Photography

28 November 2017 After leaving San Francisco we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge on our long drive to Yosemite National Park. The bus is cozy but comfortable, and Pat our CEO has been playing some great music. We arrived mid-afternoon at Yosemite National Park, which gave us time to see some of the giant Sequoia trees — some of which can be up to 3,000 years old. We only got to see a few, but they are absolutely amazing! You could even go for a walk into the pass of one of the fallen trees — that’s how big they are.

1 December 2017 On Wednesday we travelled west from Bakersfield towards Las Vegas. On the way however we had to cross the ‘valley of death’ or, as it is known, Death Valley. The scenery was absolutely magical and a lot hillier than I thought it would be. Death Valley is the hottest, the driest and the lowest place in the USA, having reached temperatures of up to 57 degrees Celsius. At our last stop, Badwater Basin (where the photos below were taken) we were 282 feet below sea level.

2 December 2017 Today (Friday) we left the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas behind and headed north west. In the space of around an hour or so we spent time in three states — Nevada, Arizona (just going across the north west corner) and then into Utah. Our main activity for the day was a 2 hour hike in Zion National Park in the mid-afternoon. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking once again. The park is really well laid out, with a great visitor centre and gift shop.

4 December 2017 On Saturday we awoke early to meet at the bus at 6:30am (apart from Katelyn who enjoyed a sleep in at the hotel). The early start was to accommodate the opportunity to watch the sun rise over the magnificent Bryce Canyon National Park rock formations. And we weren’t disappointed either! The weather was very cold though, starting out at around -2 degrees. After a quick 15 minute trip back to the hotel for breakfast (and to collect Katelyn!) we returned to Bryce Canyon for a hike into the canyon itself. The hike took around two hours and gave us some absolutely fabulous views of Bryce Canyon. For the second day in a row we were being treated to some of the USA’s (and the world’s) most amazing rock formations.

5 December 2017 Yesterday (Sunday) was a big day, plus one of the best of the trip so far. Horseshoe Bend We started early with a short drive to Horseshoe Bend, where the mighty Colorado River makes an epic U-turn. The viewing area (a 10 minute walk over a sand hill from the car park) is quite amazing. There is literally a sheer rock cliff, with no fences, and people just get as close as they dare to take their photos. A few people asked me to take their photo for them on their phones, and for each one I begged them to be careful near the edge and not to step back at all. Some people were even sitting on the edge, which is just too stupid to put into words.

6 December 2017 On Monday we left Mexican Hat (the town) and headed to the Grand Canyon, safe in the knowledge that Katelyn’s phone was not sitting deep down in a composting toilet. When we arrived, our CEO asked us to trust him with an interesting approach he has for first time visitors. As we started getting near the Grand Canyon, he asked us to close our eyes as he finished parking. As we got out of the bus he then asked us to put bags over our heads, carefully marched us in conga line form to near the edge of the Grand Canyon, then took a mobile phone and photographed us as we all took off our bags together to see the Grand Canyon for the very first time. Absolutely breathtaking!

8 December 2017 On our way from the Grand Canyon to San Diego, we drove part of the historic Route 66. I never realised that it all started with a movie director in Chicago who needed to finish filming a movie before the end of December one year, otherwise his film wouldn’t be released. The weather in Chicago at the time was too cold to allow filming to continue, so in desperation he called a friend in Los Angeles. The friend told him the weather was great and suggested finishing his filming there — which he did, putting in motion the LA movie industry and Route 66.

9 December 2017 We arrived in San Diego late on Wednesday afternoon. After a chance to freshen up we headed out for dinner at the Casa Guadalajara Mexican restaurant. This is by far the best Mexican restaurant I have ever been to, and one of the most fun places to eat I’ve ever been. It is huge, with all sorts of areas to sit. We sat in the area outside which was a bit like a massive beer garden, but much nicer. The beautifully mild climate in San Diego meant we could sit comfortably outside with only a light jacket or no jacket at all.

10 December 2017 My previous impressions of Los Angeles, from a visit almost 25 years ago, weren’t great. This trip to LA hasn’t changed my perceptions. In my last post I mentioned that San Diego was the first larger USA city that I have been to that I could consider living in. I would place LA at the other end of that spectrum. Busy, crowded and lots and lots and lots of concrete.

13 December 2017 On Monday afternoon we landed at Washington Dulles International Airport. After leaving the aircraft, we had to catch a shuttle bus from our terminal to the main terminal area. That’s when Katelyn realised she had left her backpack on the shuttle bus — a complete accident and something any of us could easily do. Now, if there is anywhere you DON’T want to leave an unaccompanied bag, Washington Dulles International Airport would be very high on the list.

16 December 2017 Apologies for the delay in blogging. Having just spent five and a half days in New York, I only have time to breathe and write this as I sit on Lufthansa flight 401 from New York to Frankfurt. There is just so much to do in New York, I didn’t want to waste a minute. We did quite a bit, so I’m going to do this in two parts — a diptych of sorts.

20 December 2017 Big. Small. Crowded. Noisy. Cold. Car horns. Sirens. Shopping. Vibrant. Complex. These are just some of the words that come to mind thinking about New York. It’s like no other place I’ve been to and has so much to offer. At one point I thought that one way to describe it could be like Las Vegas, but with soul and character. Brooklyn Bridge & DUMBO On Sunday Nicole and Katelyn felt like a long sleep in and rest, but I didn’t, so I headed off to explore. A key thing on my list was photographing the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn side. For me, the only way to experience New York is to walk, as it rewards you with all sorts of surprises along the way. I chatted to some nice people from Chicago over breakfast, came across some more dog parks, and discovered an ice skating rink and a few Christmas markets.

23 December 2017 For our flight from New York to Frankfurt, we had the very pleasant surprise of being upgraded to Premium Economy. Thank you Lufthansa — very nice! That made everything much more comfortable and allowed me to at least get a few hours sleep. Unfortunately Nicole and Katelyn weren’t able to sleep though. We arrived at our hotel at around 7:00am, but amazingly were able to check in to our room at that time. Thank you Citadines Frankfurt! We decided to sleep until around 11:00 before setting off to explore.

1 January 2018 On 23 December we flew into London Heathrow Airport. Customs took a while. In Germany we were able to use an automated gate if we had a new Australian passport, however when we got to London this wasn’t an option. Perhaps it is time for Australia to become a Republic, as I wasn’t exactly feeling the British love. For our rental car they gave us a Mitsubishi Triton dual cab ute with a lockable canopy. While it had PLENTY of room for our luggage, it soon became apparent that it would be very impractical. First, it was too long and too wide to fit into the typical UK micro car parking spot. Second, it was harder to get down narrow lanes and roads with cars parked either side. Third, you couldn’t see a thing out of the back. We felt like Gulliver driving his car around at the local Lilliputian village.

4 January 2018 London. What a place. It’s hard to describe London, as it is so energetic, historic, complex and, in many ways, endless. So I delved into Google and found the following quotes which align with my thinking. When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. — Samuel Johnson London has the trick of making its past, its long indelible past, always a part of its present. And for that reason it will always have meaning for the future, because of all it can teach about disaster, survival, and redemption. It is all there in the streets. It is all there in the books. — Anna Quindlen