London 2012

On Tuesday, January 31 we flew from Colorado Springs to London, and the company finally booked good tickets!! First of all, we were upgraded to first class on our flight from Colorado Springs to Houston! It was not a long flight, but first class is first class however you long or short you get to enjoy it! We landed in Houston and only had 45 minutes to get to our connection, which ended up being perfect...no waiting in airports, just flying!! Oh and the trip got even better when Kevin and I each had a row of 3 seats to ourselves from Houston to London! It was a perfect travel day!

Wednesday, February 1 - We landed in London around 7:15am and proceeded to customs where we waited for 70 minutes to get "admitted" into the country! The line was absolutely ridiculous!! We made it to the hotel around 9am and were able to get a room right away. We decided to take a nap before venturing into the city, however, our nap lasted until 4:30pm! We must have been tired! We weighed our options of going into the city or just going down to the bar at the hotel and the hotel won (we stayed at a hotel by the airport and it would have taken 45 minutes to an hour both directions just to get to the city and back, so we decided to take it easy and just stay at the hotel). We ate dinner at the bar and of course enjoyed some local beverages (Boddington's and Magner's Cider) and went back up to the room around 8pm. We took some sleep aids and slept until we were suddenly woken up by the fire alarm!! Fortunately the alarm was turned off before we made it outside, but not before we were awake and dressed. We went back to sleep around 1am and struggled to stay asleep for the rest of the morning - I was basically awake from 3:30 am on.

I didn't think we would ever make it through the line! 

Thursday, February 2 - We got rolling around 5:30am with showers and breakfast and were on our way to the ship at 7am. We took a city bus from the hotel to the airport and from there took an hour tube ride to Waterloo train station. From there we took an hour and a half national rail train ride to Southampton where the ship docks. We magically timed everything just right (very little waiting for trains or buses to arrive) and it still took us 3.5 hours to get to the ship!! From now on we will get the company to book us closer to the city! We got on the ship, one of the bigger ships in the fleet, and worked for about 2 hours – it was freezing! We were back at the train station at 12:57pm and magically caught the 1:00pm train back to Waterloo.  Being in the city without actually being able to explore killed me, so I decided we WOULD explore the city that night!! We had to drop the tool bag off at the hotel so we traveled for another hour to the hotel, dropped off the bag and changed and were back on our way. It took us another hour or so to get to Piccadilly Circus, but it was worth it! Our first stop was a new bookshop (are you surprised?) right near the West End. Kevin purchased a few books before I was ready to leave so he went to a nearby pub while I completed my purchase. We enjoyed the pub for a while and then sought out some dinner. We went to a diner that we ate at last summer and it was so yummy! We did a little more shopping before trekking back to the hotel. Kevin and I both fell asleep on the train, but fortunately work up just before our stop. We crashed almost immediately after getting back to our room.

A nice treat on the train back to the city. 

Waterloo Station

Out at a pub in Picadilly Circus. We always have a great time in the city! It was just too bad our hotel was SO far away this time! 

Friday February 3 - Our flight home left London around 12:00pm. The plane was relatively empty again so we were able to spread out again. We flew from London to Chicago, Chicago to Denver, and Denver to Colorado Springs. There was some crazy weather happening in Denver, but we lucked out and didn't have any problems getting home. Thank goodness!

It was another quick trip, but we made the best of it. I have to say London is probably one of my favorite places to visit. I feel like it is a part of my genes, which isn't too far from the truth as my Dad and his mother's side of the family are from England and still live there! It will always hold a special place in my heart! Definitely looking forward to our next visit.

The Land of the Kiwi's!

On Monday, January 23 we traveled from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand! And we got to fly in style on a full double decker plane, the A380! This was our first trip to New Zealand and we were so excited to explore a new destination! We arrived in Auckland around 3pm and got to the hotel around 5 - the immigration line took forever to get through. After we checked in to the hotel, we decided to explore the area around the hotel and the port (it was within walking distance from the hotel). Then we had dinner at a Thai restaurant one block from the hotel. We passed a restaraunt that was airing the playoff game so we went back to the hotel to watch the game, but didn't have the channel. We fell asleep around 8pm.

Tuesday, January 24 - we woke up around 9am and walked over to  the ship to work. Fortunately we didn't have any problems getting on the ship and we were able to finish working by noon. We ate lunch on the ship before we left and then dropped the tool bag off at the hotel, before going out to explore more of the city.  Our first stop was a bookshop to add some new books to my library! They had some great books but they were ridiculously expensive, 2-3 times more expensive than U.S books!! After the bookstore we walked over to the Sky Tower, the tallest building in New Zealand. New Zealand is known for extreme sports and this building is no exception. Two options at the Sky Tower are Sky Walk (walking around a platform at the top on the 300 meter tall building) or Sky Jump (essentially bungy jumping off the building). It was crazy to see both of these options in action!! We considered going up to the top of the tower to see the sights, but we decided not to spend money on that. We went out for dinner at the Thai restaurant again and went back to the hotel around 7. It was another fun day!

If you look closely, you can see orange jumpsuits. Those are people walking around the outside of the building. This is the Sky Walk. 

The Sky Tower. 

There was a neat little museum inside the Sky tower with models and artifacts from movies filmed in New Zealand. This is an Orc.

And of course Gollum.

Sorry the video is sideways. This was someone we watched jump from the top. You fall over 600 feet at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. 

Wednesday, January 25 - Our flight home on Wednesday didn't leave until 10:45pm so we planned a day trip to Waiheke Island to tour some wineries. We checked out of the hotel at 10am and ate breakfast at Burger King. We went to the ferry at 10:45am and arrived on the island around 11:45. We got on the tour bus and our first stop was Stony Ridge Winery. We had a short tour of the vineyards and then had a small lunch. We ended up buying a bottle of wine and then moved on to the olive oil tastings at Rangihoua Estates. Our third stop was Wild on Waiheke for some beer sampling and then our last stop was Mudbrick Winery. We were back at the ferry dock for the 4:00 ferry back to Auckland. We grabbed our bags from the hotel and then ventured to the airport on the airbus. We were at the airport for about 4 hours before our flight, but we were able to be in the lounge with free internet so the time went fast.

Waiting to board the ferry. 

On the ferry. Ready to explore! 

Just the two of us on the ferry. 

The view of downtown Auckland from the ferry. 

The scenery was absolutely breath taking! 

I don't think the pictures do the beauty justice, but this one is pretty close! The water was so blue and the land was so green and lush. Absolutely spectacular! 

Our tour bus. 

It was so nice to step off the bus and be greeted immediately with a sample of wine. We were spoiled for the day! 

The vineyard at Stony Ridge Winery. 

Wine with lunch at Stony Ridge. 

My husband sure is handsome! He was so excited all day! 

Sampling Stony Ridge's finest wine, Larose. The tasting alone was $15.00. A glass sells for $46.00 and a bottle sells for $220.00, but good luck getting your hands on one! They sell out before the wine is even bottled. Such a treat for both of us, especially Kevin!

Our next stop was to sample local olive oils. This was also a great treat, but not nearly as great as the wines!

This is in front of some of the natural vegetation and rain forest that is protected on the island. Beautiful!

An adorable little pond at the olive oil estate. 

Our third stop was to Wild on Waiheke where we sampled some locally brewed beers, including my first taste of Ginger Beer. Kevin enjoyed this stop more that I did, but it was still fun! 

A great close-up of the grapes. 

This is at Wild on Waiheke. This was a very family friendly vineyard with children's activities. This is also the reason for brewing Ginger Beer, so the kids have something they can sample as well! 

Our last stop before heading back to the city was Mudbrick Vineyard where the views were spectacular! A great way to end the tour. 

Overlooking Auckland from Waiheke. It is a little hard to see, but it is there in the background. 

Gorgeous! Can you see my sunburn? It was a good one!

Our flight home was incredible!! Kevin and I each had a row of 4 seats to ourselves so we were able to lay down and sleep the whole way to Los Angeles! We got home around 9pm on Wednesday night. It was a long day, but absolutely worth it! This experience may very well be one of my favorite travel experiences we have had thus far! We had a blast! 

This was the safety video they showed on our flight from Auckland to Los Angeles. By far, the most entertaining safety briefing ever! Too bad they can't all be like this! It certainly got my attention!

Crazy to think we were in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and back all in 8 days!!! New Zealand was absolutely amazing and we can't wait to go back!

From Sea to Shining Sea

On Tuesday, January 17 Kevin and I flew to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Our flight left Colorado Springs at 1:30pm and we flew to Buenos Aires through Houston. We arrived in Buenos Aires around 10am Wednesday and went to the hotel. Unfortunately, we were not able to check in right away, so we went to the pool to wait for our room to be cleaned. We were at the pool until about 1:30 and then were able to go up to the room and shower. We went out around 3:30 and wandered over to the Recoleta, the neighborhood where Eva Peron is buried. Our main goal was to get food and we were certainly successful! The walk to the Recoleta was HOT so our first order of business was to order 2 cold beers. I tell you, beer never tasted so good! Then we order proveletta (baked block of provolone cheese) and topped it off with 2 incredible steaks! We were in heaven! We attempted to go over to the cemetery (from previous post) after dinner but something was happening and the cemetery was closed to the public. Instead we wandered over to the massive bookshop in an old theater. Unfortunately that mission was unsuccessful too - in that no new books were purchased. We were getting pretty tired so we stopped to get a nice bottle of Malbec and went back to the hotel to play cards - that didn't really happen either as we both fell asleep watching Evita instead.

Our incredible proveletta!

Our massive steaks! Simple, but delicious!

 The entrance to the Cemetery. We never did find out what was going on there. 

Thursday, January 19 - This was the day we had to work as well as leave the hotel. Unfortunately we had to check out of our room before we went to work, but we were able to store our luggage in the locker room by the pool. We had no problems getting on the ship this time (as opposed to last time we were in Buenos Aires) and we were on and off the ship in 2 hours. We went back to the hotel around 1pm, swam for about a half an hour and then showered in the locker rooms. We hung out in the lobby for an hour or so and then went to the airport around 3:30. This was the beginning of our 50 hour travel journey to Sydney (no, I didn't type that wrong...we actually traveled for 50 hours!). For some crazy reason, the company booked us from Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chili; Santiago to New York City (with a 12 hour layover); New York City to Los Angeles; and finally Los Angeles to Sydney. Needless to say we were not looking forward to the journey.

Friday, January 20 - We arrived in New York City around 7am and were through customs and immigration by 8. I have a great friend from high school (Ryan) who lives in Brooklyn who graciously volunteered his couch to us for the day, so we hopped in a taxi and and hour later arrived at his Brooklyn apartment - the traffic was horrible! We went out to breakfast with Ryan and his roommate and then Ryan had to go to work :(. We stayed at the apartment and napped and showered before we had to go back to the airport. We left the apartment at 4 and got to the airport at 5 for our 6:30 flight (each taxi ride should have only been about 25 minutes but we hit rush hour each direction). We then traveled another 22 hours and arrived in Sydney on Sunday morning around 9:30am. It was a long 2 days of travel, but could have been much worse if it weren't for our lovely outing in the city!!

Unfortunately, I have become a horrible blogger and I forgot to take a picture with our lovely host for the day. I will try to do better!

Sunday, January 22 - We went straight to the hotel from the airport and fortunately we were able to check in right away. We went to the ship around noon and were done around 2. We went back to the hotel and then went out and did some shopping. We went to the Haymarket and the bookstore and then relaxed in the hotel for the rest of the evening.

It was such a beautiful day! 

TO BE CONTINUED....

The Land of Oz

This post will primarily be just photos, only because it has been over 3 months since the trip and it is hard to remember all the details!

On November 16, Kevin and I had an overnight trip to Baltimore before flying to Sydney. We arrived in Sydney on Saturday, November 19 and were unable to check into our hotel so we walked over to Darling Harbour and ate lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We checked into the hotel around 1pm, took a long nap and then went to the harbour that evening to watch the fireworks. We inspected the ship on Sunday morning did some shopping Sunday afternoon and crashed early Sunday evening.

Waiting for the fireworks in Darling Harbour. 

Pretty spectacular!

This one turned out awesome! 

What trip to Sydney is complete without a photo of the opera house??

On Monday morning we flew to Brisbane, Australia. This was our first time in Brisbane, so we decided to visit one of Brisbane's major tourist attractions, The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Of all the places we have been to see koala's, this is the only one in which you can actually hold and cuddle a koala. This is something I have wanted to do since our first trip to Australia in 2008, so I was super excited to finally get the opportunity. We checked-in to our hotel, got directions to the sanctuary and arrived there around 2pm. The park had over 130 Koala's and a large area to hand feed kangaroo's. We had a great time and I can now check off cuddling a Koala from my bucket list! On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store and picked up some dinner (our hotel room had a kitchen, so we were able to do some minor cooking) and called it an early night. We inspected the ship on Tuesday morning and did some shopping that afternoon, before we went back to the hotel to pack our bags for our early morning flight. We didn't have too much time to explore Brisbane, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves while we were there! We flew home on Wednesday, just in time for Thanksgiving on Thursday!

On the bus to the Koala Sanctuary. 

The entrance.

It's a tough life as a Koala!

The Koala's were everywhere! This was right by the picnic tables where we ate lunch.

They are just so stinking cute! 

Feeding the Roo's!

Such a great experience! This was the second time we were able to feed the kangaroo's like this, but it never gets old! Their teeth are very interesting. 

They were everywhere, and got rather ticked if you didn't feed them...hence my lovely expression! 

I like this one!

SOOO AWESOME!! He smelled like Eucalyptus and so did I for the rest of the day! 

See how sharp the claws are!?! Apparently Koala's can be pretty nasty. I think this is why most places don't let you hold them, let alone touch them. Such and incredible experience!  I could have cuddled this little guy all day!

On our way out, we passed the nursery and saw these adorable babies! 

This picture gives you a much better view of the size difference. Can I have one!?!

Apparently it is a tough life for a wallaby too! So comfortable!