Rune & Cat's life abroad

Snart kommer mamma

2010-09-16T04:06:00.004+02:00

Nå er det bare dager igjen før mamma kommer ned på besøk.. hjemmelagde kjøttkaker, lasagne og mere til.... Ja, hun skal her på ferie... men mamma's mat er bedre enn alt annet... så litt må vi jo få igjen ;)

Idag er det den andre nasjonaldagen til Malaysia, den offisielle er 31 august, men siden det var noen nykomlinger som ble forent med Malaysia på et senere tidspunkt- så har de to. Så jeg sitter oppe nå og titter på Varg Veum mens Cat ligger og sover - hun har fortjent en fridag...

Igår var vi ute med noen venner, og som man alltid gjør her nede, så tar man taxi til og fra... latskap? ja.... sannsynligvis... men når det koster 7-8 kroner - så går det liksom an.... men i

taxien så vi for første gang dette forbudsskiltet:

Kyssing ikke tillatt...

Ellers står alt bra til her nede.... varmt og fuktig som alltid... men vi overlever nå på et vis...

Vi har begynt å gå gjennom alle bildene våre nå.. og det var en jobb som jeg trodde var litt mindre enn den egentlig var.... så plutselig kommer ting opp...

Jeg kommer hjem en tur i oktober, så hvis det er noen som vil ha noe fra malaysia så er det bare å gi en lyd.. så skal vi se om det er mulig....

Rassistiske? neida....

2010-09-07T03:05:00.002+02:00

En ting som har slått meg her nede, rassisme - det er visst en del av kulturen det.

Om det er snakk om kristne og muslimer, eller malay malayer og malay kinesere og disse inderne de har også.... er du malay malay får du stort sett lov til å gjøre som du vil.. "sønn av landet" tror jeg de kaller seg. Vi hadde nettopp noen venner som også kræsjet med en motorsykkel... alt var ifølge politiet utlendingene sin feil, selv om motorsykkelen kjørte på rødt og på feil side og tok bakre del av bilen. Er du derimot malay inder - så er det ikke så lett... de får stort sett skylden for alt her nede.... Noe gale? Noe som ikke er gjort skikkelig? - sikkert en inder som har gjort det.

Men en ting som fikk hjertet mitt i halsen... her sitter jeg i bilen og har det ganske fint. Hører på lokalradioen og plutselig var det reklamepause:

Woman: Honey, do you love me?

Man: Yes?

Woman: Even if I went deaf?

Man: Yes?

Woman: Even if I went blind?

Man: Yes.

Woman: Do you love really really love me? me no matter what?

Man: Not if you went fat

music: buy your diet pills today......

Burma (Myanmar)

2010-09-01T17:26:00.007+02:00

Fredag 27 august tok vi turen over til Burma... Egentlig skulle vi vært 6 stykker på turen, men pga helseproblemer, flyttestyr og en som ikke fikk lov å reise fra jobben.. så ble det bare oss to... Men kjekt hadde vi det likevel....

Vi landet i Burma og var ikke helt sikker på hva som ventet oss... det er både det ene og det andre du har hørt om landet og det styret som sitter nå... Men alt gikk over all forventing... de slapp til og med inn 4 veldig hyggelige men utrolige fulle indere.... som vi ble bedre kjent med på flyet.. for de hadde jo kjøpt 6 flasker med Whisky og hadde bare lov å ta med inn 4... så hva kan man gjøre? Må jo bare hjelpe til der...

Vi hadde tatt med oss masse dollar, siden det ikke finnes en eneste minibank der borte... og dollar var vel stort sett det eneste de godtok... og de skulle være fine også vistnok.. så vi hadde noen sedler som de nektet å ta imot.. men bra gikk det uansett...

Folket der var bare helt utrolig, så snille og greie så lenge det ikke dreide seg om penger.... var det snakk om penger.. så prøvde de å lure deg trill rundt... men sånn er det stort sett overalt

da... så Burma er ikke noe unntak...

Shopping blir det stort sett overalt der vi reiser... men disse lokale markedene... var helt syke.... du fant alt der... ting du forventet.. som t-skjorter, tre figurer, gamle penger osv osv.... men en ting vi ikke forventet å finne... var "steriliserte" kirurgiske instrumenter, andre lege instrumenter og mengder på mengder med reseptbelagte medisiner....

Samme markedet hadde en koselig LITEN kafe... med verdens største stoler

Vi storkoste oss rett og slett i hel... de to dagene gikk kjempefort og plutselig var vi tilbake i KL. Men som sagt, det blir flere turer over der... :)

Den neste turen nå blir til Langkawi med mamma på slep i midten av september. Ellers har vi ikke planlagt de store turene enda, blir sikkert en svipptur opp til Thailand og kanskje Bali før svigers kommer ned til jul.... og så smeller det... De har lyst å se bl.a. Vietnam.. så da blir det en tur opp der og....

Lei nå....

2010-09-01T17:05:00.004+02:00

Nå sitter jeg her klokken seint på kvelden og får ikke sove... hvorfor? joda, det er en eller annen form for kinesisk feiring nå... Celebration of the Ghosts eller noe sånt... Og det er jo kjempefint det, har ikke noe problemer med det.... Hadde det ikke vært for den grusomme ding dong musikken og karaoken.... Det er egentlig karaoken som er værst... vi får den rett inn på soverommet.. litt høyt kan du si.... Oi!.. der sluttet de..... og der begynte de igjen ja... sånn det var... bål har de tent og...

Vi har nettopp kommet hjem fra tur til Burma... som var helt fantastisk, så der skal vi igjen.

Vi hadde 2 dager i Yangoon, fikk sett en hel del der... neste gang så reiser vi litt mer rundt, har planlagt en tur opp til Mandalay - vet ikke helt når.. men regner med det blir sannsynligvis rundt juletider når svigers er her nede.

Ellers så har vi det ganske greit her nede, savner hjem med jevne mellomrom... men det hjelper på å få litt hjelpepakker hjemmenfra. Vi har et stort støttenettverk hjemme som passer på at vi har nok toroposer og melkesjokolade... så helt grusomt er det jo ikke....

Når vi flyttet ned her så var det Siv Merete og Helge som introduserte oss rundt og hjalp oss igang, og idag så flyttet de hjem... *snufs* eller de tar melkeruten hjem... så de kommer vel hjem rundt juletider etter å ha vært i Australia, New Zealand, Cuba etc etc... Men vi sees til våren..

Nå er det ikke lenge igjen til mamma kommer ned på besøk... det skal bli kos... med kofferten full av snop hjemmenfra.... Så det blir en tur opp til Langkawi og ned til Melakka... mer blir det ikke tid til denne gang... neste gang så blir det litt mer...

Har ikke fått organisert bildene enda... så jobber med den saken og... travelt her nede nå :) så det kommer plutselig en kjempe oppdatering på flickr....

Håper alle har det bra hjemme og alt går som det skal!

Rune og Cat

Været her nede

2010-04-16T03:07:00.016+02:00

Heisann alle sammen!

Her nede regner det ca en gang for dagen, regntiden her nede går vanligvis fra desember til februar/mars... men joda.. den holder fremdeles på.. Regnet

kommer som sagt en gang for dagen mellom 3 og 6 på ettermiddagen.

Dette bildet er tatt en halvtime etter det sluttet å regne.... det er som regel her trafikken stopper helt opp... havner vi i dette været så tar det mellom 45 minutter og en time før vi kommer oss hjem... nå skal det være sagt at vi bor 800 lengre borti veien....

Når vi snakker om vann og sånt... Så er vannet fra springen alt annet enn bra å drikke... så her går det i flaskevann... eller det gjorde det... helt til jeg fikk en utrolig god ide....

Vi bestilte en watercooler, eller min oversettelse - en vann maskin.. :) Så for den nette sum av 300 kroner får vi 30 sånne flasker og gratis leie av maskinen.... og den er rett ved siden av sofaen... lenge leve latskapen... nå drikker jeg enda mer vann enn det jeg gjorde før... fordi jeg slipper å gå til kjøkkenet hele tiden... og det er en varmtvanns funksjon på den.. så her er det te for alle pengene.... og jeg har fått et nytt leketøy :)

Ellers går ting som vanlig her nede, det er varmt og fuktig og airconditionen er på stort sett hele dagen.

Vi har besøk av to russere og en baby gjennom sofasurfingen (couchsurfing.org) Så her er det fullt liv kan du si...

Håper alt står bra til hjemme med alle.

Oi oi oi... glemte nesten å si at tur hjem er planlagt i oktober, da blir det først bryllup i Skottland. Pga manglende feriedager så reiser Cat rett tilbake til KL, mens jeg tar turen over dammen. Tenker det blir noen dager i Bergen først, så tar jeg turen ned til Stavanger. Vi får se det litt an.. lenge til oktober... men jeg kommer hjem med tom koffert, sånn at jeg får med meg mest mulig toropakker og melkesjokolade ned igjen :)

Rune

Lenge siden OL nå...

2010-03-29T09:18:00.004+02:00

Jeg har fått utrolig mange plagsomme tekstmeldinger, eposter, msn meldinger og til og med et postkort om at jeg rett og slett er for dårlig til å blogge... bildene blir også oppdatert med jevne mellomrom... bare sjekk ut: www.scotnogg.tk

Så nå setter jeg meg ned her og prøver igjen. Det er en god del som har skjedd siden OL :)

Vi har hatt en del småturer både ut av landet og inni landet... Vi hadde 4 dager på Bali, der vi møtte opp med Leanne og Stewart som var våre "foreldre" i Australia... Vi møtte de på Fiji, og da var det gjort... vi okkuperte huset deres i tilsammen 6 uker.... Så vi reiste over til Bali for å møte dem igjen ganske nøyaktig 1 år etter vi reiste fra Melbourne...

En gang i februar var vi også invitert til grilling hos Siv Merete og Helge... de hadde noen venner med unger på besøk hjemmenfra... De snakket stort om at de skulle til Langkawi 2 dager etterpå... noen timer senere utpå kvelden så hadde visst vi også plutselig bestilt flybillett og hotell... spontant.. men sånn er det bare.... en fantastisk god helg der oppe...

Ellers så hadde vi vår offisielle bryllupsreise til Cebu på Filippinene. Vi dreit litt på draget på den turen, for vi bestilte turen fra KL til Manila og videre fra Manila til Cebu derfra.. Lite visste vi på forhånd at det var 70-80 km mellom flyplassene... og trafikken der borte er grusom... så vi ble fortalt at det kunne ta mellom 2-6 timer å komme seg over... uansett, vi kom oss opp.. hadde noen fantastiske dager på Plantation Bay Resort - som var et sykt bra hotell med en hel haug med svømmebasseng, spa osv osv... MEN... en familie plass... og litt for stille for oss... så etter det flyttet vi inn til sentrum... var der resten av tiden før vi flydde tilbake til Manila og skulle overnatte der, fordi flyet vårt var tidlig neste dag... her er tingen...

Når vi bestilte alt sammen, så snudde Cat seg mot meg og så følgende: "Rune, du fikser siste natten i Manila?"... og jeg: "jada... selvfølgelig..." dagen etterpå gikk jeg rett på nettet, for jeg visste at hvis jeg ikke gjorde det med en gang så kom jeg til å glemme det... søkte på de vanlige hotelsidene for å finne en bra plass.. men der vi var.. Angeles City, var det ingenting som kom opp... så jeg gikk til plan B, som var google... og joda... her kom Swiss Chalet opp... bildene så grei nok ut... prisen var helt grei... så joda... her var det bare å booke... Det jeg NÅ har lært er at Angeles City er et eneste stort hore høl... høres veldig stygt ut.. men... når vi ankom hotellet så var det bare en regel: NO MINORS... ble litt betenkt når jeg så den... men når vi gikk utenfor så slo deg meg... Dette er plassen alle de gamle grisene reiser til...

Tingen her var at jeg presterte å booke hotell midt i horestrøket... nå skulle vi bare være der en natt og vi kom oss ut så fort vi kunne dagen etterpå....

Nå har vi 2 turer igjen i April, så er det stopp for en liten periode... vi har ikke hatt en rolig helg på lenge.. De to turene er her i Malaysia, faktisk bryllupspresanger fra venner av oss både hjemme i norge og skottland.

Ellers er livet bra, vi koser oss her fremdeles.. Jeg sitter og lurer på om jeg skal komme meg hjem en tur snart.. sitter og ser på 2 forskjellige måneder.. Juli og Oktober.. så vi får se hva det blir..

Nærmer seg eksamen for meg nå... så nå er det travelt...

Rune

Det er Norge i r;dt, hvitt og blaatt!

2010-02-13T04:04:00.003+01:00

Som en liten guttunge paa julaften har jeg sittet og ventet paa aapningssermonien i Vancouver.

Vintersport er ikke saerlig stort her nede, ikke spoer meg hvorfor...

Men ESPN sender direkte sendingen her nede... og alt er bare helt supert... vi sitter og venter paa at Norge skal komme ut paa arenaen.. og hva skjer? We're just gonna take a break... men de rakk tilbake foer Norge kom ut...

Vi faar med oss noen av oevelsene her nede.. men ikke alt.. ESPN sender heller fotball, som egentlig er helt greit, men akkurat naa skulle jeg heller sett Norge ta fler medaljer enn Sverige...

Vi sitter naa i Penang og skal feire Kinesisk nyttaar :)

Godt nyttaar til alle :)

Hushjææælp

2010-02-02T06:24:00.002+01:00

Når vi flyttet ned her ble vi ganske overrasket over hvor billig det er å få tak i hushjelp. Under 30 kroner timen, og det er bra betaling her nede... en sikkerhetsvakt i leiligheten vår har omtrent RM4 i timen, som tilsvarer sånn ca 7 kroner timen... så vi tenkte... hvorfor ikke... det gjør jo tingene enda lettere her nede...

I en kaffepause i bygget her kom jeg i snakk med hun som driver kafèen i bygget her, hun hadde en venninne som kunne jobbe som hushjelp... hvorfor ikke... hun skulle komme opp neste dag for en liten samtale... hun kom ikke.. ringte 20 minutter etter hun skulle vært her og sa hun var syk... okei.... men hun skulle komme neste dag.. klokken 8.... dukket ikke opp før etter 9.... men var helt klar på at hun ville jobbe og jeg viste hun rundt i huset... fint nok det... "lah come back tomorrow.. yes? lah...."... men kom hun? neida... ikke i det hele tatt...

så jeg snakket med Helge og Siv M og fikk nummeret til det selskapet de brukte... fett nok... de kom mandagen etter og vasket og styrte.. fine ting... dukket de opp neste uke? neida... ikke i det hele tatt...

Nå begynner jeg å bli lettere frustert... så nå var det på jakt igjen.. fikk kontakt med et større selskap som driver med "part time maid".. siden vi bare trenger 1 gang i uken, så er det denne tjenesten vi må bruke... uansett... de registerte meg.. og skulle komme hver mandag, fra og med idag... kom de? neida.... jeg ringte de opp og fikk beskjed om at damen var syk... men de skulle omorganisere litt.. og se om jeg ikke kunne få en ny dag... og ny hushjelp...

så nå sitter jeg her, lettere frustrert og lurer litt på hvorfor jeg ikke gjør det selv? Holder jeg på å bli en av de andre late "expat'ene" (gjestearbeidere).... men seriøst.. for 30 kroner i timen... det er mye lettere å få folk til å gjøre det for deg... bare de kommer....

kanskje jeg skal melde meg inn i koneklubben her... hører det meste praten går i der, er å klage på hushjelpen...

Ellers er alt bare bra her... vi koser oss... det er litt vel fuktig her nede.. .men man blir vant til det.. og Aircondition er vår beste venn...

R&C

Grilling i Januar

2010-01-12T02:43:00.002+01:00

På lørdag hadde vi bestemt oss for å ha en liten grillfest hjemme hos oss, eller en husvarming/innflyttningsfest. Reiste til Tesco som er Storbritannias svar på Coop OBS, bare mye større. Storbritannia har her som mange andre plasser vært her og herjet :) De ble ikke kvitt de før i 1957 (tror jeg det var) uansett. Tesco er en av de få plassene her nede du kan gå og handle nett det du vil uten å prute. Siden Malaysia er et muslimsk land så er alt halal og svinekjøtt er ikke lett å finne. MEN! Tesco har en egen liten avdeling som heter Tidak-Halal (ikke-halal) - mitt nye leke område. Her må du inn i en eget lukket rom i butikken og velger alt du vil ha. Du må også betale her inne, og når du går til kassen vil de ikke en gang ta i posen som ikke bare er vakuum pakket, dobbelt pakket med to poser og forseglet. Men det er jo helt greit det, uansett etter 2 timer i butikken og to store fulle handlevogner og en omstending pakking i bilen vi oss trygt hjem.

Festen gikk bra den, utenom at det regnet som bare juling og vi flyttet alt innendørs.

Vi har det bra, og håper at alle der hjemme har det like bra.

Rune og Cat

Endelig

2010-01-08T01:07:00.002+01:00

Da har vi kommet oss ned til Kuala Lumpur, etter mye om og men.

Vi fant jo ut på søndagen (dagen før vi reiste) at SAS ikke var så veldig fornøyd med baggasjen vår, siden det var rett over grensen.. bare 108 kg overvekt. Gode råd var dyre osv osv

SAS skulle ha drøye 5000 for frakten til London og Emiratene som fløy oss videre skulle ha rett rundt 30000. Alt blir jo dekket av Acergy, men likevel... det var litt i meste laget.. Vi fikk tilslutt en god løsning med SAS Cargo, som tok lette 4000 kroner for å sende det nedover... en liten prisforskjell som passet denne gnitapungen Rune kjempebra. Og tingene skulle komme 2 dager etterpå... konge!

Uansett, vi kom oss nedover... ble litt seint for å overta leiligheten så her ble det hotell for natten... neste dag ble Cat sendt direkte på jobb (!!) og jeg hadde oppdraget å ordne med utpakking av leilighet og mat og det som verre var.

Den fine nye leiligheten vår har et par småting jeg bare må klage over:

Et sikringsskap med 3 kurser, en kurs for utelyset(!), en kurs for aircondition, og resten på den siste. Det er vel den siste som plager meg mest kan du si.. med vaskemaskinen på, kanskje en lett oppkoking av tevannet mitt, og musikk på anlegget.. vel, hele greiene kneler og hovedsikringen går... så her er det elektriker på gang.. her funker det litt som Spania, manjana manjana. Ting Tar Tid

Ellers har vi et overfylt kjøkken som kunne vært kjøkkenet på Bagatelle, det er så mye ting og tang der inne at her må det bare taes en full overhaling. Får kjøpe noen kasser og sette det vekk.

Men ellers går alt bra :)

Og forresten.. vi har giftet oss :)

Nye bilder / New pictures

2009-12-05T17:51:00.001+01:00

Hele sulamitten / the whole schabang

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98375688@N00/sets/

Bilder fra leiligheten / Pictures from the apt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98375688@N00/sets/72157622748767753/

Fiji

2009-06-02T05:50:00.014+02:00

Etter en 10 timers flytur fra Los Angeles ankom vi Nadi, Fiji tidlig på morningen. Vi sultne, trøtte og hadde sykt vondt i hele kroppen etter flyturen. Vi fant oss en taxi som kunne ta oss til hotellet, men ikke før han hadde vist oss hele Nadi og sørget for at vi fikk i oss litt frokost... det var en fryktelig stolt indier som kjørte oss fra Nadi til Coral kysten.. ca 45 minutter..

Når vi så hotellet fikk vi et lite sjokk, for det så ikke ut fra utsiden. "Man skal ikke dømme fra utseendet".. Da vi kom inn på området var det helt annerledes, det var fint vedlikeholdt, masse palmer, blomster og et svømmebasseng som vi hadde helt for oss selv.

En annen liten hyggelig overraskelse, var at vi fikk lov til å sjekke inn på hotellet når vi kom.. vi måtte ikke vente til klokken 2 som de fleste andre plasser vi har vært. Så det var rett i seng for en aldri så liten etterlengtet lur.

Vi bodde på fastlandet (hovedøyen) på Fiji, som gav oss mer frihet til å bevege oss rundt. Vi var ikke avhengig av å reise med båt hver gang vi ville utenfor hotellet, eller området rundt hotellet. Det sagt, så er øyene rundt noe man absolutt bør se. Vi hadde bare 4 netter paa Fiji, så vi satt ikke stille en dag, Vi reiste ut til Robinson Crusoe Island som er mer eller mindre en dagstur tilpasset turister, inkludert i prisen var båtturen, mat, underholdning.

Snorkeling paa Fiji er helt fantastisk, vannet er så klart og korallrevet er helt utrolig bra. Anbefales på det sterkeste.

Nest siste dagen tok vi turen inn til nærmeste by, Sigatoka for litt shopping og titting... Uheldigvis så ble vi sultne når vi var der og fant nærmeste restaurant, Rajh's. Sannsynligvis den værste maten jeg har hatt på hele turen..

Fiji er absolutt en av plassene vi har lyst å reise tilbake til, alt var totalt avslappende, det var ikke noe stress i det hele tatt...

En etterlengtet kortfattet oppdatering

2009-06-02T04:16:00.006+02:00

Da er det vel nesten 6 mnd siden eller mer, siden jeg skrev noesomhelst her... saa vi proever igjen :D

Naa er vi i Hong Kong, som er siste stoppet paa turen foer vi vender nesen hjem.

Det har naa vaert nesten ett aar, litt kortere siden vi rotet det til med visum for Russland. Vi skulle som de fleste vet ta den Tran Sibirske Jernbanen fra Bejing til Moskva, men Russland er litt strengere paa soeknadene enn andre. Foer du kan soeke om visum maa du faa en skriftlig invitasjon fra hotell, reiseselskap osv. Naar du har dette kan du jogge ned til den russiske ambasaden med pass, invitasjon og visumsoeknad.... Og saa maa du levere fra deg alle disse tingene... De sier at de trenger 4-6 uker paa soeknaden.. og hele denne tiden trenger de passet ditt ogsaa...

Siden vi ikke var helt sikker paa datoene foer vi forlot Norge, saa soekte vi ikke da.. vi tenkte.. Hmmm... la oss gjoere det i Australia.. trenger jo bare noen dager.. kanskje 1 uke... men neida... Saa vi tok en sjefs avgjoerelse og utsatte den biten av turen til neste sommer... Turen er allerede planlagt, og blir bestilt i august en gang...

Vi har hatt en helt fantastisk tur, faatt opplevd masse.. Asia har vaert utrolig bra.. Vi startet Asia turen med Bali, Indonesia saa videre til Malaysia, deretter Thailand og naa Hong Kong...

Vi hadde vaare siste dager i Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia sammen med Siv Merete.. og hadde det helt fantastisk... siste dagen hadde vi en liten fest... og vaaknet dagen derpaa med vondt i hodet og vondt i kroppen.

Vi flydde fra Kuala Lumpur opp til Phuket, Cat var fremdeles daarlig.. men vi trodde det bare vaar en fyllesyke... Etter vi fikk Cat inn paa det internasjonale sykehuset i phuket (som for oevrig var helt fantastisk og mye bedre enn hjemme) saa viste det seg at hun hadde faatt Dengue Feber (jungelsyken) Etter 5 netter paa sykehuset var vi ute igjen, med husarrest ordre fra legene.. Saa vi hadde totalt 11 dager i Phuket foer vi reiste videre til Bangkok..

Saa der har dere det, vi har overlevd orkaner i Florida, tornadoer i Texas, flom i Queensland (Australia) og busjbrann i Victoria (Australia) og saa er det en liten mygg fra malaysia som tar knekken paa oss...

Vi fikk foroevrig feiret 17 mai i Phuket... egentlig hadde vi tenkt aa reise opp til ambasaden i Bangkok, siden de har organisert 17 mai feiring hvert aar.. men siden vi hadde husarrest, saa ble det phuket... vaar egen lille 17 mai feiring med hotdogs og is... vi hadde ogsaa et lite 17 mai tog (2 personer), fra hotellet og ned til stranden.. :D

Jeg sitter for tiden og jobber med oppdateringer fra hvert land vi har vaert i... mer kommer snart....

Bilder (pictures)

2009-03-26T03:42:00.002+01:00

Naa har jeg faatt raeven i gir og faatt lagt ut alle bildene fra usa, fiji, new zealand og store deler av australia.

Klikk her for aa komme rett til bilde siden.
Virker den ikke? proev hele adressen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98375688@N00/sets/

New pictures from Usa, Fiji, New Zealand and parts of australia is now out on flickr.
Click here for the direct link
Doesn't work? Copy and paste this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98375688@N00/sets/

Rune & Cat

Stanthorpe - Byron Bay

2009-02-20T01:35:00.004+01:00

Well we did manage to drive flat out for 2 days to travel the 1500km from Townsville to Stanthorpe. We went west at Townsville through a small town called Charter Towers. It was like something out of a wild west film. The buildings haven't changed since they were built, back when there was gold in the area. We spent several hours walking through the streets and buildings, as well as driving out to a look out point - lots of pictures to follow.

However we needed to get back on the road and make some mileage before the day was done and our target for the day was to get to Emerald. Thankfully we filled up the car before we left Charter Towers as there was no fuel stations for the 330km stretch between the towns. The drive was a long straight road, with red arrid plains stretching for miles either side. Some of the road was dirt track, and when you have a big road train hurtling towards you that can be pretty intimadating. However we made it there, and found a campsite not too far from town at a lakeside. We didnt get to see much o the place before it got pretty dark and the heavens opened. Next day we were up early in preparation for our long trip, we still had 900km to do.

The original plan was to stay Toowomba that night and then have only a 2 hr drive to Craig and Elle on the sat, but after speaking to them we thought what the heck lets just get all the driving outta the way. Fortunately before we made to much ground we stopped in at a gas station and they advised us that one of the roads we were planning taking was not only a 100km dirt track but had also been flooded the night before, so we re-routed ourselves. I think we got to Stanthorpe at 9pm that night, having left around 10am that morning. We still managed to stay up and have a few drinks with Craig & Elle tho before retiring to bed.

Next day we went to a Burns Supper night, at one of the local wineries, which Elle was hosting. It was a decent enough night but as the only scots there (craig, elle & myself) we were slightly outnumbered by the 47 aussies. We also caught up with another guy I grew up with in Haddington, Dave Mongue. The 4 of us were invited over to his on the Sunday for a BBQ, which was really nice.....met his wife Megan and his dog honey. The Monday was Australia day, so we took a walk into town to check out what was on but nothing seemed to b happening. We spent the day nursing sore heads and watching movies instead. The following weekend was the Stanthorpe games, so Craig & Elle had a long weekend and decided that it would be good for us all to go camping together somewhere on the coast.

Rune & I set off a few days before them, just to take our time getting there and see a bit of the place. We stopped off the first night in the mountains (the great dividing range), and then headed straight for Byron the following day. The first night there we were checking out places, and man were they expensive. For the council run campsite on the beach it was gonna be $60p.n......normally we would pay between $15-$30, needless to say we didnt camp there but found somewhere on the outskirts of town. It was still expensive at $35 and we were right beside a main road. Next day we spoke to Elle & Craig and made the decision to find somewhere out of town and so we ended up at this gorgeous place called Lennox Heads, camping right beside the sea and next to Lake Ainsworth. Craig & Elle arrived so we helped put up their new tent, not an easy feat in the scorching heat. We spent the next few days chillin out, swimming in the lake and enjoying chilled Magners :o) It was bliss. We also took a day trip into Byron, so Rune and I could buy one another something for our 2 year anniversary.

Elle & Craig had to pack up on the Sunday but we opted to stay there for a few more days and also found out our Danish friends from Dimbulah were close by and wanted to catch up with us. Rune took some surf lessons and I went for a lovely shoulder, neck and head massage for our anniversary.

Port Douglas - Tablelands - Stanthorpe

2009-02-04T00:55:00.003+01:00

We left Wonga for Port Douglas to catch up with a good friend of mine from school, Tricia and her boyfriend Pete. There was a market on in town so we arrange to meet there, then had lunch down by the waters edge. We took a walk through the town and strolled along the beach before deciding to head back to Cairns. Rune & I checked into a campsite and the next 2 days we hung out with Trish and Pete in and around Cairns and the campsite. We then went back to Damo & Renate in Gordonvale to take the New Year in with them. It was a fairly quiet affair.

Damo took us up to Lake Tinaroo, where his mum and her partner have a beautiful house, right on the lake edge. We spent the day down by the lake, the boys playing out on the water on the jetski and biscuit - I even had a shot but not at high speed. On the Sunday we headed off for Dimbulah, our home for the next 2 weeks whilst we would be working at a local mango farm, pruning the trees. Dimbulah is a tiny place with only 1 shop, a pub, a bank and a butcher. We checked into the campsite there and asked the lady if she knew anyone else in the campsite that may be working at the same farm. Luckily 2 young guys from Denmark, Emil & Christoffer, were also working at the farm so we arranged to share transportation with them.

The next 2 weeks we got up at 5.30am and spend our days walking up and down row upon row of mango trees, cutting all the long branches back. There was 60,000 trees there and only 8 of us working. There was us, the 2 danes, 3 chinese, Winnie, Daniel & Stan and the aussie guy, Paul who we all had a common dislike for......to be it mildly he was a complete arse ! Our boss Ian was a big, ginger haired guy, strange but alright. Anyways we did our time and got the cuts, bruises, sunburn, antbites and flesh eating bacteria to prove it :) Our campsite was a good mix of people, there was Jason & Ernie, the stoners and Dean & Marg with their cute poodle Charlie.

After Dimbulah we stopped in one last time to see Damo, Renate and the kids before heading south. It was really sad to say our final goodbyes to the family, they had been so kind to us, and we had really enjoyed spending time with the family. However we needed to move on but our plans to head west to Alice Springs had been abandoned due to heavy flooding in Mount Isa, so we headed south. Our first little stop was at a place called the Boulders, it was beautiful, we walked through the rainforest and admired the rock formations and the fast flowing water. We then continued on south to Townsville, camping the night at a BP truckstop...free and only $2 for a shower the following day.

We then spoke to our friend Craig and Ele in Stanthorpe who invited us down for a burns night. It was 1500km to their place but we drove it all within 2 days....

Cairns - Christmas & Wonga Beach

2008-12-31T01:47:00.006+01:00

Well after sweating our asses off all night in the van, we got up around 7am and knocked on the door of Damien & Renate. Damo was already away off to work but Renate was there, with 6 day old Isac and 2 yr old Jacob. We then spen the following 2 weeks with the Love family, crashing in their spare room in Gordonvale. We took trips into Cairns to do some shopping, visit the luguna in town for a swim & bbq, attended the local Gordonvale Christmas Carol night, with a $1000 raffle prize up for grabs. We also took a camping trip to beautiful Palm Cove but unfortunately Rune & I had to cut the trip a bit short. But most of our time in Gordonvale was spent lookin for jobs, in the papers, over the phone, on the net, driving from agency to agency but it wasn't as easy as what we thought it was gonna be.

Rune was offered a job 4 hours south of Cairns in a place called Rockhampton (we drove thru there on the way up) as an IT technician but as he was on a working visa they could only offer very limited hours and there was no certainity I would find work down there so when the harvest agency finally called us to say there was a mango pruning job available we jumped at the chance. It is a small place called Dimbulah, not far from Mareeba. We have organised to stay on a campsite only 5mins from the farm we are working 12hr shifts at for 6days a week. It will be good to get some extra dough tho !

For Christmas plans kinda fell through for going to Fitzroy island and in the end we decided it was just too much money for us to use and instead we opted to head up to PortDouglas and stay in a camp about 30km north of there. The campsite was right on the beach, absolutely beautiful, with only the palm trees separating us from the sandy shore. The lady running the campsite, CeCe was everybody's mum and we met such lovely people there. We spent Christmas day with 36 good people, sharing a big cold buffet and sunning ourselves on the water edge. In the morning we got up and opened our presents and stockings outside our tinsel decorated van, it was perfect.

We stayed on in Wonga a few more days, relaxing and spending our days speaking with the other happy campers.

Brisbane - Cairns - Australia

2008-12-10T22:47:00.004+01:00

Well we packed up and left Craig & Elle on the Monday lunchtime and headed back towards the coast. We were hoping to get as far as Tin can bay, but time was against us and it had started getting dark before we reached our destination. We had a complete mare trying to find somewhere to park up for the night, the first place we tried was no longer a campsite, the second place didnt exist at the coordinates we had been given, however finally we managed to find something in Beerburrum, not far from beerwah where Australia zoo is.

Up sharp the next morning and a quick naked, cold shower out in the open air (thankfully there was only 1 older women & us on the park) and then we were off to Steve Irwin's zoo. It was great fun, I got to stroke a wombat, walloby, kangaroo, possum, koala, piglets and feed an elephant. They really encourage people to get to know the animals there, as far as safely possible. Onwards and upwards tho, and this time we were headed towards rainbow beach, the gateway to Fraser Island. We stopped at this little place just short of Tin can Bay, at an old Vietnam War Vets camp. It turned out to be this fantastic campsite, with a whole bunch of really nice people. Everyday at 4pm is happy hour, so we joined them for a beer and get chatting. Having loved the place so much we wanted to stay another night. Wed we spend the day down on rainbow beach, lovely, clean and not too busy. Spent the evening blethering away to the campsite locals and thurs went on a trip to Fraser Island.

It is the worlds largest sand island, and there are no roads, so you have to go in 4wd. We were booked on a bus trip, and we got to sit up front first, so that when we first arrived on the island we watched out as the bus bounced along the beach front. We stopped for morning tea at a little fresh water creek then started to make our way from the beach into the rainforest. We stopped at Lake MacKenzie for a swim and a steak bbq, then back on the bumpy bus to the central station, where we had a bit of a nature walk through the rainforest, before heading back to the barge. There were some people on the tour we got speaking to, a finnish girl, a german girl, an aussie guy and his canadian cousin mainly.

After we said our goodbyes to the rest of the group we set off in Nim towards Bundaberg, home of the aussie rum. We didnt think to much of this place to be honest, was a bit of a hole, and after having slight overheating problems with the car in the morning we decided to skip the rum distillery and get up the road a bit instead. We camped out in a caravan park not far from Rockhampton. Next morning off we went again, making our way up to Airlie beach where we would stay for a few nights to investigate the Whitsunday islands. We chose Flametree caravan park, a bird sanctury, and oh boy was it noisey, but thankfully the birds did shut up come night fall.

Up sharp for our 7.45am pickup, straight to the cruise catamaran, Voyager. We got talking to some noggies who were also on the cruise so sat with them on the way to the first island stop. Once we reached Hook island we all disembarked and took a trip into a historic lookout tower under the sea. You could see, altho a bit misty/cloudy, the coral and the little fish swimming about. Then we all got onto a semi submersible and drove out to the great barrier reef. It was viewing windows under deck and you could clearly see all the coral through the great big windows. It was very impressive. Then a short walk round the island to the other side where we would snorkel.

As it is stinger season we all had to dress in these skin tight suits, almost like wetsuits before wading out in our masks and flippers. I have to say the water wasnt as cyrstal clear as Fiji, but as the guy was feeding the fish there were hundreds of them. The fish were surrounding you, and actually nibbling on your fingers as you tried to swim through them all. Back on the catamaran and off to whitehaven island, famously known for its white silica sand, that is is fine its like powder. We played about there for a bit before heading off to daydream island. It had a huge resort with big aquariums. I actually stroked some stingrays....they were so cute and kept circling round and coming back for more attention.

We finally got back to port at around 5pm and said goodbye to the noggies and arranged to meet them the following day for lunch before we left. Back at the campsite we got talking to one of the permanent residents in the park, Sean. We sat up and had a few beers with him before calling it a night. Monday morning and we were all set to go again. Met up with the noggies, Steinar & Heidi for a snack and a wonder round the market. We wished we had the time to stay longer but had promised to get up the road to see Damo & Renate and newborn Isac. It was a driving day and we planned to go as far as townsville, a 5 hour drive from Airlie. We arrived in Townsville around 6pm at a rest area recommended to us, however when I went to the ladies there was a massive turd on the floor, so that was it for me, I said to Rune we should just pack up and just drive all night until we got to Cairns.

We filled up with gas and got on the road again, stocked up with coffee and energy drinks. We took it turn around, and stayed awake for the other person. Our main fear was hitting a roo or driving into a cyclone, as there had been severe weather warnings on the radio, and the sky kept lighting up magnificient colours every 10mins. However all was good and well and we arrived outside the door of the Love's house a little after midnight......

Sydney - Brisbane - Australia

2008-12-01T00:27:00.006+01:00

Hello...

Well now the last blog mentioned something about going out to the gaybars and just to clarify, yes we were staying with a lovely gay couple, Roy & Dave. However we ended up getting pissed up in their backgarden and couldnt be assed going into town :o)

On Sat we got up early and surprised the boys with roses and breakfast (made by the local bakery) as it was their 10 year anniversary, awww. After breakkie we dropped their car off at the garage for a service and caught the bus into Sydney centre. We went past paddington and along Oxford street to Hyde park. We got chucked off the bus by the ticket inspectors as Dave had underpaid, naughty naughty boy :o) However we were already in town by that stage so it didnt matter. We took a wonder through town, checking out this very nice mall, with all its shiny Christmas decorations. including a massive tree that went through all 4 floors of the mall, and was coated in swarskov crystals.....'beautiful Muriel'. Then we checked out the Christmas display in David Jones windows, it was good fun, with lots of little puppets working away for Santa. After that it was off to the Sydney Opera house and the wee bridge thingy, lol. We then took a stroll round a market and sat and had lunch at The Rocks.

Sunday we rested, had lunch with a friend of Roy & Dave's, went to see Quantum of Solace and got ready for heading off on Mon morning. Which we duely did, after nipping into town to pick up our aussie bank cards. Back on the road again and this time we were bound for somewhere just south of Newcastle. We stayed at the Munmorah State Park, at a place called Freemans. We paid for the privlege and it was awful, we tried calling to get our money back the next day but to no avail....Next day we set off, stopping in Newcastle for lunch and a trip down memory lane for Rune as he came here for work about 7years ago for about 5 weeks. we walked along the pier, then climbed all the steps up to top of the tower, to a great panaromic view of the city and harbour.

The following 2 nights we stayed in national state parks, Hat Head & Yuraygir. They are very basic, with no flushing toilets, but they were in beautiful spots, off the beaten track and we got to see lots of Kangaroos !! However 2 nights without a hot shower drove us to paying for a caravan park on the Thurs night, in a wee place just north of Byron Bay. Of course we stopped in at the famous beach, for an afternoon stroll, but the beach & town centre was crawling with schoolies - in Oz the 16yr old have a week of non stop partying after their exams finish. Fri morning we got up sharp and drove up the coast to Surfers Paradise to meet up with Bengt, a friend of Rune's from Stavanger. He has been working and studying in Surfers for 9months. We grabbed a sannie and sat on the beach.

We said our goodbyes to Bengt and got on the road heading west towards Stanthorpe, where an old school friend Craig and his girlfriend Elle stay. We had a BBQ and caught up on fri night. Sat was hungover, so we drove about and saw the local dam that feeds the town with its water supply. Sunday was more adventurous and we packed a pinic and headed for granite arch. In the middle of this state park there is a boulder resting ontop of another 2, forming an arch. We climbed up a million stairs to reach a fantastic lookout point. Then as a treat went to heavenly chocolate followed by a winery.

Bondi Beach, Sydney - Australia

2008-11-21T05:37:00.003+01:00

Hello again,

We have now made it up the coast safely in Nim (Editors comment: The van has been named Madame Nim the Aussie Pride). The first night we stopped in Lakes entrance, whch was beautiful. We decided to pay for a campsite rather than rough it for the first night, just so we could get used to all the bits n bobs in the camper. We got a camp site with power, just to see that everything was working, as it was. We had the awning up, the table & chairs out and sat outside and had dinner. We felt like Kings sitting out, sunning ourselves in our new home.

Next day, after clearing up the van, we headed up the coast again. We stopped in a town called Eden and did a bit more Christmas shopping. Before we had left Lakes entrance we picked up this great book that details all the free camping spots across the whole of Australia so this night we decided to save some money and go it rough. We went to this campsite at Yellow Pinch Dam, which was basically a carpark with toilets. It suited us just fine tho, and we settled in a made friends with the people about us. I think there was another 5 vans, plus us, so it wasnt too crowded but we didn't lonely either.

Next day we were up and away up the coast again, looking for somewhere near Bateman's Bay. We ended up staying at the YHA there, after having our oil changed at the local garage. The YHA was like a mini rainforest, with hundred of wild birds there, from cockatoos, to brightly coloured parrots. That night we had our first BBQ, on the BBQ, Stewart & Leanne have kindly lent us for our 5 month travels. Rune cooked up some good burgers, yummy yummy. We cosied up that night with our wee DVD player....bliss.

Onwards and upwards, and this time we planned to camp wild again. We drove to this place in the mountains (which we did at a VERY slow pace), to basically a large field, that was right beside a river, near Kangaroo valley. But the place was sworming with beasties and the toilets were pretty rank so we had a quick sannie and hit the road again. Back towards the coast, and just south of Wollogong, in a place called Shell Cove. The place was hoaching with kids, 3 separate school trips were all staying there but we decided to still go ahead and stay. We were right beside the beach, so went down and watched the surfers for a bit.

This morning we got up and headed towards Sydney, by the grand scenic route. It was a beautiful drive, right by the sea, reminding me a lot of the Big Sur trip in USA. We pulled over and went to the beach, then stopped at Bald Head to take pictures and grab an ice cream, then again in the grand national forest to make up some bacon butties :o) Now we have reached bondi beach, and we are planning catching up with a couple we met in Blenheim, New Zealand (on the wine tour). The guys are taking us out for dinner then hitting the gaybars, could make for interest evening, not sure if Rune approves !!! I will hold his hand tho :o)

Vi snakkes

Melbourne - Australia

2008-11-16T22:31:00.003+01:00

Hei Folks,

We have been in Melbourne now for 2.5weeks but today we set off up the coast to Sydney. The planned route is Lakes Entrance, Eden, Burmangui then Sydney. We have managed to get ourselves a lovely, well looked after campervan, who we have named madame Nim. She is a Mazda E2000 (previously a commercial van) but was beautifully converted by a retired minister. The van is soooo comfy and comes with cooker, awning, table & chairs, toilet, electric shower, fridge, air con, roo bars, reading lights, lots of storage and plenty of character.

Melbourne - Australia

2008-11-02T07:23:00.002+01:00

Hei Folks,

Well we have finally touch Oz soil and its not been a great start to the adventures. First of all we were completely stuck for accomodation. We thought we would just be able to rock up to the first hostel and get a room no bother but turns out its Melbourne cup and everywhere was fully booked. Thankfully we managed to find this out a couple of days before we arrived in Melbourne and had signed up for couchsurfers (where people advertise a free couch for the night), we applied to stay with a couple of people and got a reply from one guy called Adrian. So we rocked up on his doorstop, a bit apprehensive about turning up on a complete strangers doorstep, but nonetheless we didnt have much options.

However it turned out that our host, Adrian is a top bloke and we have extended our stay with him now too 5 nights...the reason being we are having great difficulty finding a campervan ! I thought we would have no probs, that there would be loads of autosales where we could pick up a bargain from a backpacker keen to make a quick sale and move on to their next destination but that doesnt appear to be the case. We have finally found 1 advert where the van wasnt sold and we are gonna check it out tonight :o)

Asides from searching for our campervan to house us for the next 5 months we also went to a Market, which was absolutely crazy mad fun. We bought all these lovely fresh veggies and meat to make dinner with last night and did the necessary doughnut stop :) We also went to the vietnamese part of town and had very traditional soup, it was great fun, you got this big bowl, full of noodles and meat, and then on the side they have fresh basil, lemon, beansprouts, fresh chilli, black bean sauce, fish sauce, and alsorts of chilli sauces and you just add what you want to taste. There was also fresh jasmine tea on the table that you helped yourself too, and more over it was dirt cheap !

Tuesday is a holiday here, so we will be parked up somewhere watching the Melbourne cup and I dont think we will be let in the gates in our normal attire these days of demin shorts and washed out t-shirts :o)

OKidoki away to have a cuppa tea and a choccie, vi snakkes

New Zealand

2008-10-26T09:47:00.002+01:00

Hei Folks,

Hows it going back home in cold Scotland/Norway ?? I have to say N.Z isn't exactly scorching sunshine and nights in the campervan can be a bit on the chilly side :o)

We started our kiwi escapades in Auckland, drove down to Rotorua, where we visited the natural hot springs. Man that those things stink, with sulphur, sometimes enought ot make you gag ! But pretty spectacular none the less. After Rotovegas we headed to Taupo, where the biggest lake in New Zealand is. We camped out in this lovely campsite site and took advantage of their hot tub, heated from the earth. The following day we took a hike around a 'thermal village' where we saw loads of geysers, and tramped down into a cave to a natural hot spring there. We met this scottish couple on the walk, from Edinburgh.

After Taupo, we started heading towards Wellington to catch the ferry to the south Island, stopping for a night in Palmerston North. The ferry crossing was actually quite rough at parts so I sat quietly sipping water for the 3 hour crossing :) When we got off the ferry we headed straight for Blenheim, having been recommended to go there for the wine by some Kiwi's we met in Fiji. We checked in for the winery tour, got picked up at 11.30am and managed to squeeze 7 winerys into the day, plus a distillery, serving vodka, gin & liquers and lastly a chocolate factory. There was another 5 people on the tour with us and after the bus poured us out (we were all a bit tipsy by this time) we invited everyone back to our place to sample our purchases..........it was a very good night !

No time to relax and recover from the day before, we had to get on our way, so we sailed down the East coast a bit to Kaikoura, then took a turn towards the west over the lewis pass. We camped up in Hamner Springs and set off early again the next day to make it to Franz Josef Glacier. The countryside is breathtaking, it some ways it reminds us both of our home countries but at the same time its new and different. We decided to spend a few pennies and go quad biking round the Glacier. Wow that was absolutely great fun, there was mud, rocks, trees, rivers etc and we were riding these big powerful quads.....lovin it lovin it lovin it.....oooh and our guide was a scotsman ! Our campsite that night was in the 'rainforest', beautiful spot.

Today we have made our way to Queenstown.....not snooped around town yet, gonna do that tomorrow.

Cat signing out.....

Long time no blog ....

2008-10-19T00:09:00.003+02:00

Hei Folks,

For those of you who are ready awaiting our next blog, Im afraid you will have to be a wee bit more patient for the indepth drama but here is the short n curlys of Sept and Oct to date -

We visited the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennesse for Rune's birthday, we went to Las Vegas and came out $10 richer ! We saw Grand canyon (spectacular), Yosemite National Park, and hoover dam. We travelled via old route 66 from Tulsa, Oklahoma to the Texas panhandle. We took a horse ride down the canyon in Texas. In San Francisco we stayed with Jill's parents for a couple of nights, where Jeff (Jill's bro) showed us round town and then stayed with Emily Borthwick in Oakland.......we actually partied a day away with Fay and Johnny in San Fran......San Fran was deffo in our top 3 cities in USA. We went to Branson and saw a great show called the Dixie Stampede, and we actually became part of the show, and won gold medals for out running another couple on wooden horses :-) In New Mexico, Santa Rosa, we saw the blue hole and in San Deigo we boozed away in the gaslamp district and played in Legoland. In LA we did the must do snoop around the houses of the rich and famous, some very NICE places I have to say. We strolled along Venice beach, muscle beach and sat and had bubba gump shrimp on the famous, baywatch, Santa Monica beach. Oh and we also were part of the studio audience for a new sitcom called Rita rocks, that was good fun.....see if you can spot our laughs on episode 7.

Ok after US we boarded a plane for Fiji....it was a hellish flight on the smallest seats known to mankind (thanks Air Pacific !) for a whopping 10 hours. Needless to say it was worth every gruelling minute. Fiji was our slice of paradise. We spent the days island hopping, snorkelling round the sunflower reef, sipping Fiji bitters, experiencing traditional dance, lovo digging, coconut harvesting, preparing and the 101 thing to do with coconuts and their leaves. There was also crab racing, fire walking, traditional song, plus the people were extraordinarily friendly and kind. Rune was even invited to the local village where he was treated like royalty, and given handmade fans (made from coconut palms of course) for himself and me. The local way of life is somewhat different to what you experince staying in the nice tourist resort. Four nights in Fiji were certainly not enough and we are definately planning to go back again......anyone in ?

Now we are in New Zealand. Landed in Auckland and spent the first night in a youth hostel. Picked up our rental camper and headed to Rotorua via Kelly Tartans Underwater world. Spent our first night in the camper....so far so good...

Gustav, Hanna, Fay og nesten arrestert

2008-09-01T15:44:00.006+02:00

Naa er det en stund siden jeg har tastet noe inn her paa bloggen, saa det er paa tide.

Vi har sett utrolig mye paa veien fra New York til Miami. Og vaeret har vaert supert... helt til vi kom til Florida. Da ble vi kjent med stormen Fay. Fay var litt oppskrytt, hun skulle egentlig vaere en kategori 2, men ble nedgradert til Tropisk depresjon. Men likevel, oedeleggelsene var enorme i enkelte parter av Florida. Hun flommet rett og slett over.

Vi ble noen dager ekstra i Fort Myers paa grunn av henne, men vi kom oss ned til Miami til slutt. Det var helt supert, det regnet fremdeles der paa grunn av Fay, men det var i perioder... saa vi fikk slappet av paa stranden og gjort minst mulig.

Vi flydde Miami og opp til Charlotte, Nord Carolina... noe som skulle spare oss stress og en lengre biltur.... men i etterkant skulle jeg oenske at vi faktisk kjoerte opp. Flyplassen i Miami var et lite mareritt.... foerst slapp jeg av Cat med bagasjen utenfor terminalen, foer jeg skulle levere leiebilen...

La meg si det slik, jeg kjoerte i ring i 45 minutter foer jeg faktisk fant ut hvor de holdt til.... skiltingen var helt paa trynet.... men naar jeg endelig fant frem saa var det feil firma... siden Alamo og National ikke har samme kontor i Miami, men i resten av verden deler de kontor.... og siden National var et lukket omraade og jeg matte gjennom vakten naar jeg skulle ut... saa ble det et problem.. siden alt av papirer og foererkort var i vesken til Cat.. saa froeken vakt truet med aa ringe politiet og styr og stell.. kom meg endelig ut derfra og inn paa riktig omraade.. leverte bilen og kom meg tilbake til flyplassen... endelig over... neida... Flyplassen er et reint lite mareritt, vi stilte oss i det vi trodde var riktig koe, men neida.. flyselskapet vi skulle reise med hadde gitt alle flygningene sine til et annet selskap, saa vi maatte over i en annen koe... og siden ingen helt visste hvor dette skulle gjoeres, saa ble det litt rot... en person sa "gaa over der" mens en annen pekte oss i en helt annen retning... klokken tikket og vi ble mer og mer nervoes med tanke paa aa rekke flyet... men naar det var over, saa gikk det nesten paa skinner, utenom sikkerhetskontrollen og alt.. til og med Gardermoen er bedre enn Miami Internasjonal Flyplass...

Men vi kom oss endelig opp til Charlotte, Nord Carolina - en annen som var paa vei opp der var Fay... Men det tok 2 dager foer hun var der... saa det var greit... vi ble i Charlotte i 2 dager... storkoste oss paa Hilton, og vi traff paa Ben (pianisten fra pianobaren i Pittsburgh).. Dagen etter vi hadde reist kom Fay opp til Charlotte og la stoerre deler av byen under vann....

Naa sitter vi i Asheville, Nord Carolina og har hatt noen fantastiske dager, Gustav - den andre av 3 orkaner er naa paa vei innover New Orleans med styrke 3(vi syns saa synd paa dem, de trenger ikke enda en orkan der, og det er samme styrke naa som det var sist)... Gustav er tydeligvis paa vei nord-vest, og det er der vi skal ogsaa.. men forhaapentligvis har den mistet mye styrke foer den naar oss... og som om dette ikke var nok, saa er det en tredje orkan paa vei... Hannah, hun ligger litt bak saa det blir spennende aa se...

Uansett saa maa det sies at vi har laert mer om orkaner iloepet av 1 mnd enn vi noengang visste....

Men nok om orkaner, de siste dagene her i Asheville har vaert fantastiske... Asheville Tourists er det lokale baseball laget, vi kom i snakk med noen som hadde billetter til oss.. helt gratis.. saa det var helt supert... kampen var super og vi storkoste oss.. sang til og med: "take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd, buy med some peanuts and crackerjacks. I don't care if I ever get back"... som er den mest typiske baseball sangen :D

og litt mer sport... Hotellet som vi bodde paa er tydeligvis veldig populaert for idrettslag... saa vi kom i snakk med trenerteamet til Braves... Braves er universitetslaget til Pembrooke Universitet... uansett.. de hadde en kamp her i omraadet og de inviterte oss med paa kamp.. det var helt supert :D

Vi har uansett funnet ut at vi naa bare maa komme oss paa en skikkelig basketball kamp... saann at vi faar med oss de mest A-typiske idrettene her i statene...

Vi har det bra og naa skal vi ut og rafte litt....

Week 8 & 9 - USA

2008-08-26T13:37:00.006+02:00

Bonita Springs - Mon 18th - Wed 20th - Mon, Rune, Ian & I went for lunch and tried to go watch a film but the local cinema was closed down for the impending hurricane, so we hired some DVDs instead. We went to bed in great antipidation as we knew Fay was due to hit sometime during the night. However we slept the whole night through and woke up to a very flooded garden. Thankfully Fay had been downgraded to a tropical storm which meant a whole lotta rain and not too strong winds. Tues we pretty much stayed inside all day as not a lot else u can do. Wed was a tough day, it is Iain's birthday, and being so far from home on the 1st birthday without him was really tough. However we made our way down through the everglades to Miami and checked into our new home for the next 4 nights.

Miami - Wed 20th - Sun 24th - First night we checked into the resort we sat by the pool bar and got speaking to this guy Nat, from NY. He was there with his cuban wife Amy, their daughter Stephanie and their grandkids Paris and Sydney. They were a lovely family family and we chewed the fat with Nat for several hours over several pear voddies :D WE found out it was ladies night in the hotel bar, which meant girls drink for free....hehehe.....bring it on. So after a little refresh we headed towards the bar, on the way meeting this couple, Kelly & Mike from Pen. Kelly & I would go to bar order the drinks and then take back for the boys too. Rune and I had already been tipsy b4 and by 1am we were sloshed ! Thurs therefore was a complete write off, we couldnt do anything. Friday we decided to go out on the Keys. Having been told by several people not to bother driving the full 4 hours out to Key West we decided to go about halfway to Marathon. There we took a Bi-plane up and saw over the keys from the sky (also saw a shark in the water). We also tried the local conch cowder....not the biggest fan but the cafe we had it in was pretty gross. Sat was our last day in Miami so we decided we would chill out at the resorts private beach under one of the huts. We spent the day lounging on the beach, reading books, playing suduko. Sat night we met up again with Kelly and Mike and sat and had a few beers with them. I didnt feel to crash hot and bailed out around midnight tho. Sun we had to get up early and head out to the airport to catch our flight to charlotte. The airport was a complete nightmare, Rune almost got arrested when he tried to hand the hire car back in without his driver license (I had all documents in my bag waiting from him inside terminal with all the bags), no one could tell us where to check in, we were supposed to be with American Airlines but then found out we were going American Eagle, the whole thing was a joke and really stressful. But anyways we eventually got to Charlotte safe and sound. We then got to pick out which hire car we wanted from all the cars in our category, so we chose a Pontiac this time, and she is called Pinta :D

Charlotte - Sun 24th - Tues 26th - When we arrived in Charlotte we grabbed some food and were told by the waitress to watch ourselves there, to always keep our car doors locked etc....hmmmm not exactly a first good impression. However the hotel was nice, a Hilton out at the university which we had managed to get for $50pn. On Monday we went downtown Charlotte, which was quite pretty and spent most of the day in the library, planning our next route and booking some places to stay. We had a fab dinner that night in Rock Bottom. Tues we were meeting up with a guy, Ben Michaels, that we met in Pittsburgh, he was one of the pianists at Sing Sing that turned out to have worked for Rune's uncle in Bergen some time back. We spent a good few hours with Ben, nice guy and then made our journey north to a small place, recommended by Sally, called Blowing Rock. It was quite late when we arrived in our cute Scandinavian style motel.

Blowing Rock - Wed 27th - Due to the weather (rain rain and more rain) we didnt get much of a chance to see or do anything in blowing rock. Its a small village right up in the mountains, a beautiful little place that would be great for those who like the great outdoors, hiking and mountain walking. However as the weather was not in our favour we packed up and headed south west towards Asheville.

Asheville - Thurs 28th - Sun 31 - Originally we had only booked and planned to stay in Asheville for 2 nights, but as it was labor day weekend and the place we had planned on going to next Chatanooga was a dry county we decided to stay an additional 3 nights. Thurs we drove to Chimney Rock, in the mountains, and were planning to climb to the top however due to all the rain there had been big mud slides that had wiped out most of the trails and it didnt seem worth us paying $14 each to climb to the top when it was such a foggy day anyways. But it was a lovely drive there and back. We stopped off in town and had a wee wonder around. Asheville is very hippy/artsy/musical and there were quite a number of street performers out. We headed to the chocolate fetish shop and then across the road to enjoy our purchases with a good coffee. Rune found out that the local baseball team, the 'Tourists' were playing that night against Greenville, so we decide to take a dander at that. Just as we got to the front gates we were met by this elderly couple who asked if we needed tickets for the game as they had 2 going :D So we got free tickets, and the Asheville 'Tourists' won 11-1.....all in all a good night (well plus it was thirsty thursday). Fri we checked out of one hotel, caught up on laundry, checked into a new hotel and then headed to town. The taxi driver, Dal, dropped us off at the square, to see whats known as drum circle. Basically its anyone who has a drum come along and everyone all plays together, which inevitably draws in large crowds, dancing and clapping along. There was a great buzz in the air and we stood for some time listening on. Our bellies were rumbling tho and we had noticed this great noodle place I was keen to try out. It was qued out the door and we were told 20-25min wait for a table, so we grabbed a quick drink in the Irishbar next door whilst we waited. We got seated right in front of all the action, ie we were watching the chiefs making our dinner :) The portions were huge, I think we both only managed a 1/5 and it was so so so tasty. After dinner we strolled around town for a bit then decided to call it a night. Sat at breakfast we got talking (as per usual) to just about everyone in the breakfast bar at the time. There was one couple, Jeff & Brenda from Raleigh, an older couple, and a couple of guys who worked as part of a fotball team. Well Rune got on really well with them and it turned out not only were the fotball team, 60 players and 8 coaches staying in the same hotel but they were playing that night in a town, Brevard, about an hour away from Asheville. They were the Pembroke University team, the 'Braves' and they invited us a guests to come watch them play. Which is of course what we did. It was a fantastic game, the Braves whipping ass 28-0. So now we have done both baseball and fotball and not had to pay a dime ! Sun we caught up on mails, planned and booked our movements for the following 5 nights, had a stroll around town, nothing too exciting.

Updated pictures - Oppdatering av bildene

2008-08-20T19:04:00.002+02:00

New pictures have been posted.. click here or cut and paste this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98375688@N00/sets/

Nye bilder... juuuhuuu.... klikk her eller klipp og lim denne: http://www.flickr.com/photos/98375688@N00/sets/

Week 7 - USA

2008-08-20T14:53:00.004+02:00

St Augustine - Sun 10th Aug - we got up early and headed down to St Augustine, the home of Ian Waterhouse's (friend of the family) college, Flager. As suggested the day before we stopped in at the winery. Again it was a brief tour but this time we were sampling 9different wines.....and Rune opted to drive so I was sampling a little extra, hiccup ! We started blethering to this couple we had kinda spoken quickly to on the tour as her mother was Scottish, from Glasgow in fact. They were really lovely so after the tasting finished I suggested we head up to the bar and try out the sangria, yum yum. We sat and blethered with John and Alyssa for a good few hours and then decided to grab some food as it was now approaching late afternoon and we needed to be on the road again by 5 to make it down to Kissimmee. We had a good giggle fighting over a car park space and then had a gorgeous meal, I had lobster ravioli and Rune had the meat one. We exchanged numbers and promised to visit them on the 19th on our way down to Miami. We then said our goodbyes and got on the road to Kissimmee to see Ian. We arrived the back of 7 and spent the evening catching up in his RV, where we will be crashing for the next 3 nights.

Disney World - Mon 11th - Wed 13th - We got up early on the mon, went to Dunkin doughnuts for breakfast, then headed backstage with Ian (who works on the jungle cruise ride in Magic Kingdom) so that he could buy a ticket for the park at his staff discounted rate. We saw the stores where they keep all the crimbo decorations, where the employees go to Disney university and some of the huge warehouses for costumes etc. We then parked up, got a tram to the monorail and then monorail to the park. We then met up with some friends of Ian, Liz and Terra and then a bit later on Hannah, the five of us happily made our way into the magic Kingdom. Like WOW, totally WOW, the place is just amazing. You cannot go there and not have a good time, the place just instantly turns you into a big kid. The 6 of us were in the park from 10am till after midnight. We did almost every ride in the park with very few exceptions. we saw the 11pm light parade which was superb. I cant tell you how much fun we had that day in the park and most of it was largely thanks to our special tour guide Ian, who knows absolutely everything there is to know about the park and who spent the day looking after us extremely well. We felt like VIPs as skipped through the park and onto the rides. I think our longest wait was like betwen 20-30mins, which is nothing really. Rune's favourite thing of magic kingdom was Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 3D film that also throws in smell, blasts air in your face and splashes you with water. My favourite ride in the mgic kingdom was possibly the Pirates of the Carribean but it is really hard to pick one ride as they were all so good. On the tues we got up early again and this time we had set ourselves the challenge of doing the other 3 parks in 1 day. We went to Animal Kingdom first, where we went on the dino ride (my favourite), we watched its tough to be a bug, another 3d animation with special effects, and then did a safari trip. The giraffes were right up at the truck, in fact we spent some time waiting for them to get off the road so we could get past ! Then onto Hollywood studios where we did the behind the scenes of movies, and a trip through som classic films from Mary Poppins to Aliens. We also got ourselves some fast passes for the bigger attractions rock and rollin coaster and the tower of terror. We then headed off to Epcot and met up with Hannah again. First we tried out all these sodas from around the world, then we walked round all the different countries that are represented there, and Norway was one of them. Rune chatted with the Norwegian girls that are workin there and bought himself a chocolate bar from home. We were gonna go on the ride there but it was a 45min wait. We then went back to the studios and went on the Areosmith rollercoaster. First it shot you off at 60mph (made me feel a little queasy) then you were looping upside down and all over, that was great fun. After the ride we went to see fantasmick, a show that uses light, water and fireworks. They project images onto waterfalls, it is quite amazing to watch. It was a great show and afterwards we had time for one last ride....the tower of terror ! OMG that was soooooo scary, you went up on a elevator, and you can see outside and how high up you are and then you are dropped 13floors !! Oooof my stomach did sommersalts as we were dropped another 6 or so times from various heights, yick yick yick.

Bonita Springs - Wed 13th - Sun 17th - We arrived down at Sally and Chris's around 5.30pm. Both Alisdair and Andrew were also home. Chris got in a little later and we caught up on news over pizza beer and wine. Thurs Rune and I did some laundry and did some food shopping while everyone was out at school or work. We then took a dook in the pool to cool down. On friday we took the boys up to Venice beach to do some diving. Ali, Andrew and Rune l went out in the water while I sat on the beach. However it was really rough sea, and Andrew didnt have enough weights to get down so they had to abandon the diving after about 30mins. Rune had been bashed against some rocks and got himself some nice scratches on his leg. I then found a sharks tooth and the search was on for everyone else to get one ! We ended up with about 5 or 6 in total. Sat the boys and their father went up to pick up Ian and the RV, so Sally and I went out and did a bit of shopping while Rune stayed home and did his own thing for a bit. Sat night we took Sally out for dinner and had a bloomin onion, hehehe. Sunday we got up and went to get supplies for the pending hurricane Fay that was set hit Bonita late Mon. During the day we helped the family prep the house and garden, taking leisurely dips in the pool to cool off from the hot sun........next week will tell u about Fay !!!!

Week 6 - USA

2008-08-14T17:05:00.005+02:00

Durham - Mon 4th - Tues 5th August - One thing I forgot to put in last week week was on the Sunday on our way down to Durham we went along the blue ridge parkway....WOW it was such a spectular drive, in the high Rocky Mountains, just all green and lush, completely stunning. Then on Sun night we arrive in Durham to meet Kevin, a friend of AB's. We sit up and have a few drinks with Kevin (thanks for the 5ltr box of wine AB) and have a bit of a giggle. On Monday we go off first of all to the town centre where the old Lucky strike factory is. We walk around the college grounds which are beautiful. Then head out to a shopping mall, where Rune has a haircut and I buy some nice new makeup I had seen advetised. Mon night Keven very kindly takes us for a curry. Not the best curry in the world it has to be said but we had a good time together. We were sad to pack up our things the next day but we knew we had to be in Kissimmee by the 10th. Tues we just caught up with laundry and made our way to Wilmington

Wilmington - Wed 6th August - We stayed only one night in Wilmington and decided that we would go see Battleship North Carolina. As we drove there through the city, you could clearly see the downtown historic district was really pretty. Wilmington is an old riverport city that occupies the east bank of the Cape Fear River and is quite popular for Americans to come for long weekends to enjoy some of the lovely beaches that surround Wilmington. However like I said we went to see the battleship that was used during WWII. It was an impressive site and we spent over 2 hours wondering around its decks. After which we got straight back on the road again.

Charleston - Thurs 7th Aug - Wow now this place deffo was a top holiday destination for the Carolinans. Not far from several huge beaches and road after road of amusements, mini golf, fun fairs, fast food, shops etc etc. We thought we would have some fun and drove along to Myrtle Beach where we went to Frankie's fun park. It was dead quiet there, which meant no ques for any of the 'attractions' hehehe. First we played a round of mini golf....which I just happened to whip Rune's ass at by 11 points, hehehe. Then we did go-karting, which I think he might have lapped me twice in :o) then my favourite which was the bumper boats, complete with spray guns, hahahah. we were pretty much soaked to the skin by the time we got off that ride. But in the scorching heat, I think it was around 105 that day, we soon dried off and were back on the road making our way to Jacksonville.

Jacksonville - Fri 7th - Sun 10th August - Friday, Rune and I decided to have a day off from site seeing and just hung out at the hotel. In the evening we went out for dinner and drinks to Jacksonville landing. We first of all walked into Hooters bar where we sat and had a drink but the food menu wasnt exactly appealing so we went upstairs to another place. It was a lovely evening, we were sat outside overlooking the square where a local band where playin some god old classic tunes on a stage in the centre. It was also the opening ceremony of the Beijing 08 olympic games, which was shown outside on big widescreen teles....... so we were completely spoilt. Sat we had to go to the Budweiser tour at the local brewery. It was a free tour, lasted around 30mins I would say and then finished off with some free samples at the bar. Not being much of a beer drinker I firstly opted for the budlime, which was nice enough then I tried the blueberry flavour, which was sweet. We got talking to this male couple at the bar and as we mentioned we were going to St Augustine the following day they recommended a trip to the local winery San Sabastian, where again the tour was free and you got some sampling at the end :o)

Week 5 - USA

2008-08-02T01:39:00.005+02:00

Washington DC - Mon 28th July - Rune & I had booked tickets for the very popular Spy museum for today. We had a lazy morning and checked out the hotel around 12, then headed over to a wee mexican restaurant that seemed to be very popular with the local pentagon workers. The Spy museum was ok in my books, it would have been a lot more enjoyable had there not been crowds of people all let in at same time as you were spending a lot of the time quing just to read or see something. We finally left DC and headed south into Virginia to Richmond.

Richmond - Tues 29- Thurs 31st - We had booked a really cheap motel with a pool as the weather was heating up and we just wanted to veg for a day and thats exactly what we did all day tues, well apart from a leg/eyebrow wax & pedicure and finally managing to get to a walmart. We stocked up the fridge with goodies to save on the budget and the ever increasing waistlines (from the large and very fatty food here). On Wednesday we went into Richmond and visited the confederal museum, which was very interesting, especially for me as I had no clue about American history and the civil war. As part of the admission we got a tour round the confederate white house, belonging to Jefferson Davis. There was a fair amount of furniture/pieces that were in the house during Davis's time there. Thurs we packed up early and headed out on the road again. First we stopped in Charlottesville to visit Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. Jefferson being the 3rd president of the US, following Washington and Adams. We werent able to see as much of the house as we had Davis, but it was interesting all the same. On the road again, this time to see some caverns, the Grand caverns in fact. Well I have to saw they were breath taking, I cant even describe what it was like down there, totally awsome man ! I have taken some pics as you can see on the link but they dont do the caverns justice. It was just over an hour walk through 1.5miles of caverns and I have to also mention our tour guide was brilliant (Mackenzie was her name). After the caverns we were heading to our next motel in Roanoke, however we ended up doing a few more things on the way. Firstly we stopped to have a good giggle at 'Foamhenge'.... a complete life scale replica of the real deal, only made of sterofoam. The next stop was at Natural Bridge, which is actually one of the seven wonders of the world. We had a good walk there along the trail, right up to a waterfall.

Roanoke (Daleville) - Fri 1st - Sun 3rd - Thurs night we actually arrived at our new motel, Hojo, and the first time we met Ankur, aka AB. He was working the front desk, and as it later transpires, is the assis Manager. Over the next few days we spend a bit of time chatting with AB, he's a real nice guy from India, near Bombay. We immediately decided we would book for the fri night also, as the motel was really decent for the price (only 35 quid a night), it was clean, the room was a good size, complimentary hot breakfast buffet and there was a cross shaped pool. On fri we sat by the pool, wrote our first postcards - which we still havent posted- and read books. On Saturday AB recommended this 7mile hike to a mountain cliff called the 'McAfee Knob' so Rune and I got up sharp, filled up our 2.5litre camel bags, bought some high energy bars and set off. It took quite somewhile and a lot of stopping random folks to ask, but eventually we found the start of the trail. Well we huffed and puffed for 3 hours up the sides of mountains, but we soon realised we were still 13miles away from our end destination, and there was no way we could manage a) to get there by sunset and b) then hike the whole way back again, so we cut our losses after reaching a high summit somewhere in the rocky mountain range and set off back to the motel......needless to say AB hadnt done the hike himself, hahaha. Saturday night we went out for a Brazilian dinner with AB, it was a lovely meal, little bit out of our budget range tho !! Sun we then said our goodbyes to AB and set off to stay at a motel his friend Kevin works at. I will tell you all about our time with Kevin next week......

Week 4 - USA

2008-07-31T00:01:00.004+02:00

Pittsburgh - Mon 21st July - It was our last full day in Pittsburgh, and Iain and Katie were out working for the day so we decided we would take a trip to the zoo. We had borrowed Iain's GPS but musta done something wrong as we were directed into downtown Pitts rather than the zoo. I also have to point out that Christopher (our hire car) had decided he wanted to toast us alive in the 90degree heat, as the air con was no longer working ! Ok so we are downtown instead of the zoo, so we park up and decide to have a wonder instead. Nice city, but we still had our hearts set on the zoo, therefore we stopped off at a radio shack and bought ourselves our own GPS. Back to sweltering Christopher and finally find the zoo -with a little help from the women in the pitts visitor centre - and it was worth the wait. As you will see from the pics, we saw lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes, polar bears and a 2 week old baby elephant called Angelina. Mon night we sat and chilled on our last night with Katie & Iain. They were such great hosts, we truly had a lovely visit.

Philidelphia - Tues 22 - Thurs 24 July - Before we left Pitts we needed to swap out cars as there was no way we could continue our journey in the heat & humidity without air con, so we had Christopher swapped out for a mitsubishi Galant, who we have named Nina after one of Colombus's ships. Nina is certainly not as hitech or funky as Christopher, but right now she is getting us where we need to go at a cool temp ! By the time we had messed about with changing cars and getting back on the road it was quite late before we reached Philidelphia so we found ourselves a motel and bedded down for the night. Wed we got up and headed out in philly. First we went to liberty bell, it was free to get in and gave you all the history about the bell. Then we decided to go to Eastern State Penetiary, which was well and truly worth the visit. It consists of an audio tour by actor Steve Buscemi, and it was weirdly magical. Take a look at the pics, you can see the cell where they kept Al Capone (Scarface), and the prison has also featured in many films including 12 monkeys with B.Pitt & B.Willis. On the Thurs we went firstly to the infamous steps up to the Museum of Art, used in the Rocky films, and had pics taken by the Rocky statue. We then went round the Art museum, then took a wander out to the parks and sat under a tree, listening to music.

Baltimore - Fri 25th July - we only spent a brief time in Baltimore, but the city does actually have a lot to offer. We firstly went out on a wee boat at inner harbour. It had a small powered engine so no rowing involved, yesss. After boating round the harbour we went up the trade centre, to the viewing point at top, where you could see all over the city. Then we took a meander down to little italy where we had a gorgeous meal, it was the best lasagne I have ever had ! We then decided to make our way to Washington DC before the sunset.

Washington DC - Sat 26th - Sun 27th - The Fri night we checked into a hotel in Capitol Hill, right next to the washington monument, Capitol Hill etc etc. On sat morning we took a wander through the area, but it was roasting hot so we didnt go far. We then found a cheaper hotel out in Arlington and did a bit of shopping (both of us desperately needed new shorts) and went to see Hancock at a new cinema complex. Sunday we got up and went out to see the White House, not as large and impressive as we thought it would be. We then wanted to go on the DC Ducks, which is basically a bus & boat tour round the city, but by the time we finally reached union sq where the tour starts, the tours had been cancelled due to impending storm weather, and right enough, within mins of leaving the station the heavens opened. We just legged it back to the hotel via the subway and then chilled out for dinner and drinks in an Irishbar.....we had Shepards pie for dinner, hahaha.

Turen over dammen

2008-07-29T01:56:00.003+02:00

Ligger litt etter tidsskjema her paa bloggen. Skulle egentlig skrive for hver uke, og det gjoer vi egentlig. Men den engelske versjonen blir saa lang, saa hvis jeg skriver mitt paa norsk saa havner det langt nede paa siden.

Men bortsett fra det, har vi naa altsaa kommet oss til statene. Hadde 3 hele dager i New York som var helt greie. Vi har begge vaert der foer, saa det var mye vi ikke gjorde. Slappet av og koste oss. Hotellet i Brooklyn var konge, et stykke fra Manhattan men ikke noe problem saa lenge det er undergrunn :D

Vi klarte jo selvfoelgelig aa rote oss vekk i Brooklyn, og havnet i feil ende. Det gikk opp for oss etter en liten stund at vi hadde gaatt feil og hadde havnet i et av de vaerste stroekene i Brooklyn. Men vi kom oss ut uten problemer :D

Fredagen skulle vi hente bilen, saa vi tenkte... hmm... okei.. vi har bestilt bilen til 12.00... men vi reiser inn litt foer... det er lurt... 2 timer maatte jeg vente utenfor paa gaten i New York... med all bagasjen.. foelte meg litt utsatt... men vi fikk bilen til slutt og kom oss avgaarde til noen venner av Cat som bor i Pittsburgh...

De hadde planlagt mer eller mindre hele helgen for oss. Saa det var omvisninger, shopping, kino og mye mer. Men det som er verdt aa nevne var en tur til en uteplass kalt "Sing Sing", pianobar. Der de spiller musikk oensker for betaling. Du skrev musikk oensket ditt paa en liten lapp, brettet den og la noen dollar inni.

NOEN..... ba om A-HA, take on me... men som om det var nok.. neida.. og at jeg maatte opp paa scenen... og det er jo greit nok det... men jeg var vel ikke akkurat det du kan kalle edruelig paa det tidspunktet... og ja... det er en video..... og nei... det kommer ikke paa youtube..

Men vi har det bra og alt gaar etter planen... :D

snart kommer den engelske versjonen av uke 4... :D

Week 3 - USA

2008-07-22T15:55:00.002+02:00

Pencaitland - Mon 14th July - Last day at home, so understandably we spent most of it packing and making good bye phone calls. My good friend Rachel (known one another since primary school) came round for one last visit, so we sat for a couple of hours chewing the fat. My mums friend Marion was also over for a cuppa t and a blether. Dad made us a fairwell dinner of fahjitas, and we all sloped off the bed fairly early as we were having to leave around 5am the following day.

New York - Tues 15th - Fri 18th July - Caught our 6.45am flight from edinburgh to London Heathrow. Had a few hours to get through security and find our gate for NY. Flight was on time at 10.25, and we were off, no turning back now. We are flying BA all the way, so gonna be interesting to see what kinda standard we receive. The direct flight to NY was ok, not exactly great leg room in the cheap seats at the back, but we survived. Touch down in NY 1pm local time (5hrs behind uk), and grabbed a taxi to our hotel in Brooklyn. We were staying at the Red Carpet Inn, which I have to say was money well spent. The room was really spacious, it had air con, which is a complete god send in the heat and humidity in the states right now and breakfast is included. The breakfast was coffee/tea, buttered bagels and any flavour of doughnut u want, all served up in the reception :) So after we checked in and exploded the contents of our perfectly packed rucksacks over the room, it was time to hit Manhattan. The subway was literally across the street from the hotel, handy. We decided we wanted to grab some food, and wanted to hit little Italy. We got off at 3rd and 14th and started walking down through East village, stopping on the way for me to have an eyebrow wax and get a map to make sure we could find the street. We did however eventually stumble upon little italy, having got my bearings from the Sohotel were I stayed last time in NY with Emily. We sat, had some food and then got speaking to this really lovely couple from Florida sat next to us, Blanco and Patricia. We exchanged numbers with them as they have promised to show us round Miami when we arrive there end of Aug. After dinner we pretty much crawled our way back up to 14th (buying crocs on the way for my burning feet) and collapsed straight into bed.

Next day Rune was up and wide awake at 5.30am !! Needless to say it wasnt long till he had woken me up too. We headed back into Manhattan again. We decided we would first go to ground zero as Rune hadnt been there before. However the whole place is under construction so there wasnt much to see, the wall of names is stored away in some museum now. We caught the subway back up to Times Sq and headed out towards the pier. We stopped in past the Ripley's 'believe it or not' museum.....I think the only thing we couldnt believe was the price they actually charged to get into the place.....word of advice, never ever go, its complete pants !! Earlier that morning Rune had found a flyer for this speedboat tour called the beast, at the hands of captain mad dog, so we made our way along to pier 83 and bought our tickets. I have to say this ride was absolutely great fun, the guys in charge were really entertaining, the views of NY were fantastic, we went right up to statue of liberty (u can see the photos on the link below) and I got absolutely soaked - which is always great when wearing a WHITE T shirt, hahaha). Wed night we walked up to Hells Kitchen and shared a huge pizza (again in the pics). The couple running the cafe were lovely and we had a good blether with them about the area and what its really like.

Thurs, our last full day in NYC, so we decided we had both seen and done enough of Manhattan, having both visited before and done all the major tourist things, so we opted for a day in Brooklyn instead. We would make our way along Myrtle Avenue to the large Forest Parks, however it does help if you walk the 3.5hrs in the right direction !! I think it was when we hit the projects and hadnt seen any white people in a long long time we thought we ought to check the map, hahaha. So it was a quick lets find quickest way outta here, just in case. Caught a train taking us back in the right direction and finally got to the park, nearly 5 hrs after we had set out. I have to say it was not worth all the effort to find. It was run down, grubby and there was more squirels in the park than there was humans.

Fri, we spent a whole 2 hours !!!! 2 hours !!!! waiting in line, most of which was outside in the sorching heat, to pick up our car from Alamo/National. There was a lot of hot angry tourists in that line, I can tell you. But we did eventually pick up our chevy Malibu, which we named Christopher as he will be discovering America with us. Our next step was to navigate out of NYC and make our 7hr journey to Pittsburgh. Rune drove and I navigated and I have to say we only missed one turn off which isnt bad going. We then took it in turns to drive the rest of the way. We arrived with Iain & Katie early evening. We got a tour round their gorgeous, brand new home, then we picked up a carry out, ordered some pizza and caught up on all the news....even phoned Mr Duncan Storey in Hong Kong !

Pittsburgh - Sat 19th - Sun 20th - I kinda slept in on sat, having stayed up till 3am chatting with Iain. We then all went out to Eatin park for brunch, yum yum. Iain and Katie then took us to giant eagle which is a massive food store. Back to house, got showered and changed and then out for some drinks at a place called Sing Sing, which is a piano bar. We had a few drinks there before we went next door for some food. And then back to Sing Sing... where we stayed the whole night. We all got pretty wasted, but Rune went one step futher and got off his face. The Piano players did what they called paid requests, so basically you wrote up your song, put some money in it and hoped for them to play it. So we had 2 songs where we got pulled up one stage, the first one was Proclaimers with 500 miles... so they got Iain and Cat up on stage dancing... for everyone who saw Cat and her dads performance in Stavanger with this song.. this was worse...

And then they pulled Rune up one stage, where he could barely stand up straight singing Aha - Take on me... cause that was the only norwegian song they knew.. anyways it turned out that one of the piano players and Rune had friends in common from Norway.. so we had some fun with that too :D

So when we finished all that, we had a quick snack at Eatin Park and went home.

The sunday wasn't that good for some of us... but after a few hours when we could function again we had some food and went to the movies. The Dark Night :D

Went home and just chilled :D

Pictures

2008-07-14T12:33:00.002+02:00

Having some problems posting slideshows on the blog

Click here or copy this address to see pics from our trip:
http://flickr.com/photos/98375688@N00/sets/

Week 2 - Scotland

2008-07-14T11:45:00.002+02:00

Nairn - Mon 7th July - Rune, Great uncle Donald and myself headed north early morning. We first went to Inverness and stopped off for a coffee at Donald's. Then went off to Loch Ness on the search for Nessie, who apparently works 10 2 10 throughout the summer months, but she musta bug***d off on her holidays as she was nowhere to be seen on our Loch Ness Cruise. However we did manage to see Castle Urquhart from the boat. After we dropped Donald back off we headed through to Nairn to meet up with a good friend of mine from uni, Lynne. We had a nice dinner in the Havloc and then went back to Lynne & Mikie's place for some wine and giggles. Was good to catch up with them both :o)

Tarbert - Tues 8th July - We managed to get up fairly early and drop Lynne off in Inverness on our way. Our first stop (altho rather brief) was in Fort William, as we zig zagged our way down to Loch Lomond, stopping at Glen Coe visitor centre for some refreshments and then picking up some Belgium hitch hiking scouts on the way and driving them in the wrong direction for about 20miles, ooops, hehehe. The scenery was absolutely spectacular, you sometimes forget how beautiful your country is, especially when u just stick to the dual carriageways and major cities. We finally made our last stop for the night, which was in the lovely picturesque village of Tarbert (check out the pics), just north of Campelltown. We were staying at the Victoria Hotel, which was a cosy family run hotel on the main drag. After a hot meal we made our way up to Tarbert castle and admired the views over the countryside and then stumbled over the the village church, which was not quite as impressive as it had looked from the hillside.

Glasgow - Wed 9th July - Got up fairly early and altho had originally planned going over to Islay, we realised we just didnt have the time to have a reasonable visit within one day so we opted to head firstly to Oban. It is a gorgeous little town on the west highlands of Scotland. We took a little tour round the distillery there. Of course the tour was not a patch on the ne we were given by Hugh Gordon at Glenkinckie but it was interesting to spot the differences in the distillation process between the different distilleries. I have to say I quite liked the Oban whiskey, it was a little lighter and sweeter. After a bite of lunch we left Oban and headed south, via the banks of Loch Lomond to another distillery on the outskirts of Glasgow. This one is called Auchentoshan and we just caught the last tour by the skin of our teeth. This time the tasting was done before the tour so you were drinking as you went round. It was alright, again not a patch on Hugh's tour but we did actually get to see the warehouse where all the whisky is in barrels maturing. Afterwards we just headed for our hotel which was out of town, the Crowwood.

Pencaitland - Thurs 10th - 13th July - We arrived back a bit sharp from our Scottish tour as the family dog, Taylor, was admitted to doggie hospital, with heart problems. We were supposed to be spending the day in Edinburgh with my mum but just came straight home. Fri we spent most of the day packing, as thought it was about time we started. Fri night myself, Rune, my brother Gordon and his grlfriend Nicola went for a few drinks then to the cinema to see Kung Fu Panada....not exactly my choice but it was ok. On Sat we went down the borders of Scotland, through Duns and then into Kelso, where we stopped for some late lunch and some travel shopping (a funky washing line and water sack for my back). Sat night we went into edinburgh for a lovely dinner with my folks at the city grande bistro, then met up some friends, Jo, David and Shri. It was Shri's birthday party and he had very kindly put on a free bar at a place called Sign. Unfortunately I was driving but Rune drank for the 2 of us, hahaha. Sunday we were invited along to the neighbours, Fay & Jonny for some afternoon Cava, yum yum. We ended up staying there for nearly 4 hours and lets just say I was a little light headed when we left. Dad then cooked us a fab steak dinner. End of week 2 ..... only 2 more sleeps !

Skottland - med norske øyne

2008-07-06T16:23:00.004+02:00

Min kjære mor ba meg pent om jeg kunne skrive noen ord på norsk her... :D
så selvfølgelig :D

Vi har kvittet oss med hus og hjem, biler, ting er satt på lager. Og alt vi har nå er noen viktige ting, og selvølgelig det viktigste... hverandre :D

Det er nå i skrivende stund bare 5 dager igjen før vi sitter på flyet til New York City, byen som aldri sover.

Nå har vi tilbrakt nesten 2 uker her i Skottland. Vi landet i Aberdeen, tok turen opp til Tomintoul (Nord for Aberdeen) der moren til Cat er fra.... det var en stille og rolig kveld... fotball, øl og whisky.

Dagen derpå kjørte vi ned til Pencaitland, som ligger 30 minutter fra Edinburgh, hadde noen stille og rolige dager der før broren til Cat tok meg med til sentrum... gutte shopping... jeg trengte en sekk, og vi hadde 4 timer...

Regnestykke:
5 minutter i en butikk - intet resultat
5 minutter i en annen butikk - intet resultat
5 i en tredje butikk - heller dårlig
25 minutter - puben... fantastisk, ingen sekk - men mange gode forslag
5 minutter i den siste butikken. Fant det jeg ville.. Fantastisk

resten av tiden, puben!!...

Resultat: Gordon og jeg var lettere bedugget når vi traff resten av familien... :)
Kvelden varte noe lenger, men siden det er mindreårige som leser denne bloggen også, så tror jeg at jeg stopper der...

Week 1 - Scotland

2008-07-06T16:07:00.007+02:00

Aberdeen - Sun 29th June - we flew from Stavanger to Aberdeen and stopped off there for a nice lunch in Beluga with Cousin Lucy, her mannie Dave and Steinar.

Tomintoul - Sun 29th June to Mon 30th - left Aberdeen and shot up to Tomintoul, dad behind the wheel of mum's Honda Civic sport :) Caught up with the rellies, the boys then watching the Euro 2008 finals, Spain beating Germany 1-0, whilst next door the girls blethered and drank their wee drams. Got up relatively sharp on Mon, and headed back down the road to Pencaitland, stoppin briefly at Bankfoot for a nice snackatakk.

Pencaitland - Mon 30th to Sat 5th July - So far this week we have visitied the local distillery, Glenkinchie, where we were shown round by a good family friend, Hugh Gordon. We have been to Jo and David's flat for dinner, and then for some drinks on the town (edinburgh), we've been down in the borders of Scotland visiting Granny. We have been for a great curry in Musselburgh with my great uncle Donald and along visiting the neighbours for Champers and wine. Saturday Rune and my brother Gordon did some bonding over some pints, shots and goodness knows what else ! Meanwhile mum and I did some town shopping then I caught up with Rachie at night. We had a night out in mad haddy....

Pictures from the Glenkinchie Distillery are here

No job, no house, no car... nothing

2008-07-01T12:52:00.002+02:00

We finally made it to Scotland. After a few weeks with to much stress, trying to pack down our life in Norway, we made it!!!! We've arrived to the first stop on our world tour(after a short stop for lunch with friends and family in Aberdeen) The famous and busy village of Tomintoul. The village that always sleeps.

It's been a month since we updated this blog, and so much has happened since then. We packed our stuff, sold the cars, had a leaving party (why weren't you there!!!!!) and said all our goodbyes.

We have some pictures that we're gonna post on the blog (when Rune finds out how.. :D)

Happy birthday NORWAY!

2008-05-17T22:17:00.002+02:00

It's our national day today... been freakin amazing!! and now it's really closing up to the big trip.. only 59 days to go.. and travel insurance is fixed.. went from devastating 34000 NOK for the both of us and down to 10000 NOK for us... that's a lot of money! :D a little tip for the upcoming travellers check out www.worldnomads.com.. that helped us a great deal.. now we can most def to a lot more :D

well.. we got more hot dogs and ice cream to consume.. Happy birthday NORWAY!

Not long now

2008-04-18T13:14:00.002+02:00

Only 88 days to go now...
It's all closing up, we got the tickets organized and paid for..... only thing that made us a bit disturbed here... was a big suprise called "travel insurance".... blo**y he**... we thought that the yearly insurance we already got would be enough..... but nah... We'll fix that too :D