The Last Post - It's all over!

Flight back to Australia was long (15 hours). V Australia was a great airline to fly with but no-one gets much sleep on these flights. Steph got the most (using both Andrew and Nick as pillows), followed by Nick, Andrew and Sharron was lucky to get 2 hours sleep in total.

Watched A LOT of movies and tv shows on the entertainment system.

Arrived safely in Melbourne at 8.40am Thursday morning (wondering where Wednesday had disappeared to?) Immigration was quick and collecting our bags not too long a wait. However, customs was a very long wait (we stood in line for about 30 to 45 minutes). Once we got to the front it was a quick process with no drama (no bags opened - straight through).

Now for the drive home ..... Stopped at Ballarat for a bakery lunch and then home by 4pm.

Thanks Sandi for taking such good care of our house while we were away and for looking after Bella.

Unpack - begin the washing and sleep!

Thanks to everyone who has followed our travels on this blog. The comments kept us connected with home.

All over - but the memories remain! Loved it.

Where to holiday next ................................ ?!

Last day in the USA

We spent our last day in the US on a 'hop on - hop off' bus tour to Santa Monica beach. The weather held off for us but it was too cool to go in the water.

Last everything .... last meals, last of the money!

Visited the Santa Monica Aquarium.

Picked up by shuttle bus to go to the airport at 7pm - goodbye Luxe Hotel (we loved the luxury!)

Checking in at the airport was uneventful and our 10.50pm flight left on schedule.

Almost over

Well our time away in almost over. After all the time planning all the details for this holiday it's hard to believe that it is all coming to a rapid close. We will return home with many precious memories and a great appreciation for what we have in Australia.

Upon reflection, I don't think the kids have really grasped the awesomeness of what they have been able to experience. Any one part of our trip would have been a once in a lifetime trip, but putting it all together has created an unbelievable journey of learning, comparison and adventure. We will , in some ways, be glad to come home to our own little corner of the world .... but yet we'll be sad that our journey will have concluded.

Our good fortune with the weather came to an end today. We tried hard to ignore the drizzle and continued on with our planned activities of star gazing. A bus trip touring the star's homes started the day. There are some VERY big houses here! Andrew has decided that at a push he could live in Bel Air! Dream on!!! While we didn't spot any actual stars (surprise, surprise) wwe did see where many live.

Beverly Hills is a very exclusive suburb. They have many quirky things they are famous for. The street signs are different to other suburbs. The fire hydrants here are coloured silver (as opposed to yellow everywhere else in LA). This is because they felt it was a more appropriate colour! There are ally ways behind the homes where the rubbish trucks can drive to collect the rubbish bins, without detracting from the lovely front vision of the homes. Can you believe it?!

I've included a photo of a very exclusive store where you cannot just walk in, but you must make an appointment. The designer makes suits, which START from $15,000.

Does it get any better than this???

We are certainly enjoying spoiling ourselves with a little luxury here at our hotel, Luxe on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills. The rooms are very comfy, the staff VERY attentive and room service a delight. Soon back to reality though!!!!

Hollywood touring ...

Started the day at a leisurely pace with breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 10am and then on to catch a 'hop on - hop off' bus tour. Was great sitting back and seeing the sights (with commentary) from the top of a double-decker bus.

A stop off at Madame Tussauds wax museum was a highlight. The models were very realistic and it was amazing how short some of these stars really are (especially many of the actresses).

All was going according to plan until we entered a shoe store!!!! It was hard to resist when most of the runners were easily 1/2 price (or more). Many pairs later ... and the boys bought far more than the girls ... we resumed the bus tour to take us back to our hotel.

Yet another good day was had by all.

Universal Studios

Spent the day walking around Universal Studios. Was collected from our hotel at 8.30am and transported by bus to this theme park. Quite busy as it is Saturday and the weather was hot (about 35 degrees). Good performances but as it is close to Halloween here there were lots of 'gory' horror type things happening, which didn't interest us.

Comparing this park to Disneyland ... we were far more impressed with Disneyland. There was no alcohol served at D whereas U/S had beer and cocktails able to be purchased everywhere, with people walking around drinking. Also D there were designated smoking areas, whereas U/S it seemed that you could smoke anywhere.

However, overall it was a great day. Easy to get there and back. Now enjoying relaxing in our hotel rooms (which are VERY nice).

Disneyland day 2

Spent a second day walking around Disneyland. Still much more to see but ran out of time (was there from 10.30am to 7pm). The Pooh Bear honey pot photo was just for you Bron ... even went on the Pooh Bear ride! Moved on to our last hotel 'Luxe on Rodeo Drive'. Very swanky! The best part was we have interconnecting rooms so the kids have their own room with 2 double beds and we have a separate room with a king bed. After spending much of the time sharing a double bed both Nick and Steph are very thrilled to have some space.

We are here for 4 nights before coming home. We are very tired as we were picked up from Anaheim at 8pm and didn't arrive in Beverly Hills until 10.30pm.

Water, water, water ...

It was a very interesting experience participating in soaking strangers on rides! People rode in pirate ships around a track where cannons could be fired to wet other boats. Sounds easy enough - except on the edge of the ride enclosure where the passerby people stand, were more cannons aimed at the ride. The idea was to 'line up' the riders and soak them as they went pass. Totally fun!!!!! Glad we weren't riding it LOL

Legoland

Legoland was about 90 minutes bus ride from our hotel. While it was fun, it couldn't compare with Disneyland yesterday. One plus was there were not that many people there so the lines for rides were very short.

If you like being wet this was the place for you .... 4D shows where you get sprayed, rides where you either get wet from the ride or from spectators! The other thing to note that it rained on and off for most of the day - so we had to choose our times to ride the outdoor things. (It doesn't rain for 4 to 5 months and then on a day we are walking around ...)

The lego models were life-like and looked great. They were scattered all around the park, which was quite big. Andrew and Sharron even found some rides that they could cope with.