Florida, USA 21st Nov - 12th Dec (by Neil and Amy)

After arriving in Canaveral, Florida - our first job was to pick up our pre-booked hire car, and then find somewhere to stay for the night!  We had lunch at a pizza house which gave an immediate reminder of American portion size - huge - and at the same time, found a place to stay for 4 nights at Clearwater beach, a good 3 hour drive away.  We wanted to go to Clearwater as we would be able to visit Winter the dolphin, who starred in the movie Dolphin Tale, and see the movie set at Clearwater Aquarium.

We had a good sized apartment in Clearwater - perfect for wrapping up the year's school work, and were very close to the beach which turned out to be one of the best beaches we have ever been to with bleached white fine sand.

We visited Clearwater aquarium and met Winter and Hope (the dolphins out of the movie), and also met the inspirational Cozi Zuehlsdorff who plays Hazel in the movie. There was lots of information on the dolphins and other animals that are rescued by the aquarium.

Winter the Dolphin

Cori with the Director

After Clearwater, we went to Orlando; even though we were not ready to visit the theme parks due to school work, it was cheap to stay in Orlando compared to other parts of Florida. We stayed in a big condo for four nights which had everything we needed, including a lake with alligators!

We thought we had it tough in Australia!

Lots of wildlife!

The Condo

The time had finally arrived for Disneyworld. We checked in to a travel lodge where our Alaskan friends, the Lockharts, were staying and started to plan a marathon tour of Orlando's theme parks. During the next week - we visited Magic Kingdom (twice), Epcot, Animal Kingdom and DisneyStudios. Five days of theme parks is tiring and we were in awe of our friends who had endured ten days in the parks!. 

The experience nevertheless was amazing. The rides, use of technology and scale of the activities and shows are breathtaking. The best shows were the Epcot lake display and the Magic Kingdom castle at night.

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom

Epcot

Epcot

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom

Disney Studios

Magic Kingdom

We had a great time again with the Lockharts. After they had left Orlando, we had a few days left and went about exploring Universal Studios! This included Harry Potter world, and we spent a couple of days riding all the attractions there including the Hogwarts Express!

After 7 days in Disneyworld and Universal Studios - we were exhausted! We had walked over 80 km, and been on our feet nearly everyday.

Dad was also really happy that he caught up with one of his mates Nick Evans. They were ushers at each other's weddings although hadn't seen much of each other lately due to Nick working in Korea (3 years) and Chicago (2 years).

Dad and Nick

On the 12th December, we headed to the airport for the flight to Ontario - even closer to Australia! We were really looking forward to another family reunion, and spending Christmas and New Year with Uncle Ian, Aunty Sam and Callum and Chloe.

Barcelona and Crossing the Atlantic, 2nd Nov - 21st Nov

The drive from Southern Spain to Barcelona took around 6 hours. Our European 'tour' was nearly over and we were leaving our 'roots' again. We were grateful that Zoe and Mark, and Aunty Linda, Anna and Sienna were in Barcelona with us; with such a fun group and so much to do, there was no time to think about all the brilliant family and friends we would be leaving behind (again).

I had to give the Renault Espace back - our 'home' for the past 4 months. We would have spent close to 7 full days altogether in that car - singing the same songs over and over, watching a family of foxes skipping through fields at dawn, laughing or arguing like champions about nothing, surviving the autobahn, navigating the medieval streets of Naples in the night (unplanned) and many more memories. In total, we had driven over 13,000 km through 12 countries* - I was proud both the car and all of us were still intact!

*France, Germany, Austria, Czech Rep, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Italy, France, Andorra, Spain

Whilst in Barcelona, we visited the main attractions such as the Rambla and port, and did some last minute preparations and shopping for the cruise across the Atlantic.

Our time in Europe had far surpassed our expectations and we didn't really want it to come to an end!

We went for dinner the night before leaving with Zoe, Mark and Linda.  One of our favourite drinks in Spain was a 'Sol y Sombra' - which means light and shade (made from anice and brandy) - and we had a couple on the verandah overlooking the Rambla. It was around 5am when the sun starting to come up and we went for a sleep!

At 11am - we were on our way in two taxis. Justine and Ella found their way straight to the port and Amy and Anna came with me .... to the airport. The driver had thought I had said airport, not port - although subsequently did an about turn and got us to the port around half an hour after Justine!

We were boarding the Norwegian Spirit; its capacity is around 2,000 passengers. It was the start of a 16 day crossing that took in 5 island stops, and included a stretch of 6 days at sea. Due to our being at sea for so long - we had adjoining balcony rooms near the kids club, pools, and buffet! Brilliant - luckily, we were not too far away from the gym neither which we frequented every day to keep things in balance!

As the boat pulled out of Barcelona port, we went on the top deck to see Mark, Zoe and Linda who were on the overpass waving us off. We waved and waved until they were tiny dots on the horizon.

It was a magnificent crossing with stunning weather all the way. On one day we saw an abundance of dolphins surfacing across the ocean, on another a huge whale leapt 3/4 times out of the water around 100 yards from our balcony. The food was also superb, and the people and staff were so friendly and considerate. It was also very peaceful without the internet and associated facebooking, emailing and online schooling!

We had hoped that other children would be onboard. Ella, Amy and Anna had done their fair share of long periods without other children to play with and making do with each other's company, and we were delighted to hear there were around 40 other children onboard. Still a low number when compared to the ship's next cruise where there would be 500 children onboard!

We became great friends with a family from Alaska. Hilary and Zac have been together since their teens, and now they had four daughters - Faith (13), Mckayla (11), Ireland (7) and Lux (5). Hilary's Mum, Dianna was also travelling with them. They had been homeschooling for the past 4 years, and a typical year for them was working in Alaska for 3 months, Arizona for 6 months and travelling for 3 months (last year they spent the their travels in Ecuador!). We had a lot in common, and would have combined family dinners most nights, watch the kids vanish together to kids club or other cruise activities in the day, and would plan our onshore days together.

Martini tasting

Cleaning up in the Casino

Balcony View and Towel Art

Meeting some of the Crew

Kid's fun and Kid's club show

Amy helping the juggler

Lockhart Sheard sleepover

With Tomato

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

St Johns, Antigua and Barbuda

St. Thomas, US Virginia Islands - St Kitts, West Indies - St Maarten 

Spot the iguana

We arrived in Canaveral on the morning of 21st November. It was a great crossing and a bonus that we made some great friends. We were refreshed and ready for 3 weeks in Florida ...and to take on Disneyworld.