Today i am sleeping in because yesterday 23rd we had a big day in the heat. Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Lovely views of the Manhattan Skyline and lots of ferries, speed boats, yachts, jet skis on the water. Made it to DUMBO to get photos of Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. Lovely shady parks and amazing views. A very nice lunch at Dawn's to Dusk and then a walk back over the Hudson on the Manhattan Bridge (inferior to the Brooklyn as there were very long, very noisy trains beside us). Once back we visited the 911 monument. A lot of names so quite somber. We popped into Eataly - what a place! Lots of delicious looking food to buy or eat in. We opted to eat in. My favourite malfadine (fresh) pasta with mushrooms and a glass of red.
24th August 2025 at 11:36 - Sally
Friday night was Moulin Rouge night. Had a bit of a PT nightmare but made it to our back row seats ok in the end. Was very good, lots of well known songs and I always love the chorus numbers.
24th August 2025 at 11:32 - Sally
On the 22nd we visited the Highline. It has been expanded since the last time i visited and also now includes the Hudson yards. The wild flowers are looking great and it is a very peaceful place to be. There used to be some NZ plants there but i couldn't find them this time. I suspect they have reverted to natives only. Last time I ate such a big bagel meal before walking the path so couldn't partake in any of the yummy food available. This time I had a lovely refreshing Mexican passion fruit ice block which was most refreshing as the NYC temperatures had risen again.
24th August 2025 at 11:06 - Sally
Today, 21st the weather had cooled and it was nice to have a break from the heat. We did a cycle tour of Central Park which meant we covered way more ground than we would have on foot. A bit rainy and we thought our luck was in as the queue for Shakespeare in the park was very small. Turns out though, it was opening night and all the tickets were invitation only. Our only hope now is to win the daily lottery. We went to Times Square and booked Moulin Rouge for Friday night as a substitute
24th August 2025 at 10:49 - Sally
It was raining a bit on the 20th so we put on our raincoats and walked down to the Hudson River (NY side). There is a really nice river walk that was well used even in the rain. Found a nice cafe on our way down, Prato. Nice coffee and then back again for lunch. A misty/rainy Manhattan skyline.
23rd August 2025 at 09:38 - Sally
A day at the tennis on the 19th. A new format for the mixed doubles tournament meant the tickets were cheap and the top players were numerous. Highly recommended.
18th August 2025 at 12:34 - Damian
Huge (3-4 people long) USA flag on the side of the Saturn V rocket.
18th August 2025 at 12:22 - Damian
The first stage of the Saturn V rocket is 42m long and has a diameter of 10m. Its job is to lift the rocket to 60km above the earth. Basically it has to throw a HEAP of mass out its arse-end VERY rapidly.
It feeds around 5000L of fuel EVERY SECOND to those five engines and empties itself in a mere 2.5 minutes by which time it's cleared the stratosphere, is discarded and stage two (with its own set of engines and fuel) takes over.
The scale of these things. What a ride it must have been!
Sally for scale beside the Saturn V's stage 1 five primary engines.
18th August 2025 at 09:09 - Damian
The space shuttle from below
17th August 2025 at 13:36 - Damian
We're in Houston for the night before I head home and Sally heads to NYC with Adrienne.
Where we're staying is beside a freeway near the airport with dire food options. We found a craft brewery (City Acre Brewing¹) a short taxi ride away. What a find. It was off the main road and felt like we were walking into someone's home.
I made the mistake of wearing my knock-off Yankees cap into the bar which earned me friendly scorn and banter. They gave me a free brewery merch cap just to stop me wearing it.
The food and beer was delicious. Our first real taste of Southern hospitality.
We saw hummingbirds in Colombia and Ecuador but I never attempted to photograph them thinking we'd have better opportunities in Costa Rica.
I was correct, in a way. But they're really hard to capture as they're quite shy and move fast.
This is one taken by one of our guides with a phone clamped to a spotting telescope (which EVERY guide carries).
A Charming Hummingbird on a cable
17th August 2025 at 00:07 - Damian
12-15/08/2025 - Days 11-14 From Monteverde we descended from the cool mountains south to the Pacific coast to the beachside town of Manuel Antonio where we spent a relaxing four days to end the tour.
We spent a morning kayaking in the mangroves and, on another day, did a final nature tour in the nearby national park with a guide followed by a swim at the beach.
Sunset on Manuel Antonio beach
13th August 2025 at 01:42 - Damian
11/08/2025 - Day 10
A day in Monteverde. We did a guided orchid experience, a guided butterfly/insect experience and then a guided night walk in the forest.
The orchids were fascinating and we learnt a lot. They've evolved a heap of strategies to tempt specific animals (mostly insects) to pollinate them and, because they have both male and female parts additional strategies to avoid self-fertilisation.
The night walk was interesting, too. The whole place comes alive at night.
A female tarantula on the night walk. They can catch animals as large as birds and mice. Not interested in biting humans thankfully. Beautiful.
(photo not mine)
Bark scorpions shine under UV light. Sting is not deadly. Similar in pain to a wasp or bee, apparently.
This orchid is slippery and insects fall into the cup but can climb up the back wall behind "curtains". In doing so, they are relieved of pollen from a previous plant and will be burdened with pollen from this one on the way out. Thus avoiding self-pollination
This orchid has hairs that force an insect to wiggle to get past them to the good stuff. Upon exit they'll have pollen attached to them for the next plant.
11th August 2025 at 12:04 - Damian
10/08/2025 - Day 9
We relocated from La Fortuna across Lake Arenal to Monteverde which is at 1300m in cloud forest. Much nicer temperature at this altitude.
On arrival we did a three hour walk in the cloud forest and we're heading into town for dinner tonight.
Jade vine
This baby frog was less than 1cm in length. It was on a bromelia which is my new favourite plant to inspect whenever I come across them as they host whole ecosystems.
There was a crab(!!) on the walk at around 1700m. Investigation needed.
Cloud forest
11th August 2025 at 06:57 - Damian
08-09/08/25 - Day 7 & 8
From Rio Celeste we travelled to La Fortuna which is at the base of the active Arenal volcano. Quite a touristy place but near a nice national park with lots of walks.
We did a walk to the La Fortuna Waterfall and had a refreshing swim there.
View of a bit of the waterfall from the river where we bathed.
10th August 2025 at 12:47 - Damian
Three-toed sloth. It was quietly hanging in a tree beside our swimming pool.
10th August 2025 at 12:45 - Damian
Juvenile eyelash-viper. Small but extremely venomous. (not my photo; I didn't want to get too close!)
