Day 34 (The final day). Disneyland. Wednesday 22nd January

Andrew and Jake were up the earliest to get to the early entry at California Adventure Park. They headed straight for the roller coaster for a couple more rounds. Andrew recorded both trips on the sports video camera (YouTube video here) and then they did the Tower of Terror again and again. Christine and Cam joined them after they did the Toy Story ride and the Soarin' Flight simulator. Unfortunately Chelsea needed more rest so she stayed in bed till Christine collected her at 12 O'clock. Before then, Christine wanted to have a good scream so joined Andrew for another go on the roller coaster while Jake and Cam went on Goofy's Flight School roller coaster. At midday the kids had a shadow silhouette made of each of them. (The artist has been working at Disneyland for 39 years!) We did some final shopping for souvenirs and spent a couple more hours chasing down some Disney Characters and having a last (for this visit anyway) look at Disneyland. We left the hotel at 5:30pm for LAX for a 9:30pm flight. Writing this as the plane is boarding.

                                  YouTube Video of Christine screaming on the Roller Coaster

Jake & Donald

Cam & Pluto

The last family photo of the trip

A slightly better feeling Chelsea and Minnie

Mickey and his new Mouseketeers 

 

Day 35. Los Angeles to Perth. Wednesday 23rd - Thursday 24th January

We've been home for a week now and have had time to unwind before school starts in a couple of days.
Our trip from LA was uneventful. Chelsea even managed to hold it in and not vomit on any of the 3 planes or airports! The 3 hour stop-over in Nadi, Fiji was just as boring as last time. We hope the airport is not a reflection of the rest of Fiji. We chose to use Fiji Air because they were cheaper than the other carriers and when you save a few hundred dollars per person on air travel it adds up to a heap more spending money. At least they have brand new aircraft for the long haul flight to and from LA & Fiji. The staff certainly aren't as polished as other carriers with poor inflight service. They didn't go that extra mile to make the flight more comfortable and it felt like once everybody had been given their small meal, their job was done and they would sit and rest for the next few hours. There was no offer of another drink. They also had some trouble controlling the cabin lights where rather than dimming them they we turned on full while many people were sleeping and it took a couple of minutes to rectify. But we got over to the US and back in one piece with no lost luggage. We had a 6 hour stop in Brisbane where we bought a new camera and some grog duty free and then found a corner at our departure gate for Chelsea to sleep in. We also found out that one of Cameron's rabbits had died a few days before, which was very upsetting for everyone (especially Cameron). The Qantas flight back to Perth was nice with individual iPads to watch the streaming movies and TV shows. Upon arrival we were relieved to see a lady holding a sign with our names at the luggage carousel. Luckily she had a large van as we only just squeezed in with our 5 large bags, numerous backpacks and shopping bags.Our house sitters had done a wonderful job as the place was spotlessly clean. Buddy and Jessie were very, very excited to see us. It took a few days for everything to be unpacked, washed and put away. The shelves are now adorned with new photos in frames, souvenirs and trinkets that will keep our holiday memories alive.

A recent survey was conducted and the following results for highlights of the trip were:

Andrew's was Banff

Christine's was Disneyland and Seaworld

Chelsea's was cruising Hollywood as a celebrity in style in a 66 Cadillac and Madam Tusauds Wax Museum

Jacob's was cruising around Legoland in a O6 39er for 5 mins and then the rest of Legoland.

Cameron's was Universal Studios

Jessie & Buddy with Cam enjoying a swim