Around The World In 80 Waves

Kevin shows me some more sights before I head off to the islands. Before sunset we take in the staggeringly pretty view of San Francisco from the Marin Headlands, drive through the Presidio and on to Ocean Beach where I see people surfing for the first time on this trip. It is also the very first time I have seen the Pacific Ocean. It doesn’t look too intimidating so I am sure I will be enjoying a lot of waves in it over the next few months.

Other highlights include enjoying a San Francisco Burrito and seeing the trams. They are cable operated street tramways of which there are only three places in the world still in operation; San Francisco, Lisbon in Portugal and Llandudno in North Wales, which is a lovely reminder of home.

After an early night I get up early to travel downtown with Kevin, see the beautiful Ferry Building where he works and watch the sun come up over Bay Bridge which is the other hugely impressive suspension bridge in San Francisco Bay that never gets any of the press coverage of its more famous neighbour.

Walk along the shoreline of the bay where I see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island. Many will know I like a bit of open water swimming and it was always my intention of swimming from Alcatraz  to the mainland whilst here. The original plan was to be here by my birthday and do the swim to show that turning 40 means nothing. However I was told it would be too cold after September and delays to the sale of my flat meant that me arriving before then was unlikely so I haven’t done the training I would need to. However the chat about the temperature is clearly rubbish because there is one guy swimming without even wearing a wetsuit. I ask one dude as he gets out and the water is still about 12C. It only ever gets to about 14C around the UK in the height of summer! Sea lions are clearly visible in the water and will come and check out each of the swimmers. A tad more concerning would be the big fish with sharp teeth that feed on the sea lions but ‘Escaping’ from the island is definitely do-able. Maybe when I fly back in after a few weeks of surfing in Hawaii…

I see a lot more of the sights and then head back to catch up with Kevin. I spot a knitting shop on the way and pop in to see if they have a sewing needle with an eye that is big enough for the whipping twine I bought in New Jersey to repair my rucksack because it was already showing signs of strain. I am met by a trio of game old ladies who say, “We don’t see much of your sort in here” as I step through the door. I have a quick chat with them whilst the owner finds something suitable for me and tell them what I am doing over the next year, including the five month overland trip down to Lima when I get back from Hawaii. Quick as a flash one says “I’m free for the next five months. Can I come with you?” Outstanding it is only a week in and I have pulled already on this trip!

Wooo-hoo! Cisco baby. I arrive late on Sunday and head over to see an old surf buddy Kevin who is now living in San Francisco. It is his birthday and he has been sampling some of California’s wines at a local vineyard for most of the day, so we have a quick chat before crashing out.

He heads off to work so I have a day to make the most of (ideally without ticking off maverick cops) before flying on to Honolulu tomorrow. I need to do some research here because when I return from Hawaii it is where I am hoping to buy my wheels for the overland leg down to South America, will check out some dealerships and the price of motors generally.

If you havent already guessed I will confess to being something of a movie geek, so will be on the look out for a few more film locations whilst in the area. All the following were filmed in San Francisco:

• 48 Hours
• Basic Instinct
• Bullitt
• Dirty Harry
• Escape From Alcatraz
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers
• The Love Bug
• The Rock
• The Towering Inferno
• A View to a Kill

Another city so another tour bus, on which I somehow manage to get a discount or being a member of the military. I see if I can spot the location of a few movies that were filmed in Chicago:

• The Untouchables (1987)
• When Harry Met Sally (1989)
• Backdraft (1991)
• Road to Perdition (2002)
• The Fugitive (1993)
• The Blues Brothers (1980)
• The Color of Money (1986)
• The Dark Knight (2008)
• Risky Business (1983)
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

However I’m more interested in the possibility of surfing on a freshwater lake. Lake Michigan is one of the great lakes, all of which are so big that huge waves can be generated on them. A jogger was recently swept off the footpath near Chicago and drowned in the monster surf which can crash along the shoreline. Sadly there isnt enough swell close to town, and what there is has been blown out by the wind coming off the lake. Disappointing because I need to catch some waves before heading out to Hawaii next week and I am running out of time.

I am marginally consoled by driving down Pearson Street in the north of the city and have time for a couple of beers and a Chicago town pizza whilst watching the Chicago Bears play NFL before heading off to the airport.

Flying into ‘the Windy City’ of Chicago just to party on a Saturday night. Sinatra sang that it was ‘my kind of town’ and I have to agree. I love it here despite the freezing wind blowing off Lake Michigan

Chicago is the home of the Blues Brothers, Al Capone and more recently Batman because it was used as the set for Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy

I check into a hotel and am given a great room on thee 14th floor overlooking the lake. The bellhop tells me to head for the intersection of Rush and Division streets, where I find loads of Irish bars and quickly get chatting with the locals. I am introduced to the noble game of Beer Pong (http://www.angelfire.com/ak6/beerpong/) and am delighted to find that I am quite good at it. In a winner stays on style I am playing the locals for about an hour. All I will say is that the last cup is a knightmare every time.

There are an awful lot of santas about apparantly because the second Saturday in December is the day of the university’s festive pub crawl. As a result I get to see the great site of a whole dancefloor full of them boogie-ing away. I check out a few bars but spend the most time in one called Mother’s which was immortalised in the 80s Brat pack film ‘About Last Night’.

Lots of fun and a top night. Prohibition is certainly not in effect in the Chicago of today

I am somewhat surprised to hear this phrase when I forget to empty a water bottle in my bag at JFK. I am told I can keep the water if I bribe the security guard, which is all the more surprising given the proximity to the events of September 11^th 2001. I decline and then he says I can keep it anyway. All of which is very odd.

Bradley Wiggans I am not, but Steve lends me a bike which I take for a trek down to the shore after finally sorting thing with Vodafone. I am out on it for two and a half hours looking to see if there is any surf on the Atlantic coast. The entire seaforont from Sandy Hook to Sea Bright has been absolutely trashed by Hurricane Sandy. The place in the picture is a leisure complex called driftwood which is just about all it is good for. However many other buildings have been completely wiped off the map and turned to splinters.

Every business is closed so there is no chance of hiring a board. There is a wave here and it looks ok until you realise that it is indeed a seagull in the foreground, so the inability to lay my hands on a board isn’t an issue. I take my shoes and socks off and have a quick paddle so that I have at least got wet in the Atlantic on this trip.

I am staying for a few days in Red Bank, New Jersey with Lisa, Steve, Max and Grace only by virtue of the fact that Lisa used to be the owner of one of the other flats in my block in London. Having exchanged little more than hellos on the way to and from work over a decade ago I am shown unbelievable kindness and welcomed into their beautiful home. I am fed and watered for free, as well as being taken out for drinks and introduced to John and Rick some local surfers. What a wonderful time.

I can’t thanks them enough for the time spent here, which allows me to catch up on myself and see a bit more of America which isn’t on the Tourist trail. Beautiful people.

See all the cities I missed in my drunken stupor on the way into the Capital

• Baltimore
• Philadelphia
• Newark
• Trenton

Is not the first thing I look for on a menu, but after four days in the states I am craving vitamins. I’m joined on my table in the hostel by a group of Greenpeace staff in town for training on settling up regional fundraising centres. They have been catered for and kindly offer me the spare food. Piles of carrots, salad, rice and a healthy helping of tofu curry later I feel like a new man. Vegetable Rights and Peas!