The football conference @ Ajax...

From left to right : The losing manager, Press Officier, Home Manager & Man of the match...

The Dam...

Six O'clock beers in the sun at the dam ;)

Ajax amsterdam arena at the 2nd attempt... More importantly lou in a football stadium ;)

Top seat in the house, just look at lou's grip - LMAO...

Matts - Nearly 6 Month summary...

What im looking forward to :

Seeing Parents & Friends...
Going to see United!
Driving my car again! and for that matter, getting a new car...
Enemy Territory...
British TV...
British Food...
Having a Fixed abode...
Sounds strange, but having some structure to the day again :)
Playing Football!

What im going to miss :

Lazy mornings, all week long!
Spending every second of the day with lyns...
Visiting a new place every few weeks :)
Meeting new people from all over the world...
Feeling free...
Having 2 Direct Debits ;)
Being called "Sir" everywhere...

Weather :

Lowest temp - Minus 4 degree Celsius = 24.8 degree Fahrenheit- New York, Dallas
Highest temp -45 degree Celsius = 113 degree Fahrenheit - Alice Springs

Pictures & Video :

Pictures taken since we left Chepstow Close, Stevenage - 5,119
Video footage taken -12 Hours

Lost / misplaced / Stolen items : (All mine, might I add)

2 Pairs of white 3/4 length socks
1 Pair of Black socks
2 x Boxer shorts
1 Diesal Baseball cap ! - The most expensive item, lost or nicked in china...

What we'd change about our travels :

Only one thing - Spend more time in China, Australia & New Zealand!

If it wasnt for United, where would I like to live & work :

China, Australia or New Zealand

Animal attacks :

1 - me, "situation" with an gecko lizard. Before you laugh - I have video footage of it coming at me, as I was holding the video camera at the time!

Moment I nearly laughed my tits off ;) :

Lynseys face during the Reverse bungy jump in Auckland, New Zealand - Again we have video footage of this, coming to a site called youtube soooon ;)

Nearly needing the hospital :

1 - me, "Situation" with a taxi driver in Sydney - Where he Attempted to break the 0-60mph record, with me having only 1 leg in the taxi. Still not amused...

Most Embarrising moment :

Being asked which room I was in, whilst requesting something from reception. Stating over & over & over again that I was in "1026", thinking they were simply not understanding me. Only for that to be our last hotel room number!

In a confused, yet superior tone - "But we only have 4 floors and 45 rooms, sir"..

erm, ill come back..

For the Penultimate time..

After 16 nights in Orlando, weve got used to being in one place, for a change. But now, weve got to pack again!

The good news is, its the Penultimate time =)

We are obviously gutted that our travels are nearly over, but with only a few games left to watch on tele, i'll soon be back at Old Trafford! ;)

Jose, we want our trophy back!

Magic Kingdom...

Our last day in orlando was spent at the only disney place we havent been to, Magic Kingdom. Today was a nice last day in america, absolutely roasting! no wind whatsoever, making it hard going... We got around pretty much all of the park, before calling it quits at around 6pm, shattered...

Leave a Legacy...

Leave a Legacy -Other than spreading the word about Love United Hate Glazer, Epcot has an area called "Leave a Legacy". This is a place where you can get your picture taken, which is then mounted on these steel boards around the entrance to the park. The pictures are only small, but they are guarenteed to be there to at least 2020. Maybe beyond.... For 12 quid we had to do it...

There are several rows, shown in the picture above, with loads of mini pics on them. You get a pack sent to your home within 8 weeks, with the code of where your picy will be mounted. So if your coming to Orlando, anytime, get the code off us...

This is what they look like... should be funny.... At least weve left some mark on the world, after travelling around it :)

Finally, after 6 months of travelling, an English Pub!

Epcot has a World showcase area, which is split into : Mexico, Norway, China, Cough 5-1 (Germany), Japan, Morocco, France, Canada and the now very missed UK! Here we found the Rose & Crown :) staffed by english people, and someone from liverpool ;)

Inside everything looked like it should, but something was missing.... aaah its the beer soaked sticky floors ;) we'll let them off with that one...

For the first time since we left the uk, back in October '06, Proper Glass Pint glasses!!!!

English fooooooooood!!! Bangers n mash and Fish n Chips....No mushy pea's but its ok, I told them where they'd gone wrong... (Harry Ramsden's nonetheless, didnt get me any money off tho)... Must start answering yes, when asked are you related....

Harry, Esther and Jacob...

Hello Harry, Esther and Jacob from Disney Orlando, Flordia =) This is from one of the many parades around the disney parks, Mickey says "Hellooo"... HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY Jacob =) Hope you are Enjoying the new Bike =)

Epcot..

Probably the most famous sight at epcot, as you can see it from miles away, its "Spaceship Earth". Inside you glide slowly through an audio-animatronics story of communication, moving through the years up to the present time.

This place is Mission space! Its a new ride at epcot, and to be honest it surprised me alot. There are two adventures you can choose from : Orange team and Green team. Orange team being the more "Intense" space training, as they call it. So I obviously went for the more intense. You climb into these space simulators and strap yourself in. They obviously move around 360, and are connected to a central unit, that spins around in a circle. You then take part in a space mission, from take off to landing on mars. The warnings are well founded! Its definaltely the best ride ive been on at disney. On take off you do get a feeling of G's on your face & your entire body, and by the time you get off you certainly know you've been spinning pretty fast! :) It total this ride lasts about 15mins! Result - very cool...

One of the other rides i went on was "Test Track". On exiting the ride there is a massive show room, with loads of futuristic cars. This was one of the better designs for the new future "Fuel cells". But, again, ill stick with my STi.. for now ;)

Animal Kingdom animals....

Animal Kingdom...

The thing about Disney orlando, which is pretty much like everything in america, the food, the buildings, oh and the people, its Huge! The entire LA disney is about the size of "One" of the orlando disney parks. Anyways here is Animal Kingdom, which is made up of Africa, Asia, Oasis, Discovery Island & DinoLand USA.

A massive fake tree :o) which is at the centre of Animal Kingdom. Makes it easy to navigate around if you know where the center always is...

The nice thing about Animal Kingdom is its all green, every where you go. Its like they put down a massive forrest then built the rides / attractions after...

This is apparently Disneys number 1 ride, from all the parks... Its "Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain". Its a r.coaster that goes forwards for half the ride, then backwards for the last bit. Most people screamed like a banshee. The obviously havent been to NZ. Result - Childs-play...

Indiana Jones Epic stunt spectacular...

The first set of the stunt show...

Lynseys action shot...

One of the final scenes, Q explosions....

Lights, Motors, Action....

This was the set of the Extreme stunt show, at MGM studio's. Involving mainly modified Corsa's, spinning, crashing, jumping, splitting in two & exploding =) It was taken from disneyland paris, then brought over here due to its success, apparently...

Part of the ending shot...

I always said Coca-Cola was bad for you ;)

Disney - MGM Studio's...

Thought this was supposed to be off peak season, sodding spring break!

Its the Hollywood Tower of Terror!

Guitar Hero, American style :) Its actally the Rocking R.Coaster featuring Aerosmith... All inside complete pitch black, few loops, but now childs-play after what weve done...

Feeding Time....

Although there is quite an obvious sign, given a plastic glove, a $10 payment, and a bag of meat, your allowed in :o)

Travelling was all about doing things for the first time, so, here i am after feeding the gators from a meter away :) Photo was taken in about .2 of a milli-sec - the only length of time i was going to turn my back on that lot ! Quite amused they give you a stick... If a 9 foot Gator comes at you, the last thing on my mind would be to start poking it with a bit of wood..

Trespassers will be eaten...

K, we wont go that way....

I see a james bond styli crossing developing here ;)

Mini Crocs...

View from a new "Tower" bit, accross one of the many croc lakes...

Mini-Crocs :)

Welcome to Gatorland...

Well its changed quite a bit, since i was last here. Its a massive place now, i remember it being quite small. Its now a 110-acre site, with 4 "show" area's, snake cabinets, restaurant area and many other "Florida" animal exhibits. We saw the Jumparoo, where they basically feed them with chickens hanging from wires. We also caught the "Alligator wrestling", but as much as i wanted, it didnt quite get the guy =) The "Wrestling" bit did seem a bit wrong, so it would of made for good footage if the guy had been caught & barrel rolled into the water...

The Seaworld Kraken...

In its full glory :)
Taken just after I got off, the next lucky passengers =)) now for what actaully happens ;)

You get strapped into your seat, nice & tight, Thank.f.. with your feet dangling, as its floor-less.

First is a vertical loop, straight from the inital drop at 69mph.

Then there is a dive loop (half corkscrew, half loop).

That's followed by a weightless, zero-g barrel roll. (This bit rocked!)

After that is a cobra roll (boomerang - 2 inversions) which decend into a tunnel under ground.

Then comes another vertical loop.

This is closely followed by the final inversion, a flat spin (corkscrew).

Which gives you one of the finest r.coasters ive ever been on. Its got everything you need :)

I had to go on this serveral times, obviously, just to decide where the best place is to sit..........The Front! Bush Gardens will have to work hard to beat that....

Censorship Required - Its supposed to be a kids park, sheeesh..

SeaWorld revisited...

Yesturday we went off to SeaWorld =) We looked at so much stuff, its probably easier to just list it : Seal reserve, Penguin encounter, Manatee rescue, Alligator zone, Dolphin cove, Whale & dolphin center, Turtle point, Sea lion & otter stadium, Shark encounter, Stingray lagoon, Wild Arctic and to finish off Shamu stadium :)

The picy above is from the killer whale show, featuring Shamu. Not sure it was shamu 18 years ago, but we sat in a similar area I remembered from all those years ago, the splash zone :)

After a gap of 18 years, im back in Orlando =)

This is our hotel in Orlando, The Sheraton Safari =) Its a Quirky "Safari" hotel that is a lot nicer than i first thought it was going to be =) Its about 3 miles from Disney, Seaworld, etc so were nicely placed for our time here. The hotel runs free shuttles to all the nearby "Attractions" which is useful. Its been 18 years give or take a bit, since i was last here, so it'll be good to see how much the place has changed.

So tmw is a downtime day, as manu Kickoff against middlesbrough in the FA-Cup at 17.15, so thats 12:15 for us here. Aint missed a game yet =) With a friendly against an European XI to come, we then have a couple of "small" derbys against Bolton & Blackburn. After that we'll be back home at old trafford to watch Our title come home :)))

We are off to Seaworld on Sunday, Gatorland on monday and Bush Gardens on the tuesday. Other than that we aint planned owt else yet, suppose a few days chilling then hit disney. Other things we want to do is see a Baseball game & go on an Eco Tour through the Florida Everglades on airboats :)

Times ticking by now, in no time at all we'll be back in the UK and off over to Amsterdam for the final week. Looking forward to seeing everyone in amsterdam, feels like weve been away for years now. Triff n co, Ravi dave, Mr Lee, Paulo, Dingle®, Mark & Lou - See ya sooon!

To Quote the Lighthouse Family - We'll Live on Ocean Drive...

We walked all along Ocean drive then back along the beach to where our hotel was. Cracking little road, laid with funky bars, Coffee shops & resturants. Was hard not to hear the Lighthouse Family song in your head =)

Not bad, but think ill stick with an STi

Plenty of these flying around miami...