Merry Christmas! Another Year Over....

Another year has flown by and if you are in regular contact you would be aware that we had an adventure this year, the Powells went global. Our flight plan was Singapore, Frankfurt, Budapest, Split (Stay in Croatia 2 months and visit Venice, Dubrovnik and Zagreb) then back to Budapest, London, New York, LA (only after we had a flight cancelled and ended up going to LA via Boston), drive around California, Arizona and Nevada, Tokyo, Phuket, Hong Kong and home. The blog was only kept up to date with posts in Croatia however Stephen managed to keep the posts up to date on his class website http://misterpowell.edublogs.org/ . We had a fantastic adventure and the children were really really good considering what we parents put them through.

It was wonderful spending 2 months with Fran's family with Stephen, Kayla and Caleb finally having some understanding as to what makes Fran and her family tick! We swam everyday, and we ate way too much food and Stephen drank way too much beer. The weather was hot and humid which was unusual by Croatian standards. We could write about Croatia forever, but you can go to the older posts to read about our thoughts and observations.

London was great, Stephen finally enjoyed it as last time he was run off his feet looking for visas! Our accommodation was great (Think Apartments in Earls Court) and we managed to navigate our way around with seeing Wicked as a highlight and the natural History Museum. Harrods - overrated and way too expensive!

Off to New York and we were amazed at it's size and feeling of safety, we did not feel at any time at risk from the wonderful people of New York. Our hotel was amazing (The Beacon) and we were lucky to have a room on the 23rd floor overlooking Central Park. The kids enjoyed seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway but jet lag caught up with Caleb with him sleeping through. We navigated the subways and walked and walked and walked doing the usual touristy things. Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Rockerfella Centre, Central Park, Park Avenue, Time Square, New York Museum of Natural History, New York Zoo, Maceys, Bloomingdales, Tiffanys....we saw a lot in 4 days.

After a somewhat disappointing flight change at JFK Airport we observed Boston from the terminal before heading on 'shonky' airlines (American Airlines) to LA. The children were so tired but lucky for us Disneyland doesn't open to 10am, so the kids could sleep in a little before 2 days at the Happiest Place On Earth! We had a blast and were amazed when we bumped into and Education Assistant from Sawyers Valley at California Adventure Park (Part of Disneyland). Two days was enough at Disneyland and it was time for us to hit the road with some trepidation. Driving on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car was enough to strike terror in the hearts of Stephen and Fran. To make things worse we had to navigate 6 lane freeways straight away! We had a very comfortable Chrysler Town & Country and a GPS! We drove to Palm Springs, Phoenix Arizona, Scottsdale, Sedona (Amazing - we all want to live there) Meteorite Crater, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas then back to Aneheim. LA was dirty and busy and we were glad we had only one night before flying out to Tokyo.

We landed late afternoon in Tokyo and went straight to our Ryokan. We had a walk and found Stephen's apartment where he use to live. The next day we met up with Harumi and visited the Sumo Museum, Edo Museum, a beautiful 400 year old park, Fish market sushi restaurant, Imperial Palace and Asakusa. We needed to have an early night as we were required to be up early for our flight to Phuket via Hong Kong. We were getting tired now.

We landed in a very wet and soggy Phuket. Thialand floods were bad and the day before there were land slides. We tried to rest as much as possible, swimming and doing very little sight seeing. We rode elephants and went to a show, and that was enough. We were well and truly ready to go home. Just one more stop.

We headed back to Hong Kong for 2 nights and had a half day tour of the island. It was very wet and crowded, again, we had had enough and couldn't wait until our final, number 13, flight.

Highlights were  Croatia ~ Beautiful, Sedona ~ Beautiful, Grand Canyon ~ Amazing, New York ~ Friendly, Tokyo ~ Clean and friendly - we were disappointed that we couldn't stay longer but with the radiation risk, it wasn't wise. London ~ helpful and cheaper than expected.

Apart from the 3 months away, Stephen had a great Year 6/7 class, Fran was busy working 3 days a week, Kayla completed Year 3 and Caleb Year 1.

This week we had our car broken into and we lost many items including the brilliant camera we had whilst away. A very sad end to a wonderful year, but we are all safe and well. We are looking forward to more adventures in VANessa in the holidays and hope to go away lots in 2012. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year! With love from the Powell Famliy xxxx ~O~