Mark & Gill

Tuesday 30th September
Docked at Zebrugges a busy port especially for car transportation. Beautiful curve of beach on the other side of the port which is very popular in the summer they say.

Lovely drive to the medieval town of Bruges- what a stunner. Gorgeous houses hugging canals with overhanging trees and low bridges. Autumn colours just appearing made for very beautiful panoramas and reflections as we floated around the canals hearing about history, houses and business. We listened to the 47 carrillion bells in the Belfry Tower, admired its very tall tower – 366 steps to the top, and again enjoyed great old architecture. Even saw Felix the dog made famous in the movie and the lovely old wooden hotel also of the movie.

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Very smooth sail last night through North Sea. Long sail up the harbour to port in Amsterdam after we negotiated the lock at 5am. Amsterdam known as the liberal city as you may well have heard from stories of red light district and marijuana use. Cookie does not mean cookie as you know it and while there are rules about traffic and like, no-one obeys them. Still everything moves along nicely with the bikes usually winning out over the cars. Cyclists everywhere of course and they expect you to get out of the way. Massive bike parks including tiered systems and double ups. Theft is rampant we are told and we could see huge chains and padlocks in place unlike Copenhagen where bikes just seemed to be mostly left  free. Apparently theft is why helmets are few and far between – no point as nowhere to store. Our guide thought traffic was bad but pretty light I thought compared to Auckland and she has obviously never been in a Moscow traffic jam.

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27th September

The Kiel Canal, also known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal (Emperor William’s Canal) until 1948, is a 98-kilometre long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau or vice versa in our case. An average of 250 nautical miles (460 km) is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula. Might have saved us some rough seas too.

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Spent some time this morning (26 Sept) wandering another part of Copenhagen including a visit to the Round Tower and the beautiful church beside it. I think it is my favourite church of all I have seen so far. Simply elegant and beautiful with a magnificent organ playing very acceptable music. Suspect they were setting up for a wedding.

Also enjoyed walking along canals admiring architecture of new Opera House and developments and contrasts with wooden boats and old shops and houses.

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Lots of bikes. Cobbles. Brick buildings. Old. New. Canals.

The first impressions of Copenhagen – a city which seems to move along in a relaxed but very purposeful fashion. Apparently 70% of Danish households don’t own a car. Cyclists are everywhere, usually moving at speed. Most don’t wear helmets and ride very confidently along the wide cycle lanes. Bikes are parked with both abandon and purpose it seems, all shapes and sizes, carrying kids and shopping and occasionally you see a pile-up of unattended bikes. Copenhagen has an ambitious goal to be the world’s first CO2 neutral capital so this mode of transport is critical. Cycles and cars have equal rights so one must take care to look out for oncoming bikes from the right! Link to photo series – Bicycles of Copenhagen

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One night in London enroute to Copenhagen. Great flight with bonus views of the Northern Lights. Pretty stunning views of various lightscapes. An unplanned tick off the bucket list.

Lovely to see the grandsons and the “new” house. A bit closer to the village now – quick walk there after breakfast to sort the vodafone card. London wildlife visited this morning- a fox on the roof of the garden shed and a squirrel with a very bushy tail just off the deck.

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Early start this morning for the Grand Canyon. Flew from Boulder City (De Havilland Twin Otter) over Mojave Desert to West Rim. Views of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and lots of ochre coloured landscape on the way, mesas, plateaus and incised mountain ranges. Lake Mead, man made, is beautifully blue against the harsh surroundings. The Mojave has less than 330mm rain a year.

After a bit of a wait in the hot sun we flew by chopper ( Squirrel AS 350 ) down into and along part of the canyon before landing by the Colorado River. Pretty amazing to be down in one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Hard to imagine once covered with water! Despite the arid ground and rock walls there is raw beauty and surprising plant life. Animals too but none seen down on canyon floor today. We flew back up the canyon – more awesome views and then did the Skywalk. Sorry no photos here as not allowed.

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My favourite Las Vegas spot is Little Venice at the Venetian. Dinner tonight beside the canal – sangrias, empanadas, mexican steak & tuna, tres leches to finish. Serenaded by the gondoliers & enjoyed wandering the recreated Venice. See Las Vegas photos.

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Sunday 21st. Very warm and dry here – not like NZ at the moment I hear. Slow start today as planning big canyon trip tomorrow. Lunched at the Rainforest Cafe ( MGM) – just the place to take the grandies sometime. Lightning and thunder, animals and birds with moving parts, trees etc. A bit navigationally challenged at one point today but found our way to some more of the themed hotels and associated entertainment. Aside from slots and every imaginable betting option there is much to see. Checked out New York themed buildings and Statue of Liberty, The Excalibur with it’s knights and towers theme (Disneylandish) and the impressive Luxor – Egyptian sphinx and pyramid. The rooms line the sides of the pyramid – check out the photos (coming soon). Spent the early evening in Old Vegas in the famous Fremont Street entertainment area. Oh my goodness…glitz and all sorts. Mmmmm. No wonder it was called “Glitter Gulch” really OTT. Street entertainment galore and garish. Dancers on bars, contortionists (scary what they could do), exhibitionists (polite) and all types of stalls, souvenirs etc. Had a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant and then watched the renown light show on the curved canopy. Millions of LED lights.

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Woke to a fabulous day, great views of the surrounding hills round the valley where Las Vegas sits and a very quiet scene below. Huge change in activity from last night. Brunched and then took to exploring. Got hotter and hotter as day wore on so navigated via hotels and air conditioned spaces. Hotels line the Boulevard &  most are themed, huge with maze-like walkways through varying shops, slot machine areas, sports bars, casinos, impressive displays, accomodation, restaurants and people. We only saw a fraction but  examples are

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