You are all very unkind to moi LOL

I could start to get a complex if you all keep the comments up LOL but, na dam it I will survive (good name for a song) and just you all watch out as I could be heading your way soon and now you all know what that means LOL.

Back to the business, it is the last night here in NYC so we are off to dinner down on 2nd to a lovely little Italian bistro we spotted last night, looks great and was absolutely packed at 10pm as we staggered past from the French Bistro around the corner LOL.

NYC has returned to normal, or as normal as it ever gets, so today was a bit of a shopping excursion over to the highlights of Brooklyn - yep it was a quick trip and not a cent spent. Hasn't changed much in 15 years so maybe I should wait a little longer next time, that will put it at about 2035 and I will be hmmmm 45ish, give or take a bit LOL. Any comments relating to age will demand a very public response - Di, Hans and Mark beware LOL.

Our flight out tomorrow is 7.30pm and it's overnight to Geneva and then onto Zurich. Blog you then.

We survived

Good morning and it was a wild ride but almost everyone came through unscathed. Irene arrived at about 7pm last night which was ahead of schedule and just as our main course was being served at a little french bistro about 3 blocks from our hotel, needless to say we were somewhat damp when we arrived back at the hotel. Curfew kicked in at 9pm and was inforce for 24 hours and most people paid it lip service LOL, well for 12 hours anyway.

It had been drizzling for about 4 hours previously but then in came the wind and down came the rain. Not sure what the rainfall tally was as haven't bothered to turn on the TV today but it was predicted to be 8 - 12 inches overnight. At about 11pm it really got going and the wind just howled outside and the rain was like pellets hitting the windows and that kept up until about 8am this morning. It woke me about 3 times during the night and I am sure that at one stage I could feel the building moving so god knows how much some of the high rise apartment towers were swaying.

750,000 people without power, some flooding and trees down but other wise things seem to have come through ok. Like most people still in the city (tourists as all hotels are full) we headed out to breakfast at 10am which was probably in the eye of the storm and what a surreal environment we walked into. No transport of any kind, bridges closed, tunnels closed, ferries stopped, just us and a couple of brave taxis.

Try standing in the middle of Park Ave at 11am on a Saturday morning and see how long you last LOL, but this morning was not a problem. We walkers owned the city for the day. We headed up to 5th Ave and 51st and then walked up to 71st and didn't have to worry about traffic, ignored traffic lights and just wandered at our leisure.

Nothing but us on the road.  Like good New Yorkers the locals on the upper East side were out walking the dogs and enjoying the freedom of no cars and the sounds of relative silence. Couldn't hear any birds though - not a kookaburra in sight LOL.

Fashion always plays a part in this end of town. Wandering down amonst the designer stores, up market condos and trend setters we came across this pair who obviously had been out shopping yesterday just to make sure they could been seen to be dressed appropriately. LOL



Plastic wellingtons have never look so good, LOL
buckles and flaps and croc patterns.

We are now booked to escape on the 31st so the travel plans for Italy have been turned upside down and at the moment I have cancelled Milan and tried to rebook Lake Garda for different dates. I will sort most of it out once we get to Zurich. Apparently we were very lucky to get out on the 31st as most people are being put off until Sept.

Am I getting a bad reputation ?

Well by the comments on the previous entry nothing and nobody is safe so we might as well put out an all points bulletin, so everyone is aware of the impending doom. LOL

Well we have had our second flight cancelled and now have no choice but to ride this out at the Waldorf. Luckily insurance will pay for the extended stay so things could be worse. At the moment the earliest we can get out is the 31st which puts us into Zurich on the 1st so we will have to totally rearrange the Italy trip and pray that I can get the  hotels and trains to move dates without penalties.

New York today is weird. 90% of stores are closed as the entire public transport system has been shut down. The hotel has limited staff so full room service etc is not possible. The couple of grocery stores that are open are getting the shelves stripped as no one is quite sure what will happen. Like the rest of NYC we have made suitable preparations. This morning it was off to the bottle shop for 3 days supply of drinkable wine, then onto Barnes and Noble for a couple of books and finally the green grocer for a sandwich.

Never thought I would see the day when Bloomingdales was boarded up on a Saturday morning. A lot of people are getting very jumpy about what could occur if the power goes out as is predicted and lots and lots of shops have taken the precaution of Roller grills or as in the pic totally boarding everything up to prevent possible looting and damage from broken glass etc etc etc.

We've done it again

Good morning from NYC, and the weather has turned. Firstly some housekeeping:
I have disconnected my go-sim until I get to Europe (toooooo bloody expensive over here) and have put back in my telstra sim so if anyone urgently needs to get us then 04111----- is the one to use. Email is still working but at the waldorf the charge is out of this world so will only be online each morning from the lobby.

Di, this one's for you, we are about to get some weather LOL lots of it and it's due to pound NYC on Sunday, yep the day we are suppose to fly to Zurich. The navy has already left for safer water, the shelters around the city are being prepared and we get kicked out of the waldorf on Sunday morning. You got it right, where I go so does the weather LOL. At the moment it is a category 3 hurricane and expected to go to 4 tomorrow and hit us on Sunday as a 2 - 3. This of course continues the tradition of a disaster somewhere on the trip. War with China and Vietnam on the china trip, chenovyal on the Europe trip etc etc etc LOL

Meet up with Arty last night for dinner in Chelsea and today we are all off to do the cloisters as it might be our last chance for a walk around before the weather totally comes in.

Stay tuned for updates

Last day in Quebec

Good afternoon from a lovely sunny Quebec. Well the last day dawned with brilliant sunshine so we took off straight away for the fort. It was started by the French but then the English interrupted and took over and finally finished it in the mid 1700's. It is still used today as barracks for the 22ns battalion or some such thing, anyway men in uniform wander around. LOL I did take some pics but it is lots of stone walls with very old cannons sticking through gaps - not very picturesque.

The streets started to come alive last night as the rain finally stopped and I don't know where everyone was but all of a sudden thousands were out and about, with queues at most restaurants. The pic above is one of our favourite streets, very narrow, cobble stones and very very old.

Unfortunately there is not much about the original inhabitants of the area. No museum dedicated to them just bits and pieces every now and then in general museums. However we did find this amazing bronze statue of a family group just outside the parliament.

Today also meant we needed to do some shopping so it was on a bus and off to some smart shopping centre out in the burbs. Found the Apple store and picked up a new mouse, then off to Bailes again from more jocks and Rom picked up a new pair of shorts and some kitchen gadgets.

Off to New York tomorrow so will blog you then.

Bonjour tu vous

Sticking to our usual way of doing things, we could find our way around without a map so it's off to the next city and todays journey was to "Quebec".

We woke to our first day of grey and rain, but as it's been so long since we have seen any we were not complaining, if anything we quite enjoyed the 15 minute walk to the station. The train left Montreal at 8.30 and there were only 4 people in our carriage so the service was fab, unfortunately they use Qantas catering and the scrambled eggs were not. LOL.

This is as far french as we go on the trip (I think) and while it is not a problem we have encountered people that do NOT speak any English even here in the hotel. The hotel is a quaint petite hotel in the old quarter and was originally two houses. This part of the street has been blocked to traffic so is full of restaurants which we cant afford LOL but is very quiet becuse of no traffic and busy with walking tourists and artists flogging their wares.

We are over the road from the "Fairmont" which like most of the Fairmonts across Canada, was built by the Canadian Railway back when money was no object.

As you can see it's very impressive, nothing like ours LOL.

As our breaky on the train was so miserable it was off to Cafe de Paris for lunch and a quick snack of carrot soup and veal cannelloni with lots of crusty bread.

The hotel has been wonderful to us as I don't think they get too many Aussies stopping in and we must be a welcome change from the hordes south of the border LOL. 

Our first request was "Please direct us to a laundry as we are desperate" "no no give it to moi" was the reply and off they went with our laundry and it was all apart of the service - NO CHARGE !!!!!  So we will toss them $20 when it comes back in the morning. When you consider that in Montreal and Toronto it was cheaper to buy new stuff than do hotel laundering, then this attitude is amazing. 

So far everyone we have spoken to has been great. The people who run the bottle shop were very helpful and knowledgeable, the restaurant was good and we have been given directions to a tapas bar tonight which is just outside the old quarter so prices are $15 a main instead of $39. 

Arty I tried to call you today and left a message on your answering machine. Give us a call or I will try again tonight (Sunday)

Bon soir bon ami

Ok now that Hans and Di have joined forces against moi, I will take care in what I publish, well sort of LOL

Yesterday was the walking day, first off we found that there was no laundry within 15 blocks of our hotel and that the cost of lugging dirty washing half way across town was not worth it, so it was off to the nearest department store "La baile" and into the mens department. Isn't it strange how these places feel just like Myer. Lots of middle aged women in black pretending to be busy, totally ignoring customers, hmmmmm must be something in the cosmetic counters on the ground floor that does this. Anyway, found the jock department and bought some new ones to replace the old ones as it is cheaper than laundry at the hotel.

Climbed to Chalet du Mont Royal which is an old volcano on the edge of town and has a great view over Montreal.

As you can see it is above the bloody buildings downtown and by the time we got up and down we were totally stuffed. But that said, we found places that we would never had seen on a planned tour.

Of course now that we are "Eco Warriors" from Sunrise we had to check out the local animals, or what is left of them and these little fellas provided us with a good show of mating in the park.





Strange that apart from the drunks, weirdos, cyclists and tourist there were no other animals.


Today was "museum" day and off we went to the archeology museum of Montreal, which was really good. They are digging up one of the main streets in old Montreal to discover what they had been trying to hide for the last 200 years !!!!!! anyway it was good and will be finished in 2017 so don't rush down to see it LOL. From there it was off to the tower overlooking the waterfront.

In terms of beautiful gardens around the world this doesn't rate, BUT given that it is frozen for 6 months of the year and recreated every summer then they have done a great job. The architecture around old Montreal is really beautiful.

As you would expect very French, but with lots of modern touches.

The narrow cobbled streets are filled with galleries, cafes and bars so there is no excuse for not enjoying a wander around.

The other side of the city is modern Montreal, starting with the art at our hotel. This amazing sculpture is in the foyer, just waiting to greet you every morning after a big night out LOL, Actually he is about the colour of my eyes this morning.

The Biosphere which looks totally science fiction was actually created back in the dim dark ages of the 20th century but still looks very impressive. I think it was done for the Expo in 1967 but not totally sure.

Lastly for this update and I know I have been going on and on, but this is it for Montreal. There is the totally tacky and this one is for Mark and Carolyn, you're never toooooo far away for a "Lark " to appear.

See you in Quebec (unless something really interesting happens tomorrow).

Bonjour, Merci, oui oui, bonsoir, Parlez vous Anglis ?

(Excuse my bad french)

AAAAAAh yes we are in Montreal. We love it. Arrived this afternoon and the first thing you notice is that the language situation has moved from English to French as the first language. Luckily everyone so far has good English so it hasn't been a problem.

Sorry Di have to mention the hotel, it's truly amazing. No, not 5 star, not sure where you would put it, but it is definitely a contemporary art gallery hiding as a hotel. The art is wonderful, Warhols etc etc etc I will take pics and post them while we are here. Our room is immediately above the rider and horse and while it is not grand it is pretty dam good.

Walked around the old area this afternoon, restaurant spotting, bar spotting and it's great being back in a place that is almost exclusively french. Fillet mignons everywhere, coquilles st Jacques all over the place and of course frites to accompany everything LOL.

Now I know this is very sexist but I have to say Montreal has the best looking blokes and the best dressed so far. On the other hand the ladies seem to be letting the team down.

Off to Bistro Boris for dinner so will check in tomorrow.


PS. G'day gets a very strange reaction over here LOL but at our local bar already have us tagged on their computer system as aussies.




PPS. Pic from Niagara that Ron took, it's pretty self explanatory LOL Not what I was expecting when I made the booking.

Good Morning from day 4

We survived the tortures of Niagara and the many many thousands of tourists that make the place look like a Disney theme park. The day started well with us deciding not to do an organised tour and to go down on the train and bus and wander around at leisure. We made the early train which should have given us lots  of time but at the station we were accosted by a women from Holland that took a liking to us and decided to do the trip with us - hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  She talked so much that we missed the announcements on the PA and missed our stop which also meant we missed the bus connection. We eventually got back to where we were supposed to be only to find that there was a 2 hour wait until the next bus. Burlington Canada, not the most exciting place to spend any time. We eventually found a 2nd cup coffee house (but the coffe was sooooo bad we didnt stay for the second cup) and killed time there. Niagara as a place is awful, full of very very bad taste amusements and crowds that make Myer boxing day sales look like a deserted park. The falls were great when you could get to see them.

We eventually gave up with the crowds and headed home to the promise of a good Mexican restaurant
in the Westend market. The place was packed so the food was expected to be good but in reality was just ok, but the drinks - WOW

The margaritas went down a treat and so did some very cold beers. The weather has been great with hot days 27 and a bit of humidity and cool nights.

All up we enjoyed Toronto and it was much better than we expected, but like our traditional way of travelling - if we could find our way around on the streetcars, underground and above ground rail systems both day and night so we had outstayed our time and it was time to move onto unknown territory.

At the moment we are on a train heading along the side of Lake Erie to Montreal. Bit hard to type so will call it quits and update you tomorrow.

Day 2 and a weeeee scare

Carbon testing is being carried out to see which is older

Day two and a bit of a scare over breakfast. We found this great little 50's diner in Dundas Square and it is totally original (will try to get a pic tomorrow if we go back) complete with hat and coat racks at every booth and an original 50's espresso machine (which I am sure hasn't had a lot of use). Of course we had to go thought the "how do you want your eggs ? over easy ? sunny side up? etc etc etc and while we were doing that I was checking the calendar to see what would be a good day to do Niagara Falls.

Horror, horror according to the dates we were due to leave tomorrow, so that meant only today in Toronto and no time to do the falls. Crisis meeting back at the hotel with booking slips only to find I had made a weeeee error on the calender and all is well, off to Niagara tomorrow. Did I say I made a mistake? that must be an error too.

Today we just walked the city and did the sights. Westend market for the Mexican which is apparently to die for - closed on Monday, so ended up with so so Chilean food. Off to Fort York, the original fort built by the English in 1700's - might as well have been closed, lots of people packing up from a function last night and all the buildings locked up. How about the Art Gallery ? closed, oh yea it's MONDAY.

So, a casual walk back to our hotel, haircut and afternoon nap before heading out again for dinner. Oh did I mention that our hotel is next door to the Filmore ? Canada's largest gentleman's club, Lap dancing a speciality,  but I haven't seen a gentlemen going in yet. LOL LOL LOL

Tomorrow Niagara Falls

We're Off

Good Morning from Toronto.

After many many months of planning we are off and running. A big thanks to Mark for getting up at that ungodly hour to drive us to the Bundaberg International Airport and a big tk u to the rubber band on what is called a qantas flight LOL.

We arrived in Syd to be greeted by the Stamford having totally ignored our room request and so war was declared and a lesson on how to run an accommodation venue (and yes this is suppose to be a 5 star hotel) was entered into. Us 1 them 0.

Sunday morning arrived and it was off to international for the preflight business. Lots of people in uniforms running around enjoying their 5 seconds of power, but after surviving many searches we were in. Off to the Air NZ lounge for breakfast and await our call.

Welcome to the pointy end LOL. We both had mini suite which came with personal 15 inch TV, power for lap tops , socks etc etc etc etc and lots and lots of champagne. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah bliss.

We ended up in 5A and 6A and as you can see it didn't take Ron long to get into the swing of the next 19 hours. Yes, that is a glass of bubbly sitting there. LOL

We arrived in reasonable good condition and headed out for dinner. Off to Charles st which is the local Gay village and only about 4 blocks from our hotel and it just turned out that it was the last day of the Leather Pride weekend (and neither of us for the first time had any leather with us), so it was off to Toronto Eagle for a drink and introduce ourselves to the locals.

Dinner was great at an old mansion and they were doing Maine lobster special for the weekend so we had to indulge. Lag eventually caught up and it was off to the hotel bar for a quick night cap and then a good nights sleep.

Day 1 ends.

One sleep

Well packed and ready to roll. These cockys dropped in to say goodbye this afternoon. Bought along another dozen of their friends and proceeded to make an ungodly mess of the bloodwood seeds LOL.

We think we have everything organised so now it's off to Bundy tomorrow at 6.45 and on to the world.

5 Sleeps

Yet another one of our pets coming over to wish us bon voyage, although if the truth be know I would much rather he/she stay right up high in the trees catching mozzies.

I almost walked into this one on Sunday when we went exploring the rain forest for more interesting
trees and this very large spider was just (and I mean just) above my head height and frightened the living daylights out of me. The trip was a major success as we found 5 python trees - the first we have seen fully grown. We have 3 just outside the house near the drive but they are only 3 inches tall.

Planning is almost done for Italy. I have booked accommodation in Florence and Hertz car, I am still tossing up over accommodation in Milan and awaiting confirmation of Lake Garda. We thought that we would only harass Hans and Roli for a couple of days before hitting the road for a week. That will give them time to pack and set off on their great trip without worrying about us LOL.

9 Sleeps

Here's another one for Bruce, very spectacular with three large flower spikes and they should be in full flower the day after we leave LOL. All the orchids are going on holiday to Mad Nursery while we are away and I am sure they will love being in a hothouse for a change - they will be spoilt and not happy about coming home in October.

The Grevilleas are going crazy and along with the orchids, hibiscus etc will flower soon after our departure so if anyone is going past sunrise would you please take a pic for us to see. LOL