Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral

Posted on March 11, 2014 by borysSNORC

To the moon Borys!

Today we went for a much anticipated visit to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. I’ve never been one for staring at the heaves and wishing I could go there, but I certainly understand there are many who do wish fervently to go to space… and this place is 100% designed for those mere mortals among us who are fascinated by space, but are unlikely to ever venture there. And in awesome news for us, the place seemed to be operating at about 5-10% capacity, so no queues, no waiting, no crowds, straight into all exhibits and no people getting in your way all day. Best thing ever.

We started off having a wander through the Rocket Garden which houses the various different types of rockets that NASA has used over the decades to send men to space. A representative of each of the various programs appears here, as well as the actual gangway that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins walked over, to board the Apollo 11 mission that eventually made Neil Armstrong on of the most famous men in the world – the first human to walk on the moon.

After that we went for the shuttle tour that takes visitors over the the Apollo and Saturn V visitor centre which houses some amazing pieces of history. On the way out to the centre, we passed through the Cape Canaveral Wildlife Reserve which has over 300 species of birds, 200 odd species of reptiles, many fish species and 30-40 odd mammals too. I spied some gators sunning themselves in the wetlands on the way out there, as well as a racoon who looked weirdly out of place and plenty of birds, including bald eagles which are quite low in population numbers down here (compared to Alaska anyway). It sounds like they have quite a bit of trouble keeping the gators out of the various NASA buildings and all fences are built to angle out, because an adult gator can climb a 6′ chain link fence! On the way, we passed the vehicle assemble building, which is exactly as it sounds – an enormous open building where the rockets, capsules, transport vehicles, shuttles etc are built. It was the largest of it’s type for decades, but has now been eclipsed in size. The flag on the side of the building measures 112′ x 220′ and each star is 6′ across if you are trying to make out the scale of the place…

Next stop was a gigantic hangar dedicated to the Apollo moon missions. There was an enormous Saturn V rocket hanging from the roof on display which was a back up rocket but was obviously never used as it was no longer required once the program was cancelled. The thing was enormous, I can’t describe how large it was. I had a lot of trouble fitting sections of it into my photos even with a wide angle lens.

Also in the Apollo and Saturn V visitor centre was a theatre set up to show visitors exactly what it was like in the Huston Command Centre at the time Neil Armstrong was guiding the LM (Lunar Module) onto the moon in what is one of the most daring and carefully executed landings in history – the LM was coming in too fast and they overshot the preferred landing zone by some 3 miles, leaving the crew to try and land on less than desirable terrain. With barely 12 seconds worth of fuel remaining to manoeuvre with, Armstrong landed the LM safely in a suitable position, all the while aware they were losing communications with command and running on the sniff of an oily rag – very impressive.

After that we went to see the retired Atlantis Shuttle which is housed in a large complex/ museum which shares heaps of information about the shuttle program, from its inception through its various missions and unthinkable tragedies. The Atlantis is enormous also, and incredible to behold.

Looking up close at the special tiles that make up the outer layer of the shuttle, you can see the wear and slight burn marks of the exits and re-entries this vehicle made going through the earths atmosphere… this thing actually went to space, and you can see the signs of it having been used as a working space craft.

It was through this section of the complex that I started to feel that things were taking on a somewhat Disneyesque feel… there was a loud soundtrack playing throughout that sounded like it was written by the same composers who did the Star Wars soundtrack and there was also a ‘Shuttle Simulation Experience’ ride of sorts, where we were herded into queues and placed into a ‘shuttle’ for a simulated launch. The experience is narrated by a genuine astronaut (whose name I have forgotten) in a deliberately comedic style and we were shaken and stirred and pushed back into our seats surrounded by hella loud noises to mimic an actual shuttle take off experience. It was fun, but definitely heading to Disney territory. 🙂

Next we got to see a lecture given by Wendy Lawrence, veteran astronaut of four space shuttle missions. She spoke of her early career as a naval aviator and how it led her to the space program. She discussed her extensive training for space in Russia and her eventual trips to space, as well as sharing insights on her fellow astronauts, their life in space, and the incredible journeys they’ve undertaken. At this point I have to say, I was disgusted at the behaviour of our fellow lecture going patrons. They’ve come into a lecture hall to listen to a presentation by a world famous astronaut and obviously have no idea what common lecture etiquette is. The people behind us insisted on talking to one another throughout the entire presentation, and many other patrons were coming and leaving with no attempt to be quiet or non-disruptive. Manners cost nothing, people. Annoying rude people should stay the fuck out of places like this. Grrr… anyway, from what I could hear in among being mortified at the disrespectful and rude behaviour of the audience, she has certainly had an interesting journey to become an astronaut and travelling to space.

We went directly from the lecture to an IMAX presentation on the Hubble Telescope – the trials and tribulations that they went through to get it into orbit, the problems they had with the lens and the poor quality imagery, and the numerous space walks to get, and keep it functional. They showed us in IMAX 3D some of the amazing imagery that is now being produced by the Hubble and the new view it is giving on the universe and beyond.

All up, I had an amazing day at the Kennedy Space Centre, and I really was’t expecting to, as I am not a particular fan of ‘all things space’. I would love to bring The Small Child here one day – I know he would just love it!

Spring Break!

Posted on March 10, 2014 by borysSNORC

Here we are in Cocoa Beach in the middle of what American’s affetionately refer to as, Spring Break. Yup, didn’t realize that when I was booking a hotel down by the beach for us and the in-laws to catch up at, for a couple of days… mind you Mr K and his Dad are totally not complaining about all the scantily clad girls in bikinis that are walking around the streets. Feels much like to Gold Coast with one noticeable difference – it’s Spring, but the weather is barely 17-22C degrees. So you need a jumper on the beach, and a windcheater in the breeze… and the water temperatures is somewhere between ‘fucking hell it’s cold’ and ‘there’s no fucking way I am getting in that!’ But the kids are all out sunbaking next to naked, and actually SWIMMING in the goddamn Atlantic!

I have no idea what is wrong with these people, other than to surmise that they are lacking that little something in your brain that tells you ‘this shit just ain’t a good idea’. So yeah, not exactly beach weather for Queenslanders. Went for a lovely walk along the boardwalk though and couldn’t believe the numbers of people with their rented chairs and rented shades hanging out down at the beach in this cold… crazy buggers.

After that we were looking for somewhere to go hang out for some lunch and I was pied pipered into heading towards a bar and grill with a big deck, playing some funky Bob Marley tunes. We found ourselves a great table over looking the beach (and coincidentally the outdoor showers where bathers were washing off the salt water), and ordered up some cold ones. Lunch swiftly followed and consisted of oysters, buffalo wings, salad and gator tail! Yup gator for lunch at the funky little reggae bar on Cocoa Beach. Life is good. We spent a few hours there shooting in the breeze (I had dug out a wrap by this point though – still too cold for me), before heading back to the hotel for a few hours.

We went out again in the afternoon, ostensibly for a booze run, but ended up at the local Walmart looking for snacks and booze, and went for a drive down the southern end of the peninsula to Melbourne Beach! Yep, come all the way to Florida only to find a place called Melbourne Beach, who’d’ve thunk. It was less populated than Cocoa Beach, and very pretty, but still too cold for this little black duck.

Several beers later and we headed to a place called the Shark Pit Grill for dinner, where we tried some of the local highly recommended burgers and pizzas and stuff – really good thin base pizza with the first cheese I have seen since we got here that wasn’t bright orange! I have a sneaking suspicion that it was actually mozzarella, but don’t tell anyone, we can’t disabuse people of the notion that the average American’s propensity for dumping horrid melted orange cheese on nearly everything, is universal!

Oh, and I HAD to share the cover of this tabloid rag I picked up at Walmart today while waiting at the checkout… OBAMA has declared WAR on Hollywood! W00t! Like he doesn’t have enough to worry about, what with Sarah Palin back in the media at the moment, sprouting her erudite thoughts on Russia: ‘The only thing that is going to stop a bad guy with a nuclear weapon is a good guy with a nuclear weapon!!’

La Nouba – Cirque du Soleil at Downtown Disney

Posted on March 9, 2014 by borysSNORC

Absolute clusterfuck trying to get to La Nouba tonight. Between a time change in Central Florida that we weren’t expecting, and a misreading of the ticket times (I thought it was a civilised 7:30pm time like every other show, but it was at 6pm!), and the damn GPS taking us to the wrong end of Buena Vista Drive, we literally rocked up to collect our tickets at 5:57pm and I was panicking that we were going to get locked out! Well, we made it in by the skin of our teeth and discovered that our tickets were front row, which is weird because I don’t want to be pulled up onto the stage during the show and I usually book a few rows back, but oh well, front and centre it was – I must have booked ‘best available’ rather than chosen my own seats.

The building itself is quite beautiful, and as expected the place sets an entirely different atmosphere to what we experienced a few nights earlier at the Ford Arena when we saw Varekai. Gorgeous building, liveried staff, fancy decor in the lobby and a fantastical space created for the performance which leads to an air of excitement in the air for patrons so completely different to that of wandering into the Arena in sombre lines.

Most of the acts at La Nouba are obviously designed to cater for their younger patrons. Given the theatre is in Downtown Disney, there is a strong family atmosphere and far more children present than you normally see at a Cirque du Soleil show. As such, there were many apparatus incorporated into the show that would be very accessible to the younger audience. They had an act comprising of some very fancy people jumping rope in a wonderful display of coordination and skill, there was another with some guys doing tricks on bicycles, and another that was tightrope walking and a very accomplished juggler – all acts that children can appreciate how difficult they are to execute as they may have tried similar challenges themselves. Ditto for the guys on the trampoline, kids all familiar with trampolines would know how hard it is to do what these acrobats can do having played on trampolines themselves.

In addition to these seemingly commonplace items of skipping ropes, pushbikes and balance and juggling acts were a wonderful trapeze act and an amazing group of four girls using Diablos. Now if you’ve ever used a Diablo, you know they can be a little tricky to get hang of using them, they can be fun, but they get knotted up and it’s hard to get the rotation going well, but these girls were experts, they danced and ran about and used their Diablos expertly, tossing and throwing them to themselves and each other in an amazing display of coordination, gymnastics, dance and most of all dedication to practice! They were great, and definitely my favourite act of this show.

After La Nouba, we went for a stroll around Downtown Disney and took in the sights and did a little shopping. DisneyWorld is HUGE… and I am so glad we are not going to be visiting DisneyWorld this trip – I think I’m a bit Disney’d out after last years three days in Disneyland and California Park with The Small Child. 🙂

Big Day O’ Southern Fun

Posted on March 9, 2014 by borysSNORC

We put New Orleans, and the fabulous Ron and Steve, in the rear view mirror this morning and head out for our Big Day O’Southern Fun. With several planned stops in our day, we headed straight out to Slidell for the Honey Island Swamp Tour – a boat trip down the West Pearle River and surrounding swamp lands. First up, full disclosure – there were no gators seen on our tour. Awww…. it’s just not a Southern Day out without gators! Figure we will make up for it with Gator Ona Stick for lunch or something! 😉

Honey Creek is wildlife reserve managed by the Louisiana State government. We were both very impressed to hear that that licensing fees that hunters (there are feral pigs, alligators, as well as ducks and other game birds) and fishermen pay (they’re catching blue crab, crawfish, catfish and a pile of other fresh water foods), are used to conserve the existing territory and to purchase and extend the wildlife reserve further into the future.

We set off in a covered boat with about fifteen other becamera’d tourists, all rugged up for the 14C and cloudy, that the weather service was forecasting… and I tell you what, once that boat started moving out on the water, I was sooo glad I had gone back to the car to grab and extra coat. Chilly is not quite the word for it. We started out sedately enough, pottering through the bayou until we got to the river proper, and our guide put the hammer down. Sitting in the nose of the boat meant we were getting the best unspoiled views of the reflections in the swap, but it also meant we go the full wind chill factor.

One of the first things we saw on the river was some ‘houseboats’, and I use the term with no exactitude whatsoever! Because these are quaint little two storey houseboats with a kitchenette downstairs and a party deck upstairs like you might see pottering around the Gold Coast Broadwater, these look like something my grandfather knocked together in his back yard in Toowoomba and then decided he should float them on some kegs or something. No, scratch that, my Poppa was a pretty handy carpenter. These little houseboats belong to some industrious local who will come out and use them for fishing and hunting and well, some people apparently live in them. They have dodgy, dodgy looking electricity hooked up to their little houseboats and they look like they’re all in need of some TLC. What they really remind me of is the Southern equivalent of some Minnesota ice fishing hut… a floating man cave.

As we move further down the river we saw many more permanent (shit, I am reluctant to call them that) structures that people have built along the river’s edge that the locals refer to as ‘camps’. It sounds like anyone with a boat can access the waters edge and build themselves a camp. In the summer time, the camps are heavily used for recreational activities from hunting and fishing, canoeing, swimming and even waterskiing. There are well kept, large camps with decks and power and satellite dishes, and others look like they belong on a rubbish tip or a warzone. To be honest, they don’t look all that appealing to me as holiday destinations, though I imagine the river is far more appealing and holds many more charms when the weather is warmer.

As mentioned earlier, we missed out on the gators this tour, it’s just too cold for them to be out sunning themselves on logs or anything, but we did see two gorgeous little river otters! Very unexpected. They’re such inquisitive little guys, one of them came quite close to our boat and swam along side for a while. Mind you, they move so fast it was hard to catch a photo, but it was very cool to see them in the wild. Awesome sauce. We also saw some tortoises, grey squirrels, some common egrets, a great blue heron, some cormorants and a peacock (don’t ask).

All up the tour was really interesting and takes you through some very unusual terrain that is quite unaccessible except by boat. I’d recommend to anyone to go along for a couple of hours through the swamp. I took many of photographs that probably give the area a moody and bleak feel, given the weather was less than optimal.

After our Louisiana swamp tour, we thought we’d continue out Big Southern adventure and try out The Big Easy Diner in Slidell for lunch/dinner (we have inadvertently slipped into a habit of skipping breakfast, and having lunch/dinner somewhere between 2pm-4pm… I know, bad habits but it’s only for a while). The Big Easy Diner looked like something off a movie set – red leather booths, black and white checked tiles everywhere, neon signs and a huge menu full of typical Southern fare. I decide to try the catfish and shrimp combo (with mash and salad) and Mr K opted for a bowl of chilli and some onion rings, after assurances from our waitress that ‘they is so good, I takes the leftover chilli ho’wum alls the time’. We probably need to keep reminding ourselves about the complete lack of portion control here, because this is what we got for dinner –

FUCK. All deep fried and huge. Onion rings almost the size of your head, a small side salad that did nothing to offset the heart attack in the rest of the meal. I ate my salad and most of the mash, but only managed about half the catfish and shrimp… there’s only so much deep fried goodness you can take. By all accounts, the chilli was as good as our waitress claimed.

After lunch, we hit the road!! After being in Beaumont yesterday, we were destined to hit five states in twenty four hours – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Try doing that in Australia without a jet! The country side was really interesting, so much industry down here. We also kept looking up the the local demographics as we went through various towns. Mississippi is quite depressing – has the highest rates of poverty, highest infant mortality rates, lowest rate of health insurance and highest rates of obesity. 🙁 Mississippi needs a lot of help.

We stopped in Biloxi, Mobile and a couple of other places on our way to Pensacola… where we had tickets to check out a uniquely American attraction – MONSTER TRUCK JAM! Woo-hoo! We had no idea what to expect, but were there largely to check out the locals, see how ‘into’ monster trucks they are and figure out what we think of the whole monster truck thing. First thing we noticed when we arrived was that there were plenty of locals getting around with earmuffs on. Bugger, that meant we had to find some earplugs and quick. Luckily Mr K found some at the merchandise stand and when we got into the stadium, we found out why. Not only were there monster trucks, but there were modified quad bikes running races around the arena, and they were so loud!

There were heaps of people at monster trucks, many of them quite excited and appeared to know quite a lot about the monster truck circuit, and the current year’s leaderboard. And there were a few long suffering wives and even a few long suffering children there too, watching on while a very enthused Dad cheered.

We made our way to our seats and I just abhor the way my shoes were sticking to the floor… I didn’t want to think about what was causing the gross sticky underfoot thing, but it didn’t take long to figure it out. Every other person coming into the place was carrying beers, cardboard trays of something with liquid cheese all over it that was pretending to be ‘nachos’ and/or hotdogs… you can literally buy a cup of that cheesy shit to dip your cheese stuffed pretzel into. All of it made our lunch look positively gourmet healthy. :/

The monster truck people are a bit like circus people… who are in turn a bit like the Pigeon Fanciers Club of Prague or the Redlands Orchid Appreciation Sociaty. Seems it doesn’t matter what you’re into, there are always people who absolutely live and breathe it. The Monster Truck circuit is no exception. There were obviously people here who were so enamoured with Monster Trucks that tonight was definitely a highlight for them. Mr K and I, on the other hand, as he so succinctly pointed out were a bit like social anthropologists plonked down unceremoniously amongst a new species and desperately hoping no one would notice we didn’t belong there. I’d say it was fun, but seriously? I think it was mostly just funny… and yes I know, that assessment is a long term side effect of my established snobbery when it comes to cultural expressions.