Day 17 Heading home

Whilst it was the end of yet another great trip, we were both ready to come home. As we had a late checkup and also pick up, we got to have a decent sleep before getting up to pack and have breakfast. The packing was easy, but we did have some concerns with the weight. Luckily the concierge had some scales and we were just within the limit. Technically we were allowed to have two big bags each, but we really didn't want to buy yet another suitcase. We'd bought quite a lot between us over the three weeks anyway, so we were more than satisfied with our purchased goods!

It as nice to be able to enjoy our breakfast at leisure, without the clock watching over us, dominating our minds and adding undue pressure. We had no issue getting to airport for the first flight, although it was slightly delayed. This didn't both us, as we knew there was a 5 hour wait at LAX.

At LAX itself, there seems to be a new terminal for departures, which was like a ghost town when we first arrived there by transit bus. There was hardly anything around, but our alcoholic beacons detected a little pub, so we headed there to breakup the monotony of the airport lounge. That plane was actually pretty busy, but it virtually had the monopoly in the area, so it was not surprise. At least this terminal still allowed us access to free wifi and also the chairs in the waiting area also had power points and iPhone jacks. Winner, winner! 

It was unfortunate though that our plane to Melbourne was delayed due to inclement weather.....but not weather in LA, it was the weather in New York. A plane that had a number of passengers heading to Australia from NYC, was delayed and so Qantas decided to wait for them. Fair enough though, as there would not have been another flight for a few days they said. The only reason it was hard for us, was because the airport was too cold and we were exhausted and keen for sleep. What was going to be an 11:30pm flight, turned into a 2am flight. Given that we'd already flown from the other side of the country, we were majorly in struggle town.

It was a longer than usual flight for some reason also....something to do with the wind, but eventually we made it home safe and sound and happy to see Cringer and Simba once we'd made it back to the house! 

Thanks to those who have read our blog.

Day 16 Last day before home

Well it was up early once again for our tour to the Everglades. We didn't have a long time in Miami, but. We certainly did as much as we could handle.

As yesterday's proceedings went, we travelled around in the bus picking up others and them we were off to our destination. The Everglades are about 40 minutes from the Miami Beach area, so it was a fair bit of travel time required first, with the trip out there itself, coupled with the collection of other guests.

We were ready and waiting for the Mosquitoes this time, armed with big spray like gunslingers. We absolutely hammered ourselves with it, but at least we were bight free upon the return to our hotel, later in the day.

The safari park itself was located just off the main Everglades highway and it did not disappoint. We started with an airboat ride, running for around 35 minutes, cruising around the waterways at pretty high speeds, in search of wild Crocodilians. The boat was pretty fun and it felt like drifting would when it took corners. We only saw one Alligator in the wild that day, but we were right next to it, n our very open boat.

Next we headed into a talk back at the park itself with one of the local guides. This guy was friggen awesome. He was passion personified! We actually learnt a fair bit about the reptiles within the Crocodilian family and about the differences between alligators and crocs. It was cool seeing the friendship that he had with the ones in captivity. After the information talk, there was an opportunity to hold Snappy the 4 year old gator. $3 a hold, but all the proceeds went to preservation of their habitats.....so a great cause. 

Our final part of the tour, was to wander around the paths of the park, so that we could see the ones that they breed within the property. They never had any the size of those at the Australia Zoo, but we still enjoyed ourselves and liked the tour overall.

Once we'd headed back to the hotel, we were starving, but the day was still young. We had heard the day before about a massive mall nearby called Adventura. Shopping time! Well we decided to go there initially to have lunch and catch a movie. This was a nice change, a lot more like our usual ways of home. After our yummy Japanese lunch, then to smash out some shopping before it was time to go off to see Man of Steel. 

Thinking about heading ack to the hotel, we knew that there weren't any great choices for dinner close to our hotel, so we found a place on the edge of the mall called The Cheesecake Factory. This joint was pumping and loads of people sitting outside waiting for tables. We weren't in a massive rush and were happy to wait, though in the end we didn't wait much at all. We were quite full after our lunch and popcorn, so we opted for some appetizers which were huge.....yet so delicious. Oh well not long now till we go back to regular eating. 

After a pleasant dinner and a great chat with our waitress, we took a cab back to the hotel to contemplate how to pack all the new gear. Three new pairs of runners plus the other pair and 6 others regular pairs of shoes was going to make things a bit tricky! Thank god we took some space saver bags with us! Winner! 

Day 15 Vanilla Ice Ice Baby

This morning was a little too early for our liking....omg we had to set the alarm for 7am.....eeewwww! Mind you, the snooze button did come into play a few times! After a delicious serving of pancakes for brekky, we got ourselves sorted for our tour and 8:30am pick up. The exercise and low carb diet is starting when we get home. No homemade pasta for two weeks at least....now that is something to cry about!

So we were picked up by Spanish The Rock, AKA Mario. The tour did not start until about an hour and 40 minutes of picking up other guests and swapping buses. The AC on the bus was absolutely pumping out the cool air, to a point where we could have put on a jumper, yet it was mid 30s outside of the bus. Eventually we got moving and the guide was actually pretty good. Along the way we collected some others from South Beach and actually started the tour near to there in the Art Deco historical area.

This location is home to some famous movies like Scarface, the Specialist and the Birdcage. In fact, there are many locations used here in tv and movies, like Miami Vice, Burn Notice and of course CSI Miami! Like our trip to New York in 2010, there are many recognisable spots here. This was also where Gianni Versace was shot and killed in 1997 by a nutter on a killing spree. 

We cruised on the little bus around Miami, checking it various districts and then headed into the 'Little Havana' area which is predominately a Cuban area (sorry to those who made that connection). We rolled up to the commercial area apparently, but really it was a chance to see cigars getting made. The owner was a cool dude, who just sat out the front of the store the whole time, posing for photos and smoking his cigar. Classic. It was pretty stinky in there for us, so we went to try a Cuban coffee at the diner next door. Woot.....it was strong, basically served like an espresso. 

Next we headed off to the Coral Gables district, which was absolutely gorgeous. This area had beautiful houses and had streets lined with very well grown banyan trees. Apparently the largest ones are found in Australia. Who knew that one? Not us, but we'll add it to our trivia knowledge bank. In this area we stopped by a public pool, called the Venetian swimming pool. It has been there for a little shy of a century and is fabulous to see. Pity we didn't have time to have a cheeky paddle.

We cruised past the Biltmore Hotel, built in 1926 and still to date has the largest swimming pool in the US and has been visited by Jerry Lewis, Bill Clinton and the notorious Al Capone. It was bizarre to see this hotel, as it was completely in a residential area, but was amazing to see and looked so well kept. 

As wee headed towards the harbour area for the second part of our tour, we travelled through downtown Miami. We boarded the boat after that cruised the islands in order to learn more about the city's history, as well as see the MASSIVE mansions owned by various celebs that inhabit this city.

It was a nice cruise - calm waters, lovely weather and interesting info. We saw some ridiculous houses though, way bigger than anyone would need. The largest of them all is owned by a Dr and his wife, who is also the owner of Viagra. Is this guy always overcompensating???? They built the house and it was $58 million to build. They have imported palm trees from Africa for a cool 10k each. They also bought the land next door for $15 million, so that they could build a greenhouse and extend their tropical gardens. It is definitely a city of those who have and those who have not! Would you pay $730,000 per year for land tax / rates? I'm not sure why we complain about ours now.

The other homes that we saw belonged to or formally belonged to: Liz Taylor, Shaquille O'Neil, Naomi Campbell's billionaire bf, the family that owns Parker pens, Puff Daddy and Vanilla Ice! How much money did that guy make from one song......straight home for some mixing we thinks!!!!

We had a long day in the end but decided that we weren't cool with having dinner at our very dead hotel, so we crabbed it back down to South Beach and decided it would be cool eating in Beach Avenue in the Art Deco area, which was a perfect hive of activity and the restaurant hub area that we were in search of.

Dinner tonight was a very similar affair, as we both had linguini vongole, a beautiful Italian pasta dish that we both absolutely loved in Venice last year. Washing it down with the Peroni also gave us good thoughts of our trip. It wasn't until they offered us a Limoncello that we realised it was actually an Italian restaurant. They did have Spanish music playing, so it was easy to miss. We broke out the Italian with our waiter after that and he was loving it! Another great day, topped off with a fabulous night out.

14 Welcome to Miami!

Please sing the title of our blog using a Will Smith accent!

Ok so we thought that we were going to be able to take our time a little more getting off the ship and that there was breakfast available....ba bow! No incorrect! We had to vacate our room by 9am which wasn't too bad. At least we'd been forced to pack last night anyway. That helped dramatically.

For some reason the company who had previously taken us to the ship did not offer a transfer service from the dock of Fort Lauderdale to Miami Beach hotels. A touch annoying, but in the end we grabbed a cab from the front of the cruise terminal building and got straight to our hotel, with not a care in the world. It was only 70 bucks including tax, which was cheaper than driving from the airport to the dock in the first place and we didn't have to drop anyone else off. Win win for us! 

We arrived early at the hotel and therefore our room wasn't ready. As we hadn't had anything to eat, it made perfect sense to have breakfast. The restaurant looks over the pool area, which in turn looks over the beach, so the view is pretty nice. The unfortunate thing about going to breakfast, was that they had a no electronic devices at the table policy, so we had to actually have a conversation! Lol! Unusual, different, new! They seemed very strict on this too....bastards. We were desperate to reconnect with the world, given that we were too tight to pay the $180 for a week of slow Internet on the cruise. We had literally gone dark! 

After a very long and enjoyable breakfast, we didn't have to wait long to be let into our room. This room is so big and fantastic and a MASSIVE difference to the cruise ship. Don't get us wrong, the cruise ship was nice, but this room is a completely different kettle of fish. We stayed in for a while, catching up on the blog and all the other usual social media and banking necessities. Yes Facebook is a necessity! 

We decided it was time to go out exploring, so we grabbed a cab and headed off to South Beach. We are just north of Miami Beach, but a little further away than we wanted to be, even though we quite like the hotel. South Beach is the area where it is all happening. This is the home of Lincoln Street strip mall and restaurant area. We hit it big time and have been able to add a few winners to our wardrobe when we return. Whilst we were there, we had a really late lunch at 5pm and chilled for a bit.

We got back about dinner time, but weren't overly hungry, though we ordered a small amount to nibble on from room service. Omg they are keen on a condiment. We couldn't believe the amount they gave us in mini bottles, which were clearly only to be used for one meal....bit of a waste really. 

We finished off with the night relaxing in the room, drinking our sparkling wine that we'd won on the cruise and kicking back. We are loving the weather here, especially at night, but now the return to ye olde Melbourne town is almost upon us and the winter woollies will be required once more!