After mastering clutch control once again in the motel car park, I left Queenstown - voted the friendliest place on the planet by Condé Nast. The drive up to Wanaka passed without incident. The scenery was gorgeous and very reminiscent of Scotland. It seems that everywhere I go there is something reminding me of home: places, street names, statues and even smells.
Wanaka is a beautiful little place. Every third car here appears to be some flavour of Subaru- usually a Legacy. It seems that the distinctive engine noise is almost permanently in the background.
I’ve finally figured out the proper day and date: it’s Friday the 13th. Although I’m not paraskavedekatriaphobic, I decided not to tempt fate and put a stop to the adrenaline activities for now. Besides, the revised ski resort opening dates are still a couple of weeks away. Instead I went for a gentle stroll alongside Lake Wanaka to Eery Point Reserve.
The past few weeks were designed to get me out of my comfort zone and they certainly succeeded. It’s nice to see some familiar faces again though. There’s less than a month to go before I’m back in the UK and still a lot to pack in1.
1 Speaking of packing, why did I not know about bundle packing before I left? Wrapping everything around a central core of Ninja folded T-shirts has revolutionised my travelling.
I left the vivid colours of Autumn behind me and headed for the distinctly chillier climes of the South Island. I did attempt to acclimatise myself beforehand though with a visit to Minus 5 Ice Bar in Auckland but there was no need to worry. The temperature had climbed to zero by the time we landed in Queenstown. I love being able to see the mountains so I was always going to love it here. Flying in this morning over the Southern Alps was really nice but I was stuck in an aisle seat with a snap-happy Japanese girl obstructing my view out of the window.
Once we landed at Queenstown I hired a car - smaller this time and manual transmission which took some getting used to. It’s no Zeus but maybe could be one of the lesser gods.
Having found a voucher in my welcome brochure for 30% off a massage I set off into town but somehow ended up in the parachute jump place to see if they had anything available for tomorrow. They did but the weather is supposed to be crappy for the next couple of days and it just so happened that they had a free space this afternoon.
Well that was it. The next thing I knew, I was in a jumpsuit with a man strapped to my back and sat in a small plane climbing to 15,000 feet above ground level (which is 16,020 feet above sea level here in Queenstown). Falling at 54 meters per second for just over a minute. Somewhat weirdly maybe but I was far more nervous doing the SkyJump. I’m pretty sure that stumbling across how to survive an unplanned freefall from 15,000 feet had nothing to do with my lack of nerves.
Once back on terra firma I made plans to meet up with a few of the other jumpers for some drinks and a bite to eat back in town.
The car has now been named: Zeus. For those of you who have been wondering, it’s a silver Hyundai Sonata. I had an image in my mind of doing the drive in a soft-top Cadillac, wearing Aviators and a cowboy hat but I’m not all that fussy.
I passed by the amazing ocean stacks north of Elk, drove through Manchester (spitting out of the window) and stopped at Point Arena lighthouse. The tour guide was a retired sociology professor who had some interesting stories and I also got talking to Julie who was into lighthouses in a big way. Apparently, the first order Fresnell lens was shipped over from France over 100 years ago and consists of 666 pieces of hand polished crystal. It was recently valued at $3.6 million but in actuality priceless and irreplaceable. Unfortunately some retard carved their initials in one of the pieces of crystal and visitors are no longer allowed to get too close. The whole lens is being dismantled this July and placed into the adjacent museum.
I was originally planning on heading inland to Healdsburg to check out the Sonoma wine country but I was so engrossed in the views that I missed the turning and didn’t realise until I was in Bodega Bay (where Hitchcock’s The Birds was filmed). I decided to still go inland a little but settled on a visit to Petaluma instead.
I’m only really aware of this place via Leo Laporte and he’s right: it really is a beautiful city and the dearth of chain stores may have something to do with the charm of the place. There are some lovely old (for the US) Victorian houses still standing thanks to Petaluma being spared in the big quake of 1906. It turns out that it is Petaluma’s sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary and celebrations are going on all year.
It was baking hot so I decided to seek refuge somewhere dark and air conditioned and went to see the latest Indiana Jones movie at the local cinema. It was okay I guess but not the same as when I was younger. It was still hot when I left but more manageable. I purchased a Superhero Smoothie and appropriately sat a while in Penry Park.
I’ve been enjoying confusing random people by waving at them recently but as I was walking back to Zeus an old man got some revenge and waved at me from across the street.
I left Oregon behind me yesterday afternoon and with it the Speed Zones which were unfortunately not carte blanche to drop the hammer but actually implemented to make you go slower. The weather definitely improved - the closer I got to California, the sunnier it became.
Having left the stern Washington laws behind me and after randomly thinking about hitchhikers earlier I happened upon a couple of Hoopa Indians - mother and daughter - just outside of Brookings when I stopped at a viewpoint. Maybe it was reading Kerouac’s On The Road or maybe I remembered the frustrations of hitching around Indiana a decade ago. They were also heading to Eureka so I thought that I’d give them a ride. It turned out that they’d been waiting for a large part of two days and wanted to stop in a town just outside Eureka first. I was happy to accommodate seeing as though I wasn’t in any rush.
After getting directions to the motel I dropped my passengers off and had a little tour of Eureka before checking in at the Bayview Motel. I then had a little nap, read a little, found the a problem with the wireless connection, diagnosed and attempted to fix but had to give up and head to the Lost Coast Brewery for some food, beer and free wifi access.
Last night I stayed in less salubrious surroundings than the night before but they served their purpose. Most of today was spent in a similar fashion as yesterday’s weather from Mount Saint Helens but not nearly as severe and the mist actually added to the beauty of the bay vistas.
I stopped for a walk along the beach just outside Astoria in the far nicer Canon Beach (where the closing scenes of The Goonies were shot) before getting back into my (as yet unchristened) rental car and hitting the coast road down to Coos Bay. I’ve no idea where the name stems from - I haven’t spotted a single bovine since I got here a few hours ago.
The driving is going fine - I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it actually. I am currently of the impression that cruise control is the best thing since July 7th 1928 (the debut of sliced bread) but the XM satellite radio is starting to annoy me. It’s a huge improvement on the FM transmissions here but the trees seem to be playing havoc with the signal. I have found the 80s and 90s stations though and consequently my voice is suffering a little from belting out song after song for a large part of the day. I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t sing professionally and also that I’m on my own in the car!
I found last nights hotel on Lake Union by using The Force and decided to treat myself to a king size bed and then, once checked in, headed down to the Pike Place Markets2 for some food and libations. I sampled a couple of local ales in the Virginia Inn before having wild Alaskan salmon with saffron risotto and blueberry mojitos in Amber (the choice of which was nothing at all to do with my crush on Amber MacArthur). I rounded off the night with a Springbank in the Whisky Bar before turning in for the night.
After breakfast and a spell in the hot tub, I toyed with the idea of staying for another night but then thought better off it and decided to try and get a haircut before leaving. I was planning to have my now golden locks shorn completely but could only find a salon where the lovely Kelly decided to do her own thing. She was hot so I didn’t argue and ended up with a shampoo and nice trim for less than £10 (without tip) which I found surprising.
Before I left however, I did make use of the Wifi to plan my route to Mount Saint Helens and onward to Astoria being devoid of any form of Washington State map as I was. I have since fallen out with Google Maps and their driving directions. Mount Saint Helens is not very well signposted from the freeway so after exiting at junction 21 and asking at the local tourist information hut I was slightly miffed to be told that I needed to head back northwards to junction 49 (especially after noting heavy traffic in that direction - damn you karma) but at the same time I was very grateful to the delightful Virginia for the pointers to Astoria and the Oregon State map that she furnished me with.
Thankfully the traffic had eased and I made a mockery of Virginia’s estimated two and a half hour time to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, partly thanks to the roads being strangely quiet off the Interstate. I expected a route to National Monument park to be busier but I soon found out what everybody else obviously already knew: anything above 3000 feet was shrouded in cloud and mist - all I could think of was John Carpenter’sThe Fog and I locked my door accordingly. Below this elevation the scenery was jaw droppingly spectacular and I enjoyed having the road to myself. I may not have had this higher up but I just couldn’t tell as the visibility was down to 20 feet in places.
Once at the summit my view was obviously severely hindered by the weather conditions. Mount Saint Helens is only five miles away from the observatory but I was merely staring into a void. The visitor’s center was mildly interesting but I still left feeling highly disappointed. I’ve been traveling for just over a month now and to wait this long for something to not go to plan was unexpected.
I headed cautiously back down the road and onto the Interstate pausing for gas before pointing crossing tthe Lewis and Clark bridge into Oregon and pointing myself west to head to Astoria. The evening sun lit the forest behind me beautifully and I had to keep reminding myself to look away from my mirrors.
1 If you’re wondering why Astoria sounds familiar to you it’s probably because that this is where The Goonies was filmed. All together now: “Hey you guys!”
2 This is the location of the first ever Starbucks.
Well that’s the Canadian leg of my tour over and done with and I’ve got some fantastic memories to take with me. Before leaving Vancouver I managed to resist the lure of a new Apple Store opening and took a trip up Grouse Mountain with a couple of friends for the views, wolves, grizzly bears and the bird and lumberjack shows. We were also graced with a fly pass by a wild bald headed eagle. The next day I went up Cypress mountain to help a friend move equipment into storage now the ski season is over and sneak a peak at the Olympic mogul and aerials slopes.
This afternoon I stopped for some Bulgarian fillos for lunch before picking up a rental car at Vancouver airport. Susan at Budget was a great help and managed to swings so that I didn’t have to switch cars in Seattle and she also upgraded me to a larger car for free. Now, I haven’t driven for several years and I did feel a little nervous before I set off. Call it irresponsible or stupid if you will - at the same time I find it somewhat worrisome that I can legally get behind the wheel without having to sit a refresher course or something.
Once I was underway all my nerves disappeared and I made it down to Seattle with no major incidents barring a little piece of advice from the border official after waiting for an hour. Driving an automatic is undoubtably a help and I’m also in no rush so I can take my time and travel when it’s quieter.
Here are a few more things that I’ve picked up:
- Canadians can’t merge
- The speed limit in Canada is too low
- Don’t padlock your luggage when driving over the border
