Epiblogue - Back in the UK

Now here we are back in the UK getting used to staying in one place, though still hard to believe we have already been back 6 weeks.

We had always intended to continue renting out our house when we came back, so that we could live nearer to where I work and become more involved in a local community, which was not easy in the residential street we lived in before. This ambition was reinforced by the wonderful location of Sarah and James' house in Australia with its easy access to town and countryside. To that end we are now renting a house in Romsey, Hampshire just a couple of miles from work. We were very fortunate to find a nice house to rent overlooking beautiful countryside on the rural edge of the town but within 5 minutes walk of the town centre. I can now walk into town to catch a minibus provided by my employers. I can also cycle (tried once so far) or even walk it in about 45 minutes, which would take me along part of the Test Way through meadows and woods (not tried yet but a number of my colleagues do this).

Lovely to see Isabelle and Phoebe after all those months of Skypes and phone calls and emails and good to see they have managed very well without us or our house. Also good to see other family and friends face to face at last, or looking forward to meeting up again soon.

We have downsized to one small car, which we use much less than before and have been enjoying the easier access to shops and facilities. Liz has been busy getting involved with local volunteering groups such as the garden at 'King John's House' and the local Transition Town group, which are very active here and hoping to get involved in paid gardening in due course. I had a nice welcome back from many colleagues at Roke Manor Research and though the work is pretty much as before, at least they were actually expecting me back! I would also like to get involved with some of the Transition Town activities, but so far we have been quite busy setting up the house and catching up with the family. Next year we will consider what to do in the longer term, re house selling/renting and probably try to find a house to buy in Romsey.....

.....until the next world tour.

We are most grateful to all our friends and relatives around the world for their wonderful hospitality and hope that they will come and stay with us if they ever get a chance.

Last leg - USA - April 16th to May 1st

From Salt Spring Island we took the high speed ferry to Seattle. Entry to USA was very quick and easy, unlike what we had heard about entry via major airports.

From Seattle we took the 'Coast Starlight' Amtrak train which gave us a good look at the changing landscape. This obliging bald eagle flew alongside the train for quite a distance, giving a nice pose in front of the mountains of Oregon.

Refuelling stop

We were met by our friend Steve and his wife Celeste who gave us a great tour of San Francisco and some of the California coast as well as Monterey aquarium.

We then picked up a hire car and set off for the Grand Canyon area. First stop Zion Canyon. A lovely place to start the 'canyon experience'. Beautiful walks along the river at the bottom of the canyon below the impressive cliffs with a free shuttle to get on and off wherever you want. It also happened to be in a special week with free entry for all the parks.

On to Monument Valley. Famous of many  a cowboy film. Extaordinary eroded landscape with almost no vegetation.

We drove on towards Mesa Verde through the "4 corners" area where the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico all meet. Driving long distances in that area really does give a feel for the terrain. Incredibly long straight roads take you through a sequence of huge but suddenly changing landscapes, almost always with large escarpments or mountains in view, which herald the next change. Surrounding country and some of the roads themselves were often at very high altitude, up to 7000 feet so snow was often visible.

At Mesa Verde national park we visited a number of ancient Pueblo Indian ruins of cliff dwellings which built around 1200a.d. These were amazing structures built from sandstone and adobe under the overhanging cliffs and housing large communities. Usually sited high up the cliff above a dizzying drop. This one is the largest called 'Cliff Palace'. It gives a very different perspective to the common view of the primitive American Indian lifestyle.

Part of the landscape where the cliff dwellings are most numerous.

One of our motel stops in Arizona.

We had a couple of nights in Santa Fe, full of lovely adobe buildings and quite a Mexican feel. Very artistic community. Lots of opportunities to buy locally made craft and souvenirs.

 Next stop Meteor Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona.  About 1200 metres diameter and 170 metres deep, it was created in just a few seconds by a lump of iron only 50 metres across and only about 50,000 years ago, so we wouldnt want another one too soon! To get a feeling for the scale, have a look at the platform on the right with people on it.

And finally the Grand Canyon. Amazing of course. We were surpised to find we could get a room for two nights at "Bright Angel Lodge" right next to the South rim of the canyon. In the thick of the most touristy bit, but very easy to get the free shuttle buses along the rim to a variety of wonderful lookouts and the crowds soon thin out once away from 'Grand Canyon Village'. The first photo is the view down to Bright Angel Trail about 20 yards from our room.

We walked down the Canyon at South Kaibab Trail as far as Cedar Ridge. About 1000ft below the ridge and 1/3rd of the way down to the canyon floor. Very hot but also very windy, so quite scary on the hairpin bends where the wind whipped round on what was already a quite narrow and loose path.

On the final day we woke to find it snowing! A reminder of the altitude we were at. It was very noticeable how much colder it was on the rim compared to the oven-like canyon itself, although much cooler than it would be in the Summer.

After the Grand Canyon we made our way to Los Angeles for our final flight :-( but we enjoyed some more desert and mountain scenery with the man-sized cacti familiar from films, huge wind farms and we passed along some of the old Route 66 beloved of classic car owners.

11th to 15th Apr - Salt Spring Island, Canada

We flew into Vancouver from Auckland in time for our connection to Ganges on Salt Spring Island on a ‘float plane’ as seen here – only 5 seats plus all our luggage piled up at the back. We rather exceeded our 35lb max per passenger, so excess had to be paid at $1 per pound. Well worth it for the wonderful view from the float plane. Although only flying for 15 minutes, it was low and slow enough to have a good look at the islands we flew over.

Met by cousin Tony and Susan, we were given a little tour of Ganges, which has apparently grown since many of our family were last there, with some of the old harbour space filled in and now an area of nice shops, eating places and galleries.

 

We stayed at Tony and Susan’s beautifully renovated house near Fulford with a lovely view across the Fulford bay and plenty of local wildlife – Bald Eagle (seen below in their fir tree), Californian Quails (seen below in their veg garden), Humming birds, Blue Jays, seals, etc (not keeping still long enough to be photographed). Possums are often around, but did not show themselves to us. Deer are carefully excluded since they are so destructive, especially since the garden is quite newly planted.

We were treated to a packed schedule of outings and meals, which was very nice since we only had 4 days and a pleasant change not having to plan any of it ourselves! We could now appreciate our jump from Southern Hemisphere Autumn to Northern Hemisphere Spring. Our first walk was in what I would call classic Canadian forest, with spring flowers, beautiful Redwoods and Douglas Fir and moss covered dead wood carpeting the forest floor. 

Never far from the sea of course, so we ended up at the shore where we found this gull fiercely guarding a prized meal of starfish – we all puzzled over how they manage to choke down such a shape, but they do! Of course lots of bird spotting. 

Tony and I had a kayak outing across the Fulford bay and around some of the little islands. Saw lots of seabirds (sorry, cant remember all the names) and seals. The next day we all went out in their canoe for further exploration.

Of course we also visited my other cousin Jennifer, Tony's sister who also lives on Salt Spring Island in the house we had heard so much about when their parents lived there. This was in fact the first time I/we had met Jennifer. It was lovely to meet her and Weldon ('Kelly') and to see the house that has so much family history. Great to see also the cliff top view first hand and climb down to the sea shore, followed by a delicious dinner cooked by Kelly.

On the final day Tony and Susan took us to Victoria on Vancouver Island where we saw some of the town, visited the museum and had a very colonial lunch experience in the Fairmont Empress hotel. 

After that we to the 'Clipper' high speed ferry to Seattle, where the USA and final part of our travels began.