More fantastic activities in New York, and thank goodness not all on the same day.
CENTRAL PARK ZOO
We had a great horse and carriage ride through the park checking out all of the sights before getting to the zoo. Once there it was off to the 4D Theatre for some freezing snow action in the Planet Earth - Ice World movie. Not as big as we were expecting but fun none the less. Again, all the kids talked about was the movie Madagascar which has a similar setting.
The clock tower enterance to the Childrens Zoo at Central Park Zoo.
Here we are.
Emily at yet another penny machine, she ended up collecting over 30 from all of the places we went to.
Lyndon and his rather large nuts!
Dylan and Emily at the sea lion enclosure, which is where Alex the lion lives in the movie Madagascar.
Everyone's favourite - the polar bear
The carnival area outside in Central Park
The baseball pitch in Central Park
Us, after our carriage ride from 5th AVE through Central Park to the Zoo.
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
Sorry, these pictures are a little out of order but amazing none the less. We had about a 2 hour wait to get to the top, ie buying tickets, going through a security check, watching a video on how it was built and all other relevants facts of the era, it was finally great to be at the top of this icon and enjoy the amazing view.
Central Park view.
The Chrysler Building view.
A family shot at the top with a view down to Staton Island.
The cage to keep the crowd in.
A street view up to the top.
Looking down the Hudson River with a US Naval ship coming in for Navy Week.
Looking at the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island.
Looking down to Battery Park where the chess games are played.
At the enterence with a lego version.
A view of the Empire State Building from the corner of our hotel.
ROCKAFELLAR CENTRE AND TOP OF THE ROCK VIEWS
For someone who organised this holdiay to almost within an inch of its life, I did let the kids down on one aspect. The ice skating rink at the centre is so famous that I thought it was actually a permenant tourist venue that operated all year round. Unfortunately for us, I was mistaken as it only appears in winter when the courtyard (pictured below) is frozen over. Oh well, maybe the next visit will have to be in winter. We chose to do the Top of the Rock in the night time (for a different perspective), as it pretty much provides the same views as the Empire State Building which we had already seen the day before. Plus, we did it on our last night in New York so it was a wonderful way to finish off our holiday, definately views to remember.
The courtyard surrounded by the flags of the world, and yes, we did find Tonga, eventually!
The same courtyard, this time surrounded by US flags as it was Memorial Day Monday.
Similar to the Empire State Building, before reading the top you are educated on how it was built and the records it brokein doing so. Here is a picture of some of the workers taking a lunch break many, many stories above the ground.
North view down toward Central Park, the mostly black section to the left.
East view overlooking Queens, and the Waldorf Astoria hotel where a 1 bedroom Apt costs $4800 per month.
Southeast view with the Bear Stearns building lit up in the foreground and the Chrysler Building lit in the back.
South view into Downtown and the Empire State Building in Red, White and Blue.
A heat and movement sensor on the walls and ceilings provided a good little break for the kids, big one included.
WORLD TRADE CENTRE - GROUND ZERO
What can I say, other than this is probably the most emotional place I have ever seen. I was pregnant with Dylan when this drama unfolded and watched it all on live TV. Even now, 10 years later, it still evokes such high emotion. Being a cry baby, even on the best of days, it was extremely difficult to go through the memorial without turning into a blubbering mess. In the end I did not care that I was crying about the maddness of it all, because, you know what, so were many other people. Even today while writing this, I have a tear in my eye. The visitor centre was truley amazing and ground zero itself an eye opener. If you are interested in more information I suggest you visit the website www.tributewtc.org and www.GroundZeroMuseum.com
St Pauls Chapel is across the road from where the WTC stood, it instantly became a refuge for those searching for loved ones and the emergency workers.
The Flag of Honor lists all of the names of those lost on Sept 11.
A collection of service badges of emergency workers.
Having only a small idea of what went on and why we were visiting the church, the kids pretty soon picked up on the spirit of things and after watching others light a candle, they wanted to do the same.
A church pew that was worn through (upolstory replaced) but original scuff marks from workers boots. A genuine fire uniform is a permenant reminder of those that rested here during the clean up.
Tower 3 being re-built.
Ground Zero, the construction of one of the memorial pools in the foot print of where one of the original towers stood. We were there in May, they definately worked long and hard to get it finished before the 10yr anniversary in September, just 4 months later.
Many streets in the New York boroughs had there own little memorials. This one, a collection of photographs and messages, is from local school children.
A wall dedicated to those who were never found.
Arial view of the memorial pools, the exact foot print of tower one and two.
This is the how the new WTC site will look once finally completed.
TIMES SQUARE
It doesn't get any more action packed that here, plenty going on here in "the city that doesn't sleep"! A TV show being filmed, excerise classes, movies played on the side of buildings, buskers, it has it all. You can definately sit here for hours and watch the world go by, seeing some extremely strange things whilst you are at it.
Our first trip into Times Square, a 4 block walk from our hotel, just up the road past Macys Department Store.
The NYPD eye in the sky - just keeping an eye on things.
Part of Navy Week celebrations saw a military display in the middle of Times Square. These marines were waving to us on top of our tour bus becuase Dylan had just yelled out to them.
One of the best restaurants we ate in all holiday - Bubba Gumps, named after the legendary movie Forrest Gump.
Dylan trying on Forrests' shoes for size.
Emily wishing that the box of chocolates was real.
The tower that drops the ball every new years eve.
And... the ball itself.
Bright lights, big city, the heat coming off these buildings was incredible.
Of course, another M&M world for the kids.
When in New York, one must act like a New Yorker, i.e. get your photo taken with a stranger, in Jodie's case, she had to have 2 of them, and sailors none the less!
The largest Toys R Us store in the world, apparently. Must be pretty close and it has a full size, functioning ferris wheel inside, covering 3 floors.
A spot of snad sculpting to keep you occupied for awhile.
No visit to New York would be complete without a visit to Broadway. Again, when in New York, and having come all this way there was no chance of us skimping on $$$ and just going to any old production. Having already seen the Lion King in Vegas, the only other child friendly production was Mary Poppins. It was a fantastic show and still has the kids wondering how on earth does she fly with an umbrella???
Dyl and Em trying to join in on the act.
It was a magnificant theatre and a truely amazing show. Only thing Jodie couldn't get her head around was the champagne served in a plastic Mary Poppins sippy cup, oh well, can't have everything.
After dinner Jodie (with Elvis super sipper in hand) was showing off her spoils from Graceland to Paul who is also Elvis mad. Yep her own Jailhouse rock pool cue.
This led to a snappy showing of the Quirke wedding vow renewal by Elvis in Vegas.
AND.... then Elvis hit the floor, jump suit and all. Rachael and Jodie loved it.
Rachael quickly became Elvis's newest fan! Apparently the red G-string was not hers.
Elvis with his back up dancers!
Elvis even brought some of his own latex.
Carl just couldn't help himself, possible a twin split at birth???
Yes the mask made the rounds and so did the cue!
Jodie can never get enough of "The King" see he lives on in the "KING"dom of Tonga. "Oh Elvis I love you... was all she could say"
Possibly the guitar gives it away Carl. Ah-uh.
After a 4 am finish what better way to recover than a sleep in till 10am, a debrief in bed then staying in your PJ's for the entire day. 
We organised a kava bowl from us boys engraved with all the Patrol boat names, Base name and their Tassie farm name (SWEETWATER) around the rim and all our names on the 4 legs. Sadly Sam and family missed out as they are overseas and we needed to present it to them early as it weighed a tonne and they needed to get it in their container with all the other artifacts, as Mark says.
The girls had to jump in for a group shot too. Linda cooked a magnificent roast, then it was time to finish off all the left over spirits.
Dylan powered home in the run, Tomasi did the swim.
Finally the girls did a dance which they learnt at dance classes and taught the other girls.
After Tennis that night we caught up with the "Fab 5" at Dom and Hannah's place for dinner and what else do you do on a winters night? Roast marshmellows of course! Who said it needs to be cold in winter?
We even managed to teach the night guards the way of roasting marshmellows.
This was Leilani first ever attempt too. The picture says it all - a tad close to the flame for the first time around which ended in the flamming marshmellow.
