Hello, we’re hoping that you’re enjoying the last of the summer, we seem to be having some very cool starts to the day, reminds us of being in other parts of the world exploring the West Coast of America this time last year. Oh to be reminiscing. But the truth is we’re both quite happy in our lives back in the UK. We’ve had an amazing summer with the Olympics taking center stage and we’ve been busy freelancing in both of our professions whilst also managing to take the time to work on some of our own stuff too. Notworkrelated has launched it’s first shop and we have collection number 1 ready and waiting for your eager viewing.

So onto something Notworkrelated. Last week we took ourselves off to London and Brighton for a few days and along with Dave’s mum Barbara we ventured to the Paralympic Closing Ceremony having picked up some tickets a little while back. And WOW was this an event to be a part of. It was absolutely amazing with a soundtrack from Coldplay that just seemed to work so well with the performance throughout the night. It was a surreal experience and we kept having to pinch ourselves to check that we were really there! Well not quite but it was definitely an event to savor. Coldplay were fantastic and we were able to applaud the fantastic achievements of all the Paralympians along with the ever-so praised volunteers who really did make a significant contribution to the smooth running of the Olympics as a whole. Well done to you all and yes we felt very proud to be ‘Made in Britain’.

We were in London for the TeamGB parade taking place on Monday the 10th also and so thought it would be rude not to go and support our athletes and medalists who represented us at both the Olympics and the Paralympics. After a long wait we stood along with thousands of others on The Strand awaiting the team who were being driven on 30 or so big trucks. After an hour and a half and a few moans and groans later the athletes made their first appearance with Mo Farah and Jess Ennis on the first two floats followed by the rest of the athletics team. Helen even had a brief exchange with one of her friends from the Junior GB team who recognised her in the crowd, she was buzzing from this for the rest of the day! But along with this moment it was great to cheer on and congratulate Olympic and Paralympic legends such as Sir Chris Hoy, Ben Ainslee and Ellie Simmonds. It was another special moment that we wouldn’t be forgetting anytime soon.

Onwards we went to The National Portrait Gallery where Road to 2012 was being showcased featuring works by 8 photographers whose insightful portraiture celebrates exceptional British sportspeople, and some of the crucial figures working behind the scenes. With photographers such as Anderson & Low on show this was something that we both wanted to go and view and having had our Olympic experience it felt very relevant too. We also purchased the book Road To 2012 a National Portrait Gallery publication which holds great significance to the likes of Helen who has a strong interest in Sports portraiture. The exhibition is on until the 23rd September 2012.

Through the power of Twitter Dave had been conversing with a follower and managed to arrange for us to go to a design talk at the British Design Museum located on Shad Thames. The talk was again Olympic themed but perhaps on a more interesting level of design focusing on Design Munich ’72 with guest speaker Ian McLaren who was part of the design team for Munich. It was a really interesting discussion centering around McLaren’s involvement in Design Munich along with the importance of lead designer Otl Aicher whose work has become highly influential upon design as it is today.

The project was huge and without the technology as we are surrounded by today, the deadlines were strict and the planning very thorough. The use of colour and horizontal lines is consistent throughout and there was an advancement of pictograms for Munich which have been used and developed in so many contexts since. The conversation then went onto discuss London 2012 design which managed to stir some interesting views in the audience including one designer who has worked on the current branding and who was quite defensive of her role on the project. The ‘Branding Police’ were in the room!

It definitely gave us a lot to talk about on the way home and when we got to Helen’s parents we found an ‘Illustrated London News Special Publication’ showcasing some of the design work attached to Munich ’72. Jan Roscoe competed in Munich 72 and Montreal 76 as a 400m runner for Great Britain.

The next morning we drove to Brighton which took an hour and a half from London by car. We’d decided to use Airbnb for our Brighton accommodation which has been our first UK experience. Our hosts were here to welcome us, but we weren’t expecting a young baby nor were we expecting the house to be only partly complete! Perhaps this is part of the risk of going through Airbnb, although we did have the top floor to ourselves including a nice roof terrace area where we ate our breakfast in the morning sun each day. They were friendly enough but we figured we have probably experience the best Airbnb has to offer with our hosts in LA, Seattle and Melbourne coming up trumps. Anyway the benefits were we stayed in a good location on the northern side of central Brighton close to Queens Park and not too far from a good cluster of restaurants and it did have a nice homely feeling about our accommodation which always helps.

We had been scheduled to do a photography talk in Brighton which has now been postponed until the end of November and so we decided to go all the same and enjoy the seaside city for a few days. We enjoyed the food scene the most, Brighton is home to many a good restaurant, bar and cafe and we couldn’t help but indulge in this scene with The Black Dove, and Food For Friends coming up trumps. We enjoyed local cider and lovely vegetarian food at these places and we also loved our little sitting in an authentically Mexican place; La Chozo in the North Laines side of town. It was good to explore the Lanes and feel the vibe Brighton has to offer along with having fun with our own photography at Brighton Pier.

It was quite busy but we did hear that perhaps it’s best to visit off season so we are already looking forward for a short return visit in November and perhaps we’ll be doing some of our Christmas shopping there too. Oh no we already said it…Christmas shopping! Eek! Too soon!

Anyway back to the grind, in case you missed it we launched a collaborative wedding photography site this week too; HelenPlusDavid. Yep things have been busy for us on the Itsworkrelated side but we hope to do more of this again soon. Enjoy!

The 3 tier non-AC sleeper was very basic. The windows provided plenty of ventilation and it actually got a little chilly, however a lack of curtain deprived any kind of privacy and no sheet on a plastic covered mattress completed the uncomfortable set. Non the less we did get some earplug assisted sleep and awoke with only 1hr until we were due to arrive  in Kannur, our first steps in India’s laid back state of Kerala. Breakfast was bought at the train station in a vegetarian restaurant and we devoured Masala Dosa’s (thin crispy bread, spicy potato filling and curry on the side) and Masala tea – 25rs, amazing value at 30p each.

After researching on the internet we discovered Kannur Beach House Home-stay which looked great and got very high ratings from previous guests. An 8km rickshaw ride south of Kannur to the beachfront of Thottado Beach and we arrived at the guesthouse situated on a stretch of backwaters. An annual Kerelan festival was taking place called Theyyam, it is local only to Kannur and takes places between October to May across each temple in the area. We caught the tail end of a 48 hour ceremony visited and observed the local population taking part and utilising traditional costumes, amazing facial painting and some trance (not the hard-house variety) based ritualistic dance.

Heading back to the home-stay we explored beautiful hidden beaches with golden sands, palm tree shade and then retreated to some well deserved hammock action. It did not take long to see why people love this home-stay. The food was some of the best we have ever eaten and we have eaten a lot! The 2500rs per room fee includes breakfast and evening meal which are Ayurvedic Kerelan home cooked in variety and you can have lunch for only 100rs each extra. The owners were equally accommodating and loaned us yoga mats as well as being able to observe their chef in action in the kitchen. A family of 4 and very close to each other they used to work in IT but have now built this lovely home-stay which attracts repeat visitors year in year out. We could see why.

Our fellow travellers also appreciated the surroundings and the food, it was really great to share this experience with Ture & Revital (London based conceptual designers/artists) and three graduated doctors from the UK. We cannot speak highly enough of the food. Each meal was a buffet selection, eaten outdoors frequently with the hosts and family and all washed down with herbal water and hot tea. To use a Master Chef quote… Vegetarian food does not get better than this! Yum!

We didn’t really want to leave but we were tied into a train ticket, although only costing around £2 so we could have easily discarded it, but at the same time we had a little bit of momentum going and didn’t want to settle just yet. On our last evening we enjoyed a longish walk along the quiet stretch of beach which just seems to go on and on. Some of the locals were out sorting out fishing boats and so on, whilst others were out to enjoy the views like us. We stopped for a group photograph with some girls from Kannur before making our way back for our last night of fantastic food and company.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

The day before we flew out of Perth towards our South-East Asian travels we spent the day on Rotness Island. Thanks to Louise who kindly booked our boat over there and bike hire for the Island we enjoyed a fantastic day on Rottnest. First thing we were up and drove over to Cottosloe Beach where a sunrise festival was taking place representing the first day of the Perth Festival of Arts. We got there a little too late but enjoyed the early morning appreciation of the beach and many people were swimming or enjoying breakfast on the banks. There were also a few photo shoots taking place that couldn’t help catch our eyes.

When we left the beach we drove onwards to Shed (3) where the boat to Rottnest Island leaves, we found all day parking and promptly queued for the boat. It takes around 80 passengers perhaps more and it was pretty full, people were also bringing their own bikes with them which is a much better way if you want to save the pennies. It only takes around half and hour to reach Rottnest and once we arrived we were quickly instructed to where the bikes were, again getting our bikes didn’t take very long so we were all geared up and ready to go.

We cycled around the east side of the Island first passing by The Basin and a few other lovely bays, we decided to stop at one of the smaller bays and got out the snorkeling gear straight away. There wasn’t that much to see in terms of marine life, if you go deeper in then you’ll see more but we were happy to play in the shallow waters, plus you never know if a shark may rear its ugly head! The bays are beautiful, nearly all of them are small alcoves and so they are very private too, we made our way to Little Prakeet before lunch. We came across a few Quakkas which are only native to Rottnest, they are very sweet creatures belonging to the Kangaroo family and they don’t have any fear of humans so it’s easy enough to approach them although you’re not recommended to feed them.

We biked up to the highest point on the Island at Wadjemup lighthouse. Our last stop was at Parker Point and Dave and I snorkeled out quite far above the kelp and there was more to see. On our way back to Perth Louise had booked us onto the fast boat, more of a thrill experience. Not quite as rough and ready as the other fast-boat experiences we’ve seen in New Zealand and in Oz but it was a nice bit of fun and a small thrill for us! We were back at the sheds for 5pm and not long after that we were home.

We decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant for our last night in Australia called Zapatas, the atmosphere was good as was the food and the cocktails. We enjoyed our time in Perth and on the whole Australia has been really kind to us, especially our friends and family who have helped us out along the way.

From our 5 week experience in Australia and on the route we did these are the following highlights:

• Freedom camping in camp sites listed in the official Camp book 6 (on the Great Ocean  Road we had a fantastic spot right on the beach for free!)

• The Great Ocean Road is a must if you’re in the area, the beaches, the 12 Apostles and camping was a real delight.

• Getting tickets to the Melbourne Open Tennis Championship, we got the opportunity of a lifetime to watch the world number 1 and 2 in the men’s singles finals, it was an amazing 6 hour epic match.

• Visiting Wilsons Promontory National Park, we felt like this is what we had been waiting for. Fantastic beaches, mountains and forest all there to see and explore.

• Margaret River and Rottnest Island, equally beautiful and appealing. Again the beaches hit the mark here and the colour of the sea is mouth-watering.

We hope this may help with any plans you have to visit the areas we’ve explored and written about. Our next stop is Ubud, Bail, we’re ready for culture, more beaches in paradise and Asian delights.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Still feeling pretty tired from all the excitement and very late night after the tennis we had a couple of slow and easy days. However we also needed to do some training for the Nepal hike so we filled our Osprey trekking bags with cans of dog food, dumbbells and books, Dave’s pack came in at 19kg for some serious workout weight! We walked to Glen Waverley and back again with a few hills thrown in for good measure in total around 7Km. During the evening we caught up with our hosts Jane and John who kindly offered to cook us an evening meal which was lovely. After a few glasses of wine and tales of being hosts and travelling the world we retired to bed.

More exploring of Melbourne was required therefore we headed into town and proceeded on foot. We visited Fitzroy Gardens, walked around the outside of the Melbourne Museum, found some nice bookshops and a funky bathroom warehouse. Eventually we arrived at Brunswick Street which has lots of cool shops (Helen was on the look out for a new floaty skirt) and cafe’s to keep you busy. As it was a Wednesday we decided to head to the Victoria night market with Jo and Ellie, to be joined later by Vic and Dave.

The Victoria night market starts at 5pm and it is definitely worth getting there early as it quickly fills up and any chance of a table and chairs vanishes. Food ranging from Nepalese to Spanish and Fish & Chips to Kangaroo burgers is on offer all around the $10AUS dollar mark. Yellow Tail wines were also offering free tasting samples so we did the right thing and tried each one, some of us more than once, just for good measure of course! We finished the evening in a great pub called Prudence just up the road from the night market. It has a good little atmosphere as well as rear outdoor seating and a cosy upstairs section. All in all a great day with Aussie, adopted Aussie’s and UK friends.

The 2nd Feb was to be our last day in Melbourne as we were due to fly to Perth on the 3rd. Therefore we headed for the National Gallery of Victoria which has an eclectic collection as well as interesting spaces inside and outside gardens. The Melbourne Botanical gardens offered some peace and quiet in an outdoors environment and is worth a visit. As it was our last night in the City we enjoyed food at one of the many popular restaurants in Federation Square and later on we organised to meet with Vic and Dave one last time in the awesome bar Section 8 which is tucked away down a side alley. A hip crowd gathers in this old car park nightly and it is a real gem of a place. We had a drink and then said our goodbyes to Vic and Dave. Good-luck to them in their new lives in Oz.

Next stop Perth to see Dave’s sister and boyfriend for a week before continuing with our Eastern travels in Bali.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

This was to be 3 days of sheer relaxation and fun with Vic and Dave. Starting early we all piled into “Po” along with bedding, food, booze and games and set off for Picton. Dave G had arranged with his brother for a boat taxi to meet us at a pier east of Picton, so thanks to his brother’s boss we got a free taxi ride out to their bach in the Malborough Sounds. This would have cost $90 between us if we hadn’t had this ride! It took around 15 minutes in the speed boat to get to the Gillan bach house and we realised we would have passed the area the day before when we were on the ferry coming in. Dave’s brother was waiting for us at the jetty as he was then getting in the boat to go to work.

For the first part of the day we just chilled out, sat around the decking area, chatting, drinking tea, eating lunch and reading. The boys rigged up the fishing rods and the girls had a good catch up. We went out in their fishing boat for a few hours in the late afternoon, early evening with each of us having our own rod. This was Helen’s first stint at fishing and it was pretty unsuccessful, but for Dave G he got a trout and another mean looking fish. The trout went back in the sea and we kept the bigger fish for dinner later on. Vic and Dave R caught some spotties whilst Dave G kept on bringing in the fish, they were all small so we had to put them back in the sea. It was a lovely day weather wise and it was fun being out in the boat.

Back at the bach Dave G got the barbecue sizzling and we opened the wine. We enjoyed a fishy dinner, more wine and more of Vic’s birthday cake. It was a very funny evening indeed ending in part 1 of Cranium taking place.

The next day was equally as relaxing and hot. So after a lazy start we enjoyed more tea, more chat and a dive off the jetty into the freezing waters of the Malborough Sounds. We couldn’t quite manage the full swim out to the buoy but it was refreshing enough for us to spend a little while in the water before getting out. Back on deck we enjoyed lunch, relaxation and reading.

Later on we went out in the boat again and this time round Helen did catch some fish, she managed to get about 4 whilst Dave caught about 7, Vic 3 and Dave G got quite a few too. We weren’t counting but we caught a lot of spotties and as they are so small we just let them back into the sea again. Not pleasant but it’s better than killing them.

We went a little further in the boat around to Lochmara Bay and had a hot drink stop at the Lochmara Lodge. The day before a pod of dolphins were making their way around the Sounds so we kept our eyes open but there were none to be seen. Alas the chai and hot chocolate’s were a very good distraction. Back for our last night at the Gillan bach Vic cooked a lovely lentil and pasta dish and we finished Cranium, only to be defeated! The following day we helped to tidy the bach in preparation for the Gillan family Christmas holidays, we read and just enjoyed being outside in the warmth.

To sum up our experience we really enjoyed the Malborough Sauvignon Blanc wines, we loved just relaxing in the sun, reading and chatting with friends and it was so good to have a taste of home. The Malborough Sounds are pretty idyllic and the idea of a bach by the sea is very tempting indeed.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

As we had previously booked our north island to south ferry online we were getting short on time and wanted to explore Wellington before leaving. This therefore required a 160km drive to arrive in Wellington at lunch time and find somewhere to park the van which allowed us to sleep inside. Rowena’s lodge offered this and at $15 per person per night was the cheapest offering in the city.

Upon checking in there was a heated argument between the proprietor and a fellow guest which involved a slanging match ending in the guy being kicked out. First impressions are so important. The hostel is a bit rough around the edges, some eclectic staff members and has some very funky smells in the communal areas, but it was cheap enough to get past this and we always had the safety of the van to hide away in.

For most of the day it rained so we opted for a visit to the Te Papa Museum located on the waterfront. Home to the relics and tales of New Zealand’s past Te Papa is a big museum and would require half a day if you were to explore the whole place. We only had 2 hours and some of the exhibits were closed so we made our way from the top back down to the bottom taking in contemporary New Zealand art to 20th Century paintings. This led into more of a museum layout with life-size exhibits of people’s homes during the war, the effect of the Commonwealth and then going way back from Maori living and to the Dinosaurs. It is a pretty comprehensive museum and plays host to the only Gigantic Squid on show in the world.

When we left the museum it was still raining so we had a stroll around the waterfront and back into the city passing by another Occupy event and the City Gallery before meandering around the outdoor shops. We’re getting ideas for our big trekking expedition in Nepal so nearly every outdoor shop draws us in. On our way back to the hostel we stopped off for a drink at a quirky bar next door to a theatre in the artsy district. When we crossed over the road there was an artists exhibition taking place, the opening night was the week before but the artist wanted to conjure more interest by hosting a live installation. As soon as we were in the gallery the artist introduced himself Jon Drypnz and for the next hour or so we stood chatting about travel, art, politics amongst other things whilst enjoying a complimentary beer. He had a nice big space to work with as an artist in residence and used the space to play with the contrasts in liberal v’s conservative. We added our own illustration to the wall art taking place. The wall was very clear at that point so we did feel a little self-conscious but what the hell…Helen did a Fine Art degree and Dave design so we were sure we could contribute something!! ha ha!

Back at the hostel we stayed in and cooked along with the rest of the backpackers before escaping to our van.

We had a morning in Wellington to kill before going to get our ferry at 1.30pm so we went out in search of a few items that we’d been meaning to get for a while. One was to swap our first Jo Nesbo Harry Hole novel, but for some reason this was proving to be difficult! We wanted to swap the first book for the third, but nowhere had any Nesbo’s in stock. Helen was trying to educate the booksellers but to no avail. Eventually we settled on a swap with a ‘Rough Guide to Nepal’ in order to start planning a little for our trip there in Spring, we bartered and managed to get 2 extra dollars off the price! Bargaining in a Western country, it can be done!

We then bought some DVDR’s to catch up on burning our work to disc and we also picked up our Christmas cards to send home from a lovely gift and card shop on one of the main shopping streets. At the top end of Cuba Street we found a cool coffee house that was once an old clothing shop, there were lots of vintage boutiques, and good little places to explore. In terms of the city and what it has to offer we really enjoyed exploring the streets and the coffee really is good!!

So following on from our morning we drove to the Bluebridge Ferry Terminal which is very close to the centre of town and we ended up parking and waiting for over an hour before boarding the ferry. The ferry crossing to start with was choppy and neither of us really felt like moving from our seats, but a few hours into the crossing it did settle down so we explored the outside decks and enjoyed a very good hot chocolate and gingerbread kiwi to settle the sea sickness! It seemed to do the trick!

We got into Picton after a slow pace cruising through the beautiful Malborough Sounds and from there we made our way to Blenheim to meet up with friends Vic and Dave who we know from the UK. It was Vic’s birthday and so we joined in with the celebrations which involved champagne, a family meal cooked by the other Dave, speeches, wine and a birthday cake. Our first taste of a New Zealand home and it was a lovely evening indeed. Thanks to the Gillan’s for making us feel so welcome.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

First of all was a lovely sunny walk around the block with Sarah’s best friend Madison her beautiful golden retriever. This was followed by an hour and a half class with Erich Schiffmann whom Helen and Sarah had both trained with in August. It was good for Helen to be back at Exhale, although the $22 class fees are pretty high, luckily we had a free pass between us too. The class was full, although it wasn’t to Dave’s tastes, Helen was definitely in her comfort zone and enjoyed some un-interrupted yogi time, feeling much more confident with Erich’s free-form approach.

Yoga was followed with an appointed with a chiropractor to help sort out Helen’s neck problems and then lunch at Wholefoods on the edge of Venice. The healing part of the day was over, next we were ready for some less-charming enthused Hollywood action. Sarah very kindly played host and drove us around some of the famous landmarks and areas we have so far purposely missed off our list! We drove around Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard and Moholland Avenue taking in some of the mansions and the Hollywood sign.

Moving onto Hollywood itself where a film premier was taking place for Leonardo DiCaprio’s new “J Edgar” film, although we were around 2 hours early for this so could only take in the hype and crowds of fans starting to form. So it’s nothing really to shout about but now we can say we went to Hollywood. We would have liked to enjoy a drink at the roof bar on top of the W Hotel, but it was closed so we had a sneak peak and then enjoyed a beer in the lobby bar.

We ate at a really good Thai restaurant down on Hollywood Boulevard called Jitlada Thai, recommended as THE best Thai in LA!! What a statement! We love our Thai food, and yes it was pretty good especially the green curry and a fish dish. But THE best?? Hmm! It has a good authenticity about the place, family run, not too fancy but the service was slow at the end.

The next day we didn’t really do much but we did get to spend a few hours working with Sarah for her yoga portfolio. Helen shot some images for Sarah’s profile on the Santa Monica beach and grassy sidewalk, involving a mixture of portrait and sequence poses with some lovely natural one’s thrown in too. Dave had already snapped Madison the day before and so we could leave Sarah with a nice series for images for her to treasure (we hope!).

It was a rainy day after a hint of sunshine and later on it cleared up. The perfect day for a film so we watched Martha Marcy May Marlene. A little of a suspense thriller, something we think takes on a Charles Manson inspired story. Then we ate at Fresh ‘n’ Easy over the road from the cinema which has recently opened and offers good salads, sandwiches, soups and so on.

On our last day in LA and after a quick Skype call home to the Roscoe’s we went to another yoga class. This time we were back at Yoga Glo, a studio that offers free yoga to people with an array of top class teachers in LA. It makes its money from the subscribers who follow the yoga classes online, so each class is filmed. We were back with Jo Tastula and she co-taught with meditation teacher Harshada Wagner. Another lovely class which was perhaps more up Dave’s path; more physical basically with guided meditation.

We then made our way to the Getty Centre, which Helen has visited before and remembers the photos she took there. It was a saturday so it was busy, the bonus is free entry but you have a $15 parking fee. It really is a must-see for visitors going to LA. The building sits on a hill overlooking downtown LA and the coast-line. It was a really clear day too so we had great views. The exhibitions were pretty good, the Bauhaus photography exhibit was not really all that good but the one exhibit that stood out for us was Crosscurrents in LA Painting and Sculpture featuring LA artists from the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s including David Hockney’s Splash. This exhibition is part of Pacific Standard Time, art taking place around central LA.

The buildings, architecture and the gardens are perhaps the best thing about the Getty, plus the views. It’s modern, tasteful and very white. Perfect against a blue sky. Lunch there is over-rated and over-priced, we saw a few people taking in a picnic and this seemed the more enjoyable option.

We didn’t have long left so we packed our bags, and after saying goodbye to Madison we went to the Bergamot Station Arts Centre to stop at an exhibition opening. One of Sarah’s colleagues was involved in the opening fettering layered photo montages and photography, this was at the Tag gallery. There is a great hub of art galleries at this location. We then enjoyed perhaps our best sushi yet, one of Sarah’s all time favourites in La. It was excellent and a steal at only $20 each! Again authentic to Japanese culture and their sashimi was fantastic we could have easily been back in Japan! After a filling of sushi Sarah dropped us off at LAX, this was our final goodbye and a little tearful. 3 months in North America, it was strange to be moving on but it also felt good. Thanks to Sarah for being the perfect host and making fantastic home-made granola! Go into business with that Sarah! ha! Oh and her aunty’s pumpkin loaf was amazing, another best seller surely!

So farewell America, for the time being. We’ll do a highlights feature soon and we already have plans of what and where we’d like to visit when we return. New Zealand awaits and we are excited about more new beginnings. We just need to embrace the 13.5 hour flight first.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

After a noisy camp at the Caribou RV Park in Burnaby, (the trains that had been following us all trip were still there!) we were up relatively early and cleaned out the cooler’s we’d been using for the trip. We left to head into downtown Vancouver at around 10.30 and headed in the direction of Granville Island. We spent the first hour wandering around the market and getting a few items for a picnic lunch, then the next 2.5 hours were spent cycling around Stanley Park and enjoying our picnic lunch. Stanley Park is a beautiful area on the north-western edge of Vancouver facing Vancouver Island, it was a very sunny day once again and so many people were out doing the same thing. There is even a beach on one side of Stanely Park and locals were soaking up the rays.

We followed the bike tour with a walk through the city and into downtown and we ended this with a karaf of white wine at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was too expensive for us to go in at $24 each, but the terrace, wine and live jazz was far more enticing in the cafe. We spent a good hour or so here and then set off in the direction of Gastown where we bumped into a few of the boys. Gastown houses the older buildings of Vancouver and has a lot of character and characters hanging around. This is where most of the tourist shops are too, but it’s all easy enough to avoid, we along with Lee found a fairly decent Thai restaurant heading away from Gastown in the direction of Granville Island. More of the Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese restaurants are in this area. After a satisfying feed we enjoyed a beer back in Gastown before meeting up with the rest of the group to head back to Burnaby. This was our last night together and a few of the group had already left us so we were very much feeling like it was coming to an end.

The next day we were up early, and packed our tents away…the last time we would be staying in our sorry green tent, although it did do us pretty well! We piled into the van and took a 4 hour journey back to Seattle. We got back into Seattle at midday and said our goodbye’s! What a wicked few weeks it’s been for us both and we’re delighted to be sharing these images with you!

Moving on from Intrepid though we had other things to sort out…get a bus back to Kirsten and Danny’s, pick up our car, get to REI and Trader Joe’s all in preparation for our next big road trip! Gradually ticking off the boxes we had to add a visit to Camera Tech on the Fremont side of Seattle so we could get the Leica sensor cleaned, thanks to them for fitting us in just before closing time! Fortunately there was a good Pho restaurant over the road so we did more than go to the Camera shop! We ended the evening with a home-cooked meal, catching up with emails and backing up imagery before a well-earned first night’s sleep in a comfy bed! Better not get used to this though!!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Another day and another move to a new destination, this time Golden on the Kicking Horse River. Along the way we stopped to have a look at the the spiral tunnels which take the Canadian Pacific Railway trains on a spiral journey through the mountains. It was pretty cool to see the train making its way through, I’m sure a train spotters dream!

Another stop to break up the journey was at a waterfall and then further along at Lake Yoho where we embarked on a 5k walk around the lakes edge. It was nice to stretch the legs and the sun was warm so very pleasant. A few brave souls even took a dip in the icy waters!

We arrived in Golden, picked up some provisions and set up camp at the edge on the river as well as the main Pacific Railway route, good job we packed some ear plugs, those trains are over 100 carriages long! The group of lads decided to cook an Asian inspired dinner which was pretty awesome and we had an early night, white water rafting is why you come to Golden and that’s tomorrows plan.

Through Wet ‘n’ Wild and with safety instructions observed and standard issue wet suits adorned we boarded an old school bus and headed to the start of the rapids. For 75 CAD we were to be flung down a level 3 section of the river with an option to take on the level 4 if we desired. Both of us found the level 3 pretty straight forward and wanted more so we stayed on, moved further down stream to miss a level 5 and started again minus three of our comprades. This was more adrenaline fuelled, but again we wanted more, maybe we should try it again in the rainy season. David even piloted / steered us through a level 3 which was good fun. Upon paying for the extra session it was 25 CAD each so a total of 100 CAD each, which we felt was a little expensive, but not as much as we were expecting.

After three hours of rafting we were all pretty tired so it was great news to hear that the tour guides, Eric and Zak, had decided to cook us up an all American BBQ! A real feast… stuffed. A quick lesson and after no time about eight of us were all playing some poker, matchsticks as coinage, which was good fun, especially when some people thought they had a great hand, when in fact they had nothing! Hehe sorry Wym!

Up very early again the next day for our long journey to Vancouver at 7.45am. We stopped at a Redwood Forest as well as an area called Skunk Cabbage, but this was closed as a family of Bears had moved in. Another stop in Hope, famed for the filming of Rambo, was a surreal experience. A 7.5hr van journey saw us arrive in the Vancouver area and set up camp for the very last time (on our intrepid tour!), followed by a visit to a pizza restaurant.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM & Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX5 processed in Lightroom 3)

Each Friday in Venice Beach is a small but well rounded Farmers Market (Venice Way & Venice Blvd) which has a great selection of produce. A few of our favorites include home made humus, falafel, salad leaves, fruits and some great tomatoes!

Helen has only three Yoga classes to attend and we are heading off from California on Wednesday of next week for Seattle to begin our Canadian adventure before driving down the west coast. Dave headed out with the Leica for a stroll around the local area and watched some good (and one very poor) skateboarders at the skate park.

We met Sarah at Sauce on Hampton for some dinner which was rather tasty, if lacking somewhat in atmosphere. We walked home along the boardwalk. It wasn’t all that late and we haven’t felt uncomfortable walking along the frontage however there are certainly a lot of strange characters around late at night.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM & Olympus PEN EP-1, 17mm f/2.8 & 100mm f/2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)