New York

New York, New York

I woke up at 5:40am and we'd booked the Fung Wah bus for 7am so the timing was perfect no alarms were required! Melissa and I got up, dressed, cleaned in record timing however we still managed to get there 10 minutes late. Although we did purchase breakfast on the way and caught the 7:30am bus instead.

Matt had kindly given us a map and guide book of New York the day before and it was very useful and almost a fashion accessory as you'll see from the pictures. Matt also told me 'You could spend all day just in Central park', with that in mind Melissa and I were focused on seeing as much as possible. Even if it did mean rushing, leaving things behind, going hungry and getting sore feet. That's right we had embarked on a Urban Hike the mightiest of em all!

The trip on the bus down was pretty cool, Melissa and I were both excited, neither of us actually had talked about going to New York before our trip to Boston so it was a ad lib adventure. The Fung Wah is $15 USD each way and it's non-stop from Boston to New York China Town. On the way down it was four hours and on the way back about five because we stopped to fill up.

The country side was beautiful, it's just turned winter but the leaves are still really pretty, they were red and orange and leaves were scattered all over the show. There were a few towns on the way down Frankfort, Providence and a couple of others. We travelled from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York that's 3 states in 4 hours pretty cool huh.

Melissa choose the right side of the bus to sit on and we swapped seats about halfway through the journey so I could bring yah all some nice photo's of Manhattan. It looked very grey, but the city is massive, how we would navigate around this city. Our skills, patience, intelligence, charisma and speaking abilities would be put to the test in the big apple. One day of sight seeing, surely we could tick a couple of boxes without too much trouble.

The bus dropped us off in China town which was about 8 blocks away from the ground zero depending on how you count :) Melissa found her feet and started navagiating and shortly I found myself in a little coffee house commonly known as star bucks, incidentally it's also known for its great clean toilets. So we examined our notes and recounted what we wanted to cover

• Ground Zero


• Battery Park – Statue of Liberty


• Rockefeller – Second largest building


• Central Park


• Times Square


• Macy's

Such a small list, but our bus was going to pick up at 8pm and the time was already close to midday, we only had 8 hours left. We both knew that we'd be adding the subway to that list as there was about 15 miles in between everything. Walking wasn't going to be the greatest option and Missy had worn her boots in true New York fashion, things were tricky!

Ground Zero was a tourist hot spot, but to be honest it wasn't all that interesting, people tried to sell pictures and pawn things off to you. There was a public viewing platform where you can see the whole area, it's actually really huge and you can understand how it made such a big impact on the people in America. Somehow after we look briefly at this spot Melissa found New York's best kept secret 21st Century.

The previous day was black Friday when all the USA shops went into the black and made money, so here we were the following day in a clothing store. My mind swilled with all the people. Melissa was very happy and snagged up a black top hat and gloves which you can see in the photo's a great buy. After getting the tags cut off we headed off to battery park.

Battery park is similar to walking along Darling harbour(AU) or perhaps Mission bay(NZ), one striking difference is that you can see the statue of Liberty, it's really small from there though and the sun was in a horrible position for photos. We toyed with the idea of ferrying across to the Island and seeing it up close but we hadn't covered much off our list yet. Both our tummies were grumbling and we sampled some of the local food pizza.

The food was ok and we had a little rest and agreed we'd catch the subway to Central park 96th St. London has the Underground which was really confusing at first, though New York is a complete doddle. Everything is plainly explained and Matt's book had all the maps we needed in it. We purchased a metro card $10 USD which we both used to get to Central park, two dollars a pop. There were no drama's and no navigation issues, Melissa is a legend.

We ended up in Central park at around 3:30pm and it was very pretty again the tree's looked really cool and I just started snapping up pictures. Unfortunately I lost my camera cover and will need to buy another, we spent abit of time looking for it but alas we couldn't find it. Central Park was huge and we only covered a small distance though it was really nice and I'd love to go jogging through it sometime.

The Rockefeller was next on the agenda and by 5pm it was dark, the city lights looked really cool and we couldn't wait to get to the 57th floor and check out the view from the 'top of the rock' as the staff termed it. The day was perfect and so was the night we were both in for a real treat. The tickets cost about $27 each and well worth the cost. The advertising at the start wasn't, it really annoyed me actually I'd just paid a whole heap of money to wait, for a moment there I thought I was back in the London Dungeon.

Although the wait wasn't really that bad and we were soon on this lift that made funny sounds and had holographic pictures on the top of it. People remarked how cool it was, but it did lead to a sore neck, I would recommend ignoring it. Once we reached the top of the lift we went outside to the view, it was remarkable. New York is massive and with all the lights on the town was lit up, I'm sure everyone has a different idea what it looks like, my impression was the death star!

You could just stand and stare for ages on end at those lights, the temperature though was about negative 2 degrees. There were two floors that you could go up and once you hit the top you could just see straight out. On the lower levels you were protected by massive plastic fences, that was nice but not so good for photos. Somehow on the top floor I managed to take a few of Melissa with the right settings on my SLR. I'm sure they could have been better but I was well pleased with them.

We descended to the bottom and realised the time was around 7pm, there was little time left in our day and we decided we'd miss the 8pm bus and go for the 9pm instead. So off we went to Times Square in search of food, there were plenty of MacDonald's along the way but I wanted something better. In the end we settled for a pasta bar where they cooked up what you wanted. Melissa and I both paid for the pasta twice and had a little mix-up with the staff there though everything was eventually sorted out.

Times Square was a busy place and there was a definite hussle and bustle going on. It was cool to be there but I was glad to move along as I'm sure it was a haven for pick pockets and a few undesirables that could hide in the crowds of people. Then we arrived at could only be described as a girls heaven and a boys torture chamber Macy's. Luckily I wasn't tortured to much most guys looked very solemn as we wandered through the many levels that Macy's offered. Melissa walked in and her face just glazed over and she mummed 'I could spend all day here'. Although she wanted a coat and I had no idea where they were, knowing that the place was designed to trick and hoodwink it's captives we asked for directions twice and got two different answers, eventually we ended up in the coat section.

Melissa found a great looking coat and boy was she pleased, I'm sure she was dancing on the inside, she'd come to New York and been shopping not once but twice. Unfortunately it was 8:30 and we hit the subway to get the 9pm bus to Boston. We missed that bus and had to get the 10pm one.

All and all we achieved what we wanted to do, but I was exhausted and slept soundly on that bus, Melissa was tired as well. We arrived at Mel and Matt's at 3am getting a Taxi home from the bus stop, the Taxi was only $10. So all in all we were out of the house for 22hours to do a day trip to New York from Boston. I would do it again if I have the chance but next time book a hotel for a night and turn it into a weekend trip. The trip was not for the feint of heart but me and Melissa managed to finish up happy and tired a good result.

USA - New York

US and Aye

Hey everyone,

Your crazy kiwi is writing to you from Boston and my it's mighty cool here around 1-2 degrees, and for a kiwi that is cold especially after you've spent 9 months in Port Macquarie, Australia. London is getting colder to but we haven't been there for the past week.

Instead we've been dossing at my big sisters in Boston US and Aye, it's been such a great time here, today is me and Missy's final day. Our primary goal for the visit was to have thanks giving at Melissa's house because everyone raves about the event and of course to see my wonderful sister and it was all that and more. After that we cruised slowly around Boston and check out the major attractions and then in one great whirlwind we got to New York and back in day.

What a holiday it has been.

Thanks giving

We were spoilt beyond belief, thanks giving was divine. The day started off at 10am with Champagne and juice, followed shortly with croissants out of a can cooked in the oven and filled with Avacado, ham, tomato(peppered) and cheese. These tasty little treats tied me over because I was famished by 10:30 every with the booze.

To my surprise Mel cooked up another batch and it was just the four of us at this stage Mel, Matt, Missy and Jamie. Visitors started trickling in and drinking and eating, Kim arrived with a huge box and she was to handle all the appetizers.

I can't really give Kim's appetisers the attention to detail they require but there was a constant delivery of food from 2pm till 6pm and all of it was tasty. Meatballs, cranberry kinda spring roll thingies and I ended up with a cooked combination cheese/onion dip with crackers. I'm sure there was more judging by the size of my tummy but my memory has been erased :)

Melissa then came out with the main Turkey, gravy, Chicken, asparagus, sweet potato, oh my golly did she cook it with finesse and it sure did taste good. Everything on the plate just melted in your mouth, it all went from my plate so fast though I daren't have too much as there was desert and wine was being poured like it was going out of fashion. It was Mel and Matt's wedding present from Brent and the bottle was bigger than ManHatoon!

Melissa finished up delievering a cake, cheeky little cranberry sorbet and some Boston chocolates, as I write this my tummy is screaming for some more of that desert :) I don't think Melissa made the cake and it didn't really get touched that day. From all accounts Melissa's cooking is way better than you'll get in most places so why would you spoil it with something from a shop?

All and all the guests were very well behaved and the night was very social and apparently some of the normal thanks giving antics weren't uncovered. Me and Missy had a great time and we both had a great day, it will be tempting to come back again next year if I'm in this neck of the woods.

Boston - Thanks Giving

Checkout the new apartment

The new apartment tours.

Jamies' tour



Melissas' tour



Went to Ikea on the weekend and filled it up with stuff

London - Update - Video Bloggin

Hey guys not to much to add to these videos, the first two are real quick from Richmond and the second is from today which is an update of the week.

Rock on!

London - Regent Park

London - Update - Rugby, Richmond and The Dungeon

Time sure has passed quickly since I arrived on July the 8th, that's about two and a half months. I've started work and have been doing my time on the central line, about 2 hours everyday of commute all up. In Port Macquarie I had about 10 minutes from door to door, alot has changed for a start there are another 8.4 million people in London.

After work I go out sometimes or have a big cookup at home, the movies are also like four minutes from the house. British movies aren't my thing though so I tried the local video store, me and Mel are currently watching 'The Ice Harvest', pretty good movie.

The Londoner's love pints and I've been indulging abit as well, though me and Mel have decided four units is enough each night. You know I need to watch my weight and all that.... we've been eating out a little bit too.

Brick Lane has been absolutely fabulous, only minutes away and every weekend there is something different on. Traditionally it's the place for curries and lots of Indian scalpers are scattered through the street offering you discounts and drinks if you come into their restaurant. There's no such thing as a free dinner so I always so no, in saying that I've tried some curry and wow they pack a punch into it down Brick lane. The English call them ruby Murries, well thats what my English flat mate asks 'have you been down the road for a ruby Murry?'



Otherwise Brick lane has festivals galore, so far I've been to the Thai festival, Music festival and the Brick lane markets. Usually the bottom end of the lane is packed with people and it's a very trendy opposite to the run down curry joints. The bars are also very cool, there are a whole lot of them and they cater for different types however there are very little suits about and the streets are full of arty farts so you can just imagine.

The flat in Whitechapel is going good and the flatmates are behaving for a spell, all except Mel, she's always very naughty :) Though on the occasion she does cook, clean and do the washing for which I'm very grateful. So there you go life in the real East End is going well and when I'm not going out me and Mel are exploring some new park or some new place.

Mel has just got a job, so soon enough we will be travelling through Europe on long weekend excursions. I'm looking forward to seeing some new places, though there are still so many to see in London.....

Rugby Fun

The Rugby world cup is officially on and the South hemisphere teams are carving up the Northern sides. I usually just watch the big games and since relocating to London, watching the game is like renewing my Kiwiana.

So when Dwayne and Dan were heading out to Belushis me and Mel decided to pop along as well. The game was England vs South Africa and funily enough I caught up with Bronwyn from NZ, hadn't seen her in ages. Well it was a great game, South Africa ended up wasting England and half the bar cleared out, which was great because it was shoulder to shoulder. After that a few of us trundled off to the walk about (another bar) and were drenched in drunken peoples booze yeeehaaa! I think Dwayne did pretty well at the end of the night though! Be sure to ask him if you get a chance :)

Will and Hanna also invited us to a Ireland versus France, sux for Ireland because they lost. We went to Barracuda, which was a really nice bar, lots of space and heaps of tv sets to watch the rugby and some big Plasma's. There was another two guys there John and Dan who gave Mel some flack and made her feel welcome to London. Really though we could hardly hear each other that night, John and Dan ended up going home early.... I think Dan was getting married in Los Vegas on Tuesday so that was a good reason :) So the couple party stayed and danced the night away... well for about half an hour actually. The walk home was enjoyable for some but not all.

Sunday @ Richmond Park

Parks have still been very much on my agenda, there has been some lovely weather and the weekend provided another opportunity for me and Mel to get out and about. We thought we'd go down to Richmond from Whitechapel via the tube. Only 2 pounds extra for the pleasure, Richmond is about 50 minutes commute off-peak, so we set off about 9am in the morning.

We've learnt to get maps and read signs alot, because it's very easy to get lost in London and we both can't stand the messy A-Z. We navigated from the tube to Thames and then up to Richmond park. It was a really nice walk and we passed through the Terrace gardens which were very pleasing on the eyes. You'll see plenty of flower photo's, there were some very cool ones that looked like ear rings.

At Richmond park you meet a busy intersection of cars, it's just the entrance but you'll find that most of London's major parks have cars running through them. Stopping at the map we made sure we were on the right side of the park, it looked like a half an hour walk to the bikes, which we had intended to hire. Thankfully we were in the right place and we set out to explore the beautiful park.

There were heaps of signs scattered around saying 'Stay on the path, don't get close to deer, recent foot and mouth outbreak', yay for foot and mount eh? So we decided it best to keep our distance and I took a few distance photo's. Really I should have taken the zoom lens, but after all they are only deer right. The scenery as you'll see is quite nice but doesn't change alot around the park. Though you should definitely check out the plantations, ponds and gardens very cool.



The bike hire was really easy to find and cost £8 / hour, the price alone put us off the riding. Not only would we've needed to shell out at least £8 pounds but we would have had to take the bikes back and then walk an hour and a half back to the station!!! So we decided to have a sammie instead and a coffee from the cafe in the park. The beauty about London is the parks have cafes and generally they are pretty good. The sammie had mould on it but we swapped it for another.

After that we just explored the rest of the park and the plantation would have been the highlight. There were lots of logs you could just sit and chill on, great place for a picnics to, as bikes weren't allowed in. After that we headed back to Richmond and drunk a few pints at the local O'Niels and watched NZ vs Scotland. The game was average and NZ won 40-0 but there was alot of scrums breaking apart which really slowed the game down.

London Dungeon

This place should actually be called the London Queue, if you go on a Saturday like I did, you'll spend about an hour and a half just queuing. The English love to queue though I did notice a few people slipping out of the queue to go do something else. I booked the tickets on lastminute.com which saved us about £20, well worth it. Once we finally managed to get ourselves inside actors would meet n greet you at every station.

The actors were pretty good and brought the place to life as they scared you and informed you a little of the history. Sometimes you were even involved in the whole drama, one poor bloke got sorted out in the torture chamber and we were all sentenced to the gallows! The had some good sets with Jack the Ripper, Sweeney's barbershop, the Fire of London and the Plague. Mel got quite a few good scares with a big bloke sneaking up on her and giggling in her ear.

I'm sure this place is really old and hasn't been upgraded much, probably like most of London, if you're thinking of going go during the week and bring some music or reading material for the queues :)

UK - Airport Arrivals & Underground Revolt

Missy Arrives

It's September now and the weather is just great outstide today, London has sparkled up abit lately and Melissa has been looking very happy. Melissa arrived on Monday morning from Australia, what a journey that must have been for her.

In anticipation I booked a couple of nights at the Sheraton so

1. I didn't need to get up and brave the tube at 4:30am to pick her up at 6:00am

2. She could sleep after her plane flight

3. Mels father said we both needed a dirty weekend

Melissa didn't know we were going to the Sheraton and was very spoiled, it was very nice and the staff were great, we both veged and pigged out and had a great couple of days.

Urban Hiking

Tuesday morning we headed off from the Sheraton Heathrow to Whitechapel. The first mode of transport was the Heathrow Express, it takes you to Paddington station in 15 minutes for £15 which is a really good service but abit pricey. The London Underground/Tube was on the strike that day so it was our only option.

The Underground was closed and I was at a loss to how we actually purchased bus tickets, so we went off to the buses. There were heaps of people trying to get on the bus and we found where to buy tickets but we couldn't get on the buses anyway. Our faces would have been so squashed up against the glass if we got on one!

So we thought we'd try the taxi, after seeing about 300 people queueing up for Taxis that were going no-where we decided to walk and why wouldn't you? It was only about 14kms home :) So off we went on the Urban hike, but first we stopped at Star bucks for a caffeine buzz. Officially we started at 11am, the journey ahead seemed daunting.

There were heaps of sights and the day was perfect for it, though Missys shoes just couldn't handle her pace, so I swapped suitcases and she was off again. That's right we had two suitcases weighing in at 24kgs each, hence the urban hike term. The first stop was Hyde park, beaut place and I showed Missy the gardens and a few statues it was very enjoyable. Then we followed it up with Saint James Park, Buckingham Palace and Weistminter. Mel was smiles all round and was in awe of London.

After that we went over the Thames and had some McDonald's and enjoyed the sights with Big Ben, London eye and several other buildings spotted about the place. The final leg of the journey was some rather treacherous paving stones, they didn't always agree with our suit cases but we carried on all the same. The London Dungeon came into view and then the Tower bridge and Tower of London. Well that's when I knew we wern't all that far away.

So we carried on another 30 mins and we made it to my house in the mighty East London. Couldn't believe it, Mel was excited to be at my house and we both had a well deserved rest.

UK - Living it up Peak District

I'm having a great time in the UK at the moment, there has been alot going on recently which is all good!



Have moved out from Jenny and Joshs house to Stepheny green which is reasonably close to Brick lane, so yes I've had a few curries :) I'm sharing with a couple of Italian guys and a couple(English and Chinese), good mix of people. The place is good enough and the people are friendly.

Made a couple of visits to the British Museum but still have only seen half of it, Dwayne came and he loved it to, so much to see and squirrels on the way.



Last weekend I went to the Peak District(Elton, UK) with Jenny n Joshs mates, we did a 20km walk on Saturday, followed by a 50km bike ride on Sunday (ouch). We stayed in a couple of houses, there was about 11 of us, all different cultures and nationalities French, German, Swiss, Czech and a couple of Kiwi Saffers. All and all the weekend was really cool as you can tell from the photos.



On Saturday night we had a BBQ, disposable UK styles, we bought 3 bbqs for £5, they did the trick but once finished you definitely throw those puppies out. Josh had asked for a hand and all I could find was a fork, so I left him to the cooking.



Everyone chipped in and helped out with everything, it was a very good group made some cool friends.


On the job front, things are moving along, one of my references has been checked in NZ which is all good. So I'll probably be working this month, I've been enjoying the unemployed life this last month. Have tried to keep in a semi-work routine and have been programming a catalyst website http://www.catalystframework.org/ and I'm meeting up with the Perl Mongers(programming group) tomorrow at a pub for a social night.



Jamie

London - Hyde Park

From London - Hyde...

The painters and painted the room yesterday so I thought it was high time to go exploring the local park once again but this time I had my camera fully charged.

I walked around Hyde park for 8 hours solid yesterday and I've officially got a blister on my big toe! It all started off with me chilling out, actually I went for abit of a sleep because I was extra sleepy. The weather was nice and I just propped my bag up and went for a snooze with all the other sleepers.



Then I went off to the Marble Arch, which was actually outside the park but really right beside it. The Marble Arch was the main entrance to the Buckingham Palace but extensions means that it was moved here. However I was here because gallows used to be located close by which executed many people between 1571 to 1759, though it just turned out to be a busy intersection. Theres abit of a read on one my pictures



Then there were heaps of statues around and a few gardens which had some very nice flowers and squirrels were floating about to, very cool creatures.



I went down to the iron dukes house to, didn't bother going inside but it lived up to it's name as being very un-inviting. The queens gates were worth a look and finally I went to Kensington castle, which wasn't all that exciting either. It did have some very cool gardens around it though.



Princess Dianna had a fountain in the park to and there was the center piece of the park the Serpentine, which is a big lakish like water feature. I popped into the Serpentine gallery as well which was real small but worth a little gander.



Everything is going real well, have myself a place to stay for at least the next two months in White Chapel, a bank account that works and my CV in with a number of places, so now all I'm doing is enjoying myself. Hope you are extra super.

Best wishes,

Jamie

Life in London

A week in London is a week like no other, you arrive tired and weary. Have a little sleep, recover and then head out to the tube, where people are not entirely inviting. Then you try to find the malls in your area, there are none however there are heaps of pubs everywhere.

Eventually you'll end up walking about aimlessly looking for the right shop, eventually you might find some stuff around town. Tired dazed and confused you'll navigate your way home on the closest tube station. The amount of people here just blows ya sox off, you can just look outside and there are at least 5 people wandering by in rush hours if not more. Now I have this book 'The rough guide to London', its really handy.

London feels like a big ole ant farm, this past week has been like orientation and yes I've got to know a few places. Seen a couple of flats, spent my fair share of time on Gumtree (website for Aussies/NZs/Saffas) and Jobserve.

Then there's been some social stuff to, going out drinking in Covent Garden a very cool place. Dwayne showed me a good time with Dan, we're looking at getting a place together, pretty scary :) Dan is a great guy and Dwayne well you all know Dwayne.

Oh, oh, oh and we watched the kiwi's vs the Saffa's very cool we won. Next week we play the Aussies I think, should be good hopefully we win again, time shall tell.



Well that's about it from me for now, nothing to specific very rough. Gonna catch with a few x-work colleagues later on in the week very cool. All in all things are working out well and the next few weeks ahead should be very relaxing.

Thankfully Josh and Jenny(Leons sister and brother in law) have been putting up with me this week they are the greatest. Jenny just did a huge fruit salad for dinner, very nice.

Here's some pics from the Imperial War Museum. Spent about three hours there, wasn't a big place but it was very interesting, it had a great holocaust exhibition, very cool but abit gruesome.

Confusion reigns supreme

Today I worked out the tube system, the lobster card, the coloured lines and even the different line names and all said it is a very good system but if you don't understand it, you might end up finding yourself in the wrong place. Incidentally that hasn't happened to me yet :)

I sat through a 2 hour presentation to get a bank account and at the end of it my postal number was wrong, so I need to wait until Friday before my UK bank is opened, which is actually really quick.

On top of that an agent has already passed my details to one of their clients. What a busy day and I even have a UK phone number. Pop me an e-mail if you need it.

Still abit lagged but am having fun :-) Now to top up my new UK Vodafone.

Jamie

Jet Lagged In London

Made in to London this morning at around 6am, has been a huge day today with abit of sleep to boot. Mainly have just walked around been shown the city by a couple of friends.

Wow big city, big place will have to deal with it tomorrow off to Bed :)

Newcastle getaway

Newcastle And Bulahdelah

Visited Newcastle for the first time in the weekend and it was completely flooded.

The big ship was beached at one of the main beeches Noobys beach and it was threating to leak oil, luckily that didn't eventuate. There were heaps of people taking pictures and I was one of them.

Driving around was a little hazardous as cars were scattered all over the show and trees had fallen down everywhere. Tow truck drivers were moving cars off the road or onto the medium strip. Houses had water coming up through the carpet and 95000/50000 people were without power.

One young mother got her car stuck in the water while flooding and it carried her and her child down the river. Three young guys came to her rescue, one on a surfboard and two swimming. They managed to pull her and her baby out to safety.



What a shocker! Didn't do to much in the weekend but it sure was interesting seeing the effects of a flood. The power was off where I was staying and we just played cards and lit candles for the first night, until it came back on the next day. Then everything was back to normal.

Mind you it looks like Newcastle has alot of cleanup to do and have a new water feature. Stopped at Bulahdelah on the way back to Port Macquarie, it's a very small town with a lovely cafe Myallah.

Mums visit to Port Macquarie

Mums PMQ Trip

Mother came to Port Macquarie over Queens birthday weekend and what a weekend it was!

Allen and Mum arrived at my apartment in Port Macquarie, they had a wee bit of trouble getting here apparently. I received a text message from Mum advising that they were out the back. So out I went, they could have just pushed the buzzer but Mum told me NZ'ers didn't know about them... something I highly doubt. Anyway out I went to see them and low and behold they were nowhere to been seen, so I went out the front and I still couldn't see them. I figured they must have turned up at the wrong complex, so I texted back advising of the street address and building name. Mum replied with "we're at the front" I was a little distressed at this so out I popped, only to see Allen driving away in a rental car. I jumped up and down a little but to no avail they were happily driving away, eventually they turned up at the back of the apartment. All in all it was a little extra exercise for me and I'm sure you all know what was going on inside the car :)



They stayed for 3 days and I kinda moved to Mel's so they had the run of the house, double bed and all. I showed them the bats and boy ain't they cool, Mum got me a new zoom lens from Canon, so the bats look better in the photo's. Allen really loved the bats as well, however Mum made a mad dash through the bat zone. They piss and poo and smell a little bit as you walk through them, all good though. Fruit bats are rather interesting, they're referred to as flying foxes in Port Macquarie.



Later that day we went out for Lunch with Mel to the River Mart cafe, it was a great lunch and we followed it up with a cruise on the Port Venture. The Port Venture is always a great trip only 25 bucks each and you get to see Oyster farms and Dolphins and the local houses, I'm sure you've seen alot of my photo's up the river so I tried to keep it to a minimum.



That night Mel and Mum had a body shop party, it's something girls do at houses. I should have never left them alone! My mother told Mel she had to take two years off when she has babies amongst other things, I'm lucky the girl is still around, shocking :) I wonder how long I'm meant to take off? If I father a few babies.



So anyway it was a great success and we followed it up with the Pirates of the Caribbean: To Deaths End, that was really cool. The next day we went for a board walk around the rain forest, the guy taking the tour knew all about the rain forest and we learnt tons about rain forests which I've conveniently forgotten :) Also check out the bush Turkey those guys are crazy!



The following day we went to Laurieton, it was a great view from the top as it always is. We stopped off at lighthouse bay and checked out the Whales. At night we all went to the corner bar and had a fabulous dinner.

It was a huge weekend and eventually Mum and Allen drove back to Sydney and flew out to Auckland. Mum e-mailed me and said she was safe and sound, so she must be.

Love Jamie