20/08/2006, Ensenada
With sirens blaring, first two police cars arrived on the scene. Then the Paramedics turned up ??" also with sirens blaring. Then if that wasn?? t embarrassing enough, the Fire Brigade arrived with siren blaring and a horn that sounded like a freight train. All of them driving down the wrong side of Route 66 to get to the scene of ?the emergency”. This must have been the biggest thing to happen in Barstow for quite some time. After all this I was starting to wonder when the team from CSI was going to turn up.
Having set the scene, I?? ll back up a bit.
Deb and I decided after a few months of pretty constant work on the boat, we deserved a holiday so we took off to San Diego and rented an Avis car with the intention of doing a big anti-clockwise loop through California over a three week period.
We picked up the car at lunchtime on Monday July 31st and headed east on Interstate 15 towards Las Vegas. We stopped around 5PM at a little whistle stop town in the desert called Barstow (literally a whistle stop ??" its only reason for being is the intersection of two railway lines. It was straight out of ??~Thelma and Louise?? ). It just so happens that the main road in Barstow is Route 66. We checked into a motel and went out to hit the town (no pun intended). Driving up Route 66 we stopped at a shopping mall to buy something (I forget what) and driving out of the car park I needed to go left to head towards somewhere else we wanted to go. After driving on the left hand side of the road for 40 years, in a split second I let habit take control and looked to my right to make a left hand turn. This is something you definitely don?? t do when driving on the right hand side of the road. BAMMMMM!!!!!! We were sideswiped by Consuella from Mexico coming up Route 66 at a great rate of knots.
That?? s when all the action in para 1 started. No one was hurt and in fact apart from leaving our front fender, head light and number plate scattered across Route 66, both cars suffered minimal damage (one of the policeman did need to cut Consuella out of her airbag). After the dust settled and pleasances exchanged I went to the supermarket we had just exited and bought a roll of gaffer tape and sticky taped the front of the car up and drove back to the motel. Needless to say the Paramedics and Fire Department were redundant. The next morning we drove into the local Avis office and drove out with an upgraded car AND a full tank of gas and got on our merry way without further incident. That God for insurance.
We spent three amazing days at Vegas, visited all the hotels and saw three shows. ??~Zumaniti?? by Cirque to Soleil was incredible. ??~La Femme?? (a take off of the Crazy Horse from Paris) was boring (Greg) not so for Debbie and ??~Viva Las Vegas?? was downright terrible (mind you it was free and it was at 4:00PM in the afternoon so what do you expect?). It continued to amaze us for the three days that the whole place was built in the middle of a desert and now features some of the most elaborate hotels the world has seen.
On leaving Vegas we headed NE, then across though Death Valley on the way to Yosemite National Park. We were lucky because they were having a cold snap in death valley. At the base of the valley it was only 107F. It?? s usually in the high 130?? s this time of the year! After surviving Death Valley we drove north with the Sierra Nevada mountain range off to port. Believe it of not, there was snow on the mountains and were driving in 90F. We spent the night in Bishop before heading the next day to Yosemite. I remember clearly studying glaciers in high school and looking at photos of Yosemite Valley. Today it is still exactly like that old text book. Debbie cooled her feet in the pool at the bottom of Yosemite Falls and we picknicked on a rock beside the icy running water of the Yosemite River. The water was icy ??" although it was in the mid 70?? s at some points on the drive in to the Park we were above the snow line.
Continuing on from Yosemite, we spent a night in an historic old gold mining town called Sonora before driving into Sacramento the next stay to catch up with good American friends. We met Keith and Susan in Australia last Xmas. They?? re slowly circumnavigating the world in a Catalina 470 and they were home in the States taking a (hopefully) short break. We spent a couple of nights with Keith and Susan then drove to Lake Tahoe for two days before returning for another night with Keith and Susan and then driving into San Francisco. It was great to catch up with my aunt and cousin there (I flew to San Francisco for the weekend to attend my cousin?? s wedding 36 years ago. Needless to say I used to work for Qantas and could travel free). We stayed at cousin Sharon?? s house that night and it was sweet to see the wedding present I gave her still hanging on the wall.
Next day we drove down the coast highway to Monterey and lunched in the same restaurant on Fisherman?? s Wharf we lunched at on our honeymoon in 1971 and again when we took Mia to Monterey a number of years ago. The food was just as bad now as it was then but it was the thought that counted. An afternoon wandering around the streets and shops of Carmel topped off our walk down memory lane.
The following day we drove to San Simeon and spent the day at Hearst Castle, which we both agree was probably one of the major highlights of the trip. Unbelievably spectacular. He didn?? t start building it until he was 56 years old and during the main building period he was spending a million dollars a day on construction. No wonder the SLA kidnapped granddaughter Patty to try and make a buck.
After over-nighting at Santa Maria we drove into Los Angeles the next day and after a brief stop at Catalina Yachts we checked into the Travelodge just off Sunset Blvd. Hollywood. After the very dubious place we stayed in the night before, the Travelodge felt like Hearst Castle. We took a tour of the star?? s houses and caught up on all the gossip that afternoon and the next day was spent at Universal Studios.
Finally, last Wednesday (August 16th) we drove down to San Diego, bought some wine casks, pickles, mustard and other necessities that can?? t be got in Mexico, spent the night, then more shopping at West Marine on Thursday before dropping the car off at Avis (this time unscathed) and rendezvousing with a friend who drove us back to Ensenada on Thursday night with twice the baggage we left San Diego with just under three weeks before.
There?? s only one more major job to be done on the boat then we sail back up to San Diego at the beginning of October in preparation for the Baja Ha Ha rally at the end of that month.
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13/07/2006, Ensenada
Well, time certainly does fly, we've been in Ensenada a month now and I must say my Spanish hasn't got any better. As we're in a seaside port with lots and lots of visitors we manage very well.
"Hola" - hello - that's an easy one, everyone says it and Santiago, the really nice afternoon Marina Manager just came past reminded me of that one. Many words are the same as French and Italian, so it makes understanding a few things better.
Our floating home is now high and dry - don't be concerned, I don't mean high on a reef. We were hauled out today and we're in the shipyard now, so hopefully it will only take about 3 days but then again, that's Mexican days. At least I get to eat out quite a bit, the main reason being we can't use the water drains etc… whilst we're on the hard. At least the bathrooms are close, marble and very clean.
This week has been pretty eventful. On Monday we made another trip to San Diego for more boat shopping; didn't stay over this time. One of the friendly Yachties drove us up but coming back to Mexico was a different story. The way NOT to cross the border!!!! All was going smoothly; we caught the Trolley bus at San Diego's Old Town at 3.30pm which takes you to the border. We boarded the bus to take us over the border. We walked the first time with bags of shopping, so this time we thought we'd do it the easy "Gringo” way. We got to the terminal in Tijuana, all still going fine. As it was about an hour and a half before the bus, we roamed the fascinating streets of Tijuana and of course realised then it was Happy Hour. Most places here seem to have 2 for 1 drinks at Happy Hour. So a couple of Marguerites and Tacos later we boarded the bus for Ensenada only to find ourselves crossing the border once again into the US. They'd put us on the wrong bus and it was the last bus of the day. Although we didn't feel calm at the time, Greg was very persuasive as they didn't initially feel it was their fault. Fortunately, after another bus trip to yet another terminal he spoke to the boss who organised a refund and drove us across the border again to another bus company. Finally at 10pm we arrived backed in Ensenada, a couple of hours later than planned.
The main reason for wanting to get back was that I had volunteered Greg's help with our dinghy to a New Zealander who needed a tow. John and Trisha had been sailing their yacht around Mexico, Cuba and other places for three years without an engine. They had bought the boat for a very good price in the States knowing the engine was a bit dicky. When it finally failed and couldn't be repaired, they just decided not to put another engine in. So Greg's job, with my help was to pull him out of the marina and over the bay to the ship, Dockwise Super Servant 3. It was great because he could leave the mast up on the boat and we just manoeuvred it in. It was like a big dry dock, they submerge the back end of the boat, you motor your boat in, then when all the boats are in they let out the water. The fascinating part was as we were coming in, the galleon that was used in "Pirates of the Caribbean” was coming out. They manoeuvred this giant vessel out with a hand controlled remote device, a perfect job. Our job done we dinghied back to "Volare” and John came over with a very nice bottle of Hardy's Shiraz for our troubles.
Next morning, we were just sitting on the boat, as you do and there was a knock, knock on the hull. An Aussie was walking along the boardwalk and spotted our Australia flag, he just couldn't resist, and had to make a visit. His name is Kiwi White and he's a Tuna Spotter and Diver from Port Lincoln in SA, working here in Mexico. So we spent a very enjoyable hour or two over a good cuppa learning all about the massive Tuna Industry, extremely interesting. He had spent time in Japan and of course couldn't believe that we'd been to the massive fish market in Tokyo.
It's time to close, after having a morning picking up my newly framed family collage of family shots. I chose a typical Mexican frame, carved in Pewter with little blue tiles around the border with the little Mexican yellow sun on each tile. Now we can lie in bed and look at the family each morning and think of them as we start are day.
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26/06/2006, 32 51.55N 116 37.549W
Buenas tardes, (good afternoon), nosotros bien (we are good). See our Spanish is getting much better. We are learning a few more words every day. The other day we were in a little seaside restaurant, just along the waterfront here and I heard, "Arriba, Arriba”. I'd remembered that from my dancing days when we sang La Bombo, so I rushed to get out my dictionary, the pretty young girl in the restaurant (that's why Greg wanted to go there) rushed over sat down beside me picked up the dictionary and found "Arriba” means up. They were calling to patrons as they went past "Arriba Arriba” of course meaning they could go upstairs in the restaurant. Now I'll never forget that one. They were like performers outside their restaurants enticing people to come in, a whole row of restaurants, so you can imagine the carry on.
Ensenada, (Yes we're still here and will be for some time) is famous for its fish tacos. We were a little dubious when we first heard all these calls to lure us in. Then one day we walked just along from our Marina to the local fish market, saw the amazing array of seafood then walked past these pretty girls and Greg just decided we'd have to try fish tacos. They were fantastic, juicy pieces of meat, quickly deep fried in very light batter and then wrapped in a soft taco (the real tacos aren't hard like we know them, they're soft and freshly made, just yummy). Anyway, in the middle of the table are all these huge glasses (like big Margarita glasses) filled with different salsas, a green one, a red one, a darker red one, that was a bit tart, then a big bowl of fresh chopped cabbage and radishes. All really fresh and yummy, I had 2 fish tacos and Greg had 3, we had 2 fantas. Unfortunately they weren't licensed, so we couldn't have any cervezas (beers). The total meal came to 70 pesos (US$7). Not too bad. We still may have paid a little more as we did order from the Gringo menu.
We also went to the movies the other night - I got a bonus payment from my Jewellery business (very good one this month) so I took Greg out. It ended up we went on discount night, so we got in for half price. 27 pesos = about AUD$3.50. Great deal. Actually we've been getting some nice deals, especially in the US. Greg would go to pay for a bus ride or the movies and they'd look at him and say "senior?” and he'd say "yes” and without showing a seniors card or our driving licence, we were getting things at half price for both of us.
Since we arrived here we've only ventured out of the marina once. Greg has been so busy installing things. He's already installed, the windvane, most of the watermaker, new wine racks, and a bunch of other things that are fiddly and take a lot of time. Anyway we decided to have some R & R and go out to a little island 10 miles off the coast. We had been told it was a nice place and we could anchor overnight. We arrived and from a distance there seemed to be fish traps all across the area marked as the main anchorage on the chart. As we got nearer I rushed up the front, just in time to see a big line was connecting the fish traps, therefore stopping any entrance into the bay. I signalled to Greg to reverse, and as I did, a high speed boat came rushing towards us also to steer us away. Would have been too late if I hadn't seen the line. We tried another way in but they signalled us to get out. No giving up I suggested going over and anchoring near a big fishing boat. We did this and they actually called us on the VHF in English and offered one of their moorings to us. We decided to stay on our anchor. After all this effort, after we'd been there an hour or two it started to get very rolly and we were very close to a rocky shore. I didn't like the idea of overnighting here so suggested we head back in.
We found out from the friendly man in the restaurant this morning that they're farming blue fin tuna for export to Japan. They get US$200 a pound for the Tuna (it did seem a bit far fetched to us but anyway???). Our new friend Dave told good stories.
We have had so many people being so friendly and helpful; people have driven us to shopping centres, offered to collect mail for us, and spent time showing us directions to the myriad of things we need to find. Tomorrow, one of the fellows that's having his boat worked on is taking us to San Diego (it's about a 2 hour drive), we'll stay in a hotel overnight and he is lending us his truck so we can run around all over town doing the shopping we need. There are just some things we haven't found in Mexico, like specific tools Greg needs, parts for our new BBQ weren't packed in the box, so we have to get that from West Marine. It's quite a problem getting things posted to here. Even the Marina has a post box in San Diego and a driver drives there twice a week to pick up their mail. Otherwise they may never get it. A traveller we met the other day in a restaurant, said he posted a post card two months ago (he's on a long holiday) still hasn't arrived.
We met a very friendly American in "the local” Cantina. He's lived in Mexico since 1988 and now owns a ranch, about 15 minutes from downtown Ensenada. He gave us names of all the really good places to eat and then offered to take us out into the country to a little local winery he said that was fantastic. It's run by a wonderful Mexican lady and she makes you so welcome. Of course I was into that idea, so quickly borrowed his pen to write down our contact details.
I have bought a few lovely things for the boat including the most beautiful salad server set (2 sets actually but one is much better quality). It looks like silver but it's Pewter, the ends are carved with a very beautiful fish pattern. I love them!!! I found a much cheaper set right after that and decided to buy those as well as the spoon was a lovely big serving spoon. I've only bought one main piece of Mexican pottery so far which is a lovely big salad bowl, also with a fish pattern. So I have a bit of a theme going here. The same patterns can be found all over town, so I can add to it bit by bit.
Greg just volunteered to do cocktails as its 5.30pm. It's usually me that decides its cocktail hour first. So much for trying to be good, which I promised I would be after Friday night. We had a very heavy night on Friday night with a fabulous couple - she's English and he's American. Actually we weren't too bad really but she was very funny and ended up reading our palms, kept telling Greg he had another women in his life??? Anyway, the next morning I popped over to their boat to get the stuff we had left on board and she couldn't remember any of the palm reading. Doug had worked in the UK for 25 years for Lockheed and they met there. Jo decided she couldn't stand the English weather anymore so came to live in San Francisco. They sold their house in San Francisco to buy their boat - a Jeanneau 43 (we don't hold that against them)and they are both exactly our ages. We have met many couple now that have done that. Some sadly want to buy a home now but can't afford to buy back in California. All of these couples bar none have been married 2, 3, 4, and 5 and more times.
Anyway the whole problem with this relaxing happy life we're leading, where we're eating lots of healthy food and lot of beans. Greg's lost masses of weight because he has de-stressed. I am so relaxed I have put on weight. I just realised that this morning, our metabolisms are totally opposite. It's not fair, I'm doing my pilates and yoga onboard and walking miles every day carrying shopping and stuff in a backpack or my little trolley bag and I'm still putting on weight with all that exercise.
Maybe it's the socialising, that's doing it, all these really nice people we're meeting that we just have to ask over for cocktails or a meal as soon as they tie up at the dock!!! That's the cruising life for you.
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