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USA Travels 2008
22nd Jun - 9th Aug 08In America I did 2 Contiki tours, one of them around California, and then second one from LA to NY, via the southern states. In all I visited 24 states, and had the most amazing time of my life with equally amazing people!
22 June 08, I've Arrived in Las Vegas!
Hello world! I left Australia on Monday 23rd...and arrived in America at the same time on the 23rd! How very ‘time traveller’ of me :)… » more
Hello world!
I left Australia on Monday 23rd...and arrived in America at the same time on the 23rd! How very ‘time traveller’ of me :)
Being me, of course I had to have some dramas at the airport before I even left! The airline refused to check in my suitcase becase it was 36kg...oops. So I had to repack right there on the airport floor, with some help from my mummy! So we eventually got it down to 32kg and they let me on.
LAX airport wasn’t what I expected at all, it’s very cluttered and hard to figure out where to go. So yes, I did get lost. And there are so many terminals and it’s a long walk between them! Then I lost my passport and boarding pass, and had a mad rush around LAX to find it, only to discover it 30 minutes before my next flight, it had mysteriously become stuffed down the side of my laptop he he he. It wouldn’t be my life without a bit of drama!
Flying in over Las Vegas was really awesome, there were all these huge dry mountains which was really beautiful, and then all of a sudden it all turned to the flattest land I’ve ever seen. Very dramatic landscapes!
I had a taxi cab all to myself to the motel, and I even gave him a tip! Gotta get used to doing that here! It is extremely dry and hot, the sun is really burning out there.
I am right on the strip opposite all the major casinos and hotels, so it’s a prime position!
This evening I walked The Las Vegas Strip for about 4 or 5 hours, taking photos of all the amazing casinos, hotels and lights! It is simply stunning here, the city never sleeps, and everyone is very friendly.
New York New York casino is spectacular with the big roller coaster and Statue of Liberty, and Xcalibur is a copy of a Disney castle! There is a mini Paris with an Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, and there is a mini Venice with canals and boats! The Bellagio has an awesome water fountain show too.
I met some US Marines, we walked and talked and they drank from their guitar shaped beer containers (you’ll see them in the photos!) and explored a couple of casinos together. I even had a go on a real ‘ching ching’ pokie machine! The novelty wore off quite quickly but at least I can say I’ve done it now! I had dinner at the Harley Davidson restaurant, an American chicken pot pie, and it was delicious! The meals here are massive, hence the size of a lot of the people I guess! Oh and the strawberry daiquiris here are so different, they aren’t quite as fruity and they have a load of cream on top! Very strange, but not too bad.
It’s 3am and I will sign off now to get a couple of hours sleep before I get up to attack the roller coasters! Nite nite! » less
23 June 08, Exploring Sin City
I slept in a bit today, and then braved the insane heat outside. I walked the Strip all over again, but this time I went… » more
I slept in a bit today, and then braved the insane heat outside. I walked the Strip all over again, but this time I went into all the major casinos and took heaps of photos.
The Bellagio is really classy and beautiful, and I even got to see the water fountain dance out the front and took some video of it. There is a big lake-like area at the front of the hotel and there are hundreds of fountains in it, and at certain times they set them off and it’s like the water is dancing to the music, very amazing to see.
Caesars Palace is another famous casino, and I sat at the outside bar and had a strawberry daiquiri, very yummy! And while I was sitting and sipping, that Aussie song “I come from a land down under’ came on and I sang along like a proud little Aussie, everyone looked at me funny but I didn’t care!
The Pink Flamingo casino was also fun, there were real pink flamingos walking around outside! It was pretty awesome to see.
My next stop was the Paris casino, which is a really amazing building, the walls and ceilings inside the casino are all made to look like traditional Parisian streets, with the lamp lighting and even clouds on the roof!
I had lunch at a sandwich bar called Earl of Sandwich, they make these gourmet sandiches and wrap them in gold foil paper (think Willy Wonka paper!) and it was so tasty.
I had to get out of the heat for a while so I went back to my room and had a nap. When I got up I headed back to Paris and went up the Eiffel Tower and took photos of the stunning night time views from the top. The elevator was glass, and I was the last one in so I was right at the front up against the glass. As we got higher and higher I tried to shuffle back a bit because it was a bit scary just having a bit of glass between me and a really big fall!
Later on I went to Wynn casino because my Contiki group was meeting there. I ended up meeting an Aussie guy, not from my tour, but we chatted and then met a group of black girls who were really friendly and we had a great laugh.
The bar filled up quite a bit and then my Contiki buddies arrived, so I got to meet loads of new people, a lot of Aussies, a few Welshies, and a couple of Brazilian girls. We got to know each other for a while at the bar, and then headed to Caesars Palace to see Timbaland and Fergie in concert, but the line was really long and the others wanted to go and drink! So we ended up at Studio 54 at the MGM Grand, and it was so much fun! The music was awesome and we danced until about 3am! The group that I was out with were so great, we mucked around all night, and it was a really good mix, with the Scottish boys dressed in their kilts (no they didn’t have anything under them either!) and plenty of us Aussies to keep the party spirit alive. Me and Scotty ended up being the last to leave the club, but a couple of the others ended up going out again to party a bit more! Hmmm not much time left for some sleep before the early tour meeting, good night! » less
24 June 08, Beginning my Contiki Tour
Ok so I didn’t actually end up getting much sleep last night after all! But I easily got up early for my first day of… » more
Ok so I didn’t actually end up getting much sleep last night after all! But I easily got up early for my first day of my California Highlights Contiki tour. It was a full bus with over 50 people on it, so there was plenty of noise
I sat with Carmen, an English girl who has the most hilariously cynical sense of humour, which was made even funnier because she is only 4 foot 10 inches, oh, make that 4 foot 10 and a HALF, the half is very important to her!
The bus is made up of a few different tour groups all thrown together, so some people will be getting on and off along the way. On my particular tour there are a couple of girls who I have made friends with already, Nicole from Melbourne, and Glesni from Wales.
There is a Contiki tradition, which is each new person gets introduced to the whole coach by the person sitting next to them. So we had to swap some interesting facts and background stories to each other, and then Carmen got up and told everyone a bit about me, and added her own embellishments and made it funny! Another Contiki tradition is telling everyone what colour stoplight you are. So if you are red it means you are in a relationship, if you are orange it means you like someone back home but aren’t sure exactly where it’s going, and green means you are footloose and fancy free! So Carmen, in her classic London accent informed the coach that I’m not simply green, I am ‘verdent’!!! And when I asked her what colour she is, her answer was ‘Well, I’m more of a burnt orange, a deep sunset, which completely set me off laughing my head off.
Our destination was Mariposa in California, which took us approx a 6 hour drive from Vegas, so we had a couple of stops along the way. On our lunch break I ate at In n Out burgers, but I am now convinced that they need to change their name to In n Wait a While n Out because they took so long just to make a simple burger, which didn’t taste any good anyway! So I have now sworn off fast food, that was enough for me.
Oh and there is also another fast food joint here called Jack in the Box, and their little mascot is so scary looking! They have pictures in the restaurants of the little clown looking thing in the woods, and it seriously looks like something out of the Blair Witch Project, very creepy! No wonder I didn’t see any little kids in there, they’d be too scared of being eaten.
Late afternoon we arrived at our Hotel in Mariposa, which is a small town about 2 hours from Yosemite National Park. Nicole and I ended up as room mates, which suited us perfectly because we get along really well and want to party a lot!
When we first got to our room, I attempted to lift my suitcase onto a luggage stand, but as I did so, the entire suitcase disintegrated and the zippers gave way! Needless to say I found some gaffa tape in a hurry as a temporary fix until I find somewhere to buy a new bag! Oops!
We had a group dinner at the local pizza parlour, and then went to the 49ers pub, which is pretty much the only place to drink in this one street town. The bar was typically American small town, with the bearded older barman who drank and smoked at his own bar, and the jukebox and shuffleboard tables, as well as plenty of animal heads mounted on the walls. A rather authentic drinking experience!
The pub closed too early for our liking, so Chris and Jim came back to our room to continue drinking and we ended up watching Grease on tv! So we had a singalong to Grease Lightning and giggled at the completely lame one liners, which was made even funnier by Jimmy’s awesome Scottish accent, it was so hard to understand anything he said! But it was definitely good for a laugh in the early hours of the morning, especially with a bottle of Jager sitting on the bathroom bench!
We finally retired at 4am to at least get a couple of hours of rest! » less
25 June 08, Smoking Yosemite National Park
This morning we left early to go to Yosemite National Park. The entire area is covered in thick smoke, because there are massive bushfires in… » more
This morning we left early to go to Yosemite National Park. The entire area is covered in thick smoke, because there are massive bushfires in the area at the moment and apparently over 400 firefighters have been brought in to battle it. Lots of the surrounding areas have been evacuated, but thankfully we haven’t had to leave. But unfortunately it has been it really hard to see anything, it just looks very grey everywhere.
When we finally arrived at the park, Nicole, Glesni and I headed off together to find some waterfalls. We found the trail for the Upper Yosemite Falls, which we were told was about a 3km round trip. Well it ended up being an 11km uphill trek! I was so determined to get to the top though because I so badly wanted to take photos, so we loaded up on water and climbed and climbed and climbed some more. It took us almost an hour and a half to get to the waterfall view vantage point, and many water sipping stops along the way. The view was rather disappointment for me, because I have seen so many stunning photos of Yosemite which was the whole reason why I went there, but the smoke made it impossible to see much at all apart from a hazy view.
But nevertheless we made it a very fun hike, telling jokes and making fun of each other the entire way. We kept seeing other people on the track who were wearing full on hiking gear, with the giant big boots and climbing poles, yet all three of us were doing the hike in shorts, singlets and THONGS! All of the hikers couldn’t believe that we weren’t wearing proper footwear, but it just made us laugh even harder and tell them that this is how we climb mountains in Australia!
The view of the waterfall was quite spectacular, because we were up so high and the granite rocks just made it look so beautiful. If only it was a clear blue sky I would have been very impressed! I will definitely have to go back and visit again when it is better weather, I am determined to get the amazing shots that I have seen other people take in the park.
On the way back down the mountain, we discovered what looked rather like a pile of horse poo on the path, which made us all look at each other in amazement, wondering how the hell a horse got up there. It wasn’t in fact horse poo after all, but by that stage we were in absolute hysterics, and had made up rediculous stories about a Yosemite Shetland pony hiding out in the mountains, and we agreed that it would be a rather mystical creature, with a pink fluffy tail and shining eyes, and it would prance up and down the mountain, disappearing when humans came near it. You have to admit it’s a pretty good story! Maybe the long climb and lack of fluids made us delirious, but either way we couldn’t stop laughing. Everybody that we passed on our way down I told them to watch out for the pony. Some of them even believed me! The stories we made up even created a new word in our vocabulary - HORSEOME! This of course replaces the original word ‘awesome.’ I’m surprised we didn’t have any major injuries on our descent considering the amount we were laughing combined with the steepness of the mountain track.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a supermarket and grabbed some supplies to have a BBQ dinner. We all met up at the outdoor area behind the hotel and prepared for our BBQ with copious amounts of alcohol (yes mum, in moderation!).
Lauren our tour manager, who is young and funky, got us started with a game called Don’t Say No Just Get Lei’d! It involved everybody wearing a floral lei around their neck, and the word ‘no’ is banned for the night. If anyone is caught saying no at all, then whoever catches them out can take their lei, and whoever has the most leis at the end of the night is the winner. It sounded pretty lame when it was first explained, but once we started it was very fun and we were all on guard and trying to find ways to catch each other out! So it made all of our conversations very interesting and it actually made me think before I opened my mouth, haven’t done that before! I lost my lei quite a few times but eventually I had 7 around my neck and was queen bee.
We even had the local sheriff turn up at our shindig because a lady who was at the nearby playground with her kid called the police to report underage drinking! So we had the cops arrive to see what was going on, and once they realised that we weren’t causing any trouble, they ended up hanging out at our BBQ for half an hour and exchanged email addresses with a few people because the sheriff and his family are going to Australia and wanted some travel tips!
At about midnight a few of us were keen to keep the party going, so we walked up the main street to the good old 49ers bar, but alas they were already shut. So Jim decided to walk across the road to the town’s restaurant and used his Scottish charm to convince the owner to open her doors and let us all in to have some drinks. At this stage is was only 5 of us, but about 15 minutes later another 15 of our gang turned up and took over the restaurant, ordering bottles and bottles of wine! The owner was really lovely and had some drinks with us and a good laugh, and we stayed for a couple of hours.
Scotty and I walked back towards the hotel together, and I detoured through the local park, and we got surprised by the sprinklers turning on! There was a little old house in there too, which Scott was convinced was haunted, which made me realise he gets freaked out very easily so I made to make all sorts of creepy noises to scare him even more. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick nap before another early rise! » less
26 June 08, Sightseeing in San Francisco
This morning we were on the road on our way to the city by the bay, San Francisco. The crazy crew of boys at the… » more
This morning we were on the road on our way to the city by the bay, San Francisco. The crazy crew of boys at the back of the bus, being Chris, Scotty, Jimbo and Grant, brought out some water pistols and were soaking us throughout the drive. At one point I turned around to look at them and Chris got me straight between the eyes! It was pretty damn funny. We discovered that this weekend is in fact Gay Pride Weekend 2008, so instead of the usual ratio of 1 in 7 people in San Fran being gay, this weekend it is more likely to be at least 1 in 5! So even if there are any cute boys around it might not be safe to give them a wink ha ha.
We headed over the Oakland Bridge, and learnt that Oakland is the major shipping district and also has the 8th highest crime rate in the USA, with 7 murders last weekend alone! So of course we wont be wandering around that city. We entered San Fran and did a sightseeing tour of the city, starting with Fisherman’s Wharf where we had traditional clam chowder in a bread bowl for lunch, it was delicious! Then I bought a new suitcase to replace the one I killed, so hopefully this one lasts a bit longer! We pretty much froze walking around town, it is unbelievable how we can go from such a warm temperature only a few hours away, and in San Fran it is absolutely chiling to the bone! Then it was onto Haight Ashbury, the hippie district, and then we saw the church where Marilyn Monroe and Joe Demagio got married. Next stop was the Golden Gate Bridge! We went to the lookout area and took some photos, but once again I couldn’t get the shots that I wanted because the fog was so thick and covering most of the bridge. But we did the best we could and were so stoked to have seen one of the world’s most famous landmarks! It is so amazing to actually be in this amazing city and be seeing these places, I can hardly believe that I’m actually here!
Our hotel is really gorgeous, it is right near the Civic Centre, which was hosting a few gay marriages on the steps as we drove by, and there were some very interesting couples and outfits in our hotel too! Being such a major festival it is going to be impossible to avoid the in-your-face gayness around us, so I guess we will just have to enjoy the festivities and have a fun weekend!
One of our optional activities was a sunset cruise which we did this afternoon. We had all assumed it would be a nice sunny affair, wearing bikinis and sipping cocktails on a boat. That was before we realised that the fog and freezing weather would shoot that idea right out of the sky. So we rugged up and headed to Pier 33 to get on our catamaran and cruise around the bay. It was so damn cold that I only ventured outside the cabin once when we were going past Alcatraz, the rest of the time I stayed indoors out of the cold wind. After the cruise we all went for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe which was really great, and of course I bought a Hard Rock San Fran shirt he he he.
After dinner a group of us walked to a bar for some drinks, and of course it was full of the colourful rainbow crowd! Nicole and I ended up the last ones there, so when we walked outside we had absolutely no idea where our hotel was, so we started walking to try to get our bearings. There was definitely a different vibe in San Fran, I was constantly looking over my shoulder, and we even had a homeless guy run after us to try to get some money! We walked for a while and when we noticed people sitting in their cars and looking rather dodgy, we realised that we had ended up in the outskirts of Tenderloin, the worst area in San Francisco where we had been warned several times never to go, because of the high crime rate and drugs and gun violence there. As soon as we realised that we walked faster than ever before and got into the first cab that we saw! Thankfully we survived the ride home and snuggled up into our nice warm beds! » less
27 June 08, Pride, Parties, Full House & Hippies
This morning us girls skipped the included tour of the AT&T Ballpark to do our own sightseeing around town, as none of us was at… » more
This morning us girls skipped the included tour of the AT&T Ballpark to do our own sightseeing around town, as none of us was at all interested in baseball!
So we had a bit of a sleep in and then went to check out the Pride Festival which was right across the road from our hotel. The effort that some people put into their costumes was amazing! We bought some rainbow coloured beads to fit into our surroundings, and danced our way through the crowds. The festival is apparently the biggest gay gathering in the world, there were dj’s and singers, even Cindy Lauper was there.
We wandered our way further into town and headed towards Haight Ashbury to explore the hippie town, but on the way we met a guy called Danny who was just stepping out of his very cool looking row house, and he told us that he’d been having an all night party and that it was still going, so we joined the party! Everyone just loved our accents, so we chatted and joked around for an hour or so and then made plans to go out later that night with them. It is amazing how friendly everyone is! We also learnt some local lingo and ended up with a few new phrases in our vocabulary!
Our next stop was The Painted Ladies, the famous row houses used in the intro for Full House. That was really cool to see, since I grew up with that show and always loved seeing those houses. I even had deja vu going into the park across the road from them, most likely from seeing it so much on tv!
Eventually we got to Haight Street and visited the famous Amoeba music store which was massive, and then we wandered the street and looked in the boutique and vintage stores which were everywhere, I even broke my shopping rule and bought a very funky white party dress, Ed Hardy style. Nic, Gles and I had the most delicious lunch at a gourmet kebab place, simply divine! We made our way back to our hotel for a while, and then met up with our group for a dinner in Chinatown.
After dinner we popped back to the hotel to get changed and on our way back out we noticed that there was a party going on in our hotel bar, so we walked into it to see what was going on. It turned out to be a gay ho-down! We had walked in on a homo barn dance! Which was actually quite hilarious watching them spin each other around the room, very talented at country dancing actually. We each had a spin around the room before deciding that we had had enough gay festivities for one day!
Us girls then headed to Circa club in the Marina district, where we got underage Glesni into using my drivers licence! That was so funny, considering the bouncer asked both of us for our date of birth and never noticed that we both said the exact same date! It was a lot of fun inside and we made a lot of new friends, dancing and drinking until it closed at 2am. I can’t believe for such a partying country their licensing laws only allow them to stay open until 2am! But we continued to have fun at an apartment after party, again charming people with our Aussie and British accents! Until about 4am we were all laughing our heads off comparing the different meanings of words between our countries, crying with laughter when we completely misunderstood each other! It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed making some new friends and hearing them talk about their city and how much they love living there.
Finally we got back to the hotel and got about an hours rest before having to get up for another day! » less
28 June 08, Alcatraz and the Crooked Street
It was yet another early rise this morning and we headed off to Pier 33 for our ferry ride to Angel Island. There wasn’t really… » more
It was yet another early rise this morning and we headed off to Pier 33 for our ferry ride to Angel Island. There wasn’t really much to see on this island, hence the reason why I kept nodding off on the tram ride around the island. But we did have a nice clam chowder for lunch! Then we got the ferry across to Alcatraz to explore the island which was once America’s highest maximum security prison. We did an audio tour of the cellhouse, which was really interesting and pointed out the specific cells where the famous mass murderers we housed, such as Al Capone, the Birdman, and Charles Manson. Seeing the places where prisoners and guards were killed was quite chilling and amazing all at the same time, so much history inside one building. We also got to see the cells where a few men had used spoons to dig their way out, the holes are still in the walls for us to look at. When we were at the solitary confinement cells I decided to have a bit of fun, as all of the tourists wandering through the place were so silent, listening to their audio tour. So I went inside one of the solitary cells and hid behind the door, and when Nicole walked in, I jumped out right in front of her, and she screamed louder than I’ve ever heard before! And it echoed throughout the whole place, and everyone else cracked up laughing at us. That was my prison shenanigans!
The views from Alcatraz are amazing, a perfect city skyline and view of the Golden Gate Bridge. They were lucky prisoners t be kept in such an amazing place!
Once we were back on dry land, a couple of us went to find Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the whole world. I think it’s one of the steepest too, or that’s what my legs told me. It was such a mission to walk up it, but definitely worth the effort. The way that the street has been made is simply amazing, it just winds back and forth so tightly that cars find it difficult to maneuver, and there are beautifully manicured gardens throughout the entire thing. After a few scenic pictures we jumped on a San Fran tram and rode back to our hotel for a quick nap before heading out for dinner at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. at Pier 39. I feasted on Mahi Mahi fish and prawns, which were quite delicious! One of the desserts was Key Lime Pie, which about half of the group ordered. Within the first bite, they all pulled funny faces and tried to figure out what was wrong with it. One sniff of it told us all we needed to know, it reeked of garlic! Apparently someone in the kitchen had stuffed up and put the pies in the same fridge as the garlic, so the taste and smell of it had seeped through all the desserts! No need to say, nobody ate any more of it. But apart from that it was a really great dinner with an amazing view over the bay and out to Alcatraz.
It was quite a freezing cold night so back to the hotel I went and made sure my bags were packed and everything fit in properly, and it did thank goodness. Good night San Francisco! » less
29 June 08, Arriving in Santa Barbara
We left San Francisco this morning, with the boys waving goodbye to us as their tour ended there. It just wasn’t the same without the… » more
We left San Francisco this morning, with the boys waving goodbye to us as their tour ended there. It just wasn’t the same without the rowdy crowd at the back of the bus wreaking havoc on the rest of us! Even our tour song, Good Times by Tommy Lee, didn’t sound quite the same anymore!
At our rest stop along the way, our bus broke down and wouldn’t start, so we had to wait a little while for a replacement bus to arrive to continue on to Santa Barbara.
Once we arrived, it was nice to feel a bit of warmth, and we walked out onto the wharf and took some photos, then walked the main street to the shopping mall. It is a very mediterranean style town, and quite a rich place to live apparently.
After exploring for a couple of hours it was onto our hotel at Carpinteria, not far down the road. We had our last tour group dinner together in the hotel restaurant, which felt a little bit sad! The groups of people that usually stuck to themselves finally opened up a bit, I think even they realised that it was all coming to an end! A few of us stayed around til the bar closed and chatted together and then watched some tv in our room. Time for our final sleep on the California Highlights Contiki tour! » less
30 June 08, Venice Beach & my trip to Orange County!
First stop of the day was Hollywood, where we wandered through the famous shopping areas and saw the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards.… » more
First stop of the day was Hollywood, where we wandered through the famous shopping areas and saw the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards. I did a walking tour of the city, which showed the Walk of Fame along Hollywood Boulevard, and I took some photos of the most famous stars on the ground. It was quite interesting to see Mohamed Ali’s star mounted on the wall, the only one allowed to be like that because he is a Muslim and according to them it is the highest form of insult to walk on a man’s name.
We visited Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Egyptian Theatre, and I even had a photo with my lover boy Johnny Depp, well, it was a photo with a lookalike dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean.
Overall I would say that Hollywood is extremely overrated. It is full of wannabes and the streets are lined with people trying to sell you something, and the buildings really aren’t as fantastic as you think they would be. I thought it would be a lot more glamorous, but Vegas definitely wins in the glitz and glamour stakes that’s for sure! It was pretty cool to see the famous Hollywood sign though, now I feel complete :)
Our final journey of the tour took us to Venice Beach, the famous muscle beach where there are outdoor gyms and lots of basketball courts and skate ramps. There are people exercising everywhere here, and clearly a lot of steroids too! I saw street performers, and gym junkies, and plenty of nice tans on almost everyone I saw. Hmmm maybe this is where I should move to! The beach was quite nice, but honestly not really much different to those at home. I think this place is popular simply because it has a reputation that’s all. There were street markets galore, but it’s the same things that you find the world over. It was nice to have a walk on the hot sand though and dip my toes into the ocean.
We boarded our coach for the last time and headed to Anaheim in Orange County, and as we pulled onto Disneyland Drive, we played our tour song for the final time. We sang louder than ever, and it was quite amazing the feelings that we had, knowing that this was the end of the road for us. I felt excited to be arriving at the hotel, but also felt sad that the first part of my journey was over so quickly, and hoping that my new friends would all keep in touch together.
The hotel here in Anaheim is right opposite Disneyland, what a perfect location! I can walk to the front of the hotel and all I can see is rollercoasters, yippee!
We all said our goodbyes to each other and then I was on my own again, with 4 days ahead of me to do my own thing and have some fun! I decided not to sit around doing nothing all night, so I got a cab and went to Newport Beach, home of my favourite tv show...The OC! Yay! So i visited the famous Newport Pier and walked up and down the beach front, amazed at all of the holiday homes, and the beautiful people everywhere. It really is just like on tv! I had dinner by the beach, and wandered around the marina area, taking it all in and wishing that I could stay longer. But I am very glad that now I can say I visited Newport Beach, that was definitely high on my to-do list! Time to snuggle up and get a good night’s sleep. » less
1 July 08, Riding Rollercoaster at...Disneyland!
I had a bit of a sleep in and a lazy morning doing a load of washing, and wandered down the road for breakfast at… » more
I had a bit of a sleep in and a lazy morning doing a load of washing, and wandered down the road for breakfast at Denny’s.
Around lunch time I decided I would wander over to Disneyland and California Adventure Park and check them out, but on my way walking out of the hotel I ran into Matt, one of the guys who is on my next Contiki tour. We recognised each other from chatting on Facebook, so I waited for him to put his bags in his room then we went to the theme parks together.
We started at California Adventure Park, which is the smaller of the Disney parks. It is amazing how much money they must spend putting these places together, the detail and architecture is amazing. Matt is a scaredy-cat and doesn’t go on rollercoasters, so I went on the California Screamin’ coaster by myself, which was awesome! It definitely got me started with the rollercoaster bug, now I just want to go on all of them! We rode the water rapids and did a few of the tamer rides to start with.
The we headed next door to Disneyland and had no idea where to start, it is just massive! We wandered through Adventureland and New Orleans district, going on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and some silly jungle cruise! After wandering around for hours and only seeing about a quarter of the park, we decided to leave the rest for another day because the sun was just so hot and I was looking quite red! Copious amounts of ice cream definitely helped me though :)
After a yummy dinner at a local restaurant I found a few more people from the next Contiki trip, simply my standing in the hotel calling out ‘Contiki!!!’ he he he. But so far they’re all Aussies! So hopefully some foreigners arrive soon to make it more interesting. » less
2 July 08, More Disneyland Fun TImes
I had a relaxing morning and did some washing, wandered down the road for some breakfast, and around lunch time I took myself off to… » more
I had a relaxing morning and did some washing, wandered down the road for some breakfast, and around lunch time I took myself off to Disneyland for some more fun times. Today I rode the real rides, not the little kiddy ones anymore!
Well there really aren’t any majorly scary rides here, but Space Mountain definitely made my day. It is a rollercoaster inside a giant dome and it is completely in the dark, except for a few fairy lights and strobes every now and then. So you have absolutely no idea of where the track is going and which way you will twist and turn, it was so awesome! I had looked forward to going on that one for many many years after reading about it when I was little, so I had high expectations, and it certainly did it justice.
I also went on Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road, which is a mine ride that is pretty wild! That was a lot of fun too.
The Haunted Mansion is one of my favourites now, it’s not a thrill ride, but it is a really amazing feature at Disney. You start off in a creepy elevator that takes you down underground, and you then get into your own little cart, which is on a track that goes up and down below the mansion. The cart revolves so that you get to see each feature along the way, whether it is a dancing graveyard, ghosts floating in the air at a ghoulish party, or a floating crystal ball with a gypsy face in it. There is music and creepy sounds accompanying you the entire way, and the whole experience is just great. At the end of the ride the final section has a voiceover warning of hitchhiking ghosts, and then the cart rotates so that you are facing a wall of mirrors, and a hologram ghost appears next to you, so you can see it in the mirror!
I also wandered through the kids rides at Disney, visiting Toontown and also seeing the popular Spinning Teacups ride and the Dumbo ride too. The cartoon building are so cool!
It is so amazing how many billions of dollars would be spent on creating these rides and the amount of electricity they must use every day!
I the afternoon I met up with Catherine and Amanda at the hotel, they are a couple of girls from Australia who I had already met on the internet, so we went back to Disney together and did a few rides as it was their very first visit.
In the evening I gathered a group of eight to go to dinner together at The Cheesecake Factory which is a restaurant just down the road. There was me, Rachel & Dave (a couple from Brisbane I met before I left, Catherine & Amanda, Matt & Jake & Mark (who I met yesterday at the hotel). So it was a group of Aussies in Anaheim! The dinner was really awesome, we all got along really well and got straight into joking and insulting each other, so I fit right in :) And of course I had to have a piece of their famous cheesecake at the restaurant! It was delicious, mmm I could go for another one right now! » less
3 July 08, Knott's Berry Farm & Independence Day!
This morning I went to Knott’s Berry Farm with Jake and Paul. Knott’s is America’s first theme park, and it has the most amazing rollercoasters,… » more
This morning I went to Knott’s Berry Farm with Jake and Paul. Knott’s is America’s first theme park, and it has the most amazing rollercoasters, including the world’s largest wooden coaster which has featured in loads of tv shows and movies. It has been my dream to visit this place for so many years!
As soon as we arrived it was straight to the crazy rides, the first being one that doesn’t have you sitting in a rollercoaster car, you are actually hanging instead, so your arms and legs fly all over the place as you zoom around and around and upside down and inside out. It was awesome! There was another ride that shot us forward and upwards until the track ended, and then it shot backwards at a ridiculous speed and repeated this a couple of times. Needless to say I was completely in heaven, as I love thrill rides almost as much as I love chocolate! There was also an awesome water rollercoaster called Perilous Plunge, which sits you in a big boat with not much holding you in, and it climbs up really high and then turns around and does an almost vertical drop down a water slide, so at the bottom of it you get thoroughly soaked! I was that wet from this ride that I got someone to take a photo of the three of us just to show how insane it was! My entire body and clothing was soaked through completely, geez I was glad I wore my thinnest shirt with a pink bra under it ha ha! One of the other awesome rides was a rollercoaster that began with a very forceful push up to the top of a vertical track, and then it twisted around at the top and made a vertical drop straight back down, that gave me the adrenaline rush I was looking for!
The last ride that we did at Knott’s was the wooden rollercoaster. I had some high expectations for this ride, but I clearly hadn’t taken into consideration that the entire this is made from timber, therefore very ricketty and clunky, and clearly not made for people with boobs! He he he. I was actually scared on this ride, not because it was hugely thrilling, but because I seriously thought that the car was going to derail and hurl me to my death and pin me under the car with timber falling around my dying body. I am still not quite sure how it managed to stay on the tracks, maybe by magnets, but it was a miracle that we got off it alive. But I am glad I conquered the beast, it was a great theme park to visit and it’s one more to cross off my list!
Once we finished at Knott’s we went straight to Disneyland as it was our last day in Anaheim and I definitely wanted to check out a few of the rides again. I met up with Tanya there,my Canadian buddy who I have been in contact with for the last couple of months. So it was off to Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and a general wander around for the afternoon.
In the evening we had a Contiki group meeting, where it turned out that there were so many bookings for our Grand Southern tour that they had to add a second coach. So there are now two busloads of names to learn! I got to meet a lot of people that I had already spoken to on the net, so it was good to finally put faces to names and catch up with my new friends! The two tour managers, Kris and Angie, read out the list of names of people on their coaches, and I ended up on Kris’ bus, which I was glad about because on first impressions he seemed a lot more fun and lively than the chick.
I got straight into meeting people and beginning the long process of learning names, forgetting names, and asking them a million more times, but I don’t think I’m the only one doing that! I already knew a handful of people in my group, but not many, so I spent some time just introducing myself and then got a big group together to go out to celebrate the 4th of July, the greatest holiday in American history! A heap of us walked to Downtown Disney and went to the ESPN Sports Bar for drinks and dinner. The entire area of restaurants and the walkways was packed beyond capacity with people staking out their space to watch the fireworks, it was pretty amazing to see such a turnout. We stayed out for a couple of hours and then headed back to the hotel for the last time to get some rest for the big day ahead! » less
4 July 08, Good Morning Contiki! Off to Vegas!
We left LA this morning to begin our 24 day journey together, and first stop is Vegas baby! So I am a very lucky girl… » more
We left LA this morning to begin our 24 day journey together, and first stop is Vegas baby! So I am a very lucky girl having two visits to the most awesome party city ever.
I sat with Mark on the bus, we became good mates and get along really well, so naturally we decided to cause havoc on the bus.
For pretty much the entire ride to Las Vegas Kris gave us the Contiki lecture, all the rules and regulations for the trip, but he embellished it with his very dry humour and crazy stories of his past travellers getting arrested and detained and starting fires, so it was a quite entertaining journey!
My group is made up of mostly Aussies, with a couple of Belgians, a few Poms, a German, a Saffa, and a couple of Americans thrown in for good measure. I kind of wish we had a few more nationalities on the bus but I’m sure we’ll still have plenty of fun anyway!
We had a couple of hours on The Strip to wander around before we could check into our rooms at the dodgy motel, so I hung out with a few other girls and went to the Miracle Mile Shops and tried on clothes and got some lunch. When it was time to go to the motel, I discovered that I had been roomed with a lady (note that I said ‘lady’ and not ‘chick’ or ‘girl’) who was already in Vegas so she hadn’t been on our bus trip this morning. She’s a 35 year old Aussie, so she only just made the age cutoff for Contiki, and she was very boring as soon as I walked into the room, there was just no personality even though I tried to have conversations with her and ask lots of questions, so I felt pretty crap about having to share a room with her for the next 24 nights, especially when she said that she wouldn’t be going out to the bars tonight with us because she feels ‘too old.’ Well why book onto a Contiki tour then?! But then I hatched a plan...
I met another girl on my bus, Amanda, who was also stuck with a roommate she wasn’t too keen on because she was underage and wouldn’t be going out with the rest of us. So at our group dinner tonight in Vegas we sat together and decided to convince the tour manager that we were meant to be roomed together and somehow our booking got stuffed up. Yay it worked! So Amanda and I will be roomies in the next couple of days!
After dinner we got all glammed up with little dresses and heels, and went on a city tour through Las Vegas, down The Strip and Kris pointed out various casinos along the way and giving us the history of the city and how much each building cost, it’s obscene how much money these people have here! They get jealous when someone builds a bigger casino so they have to constantly try to out-do each other by spending a few more billion dollars. We had a surprise at the end of the city tour, which was visiting the Graceland Wedding Chapel! It was really cool, we all wandered in to have a look, and to take a few photos. Then the surprise got better and Elvis came into the room and started singing! And then two of our group members, Warren and Alexis, were plucked out of the crowd and had a fake wedding ceremony in front of us all! It was the most hilarious thing to watch, with Elvis throwing in song lines throughout the vows, making her promise to never step on his blue suede shoes, and making him promise not to treat her like a hounddog!
After the wedding we went to RumJungle, a club at Mandalay Bay casino, as Chris had managed to get us all free entry, so we got to meet up with the other busload of Contiki people at the bar which was great, so we got to mingle and meet even more of our fellow travellers.
There was much dancing throughout the night, and the weirdest part is that when us girls danced together, there was always a group of Mexicans and black guys who would slide in between us and try to dance with us on our own, which was funny at first but ended up getting creepy when they wouldn’t leave us alone! So then we went and grabbed all the Aussie guys and got them on the dancefloor with us to act as our bodyguards. Kyle and I boogied til about 4 in the morning, with a few of our group hanging around with us, and then we got cabs back to the motel.
What a great first night back in Vegas with my new mates!
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5 July 08, What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas
Today began with a yummy brekky at Coco’s, and then a few of us headed off to the outlet shopping mall for some retail therapy.… » more
Today began with a yummy brekky at Coco’s, and then a few of us headed off to the outlet shopping mall for some retail therapy. I was in heaven at the Juicy Couture store, so I bought some earrings there because they were pretty much the only thing I could afford! We spent a couple of hours wandering around and we each got a couple of things, mostly party clothes to wear out tonight. Then we headed back to the motel and went for a swim because it’s so damn hot here! I stayed in the pool for a few hours, chatting and swapping stories with a few others.
Mark and I were having trouble remembering some names, so we decided that titles worked better. So a girl on the other side of the pool became known as ‘Pinky’ for her pink bikini, and Ryan became known as ‘Broccoli Boy’ for his bizarre obsession with the soup at the diner next to the motel. Our most irritating fellow passenger today became apparent to us, as he constantly felt the need to tell everybody how he needs to keep buying more t-shirts with Las Vega written on them, even though he already has a huge selection of them, and he also sings really loudly to his ipod and for some strange reason thinks that he is going to get picked up by a talent scout while in the USA...hmmm yes he is clearly a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic basket, or a stubby short of a six pack, whatever floats your boat. So he has now been named ‘T-shirt guy.’
In the evening there was an optional extra of going to a Vegas stage show, but I decided not to go, so Manda and I wandered the Strip and I showed her around the main casinos as she hadn’t stepped foot in any yet and it would be pretty much illegal to go to Vegas and not go inside. Then we had a very yummy dinner at the Harley Davidson Cafe, and I got to have my Chicken Pot Pie once again, which was delicious as expected.
Then we rushed back to get glammed up to meet everyone at Tabu Lounge Bar in the MGM Grand, which was quite a nice bar.
But it wasn’t quite enough for me...so I made a phone call...and told a few select fun exciting people that I had...booked a stretch Hummer for two hours to drive us around Las Vegas! Woohoo! So we stocked up on drinks and crammed 17 of us into the white stretch Hummer at midnight and were chauffeured around town until 2am! It was the most unreal fun ever, I even managed to convince Chris the tour manager to jump in as well, it wasn’t too difficult. So there ended up being me, Amanda, Mark, Matt, Rachel, Dave, Scott, Nancy, Melinda, Karen, Daria, Jake, Kyle, Tanya, Neil, Kris and Angie living the high life in the most awesome ride ever, drinking and laughing and generally running amuck! I got many high fives from everyone for organising the night, it definitely was a lot better than anyone expected it to be! The Hummer had a great sound system playing, and it even had two bars for all our drinks! I could quite easily live in one of these things.
The driver was great too, he took us to the famous ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign and we all got out and had a group photo and then jumped back in to continue cruising around town feeling like movie stars. When our time was up we got the driver to drop us at the Spearmint Rhino, recommended by Kris, so we stayed there until 5am, partying and dancing he he he, where the good old saying of ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ came into play! Then we taxied it back to the motel to get a few minutes rest before starting all over again...it was definitely my best night out in history and what a way to party our last night in Las Vegas! » less
6 July 08, Grand Canyon Here We Come!
It was quite a messy beginning to the trip from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon, as three of my party mates from last night were… » more
It was quite a messy beginning to the trip from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon, as three of my party mates from last night were sick on the bus! At this rate I’ll be the new Corey Worthington in no time ha ha, but everyone was still saying how they had the best night out, so it was worth a few sick bellies this morning! It was quite entertaining to see the queasy ones running to the bathroom and clutching onto their sick bags like they were life rings in the ocean, but thank goodness I felt fine, hooray for champagne.
On the way we stopped at a Wal-Mart store so that everyone could get some lunch at the copious fast food outlets in the area, and we met up with another couple of Contiki tours at the same stop, so I got to see Lauren my tour manager from my California Highlights tour, so that was really great.
Our next stop was at a little town along Route 66, so we got to take some photos of the sign and explore some of the historic sights. Then it was back on the bus and driving through desert and mountains of the Sierra Nevada ranges and seeing some really fantastic scenery along the way.
During our drive Kris got us to draw a number out of a hat, and then match up with whoever had the same number. So there was a bit of musical chairs until we were all sitting with our partners, and I ended up with Warren from South Africa. We had to write down facts about each other, like name and origin and travel history, and then silly questions like which celebrity we would like to torture, and what item we would take to a deserted island. In case you’re interested, I chose to take Play-Dough to the island, I figured it would pass the time and provide some entertainment for me. So anyway, once we had finished writing down things about ourselves, we had to get up in pairs and introduce ourselves to the entire bus, which was pretty fun and a good way to learn people’s names and find out a little bit about them all.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon just as the sun was setting, so we went straight to the lookout and stared in amazement at one of the seven natural wonders of the world, it was quite spectacular. The rocks are so red and the textures are fascinating, but the thing that amazes me the most is the fact that the entire horizon of the canyon is all the same level, despite the massive craters and rock formations in the middle of it. Somehow the edges manage to be flat!
We didn’t stay at the lookout too long this evening as it was pretty late already, so we checked into our cabins, me and Amanda are finally roomies thank goodness! We explored our room when we got in there, and discovered a secret door...no not really, it was just a door adjoining us to the room next door, which was a surprise to the guys on the other side when we shoved it open to see what was behind it!
I headed to the one and only bar and had a drink with a load of other Contiki people who were there, and met a few extras who had joined our bus this morning from Vegas. The pub is really strict on checking ID here, so as soon as I walked in they grabbed me straight away and wrote down all my passport details. I’m not quite sure what good it does, but apparently they got a lot stricter on it since a couple of months ago when some guy drank too much and then wandered off the edge of the canyon, that wouldn’t have been pretty.
Anyway, it has been a nice night and now I’m off to bed! » less
7 July 08, Helicopter Hiking in the Grand Canyon
Today was helicopter day at the Grand Canyon, and there were three options to choose from, either a 30 minute or 45 minute helicopter ride… » more
Today was helicopter day at the Grand Canyon, and there were three options to choose from, either a 30 minute or 45 minute helicopter ride over the canyon, or a full day helicopter ride and drop off at an Indian reservation down in the canyon. So I chose to do the big one, there were only six of us from my crew that opted to do it, and Chris jumped on board as well.
The helicopter ride was breathtaking, it took us right down into the canyon, leaning left and right as we flew through the giant red rocks. The view was spectacular, I can’t really explain just how amazing the view was. We landed down in the canyon and Jake and I went to get some frozen bottles of water so that it would last us the day, and we ended up getting separated from Kris, Mark, Andrew, Patrick and Jo. So Jakey and I ended up wandering off by ourselves for the day and hiked our way through the Grand Canyon. It took less than half an hour to reach the first set of waterfalls, which was Navajo Falls, and we climbed across fallen tree trunks and vines to actually get into the waterfall. The view was really spectacular, but also quite bizarre to see a waterfall with a backdrop of the Grand Canyon, very surreal! We swam in the falls and the water was absolutely freezing! It was crazy going from the extreme heat in the canyon to the icy cold water in the waterfall, but it was so refreshing and was an amazing feeling to be swimming in the Grand Canyon! We kept trekking onto the next falls and suddenly we were on the edge of a cliff overlooking this huge gushing waterfall, so beautiful! The third falls were similar too, except we had to crawl through a cave and hang onto chains and slide down the rocky Grand Canyon to get to them, that was very fun!
We met up with the others in the cave, but then lost them again, so Jake and I just swam in the river and again in the waterfalls, because it was so refreshing and amazing.
Unfortunately there were no teepees or face paint as I had hoped, instead there was normal clothing and a general store, as well as air conditioned cabins and a school with a basketball court, so they Havasupai Indian tribe turned out to be a lot more civilised than I have expected.
The flight home was great, we went to the edge of the canyon to check out the view, but by this time I was pretty worn out and started to nod off.
Amanda and I had dinner at the lodge, and then a few of us had some drinks in the bar, and I challenged Mick to a game of air hockey, which I sadly lost, but it was a close game I assure you.
Then Kris and I went for a walk with our cameras and tripod to the lookout, and tried to take some long exposure shots for an hour or so, but it was quite unsuccessful, as there was no moonlight to help us out, so it was far to black to get any vision at all. But it was still quite spectacular just to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon and know that there is a massive expanse of rock, one of the most famous sights in the world, right in front of us. I discovered the Big Dipper and the Milky Way, and we saw about 20 shooting stars, which was breathtaking, as there was no other light around us so it was just an amazing sight to see. We even got adventurous enough to walk onto the Bright Star trail to get a better view, and I managed to scare the hell out of Kris by tickling the back of his neck, which he thought was either a bat, a drop bear, or a deer attacking him. Luckily I grabbed him in time before he fell off the cliff, and then I had a good laugh at him for being so scared of the dark. We stayed out until 1.30am and then I joined in with a room party that was happening in one of our cabins, until the park ranger turned up and told us to move along to bed. I think singing Spicks & Specks from the Gideon’s Bible in the room might have gotten a bit carried away and too loud! Or perhaps it was tying toilet rolls to the fan and then turning the fan on that did us in. It was a good ending to a fun night though! » less
8 July 08, Wild Wild West at Monument Valley
We left the Grand Canyon this morning and drove across Arizona to Monument Valley, the landscape made famous in several western movies. As soon as… » more
We left the Grand Canyon this morning and drove across Arizona to Monument Valley, the landscape made famous in several western movies. As soon as it became visible to us from the coach, we all got excited, because it is so recognisable from John Wayne films and even Mission Impossible and other modern movies.
Once we arrived on the Navajo Indian Reservation that owns the land, we went on their little rusted out tour buses to be shown around the monuments and to take some photos. They drive like nutcases! On my bus we had a female Indian driver, and she sang to us, and told us the stories behind the carvings and buttes, all at the same time she was wildly swinging the bus around corners above the cliff tops! After stopping several times to take photos of each monument, we headed back to base, at which point in time a bus in front of us decided to break down, and so the other bus in front of us decided to get behind it to push it up the hill. Please note that this is not the most intelligent thing to do when neither bus is equipped with an emergency brake and both were manufactured during the stone age. So, now try to visualise the good samaritan bus unable to push the broken down bus any further, and the broken down bus starts to slide backwards, pushing the good samaritan bus backwards toward the edge of a damn big cliff...I’m sure you get the picture. The passengers in the rear bus realised that they were heading for a rather large and undoubtedly painful drop, so they started t bail out of the bus and jump for their lives. Thankfully they all made it out alive, but Kris and Sarah ended up a bit injured and had to make a trip to the hospital later on for some stitches and general looking after. I cannot understand why the drivers would even attempt to do something like that with passengers on board, but they did, and luckily no one was seriously hurt, otherwise it would have been quite a disaster if the bus had gone over the edge full of people! Wow what a Contiki adventure that was :) It still didn’t stop my crazy bus driver from careening around corners afterwards though! She even told us she could do it with her eyes closed...no please don’t!
After that close encounter we continued our journey over the border to Cortez, Colorado where we are staying for the night. It is pretty much a middle of nowhere town, which is why it is just an overnight stopover. We had a Mexican dinner at the local restaurant, and then a few of us headed to the local watering hole for some drinks and socialising. We mingled with some of the locals, including Dave Sanchez, who was rather inebriated by midnight, but he was rather intent on convincing us to go camping with him! Needless to say we declined that very generous offer. One of the local cops was there as well, and he came and sat with us for some drinks and we had a good laugh with him. The bar was meant to close at 11pm, but the cop convinced them to stay open til 2am for us! It’s nice when the local sheriff can bend the rules for some crazy Aussies :) After that we wandered back to the motel, stopping at the service station on the way to pick up some snacks. Mick gave me a five second piggy back ride, and managed to ‘pop my chips’ while doing so, meaning simply that the packet of chips in my hand got stuck when he picked me up and the bag exploded and chips went everywhere! He seemed quite proud of it though, small things amuse small minds. We had a bit of a room party at the motel and then got a little bit of rest... » less
9 July 08, Whitewater Rafting in Colorado
We travelled a bit further across Colorado this morning to Durango, where first of all we went up the mountains to have our official group… » more
We travelled a bit further across Colorado this morning to Durango, where first of all we went up the mountains to have our official group photo taken with the Rocky Mountains behind us, so that was quite exciting.
Then it was time for the exciting stuff, white water rafting down the Animas River! When our group arrived at the starting point, the guide asked for five volunteers to go in the smaller raft which would be lower to the water and generally a much more exhilarating ride. So of course I put my hand up for that one! I ended up sitting at the front of the raft in between Patrick and Brett, and in the middle section we had Gavin and Warren, with our raft guide at the back of the boat. Basically I had gotten myself into the craziest boat with the biggest boys on the bus ha ha ha, but I wasn’t complaining!
It started off quite calmly, with the boys trying out different maneuvers, and then when the other rafts got closer to us we discovered how much fun it is to have splash fights! But I also discovered how damned cold the water is, considering it is ice melt running off from the Rocky Mountains, so it only took about five minutes before my toes were quite numb. I was laughing hysterically almost the entire time, it was just so much fun splashing and being splashed, and generally causing trouble. It got even better when we came up to the real rapids, because it got quite rough and it was exciting because unlike the boys who were paddling, I had nothing to hold onto! So I got dunked under water twice when we went through some big rapids, when I flew backwards and lost my balance, and then got hauled back upright by the boys, me giggling wildly the entire time. They joked about throwing me overboard because I was a dead weight, but I convinced them it would be wiser to keep me on board for entertainment purposes. As it turned out, it was a good idea to hold onto me after all. Boys being boys, they thought it would be a great idea to attempt ‘rapid surfing,’ which involves going backwards down a rapid, and then paddling against the current as fast as possible in order to ‘surf’ on top of the rapid and sit on there as long as possible. And me being the only female on board, and also not carrying a paddle, I didn’t really have much of a choice, but I was definitely keen to attempt it just as much as they were! So we waited for a nice big rapid and then the fun began. We actually sat on the rapid for quite a while with the big muscly boys paddling their hearts out to keep us on there. And then it happened...that feeling of the front of the boat rising and rising and tipping to the side, I knew I was going for another swim! Somehow the raft didn’t completely overturn, but we did manage to lose Patrick overboard, and he washed down river quite quickly, getting banged up on some rocks along the way. Amazingly I managed to keep my balance as the raft was rising at the front, even though I didn’t have any footholds like the rest of them, but as the raft came back down and twisted around I got dunked underwater all over again. I think I swallowed quite a bit of the nasty freezing water because I was laughing so much! The boys dragged Pat back on board, the poor whinging Pom soaked inside out just like me. This experience gave us all the adrenalin pump that we needed, so we attempted the surfing all over again on the next rapid, thankfully not capsizing the second time!
The rafting was the most awesome fun for me, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and even though I was rather frozen from it all, I would gladly jump straight back in and do it all over again!
Except the next time around I would take a dry set of clothes to change into...sitting on the bus in damp clothes was not fun! I sat in the sun as long as possible to thaw out and try to dry my clothes.
We crossed the border into New Mexico this afternoon, and arrived at our hotel for the night in Albuquerque. Both busloads are staying at the same place which is good, so we had a group dinner at the hotel and then the karaoke fun began! It was classic to watch Matt and Georgie sing a duet together, getting so passionate about their very corny performance. And Kris finished the night off at about 2am with his drunken rendition of Footloose, even performing an impressive jump off a chair to spice things up a bit.
We all danced and jumped around like idiots, finishing our night off to Twist and Shout, played several times in a row. » less
10 July 08, Getting Arty in Santa Fe & Cadillac Ranch
After a long drive and a few setbacks, we arrived in Santa Fe around lunch time. We got a couple of hours to wander around… » more
After a long drive and a few setbacks, we arrived in Santa Fe around lunch time. We got a couple of hours to wander around the town and explore and grab some lunch. It was very different to what I expected. For some reason, I imagined Santa Fe to be a rather Mexican looking town, with me walking on white sand in between little white adobes looking at fantastic paintings and sculptures. Well, there was no sand at all, or white buildings. But the architecture was great, the flat roofs and textured walls, all very earthy colours. The locals had markets lining the main street, selling their jewellery, which after a few stalls all looks the same. Amanda and I walked around together, through the shops, and looked at the main church, which had a funeral happening at the time we were there, so that was quite chilling to see. Walking through the shops was like a ghost town, quite strange for such a supposedly popular town, I expected a lot more tourism, so it was surprising how silent e everything was. But nevertheless it is definitely a nice historic place to visit, with lots of art and sculptures to see, and some amazing jewellery creations.
Our next stop on our cross-country adventure was Cadillac Ranch, also in New Mexico. Imagine driving in the middle of nowhere, all you can see is flat fields and mountains in the distance, and then all of a sudden there are a heap of multi-coloured cars sticking up out of the dirt. It’s quite a sight to see! We were handed cans of spray paint, and we set to work. You see, it’s perfectly legal to graffiti these Cadillacs, so we all added our own touch to them and took plenty of photos. I really enjoyed going to Cadillac Ranch, it’s just such a weird idea, but so amazing. Also interesting that these cars stay in their places despite the fact that they are in the middle of Tornado Alley, but thankfully we didn’t get swept away while we were driving through there.
We crossed yet another border and entered the state of Texas, and stayed in a town in the top left corner called Amarillo. Our motel is called the Big Texan Inn, and is multi-coloured, with cow print bedspreads, very retro! It is also home to the world famous Big Texan Steak Ranch, known for its 72oz steak challenge...eat it in under an hour an it’s free. And just in case you’re wondering, 72oz is equal to 2kg of cow...and yes, I did put up my hand to do the challenge! There was only five of us who were game enough to give it a go, and all the others were boys. But I was proud to be putting some effort in on behalf of the girls! Those of us doing the challenge had to sit at a table on a stage, and it was all filmed on webcam and broadcast live on the internet! When the steaks came out onto the table, we couldn’t stop laughing, it was unbelievable how massive they were! I got stuck into it as hard and fast as I possibly could, and we had a constant audience of at least 50 people around the table at any given time, all cheering us on and yelling and screaming for us to eat faster. At first, it was a really nice steak, very tasty and enjoyable. After a quarter of it had gone down, it ceased being a piece of steak and became a chunk of cow that I needed to get into me as quickly as possible even though the taste was now gone and I could hardly swallow anymore. An American guy sitting across from me managed to finish his entire meal in 50 minutes, however he had been training for two months by eating a ridiculous amount of food every day. None of the rest of the Contiki crew finished, but I did get through half of it, so a kilo of steak was a pretty good effort for me! We all felt pretty damn sick after that, and all the boys went and threw up several times, but thankfully I wasn’t so bad!
Amazingly enough I changed into my skinny jeans and we all went out on the town to Midnight Rodeo, a club that is half country music and half RnB music, very bizarre indeed. I danced for hours, needing to work off all that steak! I funky danced to rap music, and then headed out into the other section to do the two-step with some cowboys. It was awesome to have such variety all under one roof! We even did the Macarena while wearing cowboy hats, oh yeah baby! » less
11 July 08, Rowdy Rodeo with a Monkey on a Dog
We arrived in Dallas, Texas in the afternoon and did a city tour seeing some of the main sights including where JFK was assassinated, creepy… » more
We arrived in Dallas, Texas in the afternoon and did a city tour seeing some of the main sights including where JFK was assassinated, creepy stuff. Then it was time to go straight out to the Mesquite Rodeo, quite a famous show in these parts. They had a nice buffet dinner there, and then we watched the show, which had plenty of calf wrestling, horse racing, bull riding, and even a tiny little monkey riding a sheep dog...yes you read that correctly. The monkey is dressed in full cowboy gear including monkey-sized chaps and hat, and sits on top of a sheep dog, which runs around the arena herding deer into a truck...hmmm very interesting and entertaining to watch though! It just made me wonder who comes up with ideas like that though, I mean, was there a guy sitting at a bar and suddenly he has an idea and says, ‘I know! Let’s get a miniature monkey and make it ride a sheep dog like a cowboy! High five!’ (That last bit was in a Borat voice if you couldn’t tell.) Nonetheless it was a good laugh and was enjoyed by all. They even had a segment where all the kids could go into the arena to do the chicken dance and then run a race, which a couple of our Contiki boys decided to participate in, knocking over a few kiddies along the way! Yeehaa coyboys!
After the rodeo a few of us headed into the party district and went to the Lower Greenville Pub, which has a rooftop bar and was quite a funky place to hang out. But going out in Dallas is quite different to everywhere else we have been, they pretty much just stand around and talk, no one really dances at all! I even went and checked out some of the other bars and they were all the same, plenty of music and drinks but not much movement, which was interesting to see. But we had fun anyway, and Kyle and I grabbed some yummy pizza at 1am, then Tanya and us headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. » less
12 July 08, Major League Baseball & Funny Hats...
I skipped out on this morning’s optional tour of the Dallas Football Stadium, as I thought a sleep in might do me a bit more… » more
I skipped out on this morning’s optional tour of the Dallas Football Stadium, as I thought a sleep in might do me a bit more justice, and I also needed to do a giant load of washing.
In the afternoon we all went to the Texas Rangers vs. Chicago Whitesox major league baseball game, which was really awesome to see. It was deadly hot, especially as our seats were in the blazing sun, so I spent half the game wandering the stadium and watching from various vantage points in the shade. I watched the last few innings back in our seats which were in left field, and a heap of us spent our time heckling Carlos Quentin, a Whitesox player we were trying to get to wave to us, however unsuccessfully. When the Rangers were fielding in the next inning we managed to get Boggsy from the Texas team to give us an up-nod, which was better than nothing! Our yelling and screaming paid off.
For dinner we went to Dick’s Last Resort in downtown Dallas. It was quite an experience to say the least! Before, during and after dinner was one giant paper throwing fight, as we all tore up our placemats, napkins and anything else rippable on the tables, and we balled up the paper and threw it at each other, it actually got quite violent if you can believe it, paper was dipped in water to get a bit more distance, and occasionally ice was sneakily substituted. The staff made these huge paper hats for us all to wear, and they wrote various questionable comments on them, so we got a lot of entertainment from them too. My hat had an arrow pointing to either person beside me and said ‘Her boyfriend says I kiss the best’ and Amanda’s hate said ‘More highlights than ESPN.’ Our tour leader got ‘Dumbass’ written on his, and the freak of the tour bus had ‘Virgin’ imprinted across his. These are the tamer ones of the night, there were definitely some interesting comments floating around! By the end of dinner though we ended up sacrificing the hats and ripped them up for use as extra ammunition to aim at each others heads.
A few of us continued on to a rooftop bar for some cocktails which was a really nice way to spend our last night in town. » less
13 July 08, Crossing Arkansas & Walking in Memphis...
Our travel today was about six hours, and we crossed from Texas into Arkansas, and stopped at the border to have some photos on the… » more
Our travel today was about six hours, and we crossed from Texas into Arkansas, and stopped at the border to have some photos on the Texarkana state line. Then we continued along on our mission of driving the entire way across Arkansas, stopping at Little Rock on the way, the place where Bill Clinton was governor before being president. So we visited the Capitol Building there and had a quick look around.
Finally we arrived in Memphis. The first place we saw was the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr was killed. It was a strange feeling to be standing in the same place where he did so many years ago, and to know what happened there that changed so many lives. We could also see the slightly open window in a building across the road where the fatal shot was made from. There is a lady who sits at a desk across the street and for over 20 years has been there in that same spot, campaigning for the famous ‘dream’ of Martin Luther King Jr, and I’m sure she will keep sitting there for another 20 years if that’s what it takes for her to see the changes that she feels are needed.
We had dinner at Alfred’s blues bar and restaurant, and listened to the live band for a while. I had an early night though because my asthma has been playing up a bit and I really need to get some rest so that I can have a big one tomorrow! » less
14 July 08, Elvis' Graceland & Kissing a US Marine!
This morning we went to Graceland! We did an audio tour of Elvis’ mansion, seeing the same furniture and decorations that have been there for… » more
This morning we went to Graceland! We did an audio tour of Elvis’ mansion, seeing the same furniture and decorations that have been there for decades. He certainly had an interesting style that’s for sure, with horrible green shag pile carpet on the floors, walls, and ceilings! Even the kitchen had carpeted floor, and there is also a fountain that he had built into the Tiger Room, which still has Lisa-Marie’s toys on the retro couches. In one of the other buildings that has loads of records on the walls, there is a sunken lounge where Elvis spent his last morning alive. And out in the gardens there is the family burial site, with a fountain and eternal flame. I didn’t realise that Elvis had a twin brother, so that was my piece of knowledge for the day. I think he died when he was a child though, which is probably why it’s not a commonly known thing. His parents and grandmother are also buried at Graceland all next to each other, and the amount of tributes that arrive daily is amazing, it would be even crazier around the time of his birthday or memorial of his death.
We stopped by Sun Studios on the way back to the hotel, but there wasn’t anything to see unless we paid to do a studio tour, but I wasn’t really interested in it so I didn’t bother.
Amanda and I went for a walk up and down Beale Street and checked out a few bars, and then went to the shops to spend some money in Victoria’s Secret, the best shop on earth! The shopping centre was like a ghost town, there was only a handful of shops even though it is a pretty large complex, and there was hardly any people about at all.
Memphis in general has been quite a surprise to me, not at all what I expected. I didn’t really know much about it to start with, but I thought it would be a bit more commercialised than it is, I expected to see more shopping malls and just touristy stuff in general, but it was quite nice for a change to see a town living the way it has for the last few centuries, not destroyed by brand names and money-makers.
At night the Contiki crew went out for dinner at Rendez-Vous Ribs, so we all tried the local delicacy of dry-rubbed ribs. They actually weren’t as good as they had been hyped up to be, I definitely prefer the juicier ribs back home!
After that we all split up and went various ways, with a group of us ending up at an outdoor blues bar, listening to the live band and having some jelly shots, yummy! Then we went to the Flying Saucer bar which is famous for its 100 different types of beer on tap. After a couple of hours there the few of us that were left straggled back onto Beale Street, where I found...wait for it...more US Marines! Yay! There was a whole group of them in uniform, so me being me loving the boys in uniform, I stood in the middle of the street and yelled ‘Oi Marines! Over here NOW!’ So I had some photos with them and then the other girls in my group joined in for another pic and we all had some drinks and laughs together in the BB King bar. I had some photos of me wearing one of their hats, which was so cool! And then I tried to keep the hat but was told they would get in a lot of trouble if they didn’t turn up to work with it! Nevertheless I was still determined to get the hat as a souvenir, so I grabbed it and ran, but somehow the Marines were a bit quicker than me so I didn’t get too far ha ha, and one of them said that if I wanted the hat then I had to kiss him! So, I really wanted that hat, so I kissed him with the rest of my group cheering me on, and I still didn’t get the hat! But hey, at least now I have a good story to tell! And that is where my night ended. » less
15 July 08, Mississippi & Hurricanes & Hand Grenades
We arrived this afternoon in the amazing city of New Orleans. Before we arrived at the hotel we drove around town to see some sights,… » more
We arrived this afternoon in the amazing city of New Orleans. Before we arrived at the hotel we drove around town to see some sights, and already I knew I would love this place the most!
We all went on a paddle steamer cruise on the Mississippi River tonight, and had a traditional Creole/Cajun dinner which was very yummy! There was a live band playing jazz and it was just amazing to know that I am actually in this beautiful place!
Nicole from my last Contiki joined us this evening, so that was good to see her again and introduce her to the rest of my Contiki crew. We had a lot of fun on the boat, standing on the top balcony enjoying the view and soaking up the jazz and blues all around us.
Back on dry land we went to Pat O’Brien’s bar to have some drinks, and boy did we drink! We started with a Hurricane which was recommended to us by Kris, who also warned us that the first might not seem so bad, but after two of them you are knocked on your ass! So, naturally we had a couple of them, and were well on the way to enjoying ourselves! I have no idea what is in these drinks, but damn they are potent! At midnight it became Amanda’s 27th birthday, so plenty of drinks were bought for her and we became even more rowdy (if that’s possible!) and we headed to Bourbon Street to check out the famous nightlife and hear some more blues and jazz music. We looked through a few bars, and then most of us drifted into a bar called Razzoo, which was really going off! So with Hand Grenades in each hand (these ones are green and also very potent!), we hit the dance floor and very soon us girls were up on stage with the singers dancing away to the beats. From the stage I spotted some fun looking people, so I ended up dancing with them and discovered they were all from Sydney, so there are even more Aussies in New Orleans that we though! They were the best looking ones I’d seen, but unfortunately they weren’t joining us on Contiki so I was quite disappointed about that. But we danced and drank and danced some more. The waitresses at Razzoo are insane, they walk around with shots in test tubes, and the put the bottom of the test tube in their mouth, and then pour it into your mouth, it’s very crazy but very fun! I got the munchies, so Dave, one of the Sydney boys, and I went for a walk to get some pizza, which apparently I took off with from the shop, although I didn’t realise it at the time, but I completely blame the Hurricanes and Hand Grenades, they cause you to lose your memory and it comes in flashbacks! I couldn’t control my actions ha ha, but damn I had a great night! I believe I wandered back into my hotel at 9am the following morning... » less
16 July 08, Voodoo, a Cemetery, & more Bourbon St!
After my 9am walk of shame back to the hotel room, Amanda and I forced ourselves to get showered and dressed to explore New Orleans,… » more
After my 9am walk of shame back to the hotel room, Amanda and I forced ourselves to get showered and dressed to explore New Orleans, as it is our only free day to do so, and neither of us wanted to miss anything. So nursing some serious self-inflicted hangovers, we started with a nice greasy breakfast, and then met Nicole to wander the town. We checked out the town cathedral, which is a beautiful piece of southern architecture, it looks like a fairytale castle, so I really enjoyed seeing that. Inside it was great as well, with the stained glass windows and painted ceilings. We sat in the pews for a while enjoying the quiet and the cool air conditioning.
We wandered the streets and I went into the Voodoo Museum, which was really creepy! All the bones and voodoo dolls and skulls in there are completely real, not replicas, and they have been used in real ceremonies and spells, so it was quite an eery thing to see. I didn’t touch anything as I didn’t want to get possessed by some evil creepy monsters!
The cemetery was my next stop, and it was simply amazing. All the dead are buried above ground here, so the tombs are very elaborate. There are wall vaults which are used for mass burials, and they work in an interesting way. A body is put into the vault wrapped in a piece of cloth, no embalming at all, and it must be enclosed in the vault for one year and one day according to the church rules. After this period of time, the body has gone through a natural cremation process as the tomb heats up so much in the sun, so when it is re-opened there is only bones and dust left, so these are pushed to the back of the vault and a new body can be entered, starting the process all over again. So they can hold hundreds of bodies in a single vault! It was amazing to hear about it from a local. Needless to say I took plenty of photos at the cemetery!
In the afternoon our Contiki group went on airboat rides on the Bayou swamp, and this was great fun! We found alligators and fed them marshmallows, which they absolutely love. I would be quite interested to find out how it was discovered that they like marshmallows so much, as I thought it was quite random! We flew around the marshes for an hour or so, exploring and searching for more gators. Then we went out into the big lake where the big boys play, and Matt even jumped into the water and swam for about 10 minutes, how insane! I definitely wasn’t game to do that. We did play with a baby gator on the boat though, that was really great, they feel so scaly and soft, and it was so cute!
Amanda, Nicole and I went out for dinner together on Bourbon Street and sampled some more traditional fare which was delicious. Then we ended up back at Razzoo club, meeting lots of new people and catching up with the Sydney boys I met last night! I was hanging out with them and suddenly I was hit with an ice cube to the side of the head, so I grabbed my water bottle (no Hand Grenades for me tonight!) and splashed the guy that I thought had hit me, but I got the wrong guy, so I ended up with a vodka and soda all over my face, hair and dress, which was hilarious! I couldn’t stop laughing, I had so much fun. Dave had a few test tube shots which was fun to watch, everything here is just so entertaining.
We continued our tradition from last night and got some more pizza, this time I didn’t run away with it! But once again I forgot to sleep, so I had a 4.30am walk of shame this time. Hey, I’m getting better aren’t I?! I’m definitely going to miss Dave and the new friends I made tonight, but hopefully will cross paths again at some stage! » less
17 July 08, Swimming in Sunny Florida
We crossed yet another state line today and landed in Florida, well and truly on the east coast now! Our major stop of the day… » more
We crossed yet another state line today and landed in Florida, well and truly on the east coast now!
Our major stop of the day is in Pensacola, where we visited the beach for several hours and swam til we could swim no more. It was really great, the weather is perfect today, bright blue sky, but it’s not too hot, so it’s very comfortable to sit on the beach in the sun. We had a nice fish and chip lunch at a beachside bar overlooking the calm ocean, and listened to the funky music, it was so easy to tune out and relax!
I am that exhausted from lack of sleep over the last few days that I am having an early night tonight at our Pensacola hotel. » less
18 July 08, Longest Drive Ever...to Orlando
Today was the longest drive of the trip. Well, Kris has told us that pretty much every day, but today it was actually true. It… » more
Today was the longest drive of the trip. Well, Kris has told us that pretty much every day, but today it was actually true. It took about 10 hours to get from Pensacola to Orlando, with a couple of rest breaks in there too. So we arrived at our motel in Kissimmee near Orlando at about 6pm.
Amanda, Nicole and I wandered around Old Town and had some dinner, then explored a little bit. There is a strip of shops here and a lot of amusement rides, so there’s lots of bright lights and screams every few minutes when people are shot up in the air on the Slingshot ride.
Apart from that, theres’s not a whole lot of nightlife in this area, which is a good excuse to have another relaxing night! so Amanda and I chilled out in our room and had a good chat and read some magazines, ready for a nice peaceful sleep :) » less
19 July 08, Universal Studio & Islands of Adventure
Today I went to Universal Studios Florida! They also have a second theme park there called Island of Adventure, which is where the big rollercoasters… » more
Today I went to Universal Studios Florida! They also have a second theme park there called Island of Adventure, which is where the big rollercoasters are, so I started in that one and spent the day with Jacqui on the crazy rides. Our day began with the Dueling Dragons, which are two rollercoasters that run on tracks overlapping each other, so when you are on one of them you basically wrap around with the other rollercoaster, which is quite awesome and freaky! It almost seems like you’re going to collide, which just adds to the excitement.
The water flume ride was really awesome, it has such a huge drop at the end that shoots you off with some much speed, you get pretty soaked on this one, but it gives you a good rush!
The big monster in this park though is the Hulk rollercoaster, which gives you a massive push at the start to rocket the car up a vertical track and flying down the other side, reading for some loops and twist and turns, it was definitely worth the massive wait in line.
Next we went into Universal Studios and explored the different sections, like Hollywood, San Fransisco, and we rode the very cool Simpsons Ride! It was way better than I expected. It’s like the Superman ride at Movieworld in Australia in the fact that you’re in a simulated car, but instead of being in an enclosed area watching a normal size screen, the Simpsons Ride has you in front of a screen bigger than anything I had ever seen before, looking left and right or up and down, you could not see anything other than the massive screen! So we were bounced around watching the screen as if we were on a rollercoaster, and it felt so realistic! And there’s a part where it’s as if the car goes inside Maggie’s mouth, and then she sneezes, and when this happens there is water sprayed into the car as well as baby powder, so you feel and smell as well as get thrown around! It’s extremely well made and worth going there to try it out.
We also went into the Twister exhibit where they tell you a lot about Tornado Alley and storm chasers, and then we went into an arena to see an example of a twister, complete with rain, lightning, wind and an explosive fireball that made us jump back because the heat was so intense, that was really great to experience. It almost made me want to go be a storm chaser!
the E.T. Ride was also really cool, we sat on bicycles and were flown around in space with little E.T. sitting in the basket in front of us!
It’s really amazing how much money they must spend on creating all these rides, it’s almost impossible to comprehend how much imagination these people have!
Tonight we had a pool party at our motel, which turned out to be a very funny and insane night. It began quite calmly, although very humid. We had a BBQ by the pool, cooked by Kris, which surprisingly turned out to be quite tasty even though it was cooked by an American he he. His BBQ skills were higher than we all thought they would be! So we munched on burgers and hot dogs, and drank around the pool, and even playing Twister! It was hilarious, we were all tipsy and slipping over on the plastic game mat, getting our arms and legs all tangled up, but it was so much fun! Then things got carried away, and the boys decided it would be fun to throw us girls into the swimming pool...fully clothed. Well, at least I was smart enough to put my bikini on under my dress. So there were quite a few splashes as we were tossed in, sometimes with the boys jumping in as we were thrown, so water went everywhere, girls were screaming, laughing and swearing revenge! At one point I had Neal chasing me around the pool trying to throw me back in, and he tried to run over one of the garden chairs, but instead his foot went straight through it so now his ankle is all torn up! Silly boy, serves him right he he. I think we also destroyed part of the fence by running into it, but it was pretty flimsy to start with anyway, so I don’t think we did too much damage.
It was a very fun night and it’s time to get into some dry clothes so I don’t die of pneumonia! » less
20 July 08, Outlet Shopping in Orlando
Well I don’t have a cool photo from today, so I’ve put a Twister photo from last night on this entry instead, so enjoy some… » more
Well I don’t have a cool photo from today, so I’ve put a Twister photo from last night on this entry instead, so enjoy some shenanigans from last night.
Today I decided against going to Disneyworld because I went on the website and saw that it has pretty much all the same rides as at Disneyland, and I went on all of them several times so I don’t really want to spend a heap more money just to do the same rides all over again.
So instead, Amanda and I went outlet shopping! Orlando is where outlet shopping and timeshare come to die, so there are plenty of both these things. We went to the Premium and Prime outlet shopping malls, which gave us a total of approximately 350 shops to explore, pretty much heavenly for two females.
We shopped til we dropped, getting loads of great brand name clothes for nice prices, like Fox, Zoo York, DKNY, and lots more! So we are now all branded up, looking fancy and rich in our cool new threads he he. And on the way back to the motel we stopped at the markets across the road and got some new suitcases, as I sure as hell wasn’t going to fit all my stuff into that stupid bag of mine! So now I have a giant purple suitcase, as well as a slightly smaller pink one, so I can probably fit in a couple more shopping trips along the way...
Tonight Amanda and I had dinner at an asian restaurant and it was great not to have anything fast foodish! And then of course we had ice cream for dessert, I am just addicted to ice cream, it is nice and cooling in the heat over here, well that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it! » less
21 July 08, NASA & A Ghost Tour in St Augustine
We left our motel in Orlando and went for a group breakfast at the Golden Corral buffet. This place is amazing, it like Sizzler but… » more
We left our motel in Orlando and went for a group breakfast at the Golden Corral buffet. This place is amazing, it like Sizzler but 50 times as big, of course, since everything in this country has to be supersized. So I loaded up on bacon and eggs and hash browns, it was delicious! They even have a dessert bar for breakfast, complete with cakes, brownies, and ice cream! So naturally I had to have some soft serve simply because it was there staring me in the eyes daring me to eat it. How could I resist?! And yes it was yummy.
Both bus loads of Contiki then went to the Kennedy Space Centre, home of NASA, and we went on a tour around the grounds to see a rocket launch pad, some parts of the Apollo spacecraft that were on display, and to watch the scientists at work. I’m not really all that interested in space stuff so I expected to catch up on sleep during the NASA tour, but it was actually quite interesting and I enjoyed it. I was wandering around with Amanda, Mark and Scott, and we decided that we needed to do a ‘moon walk’ at certain time throughout our time at the space centre, so during every photo that we took of each other, we have one foot raised in the air and our arms out for balance, pretending that we are in zero gravity. Somehow we all managed to make a noise to go with the movement too, I wish I could demonstrate it for you all to hear! It wis an ‘Ooooooo’ sound made by all of us at the same time, I guess we all think that’s the noise that astronauts make all the time in space he he. Everyone around us thought we were completely insane, but I’m sure they enjoyed the entertainment. We sampled Space Ice Cream, which was very over-rated as far as I’m concerned. It is a crumbly block of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry dry ice cream, but because it’s not cold I just couldn’t compare it to the real thing. It has the consistency of honeycomb, but it just wasn’t as good as I expected. I wonder if the astronauts have even heard of it or if they get the real thing up there!
A massive storm rolled in while we were there, and the thunder was cracking all around us, the lightning even hit the ground not too far away from us. It was one of the most spectacular storms I’ve ever seen, the force that it came down with was just awesome, and we did the mad dash from one building to another to escape being hit or sucked up by aliens.
We journeyed further up the state of Florida and arrived in St. Augustine this afternoon. It is a quiet town, and I was itching to go on a ghost hunt! Our ghost tour started at 8pm and we met our guide inside the city walls, and she was all dressed up as if she was from the 1600s which was really cool. She even had a big wooden walking stick that she banged on the ground for extra effect. We walked around the town, starting at the oldest cemetery and hearing creepy stories from the guide. There was one tale of a woman in the 1600s who had supposedly died and was being carried to the cemetery to be buried three days after her death when an acorn fell on her head and cut her skin which made her bleed, which obviously wouldn’t happen to a dead body, so they discovered that she wasn’t dead after all but that she had somehow been in a coma! And then a few years later when she did actually die her husband made sure that she wasn’t walked under that same tree again, so it began conspiracy theories that perhaps he had tried to kill her the first time.
The tour guide told us to take photos during the tour as much as possible in the hope of catching some spirit orbs or ribbons or even a ghostly apparition in some of our pictures. A few people were convinced that they captured some orbs in their photos, which are little blobs of light, supposedly some spirits trying to get some attention from us living folk, but I think they were either rain drops or lens flares! Although I did have one creepy moment when we were standing in front of a haunted house, and I picked up my camera to take a photo, and the zoom started moving in and out all by itself when I wasn’t even touching any buttons! I let out a yelp and everyone had a look, it was quite strange! So I’m not sure if my camera was malfunctioning or if there were some darker forces at play, but I’m sure I can make the story sound interesting either way.
We heard stories of pirates attacking the city and of a little girl who was killed and now apparently her ghost wanders the city, standing by the gates occasionally, although I didn’t see her so I remain skeptical on this one as well.
Once the tour was over I still wanted a bit more haunted action so I walked over the street by myself to the old town fort where the soldiers would battle. It was pitch black and I was the only one around (I think!) and I had a great time freaking myself out when I saw my own shadow on the crumbling brick walls, laughing at my own stupidity but feeling nervous and excited all at the same time! There was even a moat and lots of old timber drawbridges, so I had a fun time exploring for a while before heading back to join up with the group again.
We had some drinks around the pool for a couple of hours, thankfully I stayed dry this time. » less
22 July 08, Sitting on Forrest's Bench in Savannah
Before we left St. Augustine this morning, Amanda and I went for a walk to the Fountain of Youth, which makes this city so famous.… » more
Before we left St. Augustine this morning, Amanda and I went for a walk to the Fountain of Youth, which makes this city so famous. So many movies have been made about it, so we just had to see it. It is inside a gorgeous park and is housed in a cave, but the actual fountain is quite tiny! It’s pretty much just a trickle coming out of a rock, but we got to have a drink from it and it tasted quite strongly of the natural minerals that are in the underground spring. Now I shall be young forever! In the park there are loads of squirrels everywhere, so I got some peanuts and hand fed them, it was so cool! They’re really tame and ran right up to me and stood on their back legs with their paws on my hand asking for some more nuts! I wish I could pick the cutest one and take it with me, I need something cute and furry to play with since I don’t have my Munchkin with me over here!
Once again we were on the road heading for a new destination. Our rest stop was at a shopping centre as usual, but as we were about to leave the sky came over so dark, and we all made a run for the bus just as it started to bucket down with huge raindrops. The wind got so strong that we could feel it shaking the giant bus around! Everyone got excited at the possibility of being swept away in a famous Florida tornado, but thankfully that didn’t happen, but we did get to experience a great storm yet again!
It was nice and dry when we arrived in Savannah, Georgia, however the humidity is pretty crazy here. We had our Contiki group photo at Forsyth Park, the largest park in town, with a hug fountain behind us, and the headed to the hotel. Most of the group went on a trolley tour of the city (it’s in a tram-looking bus, not actually a shopping trolley!) but I couldn’t handle sitting in a bus any longer so I decided to wander around on foot. I walked up and down the main street looking in some shops along the way. It’s a very arty town here, there are a lot of galleries and beading stores. I worked up a sweat just walking around, and stopped at a convenience store to get some water and ran into Kyle from my tour, so he ended up wandering around with me and we headed back to Forsyth Park as I wanted to take some photos there. On the way we passed the church and park bench from the first scenes of Forrest Gump which was pretty cool to see.
Savannah is famous for its parks, there are 24 of them all set out in a square around the city and each one has a statue dedicated to a different historical figure.In other words, someone has a lot of gardening to do each week!
I kept walking out of town and went to a tattoo and piercing parlour that was recommended back in town (don’t worry mum I didn’t get any more tattoos yet!) and I got an industrial piercing in my ear, so I have two more holes in my right ear with a silver bar in them, it looks very cool he he. The count is now at 13, so I’m almost complete :)
At night we went to a karaoke bar on River Street which is all cobble stoned and difficult to walk on in heels! Amanda’s sister is a nurse and lives in Savannah so she came out with us to party for the night. The bar had about 20 different types of frozen cocktails so I had my fill of strawberry daiquiris. We met some locals including a cop, and sand along to the shocking karaoke songs. Kris of course had to do his rendition of Footloose as he does at every karaoke bar we come across. We danced like idiots and sang along to all the hits and sipped on our drinks for a couple of hours, mingling with the locals who were grateful that the bar had an extra hundred people in it on a Wednesday night! I ended up going to another bar with some of the Sydney boys from the other bus and playing pool for a while, then headed back to the hotel at about 2am for sleep! » less
23 July 08, South Carolina to North Carolina
We made a stop today in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s a nice town but there’s not a great lot to do. We had a few… » more
We made a stop today in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s a nice town but there’s not a great lot to do. We had a few hours there to explore and have some lunch and then we drove on to Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina. Now this truly is a dead little town, there is not much here at all! We had a buffet dinner and then struggled to figure out what to do, until Kris told us that there is a bowling alley down the road, so a few of us walked down there and played a few games.
I was on a team with Matt and Nick and, well, let’s just say they weren’t too impressed with having their butts beaten by a girl! I can’t believe how many strikes I got! It was a lot of fun and a good way to spend the evening in Raleigh. » less
24 July 08, Welcome to Washington DC!
We had a warm welcome to DC with the insane traffic on the highways, mainly due to the traffic restriction around the Pentagon which makes… » more
We had a warm welcome to DC with the insane traffic on the highways, mainly due to the traffic restriction around the Pentagon which makes everything move slowly in and out of the city. Our first stop was at the War Memorial which is a massive statue of six men holding up the American flag, and rumour has it that there may be a thirteenth hand in there somewhere, but no one knows for sure.
Next we went to the Arlington National Cemetery, which is the resting place of over 290,000 soldiers of war and members of their families. The number may seem huge, but seeing the endless rows of headstones is even more staggering, I couldn’t believe it. As far as the eye can see there is just row upon row, stretching over and beyond hills, with trees dotted here and there in between the grave stones. Arlington is also where John F Kennedy and his wife and two young children are buried, with an eternal flame in front of their graves. There are signs requesting silence in this area, and it is good to see how people actually respect it and keep quiet while looking over the amazing burial grounds of some of the most famous names in American history.
Without a doubt the most haunting and touching part of the day was seeing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, and watching the changing of the guard there. This ceremony takes place every half hour, day and night, regardless of weather. The precision with which they carry it out is fantastic to watch, and you can tell how seriously they take their responsibility of guarding the tomb. Inside the tomb is buried one unknown soldier from each major war, except the Vietnam War because the soldier who was buried in there was identified by DNA a few years ago so his family requested that he be removed from the tomb and buried at home. I stood and stared for quite a while at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, it really gave me the chills and felt quite surreal to see how patriotic this country is, which in a way is an awesome thing, but then on the other hand seeing the hundreds of thousands of tombs it also shows how pointless it can be as well. But I will definitely have some strong memories from this cemetery.
After sitting in some more traffic, we headed to our hotel and had a nice Italian dinner at the local restaurant. Some people headed back into DC town to go and party but I felt pretty exhausted so I am having an early night! » less
25 July 08, Lunch with Dubya at the White House
Today was sightseeing day in DC, and I headed off with Amanda and Tanya to check out the most powerful city on earth. We began… » more
Today was sightseeing day in DC, and I headed off with Amanda and Tanya to check out the most powerful city on earth.
We began at the Smithsonian Castle, and wandered past the famous museums, and went to the Washington Monument which sits at the end of the row. Even though it is a giant white pole, it is quite spectacular to see it because it is a world famous monument that practically everyone alive has heard of. Down in front of the monument is the Reflection Pool, and the Lincoln Memorial at the other end of it. This is also well known from the Forrest Gump movie when Forrest is on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and Jenny runs through the water of the Reflection Pool to see him. Well, let’s just say that they must have cleaned the pool specifically for the movie, because now it is disgusting and full of duck poop and feathers, and I definitely wouldn’t dip my big toe in there let alone run through it! But yet again, another brilliant world famous sight to see.
I think in a few weeks once everything has settled down a bit and I’m not so rushed on tour, all these photos and memories are really going to sink in and I will realise how many stunning places I have visited, I still can’t really believe that I have gone form one side of the USA to the other and seen so much in just a few weeks.
Our next destination of the day was 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, otherwise known as The White House, home of George Dubya Bush. It is surprisingly close to the roads, I thought it would be quite hidden away, but we got a nice clear view through the fence. The police wandering the estate looked quite scary with their big German Shepherd dogs and their massive guns, so any thoughts that I had of jumping the fence for a closer view were shot down in flames. We also figured that there are probably snipers sitting on the roof staring at us all, or maybe even spikes in the grass waiting to stab us just in case we did do a tuck and roll over the fence. So, naturally we decided to stay on the friendly side of the fence and make do.
We saw the National Archives building where the Declaration of Independence is housed, but there is always a massive line, so I just imagined seeing the really old piece of paper and made do with that pretend memory.
Being three females in a major city, we needed some retail therapy, so we went to Pentagon City Fashion Mall to spend some money on clothes, which we did quite easily. Mmm and I had Taco Bell for lunch, the greatest fast food on earth, this place should definitely replace McDonalds as the largest takeaway store, it is pure heaven eating a burrito like this.
We had a couple of hours of down time at the hotel before we headed out on a night time city tour, seeing the Capitol Building, the J Edgar Hoover FBI Building, and lots more famous DC monuments, hearing stories about each one along the way.
A few of us headed out with Kris afterwards, walking a million miles across the city to his friend’s townhouse for some drinks. We were welcomed to the backyard by the beer bong hanging down from the second floor window, ready and waiting for action, as well as an ice luge with shots aplenty. Needless to say Matt was the first volunteer for the beer bong, and the ice sculptured shot luge got a lot of action throughout the night as well. There were cup flipping contests and beer pong competitions, and kegs galore, so nobody went thirsty that’s for sure. (Wow I sound like a poet!)
I got rather tired and wasn’t feeling so flash so I jumped in a cab with a few others and headed back to the hotel to get some well needed zzz’s. » less
26 July 08, Lots of Sleep & a Blackout
Today was quite a lazy day, ok, an extremely lazy day. Amanda and I both slept in, waking up around 10am or so, but deciding… » more
Today was quite a lazy day, ok, an extremely lazy day. Amanda and I both slept in, waking up around 10am or so, but deciding that we couldn’t be bothered getting up, so we layed in our beds and watched Parent Trap on tv! It seemed to go on forever, but it was a nice easy movie to relax and watch, something we hadn’t had the chance to do for a long time, so it was quite enjoyable! I ventured out of bed some time after 1pm, and it was raining outside anyway so at least we hadn’t missed out on much. Halfway through my shower, the power decided to go out, so let’s just say it made showering rather fun, trying not to fall over and break my neck in the dark. You’d think that a hotel only 20 minutes from the world’s most powerful city would have a generator, but no! So we suffered without power for about three hours, which meant no tv, no air conditioning, no vending machines, no internet...what to do! We did a runner in the rain down to the service station, which was also without power or generator so they couldn’t even sell any fuel! But we were able to get some munchies to keep us going. While we were in there, a big black guy came to the servo door to try to get in, and the owners had it locked so that people didn’t try to buy fuel. So when they unlocked the door to see what this guy wanted, he said ‘Don’t worry I’m not here to rob y’all!’ That was very comforting, considering this service station has a bullet proof glass window between customer and attendant, and you put your money in a tray and slide it over to them, so there is no way they can get shot or anything during a hold up. Yes, DC is also a very very dangerous city apparently! So thankfully on this occasion I got away with my life and my Doritos. I shall live to see another day!
We had a group dinner tonight at an Irish restaurant, our last official Contiki outing, and it was really yummy and we had a lot of fun. There was the usual silly shenanigans from all of us, and making up new sayings and making stupid speeches, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, this is how we make memories!
We had some drinks back at the hotel and spent some time outside enjoying the cool air after the storm broke up the humidity, and I finally went to sleep around 2am. » less
27 July 08, Philadelphia & on to New York City!
After leaving our DC hotel we stopped at the US Naval Academy in Maryland for a tour, seeing lots of sailors and Marines, and seeing… » more
After leaving our DC hotel we stopped at the US Naval Academy in Maryland for a tour, seeing lots of sailors and Marines, and seeing their dorms and exploring the massive grounds that they call home during their years of training. They are really involved in sports too, with everyone being involved in some team or other, and we got to see their Olympic size swimming pool. There is also a diving pool with a diving board that looks like it’s 50m high, and by the end of their second year of training they all have to jump off it clothed in their full uniform. At first I thought it must be some crazy initiation thing, but it is actually to make sure that they aren’t too scared of heights, because if a ship went down in the ocean then they would have to jump off the side of it which is the same height as the diving board, and swim a quarter mile away from the sinking boat. So they’re quite smart after all I suppose.
Next stop Philly! We visited Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a couple of hours, having lunch and wandering the streets. I didn’t really do too much exploring because I will be back here next week with Tash! So I will see the Liberty Bell and all the other sights with her then.
We crossed even more state lines from Pennsylvania into New Jersey on our way to New York State! As we came over the hill and saw the skyline of the city, we all started yelping with excitement. It was the most brilliant sight to see, I had been waiting so long for it, and finally I could see the tall buildings that I’ve only ever seen on the tv screen. The traffic getting through the Lincoln Tunnel was insane, but finally we were driving through the city, enjoying our last few minutes on the Contiki bus listening to our day song.
When we got off the bus we didn’t have to worry about messy goodbyes because we had dinner plans together. So off I went in a pretty yellow cab, rushing through the streets of New York City towards my hotel, on 7th Avenue and 33rd Street if you must know, he he, but all you have to say to the driver is 7th and 33rd, they fill in the rest of the blanks!
My hotel is really nice, I’ve got four nights here with Tanya my Canadian friend, and then another two nights here with Amanda. The hotel is directly opposite Madison Square Gardens, where all the big famous concerts are held! I am so excited I can’t wipe the smile off my face, I just can’t believe that I am actually in the city that I have been dreaming of visiting for so many years.
We met for dinner on 72nd and Central Park South (do I sound like a local yet?!) and had a very yummy dinner with some even yummier pina coladas, simply divine! And then it was time for some goodbyes, but thankfully there were no tears. It still didn’t really feel like goodbye, I’m sure most of us will keep in touch and end up crossing paths again some day. The rest of us walked to Hell’s Kitchen and had some drinks, and then got another cab ride back to the hotels! Good night NYC!
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28 July 08, Exploring Times Square & Central Park
I have had THE most amazing day today! I wandered the Big Apple by myself, which was really great, I got to do what I… » more
I have had THE most amazing day today! I wandered the Big Apple by myself, which was really great, I got to do what I wanted to do and not be rushed off by the tour group, so I am loving my freedom again.
I began with checking out Madison Square Garden across the road from my hotel, but discovered that it’s not actually an open air concert garden like I thought, it’s actually a giant indoor theatre, so that idea was crushed, but it was still awesome to see one of the world’s most famous venues. I then continued down 7th Avenue through Midtown and the Garment District until I hit Times Square, so I got to oggle my eyes at all the massive billboards and see the big Coca Cola sign, and see the millions of Broadway posters everywhere. It is just as awesome as it looks in the movies, with crowds everywhere and bright lights flashing all over the place.
Crossing the roads here is an experience in itself, you have to dodge the 10,000 yellow cabs that try to run you over, and traffic lights don’t seem to mean to much here either, but it’s all fun and games!
I saw Radio City Music Hall, and explored Macy’s department store. I headed though the Diamond District to the Rockerfeller Centre and went to the Top of the Rock Observatory, 70 storeys high and an amazing view of the entire city. It is a great place to see the city from, because you get to see the Empire State Building as well, which just towers over everything else. I took loads of photos up there and enjoyed the view for quite a while. I even had one of the Rockerfeller photographers up there take some photos of my tattoo because she loved it so much! It was quite funny, she was really loud and caused a bit of a scene so I ended up having about fifteen people looking at my back ha ha.
I had a look at St. Patrick’s Cathedral which is a really great gothic inspired church, and had a very tasty New York Pretzel (one of many to come in this great city!) and wandered my way down 5th Avenue and it’s array of ritzy shops, like Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and loads more. I did though have to stop at Tiffany & Co for a look at their gorgeous jewellery, although I’ll never be able to afford any of it in a million years! Everything in there just sparkles, it’s beautiful.
I checked out FAO Schwarz the massive toy store (I only really know the name of it because I recognised it from Babysitter’s Club books I used to read when I was little!) and then I ended up at Central Park.
This place alone could take days to explore, but I only walked through the southern part, probably only about a fifth of the entire park, which covers over 50 city blocks long! The Pond is really pretty and there is a bridge that is covered in vines and looks like its out of a fairytale. Then all of a sudden there are amusement rides, and then its back to being a normal park again. Except it’s not so normal, it’s more like a beach without the water and sand because there are so many people sunbaking in bikinis everywhere! I walked through Sheep Meadow which is a giant expanse of green grass, named so because it used to be a sheep pasture hundreds of years ago. I met some guys playing football and had a chat to them for a while, the conversation inspired by my unicorn and their various tattoos. I kept wandering to another part of the park where I recognised certain areas from Home Alone 2, and there is a huge pond covered in moss that you can row boats on, that was really fun looking too. I walked back and met up with the football boys again, who are in the city for the day working on a DKNY fashion shoot, so I got to go hang out at that which was being shot right in Central Park, I felt very special! I didn’t recognise the model, but it was still awesome to be watching such a high fashion shoot in the middle of New York City! I think I am in heaven, I never want to leave this place!
I wandered my way back to my hotel and relaxed for an hour before heading out yet again, back to Top of the Rock with Amanda. We got some great night shots and enjoyed seeing the city lights from up high, it really is a beautiful city.
We had the munchies on the way home so we stopped in Times Square for an 11pm top up of ice cream and cheesecake. Hey, I’m not dead yet! America sure knows how to eat he he, and I’m definitely helping them out big time on that front.
I had a quick nap and then met up with Dave at 1.30am, the Aussie guy that I met in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago. It’s his last night in New York as he’s off to Europe tomorrow so we just caught up for a while in the city which was very good! Smiles all round from me. A perfect end to a perfect day. » less
29 July 08, Greenwich Village, SoHo & Ground Zero
I can’t believe my feet haven’t fallen off yet. I have walked for over six hours today, but I loved every moment of it. I… » more
I can’t believe my feet haven’t fallen off yet. I have walked for over six hours today, but I loved every moment of it.
I started at Times Square in Midtown, and walked down 7th Avenue through Greenwich Village and SoHo, looking in the funky boutiques along the way, and then through Little Italy and Chinatown. Each section of the city has its own character, it is like walking through different worlds. The people are different with the way they dress and the way they talk, and the decorations on the buildings in each area are great to look at too.
At the end of Chinatown I turned right down Pearl Street to head towards the Financial District, but my map neglected to mention to me that there is a giant prison smack bang between me and where I wanted to go. So when I hit a barricade of NYPD officers they mentioned that I might not want to visit the naughty boys in prison, so I took a detour down under the Brooklyn Bridge instead, which worked out much better! I stood down by the East River looking at the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge and enjoying the view, amazed that I am actually in the best city ever! Then I walked on to Pier 17, otherwise known as South Street Seaport, which is where the Circle Line Cruises depart from, and also had a load of shops and restaurants. I ate my sushi on the balcony and looked out over Brooklyn on the other side of the water, and also at al the Financial District buildings across the road in the city.
After lunch I walked up Wall Street and saw the famous Stock Exchange which is quite heavily guarded, and continued up the narrow street to the church at the end, looking in the cemetery and taking some photos in the area.
Then it was time to head to Ground Zero, the World Trade Centre site. As I walked up the road towards it, suddenly all I could see what a huge gap in between the buildings, and it hit me that the gap is where the Twin Towers used to be, and I felt like I had been punched in the gut. It really is a breathtaking sight, but not in a good way. It’s the sudden realisation that this is where a major tragedy occured not so long ago. The site itself is under construction, so it is all fenced off and basically a massive hole in the ground, but there are areas where you can take photos of the construction and see what’s going on inside the fence. But the heartbreaking part is walking around the corner and seeing the NYFD’s Memorial Wall, which is a giant bronze wall plaque that would be about 15 metres long and about a metre or so high, sculpured with pictures from September 11 of fire fighters and the burning buildings. The second that I saw it, tears started running down my face. I’m a fairly emotionally detached person at the best of times, but I was honestly just overcome with sadness for all the people who lost friends and family on that day, and imagining the horror that they all went through. There are names engraved on the wall of all the fire fighters who lost their lives saving others, and flowers and tributes scattered underneath it. I stood there for quite while just staring, trying to imagine what it was like, but I suppose no imagination could possibly grasp the terror and fear that these people would have felt only eight years ago. It really surprised me how much it affected me, but in a way I’m glad it did, because it made me feel like I experienced it and felt compassion for everyone else involved even though I didn’t know anybody affected by it. One part of the wall really sums it up though, ‘May We Never Forget.’ And I don’t think anyone ever will. The new World Trade Centre is going to be a cluster of different buildings, with one of them to yet again tower over the New York City skyline, so hopefully that one doesn’t meet with tragedy like the last ones did. There will also be a visitor centre and memorial site, so I would love to see that when it is eventually completed in a couple of years.
I caught the subway back to my hotel, as I couldn’t really face walking 20km in the opposite direction, and I also hadn’t ridden the subway yet so that was fun.
After relaxing for a couple of hours I headed out yet again to wander Times Square and picked up a few souvenirs, had some dinner, then ran into a few of the boys from my Contiki. Then it was back to the hotel for a reasonably early night, well, a couple of hours earlier than every other night so far! » less
30 July 08, Empire State, Grand Central, and Aussies!
I began my day with a visit to the Empire State Building, which is only a couple of blocks from my hotel, I can see… » more
I began my day with a visit to the Empire State Building, which is only a couple of blocks from my hotel, I can see it from the front, how cool is that. There was a massive line up, a two hour wait to even get into the first elevator, so I opted for the cheat’s way out and paid double the ticket price to go straight into the building for the NY Skyride, which is a simulator ride that flies over the city showing the sights, and also allowed me to skip the line to go up the top! So within twenty minutes I was shooting upwards to the 86th floor of the Empire State Building and looking out once again over this great city. The weather was a bit overcast this morning, so my photos weren’t as great as I’d hoped for, but it was still a nice view and I can cross off yet another amazing thing that I’ve done in New York. The observatory isn’t as big as I thought it would be, but that could possibly be because in Sleepless in Seattle when Meg Ryan visits the top of the Empire State there is no one else up there, so it looks quite large compared to today when there was a couple of hundred people milling about. I held my camera out over the edge to get some straight down shots which was cool, it’s a very impressive view from up there. On a clear day you can see the four surrounding states in the distance. Seeing the photos of the construction in 1930 was also amazing, the men hanging out over the edge of the tallest building in the world at the time with no safety gear, no harnesses, nothing stopping them from dropping straight down. I certainly couldn’t do that!
On my walk through the city I passed the famous air vent where Marilyn Monroe flashed her underwear to the world in her white dress, but luckily for those around me I was wearing shorts today so it didn’t have quite the same effect on me.
Grand Central Station was my next destination of the day, and it is quite impressive for a giant train station. The building has stunning architecture, and the interior is so massive and open, with a giant American flag hanging down from the ceiling in the centre of the room. There are well over 100 train tracks in and out of this place, and there are huge staircases and marble floors, arrival and departure boards like at the airport, and even an entire level of restaurants and cafes. Basically, if you can’t afford to live in New York then you could easily survive by living in Grand Central, it has all the necessities of life right under the one roof. I am seriously considering it.
By this stage I was feeling a bit weary so I headed for one of my new favourite spots, Central Park. This time I went further north into the park to explore a different area, and I found a nice patch of soft shady grass in front of Turtle Pond overlooking Belvedere Castle. Yes, there is a castle in the middle of Central Park! So I was in heaven, laying on the grass reading my book, surrounded by castle and pond and other people enjoying the same views as me. As I rested on the grass, I realised that surely life can’t get much better than this! So I had a little nap right there on the grass just to let it sink in he he. But when I tell people that I fell asleep in Central Park I have to make sure that I tell them it was on the grass during the day, and not on a bench at night clutching onto a brown paper bag, because that’s just creepy. I stayed in my little shady spot for a few hours enjoying the day, the sun came out and the sky turned blue, and it was perfect. I walked to the Jackie Onassis Reservoir further north in the park, which apparently holds about a billion gallons of water, so it took me a while to walk around it as you can imagine, a billion gallons doesn’t just fit into a couple of square metres!
My plans of having a quiet evening were shattered when Kyle and Ryan texted me telling me to come to an Australian pub on 38th street. And since I am on 33rd street, I couldn’t really ignore such a short walk to an Aussie pub could I. So off I went, drinking Tooheys New and celebrating being Aussie with my mates, meeting the bartenders (also Aussie) and getting some more of our Contiki buddies to come along and join in the fun. We got quite rowdy (surprise surprise) and took over the jukebox, well I took over the jukebox, the others just cheered me on in their drunken stupor. So I played the Mighty Might Bosstones and we jumped and screamed to it, making all the yankees in the place stare in amazement at our brilliance as well yelled ‘OOOOOHHHH never have I knocked on wood, but I know someone who has, and I’m sure it isn’t good...’ I also had Ice Ice Baby playing, and as last call was made at 2am I pulled an absolute miracle and found our Contiki day song on the juke box, and everyone just went insane! It is the one song that ties us all together, so even though hardly anyone else knew what the song was (Superman by Goldfinger) they all laughed and smiled as we screamed out the words and hugged and jumped around the pub. It was a great song to finish our celebrations at the Aussie pub with.
I ended up hanging around after close and chatting with the bartenders and with a local girl who also stayed. Alli the American girl and I were keen to stay up a bit longer so we jumped in a cab with Anthony and Tom the Aussie bar boys and headed into the West Village, or the ‘Gay-bourhood’ as the boys call it, as it is known for its many gay bars apparently. We went to a bar with a live blues band and chilled out for a bit there, found another Aussie mate, and then headed over the road to Down the Hatch, an underground bar with some interesting characters, but it was great to go out with some locals who knew the area a lot better than I do!
Eventually I headed back to the hotel for sleep, whatever that is! I haven’t had much of it for a long time so I’m not quite sure what it is anymore he he. » less
31 July 08, Statue of Liberty and more Central Park!
It was an early start today with me, Amanda and Mark heading off on the subway to South Ferry and Battery Park, which then got… » more
It was an early start today with me, Amanda and Mark heading off on the subway to South Ferry and Battery Park, which then got us onto a ferry across to the Statue of Liberty! What an iconic sight that is, the big green lady on Liberty Island, holding the golden torch towards the sky. Yet another monument to add to my list of visited places, and it is certainly one of my favourites. Who wouldn’t love seeing this place!
The island is quite, it’s pretty much just the statue and a cafe on there, so we walked around and took our photos, of course we had to do the statue pose, getting several funny looks along the way, but I seriously doubt we were the first to do it! Oh and my interesting fact of the day is that the Statue of Liberty wasn’t always green. It is made of bronze or copper, I can’t remember which one, but being exposed to the air causes the oxidisation process to take over, turning the entire thing to its famous green colour! I thought that was pretty fascinating, so I have stored that piece of information away for future use, who knows when it will come in handy. Maybe at a pub trivia night, or maybe I’ll just randomly blurt it out to strangers to show them how amazingly knowledgeable I am :)
Back on the mainland again we visited Central Park yet again, this time for a picnic on Sheep Meadow. On the way there in the subway it was so hot, the air con clearly wasn’t working, and there were a trillion people on board so it was a virtual sauna. A guy standing in front of me started to unbutton his shirt, which we didn’t think anything of at first. Extreme heat, undo the top couple of buttons, fair enough. But he kept going, and unbuttoned the entire shirt as he faced me! If it was say, the Abercrombie model, or wishful thinking Dave, I wouldn’t have minded in the least. But this guy was middle aged, ranking close to number one in the unattractive polls, and sure as hell didn’t smell any good either. I had to stare middle distance at a poster on the wall because I knew if I looked at him I would burst out laughing, and then probably get mugged and/or shot. But as soon as Manda, Mark and I got off the train we all laughed uncontrollably at the subway strip tease, that memory is permanently burned in all our memories!
In the park it was great to just lay down and relax with my friends and nibble away while people watching. And boy did we see some interesting ones! There were these gay guys giving each other back massages and also doing roly polys on the grass for some unknown yet entertaining reason. We giggled and kept ourselves entertained by playing the ‘Remember When’ game, recounting silly little memories that we have from our travels together, like El Creepo flashing himself to Amanda’s sister, or Ryan’s obsession with broccoli soup, or my newest addition of the subway strip tease. We definitely have some good stories from our USA trip that’s for sure!
Tonight I went to see the Mary Poppins Broadway show, which was awesome. The sets were fantastic, and their voices were brilliant, I loved the entire thing. I was sitting in the front row up on the balcony, so I had a perfect view of the entire stage, and right at the end Mary Poppins flew through the crowd right in front of me! All my childhood dreams came true ha ha.
After the show I met up with Amanda who had gone to see The Wizard of Oz, and we went to Alphabet City to meet Mark and have some drinks. We went to Alphabet Lounge which plays the best 80s and 90s music ever, but it was completely packed inside and we literally couldn’t move once we were in the door, it was quite uncomfortable, so we danced on the spot for a few minutes but the constant elbowing got a bit too much so we went to the Aussie bar, played the day song, sang like idiots, ate pizza at 1am and went to bed! » less
1 August 08, Rain in the Big Apple & Alphabet City
Amanda and I both slept in this morning which was long overdue and felt very very good. I was super lazy and got up after… » more
Amanda and I both slept in this morning which was long overdue and felt very very good. I was super lazy and got up after 11am, but once I looked out the window and saw the rain lashing down I didn’t feel so bad. I headed up the street for a liquid brekkie and to pick up some supplies at the convenience store, and walked through the teeming rain of Times Square. All the locals and tourists were standing under the building eaves waiting for the rain to stop, but there I was, walking through the city with big fat raindrops falling on me, soaking me completely, but I had a smile on my face because I was in the New York rain! How could I possibly complain at that.
My plans for visiting Brooklyn today were squashed due to the weather, so I stayed in the hotel for a few hours (writing this very diary!) and reading a book, a nice lazy day.
Tonight we had our final drinks together at the Aussie bar, and then the awesome foursome headed to Dallas BBQ for our last feed as the Contiki Crew! It was delicious! Amanda and I made the most of it and had a few of the specialty strawberry pina coladas, they taste like strawberries and cream! very addictive indeedn. After dinner we headed into Alphabet City for another try. This time the Alphabet Lounge was a bit quieter so we got to have a good dance. But there was a hen’s party (bachelorette sorry!) so it was full of females in 80’s dress up! Mark and Kyle enjoyed themselves, but Amanda and I were lacking in the eye candy department, so we headed over the road to the beer bar, where we joined a table of Americans and had a good old chat! It was quite entertaining, and I hung around drinking, spilling drinks, and drinking some more til who knows what time! Oh, and before you think about it, I have NO idea what Amanda and I were doing in that photo. Random taxi cab shenanigans! » less
2 August 08, Anna & Tash take on NYC!
The time arrived this morning to check out of the hotel, very sad! It has been a truly amazing time here and I don’t want… » more
The time arrived this morning to check out of the hotel, very sad! It has been a truly amazing time here and I don’t want it to end! But it is time to see...my Tashy!
Tash and George picked me up from the hotel and we went and parked the car in Brooklyn, and wandered around there for a while before heading over the Brooklyn Bridge for a walk through the city. It was great to finally meet George after Tash has told me so much about him, and we got along great!
I was desperate to see some real Orthodox Jews wandering about the place, because apparently Brooklyn is their ‘hood, but it is a Sunday so maybe they are all in hiding today, because none of them wanted to come out and play in their top hats and curly beards even though I did a little dance to try to coax them out! Oh well, maybe some other time.
It has been a gorgeous day, and walking over the bridge was a great way to see the city skyline. As we were getting off the bridge we were hit by a barrage of Asians on some Olympic promotional walk, thank goodness we didn’t meet them on the bridge otherwise it would have taken forever to get around them!
We had a bite to eat and visited the World Trade Centre site, which I was happy to see again, it’s just such a full on experience. Afterwards we headed to Central Park and laid on the grass in front of Belvedere Castle, my favourite place in the park. It was nice and relaxing to just lay there and catch up with my best friend and her hubby.
Times Square was next on the list, and Tash was keen to do some souvenir shopping because they only have a few months left before they are off to Australia, so she needs to stock up on I HEART NY touristy bits and pieces. George and I were feeling pretty tired so we eventually dragged her away from the shops and into the Aussie bar for a drink, my final one ever, and then we caught the subway back to Brooklyn. In the subway train there was a homeless guy asleep on one of the seats, and since it was a peak hour train everyone was cramming in. We went to move closer to him but suddenly we hit a wall of the most horrible smell in the world! He had obviously done everything under the sun in his pants, which is why there was quite a bit of space around him because no one wanted to get too close! It was foul, but it is a memory that I have had to preserve.
It took a while to drive back to Tash and George’s place in Pennsylvania, and I slept for most of it because I was so exhausted! But finally we arrived and I crawled into bed. » less
4 August 08, Intercourse...Dirty Amish People!
As the title explains quite clearly, today we went to Intercourse! Ok, before you start reading into it just a little too much, I’ll start… » more
As the title explains quite clearly, today we went to Intercourse! Ok, before you start reading into it just a little too much, I’ll start at the beginning. Tash and I have both wanted to see some Amish people for quite a while, so Marie, a friend of Tash’s, took us to Lancaster county to find some.
Our first stop of the day was at the Corn Maze, where we followed clues and coloured ribbons for hours on end trying to find our way out of the maize maze. It was really fun actually, and there were little activities along the way which Tash and I ran amuck on, like climbing through a rope jungle gym, or clambering up bales of hay. That didn’t give us an advantage at all though, because all we could see was more corn!
After we eventually escaped the maze, we went to...(drum roll please) Intercourse! Which is a town in Lancaster, among other towns with the names of Blueball and Virginville. I guess those Amish aren’t so innocent after all huh! The Intercourse Pretzel Factory was fun, we even got to twist our own pretzels with fresh dough. (Why does everything I type now feel like it has sexual connotations!)
We went to the town market and drove around looking at the countryside and searched for some traditional Amish people. It was quite surprising that they actually live amongst regular people, I expected them to be separate from society and have their own little villages, but their houses are dotted in between normal houses. You can pick out an Amish house fairly easily though, they have no power lines running to the house, and they have their washing hanging out on ropes between trees and their horse and buggies are parked in the driveways, no dryers or cars for these people! It is really cute to see the Amish kids too, the girls in their old fashioned dresses and the boys in braces, hanging out the back of a buggy, very cool!
Lancaster is actually the town that suffered the school massacre a year or so ago, so that made it all the more intriguing to see them, but I think the school was torn down and rebuilt so that they didn’t have those memories anymore.
It was a very nice day out and about seeing yet another culture, something else to cross off my to-do list! » less
5 August 08, Bushwalking & Batman Imax
This morning Tash and George took me to the town of Jim Thorpe, named after a famous athlete from a long time ago. I wonder… » more
This morning Tash and George took me to the town of Jim Thorpe, named after a famous athlete from a long time ago. I wonder if I will ever have a town named after myself...hmmm probably not. It is a very picturesque town with a kind of medieval feel to it, buildings with turrets, and even an underground river system below the cobblestone streets. Very cool!
We then went to the nearby Glen Onoko Fall and bushwalked the trails, climbing rocks (and occassionally falling down them too) and looking out over the falls and forest, although the falls weren’t running too strongly because it’s been pretty dry in the area lately. Nice and sweaty we got safely back to the bottom of the mountain and headed home for a quick rest.
Then it was off to the Imax cinema in Philadelphia. We were meant to see the 8pm session of the new Batman movie but the tickets were already sold out when we got there, so we got tickets for the 10pm session and went to the shopping centre to waste some time, and have a yummy dinner at The Cheesecake Factory!
The Dark Knight movie was amazing. I absolutely loved it, especially on the Imax screen, it was so massive! The scenes of flying over the city were brilliant, and the entire film was really well done. Seeing Heath Ledger on the big screen for the first time since he died was a bit weird, I still can’t believe that he’s actually gone, he just seems so alive and vibrant in his films. He is definitely the best ‘bad guy’ I’ve ever seen in a movie, he couldn’t have played it any better.
Tash slept on the way home in the car so George and I chatted for a couple of hours (mostly the keep him awake!) about music and movies and keeping each other entertained during the drive. Yet another great day with two of my favourite people! » less
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