london

A Sightseeing Tour of London with London Duck Tours

A Sightseeing Tour of London with London Duck Tours

I have done a few sightseeing tours of London in my time, but a sightseeing tour aboard a giant yellow duck has to be the most fun.

Before you wonder if we were bobbing about on the river Thames in a giant yellow rubber duck, a DUKW (known as a Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the 2½ ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military in World War II.

For the safety conscious it is reassuring to  know that these vehicles have all been rebuilt according to stringent safety regulations to create the vehicles for this wacky, one-of-a-kind sightseeing tour.

We signed up for the classic sightseeing tour although there are others which include a D-Day Tour, Pirate Tour and James Bond. All scheduled tours leave from Belvedere Road, which is just behind the London Eye, between Jubilee Gardens and The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall) in central London.

London Duck Tours

We started the tour on land, heading past the Palace of Westminster and up past Downing Street where we were instructed to quack at the police standing guard at the gate. We were then treated to seeing the Horse Guards heading up the road to change the guards.

London Duck Tour

We also got to take in Trafalgar Square, St James’ Palace and Buckingham Palace before we headed back towards the River Thames where we entered the water next to the MI6 building – all very James Bond!!

The plunge into the River is exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time as water shoots past the open windows. It is a bizarre feeling as the Duck goes from running on land to being a boat and I was quite surprised by how low to the water we were as I could have reached the water with my hand out the window.

London Duck Tours

We headed up the river with the tide as far as the Houses of Parliament and then turned around back towards the MI6 building with our tour guide pointing out all the sites along the side of the river.

London Duck Tour

The transition from water to land wasn’t quite a dramatic as the entry but was still fun as you could feel the Duck fighting against the tide. It was then back to the London Eye to disembark.

London Duck Tour

The whole tour took approximately 75 minutes and was an experience we will never forget as it was people’s reactions to seeing us in the Duck that was most fun to watch!

Country Kids

Omaha beach

Days Out in Review – January to June 2016

For some 2016 has been shocking and they have been very vocal about it and how they are looking forward to 2017.

For us however, 2016 has been one of our best years yet, full of fun and adventures and here are some of our favourites.

January 2016

We love to get out and about and bad weather never stops us from having fun. In January we journeyed to Hampshire where we climbed the Spinakker Tower, explored the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth and then headed to Rock Up in Whiteley for some climbing fun.

Staying a little closer to home we enjoyed playing in the sand dunes at Sandbanks beach, explored a new beach for us, Ringstead Bay near Weymouth and took part in the Stickman Trail at Moors Valley.

I also attended my first ever Toy Fair at Olympia, London where I was introduced to some of the fantastic toys that arrived into the shops in late 2016.

Spinnaker Tower

February 2016

For her birthday in January, Eliza got her first bike so we headed out to Potterne Park to get some riding practice and headed out to Farmer Palmers for some animal fun.

The highlight of the month had to be our holiday to France where we stayed at Eco Gites of Lenault and visited all the historic D-Day beaches, Pegasus Bridge and Le Mont St Michel, saw the Bayeux Tapestry and even had some snow.

We also had an unexpected stop in Jersey after a rather traumatic ferry crossing and a disappointing stay in Guernsey where we learned that EVERYTHING closes in winter.

Snowman

March 2016

March was a busy month for us with a visit to Thomas Land at Drayton Manor, a fabulous preview day at Thorpe Park where we barely queued for any rides and still on the adrenalin theme we tried out some new flumes at Splashdown Poole and released our inner apes, swinging through the trees at Go Ape, Moors Valley.

We did do some calmer activities as well, with strolls around Christchurch Harbour, Whitecliff Park and Lulworth Castle.

Lulworth Castle

April 2016

April saw us heading back to Farmer Palmers to feed the deer, get down and dirty with some Owl Forensic investigations at Avon Heath Country Park

We headed to Lighthouse Poole to watch Gruffalo’s Child Live and Genting Arena in Birmingham for some WWE action.

Owl Forensics

May 2016

May is one of my favourite months in Dorset as there is a plethora of activities for families to enjoy. This year was no different and we visited the Dorset Knob Throwing Festival, Lyme Regis Fossil Festival and Donkey Derby in Kinson. We also headed across to Weymouth to see its new exhibit in the Sea Life Centre and enjoy a spin on the Jurassic Tower.

We are frequent visitors to Paultons Park and could not wait to go to the opening of its new Lost Kingdom section of the park.

Lost Kingdom

June 2016

It was back to the Sea Life Centre in June for a very special occasion – we got to have a personal tour of the centre, meet some of its famous residents and feed the Seals.

June is a big birthday month for us and we had a great time at Hollywood Bowl to celebrate but the highlight of the month had to be meeting Ashley Banjo and learning to dance with the Diversity crew on a Diversity break at Butlins.

Diversity

It was also the month that Kian finished his GCSE exams so we celebrated with a rather damp Forest Segway experience with Go Ape.

Segway

So that is the first half of the year, second half coming soon………..

Disney On Ice

Disney On Ice Presents Frozen

Last year we thoroughly enjoyed seeing Disney On Ice Worlds of Enchantment at Christmas.

This year we were invited back to the O2 to see the new instalment – Disney On Ice Frozen and it did not disappoint.

The heartwarming Academy Award®-winning tale you love is now a full length production live on ice. It started with the stars of the show coming out in their sports gear to teach us how to do the Olaf dance, before welcoming Mickey and Minnie on stage, who then introduced some of their favourite Disney characters from Nemo to Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel and more.

Disney On Ice

We were then magically whisked away to wintry Arendelle, where we met a young Sven and Kristoff finding ice before meeting the young Anna and Elsa who introduced us to the story with “Do you want to build a Snowman”.

The story followed Frozen perfectly, with dazzling special effects and astonishing skating as we all sang and danced along to our favourite songs including “Let It Go”, “In Summer” and “Fixer Upper”.

Disney On Ice Frozen

I did wonder how Olaf, Kristoff, Sven and Anna would do the abdominal Snowman scene but a huge, imposing inflatable character came out puffing smoke and following them around the ice.

Disney On Ice Frozen

Now, I love Olaf and his “In Summer” performance but the show stealers for me were the Trolls who helped us discover that true love is the most magical power of all!

Disney On Ice Frozen

This show is an unforgettable celebration of love and friendship left us singing and smiling all the way home.

Disney on Ice Frozen

If you are planning a visit to see Disney On Ice at the O2, there are some things worth noting. We were not allowed to take food and drink inside and had to throw it away at the gates. You are also not permitted to take bags larger than 35cm x 40cm x 19cm so if you have a baby and a changing bag, it would be wise to only take wipes and a couple of nappies.

The merchandise is also very pricey – we paid £22 for Eliza’s wand and there are merchandise stands everywhere you look, so be prepared for the “I want’s”.

That said, we had a wonderful time and cannot wait for the 100 Years of magic show in the Spring.

Disclaimer: We were invited along to see the show for the purpose of a review. All opinions are our own.

 

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