Florida, Parks & Swim with Dolphins with Steve, Michaela & Wendy

  Florida, Parks & Swim with Dolphins    

The parade was absolutely fantastic! From the Liberty Square, we watched all the floats pass us by with many of the favourite characters including  Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid!

At The Wizarding World of Harry Potter we went on a multi - dimensional thrill ride, Harry Potter and the Escape from the Gringotts. Everyone really enjoyed their adventure.

Today we were all really excited to go to Universe Studios! When we arrived we were greeted by Betty Boo for a photo and autograph followed by the Simpsons in Springfield. Then we went onto the Simpsons Ride which was great fun! 

As we arrived at The Animal Kingdom, we were greeted by Tarzan for a photograph  and autograph. We watched the Festival of the Lion King show in Africa.  Afterwards we decided to leave all our favourite characters and take a safari trip through the lush African Savanna in the search of lions, elephants and giraffes!

We were taking an Air-Boat Ride at Boggy Creek.  After meeting our driver, Jim, we rode into some breathtakingly beauty surroundings - territory that remained unaltered by man in the wilderness of the Central Florida Everglades. We drove through many wetlands and saw beautiful cypress trees and wildlife. We whisked across the surface of the water on our Air-Boat at speeds of up to 45mph while shooting between walls of tall grass.  It was a trip of a lifetime!  

When we arrived back at the Boggy Creek, we got the chance to hold a baby alligator! The guide gave us a talk about native American Indians and how they used to live.  

We went to Disney Cove to swim with the dolphins.  We arrived and our first stop was to the aviary -where we got the birds feeding out of our hands. We all then got ready to swim with the dolphins. Our guide took us into the water to meet our first dolphin - Hutch. We fed him small fish and he did some tricks for us. We then took turns by holding onto his flipper and fin as he gracefully pulled us along through the water. We had our photos taken with Hutch but then it was time to say goodbye. We took our snorkels to the pools and looked at the amazing rays and brightly coloured fish as they swam up to us.

At the SeaWorld Park our first ride was Mata - a twisting racing roller-coaster. We then went on to watch the Clyde & Seamore sea-lion show - we all laughed at the fun games that they played! It was then time for the show we had all been waiting for - the Shamu show; where some killer whales did amazing tricks for us! 

  

Farm Experience & Zoo with Phil, Tini & Isobel

  Farm Experience & Zoo  

We were all eager to go to Colchester Zoo. We saw many different types of animals and even managed to stroke a few while we were there. Before heading home we went into the souvenir shop where everyone bought a few special gifts to take home with them. 

 We even got the chance to feed the hungry elephants and the lovely giraffes. This was an amazing experience for us all!

What a fantastic day we had at the farm. We hand fed lots of adult & baby goats, along with ponies and a lama. We also fed ducks, geese, turkeys and picked up fresh chicken eggs. 

We were introduced to lovely Jersey cows. Everyone gave them a stroke and some food, whilst farmer  explained what it is like being a dairy farmer. He then showed us how to milk a cow and a few of us plucked up the courage to have a go! 

We enjoyed a super game of ten pin bowling with everyone getting into the competitive spirit! 

We ended our holiday with a blast by stopping off at Tropical Wings. It was just like a tropical zoo and there were so many species of birds, including Macaws, Cassowaries and even funny talking parrots!    We also saw hundreds of butterflies with all their enchanting patterns.

Norfolk - Boats, Trains & Seaside with Derek, Paula & Pat

  Norfolk - Boats, Trains & Seaside   

We had a nice day on a sailing boat, it was very peaceful and relaxing. Along the way we spotted some wildlife. It was a beautiful experience with clear skies and lovely scenery all around.

 

In each canoes we had an instructor giving us instructions as we paddled along the rivers and onto the Barton Broad. It was good fun and we raced each other and one or two of us got splashed along the way. 

 We made our way to the lovely seaside town of Sheringham. We walked down the high street and down onto the beautiful sandy beach. The tide had turned and we had a great expanse of beach to mess about on. One or two of us were brave enough to paddle
 

In Sheringham we boarded a train that took us to Holt. We all enjoyed the journey and when we alighted we had our photo taken besides the huge engine. It is a wonderful piece of history! 

In Blakeney we wandered onto the quay and watched folk crabbing as we enjoyed an ice cream in the sunshine. We then set off to Wells Next The Sea and did a little gift shopping and walked along the quay side before having a fish & chip dinner. 

We boarded onto Nancy B, a large cruiser. We sat back and thoroughly chilled out as we swept along the wonderful waterways. The top was opened and the sun streamed into the boat. We took it in turns to steer the cruiser and felt we were getting pretty good at it too! We even wore a captain’s hat and at the end of our cruise we received certificates to say that we had driven the cruiser! 

We enjoyed friendly games of ten pin bowling. Competitive spirits were high and some marvellous points were scored!