Havana to Barbados

Rick and I went out early to find the art shop again, and Suzie stayed behind to pack her bags.  Naturally I took my camera with me to record what I saw.  Firstly, Cuba does not have a very reliable inernet.  In fact,very few places have it. But where there is some, you'll find locals and tourists all lined up against the wall using it for as long as they can. We had some in our hotel but it was pricey and only for an hour....

I came across the local butcher...

The streets were pretty quiet at this time of the morning.

We headed to the airport and got there in plenty of time.  I desperately needed to use the toilet, but all water and toilets were out of order, toilets blocked up, and I couldn't bring myself to use it.  Instead, I waited until the plane had taken off and I hightailed it to the bathroom on the plane.

To get to Barbados we had to fly into Florida first, then sit around the airport for a number of hours, before catching our 3 hour flight to Barbados. Our plane was delayed for some time as well which was annoying. Coming into Florida was quite pretty...

Flying over the Carribean was also very pretty - I remembered the flight on the way in 38 years ago - little islands dotting the blue sea with white sandy beaches. Some deserted, some inhabited.

Sun set on our flight over. We didn't arrive until nearly 11pm.  Suzie and I both burst into tears when we got off the plane, and we were both very surprised at the strength of our emotion when we arrived.

We picked up our rental car and drove to our Airbnb. We got lost several times. I thought I knew how to get there, but was surprised at how lost we got.  Barbados had got slightly bigger, and the roads were quite confusing.  You can't rely on a memory 38 years ago to get you straight to your destination!!

We settled into the airbnb accommodation - and then headed to bed.

Adding Textures to your Images

I've been having fun the last few weeks playing around with some of my images, adding textures to them in photoshop.  I've known about this technique for quite a while, but noticed that it's becoming more popular on photography sites such as Redbubble so decided to dabble. 

First thing I did was google for free textures.  I won't do this very often, I would much rather go around and photograph my own textures, however, with my foot still in my moon boot and too much time on my hands, it was easier this way for now.  I chose Anna Lenabem textures - I downloaded about 10 from her site in Flickr.  

I then took a photo I love, that I took in Morocco, however I had plans to do an HDR on it as it lacked a bit of what I call 'oomph'.  Instead I opened up the image in photoshop.  Then I opened up a Texture image, making sure it was exactly the same size in pixels as my original image.  In my case it is 5184 px by 3456 px, but you can check this by going to the Menu, then clicking Image Size from the drop down menu on your original image.

Make sure your image and texture are floating in the window, not tabulated up on the menu bar.  This makes for much easier moving around.

Then select the Texture and using the move tool (top arrow), move the textured image onto the original image.  Line it all up properly so you can't see the original image at all.  

Then in Layers, where it has 'normal', select the drop down menu and choose either Soft Light or Overlay.  You can use the Opacity slider until you get what you like.  Flatten the image and save.  That's the basic instructions, but of course you can do much more if you want to.  Experiment and have fun

The following images are of my experimentation of the Kasbah in Morocco.  Firstly - the Original image.  The bird is really there - I didn't notice it until I had it up on the computer - it was flying straight for me!

Overlaying and blended with  Texture from Anna Lenabem

The same again overlayed and blended with another texture from Anna Lenabem 

Another texture from Anna Lenabem

And my favourite texture from Anna Lenabem, which I have used twice so far in this one...

In all textures I've used, I have had to use the Hue/Saturation tool to bring down the yellow tones as they were a bit much.  Still I'm very very pleased with the result so far and am having loads of fun.  The favourite texture I also used on my New York City image.   This image was taken in 2006 on my first visit to NYC.  I was in a friends sports car and it was taken from out of her windscreen - a grab shot.  But there's no way I could get it by standing in the middle of the road!!  The first image is the original put through the HDR process to bring out the detail and colour.

The following image is the same one but with the perspective straightened and my favourite texture overlaid.  I really like the result.

I understand using textures is not for everyone.  There are many 'purists' out there who just want to see an image that is straight from the camera, but I like to think that using textures is being more creative.  Not all textures work either so experimentation is definitely the key to success.

I look forward to seeing yours - please link me if you do upload them anywhere.  Oh and leave me a comment to tell me which one you like and why.

Lastly, if you do use someone elses texture to make sure you credit them for their part of the job!

The Polar Bear

The Polar Bear is getting quite a lot of attention these days, mainly because of climate change, which is making them very vulnerable if their habitat melts.

They are native to the Arctic Ocean and it's surrounding seas. It is the world's largest predator found on land. A adult males weighs between 400 and 680kg, while a female is much smaller and weighs about half that size. Although it's closely related to the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrow ecological niche, with many characteristics for cold temperatures, moving across snow, ice and open water, and hunting seals which make up most of its diet. Most Polar Bears are born on land, yet spends much of the year on the frozen sea.

My first real live experience of a Polar Bear was as a child in the Auckland Zoo here in New Zealand. Whilst I loved the creature and it was always a must to view it, it used to sadden me. Our bear had formed the habit of pacing back and forth, back and forth along the concrete path of it's pool (prison), occasionally diving in to cool down. Worse, with the warm Auckland temperatures, it's coat was full of algae, and gone was it's wonderful white colour, and in it's place was a lovely shade of green. Yep - a green Polar Bear.

It died a long time ago, and I was pleased, as no matter how well it was looked after, it must have been miserable.

So it was with trepidation that I visited the Polar Bear enclosure at the San Diego Zoo in July 2008. I have to say that the San Diego Zoo really have outdone themselves making this enclosure an enrichment one for it's Polar Bear, and even though I would rather see the bear on the Arctic Sea Ice, I didn't go away saddened.

When I got there the bear was in the water...

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

I was really amazed with the viewing window - and pleased there was hardly anyone around so I could take photos...

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

I was really willing it to come closer to the window to get a nice close up, but it wasn't to be. But I loved the way it played with his ball..

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

While Polar Bears probably don't have big red balls on the ice in the Arctic, at least it had something different to do in the Zoo. Anything that can enrich an animal's life in the zoo is well worth the effort in my opinion.

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

After this shot the Bear got out of the water, and I waited and waited and waited for it to come back. It didn't so I went around searching for another view, and I was not disappointed.

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

Just look at this magnificent creature. Such a shame it's a wild animal as I wouldn't mind cuddling up to it at all!

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

It climbed up onto the rock where there was some grass, then proceeded to play...

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

The sun was quite hot - it was July so was probably trying to get a bit of shade. Although there was plenty of shady areas, it seemed to love this grass..

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

Look at that nose!

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

Isn't he adorable?

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

He still couldn't get the grass exactly how he wanted it, so he tried again...

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

This is better isn't it?

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

Like my new hat?

From Polar Bear at San Diego Zoo

Looks better from this side I think!!

I could have stayed with him for ages but time was marching on and the zoo was simply huge. It really needs two days to view it all. This Polar Bear seemed happy, didn't have any repetitive behaviour traits and his coat was in fantastic condition. I couldn't ask for anything better.

The polar bear is classified as a vulnerable species, with 5 of the 19 polar bear subpopulations in decline. Unrestricted hunting raised international concern for the future of the species however, populations have rebounded after controls and quotas took effect. For thousands of years, the polar bear has been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of Arctic indigenous peoples, and the hunting of polar bears remains important in their cultures.

Global warming as the most significant threat to the polar bear, primarily because the melting of its sea ice habitat reduces its ability to find sufficient food. On May 14, 2008, the United States Department of the Interior listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Maybe in the future the only place we'll see the Polar Bear is in the zoo. I hope not.

These photos were taken with my Canon EOS 20D which has now been superseded by the Canon 50D. One of these days I'm going to upgrade!

Amish Apple Dumplings

While in Philadelphia, we headed down to the Reading Terminal Market as it was suggested to us that we MUST go there.

I'm glad we did. A market full of wonderful food put on by the Amish people of Pennsylvania. I went twice - once for the Apple Dumplings that someone said were fantastic, and a second time to have them again because they were to die for.

Since I've been home I've been craving them a bit - I think because of the cold weather, so I did a google search for a recipe and came up with this one.

I use prepackaged sweet short pastry to wrap them up, and I leave out the mace because - well - mace is something we spray criminals with, and there's none on my local supermarket shelf under the herb/spice section.

Upon request, I'm making it for a second time for tonight and it's also been requested for Monday nights dinner as well!!

Here's the recipe I found!

Amish Apple Dumplings

6 Apples, peeled and cored
Lemon juice
1/2 c White sugar, approx
1 tsp. Cinnamon
Brown sugar
Butter
2 Pie pastry for 2 pies

Sugar Sauce:
2 c Water
3/4 c Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 tbl. Butter
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Mace


Roll out pastry and cut into squares enough to cover apples completely. Peel and core apples. Roll in lemon juice. Then roll in white sugar and cinnamon combined. Place on pastry square. Stuff core cavity with brown sugar, butter, brown sugar in equal parts. (The amount depends on size of core cavity, just
stuff full.) Fold pastry up around apple to completely enclose it. Place in pan.

Prepare sugar sauce by mixing water, sugar, vanilla, butter, nutmeg, and mace and boiling for 1 minute. Let cool slightly. Pour over Apples.

Bake in 375 F (190.5C) oven for 1 hour. Serve warm.

Note: Apples may be frozen in pastry (before sugar sauce is added) if desired. Good dessert to make ahead if you have lots of apples around. Just let thaw when ready to use, and cover with sugar sauce and bake as usual.

My New Shoes

I bought six pairs of shoes home from the USA. Only one pair was not a sports shoe. A few people think I'm nuts because of it but I love every pair of them and I know I have saved a lot of money buying them in the USA.

Actually New Zealanders are being ripped off when it comes to sports shoes. Mega ripped off, and it makes me wild that we have to pay so much. Take for example the Keen walking sandal... Here's a pic of it!



Nice shoe. Looks comfortable. Versatile. Summery. Colour great. I saw this shoe on sale at Sports Authority in San Luis Obispo for $19.95 USD. Unfortunately they didn't have my size so I bought a similar pair but of the TEVA brand instead.

I went down to our local outlet centre on Friday for a flat white coffee, something I missed terribly while upover, but called into the outdoors shop for a quick squiz at what they have in stock or on sale. It's a habit of mine - I like outdoor sports shops. Anyway - there in the far corner of the store, was this exact same keen sandal. And it was on sale... for...

$167.50 down from $239.99

I now wish I had asked the store in San Luis Obispo to find my size, get it in, and ship it to me!!!

Exchange rate? $1 USD is currently $0.72c NZ. So $19.95 is aprox $24.00 NZD.

The other pair of shoes I bought were Salomon off road walking shoes. These same shoes I tried on at Christmas time when I was training for the Oxfam 100km. Here in New Zealand they have a price tag of $325.00. For that reason I left them on the shelf and bought another pair slightly cheaper for something like $280.00.

I found these same Salomon shoes - same model - at REI in San Francisco. They were not on sale but still had a price tag of $84 USD - about $110 NZD.

So it's not the exchange rate. It's definitely not shipping costs. Someone in New Zealand is taking a huge slice of profit for bringing them over. Huge. That's $200 PER SHOE extra we're paying for at least - and I'm talking retail prices not wholesale. They also bring in far more than one shoe - I wouldn't care to guess the numbers.

We don't have the American's population - that I agree - but I still say we're being ripped off big time.

From now on anyone visiting New Zealand will need to make special room in their suitcase to bring me shoes.

Cheers
Robyn

Best and Worst of the Say What? Club Philadelphia Convention

This is the third day I've been home from the USA after attending the SWC con in Philadelphia. So far I've done 6 loads of washing, and gradually putting things away. My house each day is looking less and less like a bomb site, and turning into a home again.

My cats will NOT leave me alone - they obviously missed me and all they want to do is smooch or sleep on me, one even climbed into my vest and went to sleep! Yes - it's much colder here minumum 7C maximum 14C which is the equivalent of 44F low and 57F high. Not that warm considering we've been averaging 36C temperatures plus wherever we've been. (97F). Of course the cold may be one reason my cats won't leave me alone. We are due for some more bad weather over the weekend, but that will be perfect for staying put and watching the olympics which start tomorrow night.

I have put in my own blog the best and worst of USA that I experienced in my 29 days upover. You can read it right by clicking here

I will now attempt to write the best and worst of the Philadelphia Convention - so here we go.

Best: (not in any particular order!!!

1). Having Kim as a roomie - she was the bestest and I'm so proud to be friends with her.

2). Meeting Brenda and Walt after all these years of correspondence.

3). Meeting Dwayne and Cheryl after so many years of correspondence. Dwayne is truly a papabear!

4). Finally meeting my friend Marty after so many years of working together on the Hospitality committee and in the chats as well.

5). Seeing Jazzy again - always one of the highlights!

6). Meeting Cathy - after all these years too.

7). Finding out how fun Linda Binns is, and so glad I was able to see her again in San Diego.

8). I can now imagine Donna at the computer when I see her messages. Great to meet her too.

9). Being surprised that the super Pearl wasn't the 6 foot plus gal that I had imagined her to be. I still say Pearl is the voice of reason, particularly in Neil Baumanns workshop. I didn't get to talk to Pearl enough but one day hope that will be remedied - we always have the NZ fling to catch up on yet!

10. Meeting Marti and Tom, Sandi, Darelynn, Susan D and Susan from Oz, Paul, and all the others that I haven't come in contact with before from other lists.

11. Lorne - holds a very special place in my heart for throwing beer over Mike!!! Mike always needs to be brought down to earth with beer from time to time!

12. Being able to show the Americans where Elthrey's Alley was cos they couldn't find it (it always takes a kiwi to work out where everything is!!)

13. Eating Apple Dumplings at Reading Terminal Market - twice. Slurp, Drool!

14. Seeing South Street on the Duck and going back there for a better look. It was the Condom King shop that got me back!! (not really!)

15. Art musuem tour was incredible - well done Marianne for organising it - I learnt so much and was amazed with what I saw and heard over the audio tool we were given.

16. Sitting next to Martin and Marianne at the banquet - lots of fun and laughs and truly enjoyed your company.

17. Going to the Zoo with a group of us the day before the convention started. What a great time with 'just' messages going out over our phones - some secret code here! The zoo was great as I saw some incredible animals - like the Douc Langur, and the prairie dog!

18. Having everyone sign my book - such wonderful messages you all gave me and the photos will go in in the next couple of weeks.

19. Enjoying interesting workshops made incredible from a super duper CART communicator Gayle, even when she was so sick with flu she still managed to get through it all. My hat goes off to you. (And I don't take my hat off for just anyone you know!!)

20. Meeting Mark Dessert and his lovely dog. Even though Mark couldn't lipread my accent (I really don't have an accent - americans do), I was able to understand Mark easily. My memory of Mark will always be his enjoyment of the NZ wine on offer.


PS for the best - I have probably missed out lots of people - there were too many to put in my top 20, however, every single person that attended the convention, was what made the convention so exciting and I was so pleased to meet you all. I will definitely, funds willing, attend another in the future, and I will get onto starting organising one here in NZ - so start saving.


Now for the Worst of the con...

1). The heat - coming from winter the heat in the first couple of days was almost unbearable.

2). The jetlag - I was exhausted as I hardly slept coming over. Next time I will make sure I will have been in the US at least a week before the convention starts, so I can catch up on sleep beforehand.

3). Walking 18 blocks back to the hotel after the Mutter Museum. I had blisters, I had chaffing, I had heatrash, I was hot, tired and grumpy. The Phlash had stopped for the day and Mike wouldn't let me catch a taxi (grrrrr!!!) But I surived.... Just.... Mike is lucky to still be alive though!!!!

4). Breakfasts at the hotel - the service was terrible (oh well!)

5). Hotel had no hot chocolate after 10pm. No hot drinks available after 10pm!!! Sigh! I survived - just! Just had to eat chocolate instead.

I can't actually think up any more 'worst' things. Because on the whole the convention was like a well oiled ship which could have only meant that the people who organised it had worked long and hard to make it happen. So I take my hat of to the BOD and thank them from the bottom of my heart for the most wonderful time of my life. I will have this in my memory for the rest of my life.

Cheers
Robyn

Best and Worst of USA

Top 30 or so: (not in any order)

1. Best Swimming Pool: Jazzy's in New Jersey

2. Best Backpackers: Sacramento

3. Best Coffee: Monterey - Mexican Latte

4. Best Weather: Hawaii

5. Best Roomate: Kim from Seattle

6. Best Breakfast: Steven's Porridge

7. Best Dessert: Key Lime cheesecake from Stacy

8. Best Restaurant: Peregrino's Italian in San Francisco - Lobster Lasagne

9. Best Pub: Kiwi pub in San Diego and an Evening with Linda

10.Best Wildlife: San Diego Zoo

11.Best Tour: Hearst Castle

12.Best Food: Diana & David's in San Luis Obispo

13.Best Shopping: Sports Authority in San Luis Obispo and REI in San Bruno

14.Best Bargain: Guess Sunglasses Sacramento $8.57 (down from $40), & Hawaii Pearls

15.Best Service: San Francisco Police - Seargeant Scott Warnke

16.Best Street: South Street Philadelphia

17.Best People: Say What Club Convention in Philly

18.Best Highlight: Capturing on camera a wild Sea Otter in Monterey

19.Best Laugh: Mike getting drenched in beer in Philly

20.Best View: Empire State Building in NYC

21.Best Squirrels: Madison Square NYC, and San Luis Obispo (Ground Squirrel)

22.Best Laundry Service: Steven's in San Bruno

23.Best Walk: Muir Woods & Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco

24.Best Quiet Day: The day at Jazzy's sister's pool

25.Best Beaches: Coronado Hotel, Waikiki, Hamauna Bay, Malibu, Santa Monica

26.Best Boat Trip: Lake Tahoe

27.Best Experience: Driving on the right hand side for the first time

28.Best Shower: Jazzy's in New Jersey

29.Best museums: Mutter in Philly, Musuem of Natural history NYC

30.Best Experience with a Difference: Tijuana Mexico

31.Best Lunch: Clam Chowder at Boudin Bakery at Fisherman's wharf

32.Best Tea: Morrocon Restaurant in Little Falls

Worst 10.

1). Seeing a huge fat bum having a shit in daylight on a San Diego Street

2). Experiencing unhelpfulnes of Bank of America

3). Seeing queues of people lining up for the soup kitchens of the Salvation Army

4). Being harrassed by bums in San Francisco for change - "change" "change"

5). Smelling the stench of human urine on the steets in SD & SFO

6). Experiencing 38 degrees in Stockton the day we arrived (melt)

7). Having our airport shuttle crash on the freeway on the way to the hostel

8). Mike losing his wallet

You know - I can honestly not think of 10 worst things. On the whole my experiences of America were very positive. People are friendly and will usually go out of their way to help when help is needed. Good humour and laughter followed us around wherever we went.

I'm glad we saw some bad things though, because thats what makes us appreciate the good things more, and it makes us realise that there are always people worse off than ourselves. It makes me thankful that I live in NZ which has a Social Welfare buffer. It doesn't mean that we don't have homeless or bums, just that the problem is less, and largely unnoticeable.

My small list of highlights is tiny - I could go on and on and wax lyrical about each day we had in USA. No day was the same, the experience and sights we saw were totally different each day, which stimulated and excited our senses and gave us an appetite for more. It kept us energised and helped us fit in all the things we wanted to do.

I would do it again - but fully intend to put my feet up for a couple of years first. I'd like to see rural America next, I would like to see Seattle, and I would like to see Chicago and surrounds again.

Cheers
Robyn

2nd August - Hawaii

Last day in Hawaii before coming home. I got up early and went for a swim at the hotel pool, then lay in the sun until 9am. Early but the sun was still hot at that hour. I then headed up for a shower and dressed in time to meet Larry at 9.30am. He was everything I had imagined him to be and it was so great meeting him after all these years. I was saddened that his wife Suz couldn't be over to meet us too. We headed up to the hotel pool and sat in the cabana bar and talked all morning, took photos, made him write in my book. Then we headed up to the hotel room to get bathing suits as we were going to the zoo and then to haumanu bay for swimming. However, we found out it would take us an hour to get to the bay, so decided to only go to the Honolulu Zoo instead. Larry dropped us off there, but it really wasn't far. He then went on to audition for a major role in 'LOST'. I hope he gets it :)

The Zoo was small. Didn't really allow for good photos as the cages were still those old fashioned black ones. Many of the animals were not there, or sleeping as it was so hot. Some exhibitis had no water which I thought was terrible. The rainforest aviary was good though and I managed to get some good photos there. Honolulu also had two Komodo Dragons. Highly endangered and rare, it was interesting seeing them, but were smaller than I had imagined them to be. Guess Jurassic Park had influenced my perception of these jurassic animals :)

It was really hot at the zoo, and we were finished by 2.00pm. We headed over the road to the beach and walked back to the hotel via the beach with our feet in the water to try cooling us off. Some of the waves drenched us but it was nice. It took about half a hour (about the length of three beaches) to get back to the hotel. Both Mike and I were really tired, the beaches were crowded, so we decided to relax at the hotel pool instead. So we would swim when we were hot, then lie in the sun to warm up. Blissful. Very blissful. At one stage the sun went behind a cloud and I felt cold. I laughed as in just 24 hours we would be in the winter of Auckland and it'd be much much colder.

For dinner we headed to the restaurant where we had breakfast and had an all we could eat buffet for $12.00. That included dessert, which I had a pineapple and mint mousse. Sounds horrible but was really really nice.

After dinner we headed to the Pacific Beach hotel to see an aquarium that took up two whole floors. Great spootted stingrays, and all sorts of tropical fish - was very interesting. A diver was in there feeding the fish when we got there so that was worthwhile seeing. Over to Macy's where I bought Anne her Clarins stuff, and through the market again. I decided to try one more time for a Pearl. I was able to draw a voucher and this time got a 40% off, chose an oyster, and this time got a rather large black pearl. The black pearl was larger than the other 3 I got the night before. So I was very pleased. Decided to leave it at that, and headed back to the hotel to pack. Took me about an hour to pack up everything, then hit the sack. Home in the morning - and I'm more than ready to get there.

1st August - Hawaii

Bus picked us up at 8.30am on a tour around the island. Past Diamond Head slopes and around to Hanauma Bay which I loved. Abssolutley stunning. The tour guide was excellent and moved her mirror so we could lipread her. Unfortunately my asthma flared up on the bus and because I couldn't get enough oxygen I kept falling asleep. Further - my implant really really needs a map and I understood absolutely zilch so Mike was interpretiing for me most of the way, when I had my eyes open!!

We stopped for lunch at a golf course the ko'olau. I looked at golf gear in the shop afterwards with Mum in mind. But had to walk out in the end because there was nothing under $100. Thought that counted right? Some of these golf courses charge $100,000 per year to join!!
On up the coast - very beautiful beaches - reminded me a lot about Barbados once we got away from all the highrises of Waikiki. It got very hot, and I wanted to get out and swim at every beach we stopped, but no time. We stopped at a Japanese Buddhist Temple, the Byodo-in Temple which was also very interesting. We also stopped at the Kualoa Ranch, and was taken on a short boat trip on a fresh water lake. At high tide the sea spills over into the lake and it was weird sitting on the boat looking up at the sea which was slightly higher. This area is the site of Jurassic Park filmset, Fantasy island and a few other famous movies.

Then up to the famous North Shore beaches where the surfies are, and the swell runs hot at certain times of the year. So beautiful again - I've never seen such blue blue water. Down the middle of the island through coffee, sugar and pineapple plantations. Stopped at the Dole Pineapple plantation and went in to the shop. A real tourist trap - everything too expensive, but I did buy a pineapple icecream which was very refreshing. But even that was steep aat $4.50!!! We passed Pearl Harbour but wasn't able to stop as we were running late.

We got back to the hotel at about 5.30pm. I wasn't hungry so Mike went with his Mum to dinner while I had a shower and then headed out to buy a cabin bag for the plane as I was running out of luggage space. I also found all the manuals and charger for my phone, and took it over to the Tmobile guy and told him to give it to someone needy. In return I got free internet access and arranged to meet up with Larry Littleton the next day. Larry I met on the Say What Club years ago when I first joined. We have been talking to each other ever since online for 12 years so it was great to set this up. He and his wife moved from Santa Barbara, California to Ka'uai, Hawaii a few years ago.

After that I met up with Mike and his Mum and her partner Paul again and we walked over to the beach to watch the fireworks that go off every Friday night. Mike went for a swim and watched the fireworks from out in the water, I was minding his bag so I missed out on seeing them. I can't swim at night due to having no balance. It's bad enough trying to walk on sand in the dark, but trying to swim in the dark is worse as if a wave hits me I don't know which way is up, and the waves at Waikiki can be quite powerful!

We then walked around the shops and then Mike and I walked through the market. I decided to try for a Pearl from the Maui Divers store. It's not guaranteed you will get one, but they gave me a swing at the barrel, and I pulled out a 50% off voucher. So I could then choose an unopened oyster and pay only $7.49 for it. There may or may not be an oyster in there - a true gamble. Well - it just so happened that a fairly large pink pearl was in the one I chose. So I was rapt, and they were surprised. Deciding that luck was on my side, I did it again, and paid $14.99 for the next gamble. This time, I got not one, but two white pearls in the oyster I chose. The white ones were only marginally smaller than the pink one. Not being a gambler really, I decided to quit while I was ahead, but was really pleased about it. Will get them set back home.

Got back to the hotel around 10 to 10.30pm.

31st July - Hawaii

We had no dinner on the plane coming through last night because we had to pay for the meals and they wouldn't accept cash. I didn't want to ring up a Credit Card charge of only $5 as the fees would be that much!! We weren't impressed.

So this first morning in Hawaii we were starving. I got up fairly early, and popped down to the hotel lobby looking for an internet cafe so I could carry on unlocking the phone that we had done at the airport the night before. I found no internet cafe, but I did find a T-Mobile store (same store that sold us the phone in SFO when we arrived). I told him what I needed to do but they had two internet booths that you pay for, so I fed $5 in and got into my email. Found hte email from Tmobile saying that I couldn't unlock my phone as we hadn't had it for 3 months. Thats NOT what we were told when we got the phone, so I called over the tmobile guy and showed him the email. He asked what type of phone I had so gave it to him. Turns out that even if we unlocked the phone, we still wouldn't be able to use it in NZ becauase it's the wrong frequency. Again we had been told we could so we were not impressed.

After this, Mike's mother took us ddown to this really neat restuarant for breakfast - $7.95 eat all you want. They had amazing food. I honed in on the french toast and pancakes!! Afterwards I felt guilty and had some fresh fruit. The fresh fruit cancels out the calories in the maple syrup right?'

After breakfast, we jumped on a trolley bus to the Ala Moana shopping centre. I was sunburnt from San Francisco so didn't want to get more burnt, plus I still hadnt bought my tshirts I wanted to buy. Headed down to Walmart first, then over to Sears. I spent ages in the shoe section as they were so cheap, but ended up buying nothing as no room in my luggage. Instead I just drooled. Then to the women's section and I bought some jeans, tshirts and a pair of shorts. Thats it - done - no more shopping for me. That had taken two hours. By now it was very hot, so sat and had a drink and headed back to the hotel.

Jumped in our swimsuits and headed over to the beach and had a swim on Waikiki beach and lay in the sun until 5.30pm. Bliss Bliss. I wasn't hungry - still full from breakfast. We had dinner at an Ihop restaurant (cheap), and then wandered around the shops and marketplace. Eveyrthing so cheap but so much the same. Booked a day tour around the island for tomorrow.

Hit the sack early again as I'm still tired.

30th July - San Francisco - Hawaii

Up early and checked out by 8am. Luggage went into storage for the day. We then wandered down to the bus to use our off/on ticket for the second day. First stop this time was the botanical gardens again - but this time we walked over to the Conservatory of Flowers. We saw no sqirrels this time, but we did see warnings about wild coyote's in the area, warning us not to approach them if we did see them. We didn't.

Conservatory of Flowers were fascinating - much bigger than Auckland's Wintergardens, with over 29,000 varietires of plants. At one end they also had a butterfly exhibit. I saw my first 'american bumble bee' So different to our big black and yellow striped ones.

Back on the bus and our next stop was Fisherman's Wharf. I bought another jacket to bring home for $20. We also had clam chowder in a sourdough bun again for lunch. Couldn't resist as it was so yum. By this time it was getting late, so back on the bus to Coit Tower.

I found this interesting as I have read the book 'The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill' which has immortalised this whole area. We walked from the bus, up the hill, up the hill, up the hill, then up up up the stairs. This was steeper than the worlds steepest street. My legs still hurt from it 4 days later. Beautiful area though, and I recognised many things from the book. We paid $4.50 to go up the tower, to find the tower encased in glass so not good for taking pictures. I found this price a bit of a rip off actually, as we were finished within minutes, but then had a 20 minute wait in line to get the elevator back to the bottom. However, we were running late - we had to be back at the hostel by 3pm to get a taxi to the airport by 3.15pm. It was 2.40 so I persuaded the others in linne that we had a plane to catchand would they mind letting us through first. They did :)

We hightailed it back to the bus, but going down the hill was slow because of my balance and we had just missed one. There was no way we could wait half an hour for the next one so we found a rude taxi driver who took offense over everything I said as he misunderstood that I was admiring the victorian houses, instead he thought I was telling him where to turn. He got really argumentative and aggressive. Because of it we didn't want to tip him, but he wouldn't give us the correct change so he got his tip anyway. Cheeky sod.

We waited for the shuttle to take us out to the airport on the corner of Derby Lane and Taylor street where our hostel was. Also on the corner was a massage parlour. Seems we could please no one today as one of the 'madame's' came out and told us we couldn't loiter on the corner as it wouldn't please her clientele. We told her that wasn't our problem, and that we were waiting for a shuttle to take us to the airport and we weren't moving. She disappeared back inside, but she kept a beady eye on us the whole time. Weird.

To be honest - I loved the places we saw in San Francisco - Muir Woods, all the places we visited by bus, the treatment the police gave us - all were very positive experiences, but I hated the bums, the stench of urine in the streets as we walked, and hated being harrassed for 'change, change' by these same people all the time. One even followed us. Those experiences weren't so positive.

At the airport we nearly missed our plane. We wandered in and asked where the Air New Zealand counter was. They told us at counter 3, but it wouldn't open until 5.30pm. I wondered about this as our flight was at 6.55pm and I thought that was late. However, we went and had a coffee, and I remembered that we had to try and unlock our cellphones so we could use them back home in New Zealand. Not being able to use a phone, we asked twopoliceman having a break to help us. That they did - rang the 611 for customer service and got our phones semi unlocked. We were told that an email would be sent to us and we had to reply using an unlock code number within 24 hours. Not a problem. Again wonderful service from San francisco's finest.

By this time it was 5.30pm and we wandered back to counter 3 to find no lanes unopened, so while I went to the restroom, I got Mike to ask again. Turned out that our flight was an alliance flight with United Airlines ande had been given the wrong info, and final check in time was fast approaching. An airport official found us a trolley, loaded our suitcases on it, and we raced to the terminal. We tried to check in using fast check in to find we coudn't so had to join a long queue. Hearts beating, hot and bothered, and in front of an old man who continually farted something terrible. People as far as 6 or 7 back were holding their coats/scarves/tshirts over their noses it was so bad. I hid in my coat.

Finally the old man got served and left and the air pollution gradually cleared and before long we were finally at the counter checking in. Unfortunately Mike was overweight again in his baggage, so he was dividing things between suitcases. Unfortunately, because we were on such a tight timeframe, he got flustered, and his behaviour was noted as suspicious. So as we were going through security we were separated and Mike was tested for drugs. Oh well - all adds to the experience of travelling. I also set off the alarms - my bra wires do that to me every time. One of these days I''m going to go through airport security topless. Might save time.

No sooner we got through security - we were racing down to our plane. It took off as soon as we were seated, however we were not the last ones on the plane. Close though! Flight to Hawaii uneventful. Arrived at 9pm Hawaii time and got a shuttle to our Hotel. I was exhausted so went straight to bed, however Mike's mum and her partner was also here, so Mike stayed up talking to them.

29th July - San Francisco

We waiting around at the hostel because Mike's replacement credit card was arriving sometime between 8am and 10am. It arrived just on 10am, so as soon as we had it, off we went on the city tour bus from Union Square. We got the one that was $32 but the tickets lasted for two consecutive days instead of just 24 hours.

First stop was the Painted Ladies at Alamo Square. Picture postcard Victorian houses in a row, probably the most photgraphed site in San Francisco next to the Golden gate Bridge. Took photos then waited for the bus and reboarded. It was a little longer than the 'every half hour' they said it woudl be.

Next stop was the Botanical Gardens. It was a glorious summer day, and it was really pleasant in the gardens. I wanted to see the Flower Conservatory (or covered hothouses), but we weren't sure where they were so didn't chase it up. We did see another Squirrel though. I know I know - I can hear you all sighing - but they're sooo cute!!

Back onto the bus, and our next stop was the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked over it to the other side. It was lovely and warm as the su was shining but that wind was a bit nippy, but we kept on walking fast so kept ourselves warm. Mike now has 459 photos of San Francisco City from the bridge, as he would take 10 steps and the take another 7 photos!! At the other side of the bridge, we once again had to wait for the bus to turn up, but it was very pleasant sitting in the sun.

Next stop was to see the crookedest street in the world. We were going to get the cable car up, but we were too stingy to pay the $11.00. Besides, there was an hour long wait. So we decided to walk up... the steepest street in the world. After we had walked up the steepest street, we walked down the crookedest one. Lots of photos. By this time it was getting late, and the last bus left around 5.00pm. I wanted to make sure we got the bus back to Union square i time. so we walked to the Fisherman's wharf bus stop and and got one straight away. Got off at Union Square. Mike's replacement credit card wasn't working, so we did try and get some help from the banks, but they woudn't help us as we weren't 'customers'. I've found this attitude in USA banks before when I've wanted USA travellers cheques cashed, and they wouldn't do it because I wasn't their customer! Sigh - of course I wasn't - I'm an overseas traveller wanting international cash and these are international cheques - I found the attitude appalling actually as it simply wouldn't happen in NZ. Any bank in NZ will help you whether you are a customer or not.

After not getting any help there, we headed to dinner at a diner on the corner of union square. Always full so looked good, and it was - a great meal and cheap. Back to the hostel for another early night, but also to pack, as we have to check out of the hostel in by 8am and put our luggage in storage until 3pm as were heading to the airport late afternoon to fly out to Hawaii - eat your heart out!.

28th July - San Francisco

Well. Life certainly is not boring. And it's days like these you really wish you had normal hearing so you can sort things out yourself.

It started last night. I hit the sack at 8pm as I was simply exhausted. Mike went out and searched for a beer and dinner and walked the streets. He felt someone brush up against him, but didn't think anything of it.

Until.... this morning. Where's my wallet??

We unpacked everything. Went through every pair of shorts and trousers. Every nook and cranny. Every drawer and pocket. We unpacked and repacked everything. No wallet to be found. It was lost - good and proper. $250 USD cash, Credit cards, Drivers license - G O N E!

We found out where the police station was so, instead of going on our city wide tour, we walked down 5 blocks to the police and wrote up a report for insurance purposes. There is no hope of it being handed in, because of the number of homeless around the area he was.

We told the police we needed help to ring to cancel the credit card as we couldn't hear on the phone. Not a problem. He wrote everything down - fortunately Mike had written his card number in a note book so we had all the information. Unfortunately due to budget constraints the station couldn't make a toll call so they told us to go to the Southern Station on 850 Bryant. I asked if we should take a taxi - but they said no - walk it.

So we walked it. After an hour we finally found it, but not before asking several people if we were on the right track. We were but were told to 'watch our backs as it's unsafe'. Lovely.

The police are behind glass and you talk to them via a phone. We couldn't do that so we told them we were deaf and they passed us pink paper through the glass with written messages. We were told to go to the 4th floor to room 454 and ask for the Robbery Inspector. Before we could get to the lifts, we had to go through a security check like the airport!!

We were seen by a Sergeant Scott Warnke. He was simply brilliant, and went well out of the way to help us. He spent a good two hours with us, ringing NZ for us and cancelling the credit card, and then organising a replacement with Mastercard International that will be delivered to Mike tomorrow morning between 8 and 10am at the hostel. He will be able to use the card, but not at any ATM to withdraw cash.

This lovely police officer then DROVE us down to Fisherman's Wharf afterwards so we could spend the afternoon down there. Now that is really going above and beyond and we are truly truly grateful for his help.

We then spent the afternoon at Fisherman's wharf wandering around. We had lunch at the Boudin Bakery = clam chowder in Sourdough bun - it was wonderful = slurp - yum. We watched this duck-like diving bird dive under the water and attack 3 seagulls from underwater which was hilarious. The seagulls complained bitterly!

Onto Pier 39 and took photos of the sealions, then wandered around the shops. Caught the cable car back up to Union Square then walked back to the hostel. Got back about 8pm. So all in all a good day, apart from the initial panic from Mike this morning!! I kept Mike calm though - re-iterating that there was absolutely nothing we could do about it but sort it out.

City tour tomorrow now - at least the lost wallet gave us something different to do :)

27th July - San Francisco

Wasn't up toooooooo early this morning - 9am! We finalised our packing, then had the leftover cheesecake for breakfast (oink oink). We had some porridge too! See - told you I'm turning into porridge! Steven then dropped us at our backpackers hostel in Union Square. It's a bit of a dump, but clean, and we have our own room where we can lock up - so it's safe. Close to the shops so thats good too. After dropping off our luggage, we headed up to Circuit City. I was finally able to get Wendy's birthday present there at a reasonable price. We then walked down to the downtown area and went window shopping. I enjoyed it at Sak's fifth Avenue. Particularly at the Jimmy Choo's handbag section. Handbags only $2300 usa. Thought about getting one each for all my female friends. It's the thought that counts isn't it?

Picked up some lunch in the Macy's foodcourt - we went to a mexican place - yummy food and the chef is apparently famous, but obviously not famous enough for me to know about it downunder! Wandered around Macy's store - tried on a few of the sale clothing, but didn't buy anything - I actually think I'm too tired to appreciate anything. Saw lots of clothes that Anne and Wendy would love - but they're not here to try them on - all clothes on sale - 60% reduce so some real bargains in there. By this time it was close to 6pm - and it is FREEZING in SFO. I only had a tshirt on - so we headed back to the hostel.

Caught up on emails and started reading another book. I've had it. Actually to be honest - I want to come home now. I've had enough of sightseeing, walking, shopping, and sleeping in hostels. I'm sure if I get a decent nights sleep tonight I will feel more energetic for tomorrow's plans. We're doing the double decker sightseeing tour around the city - stops at 12 different places and we can get on/off all day long. Nothing planned for Tuesday - would like to go to Yosemite but it's too expensive at $130 for the day. Alcatraz was completely booked out - we tried to book it over a week ago and it was booked out then. We have most of the day on Wednesday too before we fly out at 7pm for Hawaii for 3 days. I want to lie on the beach and do nothing!!

26th July - San Bruno

We had a day at Steven's yesterday - Steven went off to help a friend with a roof, while I slept in and caught up with some sleep, caught up with emails and my blog, did 3 loads of washing (ugh - even on holiday I have to do laundry!!), read my book - finished it, snoozed, and generally lazed around all day long. It was absolute bliss, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, even now, I would like nothing better than to blob out on my sofa in my lounge all day - but thats a few more days away yet.

Steven came home around 8pm, and he and Stacey brought dessert, and another friend Rachel to meet us. Dessert was from the Cheesecake Shop (Yum), and they picked up Key Lime Flavour - oh bliss bliss. It was beautiful. Later on we realised we hadn't eaten so Steven cooked us up some Soup - so we ate dessert first - thats okay though - life is uncertain so you should always eat dessert first! We talked well into the early hours of the morning so was pleased to hit the sack, but was very sad to say goodbye to Stacey whom I've felt like I've known for years already.

25th July - San Diego - San Francisco

Shuttle was on time. Yawn. Too early for me. Got to the airport at 5.00 and was through check in and security by 5.20am. Our flight wasn't until 6.30am. So found some breakfast food and a cup of tea and had that. Thank goodness I did that because we got no food on the plane. Nothing except water. Flew Virgin airlines. New plane, but made a terrible scraping
noise as it went down the runway. I told Mike that was his suitcase wit his leather boots dragging as they couldn't fit it in the plane.

The plnae had little TV's behind the screen like the international flights, but if you wanted to watch a movie you had to pay $7.00. We did find a free CNN channel to watch, but it was a little disconcerting watching the news about the Qantas flight with a hole in the fuselage while we were flying to San Francisco. In the end I turned it off and tried to sleep for an hour. Rested my head on my hand over one of my eyes - and fell asleep. When I woke up the pressure on my eye meant everything was blurry for about an hour - couldn't see at all!!

Steven picked us up - I lost Mike again as I thought he was behind me - but he was using his phone so didn't see me as I thought he did. Steven found him though so that's okay. PIcked up our luggage then piled into Steven's car, and came back to his place. It felt like we were 'home' again. We then reorganised ourselves, and Steven drover us out to Muir Woods- the large redwood park famous in San Francisco. We went via the Golden Gate bridge and took photos. At Muir woods we walked the main track - very peaceful and beautiful. We saw and photograhed two wild deer - one still with its spots - Bambi :) We lost Mike again at Muir Woods but found him again shortly after! After leaving Muir woods we went to Stinson Beach - highway one but north instead of south. Had lunch in a bar and grill - very nice. I was starving as it was now 2pm and we hadn't eaten since 5.30am. Drove back towards San Francisco stopping at various viewing places for photos.

Went into San Francisco and parked car in North Beach area then walked for miles taking photos of the architecture to the Ferry buildings where we met Stacey - Steven's partner. Walked through Little Italy, Chinatown, Vietnam area and the sex shop area as well. All very very interesting! And yes - we went into one of the sex shops to check out prices and see what goodies Americans have! We didn't buy anything though!!! We then caught a taxi to our Italian Restaurant where we were booked into and had such a fun night of laughing, joking, teasing and eating. I ordered a Lobster Lasagne - was very beautiful but too rich after all my porridge eating!! Could only eat a tiny amount. After dinner walked back tot he car and we dropped Stacey at home, then came back to Steven's. Had a couple of Kahlua's then hit the sack.

it's now 25th July - and we're having a quiet day today - doing emails, catching up on washing, snoozing, reading and rejuvenating our stumps! We head back to San Francisco City tomorro where we have about 3 days in the city itself. Running out of dosh so am being careful now. Got to leave a bit for Hawaii :)

Cheers
Robyn

24th July - San Diego, Tijuana Mexico - San Diego

Got up earlier today and caught the blue line trolley to the International Border, then walked into Mexico. Got a bit lost when we got there so caught a taxi to Revolucion Street for $5. Tijuana is known to be a bit dicey so wanted to take no chances. Mexico is so different t anywhere I've been. Dry, dusty, hot and very poor. The sellers along the street are very aggressive trying to sell you things. If you stopped and bought one, you would immediately be surrounded in old women and children begging you to buy their wares.

At first because of what we had been told, we were very wary, but soon relaxed a bit and took out our cameras. Kept our wits about us though. Met some lovely people - Mexicans are generally happy people, and nice, with some rip off artists. We walked around for a few hours and bought a few things. I got some leather belts very cheap. Mike bought some leather
boots - very nice ones at that too. In the end we got sick of being haggled so headed back over the border. Bought some Kahlua (big bottle for $12 at the border duty free. Nice stuff! Mike got some Tequila. We've already drunk half the kahlua (sharing it with Steven in SFO). We need to drink it up as it's too heavy to take home with us!

Back to the trolley bus, passport stamped and back to the hostel. Packed up some of Mike's gear - trying to fit his boots in his luggage. We then headed to the pub around the corner and had a game of 10 pin bowls. I hate the game but still managed to get three strikes. Mike plays league in NZ and so was out of my league.

We then met Linda Binns from the SWC and took her to the kiwi pub on 6th and E st. Lots of kiwi stuff around the pub - including rugby jerseys, surfing memorablia and the toilets were named the Long Drop. It was ladies night so all wine was half price, so we bought a bottle of Matua Valley Pinot Noir for and shared that. After drinking the wine - Linda had to
leave us, so Mike and I walked around the Gaslamp area and down to the Exhibition area looking for somewhere to eat. There is a comic convention on in San Diego - with 120,000 attendees, which meant that place is packed so we finally found a spot at Subway where we shared a $5 footlong sub. People were wandering around dressed up as their favourite comic characters. Reminded me a bit about 'Furries'.

Got back to hostel about 10pm, wrote all my memory cards to CD and HDD, booked airport shuttle and tried to sleep. No go. I think I got maybe 2 hours sleep as I had someone sleeping above me in a bunk that tossed and turned which shook the bed all night. Shuttle picking us up at 4.45am! Gulp.

23rd July - San Diego

Up early again today - but Tiffany at Hooters must have worn him out as he took ages to get ready so didn't get away until 10am. We got on the trolley bus near our hostel and got off at San Diego's Old Town. Wandered through Old Town for a bit. It was very hot, then got tickets for the Old Town Trolley Bus City tour. It takes you around the whole of San Diego and you can get and off as you please.

We got off first at the harbour by the Maritime Museums. Denis Conners racing boats were on display and you could pay (through the nose) to ride on them. We decided not to. Back on the bus and passed the USS destroyer museum. Got off at Seaport Village and wandered around. Too expensive so just had a yoghurt icecream and sat in the shade and listened to a woman wailing - I mean singing. Back on the bus again, and over the Coronado Bay Bridge. Got off at Coronado hotel and walked along the promenade along the beach front. Mike pretended to be a guest of the hotel and went in and used their facilities to get changed (hotel guests only). He went for a swim, while I lay on the beach in the sun for half an hour. Water was dirty - oily from the naval base/shipyeards. After the swim Mike once again pretended he was a guest and went in and used their towels and showers while I sat primly outside!!

The hotel was fantastic - we wandered through it afterwards, and had a beer at the bar and pretended to live the life of Riley for a while. Afterwards, walked back to the bus and got the ride back to Oldtown via Balboa Park. Got to Oldtown about 4.15pm and then caught the Number 9 bus to Seaworld. We were rather shocked at the price of Seaworld, $61 so visited the 'guest relation' desk. Explained we were from NZ and only had a few hours (which we did), and that we were deaf. The result was that we got in for half price $30.50. A much better price.

Seaworld was huge. My feet were killing me. Mike had blisters. I think this meant that we didn't enjoy it as mjch as we would have liked. However we walked around taking photos - sea otters, orcas, beluga whales, turtles polar bears dolphins. Had some dinner, went on the arctic Ride then rushed over to be on time for the 8pm Shamu Show (Shamu RocksO. Very good but my photos won't turn out - got a bit dark. Left that and went by the moray eel's. Got to touch one - very slimy! I didn't think they would feel slimy - I expected it to be more like a shark skin - but no - slimy slimy - ewww!

Took the #8 bus back to oldtown, and jumped on the trolley bus back to our hostel at 10pm - 12 hours of walking. I have no feet left. You can call me stumpy!

Found out the manager of Lucky D's hostel where we're staying is a kiwi - and co-incidentally comes from Northcote - and lives in Lake Road - the same road as me. How coincidental is that??? - Almost as coincidental as bumping into the Restalls in London Picadelly Tube at Rush hour 25 years ago!!

22nd July - San Diego

Got up early - 7.30am Free breakfast on 3rd floor (why is it that we always seem to get the top floor of a hostel when we have heavy baggage? - no elevators - we have to walk up 4 flights of stairs.) The breakfast was only sugared cereal so I headed to the room and got one of our packaged porridges to fill the gap.

Wandered to broadway and caught the #7 bus to the Zoo. On the way we saw lines and lines of homeless people - many of them elderley, queueing up for food at the Salvation Army soup kitchen. Very very sad.

Arrived at the zoo at 9am. it's simply huge. We got in for half price because we were deaf. I like playing this deaf card when it works like this. We purchased the full ticket and got the audio tour first. I couldn't hear anything that was said, but we got a good overview of where everything was from this tour. Started walking, starting with the rare Francois Langurs. The panda exhitibition was fantastic, and the aviaries were great too. Needless to say I took many many photos. I"m not sure how I'm going to fit everything on my computer when I get home. We got lunch about 2pm, then took the gondola up to the Polar bears. Like the hippo exhibit, you could view the underwater which was interesting. Back down the gondola, we were going to leave, but found the reptile/snake pit so ended up going through that as well. Saw a huge Burmese Python which was albino so a gorgeous yellow and white colour. Would make lovely shoes (Just kidding!)

Out of the Zoo we then walked through Balboa Park. By this time it was 5.30 so none of the museums were open, but still gorgeous to walk through the spanish architecture. We needed to find our way back to the hostel, so caught the free trolley back up near the zoo, and found the bus stop. We were told the hostel was miles away so should catch the bus, not walk, so
we did, but ended up that we could have walked as our stop was only two blocks away. We got back to the hostel at 8pm - I was too tired - so just had porridge for dinner and headed to bed, while Mike once again pounded the pavements in search of something more substantial. He found it in the form of Tiffany at Hooters!!! I'm sure I'm going to get Scurvy as I haven't been able to find suitable fresh fruit and vegetables while I've been away. I think I'm turning into porridge!

21st July - San Luis Obispo - San Diego

We had a great breakfast. I wandered outside again in the hope to get a photograph of a humming bird but there were none to be seen. We left around 9am. Stopped for photos before we had even left the property! Such a gorgeous area. We left the freeway and went into San Luis Obispo township itself. Gorgeous township. WE found a Sports Authority store and stopped in there. I finally managed to get my pair of Teva Walking Sandals I had been trying so hard to find. They were on sale too so very pleased. I also bought some casual shoes, so thats two pairs of old shoes I can now throw out while I'm over here, which was my intention all along.

Got back on the road at 10.30am. Stoped again at Carpenteria State Beach for a coffee and a sandwich. Looks beautifully tropical - white sands and tall palm trees. From there we started heading inland to LA, but got a bit lost, so got back off the US101 and took the 23 South over the Santa Monica Mountains back to the coast. I was driving - snd found the mountains a little hairy - narrow roads, very windy - very steep but beautiful views so glad we did it. We came out just north of Malibu - so filled up with gas and then headed to the beach. Malibu beach and the area was beautiful. Huge homes, white sands. I kept my eye out for George Clooney in the hope I could bring him back to NZ. But no luck unfortunately. Sigh!

Back into the car and carried driving down the coast. Stopped at Santa Monica Pier. Parking cost $8 (gulp) but we decided we're only here once and for a short time so let's do it. Walked over the sand, under the pier, then up onto the pier on the other side. Wandered through the games/rides and up to the top of the wharf. Then back to the car. All very lovely and so nice to see it in person after seeing it in movies so many times.

We left at 4pm (rush hour in LA), and got onto the 405 South away from the coastline. Decided that we just needed to get to San Diego now. You think Auckland traffic is bad? Try driving in 8 lanes each way of bumper to bumper traffic. I will never complain about Auckland's traffic woes again. Well - not for a month anyway!

Onto the CA 73 which turned into the I5 South. I'm so amazed that each freeway merges onto another freeway, which merges onto another freeway. We have a lot to learn in NZ :) We stopped at Oceanside (I think that's where Grease was filmed), and had dinner at Spanky's Pizza. Sounds a bit suss but they are world famous for their 28 inch pizza's. You have to see it to believe it - it was simply HUGE. WE didn't have one but did see others that did. Back onto the freeway all the way to San Diego Airport where we had trouble locating the car rental place to drop of the car. Finally found it after about an hour of driving. After paying for the rental car, they provided us with a free shuttle to the airport, where we then picked up an Airport Shuttle to our hostel. Hostel is a big place, clean, secure, $25 a night including breakfast. I hit the sack straight away - too tired, but Mike went out and pounded the pavements looking for a beer and meal. Guess I'm showing my age!!