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travel

4 | Tuesday, February 11, 2020

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Thomas Bywater answers your travel questions I’m in Las Vegas for a conference next month and am hoping to see the Grand Canyon. I’ve done some research but the more I read, the more overwhelming the options seem to be.

All the different charges and tourist fees are hard to make sense of. Do you have to pay to visit the national park? Is there any way to see it for free?

Kelly Las Vegas isn’t everybody’s scene. After completing 10km of safety barriers along the Strip and Boulevard, the city has become even more claustrophobic. Newly installed sidewalk “drunk barriers”, a maze of pedestrian overpasses and inescapable casinos can leave you itching to get out of town. Which is ideal, because there’s so much to see outside the Sin City’s limits.

Red Rock National Park and the Hoover Dam are right on your doorstep. However, if you dare to dream a little bigger, Las Vegas is a steppingoff point for tourists going to the Grand Canyon.

There’s a lot to see and if you don’t have a lot of time, you’re going to have to make some hard choices. Then, with various permits for access, viewpoints and outdoor activities there’s some difficult additions too.

To get back to your point: yes, you need to pay.

Unlike other national parks in the US, there is

Photo / Thomas Bywater

an entry fee of $35 per vehicle driving into the park, per day. There are exceptions around certain public holidays, however, it’s a long way for a day trip. Particularly if you don’t have anyone to share the driving.

Then there are additional fees charged by specific viewpoints and a separate permit for visiting Havasupai tribal land.

There are three main points of attack to the canyon: The Western Rim is the first you’ll come to on the way from Vegas. As you’d expect, there are photo ops and gimmicks galore. The Skywalk glass-bottomed bridge is a thrilling but pricey experience at $56 for general admission and $26 for the walk. You’ll also have to pay for any photos, as cameras and phones are not allowed on the bridge.

The South Rim is perhaps the most visited and home to the most iconic views of the canyon.

Here, unlike the West Rim, all your entry fee goes back into conservation and rangers’ salaries.

Bus tours depart from Las Vegas, but at 14 hours it’s a long day trip with little flexibility.

A lot of people use their own wheels or hire a car to get into the park, but it gets pretty We want your travel busy and parking is limited. To questions. The sender of paraphrase a park guide: “Arrive by 9am the question of the week will or after 4pm, or not at all.” receive a copy of Lonely The North Rim is the last option from Planet’s Travel Goals (RRP Vegas. The least visited of the three, it $39.99). Email us at is a long drive along roads that close askaway@nzherald.co.nz over winter. It’s only accessible between May 15 and October 15.

Its serene remoteness means park services refer to it as “the other rim” and in Point Imperial it has the highest vantage point in the park. The remoteness is also the biggest challenge. Grand Canyon Lodge is the only accommodation near here.

If you’re on a tight timeframe and based in Vegas, you could do worse than take a heli-tour.

For between $300 and $600, you’d be able to chopper into the park for roughly the same cost of car hire and lodging. You’ll be dropped right in on the action; however, you might be left wanting more time in the canyon.

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USA

Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | 11

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SPACE ODYSSEY

A road trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas leads through some of the USA’s iconic national parks, writes Lauren Jarvis

From top: Badwater Basin, Death Valley; Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park; the Grand Canyon.

Photos / 123RF; NPS

“

Please step back people!” shouts the ranger, as a group of mesmerised, camera-wielding tourists abandon their cars, and hurry towards the hirsute hulk swaggering out of the forest.

In a few bounds he could be on them, but the spell has been cast, and with reason and rhyme forgotten in still-running vehicles, they push on, before the warning snaps them out of their trance.

Enthralled, but now respectfully distant, the crowd watches in awe as one of the world’s most enigmatic animals disappears behind a curtain of Ponderosa pine; cameras still clicking long after he’s gone.

A unique encounter with an American black bear is one of many magical experiences offered up by Yosemite National Park, which ranks among Earth’s greatest remaining wildernesses. With more than four million visitors a year, managing people can be more challenging for the park rangers than managing the bears, especially in summer when Yosemite becomes a hotspot for holidaymakers and day trippers.

I visit in spring, when snow still lies on the higher passes, lush meadows are alive with grazing mule deer, and traffic is lighter on the roads and trails.

In Yosemite, an easy three hours’ drive east of San Francisco’s urban sprawl, skyscrapers are of the giant sequoia tree kind and San Fran’s “Painted Ladies” — brightly hued Victorian houses across from Alamo Square — fade to grey, as ancient rocks are graffiti-sprayed by rainbows, rising from waterfalls rumbling from mountain tops above.

The scene that greets me from the park’s Tunnel View lookout is elysian: a haze of pine forests framed by titanic granite peaks; rivers and streaming cascades shimmering silver in the sun; an infinity of heavenly blue overhead — nature at its most epic, rugged and raw.

The park protects 3100sq km of central California, but Yosemite Valley is the big draw, with the stunning rock formations of Half Dome and

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El Capitan looming large, plus hiking trails to Yosemite Falls, North America’s tallest at 740m. This was the playground of American photographer and environmentalist, Ansel Adams, whose monumental blackand-white images are on display in the eponymously named gallery in the heart of the glacier-carved Valley.

Early morning, I walk the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail around Mariposa Grove, where more than 500 dizzyingly tall and stupefyingly ancient sequoias rise hundreds of metres to the sky, and chickarees, or Douglas squirrels, search for seeds among super-sized sugar pine cones.

The air is crisp and fresh here in the wonderland of the High Sierra, but just hours to the southeast lies the hottest place on Earth: Death Valley National Park.

The lowest and driest place in North America, Death Valley holds the largest area of designated national park wilderness in the contiguous United States — 1.365 million hectares of rugged canyons and mountains, arid deserts and dunes, ancient lake beds and dazzling salt flats. Entering the Death zone is not a journey to be taken lightly, and as I reach the park’s boundary late in the afternoon, I do a mental check list: water, gas, map, snacks.

In April, temperatures average a high of 32C, but in August the mercury regularly soars to 46C, while the hottest air temperature ever recorded was a scorching 57C on July 10, 1913. Early and late are the times to explore, with afternoons best spent submerged in your hotel pool, or wander-

ing the air-conned Furnace Creek Visitor Centre, with its films, exhibits and talks.

At dawn, look for tracks in the rippled sand at Mesquite Flat Dunes, where desert kit foxes, coyotes and kangaroo rats roam, or watch the sunrise from Zabriskie Point as the vast sky blushes pink and purple. Spring mornings are lit up by wildflowers such as desert mariposa, brittle brush and rose sage, while rare “superblooms” carpet seemingly barren lands after just the right measures of rain, wind and sun. At night, this certified International Dark Sky Park shines bright with stars, and moonshine makes icebergs of mountains, silently suspended below the Milky Way. Though harsh, the desert landscapes are beautiful, serene, other-worldly. Doubling for the planet Tatooine, Death Valley was a filming location for Star Wars Episode IV — A New Hope and Episode VI — Return of the Jedi. Hoping The Force is with me, I head for Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 86m below sea level. Here, fragile white honeycombs of salt stretch into the distance like a roughly hewn quilt, while at nearby Artist’s Drive, volcanic formations and valleys are dyed with vibrant blues, yellows and greens. At moments on the road I’m alone: a sole survivor scoping a desolate planet; a scientist terraforming Mars; Leia hunting for Han and Luke. With no landspeeder to hand, I drive across to the state of Nevada and through the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas.

The desert’s starshine fades under the blinding brilliance of glittering resorts, golden fountains, neon billboards and flashing thrill rides. Like E.T. caught in his spaceship’s landing lights, I know that I’m almost home: home here being the Wynn resort, a luxurious pleasure palace where the bedrooms could host the Met Ball and the bathrooms are bigger than my house.

Vegas keeps me up all night, wines and dines me, seduces me with spectacular shows, flashes the cash in casinos and, come morning, spills me, still spinning, on to The Strip. Later, revived by brunch and a swim, I drive out to the Grand Canyon, over the border in Arizona.

Standing on the edge of the Canyon’s South Rim, I look out over the vast Colorado plateau, bruising to purple under the sinking sun.

Ancient and immense, the gorge is almost too big to comprehend: 365km long, up to 29km wide and almost 1.5km deep, carved by the Colorado River, rolling for millennia through the red and pink rock.

America’s man-made metropolises may be spellbinding, but true magic lies in the untamed spaces between.

travel

12 | Tuesday, February 11, 2020

USA

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Howdy, Texas At Wildcatter Ranch, David Skipwith learns all about life home on the range

H

ollywood has shaped our ideas of the Wild West, but the stories of Texas cowboys and American Indians come to life in Technicolor at Wildcatter Ranch.

Just 90 minutes’ drive from Fort Worth you can play John Wayne and get a lesson in how the West was won at this historic working longhorn cattle ranch in the heart of North Texas Hill Country.

Wildcatter sits on 600ha of hilly, rocky countryside full of natural beauty and colourful history, offering outdoor activities guided by local cowboys and upscale western-style accommodation and hospitality.

Ride horseback on dusty trails blazed by pioneers across old Comanche land, learn how to throw a lasso and tomahawk, fire pump-action shotguns, and hand-feed a herd of Texas longhorns. It’s all in a day’s work at Wildcatter.

After sundown, you chow down on hand-cut mesquite-grilled steaks, sit around a fire under the stars and listen to the coyotes howl before retiring to one of the guest homes, cabin suites or charming western-style hotel rooms.

The region is steeped in western lore that has been the fodder for many books and films.

Wildcatter is just 20 minutes from the start of the famous Goodnight-Loving Trail, a route used in the 1860s to drive cattle west into New Mexico.

The story of the men who forged that path, Charles Goodnight, a former Texas Ranger, and Oliver Loving, legendary rancher and cattle driver, was told in the 1989 TV miniseries Lonesome Dove.

One of the largest and deadliest Indian raids in the history of Texas occurred within 16 kilometres of the ranch back in 1836; 9-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker was abducted from her prairie home by a group of Comanche, a slice of history that provided the basis for John Wayne’s problematic 1956 classic The Searchers.

It’s that sort of history you can literally find in the dirt at Wildcatter; our cowboy guide Mike

An unforgettable introduction Just hours after arriving in Texas I found myself among a sold-out crowd at the “world’s largest Honky Tonk” watching the one and only Willie Nelson live in concert.

My night out at Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s Texas was an altogether fantastic, surreal experience — full immersion treatment for a first-time visitor to the state and an unforgettable introduction to the city’s authentic cowboy and music culture.

This cavernous and iconic live music venue is one of the most popular attractions within the historic Stockyards district, housed inside a converted cattle barn that was built in 1910 before serving as an airplane factory during World War II. Occupying a whopping 11,800sq m, Billy Bob’s has been drawing capacity crowds of up to 6000 for almost 40 years.

You’ll find all manner of Western-style entertainment here, including more than 30 bar stations, arcades, casinos, line-dancing lessons and professional bull-riding demonstrations, restaurants offering barbecue brisket and ribs, and a Texas-sized dance floor.

The biggest stars in country music and classic rock — Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and ZZ Top — have graced Billy Bob’s stage, and I was lucky to see Nelson, one of the most recognisable American musicians of the past century.

Indeed, with his career nearing an end, several

Willie Nelson performs at Billy Bob’s Texas.

Photo / David Skipwith

shows off a flintstone arrowhead that he’d discovered glistening on the ranch trails. Also in the soil are juniper and birch trees the American Indians used to make bows and arrows.

An hour-long horse trek through the foothills and along the banks of the Brazos River gives a true sense of place and history as well as the chance to see the region’s breathtaking scenery.

It’d almost be considered rude to leave a Texas

locals mentioned the masses had turned out for what was expected to be the Texas native’s 57th and final appearance at Billy Bob’s, after respiratory problems had forced the 86-year-old to cancel several shows last August.

And although the Red Headed Stranger is showing his age, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the moment he walked onstage for a 90-minute set that included hits such as On the Road Again, Whiskey River and Georgia On My Mind.

Like any show, it costs extra to get close to the stage, but I was content watching from a distance with a welcoming (rowdy) group of cowboys, with big screens providing a close-up view of the band.

But just entering Billy Bob’s is an assault on the senses, moving through what feels like a montage of bar scenes with a cast of characters straight out of countless movies and television shows.

People-watching here is a first-class experience.

Cowboys politely invite cowgirls to dance twostep — to the likes of Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road and the theme from Footloose, no less.

Chivalry may be a lost art elsewhere but not in Fort Worth and certainly not at Billy Bob’s.

There are just two unspoken rules, I was told, which if followed will ensure a fun and memorable night for all: Never touch another cowboy’s hat, and never touch his woman.

Words to live by in Texas.

ranch without firing a gun, and Wildcatter offers shooting enthusiasts, or just the plain curious, the chance to “bang a few skeets out of the sky” with .22 pump-action shotguns. Safety is paramount of course and we are in great hands with Walt, a retired sniper and former Swat team leader overseeing things.

You don’t have to be an “outdoor person” to enjoy the activities at Wildcatter though. If relaxing is more your idea of fun then you can

travel

Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | 13

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Clockwise from main: the longhorn cattle drive at Fort Worth; Wildcatter Ranch; the ranch has activities guided by local cowboys. Photos / Supplied

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unwind at the infinity-edged pool and hot tub or book a therapeutic massage.

After a day out under the Texas sun, you’ll be ready to take on the Wildcatter Steakhouse where you’ll find mouth-watering local cuisine including chicken fried steak, pork ribs, baconwrapped cream cheese jalapenos, as well as your standard bacon, eggs and hash browns.

Before departing Wildcatter the next morning we pay a visit to the ranch’s herd of longhorns. With their extended horns — more than 2.5m from tip to tip — they remain an iconic symbol of the Old West. The huge animals look fearsome and though you must keep your wits about you while feeding them through a classic, but rickety-looking, wooden ranch fence, we are assured they are relatively sedate.

After your stay at Wildcatter, you can further your cowboy education in Fort Worth at the historic Stockyards district, a thriving entertainment, shopping and cultural hub.

If you are short on time take a guided VIP walking tour with Mr Stockyards (aka Nathan Krieger), who will explain the local history and point out the most popular attractions, restaurants, bars and saloons.

The two-and-a-half-hour tour includes a behind-the-scenes visit to the Cowtown Coliseum and a shopping stop at M.L. Leddy’s Boots & Saddlery for all your custom-made western gear, before catching the twice-daily longhorn drives that commemorate the work of cattlemen of the late 19th century.

The Stockyards’ nightlife includes the legendary Billy Bob’s Texas and its plucky competitor The Basement Bar (“The World’s Smallest Honky-Tonk”), and saloons embedded in Wild West legend. The White Elephant, which played host to Fort Worth’s infamous final shootout in 1887, when a gunfight broke out between the bar’s owner and a local detective, and Niles City Hall, a historic gambling parlour offering preprohibition era craft cocktails, are both welldeserving of a visit.

Between the rural experience offered at Wildcatter and the history preserved in the urban setting of Fort Worth, you are guaranteed to get a taste of what life was like on the American frontier.

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16 | Tuesday, February 11, 2020

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COUNTY LINES

Despite some past aversions to incomers, Northern California can turn on its charm for the roadtripper, writes Gemma Price

I

t’s been a while since I went beachcombing, but Chef Matthew Kammerer, who runs The Harbor House Inn in Northern California’s Mendocino County, takes a daily trip to the blackpebbled shoreline fronting the property to scout for products for dinner.

His pared-back, seasonal tasting menu recently earned a Michelin star for showcasing products unique to this rugged Pacific Coast culinary terroir — morels with grilled pine and California kosho; artichoke and trout roe — most sourced from within 25km and a large proportion grown, foraged and fished from the property’s grounds, beach and bay.

As we hop between tide pools, walled in by craggy, lichencarpeted cliffs and waves crashing through dramatic rock arches, Kammerer gathers seaweed loosed from rocks to bake into his house-made bread, served as a standalone dish with house-churned, kelp-infused butter.

“It’s actually one of the most labourintensive courses,” he explains, as we head back up the steep cliffside steps to tour redwood-framed culinary gardens and wild, overgrown patches where he points out chard, allium flowers and sheep’s sorrel.

The historic, nine-room Harbor House inn first opened its doors in the tiny town of Elk, population 200, in 1916, but re-opened in 2018 after undergoing eight years of meticulous renovations.

It’s just one of many good reasons to take a drive north from San Francisco along the Shoreline Highway — part of California’s scenic Highway 1 — where the cliff-hugging road curves 320km between redwoods and the seething Pacific, national parks and small towns and hamlets offering charming, cosy places — many new, or newly refurbished — to stay and sup by the fire.

Highway 1 in Mendocino, CA (top); the shipwreck at Point Reyes, northern California.

Photos / Myles McGuinness; Getty Images

Just over the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin County is renowned for its counter-culture heritage — it’s where writers Maya Angelou, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg lived (at different times) on the houseboat S.S. Vallejo, now an artists’ residency.

Rounding the Marin Headlands into Stinson beach, you’ll still see surfboard-laden Volkswagen Kombis parked haphazardly in front of houses where windchimes tinkle beneath curbside tie-dye awnings, and chalkboard signs advertising fresh eggs and rooms for backpackers in curlicue script.

A little further north, separated from Shoreline Highway by a lagoon, Bolinas is famous for discouraging outsiders — every time the highway department posts a road sign pointing to the town, residents pull it down.

Assuming you do find your way in, the free-admission Bolinas Museum — where exhibits span regional history, contemporary art galleries and a permanent collection of works by West Marin artists — is a good touchstone, as is Smiley’s Schooner Saloon, the oldest saloon west of the Mississippi (est. 1851).

Bolinas is also renowned for its excellent produce, sold at Marin’s numerous farmers’ markets. One of its smallest, anchored by Toby’s Feed Store in West Marin’s historic Point Reyes Station, population 848, has been patronised by royalty: in 2005, Prince Charles and Camilla visited the market and Bolinas farms as part of an eight-day US engagement. They petted goats and sampled local breads and cheeses before crossing the street for a pint of California’s Boont Amber Ale at the Old Western Saloon — a lively clapboard watering hole heated by a potbellied stove set in the middle of a floor illuminated by coloured fairy lights and carpeted in rugs that stick to your feet.

Above the bar, the royal visit is commemorated extensively in a series of framed photos.

“They stayed somewhere just out back for a couple of weeks, you know,” the bartender tells me as he pours me a stiff Tanqueray and tonic.

In fact, Charles and Camilla only spent three days in the Bay Area, total, but never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn, especially in a rural pub.

While much of the Bay Area has been developed for business and residence, Marin County has remained relatively undeveloped because of the land protections of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (Malt), founded by rancher Ellen Straus and biologist Phyllis Faber in 1980.

Grazing black-and-white Holsteins cut a striking contrast to green pastures here, but driving east from the Station to Point Reyes Beach along Francis Drake Boulevard — this headland road is one of myriad landmarks named for the explorer, whose first continental US landing was right here in 1579 — I spot groups of tule, a brown indigenous elk that was almost hunted to extinction but were reintroduced and now have a dedicated sanctuary at the northern tip of the peninsula.

“We’ve tried dispersing them across the Bay but they keep swimming back,” a park ranger tells me when I reach the shoreline. Wide-brim hats pulled down and collars turned up against the stiff breeze coming off the steely grey, she’s one of a small group clustered at the muster point to guide visitors to this year’s brood of elephant seal pups, born six weeks earlier and currently lolling in sandy heaps at the foot of the cliffs. They turn their heads in curiosity at my sudden appearance and the clicks of the camera, but decline to move their 200kg bulk across the beach to investigate.

Photo-stops include the Tomales Bay Shipwreck, an iconic fishing boat beached on a sandbar in Inverness, and the Cypress Tree Tunnel — two rows of Monterey cypresses planted around 1930 to flank the Point Reyes Receiving Station access road, and now connected to form a deep green, Insta-ready tube.

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Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | 17

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The Cypress Tree Tunnel at Point Reyes (top); Mendocino, California.

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Mendocino County

MARK-2827-WK1

And there’s plenty to eat and drink as you meander up the coast.

Just north of Point Reyes, Hog Island Oyster Co. does a roaring trade in sweet kumamotos from its reservation-only Oyster Bar, a shanty pitched against an upturned wooden boat and picnic tables where a booking includes access to shucking gear and a grill; you can also pick up a bag to go, or head to The Marshall Store less than a mile up the road where staff will prepare and serve your selections to tables perched right on the waterfront.

If you turn inland, the majestic redwoods thin to reveal rolling vistas of the lush vineyards of Mendocino County’s most lauded wine region, the Anderson Valley, renowned for excellent pinots, chardonnays and highbrow accolades.

Roederer Estate, an offshoot of esteemed French Champagne house Louis Roederer, produces some of the best bubbles in California.

Goldeneye Winery’s 2005 pinot noir was served at the Obama inaugural luncheon.

As the saying goes — and any vintner will tell you — it takes good beer to make great wine and Mendocino does not disappoint. The aptly named Hopland Brewery (now Hopland Tap House, under new ownership) was the first brewpub to open in California following the repeal of prohibition in 1933 and quickly became a local landmark.

At Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, you can tap draft amber nectars and a lesson in speaking Boontling, an elaborate turn-of-the-century jargon patched together from Appalachian, Spanish, and the local Pomo Indian language by hop field workers and women wanting to exclude “brightlighters” — city folk — from the conversation.

Further north, Mendocino town proper, the only spot on the California Coast listed on the National Register of Historic Places and beloved by poets and artists for its saltbox houses and rambling Victorians, is a great place to weekend, not least for its charming places to eat, drink and stay. Better go now, before everybody else catches on.

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND THE CITY LIMITS. GO BEYOND THE WAY THINGS SEEM. GO BEYOND THE FARTHEST MOUNTAIN. GO BEYOND THAT NEAREST TREE. GO BEYOND. VISIT THE USA.

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USA

Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | 19

»

Made for movies

Exploring Kauai’s Na Pali Coast with Holo Holo Charters (main); self-drive thrills at Kauai’s Kipu Ranch Adventures (below); and guests at Kauai Backcountry Adventures journey by inner tube. Photos / Supplied

Brett Atkinson finds plenty of heartstopping outdoor adventures on dramatic Jurassic Park-like Kauai island

edge pinnacles, Na Pali’s immensity contrasts with the low-key, super-relaxed welcome from Holo Holo’s trio of blond surfer dude yachties.

Departing Port Allen’s raffish harbour, their combined skills of sailing, wisecracking and providing the perfect morning on the water soon becomes evident. A jib is quickly raised, moving the boat downwind in fresh breezes to the coast’s best snorkelling spot.

The morning’s swell breaks impetuously on a nearby reef, but under water, beyond the reach of the waves, is calm and meditative.

Shapeshifting light plays on banks of coral and there’s the surprise of a sea turtle easing effortlessly past us.

Surfacing under Kauai sunlight, the constant and soaring background of the Na Pali Coast is leviathan and inspiring.

M

ake the short flight from Honolulu to Hawaii’s northernmost outpost of Kauai, an island ideal for a road trip. Stop often to experience Pacific thrills tinged with spectacle and excitement.

Kipu Ranch Adventures Wearing oversized goggles and maybe Hawaii’s biggest motorcycle helmet, I’m keeping an eye on the near horizon for dinosaurs. To the right, our convoy of ATVs is flanked by a verdant mountain ridge straight from the Jurassic Park movies, and under bruised tropical skies it’s very easy to imagine a flock of Gallimimus theropods escaping a rampaging Tyrannosaurus rex.

For cinema buffs, joining a tour with Kipu Ranch Adventures combines self-drive thrills with an entertaining commentary covering all the Hollywood movies filmed on this expansive private farm. Our vehicles’ roll cages brush the sides of narrow forested lanes, slip-sliding gently on corners made smooth from recent rains to reach the riverbank where Harrison Ford escaped on a rope swing in Raiders of the Lost Ark, while a narrow concrete path surges uphill to a forested peak with views of George Clooney’s perfect half-moon cove in The Descendants.

Freshly-baked banana bread and local coffee provide sustenance for concentration behind the wheel, and all the while there’s an uncanny feeling something very big and very dangerous might be lurking nearby. It’s probably a good idea Kipu’s zippy ATVs don’t have rear-view mirrors.

Holo Holo Charters Kauai’s Waimea Canyon and Na Pali Coast are so spectacular they’re worth seeing three different ways. Previously we’d journeyed by helicopter above Waimea’s necklace of forested waterfalls and negotiated a rental Jeep along the sinuous mountain highway coursing through the

Kaua’i Niihau

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Honolulu

Molokai Maui Lanai

Hawaii [USA]

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Checklist HAWAII GETTING THERE Hawaiian Airlines (hawaiianairlines.com) and Air NZ (airnz.co.nz) have direct flights from Auckland to Honolulu.

Hawaiian Airlines has 40-min flights from Honolulu to Kauai.

GETTING AROUND Kauai is easily explored in a rental car.

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canyon to coastal lookouts freshened by fleeting banks of mist.

From the water, on a catamaran, Holo Holo Charters completes the trifecta and provides the necessary perspective to view the improbable scale of one of the Pacific’s natural wonders.

Scored by ancient ridges and soaring knife-

Kauai Backcountry Adventures To a couple of Kiwi travellers, the joke-laden introduction from Kauai Backcountry Adventures’ bearded and wet-suited team is entertaining and familiar. If you’ve grown up in New Zealand, their self-deprecating Polynesian warmth and humour strike a chord, and while a few of our mainland American co-adventurers don’t necessarily get all the laughs, we’re almost rolling in the aisles.

Our shared experience for the next few hours is to journey by inner tube along narrow irrigation channels established in the island’s mountainous interior when sugar plantations were the biggest game in town. Now tourism is Kauai’s biggest earner, and tubing adventures reinforce the island’s adventure sports credentials. The action begins gently, drifting along like human bumper boats in narrow concrete channels that were dug by hand in the 1870s. A frisson of excitement soon ensues when the waist-deep water becomes shallower to create faster-moving mini-rapids.

More than half the journey is in tunnels, and after negotiating the first with headlamps on, we journey through longer darkened spaces with lights totally extinguished. Emerging into dappled sunlight from a tunnel almost a kilometre long, the experience concludes with the rush of a log flume-like plunge and the lazy-days coda of spinning slowly in island sunshine on the tour’s most easygoing waters.

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20 | Tuesday, February 11, 2020

THE MONGOL RALLY What: The craziest, most extraordinary banger race on the planet: 16,000-plus kms from Prague to Siberia.

Why it’s special: More than 300 teams participate in this wild annual road trip. The catch (one of them) is that participants can only drive tiny vehicles with engines up to 1.2 litres — think Suzuki Swifts and Nissan Micras. If you get lost or break down, you’re on your own.

Heading southeast across Europe, things start to get interesting on Romania’s Transfagarasan Highway, which makes dozens of switchbacks as it climbs through a green valley with jaw-dropping views. Continue through Bulgaria, Turkey, and Iran before seeing the giant fire pit in the middle of Turkmenistan’s desert.

After Uzbekistan, drive along Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway, a rough and rocky dirt road through the mountains — not for the faint of heart. Afghanistan is just across the river, but it’s generally pretty safe on this side, with children lining up to give you high-fives as you pass through their villages.

Dine on exotic meats such as horse, camel and yak.

Try not to get sick. Car trouble is inevitable sooner or later, but when you do break down, you’ll be amazed at the friendliness and resourcefulness of the local mechanics, who somehow manage to fix nearly everything, even if they don’t have the proper parts. Finally, pass through Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia to the finish line, six to eight weeks after you began.

You’ll never forget . . . The incredible Persian hospitality — you may well be invited to join a family for supper.

Insider tip: Bring a satellite communication device, such as the Garmin inReach (garmin.com), which allows you to send messages from virtually anywhere in emergencies and folks back home can track your progress.

How to do it: The Adventurists run the Mongol Rally every July. In addition to the NZ$1400 team registration fee (plus the cost of the used car, visas, and supplies), teams must raise at least $2010 for charity. Sign up at theadventurists.com/ adventures/mongol-rally.

— Scott Gurian THE MISSISSIPPI GREAT RIVER ROAD What: Follow the Mississippi from sea to source along the Great River Road as it meanders from the lively streets of New Orleans, all the way up to the Great Lakes of Minnesota.

Why it’s special: There are not many road trips designed to fork, bend and meander, but then the Mississippi, which the Great River Road follows through 10 states — from Louisiana in the south to Minnesota in the north — is no ordinary waterway. Formed by a retreating glacier during the last Ice Age and torn wide apart in 1811 by earthquakes that nearly pulled the North American continent in two, the river has found itself at the heart of a great many major events in US history, beyond pure geological happenings.

It’s made up not of a single road but a combination of back roads, federal routes and state highways so from behind the wheel, the road offers a great many diversions that each tell a strand of the nation’s story. The antebellum houses and sugar cane plantations delve into the history of slavery in the southern states; in Mississippi, key moments in the Civil War can be traced on battlefields.

In Kentucky there’s evidence of the first humans living on the water, using its clay to make containers for the food they caught within it. Illinois offers glimpses into the industrial past in its towns — some affluent, others nearly abandoned; and the city of Hannibal, Missouri, tells tales of the most famous fictional characters to emerge from the region — Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

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Get out on the highway for the drive of your life, whether it takes you through deserts, forests, mountains or alongside spectacular rivers and coastlines

You’ll never forget . . . Wading through the shallows in Itasca State Park — it’s hard to believe this is the source of the same wide river you’ve followed from where it spools into the Gulf of Mexico.

Insider tip: Include a stay in one of the plantation houses in Louisiana: Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie (oakalleyplantation.com) is recommended, while Whitney Plantation (whitneyplantation.com) offers a brutally frank tour about the history of slavery.

How to do it: Fly to New Orleans, via LA, San Francisco, or Houston and out from Minneapolis-St Paul (or vice versa).

— Phoebe Smith

The Mississippi Great River Road starts in New Orleans (above); the 1078km Route Nationale 7 travels from Paris to the French Riviera (right); the Alaska Highway snakes past the snowcapped peaks of the St. Elias mountains in Yukon Territory, Canada (below right).

PARIS TO THE RIVIERA What: The 1078km Route Nationale 7, from Paris to the Riviera, is France’s equivalent of America’s Route 66: a legendary road symbolising liberty and insouciance.

Why it’s special: Before the war, the Route Nationale 7 (RN7) was used by the well-heeled heading for hedonism. When the Autoroute du Soleil opened in 1974, the RN7 became a byway and lost its identity; but now it is tempting travellers back for quieter motoring.

Unlike the autoroutes, it weaves you into French life and the landscape, from the Fontainebleau forest to the sauvignons of Sancerre and Pouilly-

Fume, and then into the Rhone Valley, Montelimar — the capital of nougat — Avignon and Aix-enProvence.

The Med is eventually spotted at Frejus, from where you may tootle along the coast to Menton, via Cannes and Nice . . . maybe even call in at Monaco. With palms and panache, the end to the RN7 couldn’t be a lovelier place to stop.

You’ll never forget . . . The first sight of the sea as you curve into Frejus, sparkling with an intensity that suggests you’re witnessing the Creation.

Insider tips: Valence has become a gastronomic centre for the Rhone valley; most notable are Maison Pic (anne-sophie-pic.com), Baptiste Poinot’s Flaveurs (flaveurs-restaurant.com) and Masashi Ijichi’s well-hidden La Cachette.

How to do it: Fly to Paris, then drive to Fontainebleau and beyond. Stay en route near Sancerre, La Cote des Monts Damnes at Chavignol; at Le Crozet, the lovely Maison Dauphin B&B (maisondauphin.fr); in Avignon, La Mirande (lamirande.fr), in St Maximin, the Couvent Royal (hotel-lecouventroyal.fr).

— Anthony Peregrine

avel

Tuesday, February 11, 2020 | 21

Romania’s Transfargarasan Highway (main); the Wild Atlantic Way (left); a drive through the High Andes (below).

Photos / Getty Images

D

looming into the sky. This is Yeats country — and it’s made for poetry. Sligo Bay is fringed by white beaches: walk for miles, fly a kite, or try a little surfing in the clean, green breakers. Visit nearby Lissadell House (lissadellhouse.com), with its miles of woodland walks. Further west, walk or swim from Enniscrone beach — and carry on to the wild and remote Mullet peninsula. Then, what a delight to find Westport, with its fine Georgian architecture, and its marvellous setting on the shores of island-flecked Clew Bay. You’ll never forget . . . The Ceide Fields (heritageireland.ie), the world’s largest Stone-Age monument, offering an insight into the lives of our Neolithic ancestors.

Insider tip: At Carne (carnegolflinks.com), near Belmullet, play golf between dunes like mountains, and drink in the views across the sea to Achill island.

How to do it: Fly to Dublin via Doha with Qatar Airways, then pick up a car or camper van for ultimate freedom. Stay at the marvellous Ice House Hotel (icehousehotel.ie) overlooking the water at Ballina; in Westport, check in at comfortable Knockranny House (knockrannyhousehotel.ie); and enjoy excellent Irish trad music at Matt Molloy’s (mattmolloy.com).

— Neil Hegarty

CANADA’S AMAZING ALASKA HIGHWAY What: From Canada to Alaska, through some of the wildest landscapes in North America, this epic highway offers one of the greatest road trips in the world.

Why it’s special: The 2232km highway winds through the lonely forests of British Columbia, climbs the Rockies into the majestic wilderness of the Yukon — look out for bears — and continues north to Dawson Creek and past the Kluane mountains towards Fairbanks, Alaska.

There are few places in North America built on this scale, and nowhere a highway threads through landscapes this varied, this awe-inspiring or this long: mountain, forest, lake, river — they just keep on coming, mile after majestic mile.

Completed in 1942, the road was built to forestall a possible Japanese invasion from the north. After the war, when it was opened to public traffic, its gruelling terrain saw it dubbed the

“graveyard of the American automobile”. Things are easier today, but this is still a breathtaking journey.

You’ll never forget: The splendour of the scenery.

Insider tip: No time to drive the entire highway?

Dawson Creek to Whitehorse (1404km) is a popular, shorter route. The old Klondike goldfields at Dawson City, Yukon, are worth the detour.

How to do it: Fly to Dawson Creek Regional Airport, via Vancouver and Prince George, with Air Canada. Pick up a car or camper and explore independently.

— Tim Jepson THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY What: Ireland’s coastlines are special — and the shores of Sligo and Mayo are perhaps the most special of all. Wide, white beaches, high mountains, and deeply rooted history make this a place of dreams.

Why it’s special: The Wild Atlantic Way runs from the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal to Kinsale, Co Cork. You can drive the 2500km in a week if you go at breakneck speed; allow two for a more leisurely approach. On the Sligo coast, glance up at any point and you’ll see the great Ben Bulben

EPIC ANDES ROAD TRIP What: High Andes peaks, a stunning canyon and Argentina’s most important Inca-era archaeological site make this loop around southern Salta the road trip of dreams.

Why it’s special: Starting and ending in the handsome city of Salta, known for its colonial buildings, this epic route skirts the Andes on gravel roads en route to the rolling vineyards and townships of the Calchaqui valleys before heading back on an excellent paved highway.

The journey from Salta to Cafayate follows ancient Inca and colonial routes — now forming a section of the Ruta 40 — through rural hamlets and sun-baked foothills studded with tall cacti. The journey back to Salta via the meandering Ruta 68 takes in the Quebrada (Canyon) of the Conchas River, where natural erosion has left deep clefts and surreal formations.

Salta province, while settled by Spanish, Italian and Levantine migrants, retains something of its pre-Columbian heritage. Don’t miss Salta city’s penas: basic and low-budget, they are a showcase for local folk musicians, with hearty Andean cuisine and wine served to the table.

You’ll never forget . . . Los Cardones national park, with its towering cactuses — Argentine saguaro — all the way to the horizon.

Insider tip: The Quilmes ruins lie 54km south of the loop. This was once a major pre-Columbian settlement; an excellent museum tells the full story.

How to do it: Air New Zealand flies direct from Auckland to Buenos Aires. Go between April and November.

— Chris Moss — Telegraph Media Group

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT THE USA.

Fifty States, the District of Columbia and the ďŹ ve territories, as well as hundreds of cities and thousands of towns and neighbourhoods, offer you unique holiday experiences that will live with you forever.

This year, go beyond and Visit the USA with House of Travel. Better together.

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Saturday, February 15, 2020 Weekend Herald

WHERE WILL YOU LIGHT UP THE NIGHT?

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT THE USA. Fifty States, the District of Columbia and the ďŹ ve territories, as well as hundreds of cities and thousands of towns and neighbourhoods, offer you unique holiday experiences that will live with you forever.

This year, go beyond and Visit the USA with House of Travel. Better together.

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Saturday, February 22, 2020 Weekend Herald

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT THE USA. Fifty States, the District of Columbia and the ďŹ ve territories, as well as hundreds of cities and thousands of towns and neighbourhoods, offer you unique holiday experiences that will live with you forever.

This year, go beyond and Visit the USA with House of Travel. Better together.

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# nzherald.co.nz

Herald on Sunday, March 1, 2020

WHAT WILL YOU FIND BEYOND THE HIGHWAY?

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT THE USA. Fifty States, the District of Columbia and the ďŹ ve territories, as well as hundreds of cities and thousands of towns and neighbourhoods, offer you unique holiday experiences that will live with you forever.

This year, go beyond and Visit the USA with House of Travel. Better together.

Herald on Sunday, March 1, 2020

News 1–20 | Review 21–29 | Business 30–31 | World 32–35 | Weather 36 | Classified 37 | Sport 38–48 |

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# 17

travel

10 | Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Trip Notes

» Nashville’s Broadway.

Photo / Getty Images

Country style In the new season of Travel podcast Trip Notes, New Zealand’s award-winning country music sensation Tami Neilson shares her tips for visiting Nashville with Juliette Sivertsen

Nashville Where to see live music: ● The Blue Bird Cafe ● The Ryman Auditorium ● Grand Ole Opry ● Country Music Hall of Fame

I

Where to eat: ● Peg Leg Porker ● The Loveless Cafe

Tami Neilson (centre), with Stephanie Holmes (left) and Juliette Sivertsen.

Photo / Supplied

DISCOVER NASHVILLEMUSIC CITY.

Where to go for good old honky-tonk vibes: ● Tootsies ● Roberts ● Long Hollow Jamboree

in Nashville and the artists and musicians are so accessible.”

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“You can go anywhere, and there’s incredible food and incredible music,” says Neilson, with one key piece of advice: “Bring your stretchy pants.”

So where should a music-lover go in Nashville?

Listen to the latest Trip Notes podcast with Tami Neilson to find out the best way to visit Music City, available now on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Download Trip Notes to hear more about top tips for exploring Nashville, and advice for frequent flyers.

Subscribe, and each new episode will automatically download when available. To watch video from the podcast, and catch up on any episodes you may have missed, go to nzherald.co.nz/tripnotes

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f there’s one place in the world Tami Neilson’s heart constantly pangs for, it’s Nashville, Tennessee.

“I spent one year living there in our childhood. We played there on a year contract and whenever I go back there, it feels like home,” explains the Chickaboom! musician.

Neilson, who spoke to me and Travel Editor Stephanie Holmes for the latest episode of Trip Notes, says she feels homesick for the place famously known as Music City. Growing up in a musical family, she toured across North America in a 12-metre motorhome, performing with her parents and brothers as part of the Neilson Family Band.

There are other musical meccas like New York or LA, but it’s the small town, intimate vibes of Nashville, its music history and honkytonk after honky-tonk, which makes Neilson swoon.

“Nashville, in a nutshell, it feels like family and it does feel like a really intimate gathering,” she says, describing it as a city encompassing a celebration of songwriters and musical history.

Iconic country music stars such as Patsy Kline, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash have all played there. “So many magical things happen

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT TEXAS. Everything’s bigger in Texas and Texan hearts are as huge as their State.

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This year, go beyond and visit Texas. www.traveltexas.com

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travel

12 | Tuesday, February 18, 2020

USA

»

Bridging the years A walking tour of Brooklyn gives Nicholas Jones a glimpse of its industrial history and gentrification

A

bove the food market serving ramen and cookie dough is a bill of sale for a boy named Frank.

Brooklynite Nehemiah Denton bought him in 1808, and likely put him to work in his flour mill on the waterfront.

Centuries later the document was found and placed in the Brooklyn Historical Society headquarters, tucked away in a waterfront brick warehouse complex now converted into an upscale food market.

This is the starting point for our walking tour with Doug Chapman, who also works as an actor and spent five years as director of research for a leading architecture firm.

That combines into a deep appreciation of the area’s buildings and the people who have worked in them and called them home.

Turnstile Tours also guides guests through the nearby navy yard and Prospect Park and describes itself as a social enterprise, returning some of its proceeds to the historical society and other groups in the borough.

Displays at the small museum include those on the slave trade that provided the labour that

The famous view from Dumbo, Brooklyn, of the Manhattan Bridge and the Empire State Building (main); on tour at the Brooklyn Historical Society (above). Photos / Supplied; Nicholas Jones

built the waterfront; on the oyster beds that fed early residents but succumbed to pollution; and a 12-block coffee industry that stored more than 70 per cent of the world’s coffee imports in the 1920s.

The centrepiece is a huge backlit lithograph depicting “the walled city” in 1879, high warehouses and piers lining the marshy waterfront. The adoption of the shipping container would make the buildings obsolete, Doug explains, with the need for open space, not storage, seeing port activity move to New Jersey.

The empty buildings were filled in the 1970s and 1980s by artists, who fled Manhattan’s escalating rents and named their new home Dumbo — “Down under Manhattan Bridge overpass”.

Developers followed the artists. As we walk along Water St, Doug points out the Jacques Torres chocolate store, which was given free rent by a developer who, in the early 1980s, bought two million square feet of space for US$12 million. The plan to make the area more desirable worked; just down the road is the Walentas Building, one of the first condominium blocks to rise in the area, and the beginning of

gentrification that forced out most of the artistic community.

When we reach the corner of Washington and Water St, one of the most photographed views in the city opens up; a cobblestone street leading down to the Hudson River, framed by red-brick buildings and with the distant Empire State Building perfectly framed through an arch of the Manhattan Bridge. It’s a breath-catching view, even with the dozens of tourists taking photos.

Doug’s tour gives insight into the stories behind some of the less-photographed buildings a casual tourist would otherwise likely overlook.

Warehouses lining Washington St were built for Scottish immigrant Robert Gair, he explains, who was a printer of paper bags. A mistake in production led him to realise a mass-produced cardboard box could be created from cuts that didn’t go all the way through. He also saw the potential in putting branding or advertising on box sides — a big moment in advertising and branding still seen in every supermarket and kitchen pantry.

We go through a brick-lined tunnel under the Manhattan Bridge overpass that is filled with tables for diners and hosts a flea market in warmer months, past faded signs for smoking pipe and envelope companies, and stop at a nondescript building where, we are informed, torpedos were made for the US Navy.

To finish, we walk along the waterfront, filled with families, joggers, dog-walkers and tourists, towards a huge carousel, made in 1922 by the

travel

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 | 13

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Doug Chapman of Brooklyn’s Turnstile Tours (left); Manhattan Bridge connects Brooklyn to Manhattan (below).

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Philadelphia Toboggan Company, now restored and just as popular with today’s kids.

The hour-long tour is over and we’re headed for a different kind of chaos; the Time Out New York food market promises “the best of the city under one roof”, filling two levels of a huge warehouse with stalls including some from well-known New York restaurants.

The recently opened complex is a further, hyper-charged step in Brooklyn’s gentrification.

I sense it’s not exactly Doug’s cup of tea. “I like to keep my lunches under $10 if I can,” he politely explains when asked about the market.

That hasn’t dissuaded the hundreds of people who have packed the warehouse — more Ponsonby Central than Ponsonby Foodcourt — by midday, with a controlled chaos ordering system at each of the 21 eateries. When the buzzer beeps people go up and get their food, then try to find a seat or relieve friends who have been holding the fort.

There’s a stall dedicated to avocado on toast, another to scoops of cookie dough, and restaurants selling lobster rolls, ramen, stacks of blueberry pancakes and something called a pizza bagel.

I opt for an obscenely big pile of honey fried chicken and four deep-fried Oreos (I can only eat two, total bill without tip US$19.60) from Jacob’s Pickles, which opened its first store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in 2011.

It’s worth braving an elevator with other tray-clutching diners up to the second floor, which has a bar and deck with magnificent views over to Brooklyn Bridge and the skyline beyond.

Many tourists follow lunch by walking in that direction; over the bridge and back into Manhattan.

I know because we passed them in an Uber, stomachs full-to-bursting and a perfect symbol of how much Brooklyn has changed.

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travel

USA

Tuesday, February 18, 2020 | 15

» There was no train and the replacement bus took its sweet Southern time.

Photo / Getty Image

Waiting for a train It’s not easy getting to New Orleans, as John Bishop discovers when left hanging on the line by Amtrak

N

o one would call the combined Amtrak train and Greyhound bus terminal in Jackson, Mississippi attractive.

It’s an old, red-brick building in less than well-cared-for condition; with a cavernous hall that used to be full of people when people went most places by train or bus, and a barbershop that has a sign on the street saying open, though the shop is very firmly closed.

A gift shop is selling to nobody although the Cold Beer sign is prominent.

It is 10am on an already hot Sunday morning and I am here early for an 11am train. The Amtrak office is closed. I sit in the hallway on a row of steel chairs and wait.

My hotel was just across the street, so after breakfast I packed at a leisurely pace, checked out and wheeled my bag about 100m to the lowslung brick mausoleum that was the train and bus station, but was bereft of signage saying so.

I already know that there is no train. Amtrak told me that three days ago. The track between Jackson and New Orleans is down for maintenance. I’ll be going by bus.

At 10.26 another couple arrive, look around and sit down silently to wait, just like me.

At 10.28 someone from Amtrak carrying his breakfast in a takeout bag arrives and lets himself into the office, ignoring my taps on the glass door.

Open at 10.30 the sign says. The sole employee sticks to that.

Once inside the good news comes. The clerk at the desk tells me the train coming to Jackson is running late, and therefore the buses replacing the train to New Orleans will be departing late so the train passengers can continue their journey.

So, the bus will now depart an hour late, he concedes to my questioning. Perhaps I wasn’t supposed to ask.

Bus not a train, and now an hour late, you’ve

brought me nothing but a bag full of troubles, I tell the clerk. “Ain’t nothing we can do about it, sir,” he tells me, with that heavy-eyed resignation that characterises Southern excusemaking.

Turns out the reason there is no train is flooding on the line in Louisiana. I sit for an hour on the wooden bench. My respect for those who sleep on them increases.

At 10.47 the number of passengers is now up to six.

Don’t they want customers? Probably not, I muse, recalling Basil Fawlty for whom customers were just an interruption to his day. “Don’t they know I am trying to run a hotel here?”

Customers are not the reason for their existence, not the why of why their jobs exist. Customers are unreasonable. They want things, like buses and trains to turn up, to arrive and depart on time, for services to be comfortable, reliable and hassle-free. Well with Amtrak and Greyhound, no one tries very hard to run anything.

The cafe next to the Greyhound section of the station, which was open when I arrived in the afternoon three days ago, is now closed; Sunday morning and I ain’t coming down.

Oh, waiting for a train.

At five minutes to midday I startle myself awake and have a panic for a nanosecond: I have missed the bus.

But no. The same people are in the same places as before and passengers now number nine.

I go to the door where the buses are. There are two outside, both with engines running and cargo doors open. Perhaps something is imminent.

But no. I ask the clerk what’s happening.

Waiting for the train, the man says.

When will it arrive, I ask, recalling my earlier conversation that it was expected at midday, which is now. About 12.30 he says.

It was going to be 12, I say.

Well, it’s now going to be 12.30, he says,

slumped in his chair, his only job so far today being to deal with numb-nutted customers, who have a weird expectation that services will operate to time.

I have now been in the South long enough to know that any time given is a best-guess or an opening bid about what will happen. It is certainly not an assurance to be relied on. Stuff happens when it happens, and everyone who lives here knows, understands and accepts that.

So, when will it depart after that?

When the load captains have finished loading, and when they say so.

And that won’t be until the train has arrived and disgorged its load.

At 12.35, passengers stream into the waiting area. Hallelujah, the train has arrived. Praise be to Amtrak.

By 12.45 these passengers plus the now 20 to 30 locals who are going to New Orleans have formed a disorderly melee outside the waiting area in front of the buses — engines still running, cargo bay open, one driver sitting quietly having a smoke.

Edward the Tall, a gangly white kid in an Amtrak uniform, is trying to instil order.

“Now I need you all back inside and form a queue please.” It sort of happens.

Sleeping car passengers first. They are the premium payers. I am not one of them.

At 12.50 we start loading. Edward is there with his magic wand capturing the electronic ticketing symbols.

One by slow one we get on board and are given a snack pack — some nuts and dried fruit and a cookie — presumably to compensate for lateness, although no one says so, or even says sorry.

Finally, two hours and eight minutes late, we depart.

On board there is no Wi-Fi and no charging points — this is not even as good as Greyhound — but there is a toilet. Shortly after 4pm we arrive in New Orleans, the Big Easy.

Waiting for a train is over.

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS GO BEYOND AND VISIT NEW YORK. However you get there, New York is the heart and soul of where it’s at. Uptown or downtown, it’s the buzzing, heaving, cosmopolitan adrenaline ride that should be on every bucket list.

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travel

14 | Tuesday, February 25, 2020

USA

»

AS U LIKE IT T Derek Cheng takes a delectable street food tour of Washington DC

he make-up of colourful U Street in Washington DC may have been very different if a certain pivotal figure had taken a stronger liking to tomato sauce.

The neighbourhood is known for its food and history, as well as all the amazing artists who honed their talents in the area known locally as Black Broadway.

The bedrock of the suburb is Ben’s Chili Bowl, a DC institution and the first stop on Carpe DC’s U Street walking food tour.

Scott, our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, tells us that the bowl opened in 1958 after Ben Ali, an African American with some Caribbean ancestry, was offended by the dull taste of ketchup.

Ben based his business on the seemingly fool-proof idea that no one could possibly choose a dull dump of tomato mash over his chili halfsmoke sauce, whose recipe is as top secret as the President’s nuclear codes.

Located in a building constructed in 1910, Ben’s is a rustic diner and, if the number of customers is any indication, the half-smoke must be divine; the place is packed at 11.30am.

The half-smoke is undeniably good, just spicy enough to make the spice-innocent start to sweat, but it has a downside — the fries become very soggy. I suspect Ben’s half-smoke is tastiest when you are drunk (Ben’s is open 22 hours a day).

Ben’s has seen through the most dire and

Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street, Washington DC; Jubilee is DC's premium icecream palace (inset).

Photos / washington.org

uplifting times, including the riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr (apparently a regular customer) in 1968, when it became a safe space to shelter while neighbouring shops were looted for four days until the military were called in.

The decades that followed saw accelerated “white flight”, and the neighbourhood fell into a state of neglected disrepair.

Ben’s survived through the 1970s — when the streets turned into dangerous dens of drug dealers — and through the revitalisation projects that began in the 1990s and accelerated in 2005.

The median income has since ballooned from about US$17,000 ($26,800) to US$100,000 ($158,000) as the middle class has clamoured to move back to the area, which has unsurprisingly ramped up housing prices and pushed out the families who have lived through it all.

Clientele of all socioeconomic backgrounds still frequent Ben’s; Barack Obama made it his first stop when he came to town as President-elect.

He and Michele Obama are also the first faces you see on the adjacent wall mural by renowned artist Aniekan Udofia.

The vibrant, colourful artwork is one of many of his in the area, and this one is full of portraits of African Americans including Prince, Dave Chapelle, Harriet Tubman and Chuck Brown.

The new design was painted in 2017, replacing

his previous one in 2012, which featured, among others, a portrait of Bill Cosby.

The rather dubious official explanation for the re-paint was that the mural had degraded, and was in need of renewal.

Next to Ben’s are historic buildings from an era that gave the neighbourhood the name “Black Broadway”.

There is the the Lincoln Theatre, where legends Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holliday performed and which served the African American community when segregation kept performers out of other clubs.

Nearby is the True Reformer Building, commissioned in 1902, which was the first building in the US to be designed, financed, built and owned by African Americans.

Duke Ellington, whose face looks on from a mural on the side of the building, is said to have played the first show there, and John Coltrane and Miles Davis were frequent performers in the 1960s at the Bohemian Cavern, across the street.

Also nearby is Dukem, a traditional Ethiopian restaurant that is our second food stop, where Scott tells us of the tour’s intention to make our bellies pleasantly full.

Ethiopian cuisine is common in DC, which has the biggest population of Ethiopians outside of Ethiopia, with some 35,000 Ethiopians living in the city.

Many are descendants of graduates of nearby Howard University, which was established in 1867 to improve education for African Americans, starting with freed slaves.

Scott tells us that many richer Ethiopians liked to send their family members to Howard, and they understandably decided to stay when civil unrest stirred in Ethiopia.

The Dukem dishes are traditional: yellow split pea curry and a tomato-based red lentil dish known as misir wat.

It’s eaten traditionally too, meaning with our hands and communally.

We tear off segments of moist and savoury flat

travel

Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | 15

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Wandering down 14th St, Washington DC.

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bread called injera to scoop up the various offerings from a communal plate.

After a longer stroll along wide footpaths, we reach our third food stop: a large restaurant called Matchbox, named after the first match that lit the brick pizza oven.

It used to be a club space where Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway used to perform. Now it’s a large, three-storey restaurant where we eat a fried risotto and mozzarella nuggets.

This is the blandest food stop of the tour: a modern but good restaurant that has little to distinguish itself from all the other nice, modern restaurants in the world.

Our tour moves on to the eternal cuteness of small shots of Cuban coffee at Colada.

These are well complemented with Cuban empanadas filled with sweetcorn and dipped in a rich aioli-type sauce.

The last stop is next door, Jubilee, DC’s premium icecream palace, where the sweet aroma of waffle cones assaults our nasal passages as soon as we enter.

The icecream flavours are plentiful and inventive — blueberry pie, Thai iced tea, banana bourbon caramel — but I go with something I can only get in America: marionberry, a type of blackberry from Oregon.

It looks fruity but otherwise uninspiring.

This ignites inside me the idea that I could possibly be the next Ben, sufficiently dulled by the taste of marionberry icecream that I set up my own Derek’s icecream bowl, selling hokey pokey, L&P or pineapple lumps flavoured desserts.

It would endure as the neighbourhood has, allowing art and culture to thrive and growing as the streets and houses became cleaner and grander and generally more joyous.

This reverie is so alluring I hardly notice my icecream starting to melt.

I quickly taste it, mainly to avoid it dripping all over me, and the bubble pops; the dream is over — the marionberry is delectable.

travel

16 | Tuesday, February 25, 2020

USA

»

journey The longest

Elina Osborne leaves the comforts of home for the unforgiving climes of the Pacific Crest Trail

I

had been told to prepare my mind.

To know my “why”, to understand my motivation, because this would be the thing that would pull me through those tough days. Because there’d be plenty of them.

It was a question I faced before I left, a question I loved asking others, and a question I continue to face now that I’m back home. Why? It took me 137 days — that’s roughly four-anda-half months of walking more than 30 kilometres a day.

When I look at that sentence I can’t fathom it either. Why would anyone carve that amount of time from their life. . . to walk?

For me, I’ve always loved the outdoors. That’s almost a given growing up in New Zealand. The trail had only ever entered my mind as a fleeting impractical thought after I read Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, seven years before.

But in 2018 my mum was diagnosed with myeloma, a treatable but incurable form of blood cancer. Her world was flipped upside down. So was our family’s. It was in this moment where I took a step back to recognise how finite life truly is. Admittedly, it took the classic tale of heartbreak for me to take the leap. After some healing I realised I had no real commitments or expectations that I’d once let shroud my decision-making.

So I set off.

The Pacific Crest is a trail still relatively unknown to Kiwis, spanning 4270km in length from the Mexican border, up through California, Oregon, then Washington into Canada.

The first section is desert.

It’s here that hikers are usually given their “trail name”. It’s a rite of passage, a gift of new identity and in my case Tip Tap for supposedly having an odd way of using my trekking poles.

Last year was an unseasonably wet year that saw rain, hail and snow. I was told I wouldn’t need my rain jacket out until the last sections of the trail. But I pulled it out almost every other day in the desert alone. We called this stretch “training wheels on fire”.

It was also a year of “high snow”, a phrase

Home for the night on the Pacific Crest Trail.

that meant nothing while I sat comfortably at home reading about it in preparation. But as a through-hiker, the weight of these words came down on me like a freezing cold river traverse, water above my waist, fighting against the current in pure concentration to avoid falling to my demise. A year of 200 per cent snowpack. It. Was. Rough. There’s no other way to put it.

There were 3am starts to avoid walking through afternoon slush, wet shoes, wet socks, wet feet all day, cold evenings, and even colder mornings when all I wanted to do was curl up in my sleeping bag and eat rationed food I knew I shouldn’t. Elevation, climbing, river crossings. A month of this, and we all emerged from the sierras feeling like the most badass humans alive.

Next came the milestones. We were out of the

sierras and in the latter half of our hike, but it felt like we’d lived multiple lifetimes. More forgiving terrain and lush green forest came next, more like New Zealand.

Finally, we crossed from Oregon into Washington over the “Bridge of the Gods” and this was where it started to hit home. With the vast mountain range ahead and the promise of the biggest climbs and descents on the entire trail, it still wouldn’t hurt as much as the feeling that it would all be over soon. As much as I wanted to reach the end, I equally didn’t want to let go of this complete connectedness, the beauty around me, and the people that I now called family.

All the preparation, all the research, all the logistics. As quickly as the beginning had come around, it was also coming to an end. All to return home and face what is known as post-trail depression. What is home now that we know we can survive out here, now that we know what our bodies and minds are capable of? What is home when we know we’ve built a new family

ANSWERS:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Denali – North America’s tallest mountain – is in what state?

If you’re viewing the Old Faithful geyser, what US National Park are you in?

What river flows through the Grand Canyon?

Lake Tahoe straddles the border between two states – Nevada and…?

What mammal is known for “washing” its food in water before eating?

Most people just look at El Capitan. What do a few brave (or foolhardy) people do with it?

Common in some northern states, what animal is the largest member of the deer family?

The lowest point in the United States – 86m below sea level – is in what state?

What connects Lake Itasca, in Minnesota, with the Gulf of Mexico?

Found in the south-western US, what kind of animal is a sidewinder?

1 Alaska.

2 Yellowstone.

3 The Colorado.

4 California.

5 The raccoon.

6 Climb it. (It’s a rock formation in Yosemite National Park.)

7 The moose 8 California. (In Death Valley.)

9 The Mississippi River.

10 A snake.

U.S QUIZ

travel

Tuesday, February 25, 2020 | 17

A view of Washington state (left), the early sections of the Pacific Crest Trail are desert (top); Elina Osborne made lifelong friendships on the trail. Photos / Elina Osborne

of people who are spread across the world?

Yes, the Pacific Crest Trail is a long walk through the desert, snow, mountains and valleys, but it becomes so much more. Everyone out there has plucked themselves from their soft-pillowed beds and made the decision to work towards this single purpose of walking to Canada.

It’s a concept so far removed from what the “real world” is like. My sanity was most certainly questioned as well as the likelihood that my body could withstand walking almost every day for months on end.

It’s easy to assume that people are out on the trail to find themselves. That concept deterred me from doing it in the first place — the stigma that I needed finding and the idea that I didn’t know myself.

But when I made the decision, it came from someplace else. I realised it wasn’t to find myself.

I was going to do the Pacific Crest Trail to create myself. To create a life I could look back on and be proud of.

The Pacific Crest Trail is so much bigger than a nature walk.

How can I explain what this experience meant to me? I can’t.

How can I describe the childlike wonder, the openness and the trust I’ve regained? Or explain the sense of finding and building a new community, one ever-connected through our time out there? Because that’s what I found on the Pacific Crest Trail.

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.”

It’s always the people.

Canada

USA San Francisco

Mexico

Checklist PACIFIC CREST TRAIL GETTING THERE Air NZ flies direct to LA and San Francisco. airnz.co.nz

See more USA the Kiwi way.

Fly non-stop to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago and New York*

Find out more at airnz.co.nz Non-stop from AKL. Connections available from Air NZ service domestic airports. *New York non-stop flights commence 29 October 2020. Subject to final regulatory approvals and crewing agreements.

New York

WHAT LIES BEYOND THE FAR HORIZON?

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT THE USA. Fifty States, the District of Columbia and the ďŹ ve territories, as well as hundreds of cities and thousands of towns and neighbourhoods, offer you unique holiday experiences that will live with you forever.

This year, go beyond and Visit the USA with House of Travel. Better together.

MONUMENT VALLEY, ARIZONA & UTAH

Discover USA holiday experiences beyond the everyday at hot.co.nz/USA

WHERE WILL YOU LIGHT UP THE NIGHT?

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT THE USA. Fifty States, the District of Columbia and the ďŹ ve territories, as well as hundreds of cities and thousands of towns and neighbourhoods, offer you unique holiday experiences that will live with you forever.

This year, go beyond and Visit the USA with House of Travel. Better together.

SOUTH BEACH, MIAMI, FLORIDA

Discover USA holiday experiences beyond the everyday at hot.co.nz/USA

ADVERTORIA L

GO BEYOND NEW ORLEANS

S O U T H E R N S TAT E S T I P S

W I T H H O U S E O F T R AV E L .

WHEN TO VISIT The milder months of March to May and September to October are most popular. In June to August, the weather is more hot and humid.

New Orleans, Louisiana - with its historic French Quarter and spicy Creole culture — is a perfect gateway for exploring the Southern states’ iconic blend of culture, history, music and cuisine. Here’s how to make the most of it.

French h Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana

MAKE TRACKS TO TENNESSEE. Memphis and Nashville are two cities synonymous with music history. Memphis is the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll and the home of the blues. Learn the backstory at the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, then treat your ears to tunes on Beale Street. Fans of Elvis and Johnny Cash love sites like Graceland and Sun Studios. While in Memphis, don’t miss the excellent National Civil Rights Museum. Further north in Nashville, you’ll find honky tonk bars bursting with country music, the Johnny Cash Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame, the iconic Grand Ole Opry and much more. Thirsty? Jack Daniels Distillery isn’t far!

DISCOVER THE CITIES OF GEORGIA .

Atlanta and Savannah are customer favourites for a reason. Atlanta’s downtown offers the CNN Centre (studio tours!), the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Ponce City Market and more. For the best foodie finds, shopping and nightlife, explore Midtown and Buckhead, both just out of the city centre but easily accessible. Savannah boasts a stunning historic downtown, landmark city squares, a waterfront entertainment district and a fun city market. Between the trees laced in Spanish Moss and antiqued homes on charming streets, your camera will fill up fast!

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA .

Vibrant, buzzing and packed with history, this city offers a heady blend of European and West African influences in its culture and cuisine. Explore the beautiful old mansions of the Garden District, dip in to some sugar-dusted beignets at iconic Café du Monde and then pop into the lively bars of Frenchmen Street (a low-key alternative to the vibrant and bustling Bourbon Street). We highly recommend a walking tour of the historic French Quarter, and, if you like cooking, ask us about booking into a class on the spicy Creole tradition here.

HEAD FOR ALABAMA .

The cities of Montgomery and Birmingham offer powerful American history — the Civil Rights Memorial & Centre in Montgomery is a must — as well as nightlife buzzing with blues, jazz and a bit of soul. You’ll find rooftop bars and juke joints as well as polished places offering deliciously fresh seafood straight from the shrimp boats of Bayou La Batre (Seen Forrest Gump?). Mobile is a historic city dating back to the first European settlers, and you don’t need to go far to find stunning white sand beaches.

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ICONIC FOOD The Deep South is famous for falling-off-the-bone barbecue and Louisiana is particularly famous for Creole cooking — a spicy blend of French and West African influences.

M U S T D O A DV E N T U R E Take a ride on Highway 61— the Mississippi Blues Highway — which takes you to Memphis through the Mississippi Delta, the birthplace of the blues. There’s loads of history and plenty of markers pointing out historic sites.

GETTING AROUND Many of our customers love hiring a car and exploring by self-drive. There’s also a train service between New Orleans and Memphis. Or ask us about group touring options hitting the Southern highlights.

HOT TIP Hungry in Memphis? Follow the locals to Overton Square or the Cooper–Young District. These two neighbourhoods are local favourites for dinner and you’ll find a fantastic selection of restaurants and nightlife.

DON’T MISS Take in a show at Preservation Hall, a historic, intimate venue in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Most nights, there are three shows by reknowned local jazz musicians. Queue at the door for first-in-first-served (US$15-$20) tickets — or grab limited pre-sale seats online.

FORSYTH FOUNTAIN, SAVA NNAH

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How to drive Route 66 in a weekend

Four great road trips in New England INSIDE

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GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS GO BEYOND AND VISIT NEW YORK. However you get there, New York is the heart and soul of where it’s at. Uptown or downtown, it’s the buzzing, heaving, cosmopolitan adrenaline ride that should be on every bucket list.

This year, go beyond and Visit the USA with House of Travel. Better together.

MANHATTAN SKYLINE, NEW YORK CITY

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USA

8

THE MAINE ROAD Susan Gough Henly gets behind the wheel to explore the byways of bucolic New England

T

ucked into the northeastern corner of the United States, New England comprises six states: Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, each of which exudes its own distinctive charm.

Most New Zealanders think of New England as the ultimate place to see autumn colours, which is true given how many maple, oak and chestnut trees dot the countryside.

But this is a fabulous region to explore in any season, with road trips the best way to discover craggy coastlines, covered bridges, red-barndotted farmland and classic villages with whitesteepled churches.

Start in Boston then head out on one of these four great drives to get you on your way.

Scenic Byway Route 100 runs between Stamford at the border of Vermont and Massachusetts, and Jay, near the border of Quebec.

Photos / Supplied

Scenic Byway 100, Vermont Slicing north-south through the green heart of Vermont is the 338km-long National Scenic Byway Route 100, which runs between Stamford at the Massachusetts’ border in the south and Jay, near the border with Quebec in the north.

Much of the road travels through the Mad River Valley, offering vistas of dairy farms dotted with red barns and framed by the Green Mountains.

It offers the perfect way to access New England’s finest ski resorts, including Killington, Sugarbush, Okemo Mountain, Mt Snow, Stratton and Stowe, as well as terrific hiking trails, pretty waterfalls, and even white-water rafting on the Mad River.

There are some great pitstops along the way, including the Vermont Country Store, which opened in the town of Weston in 1946 as the first restored rural general store in the nation, and the more eclectic Warren General Store, in the village of the same name. Each offers its own curated selections of practical and hard-to-find merchandise both from Vermont and around the world.

To discover some of Vermont’s gourmet specialties, including artisanal cheeses, ciders, craft beers, honey and maple sugar products, stop at the Mad River Taste Place in Waitsfield, but be sure to leave room for a gourmet meal at Hen of the Wood restaurant and ice cream at

The White Mountains Trail in New Hampshire.

iconic Ben & Jerry’s in nearby Waterbury.

All in all, Route 100 offers a way to slow down and enjoy Vermont’s bucolic scenery and smalltown country life.

The White Mountains Trail, New Hampshire The White Mountains Trail is a 160km National Scenic Byway that forms a loop trip through the heart of the White Mountains between Interstate 93 and Route 16 in northern New Hampshire.

Winding through the White Mountains National Forest, which includes New England’s most rugged mountains, the White Mountains Trail traverses three historic “notches” or mountain passes and seven covered bridges, and accesses roadside waterfalls, dozens of scenic outlooks and several historic sites. It is often described as offering some of the best autumn foliage viewing areas in the world.

You can access the long-distance Appalachian Trail at several places as well as numerous shorter hikes including the 2.3km Forest Discovery Trail near Conway and the 5km walk through the spectacular chasm at Flume Gorge

in the Franconia Notch State Park. If you’re lucky, you may even see a moose in the woods.

Stop at the grand Mt Washington Hotel for a panoramic view of Mt Washington, which at 1917m is the highest peak in the eastern United States, or ride the Mt Washington Cog Railway, the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway, all the way to the top. After all this stunning scenery, reward yourself with some fabulous deals at the North Conway shopping outlets.

Old King’s Highway and more, Massachussetts Drive along 127km of history and coastal beauty on Cape Cod. While the Old King’s Highway officially runs between Sandwich and Provincetown, this suggested drive has been extended 30km to start in Plymouth, the site of the Pilgrims’ first colony in New England.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower in North America. The drive connects Plymouth to Provincetown, where the Pilgrims landed in November 1620.

This is a terrific road trip for history buffs and nature lovers. Originally a Native American trail,

USA

| 23.02.20 |

9

LE Y! S A DA N RY O R U M H DS EN

DISCOVER NEW ENGLAND F LY I N G A I R N E W Z E A L A N D F R O M A U C K L A N D .

the Old King’s Highway (also known as Route 6a) became a cart path for early settlers and, during the 17th century, evolved as an extension to the Plymouth Colony’s “King’s Highway”.

Today, Route 6A still follows much of the original path along the north side of Cape Cod and is blissfully free of all but a few traffic lights.

Architecture buffs will enjoy the wide array of historic buildings from the Colonial, Federal, Georgian, Queen Anne, and Victorian periods that line the route, which still features a few original stone walls.

Highlights include the Plimoth Plantation, which tells the story of Plymouth Colony, some of the most historic villages in North America including Sandwich, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster and Orleans, as well as the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

These days, Provincetown is a colourful bohemian seaside resort on the tip of Cape Cod, particularly popular with the LGBTQ community.

Whale-watching tours leave from here, Barnstable and Plymouth.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

G O F U RT H E R I N T H E U SA W I T H H OU S E O F T R AV E L .

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Starting in Portland, Maine’s largest city, follow Highway 1 along the craggy coast for 260km to Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island on the edge of the beautiful Acadia National Park, where you can take a loop trip on the spectacular 64km Acadia All-American Road.

Feast on fabulous seafood and great craft beers in Portland, sometimes called the foodiest small town in America, before heading north to Freeport, home to famed Maine outdoor outfitters, L.L. Bean. Explore its 3ha flagship campus (as well as a host of outlet stores) before continuing north to the historic 19th century shipbuilding town of Bath with its impressive Maine Maritime Museum.

Make time to visit the Farnsworth Art Museum, which celebrates Maine artists such as Winslow Homer and the Wyeths in the artsy town of Rockland before exploring the yacht-filled township of Camden. Circle the rocky shores of Penobscot Bay, an important fishing area, and stop at roadside shacks to sample Maine’s famous lobsters, oysters and other seafood.

After crossing the bridge to Mount Desert Island, spend time in pretty Bar Harbor, which has been a popular summer holiday destination since the 19th century when powerful American families built their summer “cottages” here.

From spring through autumn continue your Fr road trip along the Acadia All-American Road Acadia National Park, New England’s only in A national park. Wind your way along the rocky na coastline and through woodland to the top of Cadillac Mountain for a panoramic view of the Maine coast and Atlantic Ocean.

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From charming harbour towns famous for the birth of American liberty and infamous for witch trials, to beloved New England holiday islands and a fjord on the Atlantic, this trip explores some of the best of America’s early history.

Walk the Historic Freedom Trail in Boston · Enjoy fresh New England lobster · Travel along the beautiful Maine Coast, passing through lovely, quaint fishing villages. · Take in the stunning views from Cadillac Mountain’s summit in Acadia National Park · Drive to the summit of Mount Washington · See some of the famous covered bridges when driving through Vermont · Visit the impressive mansions of Newport · Stroll along the beautiful beaches of Cape Cod

Ask us about our finance offers . *

*Visit www.houseoftravel.co.nz/finance-offers. Lending criteria, fees, terms & conditions apply.

DETAILS Acadia National Park in Maine, New England.

“ THIS BEAUTIFUL NORTHEASTERN USA ROAD TRIP IS ONE OF OUR FAVOURITES!”

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Any applicable one way fees are not included • For full terms & conditions visit hot.co.nz/usa0220 CMPUSA220 MARK-2511

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Highway 1 and the Acadia All-American Road, Maine

USA

10

ALL HAIL THE KING

Memphis’ Sun Studios, where Elvis Presley cut his first hit, That’s All Right in 1954; sunset on Beale St; street art; fans outside Graceland, Presley’s former home. Photos / Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau; Supplied

Zoey Goto explores the city that made a legend of Elvis Presley

M

emphis is the city that introduced young Elvis Presley to African American music — via the bustling juke joints of Beale Street and buoyant gospel church services — which he then blended with country music to create the trailblazing sound of rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-50s.

It’s also the city that lifted Elvis from rags to riches, upgrading his low-income housing to a palatial Graceland mansion in just a few short, sweet years. Memphis made Elvis, and he repaid it by faithfully staying rooted to the city for his entire adult life.

I am here in Elvis’ hometown to celebrate what would have been his 85th birthday and to try to understand why his appeal is still so great that Graceland remains the second most visited private home in the United States, pipped to the post only by The White House.

Elvis grew up just across the border in Tupelo, where he lived until he was 13, when his parents decided to try their luck in a new town.

Within a year of arriving in Memphis, the Presleys had set up home in a two-bedroom apartment in the public housing development Lauderdale Courts. Elvis took full advantage of having Memphis on his doorstep, listening to the latest records at the neighbouring Pop Tunes store, admiring the sounds and style of the blues musicians on Beale Street and swinging by at Sun Studios, hoping to catch a break.

Thankfully Lauderdale Courts was saved from the wrecking ball in the mid-90s, and Elvis fans can now stay in the renovated apartment, sleeping overnight in Elvis’ teenage bedroom, where fans decorate the walls with fuchsia lipstick kisses.

Following a peanut butter and banana sandwich in Elvis’ favourite diner, the Arcade, I stroll over to Sun Studios. This historic recording studio launched the careers of legends such as B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and of course Elvis, who cut his first hit, That’s All Right, here in 1954. Nowadays, hip and knowledgeable young musicians lead the tours, guiding you through Sun’s impressive musical history. The Sun tour culminates with a photo-op with Elvis’ original chrome microphone.

Blinking in the sun, I venture out on to the sidewalk and spot the vintage Backbeat tour bus. Guitar slung over

A Memphis native, Hal has many fond memories of her shoulder, tour guide and musician Kathryn Brawley Elvis growing up. “You can touch the shoulder that Elvis waves me on to the bus, and treats us to a high-energy, touched,” he laughs, pointing to a framed photo of Elvis all-singing tour of Elvis’ Memphis. Crowd participation resting his hand on Hal’s shoulder. “People come to is encouraged, and the busload of tourists are soon Memphis to walk the streets that Elvis walked. They can singing along merrily and shaking tambourines with wild still come here and meet the musicians who played with abandon. him, the original people who knew him. Sadly, in a few Between lively renditions of Love Me Tender and years time, that won’t be the case.”

Hound Dog, drive-by hotspots include Elvis’ high school, At daybreak the next morning, I find myself in a the Overton Park Shell amphitheatre where he performed crowd of hundreds of fans, who have gathered outside his first big show in 1954 (he was so nervous he kept shaking his leg, which soon became his trademark move), Graceland to pay their birthday respects to The King. “As soon as I saw the house, I started to cry,” confides Dawn and his former girlfriend Anita Wood’s house, which Conners, 47, a first-time Graceland visitor and long-term currently has a large rental sign out on the lawn.

Elvis fan from Philadelphia.

“There was a rebellious spirit in Elvis that people After cake-cutting and a speech from Elvis’ former still connect to,” Kathryn observes. “And they come to wife, Priscilla, we tour the fantastic home, past the green Memphis because he spent most of his life here, so shag-pile ceiling and fake waterfall of the notorious Jungle there’s just so much Elvis history.”

Room, through to the peaceful meditation garden, where I jump off the bus outside The Peabody, a grand dame Elvis was buried. hotel that has been a Memphis icon since opening in At the grave I strike up a conversation with Nathan 1869. It’s early evening, so I grab a spot next to the red Mowery, a 28-year-old film producer who is visiting carpet in the lobby, just in time for a line of ducks to Graceland with a group of wrestlers he is making waddle past me on their twice-daily procession through the hotel. The acclaimed Peabody ducks spend their days a documentary about. Nathan arrived in Memphis knowing very little of Elvis, but is leaving a fan. “It’s cool swimming around the fountain in the lobby and their seeing all his furniture and flamboyant outfits. As a nights cooped up in a plush duck-palace on the creative person myself, I’ve found being here at roof, rumoured to have cost almost a quarter of Graceland really inspiring”. a million dollars.

GETTING THERE Perhaps that’s the key to the enduring Elvis signed his 1955 contract with RCA Fly from Auckland to attraction — it’s not just poor boys and in the old world grandeur of The Peabody Memphis via Houston. pilgrims, as Paul Simon once sang, who and in the hotel lobby you’ll also find his hot.co.nz/usa are received at Graceland. Presley devotees, favourite tailoring house, Lansky Bros. I’m music-lovers, wrestlers, film-makers or the DETAILS greeted by Hal Lansky, second-generation just plain curious — there’s something for owner of the historic menswear store, which visittheusa.com everyone waiting for you in Elvis’ Memphis. specialises in updates of Elvis’ style.

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USA

12

M H OT ER AD RO Laura Millar gets her motor running on a quirky, nostalgic journey from Route 66‘s origin in Chicago, across the state of Illinois — all over a long weekend

F

or a sign with so much significance, it’s not very impressive; small, brown and white, it’s stuck way up on a pole on the corner of a busy Chicago intersection, between Adams St and Michigan Ave. But this sign commemorates the starting-point of one of the world’s best-known roads: Route 66.

This 3900km route, which connected America’s gritty east coast to its sunny west, officially came into being in April, 1926. And, practically since its inception, it’s inspired — or been featured in — movies, songs, TV shows, and become the shorthand for a certain type of nostalgic, kitsch Americana, instantly recognised all over the world.

I’m not immune; though I’m not from the US, I’ve grown up with images of diners, neon signs, vintage cars and tarmac stretching into the horizon — symbols of freedom and adventure.

Oddly, Route 66 is not one, continuous road; its creation was, essentially, the linking together of smaller, existing ones.

It was technically decommissioned in 1986, and is no longer maintained by the US Highway System. As a result, parts of it aren’t driveable, but Illinois has 480 good kilometres, so my partner and I are starting at its east coast origin, and plan to cover it over three days.

We kick off the way most people used to fuel up before they hit the road — with a hearty breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s, on W Jackson Blvd.

Open since 1923, it’s famous for its freshly-baked doughnut holes and jumbo omelettes, while its sassy, gum-chewing waitresses and chrome fixtures get my retro diner fixation off to a good start.

Driving out of Chicago — unfortunately not in a vintage Mustang, but a more prosaic Chevy Cruze — the skyscrapers fall away, replaced by a succession of small towns, which we soundtrack

with fitting local radio stations, such as “50s on 5” and “60s on 6”.

The occasional brown and white sign flashes past, reassuring us we’re going the right way, and before too long we pull up at the Old Joliet Prison, a hulking, Gothic building whose claim to fame — apart from being one of the first prisons in Illinois, built in 1858 — is being used as a location in cult movie The Blues Brothers.

Still in use until 2002, it was abandoned, occasionally invaded by squatters and illegal ravers; today there’s a lot of Instagrammable graffiti and crumbling, peeling walls.

You can take a tour (jolietprison.org, tickets from $20pp), which reveals not only some surprisingly elegant architecture — the prison chapel is designed in mid-century modern style — but also some of the eeriest spaces I’ve ever seen, from the abandoned hospital block featuring one room with restraints on the walls, to the downright sinister solitary block.

Back in daylight, and 30km on, rounding a bend in the road by the tiny town of Wilmington, a strange sight looms before us. It’s green, humanoid, and 9m tall. This is the Gemini Giant (named after the 1961 Gemini space programme), one of the original fibreglass “Muffler Men” that used to line the route to attract motorists’ attention to a small town’s local business. This one is next to the Launching Pad, a diner that originally opened in 1956, but eventually closed down in 2007.

In 2017, the abandoned building was stumbled upon by couple Holly Barker and Tully Garrett, who bought it — and the Giant — and set about restoring it to its glory days, with some of the original 50s decor. They’re the first of several people we meet along the way who’re investing in the Mother Road’s future.

“We get a lot of local customers, as well as

Historic Route 66 begins in Chicago. Photo / 123RF

A Route 66 mural, one of 27, in Pontiac, Illinois. Photo / Getty Images

USA

| 23.02.20 |

13

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Start with the beautiful architecture of Chicago, Illinois · Take a nostalgic ride along Historic Route 66 · Enjoy a bird’s eye view of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri · Lose yourself in the quiet beauty of Missouri’s Ozark Region · Experience the nation’s longest drivable stretch of Route 66 in Oklahoma · Visit Amarillo’s Cadillac Ranch, a ritual site on the Mother Road in Texas · Explore Calico Ghost Town in the southwest Mojave Desert · Be wowed by the spectacular Grand Canyon in Arizona · Discover the Hoover Dam, in Nevada, a modern marvel southeast of Las Vegas

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Above right: In the tiny town of Wilmington, Illinois, the Gemini Giant is just one of the strange sites you’ll see on a drive on Route 66. Photo / Laura Millar

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MAIN IMAGE: Route 66, a 3900km route, officially came into being in April, 1926 and connected America’s gritty east coast to its sunny west.

Photo / Getty Images

people from the wider state who are just realising Route 66 is in their backyard,” says Tully. I can vouch for their insanely good pot-roast sandwich (US$8.66 — adorably, all their prices end in 66).

An hour away is Pontiac, home to 27 large murals commemorating the route, and the Route 66 Museum, stuffed full of memorabilia — from menus from long-ago-closed restaurants to photographs, maps and more.

Volunteer Ellie explains, “the route really became popular in the dustbowl era, when people from the depressed Midwest used it to get to California to find work. In the 40s it was used to move troops around. And after the war, baby boomers used it for leisure travel.”

Today, they still do.

Later that afternoon, we reach Springfield, the Illinois state capital — where Abraham Lincoln lived for 24 years — and check in to the Inn at 835 (connshg.com/inn-at-835, with rooms around $162 a night), before making our way to Motorheads Bar and Grill (66motorheads.com) just off the route, for dinner. It has a classic roadhouse feel — there are even two drag racing cars on the roof, and the interior is covered in number plates, neon signs, and other automotive relics.

A renovated convenience store, it was opened last June by Ron Metzger. A cheerful, moustachioed, baseball-cap wearing chap in his early 60s, this is his passion project after decades of running his own flooring company.

“I just love Route 66,” he says; “I love to make other people aware of its history. I think the route’s becoming popular again because people like to visit the past, and relive their parents’, or grandparents’, memories.”

The next morning, we visit a couple of important cultural and political sites. The Dana Thomas House (dana-thomas.org, suggested donation US$10) is a prime early 20th-century example of the fine architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, all graphic lines, airy spaces and nature motifs.

Afterwards, we check out the fascinating and engaging Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum (alplm.org; tickets US$15/$12), which charts his life from pre- to post-presidency.

Alton, close to the border with Missouri, is our final stop; and where Illinois’ portion of the route ends, too. We check in to the fabulously Southerngothic-looking Beall Mansion (beallmansion.com; rooms from $186 a night), where eccentric owner, Jim, greets us in full white tie and morning coat.

Afterwards, we toast our incredible, retro voyage at the Old Bakery Beer Co. In the foyer is a life-size drawing of a famous Alton resident, Robert Wadlow; he was the world’s tallest man, at 2.7m. That’s just GETTING THERE the kind of quirky feature Fly from Auckland to we’ve loved encountering Chicago from $1485. on this route; a reminder hot.co.nz/usa that nostalgia is alive and DETAILS well, along with jolly green visittheusa.com giants, the Blues Brothers, drive-ins and dives. Route 66, you’ve been a blast.

U N I T E D STAT E S

8

KING of the HILLS

Destination wedding, Fiji.

Photo / Karma Catch Me

The famous Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills. Above: The pool at the hotel. Photos / Supplied. Below left: Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills. Photo / Dan Ahwa

Known as a playground for the rich and famous, Beverly Hills has so much more to offer, as Dan Ahwa discovers

I

am sitting outside Il Pastaio, an iconic Italian restaurant on the intersection of Brighton Way and North Canon Drive in the city of Beverly Hills on a typically sunny Californian day. It’s the type of restaurant with chic awnings, crisp linen and glamorous wait staff who look as if they’ve walked off the set of The O.C. As I plunge my eco straw into a glass of organic green juice and pick at my Paccheri Alla Justin Bieber — a saucy rigatoni with pink sauce named after its famous patron — meme sensation and Turkish butcher “Salt Bae” glides past me on a giant Segway wearing his signature shades. A man across the street whips out a long lens camera from his backpack and starts taking photos. Despite Salt’s C-grade celebrity status, anyone with a familiar face is open slather for the paps in this town.

I try to explain to my table-mate that New Zealanders have close to zero interest in celebrities, but seconds later I am literally eating my words as I take another forkful of Bieber’s rigatoni, swept up by the reality show unfolding in front of me as pedestrians clamour for selfies with Salt Bae. It’s easy to be swept up in the glamour of this city — and yes it’s a city, its own entity completely separate from the rest of

Los Angeles. It even has its own council and rotating mayor, its own newspaper, the Beverly Hills Courier; and could probably afford its own currency if it wanted — the average household income here is approximately US$2 million (NZ$3.1m), remarkable given the city is contained within a tidy radius of 1500ha.

I take a luxury 30-minute transfer from the Private Suites at LAX. My driver, Kevin Sanli of Beverly Hills Car Rental, is well-versed in the luxury market, shuttling everyone from celebrities to Qatari princesses to and from the airport. Offering commentary along the way, he’s interrupted by the smoke coming from the Californian fires in the distance, offering some perspective as we make our way into one of the most glamorous cities in America.

Beverly Hills’ reputation means that for most economy class travellers, it’s a town on the way to more affordable lodgings in West Hollywood or downtown LA. But you’ll be happy to discover boutique hotels with four-star ratings that are surprisingly comfortable and close to everything you want to see. I check into one, the Luxe Rodeo Drive, before heading straight out on a personalised guided walking tour to shake off the jet-lag, and push through my newly acquired timezone.

The Another Side Tour takes me around the city’s “Golden Triangle” — a cross-section of three

major Beverly Hills roads: South Santa Monica Boulevard to the northwest, Wilshire Boulevard to the south and Canon Drive to the east — its focal point, my home for the week, the famous luxury strip of Rodeo Drive.

My guide takes me along Rodeo, where glistening storefronts from Louis Vuitton to Saint Laurent stand shoulder to shoulder. One unique Beverly Hills institution, the House of Bijan, is worth checking out to discover a local luxury icon founded by Iranian immigrant Bijan Pakzad whose back story is a fascinating example of the American dream. Opening on Rodeo Drive in 1976, Bijan (who died in 2011) accumulated a rolodex of high-profile celebrity clients, including five American presidents, who swear by his glamorous designs. There’s even House of Bijan parking meters rendered in the brand’s signature sunflower yellow.

If you consider retail therapy a professional sport (and you have the budget), there’s no shortage of boutiques to help you live out your Pretty Woman fantasies.

In fact this year, the much-loved film celebrates its 30th anniversary, and the city’s iconic Beverly Wilshire Hotel with its Italian Renaissance exteriors, immortalised in the film, has a host of themed events to mark the milestone, from a DIY Pretty Woman cocktail upon arrival, to a Pretty Woman-themed day at its spa.

U N I T E D STAT E S

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Exploring suburban Beverly Hills

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The array of buildings in surrounding neighbourhoods offers peaceful respite too. A stroll down famous palm tree-lined Canon Drive is worth one tourist shot while you’re in town, and as we look around, it’s clear to see money really is no option here. It’s not unusual to see homes that range from Southern Antebellum style to the popular Spanish Mission style so prevalent in LA (I even manage to convince my guide to take me towards “Casa Walsh”, the Spanish style home of Brenda and Brandon Walsh from Beverly Hills 90210).

Some were purely bonkers. Like the mansion with a blue roof shaped like crashing waves. Further along is “The Witch’s House” a spooky Beverly Hills landmark that’s had its own cameo in the 1995 film Clueless.

Grand homes are a great way to understand the city’s cultural and historic wealth. One must-visit is the Greystone Mansion — a 55-room Tudor-style estate, a gift from oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny to his son Ned Doheny and his family. Added to the National Register of Historic Places, the mansion for hire has featured in everything from The Bodyguard to Mariah Carey music videos.

If your curiosity teeters on the morbid, a look through the guest bedroom in the east wing of the mansion is worthwhile. Here is where Ned was found dead in 1929, four short months after the family moved in, alongside his long-time friend and hired assistant, Hugh Plunkett. Was it suicide? Was it due to unlawful business dealings? Were Hugh and Ned actually lovers? Rumours have swirled in the decades since, only adding to the mansion’s tragic glamour.

A seven-minute Uber ride west, and I find myself at another estate, albeit one with a less grisly past — the Virginia Robinson Gardens. Built in 1911, it was once the residence of retail giants Virginia and Harry Robinson and the first luxury estate built in Beverly Hills, sitting on six acres of lush plantation. Inside the mansion, the home has been faithfully maintained with much of the Robinsons’ original furnishings intact.

Home to the biggest plantation of King Palm trees outside Queensland, the gardens offer respite and calm away from the glitz of Rodeo Drive, and have a starry history of their own — Marlene Dietrich stayed the night and Charlie Chaplin often played on the famous tennis court surrounded by vibrant bougainvillea. Standing in the spot where Tinseltown’s icons once played was a surreal moment I’ll never forget.

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Even if you don’t have the six-figure salary of Richard Gere’s character in the film, there’s plenty to do that doesn’t require a platinum American Express card.

Areas such as South Beverly Drive are a low-key option, including Urth Cafe at number 267 (great organic coffee), Cafe Istanbul at number 326 — a no-frills Turkish eatery that’s perfect for anyone on a budget — and Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone’s discreet Maude restaurant, a casual dining experience with a menu that changes seasonally and a fun private wine loft upstairs for the perfect intimate nightcap.

There are myriad art galleries and art boutiques with some of the most enviable collections in the world here too. The tour dovetails towards Via Rodeo, modelled on a quaint European cobblestone street.

Here, I discover an impressive art gallery, Galerie Michael, housing pieces by Picasso and Salvador Dali.

Around the corner at 9465 Wilshire Boulevard is one of my favourite public artworks — a surreal 18-foot high lacquered aluminium sculpture called The Unconscious by Austrian sculpture artist Franz West.

From here, we stroll towards the iconic Beverly Gardens Park and I come across a typically whimsical Yayoi Kusama sculpture gifted to the city in 2007, before making a pit-stop across the street at a pop-up shop/art exhibition hosted by French luxury brand Louis Vuitton. While the pop-up is now closed, it’s an indication of what’s to come, as many of the city’s iconic luxury retailers look at other ways to localise their shopping experiences for the city’s steady stream of high-income tourists.

Art is, of course, one of those things that allows you to show off how much you earn, and the city of Beverly Hills has created its own Arts & Culture Commission since June 2019, with the aim of promoting and nurturing the arts and cultural life of Beverly Hills.

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GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT CALIFORNIA. There’s more than one reason to fall in love with California.

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GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND IN SOUTHERN USA. Tupelo, Mississippi is known for many things – over 160 restaurants that are more than happy to serve up a heaving helping of southern hospitality, Cajun-inspired food trucks and quaint coffee shops.

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USA

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MAGIC

MIAMI Miami is vibrant, lush and Latin and unlike any other city in the States writes Greg Fleming

M

iami’s long been called the Magic City, but thanks to a shady past (“trying to sum up decades of insidious corruption in Miami in a paragraph is like trying to write the Cliffs Notes for Ulysses,” proclaimed the Miami New Times this year) and being a favourite destination for party-hard Americans come holiday season, it was a city I’d never considered visiting.

That is until a cruise ship dumped me back in Miami and I got to experience this one-ofa-kind city myself.

Yes “magic” will do but adjectives like trashy, beautiful, sassy and surreal are just as apt — often within the same block. But most of all Miami is a Latin city — unlike any city I’ve visited in the States. Around 55 per cent of Miamians have Spanish as a first language and that seemed a conservative estimate as I Ubered around on a whirlwind three-day visit.

Indeed the only Uber driver I encountered who spoke English to any degree picked me up on arrival and laid out his view of his adopted hometown as he battled the late-night traffic (in Miami you are always battling the traffic).

“I go home to Peru and realise how everything here is about appearances. Don’t get me wrong, Miami’s a great city, a fun city if you’ve got the money — but you see people here who look like they’re rich, but that car’s leased and they’re sharing an apartment downtown with three friends.”

Although that’s probably true, this city-onthe-make provides a visitor with a unique US experience; Miami truly has a swagger to it and little in common with the rest of sleepy, retireright Florida (except the year-round great weather). I loved my time here — it’s a city full of surprises — you stumble across photo-shoots on a daily basis, Latin rhythms blare from every

Need to know Miami ● Brush up on your Spanish, and your dress game — you can tell the tourists from the locals easily after sundown; the locals look chic! ● Get around downtown Miami on the Metromover. It’s free. ● The Cuban coffee here is unlike anything I’ve tasted — cheap, sweet, strong and sustaining. If you see a line of locals outside a ventinata (a walk-up window) join it — a $1.50 coffee may change your life. Beware — it’s twice as strong as American coffee and there’s no need to add sugar. ● The Miami metropolitan area grew from about 1000 residents to nearly 5.5 million residents from 1896-2006. The nickname, The Magic City, comes from this rapid growth.

restaurant and everyone has a side hustle.

Wynwood Many tourists come to Miami for the beach but there’s so much more — areas like Wynwood, which was a 15-minute Uber from my downtown base of Brickell.

Wynwood is turning away from its gritty past and is now the place to enjoy some of the best in Miami art, culture and food. Some call it Miami’s answer to New York’s arty Williamsburg — and although it’s an area on the move it still retains a rugged, industrial feel.

There’s amazing street art on show at Wynwood Walls and surrounds (all for free), and affordable eateries (check out the pop-up spot Wynyard Yard, which hosts some of Miami’s top food trucks, as well as cooking classes, concerts and yoga sessions).

I happily wandered around here for hours one afternoon, fuelled up on great Cuban coffee

(thanks Little Habana Cafe). I saw graffiti artists at work with a boombox blaring beside them, art galleries galore, a record store with some good sushi out back (Lucky Records) even a machinegun museum.

Little Havana Just west of downtown, Little Havana is a mustsee. You’ll find Cuban culture aplenty, but it’s not overly touristy like, say, San Francisco’s Chinatown. Here you get the sense of this as a living, breathing Latino community. The Domino park was full of old men — and a few women — engrossed in a game on a Tuesday morning; locals gathered to chat in the cigar store while the ventinata at Le Exquisito restaurant served standout Cuban coffee.

After some souvenir shopping I lunched at nearby Versaille’s — which bills itself as the world’s most famous Cuban restaurant — operating since 1971.

Expect to queue but it’s well worth the short wait for a table — my churrasco (skirt steak served with moros rice, sweet plantains and chimichurri sauce) was superb, accompanied of course by more Cuban coffee (a cortadito con evaporada made with sweet, steamed evaporated milk).

Little Haiti I loved my few hours here but don’t expect glitzy, tour-bus-ready attractions. The Caribbean Market gave me a glimpse of life in the AfroCaribbean culture (it’s where I met internationally renowned Haitian artist Louis Rosemond painting a marvellous sun umbrella) but there was an air of despair and neglect.

Lone men sat on the curb in the sun, lost in their thoughts, their belongings around them.

It’s one of the poorest communities in Miami and the future for many is uncertain after US President Trump moved last year to end

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Clockwise from left: Ocean Drive, Miami Beach; muralist Caesar Perez in Wynyard; dominoes is a favourite pastime for older Miamians; Cuban coffee is hot and sweet. Photos / Getty Images

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protections for Haitian immigrants who entered on temporary protected status after the Haitian earthquake of 2010. This is despite the fact that many Haitians are integral to Miami’s hospitality and tourism industry.

That said, I found some great family-owned restaurants, politically charged street art and — most surprisingly — a cutting edge record store (Sweat Records).

Everywhere I went the people were warm and inviting, forgiving my execrable attempts at Spanish — but clearly tourists aren’t a common occurrence out here. Little Haiti gave me a taste of the other side of Miami, and a sense of the personal impact of Trump’s immigration policies on some of Miami’s most vulnerable.

South Beach You don’t get all the way to Miami without hitting South Beach and its surrounding streets.

And it’s everything you imagined; busy, touristy, a little rundown in parts but hell, it’s fun.

My first stop was at the 11th Street Diner — a Philly-style diner that is often cited as one of the best in the States — and perfect if you want to avoid the almost industrial tourism eateries on nearby Ocean Drive. Tip — order the pork chops with apple and raisins. I then wandered up to Lincoln Mall a busy, pretty tree-lined shopping and restaurant precinct, to sit back with a coffee and watch the people.

When the sun set I wandered down the bustling Ocean Drive — you’ve seen this place on countless movies and TV shows, but what you don’t get is the energy, the competing Latin rhythms from neighbouring restaurants and the smell of the sea a stone’s throw away. You’ll pass the old Versace mansion (now a luxury hotel) where Gianni Versace was murdered in 1997, and countless other stunning Art Deco buildings with a colourful, if not as tragic, history.

E X P E R I E N C E M I A M I & F LO R I DA

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HIGH ROLLING Oliver Pelling turns his back on the blackjack tables for the thrilling hills and dusty deserts of Nevada’s great outdoors

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t’s 2am (ish) at The LINQ Casino on Las Vegas Boulevard, and I am not winning.

I was winning, and then I wasn’t, and then I was, and now I’m not, but maybe I will again? Only Vegas knows, and even Vegas doesn’t actually know.

I’ve been in Sin City a week and this is my first time dancing with Lady Luck. It appears she does not want to dance back. Not surprising, considering the blackjack is not my boogie of choice.

I prefer the tango of financial inevitability — it’s not one of the better-known dances.

I’ve no vitriol towards anyone who does like to gamble, mind you.

The Scottish guy on my table certainly does. I’m betting with $5 and $10 chips while he’s throwing down hundreds on each hand. He doesn’t look wealthy, either. He looks terrible.

To recap: I don’t gamble, I don’t like gambling, and I’m no good at gambling. Good news, then, that I’m not here for the casinos. I’m here for Nevada’s great outdoors.

As the most famous destination in the state, as well as the first — and often only — stop for the majority of travellers, Vegas casts a long shadow over the rest of Nevada, which yawns some 286,383sq km (about 20,000sq km more than New Zealand) into the dusty horizon.

A few days prior to my failings on the blackjack table, I meet Geoff Flegal in the carpark of Bootleg Canyon mountain bike park.

I spent the night in Boulder City — a quiet, attractive little town that also happens to be one of only two towns in the state in which gambling is illegal.

The clouds have emptied out of the sky, the sun is grinning a fat yellow grin, and Nevada’s jagged ochre belly bakes idly beneath it. A magnificent day for doing outdoor things, by any account.

An internationally renowned mountain-biking destination, Bootleg is a 40-minute drive from the glitzy labyrinth of Caesar’s Palace and the like. “I came here 10 years ago, and I had no idea what happened beyond the strip,” says Geoff, a veteran mountain

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bike racer turned-guide for Bike Blast Las Vegas, as we ride uphill to our first trail of the day.

“Everybody hears about the gambling, but this is one of the most mountainous regions in the US.” Geoff is right, of course. Nevada is the US’ fifth most mountainous state — the benefits of which are reaped by the hundreds of two-wheeled speed freaks who choose to fly down these dirt tracks on a daily basis.

Geoff is taking us to “Girl Scout” trail, which he promises is one of the least-challenging routes on offer (the names of tougher trails include “Snakeback”, “Reaper” and “Poopchute”).

“There are between 15 to 20 trails right here in Bootleg,” says Geoff. I am glad to not be meeting Poopchute on this day.

“Least challenging” is still challenging, though, and sharp rocks and sheer drops do not make Girl Scout’s tight corners and steep dips any less palatable.

“Of all the rides I’ve done, the only person who’s ever been injured is me,” says Geoff, midtrail, to ease my nerves.

We may be a while from the neon smirk of the Las Vegas strip, but a morning in Bootleg still feels like rolling the dice — albeit with your body, not your cash, on the line.

As the trail progresses, my confidence rises, and trepidation makes way for exhilaration.

Geoff is a good coach; Bootleg a good proving ground. The sheer variety of outdoor pursuits within earshot of Vegas keeps Geoff in good spirits year-round.

About 35 minutes from Bootleg is Red Rock park, home to over 2000 climbing routes. Even Alex Honnold, the world-famous climber who tackled Yosemite’s El Capitan with no ropes, lives out there.

Then there’s Mt Charleston and Lee Canyon, a small ski resort that’s been dubbed “the coolest place in Las Vegas”. And there’s Black Canyon, a wet dream for kayakers of all experience levels and Lake Mead, an enormous aquatic playground

for water-skiing, wakeboarding and all the rest of it.

“I do this thing called the ‘Vancouver Week’,” says Geoff. “I’ll go skiing one day, mountain biking the next, then go kayaking, then hiking — you can do so much in the space of just a week.”

A couple of days later and I’m flying through the Mojave Desert in a Polaris RZR all-terrain vehicle. Having donned goggles and a bandana to prevent my lungs from filling with Mojave dust, I look and feel like an extra from Mad Max. The RZR, the Arnold Schwarzenegger of dune buggies, makes light work of the exacting Nevadan terrain.

When it comes to driving these things, the philosophy is relatively simple: drive fast enough to not get stuck, slow enough to stay in control, and precisely enough to dodge the rocks.

I seem to be doing okay on the speed side of things, not so much the rock side of things. “Don’t forget your back wheelbase is wider than a normal car,” yells Gordy, a guide for Vegas Off Road Tours, from the back seat. “You need to give yourself more room back there.” It’s not the first time he’s brought it up.

Weathered, bearded, with wild grey hair and a pet (fake) rattlesnake he uses to scare tourists, Gordy could easily have sand and petrol for blood. He’s exactly the kind of hard-living character you’d hope to meet in the desert.

As well as an ATV guide and driver, Gordy is a landscaper and handyman for the small town of Goodsprings, where Las Vegas Off-Road Tours is based.

He also spent a good while working the mines.

Nicknamed The Silver State, Nevada owes a lot to silver mining, and the role it played in building the local economy.

Times (and mines) have changed though, and gold is now Nevada’s most prized shiny thing.

In 2018, in fact, gold comprised some 44 per cent of the state’s entire exports, at $4.9 billion. (The casinos, for those playing at home, came in at $720 million, or 6.5 per cent of the total.)

“I could find gold anywhere,” Gordy tells me proudly as we pull over to take in a view across the desert. “I could find it in the parking lot at the bar!”

After three-and-a-half hours and 130km of

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Clockwise from main: Nevada has some great mountain bike trails ; Gordy of Vegas Off Road Tours and his fake rattlesnake; going off road in the Nevada Desert is dusty experience; The Pioneer Saloon.

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careening through clouds of dust and dodging (or not quite dodging) rocks, a Budweiser in a desert bar, an earnest chat about Trump with locals in aforementioned desert bar, and multiple sightings of wild horses, we wind up back at the Pioneer Saloon in Goodsprings — where we began — for a hard-earned drink.

Built in 1913, the saloon retains many of its original features (including the bar itself), and is all of the things you’d want an old desert saloon to be: charming, quaint, creaky, eerie, and as full of stories as it is booze.

Stories like the one about Clark Gable, and how he waited here for news of his wife, Carole Lombard, after she went down in a plane crash (she died).

Stories like the one about Paul Coski, who was shot and killed here after he was found to be cheating in a poker game in 1915. Stories like how the ghosts of Lombard, Coski and another ill-fated chap have been spotted here numerous times over the years.

Over burgers and IPAs in the Pioneer’s beer garden, Gordy asks what else we’ve been up to over the past few days. I tell him about mountain biking at Bootleg Canyon, the zip-lining across the Las Vegas strip, and the indoor skydiving (which, weirdly, was the most terrifying thing I’ve done all week). I tell him about the rafting through Black Canyon in the shadow of the Hoover Dam, and the helicopter ride we took into the Grand Canyon.

Gordy grins, then his expression changes, like he forgot to turn the iron off. “Wait here!” he says before vanishing.

From a contemporary travel perspective, Las Vegas is a bit of an anomaly.

While many destinations around the world are suffering at the hands of overtourism, Vegas is arguably built on overtourism, so the motivation for travellers to get off the beaten track is hardly to spare the city from the pitfalls of too many tourists.

But while the reputation of Las Vegas is forged from its world-class ability to ensnare travellers in its twinkling, tempting tentacles — by breaking free and stepping boldly into Nevada’s outdoors, a traveller can find more riches than they ever will at the blackjack table.

As I finish the last drops of my beer and brush the dust off my arms, legs, face and hair, Gordy appears again, grinning, and makes a beeline for me.

He grabs my hand and sprinkles something into it.

It’s gold. Tiny nuggets of gold.

“See,” he says.

“I can find gold anywhere.”

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NEW ORLEANS:

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE? O

ne of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life was served off the back of a ute at 3am at the unfashionable end of Frenchmen St in New Orleans.

I’d just stumbled out of a small dive bar called the Apple Barrel, where I’d been grooving to a ferociously good electric blues trio. The joint had been jumping but, even in New Orleans, the music has to stop sometime. That time, as it turns out, is 3am. As soon as I set foot outside, I was hit by the mouth-watering smell of a barbecue, with its meats a-grillin’ and big fat pots a-bubblin’.

The barbecue was on a trailer that’d been parked pretty much right outside the bar, a frequent sight in New Orleans.

No menu, so I asked the chef, “What’s good?”.

The dude cooking, turned his head and replied, “Mac cheese. Burgers good too.”

Usually, after a long night of partying — and this night had been particularly long, starting as it had with mimosas and live jazz for breakfast at the tranquil surrounds of the Court of Two Sisters — a burger should have been a no brainer.

But New Orleans, with its rebel spirit and goodtimes vibe marinating its sticky, spicy air, cares not one iota for brain power. Go with the flow, feel the rhythm of the night, throw caution to the wind and let the music move you.

“Mac cheese, please,” I said.

A few minutes later I was handed one of the best meals of my life. Mac cheese served Cajun barbecue-style is alarmingly orange but that wasn’t going to stop me. The cheese sauce drenching the pasta was thick and goopy and enhanced tremendously by the addition of crawfish, a crustacean that resembles a small lobster that the locals go cray for.

The smell wafting up from the container was eye-wateringly delicious and only bettered by that first greedy mouthful where the clash of flavour-bursting spices, cheesy goodness and pleasingly smushy texture all came together to blow my mind.

Having my mind blown was turning into a regular occurrence in New Orleans. Earlier in the evening I’d seen the best jazz musicians of my life at the historic Preservation Hall. These seasoned cats had put on a performance of traditional New Orleans jazz that was so intimate, that no mics or amplifiers were needed.

A couple of hours later, after some very fancy fine dining at Arnaud’s, a restaurant in the heart of the French Quarter that’s been serving fine Creole cuisine since 1918, I’d barrelled out to the burbs to go to the Maple Leaf, a hip live music bar. Crammed on to the small stage, busting out some of the funkiest jams I’ve ever heard, was the legendary Rebirth Brass Band, whose irrepressible funky jams left me wishing I’d never given up the trombone after three miserable weeks when I was 12.

But even the non-legends working in this town are more than capable of putting on an incredible show. Leave the excesses of tourist trap Bourbon St behind you and head for nearby Frenchmen St and you will be spoilt for choice. Bars line both sides of the street and inside each is a band guaranteed to wow you. I saw bands playing catchy New Orleans jazz, acid jazz, party funk, blues and, finally, the indierock trio at the Apple Barrel.

A curious quirk in the Big Easy is that you can leave venues with your drink and wander into another one, no problem — something you get very used to doing very quickly. So while there’s no cover charges on Frenchmen St, most places have a one-drink minimum expectation. You’re also encouraged to tip the band, mostly by the bands themselves.

No trip to the Big Easy is complete without sampling its signature drink, The Hurricane. This

Karl Puschmann loved every groovy, boozy, fatty minute in the Big Easy

USA

| 01.03.20 |

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S D EN Y! A RY D R N U H MO

Fried catfish po’boy, New Orleans.

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potent combination of rum, rum, rum and more rum with a splash of passionfruit juice to take the edge off even comes with its own warning; do not drink more than one. Heed this advice, friends.

We went to Pat O’Brien’s, largely credited as the home of the Hurricane where, legend has it, old man O’Brien concocted the drink to get rid of cheap, plentiful and undesirable rum during the Prohibition era. Despite its history stretching back to the speakeasy era, O’Brien’s is a party bar and fairly raucous.

Fortunately, there is a room of respite away from the revellers in the courtyard, where you can sit comfortably and watch the duelling pianists battle. Any and all requests accepted.

They say things get a bit crazy in New Orleans and the fact that I learnt how to cook gives credence to that statement. Under the watchful eye — and jokey bants — of chef Matthew Guillory at the New Orleans School of Cooking, the mysteries of the kitchen, and the history of Cajun cooking, were both revealed to me, extending my culinary repertoire from eggs on toast and cereal to also homemade pumpkin soup, shrimp Creole and the traditional, distressingly rich, dessert of Bananas Foster.

It’s no exaggeration to say I loved every groovy, boozy, fatty minute in New Orleans. But of course I did. It’s a city built on tall tales, utterly scrumptious food, potent booze and astonishingly great music.

Really, what’s not to love?

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FOUR SEASONS Mt Hood seen from the Trillium Lake, which is surrounded by the Mt Hood national forest. Photo / Getty Images

Rosemary Behan provides yearround options for outdoor lovers in Oregon

A

n easy loop drive from Portland provides up-close access to two of Oregon’s most spectacular natural attractions, Mt Hood and the Columbia River Gorge.

The winding Route 26 stretches right across the state of Oregon, from the coast to the border with Idaho. Conveniently, it also passes through the middle of Portland, so within one hour you transition from Portlandia-style suburbs to the middle of the Mt Hood National Forest, a natural playground of more than 40,000ha surrounding the state’s highest mountain, a 3429m dormant stratovolcano that’s part of the Cascade Range.

Snow-capped all year, the Mt Hood area is a year-round draw, with thousands of hikes of all lengths through forests made up of fir, hemlock, cedar, pine, maple and black cottonwood.

In the summer, two of the best of these hikes are Ramona Falls, a 13km loop trail that takes you across the Sandy River and through pristine woodlands to the cascading falls and back, and the Mirror Lake/Tom Dick and Harry Trail. It can be cut to 6km if you only wish to hike to Mirror Lake and back.

On a clear day, the second portion of the trail is well worth the extra effort, offering sensational views of Mt Hood with Mirror Lake below it and the vast swathes of forests and mountains in all directions.

Cosmic Tubing at Mt Hood. Photo / Rosemary Behan

Following your hike, you can refuel at one of the small restaurants along the road, including the Zigzag Cafe and Koya Kitchen, which does a good line in sushi and ramen — again, both are open all year round.

The Mt Hood area is home to three ski areas in winter, operating under special licence from the US Forest Service. First, on the right as you drive eastwards through the forest, is Mt Hood Skibowl, which offers America’s largest night skiing area and “cosmic tubing” — a speciallyconstructed conveyor belt takes you and your inflated tube to the top of a slope so that you can race down at night to disco lights and loud music (you can also do this during the daytime without the cosmic theme).

On the left, further along Highway 26, is the turn-off to Timberline Lodge, a historic hotel and National Historic Landmark built in 1937 at an elevation of 1800m. On a clear day in either winter or summer, the view from the road offers sweeping panoramas of the surrounding forest, lakes and mountains as far as the eye can see. The hotel is open to the public and offers a small museum.

Back on Highway 26 and a little further along on the right is Trillium Lake. In summer, drive your car on a small forest road all the way to the lakeshore and enjoy the view of Mt Hood

IN

reflected in the clean, spring-fed shallow lake as you walk its 3km loop, stopping to picnic and swim from your own private beaches as you go.

There’s also a campsite, which could hardly be more appealing, but there’s a fee and you should book in advance. Those travelling on more limited budgets and without time to plan can take advantage of free camping elsewhere in the National Forest.

In winter, when many of the small roads are blocked by snow, walk the 3km trail from the carpark on Highway 26 through the woods to Trillium Lake using snowshoes: the lake is fully frozen and offers a completely different though no less satisfying view.

If you are travelling in winter, make a point of also visiting the White River Sno-Park, towards the base of Mt Hood. Take a cheap sledge and tackle as many slopes as you dare. For whoever is driving, Sno-Park permits are required in winter while a Northwest Forest Pass is needed in summer: get these online, from petrol stations or pay a $5 day-fee at certain carparks.

Just after Highway 26 splits off to the east, you’ll take a turn on to Highway 35, which winds north around the base of Mt Hood towards the town of Hood River. In winter, skiers should free up a day for Mt Hood Meadows, the area’s most serious ski resort with spectacular views from the top of its Cascade Express and Vista Express lifts.

The terrain has a wild feel, with minimal signage and some exquisite forested areas, along with all the usual restaurant and gear rental services in the main building. In summer, the less fit can also use some of the resort’s lifts to access hiking areas.

In winter or summer, Tamanawas Falls, an 8km loop along the Cold Spring Creek through dense cedar and Douglas fir to a huge waterfall is rewarding. In summer, cool off in the creek or under the falls; in winter, enjoy deep snow and the partially frozen falls.

From here, Highway 35 takes you down off the slopes of the mountain. The farming town of Odell makes a great scenic stop in summer or autumn when the farms and orchards sell their produce by the side of the road and open their doors for cider-tasting.

After that you’ll reach the small, hip town of Hood River, an outdoor activity lover’s base on

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The SkiBowl at Mt Hood is America's biggest night skiing area. Photo / Rosemary Behan

the southern bank of the Columbia River. There’s windsurfing all year round, and kayaking, boating and stand-up paddleboarding during the summer. The historic small town offers great coffee shops and brewery taprooms, including the Double Mountain Brewery.

Here, you’re at the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, which is a spectacular canyon up to 1300m deep.

Driving west, the I-84 Motorway takes you all the way back to Portland but, like Mt Hood, there are countless worthwhile stops and hikes along the way, including the Tom McCall Preserve at Rowena, which is best in spring when the grass prairie flowers, including copious balsamroot, bloom in May. There are great views of the gorge and, on a clear day, of Mt Hood and Hood River to Washington State’s Mt Adams.

Further along on 1-84 (if you have time, divert on to the more scenic and leisurely Historic Columbia River Highway), you’ll come to the town of Cascade Locks and the striking, steel truss cantilevered Bridge of the Gods. For a pick-me-up, stop at the Eastwind Drive-In for icecream, or the Thunder Island Brewing Co, right on the river.

Continuing further west, you’ll come to a string of waterfalls, each with their own set of tempting hikes. Most of these are open all year round and, while pretty in summer, are actually more spectacular in winter and spring when water levels are highest and the fog and mist creates a mystical atmosphere.

While the largest and most famous is Multnomah Falls, a two-tiered, 180m-high waterfall that’s the second-highest in the country, it can be more rewarding to take a loop hike around Latourell Falls, an easy trip offering up-close contact with the falls and their moss-and-fern-covered volcanic surrounds, without many other people. Though it was closed after a tragic forest fire in 2017, the heartbreakingly beautiful Eagle Creek Trail is due to reopen this year and should be on any hiker’s list. From there, it’s only a 45-minute drive back to Portland.

USA

8

PARKS &

Alice Peacock explores Utah’s grand canyons and natural monuments

RECREATION N

ew Zealand has national parks and Utah has national parks, but these two things are not the same. The type you’ll find in Southern Utah — Zion, Arches, Bryce — are equally as beautiful, but instead of our lush green forest, we’re talking towering red-rock cliffs, sprawling desert and prickly looking cacti.

We were touring the area in March, meaning spring had technically sprung. Nothing about the temperatures reflected this however, so we were bundled up in parkas and doublelayered socks.

We encountered a fullon snowstorm on our road trip from Park City — Utah’s home of ski fields — down to the bottom of the state.

We soon discovered that Americans navigating monster four-wheel-

Overlooking Monument Valley, Navajo Tribal Park. Photo / Alice Peacock

Route 163 running through famous Monument Valley, Utah. Photo / 123rf

drives through a blizzard move slower than Aucklanders on a rainy weekday morning.

Snowstorms aside, it’s a long drive. We stopped for a night to hit refresh in Moab — a great little town with an even better old-school diner, Milts. I’d recommend a visit. If you have never tried a root beer float, this is a great place to start.

Arches National Park

Before visiting Southern Utah, I wouldn’t have picked myself as the type to have a favourite type of rock. But here we are, and after a fourday tour of an area with many, many rocks, my pick of the lot is the arches.

Inside the national park, we began the winding journey to the starting point for the walk to Delicate Arch. The terrain looked like you’d imagine Mars would: red and rocky with craggy rocks breaking the horizon. As we drove further in, the famous arches rose into view, creating a majestic skyline.

We parked up and layered up, in preparation for a hike to the park’s main attraction; Delicate Arch. It’s a moderate trek — perfect to warm us

up in the chilly weather but with the potential, we were told, to wipe out unprepared tourists during peak season.

Delicate Arch is staggering, a hollowed-out rock form that seemed to defy the forces of gravity simply by staying upright.

Monument Valley

Some tourist attractions need to be visited, no matter how many Lonely Planet guides, documentaries and Instagram posts you’ve seen illustrating their beauty.

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park — to use its full name — is one of them. The park, in Arizona but accessible from Utah, is a popular setting for old Hollywood movies — hits such as Stagecoach and Fort Apache were filmed here.

We were shown around the park by a local, Robert. The place is huge (371sq km) to be exact) and Robert seemed to know the history of every nook and cranny. On our drive he pointed out and named each of the major rocks, such as Mittens and The Totem Pole.

Our journey was punctuated by pit stops: we ran up huge sand dunes to get a better view of

USA

| 15.03.20 |

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Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah. Photo / Getty Images

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The terrain looked like you’d imagine Mars would

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the buttes (tall, flat-topped towers of rock), then lay on the floor of a cave, trying to make out the shape of a giant bird Robert insisted was imprinted into its ceiling.

Deep into the valley, the silence was almost shocking. It is a wonderful place to sit and think — you can almost guarantee you’ll find a spot to call your own for an hour or two.

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TRAVEL: 16 Mar-12 Jun, 17 Jul-13 Sept & 02 Oct-04 Dec 20

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Capitol Reef National Park

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Grand Canyon • Monument Valley • Canyonlands National Park • Arches National Park • Capitol Reef National Park • Bryce Canyon National Park • Zion National Park

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CONDITIONS: Valid for new bookings only to 25 Mar 20 or until sold out • Pricing valid as at 06 Mar 20 • Return flights are Economy Class flying Hawaiian Airlines via Honolulu. Day of week surcharges may apply • Road trip: based on travel 01-30 Nov 20. Any applicable one way fees are not included • Globus tour: based on 27 Sep & 04 Oct 20 20 departures • For full terms & conditions visit hot.co.nz/usa0220 CMPUSA0220

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We’d scrambled over craggy rocks and up sand dunes, but we hadn’t yet experienced the canyons for which Utah is famous. To get a taste of canyoning, we visited Capitol Reef, a national park that’s a little off the beaten track.

The drive to the start of the Grand Wash Trail took us through Fruita — a small settlement inside the national park. Historically a Mormon community, Fruita sits in a lush valley full of orchards. These days, few live there. It is, however, home to the Gifford homestead — now a retail store selling locally made jams, and freshbaked pies. Perfect for a bit of pre-canyoning sustenance.

Our canyoning was hampered by the weather — high water levels brought on by rain meant a limited experience — but we managed a hike some way down one of the trails. It was impressive in a different way from Monument Valley — the trails were narrow and ran between towering walls of light rock, rather than the previous open expanses.

On first inspection, this alien landscape was almost entirely barren. Made up of various shades of brown and red, it bore no comparison to the lush vegetation of Abel Tasman.

But I soon gained a new kind of appreciation for the hardy vegetation, which survived through the seasons to CHECKLIST provide a hint of green A 9-day/8 night for us, and even the Utah road trip is priced occasional flower. from $1705pp (flights additional) They’re experts in endurance and hot.co.nz/usa adaptation; surely visittheusa.com something to be admired.

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WELCOME TO

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sandwiches and of course, classic New York hot dogs, there really is something to please everyone.

If you are there over a weekend, Smorgasburg — the largest weekly open-air food market in America with more than 100 local vendors — is a must.

If your kids (and maybe even you?) are dessert fans, you may also want to check out Ample Hills Creamery, CoolMess, Blue Marble Ice Cream, Eddie’s Sweet Shop or Morgenstern’s for sweet treats.

Indulge in the joys of Broadway Seeing a show on Broadway is a very New York experience and there are many kids will love such as Aladdin, The Lion King and of course Frozen. If theatre is their thing, you can even take a behindthe-scenes tour of the production of Wicked or of Disney’s New Amsterdam Theatre so they can see what goes into creating huge live shows.

Alexia Santamaria takes small bites of the Big Apple

Walk the city

Times Square, New York City.

Photo / Unsplash

N

ew York — such an iconic city. The inspiration for countless musicians, poets and writers and the setting of so many films featuring those distinctive yellow taxis, sky-scraping buildings, streets of retail therapy and brash, confident attitude. It’s a place everyone should visit at least once in their lives.

The good news is, if you missed doing it in your youth — hanging out in fabulous bars, eating everything imaginable, thrashing your credit card and soaking up the art and culture — it’s still a great place to visit with kids in tow.

Here are some ideas if the Big Apple is part of your family travel plans for 2020.

Hit up the museums There is a museum for almost every kid’s taste in this city. Don’t miss the American Museum of Natural History, which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world every year and of course, The Met (ask for their free family guides).

There’s also the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, the Strong National Museum of Play, New York Hall of Science, New York Transit Museum and so many more.

Eat everything You will never starve in this city, that’s for sure. From sushi to tacos to floppy thin-crust pizza, pastrami

There are plenty of great places to wander — not just Central Park. Walk the Williamsburg Bridge and end up in Domino Park or take the ferry to Governor’s Island and meander the winding paths stopping at food trucks and playzones (check dates before going).

The High Line — built on an abandoned train track — is great for strolling with views of the Meatpacking District and Chelsea.

Coming soon There will definitely be kids who are pretty excited that 2020 will see the opening of a huge Harry Potter Flagship store with the largestever collection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts product, and the opening of the biggest Legoland yet — Legoland New York Resort.

International phenomenon KidZania will also open its doors in 2020 in New York. This city just keeps getting better.

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GO BEYOND LAS VEGAS

SOUTHWEST USA TIPS

W I T H H O U S E O F T R AV E L .

Between the majestic national parks, offbeat historic sites and laidback mountain towns — not to mention the spectacular Grand Canyon — the states surrounding Las Vegas’ neon lights are well worth exploring.

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona

GET TO KNOW NEVADA .

Get out of Las Vegas and you’ll find Nevada is brimming with beautiful parks and quirky sights. Head for stunning Lake Tahoe, surrounded by snow-capped peaks and home to national parks, ski fields and hip adventure towns. Drive between red sandstone formations in the Valley of Fire State Park or through the wilds of Great Basin National Park. And for a bit of Nevada’s offbeat charm, try the Free-Range Art Highway, which winds from the Las Vegas Arts District and past plenty of roadside wonders to Reno’s mural scene.

E X P L O R E U TA H ’ S N AT I O N A L PA R K S .

Utah boasts five national parks: Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and perhaps its most famous, the spectacularly beautiful Zion National Park, which sits just over two hours from Las Vegas. With day hiking, canyoning and river trips, there are endless ways to get closer to Zion’s pristine peaks. Another of the most iconic places in the Southwest, Utah’s Monument Valley is the sacred heart of the indigenous Navajo Nation and well worth a visit. And to learn Utah’s fascinating pioneer history, visit the museums of Salt Lake City — then reward yourself with a sampling of the city’s fine craft beers.

LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA

EXPERIENCE THE GRAND CANYON. One of the seven wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon is an absolute must-see. It exposes incredible rock formations seen nowhere else on earth — some dating back 2 billion years! There are plenty of easy ways to take in the breath-taking views — helicopter tours, by small plane, bus, jeep or car — and a few adventurous ones, like hiking a massive web of trails or rafting the Canyon’s base in the Colorado River. The truly brave can try the Grand Canyon Skywalk, a glass-bottomed observation deck giving you a bird’s eye view of the Canyon’s depths.

HEAD INTO ARIZONA .

You can’t beat the laid-back mountain town of Flagstaff as a base to explore. It boasts a hip historic downtown, loads of dining and craft breweries and even a stretch of Route 66. It also offers easy access to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, the knockout sights of Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend Reserve. Another favourite town? Sedona, a resort town where you can take a jaw-dropping flightseeing tour over the region’s iconic red rocks and high desert. The town brims with boutiques, spas and art galleries, while on the outskirts, you’ll find trails to Red Rock State Park’s gorgeous picnicking spots.

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GETTING AROUND Hiring a car is a fantastic way to get off the beaten track and explore, but there are also excellent day and multi-day tours departing from Las Vegas that leave the driving to the guide!

ICONIC FOOD Southwest food is a delicious melting pot of indigenous and Mexican influences. Don’t miss a hearty helping of Chimichangas (deliciously deep-fried burritos smothered in sauce) or Navajo tacos (fried flat bread with toppings).

M U S T D O A DV E N T U R E The deserted Rhyolite Ghost Town awaits just under two hours from Las Vegas — and is easily visited along with Death Valley, a famous desert that’s one of the hottest places on earth!

DON’T MISS Tackle one of the walks in Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park.

Even a short, easy ramble earns you amazing scenic views.

HOT TIP Zion National Park is car-free, there are complimentary buses that stop throughout the park. We love hiring a bike, taking it to the last stop on the bus route and then riding back to the Visitor Centre. Without traffic, it’s pleasant and peaceful!

SEVEN MAGIC MOUNTAINS, NEVADA

SEDONA , ARIZONA

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WHEN TO VISIT The best time to visit the Southwest depends on what you want to do: Find excellent winter sports conditions from November to March or hot summer weather from June to early September. The deserts experience these conditions more intensely. Shoulder seasons are milder and very pleasant.

$

925

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share twin. Flights additional INCLUDES: 6 night stays & 7 day car hire HIGHLIGHTS: Rhyolite Ghost Town • Death Valley • Lake Tahoe • Reno • Great Basin National Park • Cathedral Gorge

m from

$

4625

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514pp

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HIGHLIGHTS: Zion National Park • Bryce Canyon National Park • Capitol Reef National Park • Arches National Park • Monument Valley • Grand Canyon

BET TER TOGETHER

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MARK-2827-WK4

0 8 0 0 7 1 3 7 1 5 I C O M E I N -STO R E I H OT.C O. N Z CONDITIONS: Valid for new bookings only until 25 Mar 20 or until sold out • Pricing valid as at 28 Feb 20 • Return flights are Economy Class flying Hawaiian Airlines via Honolulu. Flights travel dates vary, blackouts apply • Road trip: Any applicable one way fees are not included • ^ACCOMMODATION: Las Vegas based on Sun-Thu, excludes resort fee of US$42 per night, payable direct • Globus Tour: based on 27 Sep & 04 Oct 20 departures. For full terms & conditions visit visit hot.co.nz/usa0220 CMPUSA220

GO BEYOND YOUR EXPECTATIONS. GO BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. GO BEYOND AND VISIT CALIFORNIA. There’s more than one reason to fall in love with California.

Endless sunshine, clear blue water and close to 1500 kilometres of Pacific coastline makes for a match you’ll find totally irresistible.

Who knows, this might be forever.

This year, go beyond and Visit California. visitcalifornia.com

Discover USA holiday experiences beyond the everyday at hot.co.nz/USA

MORRO BAY, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. IMAGE COURTESY OF VISIT CALIFORNIA

WHERE WILL YOU FIND YOUR PERFECT BREAK?