travelling the world...
Travel. Doesn't it make life so much sweeter!? Some of the best times in my life have been travelling with friends and family. I went overseas in December 2011 and arrived home in January 2012. While I was away I kept a holiday journal of the things we did, places we saw and all the little things in between.
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
Sydney - 7:50am 23.12.11
Currently in the car, on the way to the airport :) Yeh, I think that ‘excited’ is a bit of an understatement, that would be ‘excited’ for the destination (New York), as I don’t really find a 30 hour plane trip as appealing but on the bright side this is my first time travelling with friends (Olivia & Chantal Jack). So hopefully they will make things a little more interesting :) With my little sleep last night, 5 hours to be exact, hopefully that and the help of some drugs will mean SLEEP!
Sydney - 1:30pm 23.12.11
In the plane! Our plane was delayed and so we had to wait at the airport we haven’t taken off but we should in a few minutes. Just started rolling towards the airstrip. This is only a quick flight to New Zealand and then from there we go to LA and then to New York!! So yeah, the Jacks and Chans’ are not sitting together for this flight but definitely next flight!
New Zealand - 8:00pm 23.12.11
Its Official. This is my first time in NewZealand! OK, so maybe im only gonna be here for a total of 2 hours, but still, I think its official. Our last flight was pretty good, apart from two really annoying little boys behind us. As we were getting off the plane I heard one say that they were going to LA. GREAT! I was hoping they wouldn’t be near us. It just so happens that they are not behind us… they are in front of us! JOW!! We are about to take off soon. This plane is so cool… I just went through all the music and made my own playlist and selected movies & TV series… its pretty cool. Lets hope it’s enough to keep me busy for 12 hours. Adele, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Cee Lo Green, Colbie Calliat, Corinne Bailey Rae, David Guetta, Jessie J, Jason Derulo, Justin Beiber, LMFAO, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kesha, Miley Cyrus, Owl City, Rihanna, The Script, Lil Wayne, Aloe Blacc, Usher… YEAH BABY!!
Los Angeles - 2:45pm 23.12.11
The Last flight was great! Had a perfect amount of sleep, movies, music, and food. We arrived in LA about 3 hours ago. We walked outside and the sky was a beautiful blue, not a cloud to be seen, and it was actually quite warm & if you’re in the sun long enough, hot! So apparently LA winters are warmer than Australian Summers?!? What is this>!? On a new plane to New York, about a 5 hour trip… not long but you could say this plane is a bit of a degrade from the last plant if you know what I mean!
New York - 1:00am 24.12.11
In New York!! This. Is. AWESOME!! We arrived about 2 hours ago and then got a taxi and he took us a really long way to our hotel so he could show us some cool stuff. Empire State Building looked so cool with the lights and been on Madison Ave, which looks so pretty with all the trees covered in fairy lights. Times Square. Oh My. It is so cool! Midnight in Times Square, Amazing. We are staying at the Grand Hyatt hotel, above Grand Central Station, oh and I also saw the famous NYE Ball. Very excited to be here!!
I Dunno (On A Plane!) - 11:55am 29.12.11
So the plan was that I write everyday about what happened and white I did and stuff like that... and yeah it didn’t really work out so well. Anyway, I'll just write a largish entry about my week in New York City. The day after we arrived we all just walked around Grenich and Chelsea, I bought some gloves for myself cause my hands were really cold. That was Christmas Eve, so that night the Longs’, Marsdens’, Jacks’ and Chans’ went out for dinner. The food was great and was overall a really nice night. The next day was Christmas. We all woke up late and had a fairly relaxed morning. We went to grand central station for breaky again which was cool. After that all of us went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which is a Mormon Church. It was great. A classic black gospel church it was lots of fun. The topic was giving back to God, and that the greatest gift we can give is our trust, our faith and our lives. After that we grabbed lunch and went to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular, and Spectacular it was! We were in this massive theatre and there was singing, dancing and even ice-skating, it was awesome. We also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.
After the Christmas Spectacular we walked back to the Hyatt and we all went up to the Mezzanine for Santa Steal (similarish to Chris-cringle.) I ended up with a teddy bear, which then got stolen off me by Olivia. Then I got lollies, which got stolen off me by Brooklyn, and then I got Santa socks … yeah no one really wanted them! Nathan got girls underwear, which he had fashioned well on his head, Wayne fashioned a too-small-pink-and-purple velvet blazer with hearts all over it. It was quite a sight. Zac received a special gift from Olivia and Brook: Two pairs of boy-leg undies, one was fluro pink and said ‘Cutie Bootie’, and the other was black that said ‘I <3 Boys.’ Both suited well over his jeans.
The next day we got on a massive ferry and went to see the statue of Liberty, it was very cold bit it was a great view, we got to Staton Island for a while and then got the ferry back. Then we went and joined a queue, which eventually got us to the Twin Towers Memorial Fall. It was massive, all the pictures make them look small, but actually being there, they are really big. It was so cold and we were all really hungry so we went to the Marriot for dinner. I had a really good burger but I reckon there was like 5 onions there was just heaps! The Next day we went shopping on Fifth Avenue. First, we stopped at American Girl. This was a crazy shop you go in and choose a doll that looks like you and then you buy clothes to match your doll. It is insane, and there were so many little girls with their mums there. Crazy. We looked at the shop windows which they do up really cool. Then we went into an old Cathedral, which was really pretty. We saw heaps of designer shops and tall buildings we went into Trump Tower and that was amazing. Next stop was Tiffany & Co. We had a look around; all very pretty but oh so expensive. After that we went to the big apple store and the FAO Schwarz Toy Store (biggest in the world.) That was a crazy store too (I can say with confidence that most stores in NYC are!) there were so many kids there, you could hardly move. Then we went for a walk in Central Park. It was so pretty! There was a lady who was walking a dog and she had another one in a pram and I thought that it was funny/cute so I decided to take a picture. I was looking through the eye thing (on the new Canon!!) trying to focus the pram, when it turned around and I think nothing of it and keep my eye there for when she continues then I see her hand in the picture with only her middle finger up at me. I looked up and she kept her finger there and started swearing and going off at me. It was the 4th funniest thing that happened this week (I’ll Get back to that.)
So after that we went to a museum. It was not that great except for the 2nd funniest thing that happened. So we had been walking around for a while and we (mum, dad, brook, liv and I) were tired and so we sat down on this chair in a room. Then we noticed a guard who was standing by the wall and she was falling asleep. Her head kept bouncing/lolling and then she started walking around the room to try to keep herself awake, but she just couldn’t keep her eyes open and she was walking around with her eyes closed. So I videoed her cause I thought it was funny. After that we went to the cutes little grocer. We had s’mores and hot apple sider – so yum! The next day we walked on Madison Avenue (clearly the coolest street in town!) and then eventually got to the Rockerfeller Centre. After a bit more queuing (please not that everything I have written about we have had to queue for… even the bathroom.) We made it to the top of the rock. It was blowing a gale but it was gorgeous. We did a bit of sho[[ing here and there throughout the day. Later on we went to M&M’s world. It was awesome (yes and also crazy). The store had an effect (as I’m sure it does on many) and she went crazy too and spent a total of $137 on M&M’s alone. I spent $17. Who thought you could make so much money on chocolate?!? That night the Jacks and Sam came to our room, for dinner and we watched Despicable Me. Then yesterday we went for a bike ride around Central Park. It was so much fun! Liv and I decided that we were awesome and so we chose a tendrum (a double bike. It was hard to stop and start but we got the hand of it and rode like pro’s… most of the time!
It was freezing cold (literally) and I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes. So to warm up, afterwards we went to starbucks and let our bodies defrost. Then us and the Jacks went to (I forgot to mention the queue) the Museum f Natural History, which is where the Night at the Museum movie was filmed. I saw DUM DUM!! It was a pretty good museum but we were all starving so after an hour or two we went to this Mediterranean restaurant the food was really good. Then we split up and we went and queued for ice-skating in Central Park. It was a perfect night for it. We skated for about and hour, it was heaps of fun. Then at about 9 we went to the Empire State Building. We queued for over and hour. Then the 3rd funniest thing happened. There was an Indian couple behind us and they were trying to get in front of us and they did at one point and then we got back in front, it was so funny. Brook and mum got this look of pure determination in their eyes like ‘no, we’ve been in this queue for ages, you are not going to push in.’ when we got to the top it was really pretty with all the city lights in the night sky. We got back to bed at about 12:30am and then woke up at about 7am this morning, grabbed our bags, got a taxi and jumped on a plane. I am currently sitting on a 5 hour trip to Las Vegas, where we will meet up with a whole heap of people for New Years Eve. So that will be fun!
Santa Barbra - 11:30 4.1.12
2012!! It’s a New Year!! YAY!! Super great way to start it too! So at the moment I’m in the car on a road trip to San Francisco.
After we arrived in Vegas (there are pokies in the airport?!?) we grabbed our bags, got our hire car, which is a really nice silver Chevrolet traverse, 7 seater, 4WD, and went to our hotel which was called the Platinum. Much bigger than New York hotel. We put all our stuff in our room and then almost straight away went to the Jacks room. We chilled there for the evening, had Mexican for dinner, watched a wedding from their balcony that was in the pool area, and had lots of laughs with liv and Sam, mostly to do with Chuck Norris, simply because we were high on M&M’s.
The next day we all went to Hoover Dam, in Arizona and Nevada, which was pretty cool. Then the Chans and jacks and Jnr Jacks drove for ages though the Valley of Fire. It was awesome! We didn’t get out the car much but what we saw outside the window was pretty. The red rocks against the blue and white backdrop made a pretty picture. That day was also New Years Ever, so we went out for dinner and ordered a Pizza not realizing how big they were. My hungry tummy almost finished the giant monster of a pizza. After a more than satisfying meal, we went to KÀ, Circue Du Soleil, which is a show, with crazy acrobatic people who did crazy tricks, and was a story of how a brother & sister are separated and then almost captured, then find each other as well as their true loves who they find on their journey to find each other. It was amazing! Definitely a highlight so far, it was GREAT! Then afterwards we walked the Strip (yes, once again something crazy) there were heaps of people! A few of us made a chain as to not get lost in the crowd. We got back to our hotel at about 11:30pm so we went to the Partridges room so we could watch the fireworks. They were pretty good but not even close to Sydney. What can I say… Sydney is just the COOLEST!! The next day we went and looked at all these AMAZING hotels. First we went to the Ballazo and then the Venetian. The Venetian was so cool! Inside there was a man mad canal that you could pay for a boat ride, and the guy would steer and sing opera, like they do in Venice. We walked through a few others, which all had casinos and smelt so bad because of all the people smoking. Around midday we went to one called Caesars Palace, which is Ginormous and is also where the Hangover was filmed. It was Amazing, the Architecture was beautiful and the pool was crazy big. Actually there were multiple pools. Then we went along with the Jacks, Jnr Jacks, Partridges, Duffs, Muggeridges and Longs to the indoor skydiving Centre in Las Vegas. SO. MUCH. FUN! Another highlight.
The Next day (our last in Vegas) we went outlet shopping! YAY to prices & sales in America! Did some solid shopping, got some amazing bargains and had a good time shopping. I got my new snow jacket, pants and goggles from Oakley. For dinner we went to a little French Café, after visiting the sugar factory. Which was really cool (we should get on in Sydney). We also went to see the water fountains and lights show out the front of the Bellagio hotel. We watched two, and they were so good! I couldn’t believe how exciting water could be! The next morning, we packed out bags and got in our Chevy and drove 5 hours to Ventura. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza. Just as the sun was setting we went out on the beach and got some good photos. After that, we went out for dinner at a fish and chips place and I had a really good Taco. Then today we got up and continued on our road trip to San Fran.
I realized, the other day, that in my last entry I said my top funniest moments… except #1. So I should probably say now. So we were on a subway on our first day in New York and the subway had stopped at one of the stops and there was a guy in our part and he had fallen asleep and we woke up, and he obviously needed to get off at that stop and the doors had already been open a while, so he jumped up, grabbed what he had and went to go out, but the doors closed on him and kept trying to close, he eventually got his body our except for his leg. So he was outside the subway except for his left leg, which was inside. He got out, after his hat got knocked off by the doors, and his leg came free. The doors closed (without anything stuck in between) and I just burst out laughing. Still my #1 funny moment of the trip!
Currently in the car, on the way to the airport :) Yeh, I think that ‘excited’ is a bit of an understatement, that would be ‘excited’ for the destination (New York), as I don’t really find a 30 hour plane trip as appealing but on the bright side this is my first time travelling with friends (Olivia & Chantal Jack). So hopefully they will make things a little more interesting :) With my little sleep last night, 5 hours to be exact, hopefully that and the help of some drugs will mean SLEEP!
Sydney - 1:30pm 23.12.11
In the plane! Our plane was delayed and so we had to wait at the airport we haven’t taken off but we should in a few minutes. Just started rolling towards the airstrip. This is only a quick flight to New Zealand and then from there we go to LA and then to New York!! So yeah, the Jacks and Chans’ are not sitting together for this flight but definitely next flight!
New Zealand - 8:00pm 23.12.11
Its Official. This is my first time in NewZealand! OK, so maybe im only gonna be here for a total of 2 hours, but still, I think its official. Our last flight was pretty good, apart from two really annoying little boys behind us. As we were getting off the plane I heard one say that they were going to LA. GREAT! I was hoping they wouldn’t be near us. It just so happens that they are not behind us… they are in front of us! JOW!! We are about to take off soon. This plane is so cool… I just went through all the music and made my own playlist and selected movies & TV series… its pretty cool. Lets hope it’s enough to keep me busy for 12 hours. Adele, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Cee Lo Green, Colbie Calliat, Corinne Bailey Rae, David Guetta, Jessie J, Jason Derulo, Justin Beiber, LMFAO, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kesha, Miley Cyrus, Owl City, Rihanna, The Script, Lil Wayne, Aloe Blacc, Usher… YEAH BABY!!
Los Angeles - 2:45pm 23.12.11
The Last flight was great! Had a perfect amount of sleep, movies, music, and food. We arrived in LA about 3 hours ago. We walked outside and the sky was a beautiful blue, not a cloud to be seen, and it was actually quite warm & if you’re in the sun long enough, hot! So apparently LA winters are warmer than Australian Summers?!? What is this>!? On a new plane to New York, about a 5 hour trip… not long but you could say this plane is a bit of a degrade from the last plant if you know what I mean!
New York - 1:00am 24.12.11
In New York!! This. Is. AWESOME!! We arrived about 2 hours ago and then got a taxi and he took us a really long way to our hotel so he could show us some cool stuff. Empire State Building looked so cool with the lights and been on Madison Ave, which looks so pretty with all the trees covered in fairy lights. Times Square. Oh My. It is so cool! Midnight in Times Square, Amazing. We are staying at the Grand Hyatt hotel, above Grand Central Station, oh and I also saw the famous NYE Ball. Very excited to be here!!
I Dunno (On A Plane!) - 11:55am 29.12.11
So the plan was that I write everyday about what happened and white I did and stuff like that... and yeah it didn’t really work out so well. Anyway, I'll just write a largish entry about my week in New York City. The day after we arrived we all just walked around Grenich and Chelsea, I bought some gloves for myself cause my hands were really cold. That was Christmas Eve, so that night the Longs’, Marsdens’, Jacks’ and Chans’ went out for dinner. The food was great and was overall a really nice night. The next day was Christmas. We all woke up late and had a fairly relaxed morning. We went to grand central station for breaky again which was cool. After that all of us went to the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which is a Mormon Church. It was great. A classic black gospel church it was lots of fun. The topic was giving back to God, and that the greatest gift we can give is our trust, our faith and our lives. After that we grabbed lunch and went to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular, and Spectacular it was! We were in this massive theatre and there was singing, dancing and even ice-skating, it was awesome. We also walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.
After the Christmas Spectacular we walked back to the Hyatt and we all went up to the Mezzanine for Santa Steal (similarish to Chris-cringle.) I ended up with a teddy bear, which then got stolen off me by Olivia. Then I got lollies, which got stolen off me by Brooklyn, and then I got Santa socks … yeah no one really wanted them! Nathan got girls underwear, which he had fashioned well on his head, Wayne fashioned a too-small-pink-and-purple velvet blazer with hearts all over it. It was quite a sight. Zac received a special gift from Olivia and Brook: Two pairs of boy-leg undies, one was fluro pink and said ‘Cutie Bootie’, and the other was black that said ‘I <3 Boys.’ Both suited well over his jeans.
The next day we got on a massive ferry and went to see the statue of Liberty, it was very cold bit it was a great view, we got to Staton Island for a while and then got the ferry back. Then we went and joined a queue, which eventually got us to the Twin Towers Memorial Fall. It was massive, all the pictures make them look small, but actually being there, they are really big. It was so cold and we were all really hungry so we went to the Marriot for dinner. I had a really good burger but I reckon there was like 5 onions there was just heaps! The Next day we went shopping on Fifth Avenue. First, we stopped at American Girl. This was a crazy shop you go in and choose a doll that looks like you and then you buy clothes to match your doll. It is insane, and there were so many little girls with their mums there. Crazy. We looked at the shop windows which they do up really cool. Then we went into an old Cathedral, which was really pretty. We saw heaps of designer shops and tall buildings we went into Trump Tower and that was amazing. Next stop was Tiffany & Co. We had a look around; all very pretty but oh so expensive. After that we went to the big apple store and the FAO Schwarz Toy Store (biggest in the world.) That was a crazy store too (I can say with confidence that most stores in NYC are!) there were so many kids there, you could hardly move. Then we went for a walk in Central Park. It was so pretty! There was a lady who was walking a dog and she had another one in a pram and I thought that it was funny/cute so I decided to take a picture. I was looking through the eye thing (on the new Canon!!) trying to focus the pram, when it turned around and I think nothing of it and keep my eye there for when she continues then I see her hand in the picture with only her middle finger up at me. I looked up and she kept her finger there and started swearing and going off at me. It was the 4th funniest thing that happened this week (I’ll Get back to that.)
So after that we went to a museum. It was not that great except for the 2nd funniest thing that happened. So we had been walking around for a while and we (mum, dad, brook, liv and I) were tired and so we sat down on this chair in a room. Then we noticed a guard who was standing by the wall and she was falling asleep. Her head kept bouncing/lolling and then she started walking around the room to try to keep herself awake, but she just couldn’t keep her eyes open and she was walking around with her eyes closed. So I videoed her cause I thought it was funny. After that we went to the cutes little grocer. We had s’mores and hot apple sider – so yum! The next day we walked on Madison Avenue (clearly the coolest street in town!) and then eventually got to the Rockerfeller Centre. After a bit more queuing (please not that everything I have written about we have had to queue for… even the bathroom.) We made it to the top of the rock. It was blowing a gale but it was gorgeous. We did a bit of sho[[ing here and there throughout the day. Later on we went to M&M’s world. It was awesome (yes and also crazy). The store had an effect (as I’m sure it does on many) and she went crazy too and spent a total of $137 on M&M’s alone. I spent $17. Who thought you could make so much money on chocolate?!? That night the Jacks and Sam came to our room, for dinner and we watched Despicable Me. Then yesterday we went for a bike ride around Central Park. It was so much fun! Liv and I decided that we were awesome and so we chose a tendrum (a double bike. It was hard to stop and start but we got the hand of it and rode like pro’s… most of the time!
It was freezing cold (literally) and I couldn’t feel my fingers or toes. So to warm up, afterwards we went to starbucks and let our bodies defrost. Then us and the Jacks went to (I forgot to mention the queue) the Museum f Natural History, which is where the Night at the Museum movie was filmed. I saw DUM DUM!! It was a pretty good museum but we were all starving so after an hour or two we went to this Mediterranean restaurant the food was really good. Then we split up and we went and queued for ice-skating in Central Park. It was a perfect night for it. We skated for about and hour, it was heaps of fun. Then at about 9 we went to the Empire State Building. We queued for over and hour. Then the 3rd funniest thing happened. There was an Indian couple behind us and they were trying to get in front of us and they did at one point and then we got back in front, it was so funny. Brook and mum got this look of pure determination in their eyes like ‘no, we’ve been in this queue for ages, you are not going to push in.’ when we got to the top it was really pretty with all the city lights in the night sky. We got back to bed at about 12:30am and then woke up at about 7am this morning, grabbed our bags, got a taxi and jumped on a plane. I am currently sitting on a 5 hour trip to Las Vegas, where we will meet up with a whole heap of people for New Years Eve. So that will be fun!
Santa Barbra - 11:30 4.1.12
2012!! It’s a New Year!! YAY!! Super great way to start it too! So at the moment I’m in the car on a road trip to San Francisco.
After we arrived in Vegas (there are pokies in the airport?!?) we grabbed our bags, got our hire car, which is a really nice silver Chevrolet traverse, 7 seater, 4WD, and went to our hotel which was called the Platinum. Much bigger than New York hotel. We put all our stuff in our room and then almost straight away went to the Jacks room. We chilled there for the evening, had Mexican for dinner, watched a wedding from their balcony that was in the pool area, and had lots of laughs with liv and Sam, mostly to do with Chuck Norris, simply because we were high on M&M’s.
The next day we all went to Hoover Dam, in Arizona and Nevada, which was pretty cool. Then the Chans and jacks and Jnr Jacks drove for ages though the Valley of Fire. It was awesome! We didn’t get out the car much but what we saw outside the window was pretty. The red rocks against the blue and white backdrop made a pretty picture. That day was also New Years Ever, so we went out for dinner and ordered a Pizza not realizing how big they were. My hungry tummy almost finished the giant monster of a pizza. After a more than satisfying meal, we went to KÀ, Circue Du Soleil, which is a show, with crazy acrobatic people who did crazy tricks, and was a story of how a brother & sister are separated and then almost captured, then find each other as well as their true loves who they find on their journey to find each other. It was amazing! Definitely a highlight so far, it was GREAT! Then afterwards we walked the Strip (yes, once again something crazy) there were heaps of people! A few of us made a chain as to not get lost in the crowd. We got back to our hotel at about 11:30pm so we went to the Partridges room so we could watch the fireworks. They were pretty good but not even close to Sydney. What can I say… Sydney is just the COOLEST!! The next day we went and looked at all these AMAZING hotels. First we went to the Ballazo and then the Venetian. The Venetian was so cool! Inside there was a man mad canal that you could pay for a boat ride, and the guy would steer and sing opera, like they do in Venice. We walked through a few others, which all had casinos and smelt so bad because of all the people smoking. Around midday we went to one called Caesars Palace, which is Ginormous and is also where the Hangover was filmed. It was Amazing, the Architecture was beautiful and the pool was crazy big. Actually there were multiple pools. Then we went along with the Jacks, Jnr Jacks, Partridges, Duffs, Muggeridges and Longs to the indoor skydiving Centre in Las Vegas. SO. MUCH. FUN! Another highlight.
The Next day (our last in Vegas) we went outlet shopping! YAY to prices & sales in America! Did some solid shopping, got some amazing bargains and had a good time shopping. I got my new snow jacket, pants and goggles from Oakley. For dinner we went to a little French Café, after visiting the sugar factory. Which was really cool (we should get on in Sydney). We also went to see the water fountains and lights show out the front of the Bellagio hotel. We watched two, and they were so good! I couldn’t believe how exciting water could be! The next morning, we packed out bags and got in our Chevy and drove 5 hours to Ventura. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza. Just as the sun was setting we went out on the beach and got some good photos. After that, we went out for dinner at a fish and chips place and I had a really good Taco. Then today we got up and continued on our road trip to San Fran.
I realized, the other day, that in my last entry I said my top funniest moments… except #1. So I should probably say now. So we were on a subway on our first day in New York and the subway had stopped at one of the stops and there was a guy in our part and he had fallen asleep and we woke up, and he obviously needed to get off at that stop and the doors had already been open a while, so he jumped up, grabbed what he had and went to go out, but the doors closed on him and kept trying to close, he eventually got his body our except for his leg. So he was outside the subway except for his left leg, which was inside. He got out, after his hat got knocked off by the doors, and his leg came free. The doors closed (without anything stuck in between) and I just burst out laughing. Still my #1 funny moment of the trip!