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dragon-kazansky · 4 years

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A rose in London - Sherlock Holmes

I’m struggling to find some pics and gifs for certain scenes

Chapter 14 - Everyone together again

Sherlock sat in a chair with his violin, plucking it mindlessly. The room you were in was shabby, but it would do. No one knew where either of you were and at least you had a roof over your heads. You were staying in the room above a tavern, the one where Sherlock came for a boxing match. You were sitting across from Sherlock as he let his mind go over the facts of the case. The wall behind him was scribbled in notes. Names, dates, places.

You watched him quietly.

Suddenly he dropped the violin and pinched the bridge of his nose. You got up and hurried to his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and placing the other firmly on his arm. You watched as he picked up his pipe and lit it. Sherlock welcomed your embrace as he sat back and let his mind focus once more.

You had no idea what was running through his mind, but you knew he would tell you once he figured things out.

His eyes shot open when he remembered something.

Sherlock shot up out of his chair and began to collect things in the room. You watched him rush around and grab items. You took to sitting in his chair as he did his thing, not once saying anything to you.

He drew on the floorboards, opened up the little black book he had taken from when you went to investigate Rotheram's death, took out some chunks of bone he had also taken from that little room. He lit candles within the diagram he had drawn and sat in the centre of it, taking is dagger.

"Sherlock?" You asked softly.

"Blow out the other candles." He told you.

Trusting him, despite how weird this was becoming, you did as he said and walked around the room, blowing out the other lights. All that could be seen was Sherlock sitting on the floor with his candle and dagger. The blade glinted amongst the light the flame provided. You took to crouching beside the diagram, not taking your eyes off of him.

Sherlock took a big swig from the bottle he had beside him. He was sweating profusely.

The detective cut his hand and let his blood drip over the melted wax on the floor. He then placed his hand face down on the book.

Whatever this ritual was for it was making you uncomfortable.

You had no idea was going through his mind. You dared not disturb him, but your concern was growing by the minute. It became too much when he passed out.

You gasped and hurried over, cradling him in your arms. You used all your strength to pull him onto the bed before seeing to the wound on his hand. You dared not look at the symbols on the floor as you soaked a cloth and dabbed his head with it. Sherlock could be too much sometimes and you worried for his health, even if answers did come to him doing such a thing.

When you were happy with Sherlock's condition, you relaxed on the bed beside him, running a hand through your messy hair. You looked at the man beside you and let his features settle in your mind.

By God you loved this man.

You never thought you could become so attached to someone in a matter of days, but it seemed to be true. Sherlock had made an impression on you and you couldn't rid yourself of this feeling.

Eventually you passed out, a knock on the door disturbing your slumber. Daylight filled the room now, meaning you managed to sleep a few hours last night. You groaned in annoyance, but also confusion. No one knew you were here and you couldn't think of who would come looking.

Unless...

You were quiet as you approached the door and grabbed the dagger Sherlock used last night. You took a hold of the door knob and counted to three under your breath. You pulled the door open and almost screamed when you saw John and Irene standing there. You pulled them into the room and dropped the dagger.

"What are you doing here? You should be resting!" You scolded, whispering loudly. You took note of his arm in a sling. Joh nwas relying much more on his cane now than he did before.

"What are you going to do? Send me back?" He asked, amused.

"This is not funny. You could have died."

"As could have you." He warned.

John grabbed a chair and moved it to the centre of the room, sitting down and looking at Sherlock who remained passed out. You gave a sigh and turned around to make tea.

Irene moved over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. She looked concerned as she checked him over, but seemed happy when she didn't sense a fever.

"I'm glad to see you're alright, Miss Adler." You said, watching he fuss over Sherlock a little.

"As am I about you." She turned to smile over at you. Sherlock would be glad to know she was safe, but you don't know how he would feel about the fact she hadn't left London.

"You look like you've been busy." John said, looking at all chalk on the floor and notes on the wall.

"Sherlock's doing."

As if hearing his name, the man in question woke up, startled. You both turned to face him.

"Good morning." Irene said softly. "Now, we need to work." She got up off the bed.

"Familiar artwork." John pointed out to him. "You look gorgeous." John teased Sherlock as the latter sat up, feeling rather stiff.

Irene came and stood beside you, taking the cup you offered to her.

"Somehow I knew you wouldn't leave." Sherlock said, smiling at Irene.

Irene didn't answer to that. but knelt down and picked up a paper instead. She held it up so Sherlock could read the headline.

SHERLOCK HOLMES WANTED

"You made the front page." She said seriously.

"Only a name and no picture."

"So, it looks like you'll be needing to work outside the law now and that#s my expertise."

"I feel safer already."

John got up slowly from his chair.

"You seem to be making a rapid recovery." Sherlock turned to him.

"Yes. Took the shrapnel out myself." John went to sit with Sherlock on the bed. "Mary said I had a lousy doctor." The pair of them looked at each other and then Sherlock looked at you. You shrugged with a smile making John chuckle softly.

"Well I'm... so very glad... that you're, um... well... with us." Sherlock said, pausing between words as if that sentence hadn't come to him immediately.

You and Irene shared a look of amusement.

Sherlock got up and organised himself, you all took a seat and waited for him. You caught the other two up on the events that happened from the hospital and last night while you waited.

"Now you're sitting comfortably." Sherlock, wearing only his undershirt, trousers and braces, and his shoes, turned to the three of you. "I shall begin." He clapped his hands once. "My initial approach was far too narrow. When Blackwood invited me to Pentonville prison he suggested I widened my gaze and at minimum I have done just that. In fact I may have reconciled thousands of years of theory logical disparity, but that's for another time. Blackwood's method is based on a mystic logical system that's been employed by the Temple of the Four Orders for centuries. To fully understand the system to get inside it, I reenacted the ceremony we interrupted. With a few enhances of my own."

He was referring to when he first caught Blackwood with John.

"My journey took me somewhat further down the rabbit hole than I intended, and though I dirtied my fluffy white tail, I have emerged. Enlightened." He circled around the three of you. "The fraternity silently controlling empire share a leaf with the pharaohs, kings and emperors of old: that the sphinx was a door to another dimension. A gateway to unimaginable power. It's made up of four parts: the foot of a lion, the tail of an ox, the wings of an eagle and the head of a man." Sherlock pointed to each part with his cane on a diagram he had drawn. "In Sir Thomas' secret chamber I found the bone of an ox, tooth of a lion, feather of an eagle and the hair of a man."

You remembered him picking up items of the table before Clark came back with jasmine bath salt.

"Map." Sherlock pointed to the one by John's feet. John picked it up and opened it on the floor. "The points of the star represent the five murdered girls, but the cross is what we're now interested in." You, along with Irene and John, knelt down to look at the map, placing candles on it to keep it open. "It's a widely held belief that within the architecture of the great cities are coded references to the system." Sherlock knelt down opposite you all.

"Since he rose from the grave, Blackwood has killed three men. Each murder was located in a location that has a direct connection to the temple, therefore, the system. Reordon, ginger midget, represents man. Found his body here." He pointed to where the graveyard was located.

"Sir Thomas, master of the temple, wore the ox ring. He died here." He pointed to the headquarters where he lived.

"Standish, Ambassador to America, where the eagle has been the national emblem for over a hundred years. Headquarters of the Four Orders, where he died is here. He pointed to it on the map, further proving the design of the diagram on the map.

"The correspondent of the stardom will show us the location of Blackwood's final act on the map."

"So we have man, the ox, eagle.... Only the lion remaining." John pointed out.

"Right here." Sherlock pointed to it on the map.

"Parliament." You looked at him.

The sounds of shouting came from downstairs. You all got to your feet and followed Sherlock. He opened a hatch in the corner of the room, the footsteps outside getting louder.

"Ladies first."

Irene went first, you followed. John climbed in, Sherlock gave him a page before he climbed all the way down.

"Follow these instructions." He told John. "And look after Y/N for me." John tried to ask why he wasn't coming too, but Sherlock pushed his head down and closed the hatch.

Lestrade came in with his men.

Sherlock turned around and let himself be arrested.

Tags:

@awyr @fandombeehive @charmed-asylum @sigynbandraoi-blog @procrastinatingmurder @madshelily @phantomofhogwarts @photography-to-all

#a rose in london #sherlock holmes x reader #sherlock holmes #chapter 14 #robert downey jr

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roswellroamer · 4 years

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Day 22. February 20, 2020. Kaikōura to Akaroa to Leithfield. 410km. 4932km total = 3065 miles.

Today the clouds were back but no rain was in the forecast so we went down the hill into town and I ordered a cappuccino and a lemon blueberry muffin to start the day at Pot Belly bakery. We chatted a little back at the hotel with a crew of 6 Harley folks from Wellington on 3 bikes. They were planning a New Orleans to Vero ride in October so we made a few suggestions. Made friends with a gigantic tame rabbit at the hotel before riding out around 9. It was a straight shot down the coast about 4 hours on the main Hwy 1 (I-95 equivalent) but this main artery has lots of construction, flag men stops, cattle on the road! Even in Christchurch there are red lights and lots of traffic circles. We had heard about the beauty of the Akaroa peninsula just SE of CHC and though it made for a big day, we rode through wine country and lots of farmland to slip into moderate traffic through CHC. Hard to believe this is the last day! As we venture onto the peninsula the road empties and we are chasing the sunshine. Cloudy until arriving here, the sun and colors emboldened by its rays lit up our windy curves along the coast. Apparently cruise ships pull into Akaroa for the views and beauty. A couple more construction zones and a nice flag man who let us roar up the hillside to catch up with the recently dismissed line of waiting cars and trucks. The last 10kms toward Akaroa scales the scenic mountains as we intersected with the well known Summit Rd. Unfortunately this road took us to the eastern bays of the peninsula in the opposite direction from where we needed to return our bikes back in Leithfield. As it was, our expected return was around 3PM today and we didn't have time to explore Summit Rd. today. We were literally arrested by the view as we rounded the corner and saw the view at Hilltop Tavern. We pulled in as if ensnared and parked by another biker who was equally spellbound. Top pic above. We lounged and I enjoyed a salmon pizza (pic) and a Coke but mostly the view which is saying something because the pizza was excellent! A fairly tame sheep made laps along the fence line on 6" of flattened earth munching the numerous tufts of grass and enjoying the occasional scratching by diners. Opportunistic sparrows awaited your lack of attention to claim any unattended food. It was around 68° and just a great way to wrap up the ride.

The cruise back to Leithfield was smooth, in and out of the traffic circles as the reality of the trip's end hits. What an adventure. What a beautiful country. Easy to enjoy, geared for tourism, US dollar is strong here but sort of a long ride to get here. Worth it if you can make it happen! No problems checking in the bike and Kiwi (Carrie) was kind enough to again ferry us back to town, this time to the brand new Novotel at the airport. It wasn't even open when I booked it 5 months ago. It is a primo Novotel. We drove past the US Antarctic center where most all flights to and from our base originate. Carrie said she thought it was actually considered US soil, a la Normandy. There were 4 USAF C-130 aircraft with their newfangled curves props on the tarmac and some other jet. We also enjoyed riding there with our new Norwegian friend Per, who returned his bike and was also booked at the appropriately named Novotel. My room was so nice. Soundproof glass in a corner with views on two sides and seriously less than 200 yards to both the control tower and the Emirates A380 loading up with passengers. I went to the airport to do a little shopping since I didn't think they would be open at 4AM the next morning (wrong). Went back and met Ted and Per at the bar to enjoy the view and watch the world's largest commercial aircraft lumber down the strip and lift off surprisingly quickly. Felt like a little kid. ✈️ 😳 A spectacular dinner for me included dumplings followed by rack of lamb, garlic mashed, Caesar salad. Really a great last dinner in this fine land weirdly punctuated by the unexplained disappearance of our server, Imogen. Halfway through the meal we noticed she wasn't around. After a bit we asked other servers to have her come by, only to be met with shrugs that they didn't know where she had gone. Never found while we were there! 🤷‍♂️ A relatively early night since alarms were set for 3:30. Wrapping this now at the airport all checked in waiting for first leg to Sydney. Then on to LA, somehow landing before I left due to the date line weirdness and then on home to ATL. Glad to be done writing, what a commitment from folks who do it daily but also glad to have followed through and captured just some of the events, feelings and silly things from this journey. Great place to ride! Peace, out. ✌️ 🏍 🇳🇿 🇺🇸

PS. Back in ATL now. Though 30 hours of traveling couldn't have gone smoother. If you are one of the folks reading this along the way. Thanks for making the time to share my NZ adventure with me as it unfolded. Comfort class with an extra seat made a nice difference on the 13 hour leg from SYD to LAX. Flew right over the harbor and got good shots of town and the opera house. Nice to be home, too. Until the next adventure. ... 🇳🇴

#newzealand #akaroa #advrider #motoadventure

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theredlilycrew · 5 years

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Random HCs: Cersei Scars pt1

I may not write all her scar stories out like this. Considering the time it takes to write Cersei’s spoken word and let her tell the stories of her scars. Certain ones will get done like this, otherwise, most may just end up tied to a pic ref of scars and how they look kind of thing. Since she shows a decent amount of skin, there’s scars constantly visible so others can ask about them and then it’s up to her if she tells the story or not. I’m kinda also taking some fun twists with how scars look on Cersei, so it’s just smooth and pale some will be rough and jagged looking.

The scar in question is on Cersei's left shoulder, most of it's on her back though, it's very jagged and a little rough around the edges to the touch. Clearly signs of not taken care of or allowed to properly heal, though the captain does not care. She got the injury when saving an Au Ra bard named Kuwa in a bar brawl. The way the story is told never changes, and the bard in question doesn't deny what happened because Cersei never lies in the stories about recruiting her crew members. ((Below I've left the story told the way Cersei told it to Goji for consistency so nothing is edited or altered in telling it to him and then to you.))

"You've met Kuwa, I hope. My bard. Well, she gets a lot of shite about her eyes, which are lovely by the way I'll damn knock a fool's teeth out. Anyway, she was performing at the little tavern me, Zelelle and a few others stopped in at so, of course, we mind our manners and the sort. Sitting out of the way, we know we don' really bring a comfortable feel bein' pirates. Me bein' me, 've sat where I can easily move from sitting to fight, s'a bar and all."

"Kuwa's in the center area doin' her thing and just talking to people watchin', not in poor tastes mind you. it's just fun seein' people interact with others. Few guys got rowdy, in the worst place possible. So 'm climbing onto the table we were at, Zelelle got mad I think I broke a few mugs, which I paid for the damages after. Bah, anyway, "

"I told them we need to make sure the bystanders aren't hurt, s'a lovely night out and all. We usher some towards our table instead, while I'm climbing onto Sis' arm, and flat out saying to throw me towards the bard. Sis was so confused, " "So she throws me, Kuwa's tryin' to avoid the fightin', 's not her strong point but she knows enough. Of course, bar fights escalate like the ocean waves when she's angry. Well, until her harp got broken, that lit the fuse on the small Au Ra. But we're talkin' 4 big drunken fools against this tiny little thing. Think she broke at least five barstools in total on one of them, so's I just aided her. Not butting in but not lettin' her fight solo. Knives shine in various manners of lighting, and jagged ones are unpleasant. Kuwa's a gorgeous Au Ra and they were going for her face, Professor.... Her white colored eye, the one the shines like the moon..."

"It was like a weird dance, I grabbed her spun around so it was my back that took the jagged knife instead. She wasn't even in my crew, she was just doin' her job.... Damned drunks. Sis grabbed the guy though, so the knife is just nestled in my skin and I know I shouldn' 'ave but I just yanked it right out. Kuwa's holdin' me up and 'm just fuming at this point. Zelelle had ducked out to get ya know authorities, and we had a few back us up that it wasn't on our crew, and all the usual garbage that comes around my work."

"It didn't heal fully properly cause I didn' pull it out cleanly and didn' let doc mend it right away. I had to make sure Kuwa got a new harp, paid for damages me and my crew may have caused tryin' to stop the fight..... I just put a small patch on it, s'fine..."

#;;Cersei HCs

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longforgottenunofficial · 7 years

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There Goes The Bride

Let's wrap up our current tour of the attic. Don't worry, we'll be back. Consider the following scenario: A razzle-dazzle new ghost is installed at the DL HM attic, with high expectations, but the effect is basically pretty simple, achieved simply by clever manipulation of light projection. Alas, the figure is too close to the track for the effect to be truly convincing, and the Imagineers fiddle unsuccessfully with the new figure, trying to get it to look right... Sounds like you-know-who, but of course I'm talking about Constance. The only thing missing is the part where they give up and take it out. There isn't much to say about how the Constance effect works. It's the old "Leota effect," a projected movie on a white dummy. The problem for many fans is that it looks like what it is, a two-dimensional projection. The arms in particular are unconvincing. There's evidence that the Imagineers are aware of the problem and have experimented with ways to improve the look. Compare these two shots of the mannequin under regular lighting.

If anyone wants MY free advice, I'd say the secret is to go fuzzy. Her arms should be nothing more than white, blurry shapes, just thick cloudy hoses. You could sharpen up the hands and hatchet when the hatchet appears, but only for a second. Murk it up, boys, murk it up. By all counts, the WDW version looks and sounds better than the DL version. Even in photos you can see the difference. Here's DL Connie:

And here's WDW Connie:

(pic by Jeff Fillmore)

Definitely better, but we're still not at the "Gee whiz, how do they do that?" stage for anyone over 11. Hate to sound harsh, but there it is. Is she better than what she replaced? For ease of comparison, here are three nice 3D's, showing the three basic bride types over the years.

Let's talk about something else. Let's talk about the other razzle-dazzle effect that came into the attic with Connie: the wedding portraits. Here the verdict is much more positive. When they're working right, they are impressive, very much in the coveted "how do they do it?" category.

So how do they do it? You may have noticed that when people don't know how a Mansion effect is achieved, and they want to sound like they doknow, so as impress their friends, they mumble about "fiber optics" and "holograms" and sprinkle the word "digital" around like oregano on a pizza. Most of the time they overshoot, spinning out elaborate explanations when the reality is some ridiculously simple trick. Like so many other effects in the HM, this attic-portrait effect is essentially pretty simple. You have a painting on a thin, translucent fabric, and another painting underneath it. There's a spotlight on the front and a sort of light box behind. Actually, it's a little more technical than that, but I'm going to spare you the details. It's all digital fiber optics, and other things you wouldn't understand. Anyway, when the light box is dark and the frontal spotlight is on, you see the front painting with the guy's head on. When the spotlight goes out and the light box in back goes on, you see the headless version behind it. That's because when the back one is lit up, you see it through the translucent front painting, which is now unlit and essentially invisible. It's the old scrim trick, not different in principle from the ceiling in the stretching room.

You can most easily figure out how it works when it isn't working! It is extremely important that the spotlight fade in and out in such perfect coordination with the fading in and out of the back lighting that you don't notice any difference in overall luminosity. Sometimes they're out of whack, and you can notice the picture brightening and fading in synch with the disappearing head. The following two shots are grabs from the same continuous video. Note how the frame is illumined when Reginald's head is visible, but not when it isn't. It's not supposed to be like that.

The other reason the effect can be figured out is because it's been done before, more or less. Sherman, set the Wayback machine for Paris in the 1890's. The Montmartre section of Paris saw the invention of the fully-themed nightclub during the late Victorian era, including costumed staff, elaborate decor, and theatrical floor shows. Some of them had otherworldly themes and put on ghost shows. One of the most successful was the Cabaret du Néant ("Tavern of Nothingness" or "Tavern of the Dead"), where the theme was death and decay. In the first room, the waiters dressed as undertakers and you sat at tables that looked like coffins. In the second room they had a first-rate magic stunt in which volunteers from the audience would stand in a coffin and turn into a skeleton (and back again; sorry, it's the law). In yet a third room the volunteers would sit onstage while ghosts that they could not see (but the audience could) made them look like perfect fools. By that point you were pretty drunk and thought this was the funniest thing you'd ever seen. And I dunno, maybe it was. We'll go back to the intriguing C du N sometime later, since it is undoubtedly a source of inspiration for the Haunted Mansion, but for now I want to point out a special effect in the first room, which room looked like this:

Like the chandelier? Anyway, the walls were covered with normal-looking paintings that changed before your eyes into gruesome scenes. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? You would think such a subtle effect would not be picked up under the harsh lighting necessary for 1890's photography, but not so. In the photo above, note the large painting on the left with a skeleton in it and another, smaller painting up in the right hand corner with nothing showing on it:

In other photos of the Cabaret, the skeleton in that left hand painting is halfway or nearly gone.

Conversely, in other photos the smaller painting has a skull in it. Here's a side-by-side:

You're looking at the direct predecessors to the changing portraits in the Haunted Mansion, kids. But how did they do it back then? The gullible masses may have been baffled, but not Albert A. Hopkins. No, siree. "Around the walls of the room are placed pictures to which the spectator's attention is called by the lecturer. Seen by the light of the room these pictures are ordinary scenes, but a new aspect is given to each when the lights directly behind it are turned on; the figures in it appear as skeletons, each picture being in fact a transparency giving a different effect as it is lighted from the rear or as seen simply by reflected light."

The main difference between this effect and the HM wedding portraits is that the Cabaret du Néant pictures were evidently paintings on both sides of the same thin cloth, while the Disney version uses two separate paintings on top of each other and more sophisticated lighting so as to make use of the scrim trick. Still and all, the similarities are greater than the differences. [Edit: I now think Hopkins got it wrong.] There's an interesting footnote with regard to these changing attic portraits. They were installed in May 2006, but more than a year before that the pictures in the changing portrait hall were replaced with fancy new ones with a more impressive lightning-flash effect. These work the same way the attic portraits work, with two layers and backlighting. That was in January 2005. A few months before that, something very weird happened in the portrait hall that is little-remembered today because it didn't last long. One day in August 2004, the stretch room doors opened and guests found themselves in a noticeably lighter portrait hall, with out-of-place looking Art Nouveau-style light fixtures by the doors, a more lurid, bright green EXIT sign over the chicken exit, and a row of light fixtures along the wall under the portraits, illuminating them. As usual, Allen Huffmann at Disneyfans (an invaluable resource) got some photos.

Everyone thought these abominations had something to do with "safety" and muttered unkind things about Disney lawyers and OSHA inspectors. When the EXIT signs returned to sane levels and the goofy lights were gone, the whole business was quickly forgotten. I don't think the mounted lights under the portraits had anything to do with safety. I mean, come on, were people bumping into the wall? What I think the Imagineers were doing was experimenting with frontal illumination for the hallway portraits. If the lighting could be successfully controlled so that the front could gradually come up while the backlighting went down, these paintings could have been as sophisticated as the wedding portraits. If this surmise is correct, the experiment must have failed. The changing portraits have no special frontal illumination. This means that in order for the back-side portrait to be visible, it has to be very light and the front portrait much darker, so that backlighting alone can do the job. It's a cruder effect. That's why the changing portraits in every case flash to a secondary image that is all white.

Originally Posted: Monday, June 7, 2010 Original Link: [x]

#long forgotten #haunted mansion #attic bride #constance #changing portraits

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itdisneymatter · 7 years

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Day 10 - Magic Kingdom (II)

TLDR: Breakfast at hotel for a second shot, then pool for a bit. Headed to Disney Springs and picked up some artwork and not much else. Then finally on to Magic Kingdom to hit a few of the rides we missed the first day including Pirates, Buzz Light-year and Space Mountain. Ate monstrous turkey legs. Got lots of memory maker photos. Stayed until the 4th July (but not really the 4th of July fireworks). Spectacular!

We woke up a little later than normal and hit breakfast at the hotel and then an hour at the pool before heading out to our first stop, Disney Springs. First stop was an art shop that stocked some prints from an artist I like - Jasmine Beckett-Griffith. I picked up a 10x8 print and a set of Oracle cards, really for the artwork (though if you want a reading, hit me up :P). Kudos to Ann for letting me indulge in the weird things I like (no, not like that ;) For the past 11 days its been cards, art-y stuff and my unnatural obsession for Harley Quinn... thus far. Next a standard Starbucks stop (though they looked at me funny when I wanted no cream and sugar in my cold brew), then to browse the t-shirts in the Harley Davidson (we were here for more than just me, honest). Popped into another few shops including Marvel, before getting back on the road to head to Magic Kingdom. The 4th of July is one of the busiest days in Disney due to the holidays but a little known secret is that they do a trial run of the Independence days fireworks on the 3rd, so that's what our plan was for the rest of the day.

Before we continue, I'd like to present you with Patricks Fun Fact Of The Day, two in fact to make up for yesterday (and the first is a shark related one so quite fitting too).

Fun Fact 1: More people are killed by bees and lightning every year than are killed by sharks.

Fun Fact 2: Sporange is the only word that rhymes with orange - it means part of a fern or something (though technically it has the word orange in it so its a wee bit cheating).

Now we had to visit Lost & Found prior to heading into Magic Kingdom as Ann lost her special edition Magic Band on Saturday at Animal Kingdom. It was actually found and returned to the Lost & Found office which was at Magic Kingdoms car park - so that worked out really well. We got to the park as soon as the parade had started which was great timing (even though we seen it before), this was in main street so the kids had a much better field of view. They even got to interact and high five with a few of the Disney characters as they passed. I was too busy photographing the Disney characters to get their reactions but if we happen to do it again, when were next at Magic Kingdom, Ill definitely turn the camera the other way. I’m pretty sure Merida recognized our Celtic strips amidst the crowd and blew me a kiss, ohhhh and Elsa winked at me too, obviously I’m not looking into that meaning anything whatsoever (even though it does :P)

And then it started to rain, and wouldn't you know it, due to the fact there was only a 20% chance of rain we didn't take the bag with the rain-jackets in. Oh well, the rain wasnt actually that bad at all and we per served with it. We had Splash Mountain Fast Passed but they shut it down due to poor weather (as they do with all outdoor type rides). They do offer some alternatives so we headed to Haunted Mansion instead.

Next was a ride we hadn't seen since 2013, Pirates of The Caribbean. We'd watched all the movies prior to coming over (well except the new one out in the cinema), so we were all pretty much clued up and excited. Nice wee boat ride through various sets all based around Pirates. They had a nice waterfall at the start which had different characters like Davy Jones and Blackbeard projected on it, which was a cool effect.

Left Pirates and a guys in a Cubs fan shouted 'Mon The Hoops as he walked by (as we were all wearing our Celtic kits). In fact we got a few 'Mon The Hoops and Hail Hails over the course of the day, even from peeps not from the UK which was nice.

We were hungy by that point and there was really only one thing most of us wanted - Turkey Legs! These were like mutant turkey legs though and even wee Robert the fussy one said he wouldnt mind getting one for himself. So we made out way over to the opposite end of the park in Tomorrow Land where we knew we could get them. The trouble was, the weather also means all of the smaller stalls were closed down too - DOH! So we asked a cast member if there was anywhere else that sold them. Yes she said, Tortuga Tavern she said. And where is Tortuga Tavern I hear you ask? Why its directed opposite from Pirates - where we just came from! Trekked back over to the other side of the park and finally managed to get some, plus a cookie as Grace wasnt that hungry. These things are massive and it makes me wonder what the actual size of the turkeys where to have produced such huge legs! Im sure there's an answer (Patrick if you're reading this, can you go find out? THX ; ).

The rain had stopped by that point which meant that the Fireworks would definitely be on, there were even people settling down at a good spot at that time which was 2hrs before the show was due to start. Eek, what people would do for a photo, eh? Haha ;) Then we made our way back over to Tomorrow Land (yeah, I know, right?), after stopping to get a quick pic with a park photographer. In fact, we got quite a few photographs taken tonight using our memory maker, so here they are...

So first up in Tomorrow Land was Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Our third shooting game since we got here. Shoot the aliens and stop Zurg, getting points along the way. If you've been following along, you'll know how this is likely to end, but here are the scores on the doors...

Gerry: 134900

Robert: 32500

Patrick: 29700

Ann: 29600

Gracie: 6600

Carousel Of Progress after that and although Gracie had done this before she couldn't remember it so she was asking lots of questions, which is normally a good thing but probably not when the animatronic puppets are they only other others speaking to the rest of the people on the ride! Although this is a new shiny ride, its still a really good one and gives a glimpse of how life has developed throughout the ages and to the future, which as Patrick pointed out, is mostly a reality now! Im not sure if this ride is adapted to current technological trends or if Walt Disney was spot on with forecasting the future!

And now the one Robert had been waiting for, Space mountain, the last of the big 3 mountains we had to ride this time around. It was me, Patrick and Robert on this one. This was one of Patrick’s favourites but Robert was so keen on it last time - I have a feeling he might feel a little different now. A roller coaster in the dark, and although doesn’t have any major drops, has lots of sharp (and unexpected) turns - really fun ride. I asked Robert once we finished what he thought and he said - It was easy! Haha, how times have changed.

Speedway next and the boys were tall enough to go on their own, but though it best to go in front of both in case they got over excited with the accelerator. After a few more memory maker photos which I posted above already, we got a spot to watch the trial 4th of July fireworks. It was pretty majestic and patriotic (well for Americans that is, but you cant help youself get caught up). Probably one of the best fireworks shows Ive seen even if we didnt have the best viewpoint (which was behind the castle).

We had Fast Passed Seven Dwarves but the the FP queue was LOOONG and the kids were getting really tired at that point. Headed out of the park just as another show was starting but we reaffirmed our decision to call it a day.

Now we ordered Gracie a Furbacca (Star Wars Chewbacca Furby) and we received a notification it had been delivered to the hotel (that 30 day Amazon.com Prime trial came in handy). One small problem though, the office which handles deliveries was closed until tomorrow morning, so that will be something we'll have to do first thing, which will keep Grace happy as she wont stop talking about it. Shopping day tomorrow and anticipating BIG sales and deals due to the holidays. Goodbye bank balance! :P

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roswellroamer · 4 years

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Day 16. Rangiora to Punakaiki via Lewis Pass. 350 km.

Woke up to a steady light rain. The forecast was better on the west (rainy) side and we were for the third time in three days going to cross the mountains again. Another failed attempt to use our American credit cards to pay for fuel at automated fuel island at Pak'n Save (like a Costco). After success the first week at these fully automated fuel stations, the last week has usually been met with failure. One attendant said that because the US cards require a signature (for who knows what ridiculous reason as that offers zero additional security) that they are declined at these automated pay stations. The tap and pay system is on the rise and most of my cards have the RFID chip to do so, has a name here. They call it Paywave. At least half the machines I've used at cafes and gas stations and motels are Paywave enabled. When tapping a card with Paywave no signature is required plus it's faster. We decided to roll a ways and got gas down the road with an attendant. Only self serve, by attendant I mean someone in the station to take payment. Mike had suggested the Culverden cafe for a stop so we cruised through the farmland and hedges with a long fairly strIght stretch while the rain was easing in fits. The cafe was barebones with just a few seats inside but the baked goods looked delicious. I opted for the butter chicken pie (surprising to find a light tomato sauce within) and a cream filled doughnut that was eclair shaped and drizzled with a raspberry sauce. 😋 All washed down with the dark chocolate milk which seemed to be in most shops. There was a paper sign with Uncle Sam on it. That dude was a long way from his origin in Troy, NY! 🇺🇸 He was being used to prompt interest in a "bowl" club since their numbers were dwindling and its survival was in question. I assume that's what we call bowling? After using the public toilet (they are very nice and high tech, many with electronic access and all have been super clean) we headed toward Lewis Pass and the landscape obliged our desires for more curves and mountain scenery. We had some beautiful views and made a couple photo stops but 2/3 passes over the Alps we've done lately didn't have a sign or marker and couldn't tell when the actual summit was reached. Weird. A few different areas where it was discussed if this was the apex or a false summit. I'll never know which but the road was superb. We even had some 15kph curves thrown in there for good measure! We pulled in to a very cute town of Reefton which had some motorcycles strewn about. Got gas at the Mobil as Ted attended to a scratched open mosquito bite with a band aid assist. The "healthy" breakfast had kept hunger from appearing at the appointed lunch hour, so instead of stopping to eat in Reefton we kept going. A couple of sport tourers (BMW) then appeared in our rear view. We are averaging about 110 kph most of the time. They tolerated our pace for a while then whined on by. We saw them edge slowly ahead as we enjoyed the roads and then after a turnoff to skirt Greymouth, they were stopped by a tractor on a one way bridge. The tractor barely fit! One wheel was on the curb. I stopped for a pic behind them and the tractor mid bridge. They then roared on ahead and the farmer held out his thumb and forefinger an inch apart to me, to emphasize the lack of room his machine had to navigate the bridge. I gave him a thumbs up and prodded my 800 into action in distant pursuit of the sport tourers.

We rode to Blackball and cut off the corner to Greymouth, finding the coast road and marveling at the Hawaii like jungle cascading down the sheer hills to the water. Occasional jagged rocks broke up the smooth expanse of beach as we revved northward. We saw a good looking motorcycle oriented cafe at Barrytown and decided to share a pizza there since we weren't that hungry. Cool place. From there it was only 15-20' up to Punakaiki (Poo'-na-kai-key) where we saw tons of cars and campers right in town which consists of the famous pancake rocks on the beach side of the road and a few businesses and cafes on the inland side.

We then approached the coastal Punakaiki lodge and checked in, each having our own unit right by the beach. The ritual shower after riding was eschewed in favor of donning a swim suit and riding to the Punakaiki River where it joins the Tasman Sea, for an afternoon swim. But then realizing I didn't want to walk around Pancake rocks in a wet bathing suit, we turned around and buzzed the 1-2km back to Pancake rocks. Such a cool place! See the first pic above. There are blowhole pools where incoming waves make thunderous sounds and spray water. There are all sorts of connected caves and then there are the rocks! Limestone erosion and the ocean have created a wonder here. Strolled on the self guided tour for maybe 40 minutes and it is really worth a visit here. Then back to the river and I plunged into the river. Cool, but swimmable and super clear. Went into the ocean and nearly got swept out into the rocks by the surging current so managed to make it back to shore and stick to the river. 🏊‍♂️ 🌊 Soft sand lines the river and first dew feet are shallow, then one step and over your head it was. Back to the hacienda for a shower and then into "town" for dinner and entertainment at the not so inspired name "Pancake Rocks cafe". I ordered the manuka honey coated fried Halloumi cheese with an interesting Asian rice salad and polenta chips to accompany it. Halloumi is made from the local sheep and goats milk. At 7 the open mic night began. There were some regulars lined up and at least a couple were open about the fact that they were singing three songs to qualify for their free beer! One cool song I wished I had taped was about the longest place name in the world which due to it being on the North Island will escape a visit from me this trip. 85 characters long, I'll just paste a link to it here: https://www.google.com/search?q=longest%20maori%20place%20name We got chased away by one of the guys who just wasn't good and closed out the night at the very busy Tavern just north of our lodge. 🍺 😴

https://www.google.com/search?q=longest%20maori%20place%20name

#newzealand #advrider #mototours #pancakerocks

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