YAH

holy poop.....i may have got every photo from Trek america (and therefore the whole of america) on flickr!

wow

now best get started on fiji and new zealand......

you better all go look and leave amazing comments!

Fiji!

I feel bad for Fiji because it kinda got lost between trek and the anticipation of New Zealand. So I think that it should get its very own blog. It was actually really lovely. We were both taken aback by how much we liked it. We arrived early in the morning, just before dawn and got through customs in an instant. As our driver took us to our hotel, telling us a little about landmarks and Fijian culture the dawn broke over the mountains to reveal a stunning and dramatic landscape that neither of us expected. We never even looked into what Fiji would be like. It was always a sort of stepping stone between America and Australasia… the half way point of the whole trip really. The people of Fiji have been the kindest and most sincere that we have ever encountered. Everyone was friendly and interested in what we had to say and really willing to tell you about their traditional customs and belief. As we drove, the island came to life with sugar cane workers and ox drawn ploughs tending the fields. People hitch-hiking to work, goats crossing the road, horses grazing along under the coconut trees. Like nothing you could ever have expected.

Our hotel was great; all the staff had learnt our names within a day and always greeted you on your way to and fro. We had a sea view or the coral coast which was perfect for snorkelling. We saw loads of shoals of pretty coloured fish and some ominous looking sea worm things. They looked like under water snakes but were harmless. It was reallllllly warm too. Like a bath almost cause it was so shallow. All round it was a great place to recover from having lost a whole day on route from the USA. In fact we pretty much slept and cotched for 4 days. But we did break up the sleeping and eating with one day trip to a traditional Fijian village… by river canoe and bamboo raft of course!

So after an hour or so of canoeing we reached the village where they greeted us with a Kava ceremony. A drinking ritual of a root tea to welcome important visitors to the homestead. The whole village (minus the chief) were there to welcome us, dance, cook and show us their way of life. They unearthed our meal… literally and served us lunch. Then we saw the school kids who sang for us. To wear of the food we all danced with the ladies as the men played guitar and sang. Great fun! Our guide was really informative and generally lovely (as almost all Fijians seemed to be). We left and he took us further up river to some hidden waterfalls. The landscape was just like in the Jurrasic Park films… so I was happy. We had to hike to the big waterfall through the river which was kinda novel, then we got to swim at the base of it and play. Just like you imagine a South Pacific paradise to be.

All in all, it was incredible and I recommend that you all by-pass the Caribbean for your island dream trip and head straight to Micronesia.

Adams Note –
So as im sure you have noticed, we have been missing from your everyday lives for over 6 months now (please, no tears). How is it to travel for so long? Well, I hate all my clothes (mostly my ‘dyslexics untied’ due to the two types of morons who approach me when I wear it – first the wow what a brilliant idea, im dyslexic too! Were basically best friends! And the idiot who decides to tell me who long they were staring at my chest to work out the joke. Do I look like someone who wants a stranger talking to him?) plus they always smell, after 6 months BO is so ingrained into the fabric there is no getting it out., also none of it fits which brings me onto my next point, my weight has never yoyo-ed so much in all my life. One place I losing (mostly in liquid form from one orifice or the other) it so fast I can climb in and out my trousers without undoing the buttons, next its storing its self in huge great tyres across my waist (thank you USA), only to be walked off (thank you half dome). I dislike the reliance that I have on battery power, its not until you cant charge everything up in an instant you realise this, there is (and this is a fact) nothing more disappointing than your ipod running out of juice 7mins into a 10hr drive. I dislike The French , they are everywhere (like a bad rash) whats worse is you can normally tell that’s they are French before they open there mouth and insult you. Brilliant example, to write this blog in a wifi café we had to plug the laptop in, but a lovely young French couple had plugged their inerpopiatly large adapter into the center socket so noone else could plug in the sides ones. And then they had placed bags and assorted crap around the plug so there was no way of getting to it anyway. They could oviosly see that I wanted to plug this in, would they move? hellll no. (in the end tess went in all guns blazing and we are now plugged in, yah!)

So tess is looking at me in disappointed way, she thinks that I have ruined the perfectly pleasant post with my complaints so now for the things I do like.

The term European and how it can be applied to anything and make it posh, its not caburys dairy milk, its a rich European chocolate. Its not just pasta with tomatoe sauce, its European, italian pasta, its not a slutty mini skirt, its European fashion. Therefore I am not a dirty English man, im a stylish European traveler.

 I like the freedom of just getting in the car and driving, seeing new cultures and mocking them cos its just not like England (look at these silly fools,on the wrong side of the road!). I like the queen, and the fact she is still on the money here. (in fact i have become positivly patriotic), if anyone asks we we know/met etc the queen i reply, 'who? oh her britannic majesty? everyone knows her!' I like the fact you can tell an American you are 21^st in line to the throne and they will belive you and that by law you have to send her a birthday card on at least one of her b'days.

. I like the fact people look forward to going to London and seeing the white cliffs of dover (hehe poor buggers) Most of all I like all the people we have met, who have shown us uncommon friendship in times of need, helped us and truly gone out of their way to help make this one of the best experiences ever.

 As that last comment is a bit gay, the one thing I love the most more than anything else. My darling, my love  my Nikon D80 with her 50mm lens.

adam

Las Vegas and Los Angeles

Part 4... the end on the USA! Adam wrote this one... so it'll be long and probably include lots of B***ching:

From the peaceful settings of Zion nation park we headed 4hrs west, to the city of sin!. Now I have wanted to visit Vegas for ages, not because of a addiction to gambling, the love of alcohol or seeing way to much CSI but due to a discovery channel feature I watched about 5 years ago about all the little secrets (eg. I made a bet with Rohan that he would never see a clock on a gaming floor..) and the logistics of running a city in the desert (so if you didn’t already know that I’m quite sad, I think I just cleared it up for you). Anyhoo after we arrived we went for some Italian in a cool little restaurant, where you ordered portions for the table (so they were huge!), and the table came with its own effigy of the pope in the centre…. Then we were picked up by a ‘party bus’ which gave us a tour, took us to the Vegas sign and the light show in downtown (the road out side the golden nugget is now under the largest TV screen in the world, which shows a different music video every night (we had the pleasure of ‘we are the champions’ by Queen, At first pictures of the band and the union jack were shown, then as the song reached its climax, a US flag took over the screen as pictures of American doctors, police, fire crews and ‘free, strong and all American citizens’ flew round to cheers from the crowd. Then it was back to the strip for drinks.

The next morning we got up early to hit the strip, Tess had decided to go to every casino (not the crappy ones) and get a dollar chip, and in the really big ones spent a dollar on a random game (which for the most part was the wheel of fortune, no skill involved but relatively exciting). We started at the Luxor (shaped like a giant pyramid) and worked our way down the 3 miles to the Stratosphere. Now most the casinos were amazing (sorry Excalibur and treasure island, you were naff) but the 3 that take the price were the Belllagio, the Palazzo and the Venetian (the Mirage, New York New York, Planet Hollywood, Mgm Grand, Caesars Palace were also pretty amazing). We spent some time in the Bellagio and had lunch there, the place exuded wealth and class, now we went for a buffet lunch and expected for our $20 dollars not that much……it was amazing, the best meal we had in months. There was steak, sushi, soup amazing salads, fish, Chinese, Indian, tapas, hand made pizza, a carvery and the deserts…..ohhh the deserts.

Anyhoo, then off to the Venetian with its canals and gondolas, I knew about the one outside, but the canal, opera and shopping street on the 2nd floor….again just amazing, you cant believe that under all this there was a casino, and no leaks!. In the Venetian we made the most money (for a $1 bet we left with $50…..what high rollers we have become!!) It was also here that after losing $10 on Casino war, Rohan looked like he had just been kicked in the nuts, we watched the guy next to us play $500 and lose it in under 20secs, then play $1000 and double it. That’s the way to do it!.

In the Palazzo we went looking for a bar, and whilst asking for directions Tess got us $30 dollars worth of free drinks (you have never seen us look soooooo happy!!). The bar was incredible, dark, sleek and stylish (like in the movies) with us sitting in 4 week old unwashed camping gear… the wash basins had the water come from the ceiling down into large stone vases! And the free drinks again, wow. A sage mojito, and a white grape crushed something or other. Anyhoo after several casinos we reached the rides at the Stratosphere, we did the tall drop and the rotating arm over the strip, both gave wicked views of the strip. Then we headed back up to cool bits before heading back to bed.

Fright night

For the last day of the trek I insisted that we all went to fright night at universal studios, because it is possibly the coolest thing on earth. Now I believe that most people especially tess thought it wasn’t going to be that bad, I mean it doesn’t take to much to scare me. So when the chain saw wielding actor chased tess down the corridor and she attempted to literally climb into my skin and out the other side, without a care for Sophie who lay on the ground in a state of fear I knew that I had chosen a good way to end the trip!

Although all the haunted houses and rides (different to the orlando ones!, the mummy is totally different!!!) were amazing, my favourite moments came when after carefully checking the exit Tess and Amanda left the one haunted house to be chased by an actor scrapping a metal bin on the ground for about 100m. Then at the end all the actors gathered at the exit, as a siren went off at midnight they all stopped there chain saws and stood for pictures, we decided the night must be over. So we went for some pics, then about 2min later another siren went off and instantly amongst all the crowds of photo taking people they started their chainsaws and chased people. Seeing the look of terror in people eyes as they realised the zombie clown who they had just been having their photo with was now chasing them out the park was pure glee!

New Video

Hey all,
Greeting from Auckland !!!
just a quick one. Now many of you (ok none of you) have asked how you can see some of the best photos with some catchy music in under 4min from the trek America trip..... check it out (i love my mac)

Grand Canyon and Zion Nat Park

Part 3!!!!!

Grand Canyon was a really cool camp ground. We set the tents up in a little circle and had a private long-drop! Lucky us eh? This was our last night in our tent (Billy)… except we ended up sleeping out under the stars cause they were just so twinkly and beautiful. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. First off, on the way we made up some paper-bag masks so that we would be blindfolded from the view up until the last minute. Adam saw this as another opportunity to wear his creepy tranny mask whose eyes and mouth he covered with the electrical tape. Don’t worry, I’ve thrown it out now. As we piled out of the van the walk to the edge was really an exercise in trust as Monica led us in single-file past the confused public to a view point. It was really worth it though. I’ve never seen anything so incredibly vast. It was breath-taking. Well I thought so… then Adam exclaimed “well its not what I imagined”. He still to this day believes that tv ruined this moment for him. That sunset we watched over the Canyon before heading back to make dinner. Where team B (that’s us plus Rohan and Mark) kicked culinary butt with our shepherds pie, cauliflower cheese, green-beans, sweetcorn and peas. The fire that night was HUGE and toasty and we settled down to sleep under the stars to the sound of near-by Coyotes. We were up at the crack of dawn to see sunrise (much the same as sunset but in reverse) and do a hike down the canyon…then back up again. Check out the pics.

Zion

Our last night out camping, our last national park and our last hike was today at Zion. I’d never thought about seeing Zion so I didn’t know what to expect. Although the name should have given it away I think that everyone was completely unprepared for how incredible this place was. It was named by the Mormons who tried to settle there because of its intense natural beauty but they had to move out because of problems with river flooding. Anyhoo, it was made into a national park and I vote it up there next to Yellowstone… or pretty damn close. It has the deep red rock of “The Great Staircase” but has all this lush green vegetation aswell. Check out the photos, I just can’t do it justice. That night we didn’t bother with the tents and pretty much the whole group slept out under the stars. It was the best nights sleep I’d had, really warm in my sleeping bag but with a cool breeze on my face. It was the perfect way to end the last 4 or 5 weeks of camping. The hike that we did here was called Angels Landing. It was my favourite one of the whole trip because it was pretty short with amazing views at the top and a good bit of steep incline rock scrambling for excitement/adrenaline or whatever. This bit was sooo much fun, it was really narrow and some bright spark had to put the cables… when there was any… on the inside rather that the outside. This meant that at times we were scrambling along a 12” ledge with a drop half way down the mountain. Anyhoo, it only took about 4 hrs so we were done before the hottest part of the day and still pretty full of energy for the night in Vegas...

next installment coming soon!

Monument Valley and an early halloween

Heres part 2 of our catch up posts...:

Ok, so for all those who have seen Forrest Gump you may recollect the point where he decides to stop running and go home. On route to Monument valley we passed that very spot and played chicken with the passing traffic as we tried to get some pics of us in action. No casualties and some good group shots later we headed on to our first real cultural experience of the trek. We were really excited, cause we are sad like that… and we were gonna get to meet some Navajo Indians and stay the night in one the their traditional Hogons (mud homes that look a bit like an igloo, but orange and with a complex wooden structure thing inside). This was also the first time we were gonna get to stay in the heart of one of these incredible landscapes away from other campers and hikers.

The reserve was AMAZING, the whole world as far as you could see was deep reds and oranges… exaggerated by the fact that we arrived pretty much at sunset. We were picked up by Marvin… possibly the funniest guy we met on the whole trip… in his make-shift tour jeep on which we feared for our lives at every turn. I think that his true calling was to be a stunt driver cause that is the only reason I can imagine why he would hit the accelerator at every sharp corner or vertical drop. He took us around the valley, pointed out the shapes in the towering rocks and told us any myths or stories about them. As the sun went down he took us to some rock carvings that he had to illuminate with a torch. That only made it more atmospheric. Last thing before heading to the hogons, he took us to a cave with the shape of an eagle on the ceiling where we lay back whilst he sang us some native songs.

At the camp we were served a delicious meal and danced and sang around the fire before heading off to our sleeping bags in the hogon. Just before we turned into bed we did some star gazing and I saw the brightest shooting star EVER. Perfect. In the morning we were up before the sunrise and headed out to get some pics as the sun crept over the horizon. Despite the fact the Elmer (our Navajo informer) made no sense at all and managed to avoid answering any question with a structured sentence, I would recommend this trip to everyone! For those wondering where monument valley is… for oldies John Wayne films were set here… for middle-agers Back to the Future 3 (bit at the start with the Indians and cavalry) was here and if both of the above are before your time Will Smiths Wild Wild West film, Mission Impossible 2 (the bit at the start where he is rock climbing) and one of Metallica’s rock videos were all here as well.


Easterns Halloween,
Ok, so somewhere along the trip we had decided to have an early Halloween party, carve pumpkins, dress up and dance the night away. Don’t know how that happened… but as I’ve always wanted to celebrate a proper American Halloween I was pretty chuffed with the whole idea! After an on-route dip in the controversial Lake Powell, we made our way to a super Wal-Mart to put together some creepy consumes. Now Adam really took the word CREEPY and ran with it. In fact he ran with it sooo far that barely anyone would dare say a word to him later that night. Everyone else had dressed up as zombies, vampires, clowns, witches … the usual. Adam however being the creative little being that he is donned a skin-suit and a tranny mask. Then he covered himself in fake blood and carried a butchers knife around with him. I’ll say no more. We made some delicious punch and had an awesome night.