Franconia Ridge for fun

 It is not often that you get to show friends from far away the frequently walked paths up in the White Mountains.

Friends from university and beyond came to America to visit and we planned a trip up to Franconia Ridge.

Liz and Dave had taken us on a few amazing walks in Cape Town and in the Cederberg when in 2012 when we visited South Africa so it was great to do a 4000 footer with them.

We started up the Falling Waters trail which has some beautiful waterfals and rapids

Which we couldn't resist stopping at for a few minutes each to take in the water and cool air.

 

And of course the obligatory people in front of waterfall shot of Liz and Dave

And a panorama of two streams meeting.

 

before topping out on the ridge itself for a group shot courtesy of a passer by.

The view looking back across the ridge is always spectacular and the weather was perfect for the day.  Very little wind and cool enough to enjoy the effort!

 

 

On the way down we took an obligatory stop in the AMC hut coming off Mt Lafayette we saw one of the porters carrying provisions in this impossible looking contraption.

And then in what is one of the most satisfying things about this loop being able to survey the ridge that we had just climbed on the way down from the hut.

 

 

With one final stop to look at a stream on the Bridle Path 

 

Melbourne views

Another trip to Australia was on the cards and we had planned to find an AirBNB that would allow us to some home cooking rather than sterile hotel rooms.

We found a very impressive room high in a building near the Parliament buildings on the east side of the CBD.  The room and patio had large glass windows with views out towards East Melbourne

and if you craned your neck a little a view of the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Grounds) which I had grown up hearing about on the radio and seeing on TV during cricket tournaments between South Africa and Australia.

The first order of business after checking in was to head over to the Queen Victoria Market.  The trick after the 15 hour flight from LA is to hit the ground running and try not to sleep for that day.  Our body clocks were almost the inverse of the timezone we had left so arriving at the AirBNB at 9ish in the morning felt a long way off and a few coffees short.

We knew that the Market was the authentic small-trader marketplace that you might find in Europe with vendors selling goods from fresh meat and fish to (hopefully)

some authentic South African biltong and even more hopefully some good coffee.  We had tasted the coffee on offer in Australian coffee shops before and knew that finding one would be and essential first stop.

By the first evening, barely able to keep our eyes open we were back at the apartment with provisions and a meal and I took the first of many evening shots from the balcony of the cityscape facing Northeast.

And North

 

And SouthEast

We were in Melbourne for business, but as with previous trips, the street art was fascinating and worth the few walking trips to find alleys with beautiful graffiti.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the street sculpture that caught my eye of these earnest business executives waiting for a bus.

  I took a trip up to Brunswick which is North East of the city center to visit a bar/restaurant called Naked for Satan.  The name of the bar comes from the original owner whose Russian name was abbreviated to Satan - he made bootleg vodka in his basement where it got very hot so he and some locals who helped him would work semi-naked.

The bar is full of bootleg memorabilia and vintage nude images.  I met Anne's childhood friend and her husband for a drink and dinner and we hunted down a gelato afterwards.

A trip involving John would not be complete without a trip off into the boondocks for a hike.  

This one involved some reconnaissance because the route was pretty remote and once we arrived there we had some stick men in trouble warnings at the beginning of the route. 

  

We ended up heading up an established path to the top of an outlook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then bushwhacking our way back down to a road dirt road that brought us back to the car as it was getting dark.

 

 

Our trip back to the main road along the corrugated dirt was pretty exciting with a number of kangaroos rushing over in front of the car.

Melbourne has some pretty amazing places for food and Maciej, Karolina and I found a French Creperie in a small side-street which was only large enough for 2 tables and served a memorable meal.