Miami

After a four hour bus ride between Orlando and Miami, we arrived to a very warm and cloudy Miami, making our way to the very Miami-esque named Bikini Hostel. For whatever reason, they couldn't put us all in the same dormitory, but before we had the opportunity to mention to them that we weren't bothered about being split up, they upgraded us to a Deluxe King Apartment. Not a bad start.

We'd opted to stay in South Beach, which is undoubtedly one of the best beach/tourist scenes in we've come across this trip. I have no doubt the place is usually teeming with tourists, but due to our September arrival (it's officially 'Fall' here now, and school/college has resumed), the crowds have distinctively died down. An amble along Ocean Drive and a walk along the impressively pristine beach itself was all the more enjoyable by not having to avoid swathes of tourists as we had done a couple of months ago in the very crowded (albeit entertaining) Venice Beach.

With palm trees, art deco buildings and neon lights lining the streets, the general look of South Beach still feels very Miami Vice orientated (or Grand Theft Auto IV).With several days of what was perhaps one of the most relaxing periods on our holiday, soaking up the Florida rays, swimming at the beach and in our hotel pool, playing table tennis and pool, we're leaving Miami for a week thoroughly recharged and acclimatized to our next adventure - a week long cruise through the Carribean.

Orlando

After a casual week in Nashville our attitude towards booking onward travelling followed suit, as we left it to the last minute, and were unable to book a sub-$400 (!) flight for the day we had intended to leave. With the benefit of staying at Rob's house, we booked our flight for a day later, which was still much more expensive than it should have been. In addition to paying more than we had planned, we also had to endure the dreaded extremely early morning (in this case, 4am) taxi flight to catch an extremely early flight. Our Nashville body-clock schedule didn't help the situation, as we ended up with less than an hour or two of sleep before we were on our way to the airport.

A flight in the opposite direction to Houston, a three hour layover, and a further flight, and we were Orlando waiting for our bags. And waiting. You know how every time you wait a while for your bags, and time seems to drag on, as you become increasingly frustrated? Then the thought pops into your head that maybe your bags won't arrive? 'That won't happen to me', you say. Well, it did.

After seeing the same bags come around a couple of times, and mine not arriving, I made my way over to the baggage counter to find out my bags were on their way.... from another state. Washington, or Texas, I couldn't tell you, I just know it wasn in another state, and more importantly, where it shouldn't have been. It'll be dropped off at 8pm, I was told. At 3pm, this prospect isn't so bad, but when it eventually arrives at 2:30am, it's safe to say it's a little worse. Thanks, United Airlines, for ensuring I never fly with you again.

Annoying transport issues aside, Orlando had some of the most enjoyable weather thus far. The humid heat of the mid-east had become a much dryer heat, reminscent of a day in the late spring of Australia. We made our way from our bargain bin priced hotel (half the price of some of the hostels we'd paid for a month or two earlier -thank-you shoulder season pricing), passing under blue skies and palm trees, to 'Islands of Adventure', one half of the sprawling Universal Studios resort.

The recreated Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, key locations in the Harry Potter Series were a 'magical' start to the day, as the extremely detail and extravagant trips, rides and buildings gave a brilliant Harry Potter experience. As a side note, chocolate milk and energy drinks do not combine well as a breakfast option prior to riding rollercoasters.

An amazing day of rollercoasters, water rides and perhaps some of the best theme park food ever (the award winning Mythos Restaurant), was topped off by a cheeky 18 holes of mini golf. As for the result, well, it doesn't really matter who won or lost, but I will say that we all had a good time.