Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Monday, October 12, 2015

Honeymoon Travels: New York USA

Mr P and I had the most amazing honeymoon touring around the USA we made memories we will remember for our lifetime!

We visited 6 places, stayed in 4 hotels, 1 apartment and 1 lodge and caught 11 planes over 3 weeks.

Our first stop was New York City


New York has been on my bucket list forever and I was so excited that this was our first destination. Although we left less than 24 hours after our wedding, the flight took 24 hours to get there, so on arrival we were exhausted and excited all at once!

We wasted no time jumping into the Big Apple and seeing what all the fuss was about. There is so much energy in New York, it's bustling with people and traffic, it truly is a city that never sleeps.

We stayed in our own apartment in the middle of trendy Manhattan off 5th Avenue opposite the Flatiron Building. We had everything we needed at out front door it was in a prime location. All I needed was a laptop and a cigarette and I could've been Carrie Bradshaw aka Sex in the City!

The apartment I booked through Airbnb was fantastic and a lot cheaper than a hotel stay - I would highly recommend looking into this kind of accommodation if you ever visit NYC.




We were spoilt for choice on what to eat in NYC! It become a morning ritual for Mr P to have Dunkin Donuts and I'd have a bagel with cream cheese and coffee and sit in Maddison Square Park and watch the squirrels and people go by. We also lined up for the Shake Shack burgers here which were delicious.

Reading the Slice Harvester recently which lists all the pizza places in New York was handy too. We found some delicious pizza places, our favourite was when we ordered pizza to go and took it back to our apartment for a pizza party for two, relaxed with a movie and drinks, listening to the bustling city streets outside. It's moments like these that create memories that I'll remember forever!

There are some great roof top bars around NYC which are worth a visit to escape the busy streets, admire the view and have a drink and recharge. We went to Eataly an amazing food market and visited their rooftop bar which is also a microbrewery and was the perfect way to spend a few hours and enjoy a few coldies on a hot day.





We had 3 days in NYC .... I wish we had an extra 3 days as there is just so much to see and do, we walked for miles and tried to make the most of our time there.

On day 1 we did a Free Tours By Foot where you pay the tour leader what you think it was worth at the end of the tour. Our tour lasted 6 hours and took us everywhere from Wall Street, Financial District, Stock Exchange, Trinity Church, World Trade Centre, Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park, SoHo, Chelsea Market for lunch, High Line Park and Chinatown. It ended in Little Italy where the big yearly San Gerrome festival was on and there were more types of cannoli than I've ever seen before!

We mostly walked everywhere but did catch the subway a few times which was a great intro to the metro system as it's always a bit nerve racking catching public transport in a foreign place. Our guide was a real character and told us everything we needed to know from the history to interesting facts to street smarts tips on riding the subway and how not to be an annoying tourist to New Yorkers!





On day 2 we had our first full America breakfast at the famous Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop which kept us fuelled for the whole day!

We went to the Top Of The Rock for amazing views across the city, stood under the clock at Grand Central Station, were dazzled by the happenings in Times Square, ate chocolate at Hershey's Chocolate World. shopped at Toys R Us, and had a well earned rest in Central Park.






On day 3 we went to Brooklyn and had a morning stroll over the Brooklyn Bridge with beautiful views of the city and river. Then we took the free ferry over to Staten Island and back again to see views of the Statue of Liberty. We spent a few hours at Modern Pinball for Mr P and did a bit of window shopping on our last day in NYC.

When they say to wear good walking shoes they aren't kidding. My faithful sandals broke just days into the holiday and I had to take myself shopping for a new pair. The good thing about walking is you don't feel guilty about the delicious food you eat because you've earned it!





I could easily have stayed twice as long in NYC there is just so much to see and do I wish we had more time here. I will definitely be back to do the museums, galleries, shopping, shows and dining.

I hope you liked my happy snaps from Part 1 of our honeymoon in the USA ..... coming up next is our trip down south to Louisville, Kentucky.

Have you been to New York? What did you love about it?


 photo F0F68C01A59FABD46732FC15E1D8816D_zpsc6047f2f.png

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter


[All images my own]

Pin It Now!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Book Review And Preview: The Masked Truth By Kelley Armstrong

I'm back on the blog after a magical wedding day and amazing honeymoon around the USA!

I did a lot of reading while on holidays to pass the time travelling .... 11 planes in 3 weeks was a lot of reading time! Here is the first of many book reviews that you'll see on the blog in the coming weeks and stay tuned for a wedding day recap and our travel stories from around the USA.

This is a book review and sneak preview of The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong that is due to be published by Hachette Australia on 13 October 2015.

Kelley Armstrong has been writing since she was a young girl. Kelley has written many series and novels usually about ghosts, demons and werewolves. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.


Teenager Riley is babysitting a young girl and hides under the bed with the young girl while attackers break in and murder the girls parents.

To help her get over this traumatic event Riley goes to a weekend therapy clinic with 5 other teens with mental health issues.

The clinic is taken over by 3 masked men who take the group hostage. Riley finds herself in a hostage situation once again and she is constantly reminded of the incident which bought her there.

The mental health issues of all the characters come to light and the story is full of suspense, action, twists and turns from the very start to the end.

All the main characters in the story are young which makes this a modern read. I found the storyline to be aimed towards the younger adult fiction and some parts I found pretty unrealistic. Nevertheless it was still a really great read.

I recommend this book to young adults and thriller seekers.

I give this book 4 stars out of  5

Jarrah Jungle's Star Rating:
1 Bad - I'd rather eat brussel sprouts topped with anchovies than read this again
2 Not Good - I'd rather watch paint dry than read this again
3 Ok - I'm sitting on the fence - its not great but not terrible either
4 Good - I'd give up a bottle of the worlds best champagne for this read
5 Great - I'd pass up a date with Johnny Depp for this read


The Masked Truth can be purchased from the author here and Hachette Australia


Sharing my book review on Good Reads here and Netgalley


Disclosure:  NetGalley partner with bloggers such as me to help promote authors and their books and I was given this ebook published by Hachette Australia to review. As always, all opinions are my own.


 photo F0F68C01A59FABD46732FC15E1D8816D_zpsc6047f2f.png

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter


[Image via Kelley Armstrong

Pin It Now!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Wedding + Honeymoon = Blogging Break

With my wedding just a few days away and then I'll be honeymooning around the USA I'm signing off the blog for the rest of the month.


After 10 months of planning everything for the wedding is organised and I'm really happy with how it's come together - being my own wedding planner was so much fun I really loved it. Most importantly I can't wait to be married to Mr P, the man of my dreams, and then he can officially call me wifey!

Our suitcases are packed for our honeymoon which will be a long 20+ hour flight to get from Aussie Land over to the USA. I'm so excited for this trip it's always been a dream to go to New York and Mr P and I have worked so hard to get there I can't wait!

My house sitter is ready to move in and the fridge is stocked with wine and chocolate in appreciation.

Our fur baby Lexi is in good hands and will be absolutely spoilt by our dog sitter .... I don't think she'll even notice we've gone!


Take care everyone have a wonderful few weeks and I'll see you next month!

You can find me over on my Instagram and Facebook pages until I'm back on the blog! 


 photo F0F68C01A59FABD46732FC15E1D8816D_zpsc6047f2f.png

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter


[Images my own]


Pin It Now!

Monday, September 7, 2015

Removing The Granny Flat - Up And Away!

Anyone that has followed my blog for the last year will know that we are at the stage now when we're ready to subdivide our block and as part of our subdivision plans we cleared out and emptied our Granny Flat that we've been using for storage for 6 years so that it is now finally ready to be removed from the backyard.

Since then we've been waiting for the crane truck and truck removalist to be free on a day that we could be home to supervise the removal ..... we thought an hour would be enough to get it in and out but turns out it was a lot more involved than that and took the entire day - over 7 hours from start to finish!

Wait until you see the photos it really was surreal to see the granny flat being lifted off the supports and into the sky, over the house, and down the side to be placed on the removalist truck and taken away. 


The first obstacle was to get the crane truck down the side of the house into the backyard, across the sandy driveway - we had a bobcat come in a few weeks ago to flatten the sand and get it ready for the truck - but the sand was still too soft and boggy and the truck kept getting bogged and we had to keep getting it out!

If we had of known the sand was too soft we could've laid down some road base and we wouldn't have had all the problems we did ..... hindsight is a wonderful thing!






The crane truck can get itself out of being bogged by extending the outriggers, putting planks of wood underneath them and moving the truck over. The front and back wheels can be lifted off the ground at different times too. 

It was really awesome to see something this big get itself out of a tricky situation!





Once the crane truck was moved over enough to get it balanced the crane came into action - the crane was massive, it carried a bar across to the top of the granny flat, the guys secured straps around it, and then lifted if off the supports.

It took a few goes before it was ready to be lifted - they had to keep adjusting the straps and securing wood chucks so it didn't cut into the walls and frame of the granny flat, as you can see there was some damage to the side but it wasn't too bad.

The granny flat weighed 5.5 tonne and the crane was 50 tonnes.








They lifted the granny flat up and over our house and down the side of the house where the transporter truck was waiting.

It was swinging near our new roof, eaves and gutters ..... and on the other side the neighbors house ..... with just centimetres to spare on either side it was a very tense time!






To add to all the excitement the granny flat got stuck on the neighbors fence, luckily they weren't home at the time because Mr P had to get out the hammer and hack away at the fence to free the truck and granny flat to get it out!

The fence has to be replaced anyway but you should've seen the look on their face when they came home to it! Mr P has fixed it up for them temporarily until the new fence is installed.




It was pretty touch and go there for a while until they could secure the granny flat to the back of the truck.

Then as the transporter truck was driving out it got bogged - with the granny flat on the back! 

So then we had to wait for a big truck to come and pull it out.




We had 2 pilot vehicles with their oversized signs and lights flashing at the ends of our street directing the traffic. Once the transporter truck and granny flat was pulled out they moved really quickly with 2 pilot vehicles to get it on the road and off to the truck depot.

It was so bittersweet seeing the granny flat loaded up and going past the house .... I actually waved goodbye to it!


But it wasn't over yet ... now we had to get the crane truck out of the backyard! Luckily it can get itself out of tricky situations with it's outriggers but it still took another hour or so to get out.

All the guys left just in time as over sized trucks can't be on the road late afternoon ..... they had just enough time get back to the truck depot!




This was such a huge milestone for our subdivision plans and a momentous occasion in the Jarrah Jungle renovations to see our plans come to life after 6 years of talking about it! 

Now for a final goodbye granny flat - you were awesome to us for storage and saved us while we renovated our bathroom, toilet and laundry. 

You will be missed but I'm sure you'll make another family happy now! 


Sharing with link party:

 photo F0F68C01A59FABD46732FC15E1D8816D_zpsc6047f2f.png

For exclusive extras and daily updates ... follow Jarrah Jungle on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter



[All images my own]


Pin It Now!