It's back ....

I know I haven't posted anything in ages, but then again, this is a "travel blog" after all and I've done very little travel in the last 3 months.
But for those of you ... probably all 3 of you, who follow my Twitter in here rather than actually having a twitter account, there is is ... over on the right.
Turns out I forgot to change the settings when I changed my name from @azzacarroll to @aaroncarroll.
So, It's back ......

Weather: It's Gone Crazy

I've had a big couple of months on the weather side of things. Yeah, you read right, I'm blogging about the weather. I have now sunk to the bottom of the conversation barrel and dragged the Internet down with me ... welcome.

Anyhow, it's with reason I mention my weather experiences as since the start of December 08 I think I've managed to live through the entire gamut of weather extremes from -40C in Canada to +47C in Australia ... all within a month of each other.

I'm not really sure which is less livable to be honest. 

The -40C is ridiculously cold ... it's bad enough that when it hits +5C, it's usually good form to just stay indoors and not worry about going out too much, but imagine this, last Aussie winter I whinged and moaned about how cold it was when it hit -2C overnight while I was at work. Several months later when the temperature 'rose' to -5C, I was out in my jeans and shirt because it was such "a nice day out".

The -40C stuff will literally steal your breath from you, but then again, the stuff over 40C will do something similar, but at least when its hot, your snot doesn't freeze to the inside of your nostrils and hurt (I know, it sounds funny, but it isn't when it first happens)

It's still my opinion that the human body copes much better with extreme heat than it does the extreme cold. Lets face it sunburn is a bitch for a few days, but browns off and ends up, in the most cases being a pretty nice suntan. Frostbite makes things black and fall off ... yeah, that's just never cool.

 That's the extreme stuff of course and while I'm sure the residents of Vancouver would disagree that their cold snap was extreme, the fact that they got crazy amounts of snow over the holiday season was kinda rare, much like the 11 day heatwave we had here in Broken Hill (when I say heatwave too, I don't mean the usual 3 or 4 days over 36, I'm talking 11 days over 40C ... which is freakin oppressive)

Of course outside of the weather I've been ion the middle of you have the US in the grip of the coldest winter in years as well as Queensland under water with flooding and of course the bush fires that have laid waste to large tracts Victoria (which wasn't entirely weather related thanks to an arsonist or two, but was still fuelled on by a crazy heatwave)

Recap - Lessons Learned

With two more months of travel behind me, I look back now at the little things that 'made' the trip what it was. OK, so I went back over old ground, which I tend to do a lot, but in my mind its the different situations in old places that makes the experience that much more enjoyable.
Here are a few little tid bits that I picked up over the last few months ....

- Bathrooms will fill up with water when the shower curtain is left on the outside of the shower.
- Despite being warm in late November, LA is still dark at 4:45pm
- Calgarians have to put up with the local council dumping tons of little rocks on the road during snow. It's kinda weird because the rest of the country uses salt or sand ... Calgary uses rocks ... and it doesn't work nearly as well as the sand or salt.
- Vancouver doesn't cope well with snow ... not well at all.
- I can now put snow chains on a car ... that should be a useful skill out here in Broken Hill
- General Tao's Chicken is still the nicest Chinese dish ever made (and is best at the Garden Restaurant on Bloor in Toronto)
- Las Vegas is amazing ... in small doses
- I don't fit into size 13 ice skates
- Flyers given to you on the street in Vegas 'can' be useful!
- 14 hours is a long time to sit in one place watching bad movies and eating crap food.
- I have a new appreciation for cold weather. -40C is ridiculously cold
- Carrying a baby through airport security will afford you a little leeway ... it helps if the kid is kinda cute.
- Mirrors on your hotel room ceiling are just a little off putting.
- Never 'hit' on 19 when playing Blackjack ... no matter how big the dealers chest is!
- The new check in procedures in US airports is confusing and I pray that Australia doesn't follow suit (although I see that JetStar are going to trial it in '09)
- If the rate is cheap ... there is a better than average chance, so is the room.
- 'Tangerine Red Fanta' is the shizzle ... so tasty
- Role Models is a good movie ... go watch it when it hits Australia.
- LA is the hamburger capital of the world ... no, wait ... Universe.
- In a cab in the US, the quick way is never the cheapest. The GPS units in cabs are there purely for ornamental purposes too.

s07e24 - The Return

2 weeks have passed since my last blog, which is quite frankly pretty damn slack of me, but these things happen and can't be helped and so I offer up the final in what is Series 7.

I guess I should head all the way back to Las Vegas which would serve as a "jumping off" point before heading home.

Why Vegas? You've already been this trip, haven't you?
This is pretty true, but after travelling all the way across the country again from Calgary to Toronto, the trip back towards the west coast was going to be cheaper if it zeroed in on Vegas rather than Los Angeles. The accommodation was also crazily cheaper in Vegas too, so that was a big factor.
Vegas the second time around was, again, a lot of fun. This time I was on my own and staying mid-strip at the Imperial Palace, which for the uninitiated, is directly across the road from Caesars palace and nestled between Casino Royale and Harrah's.
The place was pretty cheap and it kinda showed in the accommodation side of things, but for under AU$40, who was I to argue.
It turns out my timing in Vegas was slightly off as I was there from Monday night till Thursday lunchtime. Two significantly large conventions where starting in Vegas on Thursday evening. One, was the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which showcases all the latest technologies, the other .... the Adult Video Entertainment Expo (AVEE) which, well, you know .... has a lot to do with porn!
Either would have been awesome to go and have a look at, but alas, neither happened as I flew out of Vegas on Thursday afternoon, into and then out of Los Angeles and back ... finally to Sydney, Australia.

The journey home wasn't exactly without incident though, nothing too major like a water landing in freezing cold waters ... in fact it was more a discomfort than anything else.
For those of you out there that are unfamiliar with the checking in procedures at LAX, you know longer deal face to face with a person to check your bags.
You walk up to a little kiosk, scan your passport or ID, confirm your flight details then you have the option to change your random seating assignment before a boarding pass and baggage tags are printed.
The seating assignment was the big issue for me as I don't exactly have the frame for middle seats in economy for a period of just a tick over 14 hours.
22 seats remained available ... all of them in the middle. I was doomed. The attendant there explained that I should just take one of those middle seats and then see gate staff about the possibility of getting the seat changed, but not to rely on that happening as it doesn't happen that often.
Oh crap ... what to do now?
Luckily for me, United Airlines has two upgrade options available. US$748 extra will get you upgraded to Business class, while US$128 will get you a seat in "premium Economy" which offers an extra 4 inches of leg room.
Now it doesn't sound like much, but that extra couple of inches is a godsend over 14 hours and so I upgraded to Premium Economy and got my aisle seat, which at the very least gave me the option of throwing a leg out on occasions (provided the food or drink cart is going up and down of course as those things will just mow over anything in the aisle)

The trip home was full of ordinary movies and equally ordinary food and despite my head not wanting to leave, the heart was happy to touch down in Sydney where I would spend the next few days lounging around Bondi Beach before the final 3 hour flight home ....

s07e23 - Where the Rich Things Are

OK, so I'm jumping ahead a few days (because I'm lazy and cant be arsed blogging my last few days, but I will ... just not yet)
Anyway, here I am back in Pearson International Airport in Toronto waiting to catch my flight back to Las Vegas and I am in the most unusual place I've ever been in an airport.
Thanks to Sarah, my diminutive novel reading Canadian friend, I have a single pass to enjoy the 'Maple Leaf Lounge' which is Air Canada's lounge, obviously, for their more seasoned and possibly a little better off patrons.
The lounge is on the 4th floor, where you are greeted by a large Ukrainian lady who pats you down and asks all sorts of odd questions before taking your pass and allowing you in. Once inside, I had visions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Oompa Loompa's ferrying drinks back and forth and a cheerful manner. I wasn't too far off the mark, as long as you can dial down the Chocolate Factory to a shit load of comfy lounges and replace the Oompa Loompa's with disgruntled looking Latina women.
Hey, I can't complain too much, its as comfy as hell and the Internet is free up here, unlike downstairs where the common folk are .... poor saps, paying for their high speed broadband in their not so comfy chairs.
OK, so my time in the Shangri La of airport lounges is almost up and its time to pack in the laptop and head downstairs for the 5 hour slog back across the country to Las Vegas.
The weather there is pretty ordinary to be honest, but while 10C is still pretty cold, its still 20C warmer than up here, so my acclimatization back to the warm stuff is going to be slow, and in a weeks time rather shocking, but I'm kinda looking forward to it!

s07e22 - This Has Never Happened at Home Before

I almost forgot to mention Boxing Day. I've tried to put it to the back of mind, but seeing as I just recounted the story to Sarah, I guess while it's still kinda fresh in my noggin' I'll recount it here too.
So, after the incredibly long day that was Christmas Day, myself and Andrew decided to pull and all nighter and stay up to hit Future Shop at 6am for the Boxing Day sale.
Shaun, Andrew's brother, who missed Christmas Day with us due to unforeseen weather conditions in Vancouver, finally flew into town at 1:30am on Boxing Day giving us a decent distraction before it was time to head out.
At about 2:30am Andrew had the classic idea of watching a movie to pass the time ... good thinking. It all turned sour however when he loaded V for Vendetta into the PS3. Don't get me wrong, V for Vendetta is a very, very good movie, but when you've been awake for 20 hours already and trying to stay awake is your main priority, V is just not the movie to watch.
Anyway, after 30 odd minutes of that and ridiculous amounts of yawning, it was back to the TV until 4:15am when we decided now was the time to move.
When we got to Future Shop we joined the already growing line and where back about 40 or 50 people. The hour and a half wait was going to be a long one, but didn't seem like anything I couldn't handle.
15 minutes into the wait, the -25C degree conditions started to get to me. I had 4 layers on the top half and so it wasn't too bad. I was wearing 2 pairs of jocks (don't ask me why) and so that region of my body was fairly toasty. Everything from mid thigh down however was only covered by a single layer of clothing and was now beginning to burn with the cold. Luckily the burning can be counteracted by moving a little ... well, that works for 15 minutes or so before all heat from your body is completely gone still leaving you with 45 minutes till the doors open and a pair of big toes that want to be anywhere but on the end of your feet.
Salesmen walked the line, which now stretched back a good 80 to 100m and was 2 or 300 strong, trying to pre sell stuff. It was a bit of a scam really as all they where doing was making sure their name was put o the register IF you where lucky enough to get the item you where after.
At 5:45am, the doors opened and the madness began. All us morons that braved the cold began to pile our way in, while the freeloaders who couldn't hack the cold came running in from their warm cars trying to rush the line. It didn't worry me too much because I was inside before the first of the line breakers got there.
I didn't really have a plan for the sale to be honest, I thought I'd head in and check out a few things, but didn't have a must have item in mind, unlike Andrew who was going hell for leather for a surround system and a big screen TV (which he already purchased online, but was willing to get a second and return the other just so he could have it 4 days earlier than the delivery schedule)
I loped towards the camera section to see what DSLR's they had on offer. The one amazing deal there was a Cannon Rebel XS out for half price (about C$1000 down to C$499) they had 5 there, so I got one .. score, because as you may have seen with the photo I posted from Lake Louise, it takes a very nice photo)
Andrew got his surround sound unit but missed the TV as the sales guy gave him the run around on availability. Shaun picked up a few cheap Blu Ray discs and our Boxing Day sale experience was over and done with by 6:30am.
I was in bed by 7:15am and my feet and toes regained feeling at about 9am ... the next day!

s07e21 - Woah, Those Things are Mountains!

Every day that I walked outside you could see the mountains off in the distance, but that's all they where, a distant mystical mountain range that seemed to hold the weather back from unleashing itself all over Calgary (trust me, it did a few times as Vancouver was lashed for the last 2 weeks with crazy snow storms while just on the other side of the mountains we enjoyed some very cold, but sunny days)

The weekend before I headed home we had organised a trip into the mountains, mainly to Banff and Lake Louise but due to some crazy weather on the Sunday or trip up there was delayed till Monday when the roads where closed with excessive snow covering and ice.

On Monday, the party of 6 that was heading into the mountains was trimmed to 2 and a half with myself, Naomi and Sebastian braving the improving, but still icy conditions.

Banff is about an hour a bit away and the early half of the drive is a little flat and uninspiring, but the second half once you get into the mountains themselves is just amazing. The mountains that earlier looked pretty flat and not overly mountainy where now towering over head and where as intimidating as any landscape Ive ever been too.

The road slowly got a little icier as the trip continued and while Naomi's driving got a little more cautious (and fair enough too) others continued to fly by us as if the road was in perfect conditions. What was nice to see (and its unfortunate to say) was when 2 cars passed us like we where standing still only for us to pass them while they where standing still, parked precariously on the shoulder of the road after sliding out in the ordinary conditions ... I gave out a giggle or two on the way by.

Lake Louise was the first port of call ... WOW.

Ive seen pictures of Lake Louise in the summer and so wasn't sure what to expect during winter, but I was presently surprised at how beautiful the place was covered in snow.

The lake, which a startlingly beautiful blue colour in summer, was now an ice covered skating rink with its very own ice castle. Over looked by the Fairmont hotel the lake and the far off glacier where as good a place as any to try out my new DSLR camera (which I'm super happy with by the way)

Fish 'n Chips at the Fairmont was nice if not a little posh, but was all part of the experience I guess of going to a Chateau.

Banff was on the way home, so we stopped in there for a "quick" look and some retail therapy for Naomi. So it was a quick look around and then back onto the road. Not amazingly interesting really, but the experience of driving through the mountains was amazing.

S07e20 - In a "C" of Red

The 27th was Hockey Night in Calgary with my beloved Senators playing Calgary at the Penngrowth Saddle Dome.

7 of us where going, 6 Elias' and one me, all dressed in our best Ottawa gear ready to take a hammering from the home fans.

The really cool thing, well, in my reckoning anyway, was that we had all gotten tickets in the Sportchek Zone, which for those that don't know the SaddleDome is the nice way of naming the cheap seats. Not that its all that bad as hocket arenas arent massivly huge like the MCG for example and so the nose bleed seats are still pretty fair.

Naomi and myself however happened into a couple of season ticket seats in the 200 area which gave us an amazing view of the game.

The reseption on the whole from the home fans was pretty good and seeing as it was two Canadian teams playing feelings before the puck dropped where pretty even keeled. That of course changed a little once the puck dropped and when the Sens grabbed a 2 to 0 lead early in the second period, it was starting to get a little icey.

The ice was broken, then smashed when a 5 minute period in the 2nd offered the Flames 3 unanswered goals for them to lead going into the 2nd intermission .... by now, the home fans, full of liquid courage began to get a little cocky.

I'm not a loud obnoxious supporter in anycase and was just happy to be watching two NHL sides go at it.

We ended up going down 6 to 3 after tying it up early in the 3rd, but the experience of it all was simply amazing. The "C of Red" as the Calgary home fans are known where loud and vocal al night and lived up to their name as 80% of Flames fans had their home jerseys on giving the crowd a good dose of red. It also helped that the Sens are the same colours, so the crowd looked redder than ever on the night.

s07e19 - Xmas ... But Not as we Know it Jim.

Xmas started out like most other Christmas Days ... well, maybe a little different, because it's not too often back in Broken Hill do you wake up to a sheet of snow across the ground.

The plan was to go from where I am staying to a family members house which would serve as a HQ for the entire day.

Breakfast at 10:30am was amazing and was the perfect start to the day. Breakfast was followed by a trip to the Calgary Zoo which had been arranged by Naomi and her uncle Les who works as a handler at the Zoo.

The Zoo was closed for the day and so our tour was an unsanctioned behind the scenes tour of the zoo ...

So we got to the Zoo and Les first leads us off to the Lion enclosure where the lions are inside and ready to be fed. Wow, up close and personal wit h3 lioness' and the male, who we were advised to be wary of as the male tends to "spray" guests. It wasn't the male I was worried about after being in the enclosure for 30 seconds. The lioness at the very end of the enclosue, Teesha seemed to be kinda fond of me ... but not in a good way.

Everytime I made eye contact or even moved, she would growl a little. The lion handler explained that they really dont like the colour red, and that may be the reason she was so pissed at me .... unfortunately after a quick inventory of my clothing it was discovered that I wasn't wearing anything red and that she just plain didn't like me.

I'll admit it too, that despite the metal cage between me and her, i was shitting bricks, and not the small variety either.

From the lion's enclosure we headed back into the African enclosure where we each fed the Giraffe's and then patted the Hippo's. Thankfull the snakes where left in their enclosure as Les was shit scared of leaning over the 5m long Anaconda that was lounging infront of all the other snakes ... thank god for 5m long Anaconda's.

It was into the Gorilla enclosure from here where I got to first feed yogurt to a female gorila and then was able to feed the alpha male, which was crazy. The male is supposedly about as strong a 10 grown men and so was a little intimidating. His hands where huge and made mine look like a little kids, but he was pretty calm and seemed to enjoy the strawberry yogurt I was offering up.

On to the elephants and again, it was feeding time and so carrots and bananas where being offered up everywhere. They're crafty little buggers the elephants as they where constantly using their trunks to pat you down for food, and it wasn't a subtle prod either, they're shifty buggers who will quite happily pick your pocket for some food.

The tour, about 2 and a half hours in length was amazing. A big thanks to Les and all the other handlers at the Calgary Zoo that made this Christmas Day one to remember.

The rest of the day followed the usual Xmas day trappings ... a few presents here and there, way too much food and plenty of liquid refreshment.

s07e18 - How Do You Spell That?

With the holiday season all over us, it was time to celebrate some stuff, and with the world being a little more gray than black & white these days, my hosts over here in Calgary invited me to "Chrismakkah" which is a cross between the generic Christmas and the Jewish tradition of Hanukkah, celebrated on the 21st of January, which coincideds with the first day of Hanukkah.

The celebration is anything but a religious experience, although there is the subtle nods to both traditions ...

In preparation for Chrismakkah, Andrew invited me to help him make "Turducken" which for those that have never heard of this, is a massive turkey, stuffed with a boned duck, stuffed with a boned chicken.
Andrew had a bit of fun taking all the bones out of the turkey and duck and then cheated on the chicken by just stuffing it with chicken breasts. My part came in when it was time to stuff it and stitch it up.
It was all worth it as the Turducken was amazing and has continued to be amazing for the next 5 meals.

The actual night went brilliantly with all of us drinking and eating waaaaay too much, a nice little preview for what was to come on December 25th .......