Possibly the best day off ever?!?!

Wow! I have so much to tell you about swimming with the manatees. It was amazing! Still, let me do this in order.

I was up early (5.00am!) and I had to meet the bus at the crossroads which is about a ten minute walk away. I paced it out the day before but I was horrified to learn that while I could get most of the way there, there's a huge massive interstate (the I4) in the way and there is no way to cross it without risking becoming road kill. America really doesn't cater well to pedestrians. I had to get a taxi instead and all because of that road I couldn't cross! Bizarre!

I met up with the coach and my driver, Graci (pronounced Grassy, he was great!) and he took us out to Crystal River. It's quite a distance from Orlando but they had provided a "breakfast bag" to keep us going and Graci had decent music taste so I was listening to The Eagles and Abba on the way up. We were taken to a PADI shop where we were given our fins and masks. We also hired wetsuits which was an extra $10 but apparantly it was recommended. We carried on down to the river and boarded the boat which took us out into the canals. All around were houses and they were incredible but apparantly cost over a million each! Not surprising. Our boat captain kept an eye out and looked for the manatees. We found one and the guide got in to see if she wanted attention. However, the manatee wasn't interested in playing so we let her go off and carried on. We found another a little later and she wanted a tummy rub so everyone got in and swam out.

Manatees are huge! I had no idea they could grow to 12 feet in length. They are also really difficult to describe. They're kind of like fat hippos crossed with walruses without teeth. They eat sea grass that grows on the bottom of the canal and they are extremely gentle.

We all swam over and straight away I saw the manatee underneath me. She was just stationary munching on sea grass. I swam over the top of her as she swam along and then jumped out of my skin when it felt like the canal floor rose up to get me. What happened was she surfaced to breathe and she did it right in front of me. Both my hands ran along her back as she surfaced in front of me and then she kicked me in the face with her tail when she went back down. It didn't hurt, I found it amusing more than anything. Besides, it was her revenge because I hit her in the face earlier with my fins. Accidentally and I think I missed but obviously, she didn't forget! Swimming alongside the manatee was amazing. She ignored us most of the time but at one point she came up to us and let us touch her. Manatees feel....I want to say beautiful or amazing but in truth, manatees feel absolutely disgusting! They are slimy! Moss grows on thier backs and it's like stroking a rock that is covered in seaweed. Still, I touched a manatee!!!

After half an hour or so, the first manatee was joined by another one. This one was a male but our girl wasn't interested and chased him off. After that our guide said, "okay guys, let's leave her to it" and we all climbed out. I loved the fact that the guide was so respectful of the manatees. He made sure she wanted us there and we never chased after her if she swam away. There's also a region of the river that people aren't allowd just so the manatees have freedom from us if they want it. That's how it should be.

We went to lunch next at a restaurant. This was included in the price of the tour and I had chicken burger and chips. Then we continued to the Homosassa Springs State Park where they had resident animals from Florida. We saw alligators, crocodiles, bobcats, cougars, black bears, various birds, deer, manatees and foxes. I loved seeing all the native wildlife and their enclosures are huge which made me happy. Alot of these animals are rescued from various situations and are being rehabilitated.

Once we were done at Homosassa, we boarded the bus back to Orlando. When we got back, I went to the Magic Kingdom. It's already decorated for Halloween which I find strange as that's still nearly two months away! The park was practically empty for some reason and the longest I had to wait to ride anything was five minutes! I walked straight onto the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, It's a Small World... I've never seen the park so quiet! Still, it was great for me!

When I got home around 9.30pm, I was exhausted and I fell asleep on the sofa. I eventually woke up and went to bed around midnight. Still, it was a fantastic day and I think I deserved the huge lie in I had this morning.

Seaworld, manatees and the triple threat to Florida!

Hi everyone,

How you all doing? Here's a quick update for you!

Things here are going really well at the moment. I was seating the other day at the restaurant. That's when you show guests to their table. I got chatting to this absolutely amazing family. They were great! I was chatting to them for about half an hour and they were the nicest guests I've ever had, either here or back on the cruise ships. It was two adults and three kids (Zac, Matt and Katie) and they were just brilliant. I loved talking to them! We were laughing about the dumb guest comments I get and they asked all about England (which people NEVER seem to do) and they were just so friendly. Honestly, if all my guests were like that, I wouldn't need paying to do my job! I went to management and asked if we could do something nice for them so I ended up making them the "Table of the Day" and getting them free smoothies. I won't forget that family for a long time. Just the memory is making me smile.

A bit later in the day, I did the magic moment again with a little boy called William. He was six and very excited to be chosen. I gave him the Mickey wand and he was enthusiastically waving it around "directing" the fireworks. He was a little too enthusiastic because he ended up clopping this other guest on the head! She said, "excuse me! That hit me!" and then William's mother answered, "ease up, he's only a little kid and you're ruining his day!" I suggested we move to further along the deck and the mother said loudly, "yes, lets get you away from the frosty faced bitch woman!" I wanted to die! Poor William, it did ruin his moment, he was so subdued afterwards. When the guest had gone, I went to the other table and apologised profusely for them being hit in the head. They were actually really nice about it but I was upset it had happened to either guest. I'd been having such a nice day!

My signature magic trick is being copied. I have a thumb trick where I produce a red light from nowhere, throw it around and get rid of it. It's really effective. However, Nathan turned up to work today with the same thing. I thought it would ruin it (that's MY power!) but instead, Nathan and I have been throwing this ball of light across the restaurant and all the guests love it! We got alot of guest comments and at the end of the day, I was given two guest fanatic cards from two different people for entertaining the guests. They go on your record so its great to recieve those!

I used the I-Ride trolley again today. I caught the trolley from stop 41 which is just the other side of the premium outlets to stop 33 where Seaworld is. Cast members get a discount on the I-Ride, it only costs 25 cents! Excellent! I love the I-Ride, the trolleys are green and have smiling faces on the front. Ahhh, the little things!

I paid for a year pass at Seaworld. You can set up a direct debit from your paycheck so they're taking $20 a month which really helps to spread the cost. I LOVE Seaworld! I got to touch and feed stingrays and dolphins and I saw alligators and manatees. I watched the shows and I just had the most amazing day. I could easily spend the rest of my life in Seaworld, I'm such an animal nut! The ticket I chose also includes Aquatica, Seaworld's new waterpark so I have a year pass for there too!

I'm really excited about tomorrow because.....I'm swimming with manatees! I'm being collected really early in the morning to go by coach to Crystal River to snorkel with manatees. I can't believe it! I'm bouncing in my chair, I'm so excited! I saw some manatees today at Seaworld and I don't remember them being that big. That's a little scary. Still, they call them "gentle giants" so it should be okay. I'll get photos, even if I have to go without food for the next month! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Oh, trying to describe what a manatee is to Saori and Nami (my Japanese housemates) was so funny. I said they were like big cows with tails. Vikki was even worse. She said, "just think of a dolphin that's been sat on by a giant. They're like flat dolphins!"

We got a letter through the letterbox this morning. "Hurricane Preparedness" again! Gustav luckily missed us but Hanna looks like she's barrelling right for us. She's a category one at the moment and right behind her are tropical storms Ike and Josephine. They're calling it the "Triple Threat". No one is certain where Ike and Josephine are gonna hit yet though. I guess they were right about it being an active season. Whew!

Right, well, you're all up to date again for now. I will let you know how tomorrow goes as soon as I can!