Last days at DW

Chilled out for the morning following our Universal excursion ( ha - it's only about 30 minutes away from where we were staying at Disney ! ) and then went to Magical Kingdom for a dose of Kate's favourite ride ( driving around a track ), a touch of Space Mountain and a seven dwarfs roller coaster.

We were all getting really sick of American cuisine ( I use the term loosely ) - you can only do burgers, fries, pizza so many times so it was a god send when we went for a walk across a busy 6 lane highway (??) and found a group of shops that had a Friday's restaurant.  Wonderful steaks with veges and mashed potatoes - we were all in heaven and way too full for desert Krispy Kremes on the way home don't count do they ?? .  Food is fuel but we are oh so lucky in NZ with the variety of flavours and choice of wonderful fresh produce.  I really could have done with Alan's ' find a great place to eat ' app that came in so handy when we were in Europe - but we were typically so buggered each night that we just didn't have it in us to go and hunt for food.

Kate loved the spa and pool at the hotel - she's in them at every available opportunity - and its confirmed that when we revamp the back yard this year we will put one in - a spa not a pool ! Not really my cup of tea but will make a wonderful feature and focus point. 

Last 2 days were a wee bit lazy with late starts but also late finishes.  We all loved Amimal Kindom - but half a day is really enough.  There is only really 2 rides and one was closed for renovation and so the other ( Everest roller coaster !) had 80 minute wait times.  

I really recommend the fireworks on a Saturday ( 9:45pm) at Magic Kingdom.  Kate and I had hammered the fast passes on splash mountain, space mountain and .... yes you guessed it ' tomorrow land speedway' and stopped for a look at it before heading home ( shouted ourselves a cab - the buses are great but take a very long time to get you back to the hotel - and Kate was knackered ) 

Also took a trip to Hooters to get another cap.  I think my most favoured possession is the hooters hat Colin Usherwood got for me when he was in the States in the late 90's.  Food looked like anywhere else, the beer was ok but the merchandise was crap - which really surprised me.  Another thing that surprised me was that there are a lot of craft beers on offer in bars etc - I did try one that I liked but most weren't up to our NZ standard.  Anyway - no hooters hat for me there but I googled hooters in Playa del Carmen - and it has one ( well the island close to it does !)

So final thoughts.  Disney has got their fast pass strategy wrong.  They now have an app where you can actually load up your entire stay with your preferred rides- but only 3 per day and you have to wait until all of them have been used before requesting more ( and invariably at least one of them is timed for quite late in the day.  Also you can't just fast pass one ride - it always makes you take three.  So unless you book way in advance you're kinda screwed.  I liked the older way where you had to physically be on site to fast pass - seemed to make it a little fairer.  Ultimately Universal have it right - pay more for fast passes but you can then cycle through the ones you love at your leisure.

U.S. Food: not a fan especially the food at the theme parks.  Having said that there were healthy options for kids.  

People : loved it when we bumped into other foreigners.  The US accent ( eps the down south draaaawwallll ) really grated on me at the end.

Makes you appreciate what we have. 

Harry Potter rules

Pt was Grace's birthday on the 13th so we decided to surprise her by staying at the Hard Rock Hotel in the Universal Studio complex which actually was an amazing piece of luck as they gave us fast passes for the 2 days as part of the deal ( usually $90 U.S.) - effectively meaning that the hotel was 'free' ( if you are the ultimate optimist 😀 ). Great hotel - stay there if you get the chance - great food and pools ... as well as the fast passes ( such a good feeling as you walk past lines of people !! ).  

I have to admit that I'm not too much of a Harry Potter fan - kinda liked the first book but the movies didn't do it for me,  However what Universal have done is amazing.  The walk through the castle(s) are an adventure enough but the rides are also superb.  We had a wonderful time on the roller coasters and especially on the virtual rides through the castle and the bank.  The people who think these up a every clever.

There is a heap to do and see at These two parks and I have to say that I enjoyed these more than Dismey.  Not too sure why but I'll work it out and tell you !

The Mummy ride was a great experience ( so much so that Kate and I got off it and went straight back in - courtesy of our fast passes ).  The girls got the shirts and we headed off to the local outlet mall before going back to Disney.  This mall ( group of shops ) is truly enormous.  We were there for around two hours and only did a third of it !  Funnily enough it was good to get back to our hotel room - kinda a comforting ' coming home thing)

Grace said that she loved her birthday - made it all worth it.

Disney experience

So we've been busy !

This place is huge - and when I say big I really do mean enormous.  Wendy made a great point the other day ' who had the vision to put aside all this land and create this experience '. 

Seems like we've spent hours and hours in buses or mono rails or ferries or walking to even get to the parks.  

Kate and I went to the water park the other day ( blizzard beach ) and decided to cheat and get a cab home as we were buggered.  Lots and lots of steps to get up to the slides and some amazing adventures on the way down.  The 'double dipper ' was timed and Kate beat me hands down every time.  Being a little heavier I beat her down the others but it was very competitive :)

The enclosed water slide was a hoot - totally black in some parts so a couple of hairy moments on the first run down.  Kate loved it !

I had one ride ( not sure that is the right word ) on a 40 meter vertical drop ( photo attached). Frig it was nuts.  You get told to get in the slide, cross your arms and especially your ankles ( for fairly obvious reasons ! ) then move forward over the lip and then ....... straight down.  

Un bloody believable - you get to glance down at where you are heading to and then ..... sheer terror for a split second or two before the water spray hits ( really hard ).  I've got a biggish bruise on my hip that proves the importance of keeping your ankles locked tightly together ! Do it if you ever get the chance - gets the blood circulating :)

Grace and Wendy went to Cirque du Soleil last night and were buzzing when they came out - couldn't shut them up :).  Lots of stories of spinning, diving, balancing, strength and suppleness - and the clowns were staggeringly good ( which is huge as Grace has a morbid fear of them !! ) 

Heading off to Universal Studios tomorrow for Grace's birthday treat ( Harry Potter ). 

Not the most flattering photo of me I think that you'll agree :) Kate driving me around and Magic Kingdom. 

Orlando - day 1

Ok - so not as much sleep as we wanted and not impressed with the alarm at 5am.  I've said it before and I'll probably say it again - the US knows how to queue !  The airport on Tuesday was crazy busy but we raced ( relatively) through security - shoes off, full body scan, guns and very stern looking uniformed officers.  Good flight to Orlando - have to admit that I like United and can only praise their customer service, timeliness and professionalism.

Wednesday were slept in and went to the outlet mall.  I do not like ambling around looking for things that I'm unsure if I need or not - but this place was fantastic !  I brought heaps and still need shoes and shorts !

Today went headed off to the Epcot Centre - Disney does an amazing job:

enough said!!

US trip - LA trip

Relaxed start to the trip - a few Appleton's in the lounge at Auckland to get things started and 11 hours later safely touched down in LA.

Got to the hotel and had a snooze, Not that much fun in economy on a long haul flight but the memory will fade 😀

Not a single beagle to be seen this time going through boarder security !   

Chilling out after a walk around the hotel ( nothing much to see there ), couldn't be phaffed having a swim so put on the TV.  You just gotta love Americans and their culture - a shoot out on the freeway being shown 'live' from the choppers and storm alerts ( including instructions on how to fill sand bags !) due to 3cm of rain  expected overnight. 

We've got a 5am start tomorrow - flying down to Orlando so will go and have a shower and nod off (hopefully) 

Toulouse and Barcelona

Andrew writing this.

We all really enjoyed our few days at Toulouse - well actually it was 90 minutes out of Toulouse and just outside a tiny wee village.  We all had a relaxing time and it's fair to say that we (ok, me) had far too much fun drinking the local wines and a few of the craft beers we found.  The girls also had a great time drinking ice cold Limoux that Rachel and Jon had introduced us to - high quality bubbles at €6 a bottle.  Most days were punctuated by eating and lounging around the pool, although Alan and I did get a round of golf in (we both played like chumps).

We had to get to Perpignon by 10:30 to drop off our renal cars and then get the train to  Barcelona.  We bounced up early (not) and headed off but got caught up in morning traffic on the ring road around Toulouse.  Finally got to Perpignon around 11.00 only for the GPS to have a fit when we were a few kms away from the Railway Station !! Luckily I did remember a few landmarks and we successfully managed to get there only to get busy waiting for the train that was delayed.  Because of the delay we missed the connection through to Barcelona so arrived a few hours late and a bit frazzled.  Even then we were caught up in what we now believe to be a rental scam.  Long story, but the property manager    came over and sorted out the lady who was trying to get us to move to her apartment - really pushy with multiple phone calls and messages and finished off with an invoice !!!! Never mind, we we're settled into the apartment smack in the middle of the city and were soon out having a look around and a bite to eat.  There were 2 of Gaudi' buildings within 5 minutes walking distance of where we were staying and the Basilica of the Sagrada Família was a 20 minute walk.  Amazing structure and the history is fascinating - it was a shame that there was so much construction going on (cranes, workmen, scaffolding, trucks etc) but I guess that is just what it is.  Maybe we'll get back in 2026 to see the finished product !

I like Barcelona - it has a great feeling about it.  It didn't seem to slow down - always people on the streets, traffic coming and going tapas bars serving and people siting eating and enjoying themselves.  Alan and I had a fantastic couple of hours eating and drinking at one of the local Tapas restaurants on the night before his birthday - the food was stunning, the chilled rose was fantastic and the sights and sounds varied and eclectic.  Alan and I took the kids to the zoo the next day which was right in the city ( or maybe the city grew around it ?) one day while Wendy and Laura went shopping.  Neat zoo with porpoise and sea lion shows and I have to say that I enjoyed it.

Big thanks to the Dawson's - it was wonderful sharing the last couple of weeks in Europe with you.

We arrived at the airport 4 hours before the flight to London (6:30am)  - and even then we were the last ones to board the plane!!  We talked our way into the lounge in Heathrow so the 3 hours we had there was much more pleasant than we had expected and was punctuated by more shopping for the girls while I sat and caught up on a few English newspapers ( something very satisfying about print and paper ).  In LA now battling with jetlag.  Home in a couple of days - seems to have flown by !

Off the boat !

Hi Andrew writing this.

We've been in the chateau south of Toulouse for 2 days now and it has been a god send.  The week on the canal was tough for us all and so relaxing in this place is perfect.  

Our boat !

We realized on about Tuesday that the canal was going to be a challenging week given our itinerary and the numbers on boats on the water.  We had visions of chugging away on the canal and pulling in every now and then to have a glass of wine at a village, or to let the kids off on their bikes to scoot alongside us as we puttered at a princely 8 knots.  The reality was a wee bit different.  The weather wasn't the best with a cold wind most mornings that cut through us and our journey didn't have a lot of free time built in so stopping during the day wasn't an option.  It also took 2 people to manage the boat at the locks so Wendy only got off if there was a decent gap between them to let Grace and Kate on their bikes.  It was also tough on the kids as while they helped enormously around the boat, there was a lot of down time with pockets of intense activity as we went through locks. We only saw one other family on the canal with children - and they were from Lower Hutt !!!

The girls in one of the 66 locks!

We had 66 locks, most of which were going up the river which was physically demanding on Wendy and the girls as they threw the ropes and held the boat steady as the lock filled.  We experienced the down river locks on the very last day - an absolute breeze that I could have easily done by myself ! The scenery is beautiful and it was a shame that the sun flowers were dying off as they would have been stunning in full bloom in the vast paddocks of them alongside the canal.  It's also a shame that the river hasn't/isn't kept in better condition.  I was shocked to be told that our boat waste went directly into the water !! This has World Heritage status and they continue to do that to it - made all the worse when you get the river spray all over you when the lock is filling. 

Some very good memories on the journey though with the family working very closely together, fantastic meals with the Dawson's either at a village that we had moored at, or on our boats, sitting with Wendy or the girls on the bridge and just chatting, having a look at the walled city in Carcassonne, the showers in Castradourdney were absolutely fantastic and very much needed, my personal sense of satisfaction of learning a new skill .... and many more.

A rare, but wonderful afternoon

Kids have really been enjoying chilling out in the Chateau and so have Wendy and I.  Alan and I are playing golf this morning so I'd better get ready.  Barcelona tomorrow for a few days, then LA for 3 more then home !