The Grand Tour's Last Stop... SF!

8.15 to 8.24: Back in SF!



At long last, the final leg of my long journey brought me back to the strange shores of, well, California. After Africa, Asia, and so on, landing in SF felt a bit surreal. On one level, I felt like I had experienced so much in such a short time, that I half-expected to find SF had changed dramatically as well. Of course that wasn’t the case, and it was funny how easy it was to just go with the flow again.

My week and a half was a blast – however, since SF isn't quite as exotic as, say, Nepal, and since I'm four months late finishing this @$! blog, I’ll just give the highlights. :)

8.15 Long, long overdue shower, then dinner and catchup with the folks.

8.16 Emily came over and we had my somewhat delayed birthday meal, with Dad giving a rare lesson in teaching Steve and I how to cook up the classic Hawkins hamburgers, followed by carmel cake pudding. Awesome as always. I tried my hand at bartending, with a new recipe I found for a gin-based manhattan. Strong, smooth, and dangerous and helped us to a slightly raucous cocktail hour in the living room.



8.17 Boring logistics day of heading to the DMV. Steve gave me a ride though and I took him to breakfast at one of Dads favorite Petaluma spot. Then, a bit of stocking up at Target – England’s great, but you just cant find Hot Tameles in the UK!

8.18 We had another Hawkins golf outing under the redwoods at Northwood, in the brilliant sunshine. Somewhat less brilliant were our golf scores, but that was all forgotten with the restaurant's classic southern chicken sandwiches and beers with Dad.





8.19 Emily and I had a day trip to SF, which was a blast. We started with a bike ride along the bay, then over the Golden Gate Bridge, followed down to Sausalito for my favorite lunch spot and their famous fish tacos. Using her feminine wiles, Emily was even able to finagle the recipe ingredients from the waiter - sneaky!



Then we caught the ferry back, and cycled to PacBell park, then up to the Mission for more of a wander, before rolling back to North Beach for a great Italian dinner at Café DeLucchi with some amazing food.



8.20 This was a day all about Memory Lane - Dad and I had a great driving trip through his old haunts in San Rafael, then out to Berkeley, where we headed up to a viewpoint near Lawrence Livermore with a gorgeous view of the Bay:



…then cruised through campus and fraternity row. It was a good time – just swapping stories of our Cal experiences, and over lunch at the classic grill the Smokehouse, we both agreed that the odds of Cal winning a Rose Bowl for the first time since the 50’s any time soon were grim.

8.21 Mom and I had a good day out in SF – checking out the amazing new Academy of Science museum in SF, complete with a rooftop energy saving garden:





…and a fantastic 3D movie about the comic/tragic life cycle of a butterfly.



A gander from the new De Young Museum’s observation deck was next, then we headed down to the Mission to show Mom around an area that charitably can be called multi-cultural and vibrant. Mom’s verdict? It was a bit too dirty and noisy for her, so we can headed out – exploring Bernal Heights and Diamond Peak. Dinner was another new experience for her, as we tried a good Vietnamese pho restaurant in the Castro, before heading home, tired, full, and happy!

8.22: My last weekend was fun, doing those critical "only in the US" types of things - eating at Taco Bell, hitting up REI, and so on. I had a great catch up with my second set of parents, the Brokaws, and then Farkas and Korren threw a "Mike's back in town" gathering - it was great catching up with a bunch of the high school guys.

8.23: A great last full day - I caught a ride to SF with my dad, and we cruised around the Presidio a bit, before getting dropped off at my friend Ben's flat. After that, the day was spent doing some world class 'faffing - walking down to the Marina, up through Fillmore where I came across a fantastic street funk band...



...and then my favorite sushi with Kate, Melody, and a bunch of friends at the inimitable Sushi Bistro! Perfect.

8.24 At long last, it was time to head back to London… I headed to SF, and had a good chat with my new boss at Monster, then a catchup with my former boss from Tickle. A last does of good Mexican food, then it was time to fly back to London. On the plus side? Friends, bitter ale, and actually earning instead of spending money.

The downside? A quick look at the forecast showed that London was bound and determined to welcome me back to a UK ‘summer’ – dark grey clouds and lots and lots of rain. Welcome home indeed - now time for a pint.

Dunedin to Christchurch

8/13 – 8/15: Dunedin to Christchurch:



Alas, ‘twas finally near time to say good-bye to NZ – I caught a bus up to Dunedin and we rolled in around 2. As a poor way of saying thanks for the hospitality (and tutorial in Settlers of Catan), I ended up cooking Dave and Drea dinner – a spicy tofu curry.



That sent me off to the local grocery store, which on the face of it, doesn’t sound all that exciting. But, it’s odd, but doing something so normal and non-touristy is always an interesting way to get a better sense for a place. For example, even a casual walk-through in the UK would reveal that this is a society that loves, loves, loves chocolate, crisps (chips), and beer, with aisle after aisle devoted to these ‘big 3’.

NZ was a little different. Prices were pretty steep, especially for the many things that had to be shipped down. Bell peppers for example, were about $3… EACH. Ouch. But, on the plus side, they had free microbrew tasting – shopping after all is thirsty work!

Dave and Drea rolled back around 6, and somehow survived my cooking, washed down with some ridiculously good Emerson’s London Porter beer, and the treat of having Ben & Jerry’s for dessert.

Some Settlers, then brainstorming with Drea about the upcoming wedding – they were really keen on coming up with ideas involving the kids attending, since really, what kid EVER thinks a wedding is fun?

The next day was more general faff about Dunedin – funny how you can come to feel so comfortable in a city so quickly. Another cappuccino and delicious muffin at my favorite café, then I ended up taking a bunch of photos of the Octagon and the local market.

I also gave into temptation and picked up a scarf and woolly hat made out of possum fur – incredibly soft and warm, as I had to keep reminding myself that travel would be coming to an end just as London finished began gearing up for another winter.

Dave came out for lunch, and we went (where else?) to Velvet burger – mango/chili/venison this time, and equally tasty. He also shared the news that Drea and he had a few job prospects back in the States, so it was possible that they might end up moving back sooner than they had planned. Exciting stuff!



Then it was ‘bye to Dunedin, and we all piled into the car for the longish road trip up to Christchurch. In a classic case of good timing, Drea ended up winning a bid for some sort of chicken on eBay (seriously), and had to pick it up.
That saved me a boring trip on the bus, and to make up for their car’s extreme lack of decent radio stations or music, Dave and I proceeded to promptly entertain Drea with bad renditions of “You Lost That Loving Feelin’” Good times.

Some more silly road games and driving past countless sheep, we pulled off for dinner at a random roadhouse. It was super friendly and had a pretty eclectic menu. Bless the Kiwis, they certainly are game for trying any cuisine, but our burritos and nachos were soooo not Mexican. Filling? Yup. Tasty? Sure. But without key ingredients like cilantro, salsa, and the like, it just wasn’t Mexican.

Hm – maybe we should call it Kiw-exican?

That night we all ended up staying at the Dorset Hostel – an immaculate place near the center. Clean private rooms for about 15 quid were a steal, and we ended up playing Settler with tea, with the Maori Kiwi classic “The Whale Rider” in the background.

Alas, the next morning, it was time to say goodbye to Dave and Drea, who were doing a day trip on the Tranzalpine Railway – a gorgeous train ride across the NZ Alps to Greychurch and back. Two weeks hanging out was pretty awesome – and it was only a short-term goodbye, as we’d all be back together for the wedding in October.
My last day in New Zealand was pretty cool. I got to explore Christchurch again, a city that’s pretty flat with regimented grid-based streets. While it doesn’t have the quirky charm of Dunedin, nestled up and between steep hills, it’s a good city to wander around.



Most of the morning was spent at their arts/craft center – a converted private school in the English style, with lots of grey stone and quiet green courtyards. Rather than raze it when the school ended, it’s now home to a great collection of craftsmakers and art galleries, plus some exceptional cafes. It surprised me, but before I knew it, I had spent over 3 hours just popping in and out of anyplace that looked good.




A stroll around the center brought back memories of the last time I was here in 2004; then it was time to head back to the hostel and grab my stuff for my flight.
The plan was to walk to the nearby bus stop and then to the airport. Simple, no?
But rather than just wait and get cold in the rain, I decided to just walk along the bus route figuring the next bus stop would be along shortly.

Nope. 30 minutes walk later, I was getting pretty gassed. And the classic Kiwi kindness kicked in again.

As I crossed a street, an airport shuttle taxi driver just waved me over. He took pity on me lugging my big backpack and day pack around, and ended up giving me a free ride to the airport. Sweet. Plus, turns out he had lived in the UK for awhile, so we ended up comparing notes.

Then at last, it was time to go… caught my flight up to Auckland and then off to SF – my four month journey was (sniff) nearly at an end!