Hoodoos, Mesas, Buttes, Spires and Goose Necks (extra photos)

These are some the photos from Bryce Canyon and Monument Valley that were left out of the original blog, plus two photos from Gooseneck Canyon which were totally missed, obviously not impressive enough at the time, though unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.

I have added captions to tell the difference between Hoodoos, which we only saw at Bryce Canyon and Mesas, Buttes and Spires that were so amazing at Monument Valley. The latter three are the names of the formations at various stages of change, starting as Mesas, which are flat or table top mountains, as they weather they change to Buttes and eventually become Spires.
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Into the Wah Wah West (a supersized blog)

There are much better photos we could have used as an opener, but then why not keep the best for last. We left San Francisco intent on getting to warmer weather, we’ve had a few beautiful sunny days but since departing Shanghai there haven’t been many really hot days. We packed our summer clothes on top and the winter gear at the bottom of our bags and headed south to the wild wild West where my teenage heroes roamed Yeehaaaa…… Read more

Seeing friends in Vancouver and San Francisco

We’ve had such a great time catching up with friends since we arrived in the US. At a certain point in Japan I started to really miss conversations that were longer and deeper than ‘hello, how are you and where are you from’. Didn’t miss home but just wanted a good old chat. According to Nick, I became very excited and overly talkative with ANYBODY who spoke good English… Nick is good company and all that but I’m sure you all understand that I need somebody sensible to talk to once in a while!! Read more

Aboard the good ship Ottawa (A show and tell)

So we arrived at the terminal in Shanghai and were rushed on board. To give you a taste of what we were confronted with have a look at this video, after dropping our bags in the cabin we took some video through the porthole then rushed outside and stood on our deck “F” to see what we had let ourselves in for. I hope the height and feeling of being exposed comes across, that is something I had to eventually overcome because of my fear of heights. The ship loaded / unloaded and as soon as it’s over it’s on its way, that is how it was at all the ports we stopped at. Read more

Back on land: Prince Rupert and Seattle

Hey y’all!! We are back on land! Prince Rupert In Canada was a little taster before we got to Seattle a few days later but it got us thinking about our trip and the fact it’s now SIX months since we left Perth. The time has gone quick but at the same time it has passed slowly and is filled by so many places, people and new experiences. We don’t often spend time thinking about those early days in Cambodia and Vietnam – and that’s the second reason we are writing the blog. So that we can remember it all even when we get back home. The first reason of course is to stay in contact with family and friends and we really love getting emails and blog comments so thank you very much for all of those!

Our trip on the Hanjin Ottawa was like an interlude and now we are ready to start a new chapter of the trip in the US… Read more

The crossing: A true story as told by an old sea dog

As you can see from our opening shot there was something unreal about the whole crossing. The 17 days on board went by in a flash and by the time we made it to Prince Rupert in Canada, which was on the 15th day, we were taken by surprise, we’ve arrived!! On a daily basis we had plenty to do, from day one we put in place a strict regime and what follows are just some of our the highlights. Read more

Crossing the Pacific


It’s time… Tomorrow we will be boarding the Hanjin Ottawa and set off for Seattle via Busan and Port Rupert in Canada. We hope for calm seas and blue sky.

The Ottawa is 279m long, 41 m wide, weighs 68834 tons and carries 4000 containers. We will be staying in one of 3 guest cabins on the ‘F’ floor, a level or two below the bridge which in normal terms is way up high. Read more

Korean BBQs and so much more

We had a fantastic introduction to the food in Korea when we caught up with Jamunah and Shyamalan, friends who now live in Busan. They took us on a food tour in the Nampo-dong area. We started with a Korean BBQ of course! Then some street food, a delicious Bingsu (shaved ice dessert), some sangria at TGI Friday and a light dinner at the Lotte food hall to end the day in style! Wow! Read more

D M Z

We booked the cheap tour of the N / S Korean border and our opening photo is a testament to that. We didn’t get to see the actual Rock Soldiers who guard the South unflinchingly facing the less impressive soldiers in the North, so I hope my improv will go some way to satisfy any curiosity with respect to this topic. I may have slightly overdone the North’s uniform. Read more