Friday, July 23, 2010

Scrapes, Shuttles and Sheep Shaggers




My, what big wheels you have!






Thursday 15th July day 21
We packed our bags and bid farewell to London. As we made our way through the streets to the tube station, I question the wisdom of wearing crocs after it rained the night before. Daniel found it amusing to watch me, top heavy with a backpack, inch my way down the street like someone learning to ice skate.
We were picked up at the airport Kathy and Roger and spent the next few days relaxing and catching up with family and friends, generally getting lost in the hire car.

Sunday 18th July day 23
We piled into the Camry and went to a car show called “Scrape by the lake” only getting lost on the way once. Checked out heaps of sweet rides and watched a competition where the owners try and “bounce” their cars higher than anyone else.......................................hmmmmmm....... I’m not sure how this relates to a cars’ main purpose of getting from point A to point B, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it, especially when the car came back down with enough force to dislodge parts from the body. The girls didn’t feel like staying around for the bikini contest.
Daniel amused us by spraying bright yellow mustard all over his white shirt. We ate poutine and now my chest hurts a little bit. We got lost on the way back but enjoyed views of Hamilton from all possible angles as we circumnavigated the city then ducked through downtown for a different perspective.

Monday 19th July day 24
We loaded up the Camry and with Kathy at the controls, we hit the Queen Elizabeth Way and before an hour was up, we were in Niagara falls. Well it would have been less than an hour if we didn’t go freestyle and get lost on the way.
We checked into our hotel (no, we will take it for the whole night thanks) then set out unsuccessfully in search of the golf course we played at 15 years ago.
With golf off the agenda, we headed north to Niagara on the Lake and Morgs, Daniel and myself grabbed seats on the Whirlpool Jet boat(Kathy said her heart wasn’t up to it, once was enough). Our guide was fully stoked to be taking us on his boat, continuously insisting that we pump our fists in the air whilst exclaiming that we were having an awesome time. We assumed his enthusiasm was real, I can’t imagine anyone being paid enough to be that excited. Nevertheless, the ride was exhilarating, powering through class 5 rapids and getting completely wet through. At times the boat seemed to completely fill with water. The boat operators put on an exciting manoeuvre where the jet boat completes a 360deg turn. We were all very impressed, I can tell you! They proudly announced it was named the “Hamilton Turn” after the designers of the jet propulsion system that was invented by the Hamilton Jet Boat company in New Zealand and, encouraged all the passengers on the boat to give a cheer for the New Zealanders. We received sour looks when instead of giving enthusiastic “hoorahs” we responded with “dirty sheep shaggers!”. So we had to explain to the other passengers that “yes, they can be quite inventive, but, they tend not to wash and have a weakness for “getting some wool on””. The other passengers looked at us differently for the rest of the boat ride. Their eyes seemed a little wider or something.
A dry Kathy collected us from the dock and whisked us back to the hotel in Niagara, then headed out for the evening while I took the kids to the wind tunnel for a bit of free fall sans aeroplane. I chose not to take part as a quick calculation showed that the vast amount of thrust required to get my fat arse airborne is generally reserved for somewhat grander projects like the propulsion system on the space shuttle.

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