Ready to go - Heathrow

Really relaxed at airport!! Thomas insanely excited but tired. Leave in 50 mins for Singapore, Sydney and then Brisbane. Love to everyone xxxx

Simon's trip to the Texas Heart Institute

Hello, The blog starts again.

Travelled to very very hot and humid Houston in Texas to visit the Texas Heart Institute for a month. Mum came with me for the first two weeks. Below is a picture of the Medical Center and you can see three huge hospitals (left to right: Texas Heart Institute, St Lukes Episcopal, and then Texas Childrens Hospital). On the site there are countless other hospitals... still have to count them. Also below is a picture of the enormous fountain at the heart of the Texas Medical Center (or TMC) as it is known around here.

We are staying in the TMC accommodation for doctors, etc called the Favrot Tower Apartments. The rooms are a bit basic but clean, with a massive fridge freezer, a microwave, a little cooker, and a walk-in dressing room. Most importantly they are air-conned as everything is over here to sub zero temperatures.



Finally at the weekend we hired a car and travelled to Galveston (about 50 miles South of Houston) and saw the sea, had some fantastic seafood in the restaurants, had a paddle and relaxed for the weekend. Below are some pictures. Note the lazy crane in the bottom picture who has found an easier way to get fish for food than hunting....

Currently back at TMC to go to work on Monday for 06.30 am ward round!

Stockholm - New Year 2006

A fair bit of time since we last went away and posted something to the blog.

For New Year this year we went to Stockholm for a few days, and their was snow everywhere. At times it was quite cold (minus three to five) although I think the UK was colder. We stayed at a really cool (in a Swedish trendy way) hotel - The Nordic Light. You can change the colour of the room with the mood lighting, there is a lighting director in the hotel, and the best breakfast buffet's we have seen.
What did we do? Well a trip to the VasaMuseem (an old boat that sunk in the harbour that is near perfectly preserved), the museum of modern art, lots of interior designy shops (it seems that this is big in Sweden, but a little like high quality and expensive IKEA), and a walk around Gamla Stan.
New Year's eve was spent at a lovely fish restaurant near Stureplan, and then a walk up to the park to listen to Tennison's Ring Ring (a Stockholm tradition) at midnight followed by fireworks all over Stockholm. Once again the rest of Europe put us to shame as everyone cracked open the champagne at midnight but there was no drunkenness!
We had a fantastic time and came back relaxed - unfortunately have to go back to school/hospital on Tuesday.

Simon and Alison

xxx

Now in Buenos Aires

Well, Im now in Buenos Aires at the World Federations of Societies in Intensive and Critical Care Medicine.
It is winter in Argentina now so it is cool. The city itself strikes me as very Spanish in its style and not at all Latin American as I had expected. I dont think that is because I am in the touristy area also. Really busy, lots of traffic, and as for crossing the road I just dont get it - they seem to step out in fron of cars which strikes me as a bit risky especially on this nice little 20 lane road...

Made the trip along with every other tourist to Maria Eva Duarte Peron's tomb (Evita), which is suprisingly small and non-descript. The cemetry was interesting in that all the tombs are little rooms which people obviously attend regularly.
The cemetry.....

Evitas tomb...
Also visited the Teatro Colon to see the ballet Romeo and Juliet. It was a free ticket from the conference organisers and was worth the trip. Amazing theatre not that dissimilar from the StaatOper in Vienna, although a little more dischevelled. The ballet was OK but my seats were restricted view.

Ever since spent most of my time in the hotel room writing the three talks I have to give. Dont know many people here so having a quiet time in the evenings.
Today had another walk around Buenos Aires to take in the formal sights but starting to think that I should have spent longer here and travelled out of the city.
The Casa Rosa (pink castle) in the main square... the balcony in the Evita movie was the one on the left lower down..
Anyway, final talk tomorrow morning, and then straight on the plane home!

Simon

The final week

A lot happened after Jasper....

The Icelands Parkway took us to Lake Louise and Banff National Park. Camped again (becoming very hardy).
Lake Peyto on the Icelands Parkway...

Lake Louise....


Had a quick walk aroung Lake Louise, and then the following morning hiked up to Sentinel pass which overlooks the neighbouring (and some say more beutiful) lake Moraine.At the bottom of the trail we came across a sign saying we had to be in a group of six because of the Grizzly bears in the area. We waited and ended up hiking very quickly up 3000 ft with some mad and very fit Canadians (apart from one - Colin - who gave Alison and me an excuse for a few breaks). Amazing views from the top.
Lake Moraine....

The top of Sentinel pass....


Alison went a bit mad on the way down....must be the altitude



That afternoon we drove to Banff, very touristy but went for dinner in the very posh Banff Springs Hotel - we changed in the car, but then found a table right at the front with a fantastic view down the valley and a platter of food to match. Well worth the 30 UK pounds.

A long way from home...

From Lake Louise, we travelled to Nelson via Golden where we went whitewater rafting - all grade III and IV rapids. I went swimming twice (once through a class III rapid) and fell in once. Alison saved my life on all three occasions by pulling him back into the boat (even hit a poor Dutch guy over the head with her paddle during her exceedingly enthusiastic rescue). Alison found it exciting but a bit scarey, I couldn't get enough of it.

It was a long drive to Nelson through an amazing thunder and lightning storm, we stayed in a motel just outside the town. I (Alison) was able to show Simon around Nelson at a particularly hippyish time when there was some strange market going on - lots of long-haired people moving very slowly, crystals and the smell of joss sticks and dodgy stuff in the air. We had a lovely walk along the lake and a paddle at the beach before I introduced Simon to the little old fashioned Dairy Queen and Strawberry-banana cheesequakes were the order of the day. We spent the afternoon in the very hot Ainsworth hot springs. We stayed with my old neighbours Janice and Mike in their brillian B&B and all had a wonderful meal and evening at a tapas bar in Nelson and Simon finally got his Canadian Salmon.

Kelowna was are next destination, not a very picturesque place but close to some of the beautiful vineyards of the Okanagon Valley. Needless to say I made Simon buy lots of wine for me me me.
The Okanagon valley, very mediterranean....


The next morning was an early start so we could drive to Vancouver in time to enjoy our final whole day in the city that I've decided to buy a second home in (just after winning the lottery). Simon 'felt tired' while we looked at the shops but revived enough after a snooze on the beach in Stanley Park to enjoy Granville Island and an evening swim in the sea at English Bay before a very extravagant meal and lots of Singapore Slings at the very plush 'Diva at the Met'.

The day we went home was my favourite day of the holiday. Simon was very keen to go to the beach one last time before we went home. It was early morning and we were sitting in the sun on a rock on the beach in Kitsilano and everything was perfect and Simon asked me to marry him - life couldn't get any better!
Next week, at the ring shop!.....

Jasper National Park

In Jasper we did a fantastic hike up the Bald Hills, it was pretty hardwork but worth it because as you cleared the tree line you got the most fantastic view of Maligne Lake and the surrounding mountains.


Unfortunatley once we reached the top cloud came over and there was a brief hail storm which stung our bare legs and we were forced to beat a retreat, but the hail quickly turned to rain and then sun and we were treated to a wonderful rainbow.

The next day was spent driving the Icelands Parkway to Lake Louise which gave Simon some wonderful views of the Rockies. We made several stops along the way including the amazing Athabasca Falls and Wildfowl lake which is meant to be a favourite hangout of moose, unfortunately the moose count remains at a big fat zero, but we had fun anyway and just as we arrived into Banff National Park we saw a baby black bear cub (its location given away by lots of other tourists stopped and gawping at it).

Vancouver to Jasper

The road trip is now well on the way. We left Vancouver and headed for Jasper. We started late due to a brief interlude in camping store as Alison's boots are still drying in the back of a van in Alaska. On the way we went to Hells Gate - a raging waterfall that was meant to be unmissable but we werent very impressed. The weather has completely changed from Alaska and is now dry and hot - lots of sun cream needed and Alisons cowboy sun hat very useful. Stayed the night in a motel in Kamloops, the midway point to Jasper.

The following day we set off for Jasper (440 km) and stopped at Clearwater for a hike in the Wells Grey National Park. This was fantastic. We drove up a dirt track and then hiked up to meadows above the treeline on Trophy mountain. It was steep, hot, but worth it for a walk through a meadow in full bloom with lots of wild flowers for miles, with mountains and glaciers in the background.



Then we drove the final bit to Jasper and the first night in our new tent bought in Alaska. Typically arrived at the campsite at midnight so had to put it up with the help of the car headlights and our very trendy head torches).

Current Wildlife tally - Elk, Humpback whale, Grey whale, sea otters, sea lions, seals, eagles (lots of). NO moose yet!

Back in Vancouver

We arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday to a wonderfully warm sunny evening and got a free upgrade on our car (yipee!). We went up Harbour Centre Tower and got an amazing view of the city before a cheap and cheerful dinner. Yesterday we went to Granville Island which has the most wonderful foodie market and got supplies for a picnic lunch and tea, then it was on to Stanley Park and its beautiful beaches and even a swim in the sea. I love this city! In the evening we joined about 300,000 Vancouverites on a walk to English Bay to see the Chinese entry for their fireworks competition - a truly spectacular display. We're now packing up our room (amazing what a mess we can make in 2 days!) and heading off for our BC tour.

ps Simon thinks no-one loves him because he hasn't had any text messages!

Paddling

Three days of kayaking around the Prince William sound was execellent fun....


We set out from Whittier in torrential rain and paddled for half a day to our camp. Had to put up tents in the rain and struggled to keep anything dry since the air was saturated with water vapour. Saw eagles and sea otters on the way. Amazing however was the salmon spawning, literally thousands of salmon swimming/jumping upstream to their previous spawning grounds - the stream was literally solid with salmon - difficult to walk through.

The following day we maddled 10 miles to out next camp, and luckily the cloud lifted, it was kind of sunny, but best of all it stopped raining (they get 180 inches of rain a year here). We demonstrated our type A personalities, got the knack of paddling and sped along super speed to be ahead of everyone. Tents up in the dry today.
Following morning we paddled to the glacier (see below the thick white thing behind my head is an enormous chunk of ice falling off the glacier) and had to paddle through water with thousands of mini icebergs to the base of the glacier. Poured with rain again but fantastic.


Finally water taxi back to Whittier, drive to Anchorage, for beer and Halibut pizza at the Moose's tooth. Vancouver tomorrow....

Back from the Fly-In

Well, we are back (in Palmer, Alaska) after flying in to the Takeetna mountain range on a little two seater plane (one of us and the pilot at a time - so he had to make three trips). The plane had huge bouncy wheels so that we could land on the tundra. Exciting or what? The plane....

The view from the windows....

The camp....


We were 160 miles from the nearest settlement, no communications at all, and grizzly bears everywhere (although we didnt see one). We had pepper spray/mace in case one approached us (and was downwind) otherwise we were meant to pretend to play dead so it wouldn't think we were a threat. The plane came back two days later to pick us up but was late because there was a bush fire (miles away from us) and the smoke prevented it taking off. Some people had apparently been waiting over 24 hours to be picked up. Went hiking out there and the weather was glorious sun one moment and then hail and thunder and lightning. It was mountains, gorges, and flat tundra all mixed up, with lots of bogland to tramp through (and get our feet wet in). Camp food was excellent (especially the Baileys and hot chocolate to finish with), sleeping in a tent moderately comfy, and keeping our kit dry very difficult since the relative humidity was so high. We had a fantastic time and some excellent fresh air. Thinking of buying a tent for use in the Rockies!

It was wet.....
Im currently in a Laudromat washing all the clothes before starting the three day kayak trip tomorrow in Prince William Sound. Didnt expect to find a computer here so have no camera to upload the photos... but will do soon. Alison trying to wash off the hiking grime in the hotel before we swap over duties. Dinner tonight will be in the hotel (looks a bit like a motorway cafe to me) but we are famished and tired.

Well we have time to blog this morning. Alison left her phone on Canada time (although we are now not in Canada) and set the alarm an hour too early. We went to the movies last night and went to this cinema where you eat at tables in the main auditorium. Ate truely enormous burritos.....still not hungry. Packed and ready to go on our fly-in hiking trip. Simon hoping that it will be a sea plane as cant imagine many landing strips out in the national parks. Very excited.

Will edit posts and upload photos in a few days when we return (unwashed, unshaven, and generally grubby) from our trip but not encountered a computer with a USB port yet to connect the cameras too (and this is the United States of America!)

Already in Alaska

Well we have made it to Alaska already... Seems to be whistling away the trip.

We met up at Vancouver airport suprisingly easily, and hired yet another massive "micro" car. We then caught the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver island and drove to Ukuklet (we didnt make it to Tofino on the first night as accomodation was hard to get hold of) and stayed on a rather basic (to say the least) old ship.

A quick drive to Tofino (most Western part of Canada served by paved roads) and a trip out to see some whales (2 humpbacks and 1 grey) and a visit to some hot springs. Simon missed every single whale on camera. Went out in a boat called a zodiac which was basically a dinghy with two enormous engines on the back, we even had to wear special protective suits as it went so fast the wind would have frozen us. The boat trip alone was worth the money.

Since driven back to Vancouver via Victoria (nice, meant to be very English but seemed a little fake to us) but we had some glorious weather, not managed to burn like in Spain, and wandered around the harbour.

Three hout flight up to Anchorage (we didnt realise it was so far) and a very bizarre place - flat surrounded by mountains with snow on the top. Still really sunny and hot - it was meant to be cold and wet here! Simon a little anxious about the trip wondering if he is going to be fit enough and have the right kit.

Currently in a coffee shop - Alison finishing off the Da Vinci Code and Simon finishing off some stats so he can ignore them for the rest of the trip.

Basically having a brill time.

One day left in Nelson and then I fly back to Vancouver to meet Simon - I'm VERY excited. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. The last couple of days in Emerg have been quieter but still interesting. I took this photo of a couple of the nurses (Louis and Maralyn) in a quiet moment.














I'm really shocked that there were more bombings in London so soon, at least nobody was killed this time - lots of love to you all.