Las Vegas (USA) - Drinking prior to an interview? Obligatory!

LAS VEGAS (USA)
28 February - 02 March 2018

Vegas is all go and no whoa, it's 24hrs of casinos, amazing shows, decadent nightclubs, & equally engaging bars, its a complete sensory overload. Outside of New York & London, this the other place in the world where you will be well and truly spoiled for entertainment choices. A-listers are part of the Vegas fabric, being bored in Las Vegas cannot be an option. If you are, then really, you need to have a good look at yourself.

Paris Las Vegas Hotel - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

The Strip - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

Inga attempting to 'Go Big'

Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

This time Inga and I decided to stay on the Strip at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino. The location, on the southern end of the strip was very central and gave us access to the bright lights and casino extravaganza that draws all the moths to the eternally burning flame.

The great thing about this city is that it allows you to get a fix of any or all of your vices, and then hopefully, lets you get out with your sanity in check also. 

From the Bellagio - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

The Strip - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

The Strip - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

Now somehow, both on our last visit to Vegas, and now this one, we were hyper reluctant to gamble. Well actually, Inga was 'super' reluctant to gamble and her position kind of influenced my hand too. With that said, it's been many, many years since I encountered a short, sharp bite of the gambling bug, which occurred in my first or second year of university (the first time at university), so we're talking 1994 or 1995. I recall at that time, having a few easy wins on roulette and then believing that I had formulated a strategy where easy money could be made. A few times when I should have been in lectures I headed off to what was then the temporary casino site on the first wharf at Pyrmont Bay.  I had a few ups and downs but on one of those occasions I lost more money than I should have. Walking out of the casino I had an overwhelming urge to withdraw more cash with the aim of winning back my losses. The internal debate lasted a few minutes before I chastised myself and made a conscious effort to walk away. So, I recognise the buzz and the thrill associated with both winning and wanting to chase your money, the later of which I've never done, but I recognise that I may have come closed.

           Every gambler knows, that to lose, it what you're really there for

                                                                                                  -  U2

'O' by Cirque du Soleil - Bellagio Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

'O' by Cirque du Soleil - Bellagio Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

'O' by Cirque du Soleil - Bellagio Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

The Flamingo Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

'O' by Cirque du Soleil - Bellagio Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

'O' by Cirque du Soleil - Bellagio Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

There's so much competition in Las Vegas in terms of shows that you can't afford to be an also-ran. You have to be quality otherwise people will simply cast their dollar votes elsewhere, because as you know, Vegas is the ultimate democracy, your dollar votes will elect whomever you want to be on stage, just like that. No votes, no show, and that's that.

  Las Vegas - Nevada - USA

Absinthe - Caesars Palace - Las Vegas - Nevada

Absinthe - Caesars Palace - Las Vegas - Nevada

Absinthe - Caesars Palace - Las Vegas - Nevada

Now a kind of funny thing happened to me whilst I was here. As we were still a few weeks from touching down in Melbourne, I was earnestly commencing the process of finding myself a job. In all honesty I had allocated myself a time of 4-5 months from arriving to be in full-time work but was secretly hoping that the pick-up time would be much shorter, say 1-2 months. On one of the days I was contacted via email by BAPL who were requesting to interview me. After explaining my position and the fact that I was currently transiting through the US they stated that a Skype interview would be more than satisfactory for them, which we organised for midday on 01 March.

Absinthe - Caesars Palace - Las Vegas - Nevada

New York, New York Hotel & Casino - the scene of the pre-interview Margaritas!

I can't remember any occasion where I've had drinks prior to an interview, but hey, this was Vegas and I thought if anything, a few margaritas prior to getting online might just be a bit of fun.  So after having a bit of lunch and a few drinks at the New York, New York Hotel & Casino, I felt ready to have a great discussion. And that's exactly what happened. Feeling confident and pretty damn good about things the discussion went swimmingly, with some good humour and a few oddball jibes about my Bon Jovi-esque hair being thrown into the mix. After a few additional email interactions and some BA style exercises that I completed on the flight back from Los Angeles to Sydney, I ended up getting the consulting gig and was gainfully employed within a week of touching down in Melbourne. Now that's 'for the win'.

As always Las Vegas was a lot of fun, but once again, I left feeling as though we hadn't really taking it for all it was worth. Both this occasion and the last one I felt we had been more timid than the city demands. I promise right now that the next time WILL be different!

Caye Caulker (Belize) - Meet you at the Split

CAYE CAULKER (Belize)
23 February - 28 February 2018

Caye Caulker is an idyllic Caribbean location that hasn’t had the misfortune of encountering, or needing to be host to, a wealthy jet set type that has unashamedly placed it out of reach of the common man. It’s just a laid back, easy going type of settlement where you can jump off the end of a dock into the warm waters of the Caribbean and genuinely be satisfied with your lot in life.

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Gentle breezes, swaying palm trees, sand roads and a barefoot compulsion.  How aggressive and faced paced a lifestyle can you form when your chief mode of transport is a golf cart? Not that you really need a buggy to get around, on a flat, sand laden island (caye), your two legs and the two feet you have attached to them will be just fine.

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Both of us love Caye Caulker. It’s hard to even imagine now that on our trip through Central America one year earlier it was our plan B, what we could afford to do if we had spare time.  Thankfully we did find ourselves with a few days spare and this is how we were rewarded in turn. Who says there’s no prize for being well prepared and ahead of schedule.

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Caye Caulker - Belize

Also, as a minor additional prize, I managed to run into an old OzEmail acquaintance, Daniel Vandervaere, who is one of those people that probably travels more than us, and thus, it was kind of inevitable that somewhere around the world we’d catch up, even randomly, which is exactly what happened on this occasion. Both of us did our Caye Caulker check-in and we advised by mutual friends that we were here at the same time. You know what that means – DRINKS.

‘Meet you at the split, mate’.

Belize City (Belize) - Not your Caribbean dream

BELIZE CITY (Belize)
22 February - 23 February 2018

Arriving on the edge of the Caribbean once again we were looking forward to getting out to our favourite little treat, Caye Caulker, and unless you head out to the Caye from somewhere else or fly in with a local flight, then its fairly inevitable that you'll have to make a pit stop in Belize City. Either for a very short period of time, or for an 'extended period', all of one night, like us. I say 'extended period' for the simple fact that Belize City is not particularly outstanding.

Belize sign - Belize City - Belize

It's rugged, some would say gritty, and its dilapidated wooden buildings are built to stand right to the edge of the road, pushing you out into the street where you can choose to dodge the traffic as much as you like. There is of course a little bit of colour here in the building exteriors, it is the Caribbean after all, but there's not a lot else to keep you engaged.

Belize City - Belize

Belize City - Belize

Most of the fun we had was on arrival and that involved finding a tourist agency at the airport that was going to hold most of our luggage whilst we headed out to the Caye for a few days. Coming from Europe on our way to Australia, we didn't really find the concept of heading out to an idyllic location with full suitcases, suits and jackets, to be all that appealing. Thankfully $35 USD sorted that logistical problem for us in a rush.

And so we stayed overnight in Belize City, not a marvel, not a weathered dame, not a place that ever really had its time in the sun. In my view its probably ilike the little mongrel dog that may in its time have had a bath and for one brief moment felt slightly normal. Apologies to you Belize City, I'm sure underneath your tough exterior you're really very much a kind, soft hearted city but more than likely we'll never stay long enough to ever find out. 

New Orleans (USA) - The Big Easy

NEW ORLEANS (USA)
18 February - 22 February 2018

In many ways the US is still haunted by what hurricane Katrina did to this town in 2005. The epic failures of Congress, the Bush Administration & the Federal Emergency Management Agency , exacerbated a situation that was already diabolical.  I truly remember as a kid,  watching Great Mysteries of the World on a Saturday afternoon and in one specific show, them singling out New Orleans as a disaster in waiting. Failure to secure New Orleans, to build in redundancies, meant that the soothsayers only needed to wait for aberration of Mother Nature, in the right location, to be able to say, ‘see, we told you so’. There’s 1800 people who lost their lives that wished, I’m sure, that some of the authorities could have taken notice earlier.

Communication failures, failures of proactive management, confusion, all led to a catastrophe of such wild proportions, in a country that prides itself on being the greatest, on being earnest, on supporting the weakest and being brave. It was a big old pile of American ‘fuck’ and they, even now, need to take ownership for their failure.  Who can ever forget the images of those poor people in the Louisiana Superdrome!? Acting initially as a refuge from the devastation, it turned into a hell hole of filth and abuse. There’s no amount of covering up that can deny that failure.

St Ann Street - Treme/Lafitte - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

St Ann Street - Treme/Lafitte - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Driving around some of the wards of New Orleans, the physical scars are obvious, but, the mental scars are much deeper. A predominantly African American population was hung out to dry here, and as racist and as white supremacist  as the US was, and still is, this level of incompetence, which while not deliberate, certainly typified the lo lack of urgency afforded to those in need because consciously they were aware that these people were only black. And whilst the US openly denies that, deep inside their soul they know it to be true.

French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Hard Rock Cafe -  Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Thirteen (13) years is a fair chunk of time between then and now. Not enough to make all the problems disappear, and not enough to hide all physical and mental scars. It has been enough however to get the spirit of New Orleans back, because more than anything now, these guys are determined and resilient.

The city has a heady mix of cultures and is a completely bewitching place. The most iconic area, and the one that all tourists are drawn to, is the French Quarter. It’s filigree cast-iron balconies tangled with ferns and fragrant jasmine are desperately gorgeous, and the mood is always fun in a hedonistic, laissez-faire type of way. The music, the parties and the gorgeous food are such draw cards, and the fun times run from dusk until dawn in both the French Quarter and the Marigny.

Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

We stayed in an AirBnB on St Anne street, a few kilometres away from the French Quarter. In hindsight an error on our part as getting in and out of the area meant an Uber on each occasion. Also, somewhat unfortunately, during the last day in New York I was tagged by a bit of a cold that actually hit me fairly hard for the first two days in New Orleans, so much so that I spent most of that time on my back, trying to sleep off whatever it was that I had.

In the time I did have free with Inga we spent it mostly on Bourbon street, where, true as their word, the party raged non-stop.  A week after the famous mardi gras had been and gone, it seemed that most of the idea of recovery involved going out and reliving the entire experience. Bars were full, drinks were readily available and there was just no way that you could, or would want to escape the bar hopping expectation in this town.

Frenchmen Street - Marigny - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

For me, probably the highlight was Frenchman Street in Marigny. This is an area known for its Cajun bistros,  bohemian bars, sidewalk musicians and jazz clubs.  A slow walk up the street would show the music identity of this city, it was a festival every night of the week, and that was just plain cool. I wish now that somehow I could have those sick days back because this is the area that I think we could have taken a bit more time.

Bourbon Street - French Quarter - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

Mississippi River - New Orleans - Louisiana - USA

On one of our days we managed to take a tour out onto the bayou. For those that don’t know, the bayou is a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying area, that can either have an extremely slow moving stream or river, containing mostly brackish water, which in itself attracts plenty of fish and plankton. For me there’s something intriguing and mysterious about this area. It reminds me, a whole lot in fact, of an area of Disneyland that I fell in love with as a kid – I recall them having rides that mimicked these areas, and relating those thoughts to reality I have to say that Disneyland did a mighty job.

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

The Bayou - Louisiana - USA

New Orleans, a unique city for certain, with a melange of cultures and races that have come together to build this town and give it it’s heart, perhaps not quite in the easy going manner that you would expect, but easy enough to still live up to the well earned name of the Big Easy.