Monday, April 18, 2011
Las Vegas trip 4 - 11th April 2011
First day and we had to go to the camera shop for a memory
stick for the new camera - just in case we took toooooomany photos.
This is our digs - the Excalibur Hotel and Casino
The Bellagio Hotel was having a flower extravaganza - just beautiful!!
These are handblown glass.
The Flamingo Hotel - with of course .................
Then there were the street performers
Inside the Excalibur - pokies forever, even old hand pull operated ones.
The Luxor Hotel - our neighbour
The Palazzo
Yay!!!!!
Margaritaville - couldn't get in, it's so popular
MGM Grand - grand hotel
REAL LION INSIDE.The well known Mirage
Caesars Palace (where daughter Glynda is wardrobe mistress)
Some tower
Fountain show at the Bellagio
The Lady herself at New York New York Hotel
The amazing Venitian Hotel - canals, gondelas and gondeliers
but the ceilings inside were out of this world!!!
And for all you rockers
And drinks came in all sorts of containers - yard
glasses, guitars and measuring jugs
BUT
The two highlights and the main reasons for our trip -
catching up with daughter Glyn and Steve
and meeting our two Grandchildren, Krystal and Maddison
AND ALSO
Renewing our wedding wows on our 10th anniversary
with Ted as page boy, groomsman and witness.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
and now for Las Vegas.
!! Bitterly disappointed we returned the van and caught the shuttle bus to the airport where we wasted time waiting for our flight.
Now this is where the time really gets mucked up.
We flew out of NZ on 4th April on a new Air New Zealand aircraft – 777 300. looks lovely from the outside but inside, unless you are able to afford 1st class, it is still squishy and we had second last row seats. Flight was 12 hours something and of course it’s almost impossible to sleep on a plane!! Anyway eventually we landed in Los Angeles, cleared Customs and Security and found the terminal for our LV leg. Would you believe that although this was only a domestic flight we had to strip off belts and shoes as well. Must have thought we were Maxwell Smart (shoe phone) and 99. Caught the shuttle to Excalibur Hotel and it was still 4th April and just dropped into bed. The next week was taken up with all new sights, smells and sounds. Let the photos tell some of the story. In Vegas one can walk around inside buildings and even down the streets with alcoholic drinks in your hand. Try that in Brissy or Surfers!! The main reasons for coming to LV were to see our daughter Glynda and her family and to renew our wedding vows, we’ve been married 10 years to the day. The ceremony was short and the costumes, while fun, were as heavy as anything and really hot. Photos were taken by the Chapel photographer and here are a few. We met Glynda and family for what ended being an all too short time. It was our first meeting with the girls and they are quite delightful with many searching questions. It all went well and they loved the Aussie souvenirs we had taken for them. The rest of our time in LV was spent walking, shopping, walking, taking photos, eating new and unfamiliar food, walking and trying to understand what was being said to us. And of course sleeping. The days just went passed in a blur and so many times we had no idea of how late it was after downloading the photos to the computer, a few drinks in the room and surfing the TV. Most of the workers seemed to be either Mexican or of Mexican descent-----Australians working in the service industry could and should take a lesson from them. Service was so good that we happily gave tips. Even Americans serving were absolutely fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble – I think the ones we see in Australia are the ‘wackos’. Ha ha ha.
Every morning when we awoke and dared to look in a mirror…………………what a sight!!!!!!!We both has trouble sleeping due to sinus problems. We should have taken photos of each other…….puffy eyes, suitcases under the eyes; not a pretty sight.
Photos to follow in next blog..............
Now this is where the time really gets mucked up.
We flew out of NZ on 4th April on a new Air New Zealand aircraft – 777 300. looks lovely from the outside but inside, unless you are able to afford 1st class, it is still squishy and we had second last row seats. Flight was 12 hours something and of course it’s almost impossible to sleep on a plane!! Anyway eventually we landed in Los Angeles, cleared Customs and Security and found the terminal for our LV leg. Would you believe that although this was only a domestic flight we had to strip off belts and shoes as well. Must have thought we were Maxwell Smart (shoe phone) and 99. Caught the shuttle to Excalibur Hotel and it was still 4th April and just dropped into bed. The next week was taken up with all new sights, smells and sounds. Let the photos tell some of the story. In Vegas one can walk around inside buildings and even down the streets with alcoholic drinks in your hand. Try that in Brissy or Surfers!! The main reasons for coming to LV were to see our daughter Glynda and her family and to renew our wedding vows, we’ve been married 10 years to the day. The ceremony was short and the costumes, while fun, were as heavy as anything and really hot. Photos were taken by the Chapel photographer and here are a few. We met Glynda and family for what ended being an all too short time. It was our first meeting with the girls and they are quite delightful with many searching questions. It all went well and they loved the Aussie souvenirs we had taken for them. The rest of our time in LV was spent walking, shopping, walking, taking photos, eating new and unfamiliar food, walking and trying to understand what was being said to us. And of course sleeping. The days just went passed in a blur and so many times we had no idea of how late it was after downloading the photos to the computer, a few drinks in the room and surfing the TV. Most of the workers seemed to be either Mexican or of Mexican descent-----Australians working in the service industry could and should take a lesson from them. Service was so good that we happily gave tips. Even Americans serving were absolutely fantastic. Nothing was too much trouble – I think the ones we see in Australia are the ‘wackos’. Ha ha ha.
Every morning when we awoke and dared to look in a mirror…………………what a sight!!!!!!!We both has trouble sleeping due to sinus problems. We should have taken photos of each other…….puffy eyes, suitcases under the eyes; not a pretty sight.
Photos to follow in next blog..............
Ummm. Today is the day after the last day. Saturday 2nd!!!!!!
Saturday 2nd
Drove to the city centre and sought some gifts and looked for a Duty Free shop. None there. The whole place was almost deserted!
Sunday 3rd
From Rotorua to Auckland today staying at a privately owned “caravan park” – I use this term very loosely. It was built on the side of a steep hill with smallish sites that were quite hard to get any van into. We watched an elderly gent and his wife manoeuvre their small van and car in and out a few times before finally parking not too straight, but they’d had enough - and they did all this for only one night! Time for drinkies, dinner and early night as we were flying out the next evening and had loads to do and see before then.
Monday 4th
Our plans for today are quite simple:
1. Visit Auckland Zoo until about 2pm
2. Have a drink at the minus 5 degrees Ice Bar then head to the van drop off and airport.
Sounds all so simple until your Garmin leads the way. I swear it was set on “avoid any easy route, main road” or “take as many turns and steep roads”. Eventually we found the Zoo and lucky us, it was kids day, yep Monday is kids day.
Drove to the city centre and sought some gifts and looked for a Duty Free shop. None there. The whole place was almost deserted!
Sunday 3rd
From Rotorua to Auckland today staying at a privately owned “caravan park” – I use this term very loosely. It was built on the side of a steep hill with smallish sites that were quite hard to get any van into. We watched an elderly gent and his wife manoeuvre their small van and car in and out a few times before finally parking not too straight, but they’d had enough - and they did all this for only one night! Time for drinkies, dinner and early night as we were flying out the next evening and had loads to do and see before then.
A nice stretch of road - somewhere! When is somebody going to invent a camera so you can add a
caption straight away? Oh! they have already......
Monday 4th
Our plans for today are quite simple:
1. Visit Auckland Zoo until about 2pm
2. Have a drink at the minus 5 degrees Ice Bar then head to the van drop off and airport.
Sounds all so simple until your Garmin leads the way. I swear it was set on “avoid any easy route, main road” or “take as many turns and steep roads”. Eventually we found the Zoo and lucky us, it was kids day, yep Monday is kids day.
Trundlers! Cos that's what you do when you shop!!!
ZOOTIME
Ted escaped!!!!!!!!!!
HMMMM..who is the fattest
Dancing Ostrich - needed a video
These are what happens when a government designs an animal
(stuffed) Kiwi
We were so happy to meet Christine - we have been watching her on TV for ages.
As soon as Val pulled out the camera Janey posed. She loves contact and the keepers sit and read to her. She loves to watch TV and her favourite toy is a pretend mobile phone.
These are Siamangs - Christine reared Iwani from a few weeks old till he was about 1 year.
Lion Headed Golden Tamarin
Meerkat on watch
Annd she woke up and peed and peed and peed ad infinitum
What a poser! Knows how good he looks!
These are brothers.
On behalf of our grand and great grandchildren (using money that we would normally spend on X-Mas gifts), we donated money to the Auckland Zoo's Orang Utan fund.
In 8 days this was all the distance we covered!
Oh - why no photos of the -5 Ice bar - there was nowhere to park the campervan!!!!!!!
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