SteveNewton.me.uk

Archive for July, 2009

Back to the UK, broke from spending a year travelling, literally just bought a new car 2 hours ago…and now I’ve just had an offer accepted on a house in Oakham!  I must be mad!

So, back in the UK and need to get around!  Time to buy a car but with the need to buy a house I’ve had to downgrade on my usual specification!  Managed to find a good spec Fiat Bravo which should do the job though!

Well after 372 days away travelling the world we finally landed back in the UK (and nothing seems to have changed!)

During the year we’ve:

• Lived in Auckland in two flats – one on Queen Street, one on Symonds Street
• Travelled extensively all over the North and South Islands of New Zealand in the Mazda Bongo
• Spent 2 weeks travelling East Coast Australia (Melbourne to Cairns)
• Spent 3 weeks (inc. Christmas and New Year) in Borneo
• Spent 8 weeks in South East Asia (Thailand, Laos, VietNam, Cambodia)
• Spent 1 week in New York and Washington DC

Not bad for a year…now where’s the guidebook to plan the next adventure?!

On our final full day in New York we decided to have a relaxed day to explore the last parts of New York.  We headed across town towards the UN building for a tour of the general assembly building.  Security was extremely strict as there had was a council meeting happening during the morning.  Due to the meeting the earliest tour we could get on was at 2pm so we hung around exploring the displays and information stands for a while.

Our tour guide was extremely knowledgable and had detailed descriptions of her experiences posted around the world for the past 6 years.  We got a good introduction as to the aims of the UN before a good look inside the general assembly room.

The only other part of New York we still had to see was the old style Grand Central Station.  With the train station close by we headed there for a look inside the station.

All the photos from New York are available in the gallery HERE

After a hectic and tiring two days in Washington DC we used today as a rest day sleeping in till mid morning.  As New York is famous for its shopping we decided to catch a local bus towards New Jersey to visit an outlet mall to shop for a few items.  After lunch and shopping we returned to New York and headed down towards the Staten Island Ferry (A free ferry service from Manhattan to Staten Island which takes approximately 30minutes).  The ferry trip took us right past the Statue of Liberty with great views of Liberty Island.

The round trip took an hour and a half but we decided to repeat the trip a second time to catch the sun setting behind the statue.

After some amazing views of the sun set and the city at night we headed up to Times Square to see the lights before returning home.

All the photos from New York are available in the gallery HERE

We caught the metro (during the early morning hectic rush hour!) to Capitol Hill and lined up to join our tour which we had previously booked.  After a strict security screening we were finally admitted to the building and lined up to collect our tickets.  The tour took us first to an introductory video of the history of Capitol Hill before walking through the crypt and up to the Rotunda (The place where ex-presidents lie in state).  The dome and mural was extremely decorative and told the story of America up to the Wright Brothers flight.

We then headed into the statue room with statues of state representatives from all 52 states.

After our Tour we headed through the underground tunnel to the Library of Congress.  We managed to get onto a free tour around the decorative library with various examples of documents and books.  The highlight was being able to look down on the iconic reading room.

We then headed back out into the heat to view the Library of Congress and Capitol Hill from the outside.

We the walked around to the front of Capitol Hill to view the reflecting pool and the building together.

After a quick snack we decided to go see the Declaration of Independence housed in the National Archives.  It took nearly an hour of queuing before we finally gained entry to the National Archives before we got the chance to see all the historic documents including the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

With just under an hour left we quickly looked in at the portrait gallery before heading off to catch the greyhound bus back to New York.

All the photos from Washington DC are available in the gallery HERE

We woke early to catch the bus to Washington DC – This meant getting on the subway at 6.15am to head down to the Port Authority bus station for 7am.  After joining a massive queue we managed to catch the 7.30am Greyhound Bus to DC. We arrived at midday and caught the metro to the hotel to check in and offload the bags.

After a short rest we walked down into the CBD to visit The White House.

After walking all around The White House we headed down towards Lincoln Memorial via VietNam War Monument.  The Lincoln memorial was an impressive site, much larger than I had imagined, and housed in an equally impressive building.

After viewing the Lincoln Memorial we looked out towards the Washington Monument and Capitol Hill.  It was a hot, sunny day but headed alongside the Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument, via the Korean War Memorial.

After the reflection pool came the World War Two Memorial and the Washington Monument.

It was too hot to pause too long in the sun (39 degrees) so we carried on towards the Smithsonian Museums where we went to see the National Air and Space Museum.

After a couple of hours in the museum we quickly visited Fords Theatre (the place where Lincoln was shot) before heading to the Hard Rock Café for dinner.  As the sun was slowly setting we walked back to the hotel via The White House.

All the photos from Washington DC are available in the gallery HERE

Another early start saw us take the subway to Columbus Circle so that we could hire bikes to ride around Central Park.

Central Park Cycle Route > Wollman Ice Rink (home to fun fair during summer), through central park zoo and up through East Green to the Conservatory Water Boating Lake, Visited Alice in Wonderland statue and Cleopatra’s Needle, Rode around Jacqueline Kennedy Onaissis Reservoir with views of the city skyline, Visited Bow Bridge and Angel of the Waters fountain, Saw Imagine Mosaic in Strawberry Fields before a hotdog at the Carousel.

After a couple of hours in the park we returned the bikes and then walked back into the park to the Central Park Zoo where we got to see various tropical birds, penguins, polar bears and snow leopards.

Towards the end of the day we took the subway to Rockerfeller Plaza to see ‘Top of the Rock’, visited Nintendo World (just to play on the new Wii games!) and then walked through street market before taking the subway home.

All the photos from New York are available in the gallery HERE

Our first full day in New York would be a full one with plans to explore as much of the city as possible in one day!  We caught the subway down to Port Authority (the NY bus terminal) so that we could confirm our arrangements for our Washington DC trip.  After leaving the terminal we made our way to Times Square to experience the central highlight of the city.  Lots of tourists and lots of flashing lights/video screens but it was a friendly and fun place to be.

We also visited the M&M World to have a look around the 3 storey sweet shop before lunch at TGI Fridays.

After lunch we caught the subway down to the financial district to visit Ground Zero and the site of the former World Trade Centre.   We walked around the vast site and could just make out the footprints of the twin towers from the building site.  After a quick look at Trinity Church we walked down Wall Street to see the New York Stock Exchange.

We then caught the subway to Brooklyn and walked back over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge.  Our last few trips took us to City Hall, the Woolworth building and the Friends TV Show apartment building before heading back to Times Square.

The evening saw a massive firework display for the July 4th celebrations – We headed down by the Hudson river for one of the best views.

All the photos from New York are available in the gallery HERE

Our last day in New Zealand was a fairly relaxed affair as we had moved out of our flat a couple of days ago.  We headed off to Auckland airport at midday to start the first leg of our return home.  The 11 hour flight from Auckland to LA meant we needed to do a bit of time travelling – Due to crossing the International Date Line we technically landed in LAX before we had even left New Zealand!

After arriving in LA we had to go through the strict US customs checks before we could re-check our bags onto our next flight to New York.  After transferring to another terminal we then had to endure a 7 hour wait stuck in the terminal!

After a long wait we finally boarded the American Airlines plane to JFK airport.  A 5 hour ride across America saw us landing at 12.30am on July 4^th.  The early morning landing meant we got through security and baggage quickly.  After leaving the terminal we caught a shuttle into the city and to our apartment for the week.