After a pretty good flight on Easy Jet, we arrived in Cyprus and were collected from the airport by Julie. It is lovely when you meet people that you have been connected with for a while on-line and you feel like you know them. Iain and Julie have welcomed us into their home and we are quite relaxed here. We were invited to come a few days early which worked in really well with picking up a flight deal. We have met Bailey, Brandy, and Peep – our ‘woof’ friends 🐕 and then Tigger, Boisy, Marley and Grace – our ‘meow’ friends 🐈. Iain and Colin get on pretty well, both having the same sense of humour and both loving pie and chips [and a generous drink!]. Julie and I both enjoy a ‘Rose’ or three and together the four of us have had plenty of laughs.

Iain and Julie live in the village of Tala, Paphos which has a laxidasical and enchanting feel about it. They have wined and dined us, and we have been out to all hours of the morning!, as well many conversations around the fire place or with a meal [and a wine!]. Of course we are here to learn the ropes with our new menagerie. Bailey is a wee disabled dog who has ‘wheels’ for walks, otherwise just pulls herself around. She is the sweetest wee dog. Brandy is a pretty smart girl and seems to know where Baileys injury is and every night gives her a wee massage by licking ‘the’ spot. Peep is from next door but just loves hanging out with her furry neighbours, so she come for walks as well [actually she hardly goes home – the more the merrier!]

As part of this assignment we have a vehicle, as we need to transport the dogs for walks. We are free to use it locally, so have made the most so far of visiting Coral Beach [OMG the rubbish!!] and have done a trip to Polis. What we have seen of Cyprus [which has history dating back thousands of years] so far has been pretty laid back! The winding roads and crazy driving will take a bit of getting used to, but at least we are on the ‘right’ [left] side of the road.

We have visited the town of Polis [which is Greek and simply means ‘town’] on a beautiful day. It is a small village with ancient history. Like the ‘gods’ before us [think Aphrodite, Apollo, Zeus, Dionysus] we roamed the village and the beaches soaking up history that is had to even imagine.

Driving back to Tala, through the hills you see carob trees, orange groves, grapes and olive trees all adding to the lush green feel this end of the island has. As you drive up and over the hills you can see the alluring waters of the Mediterranean, sparkling in the distance. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean.

While we were on the beach there was a ‘modern’ armament on the beach which reminded you that there has been much unrest on the small island in years gone by [actually it is still under conflict with Turkey who illegally invaded the northern shores in 1974 – this part is not part of the EU!]. Anyway Colin thought that he would stand on it and waited for the tide to recede before he launched himself upon it, only to discover it was slippery and he ended up in the water getting his shoes and jeans wet!! Would have been fine if we had done this on our way back, but we visited the beach first! He squelched his way around the rest of our visit!! I [of course] had jandals on, so was able to have a much better go at it than him, although even in bare feet it was nearly impossible to climb 😂

We visited this funny little private ‘ethnographic’ museum which had an eclectic mix of treasures from years gone by. Items dating back to the 2nd and 3rd century, 17th century clothing, kitchen items, pottery items, a olive mill, tombs and ovens all ‘housed’ in a quirky building from the late 1800’s. In the ‘garden’ are original tombs dating back to the beginning of the 3rd century BC. There were coins from 4BC, pottery urns from the Hellenistic and Chalcolithic periods, wine jugs from 6BC [wishing now I had done history at school !!] and a beautiful ’empire era’ crystal mirror. There were so many other fascinating items, but all poorly displayed which made it difficult to view them.

This is the olive mill, with the press behind it.

We had a relaxed lunch and then headed to the small fishing village of Latchi/Lakki where we walked through the fishing village / marina. There were lots of small fishing vessels, some fancy private boats and 1 wreck! I thought it was past restoration but then you never know!

So that is week one [of three] done and dusted. We have had thunder and lightening storms, torrential rain, gorgeous sunny days and cold nights [need a fire]. The weather reminds us of home [Auckland], so we are feeling pretty relaxed here 🌞

“Life is not what you achieve … but how you live it”

Our flight from Ft Lauderdale to London was on Norweigan. It is the worst flight we have ever been on! I mean to say what plane in this day and age doesn’t have entertainment on a long-haul?!? The food was just awful, the seats were terrible and the service was pretty average [not at the level of our Air New Zealand!] We now know that Norweigan is a budget airline – I didn’t realise that when I booked!

The cream cheese added the flavour apparently!! I never ate it!! This was supposed to be breakfast. They would have been better with a yoghurt and fruit. You had to pay for hot drinks, even though we had ‘food’ as part of our ticket!!

After we landed we headed to Clapham Junction [where we met Glenn, who I used to work with]. We headed back to his and Francisca’s apartment on the River Thames. We spent an hour catching up with them and then we all headed out for breakfast … by now I was getting ‘hangry’ as I didn’t eat that rubbish [on the plane] and tired as I never slept, so had been on the go for a loooooooooong time!

Glenn and Francisca very kindly took us past our old flat in Wimbledon and to the pub that we used to work in 30+years ago. Our flat was exactly the same [from the outside] and the pub was sooooo different! The outside was the same but it was vastly different on the inside. Colin talked to the bar staff and explained that we used to work there 33 years ago, they were mildly amused but couldn’t really care less!! 😂 😂 Anyway we had a lovely dinner there and as we had a captured audience with G & F, we drove them nuts with our reminiscing [it is funny how you do this when you get older!!]

Our next day was a train trip to West Byfleet to meet a second Cousin of Dad’s. This had happened as mum had done the DNA thingee though Ancestory.com for Dad, as there were quite a few blanks in his history. Dad and his cousin Michael were connected through the DNA which is hugely fascinating. Michael picked us up at the train station and we went back to his place, meet his lovely wife Josephine and saw the incredible family tree that Michael has been working on over the past few years.

I just loved meeting them, and was fascinated to see Dad in him [Michael]! He and Dad truly have a similarity that was comforting. I can’t explain it, but the DNA ‘does not lie’. I am so looking forward to visiting Ireland and being able to explore a few more ‘blanks’ in Dad’s family tree, and being able to visit where he was born/lived. Michael and Josephine welcomed us into their home and I honestly felt like family – actually we are! 💖

We spent two days ‘wombling’ around London and I was surprised at just how quickly we found our way around again. There are many new buildings in London, and it is looking like the ‘old and the new’ in some places but I just loved being there again. Of course we visited Buckingham Palace and walked along The Mall, strolled beside the river Thames and generally just enjoyed revisiting some of the wonderful places we had visited ‘last century’.

The buildings on Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, Carnaby Street, Piccadilly Circus all are the same [well mostly!] – beautiful big buildings with incredible architecture, and of course all with Christmas lights making it all magical. It was exactly 33 years since we arrived in London and it was wonderful to be back again. We did feel a little under-whelmed with Piccadilly Circus as it sure isn’t as spectacular as it was last time we visited [and Eros is all boarded up], and there are no pigeons in Trafalgar Square!!

We walked up through Regent Street, along Oxford, through Marble Arch to Hyde Park, through Hyde Park and past the Princess Diana memorial fountain. You can’t help but feel just a tiny bit sad that such a beautiful young woman was taken too soon. People still take flowers and leave them for her at this memorial. It must be some sort of comfort to her two boys, that she was truly loved by the world, although I am sure that they would rather just have their mum 😔

We also visited the Tate museum and saw the giant leopard slugs – what a fantastic installation! The white fairy lights represent the ‘slime’ which of course looks just amazing at night [when naturally these slugs are active]. Then there are blue lights which are the sign they are ready for mating! This is one of the most captivating and fun installations I have seen for a while, and I wish I had thought of it!! But I am neither an artist nor a ‘bug’ person!!

So it was a flying visit to London, four days came and went in a blink, although my feet will tell you it was enough! We transferred out to a lovely lodge by Gatwick airport [as we had a 5am check-in!!], had a pub dinner and then hardly slept as we didn’t want to sleep in. We are super excited about our next ‘assignment’ in Cyprus and we will share it with you just as soon as we can.

“memories behind us … adventures ahead of us”

The last few days saw us in South Carolina, Georgia [drove right on thru!] and back to Florida.

Before we left North Charleston we went to the Fire Museum. It was only a small museum, but it had the most beautifully restored ‘fire engines’ and we really enjoyed spending an hour or so here on a very wet and rainy day. The history of those trucks and what they used in years-gone-by was quite fascinating. Actually the day started out with a violent thunder storm that had all our fury friends freaking out! We only popped out to do this for a short time, as they had been so traumatised we didn’t like to leave them long!!

Wouldn’t you want to live in ‘Peach Tree Heights’ – it sounds very romantic!

So with only one day left in Charleston my husband had a romantic moment and suggested that we do a horse and carriage ride. We found a deal on-line and headed back into town. After a walk around some streets we hadn’t been on and another visit to the Theatre (best loo’s in town!) we hopped on our carriage for a romantic trip around town with 9 other people 😂. Actually 7 of them were Aussies who were in the area for a fire conference. We told them about the fire museum and they hadn’t heard about it!! Really!!

While we were waiting for our carriage ride we decided to get coffee and it was recommend to go to ‘Bitty and Beaus’. This place is staffed by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, so you have to have a bit of patience. We were served expertly by our two girls. They were very serious about their jobs and took such a lot of care to make sure they got it right! Such an awesome place, and I urge you to find a Bitty and Beaus franchise and support them.

So we eventually loaded for our ‘romantic tour’ [with 9 others] The young guy who took us around was funny and informative. We learnt all sorts of things from him. We passed through a few streets we hadn’t been on, learnt about how low Charleston sits [highest point above high tide is 144 inches] and how when it floods they just get on with it!

As our pet/house sit came to an end we tidied up, walked our furry friends and beat a hasty retreat outa there. We weren’t to sad to be leaving here!! After a couple of days driving we are now in Boynton Beach. We have had great weather, so the drive down was pretty good. Tomorrow we head to Fort Lauderdale for our flight to London.

So it is six months in on this trip of lifetime and just like that our USA/Canada trip has come to an end … see you in London!

“explore…dream…discover”

After just over a week in North Charleston, SC we are on our way to Fort Lauderdale for our flight to London. This house sit has been particularly challenging with 3 x dogs + 1 x cat that are all rescue animals. While we are pretty pet friendly people we have struggled with this crew and their different levels of anxiety. They ‘own’ the house and have been the hardest work so far, but hey you gotta take the good with the bad … ?! This little guy wouldn’t come for a walk with us, and most days had to be carried to his bed at night. He was scared of life and us.

I know one thing is for certain, they have seen more of ‘their neighbourhood’ in the last week than they ever have. I was mindful that their wee paws weren’t used to a walk, but took them twice a day for short walks and persevered with them being scared of the cars, the [school] buses, the kids and just about everything. Fortunately, we have been staying in a reasonably quiet area!!

The USS Yorktown is part of the naval museum at Patriots Point. We spent the afternoon here and ran out of time! And we only saw the 1/3 of the ship, that is open to the public! Actually that is not quite true, we chatted to one of the volunteers on board who had visited NZ and was planning on coming back. His wife [and him] were so interested with what we were doing and thought were really ‘brave’ to up and leave to explore. They just could not get their heads around this type of trip. The grilled us about the places we had been [many of which they have never been!] and decided that they might like to visit Drumheller, Alberta after we said what a fabulous time we had while staying there.

So not only are we up-selling New Zealand, we are up-selling USA / Canada and not to forget WordPress, Trip Advisor and Mind My House! They are all getting a lot of exposure and I now have followers on this blog that I have never even met, who seem to like what I am doing!

The actual aircraft carrier was such a cool ship, and we ventured right down in the engine room, kitchens, the mess halls, laundries, post office, medical and of course the ‘lodgings’. It had 3,500 crew on this ship … bit like a cruise liner but not as posh!! The volunteer who we had met, very kindly took us behind the ‘public areas’ and we got to explore in the bow and in other areas the public wasn’t allowed. In the front section of the ship they do camps for kids, scouts and that sort of thing. What a exciting experience for the kids. We crawled inside the space shuttle simulation which was a bit of fun … not much room in them!

We went into downtown Charleston several times and just walked and walked. It is such a beautiful place. I loved all the beautiful buildings, and just couldn’t wait to go around another corner to see which garden I could peak in. It is quite a romantic place [not that Colin noticed!!] and I just loved everything here.

I just think to say that you live at 130 1/2 Queen Street is so cute, there was 1/2 and 3/4 as well. It turns our those ‘fractions’ houses may well have been, the kitchens or the quarters for the hired help. Anyway the real estate in this part of town was impressive and with eye-watering price tags!!

Colonial Lake is again a ‘posh’ part of town and the house were absolutely delightful. When we arrived they were putting out 1,000 of those tea light bags for the big Christmas reveal, as well as lighting a big tree in the middle. If we didn’t have three anxious dogs, we may have ventured in with them for the lighting!!

The old jail was on our walking tour as well and I can see why the ghost tours are so popular there. It is creepy in daylight. It has been purchased and sold a few times, but at the moment it is at the ‘local council / heritage’ hearings – it could very well fall down before they all agree on anything.

Colin was keen for some clever photography here but I am sure if you try hard, you can imagine what he was thinking!!! We have seen a lot of these public water features around the place and they double as place for kids [and big kids] to play in the warmer temperatures. Seattle has a fantastic one and Vancouver’s was pretty impressive as well.

Waterfront Park is just such a beautiful park and this pineapple fountain is so much more magnificent than this picture accurately shows. The water flowing through it is hypnotising. Pineapples were a ‘luxury’ item in days gone by … lots of houses have pineapple sculptures on their gates but it was apparently ‘real pineapples’ displayed in your front windows to say ‘hey my husband is home’ [meant that the posh people knew you had exotic fruit and that your ‘lover’ better stay away!!!???!!!]

The rocks in these streets are made from ‘ships ballast’. They would fill those ships up with it from wherever they were travelling from and then off-load it in ports so they could fill with cargo. These streets are ‘ankle biters’ …. can’t image what a horse and carriage ride would be like, or stropping up and down these streets in ‘ya’ finery!!

Notice that the high tide is ‘higher’ than street level … Charleston is fearing global warming!! It is only 144 inches above sea level at its highest point !! This sea wall walk is just so lovely and walking along here gladdens your heart, especially when you have such perfect weather. ❣

I have a few more things to share, so will do a quick update before we fly to London!

“every day can be an adventure…”

So we had a lovely few days in Hilton Head Island [fun fact: the island is shaped like a shoe!], South Carolina. It is a beach resort town that is a bit like Pauanui [in NZ for those not from NZ!] on steroids!! It had a laid back feel, and was a great place to get some ‘R n R’ – all this travelling is a bit exhausting sometimes, and we are not getting any younger 😂 There were a lot of holiday homes, tennis courts, beautiful golf courses and a magnificent white sandy ocean beach. It is flat as a pancake and everyone rides their bikes through the pines and palms, and even along the beach as the silica sand is ‘as hard as’ when it is wet. We could see and hear the sea from our lovely apartment 🏝

So our ‘neighbours’ were in town for a thanksgiving dinner with family who lived in Seaport, which is the gated community part that you pay the privilege of entering on the island!! So we were lucky enough to get our names put on the gate!! It is even grander that the main part of the island with elegant homes and even more impressive golf courses! This is also where you go for sea based tours and to visit the lighthouse.

Not that you can tell from this picture, but it was really busy the day we went, so we didn’t climb up. It is only really small lighthouse [114 stairs] but it is significant as it has a great camera angle for the 18th hole on the golf course!! It is located in Harbourtown, Sea Pines, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina!! We had a meander around the village, watched the pelicans and checked out all the fancy boats.

After leaving our ‘island paradise’ we headed for North Charleston in South Carolina. On the way we stopped in a delightful seaside town called ‘Beaufort’. We walked around the waterfront which has the most beautiful streets lined with the live-oak trees with dangling Spanish Moss and houses that are so old they shouldn’t be standing! Not sure how come, with everything we know about house building, that we build rubbish that hardly lasts and these ‘ancient’ houses are still standing, albeit some with the ravishes of time. Some of the properties here were just stunning.

So we arrived at our next ‘assignment’ on Monday afternoon and met our new furry friends. We have Laurel [Collie], Pip [Border Collie], Cooper [Beagle X] and Bear the cat. They are all rescue animals, so we have different levels of anxiety to deal with. We are staying in suburban North Charleston. It is about a 30 minute drive into town, so not too bad.

On our first day we decided to visit Magnolia Plantation. It was a freezing day, but the sun was poking its head out … just! This plantation was founded in 1676 and became a ‘public garden’ in the late 1870’s making it America’s oldest garden and tourist site. I had read a bit about is history and decided that we should visit. We were underwhelmed! Not to say there isn’t a lot of history here, but the gardens themselves left us wondering why they are meant to be so special … I wonder if we would have found it more ‘spectacular’ if we had visited in spring/summer. This bridge is one of the most photographed place as everyone wants their wedding photos here.

The next day we went into Charleston, which used to called Charles Town but somewhere along the way it became Charleston. It is such a elegant town with houses built circa late 1700’s, cobbled streets and a beautiful waterfront. We spent 4 hours walking around here and just ooooohing and aaaahhhhing at all the architecture.

While walking along the waterfront, we found a little lighthouse at the Coast Guards gate … couldn’t climb this one! There was actually two – one either side of the gate … one with a red light and one with a green light.

This is America’s oldest liquor store, located in downtown and has been trading since 1686 … I hope they know how to do stock rotations – who knows what might be hidden at the back 😂. We didn’t buy anything here as it was pretty pricey!

As we were stood on a street corner waiting to take a photo of the beautiful church (below) a gentleman came along and asked if we needed any help. After chatting to him for a few minutes he told us he was the director of the Historic Dock Street Theatre [which was were we standing] and offered to take us on a history tour. He gave us a brief overview of its history [first show 1736], took us through the building and lucky for us into the theatre where they were working on the stage for opening night of the The Christmas Carol. What a cool experience – of course I asked all the appropriate questions and then had to fess up that I was a Front of House Manager in a previous life!!

Charleston is famous for a lot of things – one of them being all the churches and there are dozens of them with amazing steeples and spiers. They call Charleston the ‘holy city’ as there is more churches capita than anywhere else!! I have taken photos of a few of them as they were such gorgeous buildings, the architecture, the stained glass windows and of course when all the bells chime across the city it sounds wonderful. I have put a few pictures below for your enjoyment.

That nearly brings you up-to-date, although we do have a few more days here so I am sure I will have some other things to share from Charleston.

“Be brave, take risks…the experience is worth it”

The weather in Florida is quite changeable and almost feels like home! It can be really warm and humid, then the wind kicks up and it’s chilly. Overnight it has been down to 6 degrees. We have had tropical storms, tornado warnings and quite a bit of rain! So overall – quite similar to Auckland weather!!

St Augustine was the next place to visit and we had such a wonderful time there, had to stay another day! This town is full of the most incredible history and although it was a bit chilly, we didn’t have any rain.

We visited the Fountain of Youth and drank the ‘spring water’ and now it’s just a matter of time to see if we have eternal youth! The Fountain of Youth park is lovely but the actual fountain was a bit under-whelming. We wouldn’t visit this place again, as it really is just a bit too touristy! St Augustine has great history, but you don’t need to visit here to enjoy it.

We decided to visit the Ligtner museum which is housed in the old Flagler Hotel [The Alcazar]. The building is incredible and the collection ‘of antiquities’ is fascinating. The hotel must have been staggering in its heydey, with its fancy indoor pool, spa, ballrooms and this gorgeous courtyard. We really enjoyed a couple of hours here soaking up the history.

These amazing pieces of art are actually coloured sand placed ‘carefully’ in the jars. They were made in the late 1800’s by a deaf man called Andrew Clemons. To have the patience to create this is amazing and it is said that no-one has made anything close to his mastery since!

The museum was full of interesting sculptures, paintings, glass and general curio’s the Mr Lightner had collected as a hobby. This picture [circa 1660 by a Florentine artist] made you take a second look 👀 It is said that ‘Cimon was an old man when imprisoned [in 468 B.C.] and while waiting to die he had visits from his daughter who had recently given birth. She was able to secretly nurse him and as he seemingly continued to live without food, his captors became convinced he was favoured by God and saw fit to release him.’ It is a priceless painting!

St Augustine is world famous for its Christmas lights and they just happened to have the official ‘lighting’ while we there. The whole town is transformed into a Christmas wonderland.

I love they way they do Christmas here – not only am I going to be doing Halloween, I will have to step up my Christmas efforts. We didn’t put lights on the house for the past few years, but rest assured that will change when we get home Christmas 🎄

As we sat and enjoyed a late lunch [in an Irish bar], we watched as the horse and carriages started arriving for the evening light tours. There were ‘styles’ for every type of clientele. The traffic was beyond belief! Think Franklin Road on steroids – for the lights, the traffic and the hotel prices – they tripled!!

So we headed for an AirBnB just outside of Jacksonville. It wasn’t one of the better ones we have stayed at and we were glad to leave!! They had quite good reviews [I didn’t leave any feedback, because I had nothing good to say!!] but they sure didn’t live up to the reviews! From their absolutely mad Staffy dog that jumped all over you and the furniture, to the host who never came out of her room and the house that was generally dirty – my views didn’t match the online reviews!!! If you’ve got nothing nice to say … say nothing at all?!

Jacksonville was such a sad town. We asked our hosts what they recommended and they said there was nothing to do!! We visited the visitor info centre and she suggested the Catty Shack [big cat refuge centre] which we already knew was closed that day, the sky train [which doesn’t operate in the weekends] and going to a football game or shopping! We hadn’t really found anything interesting to do online either.

We did however make the effort to visit the Kingsley Plantation [which was about 1hr 15mins from our accommodation]. Our hosts had never visited it and couldn’t understand why we would?! Mr Kingsley married one of the slaves he bought for his plantation and together they ran a very successful cotton plantation and had reasonable conditions for their slaves! Their house wasn’t grand, but their stories were fascinating. The whole area here in the south is just full of plantations, slave stories, fighting of the Spanish, the British, the Confederates, Battle of this, Battle of that … wars, skirmish’s, all for the grand gain of land and huge loss of lives!! It makes for an interesting place to visit.

Slave house remains.

The Kingsley Plantation house – quite a modest one.

While we were in Savannah we visited the monument to slaves freed. The poem inscription starts with “we were stolen, bought and sold together …………….. [and ends] today we stand together with faith and even some joy”. Such a lot of horrendous history! What a juxtaposition of the wonderful houses and intriguing history that Savannah has. We stayed an extra day here, as it was just such a beautiful city to walk around and explore. The live-oaks draped in Spanish Moss create the most beautiful canopied streets.

Of course we found another Monument to the Irish☘️. It did have a little fence around it but it wasn’t locked!! We also found monuments to Colonels, Generals, Volunteers, Firefighters, Girl Guides, Jewish, Marines, all these gorgeous squares [24] dotted around the city and then the fabulous Forsyth Park.

Every park has a monument or something of note – even the gazebo gifted to the city by Burt Reynolds [after he finishing filming the movie ‘Gator’] or the chair sat on by Forrest Gump in the movie! [although the actual chair is in the museum]

Savannah is just delightful and we walked and walked here [although we did do the trolley tour first]. We saw all the amazing squares, more churches than you could believe a small town has, all the monuments, the house where Girl Guides founder [Juliette Low] was born, the place where General Sherman stayed while fighting his battles and so many absolutely beautiful houses. I love all the wonderful front doors, gates and gardens, and the amazing metal work that is around town [the more you had the richer you were!]. Savannah was such a surprising city, and I would happily visit again.

The beautiful fountain in Forsyth Park.

The absolutely gorgeous St Johns church – it is truly one of the most beautiful churches I have been in for a very long time! St Paul’s in London was pretty special, but that was in 1986!

So we drove up through Florida into Georgia and have arrived in South Carolina. We are ‘resting’ for a few days before our next ‘assignment’ begins.

Hope this finds you all well – take care.

Shona and Colin

“travelling sometimes leaves you speechless, but then it turns you into a great storyteller” 🌎

While visiting Daytona Beach we decided to visit the Racetrack as tours are available when there are no events on. The tour takes you out onto the track, the opportunity to stand on the start / finish line, visit the media centre, victory lane and a chance to be in the grandstands. The track on corners 1-4, is banked at 31 degrees and is much steeper than you would think. It was great to stand on the start / finish line, and I am sure when the Daytona 500 is on next, I shall have a bit more interest in it!

At the finish they leave you in the Motorsport Hall of fame, where we found our very own Scott Dixon, amongst many other famous drivers. The speedway can seat 100,000 and can accomodate a further 100,000 in and around the venue. It is just huge and if you are sitting in the back row it is 16 stories high!! They have their own hospital fully equipped with trauma doctors and nurses, in case of any accidents. All in all, it is a pretty impressive venue.

From there, we headed on down to see the Ponce De Leon Lighthouse. This lighthouse is 175m tall with 203 steps to the top. It is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and as much as I am not enjoying heights anymore [I am not sure why this has happened?!?] I made myself go to the top.

As you get higher and higher, and it gets smaller and smaller – your head just goes around and around. I was out of breathe from the climb [17 stories] and was just about hyperventilating from fear as I walked out onto the little balcony. I made myself inch around the entire deck, before the gruelling task of getting back down the stairs again! My legs were like jelly, and as much as I loved being back on terra-firma, I am glad I did it and can’t wait for the next one!!

Our next destination was St Augustine – it is famous for being famous! And it is famous for so many things – I will list a few:

• oldest city in US founded in 1565
• oldest lighthouse
• oldest house
• oldest school
• oldest masonry structure
• oldest jail
• oldest store

You get the picture – there are museums at all of those sites and a whole pile more! So if this is the oldest town, it sorta makes sense that everything here will be oldest … just saying !!

We decided to get the hop on/off trolley here as the parking is $15 per day and the trolley is only $25 [and we booked a motel just out of town!]. We wheeled and dealed and ended up with a three day pass 👍.

We have visited the oldest jail, oldest store, oldest drinking fountain, oldest house and walked up the oldest street.

The jail tour was actually really interesting … we discovered Mr Flagler provided the funds for the jail, as he didn’t like its ‘current’ location. He also stipulated that he wanted a nice building as he didn’t want the jail, to look like a jail and he didn’t want it in town. So they built this gorgeous building which had horrific conditions inside!! The prisoners even had to build their own gallows to be hung from.

At the oldest store the showed us the storage room which was boarded up for the war [as the shop was to be used for army supplies] and then forgotten about! So the items on display are all new, but old.

We walked down the oldest street and saw the oldest house, and had lunch at the oldest hotel in town. We also have been to the museum and learnt more about Mr Flagler! We have also visited the gorgeous College which is named after … you guessed it – Mr Flagler!

There are lovely cobbled and tree-lined streets. There are also hundreds and hundreds of kids in town as when the tourist season officially closes, it becomes school season!

Next on our ‘oldest’ to-do list was Castillo de San Marcos which is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States.

We spent ages here checking out the history and seeing the cannon display. The kids all thought that was pretty good, but not good enough to see twice!! They had the option of a second ‘fire’ or go shopping – they overwhelmingly chose shopping?!?!

So I started [well nearly] this up a lighthouse and I am going to end it up another lighthouse. I just love them, even though it beyond gives me heart failure at the top. The St Augustine lighthouse is not quite as tall as the Ponce de Leon (165ft) but has 10 more steps. I climbed this twice, as it was quite late when we were ready to leave the park and the sun was starting to set, so I headed back on up by myself [Colin wasn’t doing it twice!!]

So there you have it, our adventures as up-to-date as they can be.

Well it is momentarily, but then the rain sets in 😲

After leaving the ship, we picked up a rental car and headed north as far as West Palm Beach, driving up the A1A scenic route. Florida is just so amazing with all it palm trees, waterways and bridges.

They are some heavenly holiday homes, marbled mansions, captivating cottages, charming condominiums, amazing apartments and glamorous gated communities (I think they are ‘gated’ to keep our the ‘gators’!!🐊) Sometimes there is only a small strip of land with a house on each side and a road up the middle. Sometimes there are groups of towering apartments lining the white sandy beaches, some with their storm shutters across [I wonder if they are not home?], and some houses that originally had great views have now created roof balconies to claim the views back.

It is warm and there are perfect people getting about half dressed (and some not so perfect people who should be dressed!) soaking up the sun, on beautiful beaches with palm trees swaying in the breeze. They are people walking, biking, jet-skiing, kayaking, fishing, golfing or just out on their boats. I can understand why people retire here as it is flat, warm and there are no state taxes. There are also ‘Senior Living Solutions’?!?! What?!? Do Seniors need a solution?!? I much prefer ‘Lifestyle Village’ or ‘Retirement Village’ [or Princess Cruises 😂].

So we decided to visit Flagler Museum [Whitehall home built in 1902 and “is one of the greatest Gilded Age Mansions in the world”] which was originally a wedding gift for his third wife [as a winter holiday home – I mean really 75 rooms and it is a holiday home for the winter!]. After he died, and she died it became a fancy hotel – where they added 10 stories to the original building. When that [hotel business] went belly-up Mr Flagler’s grand-daughter [who was rich, from his fames] bought the house back, set up a trust and set to removing the 10 extra stories returning it to its original [mostly] design.

It is an incredible building and just so beautiful. From the music room, to the lake room, to the grand hall and the ballroom it is WOW around every corner. Our guide was exceptional with his history and the knowledge he shared of Mr Flagler and the family was phenomenal. Mr Flagler was rich [actually super rich] and he grew his wealth by building a railroad in Florida and was the found of Standard Oil, with Mr Rockefeller, and also hotels – he was instrumental in making Florida the mega tourist destination and liveable state that it is now. He is one of the original industrialist and became a business ‘titan’. [Ok, have to confess that some of these notes are burgled from the brochure, as I just couldn’t remember everything!]

He was very philanthropic and has many institutions and foundations that are all over USA, but a lot in Florida, as his billions earned him [and continue to earn his family] significant returns. As I write this we are staying close to Flagler Beach, and we hope to visit the Flagler School in St Augustine. We have driven on Flagler Drive, there is a Flagler hospital, island …. you get the picture!

We also wandered around the grounds and went through the Flagler Kenyan Pavillon where his private Railcar was housed. This building is also grand and has amazing views out over the water. There is also a cocoanut grove that is the only remaining grove in the area.

So many other things we learnt about here, from the lace, to the music, to the art, to the painted ceilings, to the electric lighting, to the grand parties [Mrs Flagler (the 3rd) was a Grand Dame!] and the gilded (aluminium, but looks like Gold?!) rooms. So, many hours later and we are saturated with the Flagler history and it was wonderful.

As we were heading up the coast we found a local car club, so we called in to check it out. Wasn’t really a whole lot happening but we did see some snakes!! We wandered around and checked out the few cars that were there and chatted with the locals.

We carried on up the coast to St Lucie where we spent the night. The next morning we headed to the Navy UDT (underwater destruction team) – SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) museum. The US takes their national safety seriously and it was fascinating to see all the things that the SEALS are involved in. It was Veterans Day weekend, so was pretty busy with veterans and parades around the towns.

Everything I know about SEALS is from the movies!! But after being in the museum I have a better understanding what they do. Those men are machines and absolutely dedicated to the fellow man, and our general safety. Legends – no wonder they garner such huge respect.

Still heading up the coast we decided to stay a few days at Flagler Beach … who would have guessed!

I really wanted to go to the Bulow Sugar Plantation Ruins, as that history here in the south is everywhere. Just look at this incredible drive into to property. The canopied tree line was just so awesome. [Actually in this area there are lots of roads like this and we have tried to drive on them where we can / as we find them. They are so beautiful, and give you this wonderful feeling of being on holiday!]

So the sugar plantation [they also grew cotton] was built in the 1820’s and was one of the biggest in the area with 200 slaves. The ruin is of the sugar mill and it is much bigger than you think, and it now preserved by the National Parks. Through the ‘interpretive’ boards it tells you about this rise and fall of the sugar plantations, the Seminole wars [need to learn more about these] and how in the 1830’s the place was attached and set on fire, leaving what you see today, still standing 150 years after its demise.

This is me practising my camouflage technique, that I learnt at the Navy Seals Museum 😂

Just loved the mushrooms and the trees covered in epiphytes … so do the snakes!! The hanging ‘moss’ is not moss … it is an epiphyte as well. It is called Spanish Moss and it is in the same family as pineapples. It is one of the things that make the canopied tree’ roads so beautiful.

After our walk in at the ruins, the rain set in and we had a very warm tropical storm blow through. We headed back to the accommodation for a bit more planning and a coffee, and when it had passed we headed to Flagler Beach Pier. This pier has been built several times as the sea is pretty rough here [as we had seen when we stopped earlier]. We walked out to the end and felt the full force of these waves crashing into the pier and it movement! Colin tried to convince me it was fine, but having just read that it has been replaced several times – I wasn’t so convinced!!

Apart from us, there was only two boys out there fishing. Colin at one stage thought he saw a seal and this boy (probably about 14) looked at him like he was a peanut butter nutter and then said “we don’t have seals in Florida!” – I can just imagine he went home and said … “there was this ‘old’ dude on the pier today and he thought he saw a seal …. should have gone to SpecSavers!”. 😂

Actually Colin googled it and you can find the odd seal in Florida, so we will just have to believe him!! Now I was there and I think it was just the birds diving in and out of the ocean. So we have agreed to disagree, can’t be arguing about that when I don’t have my own car to take myself out shopping!!!!

See you soon ……..

Our next port of call was Norfolk, Virginia (goodness it has warmed up – 18 degrees) – to be honest I did’t know much about this area but when our ‘cruise guide’ arrived for the area we discovered that Norfolk is one of the oldest cities and again has endless history and battlegrounds. It is also the home to the biggest US Navy base / NATO headquarters and the worlds largest concentrations of warships, occupying 4 of the 7 miles of coastline.

Now we had planned to do the walking tour again, but when we berthed right next to the Nauticus Museum and the USS Wisconsin (one of the biggest battle ships built) we went right on in and bought the combo tour which included the Naval Base tour (by boat). The museum was full of port/naval history and after three really interesting hours here, including climbing around the Wisconsin, we dumped most of our belongings back on the ship (and grabbed a quick lunch).

Our tour through the port area and along to naval bases took two hours. There were 45 ships [including three submarines] currently in ‘port’ for either repairs, upgrades or transformations. Quite a lot of naval history and for the Veterans on board our cruise it was their perfect day out. Now a fun fact [just to prove I was listening!] we also got to see the aircraft carrier [USS Abraham Lincoln] used for Top Gun … it is [and Tom Cruise] in port as they are currently filming Top Gun II. I so hope the second movie is as fabulous as the first. And second fun fact is that it can travel at 45 knots if needed, so they can get enough wind speed to launch to jets!!

One missile equals the weight of one VW 😮

There was a small group of kids on a YMCA school camp while we were in the Museum, and the ‘counsellor’ spent her whole time telling the kids to be polite, keep quiet, no yelling, ‘are you listening to me’ etc, etc. She almost made more noise than the kids (approx 10yrs), although to be fair they did need a bit of structure!! It was more that all you could hear was her saying ‘don’t do this and don’t do that …. she needed to find another way! A couple of boys asked me to untangle something they were doing, and horrors they spoke to strangers!! Jason (not that he is reading this!) I feel that you would have been an amazing Camp Counsellor – maybe causing as much mayhem as the kids!!

As we returned to the ship, I confessed to the Police Officers that I didn’t have my passport on me. After nearly being arrested, we made great friends with the Lieutenant. We hope to visit him in North Carolina and have him visit us in New Zealand when he retires [in twenty weeks – not that he was counting!]. Norfolk Police have been the friendliest so far in America. We are now Facebook friends. I am gathering wonderful people on FB.

We had intended when we left home to spend some more time in this area [and had looked to house-sit over this side, but couldn’t get dates to work], but as the weather has turned, we decided to visit again in the future. You really need to be rugged up for the winter weather here, and we are just not equipped for the winter. You know if I was at home, I would have several pairs of shoes [well maybe a few more than that!!] to choose from if one pair got wet, but travelling like this I don’t. So the area referred to as ‘New England’ will just have to stay on my bucket list until next time!!

We do like this cruising business [a couple on board got a ‘certificate’ [really!] acknowledging 1,500 sea days!] – waking up in a new port every day definitely beats driving for hours, and I do like being able to unpack [and get used to a bed]. I tell you – you can’t complain though that it wasn’t enough time [in a city] when you booked yourself on a cruise. If you want to spend a lot of time in a city – don’t cruise – quite simple really!! And as for the weather – you can’t control that [and surprisingly for some people, neither can the cruise company!], so you just have to accept that the sun doesn’t always shine!

I have to say that on this cruise we do feel a bit like we are visiting a Ryman Village, not that that is a bad thing, just that it is noticeable [Mum/Dad, Auntie Kate, Patricia/Colin and Brian/Angela – I love you all xxxxxxxx]. We are certainly among the youngest on this ship and by a good few years. Princess are known for their more refined guests, but we hadn’t noticed this so much going up to Alaska. We actually didn’t pick the ship, more the destination (and it was a bargain!). With the American $$$ giving us such poor value against the NZ $$$, this relocation cruise was by far the cheapest way for us to travel.

I had a vision of a concert series at the Aotea Centre where they had Les and Sonia Andrews presenting a lunchtime concert [some of you gorgeous Front of House people will remember these!]. We had large number of older guests (well actually they all were!) turn up for these shows with walkers and sticks, and I remember thinking at the time that it looked a bit like ‘war of the worlds’ with all those walkers and sticks crabbing across the foyer …. I was reminded of that here on board, except there are are few more ‘mobility assist scooters!!!!! No offence intended, promise xxx. I know it is a bit like ‘welcome to our future’ and rest assured, I am making mental notes of how not to behave!!

I have read a few great books, but by far the two most moving and have been ‘The Orphan’s Tale’ by Pam Jenoff (she wrote The Kommant’s Girl and The Diplomat’s Wife), and ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris (from NZ). Both these books are based on true accounts from WWII – their survival, their shared fear [and religion] the unimaginable horrors and ultimately love, combined with hope, make both these books compelling reads.

We watched ‘Finding Your Feet’ again, because it is just such a great film, and watched ‘Mama Mia, here we go again’ – it has got to be up there with the worst movie I have seen (and I loved the first one – not so much Pierce Bronsons singing though [thankfully, he didn’t sing in this one!]). The worst ever for me was La La Land!! We also watched ‘A Quiet Place’ – not sure if anyone has seen this but the suspense of this horror had me holding my breath. Emily Blunt was amazing! We watched this lying on the deck under the stars and I did wake up at night and think about this film, but reassured myself that we were safe @sea!!! And we did trivia [best score 16/20!], were entertained by some great shows, comedians and overall had a fabulous time meeting new people and seeing new things [and eating way toooooo much].

There was an on-board ‘navigation @sea’ seminar that we went to where you really get just how incredible these big ships are – from the way they plan each port arrival / departure, to their unparalleled safety – it is pretty amazing. He told us so many ‘fun facts’ [about fuel and tonnage?!!?!!?!] that went straight over my head – but I did remember that they have enough lifeboats on board for an extra 1,000 persons – just in case! Oh and also they have a fancy pancy stabilisation thingee so we don’t rock and roll tooooo much! It has been working had on this trip to counter 80% of the movement [not that it bothers us].

Roberto from Italy made the most perfect cup of tea on Day 12 of our cruise – Sharon this would be the first cup of tea on this cruise that I felt like sharing with you [well one I didn’t make!]! You know my pain, when the milk is overloaded – so glad I converted you tooooo!

Well we started out freezing in Quebec City and are now warm in Fort Lauderdale. We have gone from -6 in the Rockies/Alberta/Quebec City to 20+ down here in Florida. As we leave the cruise behind [and new friends] we head away on our two week road trip up through Florida and Georgia, to South Carolina where our next ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ assignment awaits [after a wee road trip!].

I will be sure to keep you up-to-date of our adventures.

One thing that I have learnt along the way [actually everywhere we have been!] is that the Irish have roots in every city. 🍀Their hardworking ethos and contribution to local communities has been a huge feature [especially the pubs!] – there have been Irish monuments everywhere we have been, as tributes. I am embracing my Irish heritage on this trip and am looking forward to getting to Ireland to explore my ancestory. I also saw [in Boston I think] a plaque that said … “thank goodness the Irish discovered Guinness or they may have taken over the world”. 💚

I also discovered that halloween is actually an Irish thing!!!!!!!! Who knew!! Certainly not me!! Here is me [with an Irish father] firmly not partaking in halloween as I as I believed it was an American tradition, that I just didn’t need to be part of it (I am not quite sure how I came to that conclusion?!?).

You can be rest assured, that I shall be taking up this ‘Irish Tradition’ upon my return and I will embellish our house with halloween things and encourage the kids to knock on the door!! I will make halloween cookies, have lollies and I will not pretend that I am not home any more.

Now I know that our boys are not reading my ramblings [thank god!] or I may have to organise counselling for them both for not ever letting them partake in halloween in the past. I am still not sure about kids who are generally obnoxious and wouldn’t say ‘boo’ to you in the average day, but who are happy to knock on the door and ‘ask’ for lollies on 31st October every year, but in the spirit of not being a grinch, I feel that I shall embrace my Irish Heritage … maybe!!

Love these Boston buildings.

Our next port of call was meant to be Bar Harbor [in USA]. We had a 7.30am immigration call for our floor, then we were planning a quick breakfast and then off the ship to explore. BUT the weather ‘lost-the-plot’ and we were confined to the ship for our own safety. When the Captain makes an announcement to ‘all areas’ at 7am in the morning you know it is important! We were advised to continue with immigration, but that we would not be leaving the ship. This was because it was a ‘tender’ day and the safe transfer between the ship and the shore could not be guaranteed!! Onwards to Boston, through the thunder and the rain, and the ship having a slight roll.

As we had already done immigration on board the ship the previous day, we were straight off in Boston. The weather in the morning was cold and blustery, so instead of our usual self guided walking tour we got tickets for the hop on / off bus. These are actually a great way to see the city, and gleen a bit of history when you have limited time. After a loop we hopped off and did a bit of a walk on the ‘freedom trail’ [which follows the path of the American Revolution] while the sun was out.

We walked through Quincy marketplace [loved the ‘sculpture’ in-bedded on the road that looked like ‘market’ rubbish!] and the public gardens [which were just so gorgeous] and past a few churches and cemeteries with such amazing history [set amongst huge city buildings!].

There are statues and sculptures throughout the city and such beautiful buildings. We had a great time here and while it was raining we had a beer in the ‘Cheers’ Bar – “where everyone knows you name …. “. After thousands of steps [so glad the phone counts them!] it was back to the ship where we discovered they were very kindly playing a few of ‘Cheers’ shows on the Cruise TV, such a funny programme – even now.

So we knew we had a really short day in New York! Up and at it early for the 6am sailing under the bridge and seeing the Statue of Liberty [at approx 100 metres she has a mighty presence – even in the rain!]. We only had such a limited time here, especially as we docked in Brooklyn [close to the famous Brooklyn Bridge on the East river]. You need to allow an hour each way for the ferry, so this seriously comprised our time!!

We decided to head to the 9/11 memorial site and museum, especially as it was such awful weather. Glad we got there early as it was so busy.

The 9/11 site is much more emotive than I was expecting. From the twin reflecting pools and the only remaining tree, to the actual museum, I had not really understood it would be quite so challenging to visit. But just like the Holocaust Museum in Houston [on a previous trip in 2016] (and the six glass pillars in Boston [each representing 1,000,000 people who perished in WWII]), it leaves you feeling empty, somehow void of emotion and with a heavy heart.

You head down into the museum, and a wall of the original building is still there, with a twisted piece of steel and a flag for every nationality lost. You can walk around the perimeter of the towers on their original footings. There is twisted metal, ambulances, fire trucks and crew gear, items from survivors and also items that were found up to five blocks from the site. Put all that together with audio and visual reminders of the day [and the aftermath], short films [including incredibly disturbing footage of people jumping], and being able to pick up phones to listen to people’s messages to loved ones, flight attendants mayday calls, 911 calls and then all the news footage – it was an exhausting 4 hours being taken back in time to see this vivid and harrowing, yet powerful and sanguine exhibition. I only listened to one ‘phone’ call and decided that that was enough for me [fortunately tissues are dotted around].

Visitors were subdued and quietly cried, others just sat. I understand from a ‘docent’ that people who have lost loved ones, just come and sit – especially those who never had remains returned. I stopped taking photos [I am only just going to share a couple here], as I somehow feel that I don’t need the photos, to know I have been there.

We only had time to do this one thing as we had such limited time here [they only ever spend limited time in this port, because the port fees are so high!], but be sure New York – we will be back, we need to get to know you!

Part 4 coming shortly … last one for the cruise!