The Quirke Tribe hit the US of A

Well, finally after months of research and planning the day had finally arrived for us to take off on our US trip. The countdown had started 2 months prior with a map on the wall marking all the places we were going and a running daily calander listing the activity for each day at each stop. Way too over organised if you ask Lyndon but atleast we had a plan, we didn't always stick to it, with chopping and changing of activities on a regular basis but we still saw everything we wanted too and even got in a few extra activities and sights that weren't planned. See..... I can do impromptu as well as organised. We flew from Tonga to Nadi, spent an hour there, then boarded the flight to LA which took 11hrs. The timing of the flights in and out of LA were good because they were overnight, so we watched movies then slept, then time for brekkie and then we were at our desitination so it really wasn't that much of a hassle. The kids did really well, Lyndon got the most sleep and I hardly had any due to a combination of nerves and excitment.

The first round of packing, eventually we took 3 half filled suitcases and came home with 4 full ones, 4 overfilled cabin bags and had already sent 4 parcels back home to OZ.







Emily and Dylan get ready to board the flight from Nadi to LA

Our first ever double decker plane ride - on the way home we got to sit up the top which the kids absolutely loved as Dylan was able to lie out straight on the side storage section under the window, that meant Lyndon and Emily could now share the 3 seats. I was across the isle, but sat next to 2 nice people from Brissy, so we just chatted and drank some wine before nodding off.

Arriving in the afternoon on the day we actually left (due to gaining a day over the date line) we finally landed, got off the plane onto the tarmac and then it was a 10 min bus ride to the terminal to collect our luggage. That in itself was mind blowing for the kids - they didn't understand how an airport could possibly be so big. It took ages to get through immigration and security (definately like you see on the TV shows) and then we finally got our luggage and went outside the terminal doors only to go "holy crap"!

We caught the Disney bus to our hotel and just marvelled at the hugeness of everything from the 10 lane freeway, the size of the billboards, the number of McDonalds on the side of the road and on and on and on.

We stayed at the Sheraton Park Hotel, Anaheim with a great room up on the club lounge floor. This is Jodie outside on the club bar balcony overlooking the huge carpark. Every evening, drinks and canapes were included in our package however we only made the most of it on the first night, as for all the rest, we were still in Disneyland on the rides.

All the streets in the area were lined with these fabulously huge palm trees that went on for miles and miles and miles. We only had to walk for 10mins to get to and from the hotel to Disneyland.

We made sure that we had a swim in every hotels spa or pool, regardless of how cold it was for us. Here we are on our first evening in the spa at the Sheraton.

This is the view from our balcony, of the city blocks surrounding our hotel.
We had a fabulous room overlooking the California Adventure Land and Disneyland and this was our view for the first night in town. It was chilly for us so we rugged up in winter PJ's and the hotels dressing gowns and sat on the balcony having a wine and enjoying the fireworks and .. ...........

the World of Colour Water show.

We all couldn't believe what a great start this was to our holiday and we had only been there for 8 hours, with 6 weeks in total to go.

So, at the end of a long 24 hr evolution, we were all exhausted and this picture just about summed it up. Although Emily and Dylan did not like the fact they had to sleep together for the entire holiday( we had to build the great wall of pillows between them under the covers), they were usually just too exhausted to care.