Tinkerblue

Ze Plane! Ze Plane!

Maho Beach, St Maarten.  I've seen it on all the travel shows and on some aviation shows.

 

Just about every tourist calls it Airplane or Airport Beach.

 

The beach is located at the end of the runway at Juliana Airport in St Maarten. Planes fly over on the approach to landing, and occasionally they take off in that direction.

 

I don't want to be anywhere nearby when they take off.

 

The beach itself is very tiny. And very crowded.  You are not coming here for a relaxing day at the beach. Sure the sand is white, the sky is blue and the water is stunning.  But you are sharing it with a couple of thousand people. We spent about an hour here. 

I can't see anything yet...

 

Incoming...

 

 And another...

 

Ohhhhh and a big one...

 

I can fly too...

 

A drink at the bar and then it was time to head back to the ship.

 

It was okay.  I'm glad I had the chance to go.  But I've been to other airports where planes came in at the same altitude, just not over a beach. (the joys of having been married to a pilot, I've spent a lot of time at a lot of airports).

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?

Tiles of Catalina Island

Everywhere you go in Avalon you will see pretty tiles. Everywhere. I'm not kidding... On shop fronts,

 

 

drinking fountains,

 

 

water fountains,

 

 

signs,

 

 

walls,

 

 

benches,

 

 

On the footpath

 

 

Some are single tiles

 

 

Some are murals

 

 

Some are looking a little worse for wear

 

 

and some look brand new.

 

 

Catalina tile has a long history. Catalina Clay Products was founded in 1927 as a division of Santa Catalina Island Company by the William Wrigley Jr.

 

 

It was established to take advantage of the low cost of local clay and to help reduce the cost of construction on the island.

Originally they used local red clay from the Island to make all the tiles and pottery. But the clay wasn't that great, it crumbled easily so they started importing white clay from the mainland.

 

Catalina Clay Products made tiles, dinnerware and artware. The tiles were used for interiors and exteriors of buildings on Catalina.

 

In 1937 everything belonging to Catalina Clay was sold to Gladding McBean. Because the cost of importing the white to the island was so high Gladding McBean moved production to the mainland and eventually stopped production altogether in 1942.

 

Although rare, you can still find original Catalina Clay tiles and pottery. Pieces occasionally wash up on Pebbly Beach on Catalina Island.

 

The traditional Catalina colours are Toyon red, Descanso green, Mandarin yellow and a blue, but I forgot the fancy name for the blue.

I've spent hours exploring Avalon and have seen lots of different tiles. I want a tile mural in my house, when I grow up and have a place of my own again!

 

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Catalina Island Casino Artwork

 

Last week when I visited the Casino in Avalon one of the things that fascinated me most was the artwork.  

 

 

 

At the entrance to the Casino are nine huge panels depicting an undersea world ruled by Regina del Mer (Queen of the Sea).  

 

 

They are designed by John Gabriel Beckmon who also worked on Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood

 

 

Originally planned to be executed in all tile, Beckman and his team of artists worked around the clock painting directly onto the concrete surface completing all 9 panels in an astonishingly short 3 month period in time for the Casino's grand opening.

 

 

 

In 1986 Beckman (then 88) and Richard Thomas Keit of RTK tiles worked together to restore the centrepiece panel and finally complete it in tile as originally designed. 

 

 

Both Beckman and Keit signed the tile work and donated their labour for the restoration. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Altun Ha Mayan Ruins, Belize

 

Hmmm this day didn't quite go as planned.  Mariana, Victoria and I had signed up to do the excursion to Xunantunich, Mayan ruins close to the Guatemala border.  But the weather had other plans for us.  Rain had caused flooding in the area and Park Rangers closed the ruins.  Bah.  Shore Excursions offered to put us on the trip to Altun Ha instead. Why not? We were already up. 

 

 

The bus ride to the ruins took about an hour or maybe more. I'm not 100% sure as I slept most of the way.  Gotta get my sleep when and where I can.   The ruins at first seem tiny. There are only two plazas and about 1/2 a dozen buildings - temples, tombs and pyramids.  But... Most of the site remains covered by jungle.  There are actually 6 plazas and 500 buildings here.

 

 

Altun Ha was constructed about 600 bc or maybe even earlier. It may have been small but it is thought to  have been one of the major trading posts for the Mayan civilization at the time.  Objects have been found that would have originally come from Mexico, Panama and Guatemala. 

 

 

Inside the Temple of the Sun God they found a jade head representing the Sun God. It's about 6" tall and weighs over 10lbs.  The real jade carving is now in a vault at the bank in Belize City (which was built in the same shape as the temple) and a replica is on display at the Museum of Belize.

 

 

The Temple of the Temple of the Masonry Altars is the logo for Belize's Belikan Beer. Just thought you needed to know that!

 

 

According to our tour guide:

• every 52 years the Mayans added to or renovated a building. First time I'd heard that piece of information about Mayan temples. 
• 13 is a lucky number for the Mayans.
• Women were buried in Mayan temples, an indication that the Mayans held women in high regard.

 

 

On the way back, we took a boat ride on the River Wallace and saw crocodiles, howler monkeys and really big gekkos.

 

 

 

The Amazing Secret River - Shore Excursion from Cozumel

David and I have been talking about doing this excursion for a while.  We had a whole group of people lined up to go, but everyone else cancelled at the last minute - either too expensive or too tired or whatever. So it ended up just being the two of us. 

 

We booked through the ship, because it requires a ferry ride to get there and we didn't want to miss the ferry back to the ship. That wouldn't be good!  The ferry ride was about 40 mines, then a 1/2 hour bus ride to the Rio Secreto Natural Reserve.

 

You cannot take anything with  you into the caves. No camera's, no jewelry, no sunscreen, no body oil etc.  So the first stop is the change rooms and then an outdoor shower to rinse off. You can choose to wear a wetsuit or not, it's included in the price.  Our guide assured us the water wasn't that cold so our group all chose to not wear the wetsuits.  You are also given water shoes, life jacket and helmet with headlamp.  If I were doing it again, I'd bring my own water shoes.  

 

From the base it's a 10 minute or so walk through the jungle to the Rio Secreto.

 

Inside the caves you travel nearly 11 miles either walking or floating and it takes about 90 minutes, I think. I lost track of the time.  I've been into quite a few caves over the years, but I have never swam in any.  The cave system is huge, it's pretty much under all of the state of Quintana Roo (the Yucatan peninsula) but much of it is unexplored.  The area where our tour went is called Pool Tunich.  It's seriously a labryinth of waterways and amphitheaters filled with stalactites and stalagmites formed from limestone and quartz crystals.

 

 

The water is cool, and crystal clear.  At some points it was only ankle deep but in other places it was over my head. Yeah I know, I'm short but David is taller than me and it was over his head too.  The bottom is either rocks or sand. my favourite parts where when we just floated along, looking up at the stalactites.  It was stunning.

 

 It was really awesome. I can't really put in to words how I felt.  But I wanted to spend more time just exploring, listening to the silence.  Even in a group of 8 it was so peaceful.

 

 

One of my favourite parts was when the guide had us all float on our backs, close our eyes, turn off our head lamps and then open our eyes.  It was dark.  Really dark.  My eyes never adjusted to the darkness, and I couldn't see my hand in front of me.  Every one was absolutely quiet and we just floated there for 5 minutes.  You could hear water dripping from the stalactites.  Amazing.

 

 

Seriously if you are ever vacationing in Cancun or Playa del Carmen or Cozumel you should go to the Secret River.  It was well worth it.  I would go again.  The tour I went on was to the Secret River or Rio Secreto.  But you can also do an underground river tour at Xcaret.   It's all part of the same cave system.

 

 

(all photos are from Rio Secreto CD and you can't take your own camera)

 

 

Seattle's Wall of Gum - Gross or Cool?

Over the last 15+ years I have been to Pike Place Market in Seattle many, many times. I've had coffee at the original Starbucks, bought flowers in the market, eaten the oh so yummy goodies at Piroshky Piroshky, Confectional Cheesecakes, Daily Dozen Donut Company, Chukar Cherries and Sosio's Fruit and Produce to name a few.  I've sat on the pig, watched the guys through the fish, walked the steps down to the waterfront (and then climbed back up), had more than one beer at Pike Place Brewery and made just a few purchases at other stalls and shops. So how come I've never seen the Post Alley Gum Wall before?

The Post Alley Gum Wall is about about 1.5km long and 4-5 metres tall and I'm guessing several inches thick with gum - bubble gum, chewing gum, lots of gum.  It runs along side the the box office for the Market Theatre.

I did not put that there!

The story goes that people queing up for the box office started sticking their gum to the wall. The theatre staff scraped the wall clean, twice.  

Is that a teenage mutant ninja turtle?

They gave up, and market officials declared it a tourist attraction, back in 1999. Some of the gum is over 10 years old!

Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck? I'm not touching that penny!

TripAdvisor declared it 2nd of the Top 5 Germiest World Attractions - behind the Blarney Stone and ahead of Oscar Wilde's Tomb.

It's Gumby (Just for you Michelle)

Vancouver Aquarium After Hours

Last week I won two tickets to the After Hours evening at Vancouver Aquarium from Marc Smith at 30 Day Adventures. After Hours is just that, the Aquarium is open after it's normal hours and for the over 19 set only.

4 hours at the Aquarium with no school groups, day camps or other assorted rugrats. It was awesome.  It was busy, the event sold out but it was not crowded and the only lineups were for the beer.

I forced Andrea into coming with me and we had a great time. Our first stop of the evening was at Penguin Point to visit the African Penguins.

I like penguins. I'm partial to Fairy Penguins, but I could have watched the African Penguins for quite some time. In fact I think I did. Andrea was very patient. 

After saying goodnight to the penguins we made our way around the rest of the Aquarium. Some of the highlights were:

• Hanging out with the Belugas
• Saying hi to the Otters
• Sea Lions napping in the sun
• Welcoming Dory, Nemo and Marlin back from the EAC

• The touch tanks in the lab - sea cucumbers, urchins, anemone, crabs, jelly fish and sea stars

• Playing dress up in the kiddie area 

But suprisingly my favourite thing of the evening was the tiny tiny sea gooseberries. These are video I took on my iPhone. Andrea and I spent quite a bit of time watching the colours light up.

 

 

The After Hours event was a great way to enjoy the Aquarium without kids running wild. I go again. Tickets are $21.95. Not bad for an evenings entertainment. Thanks to Roxanne from the Aquarium and Marc from 30 Day Adventures for the tickets that Andrea and I were lucky enough to have last night.

 

 

 

 

 

Advent Calendar Day #21 - Festival of Lights at VanDusen Gardens

Happy Winter Solstice. Happy shortest day of the year (or longest, if you're on the southern hemisphere). Happy first day of winter.

Tonight after work Morag and I went to see the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Gardens. I've not been before. It was with going to. Word of warning... The queue to get in was huge. About an hour. Buy your tickets in advance. Don't wait to buy them at the door.

We were there about half an hour. We might have stayed longer but we were so bloody cold. The lake had started to freeze over.

The display uses over a million LED lights. Good thing they're LED, could you imagine the electricity bill?

It was spectacular. We were there for two of the half hour dancing light shows. I could have watched the lights for hours. Jo, you would have absolutely hated it. Good thing you are not here.

We missed seeing Svend and Jens, the Christmas Elves. Next time.

(and I get to cross another item off my Christmas Stocking List)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/sandra-thomas/festival-of-lights-at-van_b_1158225.html

Advent Calendar Day #20 - Bright Nights at Stanley Park

Day 20 - See some Christmas lights. Morag and I had our choice today. Bright Nights at Stanley Park, Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge or Festival or Lights at Van Dusen Gardens.

We chose Bright Nights at Stanley Park. Same location as the Ghost Train Sharyn, Kath and I went to.

I live going and riding the little train and seeing all the lights. It's so pretty. It definitely feels like Christmas .