Day 5 New Orleans 30th Dec

Our room at the Royal St Charles is cosy, so cosy that it has no window, just a fake one.  Maybe this was why this morning Lance woke me up with "F*%! it's 10 o'clock!"

This is highly unusual for us, especially Lance as he is an early riser. It wasn't long before we were out pounding the pavement and grabbed a seat on the tram car. 

 This took us right up St Charles St, through a magnificent residential area, it was right out of the movies. Quaint, palatial and ornate, I could just imagine the days gone by with a slave woman sweeping the porch and a man in the garden. As the day was bleak many homes had their lights on and you could catch a glimpse inside of huge lit Christmas trees and lamps set perfectly in each window. We hadn't had any breakfast, not even a cup of tea so after a trip of about 2 hours we hopped off back in town in search of nourishment. Light rain was falling and we popped into the Canal St Mall, a safe move as all of the shops were top dollar, so no spending there, well actually I did have to spend a penny after we had a bite to eat.

By now we had made our way down to the river and found 'Riverpark Walk' a small outlet mall, I manage to leave with a few parcels and an extra full belly. Cafe La Monde is famous for it's beignet.  These are fried doughnuts covered, and I mean covered in icing sugar. 

By now it was 3pm and we wanted to get some tickets for the 'hop on hop off bus'. On our way I needed to spend another penny and popped into a much larger, and the original Cafe la Monde. I had to queue and the toilets were so disgusting that I would never eat at that cafe. 

After a bit of a rest we headed out for the evening, heading of course, to Bourbon St. Cornet was our choice and what do you know? New Zealand wine!  Lance had jambalaya and I had crawfish Mac and cheese. The crawfish were tiny little tails like a prawn tail. The whole meal was very tasty. 

We moved on to a little jazz bar, Maison Bourbon.  This had a quintet of mostly old fellas playing, I enjoyed them so much that I bought their CD. And they served NZ wine! 

Toilet: very clean, however they had swing saloon doors with no lock!  A toilet nightmare!  I had just stood up to pull up my pants and a woman was just about to push open the doors, she got a heck of a fright when my head popped up. 

Just had to take this photo of the shadow on the church. 

Next call was a bar that had two guys playing piano, duelling they said. The first song we heard was piano man, so drinks were purchased. No NZ wine, in fact when Lance asked for a sav blance the girl said that they only have white wine. So a cup of wine was purchased, I had one sip and left the rest. I did use the toilet, as I hadn't wanted a repeat performance in the swing door toilets. Whaddya know? This bar led to the exact same toilets, quickest wee in history.  And after a few songs we moved to famous door where a pretty good band was playing and best of all the beers were ice cold in this chiller.  

Not finished yet, a last stop at funky 544, old school disco and Motown (except for one Neil Diamond song). We were talked into some dual shots with the waitress. 

Finally we headed home ready for an early morning for a plantation tour. 

Day 4 NOLA 29 Dec

Thoughts about Houston 

Loads of Hispanic people, I hadn't thought about Houston being so close to Mexico and South America. Many signs are in English and Spanish and heaps of Mexican restaurants. 

People are friendly and enjoy a laugh. Even airport customs and security. Customer service in retail is pretty bad, but in hospitality staff are awesome (tips wanted). On the whole Houston is nice, but there is nothing to see. 

NOLA

The flight to New Orleans was uneventful. Checkin was great, they just whipped people through and on to the train to our terminal. The plane was overfull and they had to ask for a volunteer to wait for a later flight and they would get a $300 united airlines voucher. Fortunately someone volunteered and off we went, they also hadn't allocated seats so we ended up sitting separately for the short flight. 

Our cab driver Jean Baptiste was a maniac driver, clocking 90 miles per hour, that's 144 kph! And my seat belt didn't work! I was very happy to arrive at the Royal St Charles Hotel. A much smaller hotel and with a small room and a small bed, but adequate. The location was perfect, close to Bourban St but far enough away to miss the noise.  We went for a stroll to Bourbon St whilst they prepared our room. I think we are going to enjoy our evening stroll down here each night, very colourful with bands, bars, clubs and food and a tad sleazy. We had some lunch at Olde 'Nawlins Cookery, Lance had a selection of gumbos and I had blackened chicken. Sorry in advance for the food descriptions, but this is my travel diary and I like to remember the food. I promise not to post food pictures unless it is worthy of sharing. Lance managed to knock a large sign over and it spilt red sauce all over the table of an older lady and maybe even knocked her a bit. We stopped and apologised profusely and scadadled out of there fast (they sue here you know). 

We had a quick trip home to sort our luggage and a short rest and then a cab ride down to the Mississippi to hop on board the Natchez Paddle Steamer. Hailing the cab we were lucky and had the best driver. He was an old guy who obviously loved his city and told us all sorts of stuff on our short ride. We had to stop at one point as the Poe-leese (police) came flying by on bikes with flashing lights and sirens blaring. They were making way for the college football team who were on their way to practise in four big tour buses. They have a big game on the first of Jan. 

We boarded the paddle steamer and felt very old worldy. It was a beautiful night 15 degrees and best of all they had NZ wine!  (I know that I should be drinking local wine but it is just not nice in my opinion). We had a wait of an hour and a half to sit onboard on the outer balconies until dinner. Lance got me two glasses of wine and I have to tell you that they were real RSA pours (if you don't know what that means, it means they filled it to the top). By the time we went for dinner I was very merry. We sat on the outer deck watching the evening scenery, what a huge river, the third largest in the world. We passed container ships and watched Nawlins slide by. Dinner was okay and we met a nice couple who live in Oklahoma, no idea what their names were but by then I was on to my third barrel of wine. I did manage to knock a lady's water all over her, but it wasn't my fault! One of the waitresses had such a large booty (butt) that she backed into me and I went flying!  All In all the Natchez paddle steamer was a great thing to do. 

We were tossing up wether to try and walk our way back to the hotel when Lance spotted some tuk tuk/cyclo things. We climbed aboard and when we said that we had just arrived in NOLA the guy asked if we would like him to show us around. We must have been with him for 45 minutes. He took us through all sorts of streets, residential with beautiful and quaint homes and through bawdy bar areas where marijuana was thick in the air. It was a beautiful clear evening and we loved every minute of it. 

Now we are tucked up in bed and a "Back to the Future" trilogy is on TV. Lance thinks they put them on because it is his birthday, as they are some of his favourite movies.  

Nighty night💤

Day 3 NASA 28 Dec

Lance slept like a baby. I slept in short bursts, I woke at 3am and just couldn't get back to sleep. I thought maybe my body clock was a bit out of sync, but realized what the problem was early this morning.  Of course, it all makes sense now, sleeping with a four story mall on the other side of the wall was just too much for my system. 

We were up at 7am, enjoyed a hearty breakfast and waited in the hotel lobby for our tour of the city and then NASA. After a while I checked with at the hotel counter. Oops we were waiting at the wrong place. They have a sister hotel at the other end of the mall. Off we ran, luckily the shops weren't open so we had a clean run. City Tours was waiting for us and off we went to meet the double decker bus. 

I haven't yet mentioned that over the last couple of weeks we have been checking the temperature in Houston. It has ranged from highs of 7 to 24 so we were at twos and threes about whether to pack our puffer jackets. Last week it was 17 to 24, so we both opted to leave the jackets behind. BAD MOVE, it was bloody freezing. We had layers of thin clothing on and on the open top double decker bus they gave out blankets!  The 90 minute tour of the city was informative, highlights were the prison that has false windows on the outside to make it look more hospitable and the witty tour guide. There is not much to see in Houston, but we did go to NASA. 

We took the tram tour that took us to see some history. After a freezing open sided ride we arrived at Mission Control. This is the real mission control from the sixties, as they updated it they stored the original equipment, viewing seats and even the carpet. I thought,when we sat down to listen to the guy talk, that the viewing area was a bit shabby! But it was original 60s stuff. You could also see a live stream from a rocket orbiting earth. It takes one and a half hours to orbit earth and is traveling 17,500 miles per hour. That means that it could get from Houston to Paris in 17 minutes!   

The actual touristy building was not that large and after a 45 minute queue for the tram ride we opted out of the other queueing attractions and just wandered, people watching and looking at space suits and stuff. 

NASA: we have done it, but wouldn't rush back. 

Arriving back at 5pm we still had 4 hours until the mall shut. Lance suggested that we split up, good move I thought. So I managed a couple of pairs of boots and some other stuff in 2 and a half hours. Not up to my usual standard but the queues to pay were horrendous. 

Houston is apparently an eating sort of town and we had panned to find somewhere nice for a meal. But the freezing weather made us stick close to home and we ended up just next to the hotel at Del Fresco's Double Eagle Steak House. 

Lovely restaurant. And even better food. As it is Lance's birthday in NZ we thought we would enjoy a nice meal. I was happy to find some Kim Crawford on the wine list and of course Heineken for Lance. The meal was great, oysters fried and fresh, steak which Lance ordered rare and myself medium. For the first time ever the waiter asked if Lance wanted his rare steak cool or warm. Lance asked for warm "not quite walking but with a little wiggle ". 

Tucking into our meal Lance said "all I need now is for Hugh Hefner to arrive with his bunnies".  Well not ten minutes later out of the corner of my eye I spotted a pair of rather pale jellies coming up the stairs. A couple of young women with implants not only on their chests but also on their butts arrived. Wish almost complete. Sleep now and New Orleans tomorrow for Lance's USA birthday. 

Day 2 Houston Texas still Dec 2015

I am sitting in bed and the last time I was in bed was a bout 31 hours ago,so I hope my writing makes sense. An uneventful flight from Auckland to Houston was stretched from 12 and a half hours to nearly fourteen hours with holding patterns at Houston due to stormy weather.  

The weather was misty rainy and humid when we finally hit the land. And the drive to our hotel took about an hour, but we had a couple of drop offs on the way. Out of town looked like the poorer area with houses that remind me of 'wife swap' ( a tv program I was once addicted to). 

We are staying at the 'Westin Oaks', a well appointed hotel with a huge bonus. It has a direct entry to a huge shopping mall, so big it has an ice skating rink in the middle.  See below in this photo of Lance. 

 So we dropped our bags and spent a couple of hours shopping and the Christmas sales are another bonus, however the queues are not. 

I spent half an hour in this queue waiting to pay. 

We were pretty buggered and ready for a feed and bed, so we went to the hotel restaurant. Tucking into our dinner we were interrupted by an old school friend of Lance's, funny aye.  

As I write, Lance is sound asleep and I am ready to join him.  NASA tomorrow and hopefully much more action to write about.

U.S.A Adventure 27 Dec 2015

Buckle up and hang on to your hats.  You are about to join us on a journey to Houston, New Orleans and the Carribean. 

Waiting in the Koru lounge at Auckland International Airport.

Otago Adventure The End

Last day and what do we have for breakfast at Kay and Jeffs, cheese rolls. Home made this time and delicious. I would like to mark them 10/10 however Kay and I were talking too much and we almost burnt them. 

Coffee and cheese rolls in the sun overlooking Lake Whakatipu. Followed by locally grown cherries and apricots. We just sat around all day chatting and snacking. A lovely way to finish our holiday. 

Back to Auckland this evening and ready to start looking after my body.  In the 10 days that I have been away my face has started to balloon, perhaps from cheese rolls but I'm thinking it is actually the steroids that I have had to take. 

 So today is the last cheese roll for me for a very long time. I always tell the kids at school not to finish their speech with "thanks for listening" but actually, "Thanks for listening".

Otago Adventure Day 10

Goodbye Dunedin. Our B&B hosts had told us that the best cheese rolls were at Mitre 10, but they had heard that Robbie's did good ones as well. As we drove into the city we saw Mitre 10 and thought that we had just had breakfast and couldn't really fit a cheese roll in. 

Then bam, the car was stopped right outside Robbie's. What were we to do? Of course we had to go in and try one, especially as the sign said that they were award winning.  Robbie's is a bar, but we had a cup of tea and the cheese rolls came out and were bread sliced long ways, so were as long as a loaf of bread. We did our scientific research and rated them low, as the cheese  didn't droop out when bitten and they were a bit floury. 

A leisurely start with a trip to the Otago Museum and then a spot of shopping, and then we hit the road. Nothing much to say except more beautiful countryside and a stop in the little town of Lawrence for a late lunch. The whole town is free wifi and our lunch was superb, Cheese rolls I hear you ask, now don't be silly, I had fish and chips. 

We stopped in Alexandra for a wee and to clean the  windshield and a guy came up to Lance and asked if he could buy Lance's tee shirt!  It is a Carlaw Park diehards shirt (an old Rugby League ground in Auckland). Lance told him the web site and he was a happy man. An uneventful trip through to Queenstown with one stop at Wooing Tree vineyards in Cromwall to send a box of Rose home. 

It was lovely to be back with Kay and Jeff and we set off into town for dinner at Madame Woo.  I had read a good review for this place and Kay had been many times and enjoyed it, however last night they were not up to speed in many ways, I'm not saying don't go, because some of the food was great, however there were moments when had to question the service and a particular dish was sent back to the kitchen. We took a quick wander around town and back home for a night cap.

Otago Adventure Day 9

The Catlins

We had mixed feelings about going down to the Catlins. Some people had told us it was not to be missed and others that it was a bit ho hum. But being so close we thought we should take a punt. 

We were not disappointed, however it was not what we expected. A couple of hours south of Dunedin we thought the coast would be more rugged, maybe we were just lucky as there was hardly a breath of wind, however the bushes and trees told stories of wild wind that had shaped them into shapes only to be found in Dr Seuss illustrations. We drove through Kaka point out to Nugget Point, a narrow metal road the clings to the side of sheer cliff faces. Spectacular scenery and the odd bunny. 

At the top we took the well maintained path (with no barriers) 900m to the lighthouse. I mention no barriers because one stumble left you no second chance, you would be a smashed body on the rocks below. You can imagine then how hard it was for me to keep my mouth shut when some tourists had their very small tots running down the path ahead of them. My  bum was squeezed as tight as my mouth and I just had to hurry away from them.  On the walk we could hear the seals and sea lions calling like small children below, and when we stopped and  spent a moment focusing on the rocks we could see what we first thought were rocks were seals flapping about. 

The light house look out was spectacular. The colour of the kelp contrasting with the green blue sea and the swirling as the waves washed in was  mesmerising. Almost like watching a painting in motion. The rocks were stacked like bricks and in an oblong shaped inlet with  symmetrical frilly seaweed edges Lance spotted a huge elephant seal. Honestly it must have been huge as we were miles up on the rocks and it looked like a hippo lounging in a squishy bath. 

Lunch was had at Owaka, a tiny place, but it had a lovely Cafe called the Lumberjack. Home made vege soup and a lovely spot. 

Back on the road with a stop at Cannibal Beach where we found a lone sea lion basking in the sand. We got pretty close for a photo and left him sleeping soundly. As we walked away I called out to Lance (those of you who know Lance well will know that he never walks with me, always 10 steps ahead) to stop so I could take a photo of him. As I stopped to take the shot he called out "watch out, the sea lion's coming". You can imagine how I jumped, turning and ready to  run. The bugger, the sea lion hadn't moved, but I certainly had and Lance was incapable from moving because he was laughing so hard. Back in the car and yes I was still speaking to him, and last stop the Purakaunui Falls. A short but beautiful bush walk along side a small river and down to the terraced falls. 

Back to Dunedin, a nap for Lance and I went through Larnoch Castle on an app that I meant to purchase before going to the castle. If you have visited Larnoch Castle and enjoyed it then I recommend you spend $5 (that's only the price of a coffee) and take the tour and enjoy the stories on the app. We had a really lovely meal at Pier 24 looking out across the water at St Clair Beach, then wandered home to watch Breaking Bad on the IPad. 

Otago Adventure Day 8

Don't worry, this post will not be as long as yesterday's, no need to make a coffee. 

I had the best sleep last night. My drugs (legal) are keeping me awake at night so I have some zzzzz to catch up on. However we have been watching Breaking Bad using the iPad and it seems to do the trick and for the first time in 2 weeks I was asleep before 1am. Awake at 8 am and downstairs for a nice breakfast and a chat to our hosts Murray and Joy. Off we went to Larnoch Castle. 

I have always wanted to visit this place and was not  disappointed. Old William Larnoch took 16 years to build the  castle. He brought up his kids there until they got the pip and all moved out.  Probably because his wife died so he married her sister and then got the kids to sign an undisclosed document which  ensured if she died it would all go back to him. No worries because she carked it and he got it all back and married a younger woman. Oh oh, the eldest son is having an  affair with his new wife and William blows his brains out in the parliament buildings ( he has been rubbing shoulders with the likes of Richard Seddon and other prominent people).  Don't feel bad because later on the traitor son ends up blowing his brains out as well. Should be a TV series I say. The castle has been restored and is a fabulous piece of NZ history, and the gardens were fantastic as well. I was walking through a pergola archway and a wood pigeon landed above me. Awesome. We had an obligatory scone with jam and cream and headed off to the albatross colony. 

We didn't stay long enough to see any albatross, however the view was to die for with kelp several meters long anchored to the rocks and swirling around like Tangaroa's hair (Australian friends, Tangaroa is the god of the sea).  We moved on before we got pooped on, not albatross but a million seagulls. 

Lance bought a copper bracelet at the tourist shop, meant to help with arthritis. Watch this space, he feels better already. 

On the quaint coastal road back we stopped at a caravan selling fish and chips. This was right next to the wharf where fishing boats were coming and going and we thought we were onto something good.  The lady was from somewhere foreign, couldn't pick where.  Her kid who by the look of his intact front teeth would be 5 or 6 was cheeky but cute. Fish, chips and homemade lemonade. Picture this, crispy and light batter clinging on to fresh white fish and chunky chips. Naaah, sorry, triangular Talleys frozen fish and pretty ordinary shoestring fries. Lemonade was nice. Setting was nice as well.

Off we went to the botanic gardens, quite a sacrifice for Lance as it is not something he would normally choose to do. But they were great, particularly the aviaries with an assortment of parrots. And when I say parrots, I mean parrots, like something from a pirates shoulder. Beautiful Macaw, cockatoo and our own kaka and kea. We walked around the top half and then drove to the bottom to the rose gardens which were really lovely. Well worth a look. A quick stop at the  Cadbury Factory to see Dillon. 

Off now to Baldwin St, the steepest residential street in the world. We had bought jaffas to roll from the top and everything. Alas when we got there we had a conundrum. Well a couple of conundrums really. First, would our little hire car get up to the top. Second, the sign said 'no exit' and 'no turning'. How on earth do you get back? Would we find  loads of people stuck at the top who had been there all week trying not to break the law?  So we ate the jaffas instead. 

A beer in the centre of town  the 'Octagon' and home for a rest. It is 30 degrees and that is hot for us. 

Otago Adventure, Day 7

 Up early and ready to go, we were off to Dunedin!  Kay took us out to the market before we left Queenstown so we could purchase the most delicious cherry chutney ever, and we also found plum sauce and several varieties of teas. Bye bye to Kay, see you in 3 days and back on the road. We had decided that we would take a route a bit further north of Dunedin so that we could visit the Moeraki Boulders and Fleurs Place(more about that later). Once again truly beautiful countryside. Along the way we stopped at 'Gilcrests General Store' at Oturehua, a blink and you miss it town. The store was large and set up like the original store. Mixed in with modern merchandise were old bits and pieces, even aniseed wheels! A quick but really cool stop (and a clean loo). On we went and took a little detour to Naseby, a slow blink.  We were lured into the Blackforest Cafe by the description of the berry smoothies. The smoothie was good, however the melting moment was one of the best I have ever had, soft, but not too soft, crumbly but not exploding, icing that tasted like cream and a raspberry swish in the centre as well. Worth the detour. Back on track and ready for lunch.

Changing hat from travel writer to food writer.  

I had read articles about Fleur's Place at Moeraki and had always wanted to visit so ensured the Moeraki Boulders were in our itinerary . As we drove from Queenstown I phoned through for a booking. "Are you here or are you travelling?" Was the comment, must happen a lot I thought. Booked in for 1:30pm. After driving up and down dales and mountain valleys we finally hit the coast, a glorious day and you can imagine the glistening sea. The sea smelt different though, remembering that we live on the sea in Auckland, this had a briney Ocean smell almost like oysters. We practically had to follow our noses as there was only one hand painted sign to direct us off the main highway and follow the narrow coastal road through the fishing village of Moeraki.  Suddenly a ramshackle building appeared on a finger poking out into the sea, we were there, and so was everyone else. The place was packed, but reassuringly as we walked in there was Fleur, instantly recognisable with her long fairy like silver hair. It was like we had entered  a pirate ship and climbed the wooden spiral staircase to the crows nest. The view was fantastic, initially we were a little disappointed that we had an inside table, however despite the sunshine it was quite chilly in the wind, so the disappointment was unfounded. Okay, the food!  Remembering that we had partaken in refreshments in Naseby, we thought bugger let's order a huge feed anyway. We ordered a fish platter to share and  myself blue cod with a coconut cream, chilli and coriander sauce. And Lance blue cod with lemon caper sauce. The wait was  extremely long, however it was easy to wait in  such as easy atmosphere and it seemed almost sinful to rush anything. Lance had a beer and myself a sparkling elderflower juice. A bowl of salad appeared "for you to nibble on while you wait". It was fresh and lightly coated in an oily balsamic mix. Climbing the staircase came our platter, huge and full of fish, not a fancy space taking useless garnish in sight. Blue cod, smoked eel, conga eel, groper, salmon, raw fish in coconut cream, gurnard, dory and more. We tucked in like we hadn't eaten for weeks. Along side was served 3 varieties of home baked bread which I tried not to eat because I needed to save room, but just couldn't resist. After another long wait that was interrupted by some Hectors Dolphins (not on a plate but swimming past) our mains arrived.  Again simple, but superb. Fish fresh and cooked perfectly, sauce served in a shell so you can coat your flesh to perfection and under the fish a selection of steamed veges, including some cunning little Maori potatoes. Mmmmm. I ate the lot accompanied by a Te Whare Ra Sav blanc.  We waddled out after 3 hours and said thanks to Fleur who commented that we had, had to wait long enough. We can understand why celebrated British foodie Rick Stein felt it was important that he visit this place. Definitely worth the trip. 

 On we went to Dunedin, I have never been here before and didn't realise what a pretty place it is. Our B&B is in St Clair, a pretty surf beach and the bed is comfy, no dinner tonight. Oh well, actually we walked down the road for a beer and I had a bowl of berry eaton mess.

Otago Adventure Day 6

The view from our bedroom this morning included a cloudy sky, however this was just another beautiful phase of Lake Whakatipu. A lazy start and on the road with tiki tour driver Kay.  Queenstown was packed to bursting, especially so when we drove past Fergburger in Shotover Street. I mention the street because the queue for burgers trailed way down the street. Not joking, at 11am hundreds of people were waiting for burgers. Very effective marketing because I immediately felt deprived that I have never ever had a Ferg Burger. We continued through town onto the road to Glenorchy, a really beautiful lakeside drive with of course a mountain backdrop. There is nothing really at Glenorchy, a few cafes and bars, so we continued on to Kinloch.  More fabulous scenery and across the dart river working up an appetite. At the end of a dirt road on the lakeside was a lovely little set of cottages with a garden restaurant. Perfect. However when we went in she told us that they had so many people checking out today (19) that she didn't have time to serve food as she had loads of washing to do. If we wanted to wait (it was 1:30) the restaurant would reopen at 5pm. We were of course a little disappointed, and really wondered how anyone made any money here. Surely the people checking out may have enjoyed a coffee and a scone?  Back to Glenorchy and after a long wait we were served a fantastic lunch.  Never mind the wait, we had all day anyway. On the way home (past the still very long queue at Ferg Burger) we decided that we should introduce Kay and Jeff to "Scoffy Night". A little tradition that we started many years ago with our good friends "The Ethell Family". This entails buying yummy things that do not require too much work and putting them all on the table at once and scoffing. A great dinner!!  So that is what we did and Kay and I hit the hay at 1am after a few medicinal wines.