Chapter 11 - The Downhill Slide

On arrival to Long Beach, California we were met by Doug and Ashley Shoemaker (Kris met them in Arizona in 2003) who drove us along the Pacific Ocean coast past Newport and Laguna Beaches on our way to their home in San Diego. We were also able to visit the spectacular San Diego Temple.

Doug won tickets on a local radio station to the world famous San Diego Zoo which was fantastic, with more than 4000 animals including pandas, polar bears and gorillas. In the evening we all had dinner on the beach by the famous Hotel del Coronado.



The following day Doug and I drove up to Los Angeles and went to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Magic Mountain consists of extreme roller coasters that employ state-of-the-art technology. One tourist brochure described it as sadistic. There are no children, only “thrill seekers”. I was still dizzy the next day.

On Sunday we caught a train from San Diego to Los Angeles where we were able to stay in our first real hotel in the last 9 months next door to Disneyland in Anaheim. This was only possible thanks to Kris’ parents who were rewarded two free nights accommodation after a show of honesty when we all stayed there in July of 2004.

On our only full day in Los Angeles we headed to Hollywood and strolled along the walk of fame. We then took a tour up to the Hollywood sign and along Mulholland Drive to see the homes of stars like Jack Nicholson, Julia Roberts and Jennifer Lopez. It was the day of the Golden Globes so there were limousines in the area taking celebrities to the awards ceremony. We learnt that MC Hammer through too many rap parties in the 80’s went bankrupt, and the bank now rents his huge mansion to Tom Cruise. From Mulholland Drive we drove through Beverley Hills and Bel Air (which were significantly more classy areas than Hollywood) to see the homes of John Travolta and Nicholas Cage and the home where Will Smith starred in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Rodeo Drive is where the stars spend their money in Beverley Hills and we were advised that if we were planning to spend more than US$200,000 in the strip we needed to make a “shopping reservation”. Nothing in the stores had price tags, meaning we could not afford anything.

Following Rodeo Drive we passed the famous Roxbury Club and House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard and then headed to Venice Beach. Apparently if aliens landed on Venice Beach they would fit right in. It was a fascinating place and unfortunately we only had limited time. We had to get back to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the famous Chinese Theatre and then finish our day with dinner at the classy restaurant called Hooters.


We flew to the island of Oahu in Hawaii the next day where we would spend the next 9 days. We stayed with a friend on the Us Navy Base right next door to Pearl Harbor. Our first day was spent climbing Diamond Head, one of the best known volcanic craters in the world. The hike had a twist. We were asked by a friend of a friend to be tour guides (as they needed someone to fill in) and to each take a group of Japanese students up the top with us. Apparently it did not matter that we knew nothing about the volcano or how to get there. We had a lot of fun, and we got paid for doing something we had planned on doing for free.

The 25 foot waves on the North Shore helped us to make an easy decision to spend our day of body boarding closer to the famous Waikiki Beach. It was strange to be body boarding on a few feet of water barely covering a reef. Not falling off or being dunked was important.

Our visit to Pearl Harbor (the USS Arizona Memorial) was moving. On December 7th, 1941, 2,390 people lost their lives in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an event that launched the United States into World War II. While many US battleships were sunk, 1,177 sailors and marines lost their lives on the USS Arizona (the remains of approximately 800 are still on the ship). The ship remains sunk in reasonably shallow waters in Pearl Harbor. A memorial straddles the ship. After watching a video of the events, we thought we might have to sit in the middle of the ferry to separate the Americans from the Japanese on our way out to the memorial. Parts of the USS Arizona can be seen protruding out of the water and you can still see oil leaking out of the fuels tanks after more than 60 years!

Oahu’s landscape differs greatly throughout the island. Honolulu and Waikiki are like any other city, mountain ranges with great hiking, waterfalls and Dole (pineapple) plantations are in the centre, and at the other end of the island lies true Hawaii; beautiful beaches, big surf and a country feel. It was here that we attended the fantastic Polynesian Cultural Centre, Hawaii’s number one paid attraction. The centre contains several areas representing the different cultures of the south pacific (Tonga, Tahiti, Marquesas, Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa). The centre was established by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to preserve the cultural heritage of Polynesia and to give Polynesian students the opportunity to attend a university (the neighboring Brigham Young University). Students perform at the centre and their salaries go directly to paying for their tuition, food and accommodation. We cannot overemphasize how great our day was, topped off by a Luau (traditional Hawaiian cuisine) and night show.

On our final day in Hawaii we hit the surf on the famous north shore. A “big wave” surf competition was put on hold as the surf was too flat on Waimea Beach (the beach made famous by the Beach Boys song “Surfin’ USA”) so we caught a bus further along the coast to the famous break at Pipeline. The swell wasn’t big (“only” 10 feet) but the reef, rip and current made it dangerous for the inexperienced, so we just watched the surfers from the shore.

It was a strange feeling to be flying to Sydney, Australia. We stayed with our friend from Tasmania (Matty Williams) and visited Kings Cross in the evening which had its regular share of drug deals and prostitutes. While walking around the city in the evening it did not feel like we were back in our home country, it just felt like another city. That all changed the following morning when we were woken by the sound of Kookaburras and had Weet-Bix for breakfast. We visited Manly Beach, had lunch in Chinatown and wandered around Darling Harbor before flying home.

We had told our families an incorrect date that we were due home so we were excited to be able to surprise them on their doorsteps and in their workplaces.

So this is it. Kris and I had realized one of our dreams. It has been an amazing experience that has changes our lives. We hope you all enjoyed our travel journals and that maybe it inspired some of you to see the fantastic world that we live in.

Below are some interesting facts about our travels:

Time away from home: 271 days
Longest time spent in one country: 136 days (England)
Shortest time spent in one country: 3 hours (Lichtenstein)
Total airplane travel time: 96 hours
Total train travel time: 115 hours
Total bus and car travel time: 143 hours
Countries visited: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, India, England, Wales, Scotland, Holland, Egypt, Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, USA and Mexico (25).
Favourite/Most interesting Countries: Egypt and India
Hottest Day: 50 degrees Celsius (India)
Coldest Day: -4 degrees Celsius (Austria)

Chapter 10 - 21 days in Salt Lake City

After 8 months traveling, we were excited to arrive in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The centerpiece of Salt Lake City is beautiful historic Temple Square. A 35 acre block in the heart of the city that serves as a visitors centre and headquarters to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The state of Utah is synonymous with the church and its presence is very much felt.

Salt Lake City would have to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Snow-capped mountains run north to south on either side of the city, and when the sun is out and there is a blue sky, nothing has compared.

We stayed in Kaysville (20 minutes north of Salt Lake City) with Bernie and Sandy Rollins. Bernie was the missionary who baptized Cathy Reeve in Launceston, Tasmania around 40 years ago. The families have stayed in touch ever since.

We took a tour of Temple Square on our second day and made a surprise visit to a senior couple (the Zundel’s) that Kris served with who lived nearby. It was a great feeling to be able to walk around a city where the centre-piece is the beautiful Salt Lake Temple.

We were extremely lucky to get tickets (Kris knew the tricks) to the new Joseph Smith movie in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building the following night. The film is “sold-out” for weeks, and we saw why. It is fantastic and inspiring, we felt the spirit strongly and it strengthens your testimony of the prophet and the restoration.


Another senior couple that Kris served with (the Olsen’s) gave us tickets to Joseph Smith’s 200th birthday commemoration the following night at the Conference Center. While President Hinckley and Elder Ballard were in Sharon, Vermont, it was great to be in the same building and listen to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. The choir was fantastic. Following the commemoration we strolled around Temple Square to see the amazing 700,000+ lights for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, we walked around to the Olsen’s who had their grandchildren perform a nativity play. While Grandpa Olsen read the Christmas Story, the children came out dressed up to act out the scenes. There were two donkeys, two Joseph’s, two Mary’s and even two baby Jesus’ so that no-one was left out!

After spending Christmas Eve playing basketball against ex-high school players and golf in the sun, our highly anticipated white Christmas never eventuated. From what we’ve heard, it appears it was warmer in Salt Lake City on Christmas Day than it was in Tasmania.

Santa brought us some ice-hockey tickets to see Utah v Idaho (2 leagues below NHL). We knew ice-hockey was physical but we weren’t quite sure how physical. In the first 4 seconds two players from opposing teams dropped their sticks, threw off their gloves and literally started punching each other with their teammates surrounding them in a circle, just like you see in a school yard. The fight continues until one of the player’s falls over. The players then get sent to the penalty box covered in blood and bruises and the game continues. The game was fast and very entertaining.

Kris caught the Utah flu and was in bed for a few days, on one of those days I learnt how to snowboard with Travis and Melissa Haynes (Melissa is the daughter of Bernie and Sandy Rollins, whose home we stayed at in SLC) at Wolf Mountain. It was fantastic and great fun.

We attended a live session in the Salt Lake Temple which was fantastic. It’s so great to see such a big temple always so full of people.


The following night was a dream come true. We attended our first ever NBA basketball game to watch the Utah Jazz v the Philadelphia 76ers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Seeing Allen Iverson play was amazing, he is so quick and a great finisher. Iverson scored 37 points but Utah won 106-102.

Following Christmas we visited Welfare Square and did service packing orange flavoured drink mix powder. We then drove to the “This is the Place” monument to learn more about the faith and courage of the pioneers.

We spent two nights with the Olsen’s and we were able to spend time with their big family. On New Years Day evening we were entertained with some unbelievable stories from their nephew who works undercover for the Drug Enforcement Administration for the US Government. He has been based on the Northern Thailand border for the last 6 years blowing up heroin traffickers in the jungle.

On our way home from the New Years Day party we drove past the Jordan River Temple which looked great lit-up at night. The following day we visited the Bountiful Temple with the Olsen’s.

After watching the Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers (who were unfortunately without Kobe Bryant who was serving a two-game suspension) we hired a car and drove to the potato capital of the world, Idaho.


We stayed with Kris’ parents long-time friends the Clegg’s (Kent, Mignon and their 5 children) on their farm in the small country town of Grace. Kent served a mission in Tasmania some time ago when Neville Reeve was Ward Mission Leader. Grace is about 2 ½ hours north of Salt Lake City. It is such a beautiful place and the Clegg’s have the greatest backyard we’ve seen. They have their own canyon behind their house with a narrow snow covered trail winding up the canyon to large open basins covered in a foot of untouched powder snow. We snow-mobiled up there and towed sleds as the return downhill trail (about 2 miles) was like a bobsled track which was so much fun sledding out of.

Kent (the bird man from Idaho) has a really interesting history with birds which has taken him all over the world. His latest expedition (with the government) was assisting endangered whooping cranes migrate to New Mexico. His driveway doubles up as a runway and he used his ultra-light plane (which acted as the mum bird) to lead them down to New Mexico. His work is fascinating and draws media attention from around the globe. Time Magazine had an article on him in December 2005 and the January 2006 edition of the Readers Digest also contains an article on his work.

One night we drove to Lava Hot Springs. It was quite surreal to be swimming outdoors with snow all around us. On return to the farm we saw about 30 large elk come down for their nightly feed on Kent’s hay stack. Our trip to Idaho would not have been complete without visiting one of the huge potato cellars in the area and being educated on the science of potato farming.

We didn’t want to leave the Clegg’s and their farm but we had to get back to Salt Lake City.

We spent Saturday shopping in downtown Salt Lake and had lunch with President Booth (Kris’ mission President in the Phoenix, Arizona Mission).


The Olsen’s son, Brian, is Ward Clerk in President Hinckley’s ward which meets in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. He mentioned to us that if we were ever downtown on a Sunday to come to the ward and we may get to see the prophet. We decided to do it. Kris was able to catch up with her mission friends (President and Sister Crouch, Asiata, Clements, Perry, Samaroo and Skea) at the Tabernacle Choir broadcast prior to sacrament meeting.

When we arrived at the chapel, Brian Olsen offered me the opportunity to pass the sacrament as there was a small percent chance that a member of the First Presidency may be there. I had never passed the sacrament before so it was going to be a big stage to learn on. Sure enough President Faust walks in and sits on the stand, shortly followed by President Hinckley. It was a great experience, although I nearly dropped the water on the prophet as I was shaking a little from nerves. It was also testimony meeting and Kris had the opportunity to share her testimony which drew a smile from the prophet. Kris mentioned in her testimony that she had a nephew serving a mission in Indonesia and following the meeting a senior couple who had just returned from the Indonesia Jakarta Mission came up to us and happened to know Elder Chad Honey!

We met a couple from Salt Lake in the Preston, England temple back in September and we had dinner with them and their family on Sunday afternoon and then drove to Hobble Creek Canyon to stay with Richard and Valerie White. Richard served a mission in Tasmania some time ago.

On our way back to Salt Lake the following day we visited the Provo Temple and took a tour of the 29,000 strong Brigham Young University campus. We then drove through glitzy Park City, home of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and we also visited Cabela’s, a huge hunting store which was amazing to see inside, particularly the hundreds of stuffed animals from porcupines to grizzly bears. In the evening we had dinner with Dana (Redding) and her husband Steve in Sandy. Kris was companions with Dana on Temple Square.

Our time in Salt Lake had come to an end, and we flew to Long Beach, California (en route to San Diego) on Jet Blue (USA’s budget airline owned by an LDS member). Our last glimpse of Salt Lake City in the air was of the Temple lit up as the sun rose over the snowy mountains.