Seattle is everything it is billed to be, and some. Actually, it reminded me of Wellington, which may be why I fell in love with it. It’s snuggled up to the water’s edge, and everywhere is easy to get to. Funky buildings, amazing market, sculptures everywhere, and friendly, helpful people.
Micki and Tom met us at the airport, and I don’t think we stopped talking for the rest of the week. They took us on a tour of the city, and we saw those famous houseboats from Sleepless in Seattle. We ate the most delicious fish at Ivar’s Restaurant before heading to Mukilteo to be ferried across to Whidbey Island, our home for the next few days. Each of those days was filled to the brim from pre-dawn to late evening.
We called in at a local llama farm, and bought a lovely hat made from llama wool. Next stop, Hank Nelson took precious time out from his life’s work to give us a guided tour of his impressive Cloudstone Sculpture Park. We visited loads of scenic spots and picturesque villages like Langley where we sipped hot chocolate, wandered along beaches and admired the distant views of the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mt Baker and Mt Rainier. We popped over to the house next door and were amazed by the artwork, the cool wooden doormat from Kakadu and the stunning mirrors.
We were bewitched by gorgeous sunsets and the utter peace and darkness of the nights, and entranced by hummingbirds, owls and many other birds in the garden and around the island.We dipped our hands in the ice-cold waters of Puget Sound and walked amongst 300 year old cedars where we scored a tin of dope!
We checked out South Whidbey State Park, ate a yummy picnic lunch at Fort Casey, bird-spotted at Ebey’s reserve, dined out, dined in, feasted on mussels, crab, halibut, home-caught and smoked salmon, Thanksgiving turkey and pumpkin pie. We drove up to quaint Cooperville, toured the fantastic Boeing Plant, lingered at the Hiram H. Chittenden Locks, played table tennis, admired Deception Pass, saw rare and beautiful trumpeter swans and snow geese. We enjoyed being with Micki and Tom and meeting their friends Nancy and Eric.
Somehow we squeezed in time for a day in Seattle, catching the ferry, train and an underground bus. The train conductor asked a guy called Gerry to show us where to catch the bus – that’s the way things work in this friendly place. We had coffee and croissants at Le Panier, had fun in the Pike Street market where a fish-monger scared Rob by making a monkfish move; we caught the monorail to the Seattle Centre where we indulged in the music experience – a tribute to Jimi Hendrix and the history of guitars. Back in the city we looked at the unusual library, had a personally guided tour of the Opera/Symphony Building, checked out bubble-gum covered Market Theatre in Post Lane, ate borch and piroshky at a famous Russian café called Piroshky Piroshky, whizzed through SAM the Seattle Art Museum and finally did the reverse journey back to Whidbey Island in time for dinner.
All too soon it was time to leave. Tom and Micki drove us on a fantastic scenic route to Vancouver, where it was wet and cold and all we saw was a load of traffic and the airport. A sad farewell to our friends, and then a 90 minute wait on the tarmac before a 14 hour bumpy-all-the-way flight home to little old New Zealand.
What a wonderful, diverse nine weeks. So many highlights, no real low points and a 1000 photos to reawaken memories in the years to come. Thanks to all those people who made our journey so enjoyable.
