Split:

The trip to Split would have to be the craziest journey so far on our eurotrip… After getting a train to Trieste (a city just near the border of Italy and Croatia), we thought we could jump on another train down to Split, only to find out that there were no trains running to Split, only buses… Soooo… We booked the bus, then while waiting we asked how long the trip would take… She said “4″… Which I thought would be 4 hours… But wanted to double-check, so Ally went up and asked this time… And she said 4am! So the bus trip was 11 hours, and we arrived at Split at 4am…

• When we got off the bus, the lady who manages the hostel met us there – yes, at 4am – and drove us to the hostel in her car! Talk about service! Really nice Croatian lady too Also, we found out it wasn’t a hostel, but an awesome apartment! By far, the best paid accomodation I’ve stayed in on my trip so far So nice, had our own laundry, bathroom, kitchen – just like a resort apartment
• We crashed at around 5am and slept in a fair bit after all the rough travelling Wondered out of the apartment at around 2pm to be greeted with an awesome scene – the amazing Split harbour on a beautiful sunny day, clear blue skies and an incredible view of the old town Very very cool to see
• The next day after doing some shopping, had a good wonder around the old town of Split… Very nice area, got some cool photos… Perfect weather once again!
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Dubrovnik:

• On our last full day on the Croatian coast, we headed down on a bus to Dubrovnik, which we didn’t really plan too well -  the bus ride was 5 hours each way, and we left fairly late in the day which gave us very little time to see the sights of Dubrovnik… We quickly ran around old town for no longer than an hour before we had to start heading back Still got some good pics of the place
• After checking out the next morning, we reserved our train ticket and did some shopping through the local markets while waiting for the train to arrive
• The train ride to Zagreb itself was pretty awesome, first travelling along the coast before heading through some amazing countryside… Made me love croatia even more!
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Zagreb:

• After a heap of delays, and finding out the hostel in Ljubljana we booked didn’t allow guests to check in after 8pm, we arrived in Zagreb way behind schedule… so we decided just to find a hostel and stay in Zagreb for the night (Croatia’s capital city)… So after having some dinner at this cozy little pizza place, we pretty much went straight to bed and headed to the trains first thing after checking out
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Apart from the transportation dramas, I can look back now and realise that Croatia was definately my favourite country to visit in Europe (so far anyway)… Probably the best coastline I’ve ever travelled along, and that’s saying something as I live along one pretty incredible coast Just another beautiful place that I highly recommend

Now, one can only describe the train journey to Venice as “adventurous”… Or, at least that’s how I describe it After a solid 8 hours on the train listening to these old Italian women waffle on, we got off at the wrong station, had to wait ages for the next one, and after another wrong turn and a fairly expensive taxi ride to the place we were staying, we were in bed at around 2am!

• The place we were staying at was a campsite, and we had a cabin which was really nice… Even air-conditioned! Not bad for a campsite!
• We soon found out the campsite was one of the stops for about 4 different contiki tours So for the 3 nights we were there, big contiki crews were coming and going Brought me back to my contiki in the USA, lotsa fun
• After a ferry ride over to Venice, we had a good cruise around and explored the different islands… Did the main touristy bits too, like the main square and the main walk along the water… The canals were nice, but it was just way too touristy which was disappointing…
• Decided to watch some of the tennis at the campsite pub, where one of the South African guys on the contiki invited me to party with his friends that night hehe so off I went meeting heaps of different contiki people Mostly South Africans which was suprising for contiki! Had a very fun night, stumbled back into my cabin at about 4am!
                  

The next day we jumped on the bus to the train station to farewell Venice and travel to Split, Croatia!

The trip down to Naples was fairly painless, mainly because it was a Sunday and being very strict Roman Catholics, nearly everything is closed on a Sunday in Italy… So we arrived at our hostel which was pretty sweet, but a little far out of the way of the main city and beach…

• After a rather uneventful “settling in” day, the next day we ventured into the main city area of Naples, which was, in a word, “insane”… Lots of mad italians running around, so many scooters you couldn’t hear yourself think, and it was stinkin hot just to make things less plesant  
• We decided to escape the city area and head down to the water, and crossed this point about 200m from the water where traffic wasn’t allowed through, and all of a sudden there was peace in Naples We grabbed some lunch before heading down to the sea
• We walked along the edge of the rocks, spotting many sunbathing Italians in their rather short shorts or budgie smugglers… Amazing to see the amount of guys sunbathing on the rocks – far outnumbering the girls… Must be an Italian thing, or because there’s no surf
• Walked along a marina area which was next to this cool old fortress right on the water Check the pics, very sweet little area, definately my highlight of Naples Kept walking along the sea, before making our way back to the hostel
• That night I met up with Laura (UK girl I met in Florence) who was doing a day-trip to Naples, so we had a quick dinner together before she had to jump on the last train back to Rome… To which we got a phone call later on saying she got on the wrong train! So I had to head back to the train station to pick her up, and brought her back to the hostel where she snuck in and crashed the night on an empty bed in our dorm hehehe… Ally and I played host to our guest hehe
• The next day we were meant to go to Pompei but as the sky got darker and darker we thought we should probably give it a miss… And sure enough it bucketed down rain, but only for a short time… We met up that night with a group who went to Pompei that day and said it was fine there, and they could see it raining in the distance argh! Ahh well, gives me an excuse to come back to Italy
• Met a group of people that night, including 2 girls from England, a Canadian girl, a fellow Brissy girl and an Aussie bloke… So we all watched Napolean Dynamite before heading out to a little Piazza with another group and drinking tallies we got from this tiny little stand for 2 Euro Good times
                     

The next morning was a relatively late check-out (just a little hungover) before heading to the main train station  and jumping on a train to the far north of Italy, to a city known as Venice!

The trip to Rome was pretty cool, crossing some very picturesque countryside via Tuscany… Amazed at how many vineyards there were, they must love their wine! Once again, our hostel was very close to the main train station so we were settled in very quickly

• Met this German guy who was staying in our room who was really nice, showed us some cool postcards that he got while in Rome which show pictures of some of the areas Also told me that when I swear in German (i.e. saying shizer) that I didn’t say it quite right… So I am now one step closer to fluent swearing hehe 
• That night I got a message from Toni & Mia to meet at the Spanish Steps (famous monument in Rome) that night to meet up for a pub crawl… So off I went and waited for an hour but they didn’t show up To which I found out from them later that it was cancelled and they tried to contact me but not having a phone makes that a bit hard
• While I was waiting for the girls at the Spanish Steps I met another Californian girl, Bri, who was also waiting for someone but didn’t show… So we thought rather than end the night there we should go for a drink together… So we headed down to a cool piazza called the Campo De Fiori, were we sat outside on the corner of a statue with some of her Italian friends drinking 3 Euro tallies of Heinekin  
• Her Italian friends drove me back to the hostel, via the Colesseum and a heap of other ruins which were all lit up at night – very cool to see
• Ally and I decided to do our own things the next day, so I met up with Bri and did some sightseeing together, starting at the old Palace ruins near the Colesseum which were awesome… Lots of cool photos
• Worked our way down towards the Colesseum and wondered inside… Pretty incredible! There were tour guides everywhere so we kept tagging along and listening to all the interesting facts Very cool… No sign of Russell Crowe but… Too busy managing a shizenhausen rugby team
• After a decent day of walking around in some intense heat, I headed back to the hostel and chillaxed before Ally came back… Also met this awesome guy from New York, Brian, who stayed in our dorm room for the next few days… Very nice guy, chatted for ages
• The next day I met up with Bri again and went for another walk around Rome This time we ventured to some other famous monuments, including the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the War Museum and the very cool ruins closer to the Colesseum… Some pretty amazing architecture… Just kept wishing I was back when Rome was at its peak, walking the same streets that the soldiers and gladiators once walked
                           

The Vatican

The next day was the trip to the pope’s house – the Vatican! Ally and I decided to do a guided tour, which cuts down on waiting time as the tour groups skip the massive line

• Our first stop was the courtyard inside the grounds which has a rather large “sphere inside a sphere” monument… Also walked through some of the halls and found all types of sculptures and arcitecture which didn’t seem very “Roman Catholic” at all… Very bizzare almost
• Saw some very important statues which were now “property of the Vatican”, which were also once used as inspirations for other famous sculptures and statues
• Checked out the ceiling in the tapestry room which was incredible… This massively long hallway covered in intricate artwork
• Saw lots of Raphael’s works, including the famous School of Athens, which was definately my favourite
• Went inside the Sistine Chapel and checked out the very famous roof… Pretty incredible! You can see why it took Michaelangelo 4 solid years to complete this… And that was considered “rushed”!
• Walked around the main square outside the Vatican (where the pope addresses the masses of chaotic catholics)
• Took some pictures of the Swiss guards in their hilarious outfits Classic!
• Went inside St. Peter’s Bascilica, which was quite easily the largest, most intricate church I’ve ever been in… The amount of money they would have spent to build and design this place makes you wonder…
• Checked out Castel Sant’Angelo, which was a little way outside the Vatican, along the river… Interesting building…
• Ended up walking all the way back to my hostel, through some very cool side-streets of Rome… Gave me a real feel for the local lifestyle
                               

And so ended the Roman conquest! The next day was another city to pluder and pillage – Naples (aka Napoli)!

The train trip to Florence down towards Florence was by far the best, not because of the Italian countryside so much, but because we headed back past towns near Interlaken and got an AMAZING view of the Alps and the crystal blue rivers, just because the clouds decided to clear the day we were leaving… happens everytime

Florence

• We stopped in Milan on the way down to Florence, which didn’t give me a fantastic initial reaction… We got off the train and the air was gross, the train was dirty and there were seedy people everywhere…
• We got into Florence in the evening to be greeted with some pretty stinky streets, but with the hostel just around the corner from the train station we quickly arrived and settled into our room, where we met an aussie couple from the Tweed Coast which was nuts and also two sisters from California who we got along with really well, very funny girls
• That night was a bit of a heartbreaker for me – watched the Netherlands lose to Russia 1-3 in the Quarter Finals of the Euro tournament… I wore my orange dutch jersey and everything, but it didn’t help
• One of the craziest things about our hostel was the Italian lady who managed it – she was a little crazy and thought she was everyone’s mother, kept telling us to keep the window open so we wouldn’t get too hot and would serve breakfast to us in our rooms every morning
• The next day we were off to explore the various sights of Florence, which were very cool… Gave me a great taste of Italy and Italian architecture, including their obsession with oversized churches and cathedrals
• Walked over the famous bridge in Florence (called the Ponte Vecchio), and also walked past the Palace (in the Piazza de Pitti), and a heap of churches and cathedrals, in a stinking hot 34 degrees, with high humidity… And only have two pairs of boardies left after I sent a heap home from Canada thinking I wouldn’t need them
• Went out with the Californian sisters Toni & Mia for a drink and watched the Italians lose to Spain, which wasn’t didn’t exactly create the best atmosphere around Florence Came home and chatted with them til 2am about American politics, the war and many other ramblings hehe
• Went out the next day and climbed a 414-step tower in the insane heat which was somewhat of a mission, but the view from up top quickly made this the highlight of my trip to Florence Amazing views – check the pics!
• Thought I would reward myself after the climb with some geniune Italian gelati, so got a cup with 3 different flavours in it… Thinking it would be a decent price, I watched her type it into the cash register and up came 9 Euro! For 3 scoops of gelati! Which equates to about $15 aussie… NUTS! Definately not one of my proudest shopping moments
                      

Pisa

• For our final day in Florence, we decided to do a day trip to Pisa, and went with a girl we met the night before who just moved into our dorm room, Laura from London… So off we went to Pisa on a very warm afternoon
• Posed in front of the tower with the standard moves… the “holding up” pose and the “pushing over” pose… I tried to think of some others but couldn’t pull em off… I felt like such a tourist But I reminded myself I’m a “traveller”, not a tourist hehehe
• Had dinner and a beer with Ally and Laura at a local restaurant, before heading back to the train station heading back to Florence
                         

So the next morning, with bags packed we headed off to the “big smoke” of Italy – Rome! Ready to fight off the gladiators and say g’day to the pope

We arrived at Bern to be greeted by sunshine and blue skies, which was very awesome, and made the trek to our hostel, which was awesomely located right near the old town, and the tourist office

• We dropped off our gear in the hostel, and met a girl from Melbourne who we had a good chat with Afterwards we all headed out for a some dinner at a restuarant, which i’m relieved wasn’t too expensive Had a bit of a wonder around the old town and along the river which was nice Very cool city with some awesome views and buildings
• The next day we headed into town for another good wonder around… Went all through the old town which was definately the best part of Bern… Also walked past the house Einstein used to live in, and did some shopping… Got a Netherlands jersey to show my support while in Bern, where heaps of the dutch fans had based themselves during the tournament
• The next day we realised we’d seen pretty much what we wanted to see in Bern, so we dedicated the day to do some planning for the next part of the trip, before meeting two young pommy guys… Had a good chat, and ended up going out and having a beer with them while watching Turkey beat Croatia on the big screen in the city square of Bern Lots of mad fans running around after the game too, which was rather amusing
                             

The next morning was time to depart Switzerland, which was definately my favourite country in Europe so far (although the Netherlands is a very close second!), and it was off to Italy, to Florence!

Interlaken

The train to Interlaken was via Bern, where we got off and were drowning in a sea of Orange and Blue (Dutch and French fans) who came to Bern to watch the soccer game, so not the best timing for a “quick and quiet” ride, but still were entertained while waiting at Bern with the chants and airhorns

• The train from Interlaken was quite insane yet entertaining, not because of the fans, but because of a mass of teenagers drinking on the train who looked like they were going camping, but later realised they were off to the Greenfield music festival in Interlaken – more bad timing on our half! When we arrived at Interlaken they were everywhere… The first day of the festival was the day we arrived
• Walked about 20mins along the river to get to our hostel, and this river was AWESOME… The colour was the most amazing thing about it… Like an intense light-blue the whole way along, which joined up to the Breinz lake, which was where our hostel was located (on the point of the river and lake)
• We settled in an went for a walk along the water to this little town near the hostel called Bonigen… Was unreal landscape and scenery… Definately my highlight of Europe so far… Surrounded by the alps in this valley (with snow still up on the peaks, apparently there’s always snow on the alps, all year round) along a crystal blue lake one side and awesome old-school swiss houses on the other  
• The bunk beds we slept in at the hostel were by far the “coziest” yet… They were basically matresses on the floor and in the bunks above, side-by-side in rows of 5 or 7… Which meant that if the room was full, you’d have at least one random sleeping right next to you… Luckily the nights we were in that room it was pretty quiet so we could spread out and didn’t get some guy trying to spoon me through the night haha
• The next day we headed into Interlaken and had a good wonder around… The cheapest meal we could find was Maccas, which was an insane 13 Franks (which is the same as aus dollars, so about AUS$13.20), just for a vege burger, medium fries and coke… I was warned by my Irish mate that Switzerland would be expensive, but that’s just nuts!
• While Ally did some shopping through the town, I decided to climb one of the local mountains to get some nice pics So after 40 mins or so of some windy, fairly steep tracks, I got to a lookout which had some awesome views of Interlaken, and out to the lake to the west called Thundersee Yet another cool “wow” moment for me Even though the weather for the last few days wasn’t too great, mostly overcast and rainy…
                         

Day Trip to Lucerne

The next day we were off to Lucerne, which is a city north-east of Interlaken… The train ride was very cool – had to climb over the mountains to get there, and past some amazing lakes, waterfalls and cool little towns

• Got off at the train station to some pretty crappy weather… Cloudy skies and rain, so our came the umbrellas
• After grabbing some lunch and being asked to move by a grumpy lady cause we were sitting in restaurant seating (apparently), we found a park bench and chilled out along the very cool (and very fast) river that ran through the town… Wouldn’t wanna fall in, prolly a quicker trip back to Interlaken than the train!
• Crossed a very old, very famous bridge… Can’t remember the name of it off the top of my head but was told it was the biggest tourist attraction in town
• Wondered around the main shopping area which was pretty sweet, and caved in and bought a Swiss Army Knife – but I love it cause it has some very cool features… Wait for it… It has a PEN, and a LIGHT.. yup, in a swiss army knife AWESOME! Plus a magnetic phillips-head screwdriver, flat-head screwdriver, scissors, knife, nail file (to keep the claws sharp) and a bottle opener
• Went for a wonder up to the city wall which was very cool… Big fortified wall with towers, which I climbed up and walked through Also walked along the wall and got some cool views of the city
• After that we wondered back down along the river, passing some cool buildings and sights along the way, before jumping back on the train and back to our hostel in Interlaken
                          

The following day we had planned to go on this train that takes people to the highest point in Europe called “Jungfraujoch”, which is pretty much at the top of the Alps, but the weather was again pretty miserable… We checked out a webcam that’s at the top and the visability was crap, so we ended up having a bit of a chillax day… And sure enough, the next day when we checked out, the weather started clearing up ARGH! Always happens So it was off to Bern for a few nights in the “World Heritage”-listed city

The train trip to Dijon was through some very nice French countryside, before it started thumping down rain as we travelled through a very cool storm – lots of lightning just near the train

• We got off at Dijon and I thought I knew the way, but was a little too confident and got a little lost Luckily I managed to find a tourist office so we walked in and got a map just before it closed Then just was we walked outside another massive storm hit, so we were stuck under cover outside the tourist office for over an hour waiting for the storm to pass! Ally wasn’t too impressed
• We arrived at the hostel which was actually more of a community centre, but was extremely quiet which was nice, and the room we got was awesome – even had a TV! Also free wireless internet, which was common through USA and Canada but is unheard of in Europe
• The next day we went for a good walk around the city centre and all the old buildings… They definately like their churches in Dijon, there were about 8 massive ones just in the city centre alone! Was great weather for walking and good sunshine for photos
• Ally decided to watch some TV and started watching some American shows that were dubbed in French or German, which was driving me insane We ended up finding CNN which was in English, but watching the same news stories over and over also drove me nuts, so we gave up in the end
                               

The next day was our train ride to Switzerland, so it was time to say au’revoir to the frenchies, and onto Interlaken!

The trip to Paris was on one of these trains called a TGV, which are Europe’s high speed trains… And it did clock up a massive speed – nearly 400km/h! The ride was pretty cramped but, much more room on the slower trains…  But we did get to Paris real quick… I spotted this guy on the train too who I know I’ve seen before – think he’s famous but still trying to work out who it was

• When we arrived at Paris it was pretty mad, lots of frenchies running around everywhere, and we didn’t know exactly where to go to get to the hostel (real bad directions on the website)… And after discovering the tourist office was closed, we went downstairs and found the Metro (the underground train network) which was setup nearly exactly like London’s tube… I’m so glad I went to London before here, and now know how the tube works cause it made Paris heaps easier
• After 3 train changes and over an hour hauling our luggange around on some dirty, massively crowded trains, we finally made it to the hostel which was kinda out whoop whoop and in a pretty rough area… And the hostel was pretty dirty and smelly, probably one of the worst I’ve been in Not the best start for 4 nights in Paris…
• The next day we decided to hit up some of the main touist attractions, and our first stop was Notre Dame, which was pretty sweet but not as big as I thought… I think Westminster Abbey is actually bigger… Also got approached by heap of these people who looked like Gypsies who ask if you speak English… to which I said yes to the first lady, and she gave me this note which pretty much asks for money… Just seemed sus so I just said I couldn’t read it…
• After lunch (good ol Subway) we found a building called the Pantheon which reminded me heads of the capitol building in DC… Also had a wonder around Luxembourg Park which was nice
• The next day we headed off to the Louvre, which was pretty cool… Lots of huge, impressive paintings, statues and even the walls and roof were covered in elaborate works… Walked through the french, italian and greek sections and also saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo – check the pics
• After that we did the long walk down the Champes Elysees up to the Arc de Triomphe, stopping at some nice spots along the way… When we got to the arc there was this military parade too which was very cool to see… They played the French national anthem a few times (which is the tune of the Brisbane Lions club song) so I sang the Lions tune, which got some weird looks
• Jumped on the Metro and headed over to the Moulin Rouge, which was interesting to see… Got some pics before spotting an Aussie pub down the street so we wondered in… Probably the most un-aussie bar I’ve ever been to… I think they served Fosters and VB therefore could call themselves an aussie bar… Rather silly
• The next day was the Eiffel tower, which was very impressive to see… It sure is one big hunk of steel Got a few good pics, and also came back at night and got some cool night shots… I wanted to try and climb it at night but they closed the entrance just before I got there
                    

After hitting up the main touist bits and pieces, it was time to head outta Paris and onto Dijon – the mecca of mustard!

After a very brief ride into Trier, through some very nice German countryside, we met Maria at the station, which was very cool seeing her after 3 months So, with our own free tour guide, we jumped on the bus and headed to her place, which was on the campus of the uni in Trier

• Went out and had lunch with Ally and Maria at the campus cafeteria, which was cool because it was Bavaria week So we had some real bavarian food, which cost a whole E1.80 Then went upstairs with all the alcholic german uni students and had a beer – and it just so happened they were serving ERDINGER, my favourite beer in the entire world So had to have a glass
• After lunch we headed into the main city area of Trier, starting at some VERY old ruins called Porta Nigra, which was a Roman gate built in 180 AD! And still standing strong and tall
• Went for a wonder around the shopping area, got some gelato (which Maria calls ‘ice’) and took pics of the very cool and colourful buldings around the area
• Checked out the main Cathedral in Trier which was massive, just before a storm hit Had a good wonder around the inside and also the courtyard
• Had a bit more of a walk around and found a cool little American bar which were doin half-price cocktails So we each had one which went down quite nicely
• Headed back to Maria’s place to chill for a bit before Maria and I headed back out to town… Thought we’d hit the same bar up again first, seeing that cocktails were still half price Had a couple of real nice ones, including one called the Terminator, which hit me for six… Had about 5 different shots in it… Crazy
• Went to this nice new nightclub which was pretty cool but a bit dead, and I was starting to feel the after-effects ‘ze Terminator’ so we hung out for a bit before heading back for a relatively early night
• The next morning we said our goodbyes to Maria, who kindly escorted us to the train station
                      

And after our little taste of Germany, we were off to yet another new country – France! And our first stop was the big smoke – Paris!

The train ride to Luxembourg was our longest so far – about 4 hours, which actually felt more like an hour, just because there’s a fair bit of countryside and other cool little towns to check out along the way I also discovered that they must speak French in Luxembourg, as everyone on the train were doin their oui oui’s and bonjours

• We got off at the station and there were people EVERYWHERE, mainly school kids… So we fought through the crowds to find the tourist office, who were pretty much the french stereotype – rude and unhelpful… I asked where the hostel is, and I got a town map and that was it… Just looked at me and said “bye bye”… So we did find it eventually on the map, found a taxi and off we went
• The hostel was pretty much brand new and fairly nice, which was good… Met a canadian pair travelling together who were nice, so had a chat and a few drinks with em down on the patio
• The next day we went exploring the city of Luxembourg, which started with us walking across a wall which we discovered was an historical fortress built in the 900’s, so we went down and explored all through it which was very cool… Lots of dark tunnels and creepy caves
• Spotted some cool little towns below the massive walls… The city is actually set up on a hill and surrounded by walls, which made it the 2nd most fortified city in Europe at one stage, behind Gibraltar
• Went into the city and had a wonder round, past some very cool buildings and the royal palace, winding up in the town square where we had some lunch and surfed on the free wireless net they have all through the city
• Wondered around the city some more and stumbled across the finish line for some big bicycle race, so got some free stuff that some models were handing out
• Slowly wondered back to the hostel, along the windy cobbled streets past some more of the cool old buildings 
• Was cool to visit this place, even though my first experience with the french wasn’t too great… Copped a few more rude ones in certain shops and on the street, but did my best to stay polite… Lots of “Merci” and “Pardon”
                  

So after a quick wonder around the bourg, we were off the very next day to visit Maria (who I met on the contiki tour in the USA) in her town called Trier, just over the border in Germany!

After a cool train trip through some sweet countryside filled with pastures, windmills and cool little houses, we arrived at Brugge after a changeover at Antwerp (which had a cool old station – see the pic!)…

• Checked into our hostel which was actually a hotel with some hostel rooms… Met these two canadian girls who were travelling together and were just finishing a 2 month europe trip, so caught up with them and had some dinner at a local italian restaurant
• Went to a local pub which was tiny but awesome, very Belgium… Tried some of the local brews which were very nice, also got stuck into the fruit-flavoured beers which were delicious! Strawberry-flavoured beer on tap was the favourite Allison and the girls got stuck into em too
• After a bit of a recovery from the awesome beers, Ally and I went for a good wonder around the area the next day, mainly sticking to the main touristy parts and taking lots of photos It was like stepping back in time – lots of medieval-style churchs, halls and houses… The towers of the churches were massive! 
• Tried some belgium chocolate, which was OK but nothing amazing… Probably not serving the “good stuff” to the everyday-tourists maybe
• Ally wasn’t feeling the best and ended up getting crook, probably off some local food… She hardly left her bed the following day, so I did my best to “mother” her  
• While Ally was sleeping I went for a wonder out to the eastern side of Brugge which had some Windmills on the border of the city, and also more canals and lots of local properties – without the tourists which was nice
• Went for a wonder around that night and got some very cool night shots around the Market Square, before calling it a night.
                

The next day we checked out nice and early and were off to the train station to head to the next city on the travel map – Luxembourg!

 

I touched down into Amsterdam after flying over some cool countryside… And after another painless customs check, I caught the train from the Airport into Amsterdam without too much hassle…

• Worked my way over to my hostel via the tram which was right near Amsterdam’s main park called “Vondel Park”, near a square called Leidseplein
• After having a snooze in the very roomy and quiet dorm rooms, I met a guy from Chicago called Matt and also this other funny Japanese guy who could hardly speak any English, so we just called him “Yo!”
• That night I went with Matt and Yo and Matt’s two sisters Liz & Corey to a pub in Leiseplein which was cool, had a few local dutch beers which were awesome – the Amstel, Bavaria and Heineken all taste sooo much better over here Yo downed his first pint really quick and got wasted in about 20 mins! haha was a good laugh for us Also headed into the Red Light District which was actually tamer than I expected, but also a good laugh.. Until it started pouring down rain so we called it a night
• The next morning Ally (my cousin) was flying into Amsterdam from Brisbane so I got up nice and early to meet her at the airport After I caught up with her we headed back to the hostel and checked her in, then had a bit of a nap before having a wonder around the local area
• The next day we had a good wonder around the canals and also headed over to the museum area, and did the Van Gogh Museum which was very cool… Learnt a lot about the guy and his different painting styles… Loving some of the works
• Headed over to Anne Franks house, who was young jewish girl who was hiding with her family from the Nazis in WW2 and kept a diary while in hiding, which was uncovered by her father after the war… Was actually a very powerful and moving experience wondering around the house and viewing the exhibits… Definately the most memorable experience I took from Amsterdam
• Had a good wonder around the area outside Anne Franks house, along the canals and got some great photos
• Went out that night with Matt, Liz and Corey for drinks and managed to have quite a big night The American girls were hilarious, and Matt was so embarressed Ally and I ended up in our beds at 5am! hehe 
• Ally came up with the idea to go to the town where Oma (our grandma) used to live, so we got on the train out to a town called Ede, then jumped on the bus to a suburb called Bennekom which is apparently where she used to live, according to Ally Had a good wonder around and took some pics before heading back into Amsterdam
• That night we visited the Sex Museum which was full on… Even for an “aussie bloke” I was shocked at some of the stuff they had on show here… I guess I’m just too innocent After that we had a walk around the Red Light District which felt tame compared to what we just saw at the museum hehe
                   

The next day we said goodbye to Amsterdam and jumped on the train down to Belgium, to a city called Brugge… Bring on the Belgium beer and chocolate! hehe

PS> My cousin Allison will be travelling with me for the next 3 months through Europe, so when I refer to “we” or “us” then it’s most likely Ally and I, unless I mention otherwise

After arriving in Dublin, I remembered that the currency was a little different so I made sure I got some Euros out… Then quickly learned how expensive dublin is when I got a drink and something to eat from a small shop! So off I went to find a hostel, as I didn’t book one in advance…

• I got off at O’Connell St which is the main street in Dublin, and right next to the bus stop was a tourist office which helped heaps… So found a hostel which was just around the corner, which was clean but not exactly cheap… Starting to realise how much cheaper the USA and Canada were!
• Had a good wonder around the local area, including O’Connell St… And managed to stumble across a little street with this massive film crew… There was a public viewing area so I joined in just to have a sticky beak and see what they were filming… And out of the building walks the actor Christopher Lee! So they began shooting and Colin Farrell pokes his head out of a window upstairs – haha famous people everywhere! So that was pretty cool
• Met up with my mate Chris who I travelled with in Canada and the east of the USA, who lives just north of Dublin… So he spent the rest of the day showing me all around Dublin, including some of the parks, colleges and an area called Temple Bar
• Went out that evening with Chris and his friends which was awesome, got the full “irish” experience Lots of fun… Did a fair amount of drinking but pulled the pin early enough to get a decent night’s sleep
• The next day was a trip out to the Guinness Brewery which was great, definately a very cool tour, with a free sample of the black stuff at the end  
• Went out to Chris’s home town called Skerries, which is a postcard town – awesome countryside, lots of cute old houses and right on the coastline… Met up with a few more of this friends to have a few pints and some traditional Irish grub Definately a very cool experience
• However things started turning sour after that – managed to have my iPhone stolen on the busride from Chris’s place to Dublin, then the next day got a horrible cold, which forced me to miss a tour of the countryside which I’d already booked and paid for So not happy jan, and now have to chase up getting a new phone with the insurance company… Argh!
                

So after the dramas, it was an ideal time to head off, so I flew out to Amsterdam the next day to begin my mainland Europe adventure – let’s hope things get better from this point on

My flight touched down at Heathrow in the evening, so I gave Craig a call and asked him for directions to his surburb in London called Willesden Green, and found my way onto the “tube”, which is London’s very orgainsed and handy underground train network.

• I arrived to Craig and Carissa’s place at “Wille G” to be greeted by a half-drunk Craig and a more sober Carissa who were happy to see me I met Craig’s house mates, which inlcuded 2 rather funny South African guys… ended up staying up til 3am or so playing Playstation and drinking Strongbows
• I managed to get out and about with Carissa who showed me around various parts of London, including the Tower Bridge, South Bank, the London Eye, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square, just to name a few… 
• Jumped back on the tube and Went out with Craig, Jazza and Carissa on Saturday night to an aussie pub called a “Walkabout” – they have heaps in London… Ended up drinking lots of Snakebites and had a bit of an “incident” with the escalators at Westminster tube station – I tried to tackle Craig at the top of the escalators, to which he dodged my tackle and i’ve done about 5-6 rolls down the escalators, grazing various parts of my body, including a big gash in my hand which was rather ugly
• We spent next day recovering with a BBQ and some ciders down in the park in some awesome sunshine, which made me laugh because as soon as the sun comes out in London, all the brits take their shirts off, no matter how pasty white they are the sun cancer must love it
• Moved in with Jazza at his house in Dollis Hill which is a suburb just down the road, and met his housemates who were all either Kiwis or Aussies, except for 1 british girl and 1 slovakian guy
• Went out with a few of Jazza’s housemates to a BBQ at their friend’s house a few suburbs away… Where I met a heap more Kiwis, and enjoyed some good food
• Went out with Craig and Carissa a few times to a restaurant called “Small and Beautiful” in a surburb next to Wille G called Kilburn… Cheap and tasty so we made good use of it
• Met up with Erin Crowther, who I hadn’t seen since high school, so we had a drink and lunch in the city and caught up on the last 8 years which was cool Also saw Piccadilly Square that day too
• Did a day trip with Craig, Carissa and Jazz to Camden and visited lots of different markets, which was nice
• Apart from relaxing quite a bit while dossing at Jazza’s place and trying to organise myself, I did a good solid day of sightseeing on a nice sunny day, which included checking out Wellington Arch, Hyde Park, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament
• Went to another Walkabout in Shepard’s Bush to watch the State of Origin which was pretty disappointing, mainly because Queensland lost… but also because we watched the Champion’s League final straight after and Chelsea lost (the team Craig supports) so it was a rather fun and depressing all in one night
• Farewelled Craig, Carissa and Jazz and the housemates, and off I went back to Heathrow to fly to Dublin
                  

Unfortunately, due to staying in London for a little longer, I haven’t seen Edinburgh / Scotland just yet, but I’m hoping to get back there towards the end of my trip to check it out

I boarded my very last Greyhound of the North American journey, to visit the my last city before Europe – Washington DC! The trip down was pretty cool, lots of really nice countryside and houses

• After being dropped off, we were greeted with nice warm temps A nice change from the cooler NYC.. So after a short train ride and a walk through a nice downtown area, we managed to find the hostel For the rest of the day we spent some time just settling in and meeting a few people… Went down to Chinatown with the same group and ended up getting mexican  
• That night Headed out for a drink down the road with 2 british guys and a scottish girl from the hostel who were really cool, they thought Chris was the funniest guy since Seinfeld
               

Capitol Hill:

• The next day the weather was awesome so we headed over to the Whitehouse which was cool to see, took some pics of the front and back but no sign of the Texan Also walked past the National Tresury on the way
• Checked out the Washington Monument which was huge, we wanted to try and climb it but it was closed for the rest of the day which was both disappointing and a relief (cause it’s one big climb!)
• Walked over to the Lincoln Memorial via Reflection Lake and the new WW2 memorial… This was cool all very cool to see… But from the movies I expected the Lincoln statue to be bigger
• Checked out this cool WW2 memorial on the side of reflection lake which included statues of soldiers walking through a battlefield which was interesting… Also spotted the president’s chopper fly past at a high rate of knots
• Headed over to the Jefferson Memorial which was cool, met a Kiwi guy and chatted about the rugby for a bit On the way back to town we met up with Cara & Liz who I met on contiki back in San Fran and were in DC at the same time  
• After lunch we headed over to the Capitol Building, which was nice and big, and very heavily surrounded by cops and security, all armed to the teeth which M16’s, shotguns and dogs… Crazy stuff… headed back to the hostel with Chris and got a feed in Chinatown before heading back for a quiet one
                 

Arlington Cemetary & “Farewell to USA”:

• The next day was off to the Arlington Cemetary, got the train there and was pretty amazing to see just how many tombstones there were… Went on for miles… It was at this point that I realised I’d left my memory card back at the hostel, so I didn’t get any photos Not happy Jan… Also saw the JFK memorial where he’s buried with his family, and saw the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier
• Met up with Cara and Liz again so headed back into DC for lunch before heading back to the hostel
• That night Chris and I met Cara and Liz at a pub near Arlington that her brother-in-law is a bartender at, so had a few beers and then the tequila came out, and that’s where it gets a bit fuzzy Chris ended up disappearing and I ended up rocking back to the hostel at 9am apparently! hahaha
• The next day Chris headed off for Dublin so we parted ways, was great to travel with him And I’ll hopefully be meeting up with him in Dublin which should be a good ol larf!
• The next morning I was up bright and early and headed off to the airport to leave the USA! After a very painless check-in, I was on a very comfy British Airways flight and on my way to London
              

Overall, Washington DC was a great place to visit, lots to see and do for a tourist… Maybe the great weather just made it more appealing! Definately one of my top places in the USA, make sure you check it if you’re ever on the East Coast

So, yet another greyhound ride, but this time our destination was New York! So off we went like excited little schoolgirls on a not-so-crowded bus to the Big Apple!

• Drove past Yankee Stadium on the way in which was pretty cool, then through Harlem which was a pretty crazy sight to see… It was pretty much spot-the-white-guy which I’ll admit as a tourist felt a little intimidating, so kinda glad we ended up getting off in Manhatten… Got off at station which connected straight up to the subway at 42nd street, so up we went to our hostel which was located north-west of Manhatten (101st st), just near central park
• Met my contiki friend/travel buddy Natalie there, who was staying in the same hostel and was getting ready to go on yet another contiki tour the following morning  
• Settled into our hostel and went for a wonder around the local neighbourhood which was pretty amazing, apartment buildings everywhere, and a real mixture of cultures and races which all adds to the NY feel/experience
                        

Times Square & Ground Zero:

• That night we jumped on the subway down to 42nd Street (Times Square) which was pretty amazing – lots of bright lights, advertising everywhere and 1000’s of people running around like ants, dodging the yellow cabs! We found a quiet little pub and had a few farewell drinks to Nat, wishing her luck on her next contiki adventure
• The next day we headed back into Times Square and had a good wonder around and took some photos… Reminded me heaps of vegas, just without the casinos Also walked up Broadway and stumbled across the Dave Letterman’s Late Show studio
• Then we thought it would be clever for us to try and walk down to downtown Manhatten, which we thought would only be a few blocks down… The walk was started fine, walked past Madison Square garden and a cloud-covered Empire State, but after a pretty exhausting 30 blocks we checked a subway map and realised we weren’t even close – we walked about 1/5 of the way! So we gave up and jumped on the subway down to lower Manhatten
• Walked over to Ground Zero of the WTC site, which was pretty amazing just to see the size of the area and imagine how massive those towers were… now it’s just one big construction site for the Freedom Tower, which is meant to be rather big, and i’m guessing rather strong
                       

Wall Street & Central Park:

• We then got a little lost but managed to find our way to Wall Street, which was actually really cool to see… Walked past the NYSE, and saw lots of overly-armed police officers covered in body armour and equiped with M-16 automatic rifles… Yup… So I took pictures, of course Also walked past the Trump Building
• Found a few NYPD cops who I thought would be cool to get a photo with, but this guy’s partner wondered off just before I asked them… So I thought I’d ask them anyway even though they looked busy, and this cop calls his partner back just to get a photo – very funny stuff  
• After checking out Brooklyn Bridge along the river at the end of Wall St, we jumped back on the subway up to Central Park, where we spent a good 2 hours having a good wonder around… Got some nice pics too, especially of the awesome cherry blossoms
• That night we went back to Times Square to see it all lit up at night, which was cool Got some very cool pictures too
                     

Empire State & Macbeth:

• The next day was quite a bit clearer, so we took off like Kong and went to conquer the Empire State building This was also another tourist attraction swarming with cops and secuity… And it turned out to be the most painful too… Getting up to the top, being up there for about 15 mins and coming down took all up over 4 hours… Insane… And it really wasn’t worth the price, but I guess we can say we’ve done it now
• That night we decided we had to see a show on broadway while we were in NYC, but we were trying to decide between a funny one (spamalot or Avenue Q) or something more serious (Macbeth)… We ended up seeing Macbeth, mainly because the character of Macbeth was played by Patrick Stewart, which was awesome It was also like a modernised version, set in Soviet WW2 times which was interesting… But it was very cool, awesome to see such a great actor on a broadway stage
                            

Statue of Liberty:

• The next day we got up relatively early and headed down to the south tip of Manhatten to go and visit that big statue on the island This was still kinda painful getting through security checks just to get on the ferry but we eventually got on and off we went, just when the sun decided to come out
• Got some great photos of downtown Manhatten, Liberty Island and Ellis Island which was great, definately one of the big highlights of my New York trip Seeing the statue up close was very cool
                   

Overall I had a really good time in NYC – definately a great city to visit, but any longer and I may have gone mad, purely because i’m just not a massive fan of conrete jungles – more of a wide-open spaces kinda guy

So it was up and at ‘em bright and early on Monday morning to return the car back to Montreal, which was another mission due to the confusing french roadsigns and the traffic, but still managed to get it back on time and then headed over to the Greyhound Station

• The bus ride was screwed from the start… Left montreal, then the driver pulls up and says the wiper is broken so they have to go back and change buses.. Then we arrived at US Customs and Chris got grilled by this old fart border cop who was a prick to everyone… I managed to wing it, must be my aussie charm
• We arrived in Boston at night and got a cab to the hostel which was located south of where all the big uni’s were, so kinda like a college town, west of downtown Boston
• The hostel was not the best – probably one of the worst I’ve been to so far, and ended up being the most expensive! US$37 a night in a run-down cramped hostel which was a fire hazard waiting to happen… Not cool, and also full of school kids on field trips! Nuts
• That night Chris and I went out for a feed and a beer at a local pub which was pretty quiet… But good to experience cheap american prices once again… The only down side was that I ended up getting abused by this cow of a waitress for not giving her a big enough tip! I dunno but Chris and I agreed that we tipped her pretty well.. Maybe she’s just used to the rich Harvard or MIT kids throwing money around… Just made me shake my head and realise once again how rude some people can be, after coming from Canada where everyone was so awesome and polite
• The next day we made a few friends at the hostel who came out to explore Boston with us – one girl from Brisbane, and another from the south of France (who Chris fell in love with! haha)
• We first walked up Boyleston Road which has lots of these cool old colonial buildings, mixed with some other newer style buildings, as well as some really nice churches and parks (see the photos!)
• We hiked our way over to downtown Boston and stumbled upon a walk called “The Freedom Trail” which takes you along all the colonial/civil war sights and buildings which was cool
                             

The Universities & Cheers Bar:

• The next day the rest of the group went back to downtown to finish the freedom trail, but I was keen to visit the universities in Boston so off I went to Cambridge over the other side of the Charles river
• Stopped off at Harvard Square and had a good walk around the Harvard campus… I always pictured the big American uni’s to be just like you see them on American Pie or Road Trip or something But it was a little different Lots of very studious-looking folks holding big piles of books, heads down and speed-walking from class to class
• At Harvard they haven’t really renovated the exterior of any of the buildings on campus so it’s got that real old-style feel to it, whereas further up the road through Cambridge up towards MIT it’s a bit more modern
• Walked back down through MIT and had a wonder around, then walked over the bridge of the Charles river and got a few more pics before heading towards downtown to visit the “original” Cheers bar!
• Got to the bar and went downstairs to have a drink Then had a bit of a wonder around and realised that the inside of the bar was actually the “inspiration” to the TV show, and not the one used in the show, as it was all filed in California BUT the outside of the bar is the one they use in the TV show! I have picture proof too! hehe Ended up buying a Cheers keyring from a lady with a real “Bwarston” accent classic
                       

Comedy Show & Jazz Performance:

• That night we ended up going to a free Comedy Show which was actually really good, even though our table got paid out for not laughing, which was strange cause I thought we were! Maybe it’s cause we weren’t laughing with an american accent But yeah, lots of good laughs, quite a few of the people have made a few appereances on talk shows and Comedy Central which was cool… I’ll be able to watch it back at home and say “hey I’ve seen that guy live!”
• The following day was a bit of a quiet one, just chilled and organised a few bits and pieces of the next part of the journey before heading out with the aussie and french girls to a free jazz performance held at one of the local music colleges, which was very cool to watch We originally planned to watch one 1-hour performance but ended up staying for another 2 so we were there for 3 hours Lots of talent, especially this one guy who played about 4 instruments and was a dead ringer for Jack Black
                                 

And so ends the Boston experience – a very nice little city to visit, especially if you’re into history, colonial buildings or pretending you’re a rich kid and wondering around the most prestigious universities in the USA!

Montreal:

The train ride in was good, mainly because I managed to meet two canadians who chatted with me for nearly the whole trip, so that made time go by pretty quickly

• Rocked up to Montreal station and freaked out cause everything was in french this was my first culture shock pretty much but one of the canadians got a map for me and showed me how to get to where I wanted which was sweet
• Arrived at my hostel at Montreal and met up with Chris, caught up and went out for a meal and a wonder around the downtown area… Was pretty nice, lots of glamourous frenchies in their designer fashions strutting down the street Chris knows a bit of french so he taught me the basics, at first I was kinda shy cause I thought I wasn’t saying it right but now I just go for it
• Went out and toured a few irish pubs and hit the lagers pretty hard had a good time catching up and had a good laugh
• The next day we had a good wonder down to a place called “old town” which was awesome, extremely European feel with paved, narrow streets and french architecture, and lots of old buildings and big churches
• Introduced Chris to Tim Hortons, a coffee company in Canada which is their equivalent of Starbucks but it’s heaps better
• Ran into the two Swiss girls I met on the bus in Niagara falls which was sooo random, so Chris and I went out with them afterwards and watched the ice hockey and had a few drinks and a few laughs
• Headed back to the hostel, to get enough sleep and be ready for the roadtrip to Quebec City the following day
               

Quebec City:

The next morning Chris & I headed upto the local car rental joint and hired a little car called a Toyota Matrix, kinda like a sporty corolla, so in we hopped and I was driving on the right side again

• Took about 4 hours to drive up to Quebec City, got lost a lot due to the french directions and road signs but we managed… was a pretty boring old drive but once we got there we realised it was all worth it
• The city is actually built up on a hill and fortified by these big stone walls, felt like stepping back in time… And the city itself is full of these old euopean buildings, much like old town Montreal but even better and cleaner, was sooo awesome driving through the tiny paved streets, felt like I was in a Mini outrunning cops in the Italian Job or something
• Had a good wonder around the town as we only had the afternoon to check it all out… was unreal to see, took quite a few pics of the streets and buildings  
• Headed to the hostel and checked in, then went and got a good feed and had a few drinks at the local pub before heading back, chilling on the net and played some games of pool before hitting the sack
           

Quebec City would have to be one of my favourite cities I’ve visited so far, lots of history, old buildings and loving the whole french/european feel – makes me look forward to France and the rest of Europe even more! I’d definately recommend it if you’re planning a trip to the east side of Canada – make sure you check out the pics!

When I left the airport at Toronto the first thing I loved was the weather – 20 degeres, sunny and warm So in 5 hours of flying I experienced a difference in temp of 40 degrees – nuts! Got on the bus and down to the hostel in downtown Toronto:

• Met a japanese guy who was staying at the same place so started talking with him, very friendly guy, so we went down after checking in and had lunch at a local pub in the sunshine which I was cheerin about
• Met a Gold Coast guy Matt and went out that night with a group of people from the hostel (mostly aussies!) to a Karaoke bar which was lots of fun, sang Cocaine by Eric Clapton which was cool
• Also met a girl from Brissy, Emily, and we got along like old mates straight away in hours we were already giving each other crap about how she lives in Ipswich - haha
• The following day I did a few domestic things and had a quick wonder around Toronto… My first impression was I really liked it, big and flat, pretty clean, nice shops and the people were pretty nice, but the sunny weather was sooo nice to see, I guess it was showing off the town a bit
• The next day I headed off on the “Magic Bus” to go see Niagara falls… kinda like a tour bus full of all sorts of people young and old, which included wine tasting at a local winery, a few nice stops along the river up to Niagara and stopping and checking out the falls for a few hours  
• The falls were pretty amazing, just the power being them was incredible… And the fact that you could get right up close to them was awesome, I was pretty much standing above them at one point
• Went through these tunnels which allows you to check them out underneath the falls gives you idea of the power and amount of water flowing down
• Went up the big sightseeing tower that was there and got some great pics of both the canadian and american falls (the two sections of the niagara falls – the canadian ones are better )
• Got back on the bus and headed back into Toronto… met some Swiss girls who were real nice, and also a couple from Melbourne, but the guy was a Bombers supporter which was a shame
• The following day I had another good wonder around Toronto with Emily from the hostel, she was my tour guide had a wonder around the harbour and a big shopping centre with this cool fountain
• Headed over to the Montreal Tower which was pretty cool, soooo high – went up to a bit that’s higher than the main viewing deck, called the Skypod – 147 stories high… felt a bit shakey
• That night we had a big dinner in chinatown which was nice, then I headed out with Lauren (another aussie girl from the hostel) and a few others for a few “farewell” drinks
                             

The next morning I was up bright and early and headed down to the train station and was on the train to the next city on the list – Montreal! Also arranging to meet Chris there (the Irish guy I met in Vancouver) which will be cool He’ll be travelling with me all the way down the east coast of the USA before I head to London

 

The road down to Calgary was insane, drove through a blizzard and it was covered in snow and ice, and visability was terrible… A few times I hit the ice and the car lost traction at 110 kph which was pretty scary, but managed to control it so no real dramas, just lots of concentration and focus on the road

• Arrived in a cold, snowy Calgary and dropped the car off, then had no idea where the hostel was so walked in the freezing cold for about 2 hours before I finally found it… Was soooo cold, I’m surprised I didn’t get stupidly sick from it
• My stay in Calgary was pretty uneventful mainly because of the stupidly ridiculous temps outside… With wind chill it was anywhere from -17 to -21 degrees celcius most of the time… I’d rug up and try to brave it but would be back to the hostel pretty quick afterwards
• Went up the Calgary tower and had a walk around a shopping mall and the main streets which were OK… The view of the town covered in snow from the tower was probably the highlight
• Headed off to the airport nice and early on Monday morning and flew out to Toronto on a very nice, painless flight… Was nice to see the sun again above the clouds

After a pretty painless 12 hour bus journey on the Greyhound from Vancouver (there was like a max of 10 people on the bus most of the journey so I was able to spread out and sleep), I arrived in the quiet little town of Jasper

Jasper:

• I got off the bus and went down to the car rental place, hoping to hire my car I reserved a day earlier, but it was closed, so I called a cab and 7km later I was at the hostel outside Jasper
• The hostel was pretty high up and surrounded in snow, on the edge of a huge snow-covered mountain with a gondala up the top Too bad it wasn’t running
• I arrived and found my bed in one massive dorm room which had about 60 or so beds in it… Pretty crazy, luckily it was pretty dead so I slept ok
• That evening I met 2 sisters from England who were real nice and gave me a ride into town the following morning so I could pick up my rental car (planning to drive down the highway through the rockies and drop it off at Calgary)
• I asked for a “compact” car but because they had none available they had to upgrade me (for free!) to a Chrysler PT Cruiser Very sweet looking car, still with new car smell and all the bells and whistles inside too!
• So off I went, continually reminding myself to keep on the right side, and parked down the main street of jasper and got out and wondered around town, checking out the shops
• Bought some groceries, and a pair of gloves due to the much colder temps here… and it was perfect timing too – cause it started bucketing down snow for the next 3 hours or so! hahaha… My first time I drove through snow too which was cool
• Decided to start some adventuring so off I drove to Patricia & Pyramid Lakes, about 10 mins north of Jasper… And this is where the first of many jaw-dropping moments began Lots of amazing scenery all around these lakes of the mountains, frozen lakes and forests… Check out the photos to get the idea, even though they don’t do it view justice
• Headed over to Maligne Canyon which was this real deep canyon, was pretty cool to see, saw some wild deer feeding too
• Went over to Jasper Park Lodge which is a famous tourist attraction in itself – took a few pics around the place, esepcially by the lake where a heap of ducks came up and posed for some nice photos
• Cruised back to the hostel and chilled out, met some german and aussie girls who were cool, and just prepared for my trip down trough the rockies
               

Lake Louise:

• Got up and took off down Highway 93 through Jasper National Park, stopping off at some little tourist attractions and waterfalls which were very cool but frozen over still so no major water flows
• One waterfall in particular had an incredible turquoise lake which was one of the highlights of my trip, so I clicked away with my camera and got lots of pics
• Headed further down towards the Columbian Icefields, stopping at so many places along the road and taking in the views of the massively tall mountains and flowing forests that surrounded them
• Arrived at the Columbian Icefields, parked my car on the side of the road and got out right on the side of the mountains… This was definately my favourite moment of the rockies… The pictures are amazing but still don’t do it justice… To be standing right below snow-covered monster mountains and have wind blowing from the icefield onto your face that’s so cold your eyes water and the tears freeze on your face! The sight was just awesome
• Still kept pulling over and snapping off a heap of pics along the way
• Continued down and arrived at Lake Louise in the evening, so before I checked into the hostel there, I quickly drove up to the lake to get some pics before the sunset… It was amazing to see but a little bit of a let down… The lake being frozen over was cool in itself but would be amazing to see it when the lake is turqouise blue in the summer… Plus it was grey and cloudy over the peaks, but still was incredible to see
• Went back to the town and checked into the hostel which was cool, lots of bogan aussie snowboarders floatin around so I decided to keep to myself and just chill out, have some food and get some rest
• Got up in the morning and it was nice and sunny so headed back to Lake Louise for another peak, which was much better for photos… I saw some footprints in the snow across the lake so I thought I’d be a mad aussie tourist and off I went and walked right out to the middle of the lake, to which other tourists saw me and started walkin out too
              

Banff:

• Headed out of Lake Louise, and down south to Banff via Highway 1A, which is the slower but more scenic route that runs alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway
• Continued to stop and get some rad pics of the countryside, including Castle Mountain, and the Vermillion Lakes which are just outside of Banff
• Drove into Banff in the sunny evening which was great, had a good drive around town and was loving it, it’s got a real Swiss Alps feel to the shops and streets
• Checked into the hostel which was very nice, filled with aussies, spoke to a few of the blokes who were pretty friendly
• Got up the following morning and had a peak out the window and saw an absolute bucketload of snow of the ground and trees which looked unreal, and the big flakes of snow were falling real slow and gently, like in a snow globe hehe
• Went outside in the freezing cold to my car to find it absolutely covered in snow… So I rolled up some newspaper and kinda brushed it off with that but got it all over me and in the car… Insane… So I turned on the car, waited it to warm up and just defrosted my hands in front of the heater for about 5mins before I took off for the town
• First time I drove through the snow which was kinda freaky, but I was told just to drive slow so I did and I was fine… No ice slides or gettin bogged in the snow
• Drove into town to have lunch and ran into a guy from Contiki called Shannon who, scarily enough, was my room mate during the tour! haha… So we had lunch together and offered to drive him around Banff for the day, to which he accepted so he tagged along
• Went driving up to the Banff Springs Hotel which is like this old castle they’ve converted into a hotel or something… Massive.. and being covered in snow made it look cool
• Drove up to the Hot Springs which was full of canadians in their budgie smugglers bathing in a heated pool while it snowed… nutters… and also drove to the Gondola but it was closed
• Dropped Shannon off downtown and headed out of Banff and onto Calgary
                  

And so ended my amazing adventure in the Rockies… for the whole time I just wished that everyone I knew was there with me seeing what I was seeing… I can quite easily say that they’re the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen I’d recommend the trip to EVERYONE, I think everyone NEEDS to do this journey at some point in their lives Probably in the summer to see more of the emerald lakes but then you’d be fighting off the other tourists. But do it anyway – you know you wanna

The ferry ride over to Vancouver from Victoria was a bit of a mission but well worth it… very nice journey… the ferries are incredible, like being on a cruise ship. I checked into my hostel in downtown Vancouver, which is pretty much a hotel but just 4 beds in each room… Great quality hostel, and is only half full, and HEAPS of Aussies too… which is both good and bad, in a way

• I turned up to the hostel at 5:30pm, met some kiwis and had dinner with them at 6:30pm and was out on a pub crawl at 8:30pm – haha! No time wasted at all
• Met up with Libby (a girl who I met on the Contiki tour) who came out on the pub crawl with me and the hostel crew, which was awesome to catch up! Had a pretty big night, as the pub crawl organiser guy kept shouting free drinks so was pretty hard to say no… My arm was twisted, and it resulted in me not remembering too much, and feeling pretty seedy the following day
                            

My Cousin Matt & the many Brisbanites:

• The next day I stumbed outta bed at some late hour, and ended up meeting my cousin Matt who now lives in Vancouver, which I only found out about a few weeks ago
• We had a good chat and caught up, and we were both amazed how we both just meet up for lunch and beers on the other side of the world Hopefully will catch up with him later in the week which will be good
• Met a group of four girls who were all from Brisbane which was nuts, and there’s about another five people I’ve met either the day before or that arvo that were also from Brisbane… insane… so many Aussies here it’s not funny, mainly because the snow season is finishing and they’re all heading back down to Vancouver before heading back to the land down under
• Hung out with the Brissy girls and this Irish guy for the evening which was a good laugh, had dinner and a few drinks with em but was a pretty quiet one in general
           

Stanley Park & another Pub Crawl:

• Went for a walk with Chris and Vicki (the Irish guy and an Aussie girl) around Stanley Park, which was something like 15km in the end – and I thought I’d be smart and wear a t-shirt and shorts… In what was probably about 8 degrees C… Not cleaver… I just ended up whinging the whole time, pretty sure the other two were plotting how to kill me the rest of the way
• Got back to the hostel and headed off on yet another pub crawl… Was pretty messy… Met quite a few new friends and partied pretty hard… Was in bed at 4am so that’s a bit of an indicator that it was a successful outing
• The next day I was hurting quite a bit… Feeling very crook so took it relatively easy… I just did domestic things like grocery shopping and washing
             

More Vancouver Adventures:

• Ended up meeting up with my cousin Matt again, and went out and played some pool, then went back to the pub for a few drinks. Was great catching up and had a lot of fun, even though he beat me in pool
• Went to an Ice Hockey game with a big crowd from the hostel which was AWESOME  Ok, so it was only the college league, not NHL, but we got awesome seats up close for $20 and the level of skill was still really good – as soon as the first guy got smashed against the glass, and the crowd roared, I was hooked! hahaha… Vancouver won 3-1 too! I’m still the good luck charm overseas
• Took off to Vancouver Lookout on a rare sunny day and got some great photos, and also checked out Robson St, the main shopping district… Went back up the lookout at night too
• Went to the Science Centre and had a look around, some cool little gizmos but probably more fun if you are under the age of 12
• Caught up with Libby again while she was working so ate and drank at the restaurant she was waitressing at Lots of fun, but was sad to say goodbye – Miss ya already Libby!
• Played pool with Chris and another guy Paul – we were there for about 3 hours, lost track of time we were havin so much fun
• Headed out to Granville Island with the Aussie girls to check it all out – wound up at a pub for a few hours drinking the local ale and watching some Ice Hockey
• Got up nice and early Monday morning (4am) to head over to the Greyhound bus station, and boarded the bus to Jasper, bracing myself for the 12 hour journey that awaits
                

My summary of Vancouver: Very nice city, a bit dodgy in parts though… great to catch up with friends too… Wish I’d seen more of Vancouver if I didn’t go out drinking just about every night, but when you make friends with an Irish guy it’s pretty hard to say no

And so the next leg of my adventure beings – Canada! Will hopefully be conquering Canada in 3 weeks if all goes according to plan My Canadian journey starts in Victoria, the capital of BC, located on Vancouver Island:

• The ferry ride to Victoria was OK but it was pretty hazy and overcast so not the greatest of views… but still pretty cool… Canadian customs was pretty cruisy, a fair few questions but I breezed through em
• Walked to the hostel, via the harbour and downtown which seemed pretty impressive – it had a real European feel to it, which I really liked
• Settled in and met my one and only roommate Eddie, who was from Miami but originally from Mexico, and spoke fluent English and Spanish which was cool, so he taught me a few things Had a good chat and we got along great, which was very cool
           

Downtown Victoria:

• The following day I went for a good wonder around the city and took some good photos, especially around the harbour area, which is where the main tourist attractions and buildings are
• These Mexican girls rocked up to the hostel and could hardly speak a word of English, so Eddie stepped in and was the interpreter which helped them heaps
• That night Eddie and I were a bit bored, so I asked him if I could buy him a beer, so off we went downtown and walked into the first pub we found, which just so happened to be the “best pub in Victoria”, according to the Canadians
• Met this group of four Canadian girls who were unreal, had lots of fun drinking and dancing together to this very cool live band
• One of the girls, Sophie, who I got along awesomely with, will be coming to Brisvegas in July to study for over a year which is crazy! So I spoke to her about a few things back home, some differences in the lingo, etc etc
• Ended up losing Eddie, so stumbled back to the hostel on my own and made it back in one piece – found him waiting there so it was all good
                    

BC Museum & Dinner at Melissa & Ryan’s:

• The following day I met up with Sophie and did a tour of the BC Museum of Natural History, which was massive, and very cool – this one area was like a complete reconstruction of the “old town” which you could walk through
• We then headed down to the water along Dallas St, then over to Melissa’s house for dinner (one of Sophie’s friends who I met the night before), which was up in Sannich, a suburb north of Victoria, for dinner with her and her husband Ryan… Great dinner with awesome people, got along really well with all of them – was an unreal first impression of Canada!
• Said goodbye to Sophie and hoping to catch up with her back in Brissy which will be great, and show her round the place where I roll
                   

The following day was a bit of a lazy / catch-up day, which gave me some time to organise the next leg of the journey – Vancouver eh!

Once again, I’ve fallen behind with trying to keep up with writing this blog… But looking out the window now in Vancouver, I really don’t want to go outside in the cold and rain, so writing in my blog in the warm hostel is definitely the preferred option

 

Sooo… Seattle! The adventure began with Nat and I getting the train into Seattle from Portland, then parting our separate ways once we got into the station My uncle Peter picked me up from the train station, after I didn’t even recognise him cause he cut his hair real short

 

Settling In (Seattle):

 

So off I went, cruising through a dark and rainy Seattle up to the place where Peter lives, which is in the Northwest area of Seattle:

 

• Pete lives with a couple called Jan and Kerry who kindly provided me with my own room and a REAL BED to sleep in!!
• The house was huge – basement, then 3 stories on top of that! The houses all through Seattle were incredible… another reason why it became my favourite city I’ve seen so far
• Just after we dropped my gear off, Pete and I ventured down to a local Aussie Pub called the “Kangaroo & Kiwi” which was very cool – had stubbies of Tooheys New, the AFL on the big screen and an Aussie girl serving the beers! Really brought me back home hey, after 6 weeks of travelling… Was loving it
• Met Jan & Kerry, the people who live with Peter, and had a margarita with them Their house is awesome, and I’ve managed to get my own room while I’m staying here! So nice to have a decent room after the hostels
• Headed out to dinner with Peter to have a nice meal, then went grocery shopping with him which was highly embarrassing – could tell why he’s my father’s brother! Haha! Then came home and called it a night, and got a great night’s sleep for once Wasn’t sleepless in Seattle at all! Hehe
           

Downtown Adventures:
     

• The next day I headed downtown and had a look around… Fortunately the sun decided to show itself which was good but it’s still ridiculously cold… The wind smashes you when you turn down a street or something… argh
• Went to the famous “Pike Place Markets” for a wonder, pretty interesting little place… Got some nice photos
• Got an SMS from the aussie girl at the pub telling me of a Paul Kelly concert they were going to see that night at a place downtown called Triple Door, so I headed over and managed to get a ticket and met her with a contingent of Aussie ex-pats inside
• The Paul Kelly concert was great… up real close so got some great pics… and he played with his son Dan Kelly too… Got to meet Paul after the show too!
• Got the taxi home and slipped into a very warm, comfy bed…. ahhhhh!
          

Woodlands Zoo, Sonics Game:

 

• After a fantastic night’s sleep, I pulled myself outta bed and walked down to the local zoo which was good
• That night we headed into town to go watch the Seattle Supersonics play the Portland Trailblazers – got some awesome seats too, just left of behind the hoop, 2nd row from the front!
• The Sonics ended up winning which was actually incredibly rare… The team has unfortunately gone downhill since the Shawn Kemp days when I followed them
• Because the Sonics aren’t doing so well, all the merchandise in their club shop was like half price, so I bought a few bits and pieces while they were cheap – can’t knock back a bargain! Hehe
          

Snowboarding:

 

• The next morning, Pete and I were up early to head over to the mountains for a touch of Snowboarding! Considering I saw snow for the first time only about 3 weeks before at the Grand Canyon, I was pretty stoked!
• We rented the gear from a little shop and headed on up into the mountains which were amazing… Was like I was in a winter wonderland
• Ended up getting all the gear on and up we went – my uncle is pretty damn awesome, so he spent the day trying to teach me the basics at a mountain called Summit Peak… And yeah… let’s just say, it was a long hard slog hahaha! I ended up not doing too great, but still, I think if I practiced a bit more I’d get the hang of it…. eventually anyway It’s just not the cheapest sport to try and learn if you’re a slow learner (like me – hehe)
• Headed over to Alpental which was like a mountain for the “more advanced”, so I stayed in the lodge by the fire watching the snow fall (first time I saw snow fall too!) as Pete ripped it up down the slopes
• The next few days I was in pain, bigtime Ended up having some pretty quiet days hey My legs and upper body was killing, kinda like the first time you go to a gym after doing no exercise in ages
              

Irish Pub with Nat, Fancy Taste-Testing Dinner:

 

• The night after snowboarding, I dragged my sore bones out to an Irish Pub downtown where we met Nat and a few others she met from the hostel – an Irish girl and an American girl
• We ended up havin a good ol time and a good laugh – well, they did anyway… Let’s just say bringing your uncle out to a pub where he has a chance to pay me out and embarrass me all night probably isn’t the greatest situation to be in  hehe
• The following day after Pete took me for a drive around some local spots, we went to this fancy taste-testing dinner, which was pretty much all these suits and fancy dresses wonderin around eating little finger foods that they’d usually charge $5 a pop at a function… Luckily it was all free! Hehe – free dacquri’s too so I didn’t waste any time
        

Flight Museum, Olympic National Park:

 

• Jumped on the bus in the morning and took off to the Museum of Flight, which is pretty much run by Boeing and setup around the first Boeing factory, where it all started
• Wondered around the museum and got lots of pics, some cool WWI & WWII planes, a full-sized SR-72 blackbird and other neat bits and pieces
• Walked on Kennedy’s Air Force One which was kinda weird Also went for a walk on a Concorde they had there too… It’s pretty tight hey, luckily those French are shorties
• The next day we got up nice and early and were off on a roadtrip to the Olympic National Forest to explore some of the rainforests there
• Headed up and got the car ferry over, which was OK until I stepped out on the deck to take photos – let’s just say I now understand the term “snap-frozen”
• Did lots of driving along some great coastline, then Pete pulled up cause he spotted a bald eagle in the distance – so we jumped out and ventured into some private property and tried to get up close to this eagle
• This thing was MASSIVE… biggest bird I’ve ever seen… So I tried to get a decent shot of it, just before we scared it and it flew off… See the pics in the album
• We took off to the rainforest in the Olympic National Park which was pretty awesome, considering there was friggin SNOW in a rainforest lots of very cool wildlife too – lots of elk, deer and other critters
• Ended up driving back via Tacoma, going through some pretty interesting towns and sites, including a very cool waterfall and a town with this cool train museum thingy
           

Aquarium & Harbour Cruise:

 

• Headed downtown again and went to the Seattle Aquarium, which was full of bratty American kids running around and pretty much lots of fish tanks with sea life very similar to home, so not exactly too riveting…
• Went over to the harbour and went on a very awesome harbour cruise – great day for it too… took us all the way up the harbour then back again via the closest island, then over to the docks – got lots of really good photos of the skyline and other bits and pieces
            

Farewell Dinner and Baseball:

 

• That night we had what we call a “Peter Dinner”, which was kinda like a farewell dinner for me, prepared by my uncle… He’s like this unreal chef, so he did this awesome 3-course meal which was incredible… he left heaps of leftovers too so I ate like a friggin king! Lovin it
• Kerry, who lives with Peter, showed us a clip from Sleepless in Seattle which he was an extra in – he’s sitting right next to Tom Hanks too, in the scene where Tom Hanks is on the plane heading to New York to look for his son – he’s reading through some papers and stuff – check it out! Hahaha
• The following night, Peter, myself and Peter’s chef mate Armeen headed off to the baseball – Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers, which was really cool – Armeen is a gun at baseball so he explained all the rules and stuff to me, and I was getting into it hey! Beers were insanely expensive though – $8.50 US for a bottle… insanity
• Got up nice and early in the morning and headed over to the ferry, and said goodbye to Seattle – definitely the best city I’ve seen so far in the USA

Tuesday ended up being a recovery day, but we both pulled up OK so we jumped on the bus into Portland, then onto the tram to Washington Park – the biggest park in a city area in the USA! 

• Ended up having a good walk around the park, which was nice but probably a little disappointing because all the trees were bare due to the winter…
• Walked down to the Japanese Gardens which was a lot nicer – very well-kept little gardens, lots of little waterfalls and cool sculptures and plants
• Headed back into Portland to see a movie called “The Bank Job” which was really good – UK movie, and the title pretty much explains what happens
     

The next day, we joined up with 3 others from the hostel who we met on the first pub crawl who decided to hire a car and head over to the Northern Oregon coast… So in we hopped with em and off we went down the highway, past some nice farmland and forests out to the coast:

• We got to this little town called Cannon Beach, which had some really nice little houses and shops… So we got lunch and headed over to the beach and BEHOLD – it was the coastline that was used in the Goonies! So I took heaps of pictures, including a few of the rock that one-eyed willy’s ship was trapped under
• We all jumped back in and kept driving down to Tillamook which was famous for its cheese – so we stopped off at this place that did wine and cheese tasting, to which we couldn’t resist The wines were awesome, really nice, wish I could’ve bought some and sent em home!
• Fed some animals, including a goat that was really mean and kept giving us evil death stares
• Saw the temperature on a sign while were driving – 49 degrees F, which is 9 degrees celcius… and has been the hottest temperature since we  got to Portland – almost good enough for the beach hey!
• Kept driving down to a pub that Hilary (our driver) knew due to its famous beers it brews, so we stopped in and did a “sampler”, which was about 7 shots of all types of beer… I was the only one in the group who finished all 7! Some were pretty potent too, so I felt a bit seedy when we got back in the car Had a bit of a nap and did those ones where ya head keeps falling down and everyone in the car was laughing at me
• We were going to keep driving down to Newport but ran out of time because we had to get our 2 other passengers to the airport, so headed back into Portland, dropped then off and said goodbye, then headed back to the hostel
     

That night, I checked my plans and worked out that I got my dates wrong… thought we were heading to Seattle on Friday, but realised the booking for the train was tomorrow morning! So packed my stuff ready to say goodbye to Portland the following morning

Before I write about my adventures in Portland, let me first describe the loooong journey from LA to Portland:

• I headed off to Union Station with Nat to say goodbye to LA and get on a train to Sacramento, then onto Portland by bus which we know will be painful but was heaps cheaper than plane so we thought we’d give it a crack
• The train ride to Sacramento was really nice – lots of really nice countryside, train was comfy as with lots of creature comforts… Gave me time to sort out my pictures and catch up on my diary
• Got off at Sacramento and got onto a bus which was terrible… We were one of the last ones to get on, so got some bad seats, hardly any leg room whatsoever, and some old dude who stunk of cigarettes carrying a small dog decided to sit next to me… Goody!
• After about 4 hours or so we stopped for breakfast, so I went and sat next to Nat which was a lot more comfortable but still could smell the alcoholics and smokers all through the bus… my legs kept cramping up too… argh
• Managed to get some sleep and finally got to Portland after 13 hours of the worst travelling experience in my life (so far anyway).
      

We arrived at the train station and felt how cold Portland was! We asked for directions to a bus stop, so we walked there and found out it wasn’t operating due to road works, so ended up walking around the same block about 3 times until we found a bus, jumped on it and finally ended up at our hostel in Hawthorne, which is on the east side of Portland.

And here begins our Portland adventures!

So there we were at the hostel, tired as and ready for bed, and a girl staying in our dorm came down and asked us if we wanted to go on a pub crawl – to which we said “yeah, sure, why not!” hahaha!

So off we went to the first of a few pubs that night… we figured it would be a good way to meet people, even though we were both wreaked from no sleep:

• The pub crawl was OK but quiet, still got to check out the nightlife in Hawthorne which was pretty good… The beer was cheap – $2 a pint for this stuff called PBR, which tasted like normal American beer – light and watery but did the job.
• The next day we decided to head into the centre of Portland to check it out… It’s a nice city, very clean, but the cloudy, rainy weather made it kinda depressing… It was so dark too, that all the lights down the street and were on… and that was at 1pm… Never seen a city so dark in the middle of the day
• Found a Safeway after a bit of a walk so decided to do some grocery shopping, then walked back downtown to the movies with all our shopping bags
• Saw the movie “Vantage Point” which was cool – it’s about the attempted assassination of the US president from 8 different perspectives… ended really well
• By the way – the weather here was 40 degrees fahrenheit most days… Which is 4 degrees celcius! A little cooler than the winters back home
      

The next day was a massive chillout day, being a Sunday…. Apart from walking down the street to get some ice cream from “Cold Stone” (the equivalent to Cold Rock back at home), we did some washing, I surfed the net and Nat read her book… Very mellow day in our cozy little hostel

Monday was St. Patties day in Portland, so we headed into town to see what was on offer:

• Got off the bus and heard the bagpipes playing in the distance, so followed the sound to a little Irish shop where an Irish band were banging out some tunes Made me wanna do an Irish jig but I held back
• Went in the shop and bought some St. Patties day decorations, including a little hat with orange pigtails which were a big hit
• After walking around in circles trying to find an Irish pub ourselves, we ended up back at the shop asking the guy where one was Told us where to go, so off we went
• Got to the pub called “Kells”, which had massive tents set up, so went inside to have a beer and watch those same Irish performers bang out some more tunes
• The tent we were in was quiet so we decided to jump over to the other one, except that in the time we left to the time we got to the other tent, they started charging people $20 to get in so gave up and headed back to the hostel to get ready for the pub crawl
• Put my little decorations on and off we went with a decent crew on the pub crawl… A very fun night… Lots of funny photos, green beer, then the Jagerbombs started to come out… Ended up getting pretty messy, but Nat was really drunk! But apparently it was because she was allergic to something in the beer or jelly shots we did
     

Ended up making quite a few friends that night which was great, swapped emails to keep in touch… Met some weird ones too! One girl I met decided to name the chair I was sitting in, then started talking with the chair… Alrighty then! Welcome to Portland! Hehe

The next morning I made my way over to Universal Studios which was a great day:

• Got lots of pictures with the characters The studio tour was very cool, and the park had some awesome rides… The mummy ride was groovy – went on it twice
• Managed to do every ride in the park and also saw some very cool shows… Waterworld was rad, also Shrek 4D, the T2 show and the Animal Actors show were all very cool
      

I decided that because I had so much fun at Universal Studios, I had to check out Disneyland! So the next day I checked outta my hostel and headed back to Anaheim to prepare for Disneyland!

• Met up with Nat (my new ex-contiki travel buddy!) and checked into a hotel, which was just up the road from Disneyland which was sweet
• Did some shopping and bought a cell phone with a USA number, which I’m yet to activate cause it didn’t work online… grrr
• Went to Disneyland the next day which was lots of fun… The thrill rides were all cool, some of the kiddie rides I did were a bit lame but still enjoyable…
• I was amazed at the attention to detail on the rides, and how spotlessly clean and new everything looked
• Waited around for the fireworks which were definitely worth waiting for… The fireworks were themed for each section of the park… Like adventure/frontier/fantasy/toons/future and so on… An unreal show… Didn’t get many pics of em just cause I wanted to watch them all!
       

So yeah, even though I went on my own, I had an awesone few days visiting the theme parks So Nat and I prepared for the next part of our post-contiki adventures – a train and bus ride to Portland, Oregon

So after I said goodbye to the Mustang, I packed my gear and walked to the bus stop in Anaheim to get over to a hostel in North Hollywood:

• On the way, walked past the convention centre which was hosting the cheerleading championships, so hundreds of little American cheerleaders were running around everywhere The only problem was they were young as, like 13 or 14… still funny watching them practice their little routines on the footpath while you’re walking past
• Finally rocked up to my hostel in North Hollywood, settled in and had a room to myself for the night which was good for getting over the cold
• The next morning I went to a church in Sun Valley to see John Macarthur… Was a pretty amazing experience, but a little too much like a “rockstar” performance which put me off a bit… Met some nice locals, got a handy CD from the bookstore and wondered around the place
• Came back to the hostel and had some more sleep to get over the cold
• Met a guy from Portland who was studying acting, so had dinner with him and got to know a bit about Portland, which would be my next stop after LA so that was handy
     

The hostel I stayed at was really nice and clean so I got some good rest and finally got over my cold… Still a bit of a runny nose and a cough but no more pain which was awesome Healthy enough to go to Universal Studios I reckon!

Day 1 of the drive: 

So off Iwent, cruising on the highway south of San Francisco with the roof down, which was cool for a few hours, then started coughing and sneezing so had to put the roof back on…

The mustang was awesome to drive, handed really well and had heaps of guts… Not sure if it was a V8 but it still got up and boogied! And I was surprised how easy I adapted to driving on the right side… Didn’t make a mistake (yet)! Driving on the highway in the USA is nuts but… The lanes are narrower than home and the cars are bigger, and just about everyone speeds… I did about 72mph in the 65mph zones ad people were fangin past!

I ended up stopping in a little town called Seaside, just before Monterey, and stayed for the night… Feeling crook as a dog, so went over in the cold to a pharmacy and stocked up on pills and anything I could find to cure the common cold

Day 2 of the drive:

This morning I woke up feeling a little better and headed off to Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey which was nice to see… very picturesque And the adventures continued from there:

• Took the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach which was cool – lots of nice scenery, golf courses right on the beach, and walked into Pebble Beach clubhouse and had a walk around… Very posh, but has that vintage feel also
• Headed to Big Sur which is pretty much a town around national forests, which were all nice and lush
• The drive from Big Sur onwards was pretty awesome, lots of windy roads right on the edge of the coastline, real high up with no guardrails and massive drops!
• Stopped for the night at a hostel in San Luis Obispo, which was full of other Americans which was a bit strange for a hostel… Met a few of em, quite a few yokels
      

Day 3 of the drive:

• Cruised into the CBD of San Luis Obispo which was nice, got some breakfast, then drove the wrong way down a one-way street (my only mistake while driving in the mustang!)
• Headed down to Santa Barbara through some nice countryside, got some lunch which was expensive as, took some pictures and had a wonder around
• Continued into LA and stopped at Malibu which I wasn’t too impressed with… lots of fancy houses but nothing special
• Drove further down to Santa Monica, stopped at the Pier and had a walk along it and the surrounding beach
• Headed on down to Anaheim to visit Bec and Natalie at their hotel via the Los Angeles highways in peak hour – not a nice experience… I should really never complain about traffic back at home again! 7-lane highways crawling for miles on both sides… Insane
• Caught up with the girls and had a good chat about Contiki and any other goss Crashed at their hotel for the night
       

So the next morning, I dropped the car off at the local car rental place in Anaheim, and said goodbye to Mustang Sally All in all a very cool drive in an awesome set of wheels – just wish I wasn’t crook!

After the Contiki rush, staying in a hostel in San Francisco for 3 nights by myself was pretty miserable… My laptop crashed which took a whole day to repair, I got real bad cold which took me over a week to recover from, and became kinda depressed after contiki, missing the gang who I became quite close to…

I still managed to have a good walk around the streets of San Fran, but when I realised my cold was getting worse, and being in a stuffy hostel wasn’t gonna help it, I bit the bullet and decided I needed to do something wild ;)

So I checked out of the hostel, walked down to a car rental place and hired out a Mustang Convertible for 3 days Then threw my bags inside, fired her up and cruised out of San Francisco to head down to LA over 3 days

YEEEHAAARRR!
 

Well, the day had finally come where the awesome fun of Contiki had to come to an end… The tour was continuing from San Fran down to LA, and my portion of the tour ended in San Francisco… So up I hopped, nice and early and went downstairs to say farewell to the crew  Was pretty sad, but I held it in I hung out with Liz until she headed off shortly after, so I was on my own again… So I headed off from the hotel over to a hostel near Union Square:

• After settling in to the hostel, I went for a walk around San Francisco… decided it was a beautiful city with its buildings and architecture, but it’s spoilt by the government or its people not helping out the homeless people… There’s so many of them on the streets it’s scary
• Finally got the chance to sit down at the hostel and go through emails and facebook, and have a chat to a few people on MSN back at home
• Met two Aussie girls at the hostel who are pretty much doing the same trip I was which was cool… Gave them some advice about certain places
     

So off I went to bed, feeling a bit depressed after the awesome Contiki adventures, but all good things must end sometime

I managed to get up at a decent hour and head off with a bunch of about 8 of us to the ROCK! So we headed to Pier 33, boarded the ferry and our journey began:

• Got some nice photos of San Francisco and the bay while we headed over
• Toured the rock via audio tour which was interesting – lots of creepy stories… Went inside one of the cells but didn’t get locked in by Ed Harris and his terrorist buddies
• Headed back to the hotel afterwards, then wandered around the streets of San Fran with Carl to help him shop around for a laptop
• Liz and I ran into some old aussie guy at Starbucks who was crapping on about how much money he makes and how he’d rather be in San Francisco making big bucks than be at home with his family… Which pretty much sums up San Fran and its people… lots of people either filthy rich or dirt poor
• Went with the group to Chinatown for dinner which was a good hike I sat with the boys which was a bad mistake – ended up downing 2 beers with dinner, then did Jagerbombs downstairs… was already tipsy before we went out!
• After dinner was our last night out as a Contiki group, which was pretty sad, but we all partied pretty hard… Went to an Irish Pub, lots of drunken singing and air guitar playing
    

So after the pub got way too crowded, I walked all the way back to the hotel with Liz which was great idea cause I walked off the all the booze… Crashed pretty easily, and set the alarm to see of the crew in the morning

For some strange reason, I was up really early this morning – so got my bags packed nice and quickly and got a decent seat on the bus for once – then off we went to San Francisco! This was the day in a nutshell:

• We arrived at San Fran and did a tour through the CBD, then crossed Golden Gate bridge, got off on the other side and took some photos
• Crossed back over and headed down to Fisherman’s Wharf, where we stopped to get lunch and have a wonder around, and saw Pier 39… Got some good photos, but avoided the clam chowder and just got subway instead
• Continued the tour of San Fran on the bus, saw some nice parks and buildings, saw the house where Mrs. Doubtfire was filmed, and also the house were Full House was meant to be set
• Because my tour was officially over today, I managed to sneak into the hotel and shared a room with the girls which was handy, saved staying away from the group and in some hostel somewhere
• That night we went to an NBA game (this time the whole group went) which was Golden State Warriors vs. Philadelphia 76’ers… was good to watch but not very skilful, still saw some cool dunks and nice plays, Chris Webber and Baron Davis were good as always
       

I think all the drinking and lack of sleep was catching up to everyone, so most people had a quiet night, myself included

This morning started with me thinking I was late for the bus, so I ran like a madman to be informed that I was “just on time” so I was safe – there was a $1 late fee if you were late so I just missed being fined

So it was off to Yosemite National Park, ready to see some of the sights it had on offer:   

• After a long drive, we made it into the park and got off at this one spot with an awesome view of the mountains and the half-dome, so the camera got a workout
• We had a feed once we got off at the main lodge, then headed off on a bus to one of the walking trails
• Even though half the trail was covered in snow, we still managed to get to this bridge which was awesome, could see a nice waterfall in the distance… Got some awesome photos all through the walk
• I headed back with Cass and walked to the lower waterfall near the lodge – very cool walk, got some more cool pics
• We went back to the lodge, on the bus and back to Bass Lake for a hit of tennis (to which I realised I suck so I gave up!) and dipped my feet in the spa which was about 40 odd degrees C… It was actually painful so I gave up
• That night, we went over to the local pub which was a tad dull, so we got our karaoke on which was a bit of fun I sang “Love on the Rocks” by Neil Diamond… I have no idea why I chose that song… I blame it on the influence of alcohol… But did an OK job of it so that was it for me
• Had a dance and listened to some other people sing either really well or a tad ordinary
       

Once again, I ended up wandered off again apparently so that’s an indication of the state I was in – ended up in my bed in the attic, but not really sure how but I did Looking back, this was another awesome day – loved Yosemite and the sights, hopefully Canada is just as good if not better in some parts!

Well, it was time to say goodbye to Vegas, and to the handful of people who ended their contiki tours in Vegas…

 

So up we got, said our goodbyes and jumped on the bus for the longest drive of the tour – driving to Bass Lake, a small town just near Yosemite National Park. Apart from a long, mainly boring drive, which gave us plenty of time to recover, we did manage to do a few things, especially that evening: 
 

• Played a truth/lie game on the bus which was a bit of a flop but gave us something to do for an hour or so
• Got to Bass Lake in the evening, so had a feed in this dining hall, and met over at the boys’ place for a room party
• Played beer bong and signed t-shirts, and Carl and I lost at beer pong by one cup! Lost count of the beers I drank so had a relatively decent night

 

After the party, I headed back to the room which I was sharing with three other blokes, so I thought I’d get a bit more peace and quiet if I threw my mattress up in the attic – so I had my own little room Only problem is it turned out to be a sweatbox cause the boys cranked the heating!

After a pretty shady night thanks to those strawberry daquris, I managed to have a good sleep in til 10am, cause there were no buses to catch or anything organised with the group… so after some late breakfast, I managed to make an OK day of it:

• Caught up with Matt & Emma and went for a walk down the strip, did some shopping and bought some souvenir pokerchip keyrings, and checked out a few shops and things… Was a nice sunny day so took lots of photos
• Ended up heading back and chilling out, the group went off to a variety show but I thought I’d give that a miss
• Went out with some of the girls for dinner over at MGM, then headed over to Planet Hollywood to meet the group after the show
• Went and saw the fountain show at the Bellagio, choreographed to Elton John’s “My Song” which was awesome – took lots of photos and videos
• Continued up to Treausre Island casino with the gang and watched a Pirate Show – extremely lame acting, but lots of scantily-clad hot girls which made the show a bit more interesting
• Headed over to this bar where they had bartenders doing tricks while serving drinks – very cool to watch
• Had quite a few and partied on with the group outside the bar, then lost the group so headed back to the hotel for a surprisingly early night
   

So yeah, probably should’ve done a bit more today, checked out a few casinos and other bits and pieces, but still did quite a bit at night, which is when Vegas comes alive Nearly ready to say farewell to Sin City, and off to see the serene Yosemite

Well, we said goodbye to the Grand Canyon and took off to Las Vegas, via Yuma – but didn’t see Russell Crowe there… (for those who have seen 3:10 to Yuma…. for anyone else, just read on):

• We arrived at our hotel in Vegas in the evening, which was about 1 block from ”the strip”, so went for a walk down the strip by myself to have a look… Was pretty impressive but kinda expected it to be bigger and better…
• Took off as a group and had dinner at an all-you-can-eat buffet… I was amazed at how much some of the girls ate
• Had a bet on the roulette tables downstairs and was up $40 so called it quits, so long as I could say I won in Vegas!
• We all piled back on the bus and Cap took us on a tour of the strip which was cool
• Went downtown and they pretended that the bus broke down, so they said they’d let us visit a local wedding chapel while we waited for the bus to get fixed
• We all headed over the “Graceland” chapel of love which was classic – Elvis appeared and put on a show, and did a fake wedding for Brooke and Joe, who were randomly selected and highly embarrassed with the whole thing
• After that we got back on the bus and went this little casino which served daquri’s in yard glasses So Dave and I both got strawberry ones… we had two which was a bad idea, didn’t feel too great afterwards
• Walked outside and watched the light show which was awesome – the whole roof turns into a massive screen pretty much… very trippy
• Headed back to the bus and then went over to the Luxor and up to the MIX nightclub which was on one of the top floors, very fancy nightclub with rip-off drink prices but an awesome view of the strip
• After that we needed to hit up another place so Cap took us downstairs to a nightclub which we discovered was a gay bar! Hahaha so most of the guys just turned around and said see ya later while the girls were lovin it!
      

It was at this point that I decided to call it a night, so I walked back to the hotel, which helped burn off the few litres of daquri which was squirming around in my gut! Wasn’t feeling the best, but still experienced quite a bit of what Vegas is all about in a few short hours

After just about everyone getting involved in the big room party last night, most were feeling very seedy and sheepish while waiting to get on the helicopters and fly over the canyon :P I felt surprisingly good but

• Went up on the chopper over the canyon for the 30min flight which was very cool, got lots of awesome views flying high above the Canyon… had a trainee pilot on our flight but, who made things a bit rough when we were higher up
• The others on our flight who didn’t look so good weren’t too impressed – Emma ran straight off for the loo to have a vom afterwards
• Headed back to the cabins and had some free time so went for a walk with Liz, Carl, Alistair, Maria and Juliana along the rim of the canyon – got some awesome photos too… Was bloody cold but… my socks got wet and I could feel em start to freeze! Crazy
• Came back to the “couples” room who were playing some drinking games so I thought, yeah why not and joined in
• Dave came up with about 40 empty buckets and rallied the troops to go make ice bricks and stack em up in front of Cap’s room, to which we graciously obliged
• Started stacking the bricks up and the wall collapsed, so we were worried that when he’d open the door the snow would flood into his room… he eventually came out and it didn’t so he had a laugh about it Very funny stuff.
     

I ended up hitting the sack at a decent hour… which was unusual Was good to have a decent rest thought, finally!

I somehow managed to pull myself outta bed at 4:30am to get onto a shuttle bus and head off into the desert in Phoenix to do some Hot Air Ballooning:

• Got off the shuttle and it was freezing, instantly donned the beanie, and took photos of the balloon getting blown up and then heated with the massive burners
• Hopped on with my fellow contiki balloon group and took off the group just as the sun was rising – perfect timing for some rad pictures
• Got higher and higher, found myself creeping back from the edge but decided to face my fear and hang over for a while and take a heap of pictures of the countryside
• Was unreal and beautiful to see the sun rising over the country… Was by far the best experience on Contiki for me… just beating the Phoenix basketball game and the grand canyon… just
• Ascended to 7000ft, and flew over the world’s biggest rifle range, and a prison
• Touched down and had a champagne breakfast which was awesome – got spoilt rotten that morning
• Stopped in at an old school saloon for a pitstop which was pretty cool to see 
       

Then off to Sedona, Arizona for some wild western jeep adventures:

• Headed off to Sedona through some unreal countryside, real rocky and mountainous, snowing on top of the rocks
• Stopped to get a group photo in front of Bell Rock
• Continued into the country town of Sedona which was very cool, nice setting amongst the mountains, and saw a rock formation called “Snoopy Rock” – see the pics
• Had lunch and got on our jeeps for a 4WD tour through a national park – rough track, lots of fun, and learnt a thing or two about the area
• Did some shopping in Sedona and jumped back on the bus, and took off to the grandest of canyons!
      

Then onto the Grand Canyon, through the snow!

• Headed off to the Grand Canyon – got off at the IMAX theatre and touched snow for the very first time Also had my first snowball fight, to which I was grossly outnumbered (3 vs. 1) but still managed to survive – it ended after Ben hit a car behind me
• Saw the IMAX movie which was good, gave me some good background on the discovery and exploration of the Grand Canyon
• Back on the bus and drove up towards the edge of the canyon – got off the bus and closed our eyes and walked to the edge
• Opened up and BEHOLD – we were all standing on the edge of a viewing area, staring into the Grand Canyon… amazing sight hey… Couldn’t stop taking photos Amazed that it snowed on the top!
• Headed back to our cabins for the night… The snow was knee-deep which was cool, I kept playing in it while everyone thought I was nuts hehe
• Had dinner at the local diner there which was OK, then headed over to Natalie and Allison’s room for a room party
• Was a big party, got pretty messy, and I got very drunk… Worst drunken state of the tour
• Someone told me the morning after that I was there one minute and just wandered off the next… And for those who know me as the “wandering drunk”, it must’ve meant I had a big night! Hahaha
    

Looking back, this was probably my most favourite day of the tour – loved the hot air balloons, saw snow for the first time, and saw the awesome Grand Canyon in the snow – not bad for a day hey? Talk about Carpe Diem!

After a very early start, we stumbled our hungover-bodies into the cold morning air, onto the bus and started to cruise to Phoenix, Arizona:

• The countryside was really picturesque, lots of cool desert, sand dunes and farmland
• On the bus we played some meeting games which was fun, found out who was single or taken
• Organised with some of the boys (Lee and Shane) to head into Phoenix tonight to see Phoenix Suns vs. Boston Celtics, so we got to the hotel in Scottsdale (just outside of Phoenix) and cabbed it to the stadium
• Bought tickets off a suspect scalper and paid a bit for em but got in fine and watched some of the most awesome players around – Shaq, Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, Grant Hill, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Amare Stoudemire – was like watching an all-star game… unreal experience, couldn’t believe I was actually there watching em!
      

Ended up getting back to the hotel fairly late so hit the sack, ready for an early start for hot air ballooning in the morning

The next day we were all up fairly early, to which I felt surprisingly good considering the alcohol consumed the previous day Day 2 of the Contiki adventure included:

• Sending half of us off to San Diego Zoo, and the other half went to Seaworld
  The “World Famous” San Diego Zoo was pretty good, but probably a bit of a let down to what I expected… Still saw some cool animals, an animal show and got some good photos
• Afterwards we went shopping in this mall in San Diego which had this insane design… I got over shopping pretty quickly so went for a walk around the city and took some more pics
• Dinner was at a restaurant called “The Yardhouse” which was famous for its range of over 100 beers from around the world… So without wasting much time I ordered an Erdinger (my favourite beer, which is from Germany)
  Sat with a group of girls who were nearly all teachers, so we shared some teaching stories and got to know each other a little better
• Ordered an “Iceberg” which was pretty much just a lettuce in a bowl, covered in dressing Was a tad embarrassing but I ate it anyway… didn’t fill me up one bit either
• Went out to this awesome pub afterwards, had TV’s everywhere, great music, a rad bar, heaps of room, pool tables and cheap drinks – $2 Coronas! So yeah we all went nuts and had a great time… But then the Jagerbombs came out and it got pretty messy
• Ended up having to help a girl from Canada called “Libby” back to the hotel… She was crook as so I stayed with her until she was asleep in her bed and not spontaneously throwing up anymore :S I was pretty drunk too, so I stumbled back to mine and called it a night
     

So all in all not a bad second day – and I knew when I hit the pillow that I’d be feeling it the next morning on the bus

Well, it’s been ages now since I’ve written on my blog, purely because it’s been an absolutely wild few weeks, having been on Contiki which was insanely fast but awesome… Also had a nasty cold after Contiki, and did the theme parks down in LA which kept me busy. But before I get ahead of myself, I’ll give you the low-down on my “LA to the Bay” Contiki adventure, starting with arriving at the hotel and Day 1:

• Flew in from Hawaii to LAX and caught a shuttle bus to the hotel in Anaheim with these 2 young american teenagers who were your stereotypical USA teens – saying “Like” and “OMG” 5 times a sentence, giggling and crapping on… Was amusing and painful all at once
• I got to the hotel at Anaheim to which I discovered an Iron, which was the first time I saw one since home, so I got out all my shirts and started ironing away, making sure I was ready for Contiki
• Checked out USA cable TV for the first time at the hotel, which was 96 channels of pure shite, half of which were entirely in Spanish (the Spanish music channel was hilarious… Mexican RnB is funnier than the comedy channel)
• Discovered how cheap clothes are over here, went to a mall and bought a heap of warm clothes knowing it’d be cold on the trip… bought brand-name surf clothes for less than half the price it is back home… Also all the shops are open til real late every weeknight, like 11pm which was handy as
   

Day 1 of the Contiki adventure – off to San Diego!

• I woke up late and had to skip breakfast and rush for the Contiki bus… not a great start but there were others later than me so I didn’t feel too bad
• Our tour manager “Cap” introduced himself, and one of the first questions he asked was if anyone was a vegetarian… I had a look around and no one else put their hand up, so I wasn’t game to put up mine and be the only one! Haha… so he then went on about how it was a good thing cause vegetarians are weird etc!
• Arrived at San Diego Harbour and the weather was crap… overcast and raining in parts. We went on a harbour cruise which was pretty nice, met a few people including the crazy poms Alex and Dave who were hilarious from the start Saw some awesome aircraft carriers docked there and lots of overweight sea lions
• Went for a drive in the bus around San Diego which was cool, saw lots of cool museums and exhibition centres in Balboa Park, and cruised through the Gaslamp Quarter which is this little restaurant district besides the CBD which is very funky and real clean and quiet.
• We checked into our Hotel at San Diego with my roommate Shannon who was also from the Gold Coast, and worked in film and TV
   

Day 1 continued down in Tijuana, Mexico for lunch:

• Headed off from the hotel to have lunch in Tijuana, was painful crossing the border cause US Customs were looking for a criminal heading back to Mexico… Had to get us all of the bus, line us up against a wall and check our passports… Pointless, but considering 1 million Mexicans cross the border illegally each year, then I can kinda see why they’re so strict… I also got a rad photo of the cops arresting Mexicans on the border
• Got into Tijuana and were instantly being harassed by Mexicans to “buy their beer” or visit them or spend money on their crap… So we all just stayed together all fearing for our lives a little, and made it to our restaurant which was quirky in itself
• Ordered our meals and beers, and had this crazy Mexican come round and tip tequila down everyone’s throats while he smacked em on the head Got some photos of it… Then for some people he’d pick em up and spin em around… I have no idea how no one threw up Was good for a laugh but. I did it too but they didn’t spin me
• Headed off down the main street and continued to be harassed… There was one stage where I heard a tiny little voice so I looked down and there was this tiny tiny little girl, all dirty and wearing dirty clothes… Would’ve been about 5 years old, and she was trying to sell me chewing gum… I stood there just staring… Couldn’t believe it hey… I just felt like saying “Why aren’t you in school?”… Really woke me up hey
• Ended up meeting up with the Cap and a few others in another pub, so had a few more beers before getting back on the bus
• Was serenaded by a random Mexican who got on the bus and played us stereotypical Mexican songs on his guitar… Was good for a sing along.
• Got back over the border in one piece, and proceeded back to our hotel in San Diego
   

Day 1 Dinner and Partying in San Diego:

• Went back to the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego to a restaurant called “Dick’s Last Resort”, which we were warned would be “rough”
• Got there and there was lots of yelling, country music blaring from some yokel on stage, and randoms throwing napkins at us…
• As the greasy American food started being served, it got louder and crazier… Everyone at this stage were screwing up napkins and throwing them all around the room… The floor was covered in em by the end of the night
• The waiting staff started making these paper hats with rude one-liners written on em, which they were placing on contiki heads at random… Some were pretty damn funny too
• After this, we headed into a pub that was primarily filled with College students… Full of very attractive girls, not hard to look at Kinda makes me wish I did an exchange program to the USA while at uni
• Saw a show called “Metal Skool” which was crazy… was pretty much a group of guys blasting out hardcore rock like Guns ‘n Roses while asking girls to get on stage and get their boobs out and swearing their heads off Was a pretty wild night… After that the crew kinda split up and I got lost, so I decided to call it a night, got a cab and went back to the hotel and crashed
   

So yeah, a pretty wild first day… Met quite a few from the group and already got drunk in Mexico Welcome to Contiki! hehe

After my North Shore chillin’, I was up for a bit of adventure, so I thought I’d book a flight over to the Big Island, which I was told has lots of snazzy things to see and do including an active volcano, beaches and mountains with snow! So I thought that sounded good, so off I went, back to Honolulu Airport, and flew over to Kona for 3 nights.

However, I quickly realised that I should’ve done a bit more homework – Kona was all the way on the other side of the island from the volcano or Waipio Valley, which are the two main attractions to see. AND the only way to get there was by car, which were ALL SOLD OUT for the entire time I was there. So, from there, my options were limited, but ended up doing these bits and pieces:

• Met up with this really nice American dude “Joe” who was staying at the hostel and had a rental car, so whenever he wasn’t working (just started a job as a pilot and was looking to move there), we went for a drive
• Found this really nice beach after adventuring over lava rock 4WD-style in a 2WD Dodge Caliber But ended up making it
• Saw some awesome lava rock and Joe explained the different eruptions over the years result in different types of flows and rock formations (you can kinda see this in the pics on facebook)
• Went for a drive to Weimea, a small town in the countryside, were I took some awesome pics of this mountain called Mauna Kea – the tallest volcano (no longer active) from ground to top, and it SNOWS on the top – yup, snow in Hawaii
• Went out for lunch and dinner quite a bit with Jo and another Aussie bloke (who was also a Collingwood supporter – woot!), a highlight being the Kona Brewery, which had some awesome beers, which was a nice change after the Bud Light/Coors/Budweiser crap
• Went walking round a bit, and went shopping at Walmart, which had like a supermarket inside too – pretty massive, and damn good prices compared to the rest of Hawaii
   

So, due to not doing my homework before I flew over, the Big Island was a bit of a let down in a way, but still wasn’t a complete write-off. The flight back was really cool – saw heaps of humpback whales from the plane, splashin around and going crazy in the ocean below.

So now I’m back at this pretty dodgy hostel in Waikiki, without much to do really… I went for a really cool hike yesterday near the North Shore which kept me entertained but now I’m just waiting til I fly out tonight back to LA for my Contiki tour which starts on Wednesday!

Also after chatting to some more people I’ve met at the hostel, I’m thinking about spending a little less time in Canada and the east coast of USA, which may result in me heading over to London earlier than mid-june which is what I had planned originally. Still nothing is really set in stone, but I’ll work this out after Contiki.

Aloha, and missing you all BOZ 

OK for those of you who asked:

Time Difference in Hawaii – Add 4 hours, then take away a day So if it’s 10am QLD time, it’s 2pm my time, but the day before, which means… I’m livin in the past man!

PLEASE NOTE: I’ve now added a Photos tab (see above) – this gives direct links to all my photo albums

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Aloha once again from Hawaii

So far it’s been a wild adventure, especially in Waikiki, and more mellow and relaxed up on the North Shore of Oahu. I’ll start with a quick recap of the partytown that is Waikiki:

• Climbed up Diamond Head Crater, which was a great little climb, and took some unreal photos of Waikiki, the beach and an awesome rainbow out the back in the mountains
• Met up at the hostel with some pommy girls that I met on the bus the day before, who invited me out on a pub crawl, which I couldn’t refuse A pretty awesome experience, lots of fun and games, and I’ve quickly learnt that nearly all USA beer is watered-down low-carb crap
• After my first official hangover while travelling, I had lunch the next day at planet hollywood, again with the poms, then chilled out on the beach at Waikiki
• Attended a massive block party for the NFL Pro Ball, which was a street party all the way down Waikiki
• Watched Lifehouse right up close, like 3 rows back right in front, on the beach, got some awesome video and also heard some new songs! You jealous Maz and Shelly? Hehehe
• Played drinking games nearly all night with the poms, had to break up two fights between yanks and poms due to testosterone/cultural overloads 2nd night in a row I was in bed after 5am :/
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And then up to North Shore after a 3 hour bus ride:

• Suprised at first, thought it would be like more full on or built up, but it’s just like a super small country area, very laid back, chickens and cats walkin round everywhere beautiful and pretty much the world’s best surf
• Staying in a “beach hut” with guys who are pretty much all pro surfers or awaiting sponsership, and surfing is all they talked about And they did was eat, surf, and talk about the surf But interesting to listen to. Lots of aussies here, I reckon about 1 in 4 surfers were aussie
• Visited Pipeline and took some OK photos but missed some rad ones, clearly the biggest surf I’ve ever seen, some of the waves were near 15-20ft, and the boys reckon that’s nothing compared to some days!
• Hired a bike and explored lots of areas along north shore, until my butt hurt too much to ride anymore I’ll admit at first I thought I’d be bored here, and I was at times, but the whole natural beauty of the place was starting to grow on me
• Chilled out, read my book a bit, did my first load of washing and organised the next part of my journey before heading off
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And here I am, back at Honolulu Airport, killing time before my flight to the BIG ISLAND! Going to spend 3 nights there exploring the volcanic areas and other bits and pieces before heading back to Waikiki for a tiny bit, then back to LA for Contiki!

So far, the experience has been pretty incredible considering it hasn’t even been 2 weeks yet Lately I have been thinking about my itinerary… I might have “overbooked” my time in certain places, which may force me to change things… But I’ll work that out after Contiki.

Aloha and Mahalo!

BOZZAKULAWAHU

I’m currently sitting right on the main street in Waikiki from Starbucks, with an amazing sunny view of the beach as I write this It’s very busy with loads of tourists in Waikiki, mainly Americans, and I think that’s got a lot to do with the NFL Pro Bowl which is being played at Aloha Stadium this Sunday (it’s the NFL All-Star game).

But before I get ahead of myself, I’ll quickly recap some experiences rather than going into too much detail:

• Walked up to the Hollywood Sign where I met a German traveller who was an awesome guy, who I’ll hopefully meet up with again when I’m in Germany
• Met 2 younger Aussies (both were named Nick and both were from Brissy – how crazy is that?) who are just finishing a 3 month world trip – very funny blokes so I ended up having a few drinks with them before we headed up to an open-mic night which was hosted by the hostel
• Saw some unreal performances at Open-Mic – I think the people who work at the hostel are working there while trying to make an impression in Hollywood cause they are super talented (singing, guitar etc). $2 Coronas so I had a few cold ones – crashed at 3am and got up at 5am to go to the airport!
• Met this black woman on the plane ride to Honolulu who was awesome – told her all about Australia and she was fascinated, and she told me all about LA and a few other things which was really interesting Talked to her for about 3 hours!
• Settled into the hostel at Waikiki, and met a UK guy who was a little older but really easy to talk to, and we spoke for AGES hey – last night we chatted again for about 4 hours straight! Very awesome guy, who again has offered a place to stay for a bit when I’m in the UK which is rad!
• Visited Pearl Harbour yesterday which was an incredible experience, and the USS Arizona Memorial – it’s like a pontoon that sits over the sunken hull of the USS Arizona which you can see through the water – and what’s really scary is that there’s till hundreds of bodies still entombed in the wreckage :S Creepy hey
• Today I’ve moved into another hostel more central to Waikiki, already met a Swiss and some Austrian guys who are very friendly Just kinda having my first “day off” today kinda chilling out before I plan my next adventure ;
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There’s still so much more to talk about even in such a short time I’ve been here… The people you talk to and meet on public transport, the food, the shops, the locals – all part of the experience which i’m sure you people who have travelled before kinda take for granted sometimes but it’s just awesome for me at the moment hehe

Anyway, I’ll hopefully do some more touristy stuff tomorrow in Waikiki before I head off to the North Shore on Sunday, where I’ll be staying for at least 3 nights. I’ll see how I go with writing another entry within the next week or so.

Miss ya’s! Aloha!

Well, after 15 hours in flight time, I’ve finally landed in LA, and made it in once piece to the hostel in Hollywood where I’ll be staying for 2 nights before flying out to Hawaii.

The flight over was pretty full on… Heaps of turbulance so I got maybe 1 hour of sleep in total… Watched Superbad and Stardust which kept me entertained Plus there was a bit more in-flight entertainment – about 4 hours into the flight, some guy about 5 rows back decided to get drunk and start harassing passengers so security came down and pinned him down in the isle… Then a plain-clothed US Marshall joined in the show… When we landed at LA we had to wait an extra 20mins or so while these US cops come on and arrested him. “Welcome to LA!”

US Customs was painful – waited close to 2 hours in line. And the wait for public transport got annoying but I got to where I wanted to safely. When I got into the hostel I pretty much had a shower and went straight to bed for about 3 hours, then got up and went for a walk down Hollywood Boulevard. Pretty crazy place, lots of mexicans, it’s pretty much spot-the-white-guy in most places.

Anyway I’ve uploaded some pics I took tonight down Hollywood Boulevard onto my facebook. The public link is here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90295&l=98f07&id=878545250

OK well I’ll hopefully find some time to write another entry before I head off to Hawaii for some beach action!

Miss everyone already, and miss how bloody comfy and easy Australia is… but I’ll get used to the whole overseas thing. Keep me in the loop by emailing me or posting comments on this blog!

Catchyas!

Hey guys,

Welcome to my online journal, which I’ll be writing in (hopefully often) while I’m overseas! I thought I better do up a rough itinerary, especially for those of you who are overseas already and might wanna meet up sometime. It’s accessible by clicking the “Itinerary” tab on the top banner.

It’s all subject to change, which I’ll be updating as I go