25th March 2004.
Well after 24 years of talking about it, I finally made it to the U.S.A & what a place to start then the "Big Apple". New York had always been one of my top five must see U.S cities, not too mention my top five must see world cities. We had booked to stay in a little place called the Big Apple Hostel, which was in a pristine location no more than fifty meters from Times Square.
We flew in to JFK & picked up a transfer from there to Grand Central Station. The drive into Manhattan was one of those moments you have on a trip. You know the type.. you bite your fingernails in anticipation, trying to peer through any angle of window possible. It also brings to mind memories of every New York movie you've ever seen.
By the time we had settled in to the hostel it was about 5.00pm, so we decided to go and get a bite to eat at Times Square. Keep in mind that I had just arrived from Egypt so every eatery, deli or restaurant we walked past was looking mighty fine to me. We ended up going with a good old New York style slice of pizza. Now I'm not talking about you regular Domino's slice of pizza or even your fancy restaurant slice of pizza. In New York & most of America for that fact the pizza only comes one way... extra big, extra flavoursome & super, super tasty.
When we got to Times Square it was just like you see in the movies. All the signs were lit up, there were yellow taxi cabs beeping their horns, steam rising from the grates & people rushing from one place to another. We spent the evening drifting from one store to another visiting the worlds biggest toy store, music store & even checked out Madame Tussuad's to name a few. The wax figurines on display at Madame Tussuad's are impressive to say the least. It took me a few minutes before I realised I was standing behind Samuel L Jackson & Nicholas Cage to buy my entry tickets.
One of the big places on the tourist trail is Ground Zero. The morning of September 11 2001 is one that changed the world as we knew it. It had been three years since the planes hit the buildings but from the feeling emulating from here you would of thought it just happened yesterday. It was exceptionally silent & had a very eerie feeling to it. There were people crying as they payed their respects, post cards & photos wedged in the fence, scarred buildings still requiring attention & like every other tourist attraction people selling tacky photos of the tragedy try to make a quick buck. After walking around the sight we went into one of the remaining WTC building to an area known as the Winter Garden. Here we read a few of the amazing stories that took place on that day, as well as checking out the plans for the new memorial building already under construction.
That afternoon we took the free Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty for some amazing photos of Lower Manhattan. Walked through Central Park & and watched the squirrels & local hip hop dancers do their thing. We went to Brooklyn & rode the subway, cruised around Manhattan Island & best of all went to an Ice Hockey game. New York Ranger v the Buffalo Sabers & what a match. The American public are just so patriotic that it feels a little bit weird to a regular Aussie guy. You would be hard by to find someone who sings along with our national anthem at any sporting event not including the B class singer who is performing it. It was the the last match for someone from the New York team so they were all just going ape shit. All in all it was a fantastic night at Madison Square Garden with hot dogs, beer & violence.
Our morning ritual began with breakfast at the exceptionally tasty deli next to the hostel & then a short stroll down to the NBC Studios to try & get on TV for the parents back home. After three days of this, we thought if we haven't got on TV yet it's not going to happen, so we decided to leave. As we walked around the corner we noticed about eight people hanging around the door with cameras so I said lets just hang here & see what's happening. With in 5 minutes the doors flung open & Mini Driver walk out to hop into her limo. Now I have never been a fan of hers but I realised this was the place to be, forget about getting on TV. The next day we came back at 7.00am & who happened to walk out the doors except Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. All the paparazzi started calling out Dwayne, Dwayne can I get a photo Dwayne. Now I knew who "The Rock" was but I had know idea that his name was Dwayne so i start calling out quietly "Mr Rock, Mr Rock". He looks at one of the paparazzi guys & says "I know you, you've had plenty of shot's of me & you've sold lots of them... I'm not giving you a photo". So at this point I thought I have no chance, but I'm still calling out "Mr Rock... Rock" can I get a photo. As he made his way to the car I was slowly pushed out of the crush but still calling "Mr Rock... Rock". Out of the blue he walks over to me & said in his Rock voice "Yeah.. come on in, get your photo". I was stoked.. That photo now hangs in the my lounge room with all my favourite photos. I must say though, I can't see what all the chicks go crazy over, I reckon I could have taken him, he wasn't that big.
Las Vegas
4th April 2004.
"Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire!"..... I don't think anyone could of said it better than Elvis. "The City of Sin, Viva Las Vegas". What a place, often described as Disneyland for adults Las Vegas always lives up to it's name.
Arriving into McCarran at 3.00pm, we made our way by taxi to our hotel called "Paris". Located right in the heart of The Strip, it comes complete with a half size replica Eiffel Tower, a round about near the entrance looking like the Arc De Triomphe & of course a French styled shopping mall. As our taxi made it's way onto "The Strip" I was just amazed with the place & new this would be tons & tons of fun. After a hassle free check in we went for a wonder through our hotel & checked out the games & attractions. As we made our way out to the street front, we decided to go for a short stroll & take what felt like a million photos.
After walking around for over an hour it was time to find somewhere for dinner. We made our way into Caesars Palace where we sat in a Roman styled restaurant watching the roof change from sunrise to sunset every 45 minutes. By the time we finished dinner it was about 7.00pm, so we decided to head outside. It's an amazing place to drive into during the day, but when you walk out onto the street at night time it takes your breath away. It's very hard to describe the excitement & adrenalin you get from you first night in Vegas.
Over our 5 days, some of the highlights were:
"Bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire!"..... I don't think anyone could of said it better than Elvis. "The City of Sin, Viva Las Vegas". What a place, often described as Disneyland for adults Las Vegas always lives up to it's name.
Arriving into McCarran at 3.00pm, we made our way by taxi to our hotel called "Paris". Located right in the heart of The Strip, it comes complete with a half size replica Eiffel Tower, a round about near the entrance looking like the Arc De Triomphe & of course a French styled shopping mall. As our taxi made it's way onto "The Strip" I was just amazed with the place & new this would be tons & tons of fun. After a hassle free check in we went for a wonder through our hotel & checked out the games & attractions. As we made our way out to the street front, we decided to go for a short stroll & take what felt like a million photos.
After walking around for over an hour it was time to find somewhere for dinner. We made our way into Caesars Palace where we sat in a Roman styled restaurant watching the roof change from sunrise to sunset every 45 minutes. By the time we finished dinner it was about 7.00pm, so we decided to head outside. It's an amazing place to drive into during the day, but when you walk out onto the street at night time it takes your breath away. It's very hard to describe the excitement & adrenalin you get from you first night in Vegas.
Over our 5 days, some of the highlights were:
- Flying over The Strip at night in a helicopter.
- Visiting Fremont Street to experience the light show that takes place on the overhead canopy. Over 12.5 million synchronized LED's put on an unforgettable performance.
- Capturing the best view of Las Vegas from the top of the Stratosphere.
- Visiting the Elvis Museum
- Getting my photo taken while patting a teenage lion cub.
- Viewing the magnificent Bellagio water fountain show.
- Watching a Las Vegas show complete with staggering set designs, high kicks & of course no top's. Most shows in Las Vegas are topless reviews
- Checking out as many casino's, shopping malls & attractions as possible.
The Grand Canyon
My first trip to the Grand Canyon was a very long bus trip from Las Vegas. We rose at 5.30am to be greeted by the ever present party people of Las Vegas trying to make a great night never end. Our first stop after a short drive was at Hoover Dam. Now there was no dam tour, there was no dam guide & we didn't get to have any dam photo opportunities (good ones anyway). As we drove across the dam wall we pulled up on the other side for a distant 100 metre view & our first toilet break. Now I had come from Egypt & New York before arriving in Las Vegas. Out of all the toilets I had used on this trip, Hoover Dam had the most disgusting. After barley surviving this horrific incident, we were on the road again. It wasn't long before we were travelling down the famous Route 66. There is not a great deal to see along this route except for a few random wild west stores & believe it or not, the occasional tumble weed dancing through the grass mounds. We took the opportunity to use the restrooms at a few of the shops & then settled in with our boxed lunch, knowing that The Canyon would be the next stop.
A few more hours down the road we could feel it starting to get quite cold. Our guide told us that it's not unusual to see snow at the Canyon that time of year. Once we arrived, we donned the tour companies wind jackets and made the short walk to the South Rim. I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, but always assumed that it would be some very red hole in the ground that's worthy of a few photos. Let me tell you....... WOW! It just takes your breath away the first time you see this natural wonder of the world. As you approach one of the many lookouts at the rim, all the trees just give way into the most amazing view. It wasn't just a red hole in the ground. You could see various shades of green, brown, red & blue. There were different layers of rock with formations jutting out from the rocky wall. We could see what looked like the other side of the Canyon, but was in fact just the mountains of rock that had formed in between.
As we strolled along the rim's edge, you can see why there are an estimated 16 deaths a year, with people putting them selves & their family in dangerous positions for the perfect photo. Before we knew it, we had been walking for two hours & made it to our destined pick up point. After the rest of the group had made it back to the bus we were heading back to Las Vegas. This was possibly one of the longest drives in my life, 6 hours straight driving with with silence for the first half and then the crappy chic flick "Under then Tuscan Sun"......... shoot me now please, anyone.
It had been a very long day departing Vegas at 5.30am & returning at 9.30pm. Even though we were only at the Canyon for two hours it was worth the trip. Next time though I don't think I would do the long drive from Vegas. The drive cost $90 USD but there was an option to fly from Vegas for about $300.
A few more hours down the road we could feel it starting to get quite cold. Our guide told us that it's not unusual to see snow at the Canyon that time of year. Once we arrived, we donned the tour companies wind jackets and made the short walk to the South Rim. I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, but always assumed that it would be some very red hole in the ground that's worthy of a few photos. Let me tell you....... WOW! It just takes your breath away the first time you see this natural wonder of the world. As you approach one of the many lookouts at the rim, all the trees just give way into the most amazing view. It wasn't just a red hole in the ground. You could see various shades of green, brown, red & blue. There were different layers of rock with formations jutting out from the rocky wall. We could see what looked like the other side of the Canyon, but was in fact just the mountains of rock that had formed in between.
As we strolled along the rim's edge, you can see why there are an estimated 16 deaths a year, with people putting them selves & their family in dangerous positions for the perfect photo. Before we knew it, we had been walking for two hours & made it to our destined pick up point. After the rest of the group had made it back to the bus we were heading back to Las Vegas. This was possibly one of the longest drives in my life, 6 hours straight driving with with silence for the first half and then the crappy chic flick "Under then Tuscan Sun"......... shoot me now please, anyone.
It had been a very long day departing Vegas at 5.30am & returning at 9.30pm. Even though we were only at the Canyon for two hours it was worth the trip. Next time though I don't think I would do the long drive from Vegas. The drive cost $90 USD but there was an option to fly from Vegas for about $300.
San Francisco
9th April 2004
We arrived into San Francisco on the 9th of April from Las Vegas. After gathering our belongings we made our way to down town San Fran by train, getting off at the Union Square stop. Going by the map it was just a short stroll three blocks north & two blocks west, that was until we saw the hills. Now I'm not a complete idiot, I always knew that San Francisco was renowned for the hills the city is built on, but it just so happened that ours was almost at the top of the highest street in the city, California Street. So no doubt just like many travellers before us & many travellers after us, we began the inevitable walk up the hill dragging our suitcases behind us. We were staying at USA Hostels. A great location & very cheap, with breakfast included. That evening we went for a walk down to Fisherman's Wharf to check out the shops & try to spot the famous sea lions that have taken over the dock. We looked & looked & looked but no sea lions. We did however find one of my favourite restaurants in San Francisco.... "Hard Rock Cafe". The meals were great, the staff were friendly and the place just had a good vibe to it.
The next day we got up nice and early & headed back down to Fisherman's Wharf. This time we went straight to the ticket sales counter for Alcatraz Island. We had heard that it can be days before you get on the island so we thought it would be best to buy our tickets now. It turned out the first tickets that were available were for a visit in three days time, "We'll take em..". We decided to go down the end of pier 23 & get a photo of Alcatraz from there. As we were walking down we noticed a lot of people standing around & pointing so we decided to go see what all the fuss was about. It was the sea lions, we found them finally. They were lazy, smelly & exceptionally loud. All they seemed to do was fight for the best position on the on the dock & if they didn't get their way they would let everyone know about it. The story behind them is that they were considered a pest not too long ago. All the rich people used to tie their boats up here & one day a few sea lions started to appear on the docks. They tried to get rid of them using various methods but more & more appeared. Eventually they just gave up their futile attempts & now they are one of San Frans biggest attractions. We spent that afternoon taking a ride on the Grayline Open Air Trolley Tour. It was a city tour that allowed you to get off to visit attractions, then once you were done it would continue on it's merry way.
On day three we decided to rent some bikes & go for a spin across the bay. After paying only $28 for the day, we were off on our Blazing Saddle Mountain bikes. We were headed along the waterfront in the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. This made for a nice ride as there was a bike trail right along the waterfront. The ride got a little harder as we had to ride up the mountain to get on to the bridge. After pausing at the top for a breather & some perfect Golden Gate photos, we were off. This bridge is bloody long, we were peddling for what felt like 20 minutes until we finally reached the other side. From there is was down hill for 2 kilometres, as we coasted into Sausalito. A beautiful & very rich water front community, Sausalito is a great place to relax & have a bite to eat, or do a little window shopping checking out all the unusual gifts available. This place is a little like Noosa combined with Byron Bay. From Sausalito we had three options, the first was to get the ferry back to Fisherman's Wharf, which we decided against as we hadn't had the bikes for very long. The second was to ride back across the bridge which included the ride up hill for 2 kilometres. The third option was to continue riding around the bay which seemed relatively flat, this would take us to the sea side town of Tiburon. It wasn't a hard decision & we opted for the nice ride to Tiburon. As Sausalito faded out of view we realised that it was a little bit further than we first realised. There were other riders along the way but everyone we passed seem to be broken down. There were flat tyre's, injured people & those who had just given up. Half an hour further down the road it was beginning to get a little bit more like a highway ride than the peaceful , beautiful scenery we were sold. After a few wrong turns it appeared that we were back on the right track following the waters edge. "How far is the frickin town for pete's sake?" We both hadn't been on a bike for so long that we were starting to feel sore in places that I didn't even know the name of. After riding the last 4 kilometers with my ass in the air we had made it. "Oh it was so bloody wonderful" a little to sore to enjoy it perhaps. After we had a short cowboy style walk around the quaint little town we bought an ice cream then jumped on the first available ferry headed for Fisherman's Wharf. It was a great day & a lot of fun, but next time I may not pick such a long ride, for my first time on a bike in 12 years.
After experiencing pedal power, the next day I decided it was time to harness some raw power. This came in the shape of a Go Car. "What's a Go Car?" I hear you ask. They are a three wheeled bright yellow vehicle with a top speed of 58 klms per hour. They were only starting out in April 2004 & the British owner asked us to take the very first one for a spin & give him any feedback we could. It comes complete with roll bar & GPS. The GPS tells you where to turn & when you pull up at an attraction it even tells you a brief history & some interesting facts. In the Go Car we took in attractions such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Exploratorium where you can have a hands on experience with everything scientific, Haight-Ashbury which is the name of the streets where the hippie culture of the 1960's took off, the "Presidio" where there's an old military base with a few ghost stories as well as some nature walks & stunning views. Our last attraction was driving down Lombard Street which currently holds the record for the worlds crookedest street.
ALCATRAZ ISLAND:
We caught the Blue & Gold Fleet boat for about 10 minutes from Fisherman's Wharf. As we docked we were greeted by a National Parks Ranger as Alcatraz Island is protected by the National Parks Service. After a brief overview of the island with a little history thrown in, we were set free to do our own thing. We made out way up to the prison which sits high on the island where we decided to take the audio tour, which I must say I was very impressed with. It was easy to use, easy to follow & told some amazing stories of the islands history, battles with guards & of course the various different escape attempts. You can see Al Capone's cell & have your photo taken inside. There is the also the cell of Frank Morris who most people know of since the movie "Escape From Alcatraz" starring Clint Eastwood. In his cell you can see the small hole in the wall as well as a dummy head set up in the bed. There are only a few places that are off limits due to safety regulations, but you pretty well have free reign to explore Alcatraz as you wish. We arrived there at 11.30am & only had intentions to see it & leave. We ended up catching the last boat from the island at 4.30pm as there was so much to see & so many interesting stories to listen to. This place is a must for anyone going to San Francisco.
We arrived into San Francisco on the 9th of April from Las Vegas. After gathering our belongings we made our way to down town San Fran by train, getting off at the Union Square stop. Going by the map it was just a short stroll three blocks north & two blocks west, that was until we saw the hills. Now I'm not a complete idiot, I always knew that San Francisco was renowned for the hills the city is built on, but it just so happened that ours was almost at the top of the highest street in the city, California Street. So no doubt just like many travellers before us & many travellers after us, we began the inevitable walk up the hill dragging our suitcases behind us. We were staying at USA Hostels. A great location & very cheap, with breakfast included. That evening we went for a walk down to Fisherman's Wharf to check out the shops & try to spot the famous sea lions that have taken over the dock. We looked & looked & looked but no sea lions. We did however find one of my favourite restaurants in San Francisco.... "Hard Rock Cafe". The meals were great, the staff were friendly and the place just had a good vibe to it.
The next day we got up nice and early & headed back down to Fisherman's Wharf. This time we went straight to the ticket sales counter for Alcatraz Island. We had heard that it can be days before you get on the island so we thought it would be best to buy our tickets now. It turned out the first tickets that were available were for a visit in three days time, "We'll take em..". We decided to go down the end of pier 23 & get a photo of Alcatraz from there. As we were walking down we noticed a lot of people standing around & pointing so we decided to go see what all the fuss was about. It was the sea lions, we found them finally. They were lazy, smelly & exceptionally loud. All they seemed to do was fight for the best position on the on the dock & if they didn't get their way they would let everyone know about it. The story behind them is that they were considered a pest not too long ago. All the rich people used to tie their boats up here & one day a few sea lions started to appear on the docks. They tried to get rid of them using various methods but more & more appeared. Eventually they just gave up their futile attempts & now they are one of San Frans biggest attractions. We spent that afternoon taking a ride on the Grayline Open Air Trolley Tour. It was a city tour that allowed you to get off to visit attractions, then once you were done it would continue on it's merry way.
On day three we decided to rent some bikes & go for a spin across the bay. After paying only $28 for the day, we were off on our Blazing Saddle Mountain bikes. We were headed along the waterfront in the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. This made for a nice ride as there was a bike trail right along the waterfront. The ride got a little harder as we had to ride up the mountain to get on to the bridge. After pausing at the top for a breather & some perfect Golden Gate photos, we were off. This bridge is bloody long, we were peddling for what felt like 20 minutes until we finally reached the other side. From there is was down hill for 2 kilometres, as we coasted into Sausalito. A beautiful & very rich water front community, Sausalito is a great place to relax & have a bite to eat, or do a little window shopping checking out all the unusual gifts available. This place is a little like Noosa combined with Byron Bay. From Sausalito we had three options, the first was to get the ferry back to Fisherman's Wharf, which we decided against as we hadn't had the bikes for very long. The second was to ride back across the bridge which included the ride up hill for 2 kilometres. The third option was to continue riding around the bay which seemed relatively flat, this would take us to the sea side town of Tiburon. It wasn't a hard decision & we opted for the nice ride to Tiburon. As Sausalito faded out of view we realised that it was a little bit further than we first realised. There were other riders along the way but everyone we passed seem to be broken down. There were flat tyre's, injured people & those who had just given up. Half an hour further down the road it was beginning to get a little bit more like a highway ride than the peaceful , beautiful scenery we were sold. After a few wrong turns it appeared that we were back on the right track following the waters edge. "How far is the frickin town for pete's sake?" We both hadn't been on a bike for so long that we were starting to feel sore in places that I didn't even know the name of. After riding the last 4 kilometers with my ass in the air we had made it. "Oh it was so bloody wonderful" a little to sore to enjoy it perhaps. After we had a short cowboy style walk around the quaint little town we bought an ice cream then jumped on the first available ferry headed for Fisherman's Wharf. It was a great day & a lot of fun, but next time I may not pick such a long ride, for my first time on a bike in 12 years.
After experiencing pedal power, the next day I decided it was time to harness some raw power. This came in the shape of a Go Car. "What's a Go Car?" I hear you ask. They are a three wheeled bright yellow vehicle with a top speed of 58 klms per hour. They were only starting out in April 2004 & the British owner asked us to take the very first one for a spin & give him any feedback we could. It comes complete with roll bar & GPS. The GPS tells you where to turn & when you pull up at an attraction it even tells you a brief history & some interesting facts. In the Go Car we took in attractions such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Exploratorium where you can have a hands on experience with everything scientific, Haight-Ashbury which is the name of the streets where the hippie culture of the 1960's took off, the "Presidio" where there's an old military base with a few ghost stories as well as some nature walks & stunning views. Our last attraction was driving down Lombard Street which currently holds the record for the worlds crookedest street.
ALCATRAZ ISLAND:
We caught the Blue & Gold Fleet boat for about 10 minutes from Fisherman's Wharf. As we docked we were greeted by a National Parks Ranger as Alcatraz Island is protected by the National Parks Service. After a brief overview of the island with a little history thrown in, we were set free to do our own thing. We made out way up to the prison which sits high on the island where we decided to take the audio tour, which I must say I was very impressed with. It was easy to use, easy to follow & told some amazing stories of the islands history, battles with guards & of course the various different escape attempts. You can see Al Capone's cell & have your photo taken inside. There is the also the cell of Frank Morris who most people know of since the movie "Escape From Alcatraz" starring Clint Eastwood. In his cell you can see the small hole in the wall as well as a dummy head set up in the bed. There are only a few places that are off limits due to safety regulations, but you pretty well have free reign to explore Alcatraz as you wish. We arrived there at 11.30am & only had intentions to see it & leave. We ended up catching the last boat from the island at 4.30pm as there was so much to see & so many interesting stories to listen to. This place is a must for anyone going to San Francisco.
Yosemite National Park
A short day trip from San Francisco took us out to the stunning Yosemite National Park. We organised this tour from our hostel & it was well worth the effort. We woke up nice & early for the 2 hour drive to aboard our minivan set up to take fourteen people. Unfortunately we were the last people to be picked up, which meant we had the worst & smallest seats in the house. Cramming four people in a backseat with fifteen centimetres leg room doesn't make for the nicest of journeys.
As we entered the park, snow still lay on the ground from the night before. It was in ten square metre patches here & there, but it was still snow. As we were coming down into the valley, we pulled up at one of the many look outs to check out the breath taking views. Our tour leader kept us entertained with his Keanu/pot head accent, saying "As you can seeee.... the vieeews are stunning. But it would be really cool...... if that big boulder would come crashing down on that van,... & we could watch it".
As we entered the tourist area in the park, we were given a few different options for hiking. Now we were here in April, which is the first few weeks of Spring in the USA, so I had to ask the most obvious question, "are there any bears". Our tour guide gave us the reassuring answer of "nope, there are no bears... there maybe a few but i don't think you'll see them".
There are so many trails here that it's not to hard to get away from everyone & set off by yourself. As we were walking, we came to this picturesque little place where there were pine trees, rapid waters & a small little rock bridge. Now, despite the comforting words from our tour leader, I was still keeping an eye out for bears, as this looked like some definite bear country. As we approached the bridge, it appeared as though we had been keeping an eye out for the wrong type of dangerous animal. A small sign on the bridge printed on some fresh paper read "A mountain lion has been seen in this spot recently. If the mountain lion attacks, do not run. Open your jacket & wave you arms around making as much noise as possible. If it still attacks... fight back". As we made our way down the trail, any small crack of twigs would send our head spinning around to try and spot the feared mountain lion. It wasn't long before we joined back onto the main track where there were families with small children.... small children that I could outrun if a mountain lion did attack.
After taking quit a few perfect scenery photos of Half Dome, Mirror Lake & the impressive waterfall, we were back in the bus for the squashed journey back to the Bay.
As we entered the park, snow still lay on the ground from the night before. It was in ten square metre patches here & there, but it was still snow. As we were coming down into the valley, we pulled up at one of the many look outs to check out the breath taking views. Our tour leader kept us entertained with his Keanu/pot head accent, saying "As you can seeee.... the vieeews are stunning. But it would be really cool...... if that big boulder would come crashing down on that van,... & we could watch it".
As we entered the tourist area in the park, we were given a few different options for hiking. Now we were here in April, which is the first few weeks of Spring in the USA, so I had to ask the most obvious question, "are there any bears". Our tour guide gave us the reassuring answer of "nope, there are no bears... there maybe a few but i don't think you'll see them".
There are so many trails here that it's not to hard to get away from everyone & set off by yourself. As we were walking, we came to this picturesque little place where there were pine trees, rapid waters & a small little rock bridge. Now, despite the comforting words from our tour leader, I was still keeping an eye out for bears, as this looked like some definite bear country. As we approached the bridge, it appeared as though we had been keeping an eye out for the wrong type of dangerous animal. A small sign on the bridge printed on some fresh paper read "A mountain lion has been seen in this spot recently. If the mountain lion attacks, do not run. Open your jacket & wave you arms around making as much noise as possible. If it still attacks... fight back". As we made our way down the trail, any small crack of twigs would send our head spinning around to try and spot the feared mountain lion. It wasn't long before we joined back onto the main track where there were families with small children.... small children that I could outrun if a mountain lion did attack.
After taking quit a few perfect scenery photos of Half Dome, Mirror Lake & the impressive waterfall, we were back in the bus for the squashed journey back to the Bay.
Los Angeles
18th April 2004
We arrived into LAX at 1.30PM. This place is arguably the worlds biggest & busiest airport. We took one of the many airport minibuses with a few other passengers, making the stops at several hotels before reaching our own. The Orbit Hotel on Melrose Ave was our choice of accommodation in LA. It looked as though it was in a good spot & cheap, costing us $32 per person, per night. As we entered the building we were greeted by a very friendly pin cushion. The receptionist was a lovely blond girl, at least she would of been before all the piercings. What did I expect though, this was Melrose Ave & Los Angeles, right!
After settling into our room we made our way out to the quaint little BBQ area. We had arrived just in time, it was Sunday & the hotel had a free cookout every Sunday, serving up some delicious mouth watering hamburgers. After a few hours of chatting we were going to take it easy that night so we could go to Universal Studios the next day. But with a little gentle persuasion & a lot of curiousity for the night life, we were getting dressed in our Sunday best for a night on the town. We visited a few clubs such as The Viper Room (famed for the overdose death of River Phoenix on it's side walk), the Roxy (were the middle aged goth waiter weren't the friendliest) & lastly the Saddle Ranch where we were entertained by drunken attempts to stay on the bucking mechanical bull. The night ended with me under a car on the Sunset Strip. No I wasn't drunk & hit by a car. Our ride broke down & it was let out of the bag that I was a mechanic, so guess who had to fix it.
We rose the next day bleary eyed after only 4 hours sleep, but that didn't stop our excitement for what lay ahead. We were off to Universal Studios at 8.00am. Picked up by our hotel transfer, the same one that I was fixing the night before, we were dropped off at the Universal Studios City Walk. The City Walk is an open air arcade with shopping, food & entertainment that leads to the entry of the main park. There weren't a lot of people there on the day but we decided to go with the "front of the line pass". This allowed us to skip any lines & join the front of the que. The normal ticket cost was about $52 but we payed the extra $30 so we could go on everything twice, as we knew we would be back anytime soon. This place has some great ride including the simulator ride "Back to the Future", the wet "Jurassic Park" ride, the very cool "Shrek 4D" movie, plus tons & tons more. One of the thing that I really loved was the movie lot tour, were you visit the sets of all the old & new movies.
Over the next few days we tried to hit most of the major sights. First we paced the blocks of Hollywood Blvd looking at the Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese Theatre & the celebrity hand prints. We did a "Movie Stars Home" tour, where we got to see some of the impressive front hedges the celebrities owned. We meandered along Sunset & Santa Monica Blvds looking at the clubs, pubs & restaurants. Went to La Brae Tar Pits, famous for it's prehistoric displays of animals & also where the movie Volcano with Tommy Lee was set. For a few days we caught the bus down to Santa Monica & Venice Beach. We did a bit of shopping in the mall, rode the Ferris Wheel on SantaMonica Pier & strolled down the road to Venice Beach, where we saw the muscle men, B baller's & street performers including one man playing 5 instruments. We went to "The Improv" which is one of the the most famous comedy clubs in LA, known for launchinf the career's of many of todays comedians including, Jerry Seinfeld, Robert Williams & Chris Rock. On one particular night we hung out at a party in one of the many clubs on Sunset Blvd which we later found out that most of people there were porn stars (don't you just love LA). Another fun thing we did was buying tickets to see "Everlast" in concert at the House of Blues. That was a good night except for the cranky bar staff. After serving us several drinks they made us aware that we had forgotten to tip.... opps.
Celebrity Spotting
The first celebrities I saw in the US were in New York (The Rock, Mini Driver & Johnny Knoxville), but LA is the place to go "Celeb Spotting". My first encounter was siting in a Chinese restaurant on the corner of Melrose & Fairfax Ave. We were just finishing off dinner when we noticed the guy sitting across from us was Ryan Gosling from the movies Murder by Numbers & Half Nelson.
The next encounter was crossing a side street on Santa Monica Blvd. As we were crossing the road a car was coming down the narrow street. The driver waved us across the road but we had already begun to walk around the rear of his car. As we made our way around the back, I knew I'd seen this guy before. It wasn't until I reached the boot that I realised it was Guy Peirce. I went back around to his window, which was down & said the first thing that came to mind......"Your Guy Pierce, aren't you"? He looked at me as though I was about to car-jack him, which I later realised happens a lot in LA. He was actually quite nice & made boring chat for about 5 minutes before I though I had better let him go.
We hit the "Celeb Pot of Gold" on one afternoon walking past Mann's Chinese Theatre. There was a movie premiere on & they were blocking off Hollywood Blvd. I couldn't believe my luck! It was for the movie God Send, which just happened to star my favourite actor of all time, Robert Deniro. We hung out for about 4 hours before we spotted any "stars". The first was Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets), closely followed by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos & once again Guy Pierce. Finally the man himself turned up, Robert Deniro! Greeted by hundreds of screaming fans & flashing night bulbs, I can't believe I've seen one of the best actors of all time.
Disneyland & California Adventure
"The Happiest place on Earth" was a definite on our list. We spent one day wandering from one land to the next, enjoying ride after ride after ride. Disneyland is a must do, but the rides do not compare to the ones at Universal Studios. Most of the rides are aimed at children, but there are a few that get the heart racing. The best ride I have ever been on was the Indiana Jones Ride. You walk in & sit in a jeep which starts up & drives you through the movies at very high speeds. The other thing that I was really impressed with was the Haunted House". The special effects that are on display during this ride just leave you speech less. I didn't think they could do things like this in real life, they were movie quality & very believable.
We also did California Adventure which is the same price as Disneyland, owned by Disney & located 100 meters from the Disneyland entry. This place was very big, but not quiet as big as it's sister park. The rides though seemed to be aimed a little more towards adults & they also had the smoothest roller coaster I have ever been on. The other top ride was the "Mali Boomer", which shoots you vertical in a matter of seconds then slowly bounces you down towards the ground.
LA Dodgers - Baseball
One of my favourite moments was heading out to Dodger stadium, located in Downtown LA. We spent the late afternoon & evening enjoying "America's favourite pastime", Baseball. It was the LA Dodgers vs the New York Mets. We picked up a few beers & hot dogs & made our way to the great seats we had bought. Baseball is exceptionally cheap. We bought the tickets online direct from the Dodgers website for $16 each. We were seated just past first base & in the right area for any far flying foul ball. During warm up a lot of the players were hitting balls into the crowd for everyone to keep, unfortunately not in our direction. The game finally got underway with the fans from both teams yelling & screaming. It's a pretty relaxing game & one that you really don't have to focus on a lot. After a few beers & some entertaining crowd antics we were coming into the bottom of the 4th. One of the Dodgers stepped up to the plate & took a swing, STRIKE ONE! He lined up again for his second attempt. As the ball was thrown at an impressive pace there was a big crack. He smashed it, but unlucky for him it was a foul. Lucky for me though it was coming directly at me. All of a sudden there was another cracking sound, it was the ball hitting my bare hand (now I know why they all take their gloves to the match). It came at such an incredible pace that my hand was thrown back & I dropped the ball. The next thing people were coming at me from five rows back trying to get my ball! After fighting off all these seven year olds I was victorious. Just kidding about the seven year olds. I now have a LA Dodgers game ball sitting on my mantle.
Baseball was wicked fun and I would recommend it to anyone who can make it out there. At just $16 USD per ticket, why not!
Last Days
After spending two weeks cruising around LA it was time to go home. There were plans to stay longer, we even had the tickets to shoot down to San Diego for a few days, but like a lot of holidays, things happen and we didn't get to go. Instead I spent the last day pacing back & forth from music shop to music shop looking for my dream guitar. I promised myself that I would buy one for all the hard work I did to get here. My long time lover came in the shape of a beautiful "Martin & Co" guitar, complete with built in microphone, on board computer & cup holders.
The USA is such a fun place to go, especially for me being such a big fan of everything that is America. The cities, movies, rap, rock, clubs, natural wonders & everything you've ever seen on TV is here waiting to blow you away. I could never pick a single highlight of this trip as I saw so many amazing things, people & places.
I flew home on the 2nd of May 2004.
We arrived into LAX at 1.30PM. This place is arguably the worlds biggest & busiest airport. We took one of the many airport minibuses with a few other passengers, making the stops at several hotels before reaching our own. The Orbit Hotel on Melrose Ave was our choice of accommodation in LA. It looked as though it was in a good spot & cheap, costing us $32 per person, per night. As we entered the building we were greeted by a very friendly pin cushion. The receptionist was a lovely blond girl, at least she would of been before all the piercings. What did I expect though, this was Melrose Ave & Los Angeles, right!
After settling into our room we made our way out to the quaint little BBQ area. We had arrived just in time, it was Sunday & the hotel had a free cookout every Sunday, serving up some delicious mouth watering hamburgers. After a few hours of chatting we were going to take it easy that night so we could go to Universal Studios the next day. But with a little gentle persuasion & a lot of curiousity for the night life, we were getting dressed in our Sunday best for a night on the town. We visited a few clubs such as The Viper Room (famed for the overdose death of River Phoenix on it's side walk), the Roxy (were the middle aged goth waiter weren't the friendliest) & lastly the Saddle Ranch where we were entertained by drunken attempts to stay on the bucking mechanical bull. The night ended with me under a car on the Sunset Strip. No I wasn't drunk & hit by a car. Our ride broke down & it was let out of the bag that I was a mechanic, so guess who had to fix it.
We rose the next day bleary eyed after only 4 hours sleep, but that didn't stop our excitement for what lay ahead. We were off to Universal Studios at 8.00am. Picked up by our hotel transfer, the same one that I was fixing the night before, we were dropped off at the Universal Studios City Walk. The City Walk is an open air arcade with shopping, food & entertainment that leads to the entry of the main park. There weren't a lot of people there on the day but we decided to go with the "front of the line pass". This allowed us to skip any lines & join the front of the que. The normal ticket cost was about $52 but we payed the extra $30 so we could go on everything twice, as we knew we would be back anytime soon. This place has some great ride including the simulator ride "Back to the Future", the wet "Jurassic Park" ride, the very cool "Shrek 4D" movie, plus tons & tons more. One of the thing that I really loved was the movie lot tour, were you visit the sets of all the old & new movies.
Over the next few days we tried to hit most of the major sights. First we paced the blocks of Hollywood Blvd looking at the Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese Theatre & the celebrity hand prints. We did a "Movie Stars Home" tour, where we got to see some of the impressive front hedges the celebrities owned. We meandered along Sunset & Santa Monica Blvds looking at the clubs, pubs & restaurants. Went to La Brae Tar Pits, famous for it's prehistoric displays of animals & also where the movie Volcano with Tommy Lee was set. For a few days we caught the bus down to Santa Monica & Venice Beach. We did a bit of shopping in the mall, rode the Ferris Wheel on SantaMonica Pier & strolled down the road to Venice Beach, where we saw the muscle men, B baller's & street performers including one man playing 5 instruments. We went to "The Improv" which is one of the the most famous comedy clubs in LA, known for launchinf the career's of many of todays comedians including, Jerry Seinfeld, Robert Williams & Chris Rock. On one particular night we hung out at a party in one of the many clubs on Sunset Blvd which we later found out that most of people there were porn stars (don't you just love LA). Another fun thing we did was buying tickets to see "Everlast" in concert at the House of Blues. That was a good night except for the cranky bar staff. After serving us several drinks they made us aware that we had forgotten to tip.... opps.
Celebrity Spotting
The first celebrities I saw in the US were in New York (The Rock, Mini Driver & Johnny Knoxville), but LA is the place to go "Celeb Spotting". My first encounter was siting in a Chinese restaurant on the corner of Melrose & Fairfax Ave. We were just finishing off dinner when we noticed the guy sitting across from us was Ryan Gosling from the movies Murder by Numbers & Half Nelson.
The next encounter was crossing a side street on Santa Monica Blvd. As we were crossing the road a car was coming down the narrow street. The driver waved us across the road but we had already begun to walk around the rear of his car. As we made our way around the back, I knew I'd seen this guy before. It wasn't until I reached the boot that I realised it was Guy Peirce. I went back around to his window, which was down & said the first thing that came to mind......"Your Guy Pierce, aren't you"? He looked at me as though I was about to car-jack him, which I later realised happens a lot in LA. He was actually quite nice & made boring chat for about 5 minutes before I though I had better let him go.
We hit the "Celeb Pot of Gold" on one afternoon walking past Mann's Chinese Theatre. There was a movie premiere on & they were blocking off Hollywood Blvd. I couldn't believe my luck! It was for the movie God Send, which just happened to star my favourite actor of all time, Robert Deniro. We hung out for about 4 hours before we spotted any "stars". The first was Greg Kinnear (As Good As It Gets), closely followed by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos & once again Guy Pierce. Finally the man himself turned up, Robert Deniro! Greeted by hundreds of screaming fans & flashing night bulbs, I can't believe I've seen one of the best actors of all time.
Disneyland & California Adventure
"The Happiest place on Earth" was a definite on our list. We spent one day wandering from one land to the next, enjoying ride after ride after ride. Disneyland is a must do, but the rides do not compare to the ones at Universal Studios. Most of the rides are aimed at children, but there are a few that get the heart racing. The best ride I have ever been on was the Indiana Jones Ride. You walk in & sit in a jeep which starts up & drives you through the movies at very high speeds. The other thing that I was really impressed with was the Haunted House". The special effects that are on display during this ride just leave you speech less. I didn't think they could do things like this in real life, they were movie quality & very believable.
We also did California Adventure which is the same price as Disneyland, owned by Disney & located 100 meters from the Disneyland entry. This place was very big, but not quiet as big as it's sister park. The rides though seemed to be aimed a little more towards adults & they also had the smoothest roller coaster I have ever been on. The other top ride was the "Mali Boomer", which shoots you vertical in a matter of seconds then slowly bounces you down towards the ground.
LA Dodgers - Baseball
One of my favourite moments was heading out to Dodger stadium, located in Downtown LA. We spent the late afternoon & evening enjoying "America's favourite pastime", Baseball. It was the LA Dodgers vs the New York Mets. We picked up a few beers & hot dogs & made our way to the great seats we had bought. Baseball is exceptionally cheap. We bought the tickets online direct from the Dodgers website for $16 each. We were seated just past first base & in the right area for any far flying foul ball. During warm up a lot of the players were hitting balls into the crowd for everyone to keep, unfortunately not in our direction. The game finally got underway with the fans from both teams yelling & screaming. It's a pretty relaxing game & one that you really don't have to focus on a lot. After a few beers & some entertaining crowd antics we were coming into the bottom of the 4th. One of the Dodgers stepped up to the plate & took a swing, STRIKE ONE! He lined up again for his second attempt. As the ball was thrown at an impressive pace there was a big crack. He smashed it, but unlucky for him it was a foul. Lucky for me though it was coming directly at me. All of a sudden there was another cracking sound, it was the ball hitting my bare hand (now I know why they all take their gloves to the match). It came at such an incredible pace that my hand was thrown back & I dropped the ball. The next thing people were coming at me from five rows back trying to get my ball! After fighting off all these seven year olds I was victorious. Just kidding about the seven year olds. I now have a LA Dodgers game ball sitting on my mantle.
Baseball was wicked fun and I would recommend it to anyone who can make it out there. At just $16 USD per ticket, why not!
Last Days
After spending two weeks cruising around LA it was time to go home. There were plans to stay longer, we even had the tickets to shoot down to San Diego for a few days, but like a lot of holidays, things happen and we didn't get to go. Instead I spent the last day pacing back & forth from music shop to music shop looking for my dream guitar. I promised myself that I would buy one for all the hard work I did to get here. My long time lover came in the shape of a beautiful "Martin & Co" guitar, complete with built in microphone, on board computer & cup holders.
The USA is such a fun place to go, especially for me being such a big fan of everything that is America. The cities, movies, rap, rock, clubs, natural wonders & everything you've ever seen on TV is here waiting to blow you away. I could never pick a single highlight of this trip as I saw so many amazing things, people & places.
I flew home on the 2nd of May 2004.
Contiki USA
4th June - 14th June 2006
Working as a travel agent at Flight Centre definitely has it's advantages as far as travel goes. Contiki were offering a trip of your choice for the top 50 sellers of February, March & April & I was one of the lucky winners. I had the choice of a 10 day trip to France, Italy & Switzerland or 10 days in the USA. Because of unforeseen circumstances (ha), I had to take the USA trip despite every part of me wanting to go to Europe.
We flew out on Sunday the 4th of June, flying Cathay Pacific. It was a free trip so we had no choice of the airline we flew with, but at the risk of sounding ungrateful I must say I will NEVER fly to America through Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific again. What should of been a 13 hour flight from Brisbane to LA turned into a 24 hour one way trip. The airline was good, but the trip was way to long for such a small distance.
We arrived into LA at about 8.30PM. As we made our way out of the terminal we were greeted by our American Tour Guide, Jordan. The moment I saw him I couldn't help but see his resemblance to Jason Biggs (The guy who did the pie in "American Pie"). We jumped on the bus & headed out to Anaheim, where we stayed at the Best Western.
The next morning we were up at 6.00am & keen to get the fun underway. As we made our way to the kitchen for breakfast we were greeted by a very average looking meal. We had the choice of some brown fruit, tiny muffins (but only 1) or some stale cereal. Apparently they had run out of bread for toast. Some people ate it & whinged, others just whinged. I on the other hand was hardly going to be defeated by this, especially knowing we were about to drive 2 hours to San Diego (oh & the fact that we all had some beers on the first night). Not more than 10 metres away was a diner that had my name all over it. I waited about 5 minutes to be seated & enjoyed my eggs, bacon & toast. I couldn't help but keep reminding everyone how full I was on the long drive.
This trip was strictly leisure with no hotel inspections or boring talk, they told us they were going cram in as many options as possible for us so we can see what it is their customers do. It was basically a thank you from Contiki for selling their product.
After a briefing of the tour & a shortened introduction of America, we arrived into San Diego. We had a quick city tour showing us Balboa Park, the Gaslamp district & also the Top Gun bar. After this we shot down to the wharf were our cruise boat was waiting. San Diego is located right on the Pacific Ocean and is home to the second biggest naval base in the USA it's also the home of the Navy SEALS. On the cruise you really don't see anything more than Navy Ships, so if that's not your thing I would suggest skipping the cruise.
After our city tour & cruise we made our way to the hotel which unfortunately for us was located on the outskirts of town. I guess that is just typical Contiki style, as the cheapest hotels never seem to be in town. That night we went for dinner at "Dick's Last Resort". As you can probably tell from the name alone, this is a themed restaurant were everyone who works there acts like a DICK. They yell at you for your order, tell you how much of an idiot you are and also throw things at you, even while your eating. The meals were great and in typical American style HUGE. To my surprise though the drinks that came out were even bigger than the meals. They were so big that each beer came in it's own bucket of ice to stop it from going hot before you could finish it.
The next morning we were up early one again & off to the world renowned San Diego Zoo. This place is very big and definitely lives up to it's name of a great Zoo. Every animal looked extremely well looked after and there were quite a few animals there that I had not seen in real life, the most memorable being the gorillas. After 2 hours at the Zoo we made our way down the road to See World. This place was quite good too, but ran a second for me behind the Zoo. There are rides here though which is nice to break up the looking at animals. The main attraction of this place is Shamu the killer whale along with his less than famous friends. While this is a good show the Americana of it all was just too much to handle. Some of the hosts just seem to talk absolute bull shit like "when I was a little girl I wanted to work with whales just like you (you being a pre-organised child), I got this medallion from an ancient Navajo man and I've never taken it off except for now. I want to give it to you little boy". I'm sorry if I didn't get teary eyed, but what a load of shit. I wasn't the only one who felt this way, I'm sure I heard a few other Aussies around the stands let out a bull shit & a laugh .
That night we went to a little restaurant across the road from the hotel and then just back to our rooms. I had bought a brand new Panasonic 3CCD video camera for this trip and was hoping to make a nice video of the experience. As I was walking down the stairs of the hotel with my new camera in my hands I tripped and began to fly through the air. All I could see was the cement at the bottom which I knew had my name all over it. Even though it all happened so quick I instinctively decided to save my camera and hurt myself. In hindsight this was not the smartest of choices. I just figured if I break the camera I will not get to film any of the trip, if I hurt myself the pain will be gone after a few minutes, WRONG! I hopped up from the ground feeling like I couldn't breathe properly, winded maybe, I wasn't sure but decided to lay down & even try to get some sleep.
The next morning I could barley move, not to mention breathe. Unfortunately for me we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us to Scottsdale. I told our tour leader that when we arrived in Scottsdale I would probably have to go to the hospital. This isn't how I envisioned my free holiday turning out. I should of taken the Europe option! Six hours later and it was still no better, so as everyone relaxed around the swimming pool I set off to the hospital, which lucky for me was just 100 meters down the road. I sat in the hospital for a few hours, both in the waiting room & also on a bed. After a few Vicadin & 5 X-rays, it was official, I had broken three ribs and there was nothing they could do about it. They gave me some pain killers & said good luck, it will heal in six weeks. At least my new video camera was in one piece (looking on the bright side). So that evening I caught up with the rest of the group at a lovely little Italian restaurant and then we headed to an Australian pub. After a few beers we all headed home for an early night sleep.
Day 5: We were all up at the crack of dawn and herded into a minivan heading for the open plains to try our hand at a little "Hot air Ballooning". The countryside out this way was lovely at dawn, with a bluey/pinkish sky spreading for miles over the open plains. The red dirt and rock just make the green plants and blue skies look so bright. Everyone on the tour was excited at this opportunity as it was something that most of us had never done before. There were of course a few people that were scared of heights & in no way were they heading up. One of these people was my room mate Walter from France. As we arrived at the take off area we were informed that if the wind didn't die down a bit we would not be able to go. So after sitting around for 20 minutes with our fingers crossed, our prayers went unanswered and we were heading back to Scottsdale. What a bummer!
Once we arrived back at the hotel we all headed to the diner across the road for a tasty American breakfast. With in an hour we were back on the bus & heading for Sedona and then the Grand Canyon where we would be able to take a chopper inside. I couldn't help but hope that the wind wasn't a factor with choppers as I really wanted to do it. Due to my sore ribs I managed to claim the back 3 seats as mine and popped a few pain killers to hit the hay. These things were my best friend on the long bus journeys. 1.... 2..... 3..... sleep.
Our first stop of the day was at Sedona, where we heard a random little fact that more western movies have been shot in this small town than anywhere else in the world. Whether that's true or not I don't know but it sound good. When you arrive you can see why this would be the ultimate western location. There are so many amazing red rock formations here which look even more stunning amongst the millions of cacti. Besides the beautiful photo's we were here for one thing, "The Sedona Red Rock Jeep Tours". Now I know what everyone probably thinks, because everyone said it to me on that day as well, "You can't go on the Jeep tour with broken ribs" but I really had too. I couldn't let a few broken ribs spoil the fun. But let me just say right now, it hurt like crap. After about 2 hours driving through the national park, hearing a few stories, getting our photos taken with the cowboy drivers and having lunch, we were on the road again and heading for the Canyon. After several more hours of driving we had made it to the "South Rim' where we took in a short walk and a few pictures before calling it a night.
The next morning we were up bright and early trying to make it to the canyon's edge by sunrise. The walk was further than we thought and all hope's were fading on making it on time, so we then decided to try and hitch a ride with the only passing car who actually stopped to ask directions. They said "jump in, it's only a rental", so the four of us crammed into the back seat of the medium size sedan. With thanks to our lift, we managed to make it just on time. It's definitely the best way to view the canyon, it was beautiful! The sun bounced off the red rock and brought out the greens and blue's of the Canyon. After clicking off about thirty photos we decided to head back to the lodge and grab some breakfast.
With our tummies full of food and the bus full of gear we were off to get a chopper ride into the canyon. Upon arrival we broke up into groups of five according to our weight then jumped aboard. This was an experience of a life time & it just makes you realise how small you really are. We flew for a few miles before reaching the edge and then suddenly it all just drops away. Absolutely stunning! If you can afford to do this it really does make the trip to the canyon something special. I have no idea how much it would of cost but I'm sure it was worth every cent.
Six hours later we were at Las Vegas. This was my second visit to the "City of Sin" & it just never gets old. The first time I visited we stayed at the Paris Hotel on the strip, but this time we stayed at the grand "America's Best Value Inn". It wasn't anywhere near as nice as the Paris hotel but it still had a theme. I believe they were going with the "not cleaned, you didn't pay f#@k all so whadya expect", look. But really, it wasn't that bad. It definitely lacked the Vegas feel but it was close to everything. That afternoon we did a loop of the street in our bus while Jordan shared with us a little of his expert tour leader knowledge about Vegas. We then went to the restaurant Margaritaville for a dinner and drinks while watching the sunset over the strip. From there Jordan said he was going to take us to see the "Freemont Street Experience", but unbeknown to us he had a little surprise up his sleeve. Our bus pulled over to the little white chapel o'love where he said we could go in and have a look. This just seemed like a cool thing to do in Las Vegas, but before we knew it in walks Elvis letting rip with "Viva Las Vegas". Jordan had planned for us to see Elvis marry someone, but who? There was no bride or groom insight so Elvis just picked two people from our tour and married them right there. The whole ceremony went for about 20 minutes with Elvis breaking into a song at every chance. This experience ranks high in my favourite Vegas moments and looked great in the movie.
From there we made our way down to Freemont Street for the light show which had improved since the last time I was there. We went and saw the golden nugget (a large golden nugget from Victoria , Australia) and sipped beer from large plastic NFL footballs on the street. Our last stop for the night was at the "Studio 54" nightclub in the MGM casino. This place was cool with dancers on podiums and also wire acts dancing on the side of the walls. From here it was just a short stagger across the street to sleep in America's best value bed.
The next day in Vegas was just spent seeing the sights, doing a little bit of filming and just generally taking it easy. That evening we made our way to the Excalibur for a $2 buffet, which was surprising good for $2. Most of the people decided they were going out for another big night but I wasn't in the mood, so as we made through the Belagio I slowly lost the group and went off to check out some last minute sights.
6.30 the next morning we were up and on the road for the final leg of our whirlwind journey. Las Vegas to Los Angeles. This trip took about four hours of driving through pretty much nothing, but we did get to see one of America's most under rated, unknown & biggest sights...... The world largest thermometer. We arrived into Hollywood at about 2.00pm and pulled up just behind Mann's Chinese Theatre. We had one hour to kill by ourselves before joining a walking tour of Hollywood Blvd. I thought this was going to be quite lame, but instead found out quite a few things that I never knew, The history that intertwines with the four blocks we walked was quite amazing.
We then drove out to Anaheim where we stayed at the Best Western once again. After settling into our rooms we made our way over to Downtown Disney for dinner at the ESPN bar. This was a nice bar & once again in true American style they served the biggest of meals. We all said our goodbye's that night and thanked Jordan for his awesome guiding & knowledge.
The 8 days was quite quick to travel what we did but all in all it was a great trip with lots of memories & a little pain (ribs). I got to visit a few places I had always wanted to go like San Diego & Mexico, and saw a few place that I would never of though of like Sedona & Scottsdale. The chopper ride over the Canyon was amazing and I'm glad it was free cause I never thought I would return to see it again. Most of the people on the tour were nice & the ones that weren't were numbed by my pain killers.
Thanks America, I'll be back soon.
Working as a travel agent at Flight Centre definitely has it's advantages as far as travel goes. Contiki were offering a trip of your choice for the top 50 sellers of February, March & April & I was one of the lucky winners. I had the choice of a 10 day trip to France, Italy & Switzerland or 10 days in the USA. Because of unforeseen circumstances (ha), I had to take the USA trip despite every part of me wanting to go to Europe.
We flew out on Sunday the 4th of June, flying Cathay Pacific. It was a free trip so we had no choice of the airline we flew with, but at the risk of sounding ungrateful I must say I will NEVER fly to America through Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific again. What should of been a 13 hour flight from Brisbane to LA turned into a 24 hour one way trip. The airline was good, but the trip was way to long for such a small distance.
We arrived into LA at about 8.30PM. As we made our way out of the terminal we were greeted by our American Tour Guide, Jordan. The moment I saw him I couldn't help but see his resemblance to Jason Biggs (The guy who did the pie in "American Pie"). We jumped on the bus & headed out to Anaheim, where we stayed at the Best Western.
The next morning we were up at 6.00am & keen to get the fun underway. As we made our way to the kitchen for breakfast we were greeted by a very average looking meal. We had the choice of some brown fruit, tiny muffins (but only 1) or some stale cereal. Apparently they had run out of bread for toast. Some people ate it & whinged, others just whinged. I on the other hand was hardly going to be defeated by this, especially knowing we were about to drive 2 hours to San Diego (oh & the fact that we all had some beers on the first night). Not more than 10 metres away was a diner that had my name all over it. I waited about 5 minutes to be seated & enjoyed my eggs, bacon & toast. I couldn't help but keep reminding everyone how full I was on the long drive.
This trip was strictly leisure with no hotel inspections or boring talk, they told us they were going cram in as many options as possible for us so we can see what it is their customers do. It was basically a thank you from Contiki for selling their product.
After a briefing of the tour & a shortened introduction of America, we arrived into San Diego. We had a quick city tour showing us Balboa Park, the Gaslamp district & also the Top Gun bar. After this we shot down to the wharf were our cruise boat was waiting. San Diego is located right on the Pacific Ocean and is home to the second biggest naval base in the USA it's also the home of the Navy SEALS. On the cruise you really don't see anything more than Navy Ships, so if that's not your thing I would suggest skipping the cruise.
After our city tour & cruise we made our way to the hotel which unfortunately for us was located on the outskirts of town. I guess that is just typical Contiki style, as the cheapest hotels never seem to be in town. That night we went for dinner at "Dick's Last Resort". As you can probably tell from the name alone, this is a themed restaurant were everyone who works there acts like a DICK. They yell at you for your order, tell you how much of an idiot you are and also throw things at you, even while your eating. The meals were great and in typical American style HUGE. To my surprise though the drinks that came out were even bigger than the meals. They were so big that each beer came in it's own bucket of ice to stop it from going hot before you could finish it.
The next morning we were up early one again & off to the world renowned San Diego Zoo. This place is very big and definitely lives up to it's name of a great Zoo. Every animal looked extremely well looked after and there were quite a few animals there that I had not seen in real life, the most memorable being the gorillas. After 2 hours at the Zoo we made our way down the road to See World. This place was quite good too, but ran a second for me behind the Zoo. There are rides here though which is nice to break up the looking at animals. The main attraction of this place is Shamu the killer whale along with his less than famous friends. While this is a good show the Americana of it all was just too much to handle. Some of the hosts just seem to talk absolute bull shit like "when I was a little girl I wanted to work with whales just like you (you being a pre-organised child), I got this medallion from an ancient Navajo man and I've never taken it off except for now. I want to give it to you little boy". I'm sorry if I didn't get teary eyed, but what a load of shit. I wasn't the only one who felt this way, I'm sure I heard a few other Aussies around the stands let out a bull shit & a laugh .
That night we went to a little restaurant across the road from the hotel and then just back to our rooms. I had bought a brand new Panasonic 3CCD video camera for this trip and was hoping to make a nice video of the experience. As I was walking down the stairs of the hotel with my new camera in my hands I tripped and began to fly through the air. All I could see was the cement at the bottom which I knew had my name all over it. Even though it all happened so quick I instinctively decided to save my camera and hurt myself. In hindsight this was not the smartest of choices. I just figured if I break the camera I will not get to film any of the trip, if I hurt myself the pain will be gone after a few minutes, WRONG! I hopped up from the ground feeling like I couldn't breathe properly, winded maybe, I wasn't sure but decided to lay down & even try to get some sleep.
The next morning I could barley move, not to mention breathe. Unfortunately for me we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us to Scottsdale. I told our tour leader that when we arrived in Scottsdale I would probably have to go to the hospital. This isn't how I envisioned my free holiday turning out. I should of taken the Europe option! Six hours later and it was still no better, so as everyone relaxed around the swimming pool I set off to the hospital, which lucky for me was just 100 meters down the road. I sat in the hospital for a few hours, both in the waiting room & also on a bed. After a few Vicadin & 5 X-rays, it was official, I had broken three ribs and there was nothing they could do about it. They gave me some pain killers & said good luck, it will heal in six weeks. At least my new video camera was in one piece (looking on the bright side). So that evening I caught up with the rest of the group at a lovely little Italian restaurant and then we headed to an Australian pub. After a few beers we all headed home for an early night sleep.
Day 5: We were all up at the crack of dawn and herded into a minivan heading for the open plains to try our hand at a little "Hot air Ballooning". The countryside out this way was lovely at dawn, with a bluey/pinkish sky spreading for miles over the open plains. The red dirt and rock just make the green plants and blue skies look so bright. Everyone on the tour was excited at this opportunity as it was something that most of us had never done before. There were of course a few people that were scared of heights & in no way were they heading up. One of these people was my room mate Walter from France. As we arrived at the take off area we were informed that if the wind didn't die down a bit we would not be able to go. So after sitting around for 20 minutes with our fingers crossed, our prayers went unanswered and we were heading back to Scottsdale. What a bummer!
Once we arrived back at the hotel we all headed to the diner across the road for a tasty American breakfast. With in an hour we were back on the bus & heading for Sedona and then the Grand Canyon where we would be able to take a chopper inside. I couldn't help but hope that the wind wasn't a factor with choppers as I really wanted to do it. Due to my sore ribs I managed to claim the back 3 seats as mine and popped a few pain killers to hit the hay. These things were my best friend on the long bus journeys. 1.... 2..... 3..... sleep.
Our first stop of the day was at Sedona, where we heard a random little fact that more western movies have been shot in this small town than anywhere else in the world. Whether that's true or not I don't know but it sound good. When you arrive you can see why this would be the ultimate western location. There are so many amazing red rock formations here which look even more stunning amongst the millions of cacti. Besides the beautiful photo's we were here for one thing, "The Sedona Red Rock Jeep Tours". Now I know what everyone probably thinks, because everyone said it to me on that day as well, "You can't go on the Jeep tour with broken ribs" but I really had too. I couldn't let a few broken ribs spoil the fun. But let me just say right now, it hurt like crap. After about 2 hours driving through the national park, hearing a few stories, getting our photos taken with the cowboy drivers and having lunch, we were on the road again and heading for the Canyon. After several more hours of driving we had made it to the "South Rim' where we took in a short walk and a few pictures before calling it a night.
The next morning we were up bright and early trying to make it to the canyon's edge by sunrise. The walk was further than we thought and all hope's were fading on making it on time, so we then decided to try and hitch a ride with the only passing car who actually stopped to ask directions. They said "jump in, it's only a rental", so the four of us crammed into the back seat of the medium size sedan. With thanks to our lift, we managed to make it just on time. It's definitely the best way to view the canyon, it was beautiful! The sun bounced off the red rock and brought out the greens and blue's of the Canyon. After clicking off about thirty photos we decided to head back to the lodge and grab some breakfast.
With our tummies full of food and the bus full of gear we were off to get a chopper ride into the canyon. Upon arrival we broke up into groups of five according to our weight then jumped aboard. This was an experience of a life time & it just makes you realise how small you really are. We flew for a few miles before reaching the edge and then suddenly it all just drops away. Absolutely stunning! If you can afford to do this it really does make the trip to the canyon something special. I have no idea how much it would of cost but I'm sure it was worth every cent.
Six hours later we were at Las Vegas. This was my second visit to the "City of Sin" & it just never gets old. The first time I visited we stayed at the Paris Hotel on the strip, but this time we stayed at the grand "America's Best Value Inn". It wasn't anywhere near as nice as the Paris hotel but it still had a theme. I believe they were going with the "not cleaned, you didn't pay f#@k all so whadya expect", look. But really, it wasn't that bad. It definitely lacked the Vegas feel but it was close to everything. That afternoon we did a loop of the street in our bus while Jordan shared with us a little of his expert tour leader knowledge about Vegas. We then went to the restaurant Margaritaville for a dinner and drinks while watching the sunset over the strip. From there Jordan said he was going to take us to see the "Freemont Street Experience", but unbeknown to us he had a little surprise up his sleeve. Our bus pulled over to the little white chapel o'love where he said we could go in and have a look. This just seemed like a cool thing to do in Las Vegas, but before we knew it in walks Elvis letting rip with "Viva Las Vegas". Jordan had planned for us to see Elvis marry someone, but who? There was no bride or groom insight so Elvis just picked two people from our tour and married them right there. The whole ceremony went for about 20 minutes with Elvis breaking into a song at every chance. This experience ranks high in my favourite Vegas moments and looked great in the movie.
From there we made our way down to Freemont Street for the light show which had improved since the last time I was there. We went and saw the golden nugget (a large golden nugget from Victoria , Australia) and sipped beer from large plastic NFL footballs on the street. Our last stop for the night was at the "Studio 54" nightclub in the MGM casino. This place was cool with dancers on podiums and also wire acts dancing on the side of the walls. From here it was just a short stagger across the street to sleep in America's best value bed.
The next day in Vegas was just spent seeing the sights, doing a little bit of filming and just generally taking it easy. That evening we made our way to the Excalibur for a $2 buffet, which was surprising good for $2. Most of the people decided they were going out for another big night but I wasn't in the mood, so as we made through the Belagio I slowly lost the group and went off to check out some last minute sights.
6.30 the next morning we were up and on the road for the final leg of our whirlwind journey. Las Vegas to Los Angeles. This trip took about four hours of driving through pretty much nothing, but we did get to see one of America's most under rated, unknown & biggest sights...... The world largest thermometer. We arrived into Hollywood at about 2.00pm and pulled up just behind Mann's Chinese Theatre. We had one hour to kill by ourselves before joining a walking tour of Hollywood Blvd. I thought this was going to be quite lame, but instead found out quite a few things that I never knew, The history that intertwines with the four blocks we walked was quite amazing.
We then drove out to Anaheim where we stayed at the Best Western once again. After settling into our rooms we made our way over to Downtown Disney for dinner at the ESPN bar. This was a nice bar & once again in true American style they served the biggest of meals. We all said our goodbye's that night and thanked Jordan for his awesome guiding & knowledge.
The 8 days was quite quick to travel what we did but all in all it was a great trip with lots of memories & a little pain (ribs). I got to visit a few places I had always wanted to go like San Diego & Mexico, and saw a few place that I would never of though of like Sedona & Scottsdale. The chopper ride over the Canyon was amazing and I'm glad it was free cause I never thought I would return to see it again. Most of the people on the tour were nice & the ones that weren't were numbed by my pain killers.
Thanks America, I'll be back soon.
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