Baja cuisine

So we have been in Baja for just under two weeks and have sampled a variety of foods. Here is a peak at some of them...

A Mexican fiesta

Ceviche tostados

Fresh fish...

...which turned into yellowfin sashimi

Sushi...yes sushi!

Fondue - including mariachi band!

Success!

A morning visit to Walmart and we found a new tent! Pictures to come!

The long and somewhat winding road

We had a fairly long drive ahead of us to La Paz so left Santa Rosalia early-ish. The roads to La Paz were really well maintained so the drive was relatively easy. While we drove along the eastern coast of the peninsula, we could see how the landscape was changing from something desert like to something more tropical, with lots of lush green areas. We drove past an area called Bahia Concepcion and put that on the list of places we would like to visit when we return - small beaches dotted along the coat with small islands scattered throughout the water. Then, when we were about an hour outside of the town, a tropical storm decided to hit. When the winds picked up, I gladly handed over the driving to Dan and a few minutes later, rain poured from the sky and Loretta got a wash. For the first time the Vado signs (where the road dips and can flood with water) came in handy. There where a few water crossings and traffic jams started to build up as low cars got caught in the middle of the water, and others just could not pass through. Lorretta didn't hesitate and managed to get to the front of the jams and cross through the water safely.
As we got closer to La Paz and the town centre, there was some interesting looking water covering the roads (accompanied by some lovely aromas)...then we noticed the sewer covers had popped open and were overflowing. Needless to say, when we went for dinner that night, we avoided crossing the road where the water had pooled.
We managed to find some great accommodation at a fantastic price and decided to stay for a couple of nights.

Water crossing time

Hasta La Vista Miriam

While at Asuncion, we learned of a hurricane off shore heading our way - called Miriam. We started tracking her movements and decided we should head towards Santa Rosalia or La Paz so we could have an escape route to the mainland via the ferries. So we packed up and headed east.
On our journey, we drove past some of the most amazing coastline I think Mexico has to offer. We drove through a town called Punta Abreojos and saw amazing surf (possibly courtesy of Miriam) that Dan equated to a surfers wet dream. We got the chance to drive on a beach which was covered in the softest and smoothest of shells and do a bit of off roading.
We stopped off in a town called San Ignacio for lunch and some very tasty fish tacos and continued on to Santa Rosalia, where we spent the night.
Santa Rosalia was an interesting town, it had an old mining and industrial feel to it and felt "large" compared to Bahia Asuncion. Whilst there, we went on the hunt for a new tent, but with no success. So we decided to head towards La Paz and hit the shops there.

Driving over shells

Swimming with Lions of the Sea

At Bahia Asuncion, Juan and Shari took us out on their boat to check out Asuncion Island, the numerous Sea Lion colonies and to go swimming with the Sea Lions! After going around and checking out the different beaches and colonies, we picked our swimming location and jumped in the warm water. Some of the sea lions were hesitant at first (and maybe I was too) but once we got going it was so much fun - they were just as curious as we were! The sea lions were swimming underneath us, in ones, twos, threes or even sixes and were blowing bubbles, yawning or even trying to growl at us, all under water. It was a fabulous day in and out of the water - Thanks Juan and Shari!

I can see Sea Lions!

Hello there!

Bahia Asuncion...

A fishing town on the Pacific Coast of Baja. It is large enough to have a good community and some facilities but still small enough for everyone to know everyone. We were lucky enough to spend three lovely evenings there.
Our accommodation host, Shari, was very welcoming and immediately treated us like family. We were introduced to some of her friends in the town as well as other travellers and everyone had their stories to share.
Whilst here, many a good meal was had, and a few beverages drunk. We checked out La Bufadora (the water geyser in the town) and some awesome sunsets.
All in all it was a great, relaxing visit.

Sunset time

Oh no, she broke!

Don't worry, we aren't talking about the Loretta here...
After coming to the conclusion that the east cost of Baja was a tad warm, we decided to head back to the west side and ended up at a town called Bahia Asuncion - a destination chosen on the recommendation of a fellow Gringo. Accommodation was by the beach at Campo Sirena (run by the lovely Juan and Shari) and this is where the glitch happened...one of our lovely (or not so lovely) carbon tent poles decided to snap! Dan managed to rig the tent up to the car awning for the night and that did the job. We repaired the pole the next morning (before our morning fish and prawn tacos) and success...for about an hour, then the blimmin pole snapped in a second location. We fixed the pole again and all was well, for five minutes, then uh-oh it snapped again, in a third spot!
The lovely Shari had some alternate accommodation available and we were able to shack up for a couple more nights in a room overlooking the beach so we could soak up some more of the Asuncion air.
So now, the hunt for a spare tent begins, plus the adventures of a new pole being sent to us begins...we will keep you in the loop!

Not looking too good

Five ways to maintain personal hygiene whilst on the road

One of the big things that a lot of people (particularly females) have told me that puts them off camping is the whole hygiene thing - much of this is based from attending music festivals where the concept of using urine for neutralising jelly fish stings has somehow transgressed into a belief that it can also neutralise what is commonly known as "Hippy Aroma" - the smell that is associate with people who think that for a weekend at a festival they can transcend into complete hippy-ness and then back to normal again by Monday for their desk job. Real hippies secrete a special enzyme that whilst creates a smell, is not unpleasant unlike that of the pseudo-hippy.

Anyway, I am transgressing. Camping need not mean smelling bad. Here are five ways to maintain a more comfortable situation for you and your companions.

Shower when you can - depending on where you are camping there may not always be showers available. Sometimes you will not want to use the showers given the state of them. But when you find one, use it.  Then there is the camp showerl. Fill some container (such as a saucepan) with water (if you are a bit soft heat some up on the stove.) wet yourself (with water), lather, pour water over head.

Carry Wipes - baby wipes, facial wipes etc… these can be useful. Guys, I know that the idea of this is a bit "girly", but you do not need to use them everyday, but trust me, if you do not clean your "best friend", it could turn a colour that is not in the rainbow. There are plenty of unscented wipes out there and to be honest, they are preferable. Just make sure that you pick up the right ones - I discovered what makes old ladies smell a certain way when I borrowed what I refer to as a " 'gina wipe" aka feminine hygiene wipe, that a friend had bought without reading the pack.

Go Swim - camping by a lake? Go swim in it. That will get the grime off. Just don't use soap - it ruins the eco-system. You can also do this in the sea as well, but I would reserve this for really desperate times as you will be left with dry salt residue on you that can make you sweat more than a… better stop here before I offend someone.

Wear Merino - anyone who has proper merino (type of wool, generally from New Zealand or Australia) will know how amazing this stuff is. I am obsessed with it. Merino produces a natural enyme that helps prevent odours from occurring. Apparently the record is one guy who wore a pair for 183 days straight. I would not recommend this, but you can go 3-4 days in a pair of these before you need to wash them. I quite happily travels for months with 3 pairs of their pants, socks and t-shirts. They are light, dry fast, stay warm when when, fire proof and completely sustainable (unless you eat the sheep as well). There are a few brands out there, but for quality, style and damn good customer service, stick to Icebreaker. And if you are a sucker for cool marketing, they tick that box too.

But of course if you are Bear Ghrylls you would not dream of doing any of these - how else would you get that dry rub seasoning for the ribs you just ripped out of a passing aardvark?

The Rules of Road - Part 1

1. If it is bigger than you and in your lane, get out the way
2. If it is coming straight at you in your lane, get out the way
3. If it has four legs and is in your lane, get out the way
4. If it has a siren and is in your lane, get out the way
5. Check that you are driving on the correct side of the road.

Splish, splash

It was at Bahia de los Angeles - the Bay of Angels where we first got a glimpse of the Sea of Cortez. It was after a 5 hour drive through the desert, surrounded by mountains and numerous giant cacti that the most amazing blue water seemed to appear out of nowhere. Islands were scattered throughout the water and desert landscape surrounded the shore line.
We decide to stay in town for a couple of days and relax after being on the road for quite a few days. On our first morning, we wake up and it is already about 30 degrees outside. We drive around to La Gringa point, take Loretta on to the beach which we have all to ourselves. We have breakfast by the water, go for a swim, or two, or three in the gorgeous tropical water and check out some of the small whiting in the bay. The pelicans were on watch for food and were successful with their diving on numerous occasions and we were treated to a special show by a couple of dolphins swimming by.
Now I have always thought that in Far North Queensland, where the rainforest meets the ocean, was pretty spectacular, but where the desert meets the sea certainly gives it a run for its money!

First view of the Sea of Cortez

Camping in an olive grove

Realising we could not make it to our next destination in daylight hours, we decided to have an overnight pit stop in a place called San Quintin, which lies on the pacific coast line, but is primarily an agricultural town. Here we got to stay at a gorgeous camp ground called Los Olivios and got the chance to camp among an olive grove. We think Loretta enjoyed the scenery, we know we did!

There she blows

After camping near Ensenada for our first night in Mexico, we head to La Bufadora (or The Snorter), a blowhole where incoming swells push seawater into an underground canyon and out through a hole in the rocks. She was pretty impressive, blowing about 20 or 30 metres...and also happens to be the second largest marine geyser in the world! All around the area are vendors selling food, clothing, hats and cheap knock offs at 99% off. We get ripped off by 10 pesos by the churros vendor but oh well, we learnt our lesson.

12 steps to crossing the border (or the frogger experience)

Step 1: drive through the gates
Step 2: car gets semi inspected - all relatively quickly
Step 3: park car
Step 4: go to immigration
Step 5: pick up tourist card form
Step 6: go to bank to pay for tourist card
Step 7: return to immigration to process tourist card
Step 8: go to Banjercito to sort out vehicle paperwork
Step 9: go to pharmacy to get photocopies of the paperwork for the Banjercito
Step 10: return to Banjercito to finalise vehicle paperwork
Step 11: stick vehicle sticker on car
Step 12: we are legally allowed to enter Mexico!

Surfing USA

• Cliff top camp site with beach views...tick
• Barbie and Ken spotted in a little black corvette (sadly it wasn't red)...tick
• A swim at Malibu beach...tick
• Shiny greased up old man spotted on the beach sunbathing...tick
• Life savers that looked like the Hoff minus the rug...tick

Here comes the sun

Santa Barbara, a bustling town. Lots of lovely shops and a few sites to see.
We ended up staying a couple of towns over at Carpinteria beach. A cute beach side town, great location for the campsite which was by the beach, but the neighbours, well let's say we could have down without them.

Essentials for being on the road

• GPS or old school maps when necessary
• A large bag of kettle corn to keep hunger at bay

Step back in time

Cambria, a cute little town you reach after you drive along the the Big Sur.
Lots of great antique shops, food stores, a cute little church, weekend markets, a lawn bowls club, and a lot of retirees. The best part, the fresh Tacos from the food truck...mmm, bring on Mexico!

Big Sur

Late in the afternoon, early in the evening, we got the chance to drive along the Big Sur. All I can say is "wow". We have been driving along most of western coastline on this trip, and this by far was the best. As Loretta meandered her way down the road, we took in the spectacular views. This is a must for everyone!

We went to camp at the state park, but didn't have a registration, and didn't quite think about the fact it was a Friday night...so there was no room at the campsite for Loretta and us. We drove from campsite to campsite and all was full. We sadly had to finish the big sur drive in the dark and drive on to the next town Sansimeon, just below Hearst castle, to shack up at one of the motels there for the evening.

The Big Sur. I know, this is a tiny photo, will post a bigger one soon!

Wearing flowers in our hair

We packed up early on Friday morning and we headed into San Fran. Dan of course wanted to drive as he wanted to be the one to take us over the Golden Gate Bridge...later I was very grateful considering the road etiquette...or lack there of among San Fran drivers.
We ate, wandered around, explored Golden Gate park for awhile, and ate some more. We got our San Fran fix so it was time to take the flowers out of our hair and move on.

Driving over a misty Golden Gate Bridge

Wanker...I mean pondering in Golden Gate Park

Fee fi fo fum - walking with giants

As we headed towards San Francisco, we got the chance to drive through the Redwood National Forest along the Avenue of Giants. The redwoods are fantastic, old, massive and the fact that their bark is fire resistant and repels bugs is pretty impressive. The road is windy, and you need to drive slow, but hey, we weren't complaining, it gave us a chance to enjoy the serenity...I mean scenery.

Recipes on the road: flame grilled pork ribs

Ingredients

• Fresh pork ribs - your 2kg variety is enough for two people, no need for 5kg
• Olive oil
• Garlic - about 4 to 6 cloves
• Paprika
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

• Drizzle olive oil, then sprinkle a decent amount of paprika, salt and pepper over one side of the ribs. Using a garlic crusher, add at least 1 clove of garlic to the same side (use at least 2 garlic cloves per 1kg rack of ribs - one for each side. Add more if you like your garlic!). Then rub the oil, spices and garlic into the ribs.
• Turn ribs over and repeat.
• Cover and leave the meat to marinate - aim for at least an hour or longer if you can.
• Start your fire - make sure you give yourself time for your coals or wood to die down a little for some good cooking embers.
• Using a grill over the fire, add your pork - fleshier side down. Turn when ready to cook the other side.
• Chop up, serve and eat!

A love hate relationship

Floras Lake - where Dan went kite surfing.

Love...

• The sun
• The beach front view from the tent
• The most amazing night sky
• Lack of mossies

Hate...

• The blimmin wind
• Cool weather
• The blimmin wind

Kiters in the distance - the view from our campsite

In action

On the road again

We hit the road again, trying to put some more distance between us and our starting point, Vancouver. We stop at Cannon Beach for a night where we stay at the retro Wrights Camping site. We check out the cute sea side town in the morning and move on.
Our next stop is Oregon Dunes, where we felt a little left out as we were the only people without an ATV (all terrain vehicle). Dan was tempted to take Loretta out, but at the last minute, decided it was probably best not to...don't think we would have gotten too far!

Holidaying and the art of zen

Last time we were in Portland, we sadly missed going to the Japanese Gardens as they were closed on the day we went there. This time we weren't going to miss them! The sun was shining and the gardens, which are supposed to be the best gardens outside of Japan, were at their best. Waterfalls, lanterns, tea rooms (where sadly you couldn't drink tea), raked pebbles, pagodas, fish ponds...it all looked pretty close to me! All that was missing was the big sake barrels! Mmmm sake.

The city of food trucks

Portland, no matter where you go, you always get a good feed. We had to stop in Portland purely to get some good grub...and perhaps do a spot of tax free shopping. The verdict...stomachs were very happy!

Mt St Helens

I haven't always had a fascination with volcanos, it took a while to get there. Years of volcano talk in geography and science classes bored me and then in year 12 something resonated with me - most likely it was partly due to the best science teacher ever, Mr Watson, or Mr Watty as we all called him. I remember learning about Mt St Helen's at various times during school and I think the fact that it had erupted so "recently" really interested me.
Needless to say, I was very excited to go check out big Helen. We drove around and got some pretty good views of Helen from various sides and checked out the surrounding landscape, which looks like it is still trying to recover from the last eruption. I reckon where she blew her top off gives her some character :-)

Mt St Helens

A hospital visit

Well we were anticipating that one of us would be getting ill on this trip,but weren't expecting it to happen so early, nor in the States!
Anyway, late in the evening while we were camping at Mount Rainier, Dan wanted to get some attention. So he decided to go pick up for the evening and took some bug to bed. As a result he had a pretty rough night being sick.
The next morning we pack up the camp (well I did, somehow) and off we went to try and find a pharmacy and a motel. We spoke to a ranger and the nearest pharmacy was about 45 minutes away. So our search began.
Whilst driving we noticed a sign for a hospital and decide to head in that direction. Not long afterwards we arrive at Morton General Hospital where the wait time at emergency was only a few minutes - we were very impressed!
Dan was seen to by the lovely Dr McCurry, who was fantastic, and was happy to have a chat, and was helped by a couple of nurses to get quite a bit of IV fluids in him and was on his way to getting better. After a few hours he was good to go. We bunkered down in Morton that night and all was well.

Wandering through Paradise

Mount Rainier is an active volcano in Washington State. It has a glaciated peak and spawns six major rivers.
We arrive at Rainier late in the day (following our shopping spree) so we find a great camp site on the south side of the mountain and set up camp there.
The next day, we thought we should do a little bit of walking and head towards a place called paradise. We did the skyline high trail, on the south west side. It was absolutely stunning, with gorgeous wild flowers in the lower meadows. As we got closer to what was known as panorama point, there were patches of snow which still had not melted, and we got close up to the glaciers at the top of the mountain. Once at panorama point, we got the most amazing view of Mount Adams, Mount St Helens and Mount Hood (which is in Oregon).
On our descent we heard avalanches occurring on the north side, and chatted with a lovely elderly couple who do this walk about twice a year and rate this as the best of them all, so we were pretty chuffed with our choice! Check out the picture below and see what you think!

What Bear Grylls didn't tell you about survival: Five Ways To Start a Camp Fire

Let's face it, Bear Grylls may be happy knawing down on a rotting sheep carcases eyeball or swimming across crocodile-eating pirahanna infested water, but the reality is, most of us are a little more soft around the edges and setting up a tent alone is feat in itself. So this is an urbanists guide to surviving in the "wild".

Five Ways to Start a Campfire:

Nothing does more to define the campsite than a fire. We have been sitting around them for tens of thousands of years and the ability to light one without battering an eyelid is the definitive measurement of how manly a man is in the wilderness (or local campsite). Unfortunately we seem to have lost our knack for rubbing a couple of twigs together in order to create something that would put the Great Fire of London to shame. Here are some cheating tips on how to get a fire going but with a bit of flair.
First up, you need some DEAD and DRY wood. You can just buy this as most campgrounds will not allow you to collect it from the forest floor. The problem is that when you buy this, there is no kindling - that easy to light and fast burning accelerant to get logs burning through the night. If you buy fire starters, you are going to be shunned as the person who could not do a "proper" camp fire. Below are cheating methods as well, but at least you will be held in awe by your fellow campers:

Corn Chips:

Corn is used an alternative clean fuel, which means that corn must have some flammable properties right?

Pros: Slow burning with a small flame; almost guaranteed that someone would have packed some; feel like some new age environmental hippy
Cons: Temptation to build a burning pyramid for the corn chip gods will result in nothing for you to dip in the salsa except your dirt-coated fingers: feel like some new age environmental hippy

Lighter Fluid/Petrol:

Who has not done this?

Pros: Easily available; highly flamable
Cons: likely to put too much on the fire and at best loose your eyebrows; your fellow campers realise that you are a bogan

Hair:

I had a friend who demonstrated how flamable hair was by sitting in a tent and taking a lighter to his leg hairs. Needless to say many hours were wasted at his cost

Pros: unless you have a hair condition, easy to find; renewable fuel source
Cons: Burns very fast; smells funny; likely to find your fellow campers "trimming" you in the night

Farting:

OK, you can't really not have this one in there. It is the ultimate in juvenile male behaviour, but if you actually manage to get a fire started by this method, you will be written in the book of legends

Pros: Cheap to produce; opportunity to achieve legendary status
Cons: Follow through; excessive gas resulting in losing your manhood

Shopping Spree

Now this wasn't your typical shopping spree. First of all, this little (or not so little) spending spree was all about Dan, rather than me...

Driving into Seattle

It was time to put some distance between us and Vancouver, so our next stop was Mount Rainier, in Washington State. Before we left Burlington, we had come to the realisation that we had too much stuff in the car - and before you say anything, it is not because I packed too many shoes or handbags. So we decided to purchase a top box for the car. On the way to Mount Rainier, we detoured via Seattle to visit the mothership of all REI stores (a travel/outdoor store. Personally, I reckon Dan brought along too many of his toys so we had to visit this store). We arrived at REI, and were treated to an outdoors wonderland. There was a mini hiking trail and bike route around the store, and once through the large wooden doors with Italian pick axes for door handles there were 2 levels to explore. A lock box was selected, and a few other items were picked up. We re-jigged how the car was packed (well Dan did, I got my priorities in order and went and got lunch) and we were set to go!

Packing the car...again

AKABOB

On our first evening in Burlington, the campsites to our left and right were visited by lone bikers. The rider to our left kept to himself while the rider to our right became our new friend, Bob.
AKABOB as his number plates told us, likes his beads. So much so that he decorates his mo with them. Bob, his beads and his Harley are on a journey - riding across the States exploring the country and rediscovering himself. His destination is unknown and he has no time restrictions. When we met him, he had been on the road for about a month and had ridden from New York.
Bob shared many wonderful stories with us, from poaching alligators through to how he bedazzles his mo, cooked us a great dinner one night, and gave me some gorgeous beads that he had made - an anklet and a bracelet, thank you Bob! We wish you safe travels for the rest of your journey!

AKABOB

And away we go

A well packed car!

The countdown is over - it is Saturday, September 1st, the first day of our adventures! After a flurry of activity in the morning where we finished packing the car (somehow!), and cleaned the apartment, we finally make it on the road!
It is a long weekend in both Canada and the States so we decide to cross the border and bunker down in Burlington (a small town in Washington State, not far from the Canadian border) for a couple of nights rather than risk spending the night on the side of the road (although that could be entertaining).
We thought we should treat ourselves to some luxury accommodation and stayed at a KOA campsite, with warm water and showers!
So not a very exciting start to the tour for us, but a start nonetheless.

Departing Vancouver, close to a full tank of petrol & 114319 miles clocked