So, after eventually arriving in New Zealand we left Rowe's aunties (Ian and Suzanne) house and set off into Auckland with our main objective being to purchase a car for less than $1,500 (£750). We decided the best way to do this was to go into various hostels within Auckland and look at their notice boards for people who are selling their cars. The first hostel we went into we found a car within our price range so took a note of that cars details and proceeded to leave the hostel to head to the next. As we were on the stairs heading out of the hostel I over heard an english lady telling a friend of hers that she was looking to get rid of her car, so we asked her about the car and decided to have a look at the car (which happended to be stored in a salesroom dedicated to selling ex-back packing cars). The car was a 1989 Ford Laser (Larry) in white with 92,000 km on the clock and she wanted around $1,400 for it. We took the car for a test drive and all liked the car so didn't dismiss the car as a very likely option. We hesitated in buying it straight away due to it being the first car we saw and decided to have a look at other hostel notice boards before deciding on the car. After visiting half dozen more hostels with no real joy we decided to put an offer on Larry to be told that someone had just done the same and that it was no longer for sale.
The next day we were determined to buy a car so that we could begin our NZ road trip which we were already a week behind. We visited several car garages looking for a car and found many within our budget, however they all seemed to have an issue with them or were just falling apart. We began to get stressed and annoyed at the possibility of finding a decent car which would last our journey. Eventually we found a 1993 Mitsubushi Galant V6 which was not initially for sale but the owner (it was actually the garage owners personal car) was willing to listen to offers. We took the car for a test drive and liked the way it drove, the size of it and felt it was the car for us. We then went back to the garage and after a short negotiation we managed to buy OUR new car for $1350.
We then drove the car back to Rowe's relatives house and proceeded to clean it, we even found a 15" spanner in the engine!
Job Done, Now for the road trip to begin!
Sunday 21 November 2010
Thursday 18 November 2010
Friday 04/10/2010 - Wednesday 10/10/2010
Fiji Time!
I'm going to try and sum Fiji up in just the one post because A) It basically consisted of sun bathing in the most beautiful islands in the world and B) due to the recent lack of internet connectivity I'm a bit behind in my blogging.
So in all truth Fiji is such a beautiful country, white sand beaches, clear turquoise water and some of the friendliest people we have met thus far on our travels. Everywhere you go you are greeted by the sound "Bula Bula" which is fijian for Hello.
Our first night we stayed on mainland Fiji and were a little concerned with the hostel due to a lack of security (you were not even given a key to your room) but after meeting other guests and the fijian guys who ran the hostel we were alot less concerned as it felt as if they had welcomed us into their family. We enjoyed a night of volleyball and were invited to drink some Cava (A Fijian drink which is made from a root and it is drank in a ceremonial manner).
The next morning we woke determined to get ourselves onto one of the many islands dotted around Fiji which is were the true beauty of Fiji stands out. We managed to book ourselves 2 nights on an Island called Mana Island and the price included all transport, accommodation as well as 3 meals per day. Upon arriving on Mana Island we saw various deserted island which were so beautiful and therefore left me excited to see what Mana would look like.
I was not left disappointed as the Island was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life and that isn't me just saying that. It was just insane. It was paradise as you and I know it.
The next couple of nights consisted of drinking games, lounging around, night swimming and we even went "deep sea fishing" with a character called Moses. I was the only one to catch something which was two small fish but I nearly caught a 2ft barracuda until it shook itself of my hook by jumping 2ft in the air.
I will be heading back to Fiji, no doubt!
I'm going to try and sum Fiji up in just the one post because A) It basically consisted of sun bathing in the most beautiful islands in the world and B) due to the recent lack of internet connectivity I'm a bit behind in my blogging.
So in all truth Fiji is such a beautiful country, white sand beaches, clear turquoise water and some of the friendliest people we have met thus far on our travels. Everywhere you go you are greeted by the sound "Bula Bula" which is fijian for Hello.
Our first night we stayed on mainland Fiji and were a little concerned with the hostel due to a lack of security (you were not even given a key to your room) but after meeting other guests and the fijian guys who ran the hostel we were alot less concerned as it felt as if they had welcomed us into their family. We enjoyed a night of volleyball and were invited to drink some Cava (A Fijian drink which is made from a root and it is drank in a ceremonial manner).
The next morning we woke determined to get ourselves onto one of the many islands dotted around Fiji which is were the true beauty of Fiji stands out. We managed to book ourselves 2 nights on an Island called Mana Island and the price included all transport, accommodation as well as 3 meals per day. Upon arriving on Mana Island we saw various deserted island which were so beautiful and therefore left me excited to see what Mana would look like.
I was not left disappointed as the Island was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my entire life and that isn't me just saying that. It was just insane. It was paradise as you and I know it.
The next couple of nights consisted of drinking games, lounging around, night swimming and we even went "deep sea fishing" with a character called Moses. I was the only one to catch something which was two small fish but I nearly caught a 2ft barracuda until it shook itself of my hook by jumping 2ft in the air.
I will be heading back to Fiji, no doubt!
Thursday 03/11/2010
So after a very late night of correcting our mistakes and sorting out a new country to visit we didn't dare risk missing another flight so decided we would spend the day hovering around the hostel waiting for our airport shuttle which we had booked to arrive 2 hours prior to the recommended arrival time (just in case).
Upon arrival we sailed through check-in apart from a slight error with us not having an outbound flight from Fiji booked meaning we had to purchase an outbound flight at the airport pronto but apart from being shattered everything was all good.
We then boarded the plane which due to a lack of sleep turned out to be one of the best flights I have ever been on. It basically consisted of me getting in my seat, take off, a couple of beers courtesy of Air Pacific, a meal courtesy of Air Pacific followed by a coffee and then bed. To then wake up 10 hours later for a coffee and Breakfast again courtesy of Air pacific. Job done.
Upon arrival we sailed through check-in apart from a slight error with us not having an outbound flight from Fiji booked meaning we had to purchase an outbound flight at the airport pronto but apart from being shattered everything was all good.
We then boarded the plane which due to a lack of sleep turned out to be one of the best flights I have ever been on. It basically consisted of me getting in my seat, take off, a couple of beers courtesy of Air Pacific, a meal courtesy of Air Pacific followed by a coffee and then bed. To then wake up 10 hours later for a coffee and Breakfast again courtesy of Air pacific. Job done.
Monday 8 November 2010
Wednesday 02/11/2010
So we once again woke to face another day in Hollywood with the intent to A. Get Rowe and Edd some running shoes, B. Get pictures of the hand prints at the chinese theatre and lastly go on an organised walk up Runyon Canyon to see views of the sign as well as the city. I'm pleased to say we managed to do all of the above as well as manage to stumble across the filming of a TV show called "Southlands" which features Ben Mckenzie (Ryan attwood from the O.C).
We wanted to get an early night due to us believing we were to fly to Auckland the next day but then the drama happened.......
So the night before we believe we are to fly to Auckland, Rowe receives an email from his "cousin" in Auckland (We were staying at there house and she was picking us up from the airport) saying she has been waiting at the airport for 2 hours and that she had contacted the police due to her not knowing why we had not been on the plane etc. Rowe relayed this email to me and so we decided to check our itinery to see why she thought we would have been in Auckland on that date only to discover that our flight was landing on the 4th New Zealand time and not flying out on the 4th U.S time. We therefore spent the rest of the night phoning Qantas and STA to try and see what to do. Qantas told us to contact STA which is tricky when the STA offices wouldn't be open till 3am U.S time. So we proceeded to wait and ring various branches to try and resolve the problem.
Eventually we contacted STA and they informed us that they could not help and that we had to fork out the full amount for a flight to Auckland. We discovered previously that if that was the case it would cost us £780 which is a large sum of money at the best of times let alone when you are travelling. So after a little digging around I suggested we could fly from L.A to Fiji and then to Auckland for £500. So we decided we would fly to fiji that day and spend 4 nights in Fiji before flying to Auckland. It was now 6 am and eventually we had come to a solution which satisfied us all.
Thank God............Fiji here we come.
We wanted to get an early night due to us believing we were to fly to Auckland the next day but then the drama happened.......
So the night before we believe we are to fly to Auckland, Rowe receives an email from his "cousin" in Auckland (We were staying at there house and she was picking us up from the airport) saying she has been waiting at the airport for 2 hours and that she had contacted the police due to her not knowing why we had not been on the plane etc. Rowe relayed this email to me and so we decided to check our itinery to see why she thought we would have been in Auckland on that date only to discover that our flight was landing on the 4th New Zealand time and not flying out on the 4th U.S time. We therefore spent the rest of the night phoning Qantas and STA to try and see what to do. Qantas told us to contact STA which is tricky when the STA offices wouldn't be open till 3am U.S time. So we proceeded to wait and ring various branches to try and resolve the problem.
Eventually we contacted STA and they informed us that they could not help and that we had to fork out the full amount for a flight to Auckland. We discovered previously that if that was the case it would cost us £780 which is a large sum of money at the best of times let alone when you are travelling. So after a little digging around I suggested we could fly from L.A to Fiji and then to Auckland for £500. So we decided we would fly to fiji that day and spend 4 nights in Fiji before flying to Auckland. It was now 6 am and eventually we had come to a solution which satisfied us all.
Thank God............Fiji here we come.
Tuesday 01/11/2010
So we left Vegas behind to jump on a 7 hour Greyhound bus which was L.A bound.
Due to this we didn't get up to much that night and opted for a post vegas rest and early night.
Due to this we didn't get up to much that night and opted for a post vegas rest and early night.
Wednesday 3 November 2010
Sunday 31/10/2010
VEGAS BABY!!
So we set off to Vegas which meant we had to catch an 8 hour Greyhound from San Diego and wouldn't arrive in Vegas till 7.
Once we arrived in Vegas it was like a different world made up of artificial looking buildings with bright lights everywhere. Unless you have been to Vegas it is hard to describe what it looks like and more importantly feels like. Vegas isn't the prettiest or the most tidy city in the world for more than one reasons. However Vegas just draws you in and the lights put you in a trance as if you were at a festival. The hotels are enormous and sex is being sold everywhere.
It may sound like i'm stating the obvious but money is king in Vegas.
So we set off to Vegas which meant we had to catch an 8 hour Greyhound from San Diego and wouldn't arrive in Vegas till 7.
Once we arrived in Vegas it was like a different world made up of artificial looking buildings with bright lights everywhere. Unless you have been to Vegas it is hard to describe what it looks like and more importantly feels like. Vegas isn't the prettiest or the most tidy city in the world for more than one reasons. However Vegas just draws you in and the lights put you in a trance as if you were at a festival. The hotels are enormous and sex is being sold everywhere.
It may sound like i'm stating the obvious but money is king in Vegas.
Saturday 30/10/2010
So we all woke up with sore heads following an epic night in San Diego. As the boys nursed their hangover i headed into San Diego for a bit of retail therapy as well as checking out some sights.
I found the city's baseball stadium which was really cool to see as they've built in a way in which you can get really close to the pitch without entering the stadium. It was cool to just wonder around as well as San Diego has some amazing architecture.
As for the evening we had found out that their was a big street party going on to celebrate halloween which was happening one block from the hostel. Tickets were $30 which we were not willing to fork out on so had decided we would make it our nights mission to get in.
We therefore got ready for a halloween party in the hostel by ripping some free t-shirts we had got in Santa Barbara (Red-Stag) and painting our faces. We managed to get through a stupid amount of white wine before heading to the street party which was in full effect.
We scoped out the joint before finding a couple who had drank to much so were willing to give us there wristbands as well as a friend of theirs wristbands. We were in! The amount of effort which people put into their outfits is ridiculous.
I found the city's baseball stadium which was really cool to see as they've built in a way in which you can get really close to the pitch without entering the stadium. It was cool to just wonder around as well as San Diego has some amazing architecture.
As for the evening we had found out that their was a big street party going on to celebrate halloween which was happening one block from the hostel. Tickets were $30 which we were not willing to fork out on so had decided we would make it our nights mission to get in.
We therefore got ready for a halloween party in the hostel by ripping some free t-shirts we had got in Santa Barbara (Red-Stag) and painting our faces. We managed to get through a stupid amount of white wine before heading to the street party which was in full effect.
We scoped out the joint before finding a couple who had drank to much so were willing to give us there wristbands as well as a friend of theirs wristbands. We were in! The amount of effort which people put into their outfits is ridiculous.
Saturday 30 October 2010
Friday 29/10/2010
So friday started as had every morning in a Best Western however this time I managed to get the fire brigade called out to the hotel due to cooking a cheese bagel in the toaster and a piece of cheese caught on fire with smoke everywhere.
After all that we then booked our hostel in San Diego and proceeded to embark on a 8/9 journey on various public buses before eventually arriving at our hostel and tucking into a 5 1/2 litre box of wine between us.
We then headed to a bar next to the hostel which was filled with scantily clad woman and all sorts of fancy dress costumes. I hated it off course.
Franzia to the tune of Step Brothers........Arguement.........Mexican
After all that we then booked our hostel in San Diego and proceeded to embark on a 8/9 journey on various public buses before eventually arriving at our hostel and tucking into a 5 1/2 litre box of wine between us.
We then headed to a bar next to the hostel which was filled with scantily clad woman and all sorts of fancy dress costumes. I hated it off course.
Franzia to the tune of Step Brothers........Arguement.........Mexican
Thursday 28/10/2010
So Thursday basically consisted of what he have done everyday since arriving at Laguna Beach......
Wake up have breakfast, Take Bagels etc for lunch, head down the beach and Body Surf all day.
I was getting a little frustrated with it being almost a week since we went out on the town so was looking forward to a organised pub crawl which was taking place in town. $15 a ticket and that includes 5 drinks. Sounded great! So we get ready and head down to the first bar and were immediately disappointed with the lack of attendees so decided as it was still happy hour we would get a beer and see if more people arrive. They didn't so we decided to have another quiet night in and stick to just the one beer.
Wake up have breakfast, Take Bagels etc for lunch, head down the beach and Body Surf all day.
I was getting a little frustrated with it being almost a week since we went out on the town so was looking forward to a organised pub crawl which was taking place in town. $15 a ticket and that includes 5 drinks. Sounded great! So we get ready and head down to the first bar and were immediately disappointed with the lack of attendees so decided as it was still happy hour we would get a beer and see if more people arrive. They didn't so we decided to have another quiet night in and stick to just the one beer.
Wednesday 27 October 2010
Wednesday 27/10/10
Today we wanted to make the most of the nice weather so headed to the beach with our stomachs full of the hotels breakfast as well as bags full of bagels and fruit (courtesy of the hotel *wink wink*) for lunch.
We walked along the beaches admiring the multi million pound houses and apartments heading towards the main beach. Upon arrival we set up camp and dived straight into some body surfing which was so much fun. This was pretty much the story of the day just sun bathing and body surfing. We wondered around the town but its hard walking around places with nice shops when you are on a budget so didn't spend much time in town.
We then headed back to the hotel for a chilled night in and watched the sun set from the roof terrace. We have decided to spend another night in Laguna as we are loving it so much!
We walked along the beaches admiring the multi million pound houses and apartments heading towards the main beach. Upon arrival we set up camp and dived straight into some body surfing which was so much fun. This was pretty much the story of the day just sun bathing and body surfing. We wondered around the town but its hard walking around places with nice shops when you are on a budget so didn't spend much time in town.
We then headed back to the hotel for a chilled night in and watched the sun set from the roof terrace. We have decided to spend another night in Laguna as we are loving it so much!
Tuesday 26/10/10
So off to Laguna Beach we go! The home of Lauren Conrad the REAL O.C!
The Journey was fine and we arrived at the hotel in good time. What a hotel! We are in a room with a Hot Tub in it and we are 99 steps away from the beach. It's Insane!
After the initial shock of the hotel we packed our beach gear up and headed to the beach. The waves were pretty awesome so we went body surfing and got owned alot! It was really fun however and everyone is in real good spirit! We even saw some dolphins swimming just off shore!
We then returned back to the hotel for a little dip in the pool followed by a dip in the Hot tub. We then chilled out before heading off into town to sample what Laguna Beach has to offer in the way of a nightlife. We headed to an Irish bar (Hennesey's) for a Stella and decided to just have the one as it was pretty dead. This turned out to be a good move as they turned out to be 6 bucks each which is a little steep!
The Journey was fine and we arrived at the hotel in good time. What a hotel! We are in a room with a Hot Tub in it and we are 99 steps away from the beach. It's Insane!
After the initial shock of the hotel we packed our beach gear up and headed to the beach. The waves were pretty awesome so we went body surfing and got owned alot! It was really fun however and everyone is in real good spirit! We even saw some dolphins swimming just off shore!
We then returned back to the hotel for a little dip in the pool followed by a dip in the Hot tub. We then chilled out before heading off into town to sample what Laguna Beach has to offer in the way of a nightlife. We headed to an Irish bar (Hennesey's) for a Stella and decided to just have the one as it was pretty dead. This turned out to be a good move as they turned out to be 6 bucks each which is a little steep!
Monday 25/10/10
So after not doing any exercise for the duration of the trip (I went for one run in Santa barbara) we decided we would do a bit of exercise.
So we headed off into the Gym and Spa facility of the hotel and proceeded to have a work out in the Gym. The Gym consisted of a cycling machine, a running machine and a cross trainer so we all chose a machine and had decided to use each machine for 10 minutes. This was all going well until Rowe managed to break the running machine as all we could smell was burning. He seemed to think that it was because he stunk of muscle but Edd and I both know it was due to him being a lard arse with muffin tops.
After our work out we jumped in the Hot tub and then headed into Newport to go to the beach and continue our exercise day with a run on the beach as well as some body surfing in the waves.
We then headed back to the hotel intending to head out into town however due to the poor transport in Newport we opted for a Beer and a Burrito (the best Burrito i've had thus far).
So we headed off into the Gym and Spa facility of the hotel and proceeded to have a work out in the Gym. The Gym consisted of a cycling machine, a running machine and a cross trainer so we all chose a machine and had decided to use each machine for 10 minutes. This was all going well until Rowe managed to break the running machine as all we could smell was burning. He seemed to think that it was because he stunk of muscle but Edd and I both know it was due to him being a lard arse with muffin tops.
After our work out we jumped in the Hot tub and then headed into Newport to go to the beach and continue our exercise day with a run on the beach as well as some body surfing in the waves.
We then headed back to the hotel intending to head out into town however due to the poor transport in Newport we opted for a Beer and a Burrito (the best Burrito i've had thus far).
Monday 25 October 2010
Sunday 24/10/2010
So we woke up after a civilised night in front of the T.V to the thought of what we would tuck into at breakfast and how we would manage to get to our next destination (Newport Beach).
We found out that it shouldn't of been that difficult to get to Newport Beach as it was only along the coast, we had also decided that due to their being a grand zero hostels in Newport we would slum it in another Best Western.
So off we go on a bus ride which in all should have taken 25 minutes but in total took around 3/4 hours due to us getting on the wrong buses in Newport and not knowing the exact address of the hotel. Once we eventually found the hotel we were disappointed to find out that the hotel had spa facilities including Hot tub, pool, sauna and a gym. It is a hard life all this travelling malarky believe me.
Also Newport beach is rather nice, although the bus malarky was frustrating I was in my element seeing over 20 Ferraris and several Lamborghini's including a Diablo.
The weather was amazing whilst we were trying to catch the bus however as soon as we left the hotel to head into town it became gladiator so we decided to retire to the hot tub and sauna.
I'm really struggling......
P.S - for those think we may be splashing out on all these luxuries the current Best Western is $27 a night compared to the last hostel we stayed in which cost us $34 a night.
We found out that it shouldn't of been that difficult to get to Newport Beach as it was only along the coast, we had also decided that due to their being a grand zero hostels in Newport we would slum it in another Best Western.
So off we go on a bus ride which in all should have taken 25 minutes but in total took around 3/4 hours due to us getting on the wrong buses in Newport and not knowing the exact address of the hotel. Once we eventually found the hotel we were disappointed to find out that the hotel had spa facilities including Hot tub, pool, sauna and a gym. It is a hard life all this travelling malarky believe me.
Also Newport beach is rather nice, although the bus malarky was frustrating I was in my element seeing over 20 Ferraris and several Lamborghini's including a Diablo.
The weather was amazing whilst we were trying to catch the bus however as soon as we left the hotel to head into town it became gladiator so we decided to retire to the hot tub and sauna.
I'm really struggling......
P.S - for those think we may be splashing out on all these luxuries the current Best Western is $27 a night compared to the last hostel we stayed in which cost us $34 a night.
Sunday 24 October 2010
Saturday 23/10/2010
I wish i could inform everyone of all the exciting things we did this day but unfortunately we were hanging so the day pretty much consisted of us lounging round the hotel room and the pool/hot tub.
It was a good day.
It was a good day.
Friday 22/10/2010
So we woke up in our plush (for hostel standards) hotel and had a huge breakfast which included pretty much every breakfast ingredient imaginable before heading off into town to check out Huntington Beach.
After wondering around the shops we headed to the beach to play a bit of Volleyball before taking a dip in the sea and some body surfing. The waves were perfect, the water was amazing and we were even accompanied by a Sea Lion.
We dried off on a bit of grass were we saw someone of a similar age to us dancing to his ipod as if he was in a Glee audition........he was such a funny dancer it was unreal.
After we had dried off we headed back to the hotel or rather to a restaurant near the hotel called ihop which was offering all you can eat pancakes which we felt it would be rude not to take in this true piece of American culture. We only managed five which was basically the first plate you got so we had failed miserably (the record was 18).
We then had a dip in the pool followed by a dip in the hot tub before pre drinks and a night on the tiles in Huntington Beach.
After wondering around the shops we headed to the beach to play a bit of Volleyball before taking a dip in the sea and some body surfing. The waves were perfect, the water was amazing and we were even accompanied by a Sea Lion.
We dried off on a bit of grass were we saw someone of a similar age to us dancing to his ipod as if he was in a Glee audition........he was such a funny dancer it was unreal.
After we had dried off we headed back to the hotel or rather to a restaurant near the hotel called ihop which was offering all you can eat pancakes which we felt it would be rude not to take in this true piece of American culture. We only managed five which was basically the first plate you got so we had failed miserably (the record was 18).
We then had a dip in the pool followed by a dip in the hot tub before pre drinks and a night on the tiles in Huntington Beach.
Thursday 21/10/2010
So after an eventful sleep or rather lack of sleep due a hobo having a full blown argument on the street outside we are all pleased to leave Venice Beach and head to pastures new. We have decided to head down the coast to Huntington Beach O.C however the only hostel's phone there doesn't seem to be working so we decided to find the hostel ourselves. After a 3 hour bus ride on 3 different buses we arrived in Huntington Beach with the sun shining and therefore headed towards the hostel. We arrive at the hostel address to find that the hostel closed down 2 years ago which doesn't help. So off to a hotel to use their wifi to find a cheap motel/hotel. We arrive at a Best Western on the sea front and ask the price of a room. They said a room would be $150 which we decided was a bit steep and therefore decided to find somewhere else to stay. as we crossed the road a couple of people called out to us from another hotel saying they could do us a room for $120 and before we had time to consider this new offer a lady approached us saying she could get us 10% off of the hotel we had just looked at due to her being a AAA member.
So back to the Best Western we go and check out how much a room would be using this ladies membership card. Unfortunately the membership did not affect the price and we were back to square one, however this lady named Kim then recommended another Best Western hotel which was slightly out of town. Then Kim offered to drive us out to the hotel and help us get a room for $90 which we were happy to go along with. En route Kim told us how she was originally from Huntington Beach and that she was visiting due to her son had recently died of Cancer and that he loved Huntington Beach. She drove us out to this new hotel and helped us check in as well as telling us she could give us a lift back to the beach. LEGEND!
The Hotel was really nice and the breakfast was the best we had yet as it included a full english, croissants of all varieties, cereals, bagels and toast.
Huntington beach is really cool as well with a beautiful high street, beach and pier a place we are glad to call home for the next 3 nights.
So back to the Best Western we go and check out how much a room would be using this ladies membership card. Unfortunately the membership did not affect the price and we were back to square one, however this lady named Kim then recommended another Best Western hotel which was slightly out of town. Then Kim offered to drive us out to the hotel and help us get a room for $90 which we were happy to go along with. En route Kim told us how she was originally from Huntington Beach and that she was visiting due to her son had recently died of Cancer and that he loved Huntington Beach. She drove us out to this new hotel and helped us check in as well as telling us she could give us a lift back to the beach. LEGEND!
The Hotel was really nice and the breakfast was the best we had yet as it included a full english, croissants of all varieties, cereals, bagels and toast.
Huntington beach is really cool as well with a beautiful high street, beach and pier a place we are glad to call home for the next 3 nights.
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Wednesday 20/10/2010
Venice Beach Baby....
We made our way to Venice beach via Santa Monica to discover the weather had got alot worse over night and is now raining heavily.......great time to go to the beach.
We arrived at our hostel which is right on the beach and took a stroll along the boardwalk. Unfortunately the boardwalk is home to some of the most unusual and exotic bums you will find. We were pretty disapointed with the boardwalk but I think the weather had somthing to do with this. They have an amazing Skate park on the beach as well as the famous Muscle beach (which was closed due to the weather).
We have decided only to spend one night in Venice beach and head down the coast probaly to Newport beach and pastures new.
P.S - Vegas is booked..........Oct 31 (Halloween) - 2nd Nov at the Planet Hollywood.
We made our way to Venice beach via Santa Monica to discover the weather had got alot worse over night and is now raining heavily.......great time to go to the beach.
We arrived at our hostel which is right on the beach and took a stroll along the boardwalk. Unfortunately the boardwalk is home to some of the most unusual and exotic bums you will find. We were pretty disapointed with the boardwalk but I think the weather had somthing to do with this. They have an amazing Skate park on the beach as well as the famous Muscle beach (which was closed due to the weather).
We have decided only to spend one night in Venice beach and head down the coast probaly to Newport beach and pastures new.
P.S - Vegas is booked..........Oct 31 (Halloween) - 2nd Nov at the Planet Hollywood.
Monday 18/10/2010 - 19/10/2010
Welcome to Hollywood.....
So we caught the greyhound from Santa Barbara to Hollywood and checked into our hostel (USA Hostel) which is inbetween Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard so is a great location. We discovered that the hostel was putting on an all you can eat bbq and limo bar crawl that eveneing so signed up for the both. Although only Rowe signed up for the all you eat bbq as it was $6 and we split the costs and made rowe fill up his plate in order to feed us all.
That night we jumped into a limo which would initially take us to a bar with a bucking bronco and then onto a nightclub whilst providing free unlimited champagne and vodka on route all for the handsome price of $25. Typically this ended up as the three of us drinking far too much and not remembering the last club whilst loseing eachother. Edd seemed to stay in the club before making his way back to the hostel, Rowe did similar whilst I managed to stumble upon an after party for the band Mumford & sons en route to trying to find myself some suishi. In the after party I managed to meet english actress who had just that day landed her first role after being in Hollywood for 4 months.
On the tuesday I persuaded everyone to follow me to a famous hot dog stand which was recomended to me only that day by Alex White. The hot dog stand was called Pinks Hot Dog's and lived up to the recomendation passed to me. We then had aimed to go and watch "The Price Is Right" in the audience at CBS studios as we had booked tickets online. However we had failed to anticipate how long it would take us to walk to the studios and we were 10 mins to late for the show which meant we were not allowed in.
P.S - On the Monday we had our first experience in a Hooters bar and that probally wont be our last experience.
So we caught the greyhound from Santa Barbara to Hollywood and checked into our hostel (USA Hostel) which is inbetween Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard so is a great location. We discovered that the hostel was putting on an all you can eat bbq and limo bar crawl that eveneing so signed up for the both. Although only Rowe signed up for the all you eat bbq as it was $6 and we split the costs and made rowe fill up his plate in order to feed us all.
That night we jumped into a limo which would initially take us to a bar with a bucking bronco and then onto a nightclub whilst providing free unlimited champagne and vodka on route all for the handsome price of $25. Typically this ended up as the three of us drinking far too much and not remembering the last club whilst loseing eachother. Edd seemed to stay in the club before making his way back to the hostel, Rowe did similar whilst I managed to stumble upon an after party for the band Mumford & sons en route to trying to find myself some suishi. In the after party I managed to meet english actress who had just that day landed her first role after being in Hollywood for 4 months.
On the tuesday I persuaded everyone to follow me to a famous hot dog stand which was recomended to me only that day by Alex White. The hot dog stand was called Pinks Hot Dog's and lived up to the recomendation passed to me. We then had aimed to go and watch "The Price Is Right" in the audience at CBS studios as we had booked tickets online. However we had failed to anticipate how long it would take us to walk to the studios and we were 10 mins to late for the show which meant we were not allowed in.
P.S - On the Monday we had our first experience in a Hooters bar and that probally wont be our last experience.
Friday 15/10/2010 - Sunday 17/10/2010
So basically Santa Barbara is a really chilled town during the day with tons of shops including designer stores but at night the town (State Street) turns into the party street which of course we sampled everynight but our last in Santa Barbara. We didnt make any use out of the beach due to the weather being fairly poor and Santa Barbara lacks free activities so we kinda just wondered around each day waiting for the sun to set and the night life to kick in.
Friday night we went out as part of a hostel promotion of Buy one drink get the second free. We had said goodbye to the people we had met the night before so used this promo as a good way to meet new friends. We played beer pong with everyone and had some mexican food followed by a nightclub. We managed to get free drinks from a bar tender (Michelle) which is always good. The the real drama began because Edd managed to get a police fine from a cop due to him having an open container.
Saturday night pretty much consisted of similar antics drinking and partying aswell as trying to get as many freebies as possible whilst trying not to get arrested.
P.S - Edd contemplated paying or not paying the fine so i asked a cop on the saturday night for some advice and he said that if he was in our shoes he wouldnt bother paying the fine.
Friday night we went out as part of a hostel promotion of Buy one drink get the second free. We had said goodbye to the people we had met the night before so used this promo as a good way to meet new friends. We played beer pong with everyone and had some mexican food followed by a nightclub. We managed to get free drinks from a bar tender (Michelle) which is always good. The the real drama began because Edd managed to get a police fine from a cop due to him having an open container.
Saturday night pretty much consisted of similar antics drinking and partying aswell as trying to get as many freebies as possible whilst trying not to get arrested.
P.S - Edd contemplated paying or not paying the fine so i asked a cop on the saturday night for some advice and he said that if he was in our shoes he wouldnt bother paying the fine.
Friday 15 October 2010
Thursday 14/10/2010
Santa Barbara....
So we woke up early to catch the Greyhound and went through the standard rock, paper, scissors which we had become a custom to and Rowe lost the game which meant he had sit on his own on the bus.
We were quietly pleased that it turned out that this Greyhound turned out to be one of the best buses we had ever been on due to the fact it had leather seats as well as Wifi.
After a 6 hour bus ride we arrived in Santa Barbara and made are way to the hostel. It turns out the hostel isn't up to the standards that we had become a custom to and therefore we aim to complain and see what we get out of them.
We went out with some of the people who were staying in are dorm which was cool. They are all really nice and it turned out thursdays in Santa Barbara is college night so they had loads of drink offers and even beer pong.
So we woke up early to catch the Greyhound and went through the standard rock, paper, scissors which we had become a custom to and Rowe lost the game which meant he had sit on his own on the bus.
We were quietly pleased that it turned out that this Greyhound turned out to be one of the best buses we had ever been on due to the fact it had leather seats as well as Wifi.
After a 6 hour bus ride we arrived in Santa Barbara and made are way to the hostel. It turns out the hostel isn't up to the standards that we had become a custom to and therefore we aim to complain and see what we get out of them.
We went out with some of the people who were staying in are dorm which was cool. They are all really nice and it turned out thursdays in Santa Barbara is college night so they had loads of drink offers and even beer pong.
Tuesday 12/10/2010 and Wednesday 13/10/2010
So nothing much to update everyone on as we have basically just chilled out on the beach and in the Motel.
You could say we've been living the life of riley.
We have decided we will head down the coast to Santa Barbara on Thursday for a long weekend. In order to book everything we needed to ring up a hostel which when you don't have a phone can be fairly tricky. So before we went to a pay phone we decided to blag ourselves into a hotel pretending we were guests in order to use one of their phones. This worked a treat as we managed to get the receptionist to ring up the hostel and even introduced us as one of his guests. we decided to celebrate with a couple of beers that night and some pool. whilst playing pool we met three guys who we got chatting to and it turned out one of them used to live/work in Santa Barbara. So he then made it his mission to give us all the hot spots and the names of the door staff in order to get us into the clubs/bars for free.
We then had an early night due us having to get the Greyhound at 8.30 in the morning.
You could say we've been living the life of riley.
We have decided we will head down the coast to Santa Barbara on Thursday for a long weekend. In order to book everything we needed to ring up a hostel which when you don't have a phone can be fairly tricky. So before we went to a pay phone we decided to blag ourselves into a hotel pretending we were guests in order to use one of their phones. This worked a treat as we managed to get the receptionist to ring up the hostel and even introduced us as one of his guests. we decided to celebrate with a couple of beers that night and some pool. whilst playing pool we met three guys who we got chatting to and it turned out one of them used to live/work in Santa Barbara. So he then made it his mission to give us all the hot spots and the names of the door staff in order to get us into the clubs/bars for free.
We then had an early night due us having to get the Greyhound at 8.30 in the morning.
Tuesday 12 October 2010
Monday 11/10/10
So we finally get to leave San Francisco for the beach! Santa Cruz here we come!
Just one thing stands in our way ............ the GREYHOUND!
So here we are at a little cafe ready to embark on our journey, however one thing must be decided.....who is on their lonesome on the Greyhound. First round of Rock, Paper, Scissors has no clear winner. Second Round Ed wins which leaves Rowe and I to fight it out for the seat next to Ed. I lost of course (Paper beats Rock)!
After all the hype and anticipation the Greyhound turned out fine and I had two seats to myself for the entire journey.
Santa Cruz! Santa Cruz is straight out the movies. A quiet, sleepy little surf town with a kinda hippy vibe. We are also staying in a Motel which again is just like the kind you see in the movies (swimming pool in the car park etc).
Santa Cruz seems a cool town everyone is really friendly. We even bumped into Adam (NZ roomy from USA Hostels) and his girlfriend in town which was cool. We headed to the beach and chilled out on the sand because the water was freezing!
We found out their was some Dubstep happening in town so again bought some beers and vodka for the night ahead.
We had a really funny night which basically consisted of us going to two bars/clubs and being the only people on the dance floor the whole night. Got some lucky charms cereal on the way home to top off a good night.
Just one thing stands in our way ............ the GREYHOUND!
So here we are at a little cafe ready to embark on our journey, however one thing must be decided.....who is on their lonesome on the Greyhound. First round of Rock, Paper, Scissors has no clear winner. Second Round Ed wins which leaves Rowe and I to fight it out for the seat next to Ed. I lost of course (Paper beats Rock)!
After all the hype and anticipation the Greyhound turned out fine and I had two seats to myself for the entire journey.
Santa Cruz! Santa Cruz is straight out the movies. A quiet, sleepy little surf town with a kinda hippy vibe. We are also staying in a Motel which again is just like the kind you see in the movies (swimming pool in the car park etc).
Santa Cruz seems a cool town everyone is really friendly. We even bumped into Adam (NZ roomy from USA Hostels) and his girlfriend in town which was cool. We headed to the beach and chilled out on the sand because the water was freezing!
We found out their was some Dubstep happening in town so again bought some beers and vodka for the night ahead.
We had a really funny night which basically consisted of us going to two bars/clubs and being the only people on the dance floor the whole night. Got some lucky charms cereal on the way home to top off a good night.
Sunday 10/10/10
So after a heavy night on the town we thought it would be wise to spend the day chilling out in order to help the hangover but more importantly the wallet.
We were becoming increasingly more annoyed with the lack of fresh fruit and healthier types of food within close proximity. Saying that Rowe has decided to put upon himself a challenge to eat a burger every day for the entire duration of being in America (roughly 30 days). If he chooses not to eat a burger one day then that burger will roll onto another day.
Tomorrow we get the much discussed Greyhound to Santa Cruz, it has been the topic of many conversations and many warn us of how bad the service is and more importantly the types of people which ride the Greyhound. Therefore we have decided to play rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to sit on their own and ultimately potentially next to a BUM (Homeless guy).
P.S - So far in the burger challenge the front runner in the best burger stakes is easily the In and Out cheese burger animal style (shout out to Tegan for this recommendation)..........such a good burger!
We were becoming increasingly more annoyed with the lack of fresh fruit and healthier types of food within close proximity. Saying that Rowe has decided to put upon himself a challenge to eat a burger every day for the entire duration of being in America (roughly 30 days). If he chooses not to eat a burger one day then that burger will roll onto another day.
Tomorrow we get the much discussed Greyhound to Santa Cruz, it has been the topic of many conversations and many warn us of how bad the service is and more importantly the types of people which ride the Greyhound. Therefore we have decided to play rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to sit on their own and ultimately potentially next to a BUM (Homeless guy).
P.S - So far in the burger challenge the front runner in the best burger stakes is easily the In and Out cheese burger animal style (shout out to Tegan for this recommendation)..........such a good burger!
Monday 11 October 2010
Saturday 09/10/2010
Nightmare!
So we had planned on heading down to Santa Cruz for a couple of days but we left it to the last minute and soon discovered that not only were all the hostels sold out the greyhound wasn't running that day. This all would have been cool however nearly every hostel in San fran was booked up also! It took us half the day trying to find somewhere to stay but eventually found a decent hostel which would ultimately serve us well.
So due to a stressful day we decided to hit the town and manage to blag our way back into USA Hostels where they were hosting a black and white party which included free drinks.
So we had planned on heading down to Santa Cruz for a couple of days but we left it to the last minute and soon discovered that not only were all the hostels sold out the greyhound wasn't running that day. This all would have been cool however nearly every hostel in San fran was booked up also! It took us half the day trying to find somewhere to stay but eventually found a decent hostel which would ultimately serve us well.
So due to a stressful day we decided to hit the town and manage to blag our way back into USA Hostels where they were hosting a black and white party which included free drinks.
Friday 08/10/2010
Hanging!
We spent the day just chilling out.......
Nothing much to report on apart from we had the biggest sandwhich I have ever seen! It was like a foot long and had 3 types of meat and was only 8 bucks.
Good times!
We spent the day just chilling out.......
Nothing much to report on apart from we had the biggest sandwhich I have ever seen! It was like a foot long and had 3 types of meat and was only 8 bucks.
Good times!
Thursday 07/10/2010
So we booked a couple of nights in a Hostel in San Francisco. We decided to stay in the San Francisco branch of the hostel chain USA Hostels as it was voted number 2 hostel in the USA 2009.
We stayed in a 4 bed mixed dorm and we were all pleased to find that our new roomy was a New Zealand guy called Adam who seemed pretty safe.
That night the Hostel had organised a pub crawl for all guests so we off course being brits went out and bought pre-drinking drinks. Our pre-drinking drinks consisted of a 1.75 LTr bottle of Vodka and two pint cans of Steel reserve (8% Vol). This lead to us meeting loads of cool people and lasting only one bar of the bar crawl before retiring back to the hostel.
Good times!
We stayed in a 4 bed mixed dorm and we were all pleased to find that our new roomy was a New Zealand guy called Adam who seemed pretty safe.
That night the Hostel had organised a pub crawl for all guests so we off course being brits went out and bought pre-drinking drinks. Our pre-drinking drinks consisted of a 1.75 LTr bottle of Vodka and two pint cans of Steel reserve (8% Vol). This lead to us meeting loads of cool people and lasting only one bar of the bar crawl before retiring back to the hostel.
Good times!
Wednesday 06/10/2010
Alcatraz!
So we had pre booked our tickets to the infamous prison ALCATRAZ and began our day by setting off on a ferry ride from Alemeda into San Francisco before jumping on another ferry which would drop us off on Alcatraz island.
Alcatraz was a really cool trip as we were all given head sets which provided a guided tour of the prison from the opinions and stories of real prison officers and inmates.
We arrived back at Matt's house after walking miles and we were all so tired we fell asleep by 19:30.
Tomorrow we leave Matt's for the city lights of San Francisco for a couple of days in the city.
So we had pre booked our tickets to the infamous prison ALCATRAZ and began our day by setting off on a ferry ride from Alemeda into San Francisco before jumping on another ferry which would drop us off on Alcatraz island.
Alcatraz was a really cool trip as we were all given head sets which provided a guided tour of the prison from the opinions and stories of real prison officers and inmates.
We arrived back at Matt's house after walking miles and we were all so tired we fell asleep by 19:30.
Tomorrow we leave Matt's for the city lights of San Francisco for a couple of days in the city.
Thursday 7 October 2010
Tuesday 05 October 2010
On Tuesday Matt offered to drive us to some of San Francisco's famous sights which included the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombardo as well as driving us up a hill so that we can see some amazing views of the city. Before we set off on this trip we did encounter a slight hick up due to Matt not taking are advice on having a bowl of Lucky charms for breakfast.
After Matt dropped us off in town we wondered around San Fran to get a feel for the city we will be calling home for the next 6 days.
We took the BART back to Alemeda and then went on a bus ride around Alemeda before eventually finding are way back to Matt's house.
Once we arrived back at Matt's we had to have a quick turn around before we had to go to one of their friends house for a BBQ. Matt had told us about his friend and what he does etc but we were very surprised to find that the stories of big house, big T.V and Fast car were all true. Matt's friend Steve and his family welcomed us in and had cooked a feast for us as well as a guided tour of their house and their garage which was home to an Aston Martin Vantage.
After dinner the boys incl Steve and Matt headed out to Park Street for some german beer (in 2 Pint steins) and a jug of blackberry Margarita. We then headed back to Steve's for a LADS night in which included playing on his 82inch HD 3D T.V with PS3, Xbox and Wii.
Tuesday 5 October 2010
D'Day (04/10/2010)
We woke up at 6:30 so we could get are 7:30 taxi bound for Heathrow Terminal 5.
Upon arriving at Terminal 5 we flew through check in and security and began waiting for our stateside trip to begin!
After a 10 hour 20 minute flight we finally landed in San Francisco and jumped in a CAB destined for Ed's Dad's cousin (Matt) house.
Matt is real cool. His wife (Milia) cooked us an amazing Chicken chilli and also made real Guacamole with chips (crisps).
We also tucked into a couple of beers followed by some tequilla.
Upon arriving at Terminal 5 we flew through check in and security and began waiting for our stateside trip to begin!
After a 10 hour 20 minute flight we finally landed in San Francisco and jumped in a CAB destined for Ed's Dad's cousin (Matt) house.
Matt is real cool. His wife (Milia) cooked us an amazing Chicken chilli and also made real Guacamole with chips (crisps).
We also tucked into a couple of beers followed by some tequilla.
Sunday 03 October
So we all set off from a wet and rainy Castle Cary on the 12:34 Train destined to Paddington with Tegan in Toe. It had been a long week saying all our goodbyes to all our loved ones but at last we were destined to the big smoke.
Once we had arrived at Tegans flat we headed off to a pub around the corner called the Salthouse for a couple of drinks before are send off meal at Thai Rice in Maida Vale courtesy of Tegan and Tom (Cheers Guys!).
We then went back to the flat for a quiet night in until we were rudely awakened by TRACY!!!!
Once we had arrived at Tegans flat we headed off to a pub around the corner called the Salthouse for a couple of drinks before are send off meal at Thai Rice in Maida Vale courtesy of Tegan and Tom (Cheers Guys!).
We then went back to the flat for a quiet night in until we were rudely awakened by TRACY!!!!
Monday 4 October 2010
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