Some Tour Statistics

Some Random Stats from the tour
Photos Taken - 4300 (Thailand 65, Malaysia 72, Singapore 15, Australia 462, New Zealand 1274, Fiji 34, USA 1285, Canada 1232)
Items Stolen - Half a Baguette, Cheese and Ham (The cheeky idiot actually made a sandwhich)
Items Lost - A few socks, 1 Baseball Cap, Olly the Otter :(
Number of Flights - 18
Problems with Homeland Security - 1
Best Friends weddings missed - 1 (Sorry dude)
Miles Driven - TBA
Miles Hiked - TBA


If anyone in Australia finds Olly the Otter then please contact me

A big Thank You

Oct 22nd. I just want to say a big thank you to all the awesome people I met during my trip and everyone who bothered to read my blog (Including my 'friends' at Homeland Security). It was you all who made it a very special 9 months. As to what I do next, who knows - I am free to go wherever I want so having lots of options is good. It is certainly good to have my own room again - no more bunk beds and strange people at hostels for a while.

Any Questions?

JFK to London - The Final Leg

My flight is due to leave at 20:30 and after a slight delay due to traffic on the runway I am off up into the Sky for the 6 ish hour flight home. The in flight entertainment is sweet - Everything is available on demand and you can pause movies/TV shows as well. As it is a BA flight then the food is pretty good (so far as airline food can be good). The only problem is my inability to sleep on planes so I arrive in London (8:40 local time) absolutely exhausted. Clearing Passport control is a breeze - Homeland Security take note - you can do your job and be pleasant at the same time.

Final Day Fun

Oct 17th. Well it has finally arrived - the last day of the World Tour 2007. I head into town with a new friend I made the previous day - Michelle from Oz with the purpose of doing a bit of shopping and wandering aimlessly around. We start out having a look at Macy's - the biggest store in the World - 1 block and 9 storeys - it really is huge and looks big from the top of the Empire State Building. We are in search of some trainers (sneakers) for her and some baseball caps for me and maybe some tourist crap to take home. After successfully getting what we wanted, we head to lunch and Michelle bursts out laughing as Shrek and a Camera crew walk past the window behind me. We head off 'Shrek hunting' and find him immediately in Times Square and he is kind enough to pose for some pictures inbetween filming something. Also we get some pics with NY policemen - They were happy to pose for the camera but when I suggested they pretend to Arrest Michelle, they weren't as amused. After some wanderings we end up in Starbucks where I have a Strawberry Mocha Latte Crapachino or something like that and am delighted to find someones hair in it - The serving girls look scared as they are expecting me to pull out a DIY lawsuit from my pocket but I settle for another beverage. After this we head back to the hostel so I can pick up my bags, have a final cup of tea and then after saying our goodbyes, I get the subway to the Airport. This is about Rush hour and brings back 'happy' memories of the Tube in London - It was a pleasant 2 hours with my bags but I finally get to the airport with 2 1/2 hours to spare.
Pictures (Left) - Shrek and I in Times Square, (Right) - Michelle with NY's finest, (Bottom) - 'chelle and I sporting our Baseball Caps in Starbucks

Yankee's Suck

Well, I was going to do a Stadium tour around the famous Yankee stadium in the Bronx but when I inquire I am told that they aren't doing it today. Must be something to do with them getting knocked out of the play offs early unlike my team (and arch rivals) the Boston Red Sox. I enjoyed wearing my Red Sox cap around here anyway.

Load of Bull

I walk again past that Charging Bull Statue - It is less busy so I take some pictures. Check out the cajone's

Ellis Island

Well, I couldn't be bothered to see Ellis Island so here is a picture of it as the boat went past. The views of downtown Manhattan itself were cool as we head back to South Battery Park to end the trip.

The Statue of Liberty

Oct 16th. After watching the Cleveland Indians defeat the Boston Red Sox last night (Damn), I head out to Liberty Island to get a close up view of the Rusted icon of the Statue of Liberty (Originally it was bronze before rusting green after 30 years). The boat heads to Liberty Island and the weather is sunny again. The Lady herself stands proudly over the entrance to NY. Security is tight before boarding the boat and once we reach the island, I do a walk around it and then catch the boat over to Ellis Island.

The Empire State Building

After an abortive attempt to go to Liberty Island due to excess people in the queue, I head back into Central Manhattan and go and check out the Empire State Building. Since 9/11, It has regained its place as the tallest building in New York and it offers spectacular 360 degree views of the city. The only down side to the experience was the incessant people trying to sell you a Skyride or Upgrade to 102nd floor or listen to Joe the Taxi drivers commentary or get a map of the top so you know what you are seeing. OK, this is fair enough before I have bought my ticket so I know the options but after deciding to get the thing, I don't want to be asked every few steps whether I wanted to buy the things that I just turned down. I had timed the visit well as I didn't have to queue too long - sometimes during the busier days you can be waiting for 2-3 hours.
Pictures (Left) - The Empire State Buildnig, (Right) - View of Uptown, (Bottom) - View of downtown

Random Animal Pictures #89

A Turkey by Battery Park in South Manhattan near the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Quite what it is doing here I don't know but it seemed to get on well with the local squirrels.