my travels in pixels

The Australian Accent Americans love our Aussie accent, they tell us all the time. Not that they can always understand us, sometimes it's the accent, sometimes it's just what we say, and we all have a big laugh. So where does our accent come from? The Aussie accent is quite unlike anything else in the world. New Zealanders and South Africans sound similar but slightly different. Even I need them to say a few sentences before I can ascertain which country they are from. It’s our vowels that stand out, like a kind of irritable vowel syndrome. In Australian TV shows a few decades ago, they used to embellish their Australian accent as they didn’t think they had one. On the other hand we have many Aussie actors in Hollywood who seem to be able to perfect the perfect American accent, so that even the Americans can’t pick them. Then there’s the way we play with words and cut them short. In the movie "my life in ruins", the Greek tourist guide says “the Australians ...

medium cube Packing Cubes I’ve often wondered how some people manage to travel with just a carry on – I think part of their secret must be packing cubes. Why are they so good? You will be amazed how much more you can fit into your suitcase using these cubes. They are made of lightweight material with mesh tops, so you can see what is inside them, but don’t add much weight to your overall luggage. An added bonus is that you don’t mess up your packing when you are just trying to get one item out. Some people have one cube for “bottoms”, one for “tops” and one for “underwear”. Others put whole outfits for each day in a separate cube if they are going away for a short time, so they only have to open one cube a day. There is a label when you buy them that says “Beware: Packing cubes can be addictive”. I don’t doubt it! Where do I buy them? I bought the eBags brand from Amazon as they had good reviews and use YKK zippers which are the best there is. They come in dif...

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico view from our rooftop terrace A year ago while spending winter on Vancouver Island in Canada, as the temperature dipped closer to zero and the clouds covered the sun, it wasn’t surprising that we started thinking about where we wanted to go for the following winter. One of my favourite TV channels is HGTV – Househunter’s International, Beach Flip, Income Property – I love them all. We saw an episode on two gays guys buying a condo down in sunny Puerto Vallarta Mexico. It looked very inviting, so we did a little research and decided that would be where we would spend the winter of 2016. the other 3 buildings in our complex of 26 condos I found a condo in the Romantica zone; Old Town which would give us the feel of Mexico, and booked it for mid Feb to mid April. Then we realised that we needed to be out of the USA for longer but we couldn’t extend where I had booked so we found another place, this time, south of town. Old town, all the streets a...

Controlling your data When you are on the road you don’t have the luxury of large amounts of data at a home plan rate. Wireless data is expensive whatever country you are in, and the USA is no different. When we came into the USA a few months ago, we blew out our data plan four times! Unlike home plans, they don’t just throttle you back - they give you another gig and charge you double than if you had included it in your plan, and when you’ve used that they give you another one. We thought we were being very careful, and while it has never been this bad, it has happened before. So it was time to find some answers and fix the problem! Fixing the problem Firstly I went into my System Preferences on my Mac and then: Under Notifications - I turned off all notifications on every application, except Tunnel Bear. I use Tunnel Bear on my laptop to make a secure connection for banking or accessing my passwords when I’m using a public WiFi. You need to know when the line is secure, so...

Site 41 Cathedral Palms RV Resort 35901 Cathedral Canyon Drive, Cathedral City CA Why we chose here? We were meeting up with friends in Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Palm Desert Location: In between Palm Springs and Desert Springs, CA Sites: 145 – 33 50 amp FHU, 14 E & W, all the rest are FHU 30amp Facilities: Pool, Recreational room, pickleball court, restrooms, free wifi Groceries: shops are a 7 minute drive away Reservations: Yes Cell Coverage / WiFi: Their Wifi was unusable at our site, it is strongest in the recreational room Price Paid: $43 + tax Date of visit: December 2015 Other: We were in site 41, wifi was terrible and we had noise from the equipment hire place next door using air compressors. Would we come here again? Not sure, we would look at alternatives first.

Watson Lake AZ After the dentist in Yuma we went north to Cave Creek in AZ to catch up with our friends Bill & Michele. Lindsay took the opportunity to get the truck and trailer detailed to keep it looking good. One of the days we went up to Prescott to have lunch and then onto Watson Lake, which is really pretty. Another day we took a picnic up to Yellow Cliffs at Bartlett Lake in the Tonto National Forest. Yellow Cliffs, Bartlett Lake AZ A first for us was meeting up with a couple whose blog I follow – Mona-Liza and Steve. They were staying in nearby Cave Creek state park, less than 10 minutes from where we were. We spent a couple of hours drinking red wine and swapping stories. They have been to Australia where Mona-Liza fell in love with sticky date pudding, it just happens to be one of my specialities, so I've sent her the recipe. They have been to nearly every state in America, so have lots of information and ideas that I will be able to use for our upcoming No...

Mittry Lake Yuma Dentist in Los Algodones? If you are thinking of going to the dentist in Los Algodones, Mexico Here are some things you might want to know…these are based on our experience How do I get there? From Yuma travel along the I-8 going towards San Diego, turn left at the Los Algodones sign. Quechan casino is on the corner. Go down this road until you can see the border crossing ahead of you. There is a parking lot to the right, turn into these gates and drive around to the entry booth. In 2015 the fee for parking is $6, cash. You then just walk across the border. No-one will ask for your passport on entry, but you will need it to come back into the USA. Towards the end of the day, the line to come back in can be quite long, so try and make an appointments as early as possible. Part of the walkway is undercover, but take a hat. Where do I stay? You have a few choices, either a motel/hotel in Yuma or in Los Algodones; or If have an RV: Yuma has many RV park...