MAR 20

Greetings from sunny Florida. It was strange I left Fiji at 23.00hrs on the 10th March and arrived at LA 11.15 on the same day where the immigration guy asked where I was staying that night, and when I said don't know he said well you ain't coming in, panic, tantrums, foot stamping, tears, and that was just him, but being a cool dude these days smoothed talked my way in, picked up a car and headed towards San Francisco to stay with a 2nd cousin drove up the coastal highway stopping for one night then stayed at his in a place called Mountain View about 50mls outside SF very nice place lots of eateries, coffee shops, map shops etc cus looked after me very well, on Sunday went into SF walked the full length of the waterfront had lunch at pier 39 that’s fishermans wharf then caught a cab over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito from where we caught a ferry back going right past Alcatraz, on my last day Tuesday I went into SF on my own and walked my legs off, taking a tram but also walking up some of the hills, got back to cousins with plenty of time so packed and went on my way, dropped the car off caught a local train right into SF airport to find I was 24hrs late my plane was 00.40 on the 15th and I turned up to catch the 00.40 on the 16th (yes I know you lot are all bloody smart and I'm the dope) the people were great and sorted out a new flight but it didn't go until 08.30 the next day and it was going via Newark NJ so found a hotel and then spent 9hrs in the air the next day arriving at Ft Lauderdale 9.30pm when I should of been there at 11.10am to make matters worse knowing I would be late I rang the hotel I had booked to tell them but when I arrived approx 10.30pm they had given my room away, at this point peter lost it, but the poor girl behind the desk was good, she threw someone out changed the bedding and gave it a clean while I waited, so with honour restored I stayed 2 nights, Ft L is a nice place, walked past one cafe with 3 Ferraris out side, needless to say I didn't go in for a coffee, picked up a car and started driving up the coast, now one of the things I've found out is that last Sept they had 3 Hurricanes all in the space of a couple of weeks which caused a lot of damage, the knock on effect has been shortage of beds, peak season, lots of workmen fixing the damage, which means difficult to find a room and when you do expensive, but it's peak season because of the weather so I can't complain, the only thing is when you go into a diner it's like joining a derby & joan club with all the wrinklies from up north escaping the cold weather. Going on a boat trip around the islands this afternoon and tomorrow am doing Kennedy Space Centre I've been told I must do Universal Studios for all the dare devil rides!!!!!!! I'll think about that spending 3 weeks in Florida then moving up the coast through Georgia, both Carolinas and north, will be in touch. From a Big Striding Stetson.

APR 2

It's been a while I know, but finding an Internet Cafe is a lot harder here than in other countries, but the saga continues as I said in the last tome went to Kennedy Space Centre, was impressed lots of things to see and do, in fact too much for one day so after booking out the next day called in for another session before moving to a place called St Augustine the oldest town in America (I bet you didn't know that) this coincided with Easter which after Christmas is the biggest holiday period here so again prices went up but bit the bullet and stayed 7 days the town itself is very picturesque with some unusual buildings all painted pink very unusual, explored the area which included Jacksonville in the north, held the Super Bowl there only 6 weeks earlier and a very good River Walk I also jumped on a water taxi and cruised the river, also went to Universal Studios the blurb said suitable for older children and adults, having gone on a rollercoaster ride from The Return of the Mummy and watched The Terminator in 3D I accept that I'm just a child at heart, I would have gone on more but for the queues between 45 & 90mins having spent several hours there got back exhausted but exhilarated, next day moved on to Tampa took my time and spent the whole day getting there, so next day off to St Petersburg for one of the highlights of my trip so far spending several hours in the Salvidor Dali (my hero) Museum one of the best in the world I came away feeling totally serene (ok ok not everyone’s idea but this is me) had a good drive around St Pete's as they call it here, when you see the property, not only does every house have a garage but a landing as well, it seems 2 car 2 boat houses are the norm I put this place on a par with Palm Beach, maybe I should look for swaps?. After my cerebral experience the next day was up for some more fun so went to a place called Busch Gardens a theme park par excellence with some of the most scary rides I have ever seen (no I didn't go on any queues too big!!!) the one thing I will say about the Yanks, they know how to organise events even if the "have a nice day" thingy becomes wearing after a while, so my Tampa area experience was excellent, but back on the road and decided to spend the last week in Florida based in Miami, things to see and do include the Everglades, wrestling with Gators while riding an Airboat, cruising down the Keys looking for Ernest Hemingway, and maybe auditioning for a part in CSI Miami (you never know), anyway as this is my first day I have come downtown to check things out and send this, nearly forgot as Miami is expensive found a cheap place out by the airport but a bit grotty well ok a lot grotty but cheap, chair under door knob when asleep etc so watch this space. Leaving Florida on Friday, have hired a car to drive upto Charleston South Carolina to base myself there for 2 weeks and explore. Ciao from a rejuvenated Stetson (Salvidor Dali for Pope?)

APR 12

Howdy Y'all, am sending this from Charleston, South Carolina but before I go on something I forgot to tell you, this will only be of interest to golfers, when I was staying at St Augustine it coincided with The Players Championship held at Sawgrass and as I was only 15mls away thought, as the weather forecast for the Thursday was good I would go that’s when the problems started, first had to drive 15mls the other side to get a parking place, but was bussed in, on the way in the guy said no cell phones or cameras so went to the place to dump them and asked where to go to get my ticket, the look that followed was akin to what planet have you come from, he actually said "all the tickets where sold 9 months ago" a combination of blubbering "I've come 12,000 Miles for this (was wearing an Oz T shirt) and tears (becoming an expert) obviously worked for out of his pocket he pulled a complimentary ticket and said "Have a Nice Day" so not only did I get in but it cost me nothing as well. Cool or what! so spent a great day watching all the stars, would of had my photo taken with Tiger’s minder and Vee Jay only no camera but can now say been there done that. Back to the journey having decided to spend my last week in Florida based in Miami, did downtown the last time I emailed you so the next day went to Miami Beach, which is a separate town, so all those sites you see from Miami Vice and CSI I cruised up and down, from there went on to Coconut Grove another groovy place, being a Sunday everybody was out at pavement cafes posing and trying to look cool (Amateurs), next day off to Key West I didn't realise it was 155mls away so a long day in store, Key West is defiantly a place on its own it would be easier to talk all the normal people, but a very interesting place took a trolley ride and walked all over, got back 9.00pm to be up the next day at 6.00am to be picked up for an Eco Tour of the Everglades this being an up market type tour we went off track looking at birds, plants, flowers and gators, from there we went on a boat right around that part of The Gulf, back on the road to see more Gators, not as big as Crocs and not a vicious (so I was told) and ended up on an Air Boat, I was in the front row and bloody hell didn't he go fast you are hurtling towards reeds a metre high and you just plough over them with me ducking, another great day, next day back on the Keys this time found out that they have the original boat Africa Queen from the film of the same name, had my photo taken you won't see it look like a Pratt, for my last day decided to go to Ft Lauderdale this time took a boat trip around Billionaires Row and I mean Bill not Mill I could spend the next hour describing how the other half live but use your imagination, but it's given me a few thoughts for my house in Cyprus. The next day swapped the car and started off on my way north spent the 1 night back in St Augustine and then moved on to Savannah Georgia arrived about lunch time dropped my bag off and went into town, down by the river is just like a scene from Gone With The Wind, down on the river the road is called River St (well it would ) the street is full of warehouses that have all been done up, shops, cafes, restaurants etc cobbled street, street entertainers, hustlers, beggars, and me the place is brilliant it smells old money unlike Florida where anything over 2hrs is considered old money, from there have arrived here, yesterday went on a river cruise, again the houses as you see them from the river look like from a film set, today just been to a Plantation Mansion over 250yrs old very interesting, and tomorrow am off to The Blue Ridge Mountains going to spend a few days exploring, and also move into North Carolina, so as they say watch this space.

APR 22

Greetings from Rhett country (again) but to continue, left Charleston the next day and drove up to Spartenburg at the top of SC the weather was poor and the place didn't look too interesting so only stayed one night, then moved further north to Ashville in NC quite a nice place it's also a centre for tourism, the next day decided to go to Biltmore this is the family home of the Vanderbilts it's the largest private home in the country 250 rooms the dining room had a ceiling 70ft high I spent over half a day just walking round with mouth open, then there were the grounds we are talking thousands of acres which were all landscaped 100yrs ago just stunning. The next day went to a place called Chimney Rock Park famous for the rock formations used in film sets, with lots of walks so 5hrs later and 3ins shorter staggered back to the car, so next day felt like doing something a bit less energetic so drove into Tennessee over the Appalachian Mts to visit Tuckaleechee Caves, and on the way back went via minor roads seeing the trees in spring bloom, the dogwoods, wild flowers and in places cultivated flowers was wonderful, on the way back I drove past a place called Dollywood? it's a theme park the only reason I mention it is because it's owned by Dolly Parton who comes from T'see and in particular the Smokies which is where the theme park is just trying to keep you abreast of the situation. The next day decided to go back into SC so arrived at a place called Greenville very pretty, A point here one of the reasons I wanted to do this (USA) was to checkout the smaller places as against the big cities I wanted to get a feel for what I would call the real Americans and it's turning out better than I expected, anyway the next day went into town where a river runs right through the middle and a unique bridge was opened only 18months ago it's unique because it's curved by quite a bit they say the only one of it's kind and the banks on both sides have been turned into walkways with statues, plants, etc very beautiful, in the afternoon drove 15mls to a BMW plant for a trip round the Museum and then the plant, I've never been round a car plant before interesting, still feeling up for it the next day drove to Atlanta for a trip round CNN headquarters, now that was brilliant (I was asked to appear but declined on grounds of modesty), that night I said blow it and went into town for a meal (posh meal) the reason being Greenville has the prettiest main st I have seen with pavement cafes the weather was perfect so sat outside soaking in the feel of the place (and spending lots of dosh) having done all that it was back to the coast so as I had only spent 1 night in Savannah decided to revisit, but on the way called into Augusta another interesting place (the bloody countries full of them) had a look at the golf course heard some comments about white trailer trash but chose to let pass and arrived here yesterday trying to get under the skin of the place, back to Charleston on Sunday before moving onward and upward next stop Virginia. Frankly my Dear

MAY 3

Greetings from Virginia, stayed 2 nights in Savannah started to talk like them, well just enough for them to stop saying pardon every time I said something, moved back up to Charleston SC on the Sunday swapped the car and continued on my way north passing through places like Georgetown very nice and Myrtle Beach, wall to wall Blackpool and ended up in Wilmington NC, again all these places have something of interest if you look around, but only stayed 1 night before moving to Richmond Va, the next day went on my travels in the city which included Edgar Allen Poe's house, the things I now know about him, but this is a family report, after that I went to another historic house this one called Maymont, similar to the Vanderbilts only a lot smaller, being on a roll the next day went to another house the difference with this one is that it's 500yrs old, the guy came over to England in 1926 and bought the house had it broken down and shipped it over and rebuilt in Richmond interestingly it came from a place called Prestbury no more than 30mins drive from where I live, and although they hadn't rebuilt it as it had been it was pretty close, having done Richmond decided to go west to a place called Roanoke in the west of Virginia but not west Virginia if you know what I mean, now Roanoke is a charming place with a market right in the centre of town that dates back over 200yrs, but the downtown area in general is very pretty, found the Library (from where I'm doing this) and was told about an annual parade to take place the next day in a suburb called Vinton, so next day standing next to the local constabulary I watched what I would call a classic American Parade, marching school bands, drum majorettes, some girls as young as 5 twirling their sticks, and then a fleet of open top sports cars each with 1 person in (excluding driver) from the Mayor through the whole council each waving like the Queen, the thing went on for 1.5hrs an absolute classic, so feeling refreshed the next day decided to go further afield and drove upto the Shenandoah Valley I went on the tourist route called The Skyline the route is 105mls long and as i went up I had the Blue Ridge Mts on my right and on my left the valley and in the distance the Appalachian Mts the views where spectacular, having reached the end I came back through the valley with the scenery just as good looking up, I then drove home along smaller roads through all the hamlets and villagers, they have some really pretty places around here, the next day went the other way into West Virginia to the capitol Charleston (not the one in SC) it has some amazing buildings, I got there by main highway over the Appalachian's through 2 amazing tunnels, but went south into Kentucky going home the long way, the whole area still in the foothills is where the coal industry is, and again driving on smaller roads going through the villages, you see the mines with conveyors coming out and off the mountain sides at crazy angles, at this point I stopped for a coffee just sat down when I noticed a Banjo on the wall and a guy in the corner playing a Guitar (think about it, I did) so moving on quickly came back over the App's through more tunnels, and arrived back having done about 400mls, one small point, I called into Walmart the other day, now not being an expert on prices this is just my view but are they cheap or are they cheep, I could buy Oz wine at 30% cheaper than I could in Oz? anyway on Friday moving onwards to do the top bit as the journey slowly comes to the end. But Not Yet.

MAY 14

Just about getting the hang of this travelling thingy, returned to Richmond a couple of days before moving on so decided to explore the coast area, where I discovered Virginia Beach another classic example of America at Play, I could be upsetting a lot of people (well ok 1 yank on the list) but the place is so tacky it's great, not too busy at the moment but with a little bit of imagination the brain explodes, on the way back called into Jamestown, one of the original places those persecuted Brits came to, it was very interesting, they had people blowing glass? and excavations of the original sites, which brings me to an unusual experience, there is a brick church on the site which is the 5th since the 1600's the last 3 being of brick construction with each one trying to stay true to the original design, so in I stroll to be met by a full congregation ( It is only a small church but they were hanging off the rafters) with a black guy (the only one) sat at the front of the church with an organ on his knee singing what I would describe as not gospel music but Southern church songs, and the congregation was straight out of central casting, happy clappy section all had their eyes looking upwards arms outstretched shouting things like Praise the Lord, God is King??? and other such "things" as I'm slipping away from this nest of vipers I noticed a middle aged guy standing at the front wearing a skull cap(sic) with a look of abject horror on his face (I knew how he felt) feeling a little weak at the knee decided to move on to Williamsburg another interesting place, the colonial area as it's called is traffic free with wide avenues and an interesting history, all in all an interesting day. Next day changed the car and moved on to Philadelphia now the only reason I was calling into here was the in-laws live here and as I hadn't been in touch for a number of years gave them a call he's 87 and she is 90 and yes they did remember me, I had a very pleasant afternoon with them dishing all the dirt (oops) before meeting them I called into a shopping mall called King of Prussia now this is also the name of the district and it's the largest shopping mall in America so you can imagine the size of the place, now the reason I went was that the next day was Mothers Day here so felt I couldn't arrive empty handed at said in-laws, bought a present and returned to my car, no car before panic set in walked the whole car park area (twice) still no car now panic was setting in so called security jumped in a car and cruised the car park again and again, and yes they found it for me, so trying to hide my donkey ears jumped in my car and arrived at the in-laws 2hrs late, the next day drove upto Newark to change the car, being a Sunday thought I would drive into town this is about 12mls outside of newark driving down main st gobsmacked by the amount of Indians (asian not red) in the area in fact I was the only white guy around never found out why as I moved on the next day to Boston again staying just outside at a place called Wakefield, I was recommended to leave the car and catch first the bus then the train into Boston due to parking prob's so catching my first bus in about 30yrs became the cool commuter when i arrived decided to try the tourist bus which was great it takes you all around the old places of Boston the only problem was the guide (female guide) who's commentary consistently accused the English of Killing god fearing Americans, rape and pillage, killing god fearing Americans, burning homes and farms, killing god fearing Americans, you get the point by the end I was expecting her to enquire how many babies had I eaten for breakfast, needless to say she didn't get a tip but she did get some verbals, feeling like a vampire on the loose stomped my way around the rest of Boston kicking all dogs and cats in my way, as an example of how diverse these yanks are I got talking to a young woman (19) on the train back and she offered to give me a lift back to my hotel, where she gave me her cell No she lived in Maine and as that was my next stop offered to show me around, so next day went back into town, Boston is a nice city but like a lot of America is a building site, but worth the visit, so taking the scenic route headed towards Maine giving my new friend Leya a call, due to traffic problems I arrived late so she offered to put me up at her parents house after some protest from me I agreed and as they say met the parents, to digress a tad here, while i have met some nice people while moving north most people seem to walk round with chins dragging the ground looking miserable, so my new friends are like a breath of fresh air, they have restored my faith in Americans (which I have to admit was slipping somewhat) so having just spent 2 days being shown around the area which includes President Bush's house (snr) I waved from afar and it looked like a wave back but I'm not sure, anyway am sat at there computer typing this before moving on again. Off to the local Kindergarten to pick out tomorrow’s breakfast. ps The guide did accuse me of, besides the above, not giving a fig about god (well ok she got one right).

MAY 25

For those who don't suffer from short term memory loss, last time we spoke I was typing the tome from my new best friends house, I had planned to leave when Mother came home but being the strong minded person that I thought I was crumbled into submission to stay another night, I have to say they are brilliant, even to the extent that next morning I was taken to meet the in-laws, a tradition in the family and everyone treated me as a friend, but time for me to move on, next stop Bangor, Maine up till now I had been lucky with the weather, but luck runs out, and for the 48hrs I was there it rained for 24 of them but the car doesn't leak so visited Bar harbour, and a place called Belfast, both interesting places even in the rain, having "done" Maine decided to go west, west New York in fact to Syracuse the only prob was it's 800kms (550mls) away a bit further than I had thought so decided to have a couple of days rest, and Syracuse is again an interesting place coming into being because the new canal went by (this is about 1850) what's interesting is about 70yrs later after upgrades they diverted the canal round the city so they filled it in and it's now main st, from there having been regenerated I moved to Niagara Falls, for those who have been you understand all about it but for others, the best place to view is from the Canadian side, so clutching passport was allowed into the country the views are magnificent and included in the tour was lunch which was on the 33rd floor of the Hilton hotel where the views were even better, after a nice? lunch went on the ferry that takes you right up to the falls which is a different view looking up from ground level, an excellent day, i called into Buffalo for an afternoon, an industrial giant 100yrs ago running to seed, but as I go round the N.E. it's the same story. From there I moved to Harrisburg, state capitol of Pennsylvania visiting places of interest (like Libraries to find Internet access) until yesterday when I arrived in Atlantic City, the Las Vegas of the N.E. I was here 25yrs ago and boy has it changed Donald Trump has 3 Casinos alone and it still has the original Boardwalk so trying to stay away from the gambling I am soaking up Americans at play scent. As you might of gathered from the heading this is my last report, time to go home having spent the last 9months on the road I've had time to reflect, and the main thing that comes to mind is this was the best decision I have ever made, friends thought i was loosing it when I told them of my itinerary, backpacking round India, "you must be mad' etc, as I have said many times it was the people i met that made it for me far more than any place, which brings me to some thoughts, the most interesting place by a country mile was India even though things got to me at the end it was still fascinating, the place I enjoyed the most was Australia mainly because of the people I just seemed to connect, spending 3months there helped, this doesn't mean that the other places I visited were no good, I met only kindness and help everywhere, which brings me to you lot, i hope you have enjoyed as much as I have the journey, you were a great help, believe me when I say not every day was filled with exciting things and to read your emails helped me stay sane, thanks to all the people I met on my way (which seems pointless as they aren't reading this) but some are, the ones who joined the list, thanks for your help and friendship, I hope we keep in touch. I'm going home to switch on the phone, switch on Sky, and switch off the brain. For those of you with a God I hope he goes with you, for those like me heading for damnation, keep the faith. From a Peter more humbled now than when he started out.