The next day was a long one, the drive from Williams to Santa Barbara was about 10hrs, made longer when skirting around LA.
We arrived in the evening and headed straight out, we had a few drinks in a billiards bar, then a whisky bar, went for some dinner and then headed to a place called Sharkeez. The rest of the night was interesting but i dont think i should divulge the events on here, so im afraid this night stays in California. It did however involve - A crazy persistant drunk woman, another very drunk and unable to walk woman, a helpful american couple, a police officer, a lone tramp, a group of tramps, a danish guy, a group of irish guys, a random pair of flip flops and lots of alchohol!
And theres no chance anyone is going to be able to piece that one together!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Hoover Dam & Grand Canyon
We left Vegas on the sunday and headed for the grand canyon, a short 8hr drive away. We stopped off at the hoover dam on route. The dam itself was not really anything special its just rather big, as is most stuff in america.
Towards the end of the day we eventually made it to the Grand canyon and drive up to the south rim, peered over into the abyss. Guess what, its big! I pursuaded joe to walk out one edge and i went further round the canyoner to take a picture of him doing a karate kid pose on the edge of the canyon, everyone around me started shouting look look, what is he doing and started to take pictures, Joe instantly became famous! Il upload a photo as soon as im able.
We ended the day staying in a place called Williams at a budget motel, we went for dinner in a place called Jessica's family resturant, which was actually greek and had a russian waitor called Egor, who loved english music and his favourite band was radiohead, his favourite song was creep. He liked us alot.
Towards the end of the day we eventually made it to the Grand canyon and drive up to the south rim, peered over into the abyss. Guess what, its big! I pursuaded joe to walk out one edge and i went further round the canyoner to take a picture of him doing a karate kid pose on the edge of the canyon, everyone around me started shouting look look, what is he doing and started to take pictures, Joe instantly became famous! Il upload a photo as soon as im able.
We ended the day staying in a place called Williams at a budget motel, we went for dinner in a place called Jessica's family resturant, which was actually greek and had a russian waitor called Egor, who loved english music and his favourite band was radiohead, his favourite song was creep. He liked us alot.
Vegas, Baby!
Road tripping across the states to Vegas took about 6 hrs due to traffic. We arrived late thursday and checked into the Sahara Hotel and Casino. The rooms are not too badly priced for three of us as they just want you to gamble your savings away.
We got to our rooms and immediatly headed out to the strip to buy some cheap shoes as none of us had any to get into hte clubs with. After purchasing a 10 pound pair of rockport shoes and joe got a shirt aswell, from a store called Ross which is alot like the legendary uk outlet TK Maxx. We started the night with a good game of circle of death and the vodka and gin flowed. We were all feeling the vegas vibe and took a stretch limo down to the main area of the strip. Tangerine club was our first destination in the Treasure island casino (i think). We had VIP passes from our limo driver to get us in without the cover charge. To get good deals on your drinks we were told a few tips as to how to work the barman. Slip him a tenner or something to make sure your good for a few rounds with large shots, however joe accidently tipped him 100 dollars (he thinks) so we ended up pretty damn drunk! We left tangerine and headed for Tao in the Venetian. Everyone went straight in, except me. I was too drunk!?! I asked the bouncer why i wasnt allowed in, the only words he returned was that i was too drunk! The girls we were with then came back out and tried to convince the bouncer to let me in, protesting that everyone was drunk so why was i the only one not allowed in. This fracas ended in them getting escorted out of the club and i wandered off to find the restrooms. The problem with the casino's in vegas is that they are huge. They dont like to let you know where you are either, so there are hardly any signs. I was wandering around the casino floor looking for the exit and eventually found the girls and headed home with them. Rob turned up at around 6 in the morn after being in Harrahs casino with joe, losing him and almost taking a cab to the airport. Joe turned up at around 7 after he'd got lost in Harrah's thinking it was Sahara and trying to find his room on the 16 floor! He gambled away about 100 dollars on roulette and after he'd lost all his money, got told to leave the table.
The next day was a long one full of room service, lounging by the pool and watching films in the room. In the evening we walked around and checked out the other casino's like MGM Grand, tropicana, luxor, NY NY, paris, bellagio,caesars palace, circus circus, flamingo, harrahs and bally's! The fountains at the bellagio are pretty cool as is the exploding volcano at the mirage.
Our final day, i went to the 'Bodies' exhibition to view all the preserved humans and muscles, embryo's and all sorts, its pretty mind blowing if you get the chance to see it, although the diseased fetal embryo's are pretty hard to take. We then all went up to freemont st to checkout the older part of the vegas casino's. In the evening we went to the MGM Grand to have some foor at one of wolfgang pucks resturants and then watched a Cirque du soliel show, which was pretty amazing!
To sum vegas up, 'Vegas is an adults Disneyland!'
We got to our rooms and immediatly headed out to the strip to buy some cheap shoes as none of us had any to get into hte clubs with. After purchasing a 10 pound pair of rockport shoes and joe got a shirt aswell, from a store called Ross which is alot like the legendary uk outlet TK Maxx. We started the night with a good game of circle of death and the vodka and gin flowed. We were all feeling the vegas vibe and took a stretch limo down to the main area of the strip. Tangerine club was our first destination in the Treasure island casino (i think). We had VIP passes from our limo driver to get us in without the cover charge. To get good deals on your drinks we were told a few tips as to how to work the barman. Slip him a tenner or something to make sure your good for a few rounds with large shots, however joe accidently tipped him 100 dollars (he thinks) so we ended up pretty damn drunk! We left tangerine and headed for Tao in the Venetian. Everyone went straight in, except me. I was too drunk!?! I asked the bouncer why i wasnt allowed in, the only words he returned was that i was too drunk! The girls we were with then came back out and tried to convince the bouncer to let me in, protesting that everyone was drunk so why was i the only one not allowed in. This fracas ended in them getting escorted out of the club and i wandered off to find the restrooms. The problem with the casino's in vegas is that they are huge. They dont like to let you know where you are either, so there are hardly any signs. I was wandering around the casino floor looking for the exit and eventually found the girls and headed home with them. Rob turned up at around 6 in the morn after being in Harrahs casino with joe, losing him and almost taking a cab to the airport. Joe turned up at around 7 after he'd got lost in Harrah's thinking it was Sahara and trying to find his room on the 16 floor! He gambled away about 100 dollars on roulette and after he'd lost all his money, got told to leave the table.
The next day was a long one full of room service, lounging by the pool and watching films in the room. In the evening we walked around and checked out the other casino's like MGM Grand, tropicana, luxor, NY NY, paris, bellagio,caesars palace, circus circus, flamingo, harrahs and bally's! The fountains at the bellagio are pretty cool as is the exploding volcano at the mirage.
Our final day, i went to the 'Bodies' exhibition to view all the preserved humans and muscles, embryo's and all sorts, its pretty mind blowing if you get the chance to see it, although the diseased fetal embryo's are pretty hard to take. We then all went up to freemont st to checkout the older part of the vegas casino's. In the evening we went to the MGM Grand to have some foor at one of wolfgang pucks resturants and then watched a Cirque du soliel show, which was pretty amazing!
To sum vegas up, 'Vegas is an adults Disneyland!'
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
LA Again
Okay, the next day i went to book our minivan for our trip to vegas, grand canyon and San Francisco.
Nothing really happened until the evening where our hawaii travelling friends arrived and we hit the oceans 13 premiere. We only made it for when the actors etc were leaving the theatre but we managed to spot and get a few photos of - George Cloony, matt damon, don cheadle, tara reid, shakira, quincy jones, wolfgang puck and probably a load of others that we didnt recognise. However Al Pacino, brad pitt and angelina jolie, didnt leave with the rest they probably snuck off.
The next day we did a tour of LA, first stop the hollywood sign then onto the walk of fame, which we'd already done, then off to Santa Monica and Venice, past hotel california where we stopped for a while to check out the beach front. Next it was off to bel air and beverly hills to peruse the homes of famous people. Here are the ones i can remember - Arnold, nic cage, playboy mansion, mel gibson, madonna, fresh prince house, ellen, forest whittaker, spelling house, guy richie and loads more that i cant remember.
Anyway gotta go feel rough, will post later.
Nothing really happened until the evening where our hawaii travelling friends arrived and we hit the oceans 13 premiere. We only made it for when the actors etc were leaving the theatre but we managed to spot and get a few photos of - George Cloony, matt damon, don cheadle, tara reid, shakira, quincy jones, wolfgang puck and probably a load of others that we didnt recognise. However Al Pacino, brad pitt and angelina jolie, didnt leave with the rest they probably snuck off.
The next day we did a tour of LA, first stop the hollywood sign then onto the walk of fame, which we'd already done, then off to Santa Monica and Venice, past hotel california where we stopped for a while to check out the beach front. Next it was off to bel air and beverly hills to peruse the homes of famous people. Here are the ones i can remember - Arnold, nic cage, playboy mansion, mel gibson, madonna, fresh prince house, ellen, forest whittaker, spelling house, guy richie and loads more that i cant remember.
Anyway gotta go feel rough, will post later.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Sunset Strip
Ok, i have a piece of paper in my pocket that notes what we did last night, just in case i forgot stuff, so here goes.
We begin the evening with a lovely $5 pizza from Dominoes, very cheap.
We jump in a taxi and head down Sunset Blvd. Our first drink was in a place called red rocks i think. Then we carried on spotted the Viper rooms, owned by Johnny Depp, also the place where River Phoenix died outside. I thought i saw Ashley Simpson outside, but it totally wasnt. We got in line, but the que was huge and it looked like you needed to be on a guestlist so we headed elsewhere. The next stop was whisky a go go. They had a little battle of the bands going on, only stayed for one drink.
Next was the Roxy, we pay the door fee walk in and find were watching Phantom planet, rastrick goes giddy and we stay for a few drinks, it was possibly the most random thing on our whole trip but funny. We stay for the cheesfest that is California and then head to Rainbow. While in Rainbow rastrick then bumps into Ron Jeremy but he has no camera and doesnt get a photo, rubbish! He comes back even giddier than before, i'd compare his giddyness to a girl who may have just been kissed by a celeb like brad pitt, orlando bloom or whoever does it for you. But after all he did just bump into Ron Jeremy! Me and green continue our beers inside while he then runs back in saying he saw Anthony Kiedis and Travis Barker, im a little sceptical of this one as he is pretty drunk by this point and anyone who remotly resembles someone famous he is going to think is a celeb. Now what we didnt realise at this point is everywhere shuts at 2, we are a little devastated and have to get a taxi home, while stopping at every liquor (cant spell it) store on the way back, exacting our disbelief on the staff!
We return to our hotel, and start drinking with some guys from a death metal band. The drummer was a litte crazy, nice guy but insane. We end up swigging Jack from the bottle and discussing politics in a very sensible manner!?! Rastrick was extremely calm and reserved in trying to get his point accross. As im writing this i dont think i can convey how crazy the night was, but hopefully you can get the jist of it. I hit the sack around 3, straight jack is definitly not my choice of beverage. I think rastrick and green carried on till sunrise, possibly in search of more feminine pursuasions, without success, but i dont know, its 230 in the avo right now and i dont think they'll be up till dusk.
We begin the evening with a lovely $5 pizza from Dominoes, very cheap.
We jump in a taxi and head down Sunset Blvd. Our first drink was in a place called red rocks i think. Then we carried on spotted the Viper rooms, owned by Johnny Depp, also the place where River Phoenix died outside. I thought i saw Ashley Simpson outside, but it totally wasnt. We got in line, but the que was huge and it looked like you needed to be on a guestlist so we headed elsewhere. The next stop was whisky a go go. They had a little battle of the bands going on, only stayed for one drink.
Next was the Roxy, we pay the door fee walk in and find were watching Phantom planet, rastrick goes giddy and we stay for a few drinks, it was possibly the most random thing on our whole trip but funny. We stay for the cheesfest that is California and then head to Rainbow. While in Rainbow rastrick then bumps into Ron Jeremy but he has no camera and doesnt get a photo, rubbish! He comes back even giddier than before, i'd compare his giddyness to a girl who may have just been kissed by a celeb like brad pitt, orlando bloom or whoever does it for you. But after all he did just bump into Ron Jeremy! Me and green continue our beers inside while he then runs back in saying he saw Anthony Kiedis and Travis Barker, im a little sceptical of this one as he is pretty drunk by this point and anyone who remotly resembles someone famous he is going to think is a celeb. Now what we didnt realise at this point is everywhere shuts at 2, we are a little devastated and have to get a taxi home, while stopping at every liquor (cant spell it) store on the way back, exacting our disbelief on the staff!
We return to our hotel, and start drinking with some guys from a death metal band. The drummer was a litte crazy, nice guy but insane. We end up swigging Jack from the bottle and discussing politics in a very sensible manner!?! Rastrick was extremely calm and reserved in trying to get his point accross. As im writing this i dont think i can convey how crazy the night was, but hopefully you can get the jist of it. I hit the sack around 3, straight jack is definitly not my choice of beverage. I think rastrick and green carried on till sunrise, possibly in search of more feminine pursuasions, without success, but i dont know, its 230 in the avo right now and i dont think they'll be up till dusk.
LA
Were here in LA for a good few days so i think this will be the first post of a few. We arrived from Hawaii at around 10 in the evening and took a shuttle straight to Hollywood, skipping through major traffic jams, on the way we had a great view of the smog that covers LA. We got to our hostel and crashed.
The next day we headed to a new hostel and taxi'd down Hollywood Blvd. We dropped our stuff and headed down the road. First stop was the walk of fame, which is all the stars on the floor, not that interesting really, we also stopped off at the kodak theatre and the chinese theatre. Checked out where everyone puts their hands in the concrete and then headed for the Hollywood museum. In the basement is the exact corridor and cell used for hannibal lecter in the silence of the lambs, its pretty eirie. I sneaked a photo on my phone, as we were not allowed cameras in there, i'l post it asap. The museum also contains loads of memorabilia from Indiana jones, the mummy, death on the nile, planet of the apes and loads others. It was run by an old woman who'd had far too much plastic surgery and a Michael jackson style nose! In the evening we headed to the pig and whistle for dinner.
LA so far is a wierd place, but its never boring. From the countless people dressed up as film characters to the insane homeless who appear to be talking to everyone and no-one at the same time. Often shouting profanities and being racist. Everything is about the movies, absoloutly everything, but thats just hollywood. We head to venice and Santa monica tomorrow.
Yesterday we got up and went to Universal studios to do some more touristy stuff. First we went on the studio and backlot tour. Heading around the sound stages currently in use for CSI and NAtional Treasure 2, then onto the city backlots, used for back to the future, bruce almighty, spiderman and just about every city scene in a universal film. Next it was off to Wisteria Lane, which we didnt even know was here, crusied pass, i think the names are, Susan and Gabriels houses and the rest of the street, rastrick was loving it, cant believe he watches that program, but anywho. Next was off to the plane crash site in war of the worlds which was pretty amazing and looked exactly like the film did. After that the bates motel and house from phsyco. Also the areas for king kong, jaws and the mummy aswell. At the end we went pass a set in creation for national treasure 2.
After the tour we went on all the rides/attractions, back to the future, the mummy, jurassic park, T2 and finally waterworld, which was by far the best, got some good photos aswell. We also walked through the house of horrors, which is like a ghost house but worse because it has real people in there ready to jump out on you and its almost pitch black the whole way around, the mummy got me, scared the crap out of me, green got got by the mummy, dracula, the werewolf and the hunchback, i think they were picking on him, leatherface got rastrick and almost hit me on the head with his chainsaw. The interesting part was walking through a room with bodies hanging from the cieling in clear body bags and you have to push your way through. There was a sign at the entrance that said 'May be too intense for children'!
The evening was a bit mad. I think it deserves its own post.
The next day we headed to a new hostel and taxi'd down Hollywood Blvd. We dropped our stuff and headed down the road. First stop was the walk of fame, which is all the stars on the floor, not that interesting really, we also stopped off at the kodak theatre and the chinese theatre. Checked out where everyone puts their hands in the concrete and then headed for the Hollywood museum. In the basement is the exact corridor and cell used for hannibal lecter in the silence of the lambs, its pretty eirie. I sneaked a photo on my phone, as we were not allowed cameras in there, i'l post it asap. The museum also contains loads of memorabilia from Indiana jones, the mummy, death on the nile, planet of the apes and loads others. It was run by an old woman who'd had far too much plastic surgery and a Michael jackson style nose! In the evening we headed to the pig and whistle for dinner.
LA so far is a wierd place, but its never boring. From the countless people dressed up as film characters to the insane homeless who appear to be talking to everyone and no-one at the same time. Often shouting profanities and being racist. Everything is about the movies, absoloutly everything, but thats just hollywood. We head to venice and Santa monica tomorrow.
Yesterday we got up and went to Universal studios to do some more touristy stuff. First we went on the studio and backlot tour. Heading around the sound stages currently in use for CSI and NAtional Treasure 2, then onto the city backlots, used for back to the future, bruce almighty, spiderman and just about every city scene in a universal film. Next it was off to Wisteria Lane, which we didnt even know was here, crusied pass, i think the names are, Susan and Gabriels houses and the rest of the street, rastrick was loving it, cant believe he watches that program, but anywho. Next was off to the plane crash site in war of the worlds which was pretty amazing and looked exactly like the film did. After that the bates motel and house from phsyco. Also the areas for king kong, jaws and the mummy aswell. At the end we went pass a set in creation for national treasure 2.
After the tour we went on all the rides/attractions, back to the future, the mummy, jurassic park, T2 and finally waterworld, which was by far the best, got some good photos aswell. We also walked through the house of horrors, which is like a ghost house but worse because it has real people in there ready to jump out on you and its almost pitch black the whole way around, the mummy got me, scared the crap out of me, green got got by the mummy, dracula, the werewolf and the hunchback, i think they were picking on him, leatherface got rastrick and almost hit me on the head with his chainsaw. The interesting part was walking through a room with bodies hanging from the cieling in clear body bags and you have to push your way through. There was a sign at the entrance that said 'May be too intense for children'!
The evening was a bit mad. I think it deserves its own post.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Hawaii
Finally a part of the trip i'd been most looking forward to. We flew from Nadi with a quick stop off at Christmas island to Honolulu. Andy Irons was sat two seats in front of us. To anyone who doesnt know, simply put, he is a three times world surfing champion, pretty much Kelly Slaters biggest rival. He looked pretty beat up with some butterfly stiches under his eye, girlfriend was very attractive.
We aeeived in Honolulu and hired a car and headed straight for the North Shore, our beach shack was directly opposite the beach and just up the road from Wiamia Bay.
The first day we headed to Banzai Pipeline and chilled on the beach, the waves are dramatically smaller out here in the summer, a little dissapointing. On our second day we did however surf Sunset Beach and dont know the exact break but its just up the road from pipeline. We hired some boards from a guy who has taught Sunny Garcia and Mark Ochi and other famous surfers of which i cant remember. His name was Ryan Surat i think. The break was about 50m out and we are totally unfit at the mo so we didnt catch too many waves but they are great to ride as at this break they dont jeck up on you, its a very smooth ride, although its only about 3m deep water and if you dropped off the top you'd get worked on the rocks, rastrick had a few scratches, i got swept into the boneyard at one point named so for the shallow water but quickly paddled out.
The next day we headed to Waimea bay to jump of a massive rock and chill with some girls we met at our cabin. The rock was about 8m high and stung my feet when jumping in, got a good video of green and joe jumping in. Wiamea has had pretty much no waves since weve been here but in the winter they have a competition that only runs once the waves are above 25ft!!
On our final day we went to Pearl Harbour to check out the memorial floating on top of one of the sunken ships, its pretty wierd as you can still see the gun turrets poking out of the water. Finally we headed to Waikiki to see where all the city goers hang out. On our final day we just watched the crowds of surfers at pipeline as it was about 6ft and great conditions. Pretty much everyone one on the north shore surfs and thats all they do, the kids dont even seem to go to school. Everybody there is tanned and ripped, we felt very out of place with our english beer belly's. But at least me and rastrick are tanned!
We aeeived in Honolulu and hired a car and headed straight for the North Shore, our beach shack was directly opposite the beach and just up the road from Wiamia Bay.
The first day we headed to Banzai Pipeline and chilled on the beach, the waves are dramatically smaller out here in the summer, a little dissapointing. On our second day we did however surf Sunset Beach and dont know the exact break but its just up the road from pipeline. We hired some boards from a guy who has taught Sunny Garcia and Mark Ochi and other famous surfers of which i cant remember. His name was Ryan Surat i think. The break was about 50m out and we are totally unfit at the mo so we didnt catch too many waves but they are great to ride as at this break they dont jeck up on you, its a very smooth ride, although its only about 3m deep water and if you dropped off the top you'd get worked on the rocks, rastrick had a few scratches, i got swept into the boneyard at one point named so for the shallow water but quickly paddled out.
The next day we headed to Waimea bay to jump of a massive rock and chill with some girls we met at our cabin. The rock was about 8m high and stung my feet when jumping in, got a good video of green and joe jumping in. Wiamea has had pretty much no waves since weve been here but in the winter they have a competition that only runs once the waves are above 25ft!!
On our final day we went to Pearl Harbour to check out the memorial floating on top of one of the sunken ships, its pretty wierd as you can still see the gun turrets poking out of the water. Finally we headed to Waikiki to see where all the city goers hang out. On our final day we just watched the crowds of surfers at pipeline as it was about 6ft and great conditions. Pretty much everyone one on the north shore surfs and thats all they do, the kids dont even seem to go to school. Everybody there is tanned and ripped, we felt very out of place with our english beer belly's. But at least me and rastrick are tanned!
Fiji
We had managed to check every flight so far but for this one we forgot. We arrived at the airport at 6 in the morn after getting up at 4 to find our flight had been changed to 230 in the afternoon. poo! We slept in the terminal for most of the time, i mostly ate.
After the short flight we arrived at Nadi and headed for a backpackers on the beach, Fiji is alot like Africa, at least the part of Africa ive been to.
The next day we headed out to Mana island for two nights of island paradise. There is not much on the islands apart from deserted beaches and shacks, we pretty much didnt do anything for 3 days, we did watch the sevens with all the islanders, but Fiji lost, no party!
After the short flight we arrived at Nadi and headed for a backpackers on the beach, Fiji is alot like Africa, at least the part of Africa ive been to.
The next day we headed out to Mana island for two nights of island paradise. There is not much on the islands apart from deserted beaches and shacks, we pretty much didnt do anything for 3 days, we did watch the sevens with all the islanders, but Fiji lost, no party!
Auckland
Ok, time to catch up again were actually in LA right now after being in Fiji and Hawaii with no internet, weve just come off our 6hr flight its late and im typing this on a keyboard with only 15 visible letters on the keys, so here goes.
We drove into Auckland and found a tiny and hidden campsite in a suburb and then parked up, cooked dinner, cant remember what it was probably some culinary delight, then headed out to watch the state of origin rugby league game between Queensland Reds and NSW, Queensland won, after we hit the sack.
We were all sick of the camper so we took it back a day early, joe did his last duty as toilet boy and we drove back to the drop off, then caught a taxi to the yha in the centre. The avo consisted of watching Pirates of the Carribean 3. The evening was heavy, we started and pretty much finished at a place called globe bar, first of all playing pool with some crazy hicks and then after a few more beers, bantering with the local Maori's of which one the size of a house decided to it would be funny to slap me on the back, it hurt! But he was lucky i was in a good mood... otherwise.... i would have hid under a table, there were about 10 of them! At the end of the night i rolled in at about 5, we all got separated, i have no idea when green got back and rastrick came in as the sun rose, we only know this as he has photos on his camera, of daylight, but he doesnt remember taking them.
The final day was spent mostly sleeping and hurting before our flight in the morning.
We drove into Auckland and found a tiny and hidden campsite in a suburb and then parked up, cooked dinner, cant remember what it was probably some culinary delight, then headed out to watch the state of origin rugby league game between Queensland Reds and NSW, Queensland won, after we hit the sack.
We were all sick of the camper so we took it back a day early, joe did his last duty as toilet boy and we drove back to the drop off, then caught a taxi to the yha in the centre. The avo consisted of watching Pirates of the Carribean 3. The evening was heavy, we started and pretty much finished at a place called globe bar, first of all playing pool with some crazy hicks and then after a few more beers, bantering with the local Maori's of which one the size of a house decided to it would be funny to slap me on the back, it hurt! But he was lucky i was in a good mood... otherwise.... i would have hid under a table, there were about 10 of them! At the end of the night i rolled in at about 5, we all got separated, i have no idea when green got back and rastrick came in as the sun rose, we only know this as he has photos on his camera, of daylight, but he doesnt remember taking them.
The final day was spent mostly sleeping and hurting before our flight in the morning.
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