Came back 5 days early, for my son’s surgery, scheduled for this morning, so a little bit off my game. Watching the super storm, Sandy, impact the east coast, knowing 3 of my fellow travelers are about to get stranded in Frankfurt.
I can’t thank bigsurdeb enough for minding my blog, making sure important information got posted. You are a gem! Now, to teach you how to upload photos.
Finally, YAY, GIANTS!
There is a place here in Redondo Beach that is my mother’s favorite. It has become ours, as well. The food tastes as good as this place looks.
In the midst of all the sadness, we have made this our place for lunch. It doesn’t hurt that it is so photogenic.
Now, just to raise my spirits, would you mind letting me know which of these is your favorite? I am having a hard time making up my mind. If you want, you can let me know why, but otherwise, a vote will be anonymous. Thank you.
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This was our first day in NZ in Auckland. We stayed at the Hyatt, very close to downtown. Our first room offering had a great view, but only one bed. Rose and I are close, but not that close, so we moved to a room with no view, but two beds. Our last night there (after seeing some of the island) combined both the great view AND two beds.
This was the view from the 9th floor. The building behind the trees is the Government House, built in the 1800’s when Auckland became the capital of NZ.
That night, our first, we went to the Orbit restaurant atop the Sky Tower. It is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. For a woman who is challenged by heights, I did well – as long as I looked out, but not directly down. The latter was hard NOT to do, as there was a glass floor in the elevator (oh, mercy!) and in parts of the observation deck. Not only was the view outstanding, the food was incredible!
And this is the sky tower from below.
(to be continued as time allows)
My time off is over, and I will be back to reporting as usual.
First, Avis Latone, yesterday’s post was magnificent – and those Jade photos are so very beautiful!! Thanks for sharing them with all of us. Because you are such a precious friend who is ALWAYS willing to help me out, I have a wee something for you from Kiwiland. What an adventure! I will share a bit after I catch up with things at home, work, and blog.
Second, in the 2 weeks I have been gone, I received 2.75 inches of rain, for a season total of 3.0 inches. Old-time Big Sur locals all agree that when we get this much rain this early, we will be having a dry winter, which is in line with the La Niña that NOAA is predicting.
There was a rave party (or techno, or whatever) up on Prewitt Ridge on the 16th, and I received a voice mail from the USFS about it. They were headed up to check on it, make sure it complied with requirements, and were taking law enforcement with them to assure compliance.
Lastly, it has been a gloriously sunny day on the mountain, particularly welcomed after a very wet drive down the coast (lots of pebbles on the road and one search and rescue yesterday) and a very muddy trip up the mountain.
So, that is my brief report tonight, back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow or the next day. I’ll also be changing my links from fire to weather watch shortly, as the rain these past two weeks, and the two days of rain coming later this week, have certainly ended fire season 2010.
We are wrapping up our wonderful trip, and had a great luau last night. All the May birthdays were requested to get up on stage and do the hula. I tried to pass, but Debbie and Rose would not let me. I also got snagged by the MC to sing a song in Hawaiian – that was hilarious. I tried to get out of it, but *he* wouldn’t let me. They took photos of both events. IF I decide to post them, they will be on my travel page in a couple weeks. (I have to get them, first!) In the meantime, here are some photos of last night’s luau.
Photos from around the Grand Hyatt
Just another day in paradise …
For Big Sur: “AS OF 9:15 AM PDT SUNDAY…NO FORECAST UPDATES
EXPECTED THIS MORNING. SKIES ARE MOSTLY SUNNY EXPECT [except] FOR ONE PATCH OF FOG NEAR SALINAS THAT WILL BURN OFF SHORTLY. LOOKS LIKE A NEAR PERFECT SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN STORE FOR THE WHOLE DISTRICT WITH TEMPS FROM THE UPPER 60S COAST…70S BAYSIDE AND SOME LOWER 80S INLAND.”
For Kauai: After a heavy squall this morning, skies are clearing and upper 70’s to lower 80’s expected. Debbie and I are off to the Plantation this morning, while Rose relaxes here. More photos later. Aloha!
Today may have been the highlight of the trip … and what a trip it was. I missed photographing the dolphins jumping out of the water along side the boat, but I got so many other great photos, I don’t know which to post, so here are a few random shots.
We saw tons of them. We also saw the giant sea turtles, but they were shy.
and yes, the water really is that color. It is amazing.
What they forgot to tell me was that there would be a wet T-shirt competition, and I was it! Wonderfully exhausting day.
