Miami.  The sun was shining every day and the storms would brew every afternoon.  The temperature outside was almost unbearable and it seemed that as soon as you walked out the door you would start melting.  We spent most of the time hanging around the hotel in the air conditioning.  Nigel went on an adventure at one point to the laundromat.  Which as he got halfway there realised that he was literally on the wrong side of the tracks and thought it felt really dangerous.  Oh well he kept going as he was halfway there with a bag of dirty clothes.  That’s commitment to the laundry cause.

They have a free metromover over ground electric people mover.  It basically does loops of Miami and you just hop on and hop off when you want.  It’s free and moves millions of people everyday to where they need to be in reliable air conditioned comfort.  Listen up Auckland!! We took it to the beachside area one afternoon and it was a really fun discovery.  They had a band playing and people were down there for dancing and drinking.  There were whole groups of fairly elderly locals (who obviously go there often) dancing, having shots and generally having a great time.  What a fabulous way to spend an afternoon.

Our first cruise was on the Norwegian Sky and this one was an all inclusive drinks cruise which basically meant that when you got on they gave you a frozen margarita.  You had to pay for bottled water though and to be honest you get a little tired of the amount of food and drink you get on those boats.  But the ship was beautiful and we loved it.

First stop was Havana (ooh nah nah).  Our first look out the window of our cabin and we saw the cars.  All 1950’s pink, purple, green Cadillac’s and dodges.  These vehicles were imported in the fifties by the wealthy Americans who were all moving down to Cuba for the cigars and the sunshine and the music and the fun.  They were left there when the Americans all left and the locals have basically kept them going since then.  None of the parts are original and the motors are gas guzzling behemoth’s. It was literally exactly what you would think.  There are also a whole lot of Lada’s and funny little yellow electric beetle taxis.  There were also lots of horse and carts taking tourists for rides.  Nigel and I got off and got straight on the Hop on Hop Off bus (which we find is a really great way to get around a new city and work out what you want to stop at or go back and see again).

It was really fascinating.  The buildings were once beautiful and colourful and you can see the history in them.  They are now crumbling and empty and the few that are restored are once again beautiful on the outside but empty inside.  The shops that are not tourist stores have hardly anything in them and it reminded us of when we were in Russia in the 1990’s.  The tour takes you through Revolution Square where the iron faces of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara look down on the tourists being taken around in the square in old American cars.  We went back to the Central Parque area to sit outside and listen to the band that was playing in the local café and it was really surreal.  Then the thunder storms hit and we slowly meandered our way back to the ship.  One of the unique parts of this cruise is that the boat stays overnight so you can experience Havana in the evening as well which was a real treat.

We walked back right around the harbour area to the ship and saw the small fishing boats and kids playing in the sea.  The harbour was absolutely filthy though with more plastic bottles and rubbish than I’ve seen anywhere.  There was an oil slick from the rusting old Algerian Oil Tankers who supply Cuba with some of their crude oil.  The rest is supplied by Venezuela who are paying off their cold war debt in oil.  Cuba has also offered to pay off their cold war debt to the Czech Republic in Rum but I digress.  The harbour is an oily slick of plastic rubbish that no plastic bag ban in NZ will change in a hurry.  The infrastructure is growing for tourism though and they were really prepared for the 2000 passengers who were on the ship.  There are about 2 million tourists visiting every year now to Cuba and the locals are learning now how to beg.  They aren’t very good at it though and just sort of hold out their hand and smile at you.  You can buy fake Cuban cigars that are stolen by the factory works and sold on the street to unsuspecting tourists.  You can also probably wander about for many more hours than we did and find some amazing little hidey holes.

I really think that the tide has turned already for Havana though and if you want to see what people talk about you better get there quick.  It won’t be long before it’s like many of the other Caribbean ports with zip lining, day beds and frozen margarita machines.

Speaking of other ports we went from Cuba to the Bahamas.  It was actually an island owned by The Bahamas built up by Norwegian Cruise lines to have day beds, a band on the beach, as many hamburgers as you could eat, a frozen margarita machine and the warmest most beautiful water.   It was divine!  We spent the afternoon in the water getting sunburnt for the very first time on this trip though as we completely underestimated the Caribbean sun.  We could spend the whole day outside in Europe and not really feel the sun but a couple of hours in Bahamas and we were a little sorry for ourselves.  We learnt a very valuable lesson about that.

Then next thing we knew our ship was heading back to Miami, we were checking into another hotel and trying to find a laundromat.  “Seems that’s all you ever do in Miami Mum” said Stefan when we spoke to him and he was probably right.

I will never ever forget the first time I saw the Manhattan skyline.   I drove from our apartment in Wayne New Jersey and crossed the George Washington Bridge.  Nigel had a project and we had arrived at night and gone straight to our Condominium complex.  Our apartment was basically in the middle of the woods, with fireflys and deer and raccoons roaming about.  We had a private lake and seven swimming pools and on the weekends the apartment complex hosted wiener roasts.  We were so far from Manhattan and yet really only a 40 minute drive.

I remember seeing the skyline at first rising up in the distance.  The twin towers were huge and completely dominated the end of the island.  The Empire State was stunning and the Chrysler building was shiny and bright.  I loved it.  I drove across the bridge and encountered my first stoop and trash cans and hotdog vendors on the sidewalk.  It was literally like I had transported myself into Sesame Street.  I half expected Big Bird to come wandering around the corner.  I then worked out that the drivers in Manhattan were maniacs and there was nowhere to park so I saved my Manhattan adventures for when I would take the bus into Midtown.   It wasa always an experience to take the bus to Manhattan and then return to this little Oasis in the woods.

Same feeling all these years later but the Twin Towers are no longer and it’s been replaced with One World Trade.  Our first time in New York Nigel and I went up the Empire State and said we will go up the Twin Towers next time.  The next times we were in Manhattan we saw ground zero and a huge construction site and said we must go up that next time.  So finally managed a trip to the top this time and then wandered around the 9-11 memorial.  The lift ride up to the top is a really awesome experience and very theatrical.  The 9-11 memorial was quite moving.  Families there to celebrate birthdays and to remember those who died.  You know it’s their birthday as there is a white rose placed in their name by the staff.  I have to say that I really hope that there is never any day as shocking as 9-11 was for me.  Even now I still can’t believe it happened.

New York was fantastic and busy and covered in police and bollards and security everywhere.  We escaped the crowds and headed for a whole day in Central Park where we sat and watched the squirrels and walked and walked for hours.  It seemed that around every corner was another surprise and another person selling hotdogs.

A friend of mine who is a New Yorker had recommended that we do a show called Accomplice.  He said go with an open mind and your walking shoes and you’ll see a whole new side of New York.  I won’t spoil the surprises but it’s best described as a walking immersive experience through the streets of New York.  It starts with a phone call with your starting destination and then you go from there.  You never really know who are the actors and who are regular people.  It was absolutely brilliant and we both loved the puzzles and surprises and saw some awesome parts of the city.  Highly recommended way to spend a few hours and a few thousand steps in New York.

But our city adventure was over and we were off to the Airport again.  This time to fly to Miami where our Caribbean cruising adventure would start.

Nigel and I love a good Airshow and so we were particularly excited to head off on a train to Farnborough where we stayed in the most expensive Holiday Inn you can ever imagine.  To be fair it was where all the pilots were staying as it was literally 50 metres to one of the entrances to the show.  We woke up nice and early and went off to stock up on sandwiches and water bottles for what was going to be a big long day.

Farnborough Airport is massive and the outdoor displays of the planes went on and on and on.  What was good though in such a big space you never really felt crowded.  We had paid extra to be in a separate area where they provided deck chairs and nicer bathrooms so we headed straight there to find a good spot up on the fence line.

As soon as we sat down Nigel spotted the pyrotechnics in front of us.  The grass was also a very tinder dry shade of yellow after the hottest English Summer since 1976.  “When the grass catches on fire later we need to hope the wind is going the other way” Nigel said.

The show started with all the usual suspects but did include the only flying Lancaster Bomber in the world.  The F16 took off and landed twice in front of us.  The Red Arrows were spectacular with their red white and blue smoke and there was a helicopter that did aerobatics!  First time we had ever seen that.  Nigel was bit disappointed that there weren’t more things that we hadn’t seen before but all in all it was a really good day.

You have to give credit to the people who organise Warbirds over Wanaka though.  The organisation and the choreography at Warbirds was actually better than Farnborough and you can’t beat the beautiful Central Otago backdrop.  But as far as bucket list items this was one of them for us.  We have ticked that box!

Last thing before the end of the show the pyrotechnics did go off.  When we watched the video back later we realised that one of them had fallen over which is why the grass right in front of us caught fire.  The wind was going the other way so we got to watch the fire engines slowly come over while the people on the ground were trying to put the grass out by kicking dirt on it.  We really don’t think that they knew what to do in a grass fire as it caught really quickly.  The Red Arrows were due to take off again and had to wait for the smoke to clear before they could.  It was pretty exciting.

Back to our Farnborough hotel and then the next day back to London.  We had a couple of cruisy days just hanging about and getting ready for our next and final leg of our epic journey.