Happy St Patrick's Day

Being part Irish and married to an Irish man is a wonderful reason to celebrate St Patrick's Day.  Dad and Ivan enjoy a few Guinness and we usually celebrate with snacks and laughter.

This year was no different and here are a few photos.

Matthew, Grandad, Granny & Elizabeth - all wearing shades of green

Ivan and I celebrating

 Ivan showing off his home-made pumpkin soup - we bought a local farm grown pumpkin and made up a big batch of pumpkin soup in the morning - it was delicious and satisfying.

Sarah giving her Dad a cuddle

And enjoying a Guinness!

Second Month of the year

2012 is flying by - we are already into February - could someone please tell me what happened to Janaury.

I guess when you take 2 weeks out of the month to go on holidays it certainly eats up time.

So where am I at?

I am not sure!

Our holiday in Disneyland was wonderful, although I think we are sort of Disney'd out - if that is possible - everyone agrees that we need a 2-3 year break before we return. But who doesn't enjoy an amazing holiday like this.

Mickey Morning Toontown madness

The planned treat of the holiday was to celebrate my birthday in Fiji - hmm well that one didn't quite work out at planned.  Rain, rain and more rain, flooding and river crossings in 4-wheel drives, dilapdated run-down hotels and bed-bug bites all added to the adventure, but not in quite the way I expected.

I did have my hair braided on my birthday, loved that - and also did dip my toes into the swimming pool at the hotel, but most of the time, we spent in the rooms playing cards and sharing fun with the kids.

Feeling fantastic!

View from our room of the flooded pool area

Flooded pools

A dip in the pool - taking advantage of one of the few breaks from the rain (not bad for 48 years old?)

More rain

More rain

I did however, manage to take some time to write in my journal and keep up with the trip.

The biggest frustrationn of the trip is that I didn't have my camera out, when we headed to a hotel near the airport the day before our departure.  High tide and the flooding had completely isolated Denarau Island where we were staying at the Sheraton and it was only at low-tide that we had a chance to get across. Thank goodness we took it, as a couple of days later the island was totally isolated. We crossed swollen rivers and chatted to locals on their balconies of the submerged homes.  A couple of young men shouting out to us "What leaving already?"  It was very sad to see the damage the flooding was causing to a country suffering already from poverty. 

I did realise however, that I am very resilient - I didn't flinch and dealt with the situation without any great anxiety - but the children, most especially Sarah were very unsettled.  I guess she has never experienced anything but 5 * Luxury in her life - something we should rectify - or maybe not.

So another installment to follow tomorrow:  Getting out of Fiji

Cases packed

It is nearly time - only 2 sleeps to go and we are away on holiday.

We have managed to pack 3 cases for 5 of us for a 15 day holiday - I am so impressed with myself.
And . . . to make it even more impressive - one of the cases has a big dufflebag on wheels folded into the bottom of it.

Why?

Well, we are going to Disneyland of course and it is the best place to shop for souveniers. We always try very hard not to shop too much, but fail miserably, so this time we will have some space for those special friends who have to come home with us.

Lots of photos when I return and a story to share - so wishing you all a wonderful two weeks.

Happy Halloween

Today is the last day of October 'Happy Hallow's Eve' or for the non-pagans "Happy Halloween"

Sarah (sick as she is - was determined to decorate the front even just a little and hand out some candy to our very small group of local 'Trick or Treaters" - Here are a few photos.

A 'sexy-little Vampire' - Dad get out the shotgun

Come and let me give you a bite!

Handing out the candy

They all looked so cute

More Seaworld photos

One of the best things at Seaworld is a 6 million litre Aquarium with a section for tropical fish and another huge shark tank. I could have spent hours just watching the fish.

The funniest 'fish' was the cleaner - a diver cleaning the glass from the inside out. Luckily he was in the tropical tank and not the shark tank.

A Day at Seaworld

We had a wonderful day out at Seaworld today.

Elizabeth and Matthew had annual passes, so I bought tickets for Ivan, Sarah and I.

We enjoyed the dophin show so much, with all the tricks.

Sarah was also excited to see the Polar Bears and Shark tank.

There are only 4 major rides at Seaworld and the queues were quite long, so it is often not the most enjoyable park, but it is 9 years since our last visit, so it was good fun to return today.

Washington Sights

Elizabeth and I both loved the sights of Washington. We were really tired by the time we hit town, but were determined to 'see it all!' Ivan took some great photos of us on the Saturday afternoon that he got to spend with us.

A visit to the White House, pity we didn't get invited in for tea, never mind we will try Buckingham Palace, when we are in London.

Elizabeth and I in Central Park, after a lovely day of Touring New York!


I love this photo of Elizabeth with the Statue of Liberty in the background. It was taken on the Statten Island Ferry.

Elizabeth and I on Broadway! Mayor Bloomberg has closed off the street and set up all these deck chairs for people to sit in the middle of New York and enjoy the summer evenings. It was so funny as a couple of people got up from the chairs and Ivan charged off at full speed to get a seat for a photo, two young girls spotted them at the same time and headed off towards them, they were barreled out of the way, by the 6' Irish giant. I reassured them, that he wasn't attacking them, we just wanted a photo, they were laughing so much at the stupid tourists!

Do you know why the grass is always greener in Ireland?

It is because all the Irish are walking on everyone else's Grass!

I know that it rains a lot in Ireland, but we were so lucky with our few days. We had times of glorious sunshine and in fact during the whole trip, this was the only place that Elizabeth and I got sunburned. Well just a little.


Elizabeth took this great photo of me kneeling on the rocky outcrop at Carrick-A-Rede, what an amazing place and this lovely group shot of Elizabeth, Karen (Ivan's sister) and me. I like it because I was standing uphill, so was almost the same height as both of them.

I also managed to take a great group shot of everyone, Elizabeth's Aunty Karen, Uncle Geordie and cousins Rebecca (front left), young Ellen and behind her Ashleigh.

Elizabeth was persuaded to dip her toes in the Irish sea, she said it wasn't so bad, as within seconds her feet were totally numb!

A few Irish photos!

Ivan and Elizabeth on the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge!
It was a challenge to cross the rope bridge over the sea below, but great fun. This amazing rocky outcrop is up on the Antrim coast and we were all up for the challenge.

The Giant's Causeway!
Columnar Basalts or according to the legend Finn McCool's pavement across the Irish Sea to Scotland.
Elizabeth having fun balancing on the rocks.

Ivan and Elizabeth posing at the Causeway.

Home Again!

I am back!!!

After an amazing 19 days away, I am home, but totally jet lagged. We had a 42 hour travel time home, sleeping around 6 hours during those 42 and our body clocks have not adjusted. Ivan and I were asleep by 6.30pm last night and awake from 2.30am - Yuck! So am doing quite well tonight, with it already 7.00pm and I am still awake - well sort of???

Elizabeth and I had an amazing 19 days, (lots of photos to follow - need some editing). We flew from Brisbane to LA, then straight onto New York arriving around 5.30pm the same day we left. We then walked around the city until about 11pm, collapsing into bed exhausted. A full day followed with 2 exciting Hop on/Hop off Bus tours, more New York shopping and another really late night. Day 2 saw us on another bus trip and even more shopping, the credit card was beginning to moan in despair.

Day 3 we picked up the car and I negotiated the streets of Manhattan and the Lincoln Tunnel to get out of New York. I then drove to Washington D.C. We stayed in Georgetown, and explored D.C. for just one day fitting in as much as we could including all the Memorials, White House, Arlington cemetery etc, etc. Plus another bus tour. Then in the afternoon (Sunday I think) I drove to York, Pennsylvania. Monday (Day 5) Elizabeth and I explored Gettysburg - what an amazing tour, so interesting, especially to Elizabeth who loves History in all its forms.

Day 6 saw me driving from York, PA all through eastern Pennsylvania up to Stamford in Connecticut, a total of 630 miles in just 3 days. Quite a journey. We had a quiet day in Stamford and then in was back to JFK, to fly to London and onto Dublin. By now we were operating on adrenaline and will power. Quite an experience. We took lots and lots of photos about 800+ in this first section of the trip.

Next installment to follow hopefully with photos in the next couple of days.

It was however, wonderful to come home on Sunday and see my beautiful younger two children who I missed terribly. Granny and Grandad had looked after them wonderfully and they were looking well and happy, excited to see all the gifts we had brought with us, of course we spoilt them as always.

Now it is back to the daily housework and sorting out. 4 loads of washing later and chores have settled me back into the routine quickly enough. Elizabeth is back to work tomorrow and possibly for the next 4 days, she is quite happy though as she needs some money to pay for her trip expenses.

Beverly & Vesta are going on holiday

Hi everyone,

I will be off the airwaves/computer waves for the next 19 days or so, while I enjoy a fantastic holiday with Elizabeth and Ivan. We will be seeing New York (her first time), Washington D.C. (a first for both of us), Belfast - Ireland to see family (Ivan's) - Elizabeth's first time and London again another first for Elizabeth.

Ivan has some serious business to conduct, while Elizabeth and I have some serious sight-seeing to experience.

Hang in there everyone and wait for all the photos.

Hope life is good for everyone and thank you Granny and Grandad for taking care of Sarah and Matthew.

A Town like Alice

I was captivated by this beautiful place, the original Alice Spring; the Telegraph Station was built around this lovely Spring. The photos of the little town of Alice Springs were taken from the top of Anzac Hill and Todd Mall in the centre of town. It was very quiet on Sunday afternoon with most stores closed, but very pretty.

More about Alice Springs

Michelle and I had a wonderful morning at the Alice Springs Desert Park - apparently one of the World's best desert parks. I must agree. We saw an amazing 'Birds of Prey' show and I captured a few spectacular bird, including this Black Kite and Boo Boo Owl.

We walked through so many areas with wild flowers and native plants and trees that have so many medicinal uses by the local aboriginal people.

The flowers are Sturt Desert Peas and were in full flower outside our hotel, what spectacular flowers.

I have included this photo of our tour bus for our full day tour of the West Macdonnel Ranges, the company is a small, locally owned outfit and the very best I have ever experienced. Our guide Sam was not only 'real eye-candy' but so informative, fun and enthusiastic. What a wonderful day we had.

More photos to follow in the next couple of days.

More Alice photos

Ellery Creek Big Hole - a favourite swimming spot for people of Alice Springs during hot summer days of 45 degrees.

A few more photos of Ormiston Gorge!