Brazil Adventures

Kate was invited to a conference in Rio de Janeiro at the end of November. We had been to Recife in Brazil about 10 years ago and were not that keen to go again. Nevertheless strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God so we packed our bags and off we went.

Photo albums for the various stages of the trip including day by day albums for the Rio Negro boat trip are found in nearby blog pages (the picture at left is me on the Tucano trolling for wildlife).

We stayed off Flamengo Beach in the Catete neighborhood of Rio for a few days while at the conference. Kate was busy with colleagues while I tramped around the area - Catete, Gloria, Lapa, and the Castelo areas. Rio can be a very beautiful city -- there are parks and public art all over the place. It can also be a bit rough. I understand the city is being spruced up a bit for some coming international events. The thing I find distressing, which was my experience in Recife as well, was the threat of being robbed. I'd be tramping around with my camera taking photos and people would come up to me in the street and tell me to put things away in case I got robbed. I never felt I was going to be robbed but was continually told that I would be. I gave up on exploring with my camera and used a small pocket camera instead. Nevertheless I would still be told to protect that camera as well.

After the conference we rented a flat just off of Copacabana Beach. Kate and I rented bicycles and explored a bit of Ipanema. Our neice Eva, who had been teaching English as a second language in Chile, arrived in Rio on her way back to Canada and shared the rest of the adventures with us. We did the "Christ the Redeemer" (on Corcovado Mountain) and the "Sugar Loaf cable car" one day. I'd advise getting to both very early in the day. We were tardy and found the crowds a bit off putting. We rented bicycles again another day and the three of us biked on Ipanema and then the length of Copacabana to Leme Beach. One morning Eva and I tried to explore the Favela at Morro do Pavao (a short walk from our flat). There's a new glossy two stage elevator to take you up into the Favela ... but the elevator was broken at the second stage, and people kept herding us away. The "look out, you may be robbed" problem I mentioned earlier.

The beaches are lovely and there's lots of them. I understand that water quality varies quite a bit -- e.g. we were told the water quality at Flamengo Beach and Botafogo Bay is bad but Ipanama and Copacabana are fine. The one thing we weren't warned about was the water temperature -- gosh it's very cold. Lots of folks come to the beach to sun bathe and never enter the water.

We had some nice meals at sea side beach restaurants where we rediscovered the simplicity of black beans with rice. Add some seafood and you're in business. We had a couple of dinners with conference colleagues. One at a at the "Meat/BBQ" restaurant - Porcão Rio's, overlooking Sugarloaf & Botafogo Bay. Kate took advantage of the copious salad bar. On the beach and at the restaurants we enjoyed good beers and plenty of caipirinha's (squish a lime with sugar, add plenty of pinga -- it's a raw white rum, shake with ice and serve).

After a week or so in Rio we flew back to Manaus which is in the middle of the Amazon basin. It's the capital city of the state of Amazonas. Manaus is (or was) known as the "Paris of the Amazon". That may be a bit of slur on Paris. It's an old city which had a hay-day at the turn of the last century when rubber was king. These days it's a large and very busy sea port. There are some very grand new buildings around the Ponta Negra where we stayed but most of the city is hard scrabble.

We went to Manaus not to explore the city (gosh Rio is probably the prettiest city in all of Brazil) but instead to explore the Amazon. We went on a 7 day boat cruise up the Rio Negro on a small boat called the Tucano. Our good friend Cindy met us in Manaus and shared a cabin with Eva. In total there were 15 clients on the boat so it was a cozy little adventure far from civilization.You can read about the trip in this letter to the agency where we booked our trip. I'll not repeat myself here. Suffice to say it was a great adventure, good people & staff with lots of things to explore. Time flew by. If you're in that part of the world do try the boat tour up the Rio Negro.

From Manaus we returned via Panama City where we had a 12 hour lay-over. We took advantage of the time there to explore (via taxi) the new and old city, the Panama canal and Flamengo Island.

Again, I have posted photo albums for all of the above on nearby blog pages. Browse those at our leisure.

The Tucano

This is a review I had prepared for Rainforest Cruises. Links to photo albums and more are in another day by day blog posting of 22 December 2012.

In brief we had a wonderful adventure cruise on the Tucano Dec 8-15, 2012 out of Manaus and up the Rio Negra in Brazil. There were 15 passengers on board (4 in our Canadian party, 2 Swedes, 2 Brits and 3+2+2 Yanks) and we all got along well. We were well served by the 8 in crew who worked long hours and were always cheerful. Everyday was chock a block full of adventures starting very early in the morning with a 5:20 wakeup, a 6:00-7:00 canoe trip (it's a narrow motorized boat not a "canoe"), then breakfast at 8:00, a 10:00 hike or shore visit, then lunch and a rest in the heat of the day, another canoe trip at 4:00-6:00, then dinner at 7:00, and finally an evening canoe trip (sometimes a talk instead). The day ends with tired but happy folks crashing into bed and a sound sleep around 9:30 or so at night -- no drunken evenings baying at the moon on this cruise.

The weather held. We had a few showers, some quite severe and entertaining to watch. We enjoyed a lightning storm one evening around dinner time. There was rain on some canoe trips were people got soaked, others where the weather was threatening but dry. But mostly it was sunny. And hot. And humid. Dripping wet humid. Hikes at 10:00 were always a dripping wet affair -- not from the rain, but from the sweat and humidity. I'd sometimes have a cool shower on return just to be refreshed. We visited a fishing village (where we met lots of kids), the ruins and old town at Velho Airao (where we got a soaking rain storm and ate fresh mangos which fell at our feet), the town and shipyards at Novo Airao (where the Tucano was built) and several forest walks.

Our rooms were very comfortable and well tended by Teresa the housekeeper -- rooms were tidied and beds made early in the morning when we were off on canoe trips. Air conditioning at night worked well -- I don't know if I could have taken the heat and humidity other wise. The "hot" water showers were a bit of a waste of time and a bother for the ship to manage (you could have hot water or you could have electricity and air conditioning). The river water was more than warm enough for showers. Twin beds couldn't really be pushed together to make a double, didn't even try. Overall rooms were more than adequate. They're not luxurious, it's not a huge cruise ship, but more than enough. Especially when you compare with the cramped boats we'd see go by ferrying people from town to town. There they slept in hamocks in the open with a shared bathroom. Each cabin has it's own private bath with flush toilet. A palace really.

Our captain Flavio navigated us up the Rio Negra seemingly by memory alone.

Sometimes by spotlight at night! I had asked about GPS but no they navigate by landmarks they recall. This can be dodgy at this time of the year when the water is very low. There was one dangerous rapids we went through and other times you'd see rocks and sandbars which would make navigation difficult. Flavio did well. We would occasionally see other boats -- locals fishing, ferry boats, tugs pushing sand-barges -- but mostly it was a solitary affair. The mechanic Flavio kept things humming on board and sometimes accompanied us on canoe trips.

One thing we especially liked was the food. Vilma, the cook, kept us well fed with an assortment of fresh fruits, vegetables, etc. Simply prepared but very tasting (when we got home I ran out to buy a mandolin to slice cabbage and vegetables to make salads like Vilma's). We had fish from the river several times and a couple of roasted turkeys. We learned to like manioc and experimented with different fruit juices -- some of the local fruits are very tasty, others not so. And local fruit based ice creams. All good to try. Perhaps the hiking and boating had us extra hungry. In any case we ate and slept well. There was plenty of wine, cold beer and sodas for drinks at reasonable prices. We brought some pinga, rum and fruit juice of our own. I enjoyed the caipirinha evenings where we learned about mixing lime, sugar and pinga. I had brought some pinga that I got for $4R at the Super Marcado in Manaus, another passenger was telling me about buying some at a bar where they charged him $40R for a bottle!! The thing about pinga is it's all raw alcohol -- it's a cheap white rum with tequila overtones. It's not a fine drink, so you shouldn't spend a lot.

Edivan and Souza were great guides with very good English. We enjoyed them both. The daily canoe trips to spot birds and animals were always fun and both guides have "eagle" eyes able to spot birds, flora and fauna at incredible distances. Souza spoke at a couple of evenings (instead of a night time canoe trip). Once on the fruits and nuts (which we got to see on tramps through the forest) and another time on the beliefs and superstitions of the natives. Both seemed to have good connections with the locals at the villages we visited. Locals would sometimes come to the boat to buy/trade for diesel fuel. One time we met some locals who needed some medicine for dysentery -- everyone on board was well equipped and more than happy to share. None of us came down with bugs of that sort (although one of our group came down with a flu/cold which she brought with her).

The deck hands, Pakita and Chakal, would sometimes drive the canoes for Edivan and Souza. They were great guys as well, always helpful, quick to laugh and fun to be around. They both joined us swimming on the creek. But otherwise were kept busy tending the canoes, washing our footwear and tending the ship.

Two adventures dear to us where about swimming -- Kate, my wife, is part fish. One day we took a canoe trip up a narrow tributary (where we saw a cayman -- one of many on the trip) and swam in a narrow creek with clear swift moving waters -- cool by local standards. Others continued up the river for a hike, Edivan and the Swedes stayed with us for the swim. Another day we swam on a sand bar on the Rio Negra itself where the water is very warm -- that same water we showered in. We talked to Edivan about swimming more often (why can't we just jump off the boat and swim). He expressed a concern about safety -- deep waters and critters in the water. I understand the concern but we would have liked to swim more often.

The trip ends in Manaus with a morning spent fishing for piranhas. We caught some and ate them that night. There was another forest tramp and this time we did get to see some monkeys high in the trees (often times on the boat we could hear howler monkeys in the distance) and a sloth up close -- it had fallen from the tree. And we saw the meeting of the rivers where the black Rio Negra meets the cloudy grey of the Amazon. Some music, a singer and more caipirinha's to close off a perfect trip. 

Some comments/suggestions for those thinking about taking this trip. Firstly, do go, it's well worth it. But be aware of a few things:

1.  You're going to spend a lot of time bird watching. Be prepared with good binoculars. 
2.  If you want to see birds, animals, etc. up close and personal go to a zoo (eg. at the Tropical Hotel). 
3. We were at the end of the dry season where the water is very low (some 17m lower than high water) with steep river banks exposed. At high water you're going to be able to canoe right into the forest. Perhaps the end of the wet would be the ideal time to go. 
4. You are roughing it a bit, it's not luxurious. Don't expect hot water and hot showers. Do expect good food! 
5. We stayed at the Park Suites which is right next door to the Tropical where the tour departs/ends. I'd recommend the Park Suites, it's a very short walk to the Tropical lobby. 

 Gosh, I've rambled far more than I intended. I hope this helps.

 PS. We got a good deal from Rainforest Cruises, others paid as much for bunks.

Panama City

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We went through Panama City on our trip to Brazil in December of 2012. On the way back we had most of a day to see the city. We rented a taxi and saw the old vs new city, the Panama Canal and had lunch on Isla Flamenco. It's a pretty spot.

Here's an album of photos from our visit.

Manaus

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We flew through Manaus Amazonas on our way to Rio de Janerio in November of 2012. On the return leg we did a week long boat cruise up the Rio Negro (another album). This album shows some of Manaus. It was once called the “Paris of the Amazon”. There is some lovely stuff to see, but it's a hard scrabble port city.

Rio Negro - 7

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Friday December 14, 2012 of our week long trip on the Tucano exploring the Rio Negro. Around Manaus - catching piranha, jungle walk, sloth, caught in the rain, meeting of waters, Manuas.

Here's a photo album of our adventures that day.

Rio Negro - 6

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Thursday December 13, 2012 of our week long trip on the Tucano exploring the Rio Negro. Morning canoe, town of Airao, shipyard, caught in the rain, making caipirinhas!

Here's a photo album of our adventures that day.

Rio Negro - 5

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Wednesday of our week long trip on the Rio Negro.

Bird watching in the morning, a deserted old town, rain in a village, a swim from a sand bar.

Here's a photo album of our adventures that day.

Rio Negro - 4

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Tuesday December 11, 2012 of our week long trip on the Tucano exploring the Rio Negro. Swimming in a creek, exploring big trees.

Rio Negro - 3

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Monday December 10, 2012 of our week long trip on the Tucano exploring the Rio Negro. Fishing Village.

Here's a photo album of our adventures that day.

Rio Negro - 2

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Sunday of week long trip on the Tucano exploring the Rio Negro. Morning canoe adventure where Eva is “attacked” by a dog fish, morning jungle walk, arriving at Fishing Village.

Here's a photo album of our adventures that day.

Rio Negro - 1

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Saturday of week long trip on the Tucano exploring the Rio Negro in December of 2012. Departing Manaus, first canoe adventure exploring the channels. Evening talk on fruits and nuts

Here's a photo album of our adventures that day.

Rio de Janeiro

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We arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Nov 30, 2012 and stayed at Flamengo Beach for a few days -- Kate had a conference. We then moved to a little flat we rented just of Copacabana Beach. Our neice Eva arrived from Chile and we did Christo Redentor and Sugarloaf.

We rented bikes and explored some beaches. Lots of fun, beautiful city.

Graphic Underground London

Graphic Underground London was a project by Brian Lambert of the MacIntosh Gallery at the University of Western Ontario to collect and celebrate the poster art created in London, Ontario during the first punk wave of the late 1970's and early 1980's. A book was published, a gallery show staged and a musical event was held to celebrate those days.

I was peripherally involved in that punk scene through my band photography. Brian's book collects essays about the time, posters from the era and contains many of my photos taken of bands in bars around town. If you dig around in my blog you'll find lots of albums of various bands and events.

This photo album (click on the photo at left) contains some pictures from the opening of the exhibit at the Forest City Gallery (Oct 26, 2012) and a multi-band reunion show the next day at Call the Office of seminal bands who played London during that time -- the Enemas (Brian's band from Guelph), NFG/63 Monroe (who still play), the Zellots (one of my favorites) and Uranus (sadly I didn't stay for their set).

Maurice Watson Quinton 1914-2012

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 My father Maurice Watson Quinton passed away recently at Spruce Lodge in Stratford. Dad was 98 years old and had lived a full life. The picture to the left is the pair of us in 1992. We both were a lot younger. I've not been able to collect my thoughts to rightly eulogize a man who meant so much to me. My brother Paul has blogged on A Time and a Place for Everything. Fortunately for me others, like Paul, have collected their thoughts so I'll post what they've had to say while I organize my own thoughts for another day.

First the funeral announcement from the Owen Sound Sun Times newspaper:

"QUINTON, Maurice Watson - Peacefully at the Spruce Lodge in Stratford, on Wednesday, September 19th, 2012. Maurice Watson Quinton, recently of Owen Sound and formerly of Walter's Falls, at the age of 98 years. Dearly loved husband of the late Margaret Quinton (nee Dixon). Loving father of Ellen Edmonstone, of Victoria, B.C., Larry Quinton (Jean McLaren), of Collingwood, Anthony Quinton (Vivian Siever), of Niton Junction, Alberta, David Quinton (Gail), of Hamilton, Reginald Quinton (Kathryn Graham), of St. Mary's, Dale Quinton (Sherie) of Hubley, Nova Scotia and Paul Quinton (El Saichua), of Cambodia. Proud grandfather of 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren. Dear brother of Hilda Puddicombe, of New Hamburg. Predeceased by his parents, Richard and Alberta (nee Carney) Quinton; his brother, Emerson Quinton; his sisters, Beatrice Matheson, Melba Vivian and Olive Pitts. Maurice was born and raised in Walter's Falls. He owned and operated Maurice Quinton and Sons Transport Ltd. in Walter's Falls for most of his life. Friends may call at the BRIAN E. WOOD FUNERAL HOME, 250 - 14th Street West, Owen Sound, Ontario N4K - 3X8 (519-376-7492) on Sunday from 2:00 - 4:00 and 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. A Funeral Service for Maurice Quinton will be held at St. Philip's Anglican Church, Walter's Falls on Monday, September 24th at 1:00 p.m. Interment in St. Philip's Cemetery, Walter's Falls. In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Philip's Anglican Church or the charity of your choice would be appreciated as your expression of sympathy. Messages of condolence may be sent to the family on-line at www.woodfuneralhome.ca

A life well lived and a man well loved."

With the permission of the author, Rev Canon Nancy Adams, here is the homily she delivered at Dad's funeral at St Philip's Anglican Church, Walter's Falls where dad was buried.

"Funeral Homily - Maurice Quinton, September 24, 2012

As pastor to Maurice when serving in this parish several years ago, I’m going to add my voice to those who have already spoken to say that I will remember him as a man who was principled, focused and determined; a man of great personal integrity. Maurice didn’t shrink back when it came to expressing and living his values; he had a crystal clear idea of what was right and proper - a traditionalist in many senses - and heaven help the person who tried to change his mind about something once it was made up! He was unswervingly loyal to his family, his community, and his church; he understood the value of knowing your roots, and could be counted on to share tidbits of local history with anyone who would listen. His commitment to this church in particular is the stuff of which legends are made. Among other roles he filled in the church, he was Secretary-Treasurer here at St. Philip’s for well over 40 years, and if I’m not mistaken is pretty much single-handedly responsible for establishing the means by which the care of this building and grounds will continue well into the foreseeable future; and recognition for his broad-based work on behalf of the church came in 2005 when he was honoured with the Bishop’s Award for Excellence. He was truly an old-fashioned Anglican churchman - proud of the church’s heritage, devoted to its liturgy, and committed to the notion that a church building is valuable - not only as a piece of local history, but also as an enduring sign of God’s presence in the community. He understood stewardship in terms of recognizing his blessings and giving back. Heaven knows, we could use a little more of that attitude in the church and in the world these days!

I also knew Maurice as a welcoming and hospitable person who enjoyed a good chat. He was thoughtful and knowledgeable on many subjects and even if your opinions on any given topic were in conflict with his, as mine often were, you could agree to disagree with Maurice, and still part friends. And I have to say, that as a model for how to age gracefully, I have seen few parallel his ability to stay physically active, mentally alert, and young at heart. I can still see the twinkle in his eye and the playful grin on his face as he shared his latest, often slightly off-colour joke with me on his way out the door after Church on a Sunday morning....which just goes to prove, if you can still tease and flirt at 93 and beyond, you must be doing something right.

Maurice was also a person of quiet and confident faith, which as I mentioned was most in evidence in his commitment to ensuring the continuing presence of St. Philip’s in this community. But there was more to it than that, and it surfaced every year when Ellen and Maurice and I would sit down to plan the annual memorial service for the cemetery. He would never ask for it himself, but Ellen knew that his favourite hymn was "O Master Let Me Walk With Thee", and every memorial service that I was here for, it got sung.... a musical thank you, I suppose, to this grand old man who laboured quietly behind the scenes in this, his beloved church. And yes, we’re going to be singing it a little later on in the service, but for now I simply ask that when we get to it, pay attention to the words, because they will say a lot about the faith that he embraced: that amid the changes and chances of life, if we have faith, then we also have hope...not only in life, but also in death.

So - we’ve come together to celebrate the life and faith of a remarkable family man, business man, community historian, church member, and friend. In remembering and sharing our memories of Maurice today and over the next while, we’ll be calling to mind the love he shared and the strength he brought, but I rather suspect we’ll also be balancing those gifts with some stories of his peculiarities and idiosyncrasies. He was human, after all, and not a saint - in fact, if we try to remember him as a saint, we do him, and ourselves, an injustice. So - remember his strengths with pride, his mistakes with forgiveness, and his peculiarities with humour.

The thing I’ll always carry with me as a memory is that Maurice knew without a doubt that his life was in the hands of Jesus his Master; that his spiritual thirst could be quenched by the Living Water, and his spiritual hunger fed by the Bread of Heaven. I think he would want us all to know that in relationship with the Master, there is comfort and healing and hope. We thank God for the privilege of knowing and loving Maurice; and for the conviction that he is now, indeed, walking with the Master he loved and served all his life.

Revd. Canon Nancy Adams"

Finally, I have posted an album of photos of Dad taken throughout his lifetime. There's photos from his youth and lots with family and friends. Family and friends who will miss him.

Fred Eaglesmith Charity Picnic

Here's some pictures from the Fred Eaglesmith Charity Picnic - August 2012.

[This is a repost from Google+ which will shutdown soon]

Parry Sound

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My friend Charles wanted to go on the Island Queen out of Parry Sound. I drove us up, we stayed overnight, and caught the island tour the next day.

There's some beautiful wind swept landscapes -- Group of Seven kind of views.

Stavanger

June of 2012 found us in Stavanger, Norway for Kate's annual KBS conference. Here's a photo album of our visit.

Stavanger is an old port city on the south west coast of Norway. North Sea oil fields are nearby and account for some of Norway's financial stability. There's a lot of industry here to support the ships on the oil fields. We had been to Bergen (another old port city) and Oslo on another visit many years ago but this time we flew in and out directly.

We stayed at a Havly Best Western near the city port. Kate's conference was out of town a bit at the university. Around the hotel and port it's mostly a pedestrian mall of quaint older buildings with a rabbit warren of lanes to explore. There are some new modern buildings and shopping malls interspersed but most of my pictures are of the wooden buildings - often painted white, often painted in colorful pastels. We were lucky to arrive during a Music Festival so there's quite a few band pictures. On the other side of the port from us is an even older part of town called Gemle and there are mostly white washed homes there.

I did lots of hiking around the town while Kate was at the conference.

One adventure/hike that I went on was to take a ferry to Tau (a short ride away), then a bus and then a strenuous hike over rought terrain up to Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen in Norwegian). It's quite a long hike but a stunning view when you get to the rock. It's a flat square of level rock (approximately 24m or 82ft square) which stands over 600m (1,982ft) straight down to the long narrow fjord below! Some folks would sit on the edge of the rock, or peer over the edge. I couldn't compel myself to get anywhere near the edge. It scared the bejesus out of me! Since then I've found clips on YouTube of people base jumping off the rock with a wing suite and flying down to the fjord below. That scares me even more!

I found the hike up a bit strenuous with the shoes I was wearing. I suspect the poor arch support made it all the more difficult. Some of the KBS conference group went there for the Wednesday afternoon social adventures and I understood that someone twisted their ankle on the hike and had to be carried out -- no fun! For the KBS banquet event we took a boat up the fjord to see Pulpit Rock from below.

There's another famous rock over a fjord to hike to in Norway -- Kjerabolten is a small rock wedged into a crevice some 984m (3,228ft) straight down to the water below! It's a way further north, not near us at all.

The small harbor is often busy with a couple of cruise ships stopping here as a port of call while exploring the fjords. The "Costa Fortuna" (is the sister ship "Costa Lotta"?) is the funniest name I've seen on a boat.

Pulpit Rock

June of 2012 saw us in Stavanger Norway for Kate’s KBS conference.  It’s a pretty historic harbour town with lots of pedestrian friendly areas. That’s Kate and I at lunch at left – note that we’re dressed for the cooler weather. Nearby I went on a boat trip and hike to “Pulpit Rock” (Preikestolen) which overlooks this huge fjord (Lysefjord) Preikestolen (The Pulpit Rock) and the Lysefjord Preikestolen (The Pulpit Rock) and the Lysefjord, Norway Photo: Terje Rakke/Nordic Life 2011Preikestolen (The Pulpit Rock) and the Lysefjord, Norway Photo: Terje Rakke/Nordic Life 2011Preikestolen (The Pulpit Rock) and the Lysefjord. The rock is a viewpoint of about 30m square that sits 600m over the fjord with a sheer drop down to the water. Lots of folks would sit on the edge of the rock; others would stand near the edge or lie on their tummies and look over the edge. I could do neither; the vertigo was too much for me.  I did find several YouTube videos of fellows doing base-jumps off the rock. Very scary!  Friends tell me there’s an even scarier spot you can visit further up the fjord. There’s this big round boulder (called Kjeragbolten) stuck in a crevasse that you jump onto (sic!). It’s 1000m over the fjord so if you miss the jump you’re toast.... I can’t imagine doing that.

The hike to Pulpit Rock takes about 2hrs each way. There’s a vertical rise of 300m (you take a bus to a lake side resort in the mountains) over a distance of about 4km. Most of the hike is over rough scree that’s very hard on the ankles. When I came down off the hike my knees and ankles were exhausted. Of course there’s several pretty Norwegian 20-somethings running up and down the trail as you stumble along. They’ll be sorry some day when their knees and ankles wear out prematurely.

Stavanger is a pretty historic town. I have posted a photo album if you are interested.

Florida Road Trip

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In late March of 2012 we did a short driving trip to the Florida Keys via Nashville and Cocoa Beach. It was a short trip in terms of time – we had only given ourselves 10 days (leaving Friday, returning Monday next) – but a long trip on the road. We like long drives and hadn’t done one in a while. Nashville is a bit of a diversion but there’s some music there we really like – we went to the “Bluebird Cafe” for music in the round on both ends of the trip. In Cocoa Beach (that’s Florida near Cape Canaveral) we visited with Joan (who stood up for us at our wedding) and Ron who rented a condo for the month. They do that every year and have always asked us if we’d like to visit.

In the Keys we went snorkelling on Looe Key off the Bahia Hondo state park near Marathon – that’s about half way down the keys. It’s a short boat ride out to the reef and one day the weather was good enough for us to get out onto the reef. It’s a bit disappointing as we have snorkelled a bit in Australia where the reefs are in much better shape. Nevertheless we saw some fishies including sharks (which are a bit scary but apparently common). We rented a “cabin” at the nearby Seashell Beach Resort (that's a heron photo from the "beach"). The naming is a flight of fancy that doesn’t hold true -- there's really no beach and it's not much of a resort. Nevertheless we had fun in the area. We ate lots of seafood – shrimps in our cabin, stone crab claws and “Lobster Reuben”.

A notable adventure in South Miami Beach on the way back.... we love the restaurant strip on Ocean Drive in the heart of the art-deco area of South Beach and had booked the Cardozo hotel (expensive, refurbished and quite nice but mind the cock roaches) so we could enjoy an evening stopping at different funky spots for drinks, noshes and an evening of people watching. All within a short walk of our room. As we’re starting the “greeter” at the Cardozo catches us with a two for one drink deal which we ought to have refused. We ordered a couple of caipirinha’s with the idea of having a quick sip before heading out to see more. The drinks were huge ($32 for the two – if we’d known the price we might have guessed the size) and of course we had to finish them. This meant we were quickly quite tipsy and couldn’t negotiate much of the strip. Saner minds prevailed and we went to our room with the idea of having a little nap and exploring things later ... when we awoke at midnight. There’s a lesson there, probably several.

Anyways, I have posted a photo album if you're curious.

Phoenix AZ

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We were in Phoenix AZ for some meetings and then some vacation time. For the first part of the trip we stayed in the Hyatt Regency a downtown high rise hotel hosting Kate's meetings. Later we stayed in Scottsdale (a suburb of Phoenix) in a colorful and funky low rise hotel called the Saguaro with a lovely pool and nearby entertainment district.

I fell ill in Phoenix (food poisoning I think) but we did manage some side trips with Kate's colleague Sam. We drove out to the Casa Grande National Monument. It's a very large ruin of an old Pueblo native village constructed out of adobe. Oddly it's in the middle of some very flat land but I suppose that's where they were able to divert the river and farm the land. If you're looking for the ruins hugging cliffs that's in another part of the state (eg. we visited Canyon de Chelly many years ago). We also did a drive out to Tortilla Flat (if only for the name). You see lots of desert country, cactus and rough mountains out there and some water too. The Salt River is dammed to form Canyon Lake for boating and water supply to Phoenix (I seem to recall that the bulk of water for Phoenix comes from the Colorado River but I could be wrong).

Anyways, the Saguaro was a delightful hotel for a visit to Scottsdale. You're far away from the towers of downton Phoenix and close to an entertainment/market district that they call Scottsdale Oldtown. Hanging out at the Rusty Spur and watching the dancers was fun. There's tourist shops with shaded verandas over the side walks, adobe churches and and old time feel. There's a waterfront area in Scottsdale as well -- that's more chic than they cowboy centric old town.

We took a day trip and headed north to Sedona (it's midway between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon). That's an interesting area with distinctive mesas and trails to explore them. It's at a mcuh higher elevation and we met some snowy weather. I understand that Sedona is a good place to get away from the summer heat if you live in Phoenix.

Here's an album of photos from our visit for those who are interested.

Mediterranean Cruise II

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 I have posted some photos taken on our Mediterranean Cruise back in November, 2011. It was a fun adventure in very scenic spots so there were a lot of pictures to go through. The picture at left was taken at Oia on the island of Santorini. We missed a conference on Santorini back in 2004. And we had plans to go there back in 2005 -- we had to cancel when Kate broke her ankle. So we finally made it and are pleased to report that it's a stunningly beautiful spot. But so too are the other ports of call. For more photos see the Photo Album of our Mediterranean Cruise.

We did our part to save the Greek and Italian economies and we even did our bit to change the governments -- both Berlusconi and Papandreou resigned during our trip! Coincidence?