Brisbane

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Kate and I spent some time in Brisbane -- Kate was working with Ross on their book. We had a short stay on our way through to Perth at the start of the trip. Catching our breath with much needed rest after the long flight over from LA. After Perth we had some holiday time on Magnetic Island and from there we came back to Brisbane.

Some of the adventures in Brisbane are blogged elsewhere -- like the trip to Tangalooma and our lunch with the local Beefsteak and Burgundy Club at the Brisbane USC. This blog fills in some gaps.

We flew on Quantas airlines this time and had a deal which allowed us some in country flights. That helped a lot.

Ross and Bev have a lovely home in Indooroopilly (try saying that fast) one of many burbs in the city. Their home is built into the hillside in a forested part of the city with the usual, odd to us, Australian flora and fauna. They have a small pool you can jump into to cool off (the temperature was over 80F -- a hot spring by our standards). Ross was complaining about the wild turkeys we saw that root around in their yard making it hard to grow anything. They're pests but protected.

Queensland, and much of Austrlia, was in the middle of a drought which made growing things especially hard. Ross and Bev, like many others, were installing a water tank to catch rainfall and supplement the scarce city water.

Ross took his son Tim and us out to a very expensive dinner one evening in the CBD. We took one of the Brisbane public transit CityCats down the Brisbane River from Indooroopilly (try saying that again) to the Southbank and walked across the pedestrian bridge to our dinner. I ordered something that sounded interesting but turned out to be lamb brains. I ate them but shudder to think of it.

Surfer's Paradise and the Gold Coast is beach area south of Brisbane that we decided to check out. Ross had discouraged us -- it's sort of a Las Vegas meets Fort Lauderdale kind of place with odd things like meter maids dressed in bikinis. The picture above is from Surfer's Paradise. This places takes the name "Surfer's Paradise" in a marketing coup -- many beaches up and down the Queensland coast have equally good surfing.

Kate thought that Surfer's Paradise smelled too much of fried fast food so we headed further south to Burleigh Heads for a swim, the beach and a bit of lunch. It's all part of the Gold Coast but here it's a little less hectic. The headlands here is the Burleigh Heads National Park and a favorite hiking spot for Ross and Bev. We had a lovely lunch at a fancy beachside restaurant -- other times we've eaten at the nearby Life Savers Club. There's some pictures of a wedding couple taken on the beach. Apparently it's a favorite spot.

There's some pictures of our apartment when we returned from Maggie. We rented a one bedroom flat at the City Park Aparments on Gregory Terrace; walking distance from Fortitude Valley and the CBD. We've stayed before and really like the location. It's a walk up apartment with lots of balconies and good airflow -- Brisbane can be hot but we usually had good breezes to cool the apartment. We had a small car to roam the city and countryside. We had rented a car but then Ross's mom had a car that wasn't being used so they loaned us that.

There's some pictures of a market and music on Brunswick Street in Fortitude Valley and another musical event we went to nearby on Claxton Street at the Calypso Bar & Lounge (all I can say is Ani DiFranco has a lot to answer for). There's also a picture of Kate at the "Bad Girls Platinum Club" -- you might guess what that club is about.

There's some photos from a visit to Noosa Heads which is two hours north of Brisbane on what they call the Sunshine Coast. This is another hiking and swimming spot recommended by Ross with another, but much larger, headlands national park. We've done a bit of a walk in these headland parks but not as much as Ross and Bev do. Instead we enjoyed the beach (Kate loves to swim, I float around a bit) and had a pigout on fried seafood at the Life Savers Club. It was a lovely warm spring day and that had brought out the crowds.

The Brisbane Powerhouse is an event space in New Farm down river from the CBD in what used to be a powerhouse. We caught some music there. There's some pictures of Jacaranda trees in bloom in our neighborhood and at the university campus. They're quite lovely and, while not unique to Brisbane (I think they came from Brazil), a sight to see when in bloom.

We had lunch at the Oxley on the river with Beefsteak and Burgundy friends. There's a picture of the nearby Regatta Hotel on Coronation Drive which runs along the Brisbane River in Toowong (say that twice while on your way to Indooroopilly) not too far from where we stayed. This three story hotel is subject to flooding as sometimes happens. I've seen old photos with people stranded on the second balcony (late 1800's) and first balcony (1960's) with flood waters filling the lower floors. With the current drought there's not much danger of flooding.

We took a drive up to Mount Glorious for a lunch one day. The mountain range is inland only a bit. It's a nice drive to see some forests and get some views back towards the city. Back in the city we saw Noel Coward's "Private Lives" at the Queensland Performing Arts Center on the Southbank with Ross and Bev. It's a very funny play if only a little outrageous.

Byron Bay is about 2 hours south of Brisbane, past Burleigh Heads and just across the state line in New South Wales. It has the most easterly point in mainland Australia. There's also another lovely long sand beach with more good surfing. At the light house on the point you can sometimes see whales migrating in the distance. Or at least the occassional splashing and blowing. We met some whale watchers from Melbourne who come here every year just so they can spot the whales.

Redcliffe is a nearby suburb to the north of Brisbane with some passable swimming. Much of the water front around Brisbane proper is either the industrial river or mangrove swamps. At Redcliffe there's a good bike path along the shore (we were travelling with our fold up bikes) and an enclosed swimming area something like the swimming area at the Southbank (but not as grande).

On our final day in Brisbane we took our car to be washed and detailed before returning it -- we got in trouble with Ross. "Don't you know there's a drought!"

Tangalooma

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While Kate was working with Ross on their book in Brisbane we did have some holiday time together. We spent a weekend at the Tangalooma Island Resort in mid October. The picture has Kate gearing up to go snorkeling on the ship wrecks.

We had been before on a short day cruise to the resort back in 2004 and wanted to return for a couple of reasons: 1) there's an artificial reef of sunken ships nearby that's supposed to be really good for snorkeling and 2) there's a dolphin feeding where wild ones come near shore. Both are adventures we had missed on our previous trip.

First some context. Moreton Island is the largest sand island (Bribie to the north and North Stradbroke to the south are the next two largest) on Morteon Bay, at the mouth of the Brisbane River (Brisbane the city is several miles inland), in the south east corner of Queensland. The island is mostly protected forest but there's a small resort, Tangalooma Island Resort, on the Moreton Bay side. There is nothing else other than forest and sand on the island (there used to be "brumbies", ie. wild horses, but they're long gone). There are ferries that will take you to the island. We took a fast passenger ferry from Brisbane to the resort, stayed overnight and had some adventures.

The snorkeling is really quite good. They've sunken some ships a short, but substantial, walk north of the resort. They were sunk by the Queensland Government between 1963 and 1984 and form what is now known as the Tangalooma Wrecks. The idea was to provide a safe anchorage for pleasure craft on the bay. The wrecks are rusting away and coral has grown on them. It's not the colorful coral of the Great Barrier Reef; it's more drab like the fringing reefs of  Magnetic Island. They're just a few stones throw from the shore so it's easy enough to swim out to them. There's some deep water to cross but when you get out to the wrecks there's lots of fishies swimming about. Probably the best snorkeling experience we've ever had.

I find it a bit creepy swimming in deep water, over darkened caverns and rusted hulks. But it was great fun to swim with the many schools of fish. But if there's fish, there's fish to prey on those fish. After swimming around for a while Kate thought she saw a shark swimming by in the deeper water. It scared her, I'm not too keen on the idea either, so we came out to shore. We asked a ranger at the resort about sharks and they said it was extremely unlikely. When we got back to Brisbane we were telling Ross and Bev about this and they said, "Oh yes, there are sharks out in Moreton Bay. But you'd have to be extremely unlucky to be taken by one. ...[pregnant pause] ... Mind you there was a fellow taken by a shark off North Stradbroke recently."

Huh? "Taken" as in taken our on a date? It sounds so pleasant, but what an odd expression. He wasn't killed by a shark, he was just taken away .... and never to be seen again.

The idea that you'd have to be "extremely unlucky" to be "taken" by a shark, or bitten by a poisonous snake, or stung by some deadly jelly fish -- they often say that in Australia. Oh yes, they admit, there is a risk but you'd have to be extremely unlucky. It really doesn't inspire confidence.

You'll note in the pictures that there are "utes" on the beach. In Queensland there are many beaches which count as legitimate road ways. Some people bring their vehicles across on ferries and drive around the island camping where they see fit. There aren't any proper roads across or on the island. Just the beach around the island.

Ah, and there's pictures of people playing cricket on the beach. Cricket is a big deal in Australia but we've never figured it out.

I mentioned the park rangers. A couple of times the rangers gave an informal talk while they fed the wild Kookaburras. The Kookaburra is a largeish bird, unique to Australia, with a distinctive call, almost a laugh. You'll recognize it the first time you ever hear one. They're carnivores preying on lizards, snakes and other land animals. They look like large and dangerous king fishers like we have in Canada but, apparently, don't or only rarely catch any fish. The ranger fed them bits of raw meat and a regular bunch arrives for the feeding. Interesting birds. You can sing along to them: Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry little king of the bush is he, laugh kookaburra, laugh.

On the second day Kate persuaded me that it would be a fun adventure to try Parasailing at Tangalooma. This looks very scary. They lash you into a parachute tethered to a speed boat and race around the bay with you dangling far above the water. I was not keen on the idea and had sent Kate up first (hey, it was her idea!). She survived so I tried it as well. It was fun, even exciting, but not dangerous at all. You simply cannot descend quickly when you're in a parachute. You get some views of the island and resort from a good altitude.

On our final night we were able to catch the dolphin feeding. Dolphins come in from the bay every night at sunset for a feeding. Some guests like us are invited out of the audience to get in the water and feed them. We were called upon and even have the photo to prove it! It's interesting to see these large mammals (they're not fish) up close and near the wild.

Well, that's about it. Another series of fun adventurea at Tangalooma near Brisbane.

Brisbane BS&B

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Kate and I attended a Beefsteak and Burgundy (BS&B) Wine Club lunch while in Brisbane. The event was held in the United Service Club (USC) which is an easy walk just down the hill towards the CBD from our place on Gregory Terrace.

BS&B is an international wine club and I'm a member of the local club back home in St Marys, Ontario. When travelling I often take time to discover if there's a local club where I'm visiting.

We had attended a similar event here back in 2004 and made friends with several members including Baggins and Murray pictured at left. We met Murray and his wife Joan earlier during this stay at a dinner on the Oxley (a floating restaurant on the river). They're a fine couple and it's a pleasure to know them both.

This BS&B club is a mens' club, many are men only, that meets once a month here at the USC. The dress code has relaxed somewhat in the intervening years (the last time we had arrived in summer beach wear when full dress was expected). So to have the rules about guests -- many wives were present today. At our last event Kate and another lady visiting from South Africa were the only women present. Today it's a full house. The joke they told us before was that wives were allowed at dinner events but lunches were reserved for mistresses and girl friends.

We had a "gourmet" lunch -- toad in the hole! And lots of wines, and after dinner drinks, and discussions about food and wine. And lots of laughs too! We had fun, renewed old friendships and look forward to seeing some of these guys at our next visit. Or perhaps on their travels should they ever come to Canada (Murray and Joan have a connection to Canada having studied here).

Magnetic Is.

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We spent a week on Magnetic Island -- late September through early October. The "spring" season down under. Magnetic Island is a short ferry boat ride from Townsville in Queensland. We rented a beach side condo apartment at the "Beachside Palms" in the town of Nelly Bay where the ferry arrives. We flew in and out of Townsville but never really saw any of that town.

Kate had researched interesting places to swim and snorkel. Magnetic Island has quite a bit of fringing reef (less colorful but close to shore) and you can take a day trip out to the Great Barrier Reef if you wish -- we did both. We explored lots of lovely bays and swam every day. It was a restful place to be.

There are some stories we can share....

That Thieving Kookaburra

The first night in our unit we were having some bread, feta and olives on our sea side patio watched closely by a kookaburra and a crow (the crows that make that Siamese cry just like our cat Painter). The two birds fought and tried to run one another off. Suddenly, the kookaburra swooped down, landed on our table and stole some bread. He seemed gigantic! We were pretty frightened but laughed it off. But then he took us by surprise and did it again. He startled us so much that Kate screamed -- this brought out the lady from the apartment next door to find out who was being murdered.

The "poor" kids

When Kate was sitting at a table at the currie takeaway in Nelly Bay and Reg was shopping, three boys (about 11 years of age) joined her and told her how they were so poor and didn't have any shoes or clothes and worked for the young woman who owned the currie place because she gave them treats. The kids were really funny, the story too silly and Kate was egging them on, joined shortly after by Reg.

We bumped into them on the beach a couple of days later with their parents. The parents appeared to be hippies -- but that's Maggie for you. Anyways, these "poor" kids all had expensive wet suits and were very capable swimmers.

The Spanish Prince and the Princess

On the cruise out to the reef. The cruise starts in Townsville but stops on Maggie to pick up a few like us.

This petite couple found the deisel exhaust fumes from the back of the boat quite sickening (which they were) and were up on the top level where we were. Below on the main deck there were several kids throwing up in yellow pails kindly supplied for just that purpose. The young woman, who we'll call the "princess", was half Spanish, half Australian and was probably okay but the "prince" was a spoiled petulant brat. Eg. at one point he decided he wanted to sit where she was sitting so she had to move for him. They were sick on the way out and then cold and sleepy on the way back. Kate was sitting with Reg on a seat up top side at the front by the captain which was protected from the wind. When Kate got up to go to the "head" the prince lept into her spot and promptly fell asleep so Kate had to find a seat elsewhere when she returned. That's when Kate met Dennis who as a pleasant chap and helped pass the time.

We saw the prince and princess on the beach at Arthur/Florence Bay another day. The prince was still being a bit of a sissy but they were friendly enough with us on that occasion.

Dennis - who motorcycled across Australia

After the Spanish prince stole Kate's seat, she sat between the princess and another young fellow, Dennis, who was proably in his mid to late 20's. Kate and Dennis struck up a conversation. He was from Townsville and was showing his Kiwi friend around -- including Maggie and the Reef. He had lived in London, England for 3 years (with the Kiwi who he met there) and in other parts of Australia. He was trying out different places but figured he was going to end up in Townsville -- it still seemed like the best place. He worked for a department store chain and was shortly going to be moving to Darwin (to try out that town for a while) where the store would employ him.

Kate told him that we had driven across Australia in 2004. But he went one better on that -- he and a mate had ridden motorcycles across the red center. They got trapped for two days 100 kilometers from Alice Springs when a rain storm washed out the roads. He said they were really lucky -- they got to see the dessert blooming with flowers, Ayer's Rock when it turned purple and stuff like that. He seemed like a really nice guy. He chatted a bit with the princess when she roused herself as we came close to land in Nelly Bay.

Boarding School in Charters Towers

We met a young 17 year old boy who went to a boarding school in the town of Charters Towers. He was one of those with us on the upper deck with the captain. His large friend was also with us on the way out. They both dozed off with the younger boy sprawled out on the large fellow -- kind of using him as a giant cushion. On the way back we talked a bit to the younger (smaller) boy who told us he was just graduating from school this year. He went to a boarding school in Charters Towers (about 1.5 hrs from Townsville and we think our friend Ross' mum is from there). He said he was at the boarding school "to keep him under control". He also said he had travelled a lot and liked going to Thailand (I think it was). He said, with a bit of a smirk, that his dad has a girlfriend there. The larger boy was a friend of his mother's. His mum had asked him to go with the younger boy to the Reef and since it was a free trip for him he figured, why not?

What boat?

We were on our way out to the Reef when a large ship appeared on the horizon. We watched for a while as it looked like our trajectories were going to meet, or at least come very close to one another. It became fairly clear that the larger ship was going to pass in front of us when the Spanish/Australian Princess (partner of the petulant Prince of Spain) looked up and panicked. She got the captain's attention (he was sitting calmly at the wheel, keeping his eye on things and letting the computer take us to the Reef). She asks him whether he saw the boat in front of us. The droll captain did a double-take and replied, "What boat?" He got quite a chuckle out of it, as did we.

Coitus Interruptus

The captain on our cruise to the Reef spotted a pair of turtles mating and brought the boat around so we could see them. The male is clinging to the back of the female. We interrupted their session. Were she to tire she'd just dive deep until he'd run out of air and have to let go.

In Queensland we treat all citizens as children

We were just leaving the docks on our fold up travel bikes after returning from the Reef when a police officer, in what passes for a paddy wagon in OZ (a small "ute" with a box on the back that is far too small for humans) motioned Kate over. He said that even on our little bikes it is the law in Queensland that you must wear a bicycle helmet (we were bare headed). Kate remembered that Bev had told us, on our last visit, that if we were ever stopped for not wearing helmets we should make sure to tell them that we're Canadians and not American (they apparently don't like the Americans). So Kate apologizes to the officer and tells him that in Canada the helmet law only requires that children wear helmets. He said that in Queensland they care about all their citizens.

Anyways, it was school break and they had a helmet campaign on. How could he tell the kids that they had to wear a helmet it they let us off? He gave us a warning and drove away. We walked our bikes until we were sure he wasn't around and then rode them again.

The next day, we found the bus system was pretty infrequent and not that satisfactory, plus we were told that snorkeling was best at Arthur and Florence Bays. You'd have to walk several kilometers in and out of those bays so we decided to rent a car. We rode our bikes down to the Moke car rental in Nelly Bay only to discover that you weren't allowed to take their rental cars off the main roads -- i.e. we still wouldn't be able to get into those bays. As we were leaving the car rental we met up with the same cop and he was pretty pissed with us (here we were again on our bikes with no helmets). After explaining that we were looking for a car, etc. etc. he let us off with a final warning.

We ended up renting a Toyota Echo at a place in Picnic Bay (the next bay to ours). They didn't advertise as much as the Moke place but were pretty much the same price and you could go where every  you wanted! We found a hippie bicycle shop at Horseshoe Bay and bought a couple of used helmets form $5 each. .... Of course we never bumped into the constable again!

"Controlled" Burn

We were watching the smoke on the nearby mountain top when we were hiking up to the old fort and then again when we we swimming in Arthur Bay. We started to worry -- the smoke was increasing, a lot! By the time we got out of Arthur Bay the smoke was down to the road. However, other than a sign saying "caution smoke", no one seemed to be too worried about it. We drove back to our apartment in Nelly Bay and couldn't see the smoke any more. Later, when we were taking the bus back home after dropping the car in Picnic Bay, we asked the bus driver about all the smoke. He said it was a "controlled" burn. We said it seemed to be out of control. He replied, "Yeah, that's usually what happens. An it kills a lot of animals as well."

Caught by low tide

On our last full day on Maggie we decided to snorkely the reef in front of our apartment in Nelly Bay. The tide was low so we figured this would be a good time to go out -- you would be closer to the coral reef with low water. Although, it was a bit windy and rough. We thought we might swim toward Xbase (the backpacker place towards Picnic Bay) where the reef is apparently quite close to the shore and climb in there. 

However, on the way there we noticed that the water was getting shallower and shallower on us. So we decided to head for shore. Unfortunately there was a lot of coral and rock we'd have to walk across to get to shore. When we had entered the water it was deep enough to swim across the rocks but now the tide was further out, the water was lower and the rocks were exposed.

So we decided to swim back to the jetty where we believed there was less rock to cross (actually brave tough soled Reg was willing to cross the rocks but gimpy tender-footed Kate wouldn't do that). So we swam, and we swam. And the water got shallower and shallower. We we reached the jetty, there was still a lot of rock and coral to cross (although not as much) but also some really disgusting muck. We did make it in though -- although we collapsed, exhausted, for the rest of the day.

The retired couple from Hawaii

A single girl was in the unit next to ours for the first few days but then a couple moved in. We were sitting at our table out front when they arrived on the bus. As tehy were climbing off the bus, they chatted with us and Kate asked the man if he was from Texas. He laughed and looked amazed. Close, he said. He was from Oklahoma but had been living in Hawaii for 20 or so years and thought he had lost his accent. They were our age and had recently retired. Their plan was to travel around the world for the next five years! That sounded like an awful idea to us, but it was their dream.

They agreed with the property caretaker that the weather was pretty "nippy". This was days of 25-30C with lows at night of mayber 16C -- paradise for us. The lady, who was Hawaiian, said there was no chance that she was going into the water -- too cold. The water wasn't cold for us but we did wear our light wetsuits when we snorkeled because you do tend to cool if when in the water for long periods.

Caning and Compulsory Service

The taxi driver who took us from our apartment at "Beachside Palms" back to the ferry terminal in Nelly Bay told us that he had almost settled in Revelstoke, B.C. and wished he had. He noted that people were more "mature" in Canada. "Not all of Australia is as bad as Queensland", he hastened to add. "Queensland has some rough edges".

He then informed us that the problem was that young people have no discipline. He said, "They should bring back caning and compulsory military service". He was raised that way and said it did him a world of good -- apparently it did not make him more broad minded. We asked him where he was raised. "Rhodesia". He did his military service there but but got out and continued his military career in South Africa after the Africans had the nerve to take back and rename Rhodesia. Sadly, I guess he liked the Apartheid system.

You meet all kinds when you travel ...

Perth

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We flew into Perth Western Australia (from Brisbane & Los Angeles) for an NDRI conference of Kate's held in the Northbridge area of Perth. We've been a few times for Kate's work with NDRI at Curtin University.

Flying over the center of the country we did catch some views of the barren landscape and salt water flats. We crossed that by car back in 2004 on the "Long Drive".

Perth is lovely city -- the biggest in WA and, as cities go, the furthest from any other. I believe the nearest city is Adelaide SA some 3000km to the east. There are other large towns in WA but for cities this is it.

September is their spring so the weather was warm and sunny. They say Perth has a "Mediterranean" climate. It never gets "cold" but it can sometimes get quite hot.

In the photo album there's some pictures of the Northbridge area. There is a lively night life there (sometimes problematic). It's a transitional neighborhood just outside of the Central Business District (CBD). I was surprised to see these old quaint cottages which had been boarded up. I suppose they've been gobbled up for land development.

I tramped through the CBD, to the Bell Tower, along the Swan River bank and up into Kings Park. That's a huge green space with commanding views of the city (see the photo above for example). There's lots of interesting gardens to explore, wild flowers and tree lined avenues. On one long tree lined street each tree had a metal plaque to commemorate a soldier lost to war. There's a picture of a plaque to a boy lost at Gallipoli back in WW I so these trees are quite old. I'm reminded of the Eric Bogle song "Waltzing Matilda" that tells the story, perhaps, of this boy or one like him who sailed off to Gallipoli.

On the day Kate wasn't at the conference we took a "Captain Cook Cruise" on the Swan River from the Bell Tower down to the port city of Fremantle. The cruise continues on another 30km to Rottnest Island but makes a stop in Fremantle. They also do winery cruises up the Swan River, we've done that before.

We had been to Fremantle for a conference back in 2003 so it was interesting to see the town again.

The Western Australia Maritime Museum is a modern structure on the port. I've been before, it's worth a visit. You can even tour an old WW II submarine that's in the dry dock there.

The town is a bit of a coffee culture/cafe place -- famous for espresso bars. The buildings are mostly well maintained two story originals from the turn of the last century. Victorian with fussy details, wrought iron work porches shading the lower street level.

There are two old prisons in Fremantle -- there's some pictures of the historic Round House Prison between the harbor and the port. The Fremantle Prison (which I have toured before) is awfully bleak.

We had lunch at a fish and chip shop on the harbor (the harbor as distinct from the port). Nearby there's some green space with a statue to an early group of settlers who had been "massacred" by the natives. A recent addendum tells the other side of the story -- the native aborigines here and elsewhere in Australia were not treated well then, and are certainly not treated well since then.

It was a brief visit to Perth. Followed by some time holiday on Magnetic Island and some work time for Kate in Brisbane.

Fred Eaglesmith Charity Picnic

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Kate, Kaitlan (our sorta neice) and I went to the Fred Eaglesmith Charity Picnic at Springwater Park near Aylmer Ontario. We've been regulars for years and have even camped here a few times (to avoid driving back and forth).

Here's some pictures of folks like Bill Durst (who lives in St Marys), Mike Plume (he's from the west and has a fantastic tune "She's Still Everything to Me"), and Fred's band of course.

Rizdales

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The photo album under the image has some pictures of the Rizdales performing at the Home County Folk Festival held in Victoria Park London.

The Rizdales do some impressive country music that we really like.

Maastricht, Netherlands

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In late May of 2006 we attended Kate's annual KBS conference -- this year it was in the historic university town of Maastricht, in the Netherlands. Maastricht is located in the very south of Holland, on the border with Belgium to the west and is bisected by the Mass (Meuse) River which is an active transportation route with canals and locks to manage the river flow and barge traffic. It's a stone's throw from Germany to the east in a narrow bit of Holland that follows the river only a short distance further south.

We stayed in the city centre in a top floor garret over looking the town square (Vrjithof Square) and the two historic churches Saint Jan's Church (Sint-Janskerk) and the Basilica of Saint Servatius (Basiliek van Sint Servaas). It's an old city with cobble stone streets, pedestrian friendly and much to explore.  The square has lots of restaurants with outdoor cafe's to idle away your time (when it's not raining).

The weather was often cool and damp but there were good days. French fries with mayonnaise on the square, sharing a bottle of cheap wine and hanging out with conference friends. A colleague was berating us for not drinking better wine but wouldn't a better wine would be wasted with French Fries? After all, what would be a good wine to go with a hot dog? Sometimes a cheap plonk is all one needs.

The Wednesday afternoon of the conference we explored "Seed Shops", "Coffee Shops" and "Smoky Barges" tethered to the shore. After which we stopped in to the Police Station to hear their opinion on legalized marijuana -- it's an odd situation where consuming and buying from licenced shops is allowed but growing and selling to licenced shops is not. It's an interesting experiment.

The Thursday night conference dinner was held at the modernistic Bonnefantenmuseum along the river which has a distinctively odd egg-shaped tower.

There's lots of history in Maastricht, old fortifications, narrow lanes, and more. It was great fun to explore -- I only wish the weather had been better. It was what I would describe as a cool wet spring.

Here's a photo album of our visit if you're interested.

Mexico

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We spent a week at the Gran Bahia Principe on the Mayan Riviera with Paul and Judy this winter. We flew out of the Kitchener airport which was very convenient for us. Although the "direct" flight did make a stop in Cuba. That was a bit of a surprise.

The Mayan Riviera is on the east side of the Yucutan Peninsula in Mexico and runs from Cancun at the north (where we flew in) down to Tulum (famous for the beach side Mayan Ruins). Our resort is just north of Tulum, south of Playa del Carmen and an hour and a half or so from the Cancun airport. On a map you'll see that the island of Cozumel is directly across from us (but it's quite far out in the gulf, you can't see it). There are resorts all up and down the coast here.

There's a bus to take us to our resort that meets us at the airport. And there are vendors selling tinned beer so we can get in the holiday mood. The highway south to our resort is a busy two lane, sometime made into three or four as vehicles pass on the shoulder. I'd not want to drive a car here -- pretty crazy. We meet Paul and Judy, who have flown in from Halifax, at the resort.

The Gran Bahia Principe is a huge complex of several resorts -- the Bahia Principe Tulum (where we were), the Bahia Principe Akumal (luxury) and the Bahia Brincipe Coba. We mostly hung around our part of the complex but did go the Akumal one evening for a Valentine's Day dinner. There is a shuttle bus service to take you between the resorts. The complex is quite large -- this means there are a lot more choices for restaurants, pools, and beaches. Which is good, but then the distances are a pain. Our resort is spread out along the beach with us on one end, Paul and Judy on the other.

Kate and I had a room near the beach by the La Gran Toruga restaurant at the south end of the resort. It's a long walk from the lobby, swimming pools and dining rooms. We planned ahead and brought our folding bikes with us. Kate was struggling with pain in her ankle which she broke last summer so the bikes help.

Our room is quite large, well equipped, clean, modern, colorful (lots of vibrant blues around) with tiled floors, marble in the bathroom. Like many holiday resorts the house maid leaves "towel art" on your bed when she tidies your room. This is more entertaining than functional.

There are about 40 guest buildings at the Tulum, each has 3 floors with quite a few units -- they're almost small apartment blocks. I read that there are nearly 1,000 rooms in total at the Tulum resort so this is a big place. The Akumal and Coba are similarly sized, say another 2,000 rooms for a total of 3,000 rooms in the whole complex. Within the Tulum are 3 pool areas, 5 restaurants and 7 bars. Including a beach bar that stays open 24 hours! Similar numbers for the other two. Together the three resorts make for a fair sized town of 6,000 or so guests with a ton of staff to serve them!

Many of the larger buildings at the resort or done up with thatched roofs -- large barn beam constructions. The huge lobby area is a circular construction with a large center post and beams running out from that. There's lots of marble, lots of Mayan replica reliefs (as above).

There's quite a bit of beach at the three resorts and you're free to roam amongst them. There is a bit of snorkeling you might try but mostly it's a soft sandy beach. There are these artificial reefs/barriers installed in the water to shelter the swimming area -- they're very big, very long, sand filled bags. They help in the rough weather. Paul went out one day to explore a bit of coral not knowing what the red flags meant and lost his snorkel. If you go to the beach it's a good idea to learn what the flags mean -- red means "Danger, danger Will Robinson! Stay out of the water!"

Our first off site adventure was to take a cab from our hotel to the Tulum archaeological site to see the Mayan ruins located on the beach. This is an impressive Mayan complex with a lot of extant structures to explore. Here, like at our resort, and throughout the area we meet up with large iguanas sunning themselves. At the entrance to the site there were these fellows in traditional garb who did a very daring pole dance on a small platform elevated to the top by ropes that unwound as they slowly spun and came back down to earth.

The resort has a large shopping mall on site, the Hacienda Dona Isabel. It's close to the entrance and the highway running along the coast. We take one of the small resort buses to check it out; it's too far to walk. There are colorful buildings, a large square and lots of shops selling trinkets, fancy sombreros and other souvenirs. This is for folks who want to shop but don't want to venture off site -- there are lots of shops in the nearby towns of Tulum and at Playa del Carmen.

Paul and Judy have their room at the other (north) end of the resort near the Tequila Restaurant which specializes in Mexican fare. We have dinner at the restaurant one night. The hostess who greets us is dressed in traditional style. Our dinner is entertained by a roving Mariachi band who ham it up.

Kate and I have breakfast at the La Gran Tortugua which is near our room. On Valentine's Day we had dinner at the Akumal resort next door. There are a lot of choices for eating.

There's a grand pool area in the middle of the resort for those who don't want to try the ocean. At our end of the resort we have a small pool and spa. There's a picture of some of us in the spa. We thought it was a hot tub kind of spa but it was bloody cold!

Our second off site adventure as a swimming/snorkeling trip with Jesus the guide. We were a small group in a small van and explored near by. The first stop is a collapsed cenote (a cenote is a cave -- the area is riddled with underground limestone caverns filled with water). There were several tours there at the time with lots of brave souls who were jumping off the cliffs into the water of the cenote pool. The second stop: a swim in a protected lagoon -- the plan was to swim from there out into the ocean but it was too windy. I think that lagoon is just north of our resort at Yal-ku. The last swim was in another cenote far off the main roads. We road on a couple of jalopies back into the jungle to the swimming site. The main chamber of the cenote had stairs leading down, there were a couple of large collapsed holes in the roof and trees growing up through these. It was quite a beautiful spot. Within the cenote Jesus, the diver who was leading us, took us under water briefly to explore some of the darkened caverns next to the main chamber -- he had a flash light and knew what he was about.

After our swim we were fed some spicy chicken, rice and beans and boy were we hungry. We greedily gobbled it up -- not as fancy as the resort but very tasty. The food was spicy, sort of like Jerk chicken, and they had some raw habanero peppers they suggested we try. Fortunately we recognize them and know how hot they can be. They didn't trick us.

The next day we took a bus to the Mayan ruins at Coba which is a long bus ride inland -- about an hour directly inland. It's an excavated site which would have been a large city at one time. We were able to get a pedi-cab to take Kate around -- it would have been too far to walk for her. There's an impressive, and very steep, pyramid you can climb (Paul, Judy and I did climb it). When we got to the top there's a view of the jungle but not much else. Much of the ruins have not been excavated as yet. The climb up the pyramid is very steep -- they have a rope you can hold onto as you climb. I was not very comfortable coming down; I felt I might topple over and stumble down so I went down on my bum taking it one step at a time.

There are some strange things to see here and they don't have it all figured out. There's a playing field, or at least they figure it's a playing field, with a big loop on the side. The idea, they guess, is to bounce a ball through the hoop (or bounce a head!). There are some remains of Mayan roads which made trade possible. Apparently they were sturdily built, like Roman roads, but have been overgrown by the jungle. One oddity we're told -- the Mayans had this great civilization, with big cities, roads and the like but they didn't have the wheel!

After the ruins of Coba we have another swim in a cenote and on the way back we are to stop at a native village. But first a roadside restaurant for a simple rice and beans styled lunch. When we return from our lunch we discover the bus has quit! There's a long wait for another bus and finally we're on the road again.

At the native village we see how folks live around here. They have very modest homes and do a bit of farming. The soil throughout the Yucatan is very minimal -- it's really limestone rock with cenotes and water underneath. There are no rivers or natural water flows. So there's hardly any dirt to grow things. Yet they do grow some things (basil looked good) and the jungle thrives. The villagers, who have very modest homes with palm leaves for the roofs, had some hand made trinkets to sell, our guide had brought some toys and gifts to give the children so they were glad to see us. They raise chickens and turkeys and had some captured animals they were keeping -- like a wild boar and another similar animal.  Meat on the hoof.

There was a marked grave in the village. There's very little soil so it's basically some rocks piled on top of "Rudy". There were touches of modernity -- especially in their shoes and clothes, the kids were playing soccer, a concrete municipal building, a bicycle and more. But I didn't see any sign of electricity or running water. There were lots of curious kids, and kids having kids. There's also a distinctive Mayan look to the natives -- the strong "Roman" nose. They look a lot like the Mayan relief replicas back at the resort.

But after a full day we return to our cloistered existence at the resort. With sun and surf, bounteous buffets, pina colada's on tap all night long.

On our last morning Kate does her last yoga exercises on the beach and we return home that day. On the way back our flight is direct to Kitchener (we dropped off passengers in Cuba on the way down). The route is a loop: Kitchener, Cuba, Cancun and back. Those returning from Cuba have a stop in Cancun -- that wouldn't have been much fun.

Portugal

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Kate and I spent a week in the Algarve, Portual over New Years, December 28 through January 9, on a holiday arranged by JM Vacations. We stayed in Albufeira at an apartment hotel close to the old city centre.

We've been to Portugal before -- once for a KBS meeting in Porto then again to the Algarve one March. Both visits were fun, the Portugese people are kind and friendly, and we enjoy the food and wine. We were hoping for some nice weather and were not disappointed. Of course it's winter and too friggin' cold to even attempt to go into the ocean.

This vacation package includes the flight, a rental car and an apartment for less than $1,000 per person. It's a pretty good deal. In the summer months these apartments are full, more expensive and the beaches are quite busy. The winter is the slow period and they're glad to have anyone come to stay. And, as Canadians, we think the weather is pretty nice .... because there's no snow!

We flew overnight from Toronto to Lisbon on Air Transat. We hate overnight flights -- you arrive exhausted and the time zone change makes it even worse. Next time we shouldn't be so cheap; for an extra $150 we could have flown first class. We picked up our rental car at the airport and after a bit of a struggle navigating the city found our way to the E1 expressway leading south the three hours or so to the Algarve and Albufeira. On the way we had to pull over in a rest area for a nap, I could not keep awake.

Our one bedroom condo styled apartment at the "Perlo do Algarve" is conveniently located behind the Modelo Hypermarket and well appointed. There are only a very few guests at this time of year and few events -- there was a sparsely attended event on December 30th with a couple of pretty Brazilian dancers (see photo above). The pool is open, but unheated. Kate uses it to cool her ankle (she broke her ankle in June and is struggling with pain). Outside on the street Kate finds a cute little black cat that people are feeding. We miss our cats.

Fisherman's Beach, Albufeira on our first day (Thursday 29th) is lovely and sunny. Just the weather we're looking for. There's a stage being set up on one end of the beach for a New Years Eve event with Nelly Furtado headlining. She's Canadian with Portugese roots - I like her music but we don't stay up for the event. Today there's a fellow making sand sculptures on the beach and others basking in the sun, fishing from the pier or bravely venturing a toe into the cold Atlantic. We enjoy the day and spend most of it drinking sangria, people watching and soaking up the sun. The restaurants along the esplanade have coolers with fresh catch of the day -- you pick the fish you'd like them to serve you. Always fresh!

On Friday we take our car for a bit of a drive to the west. In Porches we stop at Casa Algarve, Art Regional, Pottery and Azulejos (blue tiles). There are these huge terra cotta amphora scattered around that probably were used at one time to make wine (or perhaps to store it). The blue tile mosaics are quite impressive scenes composed of multiple fired tiles -- you see a lot of blue tile in Portugal.

Further on a Carveiro we have some views of the cliff side. Carveiro is another fishing port at the mouth of a narrow river valley emptying into the sea. There's a potter we visit who speaks good English -- he tells us his wife is English. We picnic at a secluded beach where there are stairs leading down to the shore. Reg tested the water and finds it frigid! That evening we see the Brazilian dancers back at our hotel.

On Saturday we go out for lunch (while we could cook in our room with food bought at the Modelo it's more fun to eat out) and we're back at Fisherman's Beach for the NY Eve festivities. We have some drinks beach-side and meet up with some young folk. We were able to get a table at the Tipico Ruina overlooking the beach-side cafes for dinner. This is a restaurant that seems to be built right into the cliff. After our time at the cafe's along the beach and our tipsy dinner at the Ruina we stumbled home early with intentions of watching the fireworks from our balcony at midnight. Good intentions....

New Years day, Sunday, is cold but sunny. We drive west to Lagos where there's an impressive rocky headlands. There are, apparently, some caves and such that you can see from boats who will take you to them. We have a fresh fish lunch at the Cafe Pria Dona Ana, a restaurant perched on the cliffside. I had called ahead to make a reservation but there was no need for that. At the end of the headlands there's the caves of Ponta da Piedade. We descend the stairs to the water edge but didn't take a boat tour. From there we head north and west towards the Atlantic coast and visit the old Castelo de Aljezur. From there back home to share some wine on our balcony that evening.

On Monday we've booked a jeep tour with several others of the surrounding countryside with a guide who goes by "Al Capone". He's a great fan of the old Algarve before it became a summer tourist mecca. We visit small towns and the hilly countryside with old windmills, abandoned farms, grazing sheep, cork, orange and olive orchards. We stopped at a farm to sample some aguadente (firewater!) and honey. Afterwards we have some lunch a the Restaruante "Rosmaninho" where a grizzled old timer plays a small banjo like instrument for tips. Alte is a small beautiful hill top village with white washed building, blue trim and lots of gift shops selling blue pottery. It was a fun day exploring the backroads by jeep.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we took a bus trip to Seville in Spain and then on to Gibraltar. In the high season the tour would have included a trip across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier. It was a rather full trip with a lot of time on the bus listening to our tour guide natter on about nothing much while you cross miles of the Andalusian countryside. In Seville we stopped at the gaudy Tower of Gold and the Plaza d'Espana where everything is tiled. In the city center we visited the Cathedral where they (claim to) have Christopher Columbus' remains. It was originally a mosque when the Moors controlled the Iberian peninsula. I went up the Cathedral bell tower for the views on high. We wandered the old streets of Bairro de Santa Cruz (the old Jewish Quarter) and had a nosh on the street at a tapas bar Casa Placido. That night we stayed in the Spanish port city of Algeciras before heading to Gibraltar.

The day in Gibraltar starts with a drive across the Gibraltar airport! The "rock" is just a short distance from the Spanish shore. In between some of the sea bed has been filled in to make a flat landing area for airplanes! At the far side of the rock there's a mosque and a viewing point to look across the strait to Africa and the Atlas mountains. We took a cable car to the top of the rock with a brief visit St. Michael's Cave where they sometimes hold concerts. There's good views from the top of the rock. The famous monkeys (so long as there are monkeys Gibraltar will remain British) are everywhere.  You have to be careful -- they will bite and pick your pockets. There was one that jumped on a boys head and proceeded to violently hump his hair until ejaculation! That didn't look like a lot of fun. After Gibraltar we returned on the long bus ride back to Albufeira retracing our route.

The trip to Seville and Gibraltar spent quite a bit of time in a bus on the road. The places are interesting, the drive not so much.

On Thursday we drive north across the coastal range to the Alentejo farming region. Al Capone (from our jeep adventure) has recommended a winery "Herdade do Esporao" that we visit. We have a lovely lunch -- the salt cod was to die for. We've seen salt cod in the hypermarket -- dry slabs of fish that you might buy by the board-foot. What ever they do to reconstitute the fish at this restaurant is amazing. Flaky, fleshy, white and no taste of salt. I would have thought it was fresh fish instead of dried salted planks from the Grand Banks of Canada!

Anyways, our server for lunch turned out to be the sommelier and was keen to introduce us to their fine wines. We told him we were hoping to buy something and he led us through a tasting. Portugese wines celebrate unusual varietals that you just don't find anywhere else. We were tasting a blend and Kate says "I think there's a shiraz in this one". Our server smiled slyly because Kate had got it. Our server kindly arranged a place for us to stay as well in the pretty pedestrian friendly historic hilltop village of Monsaraz. From there you can look to the west to see the Spanish border.

Exploring further in the Alentejo on Friday we investigate pre-historic and Roman sites, vineyards -- some with ancient vines -- and the historic town of Evora where we had lunch at the Pousada dos Loios. In the nearby Igreja de S. Francisco (church) there's a ossuary full of bones and the remains of plague victims from long ago. One dried emaciated body was strung up for all to see.  Interesting but creepy and I'm not sure why. The church itself is one of those gilted baroque examples. There's also the remains of a Roman Temple. There's more Roman arches, an aqueduct, at the nearby Conventinho do Bom Jesus da Mitra which is an impressive example of renaissance architecture from 1545.

Saturday had us enjoying a fine day in Albufeira. More time on Fisherman's beach. That evening we went to a folk dance at the Hotel Sol e Mar (Sun and Sea).

On Sunday we drove west and north to ascend the peak at Monchique for views of the area. The road up the hillside is quite steep. There is a restaurant at the peek but we ate in one on the road back down in the town of Foia. There's a spring along the road side and locals were collecting water there. Back in Albufeira we caught the last rays of another sunny day. Warm enough to sun bathe as long as you were out of the wind.

Our return flight Monday morning left from the nearby town of Faro, a half hour to the east on the Algarve coast.

A rather full week for us in the Algarve.


[Update 20/04/30: The "Perlo do Algarve" is now called the "Luna Miramar Club"}