Brief video I shot last week in Oz

Our friend in Dyers Crossing, Zoli, always has us over for a special afternoon of wine and conversation. We tested about six full bottles... The following was done in one shot and not scripted.

A visit to Villa D'Esta is always instructive and fun! Here is typical Zoli, showing a Wine Enthusiast how to enjoy Chambourcin Wine from the Vineyard.

Jet lag hurts.

Kookaburra

The time is 1146, I have been up for half an hour and feel wrecked and hungover like someone who has pushed the fool button at a free beer convention. (Not that I would know anything about that) We departed the Airport Hilton in El-Lay at 0430, and rode the shuttle bus to the airport. It looked pretty grim as we walked in, doing a sea-bag drag with two back packs, three sizeable suitcases and the weariness of half a world's travel. The line for the security check had at least three hundred other travelers snaked about like a cattle call at the Harris Ranch, only with less the efficiency of the afore-mentioned ranch.

We walked hesitantly to the entrance and showed our boarding pass to the surly gubmint employee who waved us nonchalantly past towards another door. Again we were onto another long line which we were told to pass. Finally, we reached a stairway and were told again to head for another entrance gate which only had six people in line! Once through that bit of indignity we went to a pleasant oldies' style diner cafe which provided some decent food for brekkies.

Note; Airport food on this two week journey has been pretty phenomenal. Really. A bit overpriced, but good to eat. Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, LA, Houston; All really good in choice and more importantly, quality. Good on all the folks who try to ease the burdens of the airline traveling public.

Back to yesterday's transport. We got on a crowded airplane filled with fellow passengers and headed out to Houston on-time. Once in Houston we dined on a Tex-Mex lunch at Bullritos, and it was also pleasant! I noticed food prices were getting more affordable along with very nice customer service. Once more, we climbed into the little C-9 type aircraft called an Embraer 145, which is a smaller airframe than we are used to traveling in. Don't be over 5 foot 10 if you expect to walk down the aisle in  this airplane. Narrow and efficient, the Embraer 145 was fast and comfortable. I'm pretty happy with it all since I am all about just getting home at this point.

We arrived at the home airport a couple hours later and our good friend Phil was there in an instant to pick us up for the drive home. The keg had enough for four beers to celebrate our return!

As for the jet lag, we went to bed at around 2100 (9:00PM) and fell instantly to sleep in which we were soon up at 0200 for an hour and a half, or so. We re-attempted sleeping ops and I finally was up at 1100, the kitties were piled in with me and they have been following me around the house to make sure I give them their treats and stay home, like a good staff person. Them love me.

Travel Notes;
Travel in the United States by regular folks continues to be unnecessarily an inconvenience, both in Airline treatment of customers and even tighter security which is Gubmint Provided, of course. If the average traveler was an incarcerated prisoner, there would be better treatment and guarantees of human rights for these people. Prisoners are given rights, not travelers. It seems that the Federal Government feels free to shackle and coerce the traveler in the name of 'security', just to prove that there is some value to having a Big Government in the first place. TSA=Jobs Program. Maybe this was necessary in 2001-2002,  but with the help of better intelligence work and collated studies of terrorist habits, our security services should be a bit more gentler in the treatment of law-abiding travelers who just happen to be paying for all this. But it is just easier to hire an entire army of Unionized Government employees who will detain us and strip us of our dignity while scrutinizing our most personal selves, causing a cattle like compliance for the Greater Good™. 

In Australia, we were able to walk through the security with our shoes and belts on. In fact, we did not have to show ID! A boarding pass was only necessary for boarding the airplane so families are able to properly send off loved ones like we used to do prior to the 9-11 atrocity. This was so at Newcastle airport, Melbourne and Launceston, too. Unbelievable! The only question we were pleasantly asked while our bags were going through the machine was if we had packed our own bags and if there were any aerosols... America has much to re-learn, believe Yours Truly. Old ladies were not required to be manhandled by badged  servants either. Now in fairness to the Australian and New Zealand security types, they did do additional swipes (searching for explosives residue) on our back packs at random, never both of us at the same time. (I have something more on this, too. But not in an open forum...)

This pretty much covers the journey portions of the past couple weeks. I have to upload about 700 photos and make sense of them all, and organize them so you the reader might get something out of what appears to be family vacation photographs, pre-ready for the slide projector served along with watercress sandwiches and coffee in a 1950's tract home-party.

Ahh, the good old days are happening now.

Sunday in Oz

still going strong... It has been three days of parties and socialising Aussie sty le. There were four or five tents in the back 40 and every guest brought their kids, so there was much yelling and hollering as the crowd moved from bonfire to the line of eskys which chilled the beers and wines.

The stars were shining exceptionally bright with the Southern Cross prominent in the sky adjacent to our clearing. The night sky was so clear and warm that a viewer could look up and see the Galactic clouds with unaided eyes. Good times.

I am taking a pile of photos but since I am using an iPad I will have to wait to upload. Google won't let me sign in unless I give them my phone number. google does not want me signing in on another computer and it's for my own safety.

Leaving for Melbourne tomorrow, then we depart for Hobart.



See you in a few days!

Jorge Boosh Intercontinental Airport

when I hear Intercontinental, I think of the Wrestling Federation. They had a World Heavyweight Champ, think Hulk Hogan or someone like that. Then there was something called a Intercontinental Champion, usually some unknown guy from Mexico or Tonga. Think of Tito Santana or Ricky The Steamboat Dragon.

So I am roosting at an airport that would be better named after a popular wrestler rather than a distinguished former President.

Ponder this as I wait for the next exciting leap to LAX. Which I presume is a shortened version of EX-Lax.

A fine product, I am informed.

Counting down and packing

One day to go...

We have all the gear set on the billiards table and just need to zip up the bags and walk out the door. Always nice to have properly planned and set up, takes away any pre-travel anxiety and lets us just relax before the actual moving bit.

But the trip will be about thirty hours, so there will be plenty of time for reflection and boredom. SO we have an i-Pad, two iPods (with days of music), a cribbage board and many sacks of bad snacks to keep us entertained.

Air New Zealand has free drinks for our class of of travel, too. (!)

But we have an endurance pre-test in going from JAX to LAX. A three hour layover in f*&^% Texas.

I like Texas. But I don't care for airports anywhere so hence the frustration. Of course, we have a nine hour flailex to enjoy in El-Lay. So we have that going for us, which is not nice.

On the return, we will have an eighteen hour layover at LAX but we have planned properly and have a suite reserved at the local Hilton. So there. At least we can get some quality sleep and water locker time to refresh ourselves for the big jump across flyover country to... Texas. For another three hour layover.

Could be worse. We might have had to take trains, like they do in the former British Commonwealth.

Speaking of trains, we will change at Sydney to a train for Hunter Valley, Sunday afternoon. Planes, Trains and automobiles.

That's us!

My favorite day!

I like 'em, these fridays. The weekend always has some hidden promise of a new adventure or at the very least I have the hope of such occurrences.

As for today: Gettin' our stuff arranged on the billiards table, organizin' the ecky-pah-he for the departure, headin' to colder climes. New shooz, panz and zhaquets (Lerrnin' noo langwedjes, too!)

Naah. Just getting our stuff ready for the big trip that starts in seven days. But our gear is literally setting on the pool table, like a couple a hicks packing for the mountains!

Note to anyone who is monitoring us for our whereabouts so as to potentially break in to the house while we are gone:

An angry, burly, bearded, insomniac biker who is also paranoid and very well armed is staying at the homestead with access to all the rum, cigars and shootin' irons. Enter at your own risk.

The Biker would like the company/shooting practice. Really.

Nothing really to report, otherwise. Everyone at the Barco is healthy and doing as well as normal, just out of any stories to mention at this moment.

Go have fun of your own!

Dining with friends

Very quiet weekend, so far. We had dinner with this author/raconteur last night and one of the bottles of wine that was served was this distinctive red;

It was not memorable except for the labeling. I feel that this Cab was served probably about three years past its "best by" date. The vintage was 2006 and I'm sure the "Great One" had nothing to do with this wine other than lending his name.

I thought of Buck when I peeped at the label on that bottle!

Nice to have  no where to be and to just relax at home with the tv and kitties. Good thing we have all this good stuff available to us!

See you when I have something more interesting to say!