Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon

Vegas. Hmmm. What can you say? You really have to come here to know what its like. Some people just love it. Me? Well I am not too sure to be honest.

We are staying at the MGM Signature. Thirty eight floors of probably the most luxurious hotel rooms we have stayed at so far.

Top Tip….When you register and pass the receptionist your passport, make sure there is a $20 bill in there and on view and ask if you are entitled to any complimentary upgrades? It works. For the same price we moved from the 15^th floor with a not fantastic view to a 37^th floor penthouse room with a very fantastic view.

If they can’t find you an upgrade they pass the $20 back.

So, 37^th floor. Right, let’s lean against the rail on the huge balcony. LoL LoL. Neither of us got within three feet of it.

By the end of the stay I could, but at first our legs would not move. The bath is bigger than our king size bed and you could fit a family of six in the shower cubicle!

Walking down the strip - Even that takes some getting used too. All you want to do is look at all the sights, and by that I mean the hotels. New York, New York.

Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Paris.

All sites to behold. Problem….you run the gauntlet of people clicking these cards and shoving them in your hand. WTF? Stopped for a coffee and had a look. They are cards with pictures of naked prostitutes on, with phone numbers, price and a promise to be round in 20 minutes. Bear in mind I am walking with Lucy and they are still passing them to me. It must be that they think we will be up for threesome. I did ask her but she gave me a good slap. I hated it at first. Then I found out the clicking is to get your attention. They are not allowed to utter a word or its soliciting which is illegal. Later on I was used to it and walked down the middle with both arms out saying “Bring it on man” ;)

Food – Oh so much of it ! We went to the carnival buffet at the Rio on the first night. Absolutely huge and I ate the best rare beef rib I have ever had. All for $12.95 each (50% discount from discount ticket booths), oh of course plus tax, plus tips………

Last night we went to see Cirque du Soleil KA production. It’s spectacular and well worth the money. To be honest that last statement just doesn’t do the show justice. Everyone who reads this you owe it to yourselves to add “Cirque du Soleil KA” to your bucket list. I don’t think we will ever see this production in the UK because the stage is a totally independent motorised surface that can move round on the horizontal plain as well as tilt up to completely vertical and spin 360deg on that axis. Confused?

Try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cuyUKEKRLc to see the stage in the up position. Ohhhh and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBt1tVm-E1E&feature=related Anyway, it was the most enjoyable evening.

The previous night we saw Penn and Teller, the comedy magicians and they were pretty good as well.

Today is Grand Canyon visit. I am not sure if it was a good deal or not but we have paid $245 each (£155) for a trip to the south rim and Hoover Dam on a fixed wing plane.

See the white around Lake Mead. That is the former water level. Its dropped 100 feet in the last four years.

Once again, this is something I have wanted to do all my life. (Dennis) Las Vegas has never really interested me but the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam are places I have always wanted to see.

I am not going to write loads and loads here because the truth is I was very disappointed. My expectations were obviously way too high because it just never lived up to my hype. Yes it is a fantastic phenomenon but 10 minutes at each sight is enough.

There are only so many pictures you can take, so its back to the hotel and pack our bags.

We fly back tomorrow evening. Home to sunny U.K. at 5pm on Sunday.

Depression has just set in. Tara!

San Francisco

First things first, I have say that this week in the USA is going to be extremely hectic, and so we are only going to write a skeletal account of our time here. It is our aim to make this blog into a book for our own keep sake later on, so we will expand on our accounts and add more pictures when we have more time at home. To our children and mates who have been following our trip of a lifetime, thanks for following us. It really has been great keeping in touch with everyone. This fact also prevents there being any feelings of homesickness. In fact I thing the sickness will begin once we do get home.

San Francisco… My mother used to watch “The Streets of San Francisco” when I was a child.

All I remember is deciding at the age of 8 to join the Royal Navy when I grew up, transfer to the US Navy and then go live in SF. Well I joined the RN, I spent a couple of days on a US ship and I went to the East coast several times, but that’s as far as the dream got. I sent my parents a postcard the other day saying “It's taken me 40 years, but I am here at last”

I was so looking forward to getting here and I have to say the city did not disappoint me. Sadly jet lag ruined the second day, but the first day we went on a city tour.
                                      
The weather was kind to us again so we got to see some fantastic sites. We went out of the city to Muir wood. OMG another wood/forest you say. Yep, but this wood is full of giant Redwoods.

                                                      Lucy showing us her D.O.B.


Stand next to one of these babies and you definitely feel insignificant. Well I did anyway.

There were seven of us on the tour, four Aussie kids, Lucy and I and Tine’s Austrian sister.

The tour guide certainly knew his stuff so all in all it was an excellent day.

When we got back to the hotel in Union Square we decided to have a drink at the bar. Oh dear! It turned out to be more than one drink..... 

Next morning jet lag caught us up big time. Added to this we were both hung over. We had to leave the hotel at 10am to visit Alcatraz.

How they lived in those cells I will never know. Solitary in "the hole" must have been terrible. It was pitch black in there when they shut the door.

Luckily I have not done much wrong so I was able to leave there after a couple of hours.

Unlike the bloke that Clint played in "Escape from Alcatraz" who was never heard of again and presumed drowned. The paper machee head in the following picture is the original. Everything in the cell is as it was the day they realised he had escaped.

That was also very interesting but when we got back in the early afternoon we both collapsed in bed. Unfortunately that buggered the day up and all we managed to do for the rest of the day was go out for a meal and then pack ready for the early morning flight to Las Vegas, the last stop on our holiday, sob sob.

North Island New Zealand

North Island and onto the USA

Two days of driving. We are heading up to the North Island via ferry and then driving up to Auckland. We have two days to do this because we catch our flight out of New Zealand on Sunday.

Because of this, and the fact that our week in the USA is likely to be very hectic, we will fill this in as and when we get the chance, hopefully before we get back on Sunday the 6th December.

Its funny, but I thought I was completely saturated when it came to New Zealand scenery. There was nothing left for the Islands to show me that would make me go “Wow”

Wrong!!

As per normal we took the scenic route up to Picton and boy was it scenic. Every time we crested a hill/mountain there unfolded another breathtaking view below us.

 We must have stopped at every lookout point and realised we were running the risk of missing the ferry.

This very nearly proved the case when we arrived at the dock and were told the car hire firm had cancelled our tickets. I let Lucy sort that one out and we were soon on the boat. Three pleasant hours later we arrived in Wellington on the North Island.

Like Christchurch, we cant say much about Wellington as we drove straight out of there and headed north. Actually I can say there was a lot of traffic and also a motorway. We knew there had to be more than seven cars in New Zealand.

I have to say there is quite a lot to see on the North Island but it does not quite match the South for beauty, nevertheless it was a pleasant drive over the next two days to Auckland.

Pleasant except for when we came  across what appeared to be the New Zealand version of the Tour de France which took place on the main A1 road near Taupo. I am being conservative when I say out of a population of four million people, three million were taking part.  For the best part of 30km Lucy risked head on crashes as she had to dodge the gaggle of mad road cyclists racing along the road sometimes in groups of 15 to 20. We witnessed one big bike smash (not involving a car I hasten to add) and then another cyclist swerved suddenly in front of Lucy so she had to slam on the brakes. She was completely exhausted after that and I had to take over the driving !

We stayed the night in both Palmeston North and Rotarua, before finally reaching the airport that would see us leave possibly the most wonderful country I have ever visited. (Except for the bloody sand flies.) So it was with heavy hearts that we boarded and waved goodbye.

The flight to LA was over twelve hours and unfortunately there was just enough turbulence throughout the flight to mean that we got no sleep at all.

 
We arrived in LA at 6:35am and caught a connection to San Francisco at 11.00am (already an hour late) . We checked into our hotel on Union Square and literally went straight to bed to catch a couple of hours much needed sleep !

 

Abel Tasman

We went kayaking yesterday. The sea was dead calm on the outward journey and it was a real doddle. While having a snack break in a sheltered cove, we noticed the wind picking up. Don't get me wrong, it was still a lovely day but boy was it hard work crossing the waves on the way back. It was very enjoyable though. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in cafes and shopping around. Well I did while Lucy had a facial. LoL

Last day in Nelson and the weather forecast was very good, so we decided to take a trip out to Abel Tasman National Park. The furthest you can drive to is Kaiteriteri which is about an hour from Nelson and from there you need to take a water taxi to the various coves and beaches.

There is a walk, over 50km, that can be done, but it takes three days and sleeping in tents - something I won't/don't do !

Instead we took a water taxi to Bark Bay and walked 7km to Torrent Bay through the forest. It is so peaceful and calm and the views over the Tasman sea and over the golden sandy beaches are glorious.

We took  some sandwiches and apples and lots of factor 30 sun block and had a fantastic day. After we reached Torrent Bay we had a hour to wait for the water taxi so  we spent the time paddling in the cool clear waters  and generally chilling out.

Back in  Kaiteriteri, we  went for a meal in the local cafe (almost certainly the only cafe there) and had a tasty meal of the local fish.

Tonight we have been packing up again :( Tomorrow we sail from Picton to the North Island for our journey up to Auckland and our flight to Los Angeles on Sunday

This link is to a video taken in Queenstown. It includes skydiving and Nevis swing

Quadaphobia

Lucy and I had different feelings about today’s activities, especially the quad biking. The adrenaline surges through me when doing stuff like this and I loved it but Lucy just thought it was hard work. I can’t criticise her at all though because she stuck with it and rode all the way to the top and back again a total of  14 km. Never once in the journey did her eyes leave the road directly in front of her.

This is the first time either of us has ridden quad bikes and let me tell you its quite hard work. As Lucy pointed out to our guide when we were only two minutes into warming up on the driveway.

“These bikes don’t have power steering!”

Anyway off we plodded up the mountain tracks. It was a lovely day again and the views were, as usual, quite lovely. The guide pulled over a couple of times to point out things like a two thousand year old tree and stuff. ;)

At the top of the hill was a skywire called the flying fox. To see what this really is you need to check out the videos either on their own site (www.happyvalleyadventures.co.nz) or YouTube. Basically it’s a 3.2km powered zip wire that speeds you along at speeds up to 80kmph. I am not sure of the height but the tall trees were at least a couple of hundred feet below us.

I couldn’t really tell for sure as I was hanging onto my camera and the ride frame like I was trying to crush both. Lucy of course loved that part of the day and revelled in my discomfort. Divorce could well be on the cards when we get home.

The ride downhill on the quad bikes was even better. The guide pointed out we should use the brakes. LoL Lucy used the brakes for both of us I think. At the bottom they had a fun test track which was a very rugged circuit in a field of sheep. I proceeded to power my way around it at breakneck speeds while Lucy videoed it for posterity. 

(When we watched it back later in the evening I was really depressed to see that I was actually crawling around the course like a 90 year old granny on a wheeled zimmer frame.)

Eating in tonight and then off to town for a few beers. Need to be up early in the morning as we are out kayaking

Nelson

Its the largest  town we have seen in New Zealand, but best of all its sunny. The motel we are staying in is ace and has a brilliantly comfy bed.

This is South street Nelson. Built in 1840

                                                       Lucy donning her new party hat

We did a bit of exploring today and we have booked some activities for the next few days. Tomorrow will be quad biking and a zip wire thing called skywire which is over 3km long. Day after we are going kayaking on the Tasman Sea and the day after that whale watching in Kaikoura. 

The weather forecast is  sun, sun, sun for the next three to four days so I will have to dig out the sunblock again.

The long and winding road....to Nelson

How we kept ourselves entertained on the long, long journey.....

The full version of this video is on You Tube. See it all when you click HERE

Drought, what drought ?

Yesterday we left Queenstown, with sadness as we had really enjoyed it there and had stayed there four extra days over our originally planned three.

It was a long drive to Franz Josef, so we stopped a few times on the way.

Most enjoyable stop was at Wanaka where we visited the famous Puzzle World.

It tells you something about traffic in New Zealand that in the whole 400km drive to Franz Josef on single carriageway road we didn't need to overtake a single other vehicle. Most of the time there were no other vehicles to see.

It was raining when we got to Franz Josef and this morning when we woke all we could hear was the  incessant rain beating against the motel room roof and windows. It was a sorry sight. 270 days of rain a year here. At 12:30 when we turned up for the half day glacier hike, it was still pouring down.

The tour company supplied all the kit needed including rain coats, hiking boots, hats, gloves, over trousers and crampons for walking on the ice. 

It was only a short drive to the glacier car park, and we set off, a group of about thirty nine, which was further split down into three groups.

Fast, slow and old fogies. We decided to go in the second group because we are not kids anymore but we didn't want them to think we were completely geriatric

Once on the glacier the rain seemed to ease (or maybe we were just getting used to it) and we started to enjoy the experience of walking on a glacier, which was made much easier with the crampons.  When we got back to the town, we went for a dip in the hot pools which was an extremely enjoyable end to the day.

Tomorrow we are heading for Nelson and hopefully sunshine for five days and then we will be crossing over to the North Island

Nevis Arc Swing

We made it folks. The rope didn't snap and the harness didn't work its way loose. Click on the photos to see the full screen image

Den spent the afternoon at the local tattoo shop. When in NZ get some sort of Maori design. Good thing about black is it covers old tattoos. Sorry Jen but you're gone now.

Next stop in New Zealand the Franz Josef Glacier which we will visit on Saturday on half day trip. The drive from Queenstown will take us most of the day.

Bring the men in white suits for me

Rest day today. Us old fogies have to take a breather once in a while.

Went to see 'Social Network' at the cinema. Story of the start of Facebook and the lawsuits that went with it. Very thought provoking. Like to know how close to the truth it is

This is what we are doing tomorrow morning (7:45 pm UK time) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi6UfTQ0jXE

We are completely bonkers. It's been nice knowing you all

So where do I start

Indeed! It’s been three days since our last entry. I can’t usually remember what I have had for breakfast so recalling all the adrenalin charged activities we have been doing is going to be a challenge.

I think today is Tuesday. That’s another thing. Being on a long extended holiday means that you no longer have any concept of days of the weeks or dates in general. I just need to remember two dates. On 26^th Nov we catch the ferry from Picton to Wellington and on 28^th Nov we fly to Los Angeles from Auckland. What it is to be an international jet setter!

Anyway back to the activities. On Sunday I gave in and agreed to do something a little more exciting than a massage. We booked ourselves on the Jet Boat on the Shotover river/canyon.

These are jet boats that speed along the treacherous waters of the Shotover at breakneck speeds, with pilots who aim to scare you to death by aiming for the solid rock walls of the canyon as well an engaging in 360 degree turns at some outrageous speed.

It was exhilarating and we have the pictures to prove it. If you look at the pictures we are at the back.

We ventured in the car afterwards to a small town called Arrowtown. Had an ice cream, Enough said….

The evening was spent in the local cinema watching a comedy action thriller called ‘Red’. Worth a look if anyone is thinking of going. Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis and various other ‘older’ stars in a damm good yarn.

As we like Queenstown so much, we decided to stay two extra days, mainly to save us having to pack up again. I booked a coach trip to Milford Sound for Monday, which meant getting up at 6:30am L. The coach trip involved a journey of four hours each way, following all the other coaches to Milford Sound. Once there we went on a two hour cruise.

Was it worth it? Anything that involves an eight hour round trip needs to really live up to something and there is an awful lot of hype surrounding Milford Sound. I was a little disappointed, but I am not very good on long journeys by road especially by coach.

In hindsight, it would have been better to drive ourselves and book a cruise when we got there. We got back very late and grabbed a snack in a pub in Queenstown.

Next day (Tuesday) we again had to be up at 6.30am, this time to go on a day hike on the famous Routeburn Track.

To ‘tramp’ along the whole length of the track takes three days, with two nights at various huts along the way staying in shared dorms. No way Jose! Instead we settled on a 20km round trip along the track with a guide. There were four other people on the hike, including a teacher from London.

Unfortunately, for the first 10k it rained solidly, which is sort of expected in rainforest, so by the time we reached the hut at the midway point we were literally soaked to the skin. We managed a bit of lunch and then set off back, thankfully the rain had eased off. We got back to the apartment at 7.00pm Never was a hot, steaming shower so welcome (as well as a washing machine and tumble dryer)

Look like we are going to stay an extra day in Queenstown  and tomorrow is definitely a rest day!