July 30th – Across the Golden Gate Bridge

Today Andy and I were still a little bit sick – a combination I’m sure of cramming so many things into our days and the lovely healthy American food we’ve been eating the last week. We are still keen to use San Francisco as our rest stop so we…. went on a long bike ride!

We did sleep in first though, up at 10am and then a lazy breakfast of peanut butter and banana waffles. At 12pm we picked up our bikes for the classic Fisherman’s Wharf to Sausalito bike ride. Most of you would know that biking isn’t my strongest skill, not being a particularly sporty person and only learning to ride when I was 17! Really though, this ride was pretty easy – there are bike paths everywhere, most of it was flat and I could walk my bike up the scary hills.

  

The weather here continues to be perfect – 26 degrees – and the drive along the shore with bright green grass and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance was very lovely indeed. The drive across the bridge was great, albeit very windy. The second half was particularly rewarding when all of the hard work was done and I could just glide along under the arches!

Our bike journey ended at Sausalito, a little seaside town across the San Francisco Bay. Here we had half and hour before catching the ferry back so we grabbed a freshly made burger at their highly recommended shop – nom. Soon after we were boarding the ferry with our bikes and back in Fisherman’s Wharf.

Tonight we have decided on a night in – we plan to sit on the couch and read books, do a load of washing, update our photos and blogs and just relax. Dinner was at the hostel cafe – a slice of turkey pizza and a banana muffin, looking over the bay at dusk. And now to do nothing much! 

June 30th–San Francisco

Today began at a nice and easy 9.30am – despite the REALLY loud snoring guy a good sleep was had by both off us. Time for PB & J Bagels again, some fruit, green tea and a view over the wharf. Lovely. Particularly on a perfect 27 degree day – we were quite glad to leave Vegas before the 47 degree heat wave hit!

By the time we’d sauntered around freshening up we were out of the hostel by 12pm – a quick bite to eat at Fisherman’s wharf and then a bus trip into town. There was nothing spectacular here, except oh…. the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebrations! We have decided to skip the parade tomorrow (due to transport in and out being waaaay too tricky) but definitely didn’t want to miss out on the atmosphere. There was food stalls, live music, drinks stands… and of course the people in crazy costumes, the slight smell of weed and the random stark naked men that I really didn’t need to see naked at all. I bought a rainbow Lei and we wandered around for a bit, soaking it all in.

  

I really do love the liberal nature of this city – the acceptance, the random messages of equality on buses, the Pride signs in department stores, the AIDS awareness posters… I just want to give everybody hugs.

After leaving the craziness of the Pride festival we headed back to the hostel – first via a random ‘Smart Gifts’ game store (full of new board games, this was exciting!) and then a very long walk over lots of hills all the way back to the wharf. We HAD planned to catch a cable car but they only seemed to be running one way. There were some pretty views along the walk in any case!

  

Back to the hostel for a quick rest before heading out again to catch the ferry to Alcatraz, the famous jail on the ‘Rock’ in the middle of the bay. This consisted of a 15 minute ferry with lovely views of the city, an introductory guided tour, a 45 minute (very good) audio tour and then a little talk about escape attempts. The jail itself isn’t actually very big but it was all very interesting and I look forward to doing a little more research into it later on.

We were back around 10pm and in much need to dinner – Hard Rock Cafe it was! Due to a private function starting soon we were served up the bar. Macaroni and cheese, chicken salad and wine – this was fun and again, clichéd American!

Bed time tonight might be before midnight, exciting times!              

(Also, a reminder to keep an eye on photos top right – particularly Andy’’s, they are better than mine!!)

June 28th–Off to San Francisco

Up at 8am this morning – time to leave our comfy hotel and double bed (insert sad face here). The trip to the airport (via the car rental drop off) was uneventful and soon we were on our flight.

We arrived in San Francisco around 2pm and then embarked on a rather long and tedious two and a half hour public transport journey to our hostel in Fort Mason (yep, definitely no luxurious car driving any more).

  

This hostel is a bit run down with some dodgy facilities… and we are in a 24 bed dorm! It is in a truly beautiful location though, with close views of both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. In fact, this city in general seems an absolutely lovely place to be, I look forward to relaxing here over the next three nights.

We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for a mini food cart festival down near the docks – which meant a random Japanese ‘KoJa’ burger for dinner followed by Crème Brule and cupcakes! The relaxed atmosphere and lovely weather here made me want to stay here longer – but we had a segway tour to catch!

  

My first tour of San Francisco… on a segway! This was fun! Two and a half hours driving around the streets, through Little Italy, China Town and Fisherman’s wharf, driving past many restaurants that I would love to eat at! I was rather nervous of the segway driving thing but it was super easy and Andy had much fun zipping ahead everywhere.

Back to the hostel by 11pm – we plan to take these next couple of days pretty easy before things get crazy again. And this city seems the perfect place to do just that!

June 27th– Grand Canyon

Today was an epic day for us. I mentioned previously that we decided not to attempt the Canyon…well, moving our sky diving and extending our car rental actually made this possible, so after a 9am start off we went!

It should be mentioned that I’ve gotten sick sick sick, which defined today somewhat. I could have stayed in bed all day, but instead – four and half hour drive into Arizona it was!! I was meant to share this drive with Andy but ended up sleeping for most of it, oops. I did drive for 40 minutes at one point though, my first time driving on the wrong side of the road!

The trip there was long and relatively uneventful – some pretty landscapes, Hoover Dam and a brunch stop at In N Out. At around 2pm we arrived at the Canyon, parked and headed in to watch a rather long but rather welcome park history video. After that, out to the view points. Ok, so the Grand Canyon is indeed very grand and impressive – I am so very glad we came to see it instead of moping in the hotel room. We stayed at the first look out point for about 10 minutes (did I mention there was a SQUIRREL?) before driving along Desert View road for some more pretty views and photo ops.

      

And then….back we drove! So much driving today! On our way the sun set and when we finally arrived all the twinkling Vegas lights were out. So what else should we do but drive down the strip with the top of our convertible down and music blaring? That was something special.

We parked in the Paris hotel, with the intention of heading to the Bellagio… the Paris Casino was unexpectedly fantastic. It is decorated like real Parisian streets, completed with street lamps, Parisian restaurants.. it was very neat. This place is like Disneyland – so many hidden treasures that need exploring!

Across the road we went, under the Eiffel Tower and on to the Bellagio. It was very pretty in here, so many beautiful flowers in the lobby! Andy had decided to make one big bet on Roulette (our one token gambling effort here) – luckily the ball landed on black and he won $100. Off to celebrate with some Bellagio cocktails!

  

We headed back to our car via the Bellagio fountain show, which happened to be to the soundtrack of One from A Chorus Line (insert excited giggle). This was very impressive, particularly from the ‘Oceans 11’ spot!

Then back to the hotel. Tomorrow we leave Vegas – I really have loved it here and would happily come back – I feel like we have only scratched the surface. Also, due to our very busy days and illnesses we have been completely wrecked at night – we have committed the cardinal sin of not getting drunk in Vegas once. Definitely a reason to come back, don’t you think?

June 26th–Vegas

Up at 8am this morning – due to deciding not to do the Canyon today we had lots of relaxing ahead of us… this was until Andy decided to try and move our skydiving a day forward. In the space of 5 minutes we went from a relaxing day to jumping in the car to go jump out of a plane!

During the 40 minute drive there and then the 45 minute wait to board a plane there was plenty of time to get nervous.  I was actually doing ok until we signed a ‘if you die it’s not our fault’ waiver. Soon I was suited up and meeting my tandem guy Ross. And then on to the plane – Andy and I were lucky having a little plane all to ourselves, flying high above the Nevada desert.

After this things got a little crazy. I volunteered to jump before Andy, we sidled up to the side of the aeroplane and dangled our feet over the edge. It was just a little bit high. Before I could think about what on earth I was doing, Ross had pushed us out of the plane. The initial stomach-lurching drop only seemed to last a second…. then there was just intense pressure everywhere on my body (me leaving my mouth open and the intense winds lead to the most unattractive face contortions I have ever seen). The 60 second free fall went past so quickly – my thoughts were split between trying to remember to look at the view and trying to comprehend exactly what I’d just done.

 
And then we were gliding! This part was lovely, so completely different! Plenty of time to enjoy the surrounding desert (and swear just a little bit). Landing went smoothly, as did Andy’s straight after mine.Then back to our car in a bus, on a absolutely adrenalin high – my body at this point felt like it had just run a marathon and I was just a little nauseous.

I still can’t believe I jumped out of a plane.

Afterwards, back to the hotel via the car rental place (to extend our car hire for the day), a 7-11 (to stock up on hot dogs, wine, Pringles, beef jerky and a slushee) and Downtown Vegas. Downtown is full of wedding chapels – including a  24 hour drive through option? By around 3pm we were back at the hotel – in time for a sleep and pool side relaxing.

 

Tonight we had two shows booked! Excitement! Before hand we popped into the Caribbean hotel restaurant for a burger, a parmy and cocktails – then across the hall to see Cirque De Soleil. This was my first Cirque show and I enjoyed it thoroughly – the costumes, the music, the moving stage, the effects… and of course the circus tricks. And then on to the next show – this was a bit crazy, we needed to get to the MGM Grand at the other end of the strip within the hour… time for some power walking (certainly one way to experience Vegas).

We got there with five minutes to spare and I settled into my seat right up the front to see David Copperfield! I was so excited about this one! Having him so close was such a thrill, even if he was a rather smarmy man. The tricks where he made things (i.e. a car) appear or disappear were my favourite – I even didn’t mind his ‘box hanging above the stage’ trick that we see in every magic we go to these days.

After the show we were exhausted, so back to Treasure Island we went (all the way back) – via the Luxor, Excalibur and New York New York. What a crazy day! 

June 25th–Off to Vegas

This morning we slept in until 8am! So good! Another bagel for breakfast – this one with cream cheese. Soon we were off on our rather complicated journey to the car rental pick up place – this consisted of an hour long bus trip, getting off a stop too early and then a long walk with heavy backpacks. There was much happy dancing and shoulder flexing when we arrived.

We had a convertible hired for two days and the choice of cars was ours – we now have a shiny silver mustang (that I named Sally). It is very low and has ridiculous amounts of leg room. Before leaving the city we drove quickly around Beverly Hills -  this is such a different area to the run down streets that appear everywhere. Everything is all so big and grand and perfectly manicured. There is such a divide in this city between the rich and poor!

Of course, this area is famous for the ‘homes of the stars’ tours – we did drive past the Playboy Mansion, but of course it was just a gate with nothing the see. The rich non-celebrity houses were much more fun to look at.

  

Soon, off to Vegas we went! This was a long drive – around five hours in the end. The landscape consisted mainly of big brown hills and desert plains. It was actually quite impressive and Andy loved driving the shiny car around.

There was only one stop along the way – a quick pop into an outlet shopping centre – and around 6pm we were rolling into Vegas. This place is just a bit crazy. We drove past a pyramid, the Sphinx, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty – everything is tacky and self indulgent but also so grand and very well executed.

   

Here we are staying at Treasure Island on the strip. It’s so nice to be in a fancy hotel, seeing as we are hostelling so much the next four weeks. We drove up in our car and got both a valet and a porter service…oooooooh. Our room is comfy with two double beds… much lounging around on them ensued. 

After our lounging we headed downstairs to book some tickets, eat a very delicious and random buffet (think Thai noodles, mac & cheese, pizza and meatloaf) and then debate our activities over the next two days. We had a big decision as to whether we should attempt the Grand Canyon or not. This would have been a 5am wakeup call, a five hour drive, one hour there and a five hour drive back again – in the end we sadly decided not to. This does however mean…. a long sleep in our fancy hotel room!

After dinner, a quick walk down the north end of the strip, in time to watch the Mirage volcano erupt and the Treasure Island Sirens show (such terrible lip synching, but I forgive them because they sank a pirate ship with fireworks). Bed at midnight – tame for Vegas I know, but we will make up for it the next two nights! 

Monday 24th June–The Happiest Place on Earth

This morning was such a happy morning. On a high from Grease news, a comfy bed and events to come I flounced down to breakfast at 7.30am – time for peanut butter and ‘jelly’ on bagels and fresh orange juice (whilst waiting for Andy…our first nights on holiday and we are in separate boy/girl shared dorms).

And then, off for a quick cup of coffee whilst waiting for our Disneyland transfer bus! I was very excited (naturally) and there may have been some hand flapping when I was given our tickets. After about an hour, we arrived!

Now what to say about Disneyland. It’s so happy! Everything is bright and colourful and wholesome and clean…. and everyone who works there has a permanent (and I’m sure contractually obligated) smile on their face.

  

At 11am, the crowds weren’t that bad so we popped quickly into mini Snow White and Winnie the Pooh rides. Next, the Pirates of the Caribbean. This was probably my favourite ride of the day – they somehow made the ceiling disappear into darkness, making it feel like you were sailing outside…. and then the special effects! I spent most of the ride with my jaw dropped. We also loved the look of the Blue Bayou restaurant – a normal building on the outside, but inside a night of dining under the stars beside the river. You never know what you’ll find behind closed doors here!

After that, Splash Mountain – this is my sad story of the day. Just as we were nearing the front of the line someone threw up in the water and they had to shut it down to recycle the water. No Splash Mountain for me (this was super sad as I remember it being my absolutely favourite when I was I little).

I won’t take you through every ride – there was also Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin, the Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and It’s a Small Word (the last one was made extra disturbing by a doll or two with eyes missing).

  

There was also a much needed feet-up rest in Toontown, a concert show, clam chowder, corn on the cob and pork shanks.

By around 7.30pm our feet and backs were pretty much giving up so we sat near the Rivers of America, eating Mickey icecream sandwiches and waiting for the Fantasmic water show at 9pm. This was pretty impressive, lights, boats, music, drama…. we did have to run off before the end in fear of missing our transfer home, but not before stopping to watch most of the fireworks above the castle. So magical!

Back to the hostel around midnight for the best sleep ever. As a final note, I’ve linked Andy’s photos above as well- his fancy camera takes much better pictures than mine, particularly of the rides, so check them out!

June 23rd–The Never Ending Sunday

Today started at a sprightly 5am – probably quite a good indication of my levels of sleep over the next four weeks! We bundled into the taxi with my usual levels of “I’ve forgotten everything” and after a very healthy breakfast of airport Hungry Jacks we were on our 7am flight to Sydney.

That flight was uneventful – except for the moment when I realised leaving the wifi running on my Kindle had completely drained its batteries (clever timing Jess). I don’t think I’ve ever read the Qantas magazine so thoroughly before.

Then a three hour wait in Sydney Airport. How exciting.

Things of note about the 14 hour flight to LA:

• Plane food has really stepped it up a notch,. Everything was very yummy, especially the Dark Chocolate Mousse with Salted Caramel Fudge. So good.
• Trying to sleep when it’s only 5pm at home is really hard, even if you get up at 5am and have no caffeine all day.
• Having an AndyPillow helps with this situation.
• Goddess is a bad movie. Don’t watch it.

Finally, after an awfully long time we arrived in LA – three hours after we left Adelaide. The lines at the airport were really something special. So much waiting. But eventually, after a short Taxi ride we were at our hostel in Santa Monica.

Our little trip to LA is a rather squished one. It is revolving mainly around fabulous Disney adventures tomorrow, leaving us with not quite a full day today to see as much as possible.

After stashing our bags and still feeling very unkempt and exhausted we jumped onto a bus to downtown LA (about an hour away from our hostel). On the way an American local befriended us, pointing us in the direction of a little Mexican side-of-the-road-shop-thing for lunch (Andy has been raving about the Mexican in LA for weeks). This was very interesting, certainly off the beaten track and certainly ‘authentic’ – not the Mexican I am used to at home at all.

After that we walked into Hollywood. I was expecting it but oooooh this place is tacky and run down. The walk of stars goes on forever, past a whole bunch of mediocre shops and people spruiking their celebrity homes tours. This soon turned into a game of ‘spot the one we know’ amongst the hundreds of random strangers. More fun were the hand and feet cement prints outside the Chinese Theatre. Somehow putting your hands against a famous person’s hands is much more exciting then looking at their name on a footpath underneath crowds of people.

   

After that we found a piano staircase and a giant Candy Store, including Wonka Bars! Then, off to the Metro to head into Downtown LA.  Not to many exciting things to post about here – a pretty Art Deco train station, and impressive City Hall, the back of the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a random Mexican market (complete with more Tacos).

After this finally back to the hostel – via a two hour bus ride which was super duper hard to stay awake on. And then a SHOWER. So good. By now the sun was setting and we headed down to the Amusement Park on Santa Monica Pier. Our first dinner in America – Burger and Fries. Surrounded by roller coasters. This was so clichéd it was perfect!

Then a wander around the Santa Monica mall, some frozen yoghurt and back to hostel for some blogging. This has been one epically long day with nowhere near enough sleep in it, making everything rather hazy! Overall, this city confuses me. It goes from shabby, run down, touristy streets to avenues full of grand architecture, beautiful houses and rows of towering palm trees. It is a big dirty city, and I have never been a big dirty city person – yet I still got tingles when I saw the Hollywood sign. There is also a very strong Mexican presence here that I really wasn’t expecting – I hear almost equal amounts Spanish as I do American.

Bed now – I am so utterly exhausted but looking forward to Disneyland tomorrow and still buzzing with news about Grease! (a reminder my travel photos are at the link top right!)

June 22nd–Here We Go Again

Currently it is 5pm, the night before our next big adventure. Things are almost packed and there is a bottle of Chandon waiting for us in the fridge… we need something to make us fall asleep quickly – 5.45am Taxi pick up tomorrow morning!

Our trip this time spans four weeks, three locations in America, seven in Europe and two in Asia – perhaps not the most relaxing holiday but hopefully a big bundle of fun all the same! First stop LA – just a long haul flight to conquer first!

As usual I’ll be trying to post a blog every day, assuming we have internet access. It always amazes me who reads this thing, but mostly it’s just so I can read back myself and remember all the good times. I can’t imagine travelling and not blog writing at the same time! I hope whoever does read a blog here or there enjoys it – and please keep me updated with any news back home : )

Now, where is that champagne….