All photos now on Flickr.

USA 2010 photos.

Stuff travel agents don't tell you that would be nice to know before you go.

1. Driving on the right hand side of the road is very easy to get used to. Driving on the left after coming home - not so much!


2. Getting cash in the States after 9/11 is not easy. We put Mum's Mastercard and my Visa Card into numerous holes-in-the-wall trying to get cash, and only succeeded once (at SeaWorld). Taking New Zealand dollars is no good either - the banks won't change foreign dollars unless you have a US bank account. Take American dollars with you - do NOT wait to exchange cash at LAX - the rate is 12c less than in New Zealand.


3. Following on from the previous note - you do need cash in the States. Unlike NZ, where you can survive on plastic, you have to have cash to tip in the States.


4. Many intersections in the US have four-way stop signs. Pedestrians get the right of way. Then it's first come first served. If more than one car arrives at the same time, give way (yield) to drivers on your right.


5. In California people sit on the speed limit. In Florida, they go 10-15 miles above the speed limit.


6. Drivers can be fined for driving too slow on the freeways. Brilliant!


7. The Motel 6 chain have cooking facilities in the rooms. I wish we had known this before day 32 of a 35 night trip.


8. Ask the locals where they eat. Tourist restaurants will charge $29.99 for all you can eat; locals restaurants will charge $9.99.


9. The media give Americans a bad rap. Americans are not as fat as we are. And certainly not on the West Coast. And especially the kids. We didn't see any fat kids in California at all - not the way you see so many of them in New Zealand.


10. Take over a bunch of New Zealand keyrings, stickers, calendars, etc from the $2 shop and give them to random people you meet and like - they are hugely popular, and fun.


11. Do not drink the water. They say it's safe, but it tastes awful. But bottled water in bulk. We paid $4.95 for a 24 pack at the gas station.


12. Speaking of gas - it's about a third of the price that we pay in New Zealand.


13. Getting around Las Vegas - use the RTC bus system - $7 for 24 hours.


14. If you ever stay at Curry Village in Yosemite National Park in winter in a "heated" tent, the thermostat has to drop to freezing before the heater switches on again. Go to Wal Mart and buy sleeping bags.


15. Wal Mart is awesome. A half to a third to a quarter, and less, the price of the same stuff at The Warehouse here in New Zealand.


16. If you are visiting theme parks, use their Fast Pass system for the rides. This can save you hours of waiting in queues.


17. Speaking of queues - learn to live with them. They are a part of life in the States.


18. Wear clean socks when flying. You have to take your shoes off so they can x-ray them to check for bombs.


19. There are no showers at LAX. And the shopping and restaurants offer less than at Auckland Domestic.


20. If flying on from LAX, have at least three hours between arrival and departure times. No one seems to know how to work the fingerprint machines properly, and it took us nearly two hours to get through customs.

The theme parks will fingerprint you. They do this in about 2.3 seconds. They should go and work for Homeland Security and teach them how to work the fingerprint machines.

21. If using Google maps to work out driving times:
    • add one hour if driving through LA, or any other big city, outside rush hour. Add two hours if driving through between 6am and 10am or 3pm and 7pm.
    
    
    • check out the terrain - if there's altitude, or winding roads, add about half an hour for every two hours Google suggests.
22. If using GPS - this will take you on the most direct route. If you want to use GPS and drive the scenic routes, combine it with Google maps. Use Google maps to pull the blue route marker onto the scenic routes, then break the journey down for GPS to follow that scenic route.


23. If using GPS for the first time - plug it into the cigarette lighter. Seriously, we didn't know this, and nearly ran the battery out.


24. Rental car companies charge around $15.95 per day to hire GPS. You can buy them at Wal Mart from $59. (I wish we had known this at the start of our 22 days car hire without GPS because we couldn't afford the $350 to hire one).


25. If you are going to the West Coast, or Florida, for any length of time, learn a little bit of Spanish.


26. If you are going to south Miami, learn a lot of Spanish.


27. The Playboy Bunny Club in Las Vegas is off The Strip, $30 round trip in a cab. It does not open until 9pm. Sigh.


28. Theme park tickets get cheaper the longer you go for - e.g. Disney one day pass $82; 10-day pass $26.20 per day.


29. The address of Westwood Cemetery where Marilyn Monroe is buried is 1218 Glendon Avenue in the Westwood Village.


30. Visit a Gelson's Supermarket if you can. They are amazing.

Los Angeles - December 8 and 9

5am is not the ideal time to have to get up to catch a flight. We flew first to Atlanta - which was suffering miserably in 25 degree weather (that's -3.8C), before heading on to LA. I love flying across the States - there's almost nothing there, and it feels like looking down on an alien landscape. Very cool.

When we picked up the car at Alamo this time, we opted for GPS for the remainder of the trip. One does not attempt to navigate LA without it. With it, we arrived without a problem at the Queen Mary Hotel in Long Beach. And then the problems started.

I had had great difficulty booking in here - their on-line booking system was a nightmare, it kept dropping out and redirecting me to wrong pages to the point where I gave up on day one, and didn't manage to make a booking until the next day. When it finally worked and sent through a confirmation, I glanced at it, said thank goodness for that, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Little did I know the system had not booked us in for the dates on the December calendar that I had selected, but for November. About a week prior to our arrival I had received an e-mail from the Queen Mary thanking us for our recent stay and asking if I could fill in a survey. I sent a reply saying we hadn't stayed on board yet and could they check our booking, but never heard back from them.

The blonde dolly bird who checked us in apologised profusely for the mix up - but insisted on double charging us. So, not only had they taken $214 off my credit card, she did the same off Mum's. Maybe she thought that everyone who stays on the boat is filthy rich and doesn't care about being ripped off by a dodgy reservation system, but in my case I had saved for four years for this trip, had no job to come home to. I hated it. This was supposed to be one of the highlights of the trip, and was certainly intended to finish the trip on a high - instead the experience left me feeling physically sick for the first 24 hours on board, and tarnished the whole trip for a while, until I decided I wasn't letting Miss "I'm really, really sorry" ruin my holiday. I sent a letter off to the Hotel Manager when we came home, so I'll see how that goes. There wasn't any point arguing any further with her or any of the other lackies on board.

Aside from that, the ship is well worth a visit, a walk around, and a meal on-board, but I wouldn't recommend staying on-board. It's a bloody long way to carry your own bags from the carpark to the cabins, the walls are paper thin, and the cupboards were all quite dirty inside. Not what we expected for the most expensive accommodation we paid for in the States.

On Wednesday night we had dinner with my cousin Valerie, daughter of my Mum's sister Jackie that we had caught up with in Sonoma at the start of our trip. I've been friends with Val on Facebook for a while, but this was the first time we'd met. She was wonderful! So like our family - same outlook on life, same sense of humour, it was quite strange (but delighful). She took us to an awesome Thai restaurant in Studio City (she's a writer and lives in the gorgeous Hollywood Hills) where the recipes all come from the village back home in Thailand. Wonderful.

The next day we used our GPS to get us an hour an a half north of LA to Acton, where Randy and Debbie, long time friends of one of our friends here in Tauranga, live. They ruin a sanctuary for abandoned cats, and currently have 52. 52 cats! Oh, heaven! Acton is beautiful - 4000ft up (I think, or 2000 - high, anyway) with lovely mountains around desert landscape. Gorgeous.

Randy took us down to West LA for a tour of "the" areas of the city. I had to chuckle - there is not a single price tag on a single item in a store window on Rodeo Drive - if you have to ask, you can't afford it! The concierge on the Queen Mary said he was talking to a rich dude once who shops on Rodeo Drive, who has NO IDEA of the price of anything he buys. He sees, he likes, he hands over card, he never looks at statement. Mad.

We were also privileged enough to have Randy take us to Westwood Cemetary. If you don't know where it is, or you don't have a local to take you there, you would never find it - and yet, the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Rodney Dangerfield, Farrah Fawcett, and Don Knotts are buried there. Marilyn's tomb is pale pink - they clean the lipstick off, but over the years, so many girls kissing the marble have stained it pink. The empty tomb on the left of Marilyn is Hef's, which I knew. He'll be lying there when he goes. I had my bunny bag with me for a photo - it's probably the closest I'll ever get to Hef.

Randy also showed us where he was parked up the day they caught OJ. He saw it all go down - all the cop cars, the helicopters, and OJ himself go sailing past before he was caught.

Another highlight (my North Carolina friends will laugh at this) was a trip to Gelson's Supermarket, where I don't know how many people are employed to replace every single item as soon as it is taken off a shelf, so it looks like a brand new supermarket all the time. It really was a work of art. A huge thank you to Randy for sharing his LA with us.

After our day with Randy it was back to the Evil Ship for our final night in the US. The following day we didn't fly out until 10pm, so had planned to go to Griffith Observatory, but when I Google mapped it it said an hour and a half drive north from Long Beach. In LA, that means two and a half hours (the traffic is HORRIBLE), so we flagged that. I also wanted to go to Moods fabric store and Sprinkles cupcakes, but was really just too tired to drive anywhere much. So, we headed for the Long Beach Shopping Center, and saw Harry Potter 7 on IMAX - awesome! Then to the airport early in preparation for the loooooooooooooong trip home.

More photos from Los Angeles.

Key West - December 6 and 7.

From the Everglades we headed south for the drive to Key West. I had been there before, but arrived on a cruise ship, so hadn't done that amazing drive down Route 1 to it's end. Actually, we didn't get onto Route 1 until Florida City - prior to that we were on the 997, which went through small local towns and orchards - a great drive.

Key West is beautiful. There seems to be a building covenant of "white, colonial", which is what most of the houses are, at least in the touristy part of town. When we left we drove through the poorer parts of town (didn't know there were any in Key West) and found normal, run-down houses that didn't look at all "Key West". But Key West Central, in the touristy areas, is gorgeous. We walked most of the area on foot the evening we arrived, including the tourist length of Duval Street, the main shopping strip. Had an awesome meal at a Cuban restaurant, and poked around the shops and art galleries.

On our second day our friends Cathy and Rick, and 11 of their family, arrived at Key West on a cruise ship from Miami, so we headed down to the pier and met them there. What a treat! Not seeing them for 10 years, and then twice in a week. Because there were so many of us we managed to do a deal on a tour bus that ended up costing us $14 each instead of $28. And the best thing was, we went on a heated tour bus! Not as "authentic" Key West as the Conch Train, but there was a wind blowing that had come all the way down from snow-bound New York, and the people that did go past on the Conch Train looked MISERABLE!

I can't recommend these tours highly enough - not only do you cover the entire area in an hour, but you get lots of interesting stories about the place too. Like the rich man who built his house, decided the porch was too hot for comfort because of the position of the sun, so moved the entire house acrfoss the road. It is the only odd-numbered house on that side of Duval Street. Or the woman whose effigy of her kneeling, naked, with her hands bound behind her, is on the 1966 tomb of her husband Archibald Yates - because that was the way he liked her best. She also had two smaller naked women placed at the foot of the tomb to symbolise his philandering.

After the Sanders Clan headed back to the ship, Mum and I headed to the Key West Shipwreck Museum. It's funny - I was there in about 1999, and never dreamed that I would one day be back there showing Mum around. Brilliant. After a late lunch we then headed north again for Fort Lauderdale, and to brace ourselves against getting up at 5am the next morning to head back to the West Coast.

More photos from Key West.

Everglades Safari Park - December 6.

Best value park in the USA - this one! $20 bought us a 45 minute awesome trip through the Everglades on an airboat, a half hour show with a bloke and three alligators he's worked with for over 20 years, who you could tell just adored him, and a free wander thorugh the rest of the Park. Excellent value. It was sooooo exciting to see the alligators in the wild through the Everglades - not a place to go swimming! Mum bought alligator tails in the restaurant - the Indians used to use them as a never-ending food source - if you only cut off the tip of their tails, they grow another one! I tried not to think about that while I attempted a nibble - not my cup of tea. Tastes like a cross between chicken and pork, which was nice, but also had a seafood tang to it, which I didn't like (I don't like seafood). If you like seafood, I reckon you'll love alligator tails (unless, of course, you don't like pork or chicken).

Photos from the Everglades Safari Park.

Miami Dolphins - December 5.

"We got fins to the left, fins to the right, It's the only game in town ..."

Miami Dolphins v Cleveland Browns, Sun Life Stadium, Miami - WHAT an experience! An NFL match is something insane. The gates open four hours before kick-off; everyone rocks up, parks up, opnes their tailgate, gets out the BBQ, the trestle tables, the gazebos, the stereos, and the carpark becomes party central - known as a Tailgate Party. Awesome. What an atmosphere. Those Americans sure know how to party.

The game itself - sorry, but give me rugby any day. Had no idea what was going on - we were supporting the Dolphins, so if people in orange and green were going Woo Hoo then we would go Woo Hoo; if people in brown were going Woo Hoo then we would go Boo. My brother had downloaded a quarter before we left New Zealand and tried to explain it - but he never mentioned that in the middle of the game, with the players still on the field, and the ball still in play, the girls would come on the field down the other end and start dancing. Weird. But fun. The atmosphere was electric. Everyone should go to at least one NFL match in their life.

For the record, it was 10-10, and then the Browns scored 3 points with TWO seconds left on the clock. As one Dolphins fan said, "Yes, yes, well done Browns, your team played slightly less crappy than ours did." Ha! So it wasn't just me who thought, this is a crap game.

End note: it took us an hour and a half to find the car after the game! Dark was falling - what a feeling of relief to push the keys and see a car spit its locks up.

More photos from the Miami Dolphins v Cleveland Browns.

Lion Country Safari Park - December 4 AND 5.

Oh my gosh darn - if Busch Gardens was disappointing, Lion Country exceeded my wildest expectations - it was awesome! This is what I thought Busch Gardens would be like (minus the roller coasters). A 500 acre open air drive through safari park, this place was just amazing - the variety and number of animals was staggering, the people who ran the campground were some of the friendliest and most helpful we came across in the States, and we went through twice it was so brilliant - once in the afternoon of the 4th, and again the next morning. I can not recommend this Park highly enough!

More photos from Lion Country Safari Park.

Busch Gardens - December 3.

One of the theme parks I really wanted to go to was Busch Gardens. As with SeaWorld, I'm glad I went, so I could see it for myself, but I wouldn't go again. I found it to be the most disappointing of the theme parks. Admittedly it's main drawcards are vomit-inducing roller coasters, which we don't do, but their railroad through African safari sounded really good. It was okay. The white water rapids ride sounded great. It was closed. And there were THOUSANDS of screaming high school kids there on end of year school trips. Not much fun.

St Petersburg - December 1-4.

We left SeaWorld about 3pm and headed south-west to see my friends Cathy and Rick. I met them when I was working as a waitress on the R7 cruise ship about 10 years ago, and have kept in touch with them ever since. Google maps managed to get us to Alberca Way without a problem - we then drove up and down their street half a dozen times trying to work out the %$#@*&^ numbering system that American streets seem to use. One house will be #1765, then next one is #1846 and the next one is #1946 so it's very hard to find what you're looking for. I was just about to phone them when Rick came outside - they'd seen a car driving up and down the street several times and thought, "Lost Kiwis!"

It was soooooo good to see them again, and we had such a great time with them. Coming hard on the heels of an awesome time with the Clarks in NC it made us realise what really is the best thing about travel - the people. Cathy and Rick took us on a full day tour of St Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area, we were fortunate enough to catch their sons' band The Bus Stop Band at a gig on the Friday night at a local pub (which was awesome), and we ate at some amazing restaurants that were sooooooo cheap. No wonder peope eat out all the time in the States - I mean, $6.99 all you can eat, and that included sirloin steak, king prawns, deep fried chicken, about three dozen other dishes, and over a dozen desserts. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

SeaWorld Orlando - December 1

Okay, I'm glad we went because I would have worried about what we had missed out on if we didn't go, but in hindsight, having been to SeaWorld on the Gold Coast, Genoa Aquarium, and Nice Aquarium, I wouldn't have bothered. I mean, if you haven't been to one before, great, but if you have - same old, same old. And unlike Disney or Universal where, once you've paid your park entrance fee that's it (except for food), at SeaWorld, once you've paid your entrance fee and gone through the gates, everything else worthwhile costs extra $$$. Want to hand feed a stingray? More money. Want to pat a dolphin? More money. Want to meet a penguin? More money. After three days of everything included parks, it left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. Still worth a visit if you haven't been - but I did think SeaWorld on the Gold Coast was much better.

Islands of Adventure - December 30.

Sorry, Disney, I loved your Park's and all, but for me, Universal's Islands of Adventure was the best Park of all. It's hard to explain IOA - I had researched it all beforehand, but it's hard to tie in the map of the Park with what it actually is. On the map it looks like a number of islands joined together, but in reality, it just all runs in to one. If you have been to Venice then you may have some understanding - you don't really understand the layout of Venice until you go there - IOA is the same.

Unlike the other parks, I did not have a planned day at IOA as the main attraction, for me, was Harry Potter World - which is where we headed first. Oh my gosh darn! To walk through the gates, see the Hogwarts Express steaming away on the right, and looking down the length of Hogsmeade Village was just ... incredible. The authenticity and attention to detail was astounding - you really felt like Harry would pop out from a shop at any moment. We went straight into the Castle for the 4D motiin ride as it appeared there was no queue. Ha! There was a hidden queue - it took us about 45 minutes all up, but half of that was walking through the Castle. Hogwarts IAO was a little darker than in reality, but the paintings were exactly like in the movies (moving and talking), and there were brilliant holographic images of Dumbledore and Harry, Ron, and Hermione chatting to you along the way.

The ride itself was like no other - an insane ride behind Harry on a broomstick, diving 200 feet down to the Lake, up to the top spires of the Castle, through the Forbidden Forest, and more. Tip for first time players - The Hogwarts ride has a Child Swap Room. This is where, after queuing for however long for the ride, Mum goes off on the ride while Dad stays with the kids who don't meet the height restriction or don't want to do the ride, then when Mum comes off she swaps and Dad goes - without having to queue for another two hours. It is really dark in the Hogwarts dungeon - really dark - and it's not clear where to exit after the ride. We accidentally went into the Child Swap Room, out the other end, and an attendant said "How many in your party?" I said "Two", and we went straight back on the ride again! By this time the queue was about three hours long, so this was a real bonus. Orlando Attractions Magazine has uploaded a pretty cool video of the Castle on YouTube.

Although I was only really interested in Harry Potter World, the rest of IAO is great too. In particular, we enjoyed the Jurassic Park ride, a mostly slow boat ride through dinosaur contry - with one very long drop at the end, and the fun-filled, and very wetting, Popeye's ride. We came out with wet pants but only moderately damp tops - the people across from us looked like they had been chucked in a swimming pool. It depends where you sit. Fun on a hot day - wouldn't be much fun right now with Orlando currently sitting on 0C/32F!

Warning - do not eat at the Comic Strip Cafe. The food was D-I-G-U-S-T-I-N-G!!! The fries were almost cold, and about two hours old - I asked for them to be changed and received hour old fries that were luke warm. Totally gross.

More photos from Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios.

Epcot - November 29.

I am so glad we did Epcot after Magic Kingdom; the other way around, Magic Kingdom would have fallen flat. MK was built in 1971 and Epcot in 1982, and although the latter is now alost 30 years old, it seemed shiny and new in comparison to MK. The Park is much bigger than MK, and is built in two sections - Future World, with all the rides and attractions, and World Showcase - a dazzling array of pavilions built around a lagoon showcasing the shopping, culture, shopping, cuisine, shopping, architecture, and shopping of 11 different countries. As with MK, we had a plan of attack for this park as well:

1. Head straight toward Test Track and pick up a Fastpass for later.

2. Double-back and get in line for Mission: SPACE. (This was an awesome 3-D experience that launched you to Mars, and was led by Gary Sinese - you can't get much better than that!)

3. After Mission: SPACE use your Fastpass for Test Track. (We decided not to do this after all - it looked quite exciting on the website, but in reality just seemed to be a track-bound car that went around and around on a loop at 60 miles per hour. We drive faster on the Ngatea Straights (don't tell the police!) and the circular track would probably leave one with a stomach ache.)

4. Cross the Park to the Imagination Pavilion and collect a Fastpass for Honey I Shrunk the Audience. (Okay, so Disney hadn't updated their website, and this attraction was no longer available. A pity - it looked quite fun.)

5. Watch Captain EO starring Michael Jackson. (This classic 1980s 3D movie collaboration between George Lucas and Michael Jackson returned to Epcot following Jackson's death, and it has been one of the most popular attractions ever since. A real experience to see the young Michael (when he was a good looking black man as opposed to an ugly looking white woman) performing right in front of you in his prime.)

6. Use Fastpass ticket for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. (Okay, still annoyed we missed this!)

7. Head for Spaceship Earth. (There is no Fast Pass for this attraction - but if you wait until the afternoo, the crowds are much less. It was an enjoyable journey through time covering the history of the earth, and narrated by the lovely Dame Judi Dench.)

8. Walk through Innoventions. (Okay, we never had the time for this. Epcot in a day is a big ask - if you're nuts on science, then make the effort, otherwise, skip it like we did in favour of the rides and World Showcase.)

9. Head to Ellen’s Energy Adventure in the Universe of Energy pavilion. (This was so not what we expected, and was so much more awesome that could be imagined. The scale that this ride was constructed on was incredible - they do things big in America!)

10. Head to World Showcase: Mexico and take the Grand Fiesta Tour. (Always much keener on the duck than the mouse, this gentle boat ride with Donald was a lot of fun.)

11. Head to Norway and ride the Great Maelstrom. (Another fun and gentle boat ride - thankfully the "thrilling backward plummet" didn't amount to anything. Thrilling for a five year old, maybe.)

12. Wander through China (film), Germany, Italy, America, Japan, Morocco, France (film), U.K. , and Canada (film), stopping for lunch along the way. (The films were amazing - shown in very large screening rooms with either 180 degree or 360 degree screens, this was as close as you could get to the respective countries without going there. A brilliant experience.)

13. Return to Future World and visit the Land Pavilion. Visit Soarin’ or Living with Land, whichever has the shorter queue, and get a Fastpass ticket for the other one to do afterwards. (Trust me - Soarin' will have the bigger queue. Our Fast Pass tickets gave us a retun time of over three hours away - by 3pm all the Fast Passes through until 9pm were booked, and the non-Fast Pass queue was about two hours. Living With the Land was incredible - a gentle boat ride (Disney does like its gentle boat rides) though the latest developments in aquaculture and desert farming, all of which seemed to involve growing crops as trees rather than along the gound, and that resulted in fruit and vegetables three, four, five and more times the size of regular crops. Just amazing. There's a great video of the Greenhouse portion of the tour on YouTube. Soarin' - Soarin' was by far and away the best ride at either Disney park. Strapped into a roller coaster style over-shoulder harness, we were lifted 40 feet up into an IMAX projection dome that wrapped 180 degrees around us, so you're engulfed by the impressive scenery, and really feel like you are on a hang glider flight through California. My one regret about Epcot is that we were unable to get a second ride on this awesome attraction due to the queues.

14. Head for The Seas with Nemo and Friends and experience the Clamobile and Turtle Talk. (Toddler friendly, but still a lot of fun.)

15. Head back to World Showcase for dinner, and then find a good spot to watch IllumiNations. Best viewing spots are a sat on the veranda at the Cantina de San Angel in Mexico, the outside restaurant balcony in Japan, or the International Gateway Bridge near the U.K. (Or - anywhere really. Let's face it, when the show is in the sky, it doesn't matter where you are. I had heard that the nightly fireworks display over Epcot is one of the best in the world - and it didn't disappoint.)

One of the other highlights for me, after a few weeks of burgers and fries, was heading to the Rose & Crown at the U.K. Pavilion and having bangers and mash for lunch, accompanied by a pint of Strongbow cider - STRONGBOW!!! My brand of preference, that I hadn't had for over 10 years as you can't get it it New Zealand. Soooooo good.

More photos from Epcot.

Magic Kingdom - November 28.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom about an hour before opening - hence we were approximately numbers 2056 and 2057 in the queue to get in. I didn't know that that many people could get that many children organised to go somewhere at that time of the morning. And this was during term time! I can only imagine (and shudder) at what the school holidays must be like.

Disney is ... fun. It's classic fun, with exciting shops, and Disney characters, and iconic images come to life (such as the Cinderella Castle and Tom Sawyer Island), and roller coasters that are not designed to make you throw up at 200 feet. Yes - I managed to get Mum (and myself, for that matter) onto a roller coaster - the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - that does not do any loop-the-loops, doesn't ever have a 200 foot drop on either side of it, and rushes through classic Olde Golde Towne countryside in constructed scenery based on Red Rock in Arizona (Arizona). Methinks.

I had spent a lot of time researching the Park before we left, and came up with the following Magic Kingdom in a Day Schedule:

1. After leaving the turnstiles, head immediately for the central hub, turn left, and head for Adventureland. Collect a Fastpass for the Jungle Cruise, check out the Swiss Family Treehouse, and then return to do the Jungle Cruise.
2. Take the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
3. Head for Frontierland, collect a Fastpass for Splash Mountain, and then take a round trip on the Walt Disney World Railroad.
4. Take the Splash Mountain ride.
5. Collect a Fastpass for the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and check out Tom Sawyer Island.
6. Take the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
7. Test your shooting skills at the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade and then head towards Liberty Square.
8. Take a cruise on the Liberty Square Riverboat and check out The Haunted Mansion.
9. Head to Fantasyland, collect a Fastpass for Peter Pan’s Flight, and go on the It’s a Small World ride (classic Disney, and just delightful).
10. Take Peter Pan’s Flight.
11. Check out the Mickey’s PhilHarMagic Show.
12. Go for a spin on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (we actually opted out of this - it's not scary at all, but looked quite stomach-churney.
13. Wander through Mickey’s Toon Town Fair.
14. Head to Tomorrowland, collect a Fastpass for Space Mountain (also opted out of this - a few too many warnings about damage to necks and backs - ours are bad at the best of times), and take a ride with the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (great aerial views of the Park).
15. Take the Space Mountain ride.
16. Wander through the rest of Tomorrowland and then head back to Main Street U.S.A. (completely missed any of the vehicles!) to check out Cinderella Castle. I was a bit disappointed that this didn't have more in it - you walked through it on the lower level, but the rest of the Castle is just design, not functional.

This schedule worked surprisingly well. The FastPass system is great - at the entracne to certain rides are Fast Past machines - you put in your Park ticket, which is spat back out along with a pass to return at a certain time - e.g. if you put your park ticket in at 10.00am, you may be told to come back between 11.10am and 12.10pm - at which point you enter the Fast Pass queue rather than the general queue. On popular rides this can cut your waiting time from two hours down to about 10 minutes. This was for the time of year we were there, at least - I imagine school holidays and mid-summer the queues may take longer.

The other beauty of Fast Pass first thing in the morning is this - most of the early-morning Americans know about Fast Pass, so the first thing they do on arrival is go to Fast Pass machines. Tis means that no one is actually going on the rides as they are all queuing to get Fast Passes to avoid the queues! As such, we walked straight past all the Americans queuing to get Fast Passes to take the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Work with it, and you can cut your queue times down considerably.

We also did some things off the cuff that we hadn't planned to do - although old, the animatronic show Country Bear Jamboree happening to be about to start as we walked past, and this was a delight. FOr a list of the rest of the attractions at Magic Kingdom, check out the Disney website.

If you are visiting Magic Kingdom (or Disneyland in LA, which is almost an identical layout) then I do recommend researching the Park beforehand, and working out what you want to do ahead of time. Obviously what we chose to do was different to what a family would chose to do. One really nice thing about Magic Kingdom is that their lack of stomach-churning, G-force submitting, vomit-inducing roller coaster-type rides means there is also a lack of teenagers and early 20s idiots tearing about the Park. Definitely the most family-friendly Park of all those we went to.

More photos from Magic Kingdom.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

FIVE theme parks in four days! A tour of St Petersburg and Clearwater with our friends Cathy and RIck today, ANOTHER park tomorrow! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Getting ready .....

Four theme parks in four days - that's the plan! We arrived in Orlando this morning via the overnight train from Raleigh (had a sleeper carriage, wonderful!) after an amazing four nights in King, NC, with the incredibly welcoming and awesome Clark family. Ate way too much (we were there for Thanksgiving), had a dog to share my bed with (oh Bubbles, how I miss thee), and made some great new friends - all related to the friends we were staying with. We just loved our time there, and I'll definitely be making an effort to get back there for another visit.

Off to bed now - those theme parks are looking quite daunting!

Recovering from Vegas.

Shirley Porter, Karolyn Timarkos, Kristi Clark, Dustin Elter - Juice & Java.

We are now in King, North Carolina, staying with friends, and recovering from Vegas. Don't get me wrong, we loved it, but Vegas should have a compulsory 1:1 ratio - if you spend a week there, you need a week to recover. We have walked through most of the major casinos on The Strip and, consequently, feel like we have toured France, Italy, Egypt, and the Mediterranean - we even went for a gondola ride through the streets of "Venice" and under ther bridge of sighs, which looked just like the real city, only cleaner and less crowded. A great way to travel Europe!

I missed the Bunny Club. Spent $15 on a taxi to get there on our last night, only to discover that it didn't open until 9pm, and we had tickets for Rod Stewart at 8pm. Was too tied after the concert, and couldn't afford to spend another $30 getting there and back. Forlornly bought two fridge magnets, one for me, one for Jade. Next time I'll know!

My friend Kristi and her boyfirend Dustin are in the kitchen baking pumpkin cupcakes - we are having two Thanksgivings - one tonight, and one tomorrow. How spoilt! Last night we went with them to the supermarket - it usually takes then 10 minutes; with two Kiwis in tow it took over half an hour, and they had to keep explaining to people, "It's okay, they're from New Zealand" as I took photos of everything!

I have an animal to share my bed here! An 8 month old Shih Tzu puppy called Bubbles, who is just adorable. I miss jackson terribly, so it's nice to have someone on the bed for a bit.

I was up till 1.30am this morning watching TV3 News and Campbell Live streaming live from NZ with the coverage of Pike River. Just terrible, and what an awful time the residents of Greymouth and Reefton must be going through. Very, very sad.

After a couple of days of clouds and drizzle, we are back to blue skies. I'm off now to take photos of fallen leaves. Love to everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!

More photos from King, NC.

Pike River

Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the families and friends of the miners at Pike River at this terrible time.

Hi from 10,000 feet.

Mum and I are currently at 10,000 feet somewhere over Utah, heading up to Minneapolis, then back down to Raleigh. Had an awesome time in Vegas, although a week to recover would be nice! Rod Stewart was a brilliant concert, great show, great performance. Cloud cover now obliterating the view so might TRY and get an hour's sleep. Soooooooooooo tired! Bed at midnight, couldn't sleep till about 1.30, and up at 4.15 to catch the flight. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Las Vegas

What a day yesterday. We went with Sundance Helicopters on a flight to the Grand Canyon. It is difficult choosing a company to do this with - almost EVERY Grand Canyon flight company proudly declares themselves to be "The official" Grand Canyon flight company. We saw one place that delcared itself "The official Las Vegas Tourist Information Centre" but the woman in there made it obvious she was a hawker within 30 seconds of opening her mouth. Finally we saw the a booth that advertised Sundance, and I remembered that I had pounched on a couple in the carpark outside Champions on my way to work one day because he was wearing a "Sundance Helicopters Las Vegas" T-Shirt, and they had done tours with htme and thought they were the best.


They certainly seemed to give the best air time. They are the only (so they say - who knows?) Grand Canyon company with an office at McCarran airport, so they fly from here, rather than putting you on a bus for an hour or more to get to the airport the others use. Some of the packages we had been looking at had flight times of around 15-20 minutes. With Sundance we had an hour an a half, so we not only saw the Grand Canyon, but all of Vegas and The Strip as well.

Last night we took the bus to Downtown - the original Vegas - for the Freemont Street Experience light show. What a difference to The Strip! I mean, The Strip is great and all, but Freemont Street is more .... genuine, I guess. It seemed to have more of a Christmas Carnival atmosphere than the over-sexed Strip, and there are NO hawkers guaranteeing you a girl in 20 minutes - who are prolific on The Strip.

We discovered, too, that food prices Downtown are half, or less, of on The Strip. Those all-you-can-eat buffets on The Strip start at $29.99 - we saw one Downtown for $8.88. Hot dogs that coast $4.50 on The Stip will be $1.50 Downtown, and main meals (that the Americans call entrees) that go for $30-35 on The Strip will be around $15-20 Downtown. It's worth the $5 on the bus to go there to eat.

We have been into some of the mega-hotels for a look around. The Luxor, with it's Egyptian theme, Sunset (Mediterranean), Excalibur where we're staying is, of course, Medieval, New York New York speaks for itself. Today we're going to kick of with a full loop on the bus trip so I can video, then start at the North end of The Strip and work our way back down. We are definitely going for a boat ride on the gondolas at The Venetian - $16, but cheaper than getting to Venice and looks identical, except that the water is clean.

It's overcast again today - it was yesterday, but we were fine in T-shirts. The Americans all had on sweatshirts, jackets, hats, gloves, and scarves. Funny.

We have sucummbed to the gambling bug - Mum has lost $3, and I have lost 50c! We both put in $1 into three different machines (a funky Time Machine that had lots of bells and whistles and shook the chair), a one-armed bandit so we could pull the traditional lever, and a card machine so Mum could play blackjack and I could play poker. I won $2.50 on the Time Machine, for which you print out a voucher. I can cash it in another machine, but might keep it as a memento instead. The gamblers back home would go nuts over here - NZ poker machines are so antiquated compared to what some of the ones here do.

More photos from Las Vegas.

Woo hoo!

Grand Canyon by day; Las Vegas Downtown Freemont Street Experience by night. Life is good.

A catch up from Las Vegas.

No internet access for four nights - oh the torture! But I did keep a diary:

Monday November 15.


Words, words, words ... to describe Yosemite National Park ... just don’t exist. Nothing you can write, and no images you can share, can convey even a tiny part of the majesty of standing at the base of those 2000 foot cliffs looking up. Suffice it to say, they brought the Escarpment in The Belgariad well and truly to life for me!

I was most impressed with the way both Curry Village, where we stayed, and Yosemite Village, about a mile up the road, have been designed and built so perfectly to blend in with the environment. Not for Yosemite the neon lights and glaring shop fronts of Australian and New Zealand ski resorts – these human venues really are at one with nature.

As a Kiwi, my biggest thrill was watching the squirrels every day (we don’t have them in New Zealand): busily filling their tummies with food for the winter, stockpiling acorns, and stuffing their mouths with as many leaves as they could carry to insulate their burrows, then returning to the surface and spitting out the occasional half leaf that just isn’t quite correct. I even managed to film some squirrel porn! I thought it was a strange time of the year to be breeding, but one of the Park staff said they’re like rabbits – all year round.

The permanent heated canvas tent we stayed in was ... a bit of a challenge. I’m sure it would be delightful in summer. Unfortunately, the heater was either controlled by a thermostat, in which case it waited until the temperature hit freezing before switching on again, or was on a time delay, and by the time it switched on again the temperature was freezing. Either way, you get the salient word mentioned twice in that sentence! Only two blankets were provided – good old Army issue blankets that wouldn’t warm a hot water bottle in the Sahara during the day. Although we both slept with what we thought was sufficient the first night, the second night we piled the layers on. So instead of freezing, we only half froze.

Early November is a funny time of the year to visit Yosemite – it’s stunningly beautiful, with the trees in their autumn (fall) colours, but most of the services and restaurants are closed for the season, despite the place being very busy, by New Zealand standards. But, perhaps, that is very quiet by American standards. Still, it did mean no queues for the toilets/showers, and the staff all had time to stop and chat. It’s great being a Kiwi in the USA – everyone loves you!

Which reminds me, on the way into the park on the 120 we stopped at a gas station/bar/junk store in the middle of nowhere because it proudly declared on a hand written sign “Chinese Camp Store. Kiwi Tavern.” And was flying the Swiss and Kiwi flags. Turns out the bloke who owns it, who bought it 30 years ago, is from Whakatane! (For those who don’t know, that’s about an hour’s drive from where we live in New Zealand. Gave him a 2011 New Zealand calendar, which he was most delighted with. It’s a pity I won’t drink anything whilst driving on the wrong side of the road – he sold Steinlager!

More photos from Yosemite National Park.

Our plan had been to stay two nights at Yosemite, then go through to Mammoth Lakes for a night, before heading on to Death Valley. When I booked the accommodation at Mammoth the lodge said there was virtually no chance that the Tioga Pass would be closed by snow. It was closed. Thankfully, out of five weeks, this was the one place that was not either prepaid or had my credit card number. We had no internet access at Yosemite, so once we returned to cellphone range I texted Jen in New Zealand and asked her to e-mail a cancellation through. Then we hit the 120 west, instead of east, hung left at the 99, and flew down through Merced, Madera, Fresno, and Tulare to Denaro, took another left onto the 155, and came through Sequoia National Forest to Wofford Heights, where we are staying the night at the Sierra Vista Motel with TWO ROOMS (snore free) that, in its hey day, had James Brolin, Catherine Bach, and Olivia Newton-John stay here. But alas, no internet access. The owner doesn’t even have it himself – he drives up the road and parks at McDonalds and uses theirs.


The 155 was fascinating – started off with endless vineyards, pistachios, and orange plantations, then turned into tussocky grasslands, then into sequoias and black oaks, in all their autumn glory. And a squirrel that ran across the road in front of us! We climbed up to over 6000 feet, before coming down to Wofford Heights on the shores of Lake Isabella which, I think, is still a few thousand feet above sea level. Probably in the ski season (cross country) it’s a veritable hive of activity; right now it’s a sleepy little town where the main entertainment for the kids seems to be hanging out at the gas station and annoying the owner.

It is 7.09pm and I am about ready for bed! The combination of long drives, thin mountain air, darkness at 4.30pm, and an average of 2-3 hours sleep a night is starting to take its toll. I will close the dividing door between the rooms tonight with delight and hope for an unbroken night’s sleep in preparation for the trek through Death Valley tomorrow!

More photos from Wofford Heights.

Tuesday November 16.

NINE HOURS SLEEP!!!! Bliss. I did watch an hour of Family Guy before I went to bed (on the ONE channel that the TV in Wofford Heights seems to get, tbs) and then 9 hours of undisturbed, snore-free sleep. Feel sooooo good this morning, which is yet another golden morning of cloudless skies. And smog free. Once we hit the 99 travelling south the countryside was covered in smog the whole way, until we turned off onto the 155 and climbed up into the mountains. Neither of us are sure of the size of Fresno, but as we drove through, the city didn’t seem to be big enough to be generating that much pollution, so we suspect it came all the way up from Los Angeles. It was pretty awful, whatever the source.

Today we are off to Death Valley. Josh at the gas station said it’s a very sensible time of the year to visit – “We get folks here in summer heading off to Death Valley when it’s, like, 150 degrees (52 for Kiwis) – crazy!” We’re expecting around 75 (24).

(Tuesday Night.)


Well, if words fail completely to describe the grandeur of Yosemite National Park, they fail just as abysmally in describing the majesty that is the Death Valley National Park. I feel like we have driven through the landscapes of several different planets today. Death Valley is not “desert” as per Arabian Knights desert, but is an endlessly changing kaleidoscope of different colours and textures, set against a backdrop of soaring peaks and sweeping valleys. Absolutely stunning.

We had a rest stop at Cosmo Junction, where a group of high school students were on a field trip, and by eavesdropping we learnt some interesting facts about the area, which was originally volcanic (which we had presumed from the tons of scoria and obsidian lying everywhere), and is rather prone to earthquakes. Goody. I also had the best laugh I’d had in a long time. In this vast valley of varying shades of brown and red there was one bright patch of green – a small, lush lawn at the rest stop. The students had all just settled themselves down and were lying around in the sun, when the sprinklers that kept that grass so lush came on. Hilarous! As the kids’ teacher said, “I have NEVER seen you guys move so quick.”

For the night we are at the Armagosa Hotel and Opera House, which, in its day (much like the Sierra Vista Motel in Wofford Heights), must have been quite something. It was at its height in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, and still shows lingering elements of what it once was. Over the cooler season they still have opera performances on the weekends, starring Marta who has, I think, been performing here for 60 or 70 years now. I imagine everyone from around these parts comes here when the performances are on, and the old girls (both the Hotel and Marta) enjoy being transported into the days of past fabulosity.


We had planned to have dinner at the cafe here, but they decided to pack up early and go home, so we went to Nevada for dinner instead. Seriously, it’s 7 miles down the road – a long, long, very, very straight road. I could have driven it with my eyes shut. The Long Street Casino, another venue that has seen better days, but was still worth a visit. However, if you ever go there, I do NOT recommend the chicken steak, vegetables, and potatoes. I do not honestly believe that a real potato was even considered in the preparation of this dish.

Wednesday November 17.

Again, Death Valley, oh my gosh. We really, really, really feel like we drove through an alien landscape today. I must research what sci-fi films have been shot in Death Valley and get them out back home. We stopped off at the delightful China Ranch Date Farm, that I had stumbled across by zooming in on a patch of green whilst looking at Death Valley on Google satellite. Best date shakes in the world!


More photos from Death Valley.

More photos from China Ranch Date Farm.

Funnily enough, before we went to China Ranch we stopped off at Shoshane for gas, and decided to pop into the Post Office to double check that our directions to China Ranch were accurate. We could not have picked a better place to ask - the Post Mistress owns China Ranch Date Farm! (Along with her husband.) She was delighted when I said I had heard about the farm by zooming in on a patch of green whilst looking at a Google satellite iamge of Death Valley on my computer in New Zealand. She directed us a five minute walk away, where the remains on the old miners homes (cut into the rock) still stand today.

Photos from Shoshane.

Now we're in Vegas, which is also another world entirely. We went for a walk down The Strip when we first arrived, but the "bright lights, big city" were a bit much after the peace and grandeur of the desert, so we're relaxing at the hotel (Excalibur, $31 a night for the room!) before going for dinner. Who said food in Vegas ic cheap???? It's bloody expensive in the casinos - we'll hit Subway. Tomorrow we'll investigate places off The Strip and see if the price halves. Also tomorrow we have to return our darling Diego - the car we have had since San Diego (12 hour flight, originality of names wasn't our strong point). He has been awesome and has taken us nearly 2000 miles - all for $164! (Gas). Sooooo cheap over here.

&^%$#&@^ Internet!!!

I didn't think I'd find a country with worse, or slower, internet access than New Zealand, but the U.S.A. it is. We are off to Yosemite National Park this morning for two nights. There is no internet access where we are staying; there may be in Curry Village, but if not, we'll see you when we get to Mammoth Lakes (hopefully).

A Catch Up.

Okay, so I'm a little behind in the travel blog. Ahhhh, the best laid plans ... mine were scuttled by the upper respiratory tract obstruction issuing from the other bed. Other than the Palomar Inn at Shell Beach which, wonder of wonders had two seperate rooms, I have only managed around 15 hours sleep in six nights, and that has been broken sleep. This is one of the many, many reasons I do not have children - I do NOT function without sleep.

According to the Palomar Inn's website they are located in Pismo Beach, but in actual fact they are in Shell Beach, which is where we spent our third night. I would move there in a heartbeat. The bay is lovely, the houses are gorgeous, and everything is immaculate. I shudder to think what any residents of Shell Beach would think of New Zealand if they were enticed there by the 100% Pure campaign! Shell Beach really is 100% Pure - we didn't see so much as a toothpick in terms of rubbish, not even a thought of tagging, and all the front yards of the houses go out of their way to outdo each other in Home & Garden design. If you tried that at home, everything you put out would be stolen in the night. It was sad to
have to leave and continue on northwards.

We took the CA-1 north, that hugs the Pacific coast line, rather than the 101 north, whichis a big ugly road with too many lanes. The drive was spectacular; a winding little road that went up and down some veeery stepp hills, with stunning views across the ocean. At San Simeon we followed a sign to Hearst Castle, which sounded interesting, and grudgingly parted with $24 each for a one and a half hour tour.


WOW!!!! It was worth 10 times the price. The Castle was built by William Randolph Hearst, and rivalled, if not exceeded, many of the castles I saw in Europe and the U.K. I took dozens of photos, and also purchased two books as we couldn't possibly remember everything our guide, Eric, told us in an hour and a half.

More photos from Hearst Castle.

Continuing on, we pulled off the road not much later because when you see a sign that says "Elephant Seals", well, you just have to. Check out their photos here.

Google maps assured us the drive from Shell Beach to San Francisco via the coast road would take 5 hours and 10 minutes. Seven and a half hours later we finally made it, in the dark, and the rain. The only rain, however, that we have had so far - that night in San Fran.

The next morning we walked about two hours to get to Thomas Cook Currency Exchange. I had taken out $500 in cash in New Zealand, and was going to change it at Auckland Airport when I thought, why not change in at LAX? You get a better exchange rate in the foreign country - at that stage the rate was .76 in New Zealand and .82 in the USA. LAX offered .70! Dodgy buggers. So, I thought, I'll wait till Monday and change it at the bank. Ha! You can't exchange foreign currency at the banks in the USA, unless you have an American account for them to put the money in. So, I was cashless. Now, while one can survive quite well at home without cash by putting everyting on the EFTPOS card, it doesn't work in the States where you have to leave $1 and $5 notes all over the place for housekeepers, waiters, valets, busboys etc. It was sooooo good to finally get some greenbacks, and not have to keep borrowing off Mum.


From there we headed for Telegraph Hill, where the wild parrots that I have wanted to meet for many years had headed off to another part of the city for the day. Wasn't happy about that. We did watch them putting a new elevator in to the top of Coit Tower using a crane with a 200 foot reach - that was something pretty special. Descending the other side, we once again encountered helpful yet geographically challenged Americans who tried to get us back to our hotel in a direction that even we knew was wrong, so we opted for a cab instead.

More photos from San Francisco.

The next day, it was back on the road to Santa Rosa, again chosing the coastal route rather than the 101, this one known as the Shoreline Highway, and yes it was. At times the water was only feet away. Another beautiful drive.

On Thursday Mum's sister, and my Aunt, Jackie (who Mum met a few years ago for the first time, and I had never met) drove over from Sonoma (where she lives) and took us for an awesome full day tour of San Francisco and the surrounding counties. We had lunch at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf, where we received a meal for $75 that would cost around $200 (at least) at Harbourside back home.

Today we started off domestically, heading to WalMart first up. Mum was taking a photo of me in the carpark with the WalMart sign behind, when a lovely man driving by said "Do you want a photo of both of you?" We said yes, he obliged, asked where we were from, and when we said New Zealand he said "No way, get out of here!" He coaches the Santa Rosa High School basketball team and about seven months ago they received a Kiwi kid on a scholarship - and we remembered seeing the news item about it on TV3 back home. Small world. Gave him some Kiwi stickers, and he was beside himself with delight.

Walmart was sooooooooooo cheap - Americans must DIE when they come to NZ and see the price of everything. I wish I could have filled up a container to take back home. Just ridiculously cheap. From there we drove up to Sonoma and spent a lovely few hours wandering around, and having lunch at a Himilayan restaurant where they served real food at normal sized portions -brilliant!

And that pretty much brings us up to date. Probably not very wittily or excitingly - this is a bit of a drab post, but I really am too tired to write anything more than "We did this, we did that." Maybe I can catch some zzzzzzzz's in Vegas and get back to writing something that is interesting to read.

More photos from Sonoma and Santa Rosa.

Pismo Beach (Shell Beach)

The Pismo Beach photo album is now on-line. Just about to head out for the day - will try and write about it tonight.

^%$*&#@

Nope - the laptop still thinks it's Friday here, it's only Thursday. Ignore the dates posted automatically - I'll add the real date at the start of each post.

Dates sorted.

It was my fault - this time travel confuses thing. While Mum and I were still on Wednesday, my laptop was already in Thursday. I've reset his clock so the dates should be correct now.

Dates???

I'm not sure about these dates - to the best of my knowledge, today is Wednesday November 10, not Thursday. Still don['t have the Hearst Castle photos posted, or Pismo/Shell Beach, and today I took about 300 photos of San Francisco. Where, by the way, I did NOT see the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill. The hill, yes. and Mum even climbed it (nearly killed her) - but the parrots were all off wherever they spend the day. But at least I got to see where they live.

San Francisco is amazing - and I thought the hills in Wellington were steep! Sheesh. We spent about four hours wandering around today, then headed north to Santa Rosa along the Shoreline Highway, which Google assured us would take 1 hour and 23 minutes, and which took us nearer to four hours. Had dinner at Applebees, an American classic where I ordered a Caesar Salad that would feed the entire Papamoa Sports Fishing Club at Champions on a Sunday.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

Hi again - okay, I don't know if that was the Caesar Salad, but something just came straight through me rather explosively. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh - burning ring of fire. This is supposed to happen in Bali, not Santa Rosa. Gotta go!

Trailer ..........

Just to whet your appetite - this is an aerial shot of Hearst Castle that we visited yesterday. Will post photos tonight.

Did I say I'd post photos "tonight"? Well, okay, it's now a month later - but here are more photos from Hearst Castle.

Shell Beach and Hearst Castle

Too tired to give a full report now, but look forward to tales of the drive north from Shell Beach, and a two hour stop at the AMAAAAAZING Hearst Castle. Took 708 photos - promise not to post them all, but will post some tomorrow.

Goodnight from San Francisco (where it took two hours to drive 30 miles).

San Diego Zoo

They grow their zoos big in the USA. San Diego Zoo was great, aside from the fact that, as with everything else we've been looking for so far, the Americans are not big on sign posting anything. After heading five minutes the wrong way trying to find the park entrance (by following the crowds who, it turned out, were all going to the National History Museum) we found a billboard of Balboa Park with the Zoo Entrance being indicated in the legend as red dot number 41. There was no red dot number 41. There was a 40, and a 42, which were not even remotely close to each other, but no 41. Some less geographically challenged Americans than yesterday's lot set us on the right path, which was great because we were an hour late.

Upon arrival at the gates, we found out we were five minutes early. Brian, of the stunning personality, had not bothered to inform us that Daylight Savings began last night. Bless him. Anyway, we queued to bu tickets, and then queued to get in, but suprisingly, that was it for the queues for the day - other than to see the panda bears, but oh my gosh, they were so cute, the queue was well worth it. We did the touristy bus trip and skyrail, both of which were great ways to see as much of the park with as little exertion as possible, and then meandered back and around and through.

The merchandising is mean - not for the USA the tired little souvenir shop at the entrance - there were shops and stalls all the way through the park, and although there was the usual array of tacky touristy stuff, there was also some very high quality (and, of course high price) branded merchandise as well. The staff were wonderful, and so American - and I mean that in the best possible way. Americans PARTICIPATE - no shuffling of the feet and looking down when they are asked for audience participation like Kiwis do - they go for it! It makes everything so much more fun and interactive.

Really too tired to write more now. Hoping for some sleep tonight.

More photos from San Diego Zoo.

Made it to San Diego!

PHOTO: U.S.A.??? Nope, Trevor V. Stevens garage. A good warm up act for the U.S.A.

Sooooo tired, this may be short. Very bumpy flight to Auckland, then the terribly young, female pilot showed she definitely still had her training wheels on with a jaw-jarring landing. Our friend Trevor V. Stevens took us back to his place where Miss Heleee had cooked up a storm for us, and we did our best in a practice run to eat like Americans. Then back to Auckland, quick walk through and on to the plane, and off we soared. We had two seats right at the back of the plane - the plane was quite sparsely populated and they announced that when the seatbelt sign went off, you could move to other seats. The sign went off, and Mum leaped out an claimed a row of four seats faster than Lightning Bolt came out the blocks at the Olympics! What a Godsend those four seats were, although my turn was somewhat defeated by the two Poms who insisted in disussing their boring lives very loudly and very longly from 4.30 in the morning.

The U.S. Customs service commendably demonstrated how to take as long as possible to complete simple tasks; hence we did not clear customs until an hour and a half after we landed. Then a shuttle to Alamo where we ummed and ahhed over what car to choose (you get your pick - women should not have to make this decision), finally settling on a blue one.

We didn't opt for GPS (for what they charge we could have bought one) as I had already downloaded the driving instructions from Google. Unfortunately, Shirley gets carsick reading, and I was not quite that comfortable with driving on the wrong side of the road, so we made the foolish presumption that San Diego SeaWorld or San Diego Zoo would be sufficiently sign posted. When we saw a sign that said Mexico 15 miles, we figured we had gone too far. A series of very friendly, but increasingly geographically challenged Americans, helped us cover the 20 minutes we'd gone wrong by in a staggering two hours! Bless them. I was shattered by the time we arrived, and were checked in at the hotel by Brian Pagan (yes, really), who has a personality to rival Spock, but WAS just brimming with information.

Shirley is already asleep, and I'm about to crash. Love to all, and hope life is good where you are.

More photos from getting to the USA.

And we're off!!!

Well, the day has finally arrived. The checked in luggage is all packed, and the cabin luggage is not far off. There's not a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind, so it should be smooth flying to Auckland, then off to Trevor V. Stevens' place for a BBQ - check him out http://www.trevorvstevens.com/ - great country music singer, he won the NZCMA 2010 Award for Top Male Vocalist. Then back to Auckland International for the loooooong flight across the Pacific.

The Intrepid Travellers

Go the Dolphins!

Slight change to our itinerary - we won't be going through Lion Country Safari Park on Sunday December 5 after all - we'll be at Sun Life Stadium in Miami to watch the Miami Dolphins v Cleveland Browns!!!! (Lions on Saturday instead.)

Itinerary

The itinerary for our trip is available at http://www.karolyntimarkos.com/itinerary.pdf