I know this final blog is a tad overdue... but at least I have a few decent excuses this time (like moving house & continent)!
Our 2nd day in New York, was as fantastic as the first and the weather was gorgeous again. After another relatively late start (thanks to the hotel managers Happy Hour!) we hopped back on the tour bus heading in the direction of Central Park. En route we saw Pier 17 and went under the Brooklyn Bridge, along side Wall Street (which is surprisingly tiny!), 5 Ave, Macy's, and Maddison Sq Garden (probably not in that order!).
For what ever reason, the tour bus we were on was incredibly slow, unlike the one we were on
the day before. Whilst the tour bus is a great way to see the city, sat under the Waldorf Hotel flag for 25 mins and crawling along the NY streets stopping for either traffic lights or for passengers to get on or off, becomes a tad tedious after a while! So that, on top of the most irritating tour guide in NY, who kept telling bad jokes and the children off for fidgeting, meant that our patience was wearing thin and we got off the bus fairly quickly, before Leigh 'dropped' the tour guide!!! 
We very quickly hailed another cab and were in Central Park a few minutes later! Such an amazing & beautiful space in the middle of New York, and after hot dogs & ice cream, we went into the zoo. We saw all sorts of animals including two Polar Bears; the children's favourite were the Sea Lions which swam around in a massive clear tank. Great viewing whilst eating (more) ice cream! Central Park is as lively as anywhere else in NY; lots of street entertainers, horse & carriage rides, and of course, hot dog stands!
We had a much shorter day in NY as we were catching the plane early evening. So after a day in Central Park we headed back to the hotel. We had one last walk along the Hudson River and the children played in the park before we set off for the airport. We had a good flight back; the children slept for most of it as it was
overnight. It was sunny when we arrived in Heathrow, which was rather welcoming and we then had one more night in a hotel before we finally arrived here at our new house.
Canada has been just the most amazing adventure and looking back, it's hard to imagine now doing the school runs at 37 degrees below freezing! It has been a great couple of years, we've all tried things we wouldn't of had chance to do had we been posted to Tidworth (!); ice hockey, ice skating, skiing, dog sledding, snow shoeing, cross county skiing to name but a few! The children have had the most amazing time, particularly Ben who competently skis black runs with his Dad, and of course, Olivia & Charlie who can now do better 'snow angels' than me!
It's good to be back in Old Blighty though! I don't think a new blog from 'The Tingeys in Bushey Heath' would be quite as interesting, so this is... THE END!
Thank you for reading & following my blog & for all those positive, constructive comments! Kerry x
