28 April 2010 - New York New York

When your are continually flying due east or west time ceases to have much meaning. We flew out of LA last night and arrived in New York at 5:30 this morning. We had already cleared immigration and Customs at LA and so we quickly collected our bags and hired a car to drive us to the Holiday Inn in Soho, New York. We were planning just to drop our bags off as we didn't expect our rooms to be ready at 6:30 in the morning so it was a pleasant surprise when we were able to check in and have showers. An hour later we were exploring the NY subway systems and shortly thereafter we arrived at New York's Grand Central Railway station which is one of the most spectacular buildings I've ever seen. From there we walked along East 42nd street and into Times Square where I took this picture:

From here we walked to take a quick look at Central Park. By then we were getting a bit weary as we were into our third day without any real sleep. After a quick lunch at one of NY's famous deli cafes, we caught the subway home. And arrived back at our hotel around 4pm. Bought a bottle of wine and a few beers to celebrate our achievement and we are now at 5:30pm ready to crash. Tomorrow we leave for the cruise ship at 11:00.

27 April 2010 - In the beginning....

Today is the first day of our big adventure. Picked up John and Sandra at about 10:30 and drove to Melbourne through pouring rain. Good time to be leaving. Dropped the car off at Jetport and arrived at Tulla with loads of time to spare. Here we are killing time waiting for the flight to Sydney.

Anyway, all proceeded smoothly and we soon settled into the 13 hour flight from Sydney to LA. It's a pretty long flight and I didn't manage to get any sleep. Because we were flying due east, before you know it is daylight again. Managed to catch this photo during the flight.

Eventually arrived in LA in broad daylight and found we had three hours to kill to our next flight. Spent some of that time in McDonalds at the airport.

22 April 2010 - Only 5 more sleeps!

On Tuesday 27 April, we fly to New York with our friends John and Sandra. From there we embark on the Explorer of the Seas for a 9 night cruise to Bermuda, St Maarten, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. After that we spend a few days in NY and then hire a car for a visit to Washington DC. Not sure what to expect in terms of internet access but if possible I will try to update this blog with highlights and pictures.
Only 5 more sleeps!