Day Two Hundred and Forty-Nine

This is the city centre of Adelaide looking down King William Street, whilst waiting for the tram to take me back to the beach in Glenelg.

Day Two Hundred and Forty-eight

The sunsets here in on the Adelaide coastline are pretty special and every evening draw a pretty big crowd (see the people lined along the jetty) of, couples, tourists, locals and the odd wannabe photographer.

Day Two Hundred and Forty-seven

I'm pretty sure this flag (which, incidentally, was sticking out my chicken burger at Nando's) was in the wrong place. There not a doubt in my mind it should be flag high next the national flag at every entry point into Australia. It in the 30 to 35 degree bracket this weekend. Hot. Bloody hot and only for the adventurous heat seeker...

Day Two Hundred and Forty-six

A small taste of home! After being in America for six months, the sight of a real "fish and chip" shop was enough to pull me in. Finally some chips that weren't skinny and didn't come pre-loaded with salt. And I wasn't given a 'what on earth are you doing look' when i coated them with vinegar...

Day Two Hundred and Forty-five

There's something quite beautiful about watching the sun fall into the ocean. Each evening (bar one cold and cloudy evening) since I've been here in Adelaide I've taken my book, and sometimes my camera, down to the sea wall to relax and watch it...

Day Two Hundred and Forty-four

Here's a few shots of the hostel I'm staying in Adelaide, its a grand colonial building which as been ruined in a way only backpacker know how to do!

Day Two Hundred and Forty-three

This is the small town I'm staying at in South Australia right now. The original name for the town of Glenelg was Holdfast Bay, and is still generally known at 'The Bay' by locals. This monument by the beach front pays tribute to the first settles, who laid anchor here after riding out a storm.

Day Two Hundred and Forty-two

England's biggest export? The English language of course! I saw a few of these in America and now here on the other side of the world, Buckinghamshire's very own, Roald Dahl. I remember enjoying his books when I was a child, but I never knew he wrote so many. Here's a selection of some I saw in a bookstore in Adelaide.

Day Two Hundred and Forty-one

Its very peaceful to sit on the benches at the back of the beach and just watch the world go by. Footsteps in the sand...

Day Two Hundred and Forty

The eternal optimism of a cricket fan...

If you want a definition of optimism, some might say speak to a sports fan, in particular maybe a Cleveland Browns supporter (they had fans for years when even their team didn't even exist!). But I'd say speak to a cricket fan. There few other events in the world that can get people to sit and wait all day in the rain on the final day of a test match (which has sometimes lasted 5 days). You sit there, watching the skies, convincing yourself the rain is easing up, convincing yourself its definitely getting brighter and that maybe, just maybe, England can come out and bowl down 10 wickets in two hours. So I stayed , because if it did stop raining (which it did) and if it did get brighter (which it did) and if England did get 10 wickets then it would have been well worth the wait.

Did it happen? no it bloody didn't.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-nine

Not sure how this hasn't caught on in America yet, where you can "drive thru" and buy almost anything without having to leave you car. This is a drive thru bottle shop (aka, liquor store, off licence).

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-eight

Love at the cricket! Perhaps the most civilised sport in the world, going to watch a game is like a pleasant step back in time.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-seven

I'm in Adelaide, it took two whole days to get here, but I made it. Trying desperately to stay awake (and avoid jetlag) I took an afternoon walk onto the jetty in Glenelg. This is view back down the coast line...

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-six

The shortest day ever? We crossed the date line around 3 am I think, which makes day 236 only a few hours long.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-five

Leaving America, for now, I'm in LA tonight waiting patiently to board my delayed flight to Sydney.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-four

Thanks Landon, this windscreen was getting a bit dirty on the long drive back from Salt Lake. Luckily Landon was there to give a helping hand....

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-three

We started today with a mini-Christmas. As I'm off to Australia in just a few days, I surprised Amanda and Landon with a few presents (except Landon was off at a sleepover neither of us knew about so unfortunately he missed out). This is a photo I took of Amanda and I and two clocks showing Cedar City time and Australia time.

In the evening we headed to Salt Lake to watch Real in the MLS play-offs, an exciting and tense game ended in a 1-1 tie, which meant Real lost out on aggregate after losing the first game 2-1.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-two

More scenes of Autumn, this is our street on a beautiful November morning.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-one

Tonight we went to Applebee's and Amanda, trying to be healthy, ordered a water. I ordered a thick chocolate milkshake and instantly made her the most jealous woman in America. Luckily I was in the mood for sharing!

Day Two Hundred and Thirty

In the summer, this trees gave me shade when I stopped on my run to stretch out. The leaves are changing and the Indian Summer sure is leaving now, not cold enough to stop my morning run though.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Nine

Today we made a trip down to St. George and visited some of Amanda's friends there. Also had a chance to teach Landon some soccer skills. He's a natural (by American standards anyway!)

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Eight

The most beautiful church in America? I'm a firm believer that Britain has some of the most picturesque churches in the world (and that my own, St. Paul's is among them, see day 41). In America, there's a tendency for churches, of any denominations, to be rather plain in comparison. For that reason, it was a pleasant surprise to see this wonderful stone walled and Tudor styled church here in Cedar City. Coupled with the changing of the seasons and the leaves on the trees, I could resist taking a photo of it.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven

We headed up to the mountains for a Sunday afternoon walk on an unseasonally warm day. Patches of snow here and there tell us winter is just around the corner so we made the most of the tranquillity in the sunshine up here whilst it lasts. Bliss.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Six

A saturday shopping trip down to St George, and a chance to enjoy a bit of warmer weather too. After buying a few new clothes for summer in Australia, we headed to the park with a coffee, a hot chocolate and some pastries. The the left of the park's bandstand, is the Mormon temple in St George.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Five

Its certainly political season here in America. Cedar City is littered with signs like these. To me, a relative outsider, it all seems a little weird. Being the politically minded person I am, I read the local news from the town and have yet to read anything which tells me more about a candidate than these signs do. Maybe this guy, Dan Webster, was responsible for the pointless lighthouse here at 6000ft above sea level, who knows?

There's no great suspense in awaiting the outcome of the elections, this is solid Republican country and views and laws are more conservative than I thought existed. It would be interesting to see how long or popular some of the policies would be back home in England. Take this example; in Cedar City its perfectly legal to deny someone employment if they are gay. Its clearly a topical point and last week a motion make this illegal was brought before the council but voted down. But as I said, I'm a relative outsider and it all seems a little weird.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Four

It just two days until Halloween so we'd better get carving those pumpkins that have been in sitting in the house since last weekend shopping trips. Given that I'd never seen a pumpkin until this year and that my 'arts and crafts' skill leave more than a lot to be desire, I didn't think Landon's and my attempts were too bad...

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Three

Its been 153 days since I left England and therefore probably not much longer since I last had one of these. It wasn't quite up to the standard of the good old faithful Curry Centre in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire's oldest curry house, but (even if I do say so myself) it was pretty damn good!

....and I didn't get any complaints from my customers either!

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-Two

Lonely Planet? Not with these, a travellers bible. These books have saved me from probably having to sleeping in a dingy bullet ridden motel. They've lead me to little unknown restaurants as a preference to easier national chain eateries. They've also taken me away from major tourist traps to some of the most spectacular places in the world (most recently on Day 220). I'm still in America, but have spent much of the day reading and planning my forthcoming move down under.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-One

Weekly planning! To ensure we cut down on the money we spend on take-away/eating out and also in an attempt to eat more healthily all round....we've planned out our meals for the week!

Day Two Hundred and Twenty

Its our final day in Moab before we head back to Cedar City so we took the opportunity to hunt down a few of the most breathtaking views around. The first one here is take at a place called the Gemini Bridges and of the canyon which opens up below it. Its definitely not a place for those with a fear of heights, on the approach to the bridges you're actually walking on a huge overhang but you don't know it until you reach the bridges and look back to see nothing underneath the rock that paved the way there. The cliff faces in the canyon are over 1000 feet.

The second is from a nearby state park called Dead Horse Point (legend has it cowboys left a corral here to die of thirst) which is an peninsula which gives spectacular views of the Colorado River and its canyons below.

Day Two Hundred and Nineteen

After a full day of quad-biking around the countryside near Moab we reach The Uranium Arch, which surprisingly enough is in a cliff face of what was once uranium rich rock. Here's Amanda's family striking a pose on top of the arch.

Day Two Hundred and Eighteen

Today we visited Bluff, a 100 mile drive south from Moab. Its a small town settled by 230 Mormon pioneers in 1880 after seeking out a more direct route from south central Utah to the far south east. The expedition became known for its famous Hole in the Rock route that they took.

Day Two Hundred and Seventeen

I've been here before. Its a 300 mile drive from Cedar City to Moab and not for the first time this year I've crossed paths with an earlier adventure. This time from the legendary roadtrip in Stan back in 2006 with Nate, Luke, Wink and Tommy D.

2006...

Day Two Hundred and Sixteen

All packed up and ready to go....almost. Tomorrow we're heading to Moab (south-western Utah) for a weekend of camping and outdoor fun!

Day Two Hundred and Fifteen

We live at the base of mountains in Cedar City and for the first time this year I stopped to reflect on the amount of the world I've already seen in the past 214 days. Here's some highlights...

The beautiful city of London on Day One.

The untouched British countryside on Day Eighteen.

The White Cliffs of Dover on Day Fifty-Seven.

The capital of America on Day Seventy-One.

The world's widest waterfall on Day Seventy-Seven.

The Michigan countryside where I worked all summer.

The Pacific Ocean reaching into Vancouver on Day One Hundred and Eighty.

The valley in the Zion canyon on Day One Hundred and Eighty-Nine.

Day Two Hundred and Fourteen

Its someone's birthday today! Carson, Amanda's little brother is 6 and the house is full of decorations. There's also a host of Halloween decorations out too, including a Witch (larger than the one pictured) that stands by the front door and scares the life out of me almost every night when I get home.

Day Two Hundred and Thirteen

We had a little surprise for Landon when he got home on Sunday night. A new scarf for his wall and jersey from the game.

Day Two Hundred and Twelve

Its been 156 days since I last went to a football (soccer) game, so despite being in a foreign city and in a country that doesn't really buy into the sport like Europe does, it still felt like a bit of a home coming when we travelled up to Utah's capital to see Real Salt Lake defeat FC Dallas 2-0.

We made the day of it so I could see the sights in what was a surprisingly small, but very pretty city. Two sister missionaries were kind enough to show Amanda and I around Temple Square, and educate me a bit more about the Mormon religion and the history of the area. It was a very insightful day.

Here's Amanda's Temple...

And here's mine...