Tinkerblue

Inca Trail Day 1

• The classic Inca trail is 29 miles/40 kms long
• The weather averages between 8c and 20c, but can drop to freezing and go up into the 30's
• 500 people are permitted to start the Inca Trail each day, 300 of those are guides and porters
• You need to book about 6 months in advance, your pass is not changeable
• Average trekking time for the 4 days is 21 hours.  We took longer.
• 8% of all hikers are Canadian, 9% are Australian
• The highest point is 13,776 ft (or 4200 metres).
• Altitude sickness may begin at 8000 ft
• Our little group was 12 hikers, 2 guides, 2 cooks and 12 porters. Quite the number.  Much larger than the 6-8 hikers we had been expecting.

 

Okay so that's it for random information.  We've been back from the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu for almost a week now and it's taken me that long to put it into words.  It was amazing. One of the highlights of my life.  So here goes...

 

The bus picked us up from our hotel at 530am.  Neither Michelle or I slept much the night before.  Apparently the thought of hiking for 4 days at altitude, sometimes going straight up made us both nervous.  We threw back some coca tea before the bus arrived but neither of us could stomach much in the way of breakfast.  Not good when we were supposed to start the day with a carb and protein rich breakfast.  Oops.  There was one more stop after us to pick up the last of our group and then we were on the way to Ollantaytambo.  A village in the Sacred Valley where we stopped to have some breakfast.  Well everyone else did, Michelle and I had more coco tea.  Oh I think we may have had a banana each.  At least we don't have totally empty stomachs.

Next stop, on the other side of Ollantaytambo to pick up the extra guide and the extra porter. 12 hikers means we needed more people.  Now we are all staffed up and ready to go. Nobody is doing much in the way of talking, introducing ourselves for just acknowledging each other. I think everyone is tired and maybe they're as nervous as we are.

I nap the rest of the way to km 82, which is where we start hiking.  Everything comes off the bus and is divided onto two tarps. The bigger tarp is all the gear that the 12 porters and 2 cooks will carry. 7 sleeping tents, a cooking tent, a dining tent, 14 camp stools, a camping toilet and it's tent, 14 wash buckets, all the cooking equipment, all the food, the bigger first aid kits (the guides also carry 2 smaller first aid kits) and all Michelle and my gear.  We had paid for a porter to carry our sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and clothes so all we had to lug was our daypack with water, coat, snacks and cameras.  Best decision ever.   The second tarp is for our daypacks and the packs of the rest of our group who are carrying all their own gear.  Why?

 

 

We have a quick briefing with our guides, Lizandro and Nestor.  They tell us that today we will hike about 11km's, it should take between 6 and 7 hours, today is and easy day, no steep climbs or descents, and the stop for lunch should be about 4 hours into the hike.  Hmmmmm. They make sure everyone has water, is wearing sunscreen and insect repellent and has their passports and immigration cards with them.  I can't help but think it's worse than rounding up a guide unit. Once everyone is organised we take the obligatory photo at the Inca Trail sign

 

 

and go through the checkpoint to have our tickets and passports checked.  My ticket says I'm 41, it's given me back a good 5 years.  Woohoo.  But Michelle's says she is male.  Don't think so.  The checkpoint was not too concerned though, they were mainly checking passport numbers and names and photos.  We passed.

 

 

Then we cross the bridge over the Rio Urubamba and we are officially on our way on the Inca Trail. Notice it starts with an up hill?  At least it's a gentle slope and it's a dirt path not a staircase or a rock lined path. Let's start us off nice and easy, lull us into a sense of I can do this.

 

 

The morning was all fantastic views, gentle climbs, quick breaks for everyone to catch up and "hey we're actually doing this"s. We stopped for a break and a history lesson at a small ruin that I think was called Willcarakay, of course I would be making that up.  

 

 

Willcarakay overlooked another Inca site - Llactapata.  Llactapata is believed to have been a rest stop for the Incas on the way to Machu Picchu and also home to the soldiers who would have staff the fortress we were stopped at. I don't fancy that commute to work and back every day.   Llactapata is some distance below us.

 

 

We hiked a bit further along to the lunch site. Our porters were already there and had the cooking tent, the dining tent and wash basins all set up for us.  We all just strolled in, washed our hands, ate our lunch and took a quick nap.  At this point in the day I stopped taking photos, I don't know why. I wish I had taken lots more.  I don't have photos of the set up for lunch, seriously every lunch time the porters set up two large tents, cooked lunch, washed up and then broke down the whole set up.  Every lunch time.  Lunch, in fact all the meals were all very good.  Lunch and dinner alway started with soup, then a rice or quinoa dish, a potato dish (did you know Peru has over 3000 types of potatoes), a veggie dish, a platter of sliced tomatoes and cheeses, and usually two meat dishes.  Oh and some bread. There was a lot of food.  We never went hungry.  And it wasn't typical camp food.  You know... boil in a bag, or rehydrate or mac and cheese of Chef Boyardee, but actual fully cooked meals.  The cooks and porters did an awesome job.

After lunch we continued climbing switch backs up, up and up.  Most groups will camp at Wayllabamba at 3000 ft depending on the number of trekkers, campsites, permits etc.  But not our group. We kept going. For another 3 kms or so to Yuncachimpa at 3300ft.  This climb from lunch to camp was where Michelle and I started to really fall behind.  Up until lunch time we'd always been about 20-30 minutes behind the main group.  But by afternoon Michelle wasn't feeling so good and we were about an hour behind.  It was also when Nestor, the second guide, started hiking every step of the way with us. This first day he was very quite and probably very bored. But we appreciated that he stayed with us and let us hike at our own pace and didn't rush us. 

 

Arriving into camp we had time for a wet wipe shower, to set up our sleeping mats and bags (the porters having already pitched the tents) and to sort our bags out a bit before being called to the dining tent for happy hour.  No wine and cheese, no beer and pretzels, no cocktails and peanuts.  But we were served popcorn and hot chocolate.  I am not a fan of popcorn, but popcorn never tasted as good as it did then. We ate it all.  By we I am all 12 hikers and 2 guides, not just Michelle and I.  Dinner was served at 8pm, and by 9pm after a quick briefing for the next day we were all in bed. Umm our tent is pitched on a slight slope, so I keep rolling onto Michelle's side of the tent.  Oops.

 

And with that, Day 1 is complete.  1 down, 3 to go.  1/4 of the way there.  At least that's what Michelle and I kept telling each other.

 

 

Dunns River Falls - Jamaica

 

Yep, another excursion.  Gigli and I have been talking about going bobsledding in Jamaica since February.  Between inventory, training, Hess audits, and port manning last week was the first (and last) chance we had.

 

 

First stop - Dunns River Falls. The shore excursions guy told us that if we go with a Disneyland in July mentality we would be okay.  He was right.  It was crowded.  It was wall to wall people.  We were herded like cattle to be with a guide who would lead us up the falls.  But like the shore ex guy said, "do your own thing or you'll spend an hour holding hands and shoulder to shoulder with a stranger hurrying up to wait.

 

 

We ditched our guide in the first pool and neither he or the photographer were happy about it.  They kept shouting at us to come back.  But we wanted to be able to sit in the pools or under the falls and enjoy ourselves. 

 

 

The water was just a tad chilly when we first got in.  We are used to the bathtub warm caribbean sea. Tough life, I know. 

 

 

It was very slippery and because we weren't following a guide we often ended up in waist deep water instead of knee deep.  Or we'd take a step and discover there wasn't a rock under our feet but a big step down!

 

 

In the photo below see the crowds very politely following the guides up?  All single file, holding hands? See the middle where no one is?  That's where Gigli and I went.  Of course.

 

 

But while they all went in an orderly fashion from bottom to top, stopping occasionally for a photo, Gigli and I hang out in small pools along the way, sat under the falls and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

But we could have stayed much longer.  That's the trouble with cruise ship excursions, you never get to spend long enough in one place.  

 

 

See everyone else looking bored?  Waiting to go to the next part. Should have come with us.

 

 

And this is what happens when you ask some one else to take a photo and they don't pay attention to the water on the cover of your camera.  Although it's better than the first one the woman took, which had a huge water spot covering Gigli's head.

 

 

The falls are that big.  180 ft high and 600 ft long. But they have the luck of being one of the few waterfalls anywhere in the world that empties directly into the sea.  

 

 

Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica - much better than cave tubing in Belize.  

Cave Tubing in Belize

 

 

For my birthday my colleagues unexpectedly gave me $60.00 towards a shore excursion of my choice. Thank you!  Trudy and I have been talking about going cave tubing in Belize since the beginning of your contract.  

 

 

 

This week we went. We asked the shore excursions staff for their recommendation and they said Darknight. So Darknight it was. The blurb from the shore excursion brochure:

 

 

 

"Experience breathtaking dry caves, archaeological artifacts, followed by a jungle trek with the grand finale. Enter an open air cave and enjoy the beauty of the formations. Begin at Clevis point, found at the entrance where you will hear of the importance of the caves to the Mayans. You will be amazed at the Shear Limestone walls that extend out offering shade. Pass by Drop Cave before entering  the jungle, then hiking a trail that leads to the North entrance of Jaguar Cave.You will be taken back by the size of this Cave, with 100 foot ceilings, teeming with stalactites, "the finger" a fallen stalactite, as well as sparkling crystal stalagmites. You'll exit through a "secret" side entrance and hike a jungle trail along crystal clear Indian Creek to start your Darknight Cave Tubing float. As you float in the Creek; each turn brings a visual display, with polished walls from over 1000 years of flow. As the creek narrows you feel the rush as the rapids rappel you forward. Passing through the exit you turn the corner of the canopy that awaits  the end of the float. "

 

 

 

Mmmm. Should have read that more carefully. We spent more time on the jungle trek than in the caves.  The trek to Jaguar Cave.  The trek from Jaguar Cave along Indian Creek to Darknight Cave. The trek after finishing the tubing back to the starting point. All up the excursion lasted about 90 minutes.  Over half of it was spent trekking. 

 

 

Our guide did point out some flora along the way...Ceiba trees, cohune palms, give and take palms, Mahogany, chicle, fish tail palm... but not "the importance of the caves to the Mayans."

 

 

 

For tubing the river, 8 tubes are tied together and the guide pulls the whole floatilla along.  The water level was very low when we were there and we bottomed out quite a bit. Literally.  More than once we had to lift our bums out of the tubes so our guide could pull us off the rock, sandbar or whatever else we had stranded ourselves on.  

 

 

Because of the low water level the creek also moved very slowly. Which was good for a nice relaxing float but it would have been fun to have some swifter moving water occasionally.

 

 

This was an okay excursion but far from my favourite.  Excursions in Belize are expensive and time consuming.  It's a tender port, which means at least 30-40 minutes are waiting for and riding the tender. Then most excursions require a 90 minute bus ride in either direction, so the time spent travelling to and from the excursion is often more than the event itself.  

 

 

Maybe that contributed to my underwhelmedness.  (I know that's not a word).  I enjoyed the cave-tubing, I just wish the trekking had been shorter and the tubing longer.  Or maybe if we'd done the zip lining and tubing option I'd have been more impressed.  

 

 

Bacardi, Beaches and Broke

We just finished an 8 day cruise that was successful (we hit target) and expensive (I've spent my paycheque before we get paid!).

We had two long sea days at the beginning of the cruise and then our first port was San Juan, Puerto Rico.     About 6 of us thought about going to the Bacardi Distillery but we were worried about timing... last time I went with Jorge, Victoria and Karl we cut it very close and only just made all aboard.  This week we had a general emergency drill meaning ouldn't get off ship until 11am, back on board was 230pm so it was a no go.  

 

After boat drill Trudy and I decided to check out the ferry schedule and fares for next time. Only we couldn't wait for next time. The ferry was leaving in 5 mins  and cost 50c.  We went.  

 

Ferry ride from Old San Juan to Catano took about 10 mins 50c each way

Taxi from ferry terminal to Bacardi 10 minutes $3.00 per person each way 

 

 

Barcardi tour - 1 hour, $12.00 includes a souvenir glass and one drink.  There is an option for a 2 hour tour that includes a mixology class and three drinks for $35.00. We might have done that except for the timing.

 

The tour is the same as I took last time with Victoria, Jorge and Karl expect Trudy and I didn't have to cut it short we actually stayed until the end and we even had time to browse the gift shop. I passed on the $85.00 bottle of limited reserve rum with personalized engraving on the bottle and I also passed on the very cute rum barrel.

 

Antigua was our next stop, the only time we stop there.  Antigua has 365 beaches. One for every day of the year. We only had time to visit one.  Trudy, Lavinia and I spent the day at Jolly Beach.  

 

 

 

When I think of Caribbean beaches, this is what I imagine.  Glaringly bright sun, blue blue green water and white sand.  Thank heavens for cloud cover.

 

A good few hours were spent doing nothing but floating in the water, laying in the sun to soak up some vitamin D, laying under the beach umbrella to avoid looking like a lobster, reading a few pages of my book, or just people watching.

(my toes are not sunburnt, I accidently had the vivid colour setting on my camera turned on!)

 

This photo makes me laugh...the tanned Romanian, Lavinina between the lily white South African and Australian!

 

I wish we stopped in Antigua more than once. It was a beautiful, relaxing day.

 

Our third stop of the cruise was St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Again we only stop here once. When I was on Liberty last year we stopped here every other week, I very much like St Thomas... beaches, shopping, skyride, ice bar, resorts, lots to do.

 

With so much to do, what did I do? Ummmm....spent money. Lots of it.  Mainly on speakers for Shaun, but I'm going to use them until I take them home!  He'll just have to wait patiently.  I did also get some jewelery and a headphones for me. And drooled over a very pretty diamond palm tree necklace but that stayed in the store.

 

Last stop for this cruise was Nassau, in the Bahamas.  It's not my first time in Nassau and it won't be my last. Nassau is on our itinerary quite a few time. Unfortunately it's not really a place that interests me much, and there's always rumours of tourists being mugged etc etc.  We just had a quick bite to eat, tried to find some fast internet and then went back to the ship for a nap.

Royal Hobart Show

It's been a long time since I've been to the Royal Hobart Show. A long time. I wasn't old enough to drink. I don't think I was even old enough to drive. Pretty sure Mum or Dad and to drop me off and pick me up.

The show is held the third week of October every year. For my Vancouver based friends it is similar to the PNE but smaller.

It was much smaller than I remembered. Of course that could be because I'm a lot bigger.

I am still amazed by the fact that "show day" - Thursday - is a public holiday. School day is Wednesday and family day is Saturday. Really? A public holiday for show day.

We made it a family event. Well almost a family event. Shaun and Kelly have gone away for a long weekend. So Jo filled in as an honorary Wilson child. Something she probably does better than the real Wilson children.

First up we checked out the farm animals...pigs, sheep, llamas, alpacas, ducks, goats, chicks... Jo was very disappointed that there were no coloured chicks this year. I think it's long been considered not very animal friendly to dye the chicks pink and purple and blue and green.

We did get to see Shaun. Shaun the sheep, not Shaun my brother. Shaun was lost for 6 years and was very woolly when he was found.

 

 

 

Next stop was the crafted items. You know, where people enter their knitted, stitched, painted, drawn, baked goods and get a pretty ribbon for best of show. This section was definitely much smaller than I remembered from 30 years ago. We did get to see the winners of "decorate a Girl Guide biscuit." It wasn't even won by a girl guide. I think a school boy won.

 

We all marvelled and the fruit and veggie picture. Apparently in previous years the red apples have been at the bottom of the picture and people kept eating them. So now the bottom of the picture is all eggplant and celery and squash and other such delicious veggies.

 

Time for morning tea or breakfast, if you were like me and slept in and didn't have time to eat before we left home. Show food was a much welcome improvement from the 80's. I remember Dagwood dogs, fairy floss and soggy chips. All of which are still available but we chose a breakfast Rosti from the Rosti Chalet instead. Potatoes, bacon, eggs, very tasty.

The feature event we had all been looking forward to? Watching the wood chopping. Well my Dad was looking forward to it. Jo just couldn't believe that Tasmania had invented the sport of woodchopping. Yep, that's right. Woodchopping as a sport began in Tassie back in the 1800's. We even have a wood choppers hall of fame. Although I think it may have a more official name than that.

 

After some sawing and chopping we went to watch the Canadian Lumberjack Show. It was okay, not bad but not great Nothing overly unique or Canadian about it. In fact one of the lumberjacks was a Kiwi. Many of the jokes were not very family friendly, they had to "bleep" out quite a bit.

 

 

Time to go and see a man about a dog. Actually a lady. My mum's friend, Jo (not to be confused with my friend, Jo) shows chow chows. So we went to say Hi. Her dog had won a few ribbons. A blue one and a yellow-ish one. I know, I'm full of useful information. Maybe mum remembers.

Lunch time. Gozleme. Don't know what that is? The. You are missing out. It's Turkish. The dough is filled with a variety of things, mine was lamb, feta and parsley. After being grilled it was wrapped around spinach and capsicum. Yum.

Back outside for more wood chopping.

A quick walk through the venomous snake display. Did you know snakes are not aggressive or mean? They only attack if they feel threatened. They become accustomed to human contact. Yeah, right. I'm still not getting close to them. They might become accustomed to human contact but I no chance of ever becoming accustomed to snake contact.

Our last stop was at the show bag pavilion. I have memories of buying lots of showbags as a kid. Mostly the chocolate ones. And leaving the show with bag after bag hanging off my arm. Showbags are expensive? How did I afford so many as a kid? Or did I just nag mum and dad so much they bought them to shut me up? I'm pretty certain I used my own pocket money or in later years my wages from Kentucky Fried a Chicken and the florist.

 

That was our day at the show. It's been 27 years since I was last at the Royal Hobart Show. It'll probably be 27 years before I go again. When I was home in March earlier this year I went to the Bream Creek Show with Dad. I enjoyed the smaller show better.

 

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Built by Convicts

 

My home state is one of the most beautiful places in the world. 

Lonely Planet just named Tasmania #4 of the world's top ten regions to visit in 2015. Calling Tassie "wild and dramatic, cultured and quirky." 

 

 

 

 

 

Yet Tasmania is also home to one of the harshest environments in the world - the remote south west wilderness. It was to this island state that over 70,000 convicts were transported in the 1800's. Sentenced to 7, 14 or 21 years for stealing a piece of fabric or a loaf of bread or some other trivial offence. Nowadays they just get a finger wagged at them. On this hostile island the convicts endured, survived and some even thrived. UNESCO lists Australian Convict Sites on its world heritage cultural listings, 5 of the11 sites are in Tasmania:

1. Port Arthur Historic Site
2. Brickendon and Woolmer's Estates
3. Darlington Probation Station (on Maria Island)
4. Coal Mines Historic Site
5. Cascades Female Factory.

 

Up until this week I had never been to the Cascades Female Factory. That's not entirely my fault. For most of the 20 years I lived in Tasmania the site was a paddock full of wallaby poop. Not an exciting place to visit. Also it's in South Hobart - it's cold and wet up there.

 

 

 

Sometime within the last 10 years some enterprising sole has developed the site and now it's a popular tourist attraction.

Rather than just visit the site we signed up for Louisa's Walk. Louisa's Walk is a strolling theatre moving from Cascade Gardens to the Female Factory and back - like a progressive dinner, only with no food.  Wear your walking shoes, and participate when asked.  It's a lot of fun.

 

 

On our tour Karissa played Louisa. A young widowed mother of 3 boys who was sentenced to 7 years in the colonies for stealing a loaf of bread to feed her family. She was not allowed to take her boys with her as the oldest was 14 and therefore able to support the younger two.

Jon played all the other roles...the magistrate, a ship's captain, the doctor, the head of the factory, and a few others.

 

 

 

Our tour into convict history started at the Cascade Gardens next to Cascade Brewery - the beer we drink here. (Sorry it's a slogan from I don't know when. I'm not even sure it was a Cascade slogan). Cascade is the oldest brewery in Australia. Tasmanians like their beer.

 

 

After Louisa was convicted and sentenced to transportation she boarded the Rajah for the many months long journey out to Van Diemans Land. The Quakers gave each woman fabric and cotton to keep them busy. Anything they made they could keep. Louisa made a quilt telling her life story to date. It includes squares with her deceased husbands name and the names of her three sons.

 

 

On arrival in Hobart Town Louisa was sent to the Female Factory. She was inspected and classified. Female convicts were classified as either criminals, xxxx or assignables.  I've forgotten the middle classification. Oops.

 

 

 

 

Inside the factory we heard many stories from Louisa's time there - picking oakum, seeking solace in the chapel, doing the laundry in cold cold water.  She was chosen by a man for work outside the factory only to be sent back to the factory when she became pregnant. After the baby was weaned (two weeks after birth) Louisa was sent back into the factory. Records show she was finally chosen/purchased by a gentleman who would eventually become her husband. Once she was married there are no further official records until her death certificate. She in her 70's when she died, quite old for the time.

 

 

There are no buildings at the factory, the yards are marked to indicate where structures had been, and there is a replica of a dark cell. I don't think we would have enjoyed the factory or learned anywhere near as much if we hadn't done Lousia's walk.  The tour was amazing. Jo, Irene and I both got caught up in the story, we laughed a lot. It lasted about 2 hours and was $35.00 each. Well worth every penny. 

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Zoodoo. Who? Zoodoo!

Meerkat. You can adopt one. You can't take it home though.

 

When I was home earlier this year Mum had double booked herself.  She had agreed to take a unit of 6 guides to the Scout/Guide Regatta and she had committed to organising the medal presentations at the State Athletic Championships.  So guess what? She volunteered me and my friend, Jo to take the girls to camp.

 

No idea why they have a fake meerkat in with the real ones. Anyone? 

 

6 months later I'm home again. 6 months later I've been volunteered to help again.

 

Wallaby with a joey in her pouch. See the leg sticking out over the joey's head.  Ouch! Can't be very comfortable for the mum or the joey. 

 

In November the Guides of Tasmania are having an overnight event, ROAR 2014 at Zoodoo. Zoodoo is a wildlife park about 20-30 minutes from Hobart.  They needed a filler activity for the girls to do on the last afternoon.   

 

 A rare albino wallaby. Until this visit, I didn't even know they existed.

 

Mum, Jo and I planned a lovely day in Richmond. A bit of shopping in the village. Lunch at the bakery. An hour or so at Zoodoo. Umm. Yep. Day didn't go as planned.  Jo and I got sidetracked in town. Mum was busy at Guide House.  We didn't actually head out to Zoodoo until about 2 '0 clock. So no shopping and no lunch in the bakery.  Next time.

 

 When I was a kid an emu bit my hand and took my sandwich. Emus and I are not friends.

 

We need a take nothing, leave nothing activity.  So trivia it is.  As we wander the enclosures taking photos, taking notes about the animals, we are approached by a zookeeper. He thought we were animal activists preparing to make a fuss about animals in captivity. Nope, just girl guide leaders spending an afternoon of their holiday getting ready for a guide camp.  We need a life. 

 

For everyone that asks me what a Tassie Devil looks like... This is a Tasmanian Devil.  Note, it walks on all fours. It does not spin.

 

After being distracted by the devils.  And they very cute meerkats.  And the marmosets... Okay so we were easily distracted. But we did come away with 27 trivia questions and 24 trivia answers.

 

Devils are quite small and very ferocious. Don't stick your hand in front of one.  They will bite it off. I'm not kidding. 

 

We threw in two questions that might be a little bit tricky.  They're actually really easy.  But we suspect quite a few of the guides (and their leaders) will get them wrong.

 

Okay so they don't look all that vicious when they are taking a nana nap in the sun.

 

Let's see if you know the answers:

When is a bear not a bear?

Where does milk come from?

Catalina Tiles - Silver Canyon Pottery

 

Not all the tiles around Catalina are original. A large portion of the, are but years of exposure to weather, humans etc have taken their toll. About 15-20 years ago various artists began the task of reproducing the iconic Catalina tiles.

 

One of those artists is Robin Cassidy, a local potter. She has a studio just outside of Avalon at Pebbly Beach. Silver Canyon Pottery is basically 3 shipping containers side by side...plus a balcony.

 

 

Here a Robin creates the reproduction tiles and some original art tiles

 

 

Robin offers a couple of tours of her studio. They are small tours, about 8 people each. Robin talks about the history of Catalina Tile and demonstrates the many steps that go into making a tile. Our group consisted of 5 adults and two 6 year old boys. What was great was Robin's ability to keep us all entertained, informative for the adults and fun short facts for the boys.

 

 

After Robin's demonstration we got to make three tiles each. We chose our moulds either from the reproduction designs or from some more contempory choices.

 

First step - slice the clay and smooth out any major imperfections with our fingers

 

 

Step two - push the clay into the mould, then cover with wax paper and whack it with a mallet to get all the air pockets out and the clay into all the nooks and crannies.

 

 

Step three - use a piece of wood to remove the extra clay and make sure the tile is even.

 

 

Step four - sign the back of the tile, and leave in the sun to bake a while.

 

 

Step five - turn tile out of mould.

 

 

Step six - select colours and leave for Robin to fire in the kiln.

 

 

Step seven - two weeks later Robin mails you the finished tile. Or in my case I picked it up the next time we visited Catalina.

 

 

 

The tiles are all stacked in the kiln for firing. I kind of like how the back of the tile has the image from the tile which was stacked under it.

 

 

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Ensensada

 

We are in Ensenada, Mexico twice a week.  Every Tuesday and Friday.  Ensenada is not the prettiest Mexican town I've ever been to, but it's not the worst.  It's about 100km from the US border.  A lot of Californians come here to buy cheap booze and prescription medicines.  

 

 

 

In three months I have done very little in Ensenada.  It's a port that hasn't interested me much, which is probably not very fair.  I haven't really given it much of a chance.  Usually I use Ensenada days to sleep in or do my laundry.  When I do get off the ship I usually do the same thing every time...

1 - Find a coffee shop, not even a local coffee shop, I usually head straight for Starbucks and their free internet.  

 

 

2 - Go for a pedicure. So far I've been for two.  At $20.00 for an hour long pedicure it's cheap and I love the calf massage - almost sends me to sleep everytime. I do miss having a bloom pedicure. I must remember to book one when I get home.  

 

 

3 - Get a massage.  I'm not sure why but I'm finding this contract way more stressful than the 6 months I spent on Liberty.    The tension I'm holding in my neck and shoulders is unbelievable. I want to go for a massage everyweek. 

 

 

4 - Eat fish tacos. Ensenada is apparently famous for it's fish tacos.  I've been told they are even better if they are eaten at a street stall.  The street stall aspect doesn't worry me, I've eaten more than enough meals from street stands in Mexico.  But I do like to sit and relax to eat my meal so I usually eat my tacos at this hole in the wall... $6.00 for a beer and 3 tacos. I'm happy with that.

 

 

 

5 - Eat Chinese.  Yep I know, why eat Chinese in Mexico when there's lots of good Mexican food?Because it's close to the ship, cheap and has fast internet.

 

 

6 - Shop.  I haven't really done all that much shopping here either.  I have a lot of souvenirs from previous trips to Mexico. Silver jewelry, pottery, art work, a tea set, wooden boxes, little animals with bobbly heads, Kahlua, Tequila and quite a few other things.  And really there's not much different here. One local shop lady tried getting me to go into her store by telling me..."come on in, we have cheap crap, like made in China only it's made in Mexico".  Really? That's  your selling tatic? Not very inviting.  There are two stores I like to look in.

Bazar Casa Ramirez:  I bought my little star shaped light here, and some gifts for friends at home.

 

 

Cafe, Cafe: Good coffee and iron animals.  I bought a blue and green fish. As a gift. But I think I'm gonna keep him for myself.  Barb, I think you'd like the geckos.

 

 

So that's it.  13 weeks, 26 days in Ensenada and that's all I've done.  Maybe it's time to branch out and give Ensenada a chance.   I'm half way through my contract, I have 13 weeks left.  That's another 26 visits to Ensenada.  Well 20, because I'll be port manning for 6 of those days.  So what to do?  Maybe kayaking, a visit to the winery, a day at the beach, a trip to La Bufadora (the blowhole)... we'll see...

 

 

 

Disneyland in Half a Day

 

On Sundays we dock in Long Beach, California. We do not have any stores or anything else so we have the day off until back on board time at 430pm.  Last Sunday, 5 of us decided to go to Disneyland.  It's something the shoppies have all talked about doing but never get round to doing.  Friday was payday so we decided to just do it. 

 

Erin took a selfie with my camera

 

It was NOT a cheap day.  

• Taxi from cruise ship to Disneyland $75.00 including tip (split 5 ways)
• 1 day 1 park Disney ticket $96.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Lunch $15.00
• Mickey Icecream Bar $3.50
• Taxi from Disneyland back to cruise ship $80.00

 

Bob/Surfaraz eating a frozen banana.

 

We were on the gangway for 8:30am because that's the earliest we thought we could get off. Turns out gangway was open way earlier.  Took us about 30 mins to deal with getting a cab or a shuttle.  Shuttle driver told us it would take at least 90 minutes to get there and 2 hours to get back.  Turns out taxi driver was right...25 minutes to get there and 35 minutes to get back.

 

The happiest cruise that ever sailed? Mmmm must be better than the one we work on.

 

We were in the park for about 4.5 hours.  Which was not nearly long enough. But in that time we rode Buzz Lightyears' Astro Blasters, the Matterhorn, It's a Small World, ate icecream and lunch, bought Minnie Mouse ears, rode Big Thunder Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, did some shopping and took a few photos. 

 

 

We got back to the ship around 330pm. Just in time to shower, have a quick nap and report to boat drill.  Would we do it again? Oh probably.  Even though it was expensive, crowded and hot?  Oh probably. Why?  Because the 5 of us had a lot of fun.  Should have seen us at work afterwards, we were exhausted and all had "It's a small world" stuck in our heads.