The Dominican Republic - A long awaited post

I haven't blogged in what seems like years, but it feels like it's time to start picking up the living abroad mantle once again.

So I've been here in the DR almost two and a half months and it is a pretty crazy place, especially when compared with Russia.  The weather is constantly warm, the people friendly and the food delicious (not to say that Russia isn't these things, it's just different over there).  There's been a slew of good experiences so far and a few bad ones, but the good most certainly outweigh the bad (beaches vs. being mugged).

I'm not really sure where to begin with this post, but let me start by saying free time here is quite enjoyable. Just last weekend I was able to take a leisurely trip to the beach...a beach much different than you might see in the Pacific Northwest (pictures coming soon).  But Juan Dolio (a very nice public beach) is a short 45 minute bus ride away.


I've also begun my first real job as a 4th grade teacher.  If I ever thought my students in Seattle were full of energy, it was nothing. Never have I ever seen or heard of kids being as full of pent-up energy as my students or the students in my school.  Recess is an absolute circus and with all the running and screaming and whatever else, I'm pretty sure there's a dead student lying somewhere in the cracks of the building. How there's not a serious injury everyday is quite baffling.

The year is off to a good start though and unlike the last time I blogged, you can most certainly expect more blog posts in a shorter period of time to come. Enjoy Dear Readers

Shake, Rattle, and Aloha -- An Earthquake Tale

posted by hackey hudjson



When an earthquake rattled the East Coast this week, it made me think about my own experiences with having "the earth move." The DH and I are native Californians who have never lived anywhere but the Golden State. Given California's reputation with regard to earthquakes, the two of us have lots of stories to tell about quakes, right?



Wrong.



DH has never been in a major earthquake, and the only one I was ever in happened when I was six-months-old (which hardly counts). In fact, these two old Californians had to go all the way to Hawaii to experience an earthquake first hand!



We are very lucky because we live where it is easy to find inexpensive deals to Hawaii. Such was the case one recent October when a travel agency we've often used offered a five day trip to Honolulu, and we decided to go for it. Our high rise hotel was in a GREAT location, across the street from the Honolulu Zoo and half a block from the beach. The views from our ninth story room were wonderful -- we could see all the way to Diamond Head.



Sunday morning at 7 a.m. I was awakened from a sound sleep by the bed shaking. Thinking the DH had returned from his morning swim and was playing a game of 'let's wake up the slug', I rolled over ready to yell at him but NO DH. Instead, I heard a very loud roar, while the bed and the room both started to sway!



I may have never been in an earthquake before but I KNEW what was happening. I threw some clothes on over my pajamas while the room continued to sway. Then I grabbed my umbrella (Did I mention it was pouring rain?) and RAN down all nine flights of stairs to the lobby!



I had a friend who was trapped in an elevator for four hours during the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 so there was NO WAY I was getting in an elevator, though that stairwell was pretty icky. I'm just glad we weren't on the eighteenth floor.



When I reached the lobby, huffing and puffing like a steam locomotive, I saw a lot of bleary-eyed people milling about. An emergency generator was already set up to run one elevator and some lights. Staff also had turned on a battery powered radio and I listened anxiously for about ten minutes for news of death, destruction, and... a tsunami!



All I heard was that one power grid had gone down and in doing so, had triggered overloads on all the power grids so electricity was out all over the island. Also, that the quake had been centered off the Big Island, not Oahu. And NO tsunami.



I couldn't quite believe that last part, and worse -- DH was still out there SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN! I walked out to the front sidewalk and peered through the sheets of rain. Finally, I decided if he didn't show up in five more minutes, I'd go looking for him. Two minutes later he walked up, towel around his shoulders, dripping wet. He headed straight for the elevator and couldn't understand why all those people were standing around in the lobby. When I mentioned THE EARTHQUAKE, he gave me a blank stare.



He hadn't felt a thing!



Luckily the only consequence of the earthquake turned out to be no power in Honolulu for thirteen hours. Inconvenient, yes. No cooked food, no air conditioning, no running water above the third floor... But in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that bad! We spent most of the day sitting on the lanai of the Hawaiian Princess hotel, which was right on the beach and had a lovely breeze.



I give the highest kudos to the Honolulu police, who were out directing traffic within 30 minutes of the quake knocking out the power. Officers were stationed at every traffic light down the length of Waikiki, and they stayed until the power came back on at 8 P.M. As the electricity was restored to each high rise hotel along Waikiki, a cheer went up from the patrons inside. Ours was no exception.



By the time we flew home on Tuesday morning, everything on Oahu (the airport, the roadways, the tourist attractions) was running as smoothly as it had been before the quake hit.



So there you have my earthquake tale, now it's your turn: Did you feel the quake this week? Have you been in another earthquake? If not, do you have a 'wild weather' experience you can share?

Walking in the steps of history

By Trish Milburn



One of my favorite school subjects has always been history, particularly American history. One of my minors in college was in History. So it's no surprise that I love visiting historic sites be they homes, battlefields, roads, whatever.



Growing up in the South, you can almost pitch a rock in any direction and hit something that has a tie to the Civil War. Historic re-enactments almost always pit the blue against the gray. But one of my favorite periods in American History is actually Colonial/Revolution. So this summer when I had the opportunity to visit New England for the first time, I was mucho excited. I was going to see places that really helped to shape our country before it even became the United States of America.



There have been times when I've visited a place of such historical significance that it was surreal. I felt that way the first time I visited Washington, D.C., in high school. All those monuments, the Smithsonian, the White House -- those were things that you just saw on the nightly news. Several years later, I took a driving trip out West and stopped at several points along the Oregon Trail in Nebraska and Wyoming. There are parts such as Windlass Hill in Western Nebraska where you can still see the ruts from the wagons that were headed west along the Oregon Trail. Fast forward to 2003 and my first trip to New York City. I had the same surreal feeling when I visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.



This summer, I experienced it again when I stopped at Minute Man National Historic Park outside of Boston. Here I walked along the road (pictured here) that Paul Revere rode down to warn the countryside that the British were coming. The park and the Battle Road commemorate the famous Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the beginning of the American Revolution. I stood in the middle of the road and was hit with an overwhelming sense of history.



The big destination for my trip, however, was Salem, Massachusetts, set of the infamous witch trials in 1692. I have a YA paranormal trilogy coming out next year, and books 2 and 3 take place in Salem, so I wanted to see it firsthand. I walked all over town, and you can tell how steeped the town is in its witch history. Museums dedicated to the witch trials, businesses with names like the Witch's Brew Cafe, and visitors touring cemeteries. There's also a memorial comprised of 20 carved stone benches. Each one lists the name of one of the victims of the trials, when they died and how they died. 19 people were hanged and one pressed to death as a result of the hysteria that had no basis.



In nearby Marblehead, I visited the grave of Wilmot Redd, the only person from Marblehead to be executed for being a witch.



Another must-see in Salem is a literary landmark. The famed House of the Seven Gables (pictured), made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne, sits overlooking the harbor.



They have a very nice tour that takes you through the circa 1668 house and showcases its history and construction. I happened to visit on Hawthorne's birthday, so everyone was in a festive mood. Also on the property is Nathaniel Hawtorne's birthplace and a nice gift shop where I just might have purchased some witch-themed novels and a very pretty pair of earrings. :)



Now I'm curious -- do you enjoy visiting historical sites? If so, what kinds in particular? Have you ever visited a site where you really felt the history of the place? If so, where? And tell us about your favorite historic site.

The Day I Became A Celebrity

posted by hackey hudjson

The iconoclastic artist Andy Warhol was once quoted as saying, "In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes."

Well, I got part of my fifteen minutes, if not exactly fame then a taste of what it is like to be a celebrity. It happened in Thailand, an amazing and beautiful country with some of the nicest people in the world.

DH and I were doing a 'self tour' of the Summer Palace which is a short boat ride up the river from Bangkok. The palace is actually about a dozen different buildings on extensive, beautifully landscaped grounds. I was walking by myself across a pretty little stone bridge over an ornamental pond, when I heard a huge group of school children approaching. There must have been a couple hundred of them, around ten years old and wearing crisp blue and white uniforms. Undoubtedly they were on a field trip.

I scooted out of the way, and stood with my back against the low stone railing of the bridge to let the big noisy group pass. As the first dozen kids walked by me, they all stared (I was probably one of the first if not THE first American they'd ever seen live and in person). Then, one bold youngster shouted out, "Hello!" To which I answered, "Hello!" This brought a gale of nervous giggles, followed by a raucous chorus of hellos.

After a few dozen more kids, all chirping out "hello" like myna birds, scurried past me, one little boy got brave and stuck out his hand while exclaiming, "hello." I obligingly shook his hand and said hello back. Well, that opened the flood gates! Next thing I knew, about a hundred enthusiastic kids were crowded around me, all shouting hello and grabbing for my hands.

YIKES! It was more than a bit scary!

All those eager little bodies pressing around me could have easily sent me over the railing and into the pond. Dozens of them might have fallen with me! Fortunately that didn't happen. I kept smiling, shouting hello, and grabbing as many outstretched hands as I could, while the teachers herded the kids the rest of the way across the bridge. They also smiled and bobbed their heads in thanks to me.

The whole incident lasted maybe ten minutes, but it felt like a lot longer at the time. When I got back to the DH, I collapsed onto the shady bench beside him and said, "Now I know how Michael Jackson feels."

And I can just imagine the discussions in the school yard days later. While one kid brags about his adventure, another kid whines, "No fair! We didn't get to shake hands with an American tourist at the Summer Palace!"

Have you had your fifteen minutes of fame? Maybe five minutes? Please share your exploits as a celebrity with Aunty and the rest of us here in the Lair!

Close Encounters of the Reptilian Kind

posted by hackey hudjson

Trish's book launch and the talk about National parks reminded me of my first trip to the Everglades, and the first time I ever saw an alligator "in the wild" -- as in not inside a zoo or other compound.

This did not happen on our first trip to Florida. We'd already been there several times. First we did the Disney World/Epcot experience, then we did Speed Week. Heck, we'd even ventured down to the Keys a few weeks after a hurricane devastated the surrounding area. But this was the first time we ever ventured into the Everglades.

It was a wild and blustery winter day in south Florida (but still a LOT warmer than here in NorCal!) when we pulled into the ranger's station intent on taking one of those swamp buggy tours into the Everglades. Unfortunately, the weather made it unsafe for swamp buggies or anything else out in the 'Glades, the ranger politely explained. Road closed. End of line. But seeing how crest-fallen we were, she directed us to a nearby spot where we would probably see some alligators.

We followed her directions and within minutes found ourselves driving slowly along an elevated gravel road with water on both sides. The vegetation was lush and there were birds galore. Suddenly, DH threw the car into reverse and backed up about 100 yards, then inched forward a bit, saying, "I think I see a gator!"

He rolled down the window and pointed. I couldn't see anything, so he shut off the car and we both got out and walked to the back bumper. What is it about reptiles, especially large reptiles, that brings out the stupid in mammal brains? The DH pointed again and I squinted a little more, until I noticed the partially submerged black log he indicated actually had AN EYEBALL!

Oh WOW! An honest to goodness gator! This was exciting.

We stood for several minutes just looking, and the gator just stayed there too, never moving. Then DH got the bright idea to "feed" it to see if it would move. He opened the trunk and pulled out a fat-free muffin left over from breakfast (they hadn't been very tasty, but we didn't throw them out in case we were desperate for a snack), and lobbed it in the gator's direction.

ACK!!! In about one-tenth of a nanosecond, the thing whipped around and these massive jaws went SNAP!

As my eyes bugged out and my throat made this funny little EEP sound, my brain shouted, "That thing is FAST! And it's A LOT BIGGER than it first looked!" Well over six feet!

But mostly I'm thinking, "RUN YOU IDIOT! DON'T JUST STAND HERE!"

Apparently DH read my thoughts, or he was thinking the same thing. But he managed to tell me, "Do not run! Slowly get in the car." Yeah, right! We both shuffled carefully and quietly around and got into the car. Gravel flew as we high-tailed it outta there!

We've been back to Florida many times, and have been into the Everglades more than once. AWESOME PLACE! We've even been on a couple of swamp buggy tours. But we have NEVER again been stupid enough to try and feed the gators!

Are you like Aunty and Indiana Jones, do reptiles make you break into a cold sweat? Or do you like our reptilian inhabitants? Do you have any encounters with reptiles you can share with us?

Going Ape On Gibraltar

posted by hackey hudjson

Not long ago, I watched an excellent travel program all about the Camino Santiago Pilgrimage in Spain. The show brought back memories of my trip to Spain and Portugal and one of the funniest moments of my travel adventures.

We'd been in Spain and Portugal for ten days. We had prepared ourselves for the cold wet weather, it was February after all. But we had not expected the lack of heat and hot water in several of the pensiones where we'd stayed. The morning we rolled up to the border crossing to enter Gibraltar, I was cold, hungry and homesick.

When the guard in the crossing booth asked for our passports in his precise English accent, I almost jumped out of the car and kissed him. Then we drove a few hundred yards down the road and on my right I saw a Safeway grocery store and knew I was in Heaven!

After we hung out in the quaint downtown for awhile, we got on the tram to take us to the lofty heights of The Rock. The views were truly spectacular and we were awed by the formations inside the limestone caves. Since it was a beautiful clear day, we opted to walk part of the way back down and found ourselves at the only other tram stop on the mountainside. This spot was also the favorite hang-out for a large group of the famous Gibraltar apes, which are rather large tailless monkeys. And the males have quite impressive teeth.

While waiting for the tram to arrive we watched some of the moms with their babies and a few larger youngsters playing along the stone wall designed to keep us humans on the path. I took a couple more pictures of the harbor, and the apes. In spite of signs in several languages warning NOT to feed or tease the apes, some people waiting with us started offering them cookies. Meanwhile, DH took the camera and directed me to stand over near the wall so he could get some shots of me with the apes in the background. Only they didn't STAY in the background.

As I stood smiling and oblivious, a half-grown "teen" ape made a big leap toward my shoulder. I saw him just as he made contact. I screamed, jumped and pushed him away. I think he may have yelped too as he bounced onto the pavement, then leaped back over the wall. The DH was doubled over laughing, and yes, he got one picture but it was blurry because both the ape and I were moving QUICKLY! VERY QUICKLY! DH still claims that the fastest he's ever seen me move.

Fortunately, the tram arrived a couple of minutes later. Once we were safely back within the confines of Safeway and I'd consumed a Cadbury chocolate bar, I was able to laugh about my misadventure with a young, and maybe amorous (or at least hungry) ape.

I realize not everyone can have an elephant follow them home from school like our Helen, but have you ever had an up-close and personal encounter with wild life? A rabid squirrel or prairie dog perhaps? Please share the details with Aunty and the rest of the Lair.

Runnin' Through the Airport....

This weekend, I was at the RWA Board meeting in Austin, Texas. Now, this isn't the topic of my blog and if you're interested in what we did, grab a look at the RWA Hot Sheet on the website.

No, what I want to talk about is travel. Yes. Travel. We're all thinking about it, I know.....Going to conferences, RWA National included, or thinking longingly of Easter/Passover visiting, Spring Break or summer vacations ahead.

Are you flying?

Now don't wince. This isn't a diatribe about flying either.

I love to fly. Really. I do.

I do NOT love to go through security, but I'm fairly tolerant of all the nutso rules and regs. I've mailed my beloved Swiss Army Knife home to myself at least three times, thrown away perfectly good bottles of water, Diet Coke, Milk, etc. right at the gate of security, let them confiscate my nail polish (a gorgeous OPI color too!) when the no-liquids rule first went into effect, and all that insane stuff.

I love that instant when the wheels lift off the ground and you can feel the almost weightlessness of the airplane. *shiver* It's fabulous. Or the solid bump-soft-shudder-bump-shhhhhh of a great landing. Excellent.

What I'm not fond of? All alcohol and caffeinated drinks on a five-hour flight and no food. (Can you say "belligerent passengers"?) Running through Atlanta's airport. That is one airport you just CANNOT run through. The floors are too slick, the train too slow. Impossible.

Memphis ain't real fun either, as I can attest from this weekend!

However, airline employees, the REAL ones on the front lines, are great. Lorry W, with Delta, made sure that I would have a second connection already ready and waiting if my connection missed in Memphis, so I could get home. Brenda, Mary and Barb, all Delta flight attendants, were cordial, good humored, and sincerely helpful, even to the guy who insisted on taking off his shoes (no socks on, folks. Ugh!) and who gestured at them and demanded yet one more gin and tonic, with his unlit and quite chewed-upon cigar. Double-ugh.

My cousin is a flight attendant. Some of the stories she can tell would curly your hair if it were straight and straighten it to board straight if it were curly. She also tells wonderful stories of meeting Phyllis Dillar (the life of the show, even on board an aircraft), and other celebrities, most of whom behaved beautifully. Grins. It's a hard job, being a service person on an airline, who really is there to protect you. They serve as "staff" but their real job is to be there, be on the front line, when there's a problem. To handle it, to keep people safe, to make sure everyone gets off alive.

Daunting thought, especially when faced with a whole planeful of drunk or over-caffienated, over-salted, tired, cranky, "I'm-sitting-next-to-a-screaming-toddler-who's-mother-is-sleeping one-row-up" people. They pat and soothe and get stern, and issue alerts and warning and somehow balance that frickin' heavy cart in high winds down the center of the aisle and still manage to pour coffee without spilling it.

Hurrah, for flight attendants! Grins.

Then there's the weird shops in airports, like the Braves Shop in Atlanta - hey ya'll, the Season opens in 3 weeks! Go BRAVES!!!

And the weird souvenirs that come with travel. I'm always fascinated with the stuffed armadillos in Texas, the giant guitars in Memphis, the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks mania in O'Hare, and New York's Rolex clocks.

So tell me your travel stories, good and bad.

What do you HAVE to have with you when you travel? Pillow? Eye mask? Magazines?

What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen in an airport? (For me, it's a chiropracter adjusting his girlfriend on the floor of the waiting area)

What's the strangest thing you've carried home on an airplane?

Ever gotten through security with your Swiss Army knife?

Strangest thing you ever brought home for the family as a souvenier.

OH!! And if you're traveling - or even if you're not! - pick up a copy of this month's Cosmopolitan Magazine! An excerpt from my Deadly Little Secrets is featured as the RED HOT READ for April!

Arches and I Don't Mean Golden

posted by hackey hudjson

A few months ago, the DH and I took a little jaunt to celebrate our anniversary. This time around we stayed pretty close to home, only a few states away. We went to Arches National Park near Moab, Utah and close to the Utah/Colorado border.

As anyone who knows Aunty will attest, she is NOT an outdoorsy type. But the sights at Arches were just too spectacular to view strictly from the car window. Within an hour of our arrival in the park, I actually found myself doing something I literally had not done in years --HIKING! But there was just no other way to see these fabulous rock formations, which are unlike anything I've ever seen anywhere else.

Here are a few of my piccies so you can see what I mean:

The Windows

One of the most famous formations in Arches National Park. Individually they are the South Window (on the left in this picture) and the North Window. They, and all the other fantastic rock formations in the park are the result of wind and water erosion over hundreds of thousands of years.

To put the size of the Windows into perspective, here's the DH (all 6 feet 5 inches or 1.97 meters of him) standing in the middle of the South Window.

I'm standing about 100 yards down the hill so that I can fit the whole thing in. And yes, it was a stunning day, as evidenced by the clouds and blue sky behind the South Window.

Delicate Arch

Probably the most photographed and therefore the most famous of all the formations in Arches is this one. Also called "Bloomers" or "Cowboy Chaps" for obvious reasons. I viewed it from a very long distance and let the DH hike the extremely steep three mile trail for a closer look.

Delicate Arch stands 52 feet (or 16 meters) tall, and sits all by itself on the edge of a rocky plateau in the absolute middle of nowhere. This photo does not do the bright red and orange coloring of the arch justice. It is absolutely striking (even through binoculars down in the parking lot)!

Landscape Arch

This is the longest arch in the park, and I'll have to take DH's word that this is it. Once again, I stayed behind and read a book while he make the arduous hike through the Devil's Garden to view this arch and the other formations. It does look like the other pictures I've seen of it, so I guess I can trust his word that this is the genuine article.

One of the rangers told us that ten or fifteen years ago, a piece of rock cracked and fell from the center of Landscape Arch. Luckily it happened at a time when very few tourists were around and nobody was hurt!

The Three Gossips

Finally, a formation that is not an arch. The guide book described these gigantic pillars that look like over-sized human figures as the Three Gossips. I personally thought they resembled the Three Wise Men of New Testament fame. Or perhaps three ancient Egyptian dieties.

The park is full of pillar type formations. Some of them were undoubtedly arches whose middles collapsed. Other formations look like giant ships or castles. I won't bore you with any more of my less-than stellar photos. If you check Google Images, you'll see many fabulous ones.

Better yet, take a trip to Arches National Park yourself. Aunty guarantees you won't regret it!

When you travel, what is your favorite destination? City or great outdoors? Foreign or domestic? Same place different day or some place entirely new?

Croozin' and Schmoozin'

by Anna Campbell

Happy New Year!!!!

Hey, guys, I promised you a report on New Zealand and also some photos so here goes!

If after this deluge of photos, you'd like to see some more, please check out the My Favorite Things page of my website where there are MORE! Oh, and I'm blogging on the 11th January on Tote Bags 'n' Blogs about the beautiful botanical gardens in Wellington so if you want pictures of rainforest plants and roses, check that out too.

I was the guest of P and O cruises on their 'Pacific Dawn' (about 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew). I gave six talks on romance writing on the sea days. The three on the way out were ostensibly on how to write a romance but they ended up covering pretty much everything to do with writing a book. The three on the way back were about favorite romances (there were lots of enthusiastic romance readers on board), readings from my first four books and then a session on MY RECKLESS SURRENDER and MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION. I also did a big signing on the last sea day where I got to sit next to the captain who was signing shipboard souvenirs! That was way cool!

By the way, I think the lady in the armchair at the front of the photo above is just listening intently. She's not ASLEEP!!!! Snork! And you'll notice that we got quite a few blokes along for the talks - always nice to see!

I really enjoyed shipboard life. Everybody was tremendously friendly and I spent way too much time in the cocktail bar. And food! Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, they feed you on the boat like it's going out of style! It's a very relaxing way to travel - you can do precisely as much as you feel like doing. And it was wonderful to see so many people reading as I wandered around the decks (well, perhaps lurched - take note of the cocktail comment above!).

Our first stop was Auckland which has a spectacular harbor scattered with islands. I booked shore excursions at every port as I wanted to see as much of the country as I could. To the left, you can see a photo of the beautiful Waitakere rainforest park outside Auckland. Bushwalking in New Zealand is a snap compared to Australia which is full of creepy crawlies and some seriously dangerous critters. New Zealand doesn't even have leeches and it has only one poisonous spider which apparently is incredibly rare and not very aggressive.

After the rainforest walk, we headed out to the wild west coast to see the Murawai Gannet Colony. I'd seen gannets fishing in Scotland (they're spectacular, the way they turn themselves into white missiles and dart right into the water). It was interesting seeing their nesting - doesn't look very comfortable, does it? We were lucky enough to see some of the elaborate courtship/greeting behavior when Mr. or Mrs. would come in from a long time at sea and renew bonds with the bird that had sat minding the egg.


Our next port was Tauranga from where we visited the volcanic wonders of Rotorua. I'd booked another day trip to go to the Waimangu Valley which still belongs to its traditional Maori owners. The valley was created by a massive volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886 so it's one of the world's most recent landscapes.

Our hosts greeted us with a traditional welcome when we arrived. Very impressive! Then they whisked us off for a lake cruise on Lake Rotomahana where we got to see how incredibly unsettled this landscape still is.

Look at that steam escaping from the thermal vents! The landscape was mindboggling and made you feel very puny as a human. I'd never seen anything like it - rivers of boiling water and lakes of sulphuric acid and the world's largest hot spring in Frying Pan Lake.

After the cruise, we did a walk through the landscape. I kept expecting a dinosaur or two to pop out and say hello. It was definitely primeval!


Instead we met our hosts again who put on a wonderful concert of traditional Maori dance and song. They sang a beautiful Maori love song called Po Karekare Ana which gives me goosebumps. Just gorgeous.







And another picture of the amazing landscape steaming with volcanic activity!











Our next stop was beautiful Napier. This is another story of a place completely shaped by recent seismic activity (Australia is pretty stable when it comes to stuff like earthquakes so all of this definitely counted as exotic to me). In 1931, the port of Napier on the east coast of New Zealand's north island was almost completely destroyed by a massive earthquake which killed something like 10% of the population and flattened nearly all the buildings. The town was reconstructed in the fashionable Art Deco style and today, Napier is one of the world's Art Deco destinations.

I knew some of this, thanks to going to a huge Art Deco exhibition at the National Gallery in Melbourne a couple of years ago. What surprised me was quite how MUCH Art Deco remains. With a few exceptions, almost every building is in this elegant, angular style. I did a wonderful architecture walk through the town which got us into some authentic interiors as well. And then I spent a fortune on Art Deco souvenirs at the Art Deco Shop.




As you can probably tell by now, the town takes every advantage of being the world's Art Deco capital! They have an Art Deco weekend in February every year and I was really impressed to see that the locals turned out to meet the ship in period costume and driving vintage cars. They even had a great jazz band to farewell us as we sailed away.






And what do you think of this elegant lady with her equally elegant greyhound in the main shopping street?















Please check out the Tote Bags blog next week for the beauties of Wellington's public gardens!

Our first stop on the South Island was Christchurch which was rocked by a major earthquake in 2010. Hmm, the whole volcanic thing is turning into a theme, isn't it? I didn't spend very much time in Christchurch itself although the drive through its main streets indicates they've done a great job of cleaning up what was obviously a major disaster.

Instead, we took a wonderful train trip up into the Southern Alps which involved some spectacular scenery and a wonderful bus ride home through the rugged valleys where they shot the Narnia films.

Sadly, none of my photos of this trip really do it justice! But take my word for it, it was beautiful!

Our last port was Dunedin which was the only place where we had rotten weather. I'd always wanted to see an albatross and so immediately signed up for a wildlife cruise to the only mainland nesting colony in the world for these majestic birds.

Again, my photos don't do it justice! But there's something really breathtaking about having those pure white birds with their massive (over 6m) wingspans flying overhead or dipping low to check out the boat. According to our guides, the boys tend to be naughty and mischievous. The girls take life much more seriously and build the nests and make sure everyone is fed.

No comment!

Anyway, photowise I thought I'd skip to what scenically was the highlight of the trip - Fiordland National Park on the bottom west corner of the South Island.

It was here that my new digital camera (I finally moved on from film for this trip) really came into its own. I took hundreds of photos! We were really lucky with weather too. After the cold, windy, rainy day in Dunedin, I was worried I'd only see gray and mist in the fiords but it turned into a perfect blue sky day. Nothing like jagged mountains rising up against a clear sky, is there?

We visited Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound - that's the one with the icy glaciers in the photo.


Not only did we have perfect weather, we had perfect companions. Lots of dolphins and the occasional southern fur seal.

Definitely a day that I'll treasure in my memory forever.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this long but very pictorial glimpse of my recent travels.

As I said, the day in the fiords was heavenly, almost too good to be true. Have you had a travel day that was like that? Just a perfect day that lives in your memory with that special golden glow? I'd love to swap travelers' tales with you today!

Planes, Trains & Automobiles...oh and Vodka & Christmas Day!

Before I discuss my Christmas day on a bus/train, let me preface this post with a short description of my Christmas Eve.

Friday, or Christmas Eve, was the party for all faculty members of Kalmyk State University and it was a very fun/odd evening.  First off, unlike office parties in the US, everyone here got really drunk and that's the norm, in fact it's expected.  There were gifts handed out and contests going on and it was really fun! It was a little weird though too because I felt like it was a combination of Hansel & Gretel and night club in the geriatric district of Miami.  I was force fed more food and types of meat than I could count and groped by more women over the age of 50 than I care to think about it.  But really I had a great time! Oh and it was at the same club where I saw that guy get shot (I was told he's out of the hospital and fine now) and I was happy to see the club now has signs posted saying you can't bring in guns...

Anyways, onto CHRISTMAS DAY! Yay! Well...kinda. I got up at around 5 am on Christmas to make sure everything in my dorm room was in order, since my bus was leaving for Volgograd at 6:30.  Everything was good and I made it to the bus stop at around 6:10, found my bus and sat down.  We didn't leave Elista until 7 since the driver was waiting for people who didn't show up, but that was okay too since my train wasn't leaving until 3 and it's only a 4 hour drive or so.  The bus ride passed uneventfully as I slept virtually the whole way, waking up only when we stopped in random villages to pick up other passengers.  I was lucky that there was a woman on the bus who spoke English very well and was very helpful in helping me to get to the train station and finding my train.

Anyways, we arrived at the train station at about 1 and I sat and waited for my train.  When it finally arrived I bid my English-speaking friend adieu and boarded the train, taking special care to make sure I was in the right место or bed, unlike the last time I had ridden a train alone.

I was the first of four to arrive in my cabin, but the others slowly started coming in.  The first was a woman, I'd say in the late-30s, who was nice enough, but maybe trying to act a bit young for her age and not quite pulling it off.  The next was a younger woman with her very young daughter (maybe a year and a half?) who provided all of us in the cabin with entertainment during the waking hours and annoyance as she cried during the night.  The last to enter was a bald man, whom I did not realize was a serious alcoholic.

Anyways, our train starts to move and not 20 minutes later, this guy, figuring me to be a Russian guy, asks if I want to join him in the restaurant.  Of course I say sure and we make our way to the restaurant car a few cars down.  We sit down, he takes the menu from me, says I don't need and that, if I'm not opposed, we'll have some beer and vodka.  I reluctantly agreed.   Well, our vodka arrived (I don't remember which brand it was, but it wasn't good) along with our beer.  Before we even started drinking, this guy was having trouble getting the beer in the glasses, which I initially attributed to the rocking of the train.

4 large beers and 6 or 7 or 8 shots of vodka later, I was sufficiently buzzed and this dude was hammered.  I had trouble understanding him at first, but now the words were like kasha coming out of his mouth: pure mush.  At this point, he started getting angry that I wasn't understanding most of what he was saying. I told him I had to go to the bathroom and he got fairly upset and pushed me back in my seat. I talked him down and eventually he let me go. When I returned, the waitress said my friend had gone off in the opposite direction of our car and I told her I didn't care; he was drunk and not my friend.  So I went back to my car, found the bathroom and due to an awesome combination of vodka, beer and perpetual rocking motion of the train, vomited it all back up (but I felt good in the morning!).

Speaking of morning, the darling little girl in our cabin wakes us up at around 7:20 or so in the morning and my alcoholic friend disappears for a bit as we pull into this station a few hours outside of Moscow.  He shows up with, for me and him, 4 liters of Russian beer. "Great!" I think to myself.  Lots of vodka last night and now, I get to really life the alcoholic life at 7:30 in the am with 4 liters of beer.

Of course, as you must have guessed, I did in fact drink. I had maybe a liter of all that and this guy must have had 3 by himself. It was a display to say the least.  I was also able to finally try dried fish or whatever it's called (I don't know the Russian word or the English one) and it wasn't bad, just very salty and fishy tasting.

At this point, we're about 25 km outside of the station in Moscow when our train stops for no apparent reason.  Here we sat, with only 15 minutes to go to reach our destination, for a 4 hours! Ugh! 4 hours and I still have no idea why.  To top it off, my alcoholic friend had discovered that before boarding yesterday, he had purchased a liter of beer, which he 'graciously' offered to me and which despite my gentle 'нет спасибо' (no thank you) I ended up drinking even more or this deliciously above-room temperature beer.

Finally, our train started to move again and we pulled in the station...4 hours late, where I, severely buzzed at this point, left as soon as humanly possible and went to my hotel for a nap and a shower.

So, Dear Readers, Christmas was spent drunk and on a train. It was my first Christmas away from home and weird if only because it didn't feel like Christmas at all. It was simply another day traveling and an interesting one at that.

Lugging the Luggage on a Lugger...

by Anna Campbell

..to a Desert Island!

When this post comes up into the light of the lair, I'll be heading for the end of my wonderful two-week cruise on the 'Pacific Dawn' (that's it on the left) to New Zealand.

I'm so excited about this. In return for giving a couple of talks about romance writing, I get a free cruise. How cool is that?

I've never been on a cruise before and I've always wanted to go to New Zealand. So all round, it's wonderful. I look forward to sharing lots of photos with you in next month's Bandita blog.

I even went wild and bought a digital camera for the trip. It takes me forever to adopt new technology - which may turn out to be the subject of a future blog. Perhaps called Lugging the Luddite!

I'll be stoked if I take a shot as pretty as the one of New Zealand's South Island on the right! Isn't that beautiful? Wow!

So needless to say, I'm in the throes of packing because I leave on Saturday (it's the 25th November here right now - Happy Thanksgiving!). So far, I have a huge number of Anna Campbell books for giveaways, and ten books from the TBR for me to read, and all my Christmas cards to write, and the work in progress which I'm hoping is going to get some attention in amongst all the excitement. And I need lots of the sort of clothes I wear at RWA conferences. Thank goodness, it's a boat and there's no excess luggage charges!

So as I started putting out all this stuff that I'm taking with me, I wondered what were the five things I'd take to a desert island. And I came up with:

1. Richard Armitage (hopefully he can build and hunt and light fires and do plumbing and foot massages!)

2. A year's worth of Smith's potato chips, especially barbecue flavor

3. Sunscreen

4. 50 cases of champagne (hmm, I'm starting to like the sound of this island!)

5. MOBY DICK. Because while Richard is off catching dinner, I might actually read it in the absence of other entertainment

OK, what five things would you take to a desert island?

Oh, and if you want the Banditas as company, we count as one item. Oh, man, perhaps I should take the Banditas and their cohorts instead of MOBY DICK. We'd have a WHALE of a time!

As this is my last post for the year, I'd like to wish you and yours a very happy Holiday Season.

Thank you so much for all your wonderful support during the year. And thank you to all my wonderful Bandita sisters. You and the Bandita buddies are definitely something I give thanks for, not just today which happens to be Thanksgiving, but every minute of the year.

See you all next year!

Oh, and now for the bad news - I'm not sure what email access I'll have on the ship so I'm not sure whether I'll be able to respond to comments.

But hey, guys, party on!

From A Western World

This is a post to counteract my pseudo-rants about certain things here in Russia, certain ways of life because I feel I've been too harsh on certain things here, even if it is just to myself.  I want to discuss differences in beliefs and ways of living in places we are uncertain about, scared of and know nothing about, how us Westerners have grown a little too comfortable.  So even though this blog has generally advice for everyone, it's directed at me and my struggles here in Russia.

The USA, Great Britain, Germany, France, the Scandinavian countries, Canada, Australia and few others.  These are what are considered the "developed countries" of the world, the "best of the best".  I am from these, I am of these and I am, perhaps most importantly, comfortable in these.  In these places I don't worry about going to the doctor.  In these places I don't worry about drinking tap water.  In these places I am home.  But now I am not in these places.  In this place I DO wonder what happens if I have a serious emergency? In this place I DON'T drink the tap water.  In this place I am NOT home.

This is not my first time abroad and certainly not my first time spending a considerable amount time in Russia, but this is different.  I'm not a big city where everything I need is right there.  Where things always work and where, should I completely break down, go rent a night in a hotel and have a night of semi-luxury.  I am instead, in Elista, a small city in Southern Russia.  Here water shuts off randomly, the majority of the people use squatty pottys and many of the everyday things I'm used being able to buy at Safeway, they simply don't have.

As I said, I'm writing to hopefully correct any false impressions I've given to people about how I feel about Elista, either through my blogs or through personal conversation.  There's a great many things I'm not used to here and things I'm having trouble adjusting to (e.g. squatty pottys, little places to buy food, not like my Safeways and QFCs, my inability to find the simplest of items, due both to them generally being difficult to find and the language barrier, and the language barrier in general).  These are just some examples of what is a struggle here for me and things I don't fully understand.

For as a Westerner, I can't fathom how people live without certain amenities when they are so readily available.  I hate to use this example again, but I will.  Take the squatty pottys, Turkish toilets, whatever you choose to call them.  Elista is a mixed city where I would say half the toilets are western and the other half are the squatters.  I have used Western toilets my whole life and generally find them cleaner and easier to use and because of this I don't understand people's choice to use the squatters when these western toilets are everywhere. It seemingly makes no sense to me, yet I don't want to say these people are wrong because they're not.  It's simply misunderstanding and culture shock on my part.

Another example is washing clothes.  There is at least one washing machine here and I use it, I may be the only one in fact.  The other students prefer to hand-wash in their dorms, squatting uncomfortably for as long as it takes to wash their clothes.  To me, as a Westerner, this makes no sense.  You have an easy hands-free washing machine, so why spend your time in an uncomfortable position doing something you don't have to...right?  Wrong.  For them, it's what they are comfortable with and I'm sure it's likely that they view the use of a washing machine as weird as I do their choice to hand wash.  Neither of us is right or wrong in our choice, it is simply what we are used to.

Many, if not most, Americans would most likely share my sentiments here.  I'm lucky enough to have traveled a fair amount and seen some varying places, but even so I tend to cling to my Western ways.  The toilets are just one example.  Let's take the most prominent example of language.  I studied Russian for a number of years and even spent 5 months in the country, but I haven't truly spoken Russian for 2.5 years and I'm struggling with it and it's hard, and I'm often discouraged.  As I did before, as other Americans tend to do, I stick with what's comfortable, meaning I spend most of time my time speaking English with the people here who know how to speak it.

I guess what I'm trying to convey here is that Westerners, in my opinion and experience, are generally very close-minded when we get out of our comfort zones and I'm as guilty of this as anyone else.  Part of my experience here in Russia is to be able to really immerse myself in a culture that is not my own.  I'm the only Westerner here so one could assume it wouldn't be too difficult, but it's about being proactive and really getting involved in local culture and lifestyle, something too many Westerners miss out on when they go abroad.  They stay at nice hotels, they see the touristy sites and they eat things they know they like.  But they don't really realize the amazing things they're missing.  The people they could meet, the food they could eat and experiences they could have.

As I mentioned, this blog has useful information for everyone, but is inwardly directed, towards myself.  I, up until this time, have not been as proactive about getting out there as I can or should be and while there's only so much to be done (people here don't do much since there's not much to do), I can do better.  And so I urge you to travel, I urge you to experience new things, to eat foods you couldn't have imagined in your wildest dreams and to get out of the kiddy pool and dive into the deep end, even if you don't know how to swim.  I urge you to be proactive.  Learn a new language!  Americans are notorious around the world for being monolingual and it's both embarrassing and sad.  Plus your travels will be much more enjoyable and friendly when the locals see you don't stomp into their country demanding they speak YOUR language on THEIR soil and then you get upset when they don't speak any English (hey, that sounds kind of familiar? Don't we get upset over Spanish-speakers in our country? Maybe we should all travel a little and get a taste of our own medicine).

In truth, you don't even have to go abroad to experience this, you can have a very similar experience in the US.  Take Washington State as an example, my home state.  Eastern and Western Washington are like night and day.  Completely different beliefs and ideals abound on each side of the state.  Westerners often speak badly of Eastern Washington though they've never really been there.  And Easterners speak poorly of Western Washington though all they've ever really done is seen the Mariners, Seahawks or Kenny Chesney in Concert.  Travel a little in your own country and try something new because in a place like the US, there's new experiences to be had everyday.

But above all, Dear Readers, don't assume people are wrong because they don't do things the way you do.  I am guilty of this, we are all guilty of this in some form or another. I'm asking you to be open and be willing to accept that perhaps you are wrong.  That all your comforts here in the Western world may not be for everyone.  You may not like every new thing and experience and that's fine, you don't have to, but be open to giving it a chance and to respecting those who call it normal.

What I Did On My Summer/Winter Vacation

posted by hackey hudjson

I seldom take vacations in the summer. I started this 'tradition' back in the good old days of the dreaded day job when everyone else wanted to take vacation time and being on the lower end of the pecking order, I got last pick. But then I discovered the beauty of traveling in the off season or what travel agents used to call 'shoulder season.' In the fall or late spring, the weather is still pretty good and there are no crowds even at the most popular tourist destinations.

So the DH and I have made most of our travel plans during months other than June, July, and August... until this year. I leave it to the DH to make most of our travel arrangements. After all, he is paying out for most of the travel expenses, but even more important, he has an uncanny knack for finding a GOOD DEAL!

This time he really out did himself. On a sunny May morning, I came home from having lunch with my BFF to be greeted with, "We're going to New Zealand!"

Turns out that Air New Zealand offered a two day special on air fares that came out roughly 2 for the price of 1 and my DH jumped on it. Of course that meant we had to leave in two weeks and we could only stay twelve days (the last day of the cheap return flight) but I didn't care! We were off to the #1 place on my "Bucket List!"

On June 2nd, off we flew on our first summer vacation in a very long time. But it was just turning to winter in New Zealand so once we arrived, our summer vacation actually became a winter one, complete with rain, snow, and lots of chilly weather! Not that we minded, since we were used to off season travel and we were in New Zealand after all!

Since our time was limited, we decided to stay on the north island (which means we'll have to go back someday soon to see the south island). We rented a car and with the DH driving the entire time, we drove from one end of the north island (The Bay of Islands) to the other (The Bay of Plenty and Wellington).

Here's a shot looking down from Kilborn to downtown Wellington and the harbor. Above is a piccie of Aunty at beautiful Haku Falls near Lake Taupo.

And here's a shot of the coastline along the gorgeous Bay of Plenty. Yes, the water really is that color. Remember, this is the South Pacific (west side of NZ). It wasn't always cold and rainy!

The trip was GREAT, just too short. New Zealand was every bit as wonderful as I expected it to be with magnificent scenery and friendly people everywhere we went. The only downsides were the 12 1/2 hour plane flight from LA to Auckland, and the narrow windy roads (we Californians are spoiled with our freeway systems). I would go back in a heartbeat, but I think the DH is now searching for a GOOD DEAL to Egypt!

As you will recall, Sven, the cabana boys, gladiators, and hockey hunks all took a summer vacation this year to Orlando with most of the Banditas. The exceptions were Paolo, Lars, Marcus, and Zach who were left behind with Posh, Jo-Mama, and Aunty to hold down the Lair. Being the generous sort, Aunty has granted our "Left Behind" boys a few days for their own off season vacation.

Please tell us where Paolo, Lars, Marcus, and Zach should go on their vacation and why! The boys will be forever grateful and Aunty will even give an autographed copy of one of her books (winner's choice) to one randomly selected commenter!