Natalie Sutherland Writer

Our Quick Trip to San Francisco

Yes, it has been a while! But back in February, well before Madison came along, we managed to do a little long weekend down in San Fran to meet up with Esh’s cousin Kurt and his new wife Kellie. Here are a few pics from the trip! First stop was a night at the basketball at Oracle Arena to watch the Golden State Warriors vs. Chicago Bulls. The tickets cost a bomb because (a) basketball is…

A Long Seattle Winter …

It is FINALLY starting to warm up a bit in Seattle. Though when I say, “warm,” I mean it’s roughly 10*C instead of 5*C. It feels like it’s been freezing and rainy forever, and the media reported a while back that we have had only 3 sunny days since October (if you can believe that). In tribute to the receding coldness I thought I’d share some pics from this past winter season. Enjoy! The…

Reykjavik in itself is kind of like a country town on steroids. I imagined more of a big city, but it’s actually tiny. It has a quaint, old-school quirkiness to it and is spread over about 5 main streets. It’s filled with restaurants serving amazing food, and good handful of bars and pubs and nightclubs (though I think the term ‘nightclub’ is used pretty loosely).

Here’s a cool little pub we found after (a) not sleeping on the night flight (b) hiring a car, driving the hour into the city, then waiting another 2 hours for our hotel room (c) trying to find a place to eat and deciding to just drink beer instead. We came back here a few times.

  The first night we arrived was also the night of the Reykjavik Festival. Which we thought would involved all sorts of cultural stuff, but was more just like a music festival with various stages set up around the streets. Crowds everywhere! And fireworks at the end of the night.

One of the first stops with Chris and Ana was the infamous Big Lebowski Bar. Where, of course, White Russians were in order.

On our second day there, Chris and Ana headed out on a whale tour and we hurried off to partake in the Silfra Snorkelling Tour – where you get to snorkel in the rift between two tectonic plates. The water is freezing cold, but it was cool to see the land dropping away into darkness underwater – and the seaweed and moss was nothing short of beautiful. Sadly, no photos.

Outside of Reykjavik, Iceland is a land of vast flatness. Very rural. The lava fields are huge and rocky, and there are lone mountains rising up everywhere. World of trolls indeed.

Our first day trip consisted of a lot of waterfalls. This one (Seljalandsfoss) actually had a small cave behind it, so that you can walk under/behind it … pretty cool.

This one (Skógafoss) flows from the Skoga River over a huge cliff and drops about 60m. You can see it from the bottom and also walk, via that little path on the right side of the photo, to the top. It was a big hike, but after Esh made us walk up the Eiffel Tower (and back down) that time in Paris, I guess there’s no room to complain.

  In the afternoon, we made it down to the town of Vik, and to Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, which sports those famous basalt rock columns (made by mother nature). Despite assumptions, they were actually quite huge. The beach itself was insanely cold and windy, but cool to see!

We also came across this funny little house, where trolls once apparently lived.

Our second road trip was mostly focused around the Geyers and Gullfoss Falls on the famed Golden Circle!

Here are the Geyers (Geysir and Strokker), spurting forth with boiling water:

And the notorious Gullfoss Falls, on the Hvítá River, where the water flows down in ‘steps’ and then drops into the perpendicular crevice below … It’s very loud and pretty spectacular.

Here’s a quick video:

Two nice little surprises on this drive were 1) the Secret Lagoon. Not so much a secret, but more just a remote little hot spring pool set in the countryside with deliciously hot water. It was basically like a giant bathtub in nature!

And 2) this little Tomato Farm, where we stopped for lunch after the swim. It’s family owned, and they grow their own tomatoes in a greenhouse, and use them to create awesome things like bloody marys, pasta sauce and tomato soup. The service was lovely and welcoming and the food was brilliant.

Lastly, we made it to Kerid Crater, a volcanic crater lake. Apparently it’s around 3,000 years old (which is pretty young compared to other local craters), it was caused by a collapsed volcano and the water in it is on par with the water table.

On our second last day we treated ourselves to an outing at the glorious Blue Lagoon. A huge complex of hot spring pools, free mud masks made from lava and a swim-up bar. It was well worth the hot soak and it wasn’t overly crowded.

We didn’t have our phones inside so there aren’t any photos, but here are some pics by the extended lagoon outside the front entrance to give you an idea of what it’s like. Or you can go to: http://www.bluelagoon.com/gallery/

As per usual, one of the biggest highlights of Iceland was the food. Every restaurant is pretty much stunning and the food is top-class. It’s a lot of fish and meat. We ate everything from goose pate (made the nice way), puffin, minke whale (I know, I know, but apparently it’s another common delicacy), and more. We asked for horse, but they didn’t have it (apparently it’s standard there, because they cull the horses every year to make room for the new ones).

Fish n’ chips in Iceland is meant to be a stand out as well, and everywhere we at it was pretty good. We didn’t get to try the traditional rotten shark, but we did go for this fish skin lemonade, which was surprisingly nice.

A few other cool and quirky things that stood out…

The Chuck Norris bar in the heart of Reykjavik:

This Fish n Chip shop down south, which “probably” had the best fish n chips… Probably. Actually the fish was pretty amazing.

This sign telling people not to throw coins into the geyers:

The Icelandic attitude towards beer:

Would we go back to Iceland again? Yes! But probably in the winter when you get to do things like see more glaciers and descend down into ice caves. Until then, really missing that hot spring.

Do You Write Commentaries On Your Own Work?

I believe it’s important to reflect back on what you write, to self-criticise. To examine and share the ideas you perhaps had behind a piece of work. It helps to understand if your intentions come across in the writing and if what you wanted to convey reached the reader.

  I first began writing commentaries on my work at university, mostly because it was part of the creative writing course…

Now Live on Fairy Tale Fantastica: The Sweet House

In the midst of a deep forest, a witch built a house made of bread and cake and sugar.

She knew that children loved sweet things and couldn’t wait for a young girl or boy (or both) to happen upon her sweet home. She lined the windows with candy, covered the steps with gingerbread and even grew flowers that were made of chocolate.

When the house was built, she readied her fire and boiled her water…

Highlight #1. First Class (on the way)

Nothing beats a free upgrade! Even though it was just a domestic flight for us, were lucky enough to get First Class. With (genuinely) friendly flight attendants, big cushy seats. And Mai Tais.

And yes, that is Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey. If you’ve never read it I highly recommend doing so (it won the Pulitzer in 1928).

Highlight #2. Swimming with Green Sea Turtles

They are everywhere in Hawaii and they are HUGE! These local green sea turtles are pretty amazing to see up close, and their shells are as big as your arm or longer. They come in close to shore to forage for food on the rocks and they’re not afraid of people. Every five minutes or so they stick their heads above water for air. The first time, I only managed to get few pics of it’s back.

You’re not supposed to touch them, but they don’t seem to care if you stand close and gawk (though one stupid woman did touch one so she could take a photo, and while doing so got viciously dumped by a wave … = karma or “mother nature wins”).

Highlight #3. The Road Past Hana

Unfortunately, the Road to Hana (from the airport to Hana along the coast) was a bit of a let down and somewhat of a tourist trap. We drove it ourselves. The waterfalls weren’t really happening, the Cave of Waianapanapa took all of 2 minutes to get to and look at, the smoked BBQ food we wanted to get at the shop stop wasn’t happening, and the Seven Sacred Pools were closed for swimming!

But – there was redemption. The drive that continued on after Hana/the Sacred Pools was amazing (most tours turn around at this point, I’m guessing). It runs along the southern coast of the island, past the Haleakala volcano. Technically, you’re not covered if you take a hire car along this (dirt) road, but it was well worth it. The views and scenery were spectacular and there was barely another soul around!

Highlight #4. Snorkelling  

We went snorkelling in two bays here – Honolua Bay and Kapalua Bay.

Honolua Bay was nice but murky near the shore, and further out there wasn’t a huge amount of coral/fish about. The biggest highlight here was probably encountering a GIGANTIC school of fish pretty far out in the bay … at first I thought I was approaching the rock wall, and then I realised it was actually a huge school! Probably the size of a small room. It was fun to swim and dive at them and watch them dart away. Never seen anything like it!

Other than that, Kapalua was definitely the better of the two for snorkelling (though we went earlier in the morning) and managed to see a good deal of tropical fish (though nothing compared to what you see on the Fijian islands).

At certain points the water was quite shallow, so the reef was just an arm’s reach away and the fish were basically right in your face! Need to get an underwater camera for next time.

This is a photo of Napili Bay (I think) but it gives you an idea of how they all look.

Highlight #5. The Jeep Wrangler

Spat: “What kind of car do you want to book for Maui?”

Esh: “Just the smallest, cheapest car is fine.”

Spat: “Okay, I booked a Ford Fiesta to save some money.”

5 days later … we are driving off in a fricken Wrangler. Thanks to a cheap upgrade offer at the rental desk and Esh basically wetting his pants with excitement!! It was a chunky but fun car and despite the rain we still took the windows off!

Highlight #6. Hawaiian Food 

It’s hard to go wrong in Hawaii unless you’re eating at some real touristy place. It’s kind of a blend of Polynesian and Asian food, so lots of stuff with meat and rice. Here’s the first meal we ate – Esh had the must-try Loco Moco, and I had real Mongolian Beef (rah! pretty much impossible to find in Seattle) with Pork Lau Lau (pork in leaf). Yummo

On our last night we also booked ourselves in for a luau at the Feast of Lele, which cost a bomb but included something like 5 polynesian courses (each relating to Hawaii, NZ, Tahiti and Samoa), all-inclusive drinks and cocktails (!!) and of course, music, dancing and info about each culture.

The food was delish on on the more surprising side, we didn’t end up feeling as full as we thought we would be. Num num num.

Other foodie highlights include fresh fruit from the markets, and the food at the Fish Market cafe across the road from our hotel.

Highlight #7. Sunsets Over the Water

One per day! We had a great view from the back of our hotel. Here’s a video loop that will run through automatically:

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Highlight #8. Our Hotel (Paki Maui)

Our hotel ended up being a winner (despite the rooms being a bit of a dump), thanks to the beach and water right out the back. Once you get past the rocky shore it’s fine, and we saw another huge turtle here! Drinking a few beers and swimming in the afternoons until sunset became a regular way to end the day.

Other Honourable Mentions …

This bar in town with amazing views owned by Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac. Beautiful, but expensive.

This guitarist who was part of the band at the Feast for Lele. Too many cocktails, boys, perhaps?

This Bubba Gump restaurant from Forrest Gump, which I can’t actually remember but I’m sure is significant.

These views!

  And awesome friends! (Shaina, I stole some of these from you hehehe)

Til next time, Maui!

Stories Told By the Dead

Is fiction the one place where the dead can live on?

They live on in our hearts, yes. But in stories they can tell their story; they can speak, be given a voice. Characters can die and come back to life or they can be dead from the beginning. These are not ghost stories, but narratives that live beyond life itself.

One of the key stories that comes to mind when I think about this is, of course,…

Last Darkness Reaches Chapter 10

“The tunnels shudder. From somewhere outside and above, I hear a roar as the ground explodes. Behind us, the vortex blasts through the passageways, sucking them up, sending rock and sand hurling.”

My online sci-fi novel is now up to Chapter 10 … Yay! Am enjoying the writing ride. You can support me and read the story by clicking on the image:

Or visiting: https://lastdarkness.wordpress.com/2016/…

What’s the One Book Ending You Always Remember?

Does the ending the really make the book? I was reading one from the vault on Book Riot and I’m torn.

On one hand, you can have a mind-blowing book with an ending that’s lacking (even if only on a personal level); you enjoy the read, but the ending isn’t quite what you’d hoped.

I experienced this recently when I read Hilary Mantel’s brilliant book, Bring Up the Bodies. I loved every word I read,…

Cabo San Lucas sits right down at the bottom of the Baja Peninsula, Mexico. It’s about a 5-hour flight from Seattle, with a stopover along the way.

After stuffing around at the airport, we finally made it onto the hotel shuttle with a beer in hand.

We stayed at the Marina Fiesta, which was in a great location and easy walking distance to everything. This was our semi-view of the pool.

We discovered a lot of cool little bars and eateries in the ‘back streets’ of Cabo, away from the tourist dock/strip. The food was amazing and best of all, it was cheap! Like $2 coronas and $3 tacos.

One highlight was this awesome rock band, who basically shack up in an outdoor bar every night (the Jungle Bar, I think) and play cool tunes. They were playing War Pigs (Black Sabbath) when we first got there! \m/

Another one of our faves was also this tiny tequila bar called Slim Elbows. It basically seated four people and was covered, like a few other bars in the area, in American dollar bills. Naturally, beers, (real) tequila and sticking a $1 bill up with our names on it :) It was great to chat to the barmaids as well, who were lovely Mexican locals.

Of course, the biggest perk of the whole trip (especially having come from cold and wet Seattle) was the hot weather and the BEACH! We spent a lot of time here, mostly at the end where the locals hang out.

That tiny figure in the water there is Eshy!

Further down the beach there’s also the tourist spot and a few bars. The food was good but expensive! Nice views though. Here’s Esh waiting for some nachos:

On our last day, we did (as expected) a boat tour out to the famous El Arco. The tour takes out out of the bay and around to the Pacific Ocean side of the peninsula, which is beautiful but not swimmable.

What they call Coyote Rock:

Lover’s Beach – on the other side (the Pacific side) is Divorce Beach. Apparently called so because if you swim there you’ll get swept away.

Looking back towards the mainland:

A few more street shots to give you an idea of what it looks like there.

The region outside the city seems like a vast desert wasteland… lots of bush, scrub and cacti!

It was a fantastic little long weekend, and we were thrilled to get some sun, get a tan (well, I did) and hit the beach like old times.

Next time, I think we’ll head over to the other side of Mexico, to the coast of Yucatan, and maybe even head down to Belize!

From Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula

We don’t get a lot of public holidays here in the states, so when one does come around, you have to make the most of it. This year’s Memorial Day saw us loading up the car, Moby and all, and heading across to western Washington, to the Olympic Peninsula. The Peninsula is basically a big chunk of land on the western border of Washington state, with its coastline overlooking the Pacific Ocean,…

To the Bridge at Deception Pass

It’s an entire state park, but Deception Pass – at least in the short time we spent visiting it – is also a tiny straight separating Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands in Seattle / Washington. It’s known for it’s famed bridge (the Deception Pass Bridge) and it’s gorgeous views, and so we took a quick day trip out here with Moby the other week. Some shots of the views below… You can see the small beach…

My Online Fantasy/Sci-Fi Novel is Teaching Me Things

Is going well so far. I’m really enjoying writing it, treating each ‘chapter’ as a little exercise in flash-ish fiction, and also working out the bigger story picture and how to tell in terms of the characters (probably the part I love most about writing!).

It’s strange how online writing and publishing is completely different to working on novel offline. A few things I’ve learned along the way …

Our Vegas trip was a tonne of fun, from touring the casinos and doing a bit of gambling to eating out Downtown and relaxing by the pool at The Mirage.

Here are some pics of The Strip. It is dazzling in a very trashy American sort of way. There are people everywhere. By day it looks like a total dive that’s probably worst than the Gold Coast. By night it’s all glittery … but still trashy :)

The famous Bellagio Fountains … thought the show was a little overrated. It was pretty swish inside though! Still, the Wynn was nicer.

Planet Hollywood:

Daytime at The Venetian and canals … you know, just in case you have a desire to go to Venice, but don’t actually want to leave the country.

  Inside The Venetian … somewhat nicer, in casino terms. Tables were generally cheaper than at The Mirage – but let’s just say I also paid $17 for glass of low grade red wine.

We also learned that every movie, celebrity and TV show under the sun is not afraid to pimp itself out to a pokie machine. As you can see above, there are Gremlins pokies. We also saw pokies with Ghostbusters, Ellen, the Big Bang Theory, Bones and a whole bunch of others.

Here’s a tower built by some raving lunatic … fortunately, we had a view of this from our hotel room.

Needless to say, Esh and I actually LOVED Downtown – aka the old / original Vegas. This rests about a 10 min drive from The Strip and is much less “glamorous” and more authentic and fun.

The food here is also amazing – best dinner we had took place at Carson Kitchen on 6th – Bacon Jam & Brie (see pic below), Crispy Chicken Skins (also in pic), Oxtail and Black Rice Risotto … need we say more! And of course, cocktails.

Another two awesome places we ate at – Rollin’ Smoke BBQ, for really great BBQ, and Tacos El Gordo, for some amazingly authentic Mexican tacos. The queue was out the door and it took almost an hour to get food, but it was worth it. If you’re in Vegas, you HAVE to eat at these places.

At the other end of the scale, we also sauntered by the infamous Heart Attack Grill downtown … where you can order a burger with something ridiculous like 20 patties and 40 slices of bacon, and where you eat free if you weigh over 350lbs. No wonder America has an obesity problem…

But overall, we had a blast – thrilled to have finally done the ‘Vegas thing’ and looking forward to going back one day in the far future … probably to explore more of Downtown, work on my tan, and do a little more gambling and cocktail-by-the-pool drinking.

Hello, Harrison Hot Springs, Canada

A few weeks back we (finally!) made our first trip across the US border – and into Canada-land! The purpose: To head to Harrison Hot Springs Resort, on Lake Harrison, which lies just about an hour over the border. The resort describes itself as a “1920s spa option” – complete with mineral hot spring water pools. After a long drive to get out of Seattle (Friday, peak hour), we made it to the…

He’s definitely bigger (almost full-size now, can’t believe how small he used to be!), a little smart-arse and unsettlingly clever, and overly demanding when it comes to food and wanting to get his own way – but we love him to death!

Couldn’t be more thrilled to have this little guy as part of our family. He’s turned out to be a pretty well-behaved little pup. His tail wags non-stop, and he’s still a little ball of energy and fun.

Here’s what we’ve figured out over the past year:

He’s his “own little dog” – very independent (sometimes code for stubborn)

He’s super smart; show him something once or twice and he picks it up

He’s got an oddly good memory

He lets out a cross between a bark and a howl when he’s busting to go to the loo and you’re not taking him fast enough

He LOVES snow

Last Darkness, Last Earth – First 3 Chapters Now Live!

Exciting news! The first three chapters (plus the three opening prologues) of my online sci-fi narrative, Last Darkness, Last Earth, are now live! Here’s an excerpt: From the black depths of space, they come. Gargantuan ships hovering shapes against the dark haze. In the night, she watches them from her window. They each remind her of ghosts, big and black in the night sky. They are bigger than…