Day 66 - New York (Day 1)

Day 66 – New York – Friday 20/7/12

Weather – Bloody wet 18C - 22C

Sunrise – 5.40am

Sunset – 8.19pm

Time difference - minus 14 hours ex Sydney (back an hour last night)

New York, New York.... WOW !!!!

We had the alarm set for 5am this morning for our sail in to New York City, but I was up at 4.30am, and Donna not long after. The anticipation and excitement of a big day ahead had us up on the top deck bow by 5.15am. Just visible on the night sky horizon were a few microscopic size lights in the far distance, so we figured we had time for a quick tea and toast in the buffet.

By the time we got back out the dawn sky was that deep blue of day break, and the horizon was now the clear shapes of a skyline, albeit very small, that was dominated by two buildings that had all their lights on. We later discovered these were two of the buildings under construction on the World Trade Centre site.

By the time we passed under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, daylight was upon us, but no sun, and and it turned out we would not see the sun today, only raindrops. Not long after we passed the Statue of Liberty on our left, and I will admit to a few tingles, it is a sight to behold when you see it for the first time.

By now the skyline was, 'alive' with buildings looming closer, Staten Island ferries transiting the Hudson River, and the hum of the city being heard. As we slowed to approach our berth, we had a a great view of the the USS Intrepid that was moored just a couple of piers over from where we would be 'parked'. The Intrepid was a fantastic sight with a Concorde parked on its lower deck, an array of fighter planes and other military aircraft, and a big inflatable bulb cover on the rear of its flight deck, which houses that Space Shuttle Enterprise.

We were very fortunate to be part of a group that Pam and Randy had put together, for which Pam had pre-booked tickets to the Intrepid, Water Taxis and the 911 Memorial. We got ourselves through US entry process, without the delays that I had heard would confront us.

First stop, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum with the centrepiece, the USS Intrepid, which is an awesome sized hunk of metal, through which we got a guided tour. The hangar (under the flight deck) has been turned into a museum, which was really interesting. It was a fantastic tour that took us through some of the ships front end, with officers quarters, and then out to the 'anchor room'. After working our way through the inside exhibits, it was up onto the flight deck, and we got up close and personal with the array of military aircraft on display.

We were lucky that we had the guide, as he was able to take us beyond the roped off areas around the planes, for a good look, and great photo ops. We then went onto the rear of the flight deck to where the space shuttle Enterprise is shrouded in a protective cover. We are so, so, so lucky as this only became open to the public yesterday for the first time.

It was a breathtaking sight to see, quite a marvellous bit of technology. It was much bigger than I expected, and it is in the same condition as it was after it completed its duties. It has not been cleaned up and repaired, so the scratch marks on the heat tiles, and scuff marks on the body are still there to see. To be able to get so close to it, and walk under it was just amazing. Yeah I know I say amazing a lot, but this was just amazing, amazing, amazing.

Back out onto the flight deck of Intrepid, where the queue to go up to the bridge was snaked around for a very long way, so in the interests of time, we passed that, went down to ground level and had a look at the exhibits of a space festival that is on this week (another dose of good timing), the submarine parked alongside, and the BA Concorde, which is the actual plane that set the world speed record for passenger airliners in 1986. We had our first NY style Hot Dog whilst walking the deck, yummy, but it was only a small one, but resisted the urge to get a second one.

We left Intrepid, and went a couple of piers down to catch the Water Taxi which would take us down the Hudson River to Battery Park. Whilst waiting for the water taxi to arrive, I popped into a bar to grab something more substantial to eat on the run. I ordered a serve of chips, and walked out with a container the size of a big cake tin, full of hot chips, covered in hot chilli, beans, and melted cheddar cheese. It looked absolutely disgusting, and tasted disgustingly fantastic. Fortunately Donna, Mary, and Ian helped out in knocking it off before the taxi arrived.

The heavens opened big time whilst waiting, and a few of us were cursing the weather forecast we had been given aboard, as we did not bring jackets, or ponchos. We did have our ' I Love London' umbrella in the back pack which had not been used yet, but it did not provide much shelter against the rain. It was wet, but not cold, so on we soldiered. A nice ride down to Battery Park, and a wet walk to the 911 Memorial. We bought another umbrella along the way, so now we had one each.

By the time we got through the security screening, and walked our way through the temporary entrance (temporary as it is a construction site) we were getting a little over the rain. Upon seeing the memorial one could not help but reflect on that day, and the images that are now burned into our memory. It is a very well put together memorial, and looks better up close that the pictures display it. Unfortunately the driving rain, and a collapsing umbrella steered us away from the memorial and into shelter.

A wet walk back to Battery Park to get back on the water taxi. We went further down the Hudson River, and around to East River, and the South St Seaport, across to the Empire-Fulton Ferry Park, passed Governor's Island and over to the Statue of Liberty. We got a real treat here as the Captain took the bow right up to the statue and stopped. They opened the doors so we could could go out on the bow and take our photos, it was so cool.

Back to Pier 84, for a damp walk back to the ship at Pier 90, where we showered, and had dinner. We were buggered, it had been a long day, but a great one. It would have been so easy to just climb into the sack then, but the call of the city was abound. So out we ventured again, by now the rain had stopped. We walked away in the general direction of where we thought Times Square was. After about 20 mins the tell tale signs a of glitz, flashing neons, crowds, theatre were upon us.

The atmosphere here was just intoxicating. I dont know if it is like this every night, or just on a Friday night, but the sights and sounds of people crowded on to the footpaths (oh sorry, sidewalks) was a sight to behold. As Donna said, you could just grab a seat and spend the night just watching what was on display. We spent a couple of hours here just soaking it up, wandering into a few shops, and immersing ourselves into the crowd, which seemed to just burgeon with a top up of people as the Broadway shows emptied out.

We could have caught a cab back to the ship, but we elected to walk back, but it was a slow walk !! It was nice to walk the streets of New York at night, you see so much when your on foot. The little bars underground, the subway exits where people mill about etc. We never uncomfortable at all walking through the streets after dark, everyone was friendly.

By the time we got back to the Pier the legs were sore, the feet were sore, the knees were cracking, the back was painful, but we were smiling at such a wonderful day and night in New York. Back on board and collapsed into bed and asleep in a nano second.

With New York being an overnight stay, we get to do it all again tomorrow !!!!