Okay, so here's our very first blog and we've been in NooYork since about 9am Sunday morning......it's quite weird trying to figure out time across the time zone but all I want to say about that is.....yesterday must have been the LONGEST day of our lives! We knew it was going to be hot here, but it hasn't been too bad so far- except we've come from winter in Cape Town, so I guess the shock to the system is to be expected! The highlight of the first day was taking a ride on the Staten Island ferry - big orange ferry that takes a gazillion peeps at a time & it's free! For the guys that live on Staten Island, (& it's BIG) it's a ride home but for tourists, it's a joyride & when u get there u get off, turn right & get onto the next ferry to go back to Manhattan! Now I know that sounds like gobbledygook but the main purpose is to get close to have a gawk at the Statue of Liberty! So we did & to be honest, she is rather dwarfed by the wide vista around her - but she is nevertheless impressive as u will see when I upload the photos. Oh, I forgot to mention that before doing the ferry ride we went to a little deli for a bacon roll - you see those typical American delis in movies where they have a stupendous selection of deli foods....well that's exactly what it was like.....crammed full of freshly prepared delicious foods! We LIKED that! Our trip to the ferry involved walking to Grand Central station, which is massive. We took the underground subway & found it to be just as dirty, crammed & sweaty as the London underground system....guess its an international thang. On our way back to the hotel we're staying in, we walked past the Ground Zero site - it would have been great to go inside & see the memorial park but apparently you have to apply for visitors visas by Internet & of course there was a massive queue to get in, so we just had a walk thru the Visitors souvenir shop (which was also crammed full of tourists). Well that's it for the first day - gotta get moving to start Day Two of our big adventure with this Desert Rats....so happy Monday all & speak to you soon.