Grand Finale at Disneyland

After showing great patience, the boys FINALLY got to visit Disneyland on the final day of our 300-day North American odyssey.

The Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters were a huge hit, with Dash taking on the evil emperor Zurg about 12 times.

Indy tried Space Mountain and nearly needed the change of clothes I brought along for him.

Nath and I took turns with Indy on Star Tours (Dash was under the height limit) and it was by far our favourite attraction.

In fact on my voyage, Darth Vader identified me as the rebel spy he was hunting, fulfilling my lifelong dream of running away to join the Alliance.

We adults also got to go on the Indiana Jones ride (as single riders), making good on a promise we had made to ourselves when we'd visited 15 years ago and had missed out on riding it then.

A wonderful part of the day was when Indy enrolled as a padawan at the Jedi Training Academy and took on seriously scary Darth Maul in a light saber duel.

The padawans refused to turn to the dark side and Darth Maul and Darth Vader departed without any new apprentices (though I believe Indy would be quite capable of summoning the powers of the dark side).

All of the attractions and street fun in toon town delighted the kids and here Dash got to try his first roller coaster - so proud of being a big boy!

A new and incredibly cool attraction is the Iron Man 'Suit Up' area where the boys got to see themselves wearing Iron Man's armour and to fly and practice using his weaponry.

The light and sound spectacular parade wrapped up the day nicely with a cherry on top and we departed with memories that, for the price tag, you would hope will last a lifetime!!

More photos of our adventures at Disneyland can be found here.

While in LA we also took in the views stretching from the Hollywood sign to downtown from Griffith Observatory.

Then we took a drive down Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Drive and through Beverly Hills.

The Venice canals were shrouded in west coast sea mist as we strolled through them.

Then we bid farewell to North America and to our epic trip - feeling incredibly lucky that we have had the chance to be together for all of this time doing what we love best.

Indy & Dash's first time skiing

We've just spent a few days up at Big Bear Lake, high above the San Bernardino Valley near Los Angeles. 

Being at a higher altitude, the region boasts a few ski resorts, the most family-friendly of which is Snow Summit (part of Big Bear Resort).

We spent a total of two days on the slopes, with a day of rest in between.

Indy in particular did really well given it was his first time skiing.

He was keen to learn and thanks to Nath's patient tuition was snow-plowing well by the end of the first day and turning and controlling his runs from start to finish by the end of the second.

Dash spent both days skiing between my legs. 

On the odd occasions where I let him loose, he took off like a bullet straight down the slope with parallel skis, all the while yelling "snow plow, snow plow" despite the lack of ACTUAL snow plowing.

Even without the same freedom Indy experienced, Dash had a great time, though mummy's arms got a workout keeping him upright.

Nath and I took turns on the bigger runs during snack breaks -- a brief but fun reminder of how cool skiing can be.

The resort hasn't had fresh snow for four weeks and so my friends in Colorado - you know who you are - will laugh at all of the man-made snow on the runs - Yes, I've seen your latest powder piccies!!

Nevertheless, we had clear skies and mild temperatures and so it was a fantastic introduction for the boys without the extremities that would have made things challenging.

We can't wait to hit the slopes again!

Our initiation into cruising

We've just finished an 11-day Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the Norwegian Sun. This was our first ever cruise but hopefully it won't be our last.

Booking this trip was the result of a radical change of heart -- in fact, a complete one-eighty on the subject of cruising.

A decade ago we would have scoffed at suggestions we would EVER go on a cruise.

At about that time, we were hiking in Chile's Torres del Paine and sharing bus seats with live chickens in Bolivia. Not long after, we were spending Christmas Day at the Potala Palace in Tibet.

Back then.... the more far-flung and exotic and crazy the travel idea, the more it appealed to us.

Now...  we're parents of two full-on little boys and all we want for Christmas is two hours of peace and quiet.

For many years my lovely mum had tried to convince us to take a cruise and I had always shot down the idea before she could even get rolling on the subject.

But numerous times during this trip I found myself looking to the heavens and saying "Okay mum, you can say it now" and hearing "I told you so" whisper its way back to me on the wind, accompanied by some eye rolling.

The big drawcard for us was of course the idea that there would be a kids club on board and that somebody else would take care of our children and give us a little break.

The concern was that the kids might not like it and that we might end up massively regretting our decision.

We thought it could go either way on the first day.

Indy of course couldn't wait and from the moment he entered "Kids Korner" he never wanted to leave. But Dash spied a kid in tears on the first morning and then took an entire day (including seeing all of the kids dressed up and parading about the ship) to warm up to the idea.

Then there were a couple of other moments during the cruise, especially when he was tired, that Dash chose to be with mummy and daddy over going to Kids Korner, but for the most part he was keen.

So we grown-ups enjoyed dinners (where we got to eat our food) and watched shows (where we got to see the show) and read books (that we got to turn the pages of) and sat in quiet contemplation (like, all peaceful and zen-like) - all of those things that parents rarely get to do. And it was bliss.

And the kids had a fabulous time too... So happy days all around!

The fact we got to explore five different places in the Caribbean and only had to unpack our bags once was a mere footnote for us.

We had always imagined this mode of travel would be super-restrictive, but we had complete freedom to eat whenever and wherever we wanted and we were able to do our own thing at all of the ports instead of following the crowds or going on overpriced tours.

The pool areas were of course rimmed with people frying themselves in the hot caribbean sunshine (mostly. Canadians trying to catch every possible ray before returning to winter snowstorms) and that was amusing, but because we're not lay-by-the-pool people ourselves it didn't bother us.

In the end, none of us wanted to leave the ship. What a massive turnaround for us.... And a lesson in always keeping an open mind!

Top 10 in the world? Nat Geo thinks so!

St Thomas, part of the United States Virgin Islands and the last of the five ports on our Southern Caribbean Cruise, boasts Magens Bay.

Magens Bay Beach is rated by National Geographic as one of the top 10 beaches in the world.

So with our expectations high, we hopped on board a local taxi truck which wound its way up and over the hillside and down into Magens Bay.

We can understand why National Geographic spotlights it - with all of the fish in the water and the pelicans diving down again and again to feast on the abundance.

Numerous times while swimming, you hear a massive splash behind you and turn to find a pelican righting itself and gulping down a fishy treat.

But the drawback of such a famous beach is of course the human horde that overruns it.

It was difficult to find even a small section of sand to call our own and more difficult still to find the tranquility that you would expect in such a pristine place.

With the waters so incredibly calm, I wondered about the presence of the lifeguards. I had my silent query answered when one of them angrily advised me that my 'daughter' (long-haired Indy) wasn't allowed to throw sand into the water.

We were able to clarify that: Yes, digging holes and forming sand castles were acceptable, but No, moving any sand into the water was forbidden.

I contemplated how many more people would drown on our Australian beaches if lifeguards were preoccupied with sand movements.

Nath took each of the boys out into deeper waters and practised getting them to float while hanging on to his neck, so they could look through their goggles at the fish life.

It was great prep for snorkelling and they were both pretty comfortable with it.

With a rain storm suddenly launching itself on to the beach, we quickly cleared out and jumped in a waiting taxi truck.

As our ship pulled out we were glad that we'd had the chance to swim at Magens Bay but were incredibly happy that back at home we share our beach with barely a sole.

Kicking back in St Maarten

The one coat of sunscreen we applied had no chance of protecting us on a day like today.

The crystal-clear aquamarine waters swooshing up and down Great Bay Beach here in St Maarten had us in a trance for over three hours.

Nevertheless, pink cheeks were a small price to pay for a fantastic day of fun on a beach the boys dubbed 'slide beach' for the way the waves carried and tumbled them up and down the sand.

We had disembarked our ship in Philipsburg, St Maarten (the Dutch side of this island, shared with the French) and walked around Great Bay past all of the touts renting out umbrellas and seats to a quieter section of the shoreline.

For some of the time, the boys played with two Argentinian children they had made friends with on the ship.

It was incredibly hard to tear ourselves away from here.

But the searing sun, reflecting off the white sand, eventually beat us and we retraced our steps around Great Bay to our ship.

What a gloriously beautiful place.

Willemstad, Curacao

Willemstad is a UNESCO heritage-listed town and a very easy place to explore on foot directly from where cruise ships dock.

The Rif Fort provides a lovely way for disembarking tourists to make their approach to the old town and is lined with all of the usual elegant shops offering special prices for cruise passengers (300 per cent markups).

Approaching the Queen Emma pontoon bridge, the boys spied crabs on the rocks below and so we sat for a while, the boys watching the crabs and Nath and I watching the movement of pedestrians over this floating bridge to the colourful and quaint Punda side.

Later in the day, we watched the pontoon bridge opening up to allow the passage of small motorboats, luxury cruisers and even a massive oil tanker.

The entire bridge swings open and we watched the spectacle from the Punda shoreline and then from the free ferry boat that offers a way around the temporary impasse.

We explored the Punda side for a couple of hours, including time in a local playground.

The floating markets offer food and wares brought in mainly from Venezuela but weren't what we were expecting.

(If you've been to the Damnoen Saduak markets in Ratchaburi, Thailand and came here expecting the same, you would be disappointed).

Away from the streets catering to the majority of the tourist traffic there was a marked drop-off in the pleasantness of people and the clean, fresh facade.

We got the impression that while Willemstad has an incredibly beautiful waterfront, with colour and history worthy of boasting, if you peel back the veneer, not everyone is benefitting from the tourist dollar.

Butterflies in Aruba

In Aruba, the second stop on our Caribbean Cruise, there is a Butterfly Farm across the road from Palm Beach.

Here we had an unprecedented opportunity to observe exquisite butterflies up close.

While wandering the gardens, an occasional butterfly would land on us but mostly we watched them fluttering through the air and settling on the trees, plants and feeding stations.

A guide explained to us the butterfly life cycle and showed us the egg, caterpillar and chrysalis for a number of species.

We were able to check out an entire cabinet full of chrysalis just waiting to hatch.

After leaving the Butterfly Farm, we wandered across the road and swam at Palm Beach, watching watercraft action and listening to the beats from the beach bar of the nearby Westin Resort from where we caught a taxi back to our ship.

To see our gallery of images from Aruba click here.

Getting the snip in Colombia

For months we had been talking about it but we never imagined we'd get our chance while roaming the narrow lanes of Cartagena, Colombia.

We were visiting Cartagena for just one day, the first of five port stops on our 11-day Southern Caribbean Cruise.

Wandering through the walled old town, I spied una peluqueria and let the kids decide.

Indy wasn't keen at all but Dash gave a resounding 'Yes'.

And so it happened that Dash got his first 'professional' haircut at the bargain price of three US dollars.

It was just what the doctor ordered too, given the stifling heat and humidity.

Within Cartagena's old town, brightly hued buildings with overhanging balconies and tropical draping plants preserve the look of another age.

However after walking for a couple of hours, the boys had just about reached their limit, as had we.

While Nath and I love the raw nature of South and Central America, the inherent dangers you can minimise quite easily as a couple are magnified ten-fold with kids.

After the hundredth time of telling the boys NOT to drink from the bubbler and NOT to run down the street away from us and NOT to pretend to 'pow pow' the locals with their fingers, we took some time out for ice creams before catching another taxi from the edges of the walled city to Castillo San Felipe de Barajas.

This 16th Century fortress is fun to explore and provides a great way to catch the breeze high above the heat of the city.

It also makes a great vantage point to see how the old and the new of Cartagena knit together as a whole.

We explored the dark underground tunnels and climbed the fortress at leisure before returning to the port.

There we were delighted by the tropical birds and monkeys fed for the pleasure of the countless tourists swarming off the ships.

Once back on board, we reflected that it was refreshing to visit somewhere a bit gritty, having been firmly ensconced in the first world since the kids were born, but that it's way too early for us to contemplate taking them on an extended trip to anywhere in the third world just yet.

More photos from our day can be found here.