But before all of that there was the 9/11 memorial site.

We were there before opening (more by good luck than management) – opening is at 10 and when they do open pre bought ticket holders go in first so we waited a little while and were glad of the sunscreen Zoe had.

We both thought they had done a beautiful job of managing the site. The two waterfalls disappearing into chasms are set in the footprints of the two towers that came down and this is surrounded by grassy treed areas with lots of seating for quiet reflection.

The re-development of the site will incorporate a spiral of seven towers around the eight acre memorial. The one pictured left is 1 World Tower which will be 1,776 feet when complete and the tallest building in the States.

 

The names of the victims are inscribed in bronze around the two pools and include first responders, people in the Towers and the Pentagon, the people aboard all four planes involved in the attack and the six people killed in the 1993 attack on the WTC.

I was mostly dry eyed until a guide brought a group of people around to where we were standing and showed them where a family member's name was inscribed. A very poignant moment. Watching the whole tragic event unfold on TV in Australia is one thing but we both commented on how real it was walking the same streets that people had fled down in horror and panic and wondered what we would have done….

Eventually we moved on from the memorial and walked along the walking/bikeway which took us down to Battery Park, the tip of Lower Manhattan. We had already decided that we weren't going to cruise out to see Lady Liberty so here was our best viewpoint and we were both happy with the vista.

A steady flow of all manner of water transport drifted or motored by and the sky was alive with choppers and planes offering the more expensive sightseeing option.

Stopping for a pathetic excuse for a hotdog and a drink, we watched the world go by long enough to fortify ourselves for our next mission – the walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.

We passed many office workers enjoying their lunch in the glorious weather and were impressed by the development of some great leisure spaces along this east side overlooking both the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground and Manhattan Bridge behind it.

 

The view was so good that we stopped to rest our weary legs and to contemplate the 1,825 metre length of the bridge, a Manhattan icon.

Finding the beginning of the walkway was a feat in itself but we eventually joined the throngs of people heading in both directions. There is considerable renovation underway at present, we weren't sure if this was Hurricane Sandy related (as a lot of construction around Manhattan is) or just regular maintenance.

 

 

It was worth the walk though – fantastic views in all directions.

After locating the subway station in Brooklyn we caught the train northwards again, this time getting out in Greenwich Village, recommended by many as a leafy green suburb worth 'wandering' through.

By now, (god only knows what time it was) the pathetic hotdog was a distant memory so we saw a Maccas and wandered over. Just a word of clarification for readers here – when 'touristing' in a foreign country, Maccas does not mean food necessarily.

No sirreee, Maccas means air conditioning, wifi and toilets!!

Unfortunately, in this particular establishment the “air wasn't working” so we made a quick trip to the restroom and sat outside (cooler) on the step to use the wifi and watch the locals indulging in a ball game across the road.

This revived us enough to stroll through nearby Washington Square Park (lots of chess games underway and kids and homeless men in fountains) before starting to shop our way up 5th avenue.

'Anthroplogie' became a new favourite but we explored many others en route to the Flat Iron Building about 18 blocks north!

A disastrous and unmentionable (in this blog) incident in a self washing restroom justifies the “evacuation” reference in the blog title and I will say no more except that I'm still recovering from the trauma.

At this point we saw a sign for a $29 wash and blow dry so seated ourselves at the basin and tried to hide our somewhat street soiled feet under the chair to enjoy a bit of relaxation.

They appeared to be setting up for some kind of TV shoot in front of the Flat Iron building which spoiled the shot somewhat but to be honest I was too stuffed to care by now!

With another 23 blocks to go, we doggedly set off and had enough energy for a quick pop into Macy's for some housekeeping essentials before settling on Ruby Tuesday's for dinner.

Ruby Tuesday's came with a great recommendation – it was literally in our path and we could go no further! Actually, both meals were pretty good and the peach sangria really hit the spot.

We hadn't wanted to be too late home tonight because Zoe had a 6 am flight the next morning necessitating a 4am departure from the hotel and an enormous task ahead of her packing her bag!

Arriving back to our room and both desperate for a shower we found a note saying that some essential plumbing meant the hotel would be without hot water from 12-5pm. No problem we thought, it was 9.30pm.

Unfortunately, there was no hot water. Front desk assured us it would be back 'anytime soon' but by 11.45pm when we turned the lights off and set the 3.15 am alarm it was still cold. My travel kettle and paper cups of water in the microwave provided us with enough for a 'top and tail' and that had to suffice 🙂

Four hours later I said goodbye to Zoe (after her cold shower!) as she headed off to La Guardia and I went back to sleep.

 

The State line that is.

After a slow start today we got very helpful directions from our concierge on how to get to Hoboken, New Jersey where the famous (if you have Foxtel) “Cake Boss” shop is situated.

This involved navigating the subway for the first time and then transferring to the PATH which takes you under the Hudson River and over to New Jersey – altogether about 25 mins on a relatively quiet (for New York) Sunday morning.

After locating the Cake Boss shop we were actually really surprised at how relatively 'rural' this side of the Hudson was and pleased that we had gotten the opportunity to see the NYC skyline from this aspect.

 

The locals were out in numbers, I guess this is equivalent to a day at the beach for city dwellers.

There were also a few fisherman at one end, we heard lots of tall stories but saw no fish.

Although we could have spent much longer here, it was time to head back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and our 3pm appointment with the Lion King.

The performance was a sell out and absolutely stunning. It easily exceeded both of our expectations. Costumes, set design, puppetry and pure innovation were amazing, no wonder its been running here for 6 years!

A rather forgettable dinner near the hotel completed the day and we are retiring early tonight to pack in a big last day for Zoe tomorrow.

 

Well it had to be done, and when the weather lady informed us that a wet morning was in store with 'maybe a patch of sun' in the afternoon, we knew that it was time to shop.

Macy's was the first destination although we did meander through several other stores en route. Macy's is undergoing renovations at the moment and was a little disrupted but we did managed to outfit ourselves with new purses and a few other knick knacks.

The ubiquitous shoe sale was on (always seems to be in the States when I visit?) so we spent a while there.

Honestly though, the funniest thing we saw all day was the two girls being subjected to facials right in a main store thoroughfare, absolutely hilarious and worthy of a quick candid shot.

We then had a restorative coffee and cake before venturing outside to light rain and discovering Desigual conveniently across the road! Not a large one though and we managed to escape unscathed before finding the big one, Victoria's Secret, next door!

Happily (?) H & M beckoned from across the road and kept us occupied for another wee while until our feet began screaming at us and we turned toward the hotel, bashing into New Yorkers and tourists alike with our shiny big bags on crowded sidewalks.

A couple more unscheduled stops at Loft and a shoe store increased our weight training and as we turned into West 48th we were stunned to discover it was nearly 6 pm!

We had planned to return to the “top of the Roc” for sunset having bought the Sun and Stars ticket allowing a repeat visit within 48 hours and by now the cloud had largely retreated ( unfortunately toward the west we discovered later.)

Zoe allowed me a quick cup of tea before we were once again out the door but this time unfettered by bags! After a small (bad map reading) detour through Times Square ( frenetic as always and preparing for a taping of “Express Runway”) we found ourselves at the Rockefeller Center and happily skipping long queues due to our previously obtained tickets.

Surprisingly, hundreds of other people had also read their Lonely Planets and it was packed! Well not literally, as it as a capacity of 499 max. and I think they were all there including the Asian man who proposed to his stunned girlfriend in front of the other 497 of us amid loud cheers when he placed the ring on her finger.

The city skyline view was stunning and worth jostling for position as the lights came on one by one affording an ever changing vista.

 

 

The view to the west, over the Hudson, obstructed by cloud but still stunning.

 

 

 

 

The Empire State Building – certainly the main attraction for many and wearing it's everyday colour of white tonight. The light colour can change depending on the sponsor/ event of the day – pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, green for St. Patrick's Day etc.

I thought it looked pristine in white.

Eventually we tore ourselves away and managed to find pizza, NY cheesecake and a nice bottle of Provençal Rosé for a very late bed picnic back at the hotel.

Exhausted, we turned the lights out at midnight and slept soundly until the smoke alarm started chirping at 3 am! Ten minutes later the night porter arrived to change the battery and we were literally out like lights ….

 

A pretty decent sleep saw us up and conversing with home at 6.30 am and checking Friday night scores (what happened Geelong?) before heading down to breakfast which was passable.

Given the clear skies we decided to visit the “Top of the Roc” – the open air observatory on the 70th floor roof of the Rockefeller Building. Waiting time this early in the day was minimal and by ten o'clock we were staring at the stunning Manhattan skyline.

 

The weather man last night referred to the possibility of “pesky pop up showers this afternoon” so we considered ourselves fortunate to experience such brilliant blue skies this morning.

 

The weather also helped us decide that today would be a good day to cycle around Central Park – a decision which I may live to regret I think. Despite getting lost several times we had a great three hours incorporating lunch near the Boathouse and checking out the locals. Given how long it has been since either of us were on a bike, we may well pay for the experience in the days to come!

 

 

The turtle/tortoise? was sharing the lake with a homeless man doing a spot of washing – luckily it was a good drying day today because I think he only had one spare.

Exhausted after our three hours of 'fun' we dropped the bikes off and meandered back to the hotel grabbing some grocery essentials on the way. Time for a shower now and to plan our assault on dinner.

 

Leaving Adelaide on schedule we arrived into Sydney with enough time to tour duty free and then put our feet up (literally, in those nice recliners with matching foot rests) in the Qantas club to await our Sydney to Dallas flight.

This flight is actually the longest commercial flight in the world at 13,700 kilometres – slightly longer for us, at the back, in row 72. Actually, it wasn't too bad. The food was pretty good and the drugs did their job, I slept for a good stretch, Zoe not quite as well but we coped.

We had over two hours layover in Dallas, Fort Worth and when we were eventually disgorged from the plane, were looking forward to having a shower in the Qantas Club before flying on to New York. Unfortunately, our one hour fifteen minutes in the Immigration line slowly quashed any hope of that and after retrieving luggage and rechecking, we just made our flight. Luckily it was delayed by 15 minutes otherwise we would definitely have been waiting for the next one. So, another 3 hours 25 minutes in the air and the lights of NYC suddenly became apparent through thick cloud and intermittent rain.

Both bags appeared on the carousel and then it was off to join one last queue, this time for the ubiquitous yellow cab.

About half an hour later we were checking in to the Belvedere, pleasant enough and with very inviting beds given that we had been travelling for almost 30 hours!

A cup of tea and a Tim Tam later we were horizontal.