The USA, New York and Florida

USA: New York, St Augustine, Jacksonville, Crystal River 08.09.2012 - 22.09.2012

It's travel time again and we are off to New York (Manhattan) and later to St.Augustine in Florida to visit with my brother BJ and his wife Theresa. We arrive in New York on a rainy night and after 40 minutes of circling and an hour and a half in passport control we finally head off to Hotel 31 on 31st Street. In the morning we found out why we had to circle for so long, there were really bad thunder showers and even two small tornados in the area that caused a fair bit of damage. Jorunn was so hungry she had to get out at 6.15 AM the first day to get breakfast at a corner deli, and it was great to seee the area so early on a Sunday morning, way before the crowds started to fill the area around Empire State Building.

After breakfast it was time to explore the city so we packed for the day and headed to the Empire State building which was a few blocks up the street. The Empire State building is a beautiful classical building. After entering through the brass lined revolving door to step onto polished marble floors that lead us to the elevator to the 82nd floor where we walked up to the 86th floor as the elevators were full and we did not want to wait. It was very crowded when we arrived but soon found our way to the wall to see the beautiful view of Manhattan and the surrounding area.

It really was an amazing view, Manhattan is an island at the mouth of the Hudson river and is known for it's high risers, from our vantage point we saw in the distance Central park, on either side the river, on one side the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge and in the other direction forests of tall buildings and in the distance the Statue of Liberty , what a view. We also went to the top, the 102 ND floor where we could see a bit more out in the distance with less people but we were inside.

On this trip we decided once again to use the hop on hop off bus which drove around to all the areas we wanted to go, from the Empire State Building we drove past the Flatiron Building, a famous New York building that looks like a piece of cake. We passed Greenwich Village, Soho, Little Italy and then to China town where we stopped for dumplings.

After lunch we contniued the drive by Wall street where we saw the famous Wall street bull where there were many people taking pictures but the strange thing was that just as many people were taking pictures of the the front as the back where they would put there heads in his butt hole and then grab on to his balls and for the camera (they were some very shiny balls). We passed Battery Park , the gateway to the statue of Liberty , as we moved on we passed the old fish markets at South Street Seaport before driving under the Manhattan Bridge, through the East villlage and on to the U.N. Building.

After passing Rockefeller Center we were soon at Central Park where we got off the bus to walk around a bit and enjoy the warm day. Central park is very large so we only could see a bit of the park. The part we saw was filled with joggers, walkers, strollers and horse drawn carriages. After a sunny walk in the park we once again hopped on the bus passing Carnegie Hall and on to the lights and crowds of Time Square (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square). This was a amazing place filled will lights that flashed all around us and people everywhere, in the centre of this was a setting area where people could watch a short segment of a Broadway Musical, in the centre of it all was the naked cowboy (not really totally naked) where he stands every day year round. After an exciting day we rewarded ouselves with some New York cheese cake before heading back to the hotel, and our third room change, as we were going out for some real New York pizza. (I will not say a lot about the pizza but it was great and very filling so go try pizza at Lombardi's when in New York.

The next day we were still a little jet lagged, but ready for a new round of sightseeing, we hopped on the bus heading towards Harlem. On the way we passed the Lincoln centre before heading back towards Central Park to see where the rich and famous live also, and also where in Central Park the nannies take there children (how exciting! - not). We passed the natural history museum, St John's Cathedral and then the Washington Bridge before getting off in Harlem to walk around and have some lunch. At lunch we had a chat with a young soldier and got to hear his story about where he'd been stationed before heading off again. Harlem was an interesting place during the day, full of life with wide streets, musicians singing on the sidewalk and classical New York style buildings with metal fire escapes on the outside the buildings. Feeling a bit tired we took the subway back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. (A bit about the subways: they're noisy, old, hot while you wait, cold while you are riding, and confusing at first. After you figure out the system it's great but still noisy, hot, and cold at times.)

In the evening we headed out to the old meatpacking district and to eat dinner at the Spice Market, a really nice place with an Asian touch. The meatpacking district has become a very area trendy area with lot's of bars and restaurants and is changing every day as designer cloths stores move into the area.

We now had spent a fair time walking around Soho, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Chinatown and doing some shopping so I thought it might be a good time to visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_Island, after hearing so much about it. We took the subway over the Manhattan Bridge and through Brooklyn (which was a pleasant area with small houses and lot's of charm) to the end stop of Coney Island. We had only a short walk before reaching the boardwalk but sadly things looked pretty closed but what can you expect when it's the end of season. As it was sunny and warm we decided to spend some time on the beach even if it was too cold to swim. We did take time to walk around a bit but there really was not a lot to see plus that rides and games were closed, but now we've been to Coney Island. On the way back to Manhattan on the subway we met a very smart pigeon that got on with us and ate his fill with food scrapes and three stops later flew out through the open doors (I think it was one of the cleanup crew).

It's a new day and time to head to Florida to visit with my brother and his wife. As we were getting used to the subway we lugged our big suitcases down the stairs for a fast ride to the airport (Jorunn somehow managed to get her suitcase caught in the turn still but eventually got it loose HA HA HA very funny, at least for me). As we landed the rains started (we were hoping they would stop as we had so much rain in Oslo this summer). We stepped outside and then it really started raining and it wasn't until we were halfway to St. Augustine that it stopped and the sun came out. It was dinner time so we stopped at a locally famous hickory smoked ribs place, with a big pig on the outside, and drove off to the beach where we sat on the soft, pearly, white sand, watched the waves and ate our food before heading back to the house.

We had a night of catching up and enjoying the warm evening and also taking time to get to know the dogs Max, Peaches and Jack. The next day we were off to the beach. On the short drive to the beach we passed over the inland waterway, this is a large body of water coming mostly from the Tolomato river that is separated from the ocean by long sand islands that continue down the coast for many kilometers, every once in a while inland waters run off into the ocean, and as it's mostly fresh water the surrounding area has lush green grass, trees and lot's of animal life.

We made it to the beach after a short drive but we still had a short walk ahead of us as there are beautiful sand dunes with patches of grass and shrubs where a number of different animal live (snakes, turtles, mice and birds). As we walked we saw a turtle and a snake before we reached the beach. The sand dunes are a protected area, and what a beach; white pearly sand that stretched for kilometers in both direction. With this long beach area there were no crowds at all but you have to be a little careful as cars are allowed to drive on the beach, some other fun things were that turtles lay eggs on these beaches so if you're lucky you can see that. The other thing is that while you're out swimming in the warm water (body surfing of course) you can see 5 to 10 Pelicans skimming the waves for looking for fish (plus other birds). One day we saw what we first thought was a dolphin in the waves, but after a while we realized that it was some sort of bigger shark, possibly a mako shark.

After some time on the beach (also I got burned, not bad, but enough) it was time to see something different so we drove a little farther down the coast to Washington Oaks National park , this was a very pretty area with large oak trees covered in Spanish Moss that hung from the tree limbs. As this area was originally a retirement home the house stood facing the inland waterway and was surrounded by gardens and ponds. The other part of the estate was on the beach side which had deposits of Coquina (used for building houses in the early days) and where we drove past land turtles eating the grass by the road side (a cheap lawnmower).

Next stop was St. Augustine city, the oldest continually occupied city in America, it has a large and a small stone fort. We took a walk on the bridge over the inland waterway where we were met by two large stone lions, on the right the fort itself to the left was a small park with a church and Flagler College in the background. We soon found ourselves walking int the centre of the old town which had original old buildings and some new but very tasteful buildings with lot's of shops and restaurants but my favorite was the fudge shop with lot's of mouthwatering fudge. After lunch by the old water wheel we did some shopping and saw some more of the old town and drove a little farther to a street with large trees on both sides and with lot's of Spanish moss hanging everywhere, very pretty but a little bit spooky. We drove for a while longer to see a bit more of the town as there were very pretty houses scattered around the area.

After a full day of sightseeing, shopping and looking around it was time for rest before dinner as we were off to Aunt Kate's , this is a nice family restaurant next to the inland waterway where food is good and the view over the water with all the birds and the beautiful sunset is gorgeous.

We also drove to Jacksonville for the day, checking out the Naval Air Staion Jacksonville, and we were happy to see a pod of dolphins in the waters outside the base. They were not scared off by the military. We also had a great lunch with fresh sea food that came in from fishing boats directly to the restaurant, a real treat !!!

It was time for a little road trip as we had heard that there are Manatees that you can go snorkelling with in Florida. We set off in the morning zig zaging our way across Florida, at first the roads were lined with tall pine trees so we did not see a lot but as we reached the halfway mark the trees gave way to rolling grassy hills with large horse ranches on either side but in the end we reached our destination Crystal River.

Since we arrived in the early afternoon we decided to rent a couple of kayaks so that we could see a bit more of the area and hopefully get to see some Manatees. We paddled out into the canal, there were houses in small canals on the left but forest and brush on the right. A little farther on we came to a small inlet that lead to a small waterway of crystal clear water as we paddle farther we arrived in a pool with crystal clear water that was truly amazing. We would later find out that this is one of the places the Manatees sleep and huddle together to keep warm during the winter months as this is where spring water comes out and it holds a pretty constant temperature.

As we paddled on we saw our first sign of manatees very briefly, this got our adrenalin going so we waited for a bit and with no results we decided to paddle out to one of the Buzzard island to see if we had some better luck. Sadly the water was not very clear but we kept on looking, then it happened, a nose appears out of the water with a loud exhale before it once again disappearing under the water. We saw many noses, backs and tails while in this area but not a whole Manatee.

There were a couple of fun things that happened to my brother BJ, the first was when a Manatee came up right next to his kayak and exhaled very loudly so that my brother almost fell out of his kayak and the second was when he was backpaddling and almost ran into a Manatee. After hanging around for a while seeing many noses and other body parts we paddled on around Buzzard island and with no more sightings we paddled back to where we rented our kayaks as it was time to find our hotel. After getting a little lost we found our hotel which was not far, the hotel was a bit run down but it had good food and a great view, it was also very pretty here and very quiet. After dinner we watched some of the local birds and the sunset and talked to some of the other tourists before heading back to the room to rest as the next day we were hoping to swim with a Manatee.

05:00 in the morning and it's time for breakfast as we had to get to the tour office by 06:00 for our briefing. The weather is not looking too good at the moment as there are large, heavy clouds outside and lighting which could mean no tour today. At the shop things were positive and we quickly received our briefing and dawned wet suits, got our cameras ready and we were off to the marina, upon arriving we meet our captain who had been studying Manatees for many years and was a wealth of information. 10 minutes later we saw our first Manatee but sadly one of them was tagged and when they are tagged they are either injured or being used for research meaning you have stay away from them. Another boat came so we moved a bit away to check some other areas but as the captain knew the Manatee habits we soon circled back and found that the two Manatees had separated so that we could get into the water.

Just our luck, we found our Manatee eating away at the surrounding sea grass that they love, we got very lucky and spent a fair bit of time with this Manatee and took a lot of pictures and videos. The water was very clear here. After a while the tagged Manatee came to join the crowd so it was time to get out of water and see if we could find some more Manatees, as we traveled on we found out that the water was not as clear so it was much harder to find the Manatees but the captain knew where to look and we soon sighted Manatees again. After a few false starts we came to where there were several Manatees. The first one was very large and to our surprise and delight we soon swam across a mother and a calf that swam right under me close enough to touch but sadly the water was too murky to take pictures but we will always have the picture in our minds.

After 3 hours of excitement on the water it was time to head back to the shop to get dried off and compare pictures and talk about what we had seen before we headed back to our hotel for a hot shower before we head back to St Augustine. Bad luck no shower when we got back they were repairing the pipes but lucky for us a half hour later a hot shower and then it was off to lunch. We just got to the restaurant the weather that had been threatening all morning moved in and the sky open up as we sat and watch the rain. We considered ourselves lucky with the weather as it rained almost the whole way back to St.Augustine.

The last days in St. Augustine were spent looking around the area and as much time on the beach as possible. We enjoyed evenings eating out and some at home eating, drinking and sometime plays games. So much great food in Florida: crab cakes, grouper, mahi mahi, alligator tail, key lime pie. One night we were invited to Theresa's Aunt and Uncle for dessert where we had a great time. Our time in Florida was over and it was time to pack up as it was time to head back to New York for a couple of day before we head home to Norway and like a sign of sadness as we entered the plane the rain began to fall.

The last days in New York were spent shopping and just walking around as we had done a lot of sightseeing earlier. We also had time to walk more than halfway over the Manhattan Bridge, a great place to see New York from. It was a great feeling to enjoy such a pulsating city with beautiful architecture and the places we have seen so many times in movies and on TV. We loved just sitting and talking in Central Park and stopping for an organic lunch in a great cafe on the Upper East Side on our last day in New York.

Videos from snorkelling with manatees

Mallorca, Spain

Spain: Mallorca, Cala d'Or, 26.05.2012 - 02.06.2012

Our next destination was sunny Mallorca as we needed a little break and some sunshine. We had a good and quick flight south to Mallorca and landed 10 minutes early but unfortunately that was the end of the smooth part of the trip. Now for the waiting part of trip, after first an hour and forty minutes wait at the airport and a hour and a half bus ride (also almost driving into one of the local harbours) we arrived in the town of Cala d'Or . Sadly things did not get better, once we got to our small room we found out that we were close to the stage and it sounded like were sitting in the front row. After changing rooms we finally got settled in for a good night sleep, then it happened again at 7:15 in the morning a maid opens the door and turns on the lights and after a bit heard that were people in the room, it can only get better and it did.

After a good breakfast we managed to get lost trying to find the beach which was only a couple of hundred meters away (we were pointed in the wrong direction), once we reached the beach we found a sandy small cove with beautiful clear blue water stretching passed the rocky walls out into the ocean. There were several other small coves in the area, one was the harbour and the others also had small sandy beaches but were closer to the city centre. The area around the hotel had lot's of touristy shops and restaurants which was good for lunch and to buy the small necessities but as so good for dinner.

We had done some research about where to eat so we hopped onto a small motorized train and drove around to the beaches around the yacht harbour and on to the city centre. We walked around the city centre for a while and looked in some of the small shops before heading back to the harbour area where there was lots of good food and a view (there were plenty of restaurants in the city centre too but they were very touristy and we wanted something a little bit different).

Life was not only a beach, having seen that the day tripper boat stopped right next to the beach we decided to take a half day tour to Porto Colom, a small town farther north up the coast. The boat was a large catamaran which stopped at a couple of places before we cruised up the coast. The sun was shining brightly as we watch the rugged coast line with small hidden coves with clear blue water and sandy beaches, we saw a few dive boats on the way but sad to say this was not a dive trip and we may not be diving until December.

After not too long we reached our destination, an inland harbour that sheltered fishing boats, lot's of sail and motor boats of all shapes and sizes. We walked around this sleepy town but there there was not a whole lot to see but it was nice to be out and about rather than just laying on the beach the whole time. After a long walk we had a delicious lunch before finding a place in the sun to wait for the boat. The trip back was even better as the captain entered some of the small coves on the way so we could see some more of the beautiful landscape.

Having seen so little of Mallorca we decided to rent a car to see a bit more. Our first stop was Palma de Mallorca where we walked down the beautiful tree lined streets, saw fountains, tourists in horse drawn carriages, towering cathedrals and grand old arctitecture. We meet one of Jorunns friends for lunch and then we all piled back into the car and after circling around the city a couple of times we found our way out and headed north.

Once out of the city we drove though dry flat country with rugged mountains on our left and farm lands to our right, after a little over an hour after driving up the windy road we reached our first stop at Formentor, which was a towering lookout high on the mountain side where rose from the blue water below us. This is great place to visit rather than just laying on the beach, there is a great beauty in these rugged mountains that should not be missed, sadly we did not have enough time to drive to the light house at the northerly tip of Mallorca. Before heading back we drove to the town of Alcudia, as we drove along the seaside we saw many parasailers powering thought the water driven by the force of the wind in the kites. We stopped in Alcudia at a beach side cafe for some dessert and checked out the beach before heading back to Palma and then back to Cala d'Or with very little problems.

A few more romantic dinners in the yacht harbour and some more time on the beach and it was time to get home Oslo to and cooler weather again. Happy travels!

Guadeloupe - part 2

After the excitement of the carnival it was time to see a bit of the countryside so Andreas organized a minibus to take us all on a road trip (there were eight us all together as we were joined by Maria, Peter and little Emil). Heading south we zigzagged along the coast passing through small villages and many beautiful sandy beaches, climbed steep inclines of green forest then going around the next curve to get a view of green hills sloping towards the ocean eventually ending at large cliffs with waves pounding below.





After passing through Pointe Noire we found the road heading inland into the rain forest and after not too long we reached our destination where we walked a short distance to a small waterfall in the rain forest. This was a beautiful place surrounded with multiple shades of green and in the middle water cascading down into a pool of cool clear water that was very inviting after a hot drive. So in we went or at lest some of us, some of us just jumping in the cool water while I (Mr. Chicken) slowwwlyyy walked into the water and eventually got in the water for a cool swim and got pounded a little by the cool water from above (did I say cool again I really mean chilly on scale but who cares it was refreshing).



Time for lunch, so we packed up and headed back to the coast and south to Plage de Malendure where we stopped for lunch at a Cliffside restaurant that overlooked the sea. The view was great, in the distance was an island (made famous by Jacques Cousteau, I will talk more about this later), surrounded by clear blue water, to the south the bay with green waves flowing to the sea and on the cliff side lounged large iguanas soaking up the sun.



After a great lunch with wine and lobster we were off to the beach so we headed north and stopped at a small beach in a cave. We also got a taste of fresh coconut ice cream. We did a bit of swimming, relaxed in the sun and did some snorkeling while the sun slowly sank into the sea, it was a good day for sunsets so many romantic pictures were taken and the kids danced until the sun went down.



It was time for some early morning action, it was time to find some turtles! Getting up at 05:40 (while on vacation) was tough but there was more to come, we walked down to the boat house where we got our wetsuits and walked out into the water (a bit of a wake up call) and got into a rubber boat and once everyone was on board we headed full speed south to the island of Jacques Cousteau, made famous in one of his underwater films calling it one of the 10 best dive site in the world (little did he known that there was soooo much more to see out in the pacific and other places in the world). Lucky for us the ocean had a glassy look in the pre dawn light, this is really a beautiful time of the day (still a bit early though and a bit chilly in a small, wet wetsuit at full speed in a little boat, really fun though). The reason to leave so early is that we will be there before all the other boatloads of people so that we can see more of the life underwater.



After an hour of high speed excitement we arrived at Pigeon Island in the Jacques Cousteau marine park and tied up to the mooring on the south side of island and soon everyone had the masks and snorkels and jumped into the water. The Cousteau reserve is truly a beautiful site with lots of different types of coral and fish and in the predawn light it was amazing to see the sea life interact. Some of the things we saw were turtle, moray eels, snapper, trevally, lobster, plus much more.



After about 1 hour it was time to move along to the next site, by this time the sun was peeking over the lush green hills as we arrived at the next site on the north side of Plage de Malendure where there’s lot’s of sea grass for the turtles to eat. This was a fairly large area so it took a bit of swimming around and in the end we had found four turtles and one the that we stayed with for a while and we got some nice video footage. An hour later we were tired, wet and hungry, and turned north again for a bit more of a ruff ride as it was time for some breakfast, warmth and rest, but in our minds we played over and over the wonders that we have seen in the last hours.



The temperature was very pleasant during our stay, around 25 – 28 during the day, mostly with a breeze, so it never got too hot. At night it was 22 – 24, and with a breeze some of us needed a hoody to feel comfortable. The food at Fort Royal was great, we got really spoiled, with new dishes every day. After another day of eating, tanning and swimming it was time for yet another road trip (road and sail). This time we had the pleasure of having Anna, Andreas and the kids along for this trip (we had been spending a fair bit of time with Stella and Alba these last few weeks on the beach, driving around, at the house and even taking them swimming in the pool, loads of fun).



Once again this was an early trip, up at 05:30 onto the bus that drove us along the coast through sugar cane fields and soon hitting rush hour traffic heading for the capital city of Pointe-à-Pitre (there are a lot of traffic jams around the capital due to the fact that almost everyone has a car. Finally out of traffic we continued our drive east now on the eastern part of the island La Grande-Terre. This side of the island is much flatter and no rainforest. Our bus travelled along small windy roads along the coast for a while passing beaches and small villages before arriving at our destination Saint-Francois harbour where our sailboat waited for us.



This was a very large sail boat and once we stowed our gear we set off for the island of Petite Terre. The trip over to Petite Terre was very pleasant so we all lounged around deck and spent some times up in the front netting, as the sail boat was a catamaran. The sea was fairly calm with large rolling waves (it made some people a bit sea sick) and soon we set the sail with help of some of the passenger. After about an hour or so we were close to our destination and that's when saw that there were large waves everywhere, now for the fun part, we secured the sail and the captain waited for the right moment and then caught a wave heading for shore and while surfing on the wave guided us safely to a quiet bay between two small island. The island was beautiful, surrounded with clear blue water and a large coral area to snorkel in, the beach area was white pearly sand with palm trees scattered along the beach area.



After finding a place on the beach it was time for snorkeling, Andreas and I were the first to see what we could find and we were not to be disappointed, the first thing we spotted was a small octopus trying to hide in among the coral, after that it was swimming in an aquarium with small fish darting in every direction. The area was very shallow varying from half a meter to five meters or more in the boat area so after circling for a while we caught sight of a nice meter or so long shark that we followed off into the bay. Lunch was fish grilled with rice and salad on the beach which was prepared and served by the crew and of course rum punch was available as we were in a rum producing country. After lunch it was time for some more snorkeling and Anna also wanted to see some sharks, sad to say no sharks, after 20 minutes plus no sharks. All was not lost as we were on our way back to shore Anna spotted a sleeping turtle, we circled the turtle for some time taking videos until the turtle woke and decided to take a leisurely swim with us. We swam with the turtle for about 5-10 minutes before heading back to shore to rest and play with the kids.



Before we left Petite Terre I took a little walk to take some picture and as I walked down path I was startled by large iguanas racing out into the bushes as I disturbed their sleeping in the sunshine, at one time two raced out in front of me have a major fight for one reason or another. Jorunn decided to have a look but the first thing she saw while walking along the beach was that were several baby sharks swimming around in the bay, so after a short walk on the Iguana trail decided to go back and get Anna and the kids so that they also could see them. So we all ended up seeing shark that day! In the end it was time to sail back so we packed our things and went to the landing for the trip back to the sail boat, we were lucky here too as a couple of small baby sharks swam by to say goodbye.




The trip back was pretty uneventful but still very pleasant but about half an hour after climbing the waves to get out of the bay we caught a quick glimpse of two dolphins, sadly they did not stay long. Some of the French guys had more than enough rum, and started to sing. Finally we got to shore and spent some time playing hide and seek with bus before finally heading back to the hotel for dinner and some rest.



My head cold had finally cleared and I really wanted to do some diving at Pigeon island to find out what the talk was about and to see for myself why Cousteau called this one of the top ten dive sites in the world. Things were looking very bleak for diving as there had to be a minimum of six divers for such a long trip. Thursday (we were leaving Saturday in the evening and I had to stop diving at less 24 hours before flight to minimize my chances of decompression sickness) I got lucky, I ran into the organizer of the dive trip and he had been trying to get hold of me, the trip was on for Friday morning and it would give me more than 24 hours surface time before our fight home.



After breakfast we drove to the marina where we boarded the boat and headed south for an hour to reach Pigeon Island and our first dive site on the south side of the island, the second dive, after lunch, would be in the bay which they call the swimming pool. Both dives were very good with lot's of beautiful coral, a good amount of fish and even a statue to commemorate Jacques Cousteau and all the things done to protect the oceans. Things we saw; a school of 30 trevally, moray eels, cleaner shrimp, arrow crabs, spotted drum, rainbow runners, lobster, trunkfish, frogfish. We could sadly not find the seahorses, but they have them here. There was a turtle that we watched for some time as he ate a large sponge. This was a very good dive area and was probably better in the 70's when there was more fish but at the time he had not as yet ventured to the pacific too much and had seen the wonders there and may have been a bit hasty to name this one of the top ten dive sites in the world, who knows.



After washing out my equipment and hanging it out to dry (can’t have a wet wetsuit in my luggage) I watched the ocean in hopes of seeing a whales as they were in season now and had been off Pigeon island two days earlier, but no luck this time so for the last time I watched the green hills of Guadeloupe go by as we entered the marina. Thanks to Andreas, Anna, Alba and Stella for everything, it was great to see you all again and for showing us around Guadeloupe.