My Travels

Great Ocean Road and Red Centre

rjenkins — Mon, 2 May 2011 15:23:00 GMT

I finished work at AGC on Friday the 8^th and had 4 weeks to travel in, but had to be back in Melbourne in 3 weeks so decided to see what tours could get through the red centre and after some talking with the travel agent in the hostel we managed to get me on some tours, (slightly more difficult than normal as it was Easter on the 25^th so everyone was travelling). But got a 2 day tour of The Great Ocean Road, which is the largest war memorial in the world as it was built by ex-service men and was dedicated to them. That left on the 16^th of April and the 1^st day we went across the ocean road and saw the magnificent views there and got to see a koala in the wild, well actually saw a few in the wild, which was cool. Also saw the other main sights such as London Bridge and the Twelve Apostles and we walked the Maits rest rainforest walk which was cool, and as well as these sights also saw other amazing landscape views which were breathtaking. That night we stopped in the Grampians at 'Ned's other beds' hostel and then in the morning we had a walk to were there is sometimes a waterfall if there has been recent rainfall unfortunately there hadn't when we were there, as we had lovely sunny weather to see the sights in, but we did get to see a lot of kangaroos which was cool. The afternoon we went to Hollow Mountain and had a climb up that which gave you spectacular panoramic views of the area around which was amazing and was nice to do a bit of hiking. After the walk the people who were going on to Adelaide then caught a bus and the rest went back to Melbourne.

So got to Adelaide on the night of the 17^th and met Jess and the next day we had a wonder around Adelaide city, not much really there it is a small city, but had a look round had luckily timed it right so the time I was in Adelaide Jess also had off work which was a bit of luck as hadn't actually organised it.

On the 20^th of April I was leaving for the Rock Patrol tour with Groovy Grape going to Uluru and had to be in the city for 6.20am so had to leave the apartment at 5.30 so could catch a tram in. So got the tour and to start with for the first couple days there was only 8 of us which was good, meant plenty of room on the bus to spread out.

The 1^st day we went to Flinders Ranges and did a walk up Dutchman’s Stern, which was a nice walk and got some amazing views out over the desert which was looking surprisingly green. By the time we got to this walk it was the afternoon and didn't finish it till around 5:00pm so afterwards we headed to the camp site were we thought we were going to have to sleep in swags but very nicely we were offered some cabins and decided to take then as would have plenty of opportunities later to sleep under the stars. That night the tour guide Jason did a BBQ for it was was great with kangaroo. The next day we were up bright and early thin about 5, slightly later than usual as decided would have breakfast later after had done some of the driving so we left heading towards Coober Pedy. On the way though we stopped off at Glendambo whose sign boast 'Population – sheep 22,500, Flies 2,000,000 (Approx), Humans 30! which is quite funny, luckily for us as it was getting slightly cooler there weren't that many flies about but still plenty to annoy you while your trying to eat. But we carried on and got to Coober Pedy in the afternoon, which is the largest opal mining area in the world. This area is normally described as looking like Mars and many films have been made here, such as Mad Max, but when we were there due to the rain they've had in the past year it is the greenest it's been since 1973 and didn't look anything like Mars, but was still good as went down an old mine and slept under ground like a lot of the locals do, which is were the town got it's name as Coober Pedy means 'White Man in Hole' which is what the Aboriginals called it as originally everyone slept under ground as the temperature stayed constant and wasn't boiling in the summer and cold in the winter. It was also in Coober Pedy that we met up with the desert patrol tour which we would merge with for the rest of the tour and met our new tour guide, Trevor, who after knowing him for a few days you realise is quite mad, but in a good way and was a lot of fun. In the town there is a Kangaroo orphanage and we got to hold a baby kangaroo which was cool, except it kept trying to eat my bracelets.

So on Friday the 22^nd both groups now together headed towards Uluru and passed from South Australia into the Northern Territory, and by now we should have been seeing the true Red Centre of Australia except what we actually saw was greenery and flood waters, rather than a barren red desert, so didn't get to see the normal sight but saw something that only happens about every 20-30 years, which is visible life in the desert, so that was awesome. This day was mostly driving as drove something like 600km so we got to our camp-site late afternoon and went to a view point to see the Uluru sunset and had a good view point as was a bit of a distance away but as it was at the camp-site and not in the national park, there was basically only our group and a few other people there which was good. This was the 1^st night of sleeping in swags as well and essentially they are like one man tents except you just role them out and most don't have any pole or anything like that, but mine was summer one and had a fly net by the head and a single pole to hold that end up so that it wasn't lying on your face, then you just sleep in your sleeping bag in side it.

The next day we went to Uluru and saw the Sunrise and the change of colour which is really difficult to capture on camera but was amazing, and they have built as new viewing platform for to view it from but it's on the opposite side to the sun so you don't see the colour change but if you start the walk around the base you can see the change and so that's what we did. Then after the sunrise we continued to walk around the base and saw these caterpillars that go around in a chain, not sure why but it's they way they do it. Also Trevor normally doesn't do the walk around but this time met us part way and so told us the stories about different things, but could tell he was really into the aboriginal thing as when you asked about one thing he would tell a story that just about answered your question but explained a lot more about aboriginal life which was great. He also told us the aboriginal stories for certain sections, and these stories are the basis of aboriginal living. The next day we went to the Olgas and walk around them which was good and saw some good scenery, and then afterwards we drove towards Kings Canyon (and the reason it's called Kings Canyon is because they thought it sounded good for tourist). On the way saw a wild Emu which was cool.

The last day of the tour the 25^th we went for a hike through Kings Canyon and this was the highlight of the whole trip for me but most people wont of even heard of it like me before going to Uluru. The hike starts with Heartattack hill which is rightly named as it is really quite steep but after that it's not to hard but a very good walk with the best views of the whole tour. We also went for a swim in the garden of Eden there which is a waterhole, but you can't always swim there as there may not of been rain for a while and the water is not good for swimming in, but due to the water coming from Queensland we were able to swim in it which was good. That night we got into Alice Springs slightly later than planned as took a lot longer at the Canyon just having a relaxing day, but that didn't matter. That night we all met up at Toddy's bar and had a final meal together which was good.

The next day in Alice Springs I didn't really do much had a little wonder around town and decided there wasn't much there and then relaxed in the hostel, The following day was a bit more po-active we went for a walk which we thought was about 20mins but was actually closer to an hour at 3.5km to the telegraph station and had a look around there which was interesting, we also went up Anzac hill and that gave you a very good view over the town of Alice Springs and you could see how small it actually was. While walking to the telegraph station we were walking along the river and thought this would be good as it was a hot day but the river was bone dry and don't think there is normally much water in it as the roads that cross it, they don't have bridges they just go across the river bed and have barriers that come down obviously when there is water in the river saying road closed, so it must not happen very often. On the Thursday a lot of people were leaving on the Ghan railway and so went to say good bye to them and also meant got to see the train and it's pretty long, and in the morning when it arrived it was apparently even longer. The following day the 29^th was when I flew back to Melbourne and got the plane at 11.35am, while on the plane as the sky was clear you could see below us and we flew over Lake Eyre and saw it with water in which is a rare sight and this is due to all the flood water coming down same as why the desert is green.

Sydney New Years Eve

rjenkins — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:40:00 GMT

While in Sydney we stayed at the Maze Backpackers and on the 30^th we walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. On the 31^st we went to Mrs Macquaries (Botanical Park) area to watch the fireworks. We did make a few mistakes as firstly it wasn’t a BYO so had to throw away any alcohol we had and then we presumed there would be some sort of entertainment, so didn’t bother taking anything with us, only to find out that there wasn’t anything, so we got there at 5:00 and then had to wait for the fireworks with no entertainment. They had a short fireworks display at 9:30 and then kept setting fireworks off every so often until midnight when they had their main display, which was good, but if ever going to watch the fireworks there you need to take something to entertain yourself until midnight. In the park there was 20,000 people and when walking back to the hostel afterwards the streets were just full of people as there was everyone from down by the harbour as well. The had Sydney CBD almost all closed off and for the few streets that were open they had to have police to stop the mass of people otherwise there would of been a mass of people and no-one would of been able to drive through it.

On the 2^nd we went up the Sydney Tower and saw the views over the city, and for once it was a clear day when we had a view so could see for miles. In the tower is also the highest post-box in the southern hemisphere.

On the 3^rd we hired a car and headed south out of Sydney.

East Coast Australia in Camper

rjenkins — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:38:00 GMT

On the 19^th met up with Dan in Sydney and then rented a campervan from Wicked Campers on the 20^th till the 29^th of December. After picking up the camper we headed north, crossing the Harbour Bridge on our way out of the city. On the 1^st day we got just past Newcastle before stopping in a rest area on the Pacific Highway. During the day we went to Swansea and got a picture with the sign. We made a slight mistake when we brought the food which we found out when we went to start cooking, which was we had no matches to light the gas stove, so we had to drive back down the highway to a petrol station, luckily there was one only 10 minutes away.

On the 21^st we went to Seal Island and saw the lighthouse there and had some awesome views down the coast over lovely beaches. We also went to Myall Lakes National Park, and not sure what creature was there but it made a deafening noise, there must have been hundreds of these bugs. You couldn’t stay long without it really annoying you. We did see dolphins at Tea Gardens which is a town by Myall Lakes and we were taking pictures from the bridge when we spotted 4/5 dolphins.

The next day we went to Maclean which had tartan on all their power poles and each one is different and has a name, so that was something different to see. We then headed to Ballina and drove up the coast to Byron Bay stopping at Lennox Heads view point. At Byron we went to Cape Byron lighthouse which is the most easterly point of Australia and Seal Island is the second. That night when stopped in a rest area for the night we saw a wild Dingo down the other end, which is the 2^nd Dingo seen in the wild since being in Oz.

After Byron we made a straight run to Brisbane and to Australia Zoo on the other side. It took ages to get through Brisbane, but once through we stopped at a campsite 5km away from Australia Zoo so we could get there easily the next day.

So on the 23^rd went to Australia Zoo and got to stoke a Koala, and kangaroos. We spent about 5 hours here during the day and was good but a lot smaller than expected. But saw Wombats, and Tasmania devils, surprised they didn’t have any platypuses there though. After the zoo we headed south of Brisbane and stopped at a rest area just off the M1.

The next day, the 24^th we headed to Surfers Paradise and checked into Main Beach Tourist Park for 2 nights, which is right by the beach. Unfortunately it was raining most of the day so didn’t go to the beach.

On the 25^th, Christmas Day, it was raining on and off in the morning but luckily stopped around midday, and so we were able to have a BBQ on the beach as planned and had burgers and Kangaroo steak, which was really nice. Also realised that this day was day 244 of my travels and so I had been travelling for ²/₃ of a year, which is quite cool that that fell on Christmas day.

The next day was headed south again and went to Cabarita Beach, which was a nice beach just shame it was raining on and off all day. We then went to Evans Head and to the lookout point over looking Airforce Beach, after we took a walk into the nearby national park.

On the 27^th we went to Dorringer National Park just west of Coffs Harbour, and went on the sky walk, unfortunately it was foggy and couldn’t see anything, but took a walk down into the rainforest and it actually looked cool in the mist, so that was good, after we went to Dangar Falls just north of Dorringer town. We then decided to get some miles done towards Sydney and stopped about 100km north of Newcastle. (After Dan made me drive past the rest area and then we had to do 50km to get back to it as the next rest area was 100km away.)

On the 28^th we went South of Port Stephens and looked around the coast there, were there is a desert of Sand Dunes which stretches out from the beach into Australia. Which was cool and he had a walk across them, luckily it wasn’t too warm otherwise the sand would of been roasting as it was nice and white. We then headed into Sydney and at the end we had driven 2742km in 9 days.

Working in Australia 2010

rjenkins — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:36:00 GMT

On Sunday the 14^th got picked up from the office and headed for Port Macquarie, to start work on the Monday. The 1^st day was an observation day and so to start with you went round with another rep and just watched how they worked, then you try for yourself for a few hours, and you aren’t expected to get any sales on the 1^st day but managed to get 4, so that was good, as that was $100 on the 1^st day, and in the 1^st 4 days got a total of 24 sales. So did alot better than expected and other new reps were getting 1/2 sales a day when I was getting 6/7 so that made me feel good.

On the 20^th we went to Tweed Heads and on the Thursday got 15 sales, 14 on the Friday and 13 Saturday. So that was an awesome few days, as earnt over $1000, from those 42 sales, which is more than got for 3 weeks work at the Park.

On the 28^th we got some new reps and so on the 29^th had to train one and so was slightly nervous about that as had to do everything right and work with someone watching me. But it went fine and made some good sales with them watching so think impressed them.

The following week we went to Glen Innes, to work and this was the 1^st week of ‘Cup Week’ which lasted for 2 weeks and if you got 60 sales in the week you got paid platinum pay ($40) for the sales, and managed to get 60 sales in the week so that was awesome. And the next week we headed to Moree and the same applied for here that if got 60 sales got platinum pay, and was knocking in Aboriginal area and again got 60 sales but was an awesome place to knock as they don’t work and so they love any reductions so was quite easy and actually had some bloke call me Santa come early, as gave him this reduction, but they were some good people to chat to while signing them up.

After Moree the team were knocking down by Sydney so got a free lift back to Sydney to meet Dan to travel the coast with him for 3 weeks.

Arrival in Sydney

rjenkins — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:34:00 GMT

Well I arrived in Sydney and had my welcome meeting with IEP the agency that came over with, on the 1^st and then did my RSA (Responsible service of Alcohol) course on 3^rd, which is needed to get work in a bar

.On the 4^th I went up to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House and walk across the Bridge and got some good photos of Sydney Opera House, after walking across the bridge went down by the opera house and had a jet boat ride around the harbor which was fun, just unfortunate it was raining.

On the 5^th I went to the Hunter Valley for 2 nights which was fun. Stayed at the YHA and went on their wine tour on Saturday the 6^th and we visited 4 wineries, and a cheese tasting in their purple bus. The wine tasting was really good and got to try wines most people aren’t allowed to try and in each place we tried 5+ wines. At the last place we even saw Kangaroos in the field next door to the winery. Unfortunately it did rain on the Friday and Saturday but it did come out nice on the Sunday, so had a walk into the nearby town of Cessnock and they had the motto if the Hunter Valley on their sign “Mines, Wines and People” as the hunter is famous for all 3. The mines in the Hunter Valley actually use conveyor belts to take the coal to the coast which is apparently the most efficient way to transport it and is the longest conveyor in the world.

So got back to Sydney on the 7^th, and then had my Bar Skills course on the 8^th, which taught you how to pour drinks properly, just can’t believe how small the beers are, and how expensive.

Since arriving in Sydney had been applying for different jobs and saw an advertisement in the hostel that effectively just said accommodation and uniform provided, and thought well may as well give them a call and got an interview on Thursday, the 9^th at 3:00pm. So went to the interview and got offered a job and found out it was going door to door offering people reductions on the electricity and thought well not been offered anything else so would give it a try for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. And it was commission pay but you got $300 for the 1^st 4 weeks on top of any commission.

Vancouver and Whistler

rjenkins — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 11:24:00 GMT

got to Vancouver on the 19th at night and the city looked awesome in the dark and then on the 20th walked around in the daytime and saw the Olympic Cauldron. And decided out of all the cities been to if was to move to one it would be Vancouver as even the office building looked cool. On the 21st went to Whistler and stayed in the Olympic Village in a building the Olympic Athletes used. on the 22nd went for a walk into Whistler Village which is a small town and at this time of year was very quiet as not time for skiing yet but also a bit late for hiking. The next day I went for a walk in the mountains as it was a nice day and got some amazing views. However the next day it was raining and so stayed in the hostel and saw a wolf just outside and if had seen this before would of thought twice about hiking in the mountains by myself so good job didn't. but good to see a wild wolf. I headed back to Vancouver on the 25th and me up with Sharkey and Laura, from camp and went for a couple of drinks with them. On the 27th went for a walk around Stanley Park which is 9km and on way back to hostel found a sign saying "Welcome to Vancouver, Nuclear Weapons free zone", and I would of thought this sign was unnecessary as would of presumed all the cities were free zones but obviously they didn't think so. On the 29th I left the hostel at 4:30am to go to the airport for my flight to OZ and was travelling for 34 hours with only 7 hours sleep in the whole journey. I flew Vancouver to Phoenix (Arizona) to LA to Sydney, and got to the Sydney hostel at 8:30am on the 31st. So with so little sleep I was quite jet lagged for the next couple of days but recovered from that and enjoying Sydney.

San Francisco and Seattle

rjenkins — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 11:16:00 GMT

On the 14th I went to Alcatraz and got the 10:30 boat to the island and then the 2:00pm boat back so spent most the day there, and cost only $26. Got an Audio tour which was really good. There is a lot still being repaired such as the officers quarters and so could only go into the main prison building and just look around the island but really good to see. On the 15th I hired a bicycle for $20 after getting a $12 discount from the hostel and went for a cycle over the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately it was very foggy and so couldn't get any photos of the whole bridge as cycled across it, and also couldn't get the views from the headlands, as you looked out from the cliff and all you could see was white. but it was quite cool when the wind blew and the fog came up over the cliff, and to hear the boats horns going off as you cycling across the bridge as they cant see each other. I may also of seen a Bobcat or else it was just a large feral cat. On the 16th got the bus to Seattle, at 4pm and got there at 1pm the next day, and stayed at the green Tortoise Hostel. There wasn't much in Seattle and had a wander round but didn't really see much of interest and headed to Vancouver, Canada on the 19th. Did however get a free meal on the Sunday night at the hostel and used the left overs the next night so basically had two free meals.

Los Angles

rjenkins — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 11:09:00 GMT

Met up with Cat in LA and we stayed in Santa Monica, 1 block from the seafront. The area was nice but not much to do. We walked down the beach to Venice which took about an hour and then we walked along the canals. On the Friday night we went on a hostel activity to a Comedy club and paid $6 and got a free drink. We would of never found it alone as it was down an alley between 3rd and 4th street. But the comedy was good and well worth the $6. On Sunday the 10th Cat left and I went on a hike into the nearby mountains with the hostel. It said moderate but it wasn't very steep or long and so I found it quite easy but was a good Sunday morning stroll and got some good views and photos over the city. On the 11th got the bus to San Francisco, which didn't go quite as planned as wanted to catch the 10:30pm bus and get in at 9:30am so could get some sleep on the bus, but apparently the bus left from a different door and they couldn't find me even though within 10 feet of the door they told me. So ended up catching the 11:35 bus that got in at 7:00am so didn't get as much sleep, but oh well.

Trek America

rjenkins — Tue, 9 Nov 2010 09:48:00 GMT

Left New York on the 15th September to start a tour down to the south of the USA and then over to LA. We started by heading to Washington and stopped of at Philadelphia for lunch on the way, were saw the Liberty bell and where the declaration of independence was signed. We then headed to Cherry Hill campsite just outside of washington. At night we drove into the city to see the main sights lit up at night, including the Capitol building, the Lincoln Monument and the Korean and Vietnam war memorials. We even took an unexpected detour to the CIA headquarters in Langley after missing our turning.

On the 16th we had the whole day to walk around Washington and saw the Capitol building, Washington Monument and no building in DC can be taller than this, the Lincoln Monument, and then we walked over to Arlington Cemetery and saw the grave of JFK. we then went to the whitehouse and you can actually see snipers on the roof. I also went to the Natural history museum and the air and space museum. In the evening we went to an Ethiopian restaurant were you get a big dish with pancake things on and then they put 4/5 peoples dishes all onto this one dish and you eat with your hands, so that was definitely something different.

On the 17th we went to Wytheville, Virginia. which is in the middle of now where but they had seen a bear spotted a few days earlier at the campsite and so they put us in the farthest point were the bear was spotted.

Unfortunately we didn't see a bear but on the 18th we headed to Zazzie's in Abingdon which is a tiny town with not much in it and the guy at the cafe acted like it was his fault and then he recommended a music festival in the next town, Bristol, so we headed to this and that was really good. We then headed to Knoxville, Tennessee where Tennessee was playing Florida so we stayed and watched the game in a bar. At the campsite this night decided it was a nice night and so slept outside and was cool to wake up and not have anything around you and to just be looking at the sky.

On the 19th we went white water rafting which was awesome. They were grade 4+ rapids and the guy we had taking us down was amazing and smoked the entire time. I got to sit on the front of the raft and "ride the bull" as they call it, which was really fun going through raids. In the afternoon we went to Birmingham and saw the 16th street church were the movement for desegregation started. That night we stayed at Lake Lurleen state park and it was Murray's Birthday.

The next day we started early in the morning and headed to New Orleans. we stopped to do a swamp tour just outside the city at Honey Island Swamp Tours, where they feed the Gators marshmallows, but they get really close to the boat and had a 15ft gator next to the boat, which was amazing. That night we went to Gumbo restaurant in New Orleans and had Gumbo which is a kind f soup/casserole but is really nice. and then we went into town for the night.

On the 21st I went to Preservation Hall in the evening and saw a Jazz Band and they were really good.

On the 22nd we saw Saint Louise Cementary number 1, and saw Nicholas Cage's grave. we then went and saw a plantation house. That night at the campsite I saw turtles, deer, raccoons which kept coming up to the campsite at night, and even an armadillo! which was cool to see, just a shame couldn't get a photo but he was quite quick getting through the woods.

The next day we headed for Austin Texas and saw some live bands in the pubs that night.

On the 24th we went to a park in Austin and an outdoor pool which was half manmade and half natural, with the floor being natural rock and half the walls being natural. the water in it is flowing and changes every hours. That night we saw the Bowie Bulldawgs high school american football team and they lost 42-7 which was quite bad but it was good to watch and the bands display at half time were amazing.

On the 25th we were off the highway and in the middle of nowhere with only oil drills and flat countryside and in the process of trying to find some where to stop for the toilets we came across Red Bluff which is not the kind of place to want to go, it's basically looks like a hunter camp and you would not want to get out of your vehicle, you didn't even want to stop there it looked that dodgy. Later we came to our actual destination which were the Carlsbad Caverns, which are large underground caverns, which were cool to walk through. Afterwards our tour leaders (Allen) said to me about how it was down hill on the way out and I seemed to remember a lot of uphill getting to the caverns so took the bike and started to cycle down the hill only to realise there was only the one big hill and then it was lots of flat and little ups and downs, so did 5 miles with the van following and then this tired me out so got back in the van, but it was fun to do even if it wasn't downhill like thought. That night we went to an outdoor theatre and saw takers so that was something different again that wouldn't of found by myself.

On the 27th we went to Rosswell! and I dressed fully in aluminium foil to make sure the aliens could infiltrate me. Had a few odd looks from people in the museum and had randomers taking photos. Also felt slightly bad as walking round this museum making a load of noise from the foil. That night we went to Santa Fe and every building is made from this mud stuff and has to be one of 19 shades of brown and so makes a strange place to see.

On the 28th we left Santa Fe and actually drove across some of the historic route 66 (now split up and called other names) and from here until LA we keep driving on parts of it. Today we had a long drive of 8/9 hours to get to Monument Valley where we had a jeep tour with "king" Richard as he called himself. the tour lasted over 2 hours and Richard was an awesome guide. For dinner that night we had Fried bread with steak and vegetables in Monument Valley and then had entertainment and some of the locals came out in their Grass Dancer costumes and danced and then got us up and dancing, which was good fun. At night we slept in a traditional building which was surprisingly warm.

The next day we got up at 6:00am to see the sunrise and then had breakfast in the valley, we then headed for the Grand Canyon and got our first look of the canyon that afternoon, and had some idea of what would be hiking the next day.

The 30th we got up early again 5:30am to see the sunrise over the Canyon and it made the whole sky go a bright orange as it came up which was cool to see. Afterwards we started hiking down the canyon and started going down at 7:20am. I did the longest hike you can in a day down to Plateau Point and back up, which is 12.6 miles in total, so 6.3 down and 6.3 up. Got down to the bottom in good time, but as ran down some of the path should of got down quick but find it fun to run down and actually found it easier with the steps. the Views where really good and got some good pictures but didn't spend t long at the bottom as the sun was starting to come from behind the clouds and wanted to see how quick could get down and out. In the end it took 5 1/2 hours in total so that was really good as they recommend 8-12 hours to complete it. The last 1 and half hours were grueling though and just kept plodding along, but when got to the top had a sleep on a picnic table for a couple of hours until it was time to get picked up.

On the 1st of October we went to Lake Powell which is a reservoir and has more coast line than the whole of the USA due to all the tributary rivers that flow into the main valley and also got flooded. So we stayed and messed about in the water for a while and then went to Paria Canyon ranch which is owned by an ex-trek America tour guide. and we met another tour group here.

The 2nd we went to Zion National Park and trekked up the Angels Landing which is 2 1/2 miles. the last 1/2 mile is on sandstone with chains to help you climb it and unfortunately the wind had picked up substantially and black clouds had come over and there was thunder and when the sandstone gets wet it gets very slippery and so we decided to only climb as far as to see down the canyon and then headed back down and got some good views down the canyon but it was a shame didn't get all the way to the top, but the wind was very strong and it did start to rain when reached the bottom.

The next day the 3rd we headed to Las Vegas and had a buffet at the Luxor casino. And at this point we were all speculating as to where we would be staying as Allen wouldn't tell us. We found out we were actually staying at the NewYorkNewYork which is on the strip and the towers are built to look like building from New York. I shared a room with Matt and were in room 2659 in Century A.

After checking in we went for a limo ride down the strip and got to the old strip and saw a light display which was really good. The limo ride was fun as you went down the strip people were taking photos of you which was cool. we ended at the Bellagio and saw their fountain display. Me, Matt, Tony and Murray then went to Monte Carlo Casino and to "The Pub" which had an awesome name unfortunately that was all that was good about it. Matt then wanted to play Blackjack but didn't want to play by himself so after convincing me to play by giving me $10 to play with we actually ended up winning money. So we went back to the NewYorkNewYork and had some drinks and me and Matt decided that we would play blackjack everytime needed money to buy and round and some how we came away from the table better off each time and so ended up not using any of our own money that night. Which was awesome!

The next day I got up at 11:30am and went for a walk down the strip but by 12:00 midday I was in the Bellagio playing blackjack and by 1:30pm was leaving $100 up. unfortunately this didn't last and on the way back to my hotel I lost $40 in Paris in 10 minutes and another $40 in another casino just as quick so got back to NewYorkNewYork only $20 up. but played in NewYorkNewYork and ended up $75 up. I then met Tony and Matt and they were going for lunch so I decided to head to MGM across the road and ended up watching an episode of NCIS trying to win a TV.

I then met Matt, Tony and Murray again at the NewYorkNewYork at 5:30pm, and me and Matt went and played some more blackjack and I ended up another $145 so $210 up overall, and had a black $100 chip which got a photo of. later however luck would change and that night we went to the Bellagio and in 15 minutes I lost $80 and between 4 of us we lost $240, so we went back to the NewYorkNewYork to play, were we also found out you got free beer while playing and just had to tip the waitress $1. By the end of the night had lost $130 of what had earlier, but left Vegas $80 up which after gambling for at least 16 hours on the 4th as didn't go to bed till at least 4 in the morning is really quite good, and made Vegas the cheapest place visited as that $80 paid for the room for 2 nights.

On the 5th we left Vegas and headed for Los Angeles. We saw the Hollywood sign and also walked down the street with all the stars on, which is not a good as would of thought. That night we had a few last drinks as a group, but unfortunately they didn't have the official beer of the trip, "Keystone Light".

P.s. If anyone reading this is interested in doing a Trek America tour then use discount code 799995

Camp

rjenkins — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:05:00 GMT

Finished Camp on the 23rd and left on the morning of the 24th August heading to Mineapolis, after working there for about 3 months. When 1st arrived on the 29th of May it was 1o'clock in the morning and so everyone was in bed, but when woke up the next morning bright and early at 7:30 I instantly had 5/6 people introduce themselves and at breakfast had a load more introduce themselves, which didn't really help me as I instantly forgot most of their names, but that was the start of a great summer

The 1st day I had archery training and that started straight after breakfast and then carried on after dinner so the 1st day I barely saw anything of Camp apart from between the cabin and the dining hall and the dining hall and the archery range. The next day however I got a tour of the Camp and found out were everything was and helped with work crews for a couple of hours and then in the afternoon we had AD/AS training and this lasted for 5 days and was so we could get everything ready for our activity and learn more about how the activities ran.

On the 5th of June OSD started (Orientation Staff Development), and this was were we learnt how the normal day worked and how cabins worked and everything to do with Camp. During this time we also got to do different activities giving the AD/AS's a chance to pratice running their activity areas. I got to try windsurfing during this period which was good, unfortunately there was very little wind so couldn't actually go any where but could practice how to stand on the board and how to turn. OSD lasted 10 days and on about the 13th I think we got put into the cabins we would be in for the 1st session and I got placed in Kingfisher (KFC) with Scott, Chris, Jackson and Spencer. I was in the upper chalet with Jackson and then Chris, Scott and Spencer were in the centre chalet. KFC is the biggest cabin on Camp and the center chalet is huge, the only trouble is the lighting isn't very good so it can seem a bit gloomy. I was also in KFC for the 2nd session but got to move down stairs, and there was Kyle, Justin and Taylor as the counselors in the cabin and then we also had an LT2 Walter in the cabin with us.

The 15^th was the 1^st day of activities and the 1^st time of running archery with campers and overall it went ok, but was a bit slow getting campers shooting as had to find out if anyone had shot and gained awards at archery before and then get the campers to their ranges and then assign bows and staff to ranges dependant on the numbers of campers, and as most of the staff hadn't ever done archery before and they were not sure what to do, but I had thought of this already and had produced a step by step guide on how to run a range and so I gave this to each staff member and it meant they could run the range the same as everyone else. I also wasn't sure on which bows were best at which range and so this took some extra time to work out. but the 2^ndday ran quicker and the 3^rd day ran well as everyone knew were they were meant to be.

About halfway through the 1^st session the maintenance got the field archery targets out and into positions and then I just went around and repositioned any that I considered could be better, but overall they set them up in very good places. They even had a platform to shoot from at a dinosuar, bear and leopard. In total there were about 15 targets throughout the woods. Once this was all set up I then tested it out with the 2 best archers had at archery during the 1st session and they enjoyed it and it seemed to work so opened it up to anyone who had their Bowman Sharpshooter or higher award, as it was very easy to break or lose an arrow in the woods so needed people who were competent shooting. During the 1^st session we were shooting some aluminium arrows which were not very good and bent easily so we soon ran out of them and just shot the normal wooden ones, but for the 2^nd session Rugg's brought some carbon arrows which cost about $7 each. These worked alot better but we still ended up losing/breaking about 15/20 of them in 4 weeks. Generally had between 3-8 archers per block for field archery which was a good number as only had 1 left handed compound bow and 4 right handed ones.

Had a few competitions for archery during the 8 weeks for the first 4 week session had a competition against the girls Camp and they won by 3 point average but we had archers shooting 40 + 50 yards and they had 2 more archers than us shooting 15yards so they had easier targets, so if had been shooting the same would of beaten them easily. We faced the girls again during the 2nd 4 weeks and that time we did really thrash them by about 200 points and they had 2 extra archers than us. During the 2nd session we also had a competition against Camp Chippewa and didn't realise how serious they took archery and they brought there best archers and beat us by a fair bit but the one camper on 20yrds did draw in 1st place on that range.

During each 4 week sessions we have colour wars once in the first 2 weeks and once in the second two weeks. For Colour wars the whole camp is split in half and you are either red or BLUE. I'm blue. The 1st day of colour wars is mainly team based and you do different activities and score points. The second day is more individual based and you score points again and then the team with the most points get a head start in the relay in the afternoon. For the relay everyone on the team does something and it goes around the whole camp and at the end the Team captains have to build a fire to burn through a rope. I only worked colour wars the 1st session and blue team won that time and then the second session red team won for the 1st time in something like 4 years.

Colour wars and the other special days like around the world were you are split into teams and each assigned a country and then you have to go around in your team doing activities, and Carnival which is when get a load of inflatables etc, are all run and organised by the LT's which are technically still campers but are on a Leadership Training course with camp to become counselor and the course runs over 2 years, and the people who do it are only 15/16. The LT's also have to Max and Min in different activities and both session I had 2 maxing and one mining in archery and they have requirements they have to meet, but basically for maxing they have to be able to run an archery session, and know some basic things about archery such as equipment maintenance and coaching techniques. They also have to do alot of other work writing journals etc, but they were really good at archery and you could easily forget how young they were and only 1 year older than the seniors. the program is strict about who it has and they only have about 8 LT1's each session and only 4/5 LT2's the whole summer I think it was.

The weather during the summer was really nice the 1st session, and I never had to cancel an archery session but during the 2nd session the weather was more turbulent and generally it was nice but I did have to cancel archery a couple of times and on the 27th the whole of the morning activities were cancelled and we had to stay in the cabins until lunch time.

I did get to do windsurfing again during the 2nd session, as I was told I had to do another activity for a period so chose windsurfing and that was good meant for the 4th period for 3 days got to go down the waterfront. Chose a good block to do it aswell as it was sunny everyday. By the end of the 3rd day I had learnt how to turn round after watching the campers and copying them.

Did Clout archery in the last block of the 2nd session meant to do it before but never got around to it. it was good except it was a bit of a walk and so if did it again next year would have to have it over two periods. But it was good to actually try clout archery, and while doing that had Jon Hamre run the normal archery session has he had been for the last couple of blocks when I was doing Field archery so as many campers could do archery as possible.

After the normal camp was finished I went and did Family Camp which was on girls camp and that was good, there was lots of cake all day and the day was alot less structured with more free time. I would like to try Co-ed as with family camp they didn't have to turn up to activities on time or at all so it made it difficult getting everyone started and getting the session to run smoothly, also the girls equipment is not as good as the boys and they don't have many big bows they have alot of the small rubbish ones.

Overall really enjoyed my time and camp and want to go back next year as now I know how everything works I can do an even better job, and the people who worked there were great and made some good new friends, some of whom I plan to visit while travelling.

The Uros Floating Islands and Sullistani

rjenkins — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:15:00 GMT

Went to the Uros floating islands on the 17th and they are really interesting, Lake Titicaca is the only place in the world they exist, and becuase of that they have become slightly touristy but most of the traditional things are still there. The islands are made initially by reed roots which they cut into blocks and then tie together. They then layer reeds ontop and that makes the island. To stop the island floating away they tie all the islands together by ropes under the water, so if they did want to move the island all they do is untie the ropes and float it to the new position. They have to put a new layer of reeds on the island every month but so they don´t have to move everything each time they put more layers under the houses so they only have to lift them and relayer underneath once a year. There are loads of reed near the islands but these aree apparently damaged so they have to travel 8km to get the reeds. When walking on the islands it´s like walking on hay as it squashes and moves under you.

The reason the islands are there in the first place is because when the spanish arrived the locals went to live on the lake to avoid them. initially they lived on boats tied together and then over time these boats became islands.

After looking around the island we had a ride in one of the traditional boats, which are also made of reeds, so overtime they just rot away from the bottom, same as the islands.

We then headed to Amantani Island which is a were we stayed the night, with a local family. in the evening we climbed the hill on the island which gave us a really good view over the lake as the sun was setting.

At night we got dressed in traditional local dress, which meant poncho and hat for thew men, and we went to a dance. There was a local band playing local music which was really good. The dancing was more like a work out and afterwards I was a tired as after some of the treks, but it was really good fun and something different.

The next day we went to Taquile island, which is much more touristy as you go there on the day trips to the lake. The restuarant we stopped in gave us really good views over the lake, and we had grilled trout caught in the lake that morning. Afterwards we headed back to Puno

The next day I went to Sillustani and it´s not really what expected. The tombs are impressive as there built with huge blocks but then everything incan is. But got some good views over another lake.

Puno

rjenkins — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:00:00 GMT

well not much to say about Puno really it´s not the nicest town and everything seems to be half finished. It was also made worse by the fact that I got attacked by 2 dogs at the view point near the hostel. They only just grazed my leg but thought better go to the doctors incase of rabies and I didn´t reakky understand what he was saying, but worked out he was going to give me a rabies jab. This really hurt as they do it in the stomach and rhis was on the second day in Puno and I had a trip to the floating Islands booked for the next day and I was going ro have to go in fopr the next 7 days to have these jabs that hurt for the next day. But luckily when got back to the hostal they translated what the doctor had written and if I had had the rabies vaccine at home I didn´t need the jabs, so went and checked with him and he comfirmed it so that was good meant didn´t have to anymore of these painful injections and could also go on the trip.

Other than that there isn´t much to say about Puno.

Arequipa and the Colca Canyon

rjenkins — Fri, 14 May 2010 20:30:00 GMT

Got to Arequipa at 5:30am on Monday 10th was able checked into Bothy Hostel straight away, even though they didn´t have a bed in the room I wanted for that night they let me sleep in one of the other dorm and then I just had to change in the afternoon so that was good as meant got a few hours of decent sleep in the morning. The hostel wasn´t as big as I thought from the description, but the hostel is good and the beds are comfy, the only shame is that the bathroom are looking worn and their excuse is that it´s a lised building so they can´t change them but all they really need is a new coat of paint to give them new life, but the hostel is clean and the staff are friendly. In the afternoon I wet and booked a trek to the Colca Canyon and I had seen LandAdventure recommended by Rough guides and also it was recommended by the hostel so I went with them and it cost s/.200 which may be more expensive than some others but this company doesn´t group you with any others so what they say is what you get, where as when multiple companies come together you don´t always get exactly what you were originally told.

So we set off on the tuesday morning at 3:30am for the Colca Canyon trek. There was me and two other people called Ruth and Neill,and our guide called JeanCarlos. We arrived at the Condor view point at about 9:00am and got some good views of condors flying in the canyon below. we then carried on to Cabanaconde were we had lunch. then about 12:15 we got treking and it took us about 2 hours to climb down the canyon and you got some good photos on the way. we then trekked for another 45min - 1 hour and got to Ceshflirhua were we stopped for lunch and is the village just past the one most tours stop in. the walk was fairly easy this day with not much exertion. The 2nd day we got up about 7:30am and had pancakes cooked by our guide JeanCarlos. we then walked for about 45min and came to a museum about the local way of life and JeanCarlos also explained how there are 2 families the Canyon and Valley and one used to form their heads so they were short and fat and the other family made theirs long and thin but the spanish put a stop to this and so now the one family wears bright clothes and the other dark clothes to distinguish between the two groups.

we then carried on and came to the oasis in the bottom of the canyon or as far down as you can get at 1200m below the top. we then had lunch here and a rest and unlike some other groups we then started the climb out at 3:00pm that afternoon, the climb up was hard but I managed it in 2 hours and they reckon 2-4 so I was happy. We got back to Cabanaconde and found out that we were staying in a hotel with hot showers and we said if had known would of got out of that canyon quicker.

So becuase we climber out the second day it meant we could lie in till 8:00 am and get up basically when the other groups were just getting to the top of the canyon. We then caught the bus back to Arequipa at 10:00am and stopped on the way at a view point for the Colca Valley and also at 4190m to view the surrounding mountains. we got back to Arequipa at about 7:00pm, on the Thursday night.

Today I got up and went down to the main plaza were the appeared to be a parade gathering. there were lots of children from presumably different schools gathering and it appeared they would parade through Arequipa, but after waiting for an hour until 10:00am they went into the cathedral and then I was told by some one they would be out after about 30min and parade, so waited for an hour and they eventually came out but just paraded down the steps and that was it so not quite as spectcular as was expecting but oh well. Afterwards went to the Convent and looked around there that was interesting. later I went and looked around the Cathedral and that was fairly grand interesting to see.

I´m off to Puno tomorrow so that will be were my next story is from and I plant upload some photos there as apparently once you´ve seen the floating islands on the lake there isn´t that much to see so may have some more free time.

Completion of the Inka Jungle Trek

rjenkins — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:30:00 GMT

Completed the Inka Jungle Trek to MachuPicchu last Friday (7/5), which was really awesome. the 1st day was cycling down hill for about 2 hours from Abra Malaga at 4350m above sea level, on paved roads and then 2 hours on gravel. The temperature change by the time we got to the bottom was huge, at the top we had jumpers and coats on by the bottom we were boiling in just t-shirts. After the cycling we got picked-up by the minibus which took us to Santa Maria town where we did rafting for about 2 hours, which was good and we also got to swim in the river which didn´t come without some bruises. On the 1st day there were 7 in the group plus Edwin the Guide, but after the rafting 4 of the people got a bus to Santa Teresa were you end the 2nd day as they were only doing 3 days and not 4.

So this just left me, Tyson and Shawn for the 2nd day trek through the jungle. on the second day we met for breakfast at 6:30am, were I had pancake and banana. We then set off on trekking at 7:00, and unlike with the bikes where we got to leave our bags in the minibus we had to carry them with us today. We crossed the birdge over the river by Santa Maria and here Edwin explained that there were actaully 2 towns called Santa Maria as the original one got destroyed during a flood in 1998 and afterwards all but 2 families moved to the other side of the river and built a new town but kept the same name - Santa Maria. All long the trek Edwin explained about the local area and the local plants, he also said Coca-cola apparently still use Coca leaves in there drinks. He explained about the Quecha Culture, which is the proper name for the Inca´s as Inka means king and so there can only be one king. He also told us about how the Chasquis - the incan messengers- could get a messager to MachuPicchu from Cusco in 5 hours which is how long the train takes to get there, as they would relay so one Chasqui would run 2-3km if it was flat and then he would pass the message on to another Chasqui. we had lunch in the middle of the jungle and then afterwards got to relax in hammocks for 40 minutes to recover. we started trekking again and then after about 10 minutes we came across a river which Edwin said we could take a swim in so we did. The highest point we reached was 2700m, I think, and you got some really good views of the jungle and the valleys around. In total we trekked about 25km and it took about 11 hours, with breaks. the trekking was alot up hill especially in the morning and midday in the sun which was hard going, but when we walked into Santa Teresa you just fel so good. that night had alpache to eat, which tasted nice. We then got a choice as to whether we wanted to do a 5 or 10 hour walk the next day and we opted for the 10 hours as you got a better view of MachuPicchu.

On the 3rd day we had 5 more people join us who were only doing the 3 day trek, so there was me, Tyson and Shawn and then also Andrew, Melissa, Domonic and two Israli Guys. We were up by 5:00 and got the bus for an hour to our starting point and we were trekking by 6:30. This day started with a 3 hours uphill climb but unlike the previous day this was in the shade and a gentler slope. Once we reached the top we had a rest and waited for the fog to clear to get our 1st view of MachuPicchu. We then carried on and ended up on the same trail the Salkantay trek uses on it´s last day. After going down the other side of the mountain we went for a swim in the river, which unlike the other we had been in was really cold as it came from a glacier, but really refreshing. At lunch we met a couple of the other groups doing the Jungle trek, but they were only doing the 5 hour trek that day. After lunch we carried on for another 2 hours and arrived in the town of Aguas Calientes, also known as MachuPicchu town. along the railway line we got another glimpse of MAchuPicchu, but not as good as the view earlier in the day. the trek this day was 27km but was alot easier than the 25km the day before, but it meant we had covered over 50km in 2 days trekking.

On the 4th day we got up at 3:30 and started walking up to MachuPichu at about 4:00. the walk up was quite steep and we got there at about 5/5:30, and there was only about 30 people before us. So we managed to get our tickets to WaynePicchu for the 10o´clock slot. MachuPicchu opened at 6:00 and Edwin took us to a spot near the top to see the sun rise and the fog clear so that MachuPicchu appeared out of the mist, which was awesome to see. Edwin then took us on an 1-2 hour tour of the main sites and afterwards he went back down to Agus Calientes and we got to explore by ourselves. The view from the top of WaynePicchu was amazing, but the steps up were really steep and it took us about 45 minutes to climb it. We spent about 3 hours on WaynePicchu just admiring the views. The way down is almost as hard as up as the steep are so steep but we got down for about 1:00 and then we wandered around abit more and then had a sleep on one of the terraces for an hour. At about 3:00 me, Tyson, Shawn and Domonic decided to walk back to Agus Calientes and Andrew and Melissa took the bus. We then had a few hours until the train left as it wasn´t leaving till 9:45 so we had some tea and then sat in the main plaza. we got the train and tht took us to km82 and then we got a perurail minibus as the train tracks are still not fully repaired from the floods in January, and then the tour company picked us up from Ollantaytambo. I got back to my hostel at 2/3o´clock in the morning.

It was really good fun and a great experience but the trek was really gruelling and wouldn´t attempt it again for a while as it is just so tiring, but the best thing I´ve ever done, and well worth every penny.

Day 7 of my trip

rjenkins — Sun, 2 May 2010 14:45:00 GMT

well my dizzyness seems to of gone so that´s a good start was just a lack of water. the tour agency that want to do the trek up to MachuPichu with wasn´t open today so will have to go book it tomorrow which will mean not going till tuesday. Plan to do the Inka Jungle Trail with Biking. which is 4 days/ 3 Nights. I think you also get to do a couple of hours of rafting but not sure of prices for that so got to check tomorrow.

They had a parade in Cusco today not sure exactly what for but it involved alot of costumes and music, so that was interesting to see and then I had a walk around the town, and then headed back to the hostel as decided it was too warm to be walking around, suppose may of been good practice for when trekking but no point putting myself through that ordeal until I need to.

Apparently it´s not the best weather in the UK at the moment but in Lima it was really warm and here today it´s warm enough to walk in a T-shirt just about but even this morning it was comfortable with a jumper on. you get a nice breeze which cools the air a bit and makes it not stuffy like when it´s hot in the UK.

Part two of my RTW Journey

rjenkins — Sat, 1 May 2010 16:00:00 GMT

well I got to Lima, Peru fine and checked into HQville hostel, which is a really nice hostel with friendly staff and a good outdoor area. there isn´t much to say about Lima it´s a bit rubbish really the sea front is alright they have some planting across there and it looks alright but the rest is just uninteresting. so got a bus with Cruz del Sur yesterday(30/04/10) at 2:00pm and that took 22 hours to get to Cusco. So got into Cusco just after 12 midday. Suffering from slight dizzyness currently it was quite bad when got off the bus but think it´s subsiding probably just didin´t drink enough on the journey. so checked into Bright Hostel which is alright not as nice as the one in Lima but it seems clean. Hope to get started on the trek upto MachuPichu monday or tuesday, depending on how I feel tommorrow but that going to cost close to $200, but they leave Cusco around 4:00am so it´ll be an early start so probably start tuesday.

1st Day of trip and in New York

rjenkins — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 07:25:00 GMT

Well thought would try writing something here so got to New York fine, a bit of a long trip at night as landed at 1:30am British time. Got a taxi which cost $80 with the tolls which is a fair bit, but he got me to the hostel and checking in was easy. so got up at 8:30 in the morning and decided to skip breakfast as that wasn't served till 9:00 and wanted to get an early start as only had a day to see everything New York has to offer, managed to get round most places wanted to see. I took a walk through Central Park initially and headed up towards Times Square, this walk took me about 2 hours but I did do some detouring on the way to see random places. Then once been to Times Square which is like nothing else as there are just sign up every building, and even the police station there has a flashing sign. after that I headed to the Empire State building and went upto the 81st floor were the observatory is so you can have a view over Manhattan, it was a bit of a miserable day so you could only just see to the Brooklyn Bridge but still definitely worth going up as you get such good views of New York. After descending that I then headed for Grand Central Station, not much to say about this it is generally in the name, but it is definitely grand as there were chandeliers in there. the time was getting on towards 2o'clock at this point and thought I would have a walk up to the Brooklyn bridge and see that and the Statue of Liberty then catch the train back. However it didn't quite happen that way as after walking 20 streets I realised I was heading the wrong way but I thought it was then too much of a trek back to decided to talk a gentle stroll back to the Hostel through Central Park which took about 2 hours. The Manhattan area though is technically really easy to navigate as long as you head the right direction on the road as you have Avenue running north to south and the streets heading east to west so it's just a grid. don't quite now what would of done if had been here for 6 days as I reckon after the 2nd day I would probably be bored so a good thing that ash cloud delayed me. There will be photos to go with this story at some point but got to upload them first.

Photos: Strasbourg

rjenkins — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

Photo Labels

rjenkins — Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

3551 1st Sight of Floating Islands

3562-2565 demonstrating how build island

3566 Me tasting reed

3569 Inside roof of hut

3570 Me in traditional clothes

3577 How much more reeds under houses

3587 Saw used to cut reed roots

3590 Reed root blocks, used as base of new islands

3591-3592 Heads on boats

3607-3608 Me on traditional boat

3613 Boat rode on

3614 Guineapig Island

3616 1st photo on Amantani Island

3624 Making bricks

3626-3627 Kitchen of host

3632 Walking to top of Amantani Island

3643-3644 Me at Amantani

3670-3681 At traditional dance on Amantani

3677 Me in traditional clothes at dance

3678 Whole group at dance

3681 Recording of dance music

3683 Bed at host house, bed make of reeds

3686-3688 Host house

3689-3690 Me with host

3691 Leaving Amantani

3692 On Taquile Island

3708 Peruvian flower gave flag it's colour

3710-3714 View from were had lunch on Taquile

3724 On way back to Puno

3727-3728 Little boat carrying reeds

3732 Puno main square at night

3735-3740 Puno Cathedral

19/05/2010 3741-3773

3741-3742 View of Puno

3743-3763 Sillustani

3747 Ritual Circle (Inka)

3749 Inca Tomb

3762 Pre-inca pottery building

3764 Traditional building near Sillustani

3767 Rubber on roof to stop lightning burning it

3768 2 cows on all buildings for protection

3772-3773 Drinking buddies at The Point Hostel

21/05/2010-24/05/2010 3775-3813

3775 Church in Arequipa by plaza

3776-3787 Inside church

3794-3796 View from were had tea

3794-3795 Cathedral lit up

3797 Beer- Cusquena Negra

3804 Beer- Arequipa

3805 Beer- Brahma

3806-3807 Preview of new hostel

3809 Good restaurant in Arequipa were had Cuy

3813 Beer- Cusquena

25/05/2010-28/05/2010 3815-3930

3815 Townhall LIma

3818-3823 Beach Front

3821 Pier

3823 Love Park - with big statue of 2 people

3824 Random little road in Lima

3825 Beer - Cristal

3826 Outside ministry defense building

3828-3848 Lima downtown

3838+3845 Palace

3841+3847 Lima cathedral

3850 Walking back to hostel from downtown

3852-3912 Fountains

3855-3857 Fountain can stand in middle of

3858 Fountain light show

3888 Video of show

3889-3890 Video of show

3899 Video of show

3913 Beer- Pilsen

3914 Beer- Barena

3930 Map showing Lima (walked bottom right to top left)

29/05/2010-23/08/2010 Camp Lincoln 3933-4175

3933-3939 Trap shooting

3933 Trent

3935 George

3936-3939 Me

3940 Waterfront at Camp looking over Lake Hubert

3942 Program office

3941 Centre Area

3943 Athletics Field/ Baseball square

3948-3949 Upstairs KIngfisher Cabin (KFC)

3951 Beer- Keystone Light

3925-3965 OSD (Orientation Staff Development) Cabin party

3965 CMR asleep under a beanbag

3966-3970 Loon jumping during OSD

3969 Julia, John, Me, Katie

3972 Waterfront

3973 Docks supported by breeze blocks

3974 Looking over lake

3975 Beer - Miller Light

3976-3979 KFC downstairs

3976 2nd session bed was were desk is

3979 part of Centre cabin

3981 Beer - Summer Ale

3982 Beer - Fat Tire

3983 Beer- Budweiser

3984 Beer- Rope Swing

3985 Beer- Two Hearted Ale

3986 Beer- Pale Ale

3988 Beer- Maifest

3989 Zorbas

3990-4000 Cabin party

4001-4004 Playing golf on day off

4005-4007 John at Walmart

4008 Colour wars 1st session KFC

4009-4021 Staff fun night karaoke put on by Camp

4022-4041 Field shooting

4024 Andy Bulmer

4025-4126 Zach (LT)

4028 Myles (LT)

4029 Me

4043-4046 Day off at the lodge

4047-4050 Field shooting

4051 Beer- Select 55

4052-4061 Mid-session Cabin party

4062-4064 Around KFC

4067 Paul Bunyan

4068-4076 Crow Wing State Park Trip

4077-4081 Field shooting

4079 Javi (Harvey) shooting

4080-4081 Pablo Luna

4082-4091 Loon Jumping evening activity with KFC

4092-4101 Field shooting

4101 Fons

4102-4106 Clout Archery

4107 Will Piechert

4110 Beer- Blue

4111-4127 Closing Campfire + Skit

4130-4131 Cabin 2nd session (KFC)

4136-4142 Archery Range

4143 Athletics Field

4144 Gaga court

4145-4148 ontop KFC roof

4150 Beer- Late Harvest

4151-4161 Night out end of 2nd session

4163-4164 Path to KFC from dining hall

4165-4166 All Camp Lincoln staff 2010

4167 Scott cycling to Rafferty's

4171-4173 Girls dock (Family Camp)

4175 Beer- Boulevard

24/08/2010 Minneapolis 4176-4193

4177-4179 Walking to Megabus station

4180-4181 Mall of America

4182 Group of us in Mall of America

4191-4193 Minneapolis

4193 Viking's Stadium

25/08/2010-30/08/2010 Chicago 4195-4300

4196 Walking to hostel at 5:30am

4198 Sears tower + cream building=Prison

4199 Highrise made stone masonary

4206 Street transformers 3 being filmed down

4214 Millennium Park

4221 Beer- 312

4223 Beer- Matilda

4224 Random single storey pub

4226 Car from transformers

4228 Bumblebee from transformers

4229 Transformers street

4230 Chicago Gay district

4240 Looking over Lake Michigan

4246-4255 View from Sears/Willis Tower

4249 Looking over Lake Michigan

4256 Beer- Rogue

4257 Beer- Miller Genuine Draft (MGD)

4259-4263 Group out in Chicago

4264 Beer- Point

4270-4271 Up Hancock Tower

4272 Beer- Old Style

4275 1st Comic store been into

4279-4285 Fountain Display

4300 Beer- Busch Light

31/08/2010-05/09/2010 Madison Wisconsin 4303-4307

4303-4304 Lake

4305 Madison University

4307 Capitol Building

07/09/2010-14/09/2010 California Pensylvania 4310-4346

4310 Beer- Landshark

4317 Beer- ShockTop

4318-4322 View from Justin's Roof

4323 A roundabout!

4323-4329 Young Mens Club watching Steelers Game

4330-4331 View from roof

4332-4333 View over river

4336-4339 Videos on river

4340-4343 Photos by river

14/09/2010 New York

4347-4348 Hotel stayed in

15/09/2010 Philadelphia/Washington 4349-4395

4349-4357 Philadelphia

4351-4352 Liberty Bell

4353-4357 Independence hall

4361-4395 Washington at night

4361-4364 Capitol building

4365-4367 Washington Monument

4368-4378 Lincoln Memorial

4379-4385 Washington Monument

4386-4395 Korean war memorial

16/09/10 Washington

4398 Over reflection pool at Lincoln memorial

4400-4401 WW2 memorial

4402 Washington Monument

4403-4405 Lincoln memorial

4404-4405 Me at Lincoln memorial

4408-4419 Arlington Cementary

4413-4414 JFK's Grave

4417-4419 Grave of Unknown Soldier

4421-4424 White House

4426 Natural History Museum

4430-4433 Air + Space museum

4434 Capitol Building

4435 Ethiopian Beer- Hakim Stout

4436-4437 Ethiopian Food

4439 View near Campgrounds

17/09/2010 Tennessee 4440-4451

4440 Zazzy's coffee shop

4441-4444 Music festival in Bristol

4445 Tennessee

4446 Pub watching Tennessee football game against Gators

4447-4450 16th street church Birmingham - site of black rights movement

4451 Murray's birthday

20/09/2010 New Orleans 4452-4534

4452-4453 Campsite

4455 Mississippi sign

4456-4500 Honey Island Swamp tour

4459 1st Gator

4460 Turtle

4462-4469 15ft gator

4485-4486 Rodent creature - Can't remember actual name

4487-4489 Elvis

4489 Elvis jumping out of water

4505-4506 New Orleans

4508-4543 Night out in New Orleans

4511 Hand Grenade- Very strong 2nd drink of evening after Hurricane

4517 Sueyoung taking a shot

4533 Allen dancing

4534 Gen on stage

21/09/2010 New Orleans 4544-4551

4544-4550 Preservation hall jazz band

22/09/2010 4553-4573

4553-4554 Saint Louis Cementary 1 (New Orleans)

4553 Nicholas Cage's grave

4556-4558 Nottoway plantation house

4560-4573 Campsite

4563 Turtles

4564 Deer

4566-4568 Raccoons

4570 Deer

4573 Raccoon at night

23/09/2010 Austin, Texas 4574-4615

4574 Texas sign

4576 Austin

4577-4597 In park in Austin

4598-4599 Swimming pool Austin

4600-4615 American football game (Bowie Bulldawgs)

4615 Halftime Performance

25/09/2010 4616-4641

4616-4619 The Alamo

4631 Drive through liquor store

4636-4641 Campsite

4641 Tony keeping guard of beer

26/09/2010 4642-4724

4651-4633 View from by Carlsbad Caverns

4654-4710 Carlsbad Caverns

4654 Entrance

4684 Stalactites

4698 Original explorer ladder

4718 View from by caverns

4721 Cycling down from caverns

4724 Campsite

27/09/2010 4726-4742 Rosswell + Santa Fe

4727-4729 Rosswell

4727 Me in Aluminium suit by alien

4733-4739 Santa Fe

4737 Random christmas shop

4739 Capitol building

4741-4742 Campsite

28/09/2010-29/09/2010 Monument Valley 4743-4899

4743 Campsite

4750 Oil drill

4764 Colorado sign

4768-4770 Were Forest Gump stopped running

4770 Group photo- left to right- Lizzette, Dan, Me, Tony, Matt, Gen, Sue, Murray, Marianne

4771-4899 Monument Valley

4777 Group Photo

4779 Tour guide and jeep

4783 Me at Monument Valley

4786 Were we slept

4787 Me at Eye Of The Sun

4789 Painting 800 years old

4807 Singing Happy Birthday

4808 Dance

4810 Me with rich guide on left

4812-4814 were slept in Monument Valley

4815-4899 Sunrise in Monument Valley

4878 Me infront of Sunrise

4893-4894 Black + White sunrise

4890 Negative Sunrise

4898 Me in front of sunrise

4899 Halo above head

29/09/2010 Grand Canyon 4901-4912

4901-4912 Grand Canyon

4905 Drop from ledge

4912 Drop from ledge

30/09/2010 Grand Canyon 4915-5019

4913-4957 Sunrise over Grand Canyon

4940-4942 Black + White sunrise

4945 Negative sunrise

4959-5017 Hiking Grand Canyon

4961 Where path leads in centre hiked to

4968-4972 Indian Gardens in Canyon

4978 Cliff came down

4979-4982 View in 4 directions near plateau point, no-one else

4983 Lizard

4986-4999 View from Plateau Point

4989 Me at Plateau Point

5001 Starting to head back up

5005 Map of route down Canyon

5018 Just got out of Canyon Beer- Natural Ice

5019 Grand Canyon

01/10/2010 5020-5036

5026-5027 Horseshoe bend in Colorado river

5030-5033 Lizards

5034-5045 Powell Lake

5036 Murray, Tony and Matt in lake

02/10/2010 Zion Canyon 5048-5086

5050 Zion Campsite- Allen

5052-5077 Zion Canyon hike to Angels Landing

5065 Climb with chains near the top

5073 Me with Canyon in background

5079 Campground- Mat, Murray and Marianne

5080 Lizette, Gen and Dan

5081 Tony with his camera

5082 Sue and Allen

5083-5086 Making Smores

5086 Tony using huge effort to eat smores

03/10/2010 Vegas 5087-5158

5087 Arizona sign

5088 Nevada sign

5089-5091 Vegas in distance

5092 in Vegas stopped to buy booze

5093 Madalay Bay Casino

5094 Luxor Casino

5096 Room in NewYorkNewYork

5097-5098 View from room

5099 Limo rode in down strip

5100 Boys all in Limo

5104 Me out of window of limo

5109-5013 Light show down old strip

5114 Me and Tony relaxing in Limo

5120 Me at Vegas sign

5122-5126 All of us at Vegas sign

5131 Murray

5138 Planet Hollywood casino

5139 Paris Casino

5142-5147 Bellagio Fountain display

5148 Monte Carlo Casino

5151 Matt at 'The Pub'

5152-5154 Irish Band

5156 Tony and Matt

04/10/2010 Vegas 5159-5202

5159 MGM Casino

5160 Not sure of name but looks like a castle

5164 View down strip

5165 NewYorkNewYork, tower look like buildings from New York

5168 The Bellagio

5170-=5175 Inside Bellagio

5174 Bellagio + Ceasers Palace

5175 paris Casino

5181 My 1st $100 chip won from $20

5182 Me with chip

5187-5189 View from room

5191 Matt, Tony, Murray outside hotel

5195 View down strip at night

5199-5200 Twin pianos (can play any song request)

05/10/2010 Los Angeles 5204-5215

5204-5205 Statues at diner on way to LA and a sign saying 'do not feed'

5207 Donald Ducks slab in Hollywood

5209 Walk of Fame

5211 Hollywood sign

5212-5213 View over LA

5214 Hollywood sign

5215 Beer- AmberBock

06/10/2010 Los Angeles 5216-5223

5216-5217 Tipping it down in LA

5218-5221 Santa Monica Beach

5222-5223 Dinosaurs in main street

07/10/2010-09/10/2010 Santa Monica, LA 5224-5254

5224 End of Route 66 on LA pier

5225-5228 Santa Monica from pier

5229 Random art roller

5232 Pier Santa Monica

5233 Indoor carousel

5241-5242 Venice in LA

5244 Santa on holiday

5250 Beer- Arrogant Bastard

5251 Palm tree fell on sign, me and Cat stood near it when fell

5252 Westside Comedy Theater

5254 Cabo Pub

10/10/2010 Santa Monica LA 5255-5267

5255-5267 Hike in mountains near Santa Monica

5264-5267 LA in background

12/10/2010 5268-5278

5268-5278 San Francisco

13/10/2010 Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco 5279-5309

5285 Harbour and Alcatraz

5289 Golden Gate Bridge

5292 Golden Gate Bridge

5293 San Francisco from pier

5295 Alcatraz

5296 Row boat 2 people from Japan to San Francisco

5297 Tram

5298 Random Crab statue

5301 Alcatraz

5303 Sealions at pier 39

5309 Coit Tower

14/10/2010 San Francisco 5310-5407

5310 Ferry's get to Alcatraz

5313 Alcatraz

5314-5315 Alcatraz docks

5317 Officers + family accomodation

5320 Golden Gate bridge

5321 Light house and Governors gouse

5322 Golden Gate bridge

5324-5327 Shower room

5328-5330 Inside typical cell

5331 D-block for trouble makers- larger cells

5332-5333 Solitary Cell

5334- Gun Gallery- guards watched from here

5335 Hooks to hang keys on so prisoners couldn't get them

5336 Pockmarks on floor from grenades threw in during riots when inmates tried escaping

5337 were grenades dropped from

5338 Bullet holes from same time

5340 Radio dock

5345 Typical guard uniform

5346 Governors house

5347 Administration side of prison

5352-5354 Control room

5355-5360 Scene of escape attempt widened vent opening with spoons

5361-5363 Vent area escapees got to climb up

5366-5367 Kitchen

5367 Each knife had picture so easily see if one was missing

5370 Dining room

5373-5375 Recreation yard

5376 Golden Gate bridge

5378-5380 View from recreation yard

5381 A-block only used for storage no prisoners

5384-5387 Prison cell door mechanism

5389 View entering recreation yard

5391-5395 Gardens tended by inmates

5396 Guard tower

5398 Cannon from when Alcatraz was a military fort

5401 Alcatraz warning sign

15/10/2010 San Francisco 5412-5475

5412 See bridge just behind fog

5413 were they loaded mines with explosives before and during WW2

5414 Alcatraz through the fog

5415-5416 Golden Gate Bridge in fog

5417 Cycling across Golden Gate Bridge

5418 Golden Gate Bridge tower

5421 View from Golden Gate Bridge

5427 Bird in fog on lake

5428 Nike missile site

5429-5441 Marine headland

5437-5438 Birds on rock

5440 Just white past cliff from fog

5445-5447 Possible Bobcat or just a feral cat?

5450 Golden Gate Bridge

5454 Golden Gate Bridge

5456-5460 San Francisco

5465 Alcatraz

5466 San Francisco

5467 Funny Name

5468Windiest street in San Francisco

5469- Coit tower

5470-5471 Random Church

5473-5475 Random Churches

18/10/2010 Seattle 5477-81

5481- Moving art

19/10/10 Vancouver 5485-5502

5488-5502 Vancouver at night

20/10/2010 Vancouver 5503-5533

5514 Olympic Cauldron

5520 Vancouver Marina

21/10/2010 Whistler 5534-5535

5534-5535 Whistler Creek

22/10/2010 Whistler 5536-5609

5537 marker for olympic flame

5538-5554 Between Olympic village and Whistler Village

5559-5567 Whistler village

5568-5600 Way back to Olympic village

5601-5609 Olympic village

5608-5609 Hostel stayed in, in Olympic Village