Exploring the Queen Mary....memories of my grandad

So......when we left england we didnt really think about activities in usa to much ....it seemed so far away! But as it got closer my mum was talking to me about my grandad/her dads days before the war and the time he spent on the queen mary cruise liner, well now that ship is permanently docked at long beach, california... the state of california is the third largest in the USA so i assumed or thought it was unlikely we would get there knowing our luck we would be miles away.....however when we got to hollywood i started to research it..... And it turns out we can get the metro to long beach and then there is a free bus that goes to the queen mary and other points of interest in downtown long beach! Perfect!

However looking into it further there was to be a lot more to this journey........so getting the metro.....pretty easy ....we have done it in many countries it didnt really faze us! However we had to change lines...we start on the red line and then after around  30 mins we change to the blue line and then go straight to downtown long beach that part takes around 1 hour so with getting to the station and then the metro journey then getting the free bus to the queen mary its about 2.15hours each way, which was ok it wasnt the time that bothered us it was the journey on the blue line!!....we would be travelling through neighbourhoods that.....how shall i put it....are overpopulated with your stereo typical gangster types!! The sort that neither of us would have ever encounted before! For example one place we stop is compten! This is a particulaly bad neighbourhood which many rappers mention in there lyrics! I believe this is the neighbourhood the dre and ice cube grew up on! Basically rough as hell! Now there are probly some laughs after what i just wrote but that is the only way to put it! And after reading many very poor reviews about this line we was a little concerned! Examples of things written in the Reviews were..... Groups of the "community" talking aloud about how they loved beating up white people"! Talking about there time in La county jail, brutal fights happening, people carrying guns, the usual of youths getting on the train thinking they own it! People selling all sorts of crap to you like a half completed crossword! And all these reviews were in april this year!! Basically it was saying avoid it! If you went on it you were to put your headphones in (providing they werent expensive!) and keep yourselve to yourselve and DONT stare/look at anyone! Right......i was thinking this is quite a rule book just to ride the bloody metro! after a while thinking about it we decided that fuck it we was going! it seemed so silly to miss out going somewhere just because we are tourists! And we werent silly we had travelled on many different modes of transport in many countries we knew what we were doing! We planned our route planned what time we was going and that was it ..no going back!  

My mum had mentioned this to me a few times but i wanted to surprise her by going i knew she would be really happy that we visited & i knew my grandad would be so happy that i visited, he was probly watching over me exploring his favourite ship.

We got up super early and where out the door by 8am we decided best to ride in the rush hour! Safety in numbers and all that! There was no staff at the station so we had to work out what tickets we needed ! We decided on a day pass just incase we had to detour quickly!! We boarded our fist train on the red line! It was fine we arrive at 7th street to change to the blue line! And it was quite clear here that we were tourists ! With no staff anywhere it was up to us to navigate ourselves to the right train! We boarded the blue line train and we were off! We had to sit apart for a while as there was many people on the train but sat together half way through! And the further we got along the route more of the "locals" got on! Someone started selling chocolate and we found ourselves experiencing "the blue line!" We listen to our music the whole time and just kept ourselves to ourselves didnt get our cameras out just the usual commen sense things you do when your in a unfamiliar area! We had to change trains at one point which was a little nerving! The driver announced the train was terminating and everyone had to get off.....me & luke just sat there like fuck! But it was fine we just got off and straight on a waiting train! We heard many conversations from the locals! It was quite entertaining listening to them speak! It was a whole other language!! We made it to downtown long beach in one piece ! And quite frankly dont know what the fuss was about! I will be writing a review about the dreaded "blue line" and wont be making it sound scary! Yes it was a long journey on a train stopping at many "rough" neighbourhoods, and occasionally you might feel intimidated but overall it was fine no one bothers you and we couldnt look or sound more like tourists and we stood out like a sore thumb! And we survived! We travelled at rush hour and used our common sense and didnt allow ourselves to feel intimidated and i am so glad we did as what greeted us at the other end was simply stunning.....

....the beautiful queen mary :)

We got off the metro and boarded the "passport" freebus and 15 mins later we were here looking on at the queen mary in awe :) she was beautiful :) i couldnt believe i was really standing in front of her :) 

Let me give you a brief history....my grandad worked on this ship as a cabin steward and many other jobs during its maiden voyage sailing on May 27th 1936, i have been told he had a absolutely amazing time on board.... lots of laughs with his friends and it was the time of his life and his favourite time before the war, i have seen a few pics of my mums of him when he was on board he looks very happy :) The Queen Mary and running mate Queen Elizabeth were built as cunards planned 2 ship weekly express service from southampton to new york city. Queen Mary was the flag ship (the lead ship) of cunard line from 1936-1946 then she was replaced in that role by Queen Elizabeth. During the war she was turned into a troop ship and ferried soldiers as necessary then after the war was refitted for passenger service. Both the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the 1960's when Queen Mary began to age and although still among the most popular transatlantic liners, was operating at a loss, so after several years of decreased profits she was officially retired from service in 1967. She went on sale and the highest bidder was long beach so on 31st october 1967 she left southampton for the last time and sailed to the port of long beach california and that is where she remains permanently moored and serves as a floating hotel, tourist attraction and museum. We are unsure what other trips my grandad may have taken on the queen mary but when my mum visits one day she will find out :)

We approached the ticket booth and having already emailed them i knew that we would be purchasing a first class ticket, which included entrance to the ship with audio tour, entrance to the submarine, and normally a ghost tour but that wasnt currently unavailable, so we decided to do a guided tour of the ship during its time when it was a cruise liner as this was the time my grandad was on it, the other choice was a guided tour when the ship was a troop carrier which would have also been interesting.....next time! And we also got another exhibition included and we picked the princess diana exhibition.

We went to the submarine first as it was there in front of us, we got to go down and explore it! It was just how it was during the war, it was great fun and extremely interesting, we couldnt believe the conditions that these people had to live! We thought we had it bad in the dorm! But there beds were tiny! Infact all living quaters were tiny! As you walked through to the different sections there was commentary on each part, it was a great start to our day.

 ....Exploring the submarine

Next we headed onboard....we were taken straight to the prom deck (the deck that has the promanade going all the way around the ship which you can walk around) and into the main entrance, we had ten minutes or so before our tour so we took ourselves into the main area. There were some shops and a cafe it was great just to wander and take it all in :) when our tour Began we had a great tour guide and he was pictured in the leaflet/guide you get when you get on board! We didnt realise until we left! It was a great tour and lasted around 45mins we had chose to do a tour of the ship when it was a cruise liner so we went to all different parts and the guide explained the difference in classes and where the different classes went to socialise and eat, see shows etc, all classes had the oppourtunity to do the same things but the environments were different depending on what you had paid! We got The oppourtunity to venture Down to one of the rooms it was beautifully decorated and had some original features in it....one of them being a original fan.

..some features of the tour

The top left pic is a feature piece of art in the 1st class "evening area" where the dances went on, and underneath this is the room it is featured in....this particular piece of art and room have been featured in many films, bottom right is a pic showing the long corridors in the passenger section and the guide was pointing out the "bannana" shape of the ships main frame, its hard to notice it unless you are standing there but its to give the ship more stability, the next pic up is a original fan in one of the rooms and then theres lukee relaxing at the end of our tour !

At the end of the tour i asked him if there were any pictures of the staff from the maiden voyage and he asked why i told him my grandad worked on the ship and he was really interested and it was as if he knew this was a special day, and when we went back to the rest of the group he announced what i just told him and everyone clapped! I didnt know whether to laugh or cry! 

After the tour we went to get our audio sets and started our self guided audio tour it was so so interesting and there were many things to read lots of it sad, a lot happy and a lot just general information it was more interesting then we ever imagined we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves :) we explored the ship from top to bottom going to different rooms and parts of the ship it was great.

....the two pics in the right colum at the bottom are of me looking at a model of the ship at where my grandads staff quaters would have been!

....exploring the ship :)

We had a princess diana exhibition included in our tour so went to explore That in the late afternoon and that to was a great exhibition really interesting, lots of facts and newspaper clippings from her time in the royal family and info on the royal family before her, it was a shame we didnt have enough time to thorouhgly read everything .....next time! 

...unfortunately we were not allowed to take pics in the exhibit so i just took the entrance pic! 

After this we were pretty tired and time was getting on! We did not want to go back late on that train! So we had a look at a few other things....the bridge, the captains quarters and then luke had a sit down in the main area as his back was hurting quite a lot by this point. I wanted to look at the isolation ward which in the war they used as a Place to care for the sick, however it was right at the back of the ship down two levels and then down again there was abaolutely no one there at all and no one on the two floors above me and as i started to look around i got a bit scared and ran back to luke! The ship is "haunted" and i wasnt prepared to get scared by some ghosts!! We had a look in the shops then prepared to leave. It was quite emotional leaving i didnt want to leave it was like i was being pulled back to spend more tine there & i wanted to stay a bit longer idealy the night, however we were lucky enough to visit for the day this time so it will just have to go on the list for next time!

The journey back took slightly longer at about 3 hours 15mins so about a hour longer then the way there, we were so tired we dozed the whole time and totally didnt even think about our surroundings, the train was quite busy and there was no problems :) i believe the reiviews we read from others about this journey were from Over reacters! I am not denying we was out of our comfort zone and anything could of happened we most certainly definately looked liked tourists so that made us vulnarable but what you really need for this sort of journey is common sense and to not be scared, its your right to ride the metro you paid they probably didnt! And avoiding doing something because others intimidate you is just plain stupid! We survived a journey in the ghetto and i would do it again! It was worth it. Maybe the others just had bad luck!

We absolutely loved our day on the ship more then we thoughht we would, i knew i would like it and find it interesting as i had a connection with it and luke was more then happy To go and was looking forward to it, but we were both surprised at how much we fell in love with it, I just loved every second There and luke loved it just as much he was the one suggesting that we must come back and next time stay the night! We enjoyed reading all about the stories from the family's that have ties with the ship and enjoyed reading all about the history but most of all i loved seeing where my grandad spent his happiest days before the war it was a special day and one to remember, what a great day what a great ship :) i think about my grandad all the time and still cannot believe he is not here to experience all the special things that happen in the family, i would have loved to have chatted to him about my travels and here about his. Everyone has different views on this but I believe everyone has a time to pass away, sometimes it isnt fair and sometimes people are taken from us when there not suppose to be and my grandad was definately not suppose to die when he did i absolutely believe that, maybe you will say its because i wish he was still here and i do but thats my opinion and everyone has there own opinion on the matter. At least now my grandad is reunited with my nan & they can watch all the family happenings from wherever they are :) i love them both very much and feel privileged to have spent time with both of them in my life & i will certainly be telling my children about there great grandad's travels and adventures! 

Thank you for reading this tribute to my grandad, forever in my heart and thoughts.  

Six flags magic mountain....a theme park to remember

Six flags magic mountain theme park "thrill capital of the world!" is a very well known theme park full of high speed roller coasters well 18 to be exact! It holds the world record for most roller coasters in an amusement park! It has been featured in many films we love roller coasters and it has been a dream of mine to visit this place for many years and i was finally going :)

We had pre booked our tickets to six flags about a week ago and i couldnt believe we were finally going! This had been a lifelong dream of mine & i couldnt believe the dream is coming true :) we had booked a shuttle bus to take us to 6 flags and we got picked up at 10 AM it was a short journey only 30 minutes and when we arrived we walk straight through the gates and walked towards our first ride which was apparently one of the best.... called X2 unfortunately this ride was shut so we moved on and went straight to the viper! This was a very good ride very fast upside down lots of turns after this we carried on walking around the park towards the next rollercoasters which were the Ninja and tatsu also very fast rides very good lots of G force we then decided that we'd go round to ride called the apocalypse which was a really old-style wooden rollercoaster it didn't go upside down but it went extremely fast we walked straight on this also as the park was like a ghost town! We boarded and prepared ourselves for this ride we didn't realise that it would be so fast it pretty much went super fast as soon as you got on it! Lots of twists and turns and just really really fast it was much better than expected and we really wanted to go on it again we would have to come back we wanted to make sure we went on as many rides as we could! We went down to the gift shop which was in fact a clearance store that had lots of T-shirts and merchandise Luke found a T-shirt for seven dollars! A six flags official one! He snapped that up!

 

It was a pretty hot day and as we had been pretty cold lately we had worn cold weather clothes! So we were hot now! However we carried on! We went on one of the original roller coasters called go,d rusher like a runaway train which was ok but very rough ! You could tell it was old! We then ended up round at the green lantern ride which didnt look scary to look at but as we got on and it started we realised looks can be decieving!! It was bloody scary it sort of turns you in your seat whilst dropping and moving left to right, right to left until you get to the bottom! Its hard to explain but it was scary ! And when we were suppose to get off it, it broke down! We werent to bothered as we were sitting in a nice position right next to the exit! We eventually got off safely and then went straight on the batman ride which normally goes forward but the park had turned the carts round and they now went backwards! It was a very high speed rollercoaster with practically constant loops, hoops and up side down bits ! It gave us some serious g force! And unfortunately made us both feel a bit ill! Luke more then me, i was ok after i had sat down and had a drink but luke really felt rough :( so he did go on one more ride with me another wooden roller coaster  called colossus that didnt go backwards but was really quick & he wished he hadnt! when he got off it he felt worse, so he sat out the next ride.....scream! I went on and it was quite alot of g force so after that we decided it was time to have something to eat and a sit down!

.... A few of the rides top right is green lantern!

We had made a pack lunch but unfortunately six flags do not allow guests to bring in any food thats from outside the park whatsoever :( so we had to leave our lunch at the hostel which ment we had to buy food and of course all they had was "junk food" and the stuff that was healthy was just stupidly expensive so we went to johnny rockets and got a kids meal and a onion rings and fries combo! Together it was only $15! So we werent to Annoyed but we just knew that sort of food wouldnt fill us up! Which was the annoying thing :( anyway we had a long sit down but luke still felt shit so he sat out a few rides :( i went on this ride called "goliath" and it was a 255 foot drop then went into a roller coaster! And it was absolutely crazy i absolutely loved it! I told luke it was fine no upside downs just a bit of strong g force at the end! So he came on it and he also loved it, but still felt shit :( so i went on the next one on my own "full throttle" And that was also really good! Went super fast at the begining like stealth at thorpe park in the uk and then straight into a loop and then after a bit of coaster it stop and you just didnt know what was going to happen.......then it went backwards! And then up high until you went over the top of the upside down loop you just did! It was great but it would have made luke even sicker so he didnt go on it but he was fine with that we had ridden ride after ride after ride recieving lots of g force which my mum would say...."think of your brain shaking around!" And actually mum we do listen to you! Because we recieved so much g force that day at some points we felt like we were having a stroke! The g force was dragging our faces down it was a really horrible feeling! So yes mum we do think about the g force!! I think we may be getting a little older as we definately felt a little rough from riding rides all day! Boo hoo we dont want to grow up we want to be like peter pan and tinkerbell!

....the mighty goliath!

Time was getting on and we only had around 2 hours left, we were both so tired but we carried on! (Old!) and went over to X2 again which was now open with only a 30min que! But as luke couldnt go on it i just couldnt be arsed to que ! So we decided to go back and ride our 2 fave rides ...apocalypse ans goliath ! As it was getting close to closing time it was even more empty then the day so we walked on apocalypse and remained on it for 3 rounds! On the front row! And we videoed it on our phone it was bloody good! Next we went back to goliath! And we chose to go on the front row ! Why not.....255 foot drop why not sit on the front row!! We loved it! And we videoed this one as well! I went on this again after ! I just loved it. We both agree that those two rides were two of the best rides we had ever been on! 

We had a look in the shops and then headed out to wait for our shuttle. Apart from luke having felt ill from the g force! we had a really great day, six flags we knew would be good but it really exceeded our expectations ! It had some of the most insane rides we have ever seen! I am so glad we experienced it :) although i am not sure all that g force is good for you all in one day! Our day was also made good by the park being like a ghost town! The ride ques can be from 1-3 hours on a normal day so we were so lucky we were able to get on everything. Another thing ticked off the list! Feeling good :)

Hollywood...walk of fame

We arrived in hollywood via our hostel hopper shuttle we had booked, we was pretty tired still from the jet lag. We had booked to stay in a 6 bed dorm for 3 nights at usa hostels chain, it was our last dorm EVER! Never will we stay in a dorm again! We had planned a busy 3 days so we would rarely be there i am sure we would survive! When we arrived to the hostel we were pleasantly surprised ! It was lovely, everyone was friendly but then again the americans are! It was super clean, the kitchen was lovely and the location was perfect right between sunset and hollywood boulevard ! We dumped our stuff made our beds and we were out the door! .....straight to the walk of fame....

...we saw many famous names on the walk of fame !

Walking through the streets of hollywood was an experience thats or sure!! Its not quite what we were expecting, less glamorous more touristy/homeless people and dirty!! But as we enjoyed walking through it all i found myself thinking ....had we not travelled so much to different parts of the world we might have found this a little intimidating! But not now! We got asked several hundred times if we wanted to do a tour etc etc people trying to get you in there shops the usual city stuff! We walked all the way down hollywood boulevard stopping in a shop for a sandwich! Past the kodak theatre, dolby theatre, the hollywood and highland center and a few other touristy spots ! It was very crowded and quite frankly over rated!! We enjoyed seeing it all ticked it off the bucket list, its somewhere i have always wanted to go but i feel no need to visit that part of Los angeles again! We took some pics of the hollywood sign from hollywood and highland shopping centre we didn't have the time to go up to the hollywood hills to get close as we decided to do something else! But from a distance it looked a lot smaller then we imagined! Obviously its bigger close up ! But i suppose the movies make it look massive and as you can see from the pics its actually tiny!!

 The holly wood sign from a distance!

After our wonder down hollywood we walked through to sunset boulevard! And this was quite empty and there wasnt a lot going on so we just wondered we wanted to find a supermarket to get some snacks and lunch for our trip to six flags magic mountain ! We wondered ourselves into a organic shopping centre! Right up our street! And super cheap! We got some snacks and headed back we were so bloody tired! Although our dorm and the hostel was nice i had to share with 5 boys! And they were very disrespecful and dirty! And they kept us awake until gone 1am most nights so it made us so  tired and we had planned days out where we would get up early and be back late and poor luke hurt his back again at disney so he was in a bit of pain and just wanted to rest and sleep for the next day! Definately going straight to the osteopath when we get back!! 

Anyway.... Although we really enjoyed our experience in Hollywood and ticked some things off the list we probly wouldnt be in a hurry to go back ! However there are many places and attractions we didnt get to see due to lack of time .....hollywood hills, universal studios, venice beach, santa monica, beverly hills, rodeo drive.......the list goes on! California is so huge theres so much to see! So we would defo return in the future to visit all the places we missed :)

But for now we are off to san francisco..... :) 

The happiest place on earth....disneyland!

For many years it had been a dream of mine to visit disneyland in california, it was the "original" first disneyland that walt actually oversaw and got to see it open and make many people happy :) it was also the disney that was in a sing a long video me and my sister used to watch religiously when we were kids ! And now her kids watch it! We always visited disneyworld in florida and i used to think "this main street looks nothing like the one on our video!" And thats because it wasnt! However now i get to walk down the main street that was always well known to me as a child and i was very excited ! 

 We arrive in california!

We got to LAX in the afternoon after leaving fiji that night ! Flying back in time....definately an experience! And that evening after settling into our great hotel we had a wonder to down town disney a place known well to us at florida, it was an area where there were many restaurants, a HUGE world of disney store that just went on forever! This is Where i bought my disney autograph book one of the first things i buy when i get to disney! And other amenities.....cinema, bars, other shops it was a great place to spend the evening! We enjoyed just wondering around :) We headed back and stopped at a souvenir shop where i got a minnie tshirt to wear for the disney day! We returned to our hotel thinking we would go to bed early ready for our early start for disney but we were planning our day so much we didnt get to bed until gone midnight! And we were up again at 7am and at disney front gates by 8.30am! It didnt open until 9am but we were allowed in to a certain point, a crowd was begining to form ready to quite litrally run when the staff said the word! We heard parents saying to there kids "remeber what i said, just run, dont stop get to the que" or ride or whatever they wanted to go on first! There were adults doing leg stretches ready for the "run" it was so funny! I remember running as a child but for now we will be conducting a fast walk!! 

There were two disney parks at california the disneyland with the castle and disney adventure park, it was disney adventure park we decided to enter first, it was something unique to california and we wanted to do things in here that were popular before it got busy! They had recently had a multi billion doller make over where new rides/lands were created including a cars land which had a new ride radiator springs racers ride! It was the most popular and had ques of up to 3 hours if you didnt get a fast pass! And the fast passes would be completely gone within 90 minutes of the park opening! We had researched so much to get the most of our day as we did both parks in one day it was more cost effective that way ! So when the park fully opened we took a fast walk to get a fast pass for that ride, the que formed so bloody quick by the time we got ours and where onto the next thing the que was right back towards the entrance! We then went for a fast pass to the evening show of world of colour, then back to get a fast pass for the ride soaring! This all took about 30 mins and then we were free to start riding the rides! It took just 30minutes to get a good start to the day going! Naturally we went straight to the roller coaster ....california screamin! It was a old style wooden coaster that went up side down! There was only a ten minute que! And it was a great ride!  We would return later if we had time! Next was a swing ride which i went on and luke took pics etc! We then went for goofys flying school! Pretty fun ride ! then it was off to get our badges at wilderness explorers which is based on the film up! When we got there he said it was aimed for children twelve and under! I looked at him like ......and! I wanted to earn my badges! So i did.... well most of them anyway! It was now time for us to return to soaring with our fast pass time, this ride makes you believe you are flying its much more then just a simulator. 

....the view of paradise pier :)

There was a few other lands we wanted to visit so we headed over to hollywood land, it was here i met my first character....sophie the first! I had no idea who she was but knew my niece millie loved her! So got a pic for her :) we had a wonder here took some pics then headed over to radiator springs .....it was absolutely amazing ! It looked just like radiator springs in the film! We even saw tow mator driving past us! We headed over to the much anticipated radiator springs racers! And the que was stupidly long! So long that if you had kids and didnt get a fast pass you wouldnt be waiting! We walked straight on! And had a nice drive through radiator springs and then had a race with another car! It was a Good ride and very like the film! We headed back through its a bugs life land! And i went on a bumper car style ride! Which was fun! 

 Radiator springs!

We wanted to see the Aladdin musical before we went over to disneyland it was suppose to be a really good show! So we took a slow walk back through the main street...this is where we met pluto! And micky mouse! I was most pleased! We went to the Aladdin show which was really really good! The genie was so funny and it was nice to sit down and have a rest ! By this time it was 1pm! We watched the show and then headed over to disney land at around 2pm. We met chip and dale on the way out!

I was very excited to be walking into this disneyland i love disney but experiencing the park for the first time was so bloody exciting! The first thing we noticed was the disney train that was there as we walked in just above the micky mouse flower display! We then continued walking and came into main street USA the one i remener in the video! I was like a kid in a candy store looking at everything pointing at things and then we saw minnie mouse! I very quickly went over to her que to meet her!.....

Then micky came out and was infront of the main street where you can also see the castle! But we was already in this que and had met micky already so stayed put! When i had gotton over the initial excitement we began to walk down main street USA! And the main thing that we noticed was that the castle was the smallest one we had seen! It kind of looked squashed! It was still a great castle and we loved it but compared to the huge one in florida and even in paris it was realatively small! We saw cruella devil as we walked but were getting hungry by this point so deicded to go get a fast pass for space mountain and then sit and eat our pack lunch! We had some pizza and crisps and also a micky mouse pretzel!....

We decided after lunch to take a general wonder around we were starting to get tired! From a combination of lack of sleep and jet lag! And disney land was much more packed then disney adventure park! We headed over to toon town!!!! I was so excited to show luke this ! years ago during the first few times i went to disneyworld florida there was a toon town, which had micky and minnies house and you could go in and look around! However It had sadly been taken away for a new land to be built and i missed it so wanted to show him! Unfortunately for us micky and minnie were in there houses and so the que was huge to just get in and look around and as we had already met minnie and micky we didnt want to wait so just took a few pics of the other houses.....chip amd dales and donalds! And then went on through to fantasy land which was the most popular land! Half because it was the original land of disney with the original rides such as dumbo and the merry go round, it also had the small rides like ponochio, snow white etc so was very popular with the kids it was also the location to meet anna and elsa from the new very popular film frozen! The wait was 5 hours! Yes 5 hours and they had had to close the que due to the que time! We couldnt really do a lot in this land due to the amount of people there but got some great pics.

We walked back to main street to get a pic of the castle and the walt statue and also to find a place in the sidewalk for the parade! We found a small gap and luke had a sit down and i stood ready to take the pics! I loved the disney parades they were just magical to me and it was quite emotional! I dont know why i just find it so magical and it makes me tearful ! I think it just Brings back great memories of when i was a child! The parade was great as we thought it would be! Luke liked the parades aswell but as a boy he could take them or leave them, but he did enjoy them which was nice.

There was one particular ride we hadnt been on but had walked passed a few times this was a bobsled ride! It was a old ride and quite bumpy and uncomfortable and unfortunately luke hurt his back on it :( so he was pretty much uncomfotable for the rest of the day :( it was getting rather late and we knew we had to be back in a couple of hours for the show at adventure park! So we went over to look at the other lands we hadnt seen yet....critter country, frontierland and adventure land! And we ended up going around the park on the disney train which took around 25 minutes! And this is where luke fell asleep he had a lovely little nap! we got off and headed to the winnie the pooh ride! No trip to disney was complete without a trip on the winnie the pooh ride! I was hoping to meet winnie the pooh but he only makes appearances until 17.00pm and it was around 18.30 now :( was gutted but knew i would see him in florida! We knew we had to get over to adventure park soon but wanted to go on big thunder mountain! However the que was long so we decided to come back to that later this evening, the park had extended it hours until midnight so we would come back after the world of colour show! 

We headed back to adventure park the show was starting at 20.45 and we wanted to go on a few more rides before it started including mickys fun wheel and california screamin again! They close all the rides on paradise pier about 30 minutes before the show so we would have to move quick! We went to mickys fun wheel first this was a ferris wheel all lit up with micky in the middle! And you could either ride on a stationary carriage or one that slides from side to side! We chose the sliding one! I dont know why because when we got on it i didnt like it! It was sliding from the outside in and vice versa! And was really swinging! It was pretty scary! Luke didnt mind it tho! And it was quite a nice view! Next we headed to california screamin and it was just as good as when we went on it the first time! Only this time we went on the front and it was dark! Loved it!! We had about 20 minutes before the show was due to start and decided we had better go and get a place to watch it. We had got fast passes but so had many others and it was packed! We found a good spot and waited ......and obviously as loads of people stood waiting for this show the heavens opened and it pissed down! Luckily we had a umbrella ! So we didnt get to wet ! 

The amazing world of colour show!

The show was called world of colour show and it was a show over the water with lots of water fountains, special effects and lights. As water shoots up the lights portray disney characters and scenes in front of the ferris wheel and the music from that particular film is played! It was a amazing show and beautiful, disney has amazed us yet again with another spectacular show :) it was just mesmerising you didnt want to look away for a second incase you missed a bit! We left just a few minutes before the end as we knew only to well the crowds that appeared after a show and it could take up to an hour to get out of the park sometimes more! We headed back to disneyland for a final two hours of riding time! Poor lukes back was really hurting now and he was struggling but he went on all the rides with me :)

It was still raining hard so we were quite wet by this point ! But we went on space mountain, buzz light year ride, star tours and big thunder mountain! There were no ques at all and we went on big thunder mountain 3 times in a row! It was a great end to a magical day and we left feeling absolutely shattered, wet, cold and in need of our bed! But we wouldnt have changed the day for anything!

Disney is a magical place for me and now for us together as a couple :) it brings back fond memories of my childhood and now me and luke can create some of our own memories here in disney together, it holds a special place in my heart. I was so lucky to have been taken to disneyworld more then once when i was a child and now as an adult it will continue to be a special place/holiday for us :) 

Disneyland california was just as good as the other two we have visited, our day was great, one of the things i loved here was that there were characters everywhere all day! we met many characters and some unusual ones like the queen from snow white! I got 11 autographs i think in that one day which is quite a lot considering all the other things we did! We would of liked to have more time there as doing both parks in one day was exhausting and we didnt get to do everything, we did the things we wanted but having more days we would have taken a slower pace! I came out with blisters and we both could barely move the next day! Maybe our age!?!? 

Meeting the princesses!

 Some other characters we met

A disney holiday is something that takes a lot of planning ! People that think they can go there and not plan a thing especially with children they are kidding themselves! You WILL MISS THINGS That you dont want to! Its hard to explain to people that have never been there because they just dont understand the size of the place or the amount that goes on! Even if you are not a person that plans disney is a huge place with so many attractions, characters and shows that if you do not do some research first you will find yourself either missing things completely or not being able to go on rides as the ques can get stupidly long and the kids just wont wait that long! And if you go in the school holidays just forget it if you havnt planned! It will not be fun it will be stressful and the kids will be fed up! There are many tips and hidden treasures at all the disneys, things that the general public wouldnt know, places, character meets, tips for rides and times for shows etc. its a fun process planning for a disney holiday and very exciting for all involved, dont look at it as a strict itinary look at it as seeing as much as you can with the time you have there! As you just dont want to miss a moment of that magic! 

We just loved it here and will definately be returning and hopefully one day we will experience all this magic with our niece and nephew ....millie and chester :))) we also want to visit disney in hong kong! However In only weeks time we will be at disneyworld florida and we couldnt wait! 

Bamboo travellers resort....2 weeks of relaxation

So after the couple of weeks we spent touring the fijian island of viti levu & the 2 days we spent at beach comber island we were pretty tired! We had another 2 1/2 weeks left in fiji & we couldnt decide what to do, we had been recommended a place to stay by our guide cam....bamboo travellers resort, it was a resort in nadi on the beach front & when we arrived we felt a good vibe, everyone was super friendly. We had booked a double ensuite with air con! It was about £20 a night! Bargain! When we got to our room we were happy it was huge and had a kettle and fridge just what we needed :) it was a little dated but we had stayed in much worse! We settled in then went to explore the resort! There was free internet which only worked in certain areas but it was one of the only resorts that had free wifi, a restaurant with super cheap meals, a pool, free activities and the sea was right in front of you! And of course a massive perk........resort dogs!! Very us :) infact this place was just what we were looking for and we ended up staying here for the rest of our time in fiji!! We were going to go to one of the many islands but after all the research and reviews we read we decided to stay here. I will write briefly about our time here as we treated this as a two week holiday! We spent most of our days lazing by the pool/sea! It was heaven & very relaxing :)

The whole time here it was hot....bloody hot! In the high 90's ! Which we liked! We had experience some lovely heat on the trip but rarely got the chance to just chill in it! We found a lovely spot on the grass each day which was next to the pool and infront of the sea and settled there, we had palm trees towering over us and a nice sea breeze it was perfect and of course the dogs coming for a cuddle :) we quite litrally spent days just laying in the sun, doing some puzzles, writing the blog and completing some more photo books :) it was lovely....

We did venture in to town twice on the local bus which was a experience! The bus was completely open ...no windows! It was old & rattly & like nothing we had ever been on before! & of course it was a slow a journey which would take 5 mins in the car but took 45 mins on the bus! But we enjoyed the experience! The bus took us to nadi town for $1.15 each which is 35p! Bargain! 

Once in town we knew what we needed and wanted but unfortunately it was one of those cases where the locals hassle you non stop, not all but most & they also follow you round the shops not at a distance, right behind you!! On the second trip we managed to get everything we wanted & needed, i got a lively fijian dress for $20 and the lady tailored it for me for free! And I also found my millie poppins a lovely flowery dress, luke wanted 2 t shirts but they only had one in his size so he just got the one.

We also made a stop at one of only 3 mcdonalds in fiji in search of skylander happy meal toys for my chester but we had no luck hopefully find them in LA! 

Luke did a spot of fishing on the beach in front of the resort and caught one fish called a "guitar wire" not sure on spelling ! But its called this due to its stripes....

....it was quite a pretty fish & luke was very pleased :)

Whilst catching some rays, most days we would be greeted by the "resort" dogs, obviously strays but they had obviously made the resort their home and were very territorial when other dogs approached. There were four of them and they were all cuties! We of course cuddled and fed them daily!! & then during the second week there was a aussie woman who we think was part of management or co owned the place and she started to feed them all daily just left overs but it was a decent size pile each and she also said that she had wormed them all, i do like to know these dogs are looked after :) at one point luke went for a walk down the beach and when he returned all four of the dogs just followed him ! He was like the dog whisperer!

...the dog in the top right was the leader...the alpha male!

Whilst in fiji we witnessed several absolutely stunning sunsets and we both agree that fiji is by far the best place we have been to see a beautiful sunset....

The sunsets were so colourful and just never stopped amazing us.

On our last day in fiji we were unable to get a late check out so i paid for one bed in the 16 bed dorm so that we could lay down and relax before our long flight in the evening, i had developed a bad heat rash all over my body a few days ago so couldnt be in the sun and the heat would irritate it so a dorm with a fan was better then nothing at all, anyway i am glad we did as we both had headaches when we woke up! Anyway in this dorm as you can imagine people had there shit everywhere it still never stops amazing us that people leave there iphones, ipods, ipads and all sorts of expensive things just laying on there beds whilst there out!! And unpacking there clothes and just dumping them anywhere! Its almost as if they open there bags and tip them upside down on the floor and that's where the clothes stay for the duration of there stay! At one point a few of them came back and were discussing how they cant believe they have now got to live on noodles for the rest of the time there! Its so cheap in fiji ! You can buy a double decker sandwich made fresh for $5 around £1.50! And an evening meal can cost as little as $12 which is £4! So you can eat for less then £10 a day! Whats funny is they live on noodles but drink alcohol eveynight! There priorities are clearly all wrong! Or maybe thats our age!!

Unfortunately during the last few days here there were bed bugs on our bed :( so we got bitten :( and then ehen we went into the dorm there were people covered in bites ! The resort knew about it and were trying to sort it ! This wasnt our only encounter with bed bugs on this trip we could only hope they did not get into our clothes or baggage! Hopefully this is the last time we encounter them as the thought of getting eaten alive by bed bugs while i am sleeping really makes me cringe!

As i lay on this dorm bed and think about our time here in fiji i can honestly say we have had a great time from start to finish, what a piece of paradise it is here, so relaxing and stress free, luke just keeps saying what a shame its so far away from the uk! Verdict is we love it here and we are pretty sure who ever you are and what ever holidays you like you will love it here. Its just one of those places :) i feel no need to write a fiji verdict as its quite clear we love it here.

Onto the next chapter....USA! First stop LA :) so excited :)

Beach comber island.....getting over fears, ticking things off the bucket list & absolute paradise....

Today we got collected at 7.30 to start our journey to beach comber island, we were so pleased when we woke up as the rain had gone and the sun was shining bright and there were only a few clouds in the sky, the journey to the island was only around 45 minutes but we went around the houses to get there....you no on "fiji time" (fiji time is everything is done at a super slow relaxed pace!). As we approached the island it looked just how we think paradise looks like! Everyone has different views on paradise and this was ours! A relax pace of life on a white sandy beach with lovely clear blue sea and lovely sunshine!

....approaching paradise!

We were helped off the boat by the crew and staff and were then greeted by some singing fijians! We didnt have to worry about our cases as the staff dealt with all of that and took them direct to our room :) 

We checked in and could go directly to our room :) we had a private double in a lodge, it was small but perfect for us. Luke was feeling quite ill today so it was nice to have our own room and a fridge and kettle so he could have cold drinks or a nice cuppa when he wanted! We practically just threw all of our stuff down got in our swimmers and went straight to the sea! Not forgetting to go and hire our snorkels! It was free for house guests but we had to pay a deposit. We began on one side of the island and before we knew it we were half way round! The island was so small you could walk around it in about 7 mins! We eventually ended up near the "front" of the island and that is where we stayed for the rest of the day!

We had such a great time snorkelling here, and i was doing well, i only had a small panic everytime i first put my head under water it just took some time to get use to it and i was actually really enjoying it :) we saw so many beautiful colourful fish it was amazing and very exciting they were all different shapes and sizes and we both just loved it :) we also saw loads of weird and wonderful coral and it was great seeing the fish dart in and out of it! And some of the fish were very brave and came right up to us! And there was a group of yellow fish with black stripes that were feeding off the rocks and they were quite happy to let us swim around them.

We had all of our meals included in our tour price and it was buffet! So lunch was nice, luke had sausage, lamb steak and fish with salad and taro.....which is a root vegatable that is like a potato and very tasty :) and the chef cooked me a vegetable stir fry which was so bloody tasty :) after lunch it was back to snorkelling. Before we knew it, it was getting late and we decided to head back have a shower and have a rest before dinner, poor luke felt rougher now and he actually fell asleep for a bit, he had a bad sore throat and a serious runny nose! We headed down to our buffet dinner at 7 and luke was served meat and fish in a sauce and veggies and the chef made me stuffed egg plant with vegatable rice and yet more veggies on the side!! And it was so nice and something i hadnt had before :) we went back to our room after that we were actually both knackered and fell asleep pretty quickly! 

....my lovely veggie meals :)

We both went to bed early about 21.20! Of course that then ment we were awake quite early ! God we were getting old !......asleep early and up early!! Luke still felt ill and he actually looked much worse this morning :( his nose Was just constantly running and he felt quite run down, we went and had breaky and then went for some snorkelling again, however when we took the underwater camera down this time we found out that it had stop working :( the screen was just black and it was making a really odd sound, we opened it and some water had got in :( we were so gutted as yesterday we managed to get some really good photos and video on it and today we was hoping to get some more :( luke had got some bread to feed the fish and he was gutted. But there was nothing we could do about it at least we had the memories in our heads :) we snorkelled for about an hour and then went to sit on the beach, it was another glorious day the sun was shinning and it was so hot .....we had covered ourselves in suncream and i even put sun cream on my scalp as it got burnt yesterday :(. When we decided to get back in the water we put our masks on and went under.....however when i put my head under i was greeted by a massive group of jelly fish !!!! Right in front of me! It really shocked me! I put my head above water and shouted to luke who then quickly saw them and we made our way out of the water pretty quickly!! We tried to go in at another part of the beach but they were everywhere the staff said we could swim and that there sting would only be a small one! But we didnt risk it! We just chilled and a lady that worked there that was cleaning the beach front bures invited us to use the hammock that was outside it! Of course we agreed and it was just lovely sitting there looking at all that lovely blue sea and calmness. 

....enjoying our last day here in paradise!

Before we knew it it was lunch time! And this time i got vegatables and rice in a sauce and it was lovely :) my poor lukee was sitting across the table from me sneezing and blowing his nose i felt so sorry for him, being ill is horrible but being ill on holiday is just plain shit!! He soldiered on he badly wanted to snorkel again.....he checked the water and it was clear so we went back in with caution! And thankfully saw no jellyfish! 

Luke had got some bread rolls in his pocket and proceded to "feed" the fish! It was a great thing to watch ....he broke up the bread and "dropped" it in front of him and the fish loved it! He gave me a bit to try and i dropped a bit and whilst waiting for the fish to eat it i took my eyes off them for a second and when i looked back there was a few decent sized fish right in my face! It scared me a little because they were quite litrally right in front of me! And when i went to find luke and tell him about these fish (which he thinks were a kind of trevally!) they Where everywhere and the more we fed them the more there were! it went from about 5 to around 30 plus it was quite something to watch and at this point we were quite gutted to not have the camera :( as this would have been a great camera oppourtunity :( luke was so so gutted :( but it wasnt the end of the world.

We snorkelled for quite a while and swam and just enjoyed the last couple of hours here in paradise!! And before we knew it, it was time to go :( we sat and had afternoon tea just looking at the gorgeous sea and then were called to board the boat and as we departed and the island became smaller and smaller we was a little sad but felt really lucky that we were able to experience such a amazing place :) 

Beach comber island for us was like the ultimate destination although we were only there for 2 days we had such a great time and i really got to grips with snorkelling. Luke had been telling me one of his dreams or things to do on his bucket list was to snorkel on a coral reef amongst the beautifly colourful fish :) and he just loved every minute of it, he also has always wanted to go somewhere with crystal clear blue waters! So i am so pleased he has been able to tick another couple of things off his bucket list, and i am pleased that i got over a fear. 

This around the world trip really has been the most wonderful thing we have ever done and we have achieved & experienced more then i ever felt possible, life can be so short, we should all do what makes us happy and believe you can always achieve what you want in life no matter how far away it may seem or how hard it is to reach, we make our own paths in life make sure you make one that you love walking down :))

Our last day with feejee experience :(

We got collected from volivoli rssort at 9.30 and went to raki raki hotel to meet the rest of the group and we were very pleased to have cam as our guide again :) he is our fave guide :)! It was a ok group everyone was very young ! Made us feel old ! It was our last day with feejee experience and we felt a little sad :( 

....it was raining the day we left :(

We had enjoyed the tour so much :) it was probly our fave tour :) it rained that day and continued to rain the whole day and was a bit chilly! Todays activities were going to some mud baths!! It was also the day where it would be the longest drive, we didnt mind the drive so much as we got to wave to all the locals and look at some lovely scenary :) however our driver was really driving like a mad man! And it was pissing down! We did not aprove! He was over taking everyone we hated it! But we got there in one piece thats the main thing! 

We first drove to a local town so we could get our water, go to atms and get anything else we needed, it was then onto our lunch stop which was in the second biggest town after suva, and i cannot remember the name !! It is also where cam lives! And also where the cinema is only $5 (£1.50!) and you get a free sundae! We loved that not only was the cinema cheap and you got a free sundae but you also got to see the latest films! As fiji is one of the first places to see the sun they get the latest films! It was crazy! It was in this town we had our lunch stop....it was in the waterfront restaurant! And as you probly have guessed it was by the waterfront ;)! Luke had a vegatable curry and i had a roasted veggie ciabatta! It was scrummy :)

We then boareded back on our bus for the next leg of our journey which would take us to the mud baths! It was in a local village and it also had a natural hot spring! We was looking forward to it, it was just a shame that it was a "cold"! Day. When we arrived we got our swimmers on and then were taken to buckets of mud where we were told to cover ourselfs in it!! Which we did and then we had to let it dry! In the cold air! Me and luke really hate feeling cold!! We took some pics to pass the time.....

....we then had to get into the mud baths! And this was quite litrally a pool of mud!!!! And about a foot at the bottom where you step there was pure squishy mud it wasnt to pleasant ! Luke has just informed me that its called silt! I am really funny about having wet, sticky, dirty or muddy feet!! It really makes me cringe and i just really dislike it!! Anyway we just "washed" the mud off in here and then it was time to get into the natural hot spring....and it was so so nice :) it was so hot! And we were really missing having baths so this was so nice! We were missing baths so much we were counting down the weeks until we get to a hotel that has one!! Which will be in the USA! 

We spent a good 20 minutes in the hot spring and then i decided to get out and get dressed! We enjoyed the mud baths but just needed the sun out aswell! It was nice actually as we got out a bit earlier then everyone else so we got to chat to cam for a while which we really liked, we told him we really liked the first goup we joined and he was telling us all the storie's and antics they got up to! We were a bit gutted as we would have liked to stay in the group but this trip is ours so we continued with the plans we had already made :) and have no regrets :) i got a pic with my fave guide, then it was time to board the bus again for our last journey on the feejee experience bus back to nadi :(

....me and cam :) 

We stopped at a liquor stop on the way back and then before we knew it we were back at nadi bay resort hotel! We liked it here and were given the same room as last time which was good. 

We decided we had to give in and buy wifi much to our dissaproval ! It was £8 for 24 hours! But we had to make some sort of a plan for the rest of our time here ! And also we had pics, blog and vids to upload so it wouldnt be wasted we would get our moneys worth! And it was nice as we finally got to speak to my mum and dad after about four weeks of no talking! So we chatted non stop for well over a hour we both had so much to say!! It was nice i do miss chatting to them, dont ever underestimate just being able to pick up the phone and chat to someone regularly! I no we have chatted throughout our journey but sometimes the internets shit and we cant hear each other! So i think what i mean is i miss being able to chat with no conditions, with unlimited time! Not being rushed and chatting at my own pace which many will say is fast!!!! We wanted to try to catch up with as many people as possible seen as we never no when we will have decent wifi again! So chatted to lukes mum on facebook as she couldnt skype at that time so that was nice hopefully skype next time, it was nice actually as luke chatted to her while i finished packing, we chatted to lukes best mate maaaaaaaattt for a while before he went to work and my sister had gone out so we unfortunately missed speaking to her and our boos, and my auntie alison who i havnt spoke to for ages who i dont think heard the facetime :( another one i miss chatting to :( i really couldnt cope without the regular contact i have with family and wonderful friends, we left the country 7 months ago and we both still have regular contact with our friends they message us all the time and all want to facetime and skype and see pics etc etc its really nice and we really feel that we both have some amazing friends (and family!) and it will nice to catch up in person in the summer :) anyway i dont know how i got onto that!! Back to the subject at hand!...

Luke started to feel a bit ill this evening.....runny nose and cold like symptoms so he had a cup of tea and went to bed while i finished catching up online! I hope he wasnt getting sick, i hate seeing him poorly :( 

We thoroughly enjoyed feejee experience tour and would do it again with no hesitation! Its the only (guided) tour so far we would do again! We just had such a laugh and got to meet some epic people and really experience things we hadnt before, & experience the real fiji :) We were so sad to end the tour but we still had 2.5 wks in fiji and we were off to beach comber island tomorrow......the funs not over yet!! 

Volivoli beach resort

After leaving raki raki hotel our lovely driver gave us a lift to our next resort which was volivoli...we had booked this a few months before we left. As we were told that this is the hotel we would be staying in with our tour, but it had changed and we werent informed but we were still happy to go there for a few days it looked lovely :)

When we arrived it was like arrivng at a holiday resort which was a nice feeling after walking into so many hostels in the previous months! It was only 8am but we checked in and could go straight to our room :) we had a double room in a shared lodge but there was no one else there so we had it to ourselfs ! We had a bathroom and kitchen ! We had read there was a kitchen but Didnt want to buy to much food and then not be able to cook it so we just bought some noodles! It wasnt expensive to eat out at all but in the better resorts they put the prices up by at least double which was to be expected i suppose! It was still cheap by the English pound tho! 

We quickly did some washing to get it out to dry and then headed straight to the beach with our rods! As we walked down to the beach we noticed how clear the sea was! It was definately the clearest we had ever seen and it was beautiful, one part of the beach was in a cove and was surrounded by stunning landscape....

.....beautiful! (Luke fishing in the background!)

We decided to have a snorkel first! I had a fear of snorkelling but really wanted to try to get over it! I couldnt stand the sensation of breathing under water it made me panic! But i put the mask on and just thought "now or never sarah get it together!" Luke was by my side every step of the way and i am so pleased i pushed myself because we saw loads of colourful tropical fish it was really a great experience and we will go again tomorrow :) i just couldnt believe that we were swimming right next to these lovely fish :) we also had a go in the kayaks which was great fun :)

It was now time for some fishing :) we found a great spot and went for it! Luke saw loads of fish around  and a couple hooked on but they fought and managed to get off the hook! It was great fun......well i was watching a lot of the time! I did have a few chucks but then i left it up to the pro!!!! We had a great first afternoon at volivoli, we went for some late lunch at 3pm and just had a sandwich and wedges, the dinner was quite expensive and there was barely any vegatarian choices and the choices the staff did give me they would charge the same as a meal with meat !! So we decided to have lunch and then our noodles later! We had toasted tuna sandwiches and potato wedges and it was very tasty :)

We didnt end up having the noodles later as for the the rest of the day i had a bad upset tummy :( so just relaxed in the room, luke looked after me, made me cold drinks and cuddled me :) we went to bed early at 9pm and fell straight asleep ! 

When We woke the next morning i felt a little better just a bit drained, we went for breaky which we had included in the room price which i thought we didnt have included so that was a bonus! It was nice and we had a nice fruit platter each. It was a overcast day but still hot so we went down to the beach again luke had a fish & i chilled in the hammock :) perfect day in paradise :)

I decided that i wanted to go for a snorkel so i geared up and went for it! I had a bit of panic at the begining but it didnt take too long to get into it :) i was snorkelling a different area and saw loads of tropical fish all swimming together by the rocks it was great! I decided to get the camera, our underwater camera had been playing up recently but i decided to risk it and take it in! These fish were so colourful i needed some pics and thankfully the camera was fine & i got some good shots....

....a couple of the pics of fish we saw

Luke decided to join me and we went for a long snorkel all around the reef area on our beach it was great fun and we even saw another reef snake! But it was much smaller then the other one we saw it made us realise the one we saw at beachouse was huge! The water wasnt as clear as yesterday but we still saw loads of fish, i was so pleased i gave snorkelling another shot as i have learnt....."fear is temporary, achievement is permanent" my fear of snorkelling was temporary but getting over my fear was an achievement and is permanent i was pleased with myself. 

We went for some lunch around 3pm and then stayed on the beach until 6.30pm just admiring the view it was so nice :) we really felt relaxed :) we headed back to our room to pack and have a wash, tomorrow we were getting collected at 9.30 to join yet another group but i think we will have our first guide again,...cam! We really liked him so were excited.

We enjoyed volivoli resort but mostly for the scenary, it was beautiful and we got to see some really beautiful fish whilst snorkelling ! More great memories made in fiji :))