Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty, originally uploaded by Frickley.

Today we took the metro from 'Grand Central Station' to the south of Manhattan so that we could get the 'Staten Island Ferry.' The ferry had some fantastic views of Manhattan and the surrounding area.

We fly out tomorrow evening and will be back in the UK hopefully around 8am.

We've had an amazing once in a life time journey. Coming home is full of mixed emotions, sadness for the end of the trip, tempered by looking forward to seeing friends and family. But enough of all that... how are you guys going to cope without our scintillating blog entries!! :-) J&Fx

Times Square

Times Square, originally uploaded by Frickley.

First priority upon arriving in New York was to buy some warm clothing - it is absolutely freezing here (at least minus 3 degrees daily). We headed to Bloomingdale's department store where we picked up some bargain coats - mine cost just 15 quid! Add on to that some woolly hats, gloves and scarves bought from a market stall, and we were good to go. We spent the first day exploring the city by foot - and the city certainly has a buzz. There are a few things we swiftly learnt about New Yorkers: they are all in a hurry, whatever they're doing. Everything seems to happen at twice the pace. And they like their tips! 20% gets added to cafe/restaurant bills, and they expect a tip for the smallest reason. In fact we learnt that as soon as we arrived - as the taxi driver dropped us off at the hotel we handed him his fare plus a couple of dollars, only to have him look at the money and us in pure disgust before saying 'that's it?!?'......

On the second day we looked at shops along 5th Avenue and Times Square - there are certainly loads of bargains to be had..if only we had some money left! In the evening we headed up the Empire State Building. At 40 quid (just to take an elevator up to the 86th floor) it was a bit of a rip-off, but the views from the top were amazing and we felt it had to be done - check out our photos on Flickr!

The following day we took the 'Big Red Bus' tour which enabled us to explore a little further beyond mid-town. Ground Zero was a bizarre sight - among the high rise buildings and general hussle & bussle there is a massive gap in the landscape. Marking the spot was a display of photos taken on 9/11 - it was a really emotional and humbling experience.

We went to Carnigie Deli for lunch, where James ordered the infamous 'pastrami on rye sandwich' - an unbelievably huge mountain of meat, with a couple of almost redundant pieces of bread. He managed to polish it off though, so I gathered it was good!

Today we walked to Central Park and had a wander around, however we didn't make it the whole way round the park as it's twice the size of Monaco (I think about 66 acres)! We did want to go open air ice-skating but unfortunately the rink was shut. We did consider the frozen-over duck pond instead but decided the ice may not be quite thick enough!

On the way home we went into Tiffany's - six floors of amazingly beautiful (and expensive) jewellery. As a surprise, James whipped out his credit card and bought me.......no, not a ring.....a Tiffany heart necklace! It is lovely and something I will treasure forever.

Tomorrow is our last full day. We both can't believe we only have one full day left of our trip. Our flight is at 8pm on Thursday - BA have been threatening to strike for several days, so we are praying it doesn't happen and our flight goes ahead ok. If it does, we will be back 8am Friday - looking forward to seeing you all very soon! F&J.x.

PS We've got some fantastic New York photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/frickley/ Click on New York on right of screen.

'YouTube' Maori Dance

Better late than never... I recorded this short video on my camera when we were watching a Maori Dance in Rotorua (New Zealand). Only just got around to creating a 'YouTube' account so that I can show it here. Cool huh?! Just click on the play button botttom left. If you are interested in 'YouTube' or want to comment on this video - go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5Uc_noLS-s

James

PS Richard & Jane - welcome to the world of Broadband! Mum & Michael... you'll never look back...

Los Angeles

Hollywood Sign, originally uploaded by Frickley.

We arrived in LA at 6pm local time after an extremely long and tedious journey. Feeling tired, we decided to go out straight away and get some lunch/breakfast/dinner (our body clocks were so confused by the traveling and time differences, we weren't sure what it was!). Just over the road from the hotel is an 'all American' diner called 'Jan's' - with booth seats and a menu with the greatest choice of food we have ever seen. Needless to say the portions sizes were also 'all American' - our table looked as though we'd had an absolute feast by the time we'd finished! They certainly know how to feed a couple of weary jet-lagged travellers!

After a very early night, we got up the following day early as we wanted to make the most of our time in Los Angeles (we're only here for 1 full day before going on to New York) and booked a full day-tour of sight-seeing. The tour took us to all the key places - Hollywood Bowl, Kodak Theatre (where the Oscars are held each year), Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theatre (where there are hand & footprints of lots of stars). Did you know that the infamous stars that adorn the walk of fame (all 3000+ of them) are actually paid for by the stars themselves. They actually cost $15,000 each - once we found that out, it took some of the glamour from them. Apparently the hand & footprints are regarded as the real sign that you've made it as a star in Hollywood!

In the afternoon, we boarded a smaller mini bus to go see the 'homes of the rich and famous'. Driving up into the Hollywood Hills, we got a good view of the famous white sign (apparently it used to read 'Hollywoodland' until an avalanche knocked down the 'land' bit) and passed by the homes of Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner, Ben Stiller, Leonardo Di Caprio and Sean Penn. We then drove on to Beverly Hills and Bel Air - where the most exclusive houses are. There, we saw houses where Madonna, Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes, Sean Connery and Paris Hilton all live. Perhaps the most impressive was the home of the late Aaron Spelling - his estate covers 55 acres (including a 159 room house with 30 maids and a private 9-hole golf course!) - all right in the heart of Beverly Hills. It was certainly impressive...

Tonight we are currently enjoying a complimentary glass of wine and a cheese selection laid on by the hotel manager before going out to get some dinner. We leave for New York tomorrow - fingers crossed the plane won't be delayed this time! F&J.x.

Quan-toss....are we nearly there yet???

Stuck in Auckland..., originally uploaded by Frickley.

NO!!!

We checked out of our cabin at 10am this morning, hanging about until 2pm for our flight from Christchurch to Auckland. So far, so good. Upon arriving at Auckland airport, we found out that our flight, due to leave for LA at 7.40pm is now delayed until 1.30 am...but never mind! Qantas have given us each a $10 (approx. 3 pound) voucher each to spend whilst whiling away the hours - hurrah!

We are therefore currently waiting patiently for our flight and praying that it is not further delayed (our plane has not yet left Melbourne due to technical difficulties). Oh well...better safe than sorry eh?

Only 7 more hour to go until our departure time - then it's only a 13 hour flight....can't wait...!

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier, originally uploaded by Frickley.

We booked our trip for the glacier as soon as we arrived in the Franz Josef Glacier township. Our drive down had been quite treacherous due to torrential rain and windy mountainous roads, so we were praying that tomorrow would be fine. Franz Josef Glacier claims to be the most spectacular and challenging glacier environment available to the general public anywhere in the world. Its also the world's steepest and fastest flowing commercially guided glacier. The Maori's call it, "Ka Roimata o Hine Huhatere," which translates to "Tears of the Avalanche Girl."

Fortunately the next day started off with fine weather. We got togged up (coat, hat, gloves, 2 pairs of socks, army boots and ice talons) and drove the short distance to the bottom of the glacier. We then set off on foot for the 2.5km walk to the base of the ice flow. As the glacier got closer it was an amazing sight. The sheer scale of the thing! It wasn't white as expected but had a light blue tinge to it and a fair bit of dirt making it look slightly grey in places. We put the talon's onto the bottom of our boots to give us a better grip on the ice and started to climb up the glacier. In total, we spent 2 hours on the ice, climbing steep inclines before descending steps carved out of the ice by our guide. It was quite slippery so the ice talons were essential. Unfortunately Fran's left talon broke (she thought it might have been caused by gripping to the ice with the fear of death!) but the guide took his off and gave it to her. Upon descending the glacier, it started to rain increasingly heavily. By the time we got to the bottom and started the 2.5km trek back to the tour coach, everyone was pretty exhausted, getting steadily drenched by the now torrential rain. I have to say that we didn't envy the group approaching the glacier to do their walk as we left!

Overall it was a great experience - a little more challenging than we had expected - but great fun. One thing's for sure...we certainly enjoyed a hot shower and a glass or two of vino when we got back to our cabin!

Tomorrow it's off to Christchurch for our flight to LA! J&F.

Exploring the South Island

Picton, originally uploaded by Frickley.

On 16th Jan we caught the ferry to the South Island. Unfortunately, we unknowingly booked the Bluebridge ferry (the cheapest), but turns out the car rental drop off/pick up points on the North and South Islands are a distance away from the car hire places at a different ferry terminal. This meant that we had to drop off the car and then lug our stuff to a different ferry terminal before boarding. The 3.5 hour journey went smoothly (though we got surrounded by shouting kids, much to James' annoyance as one spilt their drink on him!). Once we got to the South Island, we faced a further trek from the arrival terminal to collect our next hire car. Nevertheless, we got there safely and spent our first night in Picton, a pretty port. The following day we drove to Kaikoura, staying only for one night before driving to Greymouth. Although the driving distances in NZ are a lot less than those we drove in Oz, the roads here are very winding so speeding along is not an option. The roads are so wiggly-waggly in fact, that both J and I have suffered travel sickness (though I think J's may also be linked to a small hangover!).

Tomorrow we are going for a long walk to explore the scenery, before driving to the Franz Josef glacier on 20th.....

Wellington - New Zealand's Capital

P1140025, originally uploaded by Frickley.

We left Napier and headed for our final destination on the North Island - Wellington. The drive was reasonably long so we stopped on the way for lunch, happening upon a really good cafe. Re-energised by food and the exciting news that my new nephew had just been born, we headed on to our destination.

The following day, we drove into the city (our campsite is located just outside in a place called Lower Hutt) and went on the cable car. It took us high up to an excellent city lookout spot and a Botanical Garden. We decided to walk the route back as the rain had gone and the sun had come out (one of the rare occasions it has done so since we arived!).

Tomorrow we are catching the ferry to the South Island - apparently the crossing takes 3 hours. First stop - Picton. Just 18 days left of our travels now...F&J.x.

Welcome to a new member of the Corke family...

Nicholas Corke, originally uploaded by Frickley.

Congratulations to Tom and Angela on the arrival of baby Nicholas William - born at 10:30pm on 13th January, weighing in at 9lb 13.5oz! So delighted to have a new nephew and cannot wait to meet him - hope Beth is enjoying having a new baby brother! F.x.

Napier - an Art Deco town

There is even an Art Deco McDonalds! Napier, originally uploaded by Frickley.

Today we spent the morning exploring the pretty town of Napier, based along Hawke Bay on the South-East coast of the North Island. A massive earthquake and subsequent fire in 1931 resulted in the destruction of most of Napier's buildings. Two years of reconstruction from 1931-33 meant that the majority of the town's buildings date from the peak years of the Art Deco period. We took a scenic tour to see the highlights - the Marine Parade, the National Tobacco Company (home to the most ornate and photographed Art Deco building in the town) and two wineries. We also saw an unusual sculpture known as the 'Millenium Sculpture' marking the fact that Napier was the first city in the world to welcome in the dawn of the new millenium.

This afternoon, I had booked another dolphin swimming activity, following the disappointment in the Bay of Islands. I was to swim with them at the local MarineLand attraction - being in a swimming pool, surely I was going to get a good experience? We arrived only to find they had booked me in for tomorrow (what is it with these Kiwi's getting their dates wrong?!?). Unfortunately we will be heading off early tomorrow to do the long drive to Wellington. It looks like the dolphin swimming experience has evaded me once again! :(

Lake Taupo and the Waitomo Caves

Waitomo Caves - Black Water Rafting, originally uploaded by Frickley.

Lake Taupo is New Zealand's largest lake (measuring 606 sq km in area), formed by a massive volcanic eruption about 26, 500 years ago. Today, it is proclaimed as the trout fishing capital of NZ - apparently the lake is home to absolute monster size fish all descended from a single batch off eggs once introduced to the lake. However, we decided not to try our hand at fishing, but instead made the 2.5 hour drive to the Waitomo Caves. There are apparently over 300 caves in the area, many of them providing a home to glo worms. Most sane people choose to view these glo worms by entering the large Aranui Cave - we however, chose to check them out by signing up to a 'black water rafting' excursion.

The name of trip is misleading as it turned out there are no rapids in the caves - it's was really just a caving activity. James had a fantastic time - he was really in his element. Me....I have to say I hated every moment of it - we had to put on wetsuits and welly boots, then trek for ages to get to the entrance of the cave. It was cold, dark and freezing cold - we waded through some of it, crawled through other bits as the cave got extremely narrow, swam some of it (brrrr, freezing), and climb other bits - not easy with welly boots full of water! Don't be fooled by the rather demonic photo of me smiling whilst in the cave - that's my face for 'get me out of here!' Still, it was an adventure...

A Maori 'Haka' dance in Rotorua

Maori, originally uploaded by Frickley.

We left the Bay of Islands and headed south to Papamoa Beach, about an hour from Rotorua. We had hoped to stay in Rotorua but all the accommodation was booked up.

After a steep and winding 6 hour drive, we arrived at the accommodation we had booked a couple of days before to find that they had got the dates wrong! Fortunately they were very helpful and manage to book us into somewhere nearby which was lucky as it is peak season here and everywhere else was fully booked up. We ended up in a fantastic studio apartment - it was a bit pricey but better than the alternative (sleeping in the car!).

The following day we took a short drive to Mt Maunganui and had a wander around its base, along the beach and peninsula nearby. We didn't last long though as it started raining heavily, so we headed back to chill out for a couple of hours. In the evening we were picked up for a trip into Rotorua to see a traditional Maori concert and indulge in a 'Hangi' (a traditional Maori meal cooked in the earth with the heat from the natural thermals). On the trip in we found out why Rotorua is called the, 'Sulphur City...' It stinks! Rotorua has the most thermal activity in the country, with bubbling mud pools, gurgling hot springs, gushing geysers and evil eggy smells hovering around (no jokes please... :-) )! I'd seen the All Blacks performing a Haka dance before taking on England in the rugby so I knew we were in for a treat. The concert was amazing and the food was excellent.

Before the concert we were taken into the forest to be welcomed by the Mitai tribe (an actual tribal family still following some of their traditions today). They arrived in a long boat that they had carved from a solid piece of wood, chanting as they paddled up and down the river. I had to avert Fran's eyes as they were only wearing small g-strings, unless you count the tattoos covering their bodies!

The following day, on our way from Papamoa Beach to our next destination, Lake Taupo, we stopped off at 'Whakarewarewatanga o te Ope Taua a Wahiao' Thermal Village (aka 'Whaka'). This thermal reserve is still home to a traditional Maori tribe, one member of which gave us a tour around. They use the thermal pools for cooking their food, bathing and providing their drinking water.

Farewell to Oz and on to New Zealand

Fran goes swimming 'with' Dolphins!, originally uploaded by Frickley.

It was quite sad leaving Oz - after three months it had begun to feel familiar and homely - and of course, had provided us with many excellent adventures and memories. But our 90-day visa had run out, and it was time to move on to something different - New Zealand! Our flight took us to Auckand in the North Island, where we picked up our hire car and drove to our city centre based hostel - Base Backpackers. It was a pretty grotty place to stay but it was only for 3 nights. On our first full day we took the free city orientation bus and visited various sites incuding the imposing 328 metre Sky Tower (as the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, it makes a great place to watch people sky-dive from the top), an historic Maori dwelling, Mt Eden (Maungawhau) from where we could look down on a 360 degree view of the city sprawl, the Harbour and Mission Beach. We found that, although Auckland itself it a pretty average city centre much like any other, there are lots of interesting things to do just a stone's throw away.

Leaving Auckland, we headed North to KeriKeri and the Bay of Islands. We booked a day trip to explore the islands, view the famous 'hole in the rock' and - most importantly - swim with dolphins. It wasn't long after leaving the harbour that we saw the first group of dolphins - there were six in total. They swam around the boat for a while, allowing us spectators to get some photos. The scenery was beautiful in the bay - there are 150 or so islands in total, some of which provide a home to small townships, others which have escaped any kind of development. We sailed through the 'hole in the rock' before stopping at a beach for lunch. After that, we boarded the boat again in search of more dolphins.

Unfortunately, the captain explained that at this time of the year each group of dolphins contains juveniles - and the law states that we are therefore not allowed to swim freely with them. I was gutted - surely they knew that before we booked the trip?! Anyway, they did allow us to have a go at swimming 'in the net', which I decided to have a go at. It's basically a net that is lowered into the water alongside the boat and is dragged along - the splashing entices the dolphins to swim nearby. I joined about 30 others in the net - it was a bit of a scramble and was hard work holding on while getting dragged along. However, some dolphins did approach us about 10 metres from the net, so I guess I can say I did manage to swim 'with' the dolphins, albeit not as close in proximity as I'd hoped!

So far, we have found it difficult to find available places to stay as it is peak season here at the moment, so we've decided to plan all our stops for the 3 week stay and book all accomodation in advance...next stop....Papamoa Beach near Tauranga!

Day trip to the Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains, originally uploaded by Frickley.

Before leaving Australia, we had one more place that we were keen to explore - the Blue Mountains, about 100km from the centre of Sydney. Instead of doing an organised tour, we hired a car with Kate and Jess which worked out cheaper and gave us more flexibility in what we wanted to do when we got there. Our first stop was 'Evans lookout' - a spectacular view over the mountains with their famous 'blue haze' (a result of the ultra fine oily mist given off by eucalyptus trees) and of the Wentworth Falls (though we all agreed it was more of a trickle than a fall!). After that, we drove on to Echo Point to see the famous 'Three Sisters' rock formation and Jamison Vally before heading to Katoomba and 'Scenic World'. Kate decided to sit this one out while James, Jess and I took the cable car down into the rainforest before taking the world's steepest railway back up. We got on the train (I would be more inclined to call it a cage on rollers) which had seat that tipped you backwards - seemed strange but as soon as the train moved off, all became clear. Almost immediately the train tipped almost vertically - the only thing to hold you in were the tilted seats (no seat belts and no sides to each cabin). I have to say, I was absolutely terrified (it couldn't have helped that we were ascending backwards) and clung on the the rail for all my life was worth! I will NEVER be doing that one again!!!

Our last stop in the Blue Mountains was the Botanical Gardens where we had a stroll before stopping at the cafe for scones and jam - mmm, the perfect day!

Countdown to 2007...

New Years Eve Fireworks, originally uploaded by Frickley.

Our New Year preparations began at 2pm as we made our way to Circular Quay, loaded with BYO wine and clothing for both hot and cold/wet weather - we were in for the long haul as we wanted to get a decent spot in order to see the fireworks later that evening. Joined by all our mates from the hostel, we found a decent spot and plonked down sarongs to mark our space - we had heard it gets incredibly busy even early on in the best areas! Just after 5pm, some of my mates (including Matt, Face and Ali) arrived on a ferry from Manly to join us. It was great to see them - esp Face as I hadn't seen him for years. Face explained that he plus others were going to watch the fireworks from Balmain, just along the coast. We decided that we would join them as I was keen to stay with my mates and Face assured us the view of the fireworks would be great. Sure enough, Balmain was a lot less crowded and we had a perfect view of the Harbour Bridge. We waited there until 9pm when the first fireworks went off - they were fantastic and worth the 7 hour wait we had endured!
After that, we all decided to make our way back to Circular Quay to join the others, as we thought the atmosphere would be better there (and we had 3 hours to kill till the next fireworks!). Luckily, after an hour we managed to get a couple of taxis. However, when we arrived outside the Circular Quay area, it was absolutely rammed with people and it was a real struggle to get back to the area where our hostel mates were. People were pushing and shoving, blokes were fighting each other and children getting crushed - it was well scary at one point!
Time then passed really quickly until midnight when there was a countdown and the most impressive fireworks of our lives began to explode. First, the tune 'diamonds are forever' belted out of speakers all around, and then the fireworks started from around the Opera House. More then went off from the bridge and then we heard bangs coming from behind us. The crowd then turned to see fireworks exploding off the roof tops of all the sky-scraper buildings surrounding the harbour...we were literally encircled in noise and beautiful light displays filling the sky. We are so glad that we made the decision to spend NY in Sydney - it was well worth it and something I think we'll remember forever!