Up at 6.30am to get ready and have breakfast in the restaurant downstairs and be at the front Disneyland gate before 8am (per Belle’s instructions- this part of the trip she planned!).

26 rides today. Almost 20,000 steps. Plus Parade plus 4th July fireworks. Lunch at the Hungry Bear restaurant where Mickey-shaped beignets were a favourite (like a donut covered in powdered sugar). Home at 11pm, exhausted but thankful for great weather, no waiting line longer than 20 minutes (helped by use of the Lightning Lane fast pass). Now need to sleep to be able to do it all again tomorrow! 😊🇺🇸

We had to leave behind the Upper West Side and our little French bakery today 😢 We are all quite sad about our time in NYC coming to an end, although the girls say what helps them overcome their sadness is the next stop of Disneyland, and what helps me overcome my sadness is…..the fact our next accommodation has a guest laundry!! 🥳

Our driver was waiting for us as we checked out, and took us through the Lincoln tunnel and into New Jersey to reach the Newark Liberty airport. Check-in and security went well considering we had no idea what we were doing and the airport is full of people. We had a couple of hours waiting at our gate before departure, during which time we sorted and shared the hundreds of photos we took in New York.

My reflections of New York: not long enough! Although I recognise we always had a very ambitious schedule which we were never going to fully complete, and I feel we did well with what we fit in. I loved where we stayed, and the fact it is walking distance to Central Park (which I love and could visit very regularly if I lived there), but I think next time I would actually spend half a week each in two locations – down in the Financial District to easily access Brooklyn, DUMBO and the Statue of Liberty and see some shows, and then Upper West Side again to explore from Columbus Circle on up.

Of course my thinking is biased by the fact that the week we were there was summer break, so no shows were on at Carnegie Hall or around the Lincoln Centre, shows that we definitely would have considered given Abi’s future career if we could have.

We also missed two things in particular because opening hours changed in the months between my initial planning and our arrival, and I didn’t double check. I had written down to visit the National Jazz Museum in Harlem on the weekend, forgetting it was closed on Sundays, and I had intended to do a free tour of the NY Public Library at 2pm on Sunday, but over the summer it is closed for renovations. Both were my stuff up though.

But we are so thankful for everything we have seen and done, and for good health and legs that kept going! The weather was fantastic – it rained on our last night there but never affected our plans – and we felt very safe. Being a harbour city, the mayor is taking in refugees from other states and putting them up in hotels, which has some tourists complaining online, but we didn’t see any of that, and I think it is only happening around Times Square. The main guests at our hotel were airline crews. I had read online that the city smells of weed everywhere because now it is legal there the locals smoke it constantly on every street corner. While that was true in some places, it didn’t bother us, we just really noticed it as we would cross the odd road.

We had another uneventful flight to LAX, and caught a shuttle to our accommodation at Anaheim (after Abi and Belle recognised a celebrity and bravely asked for a photo with him!). We checked in and then…..DID LAUNDRY!!!!!! We are actually staying literally next door to the hotel we stayed in 10 years ago, so we wandered over there to reminisce while the washing was on, and had a milkshake at the Cold Rock as we were not fed on the 5 hour flight.

Waiting for the dryer load to finish, I had a little siesta, so the girls went and collected it and brought it all back to the room to fold. Then we went over to Downtown Disney to explore and had dinner at Tortilla Joe’s (one Mexican caesar salad between the three of us because the meals are so big!). Belle is beside herself with excitement and very much looking forward to tomorrow!!

Our last day in NYC! We held a meeting over breakfast to review what we have not yet done that we still want to do, so those decisions would direct our last day here.

After our morning routine, we headed over to Pier 83 to take a Circle Line cruise. It went down past Hudson Yards, New Jersey, the Financial District, Governor’s Island, Ellis Island, and under the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. The boat also hovered near the Statue of Liberty to give plenty of time for photos. Seeing the crowds lining up on that island to climb the Statue made me glad we had decided not to do that – the queues were very long and they were standing in the sun, and today is the hottest day we’ve had here. We are all a little sunburnt on our arms and legs from our time on the water.

Once we were back at the Pier, we travelled back to the Upper West Side to another bookstore Abi wanted to explore: Shakespeare & Co. While there was a cafe inside the bookstore, we noticed a little diner next to it that looked authentically like one would expect an American diner to look, so decided to have lunch in there instead. The Westside Diner fed us all omelettes for lunch (such an extensive menu, and we all separately picked an omelette!), and then we explored the bookstore.

From there we went a few more blocks to return to Central Park. One place our pedicab tour yesterday didn’t get to was Belvedere Castle, so we walked through the Ramble to there, and then bought some fruit (large cups of freshly cut fruit for $5) from a cart vendor at the exit and sat and enjoyed some mango and watermelon while we people-watched. Well…..Belle people-watched, while Abi and I were on the lookout for anything suspicious seeing as many Law & Order scenes occur in The Ramble.

From there we walked back down W77th Ave to our hotel, stopping briefly at a local public school that has a market every Sunday in their grounds (Grand Bazaar NYC). It was a good excuse to explore an NYC public school, and see how another Art/Craft-type festival is done!

Back at our hotel we freshened up and headed to the East Village, another neighbourhood to explore with another bookstore Abi wanted to review. This bookstore was HUGE, with 18 miles of books over three floors! We bought a Golden Book about New York City to keep as a souvenir, and walked two blocks down to the famous Joe’s Pizza for “a slice” for dinner (one of the items the girls mentioned this morning that they still wanted was a NY slice of pizza!).

We then caught a taxi back to our hotel for the last time, and I am sitting in bed at 8.30pm writing this while the girls pack their bags while watching a Star Wars movie on the TV we haven’t had time to turn on! We have an early start in the morning to get to the airport for our flight to LA, but have all agreed it is really exciting to be in bed so early after so many long and busy days 🙂

Pro: We have developed a morning routine that works well: the girls get ready while I fill out my expenses spreadsheet and tidy up, and then they go and line up for breakfast downstairs at the bakery while I get ready. Then we eat breakfast (juices, cappucino and croissants) in our room while we discuss the plans for the day, and then brush our teeth and head out to achieve activities on our long list!

Con: Belle wakes REALLY early and then I tell her to go back to sleep. Then I can’t get back to sleep, then Belle wakes again, and we both have to wait for Abi to wake up! Sleep is the one thing I would like more of.

Pro: the coffee downstairs is REALLY good, because the bakery is French, not American! And once I have that good real coffee in the morning, the day can happen without me having to think about it again or having to find good coffee somewhere in our travels.

Con: I’m tired from lack of sleep and we are all a little exhausted from all the steps each day! Belle’s knee locked up on her tonight and my knee aches from all the action, but Abi is holding up very well!

Belle is becoming a real New Yorker. She knows how to hail a cab, she asks taxi drivers how their day is going, and chats with tour operators. She also knows which way to look for oncoming traffic, and when to start crossing the road before the lights change. Our introverted baby is growing up! 😂

Our first event today was to visit the American Museum of Natural History, only a few blocks’ walk from our hotel. It did take us over half an hour to get in, but it was well worth visiting (especially since admission was included with my New York Pass).

From there we went down to Columbus Circle, and had lunch at the Whole Foods Market. Salads, sushi and a panini. We did some shopping in Williams-Sonoma (aside: they asked me to make a charitable donation to No Kids Hungry, which feeds at risk kids at school. I had read about this program and how students reliant on it suffered during Covid without it when schools were closed, and the Biden government made sure it returned, so was happy to donate, but they RANG A BELL and random STAFF MEMBERS CLAPPED WHEN THEY HEARD THE BELL. Abi and Belle thought it was hilarious, but I was so embarassed!) and then we walked to Carnegie Hall and two blocks further to Trump Tower. I couldn’t resist riding the gold escalator.

Returning to Fifth Avenue, we followed it back to Columbus Circle where we met our Central Park pedicab tour operator. That tour was an hour, informative and a good way to see part of the park. He took us to the Bethseda Fountain, Cherry Hill, Bow Bridge, Sheeps Meadow to name a few, and to not only Strawberry Fields and the Imagine memorial but also to the front door of John Lennon’s apartment building where he was shot by someone who had asked him to autograph a record for him five hours earlier 😢

We then returned to our hotel to change, walked back towards the Natural History Museum for dinner (Shake Shack again – Belle’s choice), and then hailed a taxi to take us downtown. We explored Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea, and went on to the Flatiron District to visit the Harry Potter store. After spending some time examining all the paraphernalia and exhibits there, we shared a ButterBeer and wandered through Madison Square Park and up 5th Avenue to the Empire State Building. The sightseeing pass I purchased expires today so I booked a couple of extra activities on it to increase the value to us, one of which was visiting the Empire State Building at night. It was a good idea at 6.30 this morning, and we all enjoyed it, but we were yawning and ready to return to our hotel when we finished at the viewing platform!

It is now another night we are falling into bed after midnight, only because we were able to Facetime the boys at home. Belle has been desperate to video call because she misses…the dog 😉 Even Millie was in on the call! And we were able to congratulate Sam who was announced as a prefect for year 12 after we left, hear about Tim’s soccer game, and Zac gave me a tour of the laundry to update me on that. Laundry is one of very few reasons I am looking forward to leaving here – there is a laundry in our hotel at Anaheim, whereas here I would have had to use a laundry service on our block, but I haven’t had time with all our movements to book in a time for that!

After breakfast in our room from the French bakery downstairs again, we hailed a yellow cab over to the United Nations building, where we had booked a one hour tour starting at 10.45am. We had to be there at 9.45am to go through security, so had half an hour to wait between that process and the actual tour. That time was spent reviewing our NY itinerary which needs some revision now I’ve accepted the fact we are not going to fit everything in!

The tour was very interesting and informative. And it actually impressed us how much the United Nations has achieved since it’s inception in 1945. They have some ambitious goals that look difficult to achieve by 2030, but just the fact they have 193 member states that manage to agree on anything should be applauded!

After our tour we walked over to inspect the Chrysler Building, and then on to Grand Central Terminal, where we had lunch on their dining concourse and watched people running for their trains.

As that was right near Vanderbilt Ave, we followed the path up to Summit One, an observatory deck we planned to visit based on Facebook reviews. It cost $40pp to go up there! So we decided to move on to the Rockefeller Centre and FAO Schwarz toy store instead (where we purchased nothing but the girls did get to play the giant floor piano).

From there we visited Top of The Rock Observation Deck – also $40pp but free with my NY Pass. We may not do any other observation decks – it was fun to be up there, but because of the poor air quality, visibility wasn’t far anyway.

We then window shopped down 5th Avenue and walked on to the Disney Store, and a bookstore on W39th Street part-owned by Lin-Manuel Miranda. From there we caught a taxi back to our hotel to freshen up and change and get ready for our next musical! We returned to the Theatre District for a proper dinner at Applebee’s (steak and vegetables, and chicken salad!). Sitting at the table in the restaurant I realised it was probably the longest we had just sat, rested and chatted except for sleeping!! We then wandered two blocks over to the August Wilson Theatre to see ‘Funny Girl’, starring Lea Michele. She gave a great performance.

One thing that has amazed me at the theatres is the number of stairs and lack of obvious access for the disabled, and also the organisation of women during intermission to get them all in and out of the bathroom in time for the second half! In Sydney theatres you are on your own, but both nights here we have been ushered right up to the stall door!

After the show we walked up to Columbus Circle to have a look around, and caught a cab back to our hotel. We are pretty exhausted, so have decided not to book anything for tomorrow morning but just to have a leisurely day – Abi is in charge of what we will see so that she can choose the priorities for herself. This is her trip after all!

The day began early for Belle and I as we woke about 6.30am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so then had to wait for Abi to wake. After bringing breakfast from the French cafe dowstairs back to our room to eat, we left the hotel about 9.45am and took a taxi down to Times Square to join the Hop On, Hop Off Bus tour (included in the New York Pass I purchased before I left home).

The Downtown loop provided commentary on many attractions and we disembarked to book tickets for the 9/11 Memorial museum (would have cost $75 but was free with the NY Pass). My research suggested we would have to book a time, pass some time, and then return for our entry time, but we were at the ticket window at 11.55am, and given access for the 12pm timeslot.

The museum was very moving and especially eye-opening for Belle, who had many questions, but also asked how much longer we would be there an hour in because she was overwhelmed with the emotion of it. The video presentations about the World Trade Centre victims she found especially difficult as phtotos were shared on screen while their loved ones talked about them. We stepped outside into the sun and reflecting pool, and went from there into Westfields next door for lunch of prepacked salads.

From there we walked over to view the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street, and then on to the Trinity Church to see the graves of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton. We then hopped back onto the bus for the remainder of the tour and returned to Times Square. We considered doing the Uptown Loop of the tour, but didn’t feel we had enough time, so shopped for souvenirs and M&Ms at the famous M&Ms store, and headed back to our hotel.

There we freshened up and changed and went back to the Theater District to see a musical. I overplanned and underachieved for today! I was hoping to do a lot more in the financial district, like walk Brooklyn Bridge and visit Battery Park and cruise past the Statue of Liberty, but there were just not enough hours in the day!

The girls grabbed a small nugget meal and chips at McDonald’s for dinner as we didn’t have much time to think about that before the show started at 7pm. We saw ‘Hadestown’, a musical about Orpheus and Eurydice, chosen because we happened to watch the Tony Awards when they won several awards. It was excellent, with good relevant messages for today.

We then took Belle down to the Times Square steps (holding our bags very tightly in the crowds of people!) to show her all the buzz and billboards at night. Interestingly, the stairs were blocked off by a row of policemen standing guard.

In the Playbill given out at the show (for free! Not like in Sydney…) they offered something free at Hershey’s World with any purchase, so Belle being a good consumer requested a milkshake as we happened upon the store. McD’s and Hersheys for dinner…..lucky we had salads and fruit salad for lunch!

That title is a Taylor Swift song reference for all my friends back home sitting in an online queue to buy concert tickets 😉 but also relevant as we arrived at 7.20am at JFK airport. A driver (airport transfers were organised by the travel agent) was waiting to take us into the city, which took over an hour with all the traffic.

Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived (check-in isn’t officially until 3pm but we just thought we would ask if they would mind our luggage), so we decided to walk off our jet lag and explore our near surroundings. We walked through Riverside Park (home of many Law & Order scenes, which Belle asked me to stop referencing because I was scaring her that she might find a body or part thereof hidden in the greenery haha).

We enjoyed the walk and ended up walking north for over an hour, when we ended up at Columbia University. They had several open day type events happening, and there were many parent and young adult combinations exploring the uni and their future study options, so we looked like we fit right in! It is a beautiful campus, and I will look for an online course to do there when I get home – especially after buying a couple of uni-branded souvenirs 😉

We headed back to our accommodation via Broadway, so that Abi could get a photo outside a cafe called “Tom’s Restaurant”, and we could also get a photo outside The Belnord Apartments (exterior used to film the location of the Arconia, a fictional apartment block in “Only Murders in The Building” starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez). We were so exhausted from all our walking by then, that we stopped in a cafe Abi found called “Joe & The Juice”. We shared a toasted chicken and avocado sandwich and an acai bowl between us to power us to keep us going. We then spent over half an hour in a Barnes & Noble bookstore, and Abi has some photos to send to her work group chat. That was only five blocks from our accommodation, so we returned just before the official check-in time.

Once in the room, we congratulated each other on not only surviving the day but getting to see and do some interesting things, and took turns showering (not having had one since we left home on Tuesday evening!) and unpacking. When Abi came out of the bathroom, she found Belle and I had both given in and fallen asleep! So she sensibly set an alarm and decided to rest for an hour too. Once that alarm broke our slumber, we decided to head in a different direction and find something for dinner before dark. We walked in the direction of Central Park (which Belle will also not go near at nighttime because of all the Law & Order episodes I’ve seen), and came across a Shake Shack facing the Museum of Natural History. We then headed back to our hotel as the sun started to set.

I feel quite safe in this neighbourhood, but of course we are still being aware. We intended to spend some time resting our weary legs, sorting photos and updating our travel diaries, but as I type both girls have fallen asleep at 10pm with all the lights still on. We have had a beautiful day together exploring an area of Manhattan which we didn’t pre-plan. The only issue so far is slow internet connectivity, so today’s post comes without photos as they are taking a long time to load to the icloud! I will hopefully be able to revise this post to add some tomorrow.

After months of planning, the day finally arrived. We had dinner at the airport with Ross, Jarrod and Isaac and my dad., and then said our goodbyes. Ross is usually randomly chosen to be “bomb checked” whenever we travel by air, but today it was Belle’s turn! She was horrifed.

Our flight to Hawaii left on time at 9.40pm and was happily uneventful. Both Abi and Belle had trouble sleeping though, while I think I managed five hours on and off. After going through customs, the departure board told us we would be travelling to New York from a gate in the A terminal, so we headed there to change into summer clothes, freshen up and wait for the next flight. There was not a lot choice for lunch, so we chose a chicken ceasar salad in a self-serve little supermarket to share. As Abi went to refill our water bottles, she noticed the departure board said we were departing from terminal C!! No announcement had been made so we were very thankful she noticed the change, as that terminal was a good 10+ minute fast walk to find.

Belle found Hawaii to be very welcoming and photo-worthy, as her pic out the plane window shows. She is looking forward to returning. Sleep was even more difficult to achieve on the second nine-hour flight, so we decided to just accept it and reduce our expectations of what we did once we arrived in NYC.

And so we are (finally) off again! Abi and I are heading to New York City tomorrow on her 18th/end of HSC trip, which has turned into a 21st trip as well given it is three years since we began planning for this! And Belle has scored herself a tag-along because she looked so forlorn at the thought of us going without her.

The sisters ten years apart – during the planning of our first family holiday to the USA, and planning the second!

Spoiler alert: we made it safely home! And the back-to-reality hit almost immediately…..after seven loads of washing, 331 emails, and delivering teenagers to parties and appointments for the rest of the week, our holiday seems much longer ago than it really was!

We took advantage of the late checkout and enjoyed another free breakfast delivered to our rooms. By the time we had packed and loaded the bus at 10am, we felt we had seen the city of Auckland and enjoyed it. Zac had noticed Mt Eden out a window at the Skytower, so after some research we decided to head there as we left the CBD.

The main mountain in Auckland is Mount Wellington (confusing!), but it was nowhere near as impressive as Mt Victoria (which we visited the summit of in…..Wellington), and did not even appear to have a lookout. So instead we headed to Mt Eden, which was actually a crater of a volcano. It was a decent post-breakfast hike up a hill to a lookout over the city, in the middle of a suburb that reminded me of Sydney’s north shore (and is now on our list to stay at next time we travel there).

After taking in our last views of the landscape, we stopped at a park for morning tea (well, attempting to finish the last of our fruit and grocery items!), soccer and frisbee. We then returned our bus and were dropped off to the airport for our flight home. We’ve travelled 2,006km and enjoyed such a variety of experiences, good health (apart from Oli’s ear infection), and mostly accommodating weather – many wonderful memories have been made!

Auckland airport does not have a lot of choice when it comes to food, so another round of Maccas was consumed, a few last souvenirs purchased and then we were homeward bound. The flight was a great one, which did a lot to allay the fears of the anxious flyers, and it was interesting to review the flight path and see so many places we had visited.

Before term 3 and our regular routines resume, I must record everyone’s favourite things….and start planning the next Jones adventure! 😀