MY TORRID AFFAIR WITH TIM TAMS

Sept 7, 2008

Oh Tim Tams, my standing booty call, how you going? I have purchased a LOT of double dipped Tim Tams, only hoping that they will fit in my suitcase and that they also have the big 6 packs at the duty free store as backup. I’m not sure when I will be back here next, and although it seems to be a yearly work trip, I smell that this may have been the last one. Must stock up. Also, I do have my friends from the Sydney office who have offered to be my regular supplier. Sweet.

I've hit pay dirt.

DRIVE TO NELSON

September 7, 2008

Our last day here, we took the car and went for a ride to Nelson, a little beachside and somewhat artsy (not by LA standards though) town about 1.5 hours north of Blenheim. The scenery along the way was breathtaking. We had to pull over at one point because it was just too beautiful.

The pictures just don't do it justice

 

We pulled over--the scenery was just too much.

small cemetery on the road to Nelson

The music here in New Zealand is a little rough. It is all very easy listening (John Denver) and classic rock (CCR), which is all good, but really, all the time? So we were stoked when we got int the car this morning and the Foo Fighters “Everlong” was on …” Yay, good music finally! Then it played again, back to back, awesome. Great song. Then again. And again. And again. I took a picture of the clock on the radio. We left the hotel at 10:04. The same song was still on at 10:23. Really.

We got in the car at 10:04. The Foos were still playing at 10:23.

In Nelson, we walked around, had lunch, and I spent my gambling earnings on a digital Leica D-LUX3 camera, and got a great deal because of the exchange rate, about 1.4:1! RIP Canon, there’s a new sexy German in town. Woohoo! I am so excited. Ever since Morocco, I had been upset with my once trusty little Canon, with so many blurred shots (like the Caid’s bar night shots!), so now, I hopefully don’t have to worry about that, and I get to resurrect some of my photography skillz, which I’m excited about.

Gunnar and Matthew met us there.

Precious! This is the window of the jeweler who made precious for the LOTR films. They sell replicas. They are huge!

FERRY BACK TO WELLINGTON

Sept 8, 2008

We woke up early to catch our 8:00 a.m. ferry back to Wellington, then fly to Auckland, then home to LAX. This time, the wide was smooth, the water was glassy and the views were special.

The ferry

From the Wellington Ferry, 8:30 am

more from the ferry

Jen and I on the ferry, messing with the new camera

Me on the ferry

cool cliffs and a hint of blue turquoise teasing for summer

Baby, please.

BIKING WINOS

Sept 6, 2008

Today was our first big day of sightseeing down here in Marlborough. We took forever to get out of the hotel, but once we did, we rented bicycles and went winery hopping. On the way to the bike place, in the car, we were laughing about something, and Jen was driving, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her gum flying out of her mouth, kind of like in the movies when the Heimlich maneuver is performed and the piece of veal shoots out across the room, like that. We were dying. It was just plain strangeness.

 

 

 

Winery hopping via bicycle.

The bike riding and wine tasting was about as good as it gets. The countryside is beautiful, similar to Napa, except prettier, and the bikes were really fun. The bike rental place has a backup van in case you: get a flat, drink too much, or buy too much wine. The bikes come equipped with a 4 bottle holder saddle, which I thought was cute.

Scenes from wine country

It was the day after the rain

Where all the white grapes at?

At our FIRST winery, Jen was on the 2^nd level and I was on the third, and she just ate it—slipped and fell. I took picture of the incident. It was classic.

From the 3rd floor of a winery.

Me on the 3rd floor, JD on the 2nd, just before her big fall.

More from the road

The obligitary cemetary.

Mooooo

Moooo

Baaaaaahhhhh

The winery where we had lunch

Lunch

JD riding like the wind

Pee Wee Herman riding like the wind

This is Nigel—he owns the bike rental place. I found him in the latest Lonely Planet NZ edition, which just came out this month, and I had the pleasure of reading him his review from the book. He was excited. I took a picture of this momentous occasion and I will be sending it to good ‘ol Nige via email.

Nigel and his Lonely Plante review

GREEN ON THE BOAT

Sept 5, 2008

Today was wet and man were the seas high. We flew down to Wellington to catch the ferry to the south island.

It is billed to be one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world. Because of the weather, it was grey, wet, and the ferry was rockin and rollin. Fifty percent of the passengers were green, including me, and I have never before been seasick in my life but then again, I had never been on a boat that was so rocky in my life either. Most of the ride, after a beer, and a few games of rummy, was spent either outside to avoid the worst, or inside with our heads down on the table. People were puking left and right—reminded me of the pie eating scene in Stand By Me.

Taken from inside a cafe in Wellington. Look closely-there's a person in a white bunny suit crossing the street.

 

We made it to Picton, and rented a car to drive to Blenheim, just near Marlborough. It was our first time driving on the other side of the road, and at night none the less. I think I screeched everytime another car was coming. It is amazing how much willpower it takes to fight what is natural. Even when a car was coming towards us on the other side of the road, I had to fight my instincts and stay on the left! Weird!

Our hotel in Blenheim, just outside of Marlborough. It used to be a bank!

Our room.

The lounge area outside our room.

 

 

 

 

Our Ford Focus rental car.

 Our hotel was pretty sweet. It is a former bank building, converted into a 10 room hotel, each room tastefully decorated.

We got into Blenheim at night, and headed straight for the bar for a glass of wine, followed by trekking to the local hot spot, Paddy Barry’s. Blenheim is a small town, and Paddy Barry’s was kind of like The Patio in El Segundo, complete with a cast of characters including those who had probably been there since 10am. We stayed for a drink, then moved on to Cornerstone, the newest and hippest bar in town, and not bad really. I had a Speight’s beer, which I liked.

 

The choppy boat across the Cook Straight. I have video too.

AUCKLAND

Auckland, New Zealand

August 30-Sept 4, 2008

Auckland is a beautiful metro on the water, very similar to Sydney, I think. It is pretty cold here, in the 50′s during the day, and dropping to the low forties at night. It has rained a bit here and there, but nothing too crippling. 

Unreal.

The Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemishpere.

The blurry view from up there.

Vertigo through the glass floor of tower.

On Monday, they took us out on a ferry ride to Waiheke Island, a sleepy place that is known for its wine and sheep—not a good combo. Baaaaah. We did a bit of wine tasting at Cable Bay Winery, which had spectacular view of the water. There was no food to be had, and we were all about 5 glasses into it, which was fun. Finally, when the food came, it wass fantastic. Cab braised beef, snapper, pumpkin, crème brulee etc etc. yum bunny.

View from Cable Bay vineyards on Waiheke Isalnd

I have eaten quite well so far—the food and wine here are just amazing, but it probably doesn’t hurt that they have been taking us out to some of the best restaurants in town. I had a Hapuku fish with fennel that was to die for, and some snapper with carrot (also a big ingredient in NZ cuisine), following by an oozing chocolate cake. There was quite a bit of lamb to be had, but after the tanneries in Morocco, I still associate the smell with lamb. L I love lamb too…I think it will take me about a year to get over that one…

HELMS ALEE!

Tuesday, we went out on an America’s Cup yacht for a 3 hour tour in the harbor. It was beautiful, and those boats sure can jam. On our first come about, we were a bit slow, so the jib rope got pretty loose and first whipped me on the finger, and then again, square on the back. Hmm, now I know what that feels like. I ended up mostly unscathed (fearing a large diagonal whip mark on my back)—a mere black bruise on my arm is all I could muster out.

From the yacht

my feet hanging off the boat

The Auckland Skyline looks like a comic book.

Wednesday night, we were going to head out for a great meal, I spent some time finding THE restaurants to go to. We walked around and went to see the Space Tower, the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere and had a white Russian or two. The views were spectacular. Then, the casino at the bottom of the tower seduced us.

We played blackjack for many hours (and I WON $700 NZ dollars!) WHAT?! That’s right. My psychic abilities once again paid off in the friendly game of blackjack, this table with a perfect pair bet. Here’s how it works: place an additional bet on the perfect pair space (min, bet $2.50) and if you get dealt a pair of anything, a colored pair of anything, or a “perfect pair” (the exact same card), you win! It is a long shot bet, but a fun one. So the first time I made this bet, I got a perfect pair. This happened to me about 5 times that night which was about 40%-50% of the time I bet, with a $125 payoff each time—it was a little nuts. Read on to find out how I spent my winnings!

Our big time chips!

SIDE PROJECT: CURIOUS SIGHTS IN MOROCCO

I started to realize that we were walking past a hair salon every few blocks, and that all of them had the best homemade signs, so I started to take pictures as we went:

 

And Canned Luncheon Meat:

And a thumbs up wearing a fez:

And rape for only 60 Dirhams (that’s less than one dollar!):

And the innocent tree who caught a raw deal:

On the train, the cutest cell phone on/off signs:

Cell Phone ON

Cell Phone OFF and dreaming of a ciggie.

 

The unlicensed Disney Channel ice cream shoppe which was apparently established in 1957 ???

DAY 11: LAST DAY: ANDREA OF ARABIA

We spent most of the day at the beach, me sweating out the sangria and Drambuie from the night before.

Turns out the Mediterranean Sea is the biggest meat market EVER.  I went in the water and had two boys chatting me up in 5 minutes, which never happens.  One looked like Yul Brynner and swam like a fish, and the other was non-descript but wanted to hold my hands under water. eww. I think they think American women are exotic or something.

And on to Cafe Hafa.  This is a place located right on the cliff, just past the Kasbah. It opened in 1921 and has a Big Sur vibe to it. This is where you drink mint tea, smoke hash (or “kif”) and stare at the water. It has been visited by all the hippie greats: William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Dylan, Tennessee Williams, etc etc etc. I could’ve sat here all day.

View from Cafe Hafa

The tea man. Cafe Hafa serves the best mint tea.

At a nice lookout point on the walk back to the medina:

Picture of a typical mini-market store in Morocco–filled with bread! It is the symbol of life and love and comes with every meal:

The Kasbah:

Take me to the Fibar, no the Kasbah. anyone?

And my trip ended with a moonlit camel ride on the beach of Tangier…My camel’s name in Jamon (means ham in spanish):

Giddy-Up Jamon!

Song of the Day: Chi-Baba Chi-Baba, Peggy Lee

DAY 10: TANGIER IS CASABLANCA!

Tangier has evolved into yet another metropolis set on the beach. It is full of discotheques and restaurants, and street vendors ans souvenirs, just like many other cities. I was really interested the history of Tangier as a mysterious and exotic destination for the jet set in the 50′s and 60′s (Turns out, Tangier was the city that the movie Casablanca was based after!! Ahhh…this explains so much about Casablanca). 

First stop: The Hotel Continental.  A legend in itself.  This hotel played host to many a folk, including Degas, Winston Churchill, Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac, Tennessee Williams, Paul Bowles, etc.  It is a classic, and has a view of the entire bay and of the Straight of Gibralter.

The Hotel Continental

 

Shop located next to the Hotel Continental

 

View from the Hotel Continental

Then then walked about town and saw the Cinema Rif, which was the only “real” theatre that we had seen on the trip. I think I read somewhere that a guy made it his pet project to refurbish it. 

 

The cafe inside the theatre lobby

 

Theatre lobby. The chalkboard is the official marque. No, the TV is not the theatre screen.

The AWESOME posters hanging on the wall inside the theatre itself.

 

 

And, another famous Tangier spot, Cafe De Paris.  This cafe is on the corner of “Place de France” which is the little French section of Tangier. During the Second World War this was the rendezvous point for British, American and German spies. Here you can get coffee, tea or fruit juices. The men of Morocco sit at cafes like this for HOURS.

 

Interior of Cafe de Paris

Our waiter at Cafe de Paris

And, for the finale of the day, and certainly for Tangier, and maybe even the entire trip, this is Caid’s Bar, THE actual bar which Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca the film was based on…sigh.  We went here late in the evening, had a drink, and relaxed. This was my kind of place.

 

Caid's is located in the Hotel Minzah, the nicest hotel in Tangier, and home to old Hollywood.

 

The list of celebs that have stayed at the Hotel Minzah: Dougles Fairbanks, Rita Hayworth, Bridget Bardot, Farrah Fawcett...

 

Caid's Piano Bar a.k.a. the real Rick's Cafe

 

Blurry Caid's by night

To top it off, a cute french boy asked/got volunteered to play the piano after the regular guy was done for the night. He did. It was perfect. sigh…

 Song of the Day: Summertime, George Gershwin, as performed by the French guy at Caid’s.

DAY 9: TRAIN TO TANGIER

Most of the day was filled by the train ride to Tangier. 

We arrived to a cool sea breeze, and a hotel right on the beachfront.  Tangier appeared to be the Miami Beach of Morocco…And as a bonus, most ”Tangerines” spoke Espanol since it is only a 1.5 hour ferry ride to Spain.

View from the beach

That piece of land of the left is Spain.

 

 

And this piece of land is HOT.

 

Song of the Day: Better Days, The Kinks