Only in America..

..can you buy 4 Litres of wine for less than $8

..can you buy a sandwich bigger than your head

..can you buy weed from a doctor

..can you drive to the shops in a Monster Truck

..can you buy gifts and guns in the same shop

Was over for just over two weeks, hired a car with Toni and went-a-road-trippin. First few days were down the coast from San Francisco down the Big Sur to LA. Then from LA accross to Vegas, then all the way back again.

Apart from a parking ticket (who knew you have to park in the same direction traffic is flowing?!) everything went pretty smooth. Toni is still over there, will be for the next 6 weeks, hitting the research with the very clever physics bods over at Berkly University.

As usual the holiday snaps can be found on my Picassa Web Albums page, but here are some highlights:

This picture from a work colleague illustrates just quite how much fell over night:

Also the snow is totally perfect for building snow women!

And its STILL snowing! I just took this one out the office window:

Its incredible, snow just seems to bring out some really primal aspect out in me, so excited

And here it is:

Doesnt it look mean?

I dont really need a dirt bike  as im not exactly going off road in the centre of Manchester so I had a half-hearted go of selling it on ebay.

In the end I have decided that ill keep it as it is very shiney and im abit of a magpie

Im all hot and itchy now, so it better be bloody staying up till June.

Ahh some real memories here..

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but now im back im looking forward to getting stuck in to my new job starting Monday (more coming on that) and finishing off some of my existing projects (BlastWave, WorldsBestFlashGames) so I can finally get stuck into some iPhone dev!

As per usual I have uploaded the pictures and videos to my picassa account, but here are some highlights:

Yarr’ me old sea dogs. I have just returned from a grand voyage to the eastern Canadian territories known as Nova Scotia. There myself and me old sea cappin’ red beard rum went-a-hiking and campin’ around the Maritimes.

And here be the tale of me epic journeyYARR!

Day 1

We set sail on the sixth of the sixth month of the calendar. The sailing was generally good however we did encounter some stormy weather near the harbour o’ Halifax..

.. after the brutal seas around the harbour we were sure in need of a stiff drink, so off we went to the local brewers..

..the locals however were somewhat queer with all their dancin’ and clappin’ and such..

…red beard was gettin’ somewhat restless and had to be reminded of the rules of the establishment…

..with that gruff reminder we took our leave in search of a less queer watering hole…

…with that old red beard was able to find himself a nice Frenchie mistress for the evening..

Day 2

After the first night red beard was after some adventurin’ and led us into the wilderness..

..the winds were fierce and the cliffs mighty..

..but not once did red beard show any sign of fear..

..once the day was done, we was rewarded for our efforts..

Day 3

The third day saw our mighty vessel spring a leak. After some swift handwork by a local merchant, we was back in action..

..twas this day we met the infamous Ted and his mighty mobile fire pits..

Day 4

Day four we encountered a terrifying sea creature the likes nay been seen by any man..

..red beard thought it wise we had inland away from the foul beasts. We sailed into the National Park known as Kejimkujik, there we found to red beard’s great amusement some swinging chair devices..

Day 5

Day five, red beard and I decided to take the small skiff out and explore the inland seas..

..the weather was rough though I had no fear, for red beard was always sure of his bearings..

..heading out, some local wildlife made itself an easy target..

..our cannons missed the beast however and it scampered away. Nar matter, as there was much ocean to be traversed this day..

Day 6

Yarrr, day six we visited the distant French fortress of Louisbourg. Though their fortress may be grand..

..though we couldn’t help thinking that their army was somewhat lacking..

..again we couldn’t shore up in these waters when there were more interestin’ places to be visitin’ …

Day 7

Day seven ’twas a gloomy sorta day so we went adventurin’ in the woodlands in Cape Breton island..

..from a distance we spied our campin’ destination, the most northerly site in the whole lands ..

..the weather was grim, though red beard and I persevered on and cooked us a hearty meal..

Day 7

We was swift in departin the dreary camp and its crazy drunken sailors..

..we was headin for the most famous hike in all of Nova Scotia..

..unfortunately the weather nay favour us here either. Red beard put a brave face on it tho..

..despite this there was beauty to be had..

.. after a long day on the open sea we were pleasured by the indoor space provided to warm our sodden feet..

Day 8

And off again we scamper, this time we sail down the eastern shore away from Cape Breton..

..thar we found some sand with which to enjoy our maritime sea tales..

Day 9

The last day of our epic voyage and we was both feelin rather weary, smelly, and our hair was somewhat greasy..

..our weariness was not long lasted however as we pulled into the zenith of our adventures, Peggys Cove..

.. followed by some grog and sea shanties..