Tue 28th
Our plane landed at about 06.00 an hour late, we should still be able to reach our 08.00 flight if we're quick. By the time we went through baggage claim and passed our way through customs the chance was slim. I had the luggage on a trolley and had to run it to the domestic terminal, to be told it was too late to load it. The first flight offered was 15.00, we were gutted.
The attendant came back to us with a chance of flying at 11.00, we were on standby.
Air New Zealand did give us enough complementry vouchers for us to get a good feed before we went to wait. Luckily there was 3 people that didn't turn up for their flight and we were on our way. Landing in Christchurch had us a step closer to home, we just had to claim our baggage again and check in to see what flight we would get to Invercargill. It turns out we're on the next flight at 14.25 and land at 16.05.
After 26 plus hours since arriving at LAX, it was great to be home again, Douglas cooked our dinner for us, Butter Chicken and rice, well done Douglas it was yummy,
It was early to bed, and a great sleep in our comfy bed.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Monday, August 27, 2018
Our last day State-side
Sun 26th
Although we had an alarm set for 8 Margaret came in to wake us at 7.30. We were joining the team for the day at a science world and then shopping (just what I needed) the science thing was great for the kids with a lot of hands on displays and moving dinosaurs. We all walked to the huge mall and had lunch before Margaret was let loose to spend some dollars. After 2 1/2 hours I was glad to leave. Back to the motel so the kids could have a dip before heading to the Pirate show. Vicki and I had all our luggage ready to go in Margaret's room so off next door to Outback Steakhouse for some take-aways. Said our goodbyes to Margaret and the team, moved our bags to the lobby for the short wait for our shuttle. No problems getting through the check in process and just a wait to get back on the time machine. Our flight has just been delayed 1/2 an hour.
Although we had an alarm set for 8 Margaret came in to wake us at 7.30. We were joining the team for the day at a science world and then shopping (just what I needed) the science thing was great for the kids with a lot of hands on displays and moving dinosaurs. We all walked to the huge mall and had lunch before Margaret was let loose to spend some dollars. After 2 1/2 hours I was glad to leave. Back to the motel so the kids could have a dip before heading to the Pirate show. Vicki and I had all our luggage ready to go in Margaret's room so off next door to Outback Steakhouse for some take-aways. Said our goodbyes to Margaret and the team, moved our bags to the lobby for the short wait for our shuttle. No problems getting through the check in process and just a wait to get back on the time machine. Our flight has just been delayed 1/2 an hour.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Buena Park
Sat 25th
Today is our relaxing day, we spent 2 hours in the pool (because all our clothes were in the wash) and it turns out that being in the sun that long turns me into a lobster.
We generally had a lazy day (we might have done something if we had wheels) waiting for Margaret to arrive.
When she arrived both Margaret, Vicki and I were happy to be re-united. It was cool to meet the Koru Care kids and the wonderfull team that organise and look after them. Once the shade hit the pool (about 4.30) I could go back in the water.
Vicki and I took Margaret out for dinner. The uber took 1/2 an hour to arrive and when we got to Rock and Brews there was an hours wait. We re-caught our Uber and he took us for a ride and to our location as well. We had a great meal at Chilli's although the effects of Margaret's flight were stating to show. Margaret got to bed about 9.30, a big day.
Today is our relaxing day, we spent 2 hours in the pool (because all our clothes were in the wash) and it turns out that being in the sun that long turns me into a lobster.
We generally had a lazy day (we might have done something if we had wheels) waiting for Margaret to arrive.
When she arrived both Margaret, Vicki and I were happy to be re-united. It was cool to meet the Koru Care kids and the wonderfull team that organise and look after them. Once the shade hit the pool (about 4.30) I could go back in the water.
Vicki and I took Margaret out for dinner. The uber took 1/2 an hour to arrive and when we got to Rock and Brews there was an hours wait. We re-caught our Uber and he took us for a ride and to our location as well. We had a great meal at Chilli's although the effects of Margaret's flight were stating to show. Margaret got to bed about 9.30, a big day.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Bye bye bike
Fri 24th
Not much to do today, Vicki went to buy 2 more suitcases while I went looking for some drill bits and washed the bike.
We had some time to load some of our luggage onto the bike then go through the boxes and transplant everything into suitcases.
On the way to drop the bike off we stopped in at Keith's to give him a small thank you gift. While there he signed the 3 books he gave us yesterday. The books are on the bike, I will have to wait till it is back in NZ to see what he wrote.
The bike was dropped into Foytt' s for its journey home, only $500 to send it to Dunedin.
Back at the motel with just enough time for a dip in the pool before going out to dinner at Midevil Times. A real midevil feast and tournament. The meal was a bowl of soup, half a chicken, corn on the cob and half a roast potato. No implements, we had to eat with our hands.
The show had a Queen, some knights, plenty of horses, jousting, mace and sword fights compete with sparks.
The margaritas here were a good size.
Not much to do today, Vicki went to buy 2 more suitcases while I went looking for some drill bits and washed the bike.
We had some time to load some of our luggage onto the bike then go through the boxes and transplant everything into suitcases.
On the way to drop the bike off we stopped in at Keith's to give him a small thank you gift. While there he signed the 3 books he gave us yesterday. The books are on the bike, I will have to wait till it is back in NZ to see what he wrote.
The bike was dropped into Foytt' s for its journey home, only $500 to send it to Dunedin.
Back at the motel with just enough time for a dip in the pool before going out to dinner at Midevil Times. A real midevil feast and tournament. The meal was a bowl of soup, half a chicken, corn on the cob and half a roast potato. No implements, we had to eat with our hands.
The show had a Queen, some knights, plenty of horses, jousting, mace and sword fights compete with sparks.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
On our last legs.
Thu 23rd
Today we left San Diego on the last leg of our road trip. We managed quite a bit of lane splitting through the slower traffic until the HOV lane (car pool, and motorbikes) opened up and we had the VIP treatment. We turned off the interstate and onto the pacific coast highway at Laguna Beach, it is cool to finish our trip on the same hwy as we started.
A brief stop at Keith's to pick up our luggage and the 2 boxes of Vicki's shopping. He gave us 3 books that he has written. That will give me something to read when I get back to work (perish the thought) There was another box here at the motel! Vicki had to Uber with the luggage while I rode through the traffic and arrived at the motel before them.
After booking in we had the first swim in this pool. Swim goes with a drink.
We had dinner and some drinks at the Pirate show across the road, I can't say too much about it because Margaret is going to see the same show when she is here. But it is a very cool show with an energetic cast.
Tomorrow's task is to unpack the boxes and re-pack them into suitcases ready for Sunday and to drop the bike off to Foytt Shipping before they close.
Yes, Vicki has talked me into bringing the bike home.
Road trip to Dunners at sometime.
Today we left San Diego on the last leg of our road trip. We managed quite a bit of lane splitting through the slower traffic until the HOV lane (car pool, and motorbikes) opened up and we had the VIP treatment. We turned off the interstate and onto the pacific coast highway at Laguna Beach, it is cool to finish our trip on the same hwy as we started.
A brief stop at Keith's to pick up our luggage and the 2 boxes of Vicki's shopping. He gave us 3 books that he has written. That will give me something to read when I get back to work (perish the thought) There was another box here at the motel! Vicki had to Uber with the luggage while I rode through the traffic and arrived at the motel before them.
After booking in we had the first swim in this pool. Swim goes with a drink.
We had dinner and some drinks at the Pirate show across the road, I can't say too much about it because Margaret is going to see the same show when she is here. But it is a very cool show with an energetic cast.
Tomorrow's task is to unpack the boxes and re-pack them into suitcases ready for Sunday and to drop the bike off to Foytt Shipping before they close.
Yes, Vicki has talked me into bringing the bike home.
Road trip to Dunners at sometime.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
San Deigo
Wed 22nd
A relaxing morning as Vicki was not feeling too flash.
Mission Bay beach was the first stop. I had to at least paddle in the Pacific Ocean once on this side of the world!
Then we found our way to the historic Old Town San Diego, there were quite a few old spanish/mexican type buildings and a lot of tourist type shops in them.
I found some Mexican Jumping Beans but didn't think we could get them through customs.
After another dip in the pool we went to Ocean Beach (not in bluff) to watch the sun set. It was not as good as the one in Fiji but still cool to see.
Because Vicki enjoyed the soup so much, it was back to North Park for dinner.
Tomorrow is the last leg of our trip, then just to sort out our excess luggage etc.
A relaxing morning as Vicki was not feeling too flash.
Mission Bay beach was the first stop. I had to at least paddle in the Pacific Ocean once on this side of the world!
Then we found our way to the historic Old Town San Diego, there were quite a few old spanish/mexican type buildings and a lot of tourist type shops in them.
In the tourist areas and quite a few other places there are motorised scooters for rent. You download an app on the phone and you can rent it and they charge you by time, you just get off it and leave it on the footpath when you're finished with it.
After another dip in the pool we went to Ocean Beach (not in bluff) to watch the sun set. It was not as good as the one in Fiji but still cool to see.
Because Vicki enjoyed the soup so much, it was back to North Park for dinner.
Tomorrow is the last leg of our trip, then just to sort out our excess luggage etc.
Sea breeze - San Diego
Tue 21st
We back-tracked a little today, we went to a ghost town, Calico. It is an old silver mining town that has been restored with the help of Walter Knott, the founder of Knotts Berry Farm.
To me it has been commercialised a bit too much.
We stopped in at Lake Elsinore briefly, then over the mountain on the Ortega Hwy, a nice twisty road with views of the lake. We came out the other side and were happy to sea the ocean and smell the sea breeze, it has been so long. The 15-20 degree drop in temperature has also been welcomed. As we got closer to San Diego the traffic slowed to about 30 mph so we had our first real go at lane splitting, it was a bit hair-raising but did make the last 10 miles a bit quicker.
After booking in we had a splash in the pool, we chatted with a young electrician who recommended an Italian restaurant in North Park. It was a lovely meal, the clam chowder was very creamy.
We back-tracked a little today, we went to a ghost town, Calico. It is an old silver mining town that has been restored with the help of Walter Knott, the founder of Knotts Berry Farm.
To me it has been commercialised a bit too much.
We stopped in at Lake Elsinore briefly, then over the mountain on the Ortega Hwy, a nice twisty road with views of the lake. We came out the other side and were happy to sea the ocean and smell the sea breeze, it has been so long. The 15-20 degree drop in temperature has also been welcomed. As we got closer to San Diego the traffic slowed to about 30 mph so we had our first real go at lane splitting, it was a bit hair-raising but did make the last 10 miles a bit quicker.
After booking in we had a splash in the pool, we chatted with a young electrician who recommended an Italian restaurant in North Park. It was a lovely meal, the clam chowder was very creamy.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Into California - Barstow
Mon 20
Today was another bad start, lotus flowers in the drinks again! We missed breakfast again!
On the road in the heat and we were melting, we stopped almost any chance we could to drink (only water today), hide in shade or in air conditioning. We are so looking forward to a splash in the motels pool.
I found a Joshua Tree at the worlds biggest fuel station.
We were 18 mile short of Barstow when we were stopping to cool off again when I noticed something funny with the back wheel. We had also slowed down because the traffic had backed up due to some demolition to a checkpoint on the road ahead, another good reason to stop.
We stopped at a gas station/burger joint. I checked the rear tyre and found a tear in it, lucky! I don't want to think what might have happened two up and fully loaded, travelling at 80 mph if the tyre blew.
I'm glad I joined the AA before I left home. The tow truck picked us and the bike up and took us to a bike shop. My hero for the day.
Another stroke of luck. The bike shop had a tyre that fitted, in an our or so we were mobile again.
The motel was only a few blocks up the road, we were closer to splashdown.
When checking in the first thing I noticed was a sign saying that the pool was closed for maintenance.
The only slot machine I went near today was the washing machine and dryer.
Order in pizza was all we could muster for our dinner.
Today was another bad start, lotus flowers in the drinks again! We missed breakfast again!
On the road in the heat and we were melting, we stopped almost any chance we could to drink (only water today), hide in shade or in air conditioning. We are so looking forward to a splash in the motels pool.
I found a Joshua Tree at the worlds biggest fuel station.
I only saw 2 others, one in a private garden and the other in a garden centre. I expected to see a lot of these through the desert.
Vicki also met bigfoot there
We stopped at a gas station/burger joint. I checked the rear tyre and found a tear in it, lucky! I don't want to think what might have happened two up and fully loaded, travelling at 80 mph if the tyre blew.
I'm glad I joined the AA before I left home. The tow truck picked us and the bike up and took us to a bike shop. My hero for the day.
Another stroke of luck. The bike shop had a tyre that fitted, in an our or so we were mobile again.
The motel was only a few blocks up the road, we were closer to splashdown.
When checking in the first thing I noticed was a sign saying that the pool was closed for maintenance.
The only slot machine I went near today was the washing machine and dryer.
Order in pizza was all we could muster for our dinner.
Valley of fire.
Sun 19th
Although bedtime was just after midnight, we did not wake until 10.15 and we missed breakfast! I think the drinks must have had lotus flowers in them. (Only joking Margaret)
The GPS was very confused around some construction on the freeway ramps and had me going in circles for a bit, I eventually ignored it and was on our way to the valley of fire. The rock formations were fantastic and we'll worth the trip.
Back at the motel it was a cold shower to cool off but I had to take my jocks and socks in too. They had already done front, back, inside out front and back.
Margaret will be annoyed to know that we went to a Michael Jackson tribute show and that she wasn't there.
We checked out the Neon Museum, where they have collected up a lot of the old casino signs from the casinos that have been demolished. A light and music show brought the old signs to life again, it was well done and took 9 months to get the lighting show set up.
As we left there the temperature was 104 degrees at 11.40pm.
We checked out the Linq area and had a margarita then went up in the High Roller, a big ferris wheel with pods that carry up to 40 people.
Our carriage had its own bar and the deal was all you can drink. Bother!
It took us about half an hour and 6 margaritas each to do the full circuit.
Back at the motel Vicki had a small play on the pokies while I had another margarita before bed.
Although bedtime was just after midnight, we did not wake until 10.15 and we missed breakfast! I think the drinks must have had lotus flowers in them. (Only joking Margaret)
The GPS was very confused around some construction on the freeway ramps and had me going in circles for a bit, I eventually ignored it and was on our way to the valley of fire. The rock formations were fantastic and we'll worth the trip.
Back at the motel it was a cold shower to cool off but I had to take my jocks and socks in too. They had already done front, back, inside out front and back.
Margaret will be annoyed to know that we went to a Michael Jackson tribute show and that she wasn't there.
We checked out the Neon Museum, where they have collected up a lot of the old casino signs from the casinos that have been demolished. A light and music show brought the old signs to life again, it was well done and took 9 months to get the lighting show set up.
We checked out the Linq area and had a margarita then went up in the High Roller, a big ferris wheel with pods that carry up to 40 people.
Our carriage had its own bar and the deal was all you can drink. Bother!
It took us about half an hour and 6 margaritas each to do the full circuit.
Back at the motel Vicki had a small play on the pokies while I had another margarita before bed.
Into Nevada - Arizona - Nevada - Las Vagas
Sat 18th
Today as we left Kingman we found the historic part of town, we should have gone a little further last night.
We followed route 66 to Oatman, through the desert and up a winding road. The bike got hot for the first time I noticed, the heat and the slow climb was almost too much, it cooled quickly when we started down the other side.
This is what happens to a vehicle if it drops off the edge of the road.
Oatman is a cool western town with wooden boardwalks with verandah, there were burros all up and down the street. One tried to eat the step of my helmet and I grabbed it just as it was about to disappear. We had two try to get into everything in our top box while we were getting a drink, I think they liked the smell of our grapes.
We had a look in an old hotel that had one dollar bills stapled on almost every surface, it was impressive wallpaper.
I have not been needing my cooling cloth lately but put it on again as we left, it was hot!
We passed through Laughlin and the river there looked so inviting, I would have had a paddle with all my bike gear on to cool off.
Not long out of Laughlin we stopped at a gas station for a drink, I bought 2 gator aids and a gallon of water. One gator aid disappeared quick! Then we poured 3 litres of water over ourselves and our jackets to cool off.
We made it to the Hoover Dam, and had a tour, quite a structure! As we crossed the dam we crossed over to Arizona and back.
When I picked up the bike again the temperature on the display read 122 degrees F that's 50 degrees celcius !
After checking in at the motel in Vegas we dropped into the pool to cool off, the pool was warm too. Our dinner was at the Heart Attack Grill, everyone is put into hospital gowns and surged by nurses. Drinks come in syringes or I.V. bags on a pole. Vicki's margarita came with the alcohol in a prescription bottle.
Those that did not finish their meal had their backside paddled by the nurses, and some of them gave it their all! Needles to say I ate all of my "double by-pass burger". A look up Freemont st was next, and there were some interesting sights. Buskers were everywhere and there were 3 bands playing on different stages. The overhead light display was very cool to. It's said to have over a million lights.
The WiFi at the motel was non-existent, that is why the blog had a bit of a hold up.
Today as we left Kingman we found the historic part of town, we should have gone a little further last night.
We followed route 66 to Oatman, through the desert and up a winding road. The bike got hot for the first time I noticed, the heat and the slow climb was almost too much, it cooled quickly when we started down the other side.
This is what happens to a vehicle if it drops off the edge of the road.
Oatman is a cool western town with wooden boardwalks with verandah, there were burros all up and down the street. One tried to eat the step of my helmet and I grabbed it just as it was about to disappear. We had two try to get into everything in our top box while we were getting a drink, I think they liked the smell of our grapes.
We had a look in an old hotel that had one dollar bills stapled on almost every surface, it was impressive wallpaper.
I have not been needing my cooling cloth lately but put it on again as we left, it was hot!
We passed through Laughlin and the river there looked so inviting, I would have had a paddle with all my bike gear on to cool off.
Not long out of Laughlin we stopped at a gas station for a drink, I bought 2 gator aids and a gallon of water. One gator aid disappeared quick! Then we poured 3 litres of water over ourselves and our jackets to cool off.
When I picked up the bike again the temperature on the display read 122 degrees F that's 50 degrees celcius !
After checking in at the motel in Vegas we dropped into the pool to cool off, the pool was warm too. Our dinner was at the Heart Attack Grill, everyone is put into hospital gowns and surged by nurses. Drinks come in syringes or I.V. bags on a pole. Vicki's margarita came with the alcohol in a prescription bottle.
Those that did not finish their meal had their backside paddled by the nurses, and some of them gave it their all! Needles to say I ate all of my "double by-pass burger". A look up Freemont st was next, and there were some interesting sights. Buskers were everywhere and there were 3 bands playing on different stages. The overhead light display was very cool to. It's said to have over a million lights.
The WiFi at the motel was non-existent, that is why the blog had a bit of a hold up.
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