TravelStream™ news feed for member lizianjosh on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lizianjosh en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 21 May 2007 17:24:39 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179778140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179778140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179778140/tpod.html Mon, 21 May 2007 17:24:39 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Dover, United Kingdom

Friday May 18th

Well, the final day of our adventure had arrived. We had mixed feelings about it, whilst being very keen to see family and friends it also meant that we were at the end of what was a very special time in our lives. Coming into Dover was not as spectacular as we had anticipated, white cliffs of Dover were not even visable! the fog was terrible and we had also arrived two hours early for some reason, think we should ask for a rebate on our cruise cost! Our family were making their way to watch the ship arrive but as we came in early they all missed it. It was so exciting to get a text from our cousin to say that she was there on the dock looking at our ship, what a great surprise!
We raced to the back of the boat, I'm sure it has a proper name!, to wave to her and my Uncle and Aunt who were there with her. We jumped for joy at the sight of them and couldn't wait to get off and see them. After a while they were joined by other members of the family and to our delight they all came down to meet us, we were very touched that everyone had made the effort for us. Family was the only thing, other than friends, that we missed on our trip so to be surrounded by them as soon as we landed was brilliant. A great moment that we will treasure with all the others we have had along the way.

Our patience was tested by Costa who wouldn't let us off the ship because some passengers hadn't registered their credit cards to pay their bills, no not us! so like true school fashion we were all to blame! Then they changed the story to 'we can't let you off as we still haven't got your luggage off'. Goodness knows what they had been doing since 6am, it was now 9am and they were indeed still getting luggage off with a crane! We felt really sorry for our family on the cold dock side, at least we were in the warm. Finally the call came to say we could get off and we raced for the exit! It took no time at all to get off and then collect our bags, we just prayed we didn't get stopped for a search, well we didn't even get stopped to check our passports, so much for heightened security!

What an emotional scene it was, lots of tears of joy to see the family there, just brilliant. We all made our way to the cars, and took off to a cafe for a cuppa and a chinwag all together. After a couple of hours we all decided that it was time to endure the M25 and make our way back to Letchworth. As we made the journey we noticed just how green everywhere was, a very different story to when we left in January. The sun even came out. Traffic was really heavy compared to any roads we had been on lately! Arriving back in Letchworth was very odd, while we were looking forward to being at home we knew that the novelty would soon wear off! Mum and Dad were there waiting with the kettle on and we were then joined by the rest of the family for a welcome home gathering.


To end our Travelpod we would just like to say what an amazing four months we have enjoyed. We met many lovely people along the way and went to some spectacular places,we feel truly lucky to have been able to do it, we hope you have enjoyed sharing our adventure. Our thanks to everyone who responded along the way, it was always great to hear from you. Till the next time......!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179776880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179776880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179776880/tpod.html Mon, 21 May 2007 16:05:42 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Le Havre, France

Le Havre - May 17th

After 3 more days on The Atlantic it was good to see land once more, even if through a grey mist! We got off the ship to visit the town as early as we could via a shuttle bus, and thought the lack of activity must be down to us being early for once and a laid back French approach to life. Turned out that it was Ascension Day, a national holiday in France, and just about everywhere was shut. We did our best to make a day of it and managed to get coffee etc.. and then searched for internet places which were marked on a map of the town - of course all of these were shut so we finally gave up and returned to the port, only to find that it had a 'Wi-Fi' area at 'The Cruise Welcome Centre', which is pretty much all they did have. We managed to get our Travelpod and picture site updated and then returned to the ship which by now was enjoying some late sun - that raised our hopes that 'blighty might greet us with sunshine the next day!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179253380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179253380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179253380/tpod.html Tue, 15 May 2007 14:52:54 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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The Azores, Portugal

Sunday 13th May - Sao Miguel, The Azores
We had no ideas about the Azores before arriving and therefore no expectations - what a delight this day turned out to be!
This island, probably the major one of nine that make up the Azores,came into view very early in the morning. With the customary help of a local pilot we came into Ponta Delgada, the largest and most populous city. We had booked an organised trip for the afternoon so decided to walk into the town during the morning. It was fairly quite - we were up and running early for once, and it was a Sunday - but as we moved further in we became aware that something fairly major was happening around the square where two churches stand. People were gathering, TV cameras and equipment was being put in place, and a vast street carpet of flower petals was being put down as we arrived. No, not for the visitors from Costa Magica, but an annual religious festival which had started the day before and reached its climax on the Sunday. The event is called The Festival of the Christ of Miracles and after speeches from senior churchmen a three hour procession ensues whereby a very heavy image of Christ is carried through the town followed by worshippers along flower decorated streets. The festival has been enacted for the last 300 years and you get a sense of a deep religous tradition on the island - we heard that at least 60% of the islands population would be here this day. We stayed as long as we could before making our way back to the ship for our trip which, just by looking at the island from a distance, we were already looking forward to.
The trip duly got underway, not much thanks to Costa whos organisation skills were hopeless. Once on a coach we set off to the Antonio Borges Botanical Gardens which turned out to be lovely - not too big so a short walk around gave us most of the sights - but full of a great variety of trees and fauna - lots of pics of course!
From here we went on to see a pineapple plantation which was quite unusual because all the growing takes place in greenhouses. The growing of pineapples had been one of many diversifications where before the Azores had majored on growing oranges, mostly for Britain. Because the climate is not ideal for pineapple growing they are cultivated in greenhouses through various stages, taking 18months to fully grow for market. We were allowed a taster of a pineapple liqueur which was very nice indeed!
Back on the coach and we climbed away from the coast getting higher all the time and the scenery was simply superb. The island is known as the green island because it is green all year round - the climate stays between 55 and 73 degrees F throughout the year - with lovely flora and fauna all around. At the top of the climb we stopped for our first views of Sete Cidades where there are two lakes nestling in the crater of an extinct volcano - absolutely beautiful and not to be missed if ever you have the chance.
We then went down to the lakes and the valley floor to stop for refreshments and look at the town. Whilst here we noticed that many people were gathered in the bar to watch the procession from Ponta Delgada on the TV. We returned to the coach and climbed back up from the town and took a different route back giving us numerous magnificent views of the island, which in many ways reminded us of areas such as Dorset or Herefordshire with rolling green hillsides tumbling down towards the sea, or rising up mountain sides. We took in the tour guides information regarding direct flights from the UK although the landing strip by the sea wasn't great for Liz's flight concerns!
We returned to Ponta Delgada and the ship thouroughly enchanted by Sao Miguel, and as we sailed away we were lucky enough to be able to stand on our balcony and see alot of the island go by. If you ever have the chance then go!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179090180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179090180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179090180/tpod.html Sun, 13 May 2007 17:29:58 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Hamilton, Bermuda

Tuesday 8th May - Bermuda
Woke up to find that we were indeed docking at Bermuda, despite still difficult conditions and driving rain. A quick review of clothing was made and macs,trousers,shoes etc.. dug out for the first time in a long time. A quick breakfast and off we went, deciding against the ferry initially we headed for the bus. We were docked at the Royal Naval dockyard which is about fifteen miles from Hamilton by bus, much less by ferry but we had been thrown around enough for the time being. We were loaded onto a bus and told that we had to enjoy ourselves! perhaps a prelude for what was to come because with a full bus, including many people standing, we were treated to a very hairy ride. The driver simply threw the bus around the narrow streets, always braking at the last moment, with radio on and driver coms to base regularly blaring - it was then that Ian realised he was also sending a text message!! We arrived in Hamilton about an hour later and you could see the relief on peoples faces to be off the bus. The rain had slowed down so we mooched around, got coffee, and then searched for an internet place where we could hook up our laptop - this proved to be a fruitless effort, including one place that promised much but it simply didnt work at which point the guy just shrugged his shoulders. We found another place but it didnt take laptops, but it was a second hand bookshop as well as an internet cafe, so we stocked up with books given the many sea days ahead.
The rain had stopped by early afternoon so we walked some more and took a few pictures before deciding on taking the ferry back. It was much calmer and the journey across the bay was ok but you could see the many rocks around that made navigation here pretty tricky. We returned to the ship and as we did the sun came out so we enjoyed some late afternoon sun on our balcony. As the time for departure came it was evident that some people were still missing and when about half a dozen arrived by taxi they were greeted with loud cheers from people overhanging the ships balconies. It was now gone 6pm - the official sailing time - but still there was a call for two more people. The ship was prepared for sailing but it held on until about 6.15 at which time they gave up and started sailing. After about another 15mins when we were well away from the port but it was still visible, we're pretty sure we spotted the last two turn up in a taxi to watch us go!! As a footnote however, the pilot did not get picked up from the ship until 8pm and maybe, just maybe, they brought the last two out - we never heard the outcome.
In the evening we decided to check out the entertainment once more - this time it was the ships crew - and although they do their best and its professionally done we only lasted twenty five minutes before beating a hasty retreat!

Wednesday 9th - Sat 12th May - At Sea heading for the Azores, wherever they might be!
Four days at sea and a bit of an endurance test as there is not much to do on the Costa Magica. If you are up early enough you might just get a seat in the sun but you have to be quick to beat the Italians and Germans at that game! Inside the ship you mostly find the blue rinse brigade playing cards or joining in the old time dancing which is great if thats what floats your boat. Josh has been a regular at the Squok club, Costa's childrens club, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying it. A lot of the time he is impressing the staff with his giant Lego cruise ship building, though they weren't quite so impressed when he told them they were Carnival line cruise ships. In a rather desperate effort to curry favour he quickly changed one of the titles to Costa Marco, one of the people on the club staff - that seemed to do the trick!
A good deal of the time we have been trying to spot marine life in the Atlantic ocean, with a fair bit of success. Liz is commander-in-chief of spotting - jounger eyes it has to be admitted - and during these days we've seen plenty of turtles,porpoise,various flying fish and four whales, one of which came very close to the ship and announced itself with a load blow from its blowhole. Very occasionally we also see another ship - nearly always cargo - and presumably making a crossing of the Atlantic like ourselves.
Its been a long haul since Bermuda but a tracking screen that they show us now has the Canary Islands, Western Sahara desert in Africa and the Portuguese edge of the Iberian peninsula, so Europe is just begining to swing into view for the first time in four months. We just told Josh that in a weeks time he will be at school which probably shocked us more that him!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179088980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179088980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179088980/tpod.html Sun, 13 May 2007 17:02:35 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Nassau, Bahamas

We decided on a general walk around the town and, as usual, you are faced with running the gauntlet of an area that appears specifically designed to corral everyone through a thight area where you can be made every offer of transport,sightseeing,goods or whatever is possible. The noise in these areas is intense and is a particular struggle for Josh so we tend to try and motor through as quickly as possible - not so easy this time as four huge cruise ships were in port at the same time spilling out up to 12,000 visitors in one go - a great captive audience if ever there was one. We mooched the local shops as best we could, got a drink, took a few pictures and in very great heat decided to get back to the ship, probably doing no justice at all to the island, but happy just the same to return to the relative calm of the glitzy ship. The Magica was the first to leave so we got a good view of the other ships in the harbour as we left.

Sunday 6th May - As sea

A quite day and Liz had booked a hair cut on the ship.
Its Liz typing now and I have two tips for would be cruise travellers. One, always always book a balcony room, they are brilliant. If I had my way I would stay here for the rest of the cruise and just have my food delivered. Its lovely to be able to watch the sea go by from the comfort of your own room, a bit more expensive but worth every penny. Second, never never have your haircut on board a cruise ship!!! I duly attended my appointment today and got the fear immediately when I realised the stylists english was as limited as my Spanish! ( she really was spanish not Italian). How do you tell someone what you want? My hair was such a mess after so long on the road and in desperate need of a cut, so I was really looking forward to getting it in shape for our return. Well somewhere along the way while telling her what I wanted I must have said the spanish for 'Pam Ayres' ! because thats what it came out like!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a few tears I thought I would have a rescue appointment booked at Toni n Guys as soon as I get home! I was your guinea pig ladies, share the pain!

Our thoughts are very much with all the family back home today, as we get closer we are really looking forward to seeing them all. A few members of our family are having a difficult time at the moment, and its at times like these when you just want to be at home to lend a hand or an ear - not long now.

Monday 7th May - At sea
A fairly quite unremarkable day which was expected to end with an evening docking in Bermuda. However as the day went on the weather got progressively worse, and potential times for spotting Bermuda came and went. Finally an announcement came to the effect that we would dock at 8pm, not 6pm, due to the rough conditions. Finally we sighted the island but by this time it was getting very rough and it came as no surprise when a further announcement told us that we culd not dock that evening but would do so the following morning. We decided to check out the ship entertainment and were pleasantly surprised by a show of excellent acrobatics set to some pretty good modern music - Bjork,Prodigy etc.. - it was not a show from the crew but a visiting outfit - worth noting!!!
A rough night ensued and we think we were probably just circling Bermuda - we later got an email from Richard suggesting that we were in the eye of a storm which explains a lot!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179048420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179048420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1179048420/tpod.html Sun, 13 May 2007 16:41:31 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Wednesday 2nd May - Flying to Fort Lauderdale, Florida

For once we were up in good time for an early flight, firstly to Dallas in Texas, and then on to Fort Lauderdale. These were our last two flights so Liz was very much looking forward to the end of this day, and everything started well with our first flight to Dallas running on time and getting us there about lunchtime. Dallas is a very well organised airport and we were able to get across terminals using Josh's favourite Skyrail in plenty of time for the onward flight to FL. This too appeared to be running pretty much on time so fairly quickly we were ready and taxiing towards the runway. Then we just seemed to wait a while before the captain made an announcement to the effect that there was an hydraulic problem and that we would have to return to the airport for repair, or possibly a replacement plane. At this point Liz was secretly shouting 'GET ANOTHER PLANE' and was surprised that no-one appeared to hear this scream! We returned and sat on the plane for about an hour and half - you could get off but you had to take all your luggage which seem like a great idea. The updates kept coming that they were trying to fix the problem, which might work, or another plane - none of this added much to Liz's feeling of security!! Logical Ian tried the 'this happens all the time but you don't hear about it' line but that didn't cut much ice. Finally they announced all was ok and that we could fly in our repaired plane, once all the passengers that had got off were got back on again and all the names and numbers re-checked, which took at least another half hour.
Finally we got going and the flight was only two and three quarter hours but after the long delay this seemed like a long haul flight. Once down in FL things were pretty straightforward and the relief on Liz's face was plain to see. We transferred to the safety of a Ramada hotel and phoned out for a pizza delivery!

Thursday 3rd May - Fort Lauderdale

Late up again - must get our act together soon! Liz had been holding on for a shopping trip so we checked with reception and they recommended a mall. The only trouble was that after we got there by taxi and took a walk around we realised that this was a bit upmarket for our likes, and budget - where's Target when you need them? We decided to try elsewhere so caught a bus, having given up waiting for a taxi, to the central downtown area. We wandered into the fairly well know area of Las Olas Boulevard and the shops here made the mall look cheap! Oh well it's good to gawk sometimes but not much fun for Liz who was looking for bargains. In the afternoon we took a river trip - the inland waterways of FL are vast, hence its' nickname of The Venice of America. The tour pointed out houses of the rich and famous and went on to the main cruise ports and US Navy dockyards, heavily guarded by security boats. One oddity was that we were sold the tickets by a girl with a broad brummy accent - it was so strange and out of place but good to see a brit happily employed. We asked if there was a nearby place to get a drink and in a strong Birmingham accent she told us that Starbooks was round the corner.
We finished the day with dinner by the river, which turned out to have a railway bridge that lowered across the river whenever a train was due, which of course happened in time for Josh to witness - imagine his delight!

Friday 4th May - Transfer to Costa Magica and sailing home!

We had a midday transfer from the hotel to the ship and all went remarkably smoothly - no great queuing, a slight hiccup registering for the ship, and then we were on - all very calm until you enter the ship of glitz! There are huge areas for the atrium and theatres and the Italian glitzy style is everywhere on a grand scale - it assaults the eye at every turn. Excellent room with a balcony - how lucky are we and what a great way to end our adventure. By 9 pm we were off and sailing for Nassau in The Bahamas.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1178068560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1178068560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1178068560/tpod.html Tue, 01 May 2007 21:25:04 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Topeka, Kansas, United States

Monday 30th April - More sight seeing in Junction City!!!
While we were here last (8years ago) we didn't get to see much of the sights in Junction City...that's because there aren't any we discovered! We did drive round and try desperately to find something of interest and Josh finally found it, a model shop! Needless to say he spent his birthday money in there on two engines and carriages to match, all for the brilliant price of £80, for those of you not in the know that's a very good price, later we found out that the pack he picked up had track and a power pack inside too, so good choice Josh!! After a quick trip to the local post office (they are so efficient) we tried in vain to find some postcards of Junction City, not much call for them we found, wonder why? The Library we thought might be able to help, no postcards there, but they did have an avid postcard collector who worked in there, Patty, who has vowed to send us some, she was thrilled we wanted them! Lunch time was upon us and we decided to have lunch in JC before our journey to Topeka, we sat in a diner overlooking the autopart shop where Josh's birthmother worked, and indeed the last place we saw her 8 years ago. Its proven to be quite an emotional journey for Ian and myself, reliving what was a life changing experience...its such a pity we couldn't have seen her this time too.
Onwards to Topeka found us retracing our steps to Barnes and Noble bookstore, we used to feed Josh in there and read books (the days when it was still possible!) needless to say we spent a few dollars in there, so much so we had to go next door to Walmart and buy a new suitcase! So much for travelling light!

Tuesday 1st May !!!! - Topeka and the Attorneys
We got up late yet again and missed the breakfast, I don't know how we are going to get into school mode on our return! After a lukewarm cup of coffee, all that was left from the breakfast buffet, we revisited Dennys diner, again we used to go there with Josh in his baby seat, they even sat us in exactly the same seats by chance!! Then off to the Kansas Museum of History who promised a steam train on their brochure! It was massive, the train that is. Great fun and lots to see and I have to say very enlightening and just goes to prove there maybe more to Kansas than meets the eye. Many school groups were visiting while we were there, a popular place, would recommend it if you are ever to wash us in Topeka, Kansas!! Our next stop was to visit the Attorneys who facilitated our adoption, we didn't call ahead so were unsure they would be in town as they travel all over the USA to visit Birthmothers and court hearings. They were in and very shocked to see us! Unfortunately they didn't have Josh's picture still on their wall, it was taken down 2 weeks ago after they had a water leak!!! A shame for Josh, but that's life. It was good to see them and they really appreciated us dropping in, they say its one of the many joys of arranging adoptions, that people still keep in touch and let them know how things are going. Not sure what Josh makes of all this, he seems to be taking it all in his stride, we wonder if he will return one day as an adult???
Off to the airport hotel and to get the hire car back ready for our flight to Dallas/Fort Lauderdale tomorrow. Just like 8 years ago we have a thunderstorm which looks like it will get worse during the night, can't believe it! 8 years ago the flights were all messed up the next day so we anticipate the same tomorrow.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177906260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177906260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177906260/tpod.html Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:13:11 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Junction City, Kansas, United States

Saturday 28th April - Kansas, here we come!

This was our travelling day after our great time in Vegas. Up early to get to the airport for a flight to Dallas in Texas which is a hub for major flights in the US and then onwards to Kansas City. Flights were good and we had stopover time in Dallas which is a very impressive modern airport and accentuated the point that there is so much land available in the US - how the planners and builders of Heathrow Terminal 5 would love to have this space to play with. They have an excellent monorail system serving all the terminals and once we knew we had time to spare Josh and Ian took a complete circuit of the monorail which takes about 25 minutes and gives you a brilliant view of the airport and the surrounding area as it runs above just about everything else.
We arrived at Kansas City at about 6pm and organised a hire car, then moved west to Topeka where we had spent most of our 3 weeks or so when adopting Josh back in 1999. We were able to find the same hotel so booked in for the night to show Josh where we spent his first few days of life.

Sunday 29th April - Josh returns to Junction City

After breakfast and trying out the hotels swimming pool it was time to move on to Josh's birthplace Junction City. It's about another 70 miles west of Topeka - long straight roads which not too much to see if you're honest - and then we arrived. After the obligatory stop at McDonalds for fries and coffee it was on to the hospital where Josh was born - Geary County Hospital - which like most things had changed quite a bit in the last 8 years. It's no longer a maternity hospital but an emergency department and a fairly quiet one. We went in and spoke to the staff briefly who vaguely remembered the maternity unit but that was about all, so took a few pictures and moved on. We found a park so that Josh could run off some steam for a while and then cruised around the downtown area for a while - it made Letchworth on a Sunday look positively vibrant it has to be said and we're not sure what kind of impression Josh is left with - only time will tell. On a more positive note we managed to book in to a motel overlooking the railroad - only long long freight trains but Josh loves them!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177906080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177906080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177906080/tpod.html Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:10:35 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Tuesday April 24th - On the road to Vegas

A long days' driving - roughly 7 hours - in order to reach Las Vegas, but it started well when we stuck the radio on and found a station playing classic 50's/60's hits such as The Beach Boys and Elvis and it helped the journey along. We stopped at a small town just off the main highway which appeared to have just one café. We took a look at the menu and spotted the only item that might be ok for veggies - a veggie burger option so plumped for that. They didn't have any so we asked if there was anything else that might be ok for vegetarians - well we might as well have been from outer space - it probably would have shocked the waitress less! After a bit of consideration the answer was no, so we ended up sharing a portion of fries between three.
Back on the road and although the landscape is largely flat it's not uninteresting. In the distance there are usually very large red rock formations which shift in colour with the sun through the day. As you get closer to Vegas you find towns offering a taster of what's to come for up to 40 or 50 miles away which can be a bit confusing, especially when it's getting late and everyone's feeling tired. We finally got there about 7pm and then you really need your wits about you because of the volume of traffic and trying to find your way around! We decided on a hotel that we had a voucher for just to stay overnight in the area and be ready for the next day but the voucher didn't seem to cut much ice and the hotel cost was a good bit higher then expected but we think they saw us coming - we turned up looking whacked and ready to take anything. Firstly they apparently didn't have any rooms, then miraculously one was available but of course not at the voucher price we were touting - we gave in and shifted the luggage exhausted after the drive. We managed a quick look around a bit of Vegas before hitting the sack.

Wednesday 25th to Friday 27th April - Viva Las Vegas!!

What a crazy place and what a time we had! In our initial plans we had no intention of going to Vegas at all but back in December Ian saw a TV programme about the production of a show based around the music of The Beatles entitled 'Love' and performed by the internationally renowned Cirque Du Soleil, a Canadian based outfit who have shows running all over the world, with several in Vegas alone. So we decided fairly late in our plans to take in the show and visit Vegas. Within a day or so of doing that we learnt that a couple of Ian's workmates from Nemco had quite independently booked up a trip to Vegas for a break, and had had booked the same show for a day later, with neither of us knowing the others plans - an incredible co-incidence it seemed so we planned to meet up whilst there. The story gets more amazing - whilst in San Francisco we heard that Jackie and Hartley would also be in Vegas celebrating their 20th Wedding Anniversary at the same time, again with no knowledge of our whereabouts, so we made contact and also met up - truly an amazing set of coincidences.
We met J & H for breakfast at a Diner called Roxy's where the waiters and waitresses perform songs whilst you eat, which was great fun but almost got in the way of us discussing our various travels over the last few weeks and months!! We spent several hours there nattering and enjoying the entertainment before moving on to take a look at Vegas which is a mixture of madness, totally OTT décor and buildings and sheer fun - a truly whacky crazy place probably not found anywhere else in the world. J & H had to split to get ready for the Barry Manilow show that evening so we went our separate ways but agreed to meet up the next day after they had been on a helicopter tour of The Grand Canyon!!
The next day we walked around taking in some of the many sights of LV - most of the time just looking and shaking heads in disbelief. We met up again and got the update on the Grand Canyon tour which sounded excellent - perhaps we should have done it but it have to wait for another time maybe. It was time for us to get ready for our show - 'Love' which was at our hotel The Mirage. Like all hotels in Vegas the Mirage covers a vast area with huge space given over to gambling but also shops, bars, restaurants, nightclubs and major auditoriums which is where we saw the show - a vast circular theatre with state of the art equipment. Note from Ian: Rob, where were you when I needed you! The show was amazing and we cannot stop thinking about it or imploring anyone to find and go to a Cirque Du Soleil show if you ever have the chance.
After the show we had arranged to meet up with Paul and Mike from Nemco and Jackie and Hartley. We had also decided to get Josh off to sleep to have a bit of evening time for ourselves for the first time in several months. The Nemco boys were shattered having been up for 24 hours since leaving the UK so we kept it fairly brief and enjoyed a beer and bit of catch up - great to see you chaps - hope you enjoyed the show and your time in mad Vegas! That left us and the Hartleys' to do Vegas as best we could so, staying in the Mirage we did our best. We had a go at the gambling in true brit style risking at least 5 dollars each and Jackie managed a decent size win on The Wheel of Fortune. We also worked out that rather than buy drinks at the bar you have free drinks delivered to you whilst you sit and gamble!! Add to that a bit of confusion over tipping and we managed to get a round of drinks for $1 although it must be said that we never saw the waitress again! After this excitement we hit the disco - sorry, that should say club - and took over as usual dancing until they closed at 3am. At the time we groaned about them closing so early but the next day Hartley quite rightly said it was lucky they did. It was a great night - lots of fun and laughs and hangovers that were manageable the next day!
On the Friday we were due to drive to Phoenix in order to fly out on the Saturday but we decided we couldn't face it so hastily re-arranged our flights to leave Vegas early the next morning. With that sorted we were able to meet up once more for a late breakfast and compare bleeriness with the Hartleys - it also gave us the chance to check out their hotel room which was very nice indeed. After grub we did some more touring around the various hotels and all their weird and wonderful sites. Late afternoon was upon us so we made our way back to The Mirage, extracted bags and car and laughingly tried to work out the tipping protocol, said our goodbyes and took off to a somewhat cheaper motel close to the airport for the morning flight. It had been a great few days spent in one of the craziest places we have ever seen.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177905840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177905840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lizianjosh/global_warning/1177905840/tpod.html Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:07:00 -0400 The Hamilton family's hairbrained scheme gets underway - HK,OZ,NZ,S America,N America, and a few others - destination Dover when it's all over!

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Oakhurst, California, United States

Saturday April 21st - Driving to Oakhurst, California for Yosemite

A good drive in the hire car got us to Oakhurst, close to Yosemite National Park. It was an excellent drive with good scenery all the way and Oakhurst nestled neatly amongst great forest areas bordering Yosemite. We arrived mid afternoon and already knew that whilst the weather was good the next day was due to bring rain, whilst Monday was going to be bright and sunny. Liz had wanted to go horse riding for some time so we quickly made a call to see if we could squeeze in that afternoon. After a brief discussion it was agreed we could as long as we could get there by 4.00pm - it was 3.30 so skates were attached pretty quickly!
Once we got there we joined another family who were from Adelaide and just on their last couple of days of their holiday. We were all given hats to wear and then mounted on to the horses with Josh up front looking pretty nervous to begin with. They then took us through some basics of horse riding to try and fool us that we might have some element of control. Once that was done we were off on a trail through the woods which had a good deal of snow in from recent weeks. We crisscrossed up and down through the woods with the leader up front assisting Josh, who got more relaxed as we went, followed by Liz, then Ian, then the Oz family of four. Given recent snow and rain falls it was pretty slippy in a number of spots and we were all dependant on the horses sure-footedness. They also seem to have an amazing knack of aiming you towards a tree just to turn you away at the last moment. We crossed a small river where the horses were able to stop for a drink and then moved on. Note from Ian: I'm sure experienced horseriders know how to handle the problem but I would recommend the wearing of a cricket box, or something similar, for the purposes of personal manly protection - enough said??!!
It was great fun but very cold and ultimately we were glad to return after about an hour. The boys were glad to dismount but Liz probably could have gone on for some time more. We stopped and had a good chat to the Oz family before going back to the motel which had great views from the window. We decided that Sunday would be a general catch up day given the rain so we did the washing and other fascinating stuff - we did visit a Thrift Shop which is rather like a charity shop in the UK - and that was great. Josh added yet one more teddy to the collection whilst Ian loaded up with old National Geographic maps which have tons of historical information in them - just what we needed to be carrying at this stage!! Liz managed to find a few tops and everything was very cheap so we were all happy!

Monday April 23rd - Yosemite

We decided on an organised tour for Yosemite so set off pretty early in the morning. They pick up from all local motels and you get a full day, which is needed because there's quite a distance to cover. For some reason we chose to sit at the back of the bus - not a great decision as it took our minds back to Fraser Island where we were bounced all over the place. It wasn't as bad as that but pretty bouncy. Our first stop in the park was to see the giant Sequoia's which were fantastic - it also gave Josh the chance to play in snow for the first time in probably a year or so. As we were getting back on the bus Josh managed to catch Ian with a final snowball that greatly amused the other passengers - he'll pay! The trees here are 2-3 thousand years old, some older and the proportions are staggering given that the roots only extend about 8-9 feet. We were quickly on the move again as it's a fair drive to get too the huge granite rocks with names of El Capitan, Half Dome etc.. and the many huge waterfalls that cascade down. The first sightings do take the breath away - El Capitan is the largest granite monolith in the world - and given that these features were created millions of years ago gives you a perspective on our time on the planet. Hopefully the pictures do it some justice - as ever we couldn't stop snapping but believe us when we say many get deleted!
We stopped in Yosemite valley floor for lunch and then took a walk to get a good look at The Bridalveil Falls. Along the way we spotted a Bobcat clearly hunting something - brilliant to see even if at a distance. There's vast amount of wildlife of course in the park but not always easy to see. We moved on to another area for more views of falls and Half Dome and tried to take the famous picture where Half Dome is reflected in the river below but it didn't really work - best left to Ansell Adams whose B&W photography of this area is great to see if you ever get the chance. We stopped at The Wawona Hotel which was worth a look but if you want to stay there you better get saving - rooms go up $1000 a night and you can hire for weddings too - anyone interested? It was already time to return after a full and excellent day in the park.
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