Washington DC: President Bartlett, spies, dinosaurs and flight simulators

I caught the bus from New York to DC way too bugger early in the morning and had to find my way to a wonderful corner in Chinatown for the cheapest bus fare - $30 return. The bus went through New Jersey and a few other places before getting into Washington DC four hours later. Given that I was only staying a night I only had a day pack which had basically only a change of underwear and my camera - so good to travel light.

I checked in at the DC International hostel which again made me feel like I was at boarding school and then hit the town. First stop was the International Spy Museum where I assumed the identity of a young British man visiting Turkey which got me through several levels of tests which I can´t talk about for security reasons. I was so good as a spy I was convinced I would get the tap on the shoulder at the end. I then headed for DC's famous "Mall" which for once is not a collection of shops but a strip of some of the country's best museums and galleries...and monuments. If you want to see American nationalist creative spirit at its best, you should check out The Mall. At one end is Capitol Hill (Parliament) and the other is the Lincoln Memorial. In between are all of the Smithsonian Institute museums plus the National Gallery of Art and the Washington Memorial and so many more. I went to the National Gallery where I feasted my eyes on Cezanne, Monet, Renoir, Rubens and so many more.

That night I met a colleague, Jon, on the roof of the Washington Hotel which overlooks the White House. While we were there the President´s helicopter came in to land, with its two preceding decoy helicopters. I wish that had the time to meet with President Bartlett, Leo, Josh, Toby, CJ, Sam, Donna and the spunks Amy and Toby´s ex-wife (Congresswoman...?) but the Cosmopolitans were just too good. We then had a fabulous Southern dinner as Jon was disappointed I wasn't spending any time in his native Southern US.

The next morning I went to the National Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. The NASM had three floors of a massive building full of the history of flight, space travel and communications, Including old Apollo mission space craft and a series of flight simulators which I just couldn't resist trying. The NHM had dinosaurs, the Hope diamond and a great exhibition of wildlife photography.

I then walked all the way to the Lincoln memorial, past the WW2 memorial and then finally to the White House where an English couple, after taking a photo for me, said "Red hat no drawers" which means that a person wearing a red hat (like me) is also not wearing underwear. Whatever. I then hot footed it to the bus station in Chinatown and then back to NYC. Ecuador here I come!

New York: soooo much fun

This is a quick entry as I am getting behind. I stayed with Paul and Adele in their new place in Brooklyn which is over the Hudson river from Manhattan. Brooklyn is an old city that is slowly being gentrified but still has a lot of colour, smells and plenty of life. Most important it has space and that is exactly what little Daniel, P&A's first son, demands. In the 5 or so days in New York I managed to explore so much of Manhattan and beyond thanks to P&A´s excellent guiding. Here are some highlights with photos to come:

Ellis Island: the entry point for over 5 million immigrants until the 1960s and more than 100 million Americans claim descendancy from someone who came through here. Amazing stories.

Hanging out in NY: funky bars and shopping in SoHo, Shisha pipe places on the East Side, super cool clubs in the Meat Packing District plus a wonderfully bizarre French cafe open 24 hrs staffed by androgenous and cross dressing waiters who liked to take photos of themselves, catching Derrick Carter on the turntables at the Sullivan Room, beating the challenge of the subway, plenty of great conversation, bugger big empty space where the twin towers were, frantic pace on Wall street, chillin in Prospect Park, food shopping in the world's largest Chinatown (outside anywhere in China I guess) and sooo much more - this is a truly cranking city.

Banff to Vancouver (14 May)

After a fabulous Greek dinner in Banff, we crashed until 3am and then set out for the return journey to Vancouver. Unfortunately a mud slide at Roger's Pass meant an hour's delay and we had to take another route which took us south to the US border and then west almost parallel to the border.

Along the way we had a lovely meal at a cafe in Osooyos and then stopped off to buy some fresh asparagus for a dinner party James had arranged in my honour with some Vancouver A-listers. That night we returned to Lolitas and staggered home at some wonderful hour.

The next day I threw my gear back into my bag, said goodbye to James and Vancouver and headed for the airport. Next stop New York city!

Johnston Canyons and Lake Louise (13 May)

Today we headed west out of Banff towards Johnston Canyon and some fabulous walking along the canyon which is framed by ice and snow. Some of the ice is melted but some remains creating weird and wonderful sculptures. We walked almost as far as the Ink Pots then headed back down.

Next stop was Lake Louise and along the way we spotted some moose and a fox near the road which gave me that warm fuzzy feeling. Lake Louise was frozen and surrounded by mountains and steep cliffs. After a little walk around its edge, I made the mistake of chasing a squirrel who ran across some deep snow off the path and the heavy human sank deep into it - suffice to say the squirrel eluded capture. I would love to come back and see Lake Louise in summer with its magic colour.

Banff and beyond: fishing, foxes and moose (12 May)

The daylight of the following day (Sat 12 May) revealed a sight that was to blow my mind - the towers of snow and rock cut in amazing formations that surrounding Banff - the Rockies! Later that morning after a delightful breakfast with the young folk of the YWCA we decided to pack up and find a better place - which ended up being the Banff Alpine hostel which is on a hill overlooking Banff. Grabbing some useful tips from the info place plus fly fishing gear and a license we set out for a wander along the Bow River heading out of town.

Along the path James spotted clumps of miniature orchids nestled among the towering conifers. The path followed the river north and as we proceeded the numbers of people of the path thinned out and before long we fel like it was just us, the very cold river and the awesome majesty of the mountains. We found a good spot for fishing and put the six pack of beers in the fridge (the river) and set about teaching ourselves to fly fish which actually was not too hard. I just loved playing out the line and whipping it across the surface of the water and then bringing in the fly with almost Tai Chi like arm movements.


We were hopeful of a bear sighting but these are rare but with ze mountains and river beside us, we were rather content. We headed back towards the car and back to Banff. That night we had a warming pub meal before having some wine back at the hostel which involved incurring the wrath of the manager hell bent on ensuring no open bottles of alcohol in the hostel common area. Glad to be 16 again.

Canada: oot and aboot with Jimmy Ray, Helmut and ze mountains (11 May)

Soon the call of the road was too much so James and I set ouselves to planning the great adventure north. We decided to head to the Rockies and set our sights on the town of Banff, which is actually in Alberta. We spent ages trying to find a huge SUV/pick-up but after second thoughts based on cost and emissions, we settled on a bright blue Toyota Matrix - not in Australia yet.






We left on Fri 11 May on yet another glorious day and sped north towards Whistler which would be our first brief stop. Whistler is one of Canada's best known ski resorts and you will meet plenty of Aussies in bars and cafes around Vancouver and the rest of Canada who are either making their way to Whistler or waiting for the season to start again. Given that it is the northern spring, we arrived just after Whistler had closed so our search for snow would take us much much further north.



After Whistler I dozed off and half an hour later awoke to the sound of James cursing, "the farken highway has ended!!" and he was right, the road had basically just ended. We cruised around the small hamlet where we had ended up and spied a genteel woman in her garden. I jumped out to ask directions and as we chatted, I noticed a man making a rapid pace beeline across the paddock. He turned out to be her husband, who was obviously glad to have visitors, and had a thick German-French accent that we decided meant he was from the border area of Alsace-Lorraine. His name was Helmut and little did we realise the profound impact he would have on our trip - if not the rest of our lives. Helmut told us the road we were on did continue but that the road was so bad that our car wouldn't make it and if we tried would most likely join the pile of car carcasses at the bottom of the valley. His manner, expression and eager disposition captured our imaginations and soon we were talking like Helmut as we gunned the Matrix back on the road.


We passed through some of the most amazing countryside, with towering mountains topped with snow flanking deep valleys and rolling plains. Unlike Australia, Canada is lush and green with not even a hint of water supply problems - in fact they have 75% of the world's fresh water supplies. I was inspired to want to try to drive, having never attempted the "wrong" side of the road before. I was nervous but after a few hundred metres and causing the odd heart attack it was like second nature. Soon darkness fell and the temperature dropped and we focused on making it to Banff.

A total of 12 hours later (including getting lost/finding Helmut and a few stops) we arrived in Banff. Given that it was past 1am, the only place that had beds for us was the YWCA. We were stopped at the door by two young Quebecois women posing as bouncers who were soon impressed by our Alsace-Lorraine accents and told us they had spare beds in their dorm. James looked at each other with cocked eyebrows and accepted the offer. But one girl was rather drunk and soon we were asked to leave so she could throw up in peace. We settled into another dorm and soon crashed out.

Vancouver: salmon, sun and frisbee

My first real stop in this journey was Vancouver on the west coast of Canada. Vancouver is the capital of British Columbia and is currently sprucing itself up for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Similar to Sydney in the lead-up to 2000, everyone is talking and doing something about it.


My dear friend James Rees met me at the airport with a big Wookie love roar and hug and we bus hopped back to his place on Denman on the West side of Vancouver, a very funky part of town. We dumped my stuff and headed for Stanley Park, one of the biggest urban parks in the world where we spent much of the afternoon catching up, playing frisbee and various shenannigans.

That night we ate fresh mussels at Chambar, a very cool restaurant in town, followed by wanderings through bars in the Gaslight district before ending up in Lolita's, which would become a regular (ok I went twice) where we selected from 25 tequilas and at least as many vodkas until Vancouver's obligatory 2am licensing laws saw us head back to James' place.


With a civilised starting time for the day, we headed for the Marina markets for some tasty salmon and soba on the harbour plus some wicked blue cheese for later. That afternoon we wandered along the foreshore to the the cool harbour suburb of Kits, where we just happened to be in the neighbourhood of James' 'special friend', Anna, where we dropped in for a drink or two.

Along the way, we started what was to become a theme for the week, spotting the ultimate in pickups. If you are serious about your utes and pick ups - as I am - then you will know that the pickup must be HUGE, it must have raised wheels and huge tyres. The key here is size and I think we found it with this one.

Although Vancouver is a really wet city, I had the most perfect weather almost the entire time. Vancouver is surrounded by the most amazing mountains but soon I would discover that there was so much more waiting further north.

San Fran: Picasso and other characters

After a 15 hour flight from Sydney, which is but a hazy memory populated by bad Ben Stiller cameos and getting used to "coach" service United Airlines style, I arrived in San Francisco around midday for my 23 hour stopover (you can stop in a maximum five places on my 12-month ticket and also anywhere else on route as long as it is less than 24 hours). I have been to SF a few times when I worked for Levi Strauss so this was a good chance to remind myself of what this great US city has to offer.

I took the BART train to downtown (Central), having booked the funky sounding Amsterdam hostel through hostelbookers where I shared a two double bunk room with a couple of others. The bed looked mighty tempting after the flight and given the time zone my brain was in but I knew this would not help the body clock so I set out for a wander.



I jumped into a deli on the way to Union Square where I met two Kiwi women (yes, Rhylla would appreciate that) who were on their way to Holland to pick up a campervan they bought online. Then they were heading off on a five month painting tour of Europe, ie they were going to paint landscapes and portaits as they went along - way cool. Then on Union Square I met a girl seeking donations for a homeless shelter who was an aspiring and training Olympic figure skater and working two jobs to get there.



I headed for the SF Museum of Modern Art, a place mostly funded by the Haas family who are the direct descendants of Levi Strauss, makers of Levi's jeans. I saw on their site a few days earlier that they had an exhibition of Picasso and the American artists he inspired. It was amazing to see Picasso's work alongside those who tried to mimic him. On a very superficial level, I noticed how small his canvases were compared to the large, floor-to-ceiling ones of his American contemporaries. Funnily enough Picasso never set foot in the US but his influence was huge. I am looking forward to the MOMA in New York, will need a whole day there!

Later that night I caught up with the legendary Michael Law, a colleague from Ogilvy in Asia and then briefly Joe Lipson but Joe had to dash home as his 6-month pregnant wife was having contractions! Micahel and I babbled for ages about corporate social opportunity, politics and online communities in this French place, Cafe le Presse, somewhere downtown. Lovely.

Enjoying the US is all about experiencing characters. whenever I go there I meet people who are doing amazing and out there things. Although politically I have always grimaced at the US, you just can't help getting swept up in all the enthusiasm and the drive. Next is Canada and the warm embrace of Rhys James Rees (Jimmy Ray).

They are calling my name...

This is not just my usual celebrity complex coming through nor is it the voices in my head again, I just heard the final boarding call which can only mean one thing - I am finally going! See you really soon.

One more sleep...

The night before the journey begins. After my sister Kate did a great job on my hair I spent most of the day running around getting things like mobile hard disk drives to support my vast arsenal of tasty digital gadgets. It still amazes me in May 2007 that some world body has not insisted that every device be compatible with every other device. Apple are definitely the biggest culprits but Sony are not far behind.




Tonight I had a wonderful family and partners dinner for my dear sister, Jody, who turned 30. It was the first night out with my new haircut (see below) and apart from people crossing the road to avoid me, I think it went pretty well. I tried to convince Jody how much your 30s rock and so gave her a lovely interior design book to help soften the blow of the $1 besqullion mortgage they just acquired.

I finally head east tomorrow after some wanderings north and west, I sooooo can't wait. Soon I will be in San Francisco for 23 hours (only allowed 5 stops on the ticket unless I stop for less than 23 hours) and dining out California style. Then on to Vancouver and those whales and grizzlies. The big challenge will be to see if I can spot a spirit bear, now that would be swell.

Farewell to friends in Sydney

A great night out in the 'Berra

I had a wonderful Saturday night out in Canberra before I left. Without naming names, here are a couple of the better pics.