Canada and U.S.A. Bonanza. 1989
Somehow I have managed to save enough money for another exciting holiday, this time to enjoy some of America’s great history and scenery, visit old friends and take a Cosmos bus tour of the East Coast of Canada and Quebec
It was a long 11. ½ hour flight to Los Angeles, after a wonderful Bon Voyage Italian dinner with some old friends in Auckland, N.Z.
On arrival I soon found my on-going American Airlines flight to Fort Worth - Dallas in Texas was the terminal next door. It was a sunset flight but soon darkness arrived, as there was a two-hour time difference. With only a few passengers the friendly staff were only too keen to act as mini tour guides, pointing out different cities and towns along the way, plus adding interesting history.
Although it was a late arrival to my hotel I was very keen to get started next morning, firstly to do a three hour bus tour of the city, starting with a drive around the business area of downtown set among a multitude of high rise office buildings, and the gleaming slab of the Hyatt Regency Hotel standing beside Reunion Tower topped by a huge Geodesic sphere, then on to West End, styled from old warehouses, now a popular place to eat and study the culture. A most interesting but sad part of the tour was to be on the spot where President John Kennedy was murdered in November 1963, a memorial is a stark and monument erected by the people of Dallas. We passed the Texas stadium on route 183, the gigantic domed arena of the Dallas Cowboys, the most razzamatazz American football team. Passing the John Kennedy Memorial Museum, I was keen to come back to visit after the tour, it offered an audio-visual presentation of his life and assassination called “The Incredible Hours” I enjoyed a stroll around the “Farmers Markets”, a collection of ramshackle tin-roofed stalls where they sell Texas-sized fruit and vegetables, chew tobacco, spit, pick a mean guitar or a playful fight. Old City Park is a great place to picnic on the grass among beautifully restored Victorian houses, old log cabins, an 1886 railway depot, a bandstand, 1900’s shops and an elegant Greek Revival Mansion from 1855.
After a violent storm, which lasted nearly all night, the morning dawned nice and sunny, I caught a Greyhound bus to take me to Memphis, Tennessee, my journey took me through miles of dead straight freeway, broken occasionally by a ranch house, the bus called into many little towns including Little Rock. The scenery started to get more interesting as we neared Tennessee, the contrast of lush green pastures and lots of trees. Arriving in the evening I took a cab to my hotel, this is when the fun started, the driver had never heard of the place, driving all over town trying to find it, finally after some panic on my part at noticing the huge amount showing on the meter, I asked him to stop while I asked a gas station attendant, luckily he new the problem, the hotel had changed ownership, plus the name from Quality Inn to Park Inn, my driver did compromise by halving the fare.
Everything was closed as it was Independence Day, 4th July, even the hotel dining room, luckily the bus tours were still going so I booked one to Elvis Presley’s Gracelands. A place I was very interested to visit, being the same age as the king and I had grown up in the era of his music. The tour headed straight for “Gracelands”, the mansion home of E.P. built on a lush rolling 14-acre estate with white timbered fences for his beautiful horses it was opened to fans in 1982 and the spirit and taste of the “Rock’n’Roll” king infuse every part Gracelands. A tour of the interior included his living room, music room, which is completely soundproofed including, carpeted ceilings. There was still an old aunt living upstairs. A huge collection of Elvis’s leather and lame^ costumes, plus his trophy building which houses his gold records and awards. The tour takes in the Meditation Gardens where Elvis, his twin brother and members of his family are buried. (One thing that was missing was the digital audio accompanied commentary, which gave the lifetime history as you moved about the property; this was installed for my later visit) Across the road were many shops selling souvenirs, plus the resting place for his two jet planes, which were also open for viewing.
Deciding on an afternoon tour of the city, built on the banks of the Missippippi River, it is the heart of the great Southern hospitality. Beale street, the home of the blues in it’s heyday of the 1920’s had a much more carnival atmosphere with lots of drinking halls, gambling dens, prostitution, voodoo, booming nightclubs, many eating places and lots of pawnshops. We visited the Sun Studio where Elvis made his first recording and some great views of the mighty Mississippi River. The tour ended at the famous Peabody Hotel, a masterpiece of elegant décor and furnishings combined with historical riches. A main attraction at this 120 years old magnificence is the “Duck March”, at precisely 5 pm. daily the ducks leave their roof top duck house come down in the lift and waddle over red carpet to the huge centrepiece fountain in the Hotel foyer and go for a swim. My stay in Memphis was far too short but I vowed to return which I did later.
After missing my first Greyhound bus because the taxi was late, luckily there was another an hour later for my journey to Nashville for a short stop then on to Louisville. Not enough time to explore but this will be another return visit for me one day. The landscape from the bus was quite flat but still nice and green with lots of trees, then the countryside changed to fields of cotton, tobacco and corn. Joining the freeway at Nashville, quite boring until the start of the Kentucky Stud country. Louisville is the home of the annual Kentucky Derby races. A large modern city, it was late so there was not much time for exploring, I did manage a while in the Kentucky Museum of Arts and Crafts, very interesting. Unfortunately these are just overnight stops on my way to New York but at least it gives me some ideas for further holidays.
Greyhound was late again, I caught the bus to Pittsburgh with changes at Cincinnati and Columbus, There seemed to be delays everywhere, no one seamed to be in a hurry. At least the scenery was lovely, still lots of lovely trees, flat and lush, then on to rolling countryside, an unusual entry into Pittsburgh was via a road tunnel to the city centre. Again arriving late, there was no chance at taking a bus tour so it was just a matter of sightseeing on foot, only seeing the usual downtown attractions.
After the usual confusion of deciding which lane to take, I caught the express bus to New York passing back through farming and crop country, then on to forest and rolling hills, enjoyable, but then we took the freeway, which was uninteresting. It was soon obvious that we were getting closer to the “Big Apple” by the huge increase in traffic and the sky was alive with the spectacle of this huge concrete jungle. Arrived in the downtown metropolis via the Lincoln tunnel, which was at least three miles long.
My hotel was close by the central bus station so after checking in I managed to find my bearings around familiar streets names, a multitude of races going about their daily business, as it got dark millions of lights took over, making a fairytale atmosphere. I managed to book a full day bus tour for the next day and arrangements to meet up with fellow members for the Cosmos tour of Canada that starts from my hotel the day after next.
A Grey line tour bus collected me and was soon heading for Greenwich village, then Harlem, Chinatown, Wall Street, a two hour stop at the World Trade Centre, (I was hoping to go up the Empire State Building but it was closed that day) Anyway I was happy to be able to experience the express lift to the 107th floor in just under a minute, then an escalator to the 110th level which was outdoors and gave a panorama 360 degs. magnificent view of New York City. The Trade Centre was started in 1966 and completed in 1973, comprising of two identical towers with a striking entrance of huge silver arches of which I needed to lie on my back to get a photo.
Moving from this spectacular vista we caught a ferry to Liberty Island to enjoy the massive size of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the French people, stands guard over the entrance to New York harbour. It was erected in 1886. When I arrived on the Island there was a huge crowd, the waiting time to explore this grand old lady was about four hours, a real disappointment as there was only a two hour stop on the tour so I had to be satisfied just admiring it at close quarters. Back on the mainland and downtown Manhattan I was able to catch a glimpse of the Empire State Building at close range, this must have been an amazing piece of architecture, the building is huge, 102 stories, built in 1931, this was during the depression, when completed most of the office space was empty and the building paid it’s taxes from the sightseers
Next morning I met up with fellow passengers for a Cosmos twelve-day bus tour of Canada/Quebec. There were only 30 people taking the tour and it didn’t take very long to make friends with the majority of them. Leaving New York the bus followed the coastline north from N.Y through Massachusetts, to the first stop, Boston. Our tour guide was very informative with history and things to see and do on this trip.
A brief history, Boston was the largest British settlement in north America, a centre of opposition to British trade restrictions, culminating the Boston Tea Party in 1773, today it attracts about ten million tourist per year, many museums and art galleries. The tour bus set us down in Harwood St. to explore the old converted warehouses on narrow cobbles streets; I discovered a small restaurant that served a delicious Clam chowder. We took a city tour in the afternoon to view some of the elegant buildings and have the history explained. A visit for an enactment of the “ Boston Tea Party” on a replica tall ship gave us an interesting display of past history. Boston has a large Irish population who arrived in droves after the 1845 potato famine in Ireland mingling with the Anglo-Saxon descendents of the original settlers, also a large black community with a proud past in Boston as the first freed slaves. The hotel we stayed in was quite a way from the centre of the city, but I managed to find a delightful Irish pub to keep me occupied for the evening.
Next morning was a long journey to Quebec City; travelling north along the picturesque coastline with it’s many huge mansions built in the 1800’s from vast profits from Whaling, on to Hampton Beach, then turning inland through vast logging forests and the Canadian border of Quebec State, where there was a customs check, now into some beautiful scenery and picturesque towns and villages. Noting that many houses has aluminium roofs to help melt the heavy snows of winter.
Arriving in the magnificent city of Quebec the European flavoured Capitol of the province it didn’t take long to notice the French flavoured influence where it is said only 4% of the inhabitants don’t speak French .An interesting bus tour took in the entire cities highlights, firstly the lower town with it’s historical churches, narrow cobbled lanes revamped into a collection of art museums, bars, restaurants and cafes, lots of artists displayed their wonderful paintings on the sidewalks, I couldn’t resist a small collection of original oil paintings of the district. Moving to the upper town, starting on top of “the Rock” was the cities principal landmark, the hotel “ Chateau Frontenac” which has loomed over the city since 1892 like a protective fortress, it’s fairytale turrets are of Gothic-Renaissance architecture, the green copper roofs are a familiar sight throughout the main cities of Canada. In the courtyard surrounding the hotel many artists were staging short comedy plays and readings, all dressed up in period clothes. A tour of the inside of the hotel was also remarkable, the stucco carvings, tapestries and wood panelling. Taking high tea there was worth more than my budget for a week so I settled for a few beers with fellow bus passengers Clair and Loretta in a nearby bar.
I took a “Quebec by Night” tour, which included a tasty French meal, the night-lights gave an enchanted glimpse to this romantic city, plus the wine was wonderful.
Alas it was time to leave this picturesque city and move on towards Montreal, following the mighty Lawrence River among very fertile with dairy farms and summer crops taking advantage of the river for irrigation, a stop at the Notre-Dame Du Cap Shrine, a pilgrimage town dedicated to Mary. Lots of little towns and villages were dotted along the way, finally we arrived at old Montreal, still time to make a three hour tour of the city, the great metropolis is built on an Island, it is a sprawling city of cosmopolitan neighbourhoods, each a delight to stroll around. Many beautiful old churches like the huge Cathedral of St. Joseph Notre Dame with its beautiful 18 ct. gold painted wooden carvings and highly decorated alter figures. Most of the important buildings had the green copper roofs and French styling. Again it was exhilarating to walk around the narrow cobbles streets.
This evening we were invited to a medieval banquet as guests of the Governor of Montreal, actually is was a re-enactment, with food dished up on pewter plates and drinks served in pewter goblets. A governor was selected among the guests and yours truly was chosen, I was whisked away to a changing room, returning in my scarlet robes and crown, my moments of glory were that all the guests had to bow to me and wait for me to start eating before the meal could be taken, there were no cutlery so we ate with our fingers. The entertainment was from top class performers, a mixture of 16th century and early settlers style. It was nice to feel important for a few hours; I paid for it with on-going smart remarks for the rest of the tour.
It was hard to leave this unusual vibrant city but our journey continued next morning to the National Capitol Ottawa, this time taking the secondary roads, it was great to be off the freeways and enjoy the beauty of rural and river scenery, we took a pause at the Chateau Montebello, a beautiful resort built of interlocking logs, no nails were used, one could just imagine the lovely setting when it would be surrounded with snow during winter.
On arrival in the Capitol, Ottawa our bus did a tour around the city, taking in the huge mass of Parliament Hill buildings and the many huge residents of the world’s ambassadors. The Rideau Canal which stretches from the inner city to Lake Ontario 200 klms away, it also qualifies in winter as the worlds longest skating rink, in summer it offers delightful boat cruises and canoeing. We were able to view the “changing of the guards”, at the Presidents residence. It was a lovely day for exploring the main city by foot experiencing some interesting markets and beautiful buildings and gardens, I joined Claire and Loretta for an evening meal, then watched the re-inaction of the history of Ottawa outside Parliament Hill, the lighting and narration was well done. The city as with other centres of Canada I have already seen is lovely and clean and tidy.
An early start for the ongoing journey to Toronto, back following the Lawrence River, a stop at the town of Gananoque to take a relaxing cruise around some of the thousand Islands on the river, most occupied with either holiday homes or huge mansions. The bus was waiting for us continuing on to Kingston for a lunch break and enjoy an enactment parade of 1832 of soldiers at Fort Henry.
Arriving in Toronto in the late afternoon, still lots of daylight and time to explore downtown and a lovely meal. This city is quite different from the others of Canada, very little French spoken, quite an abundance of undesirables roaming the streets so it did pay to stay together in a group.
A full city tour was organised for this morning, noticeably lots of red brick buildings in the older part. It was hard to believe that this gleaming business and urban life was in the 1790’s a malarial swamp. The old and new city halls had individual character, downtown business area with the usual high rises, lots of elegant shops, Bloor St. is the fashionable hub of the city. A drive along the waterfront showed much recreation areas set aside for families and sport. Looming in the distance was the huge CN. Tower that dominates over the all weather sports dome.
After our city tour Claire and I managed to catch a local bus back to explore the tower, there was a long queue to go up the tower, which we finally made, the first section took 58 seconds, the glass fronted viewing platform of the observation deck gave us a brilliant view of the whole metropolitan area of the city, a further lift took us to the space deck at 447 mts., the height to the top was 553 mts. or 143 stories, it is higher than a simular monster in Moscow but Chicago’s Sears building is still the tallest.. The sports dome with it’s all weather cover way below, dwarfed by the amazing building structure of the tower. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the abundance of warehouses and department stores, settling for a sidewalk café for a few well-deserved beers.
Our journey next morning was a 1 ½ hour drive to Niagara Falls, which divides Canada and America Borders, the more dramatic side, the Canadian Horseshoe Falls are 177 ft. high compared with the American Falls, 184 ft. but has a smaller cascade of water. We took a boat trip on the “Maid of the Mist” out close to the boiling waters; a wonderful experience and everyone received a thorough wetting. A group photo was taken overlooking the falls. The town is a haven for holidays and honeymooners, lots of souvenir shops with the falls not far away at any time.
Claire, Loretta and I decided to use up our free afternoon to go back to admire the many different panoramic views and enjoyed the sunset colours of the Falls. Once again we discovered a nice little bar that served ice-cold beer. All enjoyed a late meal in a revolving Minolta tower overlooking the flood lit Falls, it was one of three dominating the skyline for that special sight.
Another lovely morning, took a look at the Falls once more at sunrise, also the Minolta tower silhouetted in the morning light. We crossed the Niagara River and back into America, through a far quicker customs check and started the long journey through New York State, then on to Pennsylvania following rolling country, into the valleys and into Amish countryside which is claimed to be the most fertile in America, German and Dutch communities, manicured fields of crops and dairy farming, very neat and picturesque homes and farm sheds, all without power or telephones, most wear their Amish clothing and drive horse and carts ,a stop at a typical store selling home made produce was a good chance to sample much tasty and nutritious products . Our next stop, the Hershey’s Chocolate factory just out of Lancaster, we were taken on a conveyor belt tour through the history of the factory, just so many different tasty chocolates, I really excelled myself in buying up lots of treats to take home.
We stayed the night in a lovely country lodge, very quiet until we all took over the bar and enjoyed the cheapest beer on the trip, by now friendships were made and hopefully will last for many years.
Before leaving this squeaky clean area, we made a call at a typical Amish house and farm, listened to a talk on their history and customs, finally making a stop at a small bakery to indulge once more in delicious cakes, pastries and pies.
Following the freeway south to Baltimore, then on to Washington. D.C. On arrival the bus took us on a brief tour of the historical section of the Capitol city, it was a grand view looking down the long grassed recreation area towards the needle tower of the Washington Memorial, then a drive around to view the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and the huge Dome of Capitol Building. On either side of the grassed area were many museums and galleries, plus the old brick building of the Smithsonian, history was all around us. Among the many displays of modern space travel was the original Star Spangled Banner, which is on view only once a day in a special ceremony. The White house, residence of the President of America was originally designed by an Irish-born architect in 1792, over the decades the very impressive mansion has been re-decorated many times to suit various presidents, The lower floor is quite often open to the public, sometimes even when the president was working upstairs. There was lots of history to be learned in the Capitol, sadly I am leaving the tour tomorrow at Philadelphia but excited on going back to Washington to meet with my English friend Harry Letch, who lives there and we will explore the museums and galleries in depth.
The tour is returning to New York today via a few hours in Philadelphia. I was fortunate to be able to view and even touch the Liberty Bell, this was the bell that came from England in 1751, cracked en route but was repaired in time to ring from the tower of Independence Hall in 1776, then cracked again in the nineteenth century, now it has laid to rest for visitors to pat with affection.
After a final farewell to my Cosmos tour friends I caught the bus back to Washington. D.C. to stay a few days with Harry and enjoy more of this very historical city and surrounding districts, our first stop after a warm greeting was the nearest pub to enjoy a few beers again. Harry has planned some great sightseeing.
Next day we drove into the countryside along smaller more picturesque roads, arriving at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where part of the civil war was fought, the Fed. Troops and the Southerners with Robert E Lee, the town had been burnt to the ground but has been lovingly restored to its original state. We moved on to another historical sight, Antietan, where the bloodiest of the wars was fought against the Southerners and the Feds, in a single day 22.000 troops were slaughtered. Here in the museum was an excellent panoramic re-enactment relating to the battle. Driving through the grounds there were signs relating to the history. Park rangers were great to listen to with their excellent knowledge, even the corn fields we could see had been cut to ground level by cannon fire, saw the stone bridge which was a stronghold during the war. The history of America is something that I was a bit ignorant about so this has been very educational. After a very long and interesting day Harry and I enjoyed sampling a few different beers in a local pub and a lovely meal.
Next day we continued our history lesson with a drive to a town called Federick, rich in lovely old colonial architectural restored to the original beauty, then on to Gettysburg where over 50,000 troops died in the course of the war, and a huge national park is dedicated to these brave soldiers. The day became very hot so we drove around the park pausing at historical sights like where Lincoln gave his famous address for freedom. There was an electric scale mural map explaining the battles, all done by lighting, the sounds of war as the story unfolded made it very real.
Our evening was spent with a 45 minute Metro ride into downtown Washington to view the Lincoln memorial in floodlit splendour, the Capitol and the needle of the Washington memorial dowsed in ghostly light.
We made the journey back downtown next morning to explore some of the museums and galleries, the unusual brick of the Smithsonian centre, which is the home since 1958 of the world famous Hope Diamond, original uncut weight of 112 carats, present weight 45 carats it is said to be cursed, owner Evalyn Mc Lean had a lifetime of tragedy, it still has a value of 8 million dollars. an instructive Imax theatre in the Space museum showed astronauts filming in outer space. We took a walk around the beautiful Botanical gardens, always an interest to me working in the horticulture field. This is my last night staying with my friend Harry, a good excuse to go out and have a farewell drink or three and a nice meal.
My journey on next morning started at an early hour of 5.30 am taking the Metro to Union St. downtown in time to catch a familiar Greyhound bus heading for Columbia in South Carolina , we had a lady driver who proved to be very capable in controlling the large bus , the scenery was very lush with lots of crops ripe for harvest, occasional bush country and many lovely small towns . The lady passenger in the next seat came from Orange, Texas I learnt a lot about the history and customs of the south people, also the style of cooking which sounded quite tasty. I changed buses at Charlotte for the last two hours of my journey to the inland city of Columbia.
My dear friends Dottie and Kathy were there to meet me, (I had met these ladies on a tour through Scandinavia) To my horror I discovered my suitcase was missing, a search by the bus company proved fruitless, Dottie was not amused at their slackness and used her power, her late husband was a very important citizen of Columbia, soon there was action all round. I was staying with Dottie and was told they would inform me as soon as the case was located. Keeping their word, the following night the phone rang around midnight to say it would arrive within the hour, some inexperienced porter had not read the label properly and took it off the bus at a smaller town along the way. I had borrowed some fresh clothes from one of Dottie’s neighbours; otherwise I would have been a little smelly.
Next morning, after a tour around the city I joined the ladies on a drive to beautiful old Charlestown in Dottie’s shiny new huge car. Located on the South Carolina coastline was founded around 1770, it was also known as “The Holy City” due to the prominence of many churches. Today there is an abundance of beautifully restored historical mansions, owned by slave planters of rice and indigo. At one time the city was the fourth largest in America with a population of 11,000, nearly half of who were slaves. The interesting old marketplace was situated where slaves were bought and sold, now has many hundreds of craft shops, mostly run by Negro woman who still have the culture and skills of old Africa. A two-hour city tour taught me a lot of the cities history, plus visits to some of the lovely old mansions, a noticeable spectacle was very large verandas on the sides of the buildings so not to pay huge taxes for road frontages.
That evening I was invited to the ladies friends home for dinner, Hal & Charlotte were also on the Scandinavia tour but through sickness had to leave it early. Their beautiful white mansion with a huge pillared veranda was set among lovely gardens down a country lane; they had their own-labelled wines from a large vineyard close by. A delicious meal was served; I hope I succeeded in acting the perfect gentleman to their hospitality.
After a nice breakfast in downtown Columbia and bid my farewells to the ladies I was on a southbound Greyhound bus to St.Augustine in Florida. The route took along main roads, not freeways firstly back to Charlestown, then south through many small towns and rich farmland, this changed to marshlands and tropical scenery as we neared the Florida border. The first large city was Jacksonville, all high rises, I’m happy I decided on St.Augustine as this place was an enjoyment, a beautiful seaside city, the nations oldest, most charming and also known as “the Ancient City”. It basks in year round mild near perfect climate. The delightful historical downtown cobbled district was alive with quaint cafes, pubs, unique shops, and art and gift surprises. My lovely Spanish style hotel was in keeping with the town’s beauty. I had time to visit the museum of “Ripley’s believe it or not”, with it’s bizarre and unusual artefacts on display, incredible illusions and an interactive gallery. I also found “The Fountain of Youth”, ( never did me much good), a large crocodile farm didn’t excite me much.. That evening I enjoyed a delicious seafood platter, a few beers and nice white wine.
On the road again, this will be my last Greyhound bus trip, a brand new one at that. Miami, here I come. there was a change at Orlando, (wish I had the time to visit Disney world) but my time had nearly expired. Miami is spread out for many miles of beautiful coastland; finally we crossed into Beach Island where my hotel was. I was anxious to book in and get out to explore the golden sands that seemed to go on forever. That evening I enjoyed a lovely meal in an unusual restaurant, the tables with chairs were actually placed in classic sports cars cut in half and set along the walls, all shiny and brightly coloured. I contacted Vickie, one of the two girls I previously met on a canal cruise in the south of France, we made arrangements to meet the day after tomorrow for a tour around Miami.
Next morning I decided on an organised tour of the city and a boat cruise around the islands that make up the beach area. Sadly this was the worst organised tour I have ever experienced, starting an hour late, there was little commentary in English, but lots of Spanish, (it was to be an English speaking tour) It didn’t take me long before I was having a heated discussion with the guide concerning the vast amount of Spanish he was speaking, soon the majority of the tourists were getting what they paid for. I enjoyed the boat cruise, it showed me how the very wealthy had such a wonderful lifestyle with great sea views and relaxing living in their huge mansions.
My friends Vickie and Debbie came to my hotel to join me for a meal in a very popular Japanese restaurant, then on to some trendy bars around the south end of Miami to enjoy my favourite beer.
Next morning, after a refreshing swim in the tepid ocean, my friends Vickie and Debbie arrived to take me on a sightseeing tour of Miami through the eyes of locals. Our first stop was for a walk along the exhilarating strip of the art décor area of South Beach, a mile of hotels, beautifully preserved buildings of the 30’s and 40’s era, a handbook of the street history was a great help. a visit to Coconut Grove showed lovely homes of the middle class people. Vickie took us to visit the yacht, which she and her husband called home, they do a lot of cruising around the Bahamas, what a lovely lifestyle. A visit to the Venetian pools beautifully set among brilliant waterfalls and lots of mosaic tiling. When it was close to sunset, we found a pub and enjoyed a daiquiri, which is rum based with lots of blended strawberries, very strong, very nice. I enjoyed the brilliant fiery glow of the setting sun. Next a great steak meal and a huge slice of mud pie, soon it was time to say goodbye to my friends, thanking them for a wonderful tour of this vibrant city.
After a final swim, it was time to pack up and start the long journey home to New Zealand, I had booked a shuttle bus to the airport, to my surprise a stretch limo called to collect me and a lady. My minute of fame was soon shattered as the uniformed chauffeur lifted the boot lid to allow me to struggle with the ladies suitcases and mine, I guess it was worth the classy ride to the airport. The reverse pattern was staged, the chauffeur holding open the boot to allow me to struggle once again with the heavy cases, then an outstretch hand was thrust towards us more or less demanding his tip, I portrayed my answer in my best kiwi fashion leaving behind a bewildered driver.
Alas I was feeling a little depressed knowing than another wonderful holiday was about to come to an end, soon I was aboard a Delta flight from Miami to Atlanta, then a change for my ongoing flight to Los Angelus, and my connection to the Air N.Z. D.C. 10 service to Auckland. I was shocked back to reality when listening to fellow kiwi passengers talk, having been used to Americans and Canadians talking over the last few weeks. I new that I was headed home to start the procedure of saving for another fabulous holiday somewhere.
Till my next venture
Cheers
JIM.F.
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