Last Day in the Big Apple

My last day in New York was a beautiful sunny spring morning, so I decided to spend it in Manhattan again, and explore the history of immigration here through Ellis Is. 

First I had to learn the language to tackle the train system here without a guide..........taking the MTA LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) to Penn Station, and then the AC or 1 Downtown....piece of cake!

I didn’t realize Penn Station was the conjunction of the NJT (New Jersey Transit) and AMTRAK as well as the LIRR. It is absolutely CAVERNOUS, taking up two entire blocks. I kid you not, there were even 2 lost, low flying and clearly terrified pigeons down there in the maze! I had to answer the call of nature, and it took several attempts for the Dunkin Donuts lady to understand I meant the baaithroom, and a few more for me to understand the directions. Heaven forbid if I didn’t speak English and was in dire need!! 

Found my way down to the World Trade Centre site, to check out the place after bin Laden’s demise. It’s kind of weird to see so many celebrating a death, but it’s interesting being so close to the raw emotion of those affected. New construction is well under way... New Yorkers won’t be kept down.

Hopped onto the ferry, past the old lady of liberty, still standing sentinel in all her splendour, to Ellis Island. The immigration building here, built in 1892, is really quite beautiful, tiled arched ceilings, light filtering through arched windows....The audio as you walk through, combined with the photographic display, is haunting, asking you to put yourself in the place of the thousands who passed through here, full of hope, of fear, of excitement.....and of desperation if they were rejected...

Up to 3,500 were processed a day, right up until the 1950’s, and 40% of the American population can trace their heritage through these gates to the American Dream.

Found time for a spot of shopping - it is a shopper’s dream, brand names everywhere, at ridiculous prices. Nice to have some new clothes after 4 months, to swan around London.  Cannot wait!

Vancouver Detour

The original plan was to meet Robbie Bowman in NYC and travel from Niagra Falls through the eastern states. Alas that plan couldn’t be... Robbie unable to travel after her kindy was devastated in the floods.

Impulsively, I hopped onto a plane to Vancouver and caught up with Wendy from the Antarctic trip. It was a good time to go therel - the town was buzzing with Ice Hockey finals playoff fever, the first time the Canuck’s have made it so far without folding....public buses, cars, shop assistants - all things and all sorts of people were decked out in Canuck’s colours..... it’s hard not to get caught up in it. and chant the ubiquitous ‘Go Canuck’s Go’, games every second night...

We hired a car for 4 days, zipped up to north Whistler and surrounds, Brandywine Falls and another (the name escapes me)....then a quick road trip down to Seattle, a spot of shopping in massive designer outlet, checking out the famous fish throwing at the Pike River markets (my tenant in New Farm did the motivational doc Fish inspired by this place) and hanging out in Wendy’s friend’s funky hostel, the rooms of which are all works of art from local artists.

We stopped too, at an historic little bayside trading town called La Conner.... just missed the tulip festival staged there, but hoed into clam chowder on the waterfront, and checked out an amazing exhibition in a quilt museum, housed appropriately in the towns historic old mansion..........

The whole place is picture book perfect, and the surrounding fields are full of wonderful crumbling old barns.... beautiful, a little ghostly under the stormy skies... reminders of a lifestyle long passed...

So... a week later and an overnight flight (getting too old for this no sleep caper, I’m back in New York with Geraldine for a couple of nights before another allnighter to London, and 2 weeks staying with Chris.

Life with Friends in NYC

I’ve been a little remiss in my blogging of late, chilling a lot, catching up with old friends....

Geraldine (a Dutch Aussie from melbourne) I’d not seen for about 20 yrs, so there was plenty of catching up and swapping stories. In that time she’d married an Irishman, surnamed OReilly, who washed dishes in an Irish pub in NYC as an immigrant and ended up owning a few himself....

It was great to share a little of her busy life in Port Washington.... 2 teenage kids, four dogs, 2 inside cats, 2 outside cats, a galah called Aussie and a cockateel add lots of life and colour...and there’s daughter Ashley’s beautiful (and huge) horse Orion, stabled 20 mins away, which has to be ridden and groomed and jumped most days. We shopped too for Ashley’s prom dress.... quintessential Long Island America...

On the Sunday caught up with Tuppy and Bob Nicholson, teachers from Brisbane who now consult in education in NYC. The city put on perfect sunshine for a stroll around Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for the gorgeous cherry blossom festival....lunch in Greenwich Village, a stroll through the shops, and a home cooked roast chicken in their Manhattan apartment overlooking the Circle Line ferries rounded out a perfect day...

Civilized plus in NYC

What a difference a week makes! 

After just shy of 4 months, minus a few kilos and three toenails, but with a treasure trove of memories, I finally left South America. The journey to New York was a marathon - a 3am wake up call for a 6.30 departure that was delayed till 7.30. The connection in Miami (had to collect my bag and go through customs ) was a tight one... made it with minutes to spare, only to sit on the ground for 1 1/ 2 hours because of a mechanical problem with the aircraft. We were finally deplaned and boarded a substitute aircraft  3 1/2 hours late, to find there was no food aboard. 

That was the end of my woes though.... driven in a plush black limo to downtown Soho and lived a life of luxury ever since! 

Day 1: beside myself with excitement seeing Cnris at brunch, followed by a full body massage and “creme de la creme” facial. A combination of “serum, stem cells and placenta” left my face plumped and soft as a baby’s bot!! Dinner at Nobu - a one Michelin star Japanese - Peruvian restaurant....

Day 2: A mega makeover in the hairdressers, a quick shop to find something elegant to wear (got carried away and teetered on some tres chic, vertigo inducing Italian heels!!), before we dined exquisitely at ‘Daniel’, a 3 Michelin stars Art Deco restaurant in Manhattan....

Day 3: Brunch, a visit to the Frick Museum, a walk in the spring sunshine through Central Park, surrounded by blossom trees and tulips..... a quick bite with Tuppy and Bob (Aussies in NY) at Joe Allen’s Theatre restaurant, before a wonderful night at Phantom of the Opera... a couple of wines in Soho Grand’s bar to come down from the clouds (for me at least!).......

Day4: Breakfast in the hotel, a subway ride Williamsburg, more wonderful food in an old restored 1920’s Diner a walk through trendy Brooklyn with all it’s antique stores, vintage shops and cafes, through the fascinating ultra orthodox Jewish quarter (lots of guys with log black coats and weird curls and coke bottle glasses seemed to come out of the woodwork - I learnt later that there was a crisis of leadership at their synagogue), onto arty DUMBO (down under manhattan bridge overpass - they just love their acronyms) and over the Brooklyn Bridge into the sunset....talk about Cinderella.........more food at famous Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, and Chrisso swore he could never eat again....

Had to bid Chris farewell next morning, then met Geraldine at their restaurant Nile’s in 7th Ave before some more spoiling in a real home again on Long Island....

life’s tough...

Gorgeous Galapagos

I spent a somewhat sleepless night waiting for the mysterious room mate to materialize, but she did not. Fortunate for me....I ended up with a room and a cabin to myself which was heavenly.

A flight to Galapagos via Guayaquil was surprisingly up market; we landed in pouring rain...onto G1or the Pelikano, Gap’s most basic boat, for lunch and then we weighed anchor. On board were a Canadian family of 4, 4 couples - 2 young German, a retired Danish, and an Aussie one, a young Pommie lawyer and myself.

We spent 3 days on board, well fed, but not well watered - the bar had run out of wine, and the beer supplies were minimal, but a good time was had by all.

The wildlife was as stunning as I had anticipated, and unbelievably approachable. 

Sea lions sauntered over the jetties and slept on the pylons. Frigate birds, the male with a vermillion pouch at his throat, hitched a ride on our boat or soared along with us in the slip stream. Peculiar pelicans with brown feathers and grey feet, perched for hours on our zodiacs.  Thousand of brilliant orange and blue crabs scuttled across rocks at the water's edge, stalked by patient herons. Flamingoes balanced precariously on one foot as they slept. Others preened and stretched nonchalantly, totally ignoring our presence.

And my favourite, the blue footed booby...it looks like a sort of caricature, with it’s blue eyes and webbed feet, and bluish beak. It’s called a booby because it dives from a height of up to 40m after large fish, and is only successful every10 - 15 attempts! (It’s a fishing process that has caused them to develop air bags in their cheeks, but they still suffer brain injury and blindness, and are destined for a short life!!!) Alas I was so excited to see them that I didn’t check the setting on my camera, so the photos are none too good.

We saw hundreds of marine iguanas, lying atop one another for warmth during the night. They freeze like statues as we approach, perfectly camouflaged against the basalt rocks - they stay totally immobilized as we stare at them, transfixed....

The outer islands, so recently formed, are stark and barren in the dry season; hardy cactus are all that survive... but the unseasonal rain now has left many flushed with green. The earth is so young, erodes so easily; many hillsides have slipped into the sea. Sands vary from island to island ...white, golden, black and red....

The islands are growing through frequent eruptions of it’s volcanoes.... lava flows from the 1906 eruption seem frozen in time as they flowed around other pinnacles and plugs on their way to the sea, then solidified. It’s like living in a geology lesson!

And the snorkeling is nothing short of dazzling! We’re blessed with clear water, a wonderland of life and colour...purple and orange, black and yellow...

Tropical fish of every colour and description dart past rocks covered with a bright orange algae; schools of tiny striped fish the size of white bait form huge glittering balls as they flit this way and that, acting as one....it was surreal to swim down amongst them...

We dived down and swam along with turtles, floated over the top of white tipped reef sharks; of iridescent parrot fish, all green and pink and orange...

Two penguins torpedoed past me, so lithe and graceful under the water, so clumsy on land. They’re only about 10 cms taller than the fairy penguins.

A marine iguana grazed my hand on one occasion in his haste to get out of the water....took ten years off my life!

And the tortoises - huge, lumbering, pinheaded, and none too intelligent. They’re really ugly, but I’m sure their mother loves them....

Lonesome George, the last of his race from Pinta Island, was asleep and hiding in his enclosure - the world is apparently still waiting with baited breath for him to reproduce with his new hybrid companions...

Alas it was over all too soon...Galapagos is a fascinating place, a weird wildlife wonderland. If ever I was to return, I would stay for a week, (not just 3 days), to see more of the islands, and I would take an underwater camera!

It's no huge disappointment to head back to Quito though.... though it's the end of my South American sojourn - I've been here for almost 4 months; I'm soooo excited about flying to New York and seeing Chris!

Conservative Quito

So, back in Lima, just another huge sprawling city. The big attraction is the beach at trendy Miraflores, but alas, in my two days there the city was shrouded in heavy fog, and I saw little. The city was in lockdown because of an election on the day I departed. There were riot police everywhere, and no venue could sell alcohol for 72 hrs in the lead up. I played safe and holed up in the Radisson to indulge in the pleasure of having my own room and a comfy bed, and to resume blogging; took a hotel car to the airport on election day for my flight to Quito.

16th April:

Apparently the Church is the big power here, still, and it shows; everywhere....

There’s a church or monastery on nearly every street corner in the old town, watched over protectively by a huge Virgen de Quito with wings. 

It’s copied from a statue in the huge Franciscan monastery, dating from 1535. It covers 3 hectares and was the birth of the Quito school of art - an art form developed by the monks , through indigenous artists, to communicate with and convert the masses. 

The overlays with indigenous traditional beliefs are everywhere. The original statue of the Virgen de Quito is housed here - she’s pregnant, and standing on a new moon (signs of fertility) and a demon... she’s winged, like an apocalyptic angel...

The chapel is gilded, ornate; the ceilings and floors are wooden geometric mosaics echoing the Moors; a window in the choir loft lets the sun shine directly through on the winter solstice onto a huge statue of Christ....a leaf taken straight out of the temples of the Incas.

There’s a preoccupation with suffering and the Passion of Christ... several bloodied statues are housed here - they are carried through the streets in Holy week, followers dressed in purple robes with hoods (aping the Franciscan monks supposedly but looking like Ku, Klux Klan) self flagellate en route as penance....it’s all a bit ghoulish...

The Jesuit church is unbelievable - every nook and cranny, the walls, the ceilings,the pillars are carved and covered in gold leaf. Maria isn’t such a big star here, but many a saint and martyr cover the walls....

And the cathedral, started in 1926, is huge, gothic...a climb up it’s spires, across a rickety wooden plank and through a series of vertigo inducing ladders offers the most amazing view of the town and surrounding hills, and directly on to the Virgen del Quito. No saints and martyr here ... the stain glass windows depict all the archbishops of Quito, resplendent in all their power and glory. Talk about power writing your own history...

It takes a little while to feel comfortable in Quito. There’s a huge police presence, armed security guards outside all the banks and many stores, riot police surrounding the plaza during a noisy political demonstration outside the presidential palace....politics South American style. I make sure I’m really discreet with my camera. But the people are friendly, diligent... they seem to look after their poor and disabled.

I had 6 days to fill in here, trying to recuperate from my tummy bug. It’s responded neither to abstinence nor antibiotics prescribed (through a lot of mime) by a pharmacist, so trying another lot.

My first taxi ride here was hair raising - we narrowly avoided several collisions, and lost the passenger side window in one such encounter; and they try and con you into paying exorbitant prices without the metre for the privilege!

I risked another death defying ride out to the Equator - the Mittel del Mundo; very kitsch but kind of neat standing at 0’0”. The adrenalin inducing trip did nothing for my tender tummy but I survived. The hour trip through the city make me realize how huge it is, and quite modern outside the old city. We even passed an Apple store called Mundomac (- my new benchmark for progress in South American cities!)

So now I’m up to date with my blog, ensconced in my new hotel, and waiting to meet my new room mate for the trip to the Galapagos.

A bientot

The Last Leg on Gus

Another long day over wild Andean high altitude desert, brought us to colonial Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city, and unexpectedly beautiful, it’s setting dramatic. The grand old Spanish buildings, the whitish local volcanic rock, sparkle in the harsh sunlight... the town is surrounded by active and dormant volcanoes, puffing wisps of smoke on the horizon. They’re a constant reminder of how unstable this land is, and why the Inca felt the need to sacrifice their children to appease the Gods inside them.....

The museum, with the artifacts and mummies from these sacrifices is fascinating ... we hear the story of Juanita, the Inca princess, who was walked here from Cusco to face her fate; we see the beautiful fine cape and tunic she wore...the mummies were found at 6280m, perfectly preserved  at altitude.

Equally impressive is a massive convent, established by a wealthy Spanish widow in 1580. The daughters of wealthy Spanish were taken in, but had to build and furnish their own quarters; they had at least 2 servants, and lived a life of luxury, (and prayed all day apparently) This continued for 300yrs, until they were ordered form Rome to live communally in 1800’s. Nuns lived there in the same mediaeval conditions until 1970’s when it was opened to the public, a city within a city with hundreds of tourists wandering the maze of cobbled streets, and courtyards....the 22 nuns still here are cloistered; they make Communion bread, scented soaps and rosaries with rose petal beads...

We were warned of frequent recent robberies by taxi drivers but armed with my map and some basic Spanish words, I braved a couple, searching all over the town for a computer charger but to no avail. I hated being parted from my Mac, obviously....

After 2 nights of sleeping in comfort in a bed, we headed to the coast for a night in the old Puerto Inca, now nothing more than a hotel on the beach. Most camp in the sand - I opted to pay for a bed!  Ivan made a great cerviche for dinner,and we shared the last of our wine from Mendoza around a bonfire.

 I climbed early next morning over the ruins, up to the site of the old sacrificial altars, now guarded only by vultures and cormorants.

The winding drive up the coast was stunning in it’s own desolate way, the eroded hills literally tumbling into the sea. I had no idea so much of Peru was desert - it’s not all like Machu Pichu! The desert is punctuated by rivers and strips of cultivated land...they rely entirely on these rivers coming from the snow melt (it never rains here) and the snow up in the Andes  is less and less frequent. One riverbed has dried up, the fields are a wasteland...We have a last roadside lunch in Gus - a bit sad!

Further north to Nazca - what we saw of the lines were disappointing, but we’re warned against taking a flight to see them properly (they are apparently stunning) - the safety standards leave alot to be desired and they lose quite a few tourists ...

We  were "treated" to a tour of a Nazcan funerary site...lots of ghoulish mummies with extraordinarily long hair, preserved by the harsh dry conditions. The last forty years have seen a big trade by grave robbers, and the desert sands are literally strewn with bones of all descriptions. Not the most pleasant place I’ve been, but the sunset was beautiful...

Our last night on the road was a gem, one of the best. We passed through the town of Ica, to an oasis in the midst of huge sand dunes. We hung around for our dune buggy rides at sunset, and it was a real thrill, like the biggest roller coaster, straight down near vertical dunes, 180deg turns on the side of others. made the palms sweat a little, but they were very accomplished drivers...

We watched the most amazing sunset, then were treated to a around a campfire, fed lots of Piscola and danced to the guides Peruvian music,, complete with improvised bongo drums. In the wee hours, some later than others, we found a bit of space - easy enough to do, crawled into our sleeping bags and slept under a sky full of stars, not sound to be heard (except my nemesis, the truck's snorer)...but it was awesome.

The next day was a long one with a stop at Pisco where some opted for a boat tour of Islas Ballestas, called the poor man’s Galapegos, but I was going to hold at for the real thing. We arrived tired, hungry and desperate for a shower in Lima, at 9pm, but still managed to go out for a farewell dinner. I’ll miss the crew - 6 hardy souls are continuing on for another 3 weeks.

And so it was goodbye Gus!