TravelStream™ news feed for member 72kelly on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/72kelly en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:12:55 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205404500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205404500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205404500/tpod.html Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:12:55 -0400 USA - Canada - UK - winter wonders.

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Nain, Newfoundland, Canada

On Sunday night we went to Is's cousin Gary & Trudy's for drinks and to check out the big polar bear skin. JJ & RJ had lots of fun posing on the bear and it was certainly a safer experience than one in real life! They are huge and hunt mercilessly if they get a human scent they will follow you for days. There is a rotating licence system to hunt the bears & only 2 may be killed in a year. People can apply for a licence but it only lasts couple of days before it passes on to the next person until 2 bears have been taken.
On Monday we went back up to the pond (5th or 6th) to try some ice fishing. We drilled 3 holes in the almost 6' deep ice and spent a short time jiggling a lure up & down but the fish had a win that day and we resorted to weiners and hot chocolate again. TC & I did a bit of a run around town to take some photos when we got home as the weather had turned calm & sunny again. It's quite amusing standing at the bottom of the dock looking at nothing but ice for miles.
'Twas a wee bit cold but we managed to go to the cabin on Tuesday last week. We left in convoy of 5 ski-doo's, 9 people and Sue's dog with 2 commaticks #sp! (boxes that are towed behind like a trailer) for a 1 hr 20 min ride across exposed stretches of sea ice, through little woods and along frozen rivers/creeks. We stopped at Sid, Is & KP's little cabin at the head of an inlet with nothing but hills, snow & ice in sight. Sid stopped a few times for me to take photos and he showed me his favourite spot in the woods on the trail. Then within just 500m of the cabin, his ski-doo decided to cut out and wouldn't restart. It was a bit too cold to spend long trying to figure out the problem so Ray towed it to the cabin where we warmed up with a fire and some lunch. Most of us then went on to Ray & Sue's cabin at Black Island where there are about 8 other cabins so almost a small community. The wind had sprung up here & it was bitterly cold so we headed back to the other cabin to pick up Sid & his ski-doo and tackle the long journey back to Nain. A couple of times the wind pushed the commaticks around and they tipped over spilling their contents out on the ice. We're glad we weren't in there!
Got back to Nain and got busy packing. Is and Sid cooked a superb farewell tea for us all and it was sad to know we would soon be gone from this cold but magical place.
Wednesday morning came all too quickly & we were soon off to the airport with our ski-doo convoy. The airport of course is just a big shed and yet it is a really busy place with sometimes 10 planes a day in & out. A lot of them are contract flights for the mine but also the mail run and passenger planes.
We said our goodbyes to Kendra in the morning before school & everyone else at the airport before boarding the little Twin Otter 18 seater where the icy wind comes in the doors for the 1 hr 40 min flight to Goose Bay.
There we changed to an Air Canada flight to Halifax where we changed and went on to Montreal. Thought the time was getting a bit too short to make the flight to New York but due to maintenance issues with the plane that had to be signed off, we ended up sitting around for quite a while.
Back to the USA ·.
We finally got in to New York La Guardia airport at 9.30pm and made our way to the Edison Hotel right off Times Square. What a fantastic vibrant and busy place!
Lights, neon signs, masses of people· constant activity noise.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1206373140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1206373140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1206373140/tpod.html Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:41:37 -0400 USA - Canada - UK - winter wonders.

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Bishop's Stortford, United Kingdom

Last stop - United Kingdom
We arrived at Heathrow after a long & cramped flight with hard seats in the very back row of the plane. Pleased to see TC's cousin John to meet us & drive us home to Bishop's Stortford & all the comforts of home.
In the afternoon in an effort to stay awake we visited John's brother Alan in his little farm home on the other side of town. The cottage is very old - supposedly one of if not the oldest in the district dated around the 1500's. Beautifully restored & yet comfortably modern inside it was a treat to see. Alan also has horses & a dog, which the kids played with for ages in the cold air giving them very rosy cheeks. Home to Jenny to dinner & a well looked for sleep.
Off to London on Wednesday as it had the best forecast for weather. We caught the train in (30 mins) & proceeded to be frustrated by an unfair number of delays & detours to get where we wanted to go. First the tourism info sent us in the wrong direction which cost us over 2 hours of precious time including some horrendous traffic hold-ups due to traffic lights being out in Trafalgar Square (where we should have gone straight to on the tube!). In frustration we got off the bus & found some delicious lunch in Covent Garden then tried to rejoin the right bus tour. It was 2.10pm before we caught the right one & were finally on our way which meant we couldn't hop off anywhere for fear of not finishing the tour before dark. We wound our way around all the London landmarks with a freezing wind on top of the double decker bus but were determined it wasn't all bad. We did stop at Buckingham Palace for a brief photo stop then caught the next tour bus 20mins later (the 2nd last for the day). I had also bought tickets to the London Eye but we decided that could wait until dark & stayed on the bus a bit longer. We then made our way to the river Thames for the ½ hour boat cruise including in our bus ticket. The gatekeeper shut the gate on the boat as we got there & wouldn't let us on so yet another delay only to find if we'd stayed the other side of the river we could have caught it there anyway. Eventually we got to the Tower but of course the last ticket had been sold 40 mins earlier so we didn't hang around. By now it was peak hour but we tackled the tube again with a very slow trip back to the London Eye. Now it really was dark & we did get a spectacular view of London at night from the Eye which was the big highlight for the day. Exhausted & more tube delays we made it back to the train station & got home at 10 pm. All this with TC suffering from a fluey bug he picked up in NY!
Thursday was a whole lot better with John & Jenny taking us to Newmarket for a tour of the racing museum, gallops, stables & town features (horse racing capital). In the afternoon after a delightful lunch we went on a tour of the National Stud - all thoroughly enjoyable & interesting (even for TC) despite cold rainy conditions. Highlight for all of us was the pretty grey 3 day old colt brought out to meet us. All the stallions were in their boxes due to the weather & the other mares & foals were not interested in meeting us either as they were sheltering from the rain.
On good Friday I had thoughts of going back to London with the kids (TC not well enough) but RJ woke with TC's nasty bug & squashed any ideas of more sightseeing. Thanks to J&J's wonderful hospitality it was pretty easy to stay close to home. TC went with John to Redding to pick up our niece Renee who is over here for a 5 year working holiday & we haven't seen her for a good few years so it was nice to have her visit with us.
Saturday's weather was not great with a little snow as well as rain. TC still not keen to venture out & RJ definitely housebound. We all went to see the Spiderwick Chronicles to fill in the morning. It cleared a little in the afternoon so John took TC, Renee & I on a short drive around the area and to see where Betty had worked as cook in the Barnados house - Little Bardfield Hall. It is now a private residence but we did sneak a look before going into St Katharine's Church where Betty would have gone to church on Sunday's. It was very cold (3 C) but the sun did shine a little for us before it snowed most of the way home through other little villages of Finchingfield, Saffron Walden, Thaxted, Newport (where Nell Gwyn's house - 1500's) & home via Stansted village where J&J own an office building - 1550 same age as Alan's cottage & same construction.
Easter Sunday morning dawned with a white blanket of snow covering everything much to all the Aussie's delight. It was picture perfect & enough to keep us home from church. We did sneak out in the garden though & built a proper snowman & marvelled at the garden under a couple of inches of snow. A little unusual for Easter but not uncommon for this time of year. TC, Renee & kids had a round of 10 pin bowling before lunch but JJ lost the plot & was out of sorts for the afternoon.
We were joined in the afternoon by other family - Alan & Tina, Claire & Aunty Jean for afternoon lunch & it was a really nice time with everyone. Unfortunately the cold air played up with RJ's cough & he struggled for the rest of the day, night & today - our last day here.
Consequently we've had a pretty quiet time here & not done anywhere near the things we planned to do like visit other friends & family. Nevertheless it's been nice to sit & relax before coming home after a fantastic family holiday (or marathon!).
Hope you've enjoyed our jottings & we'll catch up soon with everyone.
Cheers for now
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205751480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205751480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205751480/tpod.html Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:00:13 -0400 USA - Canada - UK - winter wonders.

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New York City, New York, United States

New York City
On Thursday morning we ventured out & had breakfast followed by a bit of exploring to get our bearings. We walked to the Rockefeller Centre to buy our New York passes (a great idea if you're there for a few days) and proceeded to the "Top of the Rock". A fast elevator ride saw us again on top of a tall building. The visibility wasn't great but it gave us an idea of where things were in Manhattan.
We then had to transfer to the Bedford Hotel which we had originally booked in the West side. Manhattan is laid out in a very orderly fashion for such an old city. There is Uptown, Midtown & Downtown areas then there is the Village which is circular. The larger avenues (5th Ave, 7th Ave etc) are 2 way streets and wider than the numerical streets which cross them (42nd St) except for Broadway which seems to meander through sort of diagonally.
5th Ave is the dividing street between east & west and our hotel was on W 40th Street. Although the blocks are quite small between the streets, the Avenue blocks were longer & we did our fair share of walking for the first few days. This was good to move around after 2 weeks of sitting on our backsides in Nain, but created very sore feet & legs not to mention 2 tired kids.
In the afternoon we went to Times Square to pick up bus tickets then visited Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. It is full of the odd & unusual things in life with excellent exhibits - some hands on too so the kids thoroughly enjoyed this stop.
Day 2 in NY we picked up the hop on - hop off bus & toured around the city's landmarks. We went to the top of the Empire State building and viewed the city again from another tall building. Visibility was very low so couldn't see much on or off the island. We went on through the Village and stopped at St Paul's right next to Ground Zero. The former site of the Twin Towers is now completely under construction with the memorial pools and new towers well underway. There will be a museum relating to the 9/11 story and the plans certainly look respectful. It interested us later when trying to buy postcards of NY that very few don't have some sort of ghosted image of the towers imprinted where they stood. Bizarre!
Finish date for the construction varied from Sept '09 to Sept 2012. St Paul's is known as the miracle church as it has withstood several catastrophic events over time. It was the base for exhausted rescue workers to grab a nap or a massage etc during the cleanup and rescue process and now houses many memorabilia and tributes to those involved and lost. Certainly an emotional place to visit and will be interesting to see how the development progresses.
TC then decided we had to go investigate Cliff St which he had spied on the map. Another 15min walking much to kids disgust & we stopped there for a photo before rejoining the bus tour. We hopped off at the Waldorf Astoria to walk back to the hotel for a spell as we were meeting a friend for dinner in the evening.
Cindy (we met in Germany at a wedding in 1988) found us in M&M's World & we went on to Toy's R Us in Times Square (incidentally not square at all). The toy shop was 3 floors of delight for the kids although we didn't buy much at all. There is a life size dinosaur, ferris wheel with cute them cars as the carriages and a huge Barbie house. We finally got them out of there & enjoyed dinner at Planet Hollywood. Cruel as we are, we made the kids walk with us to catch the ferry to New Jersey with Cindy to see the Manhattan skyline at night. It was raining a little, but still gave us a good view of the lights.
Cindy went on home & we returned on the next ferry back to the hotel (taxi from the boat!). Unfortunately this made for a very late night & exhausted kids.
Saturday morning we met up with Marty & Laura whom we met on our Contiki tour to Europe in 1988. They & their daughters took us on a walk up to Central Park to Strawberry Fields then back again through the park. All the lawn is off limits for the season as it would get too damaged with people walking on it all winter. The kids did find some rocks to climb which made them happy though. We stopped at Jekyll & Hyde for lunch - a restaurant with a macabre theme and live performers along with mechanical beasts and people acting out storylines from the Jekyll & Hyde era. Kids loved it and it was a lot of fun although JJ wasn't too sure in the beginning.
We then walked back up to Times Square & Laura & I lined up for cheap theatre tickets while the others went back to Toys R Us & the Hershey's chocolate store. We managed to get tickets to Monty Python's Spamalot that evening & were all set for a good laugh. We had a few hours to fill in so went on the subway to catch the free Staten Island ferry. It went past the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island & we made the return journey back on the next ferry. We dined on McDonald's for dinner then went off to have a good laugh at good old British humour. We said our goodbyes to the Wormsley's & managed to get back to the hotel before collapsing in a heap.
Sunday we decided that it was time for down time and had a very lazy morning. We went out in the afternoon & tackled Macy's for some retail therapy. The crowds were massive still & we managed to buy some clothes for the kids & not much else before it was 7pm. Macy's NY claim's to be the largest department store in the world (as do Harrods) so it was an amazing place - with some of the original wooden escalators still in operation. It was also the first day of their spring flower show which was a fantastic display of colourful spring flowers. The window displays were female mannequins dressed in flowers with all different themes. Certainly brightened up everything.
On Monday we were up & packed early as we had to check out of the hotel by 11am & had plans well before that. We walked to the United Nations building to see all the flags flying & the Tibetan protesters peaceful protest across the road. It was also near to where a building crane had collapsed across 2 streets and killed 5 people the last news we heard. Although we didn't get close you could see where the fire trucks & police were blocking off all access to the area.
We then walked back to Grand Central Station (just a short walk from our hotel) and made our way to the harbour to catch a 90min cruise around Manhattan. They were running on a different timetable to the one we had been given which caused some frustration but we decided we could still fit it in okay.
It was cold but a nice view of the Manhattan skyline from the water & took in a close view of the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island.
On return we taxied back across town with little delay - surprising seeing as it was St Patrick's day with a parade down 5th Ave which lasts from 11am - 4pm disrupting everything.
We had a few minutes to spare before our white stretch limousine taking us to Newark International Airport. The kids were excited seeing as we had missed out on the limo experience in Toronto. Once checked in we had a fair wait (we were very early!!) so ate some dinner then boarded a small plane to Washington. It was a bit of a worry as they had only one runway open due to high winds & we felt them when we finally got off the ground running 1 hour late. We still arrived in Washington with plenty of time though & made our flight to London with no dramas.
Well that's the USA & Canada over with - on to the UK for a week before we head back down under.
Cheers
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205085060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205085060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1205085060/tpod.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:03:49 -0400 USA - Canada - UK - winter wonders.

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Nain, Newfoundland, Canada

We had a bit of a party on the 4th - celebrated our 24th anniversary. Unfortunately my skidoo ride that day threw my neck out and I spent the next day in bed with a big headache (not helped by red wine either).
Well the weather has prevented us from going as far as the cabin, but we did go for a big skidoo ride around Nain yesterday. Is's parents Ray & Sue came with us and Sid and we travelled on sea ice, up and down hills, through the woods etc. On the sea ice we saw an arctic fox, trotted right past us as though we weren't even there and looked mighty put out when Sid tried to attract his attention for me to take his photo. We stopped back at the same place as the other day and had another cook out in the snow. RJ & JJ also drove the skidoo around, scared the pants off TC.
Fantastic scenery - hard to capture the essence in pictures but we are trying. Take into account the amount of clothes we have on: Long underwear, clothes, jumper, snowpants & big heavy coat, neck warmer, beanie, fur hat, big mittens (I have to take these off to get the camera out), goggles not too mention big heavy snow boots. We have become a little faster at getting dressed and are finding it easier to get around but when it is so cold you can only take about 3 photos before you have to put your hands back in mittens or they start to freeze. Seeing and focusing through ski goggles is interesting too. Camera is coping well though.
It's really cold today with a gusty wind. We are hoping to see a blizzard but not sure if it will happen while we're here. Only a few days left here now so all of a sudden we have lot's to do and little time.
The other day, Sid decided to try and build an igloo - it's not as easy as you would think and he may have trouble getting the roof on as he didn't start right. Not bad for his first go though. Kids built a snow cave and Trev tried a snow man but snow wasn't quite right (that's his excuse anyway).
When it's sunny and no wind here we can go out with lighter coats on and kids have had a lot fun in the snow. We had hoped Sunday would have been good enough to travel out to the cabin but doesn't look like we're going to get there after all now. It's over an hour on skidoo and a couple of long sections on sea ice which is very cold if there is any wind at all.
We went to an ice hockey game last night and then to Ray & Sue's for supper - caribou meat cakes (rissoles) which is a lot like kangaroo meat.
We're leaving here a day earlier now as Sid & Is are both leaving for work then. Am trying to get through to Air Canada - been on hold for a good 10 mins now - to change all our flights to try to get to New York a day earlier.
JJ & KP are playing in KP's bedroom and RJ is outside in the snow with TC & Uncle Sid - trying to finish the igloo! Well next time we may be in NY city or somewhere along the way.

Cheers for now
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1204307820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1204307820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1204307820/tpod.html Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:35:09 -0500 USA - Canada - UK - winter wonders.

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Nain, Newfoundland, Canada

Finally we reach our primary destination. Nain - The northernmost community on Eastern mainland Canada with a mainly Inuit population of 1400 people, Nain spends about 6-8 months of the year under a blanket of snow and ice. Founded by Moravian missionaries in the 1800's, Nain was borne from nomadic people living around the region. How did we come to be here on "holiday" you may well ask?

My brother, commonly known as Sid, moved here as a nurse in the clinic 17 years ago from Palm Island, Qld, Australia on a quest for adventure. He certainly found that and also met his wife Isabella. He spent the first 9 months working in the clinic, staffed at that time with just 4 nurses who coped with all medical situations.
In a life of adventures that would easily fill a book, Sid is still living in Nain with Is and their daughter. Both now work for the Voisey's Bay Mining Company.

The average temperature for the year here is around -15 C and our maximum's have been between around -19 to -22 but then you add on wind chill factor and it is as cold as -33 C. Thankfully we have been well looked after in the clothing department with big heavy expedition coats, neck warmers, hoods, gloves, mitts, goggles etc. It's hard to recognise ourselves sometimes!
Still - it's been warm enough for us to get outside a bit. We've been out a few times on the ski-doo's (fabulous mode of transport, bit like a mechanical goat really as they seem to be able to go anywhere there is snow or ice). We've been sliding (like sand dunes only colder) and snow shoeing, had a little fire in the snow to cook "weiner's" and marshmallows on. Hot chocolate is pretty popular here too.
We hope to get up to the family cabin tomorrow - like their not remote enough - to get away! Life's pretty rustic up there and Sid's hopes the weather is good so we can see if we can find a polar bear (I'm all for standing behind the man with the gun!).

Anyway that's just a little bit for now about Nain. I'll add some more later on.
Cheers for now,
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1204306260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1204306260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1204306260/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:04:19 -0500 USA - Canada - UK - winter wonders.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto - Toronto is a huge city and very multicultural. Although it was late Saturday night when we arrived, it was the kid's first real experience with snow so RJ had to jump in the icy pile by the hotel front door.
On Sunday morning we ventured downtown by taxi (another $50) and were awe inspired by the world's tallest freestanding tower (553.33m) - the CN Tower. With a fast ride in a glass elevator (scary) up to the 114th floor (346m) we arrived in the observation deck. This had a restaurant and viewing right around the city and across Lake Ontario. Down 1 flight of stairs to the lower deck which featured a glass floor on which one was supposed to lay down on and look through the glass to the ground. Too scary for me & even TC couldn't walk on it - he crawled (like that would save you!!). It was a bizarre experience and the interesting fact is the glass floor is strong enough to hold the weight of 14 hippos. Didn't make many tourists feel better about walking on it! We then got back in the elevator to go up another 33 floors to the pod viewing level (447m). Much smaller and scarier but we all had a look around the 360∙ glass viewing platform before retreating back to the restaurant floor. Decided we would venture back to terra firma for lunch and of course had to file out through the mandatory souvenir shop on the way out.
It was a pleasant -2 C with the sun shining so we walked to the Mountain Equipment Co to purchase a few necessities for our trip north. Then we taxied to the Eaton (shopping) Centre - a huge (mainly underground) shopping mall. We found a few more basic things like tea & clothes for KC, games for the kids and food for all of us.
It was getting quite dark when we decided to head back to the hotel - and the freeways were all busy despite the fact it was Sunday evening. Nothing ever seems to slow down here!
We enjoyed probably the best meal since we left home at a little bar and grill called Kelsey's. Food was fantastic and service to match.
Monday morning we were picked up by our "limo" which was really just a nice big Ford Lincoln car (not a stretch) to be driven to Niagara Falls. While the driver was an excellent driver - he couldn't (or wouldn't) converse and spoke 4 words on the 1 hr trip down. This made for a bit of a boring trip as we would have liked to know what landmarks we passed etc but just had to figure it out for ourselves. I guess he was not a native Canadian and didn't have English skills as well as being a lot shy.
He dropped us off in Niagara and we found our way down to the falls. Our initial reaction was summed up by JJ with the question (3 times) what did we come here for? That was because it was quite misty and dull, the entire area of water we could see was completely frozen and the falls looked quite small. We discovered that we were looking at the USA side of the falls and luckily continued walking to the Canadian side which are the much more spectacular falls. Although things like Maid of the Mist weren't running and all the little tourist booths were closed at the first stop we made, we found more tourists and activity at the other end. We were able to go down behind the falls to the first level (the lower level is closed during winter due to ice) and see them a little closer. Fantastic sight with all the snow & ice around and not many people to negotiate makes interesting compared to summer time which is peak season and wall to wall people!
On the walk down too was a park with snow and cute little squirrels running around. Kids had their first go at making snowballs and quite enjoyed this activity.
After a couple of hours we returned to our driver and had an equally quiet return trip to Toronto. We decided to skip the downtown tour as we felt our guide may not point out or tell us anything so returned to our hotel for a quiet afternoon packing. Ate in our room and retired relatively early as we had a 5.15am start the next morning.
Caught the airport shuttle and were at Toronto Pearson by 6.40am. It was snowing which was a worry as we didn't have any room for delays in our schedule that day. Then at the gate we were told that boarding was delayed as they couldn't get power to the plane - well that was also a worry, but we boarded the plane once that problem was solved. Then of course we had to join the queue to have the plane de-iced before we took off over 40mins late.
I was sure we wouldn't make our connecting flight in Halifax but with 10 passengers on our flight catching the same plane they waited for us. I was sure that our luggage wouldn't have made it either but was pleased when we arrived in Goose Bay to find it had. Sid had sent down expedition coats for us to put on before we got on the little 19 seat Twin Otter to Nain. We all stood out a bit and got highly amazed reactions when TC told a fellow passenger we were visiting Nain for a holiday from Australia! There is no such thing as an air bridge here and we stepped out on the tarmac in our normal gear at -17 C. Lucky only a short run to the building.
Then our long awaited adventure began for real ..... To be continued.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1203772320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1203772320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/72kelly/1/1203772320/tpod.html Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:52:23 -0500 USA - Canada - UK - winter wonders.

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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

23/2 - Well Las Vegas continued to razzle and dazzle with its 24/7 activity. On Thursday morning we rose and ate at RJ's favourite place - the Circus Circus all you can eat buffet. Then we set off on foot down to the other end of the "Strip" or Las Vegas Boulevard. This is quite a way with many hotels and attractions to see along the road. We picked up tickets at Excalibur then went on to Caesar's Palace where we were amazed at the replicas of roman landmarks and statues everywhere. Miles of shops in the Roman Forum although window shopping was about all we could afford! We picked up our Bette Midler tickets then proceeded to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Strip. For dinner we were back at Excalibur for the Tournament of Kings involving performers in full medieval costume, acrobats and strong men & pretty maidens. There was jousting and acts of skill and bravery and of course the evil dragon king for us all to boo at. Our King was Francois from France who was the last king standing at the end until the dragon king's evil team "took him out". Thankfully the good son of King Arthur - Sir Christopher - rose up and prevailed to win the night or knight - whichever way you look at it, it was great fun. We tackled the Strip again on the way home, planning to catch a cab but didn't seem to find one. Despite RJ & JJ's repeated claims they were dying or their legs/feet were dropping off! We all made it home just a little tired.
One of the highlights was the fountains at Bellagio - play every ½ hour to music and are just spectacular. No rest for the weary, we were up early on Friday morning to catch a SUV (4WD) tour out to Red Rock Canyon.
Las Vegas is surrounded by magnificent mountain scenery and Red Rock Canyon was no exception. Unfortunately the weather was the worst day of our trip with freezing cold winds etc and coincidentally the first day we had left our jackets behind (we hadn't used them yet!).
Still we were shown Joshua Trees, cactus, Juniper trees, Colorado Pinyon (pine nut) Trees and more. Our first stop was the Red Rock Canyon visitors centre which told us lots about the natural history of the area. The Red Rock Canyon comprises a stunning array of coloured hills - sandhills frozen in time. Sandstone, Limestone, Magnesium and Ironstone coloured them in bands of red, yellow and white and I'm sure on a sunny day in summertime are just stunning. We then went offroad up into the mountains a short distance and bounced around. It was raining so water started running down the hills and we even saw a small flash flood on the way home. Unfortunately (due to the weather) no desert burros or tortoises to be seen.
One stop was at an ancient Indian site with handprints on the rock face. All in all a great morning drive.
We were dropped back at the Luxor (pyramid) Hotel where we tried their buffet out as well as explored the hotel a little. Unfortunately (seems to be our luck a bit) King Tut's tomb was closed.
We moved on to MGM Grand mainly to see their lion's in the special lion habitat. It was afternoon nap time though so we didn't see much of them and moved on to M&M's world which is 4 floors of M&M's souvenirs of every kind and budget imaginable. A real example of successful merchandising complete with a free 3D movie titled I lost my M in Vegas! We settled for mainly edible treats from this shop.
Decided it was time for our afternoon nap and retired to Circus Circus for a couple of hours. We then set off for Caesar's Palace for our date with the Divine Miss M. Once through tight security screening we had one usher tell us that the show wasn't suitable for children. We responded that we were well aware of the type of show it was and that's why our seats were way up the top of the Coliseum. We almost got vertigo carrying our "free" cocktails (softies for the kids) down the steps to our seats and proceeded to relax and enjoy a spectacular show.
Unbelievably well looking and talented for her age, although age was the butt of many of her jokes, Bette played her 3rd night to a full house. The scantily clad (but not naked) Caesar's Salad girls backed up the H.. Harlots and Bette with a great display of showgirl performance. One scene included all on stage in mermaid outfits wizzing around in wheelchairs which was very funny.
Most of Bette's naughty humour went over the kids heads (we hope) but had us laughing our heads off. Needless to say she was a big highlight of TC & my trip and the kids enjoyed it (JJ more than RJ).
To the kids relief we taxied home and prepared to leave the lovely but loud Las Vegas on Saturday morning.
Got through security and spent yet another couple of hours in an airport waiting for our flight to Toronto.
I'll leave it there for now as I'm sure you've read enough for now. Cheers til next time.... KC
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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Great little flight from Eugene to Las Vegas - landing in what seemed like the middle of the strip or Las Vegas Boulevard amid thousands of neon lights.
Wow it's now a week since we left home.
Settled in to our room at Circus Circus pretty late so had a quiet day on Monday. We ventured out the front door of the hotel for 5 minutes then returned for lunch. Spent the entire day exploring the hotel complex which is simply massive. Took us a little bit to get our bearings in amongst the many shops, eating areas, entertainment venues and of course wall to wall gambling facilities.
Our highlight of the day was watching the free Circus acts and playing on numberous sideshow alley type games (not all free mind you). Kids enjoyed themselves and RJ particularly enjoyed the all you can eat buffet which is quite cheap and full of variety 24 hours a day almost.
Tuesday morning we were very fortunate to have a private performance in our hotel room by Las Vegas magician Gary Norsigian (friend of a friend). He certainly had us captivated and tricked with coin, card and disappearing tricks. He made my ring disappear from his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket in a zipped up key holder on a key hook while 4 of us were watching his every move!!!
Then Gary kindly drove us around outer Vegas to see some of the houses and suburbs before dropping us back to the hotel.
After lunch we were taken to an airfield out of Vegas to catch our helicopter flight down into the Grand Canyon. Spectacular experience and RJ & JJ got to fly in the front seats!! Flew over the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead then across massive lava fields before cruising down into the canyon itself for a pin point landing just a few hundred metres up from the Colorado River on the canyon floor. Here we spent 1/2 an hour just looking up in awe and enjoying a light snack with our group. Lot's of photos were taken before boarding and flying back in the twilight to land in the dark. Fantastic experience well worth the cost & time.
On returning to Vegas we stopped off Downtown to see the most amazing laser light show projected onto the curved roof which covered over 2 city blocks down the mall.
Finished off with a contortionist (definitely made of rubber) and went back to the hotel for dinner.
Our fabulous day finished in sadness with the news that RJ's cat Tabitha had died (probably snakebite). All of us will miss her as she was a real character who has been part of our lives for 6 yrs now.
Wednesday - Kids day - all day passes for TC and kids in the Adventure Dome going on all the rides and doing lots of fun stuff. Unfortunately a couple of the rides weren't running so will have to miss them. Then some more had to close down as it was raining outside and the roof leaks so bit of a disappointment there too. Still JJ is proving to be a real roller coaster master and RJ is more like me (can't handle it). He preferred hanging upside down on the Inverter ride!
Anyway the next 2 days will be spent exploring the rest of the Strip as we haven't got out there yet! Tournament of Kings dinner tomorrow night & Bette Midler Friday night plus lots of free activities to explore.
Cheers for now, KC
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Creswell, Oregon, United States

Day 3 - The weather turned itself back on for us again today with a fine & pleasant day for the real Disneyland. It was a lot busier than California park on Tuesday with families everywhere. We are really glad we came in winter when it's not busy! We got through all the lands and many rides and the highlight of the day - meeting Captain Jack Sparrow on Treasure Island. (At least he was an excellent imitation of the real one). Also enjoyed the Parade of Dreams at night before we went back for a final shopping expedition in downtown Disney. It has certainly had a lot of additions since I was there 27 years ago but many of the old attractions still looked the same too. Kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves but again - everything super tame and the fastest thing we went on was the tea cup ride!
Day 4 - Up early for a long day of taxi, airport, flights and finally arrived in Eugene, Oregon to meet Peg and Bill after 27 years. Apart from their grandchildren being grown up and having their own families, the people hadn't changed a great deal and it was great to reunite with the family. The town of Cresswell however is now filling up with new housing developments and Peg & Bill's house is now surrounded with new homes instead of orchards & vacant blocks.
Day 5/6 - Just enjoyed spending time with the Bryant family in and around Cresswell before boarding our flight to Las Vegas, Nevada. Lights fantastic flying in & landing what seemed like metres from all the big hotels.
Finally settled in at Circus Circus with 2 tired kids.
More on LV later .....
Cheers for now,
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Anaheim, California, United States

Well on Monday we left from Adelaide International (small may it be!) airport. Randall had dutifully packed some things in his pencil case, including scissors, so they are now in the confiscated items bin in Adelaide.
Bought some Bundy for Uncle Sid - normal & special edition - at the Duty Free shop. Only trouble was no-one thought to mention that we couldn't carry it through the transit area when changing planes in Auckland - so that is in the confiscated items to be destroyed bin in Auckland airport.
Oh well - KC very cross at Air NZ for not telling us this piece of info when checking in!!!! 10/10 for the landing by pilots though.
Still quite bumpy but endurable flight to LA with another superb landing. Managed a couple of hours sleep despite the bumpy air and arrived to a very easy run through US customs in the incredibly busy LAX.
$115 cab ride out to Anaheim and settled into hotel. Decided to hit the street immediately and tried Denny's for lunch. Then wandered over to Downtown Disney for an exploratory tour. Had to keep moving to stay away as it had been a long haul. Managed that & all had an early night.
Day 2 - California Adventure Park (aka Disneyland 2). With perfect weather we decided today was the day for adventure albeit a little tamer than the Aussie worlds on the Gold Coast. Definitely tailored to the young family with under 10's in mind. Everything sparkling clean and friendly with safety in mind at every turn. Trevor says the roller coaster was the tamest he had been on yet (with Jaime) and even kept his eyes open going around Mickey's head. Trev & kids got a tad wet on the log ride so had to seek out some new outfits all round. Had breakfast, lunch and tea in the park and returned to hotel sufficiently stuffed & pleased with our first big day out.
Day 3 - Got the weather thing right as today was foggy (or cloudy or overcast or marine layers or smog....) & cool - couldn't see the Hollywood hills let alone the big white sign! Hopped on the VIP bus tour of downtown LAaaaa (Los Angeles), Hollywoooood (Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard & Strip, Walk of Fame) etc. Then we tripped off to Universal Studios for the rest of the day. Lots of fun here with the studio tour, special effects, house of horrors and Randall & Jaime both helped out in the special effects studio much to their delight. It might be a mere 27 years since I was here but still saw some of the same old favorites (Jaws, parting the waters) but thoroughly enjoyed the looks on the rest of the family's faces as well as the new attractions.
Fairly puffed tonight with an hour or so on the bus back to Anaheim at night on the 5 lanes each way chock-a-block freeway.
Food is very big here - serves are quite large and much fried or stodgy choices (pizza, churros, pancakes.... but even my chicken caesar salald was too much tonight.
Anyway might leave it at that for now - suffice to say we're having a good time. Back to the real Disneyland tomorrow then Friday back to LAX to head to Cresswell, Oregon.
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