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New York was a bit of a return to winter. Flying across the Atlantic close to Iceland and Greenland, then over the frozen Canadian coast near Goose Bay, the landscape was still dusted in white. I was only in New York overnight, and in a cold hostel room with 11 others sleep was kinda hard to come by. Up before the sun, a steady snowfall greeted me on the street outside. I walked overnight bag on my shoulder, backpack on my back, and heavy suitcase leaving a trail in the snow on the sidewalk behind me, toward the stop for the M60 bus to NY La Guardia airport. As I sat on the bus I dusted snow from my heavy woolen coat while outside traffic and pedestrians around Harlem and the Bronx dealt with the snowy conditions as best they could. At the airport the departures screen did little to improve my day - Flight to Chicago Cancelled. Bugger! I was re-routed thru Washington DC, but that flight was late coming in and I missed the connection in DC. Another 2.5 hours to wait for the next one. I did eventually get to Chicago, albeit half a day later than I was hoping. From the airport I picked up my hire car. Sure, I'd already noticed that Americans drive on the wrong side of the road, but I did have to laugh at myself when I attempted to get into the car on the wrong side. No steering wheel kind of gives it away. In Chicago I met up for lunch with a guy who heads up church planting for the Vineyard churches in the USA, and visited a couple of churches: Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, and Evanston Vineyard. From my motel in the northern suburbs, I caught the train into the city proper to see some of the sights. From the 110 storey Sears tower the city lights were quite spectacular. Another highlight was the Chicago Art Institute, with its impressive collection of impressionist art. Returning my hire car to the airport was fine, once I'd found the airport again, that is. Yet again, I won myself a special security screening search at the airport, my third in as many flights!! By now I knew the deal as well as anyone, and had become accustomed to unlocking, deshoeing and being waved at with the magic wand. No bombs today. Surprise! Surprise! After miles and miles of farmland neatly dissected into mile-square grids, the land below began to become more sparsely populated. Towns were hard to see, especially as snow came to cover more and more of the ground. Then finally, rising from the prairie like some impenetrable stone barrier, I could see the jagged peaks of the snow-covered rocky mountains creeping ever closer on the horizon. Coming into Calgary the weather was warm and sunny, until we flew below the clouds... We circled briefly. And before too long we were on the ground. Another country, another airport, another Immigration official with twenty questions. Another hire car, only this time I got something like a tarago. Plenty of room to spread myself out with another 6 seats going spare. Destination Banff, I didn't linger around Calgary. To be honest, I'd kinda gone through the whole city before I'd realised it was all behind me. Still, I didn't mind. I could see the mountains looming on the horizon and as I got closer couldn't help telling myself out loud just how amazing it all was. Australia might have many things, but it sure hasn't got mountains like these. Banff is a quaint kind of town off Canada's Highway One, ringed by spectacular mountains. Its main street is lined with shops that stay open late. Some are tourist traps, but others caught my more immediate interest: ski gear. Coming late in the ski season I also stumbled upon some great deals on the equipment I needed. It wasn't long before I'd found everything I needed. My plan was to come back for some skiing later in the week, so the next couple of days I spent out in the National Park between Banff and Jasper. Brilliant blue skies and soaring grey - white peaks formed the backdrop for my drive along the Bow valley Parkway and the Ice Fields Parkway. Snow still bordered either side of the highway and while most lakes were still a thick bed of snow and ice, some of the rivers had begun to run again. At Peyto Lake snow still covered the access road to the lookout. Being the keen photographer that I am I took a walk up the hill to the lookout, not really sure how far it would be. Sun shining, blue skies, surrounded by green pine, spruce and fir trees rising from the deep snow, I trudged uphill in my ordinary street shoes, trying to avoid sinking down over my knees. The combined effects altitude and heavy effort revealed my acute lack of fitness, and I was well out of breath when I made it to the top. A great view. Sadly the same can't be said of the Columbia Icefields later that day. Wind, cloud and sleety-snow obliterated my view of the better-known glacier, however I don't think anything could stop me enjoying such a beautiful part of the world. Not much in Jasper really. Another patch of flat land amidst the cluster of mountains. Another stop on the railway. Jasper confirmed that my visit was in the off season. The hostel where I was staying only had another 5 or so guests. It would normally be fully booked late April through November. I took the opportunity for some exploring and paid a visit to Maligne Canyon. The best part was that the river and its waterfalls were still frozen over so it was possible to walk along the frozen river in the canyon floor right up to the frozen waterfalls. Mental note: don't wear street shoes next time I go walking up frozen rivers. I drove out as far as Maligne Lake, before turning back for Lake Louise. I had an amazing day skiing at Lake Louise. A little fresh snow overnight had helped improve the conditions, although patches were still icy. It took a little to get back into the rhythm of things, but after a few runs it was all coming back to me. By days end blue runs were no longer a problem, although I wasn't quite ready for too much of the black stuff just yet. The following day it was skiing closer to Banff. I began with Mt Norquay. Bit of a waste of time. There wasn't really that much there, so by lunchtime I was ready to head over to Sunshine Village and give that a go. After a gondola ride to the village, I bought some grossly overpriced food for lunch at the cafeteria. I think sunshine was a bit of a misnomer - today it was whiteout with steady snowfall that would blast your face like tiny hailstones. And cold! Well, you know how when sometimes when you eat ice cream too fast you get a 'brain freeze' pain in the head. Well, today you could get that same feeling just sitting on a chairlift on the way up the mountain. Still, I'm not really complaining. The slopes had a lot of variety and plenty of terrain stretched out across three neighbouring mountains. Following day I took a rest day and went back to shopping and photographing around Banff. Then Sunday, my 30th birthday, I spent the day skiing at Sunshine once more. This time it was perfect spring skiing conditions and I enjoyed the slopes for as long as lifts were prepared to keep carrying me up the hill again. By now my time in the Rockies was coming to an end. I drove back to Calgary via Kananaskis Country. Worst road I've had to drive on since Africa, but more great Rocky Mountains scenery and hardly anyone around save for the occasional dog sled or fisherman out on the frozen lakes. At one lake I pulled into the car park and thought I'd go take a closer look, hopefully just a short walk down a snow covered road lined with pine forest on either side. The place was deserted. I got a short distance down the road when footprints appeared in the snow. Now I'm no expert or anything, but from pictures I've seen in books n' stuff, I'd take a guess that these particular footprints weren't made by no deer. And not really wanting to have my own story to tell of how I fought off a Canadian grizzly barehanded, I decided that I'd done enough walking for a little while and turned back to my car. At a steady walking pace. Sadly the only other wild life I did see that afternoon was a big horn sheep half blocking the road. No bears after all. Near Calgary I dropped in for a quick look at The Olympic ski jumps on the edge of town, and after finding my hostel, did a quick walking tour around the city myself. It was a warm spring afternoon and people were out jogging and cycling along the river side. I must have blended in pretty well 'cos one of the local homeless people even asked me for a cigarette. Not that I smoke, mind you. Next day my flights back to New York were pretty uneventful, although thankfully New York wasn't as cold as it had been a little over a week before. No snow now. That night I explored the chaos that is Times Square. Neon lights, and crazy sights, its multimedia overload. Almost every square inch of building face blinks, flashes, or advertises something. And it's pretty hard to move for all the people cramming the sidewalk. Traffic is heavy and constant, with the honking of New York's trademark yellow cabs. In the morning it was a bit rainy, so I walked across Central Park to visit the Guggenheim. I don't think I really "get" modern art. I did find some of the Picasso's interesting, especially as the collection has early ones that show Picasso developing his ideas such as cubism. Around lunchtime I went downtown to see if I could get a ticket to a game that night. The afternoon I spent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until closing time. Great collection of art and artifacts, but the most disappointing thing for me was that their American Wing was closed that afternoon so I didn't get to see some of the more 'local' stuff. And I ran out of time too. Too much to see and all. That night it was back to Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Rangers take on the Buffalo Sabres in their final home game of the Ice Hockey season. I don't know all that much about hockey, but I picked up a bit as the game went on. A few hit ups, and the action happens pretty fast. Quite different to other sporting events that I'd been to. Most annoying thing was the constant interruptions and hyped music at every stoppage. Following day in New York was a chance to get round and see stuff that I hadn't made it to yet. There was low cloud over the city so the tops of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings were out of view. I ventured downtown on the bus and checked out Grand Central Terminal, the flatiron building, and City Hall. By that time I needed the loo, so I paid a visit to the Supreme Court. Trying my best to look part of the crowd I joined the queue for security screening at the entrance. No body asked me why I was there, so far be it from me to tell them. I checked my camera and began wandering around the foyer, looking at the murals on the domed ceiling while keeping an eye out for where the toilets might be. After a quick look down each of the hallways, there was no sign of any loo. I thought I'd try my luck on the first floor gallery so caught the lift up. You could get an even better view of the murals from here. Oh, and I found the Men's "bathroom". A little more wandering around to fill out the time a little, and it was back to the security counter to pick up my camera. Under 15 minutes. Relieved, the next sight was the Brooklyn Bridge. You can walk across without too much trouble, and I tried to spot a good vantage point on the far river bank to get some black and white shots of it. Across the bridge I wandered through the alleyways of Brooklyn down to the shoreline. Got some good shots from a little way along the river then decided I'd walk a bit closer in. As I entered the park the security guard gave me a bit of a funny look but didn't say anything to me. I noticed some trucks parked around the place, but just kept on waling towards the boardwalk under the bridge. As I got closer a bloke off in the distance starts waving madly at me. Then I notice another bloke off in the other direction waving at me too. Funny?! But then this is New York. I walked towards him a bit to find out what he wanted. Well, apparently I was just about to walk straight into their scene where they were filming and episode of the TV show "Monk". He explained that they had a permit to film and the boardwalk was closed off to the public. Oh, no photo. I stayed and watched the filming for a bit before making my way back over the bridge to Manhattan. Next stop was ground zero. Reconstruction work has begun on the World Trade Center site, so I imagine it's not quite as accessible as I once would have been. Two steel girders still form a cross at one corner of the sight, and pictures of the buildings history and from the events of 9/11 line the tall steel security fence. It was kind of sad to look at the hole in ground and think back to the events that I watched unfold on TV on September 11 those years ago. Next stop was Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange, now surrounded with armed security and conspicuously placed unmarked black vans. Following that it was time for a trip on the Staten Island ferry as it passed the statue of liberty, then back again. I caught the subway back up town again, and paid a visit to New York public library. Just like in the movies. Then it was back to try the Empire state again - still clouded over. I decided I'd see a movie, so caught the bus uptown and caught a late screening of "The Lady killers" with Tom Hanks. Very funny! My final morning in New York I had to pack my bags. I wanted to revisit the gift shop at the Met and try and get some photos around town, especially of the skyscrapers that had been hidden by cloud the entire time id been in town. All in all it took me longer than I expected. As I rode the subway back from Brooklyn Bridge to 103rd Street I was already running an hour behind schedule. I made my way to the hostel and got my bags as quickly as possible, and then half ran back to the subway for a train to JFK airport. I don't think I have ever been as stressed in my life!! As I stood on the train leaning against the wall and steadying my bag with my legs, all sorts of scenarios played through my mind. Man did I pray! And boy did I scold myself for putting those few final photos ahead of my flight! I got to the airport terminal about 3:45pm. My flight was due to leave at 4pm. Out of breath from the rush and the stress, I asked the people at the front of the check-in line if I could go in front of them. She was French, so initially didn't have a clue what I was asking. She eventually got it. Well it turned out I was too late for my scheduled flight, but they could put me on standby for the 5pm NY to LA. Ah, relief!! I again went through security with SSSS marked on my boarding pass, but no one seemed all that interested. I waited for the 5pm flight, and a few standby's got seats. But being Friday, the start of the spring school break I could see that this was going to be tough. There were no shortage of people wanting to fly today and flights were overbooked to begin with. Bugger! I was rolled over to the 6pm flight. Again busy, but they managed to get more standby's on than I'd expected. Unfortunately not me, yet. At last a passenger didn't show so there was a seat on the plane. They called my name and issue me with a boarding pass. I went to the door and they ran the pass through the machine. It flashes: "security check performed [1] Yes [2] No". The attendant calls over to the lady at the desk. Apparently there's a problem. No hole punched to show they'd done the check. Arrggghhh!!!! So here I was ready to board and they turned me back again!!! Talk about frustrating!!!! !!!!!! They tried another person - she had the same problem. So in the end the seat went to another bloke. And we were left waiting. In frustration and cool patience I asked if they could give us some sort of priority for the next flight. They weren't able to promise anything but she typed some code stuff into the computer that I hoped would help. Only two more flights to LA that night. The pressure was now on. A complicating factor was that the 7pm flight was leaving for the terminal next door. We would literally have to run across there to be on standby for the next one. Great!! I ran, heavy backpack splitting its zippers under the strain, across to the other terminal. And this time I wasn't taking any chances. I made sure they did the full security screening and the hole punch to prove it!!! If I hadn't insisted on both they might have missed it again!! Well thankfully I did get a seat on the 7pm flight. It was very full, and I was sitting dead centre on the plane. Still, I wasn't complaining. At least I was on my way to LA finally. I arrived LA at 3am New York time, and being very busy because of the holidays, it took almost an hour to pick up my hire car. I then drove the 35 minutes down the freeway to Costa Mesa. I had already arranged to stay at Gareth and Tim's, some friends I knew from the UK. Tim was glad when I finally called him around midnight from a payphone up the street from his apartment. It was really nice of him to let me stay. Next day we visited the local shopping mall, and got some of the local 'fresh' Mexican for lunch. In the afternoon we went down to crystal cove just south of Newport Beach. Apparently it's where they filmed the movie beaches. It was nice to be at the beach again. That evening I went over to visit Saddleback Church. Sunday morning I visited the Soul Survivor congregation in Costa Mesa, met up with Tim, Amy, and some of their friends for Mexican lunch. That night I went with Tim to the service at Rock Harbor Church. Monday I went driving up the beaches. From Newport Beach to Huntington, then on past Manhattan and Venice to Santa Monica and Malibu. That night I paid a visit to Beverly Hills and Hollywood. Next day I dropped in at Disneyland, then went up to the Getty Center. After that it was a visit to the Citadel factory outlet center. Next day it was off to San Diego and Sea World. I enjoyed the killer whales most of all. Especially in their big tank where there's a viewing window that you can see in under water. Because they're pretty smart and can see you standing there its not uncommon for them to come in for a really close look at you and a slow glide past. For the record: to be an inch away from a killer whale is pretty amazing. Evening I visited the historic gas lamp quarter of San Diego proper which has lots of restaurants etc. My final day in LA I did a little more shopping at the local mall taking full advantage of a good Australian exchange rate, then spent the remainder at the Getty Center once more. This time I got to see the photography exhibition that I'd run out of time for the previous day, and generally just had a relaxing afternoon. Apart from when a guy lifted my can of coke straight off my table in the cafe. It got crushed and spilled in my struggle to hang onto it against his determination to grab it. His carer was quite apologetic, but it takes a few seconds to register what the heck is going on at moments like that. Determined
not to miss my flight back to Oz I made sure I left plenty of time to
make it to the airport. The airport wasn't really all that far away,
it's just that with roadwork on the freeway having started that day
traffic was crawling along. You could see it banked up all the way into
the LA haze (smog) on the freeway below the Getty Center. I made it
with a couple of hours to spare and found a place in the departure lounge
to try and get comfortable. Only 14 hours and a few movies and I'd be
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Postcard from WATFORD June 2003 Postcard from PARIS October 2003
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