In the Land of the Gods

Another superb experience we had during our North American stay was a trip to the Olympic National Park lying to west of Seattle across Puget sound. I've seen the Olympic range many times from near Emily's home in Kirkland. On cannot miss it as it soars 8000 feet above sea level and is frequently draped in snow while only being maybe 20 + km away.

This time we took 3 days off over the Memorial Day long weekend to stay at an Airbnb home in Port Angeles on the Olympic peninsula's north coast. And, on the second day, which was bright and sunny, we drove up to Hurricane Ridge, one of the highlight spots in the national park to take in the view and walk a trail. All 6 of us took the trip, including Emily and Greg and their two kids, Flynn and Ella. Dot and I, as grandparents, made up the test of the entourage. It was a fantastic experience!

The road journey itself - only about 25 km from where we were staying - was exciting as the road snaked in a fairly gentle manner ever higher and the scenery grew ever more spectacular. At the ridge-top visitor's centre we alighted from our car and were met with a sweeping view of the snow-capped mountains. The first picture is one of 5 taking in the whole range and shows the highest point, Mt Olympus itself, reaching just short of 8,000 feet. Of course, the original Mt Olympus is in Greece and was thought 2,000 or so years ago to be the spot where the Greek gods hung out.

And this picture is a close-up version of Mt Olympus with its mini-glaciers. 

Five of us then started to walk one of the park's main trail, which climbed for about 2.5 km (1.6 miles) to a great lookout which gave us even better panoramic views of the mountains and their surrounds. Take this for example:

And the countryside was not without its wildlife, including the deer shown here, brown bears which had been seen the morning of our arrival - but not on our route, chipmunks, and

It was also the season when the wild-flowers emerged from hibernation.

And this was our ultimate destination via a well-maintained walking track.

The higher we got on the track, the more panoramic the view across the mountain range. And, by the way, it was warm enough at c. 6,000 feet for me to wear summer geear.

This was despite a few remnant pieces of ice still on the hillside - the ice was useful for 'snowball' fights among some of our party - guess who.

And here's a cheerful little chappy - a marmot snugly dressed in fur looking for food and maybe human company.

The higher we got, the more expansive the views.

And those included Port Angeles below, followed by a feint image of Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada across the straight separating the two nations. Victoria, the capital of B C lies somewhere in the distant haze.

On the north-facing slope, the cooler weather had preserved rather more of the winter snow-drifts.

And here's another marmot looking for food, just like the young deer we found at the side of the trail.

And, finally, here I am taking a breather with a mountainous background.

This was a lovely experience, and highly recommended if you have the chance.

AS

A Bavarian Encounter

We're coming to the end of our trip to Seattle to our family members living there and celebrate Ella's 8th birthday. But over the three weeks we have had many excellent experiences that I'll report on over my next few posts. Perhaps one of the most exceptional outings took us the little town of Leavenworth buried in the Cascade mountain range bordering the eastern side of the Seattle region.

Its population is a little under 2000 people and a century ago Leavenworth's main source of survival was its timber processing industries. Those eventually gave out, partly for environmental reasons, and the town came to see its future based on tourism and over many decades it has transformed itself into an up-market tourist destination. And the attraction is? Well, the Cascade scenery is great - with its mountains, valleys, forests, lakes and many walking trails. But many other places share these attractions. Leavenworth did something much rarer and more imaginative. It turned itself into a Bavarian village and indeed a rather authentic one! Apart from that, it contains many ethnic restaurants - some German, lovely hotels, plenty of high-end gift shops, and such entertainment as music and 'horse-drawn coach-rides.

I let my pictures tell the story. When we left Kirkland the day was dull, windy and wet - most unpleasant. However, Emily explained that the weather in the Cascades could be very different to the coast and that Leavenworth was sheltered by the mountains, an opinion that proved correct!

The sun broke through as we headed eastwards into the mountains.

We finally found Leavenworth with its cheery roadside greeting.

And another one in town to reinforce the point!




















My first impression on leaving our car was Wow! This is something very special - not just a few Bavarian - like buildings but masses of them. In fact nearly every building in sight.

My favourable impression was aided by the mass of wall murals, German wording, other artistic displays and even street signage.












And all this was cradled in the mountains











Moreover, the design of buildings included a lot of wooden features including balconies and intricate gables on roofs. This was not something that arose haphazardly, but required massive investment and careful control.




Another central European design feature on many buildings was over-hanging balconies or facades like those shown here.











And one recurring image on the walls was that of the castle developed by the 'mad' King Ludwig of Bavaria - the famous
Schloss Neuschwanstein.

The signage on buildings also contributed to the atmosphere. Here's Bear House.





















And Mozart, below, got a look in. Many of the eateries also cashed in on the atmosphere - German or otherwise.





















Of course, some businesses couldn't avoid flying the stars and stripes.












But most played the game.












 Of course, what went on inside could be rather different. Here I am in a clothing store with my mate - a local grizzly bear.











But outside again, the arrival of these coaches did much to reinforce the Bavarian image. We didn't take a ride, however, as we were attracted to the arrival of tens of school kids armed with violins, cellos, and violas. I don't know why this happened, but their performance of works like those of Mozart again matched Leavenworth's image. They were also very good.

Meanwhile, one of the carriages trotted by. And here we can see Emily and Dot enjoying their Bavarian lunch. Naturally, we ate Bavarian ... and mine was naturally some kind of wurst.

 All up it was a great day!

AS

Hong Kong's Little Sister

Although much of what goes on in HK seems to be controlled by next-door China, it's not the only territory in this part of the world which has a kind of semi-autonomy. Just across the mouth of of the Pearl River lies Macau, which perhaps surprisingly was a Portuguese colony until 1999. The two territories are roughly 50 km apart by sea and connected by high-speed catamarans. We decided to take day trip on the Thursday before Easter, to sample its interesting mix of European and Chinese culture. It was a conducted tour, so all the members of our party stayed together for the day. Macau's economy seems to be heavily reliant on gambling and we sampled one of these establishments examining the various ways for patrons to loose their money! Alas photography was forbidden. Here's Dot and Emily waiting in the hotel foyer for us depart on our trip.

And this is our first view of Macau with its high rise apartments and European-style cobbled streets.


We slowly walked our way towards the fortress built by the Portuguese to guard their colony and it was quite impressive.

Here's its wall and the manicured gardens below.








Once we walked up to higher ground near the fortress, we got a great view, side-on, of the facade of the former cathedral, now demolished.

Our first stop atop was a museum portraying the history of the Portuguese colony. And here are some of the exhibits on display.



























































Unlike HK, which has, I think, lost quite a lot of its British origins, one can still see lots of Portuguese influence in Macau. I have visited Portugal several times and could pick up readily the colonial influence.

 

Once atop the fortress, we had some lovely views over the city. Above we can see quite a bit of the old city, backed in the distance by high-rise apartments similar to HK. We loved the architecture of the casino on the right. Why can't we build such structures in Australia? Below, we see Dot and Emily on the fortress




















I don't know who this dude is, but left you can more of the cathedral's front. Descending from the fortress we came across more cobbled streets and a temple with joss sticks in front.

Here's a selfie in front of the cathedral's facade and, from there, we walked through crowded shop-lined alley-ways towards the heart of the Portuguese Macau.














































All the buildings you see above could have come straight out of Lisbon! And the former council chamber above had lots of blue ceramics both inside and outside as the picture below shows.










To the left and above we can see a dragon's body and head, with both presumably used in various festivals.
















And, to the right, we have a statue of Jorge Alvares who landed at Lintin Island  in 1513. The Portuguese arrived here at least 300 years before the British turned up! Having finished our stint on the ground, we rode up Macau's Tower in a fast lift. This is at least as tall as the equivalents in Sydney and Seattle and has a traditional revolving restaurant on top with clear views over the surrounding landscape.


And here, folks, we can see mainland China, which comes right to Macau's doorstep.





















Remember that some parts you're looking at are Macau, and others are China. I'm not sure which!

The tower has an interesting side that doesn't exist in Sydney and Seattle. And it's scary. One can Bungy Jump from the top with a fall of maybe 400 to 500 feet! We saw several people zoom past our viewing position at the end of a long rope. And, if you fancy something tamer, you ca take a sky-walk along a flat concrete ledge outside of the viewing area. Fortunately, you're tied to a rail to prevent you dropping far if you take a misstep! See below right. The people taking this scary walk looked about Max's age - c. 15 year old. Incidentally we had a late lunch in the revolving restaurant, which was vary good.

And this is the view they might have had. It's a long way down!

And, for less adventurous, one could lie on a glass floor with nothing between you and the ground.

After this bit of fun, we headed off to a casino to sample, but not photograph, the atmosphere


Then it was all aboard the ferry taking us home. All up, it was a great day and highly recommended.

AS