When the news came through that Nanny Jenny would come back with Emma after the passing of poppy Brian we all got a shot in the arm . What a brave decision to leave the home you previously shared with your husband and travel to the other side of the world , especially when it’s your first international trip . “Just do it “ , we said . “This place is sunny no matter what time of the year , you’ll hardly miss the Australian summer . “

I honestly don’t recommend a visit to LA in December or January. Still if you can travel internationally any visit is worthwhile.The days are generally still, cool and short. It’s usually dark just after 5 and the temperatures usually get to 17-18 Celsius . Fortunately this year we were travelling to Sayulita ,Mexico. The promise of warm tropical weather lay ahead . What a way to spend Christmas . By the Time we get to Mexico we know we have a month left in the United States before we pack our bags and leave for good. It’s a time to escape and live for the now

It’s funny how things work . Australia has just been through one of the wettest periods in recent history and straight after some of the toughest covid restrictions in the western world . As soon as Emma’s mum arrives in LA the storms begin . We get respite in Mexico but on the first day back we are met with miserable weather and it would continue for 3 straight weeks . The promise of beautiful sunny days , people watching , beach walks and alfresco dining in Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach seemed like a made up myth . The one bonus in all of the stormy weather has been the constant pounding surf . So we thank Jenny for bringing us some bloody good waves , although it doesn’t really do her any good .

It’s been a bitter sweet 4 weeks with the passing of Emma’s father Brian and her mum Jenny visiting us in LA . We’ve done a lot in this month , despite the weather . Jenny has been to Mexico , Vegas , LA , Malibu and everywhere in between . It’s been her first big trip and she’s seen a hell of a big chunk of where we live and what we’ve experienced. After we dropped her off at LAX alone , we drove back sombrely . On returning home I turn the tv on to watch the news . A special on LAs weather reports that we’ve had an unprecedented 10 storms in the last month . A atmospheric river they call it .In the entire time we’ve been here we’d have been lucky to see 10 storms in total in the previous 5 and a half years . Jenny was calling herself cyclone Jenny . You sure were , but in a good way . You did a lot , including ending Californias worst drought in living memory .

It’s the final countdown . 8 days before we fly out . The last 4 weeks have been a time for mourning for a passing father and husband and for a life that we never thought we’d live . As Jenny touched down in Australia the weather turned . It’s beautiful and sunny . It’s time to look to the future with excitement. January 28 ,we’ll be back .

Nothing was ever real until the tickets were booked . January 26 , 2023 , 4 seats on Qantas to Sydney , one way , connecting onto Melbourne .. Wow .. let that exhale slowly . Hows the irony ? What a day to finally leave your life behind and return home to Australia .

The jitters , butterflies, jingles , nerves , whatever . They’re starting to build . We were always coming back . We were coming back after 2 years , then 3 ,4 and now close to 6 years have passed and we are doing it . Their are doubts . We’ve taken a leap of faith . We’ll come back with just our suitcases , a couple of surfboards and nothing else . No jobs , no detailed plan ,only a gut feel that we are making a decision that will eventually work out .

So there it is pups . It hasn’t been an easy call ,but what is easy is that we know there’s a better life back home . We have 14 days left in the United States . It’s been one hell of a ride but it’s time to come back to heal , to rejuvenate and to enjoy the best country in the world . We’ll land January 28 . See you soon .

We’ve been back in California for 4 months now . I’ve wanted to bombard everyone with pictures , theories , stories and concrete plans , but no . I froze out , I wanted to think it through and have a more balanced and fair picture of our trip back home . I know Melbourne well and not much surprised on our recent return . There were a few subtle things , most notably the effects of covid on the inner city businesses but nothing stuck out bar the pleasure of seeing family and old friends , and of course the coffee and food ….. Nothing new there .

Our time in Sydney was different . Was it a reality ? Maybe not . We initially stayed in North Sydney , close to the US consulate ,so as to renew our visas . It’s a wealthy area , totally understandable when you walk the streets and paths . The terrain undulates through beautiful parks , stately old homes , high rises with views across Sydney Harbour that are post card stuff . Sydney is a breath of fresh air , there’s a vibe here that is not weighted down by any need to prove itself . Sydney is dam pretty . When you’re this good looking you don’t need to try too hard ( I wouldn’t know ) .

Look , this blog is pretty dated . I’ve sat on it and thought about it quite a bit . Sometimes you can get caught up in the romance of a situation or place and daydream the possibilities. We saw Sydney in 2 doses with Melbourne wedged in between on our recent visa renewal mission . Staying in Manly on the second stint stoked the day fantasies like I feared it would . Manly is awesome . It isn’t dissimilar to where we live in LA , but in reality it is comfortably superior . Manly has many of the qualities we live with here in Hermosa Beach . Beautiful beach front and I mean gorgeous , built up urban development but with pockets of Victorian architecture , surf , restaurants , pubs , beautiful people that are a little thicker but still dammed attractive , bike and running trails with grass and Norfolk pines providing shade , a cleanliness that I so appreciate , surf clubs , birds and a smell you gotta love . We eat good food , drink great coffee , surf good waves and bloody hell the locals surf at a ridiculous level . It’s a spoilt life here . I know that culture

Our move back to Australia is imminent now .A mix of excitement and fear has started to coil up in the pit of the stomach . An idea , a thought that we agreed on is now upon us . The full moon this morning has heightened the realisation that this is it .Today I give notice , tomorrow I’ll begin to take stock . What to sell and what to give ?

It’s time to start the long goodbye . We’ll be back soon , back in our home town . We’ve taken some big risks , lived a different life . We are more flexible now . There’s always more options than you think . Gee, l enjoyed Sydney .

We land in Puerto Vallarta , Mexico . it’s a short 2 and a half hour flight from LAX , Los Angles. It may be a short flight but you couldn’t be too much further from LA life . My wife’s mother has come along for the ride , it’s her first ever adventure outside of Australia. Lock yourself in Jenny it’s going to be a bumpy ride . The niggling , wanting , needing , getting and general fighting of the Howard’s on vacation will be on full display .

I love it when you land in tropical locations and get that initial waft of thick ,warm fragrant air .We exit Puerto Vallarta airport with no security check , after our initial delay at the currency exchange booth . Last second panic set in and we abandon plans to use the Scotia bank ATM that I had researched . Social media posts had alerted me the idea that the ATMs and particularly the Scotia Bank ATM located in Puerto Vallarta airport would convert our Bank of America funds into pesos at the best rate . After a 20 minute delay and not so favourable exchange at the currency exchange kiosk ( they see you coming ….. time to cash in on the gringos ) we exit security , right past a set of ATMs and yes one of them is the Scotia Bank ATM . The first piece of advice when landing in Mexico is get some pesos into your wallet , at least we’ve done that , even if it cost a little more than anticipated………”Ahh , cmon gringos , don’t complain , this is Mexican life , you gotta pay a little extra tax . “

It’s Christmas of 2022 . This holiday has a little more significance. It feels like an end of an era , a last sojourn into Latin America for an Aussie family that has ventured so far . A last escape , a time to grieve a passing father and a time to open our eyes , take a deep breath in appreciate how lucky we are . We are in a little piece of paradise on the other side of the world , along , long way from home …… you gotta embrace it . I guess this is what they call wanderlust .

Our driver has our name on a placard . Rahul directs us into his old white kidnap van , gets us comfortable and then offers me a beer and Emma a tequila shot . Yeesss !! Let’s get the party started . We quietly observe the busy , dusty metropolis of Puerto Vallarta as Rahul zig zags us through chaotic traffic , overpasses , side roads , freeways , potholed roads stacked with trucks , motorbikes with kids on back , open back trucks ( utes ) with families in back and all sorts of chaos that I expected to see . I smile to myself …… “ this is real Howie , you love this 3rd world shit .” Puerto Vallarta is a lot larger and more urban than i expected . It wasn’t pretty either , but I guess that maybe a bit unfair when we are really just travelling through it and not exploring any of the more touristy beach front . It’d eventually take us an hour and just on dusk before we finally wind our way north to Sayilita . . The last 30 minutes of the route takes us deep into green tropical vegetation on a single lane road backed up with traffic ferrying travellers, stock , rubbish and just about everything else . Rahul scrapes and slides his way up a steep incline on a road best described as a goat track . Welcome to paradise kiddies

An hour later Tex and I are in the streets , dark , unfamiliar and barely with a sense of how to get back to our palatial apartment nestled in the hillside somewhere . It takes minutes before we are fighting (a constant ) . We are trying to find food to bring back to the apartment but Tex wants to run into the night . He does . “ Fuck him “ , I declare . What could go wrong ? We are in the heart of Mexico ,with a blonde American kid wandering off into the night . Out of the blue ……… “ hey Troy !” . Right in front of me appears a golf cart with familiar faces . Belinda , Eric and their friends from Seattle . We knew they were here and were catching up with them tomorrow . Emma had alerted them that Tex and I were wandering the streets , arguing, stomping our feet and generally lost for ideas . It took a while , 2 beers and a little embarrassment before I calmed down . We get pizza and it’s pretty bloody good , too . Just as we were about to head back Tex appears , 2 coronas in hand , arrogantly declaring that he sat down for the 3 best tacos of his life . Thank you , Eric and Belinda , you get us through our first night , and Tex ……. He’s a wild horse , you can’t saddle him . He will roam the streets for the next week , either oblivious of the chaos and potential dangers as a foreigner or entirely confident of his street smarts . He’s at home in Sayulita .

The morning after . Alls forgotten, for now .It’s anticipation. What’s out there ? What are we doing ? When are we getting amongst it ? Tex is already barking about finding a surfboard and hitting the waves . Demanding cash , so he can wander into a town he knows nothing about . Eventually Belinda , the best chaperone and friend you could have on a holiday turns up in her golf buggy . She gives a quick tour around town to get our bearings and then sets us up with a golf buggy through her guy . Belinda and Eric , both from Hermosa Beach have been here 10 years running . They are veterans and a perfect ally for Aussie greenhorns like us . It’s not long before Tex declares the golf buggy his .It has it’s benefits. We have a driver , a reason to have 3 extra margaritas and also a maniac behind the wheel . Lock and load kiddies .

Surfing . We did it . Got some pretty good waves too . We had low expectations, especially renting boards but it worked out . $25 US a day is pretty good . The boards were dated and beaten up a bit but it was fun . You can’t whinge too much when you’re in 25 degrees Celsius waters in 28 degree weather , just a short walk to our villa. Still ,there a little things that annoy . There’s that constant targeting of the tourist dollar that you get anywhere in the world . On returning the boards the board rental staff would go over the boards with a fine tooth comb , look you in the eye , looking back at the board , insinuating that you must have caused damage and therefore pay for repairs . It was uncomfortable, almost hostile and I guess it’s a way of extorting or guilting you into giving them more . Fuck that , just be honest up front and I’ll pay , don’t try and accuse of shit that didn’t happen . Next time , we’ll take photos before we rent . Lesson learned . We had the same problem with Leroy’s water logged ,delaminated boogie board when the vendor accused him of damaging it . He had brought the board back to swap after 15 minutes . The old prick stared him down ,and me , but we didn’t budge . Nah , mate . We know this game . It would continue when I bring back the second board I hire . The women ( Patti ) explicitly tells me it’s a trust transaction and all that I need to do is bring the board back by the end of the day . I question it too . $10 US is a bargain for a surfboard for the day , admittedly it’s beaten up and 20 years old but it surfed pretty good . On returning it that night I’m met by a less than impressed local who tells me that I owe them another $40 US as the board was only a 90 minute rental ! Nah , mate , I declare . After 5 minutes of uncomfortable haggling I walk away not paying an extra cent . I couldn’t anyway as I didn’t have any cash on me ,but I’m guessing if I had I probably would’ve pulled some out of the pocket. That’s the game , buyer beware .

Tours , we did those too . Out to the islands on an all you can drink party boat ? Yep . Pina colada me up baby . Whales breaching , dolphins running , slides off the side of the boat , beauties in g strings . Ahhh yes , we got it all . Tex not listening and being his domineering cocky self and almost swimming into a Portuguese jelly fish after all of us were explicitly shown the said creature and warned of its potential danger . I think we wanted him to get stung , just a little bit .We even ran into an Aussie family from Sydney on the boat . What are the odds ?

We fished too . Another charter out to the islands . We got more whales . One breached entirely out of the water no more than 100 meters from the boat . It was an incredible show and one not one of us could capture on film . It was truly like being in some documentary . We catch bonitos , mackerel and some sort of trevally A special thanks to Owen who got the fish biting after he chummed the waters up with vomit .I told you dude , you gotta get outta the cabin and look at the horizon . 25 fish in all . The kids were stoked , the parents more so and to add icing to the cake Tex was the target of much humour and teasing after he lost 3 consecutive fish . Think John McEnroe , think Tex .

No trip to Mexico or any other place like it would come without a bit of tax . The gut . What goes in would eventually come out in a torrent . Jenny , Tex , myself , Megan and Ben have to pay . It balances out . I go in slightly over weight and leave still , slightly over weight . Apart from a gruelling and anxiety riddled transit back , I got back to the US with a clean set of underwear.

It comes with a heavy heart that this blog took so long . It’ll be our last adventure in North America for a while . We had a ball with good friends , drank amazing margaritas for $3 , ate the best street tacos , surfed warm waves, traipsed through jungle tracks , walked along the beach at sunset , sat on the street on balmy nights . The bakeries and the pizza was better than anything we’ve had in LA . Yes there was haggling , only a bit and it’s true you can’t flush your toilet paper ,you have to parcel it up and put it in a bin next to the toilet . I felt that was the best method . Don’t worry , it doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got , you’ve gotta wipe your ass and put it into a communal bin . Mexico , it might the last time I ever see you . Now it’s time to ponder another great adventure and walk down the track and see where it takes us next .

We are finally back in Australia. We thought we were prepared for the winter forecast but the grey icy gloom of Melbourne brought a laugh and a shake of the head. Yeah we are back. We stay in South Yarra at the Cullen hotel. First goal ? bacon & eggs ,Vietnamese ,sugarless bread ,coffee , pastries and just about anything I can get my lips around that I’ve missed whilst in the States . We drift through the Prahran market. What a place ,the incredible produce ,a plethora of choice. There is nothing that compares to this place in LA . By the time I I walk out of here I haven’t bought a thing . I want almost everything but Im so frazzled by the huge range and high quality of food that I come out confused and hungrier still . . I need to come back later with Emma in a more composed state . I’ll say it again ,but god the food and produce in Australia is on a different level to the States . I’m saying out loud .”We do it better!”

We would go back to the market , walk several laps before eating some delicious snacks whilst wondering aloud how we’d love to show our American friends these types of places . Australia is spoilt on a whole lot of levels , the food is high on the list .

It’s easy to forget our purpose for this visit ; our visa renewal . We fly into Melbourne to visit family and friends , Emma’s parents 50 th wedding anniversary and a whirl wind of meetings and social engagements . The timing is poignant , a look back at a reality we may have forgotten . It’s the end of winter ,but it feels like it’s early July . It’s cold , raining nearly everyday . Everyone tells us that it’s the bleakest winter in a long time . It’s bleak all right ! There are old habits and skills to brush up on . Driving in the rain , layering of clothes , shrugging the shoulders to keep the body compact and protected , dodging puddles and complaining about the weather .The driving too , the distances we commute and the aggressive approach to the roads in Melbourne . It doesn’t take long before I’ve got cars on my rear bumper , or cars refusing to let you merge even though you’re indicating in advance . I even had a guy driving a mini bus full of retirees speed up to hem me in by behind a commuter bus pulling into pick up . Yep , we are back in Melbourne all right and it’s easy to forget that I was one of those aggressive tradies that pushed hard up on the arses of those poor old cruisers in their Volvos and BMWs. Petrol is expensive enough but the tolls as well . Our Uber from Tullamarine airport to the top of Chapel street near the Yarra river cost $120 , $42 in tolls alone ! It’s embarrassing as a Melbournian to have our major international airport so poorly accessed by public transport . Get ready to be gouged if you’re visiting from abroad .

The coffee ,the supermarkets , the tv programs , the world news , the sporting saturation, old friends , yep I miss them bad . Kids sport , the innocence of our Aussie kids playing contact sport and their parents yelling “ tackle him or her “ had us laughing . I guess we’ve been sanitised by the American system of keeping their kids protected from any type of sporting confrontation. I miss that too . We’ve made a commitment to wind up out time in the United States . It’s not over yet and we don’t know exactly how it’ll finish or what state or exact location we’ll land but it sure has provided food for thought . It’s time to decompress in Sydney for a couple of days, pick up our passports and consider our future . See you soon , we loved our visit . Oh Sydney’s pretty bloody good too .

There’s no way I can sit still ,cramped in a small space for 15 hours without sleeping . I take in a strategy that has been used by friends . I’ve been told it works . The guy at the counter slides a bag of gels over that contain some extra ingredients . He assures me that this stuff will knock me out and it won’t have the usual mind altering effects of similar products . He says it’s engineered with the added ingredients of delta 9 . Sleep tight , Howie .

We are on a mission back to Australia for our visa renewal . We are to be in Sydney on August 22 for our appointment with the American embassy . We fly with Delta direct to Sydney from LAX , leaving at 11pm on Tuesday , flying throughout an extended night that doesn’t see daylight until we arrive at 6 am Thursday in Sydney . I feel pretty smug . I’ve navigated airport security, I have a spare seat next to me and I’ve got my little helper . I scan the inflight entertainment and I’m pretty disappointed with their selection of movies . 237 movies and only 4 new releases ( 3 of them kids shows ) , the majority made before 2010 . It sounds petty , but when you long haul travel you are really relying on a couple of good movies to suck up a chunk of your time . I struggle to find any . I think I find two and one of those I’m keen to hang onto for the return flight .It’s been a turbulent flight,with the seatbelt signs turned on multiple times . Shit ,I’m really relying on sleeping now . After dinner I chew my little soft gel down and then I wait for the hour it’ll take before it works it’s magic . You see , I test drove it a couple of days before at home and it worked . There was a period of anticipation that I assumed energised my need to read before sleep , followed by a deadening heavy funk that dragged my body into the zed zone . The next morning I gingerly lifted my head to see my clock at 705 . I had slept straight through the night from just before 11pm , although I do recall some vivid dreams that I couldn’t describe or make sense of .

A jolting shock jerks through my body . I come too from some vivid nightmare where I’m running from something in the forest , but it’s a whole lot fucken worse now that I’m awake . We are going down ,and I’m not joking . The plane is vertical ,nose down , black inside . The Steele cracking , popping , the murmur of voices , crying , shaking . Fuck ! I knew I was unlucky but at least I can take solace that I’m gonna die with my wife and kids . There’s no way we can get out of this . Now that I know I’m doomed I contemplate that I’m just seconds away before I’m torn to pieces . Shit , how’s this gonna feel ? I figure we’ve got 20 seconds before I’m torn into chum . I start counting down to 3….2….

I don’t get to 1 .My eyes have deceived me . I look around . It’s all quiet , heads looking at screens , people pushed back into their neck pillows. I’d been dreaming , the most vivid of nightmares and I’m thankful for that .The plane is horizontal and all bar the persistent turbulence we are all alive and breathing . Amen . I sit still for awhile , digesting what had happened . I look at my watch . It’s 440 am , 3 hours have disappeared , I’m groggy , KO’d but not completely out . My bladders full . It takes me 15 minutes before I finally force myself “ to just get up and go “ . I do , but the toilet vacant sign doesn’t apply to me . I push it a couple of times but there’s clearly someone in there . I look back through the aircraft and I’m sure everyone is looking at me . The door opens , a women exits . I’m in there and make sure the door completely clicks and locks , I assume the women previously hadn’t fully engaged the locking process and that had kept the green vacant signal on above the bathroom As I pee there’s a announcement instructing everyone to fasten seatbelts as we are approaching some rough air . Sure enough the bumps start on queue , my pee barely staying in the toilet . Shit maybe . Paranoia increases , maybe that nightmare wasn’t a nightmare but a premonition ? Fuck , settle down dude you’re just spinning out . I bump my way back down the aisle and lock into my seat . . I stay in a state of not quite sleep but not able to function or concentrate . The hours slide by with small micro sleeps , awakened with vivid nightmares that I couldn’t quite recall and persistent low level turbulence. Around 830 am I feel the veil lift . I feel better , I’ve got some sleep but I’m not sure I can handle another fight in this type of state again .

Finally , we land in Sydney . It feels good to be on home soil . I don’t mind being jammed on the transit bus ferrying us from International to domestic . I don’t mind that my leg is numb whilst I hold it over my suitcase whilst a young girl sits next to me . I don’t mind the smell of that cheap teenage perfume or that scent of a candy that I can’t quite recognise but know it as a truly unique Australian flavour . The flight was tough , it always is , sleep is a battle and for me it’s the most crucial part of flying . Now , it’s time to suck up the Australian sounds , scents , food, friends , family and if I’m gonna lose sleep I’ll do it the right way …Melbourne Coffee…does it get any better ?

It’s been a bad month for America . Really bad . It’s a love hate relationship living here . The gun culture ……. What can you say ? It’s shameful . An absolutely irrational defending of a constitution that is completely outdated . As an Aussie …..Who gives a fuck about a constitution? I still struggle to understand the obsession with a document that shouldn’t matter . 6 years in I should be able to give some extra insight , an understanding , a feel , something that can justify the American psyche and it’s obsession to the “right to bare arms .” I’m sorry , but Australia you are right . The Yanks are fucking crazy . That’s all I’ve got . Well , that’s not true but I won’t bore you with a long winded explanation

Covid . It’s finally put it’s thumb print on Emma and myself’s forehead . I was starting to think I’d never catch it. I sort of wanted to get it , so as I could brag about how it wasn’t that bad . You’ve heard your friends tell you it was nothing more than a cold . Of course factoring in being vaccinated and boosted doesn’t seem to get much credit .It’s not that it’s whoa to be me but this thing is different . It ain’t that fun to have it . I fared better than Emma and some of our friends , at least initially . I’m only at day 14 so I do t want to get caught up in hypochondria . I didn’t get the extreme fatigue , the 17 hour sleep days that Emma and some of our friends endured but this thing has a depressive handle on it . Maybe it’s the reputation . If covid didn’t exist you’d probably had some cold with some weird traits . For me and for Emma it’s the brain fog . The vagueness , an aloofness , a halo that hovers around the head that induces a continuous dull head ache . You wouldn’t want your parents to catch it , or the elderly . There’s something to it that is troubling . There’s an usual fatigue that catches you quickly once you’ve exercised or have concentrated for any period of time . At the moment it feels like this little cloud hovers around the skull . Ok , enough of the self pity .

I did say it was a bad month in America ? I guess you’ve heard it’s gone to another level . Yeah , Roe v Wade . The unthinkable occurred. Women’s rights copped a major blow with the Supreme courts decision to send the initiative back to the States . It’ll mean that half the country will now ban abortion . Fortunately we live in California and are reasonably immune to some of the very conservative beliefs of the rest of the country . Still , it doesn’t stop you from staring at the tv in disbelief at what you are seeing . The Supreme Court once again stepped in with its conservative bent and halted the requirement to be licensed to have a concealed firearm in New York . They judged it an impediment to civil liberties and thus not constitutional. I’m sorry to bore you with this stuff but any doubt about staying in the States is rapidly dissolving for us . I’m not sure we can stick around too much longer , this joint just sucks at the moment . Even our petrol prices are chasing Australia’s high prices . I just filled my car up at over double what I’d paid a year ago . Yep we are paying over $2 a litre here too ! Let’s not talk about grocery bills , shall we .

Well dawgs , we’ve hit summer and that’s a positive . Emma and I finally got adventurous and went into Korea Town . It wasn’t what I expected . I was hoping we’d be walking through mini Seoul with shops , restaurants and all things Korean crammed into a heaving living mass . It was a whole lot more desolate than that . In fact it was typical LA , spread out , hot , dirty and unattractive but we still found some gems . It’s not everyday that you get to eat dumplings ( Myung Inn) at the same place as the great man Anthony Bourdain has . It was authentic , in a plain little cafe that belied the quality of its food . We ate ( Kyo Chon) fried wings ( the best in Korea town and maybe LA ) , bought and ate ( beautiful)the ‘Squid Games ‘ honeycomb cookies . We were the only Anglos shopping in a Korean supermarket where most products were written in Korean . Sometimes you have to leave the Bubble ( The South Bay ) and find some positives .

It’s been a bumpy ride . It’ll probably get worse . The US is entering a tumultuous period . Maybe we’ll be eating dumplings somewhere else in 6 months .

We leave the Yankees Red Sox game early . Leroy is in disbelief . There are still 2 innings left and the Yankees trail by 2 , but alas there is never enough time to see everything in New York . I think he was close to shedding a tear . We found out later the game would eventually go into extra innings with the Yankees coming from behind to steal the win. Leroy wouldn’t even look at us for the next hour . I must admit it would’ve been fun to be caught up in amongst the celebrating Yankees fans , especially in the bars below the underpass .

We hit the subway , seeking to land near The Summit in New York , fortunately we get to exit at Grand Central station , another New York icon . It’s a cavernous piece of architecture that makes you feel you’re in a grand old church or castle in Europe , a mighty big church at that . Once again , threading through the underground subway system in New York is an eye opener and a reminder that not everyone has an easy life . We jumped carriages at a station stop when a patron decided to urinate in the carriage itself . On every subway trip there was always someone on our carriage who was drug or alcohol effected . There’s a lot of damaged souls who seek refuge down at the bottom level in New York . One Vanderbilt is our next destination , The Summit observation deck is our mission . It doesn’t disappoint . There are several skyline observation decks to chose from , the obvious being the Empire State Building , but the Summit worked best for our schedule and for the kids senses . Glass walls , floors and ceilings , often mirrored , including the lift had everyone hyped and a little tripped out as well .

The views of the New York skyline were breathtaking , in all directions , even beneath your feet …… horrifying . A million photos can’t match what your senses are taking in . It was amazing .

After a huge day we leave the kids in our room and slip over the road for cocktails and tapas . It was true New York style and substance ….. geez I could do this every night . Central Park is next .

The Metropolitan museum of art , or ‘the Met ‘ as it is commonly known as was also meant to be in our plans , but alas we had to forgo our tickets to see the rescheduled Yankees game . Emma made sure that we took in plenty of cultural stuff , know matter how much the kids bitched about it . Central Park is huge . Miles of walking is required , but I don’t mind , every day and every minute you soak in as much as you can . You never know if you’ll ever see it again , and yes the kids complained .

The final day was about ticking off institutions .

The kids retreat back to the room . They won’t walk another block . Emma and I are on the charge . We pound out the customary 20000+ steps a day to squeeze in as much as possible . The Brooklyn bridge is next . The bridge is packed with walkers ,snaking along the two kilometre length to the Brooklyn side . The bridge is littered with stalls , tables and sellers offering every sort of tacky New York paraphernalia you could think of . I’m really surprised at how popular this attraction is and I can confirm that after walking it I can understand why . The New York backdrop , the Hudson River , the Statue of Liberty in the distance were an incredible spectacle that an iPhone couldn’t quite replicate , but shit i took a thousand shots anyway .

Finally , whats a trip without a twist in the tail to finish with ? Of course a flight delay will do it , ahhhh just a 6 hour delay . We get home to LA well after midnight , The flight delay , the actual 5 hour flight and then the realisation that Ubers and taxis are not easy to find at 1am in the morning still can’t wash away the buzz of an amazing 3 city trip to Americas East Coast . “ New York , New York , I think I love you ,” I drove the family crazy singing this ode to New York ,by LCD Sound System .

The craziness of the Big Dog ……….New York

We woke Thursday morning to a gloomy frigid day , by 9am the predicted rain had arrived . There would be no Opening day baseball to attend , luckily our tickets are still valid for the following day . Today we are not staying in our room . We will explore . Fortunately there’s still plenty of undercover opportunities. And let’s be honest we are from Melbourne , cold wet days are not something we are unfamiliar with . Emma and I are determined that we will soldier on . We move through various shopping malls , The Occulous ( a large architectural building ) and underground eateries . We visit The Twin Towers memorial , the constant rain adds an extra layer to the gravity of this site . 21 years prior is still a morning I’ll never forget . I had turned the tv on by instinct , something I normally wouldn’t do at 530 am before work . The incredible scenes on tv were surely a movie . It would be the only time I have ever woken Emma up out of bed to come and see the tv . It’s a surreal memory and even more so now that we are actually standing here looking at all the names on the stone plaque that surrounds the Twin Towers memorial fountain . The two large chasms where the towers once stood is fitting . It’s a heavy place .

After a day exploring the subterranean surrounds in our corner of NewYork we are greeted to a glorious Friday . It’s time to finally get out on the street . Luck would have it that an Australian cafe was located in our foyer ;The Black Fox . What a treat it was to get up each morning and head down the lift to have a coffee .

We walked a couple of kilometres through New York to our breakfast destination . Several blocks pass but there doesn’t seem to be an end to the NewYork skyline . This joint is truly a behemoth when it comes to cities . It’s hard to measure the size of this place but I’d start by imagining it in Melbournes space . Think Victoria parade all the way down St.Kilda rd to until least the war memorial in sky scrapers , and that’s just north to south . It’s a serious beast and a place that would take weeks to really see it all .

From breakfast we go back to the subway . This time I feel a little more comfortable. We are dressed in the darker shades that New Yorkers adorn. There’s no suitcases , dragging feet and lost looking faces . At least this time we try to pretend we know what we’re doing , that is until we descend in to the underground. Once again we seek advice from transit personnel who are still hardly enthusiastic to help . We get on our train . It’s packed , there’s a few Yankees caps and jackets . Maybe we’ve got it right . Things get better when a tall older guy sees my hoody with the Hermosa Baseball logo . “Are you guys from Hermosa Beach “, he asks . “ Yes “ , I reply . “ My daughter lives there , she lives on 28 th street “ . I look at him incredulously .”So do we ! “ The world can be so small sometimes . The Hermosa Beach logo does the trick , it will happen the next day as well . This guy gives us the complete run down on when and where to transfer to the next train and what trains we need to catch when we exit from Yankee Stadium .

We arrive at the Yankee Stadium station , piling out with the Yankee supporters . It’s hard not to get caught up in it . There’s an electricity in the air . Music throbs through the air . I thinks it’s Jay Z , but whatever it is it brings goosebumps to the back of the neck . There are bars and cafes in the underpass , with baseball lovers spilling at the seams . “ How good is this “ , Tex cries . That’s unusual to hear from Tex . Compliments are hard earned from him , especially any sport outside of surfing . We buy caps from hawkers , line up with the New Yorkers and soak it all in . We listen to the deep New York accents , a couple of Boston ones too . There’s big guys here , real big . Construction workers , blue collar , white collar , Italian , Irish and four Aussies squeezed in between. It’s tribal . We are in the Bronx baby and at at Yankee Stadium .

It’s different energy at Yankee Stadium than it is at Dodger Stadium . I am a Dodger man , you have to be when you live in LA but the pull to toward New York is immediate an undeniable once in Yankee Stadium . It’s a bit realer today , there’s less of the theatre goer , even on Opening Day ,which is a marquee day in American baseball . I couldn’t help myself , of course I had to buy the pinstripe beer . I even bought an opening day collectors cap , and I’m not one for souvenirs. Someone will get it when I’m back in Australia . The opening pitch came from living icon Billy Crystal and The US National Anthem was sung by Shoshana Beam ( a cabaret singer ) with gusto . With beer in one hand ,the cap on my chest I looked to the US flag with almost a tear to my eye . Wake up Howie , don’t get caught up in this American hype .Gee , it’s a great National Anthem , it gives the Aussie version the Bronx cheer . If only we could have a song of our own like the Yanks have . There’d be nothing better and no one sing it louder than a large Aussie crowd singing our own song , I want to be alive to see it happen , as it will one day . The day is not over , we’ve still got things to see but today is a magical experience for the Howard family . With thanks to Emma’s amazing organisational skills we are very lucky to be in the Bronx , at Yankee Stadium for Opening day between grand old rivals , Yankees and the Red Sox .

New York ….we have barely started .

We leave Boston via train travelling first class . True , you read that right . It wasn’t our first experience in first class as we also flew from DC to Boston in the first class section . It was nice but let’s not get carried away , it wasn’t quite as glamorous as I’d expected . The seating was spacious and the free alcohol (1 drink ) was nice but at least we can say we’ve flown 1st class, even if it was only a 1 hour flight . Still , we did get seated next to a well known TV presenter on morning TV . The train to Boston was cruisy . Alcohol was free as you’d expect but I unusually abstained . I had a hunch that being a little loose on arrival may not serve me well . I would be vindicated .

The 3 hour journey by train from Boston was interesting . We left on a bleak grey day as a cold Westerly front approached the East Coast . The landscape was just as I pictured it . It’s probably unfair to judge at this time of year with winter just behind us , but gee it was grey . All the trees are deciduous, so there was not a leaf to be seen . I could see this area would look beautiful in the summer and probably even more so in the autumn . Every house is timber , with back and front yards often unfenced . There were old Steele and timber mills , waterways and rivers with Steele cross work bridges , occasionally broken up by a town with an old brick post office . The closer we got to New York the the more built up things became . Concrete multi storey car parks and hospitals , industrial smoke stacks and suburbia closing up the ground . I was a little apprehensive. We were to exit our train and then transfer into the subway system to catch a train to Downtown Manhattan and then walk to our hotel .

Like lambs to the slaughter we descended into the subway ,with suitcases and backpacks we stood out like the proverbial dogs balls . It’s gritty down there , old beige tiles barely hanging onto walls , dark grey , made purely for foot traffic . There’s no pretending it’s nice down here . You could smell that( human excrement and urine ) before you even got to your exit location , and good luck finding that . Multiple signs directing you to uptown , downtown , with various numbers attached to each subway tunnel greeted us . It’s New York , we are ready for this ….aren’t we ? Emma thinks she knows the way but is hardly confident . We ask for advice from the information clerk that sits in her little office . She looks none too pleased to have to stop scrawling through her Instagram feed . It becomes a common trend in traversing the subways on our trip . The information and transit personnel don’t like to be asked questions or worse , interrupted from their phones . Emma walks to the ticket machine to purchase our fares and is all but accosted by a homeless man asking for $20 . He leans over the top of her , clearly in her personal space as she tries to work out the automated ticket machine . I’m well aware I need to intervene but there is another guy directly by my side also asking for cash . I stall for a second as I know I’m going to have to let go of the suitcases , and I’m just a bit paranoid that an outreached hand may decide to grab one . All the while this mini drama unfolds Tex is looking at me with scorn and decides to step in and warn the old guy off . I eventually step in and give him $2 . He looked at me in disbelief and swore profusely at how tight I was . If you just showed some manners I’d have considered flipping him the $10 bill I had . I walk away with guilt as the guy next to me had asked several times “Please sir can you spare me a dollar ? “ He got nothing . After a couple of deep breaths and a bit of a laugh ( welcome to New York ) we find our turnstiles to only be met by a wave of hardened New Yorkers pouring through head on at us . To our dismay the exit and entry is through the same turnstiles, creating a head on rush , as punters leave the carriage whilst others fight their way through to try and board before the train exits the platform . . After literally tripping over the turnstile with suitcases caught up in the bars we finally get to wait in the gloom for our train . Geeezus H Christ , please let’s get off at the right station .

We make it . It’s a cold wet night in New York . I didn’t see it any other way . Once again Emma’s ability to find great lodgings is a skill set she could seriously make money from as a side hustle ( now I’m sounding like a Yank ) . The Mint Hotel on Wall Street is a beautiful hotel with dark ,stylish rooms that are surprisingly spacious. It’s a brooding Uber cool digs . We venture just around the block to find a super cool food mart with a mini pizzeria , burger and sandwich joint , a dumpling stall , delicatessen ,alcohol and quality ready made meals . I love these type of joints . It’s exactly how I wanted it to be in New York . Tomorrow the forecast is 8 degrees Celsius and rain coming down sideways . It doesn’t matter , we’re ready for this