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Published: January 29th 2007
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Hello,Hello,
Today we slept in,Greg and Nathan played tennis beforw we checked out. All packed for the cruise we drove down the coast to the port. On the way we stopped at the beach,the beach is only about 5 meters from the road side at Ft Lauderdale unreal !!!!! Some really massive luxury homes and the gardens are so pretty and lush.
We parked at the dock and were able to leave all excess luggage in the car, it was under cover and had 24 hour security. All aboard !!!! Our cabins were quite roomy, the kids shared and they enjoyed the space.We met up again with Steph and her Dad a lovely girl who was travelling from Tasmania. We met lots of different people from all over the place. The cruise was good fun, on board meals and shows were great. We had one port call at the Bahamas - the Island of Nassau. It was really beautiful white sandy beaches and water that was sooooooo blue it was unreal. We took a harbour cruise and a snorkling tour,it was awesome lots of fish,different colours and sizes, the coral was a bit plain but the variety of fish made
up for it. We talked about the fish for ages it was a really great tour.
Sarah had her hair braided on the beach by a local lady who's name was also Carol,it looked really cool.After lunch we hopped on a ferry to Paradise Island, on the way we saw. some massive magnificent homes belonging to the rich and famous.Once on the island we walked to the local beach it was so clear and beautiful, it was quite warm 28 degrees and humid so we enjoyed this magical paradise for a couple of hours .
Once back at Nassau we shopped a little and and looked at a few places on shore close to the ship. The three days really flew with lots to do and before we knew we were back in Florida. We diembarked by about 9.30. Re packed and sorted our lugguage, it worked out really well with the hire car as we could reorganise all of our luggage. We drove up the coast to Miami airport,our flight was not until 4pm so we just cruised and enjoyed the sights, so lush and green with pretty gardens and flowers seperating the road from the ocean.
All starting to feel sad about our adventures coming to an end.
Our plane left for London with no problems we had a comfortable flight, not very full so we had room to move, great service and food. We arrived at London at 9am after the time difference,we checked in and were settled by about 10.30. Our hotel is on the same road as Paddington Station and its really quaint.The cobble stone roads, red double decker bus's and old fashion cabs were a really cool sight.The underground tube was awesome and easy to use. The boys slept for a couple of hours, Sarah and I went for a walk there are heaps of Restaurants and Cafes in our street and a fantastic fish and chip shop. We bought some hot chips and took them back to our room and they were sooooooooooo good !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
After lunch we went into London on the bus and took in some sights - Trafalga Square, The Strand, Picadilly Circus, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the Thames. We went on the London Eye, it was quite cold but a really clear night so the sights from the eye on a clear night were
fantastic. Everything here is really close and easy to get to,the archietecture is similar to San Franscisco, just fantastic with so much detail and character.It was like a lifesize game of Monopoly, we all really loved itl. We walked across the Jubilee bridge,all rugged up as it was o degrees, after some cornish pasties we caught the bus back to Paddington and had a great night sleep.
On Friday we met up with my Cousins Patsy and Susan, it was really great to spend some time with them,Susan knitted me a gorgeous scarf (which I have not taken off ) we watched the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and went to a coffee shop in Victoria Staion. We were so glad they made the effort to meet us as it was about a two hour trip for them, Patsy had some photos from when she visited Australia about 10 years ago -so she saw a massive change in them.
In the afternoon we went on a river cruise along the Thames, we stopped and spent some time in Greenithch it was a really pretty and interesting place. Late afternoon we went to the London Tower and the Tower bridge. It was dark by 5 and we missed the exibition but they awesome to see all lit up. After tea we walked to St Pauls Cathedral, what a place - just so magestic.It was about 11o'clock by the time we got back, we had managed to fit a lot into the freezing cold day!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Saturday after breakfast we headed off to Winsor. To get there we had to travel through Slough where I was born - we took the train so we could see the area. It was like a scene out of Harry Potter, the same type of houses in a row, we didn't have enough time to explore the area and as I was only 18 months old when I left here we wouldn't have know where to start.From what we saw on the train it looked really green and pretty,espcially from Slough to Winsor. It only took about 40 minutes to reach Windsor. Once again everything was so close just hop of the train and the Castle was right there in all of its glory. Winsor Castle was so much more than I expected, it was just so splendid, words cannot explain how mindblowing and speachless it makes you to be in such an awesome place !!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were lucky again to see the changing of the guard in winter this only happens on every other day and we managed to catch in both London and here. After this we took an audio tour of the castle and state appartments, I cant even begin to explain how beautiful it was. It took about four hours to view to whole thing, it was something I will never forget - the art, the furniture, the dolls house the Chapel !!!!! truley magnificent !!!!!!!!!!!!.
I was so pleased to be able to meet and spend some time with my God Mothers daughters and thier children. We only very recently lost Aunty Barb,and I know she was watching over us so proud and happy that we all made the effort to catch up. We had a lovely lunch and chatted for ages just like old friends, all to soon it was 4 o'clock and time for all of us to go .It was such a shame after all of these years not to meet up with my God Mother but I was really pleased that the girls met us , we have a special bond and intend to keep in touch.
We arrived back in Paddington at about 6pm and went to an Old English Pub for tea. It was really nice - the kids enjoyed the yorshire pud and once again we toasted to the end of an adventure.
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Cousin Sue
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It was great to see you all as well, I am glad you liked the scarf I am sure you won't be wearing it now you are home in the sun!! Keep in touch love Suex