Times Square

Well the landing was challenging. Watching the snow piled up on either side of the runway into JFK was not re-assuring I can tell you. But on flicking over to under carriage view on the plane's external camera we could see the runway itself was pretty clear! Lucky! They explained we were allowed to land because we were a long haul flight. The shorter flights and local internal flights had been delayed or diverted. How lucky were we! We were actually five minutes early. Female Captain of course!

What a breeze arriving on American soil. A total turn around from 2000. There was a substantial wait for 'aliens'. They had staff on for US citizens while the rest of us 'plebs' waited in a queue. Then when the US citizens were processed they started on the rest of us. But once started it was quite efficient and the staff certainly very pleasant. Not a grumpy official anywhere. We'd pre-booked and pre-paid for a taxi to our hotel, Go Airlink. Really good, efficient and safe.

We were actually hungry when we landed as there had been no food service offered since dinner eight hours earlier. Hence we bolted for the hotel restaurant after checking in at the Crown Plaza Times Square. Really great room on the 38th floor - away from the traffic noise below.

At left Times Square from our hotel plus a very vibrant Times Square during the day

At - 7 degrees we thought an early night might be better than a late night wander so crashed for a great snooze. A stunning day greeted us and still at - 7 degrees we headed for the Empire State Building as we weren't sure how long the good weather would last for. Wow, what an experience. The clarity was amazing. After the snow you could see forever. We stayed for ages taking it all in then headed down to try for a Circle Line cruise around Manhattan.

The view from the Empire State Building towards JFK Airport - the snowy area in the distance

New York is laid out in a very logical way. Avenues go one way in numerical order and streets go the other way in numerical order. But do you think I could get my head around it. No-one said the avenues go north south or east west or whatever or that the streets go any which way either. And of course there is streets west and east of where? Who knows where the centre line is that turns one from being east of to one that is west of....! As for a north point on a map which would give me some hope of working it out... nope...not a north point to be found.....!

I'm sure someone will explain it to me one day.

Not withstanding my geographical ineptitude we seemed to find our way around. Talk about pounding the pavement. We walked from 42nd street to 33rd street to discover that the cruises in winter are only at 10am and 4pm! So we'll try again tomorrow.

On the way back we found a TKTS (tickets) outlet which offered half price theatre tickets. We thought Chicago might be a good thing to see in New York so queued for ages waiting for the office to open at 3pm. What luck. For $US72 each we were sold tickets 13 rows back from the front. They were corkers. It was a great production.

The next day - so much for being at the ferry terminal by 9.45am, we didn't wake up until 9.45!

There's always this afternoon. It was still fantastic weather, mind you -10 degrees this morning.

Absolutely freezing. Donned the thermals today. We ventured up to the Top of the Rock - that is the Rockafella Building for some more views of New York from a slightly different perspective this time. Closer to Central Park which looked magical from the view point.

Once back on terra firma we headed for Central Park. What a wonderful place. Covered in snow it is just like we have seen in many movies made in New York. The stark contrast of the deciduous trees against the white snow was amazing. Including very cute squirrels trying to scratch around for food under the snow.

Laurie in Central Park

A seriously cute squirrel who totally ignored us as he dug for food under the snow in Central Park

Ice skating on a rink in Central Park

The Information Centre in Central Park

Time to head for the cruise which we were pleased would be a part sunset cruise setting off at 4pm for two hours so back at dark. It was so interesting, particularly from the perspective of the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New Yorkers. There's still a lot of work to do to bring Ground Zero to the memorial that is planned for the location.

The business district of New York - Wall Street

Sunset on Ellis Island

Returning to the Circle Line wharf after the cruise

The day after our cruise was the second anniversary of the passenger jet landing in the Hudson River. The cruise boat we were on was one of the ones integral in the rescuing some of the 155 passengers from the jet.

The worst thing about eating out in New York - everyone seems to serve the meal with 'Home Fries'! These seem to be boiled potatoes that have been fried in something or other and added to some sort of gooey sauce. Indescribable really. Pass!

Looking forward to heading for England.

New York, here we come!

On our way from Hong Kong to New York, Mt Fuji in Japan standing out plainly from the scattered cloud

Things sounded dodgy for landing in New York. After all the snow they'd had on Boxing Day, more was forecast with a similar intensity for the Wednesday of our arrival. Gulp! 15 hours is a LONG time in an aeroplane. Watched too many movies and ate some very good food. Again, Cathay Pacific has to be the best. Couldn't fault anything about the flight, the staff, the food, the service...the works.

Hours of flying over Canada and America showed snow-covered country for as far as you could see

The most amazing thing about this leg of the journey was the amount of snow across southern Canada and northern America. For hours the country was covered in snow. There wasn't a cloud to be seen. Just hundreds of kilometres of snow-covered country with tiny dots of buildings, half frozen lakes and roads often half covered in snow. I got into trouble for having the blind up on our porthole! Well, not really. I was asked to put it down as people were asleep. It occurred to me that if they were asleep they wouldn't know the blind was up!! Ho hum! It had been fun watching the incredible sight of so much snow.

Even the beach was covered in snow as we circled to land at JFK airport at New York

Off to Hong Kong

After a hectic 2010 a very special day arrived, Saturday, January 8, when Chris and Amy were married in the Timbertop Chapel. The festivities continued until it was time for us to leave for Hong Kong.

Tuesday, January 11 and at last we were on our way.

The 8 hr journey was uneventful and thankfully punctuated by very good food and a great selection of movies. Cathay Pacific has got to have the best leg room on earth, apart from business class of course.

Arrived late evening to check in at the Regal Airport Hotel to a very fine room. By the way customs and immigration have been a breeze so far. The staff very pleasant and happy!! Unheard of for immigration officers.