Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Practising my photography skills!

So I have ordered a new camera, which I am still waiting on KOGAN! I really, really can't wait to get it. I did a photography course on the weekend and it was really good. I used to be able to use a SLR camera back in my high school days with my eyes closed, but use it or lose it.... I lost it but a lot of it came flooding back, plus I learnt a few little nifty tricks. 







So last night I went to the Easter show and got some practice with some fireworks. I didn't take a tripod (silly me) but considering I was just holding the camera as still as I could and the fact I was doing up to 4 sec exposures, I don't think I went too badly.








Ok so I'm not great but I get the idea on what I am supposed to be doing now, it is taking practice but I am really enjoying getting back into photography, I have needed a hobby (other than Disney planning) just for me for awhile now. Plus it is another excuse to shop so far on my wishlist for accessories are:

Canon 60mm f2.8 macro lens
Canon 50mm f1.8 lens
Canon 580 EXII Flash

I will be getting some filters, namely a polarizing filter and a hood for my lenses as a priority. I am hoping to get most of this stuff before I leave. I need to price where to get the best deal. Kogan are really cheap for their lenses but since I am still waiting on my camera I am dubious about using them and having the gear here in time. BTW the camera I am waiting on is a Canon 7D with 18-200mm lens f3.5-5.6

Friday, April 13, 2012

USA 2012

So having finally finished my last blog entry for Hong Kong it is now time to get started on USA 2012. We will be gone for a grand total of 23 days and will cover a night in LA, 8 nights total in Orlando, 7 night on a Caribbean cruise and 4 nights in San Francisco. Here is our itinerary:


11th May
SYD- LAX 
1 night at Holiday Inn Express
12th May
LAX-MCO
Checking into Windsor Hills Resort again!
13th May
Easy day with DTD an ADR at T-Rex and possibly heading to EPCOT to check out Illuminations
14th May
Magic Kingdom with an early breakfast ADR at the Crystal Palace
15th May
Disney Hollywood Studios and a lunchtime ADR at Sci Fi Dine In
16th May
Animal Kingdom with an early morning ADR for breakfast with Donald and his friends at Tusker House
17th May
Legoland for the day and back to the Polynesian Resort for dinner at a favourite of ours Ohana
18th May
Magic Kindom again and an early morning appointment for the princess at the BBB. Later that night we are doing the Hoop Dee Doo Revue for the first time.
19th May
Checking out of Windsor Hills early then quickly ducking over to the Grand Floridian for a Supercalifragilistic breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. Then we will be driving to Port Canaveral to board the new Disney Fantasy for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise.
20th May
At Sea onboard the Fantasy
21st May
At Sea
22nd May
St Maarten
23rd May
St Thomas/St John
24th May
At Sea
25th May
Disneys Castaway Cay - a private island paradise
26th May
Disembark and pick up a rental car for the day. No concrete plans but something in the Orlando area then staying at the Hyatt Regency MCO
27th May
Early morning flight 6:55am!
MCO-SFO
28th May
Fire Engine Tour
29th May
Nothing planned as yet
30th May
Alcatraz nice and early in the morning
31st May
Nothing planned yet but we have until about lunchtime before we have to check out of the hotel and head to the airport.
SFO-LAZ-SYD
1st June
Lost in transit
2nd June
Arrive home!!

Hong Kong Day 5 - Ngong Ping and Home

Today was the last day in Hong Kong. Incidently it was also another public holiday.... We packed up our stuff and headed up for one last hotel breakfast. We then went downstairs and checked out and left our bags at the front desk for the day.


We took the leisurely walk to Jordan MTR one last time and took the train to Tung Chung. I think we may of had to swap lines at Central. We got there at about 10:00am, an hour after they had opened. We faces a forty five minute to an hours wait, as I had not planned anything else that day we just bit the bullet and lined up. It did take to whole hour until we reached the front of the line but finally we got our tickets and got on the cable car. I decided to catch the Crystal Cable car that had the see through flooring. I loved being able to see out of the floor but Steve not so much. He is not a fan of heights!


The view looking up the way we were headed



Fishing in the water



The view looking back down the way we came




You can see the airport





I was surprised how may people were walking along this track




We got to Ngong Ping Village and took a wander around before heading over to the Big Buddha. Yes we climbed the over 200 steps to the top, yes I took a few stops on the way to complain how much I hate stairs! But watching the old grannies and grandpas walk up there stopped me quickly enough. Once we reached the top we took a walk around and I purchased some magnets and some pyjamas/Chinese costume thingy for Peyton. We walked back down and headed back to the cable cars for the reurn journey. We took had a quick look around the Tung Chung Citygate outlet but it was so busy you couldn't get in anywhere, even all the toilets had long lines! Also I forgot to mention when we got off the cable cars we heard people talking in the giant lines and it was now a minimum 3 hour wait, yet people still lined up with their young children. Had it of been me I would have turned around and found something else to do.


First photo of Buddha from the Cable Car

Closer shot

Statue

The bottom of the "squillion steps"

Looking back down the stairs

Pretty much made it

Some arch way (very observant of me)

A bubble machine, there was some sort of bubble festival taking place.




We caught the MTR back to the hotel where we collected out bags and got straight on out airport transfer. I actually slept on the way. We arrived in plenty of time for our flight so we had dinner and sat around the airport, I think I just surfed on the iPad and Steve read his Kindle. We had Popeyes Chicken for dinner and it was ok. I noticed the free PlayStations to play in the airport which were pretty cool. One thing I really noticed were the armed (with giant guns) forces patrolling the airport near the customs area. 


Dinner - Fried chicken, fries, biscuit and...

...coleslaw




We looked at a few shops and spent the last of our HK dollars, we got a few more souvvies and some candy for the kids. The flight home was uneventful, I just slept, read and watched the rest of my shows. We got to Sydney on time and caught the train home and a taxi from the station. It was good to be home and see the kids again.