30th August 2016 - An incredible day!

Mostly photo's on this blog as words can't express what awesomeness we witnessed today.

Simon had booked a tour with Sundance Helicopters and we were told to be in the lobby at 11;30am for our pick up which was this stretch limo.  Slightly over the top for a 10 minute journey but a great way to travel.

Our 11.30 pick up 

On arrival at the 'Sundance' base we were weighed in, given a safety briefing and then introduced to our pilot Matthew who escorted our group of 6 to the helicopter where were given more safety instructions an told how to use the headphones/mics.  The other couples in our group were altogether and as you could only sit 2 in the front with the pilot and 4 in the back, they let us sit in the front for the whole journey which was brilliant!!

Our route

All buckled up and very excited we took off !  

Over the headphones played music and narration about the historic landmarks as we flew past them and then Matthew would give added information.

Our flight took us past:

Hoover Dam - 726 feet high and 1244 foot long. The dam took 3250000 cubic yards of concrete to construct which is enough to pave a 2 lane highway from San Fransico to New York

Mojave Desert - Beautiful sandscapes which look barren from the air but apparently they support a wide array of habitats, valleys, springs, forests and wetlands that shelter an abundance of plant fish and animal species.

Lake Mead - Formed by the Hoover Dam, the lake is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of capacity and the largest man-made lake in the U.S.  The lake is 112 miles long when full has 759 of shoreline and is 532 ft at it's deepest point.





Colorado River - Ther river is 1,450 miles and and has a flow of 800 million gallons of per hour.

Half way through the flight we landed at our designated picnic stop, giving us the chance to walk around, take some photo's and then enjoy a lovely champagne lunch.

The Grand Canyon - One of the seven natural wonders of the world.  The Canyon in 277 river miles long and up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep.

Vegas by air

 A TRIP OF A LIFETIME!!

29th August 2016

The flights to Las Vegas were long but comfortable.  It was our first time flying with United Airlines, they were pretty good even though there cabin crew looked as though they were out of The Adams Family.  The food was OK a little difficult to eat with mini plastic cutlery and Si's vegetarian food had a lot of peppers :-(





We're staying at the Marriott Grand Chatea which is off Harmon Avenue.  It's a short 2 minute walk to 'The Strip'  So a very well placed hotel, We have our own kitchen area, lounge, bedroom and a large bathroom.  Anything you could need really.

Si sorting paperwork

The first night we ventured and must have walked a good few miles.  With all the lights, music blasting, crowds and so many things to do, it was pretty overwhelming.  A complete contrast from normal life.

Caesars Palace

On one of our trips out, we went pinball museum which was brilliant.  It houses the worlds largest pinball collection with a few arcade novelty games.  Machine range from 1950's up to the 1990's.   What's great is that it's a non-profit museum and excess revenue goes to charity.  

We had a lot of fun and even came across Simon's old pinball machine there 'The Theatre of Magic'

Pinball Museum - Hall of Fame

Si's old machine

Some old classic machines

Si's winnings

Vegas is the home to gambling and we've only really been on a few slot machines.  I've gambled a dollar on a cent machine and won about 3$ and but put it all back in and Si gambled 20$ and won 50$   It's frightening to think how much money is gambled on a daily basis.  It's got to be a fortune as the running costs of all these places must be huge.

Part of 'The Strip'

Indoor casino

You can see almost any show that you want but as part of my surprise, Simon had booked tickets to see 'O' by Cirque du Soleil  ...OMG it was visually stunning.    Both of our eyes and the end of the show were so dry.  There is so much going on that you could go time and time again.  I think for me this it the best show I've seen.    Acrobatics, divers, contortionist, oh my goodness ..if you get a chance, go and see it!

Amazing

Beautiful

Just incredible

Also on our amazing adventure, we were fortunate to meet up with an old friend & dive buddy Brandon who is now engaged. His fiance lives in Vegas and runs her own baking company 'Shebakes' It was good to catch up whilst 10 Pin Bowling.  Simon won the first game and then Brandon won the 2nd.

Si & Brandon

28th August 2016

I've been very bad at updating the blog as you've all probably noticed    APOLOGIES!!!!

We arrived back in the UK on the 9th August to experience glorious weather.

Hire car collected,  we drove directly to Simons Mums in Kent as it was her birthday.   On arrival, we were met by Si's mum, Del and Aunty Pat which was a lovely surprise and then later Si's brother, Roy popped in.  

For our time in the UK, we're staying at my sisters, Rosie on the farm.  It's always nice to be back on the farm. 

We've both done accomplished quite a lot, even though we've not been back for that long.   It's been great to catch up with most of the family and friends.  We've still got a fair bit to do and time is ticking.

It's frightening to see how quickly our nieces & nephews are growing up. Especially when they're nearly as tall as me :-D


It was our 10th Wedding Anniversary on the 26th.   I can't quite believe it's been 10 years already.  I am the luckiest wife ever ..as Simon had secretly planned a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate.  Here are a few pic...

The strip

Indoor casino

Water display outside of Caesars Palace

4th August 2016

Wishing Fiona and Chris a very

We hope you have a lovely day and we'll be thinking of you.

Can't wait to see everyone  ..we'll be home soon

YAY!!!!!

24th July 2016

It's been rather hectic, so I thought you might enjoy a storyboard of pictures of what we've been up to in the last couple of weeks.

Earlier this week I took our Divemaster trainees to Master Divers, another dive school just down the road for an evening Beach Clean up!   Many hands made light work :-D.

Simon just about to go diving

Simon and the 'new' Steve testing their camera's

A surprise visit from Tom, Si's old protege who we bumped into at Sailrock Freediving

New baby 'Giant Clams' in their new temporary home, given to us by the Dept of Marine Coastal Resources

Simon's Self Reliant student

12th July 2016

Not long now before we're back in the UK  ..getting pretty excited to be honest  YIPEEEEE
Time will fly by, so if there is anything anyone wants brought back, please let us know :-D

The past few days, I've been doing a lot with the dive master trainees.  Beach & snorkel clean ups, Dive site clean ups and this afternoon we're going out to Junkyard our in house artificial reef to measure / move some giant clams, block off some of the domes that you can still swim through and a general tidy up.   We should have been on our own Eco boat at midday but as the captain has gone missing, we're having to wait for Crystal 3 (Crystals largest boat) to get back and then go out for one dive on that.

The Beach Clean up gang

Dive Site Clean up crew

Oh, some bad news, Simon's computer went 'bang'  ..he's pretty annoyed as you can imagine.  He's lost so much info  ..fingers crossed he'll be able to find some sort of fix so he can retrieve some of his work.

On the bright side, his drone seems to be working after being repaired.  Simon took it for a test flight which was very brave as it was very windy and the lack of GPS made the drone very hard to fly.

6th July 2016

I've just finished a Reef Check conservation course with a 15 year old Indian guy.  It was interesting, very testing at times but understandable from an only child who's clearly been spoilt.  All ended well and his parents are very proud of him.  I'm just happy he's happy and his parents are happy,

Simon is been a little less busy.  Thankfully the European football has come to an end and I will actually get to spend some quality time with him instead of him coming home, eating and then immediately falling asleep or eating at ridiculous hours.

The Crystal Bar

The weathers been pretty dreadful  ...the mornings have been lovely and sunny and then around lunchtime, the winds picked up and the rains has come.  This is brilliant for the corals, as the water temperature is slowly reducing and likelihood of further bleaching looks doubtful.  

I was actually cold on the boat yesterday as we finished our first dive site clean up.   The wind was blowing, the rain pelting down boy it was good to go home and have a hot shower.  It's days like this that it would be so good to have a bath.

Out on the bike

I'm still cycling and swimming, not as much as I should.  I just need to get back into a routine and make more of an effort :-D  I have tried to get into hula hooping  ..but it's a lot harder than I remember.

My key lime pie

I have been baking, to a degree.  I've made flapjacks and a key lime pie  ....so that's good going in my book :-D  LOL