Day 38 - Saturday 9th January 2010

We were up, packed and back up the Strip to the Venetian for brunch , and we wanted to have a 3D photo in crystal done as a souvenir ( we are soooo touristy at times!!). We then jumped in a taxi in order to collect our bags and get to the airport by 2pm as our flight to Los Angeles left at 3.

By the time we got to LA we had decided that if it was at all reasonable we were going to try and upgrade our tickets for the flight back to Heathrow - the thought of another 11 hour flight squeezed into tiny seats with no chance of even a nap (let alone a sleep) was too much on which to end such a fantastic holiday.

I can tell you now that they welcome you into Premium economy with a couple of glasses of champagne and that's all I am saying!!

We caught the shuttle coach down to Gatwick, a train to H.H then persuaded the taxi driver to ignore the 'Road Closed" sign at Church Road ( apparently it had been closed for a few days because of the weather) and we were soon trudging our bags thru the snow and up to the flat.

Sadly, this will be the last blog as we are now back home where reality ( and a huge pile of post) are waiting! Luckily we have good friends who had braved the weather to fill our fridge with essentials - thanks Chris and Elaine.

The snowy scene awaiting us when we returned home

Day 37 - Friday 8th January 2010

Woke late (hardly surprising) but had to get going as we wanted to see all the themed casinos, boarded an open top sightseeing bus (which seemed like a good idea but was absolutely freezing) so got off at first stop - Treasure Island, or Ti's as it is now known.

We bought a sweatshirt each and decided to walk the Strip, going in and out of as many places as we could - some are absolutely incredible and cover huge amounts of land - our favourite was the Ventian with a mini Venice (inside and out) complete with canals, gondolas, cafes and Leonardo inspired ceilings!

Caesars Palace had Rome while the Mirage had a zoo for the white Lions and Tigers and several pools for dolphins. The Luxor was egyptian inspired and its entrance is the Sphinx with various 'Mummies' and hieraglyphics dotted around and, The Bellagio , of course, has the fountains!

We made it back to Ti's in time to watch their outside show which involves sirens (female variety looking like pole dancers) luring young pirates (male variety looking like Chippendales) onto their ship and then having a cannon fight with the pirate ship!! Got that? Very entertaining and helped along by drinking some, really moreish, rum coffees!

We had managed to get half price tickets for a show at Winns Casino so we decide to head straight there and have dinner first and then went to watch Le Reve, which was kind of like Cirque du Soleil in a lake! The tiered theatre seats were sited in a circle around an enormous lake from which the dancers and acrobats emerged on platforms where they then performed the dream (le reve) sequence in their various skills. Jon and I were mesmerised at the sheer 'magic' created by the spectacle and could have watched it several times over - absolutely brilliant! We rushed to buy the DVD (we felt sure there must be one) but no - they only produce a CD for the music!! The only photos I had been able to take ( they were very funny about camera use) was of the final stage - we are gutted as it would have been fab to watch at home.

Still we did see Elvis on the way back to our hotel!!

Day 36 - Thursday 7th January 2010

Today we start our return journey, but we have been told that there is still a lot of snow at home , so we head off for the shops to buy some warm clothes for our arrival in the UK.

There was extensive, additional and time consuming security procedures in place at the airport check in (on account of recent events over the Christmas period) but we were finally on our way and heading to Las Vegas - where timewise we actually landed before we had left!!

We were staying at Circus Circus, which is one of the older Casino hotels but still had plenty of activity - we had a quick look round and then went to bed for a couple of hours.

Refreshed to the point thta we decided to go down to the casino for a bit of a flutter and didn't get to bed until 4am (so much for trying to correct the body clock) following an obscenely large hot dog and an ice cream!!!

Well it is Vegas!!

Day 35 - Wednesday 6th January 2010

We were up, packed and on our way by 9.30am and stopped at our 'biker' cafe for breakfast before heading off to the airport in Cairns to drop off the car.

Our flight to Sydney was at 1.30 and we lost an hour again due to the time change but arrived safely back at the Sheraton in Darling Harbour - and also another bottle of bubbly to welcome us in our room - they certainly know how to encourage you to return!!

After freshening up a bit we walked into along the harbour and chose a restaurant for our last meal in Australia - we decided on the Blue Fish as we wanted fish and chips and they had an award for the best in 2009 - rightly deserved as they were delicious - and it was still warm enough to sit outside.

We will be sad to leave as Sydney was definitely our favourite city.

Day 34 - Tuesday 5th January 2010

Finally got a photo of us in our diving gear!

Looks quite impressive but as I said yesterday I think I will stick with the snorkelling!

Today Jon was going fishing so we had to be at the marina by 8am so he could enjoy a bacon butty first!

Having seen him off on the 'Dragon Lady' with about 6 others I drove up to Silky Oaks Lodge outside Mossman, as Joanne had told me they had a fantastic spa ( unfortunately they didn't have anything for me) but it was a lovely place set in the trees overlooking a river.

Back to Port Douglas for shopping - surprise!!
Found a jeweller who mended my necklace and got chatting about silver and jewellery making - he been doing it for 30 years - and he showed me his 'magic' silver solder paste in a tube which he says has completley changed the way he works ( Debbie take note!).

Had a swim in the pool at the hotel and then met up with Jon at the marina where he was swapping fishy tales with his new buddy Terry ( birthday boy) and had a few drinks with them.
Amid much chuckling it seems Jon had caught a 15' shark but unfortunately the photos are on Terrry's camera so I cannot share this amazing feat with you!
Apparently Jon had the first catch but it was only half a fish as the shark had bitten through it whilst it was on the fishing line!
I am sure Jon will dine out (or drinks at The Star) for many a month to come.
Packing tonight as we are returning to Sydney tomorrow as we start our journey home via Las Vegas.

Day 33 - Monday 4th January 2010

We were up with the lark and ready for collection by 8am to go to the Marina in Port Douglas, and once there, we boarded the Calypso catamarran - got signed up and issued with our equipment ready for a briefing from Sabrina, our guide. In no time we were being told how to use our equipment, the process of getting down to the seabed, dealing with problems and all the hand signals needed to understand what our guide wanted us to do!!! Brain ache before we even put a mask on!!
We were in the first group and at 11am our dive on the great barrier reef began - slight hicccup for me when Sabrina wanted us to take our mouthpiece out, drop it, retrieve it, put it back in and then blow the water out - needless to say I didn't quite manage it in that order so Sabrina and I returned to the surface for her to calm me down!!
After that it was just sheer magic to be able to go all over the reef viewing the most amazing coral and the fish who live there - we did have a problem with an aggressive trigger fish but thankfully Sabrina shooed him away ( told us later that they can bite when they think their young are threatened).
When our time was up we returned to the boat and had a great lunch - saw the photos and then went to a couple of different sites to snorkel ( think i am a snorkeller rather than a diver at heart!).
When we returned to the hotel we had a really quick shower and change and we were back out to the Tjapukai Park for an evening show and dinner - really good night and, again, excellent food.
By the end of the evening we were absolutely shattered but will need to be up early again for Jon to go fishing.

Day 32 - Monday 3rd January 2010

Up at 8am and drove to the Tjapakai, where we walked through the park and watched the aborigines telling us about their history and showing us the skills that they are taught from childhood - didgeridoo, bush foods, boomerang and spear throwing ( which they insisted we had a go at) needless to say I don't think I would be any good as an aborigine!

We followed this with a quick visit to a simulated opal mine and learnt how they mined for opals - didn't buy any as they all seemed to be extremely rare and therefore extremely expensive!!

Then on to Hartley's Crocodile Adventure Park - this was truly amazing , scary and

very interesting all in one go, especially as the guy is standing in the water wrestling a piece of cow with Hagrid, the croc, whilst telling us all about the people who have been killed by being stupid around crocodiles!!

Forget 'Jaws ' this is one very dangerous critter!

By now we are dripping with the heat so have to drive immediately back to the nearest bar for a drink.

Stayed in Port Douglas for our evening meal and then off to bed - it's our dive to teh reef tomorrow!