Welcome to Bermuda

Patrick checks out Horseshoe Beach in beautiful Bermuda.

We spent a fantastic afternoon on the beach on Saturday afternoon, a short dip in the sea and a great beach picnic finished the afternoon well for us.

We had a great sightseeing day on Sunday, and enjoyed the festivities of Bermuda day and the parade on Monday. What a happy colourfilled day this was. Sadly the rain has set in today (Tuesday), hopefully this will clear so we can enjoy the beach again

Another amazing day!

The team have experienced another amazing day in the city at the UN. Iwona from the incoming NY GSE team is an employee of the UN, and she organised a tour of the UN for us, followed by lunch in the very classy delegate's dining room on the water front. After the UN we had a short walking tour lead by Bob Soley through some of the historical and interesting buildings in the area. We finished the afternoon with a visit to the central park zoo to meet the penguins who have become our unofficial mascots for the trip. Last night we were hosted for a great meal at the Russo's house, accompanied by some fine wine and a very engaging conversation.

Today we are off to meet with some local politicians to discuss various issues including healthcare reform. We are all starting to miss home a little, but are sad that our time in NY is drawing to a close.

How many clubs?

How many Rotary clubs can we visit in one area? Staten Island has 5, and we have seen them all in 3 days! Yesterday we topped our record with 3 clubs in one day, sunrise, lunch and dinner with a hospital tour and a great historic tour of Southern Staten Island in between. Chris Williams has looked after our team so well, and been an outstanding tour guide!

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• Laura holds the whole of NYC in her hand. (taken from Liberty Island)
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• Patrick pauses to take in the $45,000 bottle of wine at the Kittle House restaurant.
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Andrea organised a whole day for us at the Indian Point power station. Here we are looking at the last 34 years worth of waste.

We all took plenty away from this day to think about.

Tammy and Danny get into the spirit of the Bronx Zoo. We were treated to a VIP tour of this outstanding Zoo, including a special invite to see the African wild dogs released into their exhibit first thing in the morning.

Well, it won't have escaped anyone's notice that the blog has been terribly neglected. The truth of the matter is that we have had very little spare time to sit and post. Tammy's computer has been hijacked to an alternate location, which has involved some sparing use of the phone (as the charger for it went with the computer). When an additional 5 minutes becomes available, there will be photos, I promise!

Off to NYC! The team have left Poughkeepsie and headed of to the city. Not sure where everyone else is tonight, but Tammy has been to the Lion King and then to a nice little wine bar in Harlem. First presentation done this morning without a hitch. all ffeling more confident about future presentations.

Dinner with the CIA

We had the most incredible day yesterday! Lunch at Shadows Restaurant on the Hudson River, followed by a presentation from Tom Champoux a fantastic motivational speaker. Alomost 5 minutes allocated then for us to change and head of to the CIA (the Culinary Institute of America) for a tour of the school and dinner in one of the training restaurants - the Ristorante Catherina De' Medici. Four courses starting with Mixed Italian cold cuts, moving on to crepes filled with spinach and ricotta, main course of red wine braised beef with polenta and sautéed spinach and chocolate mousse terrine with orange sauce to finish. Drinks in the hotel bar followed, and a very late night was enjoyed by all!

We have arrived

Touchdown! We have arrived in NYC, and been whisked away to Poughkeepsie (North of NYC). Three night at the Grand Hotel. Lovely meal at Italian restaurant last evening and stunning lunch at Shadows on the Hudson.

Preparation for departure

less than 24 hours now until we depart from Hobart. The team are meting at Tammy's tonight to finalise our gift packing and then it's off to the airport in the morning for a 5am assembly. Tammy is expecting a call from Andy Muirhead at 5.45 at the airport for a last minute radio update for ABC radio listeners, so tune in if you are awake. Next update from the big apple..

9830 District conference dinner

Hi everyone, welcome to our newly created blog. Here we will be detailing our amazing journey from Tasmania to NY and Bermuda. We have entered into countdown mode, with only 4 weeks left until we depart. Stay tuned for more!