Our Last Stint

A late night/early morning and many laughs with Jamie ended our holiday in America on a high. Today we hopped on a plane, prepared for twenty-four hours of flying. We got through the first flight of nine hours with no sleep and company of some good movies, like this one. The second flight, we managed to get 7 uncomfortable hours of sleep and the view of a gorgeous sunrise. It didn't take long to get through customs and security in Sydney but due minor delays we missed our flight to Adelaide, which then followed by us being informed that Jamie {apparently} didn't have a ticket home. A couple hours later, and after some communication with staff and our travel agent we sorted the problem out and were on our way to our home city {after picking up some of these of course!}. Joining some Australian olympic athletes and an ex-Getaway cameraman we made it home to see family greeting us at the gate. Excitement filled my body to see these friendly faces and to start sharing stories. I stayed up as late as I could to try and conquer jet-lag.

Some things I've learnt and realised while being away in America & Canada

• I love ice-cream {sometimes way too much!}.
• God's timing is perfect and He will get us through anything and everything.
• Everything involving a public toilet is automatic - the flush, the water, the soap, the dryer.
• Tipping is a must,  not an option.
• 1 cent coins are a pain and have no use {no wander we got rid of them!}. They are easy to collect but hard to give away.
• Public transport is easy and inexpensive.
• Wake-up calls were lifesavers.
• I love adrenaline rushes
• I love my family and friends an incredible amount. For their support, prayers, thoughts and guidance prior, during and after this trip.
• Chill out time is sometimes just as important as a jam-packed day.
• Money has a skill of disappearing faster than expected.

Sights and Alcatraz Island

Mr J and I rugged up and put on our hats to join a group of people for an Urban Safari around the city of San Francisco. We drove through the hilly city, stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts for some photos, drove past the wonderfully architectural City Hall, drove past houses that are worth no less than $950,000, enjoyed the view of the city from Twin Peaks and stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge. We weren't able to see the bridge through the fog for most of the day but had a good time looking through the souvenir shop - we will be venturing back there some other day. Our group stopped for dissatisfying food at lunch but were thankful the safari organised our Alcatraz tickets and dropped us at the gate. Mr J and I boarded our boat to cruise over to Alcatraz Island at 1:45pm. After a 10 minute trip we arrived on the Island ready to explore.

As Mr J and I didn't have a lot of knowledge about Alcatraz we sat through a documentary about it before we did anything else. 18 minutes later we trekked up to the cell house where we received our audio tours and moved through the entire cell house hearing stories and facts about this high security prison. We went though the cells, the library, the dining hall, the head quarters and the visitation area. Our experience was definitely worth it and if anyone has some time to spare in San Francisco you should definitely cruise over to Alcatraz! Some cool facts we learnt were:

• The last inmates left Alcatraz on March 21, 1963 and the prison officially closed it's doors a few months later.
• The prison closed because of deteriorating buildings and high operating costs. It is now a National Park Service and will remain so.
• Alcatraz Island was not only resident to the criminals but also to families, children, individuals and staff of the prison who had apartments and houses there. We were shocked to hear that these residents hardly ever locked their doors either!!
• The cell house was never filled to its capactiy. The maximum prisoners were 302 but there were 336 cells available.
• In 29 years, 36 prisoners tried to escape. All but 5 were recaptured or accounted for. 3 that were unaccounted for participated in the same breakout which is now in a movie, called 'Escape from Alcatraz.'

"You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else you get is a privilege."
Number 5, Alcatraz Prison Rules and Regulations, 1934

Time for dinner. Mr J and I had a wonderful experience a Bubba Gump's. This restaurant is dedicated to the movie "Forrest Gump" therefore all the walls are covered in quotes, our waiter gave us a quiz on the movie, the names of the dishes resemble the movie in some way and all the decor is recognised from the movie. It was fun and we gained a glass to take home! Tonight we also tried a Strawberry and Nutella Crepe between the two of us. Talk about melting in your mouth, this is exactly what it did!

For those of you at home. We traveled through Woodside today! As proper tourists, we took a photo of the sign just for you which we will show you in less than a week!

San Fransisco

Bargain! This morning Mr J and I saved at least $40 by catching the local train to the airport rather than a taxi. It was easy, an experience and only $3.75 each! Our flight to San Francisco was our fastest yet as Mr J and I slept the entire way and woke up for 15 minutes of the descent - good way to do it. From the airport we caught a shuttle to our hotel, which we have done previously and witnessed the beautiful San Fran weather. After settling in, testing our sleep number and watching some Olympics Mr J grabbed a burger from the very retro Johnny Rockets {It reminded me of the cafe in Greece}. We explored the outdoor entertaining and swimming pool within our hotel before we strolled down Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. Our hotel sits on Fisherman's Wharf which is extremely convenient. Mr J and I window shopped past many chocolate and candy stores, sports stores, souvenir stores, a lefty {left-handed} store, cheap sun glasses stores and investigated what bakeries, restaurants and cafes were close by. So far, San Francisco gives off a relaxing, calm and beautiful atmosphere with so much to see. We had a view of the Alcatraz {which we are touring tomorrow!!} and the Golden Gate Bridge from a distance. Near Pier 39, many sea lions gather to sun bake - it was amazing to watch.

After all this walking, talking and exploring Mr J and I had built up an appetite. We decided to try the famous Clam Chowder served in a sourdough roll for dinner. It was big therefore plenty to share one between two. Yummy. We continued walking for a while before going back to our hotel.

Chill time. We are looking forward to some time to relax and take our time in a place where the weather is beautiful during the day and allows us to have a comfortable sleep overnight. The last stint.

Last day on Contiki, Last day in Canada

Last day of contiki therefore last day in Canada. After a hot breakfast Jamie and I explored parts of Vancouver. Chinatown and their Chinese garden received a visit from us, it was beautiful and we also got to meet the biggest goldfish we have ever seen {at least a foot long!}. We walked the streets, visited some interior design stores and grabbed something to eat from 7 eleven, including two free slurpees! Slurpees are the biggest cause of brain freeze ever. We relaxed in front of some live music for an hour before we headed to the local Sears for some shopping therapy {keeping in mind that we need to save money for our last adventure in the States, we resisted many ridiculously low prices}. On our way back to our hotel we visited the local candy store and then rested prior to meeting our fellow Contiki-ers for a dinner cruise at 5:30pm.

The dinner cruise was wonderful. 49 of us made a little extra effort to smell nice and look fancy. We sailed around the entire Vancouver Island which took over two hours. During this time we relaxed, socialised and consumed a very tasty buffet dinner followed by chocolate cake for dessert. We finished the cruise in the dark, dancing under a disco ball. The group traveled on our Contiki coach for the last time back to our hotel. After we got dropped off we walked to a night club for a couple drinks, a dance and to say goodbye. Saying goodbye was hard - we had spent the last 10 days with such a lovely group of people, people that live all over the world. Where possible we have all connected on facebook and now have contacts in Germany, England, New Zealand, Dubai and other areas in Australia in case we need a bed in the future. What an experience we have had - Jamie and I would recommend travelling this way to anyone {between the age 18-35}. Go here if you are interested.

Tomorrow we say hello to San Francisco and cable cars!!

Moving Along

Drive, drive, drive. That's what we did today! We left beautiful Banff at 9:00am on our way to our stop-over destination, before we get to Vancouver to end our tour. Today we had a couple pee breaks and stretches as we drove until 4:30pm. We saw Johnston Canyon, Spiral Tunnels and The Last Spike, ate the yummiest caramel and pecan crunch homemade icecream and played coach olympics on the bus. Our hotel for tonight is clean and cosy. We had a Chinese dinner with the group before an early, quiet night. Time to rest those sore muscles from yesterdays ride.

I hope you all have a great week in Australia!

Riding Banff

We got to sleep in until 9:00am this morning. We had a ‘home-made’ hot breakfast with A&S, plus another couple who visited. That gave us enough energy to ride another Gondola, here in Banff. More amazing views. The rest of the day was ours – we experienced the shopping and ice-cream of Banff. A $2 bus ride took us back to our chalet and we prepared ourselves for a riding experience. Tonight we went on a 45 minute horse ride into the forest for a steak fry, horse shoe throw and lasoo before we road our horses back to the stud. I rode ‘Shorty’, Mr J had ‘Rayleigh’. We walked most of it but occasionally had to trot and gallop, which made your heart race a little faster than normal. We had a well needed, quiet night tonight - ready to move onwards tomorrow. 7 days of Contiki down, its moving along fast, we love it. Contiki is a great way to see areas of the world without the stress of organising it yourself. Transport, accommodation and many meals are already sorted! Thankyou contiki.

Day of Scenery

Today was big. Boarded the bus at 7:15am to venture to some fast flowing waterfalls. We visited a trading post for breakfast where we bought a pina colada muffin, made fresh and served warm. Yummy. Our drive consisted of amazing views, mountains and wildlife. Mr J and I saw our first grizzly bear munching on some greens. We arrived at The Columbia Icefields where we caught a monster bus {their tires are five feet tall!} onto a glacier. Mr J tasted some of the glacier water as I played in the ice {to me, it was so close to snow}. It was cold but wonderful and fresh. Today we ate lunch with some ground squirrels before a nap on the bus. We had a birds eye view of Lake Peyto. I have never seen anything like this - the water was a very unique, aqua colour and so still. If you look carefully you are able to pick the shape of a wolf out of the outline. Lake Louise came next, an amazingly beautiful lake with a mountain backdrop. Mr J and I explored the shops and hotel in this area. We found out that to stay in this hotel for a night, it can range from $400 to $5,000 per night. Wow! We can only wish. Our final stop was Banff. Here we are staying two nights in a chalet. We are very happy to be sharing this space with A&S. After settling in, we had a group photo before going out for a buffet dinner. The night ended with Karaoke at the bar. Many, many laughs and fun. Confidence kicked in and I managed to sing ‘Man, I feel like a women – Shania Twain’ with the other contiki girls, ‘Wannabe – Spice Girls’ and ‘Sweet Dreams – Marilyn Manson’. Awesome night. Looking forward to a mini sleep in tomorrow too.

Blood Pumping Good

Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month!

Jamie and I started the month off in Dennys Diner with pancakes, bacon and eggs fuelling ourselves for another 5 hour drive towards Jasper. Today we entered the Rockies region. Amazing mountains. We stopped for a picnic lunch at Mt Robson. Mt Robson is quite shy as he rarely shows his head through the clouds. After some food a group of us swapped buses ready for our next adrenaline pumping activity. White water rafting. Exhilarating, rough, extremely wet but so much fun. We got chucked around in our 8 passenger raft along Fraser River for 12 kilometres. We were skilful enough to not fall out, instead we had a choice to swim in the freezing melted-snow water with a wetsuit to protect us. Jamie and I jumped in as we knew this was an opportunity we wouldn’t forget. It was cold. The German gentleman we met over dinner leant me his jacket for the ride home, how lovely!

We reached our hotel in Jasper. It reminded me of the hotel in some of those British comedies with moose heads hanging on the wall, old wallpaper and floral covered arm chairs. Good vibes. We settled in, had time for a warm shower and then headed out to a brewery for dinner which was followed by drink at the bar within our hotel. Tonight we experienced something only Conitki participants experience. A shot which was invented and only drank for Contiki people, only at this hotel. A Beaver Licker. It has it’s own Canadian touch, with maple syrup whiskey and butterscotch schnapps. A ritual. The night ended very well, we spent it talking to our fellow contiki-ers including S&A.

Views of Canada

Mr J and I woke up this morning not realising what amazing views were in store. After a free breakfast we were joined by two other males on our tour for a Peak to Peak Gondola experience. We were lifter higher than all the trees and mountains. The views were breathtaking. We reached the top of the Peak and were able to touch snow for the first time {technically second time, we don't remember the first time though}. Many photos were taken.

Next, we met with the bus to drive 5 hours to our next destination. This trip included official introductions, embarrassing stories, views from every angle and some lunch. We arrived at Kamloops, where we discovered our average hotel rooms that smelt very odd. Many of us distanced ourselves from our rooms as long as possible. Mr J and I joined a lovely couple {A&S} for a drink before dinner. We strolled to a local pub where we were all asked for ID, shared stories and got to know each other a little better. A&S are residents of England and have excited us to explore that area of the world in the future. Burgers for dinner with the group was yum. The restaurant had a beer menu of over 130 beers, regardless of that I tried a cocktail called 'Kermits Third Leg' {yes, it was green!}. I sat next to someone who has been to over 40 countries in five years and is doing five contiki tours in five months - what experiences he is living! After all our munchies were gone, we joined four others for a walk through the Main Street. There wasn't much there therefore we were back at our hotel relatively fast. Great day.

Moving Around NY

This morning Jamie and I caught our tour bus to the 9/11 memorial. This was an eye opening experience as we read the details and timelines of the event. We saw letters and dedications to the people that were lost and we stood where the twin towers stood. Jamie and I bought a jumper each, where all proceeds went to the 9/11 memorial. We walked though St Pauls Chapel. This was a place that served as a relief mission for recovery workers at Ground Zero. It was a beautiful chapel with amazing and touching displays inside {see photo above}. We caught a bus back to Times Square for lunch and spent a couple hours chilling out in our hotel room before hitting the sites again. We couldn't go too far tonight as it starting raining in New York City but we did manage to go to Madame Tussaunds and have encounters with many famous people. Jamie was especially excited to have a photo with Yao Ming, Charlie Chaplin and Samuel L Jackson plus other sporting stars. I enjoyed the presence of Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Whoopie Goldberg, Spice Girls, Carrie Underwood plus more. After time with the famous we went for some ten pin bowling just down the street. It was fun. These two things were free with the New York Pass we purchased a while ago. The rain doesn't stop anyone in NYC.

Disney Life

17^th July 2012This morning Jamie and I woke up at 5:15am to catch a taxi to the bus station,where we would catch a bus to Orlando, Florida. We had a very friendly driver who talked to us the entire time. I think we persuaded him to move to Australia. Our bus ride was like any bus ride, nothing special. We arrived in Orlando and caught another taxi to our luxurious Hilton experience in the Disney World Resort. We arrived there around 10:00am with our fingers crossed that we could check in (check in was only meant to be from 4:00pm that day). God answered our prayers as the front desk found an empty room for us to move in straight away. We were on floor eight. We settled in, checked out the pools and hot tubs and ventured to Downtown Disney which was only a five minute walk from our hotel – this was a place full on shops and dining experiences. We had an afternoon nap and then ate tea with chopsticks at a Japanese restaurant below our hotel room, it was a great experience and wonderful atmosphere.

18^th July 2012Our Disney adventure begins today. We caught a free Disney world shuttle bus followed by the monorail to Magic Kingdom. Entering the park was an experience in itself. To enter each park you have to swipe your card and give a fingerprint – that was cool. The Magic Kingdoms main street was beautiful with old style buildings, street lights and Cinderella's castle in front of you. It wasn’t long until there were people everyone and the lines to rides began to grow. Jamie and I were thankful that each ride stated a waiting time, this helped us decide to stay or not. On my first day in Disney World I went on more rides than I ever have been on in my entire life, some of these included: Pirates of the Carribean Water Boat, Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party (spinning tea cups), Tomorrowland Speedway, Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin and The Brainstormer (Goofy's roller coaster). We ate delicious ice cream and left just before dinner to rest our legs and have time with our pillows before another big day tomorrow. Already exhausted.

19^th July 2012Hollywood Studios here we come!! As soon as we entered the park we met many photo opportunities. We had photos with Tigger and Eeyore, Mike from monsters inc and Mator and Lightning McQueen from Cars. This park was already awesome and we just walked through the gates. We had many experiences to see behind the scenes of movies, see stunt shows from vehicles and Indianna Jones, sat through an American Idol Experience, went on Toy Story Midway Mania and ate at a café called Studio Catering Co. Around 7pm, Jamie and I had seen all of the park and had fun on most rides. We decided to venture back to Magic Kingdom to watch the spectacular night time fireworks and light parade. We stayed until 11pm and had the opportunity to get to the front of the lines on our favourite rides (due to everyone starting to go home). Then home time.

20^th July 2012This was our last day and we had two parks to fit in. Exhaustion was now an understatement but we had to make the most of this. We headed to Animal Kingdom where we went on our favourite ride from all parks – Kali River Rapids. River rapids was exactly what it was, we got soaked! We thoroughly enjoyed the Safari Tour and saw many wild animals such as giraffes, rhinos, ostriches, crocs and the paw of a sleeping Lion. We zoomed through the entire park before heading to Epcot at 1pm. We grabbed lunch and Epcot followed by ice cream to help cool us down. While eating our ice cream sandwich, it took us a while to recognise some Australian accents across the room, Jamie and I giggled as we couldn’t believe that’s what we sound like. This family were from Perth and heading back home tomorrow. Epcot was very touristy as we walked through many different countries. We went on a few more rides including Spaceship Earth which took us to the future and Seas with Nemo and Friends. We also walked this entire park and then decided to go back to our hotel. Downtown Disney was where we went through the shops for the last time. We swam in the pool and packed for our next destination, leaving tomorrow. Wow, the last three days flew by! We loved it.

Summary: God stood with us. Thoughout the last 3 days, God gave us energy, strength and patience. Beginning our time in Orlando we thought we had 4 days to use our 4 day pass through Disney World. Instead we had to fit 4 parks into 3 days. We were exhausted, therefore long lines, hundreds and hundreds of people and lack of manners tested our patience, but with God’s help we were able to enjoy our time and keep our frustration to a low. We were blessed to occasionally get bumped up lines and be at the right place at the right time. Thankyou to everyone for you prayers and thoughts as we are holidaying in the states.

The Wedding

Yesterday Jamie and I bought a card for the wedded couple. After looking at a few. We agreed on this one, which said:

When the Lord joins man and women, the two as one should be, yet in the home they share with Him - in faith, the two are three... He multiplies their blessings, their sadness He divides and for their different dreams and needs, He equallly provides... He adds to their fullfillment and takes away their care, and one in Him, their total life abounds with love to spare!

So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not seperate. ~Matthew 19:6

Today we shared a beautiful day with an amazing couple. The ceremony was gorgeous. American weddings tend to be bigger than Australian weddings. Today there were 7 groomsman and 7 bridesmaids + 1 junior bridesmaid. The ceremony was a true celebration, with incredible and lovely decorations and joyful environment  God provided an incredible day for the newly married couple today and we thank him for allowing us to be apart of it. The reception also allowed me to learn some American line dancing and Jamie and I met some more lovely people. We left the night with a bag of homemade cookies made by loved ones of the newly weds.

A Busy Friday

Mr J and I can't complain we didn't get our exercise today. We left our hotel after breakfast on a mission to get to the closest mall by foot. It didn't look too far on the map but after a good hour of walking we had done a lot of talking and laughing but had no sight of a mall. We estimated that we had walked a good 3 miles (almost 5km) and decided to stop. We went into a walmart to see what they had instead. This wasn't the common walmart, instead it was a 'neighbourhood store' which is closer to a supermarket. All I can say is... cheap!! Mr J bought one litre of Gatorade for US$1. You can buy a large bag of M&M's for just over US$1 also {my brother would love this at home!}. We bought some necessities and found a bus stop nearby. We caught the bus back to our hotel after realising we had not put sunscreen on and were quite pink {there may be an ozone layer here compared to none at home but the sun still burns, it just takes a little longer}.  The bus trip was US$2, again very cheap! Mr J and I got off a stop early and picked up homemade ice-cream from a store nearby. It was a struggle to eat it faster than it was melting but after a messy face and a few giggles we got there. Back at the hotel, it was pool time. We then got ready for the wedding rehearsal and dinner.

At the rehearsal dinner we experienced our first American barbeque. YUM! I can't tell you what I was eating but it was tasty. Mr J went back for seconds, a big seconds! We ate cream pies, cake pops and we had Australian chocolates and lollies {candies} for the Americans to try. By this time there are a few Australian friends and family of the groom in Florida.

I have an American gentleman trying to teach me how to come across as a local. He is ATTEMPTING to teach me their accent and slang, I need a lot more practice. I was introduced to a lot of people tonight and none of them had heard of my name before. They like it {at least that's what they are telling me}. It's amazing to see how intrigued the Americans are about us, our culture and our accent. We often are getting people come up to us to hear us speak - quite frankly, I don't mind as I like hearing them talk too. Mr J has met the other men in the bridal party and gets along with them very well, one in particular has made time to get to know us and is picking Mr J up for the wedding tomorrow. All Americans are lovely, their service is incredible as they have to work for it {tips} and they have manners.

Mr J's cousin, who we havent seen for a couple of years lives with his wife and son, 4 hours away from here. They came across for the wedding and are staying in the same hotel as us. Its great! We grabbed a ride home with them from the dinner and as Mr J will be doing his groomsman duties tomorrow, I will be driving with them to the wedding also. Mr J and I also have organised to catch up with them over breakfast in the morning.

Jamie loved the bucks show yesterday!! They played dodgeball and other games at the venue. He ate pizza, talked guy stuff and went for a swim.

Wedding day tomorrow. Bliss!

Florida Day Two

Day two in Florida was very relaxing for Jamie and I. We thanked God for a wonderful, well needed sleep last night before heading to the first floor for a complimentary breakfast. The breakfast included bacon, eggs, pancakes, cereal, bagels, doughnuts, hot cinnamon rolls, scones (aka biscuits to Americans), yoghurt and more. We filled up on breakfast therefore didn't need lunch! After a large bite to eat we went for a tourist walk through the Main Street, visited the Pier and took lots of photos {See the photos below}. It was a beautiful day! Jamie had a swim in the hotel pool while I sat in the sun enjoying the scenery. We spent the afternoon relaxing at our hotel.

Tonight I helped Jamie's aunty set up for the wedding rehersal dinner, which is tomorrow night. Although we are in America, the rehersal dinner is Australian themed. I then joined Jamie's relatives for dinner. While I was doing this Jamie was out with the boys for the groomsman's bucks night. 

Today the receptionist at our hotel informed me of a bike hire shop straight behind our hotel. There is also a popular bike track running past our hotel. How convenient! Jamie and I are definitely keen to spend a couple hours on a bike. We will also be researching the bus route tomorrow to see if we can fit in some shopping or other sight seeing.

The weather has not changed and we got our daily storm. Still not used to looking left, right, left when crossing the road.

Tampa, Florida

After speaking to my family on Skype, we caught out shuttle to the airport at 5:15am. We checked in (again - we are getting pro's at this!) and went through the security check - in America everyone has to take their shoes off for this aswell. We ate breakfast at the airport before boarding our 2.5 hour flight to Tampa, Florida.

We arrived at a hot, humid city where we had to catch a train to pick up our luggage. Jamie's Aunty, Uncle and cousin picked us up and showed us some of the sights on our way to our destination. Florida is beautiful! apparently they think they are in drought, but to our eyes it is green everywhere with hundreds of palm trees. We went back to where Jamie's relatives were staying to have lunch and relax before checking into our hotel. Meanwhile, I went shopping with Jamie's aunty. As you enter shops in America you realise they all smell different and nice, this is because they put fragrances through their air conditioners. Lovely!

We got to our hotel around 4.00pm. At this time we were experiencing one of Tampa's storms. Tampa received at least one storm at day. The temperature only drops slighting so it is still very warm but has lightning, DARK clouds and rain {when it rains here, it really rains!}.We watched the storm from our hotel window. We are very impressed with our room! The next 5 hours were a struggle to stay awake but we knew that's what we had to do to beat jet lag. We went out for tea at Cafe Alfresco - approx 10 minute walk where we were served by a lovely waiter. As this was our first meal out in America we didn't know how to go about tipping. We asked our waiter and he was very helpful!! After dinner we went back to our hotel and straight to sleep.

A helpful tip we were given:
73 degrees Fahrenheit = 23 degrees Celsius, 95 degrees Fahrenheit = 35 degrees Celsius

It Has Begun

Day One
9th July 2012
Location: Adelaide, Air, Sydney
After a lovely breakfast with my family at Billy Baxters, they drove me to the airport! The countdown was over. I was starting my holiday to America. While waiting to board the plane, there was one problem - I could picture my luggage keys on my bed at home. After a mini panic, I was reassured from loved ones that I wouldn't have been the first to do this and there are ways around it. Surely someone can break a lock! Nothing I can do about it now. I said goodbye to my family and friends as I walked down the ramp onto the plane and sat through a very painless and fast flight. I picked my luggage up from the baggage reclaim area in Sydney and located a gentleman working for Qantas who broke my locks for me {phew!!}. Shortly after this I met Jamie in Sydney after his time in South Africa. We caught a shuttle bus to our hotel {via Bondi Beach}, or at least we thought we thought we were going to our hotel! As we walked into the reception area and started checking in, we were informed that we were at the wrong hotel. There were two hotels on the same street with the same name. After a 10 minute walk we found our proper hotel and checked in. Jamie and I ate dinner in our room and had an early night for a big day tomorrow. As I got ready for bed I found a lovely note from Mum ironed into my pyjamas { it made me smile}!

Day Two
10th July 2012
Location: Sydney, Air, Seoul, New York
This morning we had a prearranged wake up call at 3:45am and caught a taxi from our hotel to the airport {my first taxi drive!}. Before checking into our flight and going through the security check, a lovely gentleman who worked in the airport took a photo of Jamie and I in the airport. This man was very excited to be using a 'flash' camera like Jamie's and was so enthusiastic, especially for this time of the morning! It wasn't long until I was exposed to duty free shopping! Although it was very tempting i kept all my money in my pockets except for buying some new locks for my suit case. The following flight went for ages. Jamie managed to get some sleep while I spoke with a man travelling to London with an over 60's cricket team, who are scheduled to play England. Impressive! 9 hours later we arrived in Seoul where we bought our first thing with US dollars - a water bottle! After having a delay of half an hour we boarded for our next flight bound for New York. Although this flight was 4 hours longer than the previous one it seemed to go faster due to more sleep. We flew into New York and saw the amazing city lights from the sky. I went through my first immigration process {giving fingerprints and photos} - this was Jamie's third time after South Africa. We collected our bags and found an information desk which directed us to the air train. The air train took us to a shuttle point from where we were taken to our airport hotel. The hotel smelt digusting but we were greatful we had a bed to sleep in for a couple hours instead of a plane seat.  Today went very long {literally}. With very little sleep and gained hours in our day {due to time zones} we were very tired and after getting to our hotel around midnight we knew we would only get in a few hours sleep before we were up again to fly to Tampa tomorrow. I can understand why jet lag decides to visit. After that though, we don't have to fly for a little while. Yay!

Today Is The Day

The countdown is over! {I remember when I still had this many days to go}. Today I depart my home state for another. My bag is packed and my list is all checked off.

I can't explain my feelings. I'm nervous for the fact I won't be seeing my family and friends for five and a half weeks, I'm nervous to catch a plane by myself for the first time and I'm nervous that I may leave something at home. On the other hand, I'm filled with excitement  Excitement for meeting Mr J at Sydney airport after his week in South Africa, excited to see Sydney for the first time, excited for a life time experience travelling to another country and seeing things I could only imagine, excited to skype back home to touch base, excited to learn more about God, myself and Mr J. Prayers would be very much appreciated, not only for safe travels for us and that nerves are calmed but also for family who are saying goodbye {for now}.

I know that I will miss my family and friends immensely and miss knowing that they are no more than half an hour away, but I'm also aware that this is going to be an experience to remember and God will be with us all the way.

Keep reading 'Living Life Today' to keep track of what we are up to. Things may become busy but I will try and update you as much as possible. You can also contact us on facebook and email as much as you wish! Love you all. Talk to you later, in another time zone.