe I should have given more consideration to my future.. but it was too late then. Through hardware, learning, stubbornness and various other factors I was able to work my way up to the position I am in now. However there is still this lingering, nagging voice in my head that I must silence....

Exam check, ceremony?

2014-11-26T17:50:00.001-07:00

Today a big relief was lifted from my shoulders, today I completed and passed the Canadian citizenship written exam. Even though I felt confident I knew the material, even though I had done well on the practise exams, I still had a tiny bit of doubt in the back of my mind that something would stop me. However it all went well.

I received a letter last week from the government informing me that I was expected to be at the Harry Hayes building, in Calgary at 10:30am today to complete an interview and then do the exam. After initially freaking out because I thought I had lost my PR papers, only to be reminded by my wonderful wife that I should check inside my passport.... I began to study the material provided to me.

Today I decided that I should get to the venue early, a decision that was a good one. I arrived at 10am and already there was about 10 people lined up. By 10:30 the line was substantially longer. I waited in line for about 15 minutes. I could hear other people being grilled about their families and work situations ect, so I began to prepare for a thorough questioning. When I got to the front of the line, I was asked a couple of questions, had my paper work verified then sent off to the exam room.

When I got to the exam room I realised that I had to wait for everyone in the line I was just in to be processed before the exam would begin. 1 hour and 15 minutes later, we got the booklet and had permission to start. Right away I knew I would be ok, I knew all the answers, not one question stumped me. I finished the exam in about 2 minutes, no joke 2 minutes and got every question right. Now to wait for a letter informing me of a date and time for the official ceremony.

Citizenship exam

2014-11-18T09:59:00.001-07:00

I was informed last Friday that I can sit the Canadian citizenship exam. Its exciting news, this has been five years in the making.

I have been studying the discovering Canada guide, a booklet used to prep for the exam, as well as doing some online practise exams. I was surprised about how much I knew already about the country.

I don't think it will sink in until after everything is finished. If someone had told me in my early twenties that I would have been to the places I have now, done the things I have over the last few years then told to top it off I would be a Canadian citizen.. I would have had the person committed insane :).

Life has some amazing twists and turns, I sometimes look back so see how far I've come along the road. I know I am a different person than I was and I wouldn't change a single thing. Makes me think of big audio dynamite song rush.

When dreams become reality.

2014-11-12T13:01:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid I loved basketball. That love faded as I grew older, however I still appreciate the sport. It's one of the few American sports that I can get into.

On our recent trip to Portland, it so happened that the Portland trailblazers had a game scheduled while we were in town. In my basketball heyday of the 90s I wanted nothing more than to attend an NBA game. And so at the age of 34, it finally happened and I was not disappointed.

Creating memories that will last a life time is one of the great things in life. As I get older I appreciate why you should take opportunities and do things when you get the chance. Often when you don't take them, the world moves on and the chance never comes back.

If you have a dream or your heart set on something, do it, don't worry about what others might think. Don't talk yourself out of it.

The road ahead

2014-11-11T16:38:00.001-07:00

In the last 8 years my horizons have been greatly expanded. Prior to 2006 the furthest north I had been was Rockhampton and west, Perth.

Since then I have been to Hawaii, LA, Portland, Seattle, San Fransisco, Montana, Vancouver, kamloops, Calgary, Saskatoon, Toronto , Montreal, Quebec City, Frankfurt , Munich , Nuremberg, schwetzinger, Paris, Brussels, Bruge, Teipei

The world is a big place and I, along with my little family, intend on seeing a lot of it. The sites and sounds, the smells and flavours, the people, are all fascinating. Every difference is something new, the more new things to take in, the more you grow.

Arriving somewhere unfamiliar and navigating your way around is a fun challenge. I hope that in the process we can teach Flynn stuff that is not in any textbooks. Adapting to change, finding solutions to problems you don't normally face, improvising with what is available to you at the moment in time.

Most important of all, sharing our experiences and reminiscing for years to come about the experiences we shared. This is the way I always wanted to live and I am greatful that we are in a position to be able to do the things we do.

What's next on the agenda? New York and Newfoundland in 2015 then if all goes well Europe in 2016

Last day in pdx.

2014-11-11T06:49:00.001-07:00

We finished off our Portland journey with a trip to the huge Washington park. We met Flynn loose in the children's museum, then strolled around the Oregon zoo. We headed home and I had a night in while the ladies went out for a meal together.

The weather was beautiful and has us all dreading going back to this cold snow storm we have been reading about. Portland is s lovely city, one that I could live in I think. It reminds me of a smaller version of Seattle.

Portland the weathet strikes back.

2014-11-10T10:06:00.001-07:00

Woke up Sunday to a day of constant drizzle. After a quick breakfast we headed off to explore downtown. The ladies perused a number of stores while I battled a bit of a hangover.

Found an interesting store that had a floor made entirely of pennies and had some interesting leather products.

Had lunch at a brew pub, delicious salmon which Flynn took a liking to. He also scoffed down a bunch of broccoli.

We continued our shopping and strolling, arriving home before 5. Fi and I headed to an NBA game, got scanned for weapons on the way in. The game was entertaining, they had surprisingly good beer available. After the game we had a feed at a local bar. Delicious Reuben with blue cheese covered fries, real blue cheese not that fake sauce some places use.

Portland the saga continues.

2014-11-09T09:48:00.001-07:00

We finished off Saturday by checking out the Portland Saturday markets. On the way we went one stop too far and ended up at the modus centre. We walked backh across the river, crossing a very interesting bridge.

The market had a real eumundi market feel to it, alternative. On the way home we stopped at a bookstore called Powell's, which is like ikea , except with books. Multi floored and roomed with books as far as the eye can see.

Lee and I went out for our own style progressive dinner. We started at a French place, escargot, steak tar tar and bone marrow washed down with local wine. Delicious meal, loved every bite.

We ate catfish at a southern whiskey kitchen. Not the best meal but I did find an amazing porter.

We ended up eating a delicious desert at a place near home paired with a chocolate Martini.