May 12, 2015

Seven teaching practicals, getting my whole body clicked in toilets and a very interesting journey from Samui to Bangkok

It’s been a while! I apologise (for those who care) that I haven’t blogged in a long time. Truth is, I’ve been incredibly busy. I remember reading a girl’s blog back in September last year when she was doing the Samui TEFL course. She did two blogs and then I never saw another one. I remember thinking how it was a bit weird to stop there but I now know why. You are so busy on the course preparing lesson plans, getting your resources, practising lessons, doing projects and revising for tests that you barely have any time to write down what you’ve done that week. I will now try and summarise the final three weeks I had on Samui before it leaves my already full brain.

The last blog ended with Josh and I preparing for our first lesson. It was on transport with adjectives taught and comparatives, such as faster, and superlatives, such as fastest. We thought there was way too much content to go through all of this in a two hour lessons (which with breaks in between actually comprises of 1hr45mins). We were wrong. The 11-15year old students had a great grasp of the transport vocabulary and the adjectives. They breezed through the listening activity worksheets we made for them and they understood the comparatives and superlatives really well. It was so rewarding being able to introduce a concept to them and know that they understood it and could use it in a sentence. The Samui TEFL course allows you to get practice in teaching a range of ages (the youngest I taught were 7 years old and oldest were either hotel staff or teaching assistants around 25 years old) and gives you a real classroom environment to be able to put into practice the teaching methods learned. Over the course of the final three weeks of the course I taught 7 teaching practicals (TP) and each one had to be planned to perfection (I did have a bad TP in the third week with the 7-11 year olds because I was unprepared due to a power cut and having an phone interview just before teaching… It helped show how you have to be prepared at least a few days before in case of unforeseen circumstances!). My favourite class had to be the 11-15 year olds and I taught them twice after that transport lesson (one lesson on sea creatures and one lesson on monsters). The TPs were a great experience in how to control the class, how to demonstrate the games and actually make the students speak in fluent English as much as possible!

The course lasted a whole month but it flew by! It was an intense course with a lot of effort, work and hours put into it but it was all worth it in the end. I met some incredible people of which I will be keeping in contact with whether they like it or not. We would spend pretty much every night together after class either eating, planning, revising or well, getting drunk. This is something we were quite good at on Koh Samui. We befriended Nong who worked at Lucky Shakers bar just down the road from our bungalow accommodation. Nong worked for his friend who owned the bar and was always happy to see us. We frequented there quite a lot (but also managed to revise there for our exams) and so much so that we were invited to celebrate Nong’s birthday with a delicious spread of food put on and also Lucky’s birthday (the owner’s little 3year old). If you’re ever in the Choeng Mon beach area of Koh Samui, make sure you check out this bar because they are helpful, friendly and accommodating… and their Chang beer is cheap. There was also a barbers near to it where I got my haircut one night. When I walked in he sat me down and said “what you want?” whilst pointing at a wall with about 12 pictures on. It was hard to choose between the short on sides, long on top or the short on sides, long on top or the short on sides, long on top styles that I had as my options.

We would also have class nights out where we’d visit the local night markets and fill ourselves silly with cheap street food and then haggle with Songthaew drivers to take us to the main strip of Chaweng to have a few drinks. This is how the majority of our weekends were spent, except for the one weekend where Devin, Jody, Emma and I rented scooters and travelled around the whole island. We saw Big Buddha, beautiful scenery and views, a waterfall and an elephant (of which Devin was ridiculously excited about). The island is easy to navigate around (just basically one main road around the outskirts of the island) and is a lot safer to drive on than Bangkok or the bigger, busier cities. The following day (Sunday) saw the four of us head out early on a boat trip to the Angthong National Park. We were up bright and early (7am) and waited for our transfer to the ferry port. On arrival at the ferry port, we were given some breakfast and told we’d be leaving at 8:30am. It was just the four of us there, waiting patiently and after a good twenty minutes of no one else arriving, we kept saying how good it would be if it were just the four of us on our own boat (I mean it was the day after the Full Moon party so we thought the majority of tourists would be hungover/still drunk and not in any state for a boat trip). Well, we spoke too soon. Suddenly two minibuses full of Japanese tourists arrive. Okay, this is fine, we’ll all fit on the boats and maybe we’ll just have a couple of extra people on our almost private boat. Nope. Another two minibuses arrived, and then another three and then two more and well yeah it got a bit ridiculous in the end. It felt like the whole of Japan had moved to Koh Samui for the weekend to come on this boat trip! We had a brilliant day however visiting the national park and snorkelling near some of the most picturesque mountain islands. One island we visited had a viewpoint of a lagoon to go and see. We began the ascent and honestly I have never walked up so many 90 degree steps! It was never ending and as we got higher and higher, the sweat just kept dripping and dripping. It was one of the hottest walks in my life. The view at the top though was definitely worth it.

The rest of the day was spent swimming, eating and admiring the beautiful views around. And getting ridiculously sunburnt. Like a lobster. When we returned back to Choeng Mon, Emma and I headed to Family Mart to get a few bits. This meant walking past Lucky Shakers and as soon as Nong saw us he gasped. He ran out back, sat Emma and I down and then smothered us in Aloe Vera gel! It certainly helped cool us down! This led us into the final week of the course where we all taught our last few TPs, handed in our individual assignments and had our final grammar test! We celebrated the final day of the course with our graduation. Kathryn and Rosanne (the trainers) gave us our certificates and references and then gave speeches on how we’d all come a long way from the first week. We had our group picture by the pool (of which none of us used!) and decided to meet up at Lucky Shakers for a drink before heading down to the beach to let off lanterns. This was a perfect way to end the four weeks we spent together and letting off the lanterns on the pitch black beach was beautiful. I haven’t laughed so much in ages and I hope this continues throughout my time in Thailand! After the lanterns, we headed to Chaweng to go to Lipsmackers and Ark bar one final time. It was a night full of alcohol, playing jenga against the bar men in Lipsmackers and rain (of course it rained on our final night!).

The following morning saw Emma, Josh, Anika, Anushca and I getting picked up at 6:30am for our journey to Bangkok. I… well, I hadn’t felt so horrendous in a while. Luckily I’d packed everything before going out the night before (can’t say the same for Josh who I had to help throw the last few things in his bag) but this still didn’t help how awful I was feeling. We got on the minibus and Anushca offered us anti-nauseous tablets. This is where the irony starts as a couple of us threw up into plastic bags. There was a distinct smell of sick in the minibus. Classy. Then was a stopped off to pick up what looked like a couple on their honeymoon, I’m sure they were thrilled to be getting a bus that stank! We got to the ferry port and clambered aboard our catamaran to take us to the mainland. This bit was fine. The next not, well not so much. We got off at Donsak ferry port and Emma and I somehow lost Josh. He was two people behind but when Emma and I grabbed our luggage, put it on the bus and got our seats, we got a message from Josh saying “not sure if you’re on this bus or if my luggage is but here we go.”. We then leave the ferry port as Emma and I turn around and just see Josh’s bag fading away into the distance. He didn’t get his bag and now Emma was telling him to stop his bus. Josh tried to but couldn’t get to the driver and when a Thai woman asked him if he was okay, he simply replied with a panicked “I need to stop the bus” which I can only imagine was the last thing the Thai woman thought he was going to say. She replied with a suitable “Oh shit…”. Luckily, Josh managed to ring the ferry company and get his bag driven to the airport. Phew. This journey wasn’t going too smoothly so far but fortunately there were no further mishaps and we arrived in a wet and rainy bangkok later that afternoon.

We checked into a hotel where Josh was having an interview that afternoon (I’ve no idea how he did it after a day of travelling on little sleep) and relaxed. After some dinner in the evening, Josh and I decided to trek across town to meet Lisa, Luke, Nigel and Cillian at their flat. They had done the Samui TEFL course the month before us and I had Nigel’s degree certificate because it got delivered after they left and he needs for his work visa. As we were in Bangkok, we thought it’d be easier to meet in person than to send it across Thailand again. I had only been in contact with Lisa because of Jess and Elle who met her in their hostel room when they were in Bagnkok back in February so it was crazy to finally meet her and even madder that Jess and Elle had met her before she did her TEFL course! We had a few beers and decided to head out to Khao San Road (which if you haven’t heard of it, it is an insane brightly lit up road full of bars, street food, ping pong shows and edible scorpions and tarantulas). We headed to a nightclub called Lava because we needed air con (Bangkok is ridiculously humid) and paid the extortionate prices they wanted for beer. Now, what I am about to say is something that also happened at a club on Koh Samui (The Green Mango) and when it happened there I somehow loved it. Basically, I went to the toilet and when washing my hands, the toilet guy (much like the no spray no lay guys from back home) grabbed my neck and turned it all the way right to click it, then left to click it. When this happened the first time I laughed but then as they continued to click my back I realised they were only doing this for money. So, as he grabbed my arm, bent it backwards and picked up my leg to try and click my back, I started shouting ‘no!’. This didn’t work and next minute I’m lifted up in the air on this random guy’s back all whilst this Canadian guy watches and says “I’ll tell you why they do this when we get out”. Brilliant I thought, the reasoning behind why this keeps happening to me, some sort of story as to how it all started, maybe even an anecdote of a time it happened to him? Nope. Instead when we’re out of the toilet he tells me “they do it for tips”. No shit Sherlock! Needless to say I didn’t go back to the bathroom again in fear of being clicked all over again.

I’m currently still in Bangkok for training for my new job with Fun Language. They specialise in teaching in and around Bangkok with their lessons comprising a lot of drilling procedures and playing games to reinforce the language being said. I’ve had two days of training now and part of today’s big training conference was a games rotation whereby, in a circuits style layout, we experienced 32 different games to play with the children. I’ve got another day of training tomorrow before moving to Ratchaburi (an hour and a half South West of Bangkok) where I’ll be living and teaching. It’s a scary transition time but I’m looking forward to the next part of this adventure. Yesterday was a sad day, however, as I was told I needed to shave off my beard. I told Emma and Josh (as they’re staying in a hotel near me) how I needed to be clean shaven and their reply was “Please can I watch you shave that’s going to be so amusing but so sad 😂”. Brilliant. So they came over, cracked open a beer and watched me shave. I now look about 12 years old again.

April 20, 2015

TEFL class trip to Lipsmackers, a Thai massage using boobs to massage my feet and arts and crafts ready for the first teaching practical

So, a lot has happened since the last blog. The first week of the course has been immensely intense with a lot to take in and put into practice ahead of our first teaching practicals this week. Just one week of the course and we’re already teaching English to Thai children with topics such as ‘Places to spend free time’ and ‘different modes of transport’. The second day of the course consisted of Kathryn (our teacher) doing a whole lesson in Italian teaching us feelings such as felice (meaning happy), triste (sad) and spaventata (frightened). At first we were thoroughly confused with everything being in Italian but the purpose of this was to display methods to teach a language of which your students do not know. Methods such as using the target language to warm up the class, teaching words by ‘drilling’ (repeating the word three times, then the class repeating it three times, then separate groups and then finally randomly selected students to repeat it). This was a very beneficial way of teaching us the methods to use as it meant we were put into the shoes of our students who may know some simple English but require you to repeat and keep them on their toes by selecting them at random. As a class we felt a lot better after the intense first day and then learnt the method of teaching to adopt when it comes to our first classes.

Wednesday night in Choeng Mon is the weekly floating night market. A few of us decided to head down but met first at a bar called Lucky Shakers along the way. We grabbed a few Changs and waited for the remaining few to arrive. Then it poured it down. A lot. We were sat in Lucky Shakers bar on the main strip of Choeng Mon and thought the best way to pass the time and wait for the rain to stop would be to drink a few more beers. However, the weather was not on our side and the rain failed to cease. This ended up with us having a few more beers than anticipated, but we got to know each other a bit better and then made a run for it when the rain stopped. We’re still yet to experience the Choeng Mon night market but with three more weeks here we will definitely head there… and try not to get sidetracked by Lucky Shakers!

Thursday saw us in class once again going over the method of teaching and starting to plan for the first teaching practicals on Monday. As a class, we brainstormed the topic of ‘places’ and came up with the lexis (vocabulary) to teach. We decided to stick to popular things to do which are found on Koh Samui because our students for the teaching practicals will be inhabitants of the island. For the first few weeks we will be planning and teaching in pairs and so were each given the age group we’d be teaching (3 – 6 year olds, 7 – 11 years olds and 11 – 15 year olds) and then to help plan for the first lessons we were each assigned a section of the teaching model. It is extremely overwhelming at the moment because there are so many different methods we can apply and trying to find the best one can sometimes be a struggle in itself. A lot of time, effort and planning goes into each and every lesson (making the flash cards to teach the lexis, making boards games to reinforce this and get the students asking and answering questions and making sure you have worksheets for them to complete listening tasks). A two hour lesson at the moment has taken three days to prepare for!

Friday saw us working on our lesson plans again and then as a class preparing for our adult lessons we’d also be teaching next week (a few of us teach English to hotel staff and others teach adults at a International language school). This again takes a lot of planning and because we’ll each be teaching different groups of adults we can plan this one as a class and use the same resources. It was late Friday afternoon and the production levels had started to drop, after all this week has been a lot to take in. So we decided to head to Chaweng (where I had stayed when I first arrived on Samui) and went to Lipsmackers bar on the beach. We managed to get near enough the whole class out and took advantage of the happy hour offer they run between 4-8pm. We got there around 6pm and between all of us we had probably tried each cocktail on the menu (and it is a fairly extensive list). It was a great way to get to know one another and by 8pm we were all suitably hydrated and ready to watch the fire show at Ark bar. The night was a little hazy (there was a toad on the table at one point courtesy of Emma, no idea where she found it!) but all in all it was a great night.

The next morning I get awoken by tapping on my door, windows and walls. I had had about 4hours of sleep and initially I thought the different rhythms of tapping were in my dream. Nope, I opened my eyes to find Emma at my window laughing her head off. I immediately thought it must have been past midday and I’d slept in but no, I looked at the time and it was only 7am. Emma had brought cornflakes, bowls, milk and spoons into my room and thought it’d be a great idea to eat breakfast and watch TV. I could barely open my eyes let alone dig into a bowl of cereal. It was on of the oddest wake up calls I’ve had and I soon enough fell asleep again with Emma happily eating corn flakes in my room whilst watching some odd sci-fi movie. I woke up again around 10am to an empty room and a few messages from the others. Me, Emma, Devin and Jody decided to head to the beach to sweat out our alcohol and run into the sea. It was an extremely hot day and after some lunch on the beach we thought what better way to relax than to get a Thai massage?! We each got our own masseuse and had our feet washed before laying on our fronts. Within seconds this Thai woman was climbing all over me, pressing hard into my back which made me feel like I was about to throw up all over the pillow. I managed to refrain and started to enjoy the massage. The press hard on your back and are not content until they’ve heard a few clicks. My masseuse then worked her way to massaging my legs and feet. She would do one leg and then repeat the procedure on the other leg. She then lifted up my legs and leaned forward to massage my back again. However, this is where she adopted her special technique of using her boobs to massage the soles of my feet. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure if she knew she was using them but she properly forced herself upon my feet. It was quite an experience but in amongst all of this (and Devin’s masseuse sneezing every few minutes) it ended up being an incredibly relaxing hour. I especially enjoyed when she massaged my head because it immediately alleviated any headache I once had from the night before. We decided to go for a walk along the beach front towards the spit on the southern end of the beach. It was absolutely beautiful walking towards the island with clear and warm waters shallow enough to walk through.

We then headed back into Chaweng to get a few bits and bobs for school (it still sounds weird saying this!). Chaweng has a big mall called Central Festival which includes everything from an expensive Starbucks to clothing shops to an extremely strict and official phone shop (where I got my Thai SIM card but had to give my passport in as well) to a supermarket and also a department store. None of this was here when I last visited Samui in October 2013! We then headed to a restaurant on called Hot Tuna where some relaxing, meal time music was playing. It then suddenly changed to Backstreet Boys’ Greatest Hits which altered the mood slightly. It was then accompanied by some Britney Spears and an interesting Thai version of Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’. We were absolutely shattered by this point and headed back to our bungalows via a Songthaew (the pick up trucks where you sit on the back). The following day saw another trip into Chaweng where we opted for a nice looking restaurant but definitely paid the price when the bill included a service charge and tax on top (they also tried to overcharge for the number of waters we had) but at least the food was delicious!

After the craziness of Friday night, the rest of the weekend was a lot tamer with a lot of eating involved and some journal entry homework completed on Sunday night. Today (Monday) consisted of the first half of the class going over their final preparation for their lessons and then teaching this to their respective classes in the afternoon. Me, Devin, Josh, Adami, Anoeshca and Isabel all stayed in class for our lesson planning. Josh and I teach our first class on Wednesday and we are teaching the 11-15year olds. Our topic is transport and we are also teaching them comparatives such as fast and slow and cheap and expensive and then superlatives such as faster, fastest and more expensive and most expensive. We spent the afternoon planning our two hours (of which we have a lot to teach within that time!) and making board games, flash cards and any other forms of resources using scissors and glue. It’s actually crazy how much preparation comes with these lessons and making sure you have all of your different games, worksheets, audio clips and recordings ready! We have to make extensive lesson plans as well which I should probably be doing instead of finishing off this blog. Wish us luck for our first teaching practical on Wednesday (especially because the room we are teaching in has no air con, I’m go into be a sweaty mess yay!).

April 14, 2015

28 hours of travelling, bungalow life and celebrating at the World’s biggest waterfight

Hello one and all. I’ve decided to keep the same blog that I used when I was on my last adventure around the world. This one is set to be a bit different though. I left my home in Poole, England early on Thursday morning with my parents driving me to Gatwick to catch my first of three flights. I was to be travelling for over 28 hours door-to-door to get me to my first destination of Chaweng beach in Koh Samui. I had a tearful farewell with my parents (I blame my mum for setting me off, I mean she was already welling up when we were getting in the car at home!) and walked through security whilst they waved me off. I pretty much undressed; taking off my belt, watch, valuables but yet still managed to set the alarm off as I went through the security gate. I gathered my belongings and decided to grab a coffee whilst in departures. A nice cup of Starbucks coffee to start the day. Well, it would have been a nice Americano had I not knocked it all over the floor straight after getting it and spilling some on a blissfully unaware holidaymaker’s bag who didn’t speak much English but instead glared at me whilst I tried to say sorry and got him some napkins. Good start. Luckily they replaced it for me so I decided to get as far away from the couple I’d just shocked and sat downstairs.

You have to be at the airport three hours before a long haul flight and after a lot of waiting around, it was finally time to board. I drew the lucky straw and got an aisle seat on the exit row with copious amounts of leg room and a stones throw away from the toilets. My first flight to Dubai consisted of (and this is for future Matt’s benefit) me watching Fury, the latest Hobbit film and four episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine whilst eating a lot of food (they provided smoked trout on a Waldorf salad, chicken in mushroom sauce with sautéed vegetables and a berry compote with yoghurt followed my scones, jam and clotted cream for afternoon tea) as well as a lot of beer, screwdrivers and water. Six and a half hours later and I was in Dubai for my stopover where I then got on my next flight to Bangkok. This flight saw me sat next to two fairly inebriated British guys headed to Pattaya for two weeks of sun, sea, Chang and ladyboys (I can only assume…). On this flight I watched Horrible Bosses 2, The Maze Runner and some more episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine whilst eating some more chicken (this time in a herb sauce) and some other food I can’t quite remember now (it must’ve been good…). I managed to get a whole 45minutes sleep (considering it’s a long haul flight and with Emirates, the leg room isn’t that generous and so you’re pretty cramped when trying to sleep). I arrived in Bangkok bright and early and headed through their fairly strenuous arrivals procedure where you frantically fill out a visa form whilst in a cattle pen queue with some serious officials staring at you trying to get through. Oh and for those who have watched Bangkok airport on BBC Three I even got to see a couple of the tourist police who frequent that show (bet they felt like mini celebrities!). I then had to wait a good four hours until my flight to Koh Samui because I’d given myself way too much time to account for any possible delays. Still this meant that I got to relax in the departures area whilst parades of Thai woman, bands and floats went up and down the aisles kicking off the celebrations of their Songkran festival which is for their Thai new year.

I finally arrived at Koh Samui airport which was a lot smaller than expected. You got off the plane, were ushered onto a small tram which took you on a five minute journey to the arrivals ‘building’ (it’s basically just a few wooden huts with a baggage carousel in the middle, still it’s beautiful with a backdrop of the mountains gracing Central Samui). Whilst waiting for my huge backpack to show on the carousel, I witnessed the cutest pug pass through like something off the of The Generation Game, cue a chorus of ‘aawwww’. He was inside a cage and wearing a little white jumper eagerly looking out for his owner. I then found my bag (you don’t know how tempted I was to just grab the pug, run and replace the contents of my bag at a later date) and headed to the taxi rank where my name ‘Mr Matthew’ was carefully written on a board held by a driver from the hotel I was to stay at, Ark bar. I arrived at the hotel and was immediately asked ‘where’s the other person?’ which at first I thought was her mocking me, ‘err it’s only me’, ‘well you book double room’, ‘err well I put one person, two nights and it gave me this room’, ‘okay I put two bed together’… Sure. I was so tired by this point after having only 1hour and 15 minutes sleep that I was happy to rest my head on her reception desk if this ‘double’ booking were to be a problem. Luckily it was not and I was talked through the rules and my bag carried to my door. I walked in and immediately saw the collection of snacks and alcohol; lays crisps, peanuts, Chang beer, barcadi breezers. Brilliant, they provide you with some complimentary food. Then I looked in the fridge and saw it chock-a-block with more refreshments. This wasn’t complimentary food Matt, it was a mini bar. It’s lucky I didn’t crack open a beer before realising. I did however get two bottles of water free a day and some tea and coffee. Perfect. I then FaceTime’d my parents and napped for the rest of the afternoon only to wake up at 6:30pm dazed and confused as to where I was. It was definitely time to find some dinner and check out the local surroundings (I had a Banana Nutella roti for dinner which is like a pancake made on a street cart and smothered in condensed milk.. They’re delicious!).

Later that night I decided to head to the local beach bar Lipsmackers where we used to frequent when we last came to Samui back in October 2013. It is still one of my favourite bars because you go there for one quiet drink and next minute you’re on your fifth Chang discussing the cultural differences between you, a German guy and four Norwegian people all whilst on the beach with the sea getting increasingly closer.

The following day saw me relaxing by one of the three pools in the hotel resort. I chose the see through pool which had one end of the pool with a glass window for you to swim up to (three Spanish girls absolutely loved it and took about 3000 pictures between the three of them). I took a break for lunch on the beach (chicken egg friend rice) and then headed back out into the 35 degree heat where, even though I kept lathering on the sun lotion, I still managed to burn my shoulders. After some dinner, I found myself back at lipsmackers beach bar for a drink. Again this turned into more than one drink and this time I met a guy from Chelsea in London, a Hungarian man and the same two girls from Norway from the previous night. I was getting picked up early in the morning by Kathryn (my TEFL course teacher) and so decided to have an early-ish night.

I just mentioned Kathryn was picking me up 8am sharp on Sunday. This is the reason I’m in Thailand this time around. I’m here to do a TEFL course with 12 other students (from South Africa, America, Canada and Zimbabwe) and spend the first four weeks learning everything there is to know about teaching English to non-native speakers. I got dropped off at my accommodation for the month (Leelawadee bungalows) and met Michelle, the landlady. She showed me to my bungalow and let me settle in (the early morning had taken it out on me and so I needed another nap). My accommodation is directly opposite the course centre which is ideal and there are six or seven bungalows altogether with four of us from the course staying here. I then went and met up with Devin and his aunt Jody, they are both from Canada and will be doing the course as well. I had been speaking to Devin for a little while before the course so it was beneficial to coming here as I already knew a couple of people. We spent the day on Choeng Mon beach drinking Chang and eating chicken in ginger sauce.

The following day was a public holiday in Thailand. It was Songkran day, the traditional Thai New Year’s Day where the year is now 2558 (I… I don’t understand either but I bought a loaf of bread earlier and that had a use by date of ’18/4/58’…). The celebrations start as soon as you walk down the road. Devin, Emma (from Zimbabwe), Jody and I decided to head to Chaweng as it is the main area to celebrate in Koh Samui. We found a songthaew (a small pick up truck where you sit in the back under a small roof) and hopped on. As soon as we started moving, we were hit by buckets of water ranging from being ice cold to warm. It was like being on a river Rapids ride at a theme park as you’d see people standing on the side of the roads with waterguns and buckets and not know whether it was about to get you. Emma was mid sentence and got a hose pipe of water straight to the face. This water fight has a historical meaning behind it though, it is believed to symbolise the washing away of all of the sins and the bad whilst the chalk and soap they slap on your face whilst you’re walking past originated from monks which they use to mark blessings. As we entered Chaweng, the heaven’s opened (they probably saw this as a gift) and we were drenched head to toe. We decided to walk to Ark bar to drink away the rain.

Two hours later and we had a somewhat dry walk along the beach, but then the winds picked up and the skies opened once again. We decided to just submerge ourselves in the celebrations; grabbing bottles of water and chucking it over those spraying you in the face with a water pistol and slapping what smelled like tea tree oil on your arms. After a good half hour walk through the madness, we stopped off at another bar where a Thai local was passed out on the table with Chang in hand. After a few pictures and him vomiting on Devin’s leg, we decided to move on and headed to the main part of town where hoards of people lined either side of the road, the music was blaring out and nobody was at all dry. The best thing about this festival is how happy everyone is. I didn’t see one person without a smile on their face and the Thai locals absolutely loved soaking everyone with water. Pick up trucks would drive by with ten people on the back chucking ice water and firing from all angles and no one was phased by it! I am extremely glad I got to experience the World’s biggest water fight and would definitely recommend it to anyone!

We headed back to Choeng Mon to our bungalows and dried off. Me and Emma then met up with Josh from America and Adami from Italy who are also on the course and our bungalows and went for dinner. I opted for a pork noodle dish whilst the others got curried dishes and explicitly told the waitress (who doubled up as the chef) for their food to not be spicy. What did they get? Some of the spiciest food since being in Thailand. We can only guess that the chef had had quite a busy day celebrating and may not have been at her best when cooking for us. We had an early night as we had to be up in the morning for our first class!

It’s now night time here and I’m writing this after just completing some homework (reading, writing articles in my journal and practicing a warm up to demonstrate to the class tomorrow). The first day at the TEFL course consisted of using warm up exercises to get to know one another, doing some group work to learn all about the Thai culture in terms of what to do and not do and then having a phonology, phonetics and grammar lesson. It was pretty intense for our first day and I was lucky to have had a background in studying English language (at university I did two years of phonology and grammar) and so understood what Kathryn (the teacher) was talking about, it’s something that at first seems so confusing (you learn about the sounds of words as opposed to spelling and how this can be considered confusing for Thai people learning English, for example though, thought, tough, plough all contain ‘ough’ but it is pronounced differently for each). I remember being thoroughly confused at the first phonology lecture at university so I can understand how the rest of the class were feeling but it’s something that will make more sense as we continue. The course is lasting for four weeks and consists of a lot of teaching practicals (of which the first is on Monday) and so I am definitely feeling apprehensive about it all. It is an exciting new chapter though and I am looking forward to the challenge! I am not sure how much I will blog whilst teaching out here but will try to do as many as I possibly can!

June 9, 2014

Sipping Grey Goose, holding Snappy the baby alligator and hanging out at Hogwarts

After the 14 hour New York airport camp out, a 4 hour flight and only 2 hours sleep within that whole time, I arrived at Miami International to find Sam and Tres who kindly offered to pick me up. Upon being dropped off at the hostel we had booked for the next few days, I was greeted by a crowd of people filling out the lobby munching on the free lunch. I won’t lie, it was very intimidating. There I was with my 20kg backpack on, walking into a busy hostel with at least thirty people staring. I soon found out that I was in a minority too, gone were the hostels full of backpackers and instead, I was in a room with five other people with suitcases. This hostel was more holiday-style accommodation rather than the hostels packed with travelers that I had become accustomed to. This little detail didn’t actually change the experience for me because I soon realised that I was actually booked in to a party hostel; a newspaper clipping behind the reception desk read “Miami International is in the Top 10 Party hostels in the world where you rarely get sleep”. Uh oh. Sam and Tres returned from parking their car and found me in the corner of the lobby surrounded by my bags and still wearing my jumper and chinos (my room wasn’t going to be ready until 3pm). I got changed and we headed to South Beach beach (yeah). It was windy. Very windy. It was also Saturday and so the beach was packed full of tourists and locals finding any sufficient space on this man-made beach (we were told the sand was from the Gold Coast of Australia, although after a quick Google search I can’t find anywhere about how man-made this beach actually is…). We found a spot and fought with the gusts of wind to put our towels down. Ten minutes later and we had almost succeeded. Sand. Now, everyone has their opinion on sand. I for one like sand, most of the time. It’s soft, fun to play with and can be quite comfortable to lay on. Today, however, was not a day where I liked sand. I felt like I’d done something wrong when said sand particles kept slapping me in the face. It’s common for sand to get everywhere even when you do as little as step foot on the beach but to be hit hard by it every ten seconds is a whole new experience. It was safe to say it wasn’t the most pleasant beach experience. Others nearby just drank through the pain, some were fully clothed taking full brunt of the sandstorm whilst others seemingly didn’t notice and spent the afternoon burning to a crisp. We decided to seek shelter behind a lifeguard hut and spent the rest of the afternoon collecting sand in every orifice possible. As aforementioned, we’re in a party hostel. This means that they offer different club night ‘excursions’ every night. Saturday night meant Story nightclub and for a $20 charge we got a keg of beer in the lobby, a party bus, entry to the club, a VIP table and endless house music. Now, the ‘party bus’ may sound fun but after a week of having to get them to the clubs, it was one of the worst parts of the night. It was more like being unwillingly stuck in a mosh pit instead of the promised ‘fun’ mode of transport to the clubs. Story was massive and the VIP area meant we got access to as much Belvedere vodka as we could handle. I felt like we were on an episode of Geordie Shore or similar where they get given too many free drinks. I’ve spent the last 8 months drinking the cheapest alcohol possible or wine from a silver bag and now here I am downing as much expensive as possible because, well, it’s free. Now, what wasn’t free was tap water. TAP WATER wasn’t free. No, they tried to charge you $9 for it!! Instead, we had to get cups of ice and fill them up with water from the bathroom taps. Classy.

The following morning saw me catching up on much needed sleep. Then some more rest was had at the beach. I say ‘rest’ but in fact it was spent constantly wiping sand off of everywhere and everything, yeah it was still pretty windy. That night the hostel was heading to Nikki Beach club, this time we got unlimited vodka ‘cocktail’ mixers (of which everyone in the lobby would add more vodka to) and the beloved party bus made its return. Sam and Tres befriended a Saudia Arabian guy in the club and he got us into his VIP area (living the high life now) where a massive bottle of Grey Goose and plenty of mixers greeted us. We decided to venture out a bit more the following day. After a less-than-average trip to the nearby diner, we headed to the beach to find dramatically less wind than the previous days. We spoke too soon though and were soon battered by hurricane style weather which in turn allowed me, Sam and Tres to go in their car to a local art district in downtown Miami. The Wynwood Walls is an industrial area which has been established as an area where artists have thrived. If all industrial areas looked like this then they’d definitely attract a lot more attention. Every wall within view was plastered in graffiti. But really good graffiti. Artwork which has had a lot of thought, time and attention. It was definitely a quirky area which provided us with a lot to see for a couple of hours; the artwork ranged from colourful splashes of paint, tigers created by chipping plaster off of the wall and a baby transformed into the Incredible Hulk. We then took a wander around Port Miami, the American Airlines stadium where Miami Heat were playing all week, past the ‘Miami Walk of Fame’ which consisted of Adam Garcia, Jamie Foxx and the movie Rio 2 (at least we knew all of these unlike in LA where the majority are people no one’s ever heard of). We then headed to Hooters overlooking Miami Bay. This was my first Hooters experience and Sam and Tres were looking forward to the unlimited chicken wings that you can get on a Monday. Until we realised that Florida is the only state in America that doesn’t do this offer! Instead we got a bucket of boneless wings between us.

The next day I headed to Florida Keys with three guys from the hostel; Tom and Priv, two medical students from England and Matteo, an Italian guy from Florence. They had hired a Dodge Challenger for three days. We headed off at 8am for our long drive to Key West, the southernmost point of the USA and the last island in the archipelago of Florida Keys. The drive was beautiful; summer music, bright blue skies and the clearest water surrounding us as we headed through many of the Keys. When driving through Key Largo, we decided to stop for some breakfast. A small little classic American diner on the roadside with unlimited coffee refills and the fluffiest, most filling pancakes I’ve ever had in my life. I could barely manage two of them. We then passed through Islamorado Key, Marathon Key and a handful of other smaller keys which were all as breathtaking as the previous one. You could stop anywhere on the way and you wouldn’t be disappointed with the view that greeted you. Clear, still blue water and calm breezes surrounded you. We even passed the History of Diving Museum, a Dolphin Educational Centre and a Turtle hospital. After 3 and a half hours of driving (Key West is roughly 150 miles from Miami but with the slow speed limits and regular stop offs to admire the scenery, it takes a lot longer than anticipated to get there). We arrived in Key West, a quaint, small seaside town famous for its Key Lime pie (we went to the original restaurant where it all began!) and for being where Ernest Hemingway lived (we saw his house but didn’t fancy the $13 entry fee to look around). Instead, we spent most of our time in the Key West Fort National park where for a small fee you gained access to one of the most beautiful areas of the archipelago complete with forest and a golden stretch of sand. After a Budweiser, a swim and a lie down on the beach, we headed to Fort Taylor where we were treated to views of the coast and learned how it was built to defend the southeast coast of Florida, especially during the US Civil War in 1861 and the Spanish-American War in 1898. We also went to the Southernmost point of America which was actually closer to Cuba (90 miles) than to Miami (150 miles) and then ended our day looking around the main part of Key West town which was full of small tourist shops, bars where crazy drunkards would scream in your face in an attempt to persuade you in there and tattoo parlours where you’d get a free piercing with every henna tattoo, right. Tom dropped me off at my new hostel for the next two nights, Bikini Hostel. It was a 15 minute walk away from Miami International and was definitely one of the worst decisions I made that week. In an attempt to save a few quid I decided to book two nights in Bikini Hostel. It just wasn’t as good knowing that everyone else I’d made friends with was still at the other hostel. Another, not so minor, downfall of this hostel was the sleeping situation. I was in a 9-bed dorm where the bunk beds were in tiers of three, when finally figuring out the lock system on the door (you put in a code and after a lot of loud whirring it would finally decided to let you in or not) I walked in to find the bottom bunk was free. Brilliant, I didn’t have to climb up two tiers and potentially kick someone in the face. That night though, I realised why this bottom bunk had been left available. It was directly in front of the air conditioning unit and ensured that I was freezing cold the entire night. I was looking forward to booking back in to Miami International from Thursday!

Wednesday saw me and the two girls from London, Sophie and Bee head off on our Everglades tour. I had to walk back to Miami International to catch the excursion bus (they didn’t pick up from Bikini hostel, see it’s far away!). The bus ride there was very informative. We were told of the ‘Art Decor’ style of building in South Beach meaning that any new builds must follow the same art decor theme and how there are no high-rise buildings allowed on South Beach (also known as SoBe) unless for residential purposes (which has been happening more frequently now due to lack of land on the island). Whilst on the bridge from SoBe to Downtown Miami, he informed us of Millionaire’s Island being man-made and invite-only with security guarding the entry to and from 24 hours a day. Everglades river is the slowest moving in the world and Miami was built on the Everglades National Park which is mainly water, hence why the area is so green. It also means that the road systems have to be updated and reinforced every few years due to them sinking in to the land. One of the most interesting facts we were told was how you cannot walk through the Everglades fields because the long sawgrass can cut you and make you bleed to death, or of course you could be attacked by an alligator. These harsh conditions encouraged the opening of a prison within the Everglades to ensure that no one could escape (unless they wanted to die). In our Everglades tour we got to experience an Air Boat along the river. It began fairly tame, looking at a blue chicken (something along those lines) and a lot of birds. We had to wear earplugs as the sound of the motor was incredibly loud, this caused a bit of trouble when trying to hear the guide point out things but in general we got to see a lot of birds and terrapin turtles to begin with. We then were taken to an area which was inhabited by baby alligators. Yeah the little alligators are cute but we wanted to see huge ones. We’d been told of a 12 foot alligator that often frequents the area. Where was that?! After some spins, tricks and a lot of speed we arrived at ‘alligator alley’. Well, we saw loads here. They’d often begin to swim up to the boat intrigued by what it was then disappear suddenly. It was brilliant to get to see them in their natural habitat and even though I was rubbish at trying to spot them, I had fun attempting! We were then treated to what we thought was going to be ‘alligator wrestling’ but it in fact turned out to be the zookeeper in the enclosure with him doing things like rubbing their sides, putting his hands in their mouth and generally showing us how tame they really are, laying around for hours on end and only really moving when its feeding time! We then got to hold a baby alligator (for a small tip!) called Snappy (you couldn’t make this up). He was incredibly soft and even though you had to make sure you held his head away from your face, he was still quite cute.

The afternoon saw us going to the beach again then for a meal at a nearby Colombian restaurant. I got the chicken, rice, salad and fried banana dish; it was incredible and after not eating a proper meal for a few days (free, usually terrible, food at the hostel is a lot more appealing) it was just what I needed! The hostel night out was to LIV nightclub which is inside the Fontainebleau Hotel (it’s been featured in movies such as 007’s Goldfinger) and in the drunken state I was in, I didn’t feel like I belonged in those lavish surroundings even if it was for just a couple of minutes. The following day saw me leaving Bikini Hostel and heading back to Miami International. It felt like I was returning home and even though there was a slight booking problem (my reservation didn’t actually go through), I got sorted with a spare bed and could rest easy in my surroundings. I was severely hungover today though and so the only thing I could manage was the beach with Tom and a few other guys from the hostel. They had beer and they didn’t take “no, I’m too hungover for that” as an answer. Brilliant. This ended in us all going out to Story nightclub later that night which was a very fun night except for the fact it was really busy, no where to move and constantly being told by security to move out the way (er, to where?!) and the rapper ‘Fabulous’ (yeah I hadn’t heard of him before) was ‘playing’ there that night. ‘Playing’ just consisted of him stood in the corner of the dancefloor with a ridiculous hat and sunglasses on surrounded by loads of people trying to get a picture of him. Stood there. A picture of him, just stood there.

Friday saw my last full day in Miami. I had a few errands to run (I’d been putting them off for a while) and this included finding an Internet cafe. On the way to Washington and 17th (see even just saying the location you need to go to makes you instantly sound more American) I spotted Española way which was incredibly picturesque and had a lot of character and history to it. After sorting stuff out, Sophie, Bee and I made our way to 5th avenue beach where the Miami Beach hut was. Obligatory pictures and then some relaxation on one of the hottest days in Miami so far. For the final night out in Miami (I mean, I couldn’t have just stayed in really.. could I?!) we headed out with the hostel once again to a bar/club called Automatic. It was your basic small bar you’d usually find yourself in at the end of a night out but because everyone from the hostel was there, it was a good night.

I had to check out by 11am (this was difficult when waking up still drunk) and started to say my byes to everyone (not goodbyes because I’m sure I’ll see most of you guys again at some point, you know who you are!). I had the best week in Miami and left feeling happy to have decided to make the trip down there especially because initially I have visions of me going to the beach alone, going back to the hostel and watching TV on my phone and then repeating this on a daily basis. This certainly wasn’t the case and I highly recommend Miami International hostel to anyone travelling alone as the people you meet there definitely make it an amazing experience! I then had to leave to get my $1 Megabus to Orlando (yep, $1!!!) and left early in case I got lost or stuck in traffic (it was Memorial weekend and so South Beach was horrendously busy now) but because I miraculously (accidentally) got off the bus at the right stop, it meant I arrived an hour early for my bus. Now, you wouldn’t think this would be a bad thing. I mean it was hot, I was thirsty and wanted to sit down. Oh, I’ll sit down in the bus terminal that’ll be there. Right? No, not right. The megabus pick-up location was a car park. A slightly abandoned car park in a rough looking area of downtown Miami. Near loads of homeless people’s belongings, an abandoned railway track infested with all kinds of litter, objects and probably needles. Needless to say I was a tad on edge being there. Thoughts crossed my mind that if anyone were to attack me now, nobody would ever know. This megabus couldn’t come sooner!!

4 hours and 30 minutes later and I arrived in an extremely humid Orlando. I was greeted by Heidi and her family and taken to their family villa where I was given my own room!! This was the only the second time in 8 months that I had my own space! We then went to Applebee’s where I tried a Quesadilla burger. The following day was Busch Gardens day! An hour and a bit away from the villa and we were there, bright and early. I had been to this park when I was only 8 years old. I was just a little too small to ride the big rollercoasters at that age and therefore had to watch as all of my family had the times of their lives (no, I’m not bitter..) but now, now I was big enough to ride all of the rollercoasters. I had waited 14 years for a couple of them such as Montu and Kumba but they were worth it. My favourite was definitely Sheikra which was like Oblivion at Alton Towers but instead of just one vertical drop, there were two! We managed to get on quite a few of the major rides and the rapids before the weather started to ruin things. If there is lightning within a 10 mile radius, they have to close the major rides, usually temporarily, until it passes. Today, however, the nearby lightning storms kept recurring and therefore from around 2pm, the rides kept closing back and forth. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the zoo parts of the park including the enclosure where you can feed the birds and they will often come sit on your hand or shoulder. When a big storm approached towards the evening (we were the next people to get on Sheikra but couldn’t due to the storm!!) we found ourselves sat in the kid’s area of the theme park, being punished with repetitive children’s music. Heidi and her dad took the opportunity to dance on the nearby stage though!

The following day was UNIVERSAL STUDIOS day! This park had changed quite a lot since I had last been and the only rides that were still there were E.T., Twister and Disaster. The first ride we went on (and strategically in case rain closed it) was the outside rollercoaster Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rock It, whereby you chose what music you wanted to listen to the whole way around the ride. I chose Limp Bizkit ‘Rollin’ for the first time we went on it, then Evanescence ‘Bring Me Back to Life’ for the second time. The other new rides I hadn’t been on such as The Mummy, The Simpson’s Ride, Transformers and Men in Black were also awesome. We also had lunch in the Simpson’s area, eating a hot dog from Krusty burger whilst in Moe’s bar was a very surreal experience.. The next day was Islands of Adventure day. Again, I remember coming here when I was younger and I couldn’t ride the big rollercoasters such as the Incredible Hulk (which launches you out of the station skywards into a series of massive loops) and the Duelling Dragons (now Dragon Challenge as part of Harry Potter world). This time, however, we managed to get on both of them twice. Definitely worth the wait! We then went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the back of the park. It was breathtaking. Walking through Hogsmeade towards Hogwarts felt all too real. The area was packed and queues for Butterbeer or the sorting hat to choose your wand for you were huge. They had done an incredible job in this area and if it weren’t for the humidity, you could genuinely think you were in these areas! The Harry Potter ride is also amazing. It takes place in Hogwarts castle and you really feel like you’re flying around with Harry, Hermione and Ron. I really enjoyed Islands of Adventure and am glad that I decided to come to Orlando. Heidi’s family were incredibly accommodating and I loved going around the theme parks with them. When leaving the Universal parks, I spotted a Fat Tuesdays. I was meant to try this in Miami but never got around to it. Seen as it was my final night in America, I decided to get one (and an extra shot). Fat Tuesdays is a frozen daiquiri bar and the strawberry one tasted amazing. It also meant that on the drive back to the villa, I was pretty drunk. Uh oh. Fear not though because soon enough, we were all (well, except Carl who was driving) drunk whilst eating at Logan’s roadhouse. I barely remember much of the meal except that I accidentally ordered ‘homemade chips’ instead of ‘fries’, 7 weeks in America and I still forget that they call crisps chips.

It was then time to make my long journey home. Because I changed my flight from New York to Orlando, my stopover in Reykjavik was no longer one hour but TEN hours. I got my 7 hour flight from Orlando to the Icelandic capital and arrived in the freezing country at 6am. After trying to decide what to do for a while, I found a return bus into the city centre for 3041 Icelandic Krona (err… £16). I decided to look around the city and saw how beautiful Iceland was whilst en route to and from the airport. I had a good few hours sightseeing, eating and drinking in a small cafe and visiting the Hallgrímskirkja church which is known as Reykjavik’s landmark especially because the main tower can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. I did enjoy Reykjavik and would definitely return to Iceland to explore what else this beautiful country has to offer. I then got my final 4 hour flight back to Heathrow and met my parents in a movie style fashion (I was walking out past all of the taxi name boards and saw them rushing in through the double doors). I’M HOMEEEEEE!

May 17, 2014

Looking up Lady Liberty, being starstruck at Of Mice and Men and thrift shopping in Brooklyn

Nathan and I took our $7 megabus from Washington, DC to Philadelphia where we were meeting up with Josie and Heidi. We used Air B&B again (because it worked out cheaper than hostels) and stayed with Lisa, an Astrophysicist who studied at Yale (some very clever people use Air B&B!!). Her apartment was in an old mansion which had been converted into this block of flats. It was really nice and even had a friendly cat who was 18years old and acted more like a dog (therefore I liked it).

Our first day in Philly consisted of the historical offerings in the city. This included the Pennsylvania State Hall (now renamed Independence Hall) which was where the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 took place. This document announced that the thirteen American colonies, whom at the time were at war with Great Britain, were to become newly independent states seperate from the British empire and would form the United States of America. To be able to tour the Independence Hall, you have to get an time-allocated ticket. Ours wasn’t until half 4 and so we had a few hours to kill beforehand. We queued up for the Liberty Bell, a bell that used to be placed in the steeple of the Independence Hall and cracked upon its first ring in Philadelphia. It is an iconic symbol of American independence and currently resides opposite its old location in The Liberty Bell Centre. On arrival in the centre our bags were searched and we discovered the odd facts about the bell including how it used to tour around cities in America until it started to deteriorate and people chiseled pieces off of it. We then dodged the hundreds of school kids and headed to Benjamin Franklin’s grave where he was laid to rest in 1790. Next stop was Franklin Park, complete with carousel and mini golf, where another hoard of school children appeared and ruined the peace. It was then nearing half four so we headed back to Independence Hall and waited in the beautiful gardens outside. Our tour guide then greeted us and we were ushered into a room where he introduced us to the importance of the Declaration of Independence. After a tour of the court room and where the Declaration was signed, we headed back to Franklin park to ride the carousel and play the Philly mini golf course. I lost. Badly. Nathan obviously won and Josie came a fairly close second but I was miles away from any such victory. After a long day of tourist and cultural activities, we headed to South street near our accommodation and ate dinner at Johnny Rockets diner where the waiters and waitresses danced to Rockin’ Robin and you could spend a quarter to play a song on the jukebox. Classic America.

The next day saw us going to Reading Terminal Market. A massive warehouse-style building filled with hundreds of food stalls, baked goods, fresh fish and chocolate covered onions. Yeah, apparently it’s famous for it! We spent a good few hours wandering around trying to decide what to eat out of the insane choice of food. I settled for a sour cream and onion pretzel from an Amish pretzel stall (I didn’t realise they were Amish at the time, just assumed it was their work uniform) and a bagel with bacon and horseradish Philadelphia cream cheese. We also managed to binge on a lot of free chocolate samples and I even tried a maple bacon donut (the bacon bits were sprinkled on top; oddly delicious). We then checked out the other landmarks around Philly including the town hall which featured enormous boardgame artwork outside such as chess pieces, monopoly figures and checkers. Next was the ‘Love’ sign and fountain where a kind stranger offered to take our picture (he then turned out to be begging for money and made you feel guilty by taking an amazing photo), Logan park followed (which reminded me of Trafalgar square) and finally the China town friendship gate which is meant to bring good fortune when you walk underneath it (you’ve just got to make sure you don’t get hit by a car as it’s on a main road). In the evening we headed out to eat. Now, we’ve been travelling for over 7 months and so we’re still pretty tight when it comes to food pricing. We passed by a handful of restaurants that appeared to be expensive but if we weren’t backpacking on a budget, these eateries would be really cheap in comparison to meals out in Britain. So instead we traipsed around dismissing anything over $10 or too greasy and ended up walking pretty much the entirety of Philadelphia (which apparently after 8pm turns into a ghost town) and didn’t find somewhere to eat until after 10. An evening meal turned into an almost midnight snack. Whoops.

After a pleasant lie-in, we trekked to downtown Philly to catch our $10 bus to New York. We arrived at what looked like an abandoned homeless shelter with grubby toilets not fit for rats and wondered why we didn’t just pay the little bit extra and ride with Megabus. We needn’t have worried though because the bus was fine; comfortable seats and full of travellers heading to the Big Apple for Mother’s Day (yeah it’s at a different time of year here). Two and a half hours later and we arrived to a view of the skyline and the Statue of Liberty. We were in New York!!!!!! We got dropped off in Chinatown (our bus company was an Asian one after all) and found a McDonald’s to abuse their WiFi for directions to our next accommodation. The subway system here offers a week’s pass for $30 which works out a lot cheaper than buying individual trips (they’re $2.50 each way). Initially it was difficult to work out, did we need the local train or the express train or the A or C line… and when you’ve got a 20kg backpack on, the only thing you want to do is wish a teleportation device had been invented to speed up this process. After a couple of hours riding the metro, we arrived at our next Air B&B dwelling and were told via text by Matt (our host who couldn’t be there for check-in) to wait outside until someone called Conrad arrived. Three minutes later a man appeared at the door, held it open for us to come in and then disappeared. He wasn’t Conrad. He was just some Spanish guy who lives in the apartment block. Still, we were one step closer to getting into the flat! But then real Conrad arrived and let us in to our Manhattan apartment for the next 6days. Matt and Annie have put three bunk beds in two of the rooms in their flat making it feel like a hostel within an apartment. It was a good choice!

After some relaxation at our new abode, we headed out to Times Square. Only a few stops on the subway and we were in the heart of the ‘city that never sleeps’ surrounded by bright lights, billboards advertising TV shows and masses of tourists. It was difficult to walk anywhere, there was the constant noise of taxis beeping their horns and even a naked cowboy playing a guitar. We grabbed an authentic New York pizza slice and wandered around this crazy part of the city through gift shops, M&M world and the Hershey’s store. Delicious.

We awoke painfully early the next day to embark on our trip to Liberty and Ellis Islands. We’d bought our tickets online whilst in Philly and so were guaranteed tickets up to the Statue of Liberty pedestal level (tip: if you know when you’re planning on being in New York and it’s a few months in advance, book your Statue of Liberty tickets as soon as possible because you’ll more than likely be able to go all the way up to the crown and the best part is that it only costs $21 including the return boat journey!). There is also an audio tour included in the price of the ticket. Upon completion in 1886, the Statue of Liberty was the tallest structure in New York City. The statue honors the ideals of freedom and liberty and was a symbolic gift to the United States from France. Mr Eiffel tower himself designed the structure and it sits at an impressive 305ft in height. Just one of her fingernails is the size of your forearm! It is incredibly deceptive how tall she is! After learning of the history of the statue and the island (it represents freedom and yet woman weren’t even allowed on the island for its opening ceremony!), we got on the ferry to Ellis Island and explored what was once the passageway into the USA for thousands of people who immigrated into the country, often from as far as Europe.

We then headed to something a little more upsetting. After the terrible terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center back in September 2001, ground zero has recently opened to the public as the 9/11 Memorial. We gave our donation and a sombre feeling took over. We couldn’t help but feel like we shouldn’t be doing this. We would never have been queuing up and getting out bags searched in airport-style scanners had this not have happened thirteen years ago. I felt a mix of emotions as we approached the 9/11 Memorial site. It was incredibly moving. The old sites of the North and South buildings were now square pits of cascading waterfalls with the names of the 3000 victims surrounding the edge. There was a touching tribute of laying a rose on victims’ names on their birthdate. It was a powerful memorial and in an ideal world, one that shouldn’t be a remembrance site but still be the twin towers. The two newest towers around the old site of ground zero have already been built (One WTC and WTC Seven) and the National 9/11 Memorial museum displaying photographs and artifacts from the tragedy is opening on the 21st May. Although we agreed that the memorial was executed in the most beautiful, poignant and respectful way, we still felt extreme sadness when leaving the site and decided to do something a bit more upbeat for the rest of the afternoon; a stroll through Central Park. It was a really hot, sunny day and this made the most famous park in NYC ridiculously busy. It was also Mother’s Day and the park was awash with families basking in the sunshine and celebrating at various festival-style stalls dotted around the humongous park. We decided to lay down on a hill near an American flag pole, a girl dancing into a video camera and a guy being dragged by a leash clasped around his neck. All very normal, sane stuff. Yep. After exploring more of the park and lake areas (including the one featured in the Stuart Little movie), we found ourselves near the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Heidi and Josie wanted a picture on the famous steps outside of this grand building (they were used a lot in the TV show Gossip Girl) and after a mini photoshoot on them, we headed back into Central Park to look over the stunning Resevoir Lake which engulfs a huge portion of the park. We grabbed some burritos and headed back to the flat to meet our host Matt. He is an incredibly friendly guy and extremely easy to get along with. We spent a good portion of the night getting to know him (he used to live in the Amish Mennonite community and was even asked to appear on the ‘Breaking Amish’ television show with his friends; Heidi immediately wished he was on there as she used to watch the show) and shared our travelling experiences so far.

The following day saw us head to 5th Avenue. The long strip of designer, high street and souvenir shops beckoned us and we ended up spending a lot of time and money there. After making sure our wallets were sufficiently empty, we headed to grab some food at Pax; a fresh salad and pasta diner where you choose what type of pasta you want, a sauce, three vegetables, a meat and then watch it cooked fresh in front of you. It was now dark and the beautifully lit Empire State building towered over us. We parted with the $29 fee to get up to the 87th floor observatory deck and began our ascent up the infamous tower. The view was absolutely incredible and made Manhattan look like a lit-up toy city. You could see for miles; North towards Times Square and Central Park, East towards Brooklyn, South towards the Statue of Liberty, which now looked miniscule in comparison to the skyscrapers, and West towards Jersey. It was well worth the money but at the same time it seemed crazy how such a man-made, concrete jungle can look so pretty.

We headed to the National History Museum the following morning to find out whether the animals really do come to life (damn you Night at the Museum!)… no okay we didn’t solely go for this purpose and revelled in the cultural and educational offerings of the massive museum. There werr Asian mammals, Aztec and the history of Mexican culture, African mammals and even DINOSAURS. I love dinosaurs. I just can’t get my head around the fact that something so big once roamed the Earth and we were treated to a real Tyrannosaurus Rex. What I do find crazy though is how we have this image of what dinosaurs looked like even though scientists have no idea what colour they were or what noise they made. We stopped off en route back to the apartment to pick up some alcohol ready for our night at the theatre. When we lived in Sydney we booked tickets for Of Mice and Men knowing that we’d be in New York for it. The night had finally arrived and we were all dressed up (the best we’ve looked in 8 months!) and ready to experience our first Broadway production. It starred Chris O’Dowd as Lennie, James Franco as George and Leighton Meester as Curly’s wife. The rest of the cast were also amazing and having never read or seen the play before, I absolutely loved it! We even got Chris O’Dowd’s autograph after the play!!

The next day meant another famous landmark in the city, Grand Central Station. We were all humming a certain Rihanna song, although it probably was the best one to pick (“Mama, I shot a man down.. in Central Station…”) and wandered around the beautiful transport station used in many films. Then we headed to somewhere else iconic. Something used a lot in a little known television programme called Friends. We caught the red line down to Christopher St station and walked around aimlessly, passing quaint streets and avoiding the hundreds of pink leaves creating a snow-like flurry. After a few blocks we made it. On the corner of Bedford and Grove Street lies the famous exterior of the Friends apartment building used hundreds of times in the credits and scene setting shots. We took a lot of photos and one passer-by, who was American, stopped and asked us what we were doing. I simply answered in two words, ‘Friends building’ to which she seemed content. Nathan, Heidi and I then got alcohol (‘Sweet Bitch’ wine) and readied ourselves for a night out in New York City. Two hours later and after three different subway lines, we arrived in the east village area. It was a Wednesday night and it was proving difficult to find anywhere busy and lively. We tried an Irish pub (came all the way to NY…) and had a bottle of bud. We then found a bar/club a little further down the street which looked busier and had two guys outside commenting how our accents make us sound clever no matter what we say (a girl also got us to say ‘hamburger’ in the supermarket because she liked how we said it). After a few more drinks and scaring off an American girl by singing ‘No Scrubs’ a bit too loudly, we called it a night and began our long journey back to the flat.

A dry mouth and the feeling like I’d been ill for a week greeted me the following morning. We were still up before Josie somehow and feeling slightly fresh. We headed to Times Square for some lunch at Dallas BBQ (where they gave you a complimentary red velvet cupcake with the bill) and then headed to Brooklyn for the afternoon (well, late afternoon by this point). After experiencing a slightly run down area of Brooklyn, we decided to jump back on the subway and find somewhere a little bit safer. We got off at Bedford Avenue, a quirky, indie area reminiscent of Camden in London. We ended up at the park at the bottom of the road and watched a local softball game. En route back to the subway we spotted a thrift shop. We hadn’t been in one yet and this was our last full day travelling all together so we needed to go in. Cluttered. That’s probably the best word to describe this store, it had a lot of vintage clothing, cameras and artwork. We each bought something from there (I got shorts for $10!) and left Brooklyn in upbeat moods. We were then faced with the mammoth task of packing all of these new purchases from the past week into our already overflowing backpacks. I’ve finally thrown away some of my old, used-to-be-white-but-are-now-yellow t-shirts and walking boots to make space for everything else (it’s still a tight squeeze).

The day we’d all dreaded then arrived. The final day together travelling. It’s been an insane 237days with Heidi, Josie and Nathan and I can’t believe how quickly it has come around already! Feels like only a few weeks ago we waved bye to my parents at Heathrow. Their flight was at 9pm and I’m not flying to Miami until 8am the following morning. We decided to have a last supper together and Matt recommended this local Mexican restaurant. He took us on a walk around the block through a very English looking ‘village’ apartment complex. The touch of rain also added to the authenticity of the place! After our final meal together, we said our goodbyes to Matt, who has been a fantastic host, and headed to the airport. Two hours later and we arrived into John F. Kennedy airport where I’d be spending the next 14hours. I joined them on their final check-in and after one last smelly fart and a group picture, it was time to bid farewell to three of my best friends. It’s been an amazing 8 months (I’m gonna get more soppy and reminisce on my last ever blog in a couple of weeks) and I couldn’t have done it without them! I’m currently writing this whilst camping out in the domestic terminal waiting for my flight to Miami where I’ll be spending the next week. Luckily I’m meeting up with Sam and Tres, who we met in San Diego, and so I won’t be completely on my own for the first three days.

May 8, 2014

Red Rocks, a lifetime on the bus and hanging out with Obama

Denver is known as the “Mile High” city because of its elevation of 5,690ft above sea level. In fact, Colorado as a state has an average height of over 6,000ft above sea level. This can cause a very varied weather pattern, for example during our stay we experienced a lot of wind (no, not that kind of wind!) and temperatures sometimes as low as 7º (for the first time in 8 months we were in a colder climate than Britain!). As our time progressed in the capital of Colorado, the weather started to get a lot warmer between the figures of 25-30º. See what I mean about being varied? Denver can change its weather not only on a daily basis but also hourly. The mile high city also boasts of its ‘300 days of sunshine’, although what they like to miss out in this claim is how even if its sunny for just 10minutes in a day, it’ll count towards their yearly total. Thursday was one of these days where the sun made an appearance and so we took the opportunity to bask in the UV rays and utilise the outside pool our new apartment offers (we used Air B&B again and found this apartment in the uptown area). We’re staying with Mike and Ned, two medical students about to embark on three more years of studying. With unlimited Netflix at our fingertips, we took full advantage of the video streaming website and hung out with our new roommates for the evening.

We booked to go on the Denver Mountain Parks tour on Friday. After a slight panic the night before about whether we were getting our free pick-up from a nearby hotel, we awoke to a sunny Denver and boarded the large coach that greeted us. This bus could easily accommodate around 40 people. Would we struggle to find a seat? Would we have to wait for the next bus? Nope. There were only 7 other people on this trip and they were all, let’s say, slightly older than Nathan and I. We headed out of the mile high city through Lakewood towards the Red Rocks. En route, the bus driver (who also doubled as our tour guide), gave lots of facts and figures on the local area. I tried to jot down a few whilst Nathan was fast asleep next to me; he was successfully fitting in with the demographic of the others on the coach. One fact Mr. Bus Driver told us was how there are approximately 367 mountains with a height of over 13,000ft in the rocky range in Colorado. The Rocky Mountain National Park also holds the record for the highest paved roads in the Northern continent at over 12,000ft. We then arrived at our first stop of the trip, the Red Rocks Park, where winding roads took us 6,400ft above sea level up to the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The amphitheatre is situated in a large rock formation 10 miles west of Denver and opened in 1941. It is a popular concert location for musicians with The Beatles being one of the first rock-and-roll bands to play there in 1964. Mumford and Sons, Jimi Hendrix and U2 have also performed there and Ellie Goulding was going to be stopping there as part of her American tour later that night. This of course meant unsuccessful attempts of trying to spot her and examining any tour buses we saw. Later on that day she did upload a video to Instagram of her jumping up each individual step of the amphitheatre (and those steps are considerably far apart). The amphitheatre was absolutely beautiful; positioned in between two massive boulders, one called Creation rock and the other Ship rock. They accompanied either side of the tiered 9,500 seated capacity whilst behind the stage was the aptly named Stage rock. The view from the top of the amphitheatre was incredible. The space is also used by a lot of people working out and keeping fit due to the sheer size of it. Whilst me and Nathan slowly walked down the steps towards the stage, there were plenty of health-conscious Americans choosing to run horizontal lengths of the theatre or pelt up the steps and back down before I could even begin my ascent back to the top (which was very painful after months of little exercise). It was time to head back to the coach and for our next destination. Due to the upcoming Ellie Goulding gig, certain roads had been closed and blocked off meaning the bus driver had to change the route slightly. It did mean we got to drive past a Bison grazing field and manage to see a handful of bison in the far, far distance. But that’s fine, I can now say I’ve seen a buffalo.

We had a quick stop off on the freeway to view the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the continental divide in the distance and as a strong group of 9, we left the bus in force equipped with cameras in hand and binoculars around neck. If you were a passer-by who didn’t see the mountain range, we would’ve looked like a bunch of tourists who’d never seen a motorway before. We all raced to get back on the crowded bus (lol jk) and headed toward Lookout Mountain. We were informed that this next stop was going to be at an elevation of 7,500ft. We were treated to beautiful views from Lookout mountain and could see for miles; the local town of Lakewood, the city skyline of Denver and the nearby town of Golden were all visible. I said in my last blog how Denver and the surrounding areas faced a boom in wealth and population in the late 1800s due to the discovery of gold in the area. This was (maybe not so ironically) discovered in Golden, a small town engulfed by mountain ranges and flat plains. Lookout mountain also houses the famous Buffalo Bill Museum and grave. William “Buffalo Bill” Cody was born in 1846 and started working at age 11 after his father died. When gold was discovered in the Colorado territory, Cody went to the gold fields but was propositioned by an agent for the Pony Express, a postal service delivering mail and newspapers. He accepted the offer to work with them and was given a job as a rider. He acquired his nickname “Buffalo Bill” when he had a job supplying buffalo meat to Kansas Pacific Railroad workers after the American Civil war and it is speculated that Cody killed over 4200 American bison in eighteen months. The bus driver then informed us of a buffalo shooting competition William Cody competed in against William Comstock. This was to decide whom would have the exclusive right to use the name “Buffalo Bill”. Conveniently, in terms of going to see this museum and grave, William Cody beat Comstock killing 68 bison to his 48 in just 8 hours. Ultimately, Buffalo Bill became famous for his Wild West shows of which he took on tour across Great Britain and Europe. These tours ran between 1883 and 1906 and were immensely popular across the globe making Cody world famous and an American icon. It is also thought to have helped influence many 20th century portrayals of “the West” in film and literature. The museum was packed full of old artefacts and possessions belonging to Buffalo Bill. They ranged from portrait paintings of him to his clothing, rifles and medals. Once we’d had a wander around the museum, we headed to his grave situated atop Lookout mountain. He died in January 1917 from kidney failure but wasn’t buried until June 1917 due to controversy surrounding where he should be buried (his wife claimed he wanted to be buried on Lookout mountain whilst others thought his grave should be in Cody, Wyoming which is the town he founded) but also due to the extreme weather conditions on Lookout mountain during the first half of the year. His funeral was held in June 1917 once the snow and ice thawed with thousands travelling up to the mountain to pay their respects.

The next day saw another hot day in Denver meaning relaxing by the pool and heading out to grab some lunch. The city centre was a lot busier today (it was Saturday) with street performers playing the piano or painting as well as a whole road closed off for kid’s slides and a bouncy castle. Instead of having endless hours of fun on the inflatables, Nathan and I partook in a mature spot of drinking beer. The main reason for this was because of the pub we’d seen. When we were in LA one of the guys at the MoonPad (ha, remember that cruddy hostel?!!) suggested we checked out a bar called the ‘Yard House’. We never did because, to be honest, we forgot and so when we saw the establishment within walking distance from where we ate lunch, we thought we’d test my indecisiveness and let me choose from over 125 different beers. Brilliant. I knew that I couldn’t go for one we can get anywhere else (no Bud for me) and decided upon one brewed locally in Denver (unfortunately not Coors which is brewed in the rocky mountains). The beer I opted for in the end was definitely a grower.. I mean I started to like it after maybe the sixth sip.

After a day of laundry, food and relaxing, it neared 6pm which meant we had to go catch our long ass journey from Denver to Washington, DC. This epic voyage would take 1 day, 14 hours and 45 minutes and would ensure we saw pretty much every midwest state as we ventured to the east coast. The route consisted of Colorado to Kansas to Missouri to Illinois to Indiana to Ohio to Pennsylvania to Maryland and finally to Washington, DC. Phew. Our bus pulled up for our 7:10pm departure from Denver. It looked old. Brilliant, we’d be spending 32hours on this bus before our first and only transfer and we’re going to be stuck on an old and dirty coach like the one to San Francisco. I was wrong. This bus had everything you could ever want; plugs, wifi, leather reclining seats, a persistent cougher at the back who sounded like they were dying and a guy snoring so loudly that maximum volume on your headphones still doesn’t drown it out. With all of these features on board, who wouldn’t want to spend a day and a half on it?! This journey was going to be full of fun.

The Greyhound bus service showcases the weird, bizzare, wacky, strange etc etc. Every journey we’ve undertaken with this company since being in America has had at least two or three oddballs either in the station or on the bus with us. Now I’m not trying to be mean or make myself seem like a better person but it’s just an observation we’ve made since travelling on buses here. The coach trips in New Zealand were overall mostly pleasant, quiet and full of travellers. I know America is a whole lot bigger than the Kiwi islands but the mixture of people who use the service just baffles me everytime. I can’t quite believe the amount of people who have had awful body odour and left a cloud of stink either on the bus or in the queue to get on. A handful of fellow passengers are friendly and interested in getting to know you/telling you their life story. Some look like drug addicts and if the driver has to state “no smoking or illegal drug use in the restroom” every time we begin driving again then surely that says something about the majority of people who use this mode of transportation. One guy kept going to the toilet for over ten minutes at a time and would always take a pen, notepad and plastic bag of other accessories in with him. Suspicious? My favourite couple of people who have boarded this bus though has got to be the short-lived duo who got on at Indianapolis. One girl sat at the back of the bus behind me whilst a man went to sit in front of Nathan. Said girl behind me then exclaimed to said guy, “Come sit back here. I don’t bite.”. He hesitantly sat at the back with her. Within a few minutes I noticed them getting well acquainted with one another. Oh, they must’ve known each other prior to getting this bus. An hour later she kisses him goodbye as she leaves the coach, he moves seats to near the front of the bus and someone else takes their place and asks “have they left?”, the reply he gets is from another guy who happened to be sat next to this frisky couple the whole time (the back row is three-seated) “I hope so. They were all over each other and they’d only just met.”. Yep, I heard that correctly. This lip locking pair had accelerated their fresh relationship at full speed and wasted no time. Does this mean that the Greyhound is also a match-making service? If so, I’m going to pretend I’m already in a relationship.

After the longest bus journey of my life (we saw two sunsets and two sunrises), Nathan and I arrived in Washington, DC on time at 11:55am. We stank (yeah, what I said earlier about smelly people on the bus… that was now us, oops!) and desperately wanted a bed to lay down in. We jumped in a taxi, got to our hostel (which has won awards for being the best and cleanest hostel in America) and were told our beds wouldn’t be ready until 3pm. This didn’t stop us from showering and feeling human again though. We decided to head out and do the tourist activities on offer in the capital city of America. After a 15 minute walk, we arrived at one of the most famous houses in the world; The White House. It was as grand and beautiful as you’d expect it to be and the security was insane. There were loads of police officers cycling around or patrolling in their ‘secret service’ cars (don’t understand what’s so ‘secret’ about it), a lot of areas were fenced off and they even had cameras in the lamp posts! Obama was be inside!! We took the essential pictures avoiding the various protests occurring nearby and headed past the Eisenhower executive office block building toward the rear end of the White House. The Washington monument was our next landmark and it was in its final stages of restoration work following damage from an earthquake in 2011. We then headed toward the World War II memorial, past the reflection pool and arrived at the Lincoln memorial. These three monuments were extremely thought-provoking and really helped to show how these historical markers have helped to shape America and the world today. The newly built Martin Luther King, Jr memorial was next on the agenda and it was incredible. A lot of thought and planning had gone in to this monument. Based on Dr King’s iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, the quote “Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope” is brought to life as the main entrance requires you to pass through the “mountain of despair” (two 30 feet high pieces of granite) and walk toward the “Stone of Hope” where Martin Luther King, Jr stands.

We awoke the next morning to a soggy Washington. Thunder echoed the streets and rain fell heavily on us as we made our way to one of the 19 free museums in the city. Our first one was the National Museum of Natural History. It had everything: birds of DC, ocean exhibition, mammals, human evolution, mummies, insect displays and an even an imax! Tickets for 3D showings were on offer at $5 each and unfortunately we’d missed the final showing of ‘Titans of the Ice Age’ so we decided to see ‘Island of Lemurs: Madagascar 3D’. It was awesome, informative and made me want to visit Madagascar and hug a lemur (which means ‘wandering spirit’). What made it even better was that it was narrated by none other than Morgan Freeman. We then headed to the National Air and Space museum and caught the next showing of the Dark Universe in the Einstein planetarium dome. This was incredible and narrated by Neil Degrasse Tyson. I still find it all too difficult to comprehend though… dark matter?! A whole other universe you may never see?! I’ll stick to words I think. We then explored some of the museum in the remaining time we had before it closed and got to see the ‘World’s First Power-Driven Heavier-Than-Air Machine’ (i.e. aeroplane) built and flown by the Wright brothers in 1903! We also saw the actual Red Bull stratosphere capsule Felix Baumgartner used to reach the edge of space and then jump from. We then headed back to the hosr hostel via the White House and managed to see a convoy of the secret service police force and some blacked out vehicles with a very important person inside. Unfortunately it wasn’t the president and the police officers guarding the road couldn’t disclose who it was but still it was exciting to see! I’ve really enjoyed our short time in Washington. It’s a lovely city with a lot of character and history. The architecture is some of the oldest and most beautiful I’ve seen so far in the US and the city as a whole has a nice atmosphere. We meet up with Heidi and Josie tomorrow in Philadelphia to spend the final week and a half of travelling together. Oh and the only dislike to report so far is that America likes to shove heaps of animal faeces on certain patches of grass and you only notice once you’ve walked through a good amount of it. On that note…

May 1, 2014

Prisoner of Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge gazing and creepy hairdressers

We boarded the Greyhound from Las Vegas to San Francisco at half 3 in the morning. Too early to think and way to early to have rude staff tell you off for queuing to get on the bus (don’t tell us seating is first come first served and how we potentially may not even get on a bus we’ve bought a ticket for and we’ll wait patiently). Luckily, we managed to get seats and were headed for LA 6 hours away for change over. It was weird stopping off at the bus station where Nathan smashed a bottle of beer and we caught our bus to San Diego a couple of weeks ago. It was also weird to see LA again after visiting much nicer places in America, honestly Los Angeles is a completely different to your expectations; more poverty, run down areas and gangs than the painted picture of desirable Hollywood.

The changeover consisted of moving from a bus with leather-seats, wifi and plugs for each person to an old, dirty vehicle with broken seats, no wifi and no plugs. And this was the one we’d be on for the next 8 hours, brilliant. On arrival into San Francisco, we saw a lot of people wrapped up in many layers. Yeah, it was cold here. We’d just come from sunny Vegas where we dealt with 35º heat to windy San Fran where it’d be around 14º in the day. We grabbed a taxi and arrived at our hostel which, to Josie’s delight, was situated on a hill. We needed to get some cash out when we were informed of the fee for the next 5 nights and used the ATM in this hostel lobby. American ATMs charge non-US cards a transaction fee and this differs across banks, usually between $2.50 and $3.50. The machine in the hostel said $3.50 but when Josie and I had withdrawn our money, we noticed we’d been charged considerably more than it said (I got charged $8 for withdrawing money and Josie was charged $10!!). After a minor argument with the person on the reception (we just kept going round in circles and he wouldn’t let us talk), we agreed that we’d discuss being overcharged with the manager the following day. Finally checked-in, we headed for our 4-bed dorm to find a freezing room with windows that wouldn’t close or lock. This place is gonna love us with all our complaints. Heidi went to find anyone who could help whilst I kept making eye-contact with a bumper sticker on the locker opposite that simply read, “Are we having fun yet?!”. Funnily enough no we weren’t, we’ve paid an extortionate fee to get our money out and we’ve been given a room with a broken window which anyone could climb through. A handyman soon enough came along to fix the windows with screwdrivers, planks of wood and anything else that he could find and left us in peace with the noisy old radiator which looked like it could blow up any second. We spent the first night wrapped up warm watching television on our phones and abusing the free wifi. I also tried to book us onto the Alcatraz cruise to spend a day on the island. The next available day for this though was Sunday in five days time and also the day Nathan and I leave for out flight to Colorado. Crap. We weren’t going to be able to go to the famous prison island (tip: as soon as you know the dates you’ll be in San Francisco, book your alcatraz cruise straight away!). Our only option was to book the Alcatraz and Angel island combo tour which was double the price at $63. But we had to do it and booked for Friday. We couldn’t miss out on going to Alcatraz!

After a long lie-in, resulting in us missing free pancakes, we set off on our walk to the Golden Gate Bridge. Our favourite parts of the walk were definitely the hills, I mean as soon as we left the hostel we were treated to two steeply-inclined mountains to climb. The trek took us via the coast where we stopped to take pictures and watch a man using rocks to build towers. But not just any skyward building, boulders balancing on top of one another with the most intricate precision in placement, especially when making a pointy rock balance atop a uneven stone beneath. After a while gazing at this patient man building towers, we continued onward to the pier viewpoint where the views of the Golden Gate Bridge to the left and Alcatraz on the right are often enough for some, for example Josie who didn’t fancy the long walk to the bridge. Nathan, Heidi and I continued via a boulevard lined with rich houses, recreational parks and boats in the marina. We finally made it to the Golden Gate park near the bridge and did the touristy thing of having numerous pictures with the iconic landmark in the background. We were lucky with the weather being so clear and sunny because the next two days saw quite a bit of cloud and fog shrouding the majority of the bridge.

The following day saw us head to Pier 39 via Chinatown. Minus the colder weather, we definitely felt like we were back in Asia with the atmosphere of the street; stalls selling wallets, iPhone covers and chargers that’d break after a week’s use but also shops selling exactly the same clothing and keychains as the store next door or the one across the road. We then arrived at Pier 39, a tourist attraction in the area which boasts a handful of restaurants, gift shops and sea lions. Yes, they have loads of sea lions living on the jettys adjacent to the pier. There were hundreds of them play fighting or just struggling to stay out the water and with the noise they were making and the smell of fish surrounding the area, they were an interesting attraction to see. We ate our lunch in the freezing cold winds at the end of the pier and then seeked warmth in a nearby sweet shop before heading past the left-handed store, the sock shop and the overpriced chocolate store to begin our trek back up hilly San Fran roads. We stopped off at an Asian bakery en route which sold the same delicacies we loved whilst in Thailand and Malaysia. And what was even better about this was the price, they were cheap like in Asia! What we did forget though was how sweet everything tasted. I bought a chicken filled pasty and had to deal with the overly sweet taste of the pastry. The sugar-coated donut I bought to eat later on turned out to be less sweet than any of our savory items… how?!?!

We awoke bright and early (and actually made it in time for the free pancakes!) and headed out for our day trip to Alcatraz and Angel islands. It was raining and cold and miserable but for once, we didn’t care! All of this added to the Alcatraz mood and definitely made the island appear more sinister as we approached it on the ferry. We arrived to a tour guide informing us of the day’s events and how to do the audio tour of the prison up on the hill. Alcatraz island used to be a haven for rare birds with the name deriving from the Spanish “La Isla de Los Alcatraces” translating to the “Island of the Pelicans”. It was also used as a military base before becoming a federal prison from 1933. The majority of inmates were jailed for bank robberies and murders. During the 29 years it was in operation, the jail housed some of the most notorious criminals in American history such as Al Capone (who was actually prisoned for tax evasion… wtf?!), Robert “Birdman” Stroud and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. The penitentiary claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped but a total of 36 prisoners did make 14 escape attempts. Three criminals are still listed as missing and presumed drowned and have Wanted posters displayed for their arrest after they broke out of their cells using a spoon. Whilst on the audio tour of the prison, we learnt of the Battle of Alcatraz which occurred on May 2nd 1946. Bernie Coy, a prison inmate, had planned to slip through the gun gallery, overwhelm the guard and steal the set of keys to free 5 accomplices and escape to freedom. It backfired though when the keys they needed had already been hidden by a guard and the siren went off alerting the island of a planned escape. The inmates, however, had taken five officers hostage and so when the alarm blared, Coy’s conspirators shot the guards. In response, Marines dropped grenades through the roof killing Coy, two other inmates and two correctional officers. The history of this place is so interesting and to hear about these stories, not only through narrative but also from previous inmates who had lent their voices to the audio tour, was incredible. We also learnt of the ‘hole’ prison cell which was pitch black and used for those who had committed the worst crimes. One former inmate revealed how he’d throw a button and then try and find it, all in the pitch black and on repeat. The audio tour took us through the cell blocks, the library where only prisoners with reading abilities could request a book, the visitor quarters where you could have only one visitor per month and the sunny part of the prison which was known as the most desirable spot to have your cell. We ended the tour in the dining hall, the room that was branded the most dangerous place in the whole prison. Why? Because they would give these criminals knives. The prison was closed in 1963 with the final inmates shipped to nearby jails. The reason for its closure related to increased costs in the upkeep of the place, the deterioration of buildings (including worker’s quarters) and the lack of an advanced sewage system on the island.

Our second half of the day was spent travelling on a cold ferry in the rain to Angel island. We were leaving Alcatraz in high spirits, exclaiming how much we loved visiting the place, “Alcatraz was so good!!”. A, no doubt, polar opposite reaction to what the inmates would have been thinking when leaving their cells upon the jail’s closure. We arrived on Angel island half an hour later and were greeted with a friendly welcome to San Francisco bay’s biggest island. It was absolutely freezing and the rain had decided to pour down even harder. We joined the queue to board our tram tour of the island and were met with a rude lady telling us that every seat must be taken and how she’s not leaving until it is. This obviously caused a massive stampede of people trying to grab seats together and suddenly made the place feel like a zoo at feeding time. We didn’t make it on the first tram (which got a flat tyre as soon as she went to pull away) and ended up on a tour with a much friendlier gentleman. The island is a former military quarantine base which would accommodate those who fought in the war overseas. Before returning to mainland, they would come to Angel island to receive medical treatment and be checked for any fatal diseases. The island today is a national park with a tiny population (those who work here and their immediate family) and a lot of nature. The tour guide informed us of each viewpoint to see the bridge and the city skyline (Heidi pointed out how this island seems to just be a good place to be able to see other places) whilst we were also told of the animals we would not see here (such as a rabbit). We were then taken past the old military ground and barracks (which was pretty interesting) and also past the island’s own emergency service buildings. After seeing a deer, we headed back to the café near the ferry port, grabbed a hot chocolate and couldn’t help but feel like we would have enjoyed the tour a great deal more if it was sunnier and the audio track didn’t skip every five seconds.

Nathan and I headed out to get haircuts. I wanted something cheap and cheerful (which would be the Asian hairdressers nearby) whereas Nathan wanted something where he wouldn’t worry about how his hair was to turn out. We took a seat at Elizabeth’s hairdressers; a salon which looked like it used to be a Chinese takeaway complete with waving kitty and chunky television in the corner showing TV programmes no one ever watches. Nathan soon got up and left after we sat down leaving me to explain to the Vietnamese woman (who was meant to cut his hair) that he was ‘just looking’. They believed me though and here I was having my hair cut by a short Vietnamese woman who, instead of moving herself around the chair to cut my hair, would swivel me around to suit her. This was just the beginning of the weird haircut experience. She whispered “are you from England?” in my ear and spoke to me about credit card fraud as if advertising how easy and appealing it is to use people’s cards. To top it all off she applied nearly the whole tub of gel on my hair in the style of a 90s boyband reject and in politeness, I had to keep this new hairdo until out of eyeshot of the salon. For $14 though, it was a really good haircut.

It was time for our final day together as a foursome until we go to the east coast and for mine and Nathan’s final day in San Francisco. We’re splitting up for a week; Heidi and Josie are heading to Hawaii whilst Nathan and I go to Colorado and then across America to Washington, DC. We headed into the centre of San Francisco and ended up at the Cheesecake Factory on the 7th floor of Macys, a restaurant with not only amazing cheesecakes but also delicious food which will fill you up by just by looking at it (honestly, huge portions! Especially if you get a free soup because your meal came out ten minutes later than everyone elses). We were incredibly stuffed and bloated and decided the best thing to do would be to get a tram over to Fisherman’s wharf. One-way on the tram costs $6 so we made sure we picked the longest route possible to get our moneys worth. It was amazing. It was like being on a rollercoaster through the city, cheering whilst picking up speed downhill, screaming whilst speeding round corners and clapping when somebody doesn’t fall out. We arrived at Fisherman’s wharf and looked around the souvenir stalls and restaurants (although we couldn’t face eating anything for a while, I still had half of my sandwich from Cheesecake Factory!) and wandered back toward the hostel via another tourist attraction in the area; a hill, a hill where the road to drive down zig zags due to how steep it is.

We said our goodbyes to Heidi (who informed me of my polite sleeptalking in the night, “I’ll have that one thank you”) and Josie and caught the bus to the airport ready for our flight to Denver. This was brilliant timing to get diarrhea and sit on a three hour flight in pain. After three trips to the toilet, we collected our bags, headed outside to get our shuttle bus and waited in the torrential rain and freezing cold. Welcome to Denver! After a painful half hour wait, a shuttle bus arrived and took us to our home for the next three nights. We decided to use Air B&B where people rent out their flats or a room in their apartment. Our hosts greeted us and showed us around the place. After a quick skype with the parents, Nathan and I headed for some lunch and to explore the local area. We’re right near the Capitol State building and surrounding parks which are beautiful. Also nearby is a semi circular building which looks like a smaller replica of the White House. Unfortunately it turned out to just be a legal building, pah. We visited the art gallery nearby where the art wasn’t as pretentious as previous galleries we’ve been to, a lot of the pieces related to the history of Colorado and the rocky mountains nearby, somewhere we hope to visit whilst we’re here.

The next day saw us watch a plethora (ey, Jamie got some plethora in my blog for you) of family guy and then head out for lunch. Denver is windy. So so windy in certain parts of the city that you almost get blown over so we seeked shelter in a cinema and watched Captain America 2. The warmth for a couple of hours was necessary (not jealous of Heidi and Josie laying on a hot beach, honest..) and we thought the movie was awesome. I miss going to the cinema (hint hint Empire). We headed back to the flat to get ready for a gig we’d booked tickets for. Situated in The Fillmore Auditorium a couple of blocks away, we were about to see Childish Gambino live!! He is a rapper/hip hop artist who is also an actor in the American show ‘Community’ but that’s not all, he also does stand-up. With all of this being said, we were a little nervous. Why? Because we were in a city we’ve never been to before, going to see an r&b artist who would potentially attract a rough crowd and we weren’t wanting to get mugged again (damn you Sydney!). We grabbed a taxi to the venue and were greeted with a long, long, long queue. Our fears of not making it out the gig in tact were starting to vanish and soon enough we were in the beautiful auditorium complete with chandeliers and luxurious pillars and an expensive bar. The support dj was awesome (and kept making everyone chant Worldwide in a monotonous tone) but got the crowd suitably pumped for Childish Gambino. The Deep Web Tour is currently touring America and stopped off in Denver to a packed auditorium, which is probably a small venue in America but it felt huge in comparison to our equivalent O2 Academies. His show was awesome and his talent was demonstrated in his free styling sections, he also sang a whole lot more than I expected. He is a very angry guy though and I knew this before coming to see him (especially after listening to his lyrics in his first album ‘Camp’) but when he’s on stage performing, he expresses his anger not only through his songs but through a crazy routine. Due to the technological theme of his show, he was surrounded by screens with 3D images portaying his house. These screens were used heavily throughout (especially prior to the show when you could write a message on the screen via an app on your phone) and for a few songs in the middle of his first set. It wasn’t until over halfway in that performed his latest single ‘3005’ and after playing his new album in its entirety, he came back on stage for an encore and told the crowd “it’s time for some old stuff” before breaking into ‘Heartbeat’ then a medley including ‘Firefly’ and ‘All The Shine’. His final song, ‘Bonfire’, was by far the best of the night (but also showcased his angry side the most).

Today we headed to the Capitol State building once more but this time to go on a tour inside the building. A free tour (yes!) of the state’s government building where all laws and legislations are heard and either passed or rejected. The tour guide informed us how a majority of the materials used inside the building were sourced from Colorado (which we found out is Spanish meaning ‘coloured red’), such as the marble floor coming from Marble town (brilliant) and sandstone from Fort Springs. The guided tour took us to the office of the Govenor, the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Department of the Treasury. Learning about a state government was fascinating, especially in comparison to our governing body covering the whole country. The building itself is incredible in an architectural form and our tour guide even told us how one employee’s job is to clean all of the brass (and there’s a lot of brass) in the building. Surprisingly he loves his job. The dome that tops off the building stands 272 feet above the ground and gleams in the ‘300 days of Denver Sunshine’ because it is made out of gold. The gold represents the history of the state with the discovery of gold in 1858 bringing fortune seekers to the area and creating the mining villages and communities. Since then we’ve moved apartment to another one we found on Air B&B and are currently staying with two medical students in the centre of Denver.

April 23, 2014

One day in Mexico, partying in the eiffel tower and Roman bathing at Caesar’s Palace

I loved San Diego. It exceeded all expectations and overall, it was better than LA. The atmosphere was a lot nicer, the city was ridiculously clean and you actually felt safe walking the streets at night. Plus our hostel was a million times better than that RV and had every amenity you could ever want from budget accommodation (free wifi, herbs and spices in the kitchen, a communal iPad, $1 towel rental and laundry and a plethora of plugs which is a rarity in backpacker places).

We spent our first evening meal eating chocolate fudge and confetti candy pop tarts and met some fellow English travellers Sam, Tres and Andy. They’d just got back from Vegas and Phoenix and arrived into San Diego the same day as us. After informing us of free beer in the common room at 9pm, Heidi, Nathan and I made ourselves pretty (not hard) and headed downstairs. Josie was feeling a bit ill and tired so rested in bed. We missed out on the first round of free beer but some crazy Aussies were to the rescue with disgustingly strong vodka red bulls. More beer arrived shortly after much to our delight and soon enough we were all getting quite merry. Sam and Tres had bought a 1.75l of vodka (for $10!!) for Vegas but didn’t drink it and so kept offering it around the table. After a couple of drinks and a slightly fuzzy head, we were convinced to go out and see what San Diego’s nightlife was like. Why not?!

We paid the extortionate $10 door charge for a bar a few blocks away from our hostel. It was packed, had a really good atmosphere but closed at 2am. With no where else to go in San Diego, Heidi and I met a couple of guys outside the nearby pizza place. After some intellectual conversations (of which I don’t remember now but I recall them being good), I got a free slice of pizza and we continued back to the hostel where we found a group of German guys outside. We spoke to them about how they, as a county, don’t like to queue for things and demonstrated how a queue works. A guy representing his mate’s new clothing business then appeared from nowhere and gave me and Heidi a couple of free California Republic t-shirts. Successful night overall!

The following day was game day! We were about to experience our first American baseball game with the San Diego Padres taking on the Detroit Tigers and for $20, it was definitely worth it. We got there just as the national anthem was playing and trekked around the entire stadium to find our seats. For the price we paid, we got really good central seats although they were in the shade so we were absolutely freezing. After pretending to know what was going on for a while, we got some greasy food and stayed until the end to watch the Padres win 5-1. Our favourite parts were definitely the home runs and the music played in between, oh and the old man sitting in front of us eating the same bag of popcorn non-stop for over an hour. We then headed to the Westfield shopping centre, which is themed like a little Mexican village, to find the Vans store. Josie’s wanted to buy some for the past few weeks now and they’re a lot cheaper in America than back home. In fact so much cheaper I accidentally bought a patterned pair of shoes and matching hat for the bargain price of $45 (£30). We finally got back to the hostel in time for free hotdog night (another reason why this place is awesome) and saw Sam and Tres who were also recovering from last night. They informed us that they and Andy were going to Tijuana in Mexico the next day and when we asked how long for they replied with “just for the day”. Eh, come again?! They told us how there’s a trolley train that you can catch from central San Diego all the way down to the border. Here’s the best part because this hour long journey only costs $2.50 (£1.50). Yep, we could get to Mexico and back for £3!! Insane.

We awoke bright and early for our day trip to Mexico. How could we pass down the opportunity to visit Mexico for the day?! After the one hour train ride, we arrived at the border and were joined by Sam, Tres and Andy. Getting into Mexico was incredibly easy, a bit too easy; we didn’t even have to show our passports to anyone! We began the day avoiding the taxi drivers asking us where we were going and looked for the beach. In order to get there though, we required said taxi. Sam found a taxi driver and he told us he could take all 7 of us there. Brilliant, we’d be getting a big people carrier for next to nothing… well, it was indeed cheap but it was also only a four person car. He informed us that it’s legal to take more than four passengers and because we were so desperate to go to the beach, we all squeezed in. On arrival at our destination, Playas de Tijuana, we were immediately greeted with colder weather. Still sunny and a lot chillier and definitely not warm enough to lie on the beach. We walked along the promenade and admired the run down, ghost town-like atmosphere of the place. It wasn’t what we were expecting in the slightest and after seeing three people get arrested in the back of a police pick-up truck, we hailed down a cab and decided to check out downtown Tijuana, a much more touristy area.

We got to Revolucion Street in downtown Tijuana and found a bar serving $1 coronas (they accept American dollars here due to how close they are to the border). We couldn’t refuse this cheap offering and headed upstairs to the rooftop balcony. After a few coronas and a Spanish band playing for tips, we moved on to another bar. This time the drinks were a little bit more expensive but we got free nachos and dip and we were even treated to our own private balcony in the sun. After getting a free shot of tequila, we grabbed some chicken quesadillias and a couple more coronas for lunch and sat overlooking a zonkey. A zonkey is a donkey which has been painted with zebra stripes and is used as a tourist attraction where you pay to have a picture with it. With evening fast approaching, we figured it’d be best to head back to the border to get back into the USA. This is where it differs to how you get into Mexico. Gone is the simple walk across a bridge with no checks and instead we were faced with a massive queue to get through customs. And not just any normal customs queue you get at the aiport but instead a two hour queue littered with lots of food and drink stalls. Yep, after our cheap day of eating and drinking, a slight downer was put upon it by having to queue for over two hours to get back into America.

The following morning saw us checking out of the amazing Lucky D’s hostel and picking up our hired car ready for our road trip to Vegas. All that stood between us and the city that never sleeps was 330 miles in the car. We left within good time, were stocked up on drinks and snacks and had many radio stations to choose between. An hour into our journey and the car in front of us on the freeway ran over a lorry mudguard loose on the road causing it to launch up into the sky and hurl itself towards our windscreen. Within seconds the mudguard had cracked the glass and caused us to pull up in a nearby service station. After Nathan made numerous phone calls to insurance and the car rental company, a replacement vehicle was sent from LA and within three hours, we’d be on the road to Vegas again. This delay called for a Wendy’s burger to drown our sorrows.

Nathan and I shared the driving duties and I clocked over 150miles on the I-215 across California and Nevada. The drive was completely different to anywhere I’ve driven before and the scenery was spectacular. Mountains made up the backdrop and sparse areas of desert surrounded us as we drew nearer to the state where Las Vegas lies. We made a quick pit stop at a nearby shopping centre/hotel which housed its own rollercoaster and themed castle and continued onwards to the strip. Half an hour later, we were parallel to the strip of bright lights, glittering hotel names and themed buildings. We pulled up to our hotel, the Royal Resort, where the lobby consisted of a multicolored piano beneath a couple of chandeliers and chez lounges surrounded by lavish mirrors. You’re probably thinking what the hell are we doing checking into a hotel? Are we suddenly flashpackers splashing the cash whilst in Vegas? Don’t be silly! Heidi found this online for £10 a night each. Cheaper than that RV we stayed in and a hell of a lot nicer.

We took the car back the following morning but not everything went plain sailing; Josie left her purse on the back seat and only realised when we got off the shuttle bus ten minutes away, cue frantic rush back with a bus load of concerned Americans wishing us the best in finding the purse before the car got cleaned and given to the next customers. She got it back though and we began our time in Vegas by starting at the south end of the strip where the Egyptian themed, pyramid shaped Luxor hotel stood. Vegas is reknowned for its casinos and impressive hotels and so as the first accommodation to visit, it certainly didn’t disappoint. The pyramid shape worked effectively with the bedrooms making up the inside walls of the building. We then wandered to Excalibur, the medieval castle themed hotel. A bold block of turrets stood tall before the main hotel building with the interior matching the theme perfectly. This is where Nathan played his first game of blackjack for a $10 buy in. Unfortunately, he didn’t fare too well but it’s the taking part that counts… right?! We then found ourselves eating lunch in New York before paying ($14!!!) to ride the rollercoaster that engulfs the entire hotel, complete with upsidedown loop and a lot of headbanging. We left the big apple and headed across the road to the MGM Grand hotel. This one didn’t have a specific theme but instead comprised of lavish furnishings and a rainforest café. Unfortunately the lions that were once inside the hotel are no longer there.

Vegas is like one massive theme park. You walk from hotel to hotel via walkways which are themed correspondingly and are often made so that you walk through the copious amounts of high-end shopping malls (no 99p stores here) each hotel has. We even visited the Coca Cola store which featured every possible item you’d ever want with the Coke design on it. On the way back to our hotel we got ourselves onto a guestlist for the Paris hotel and I walked over some knickers in the street, pointed back at them when telling Nathan and then walked straight into a bollard groin first. A painful double whammy.

We pre drank in our hotel room with our $11 bottle of vodka and played blackjack in preparation for the tables at the casinos. Our first proper night out in Vegas was to Paris, the French hotel complete with its own eiffel tower, which is also the location of where we’d be partying. The club is situated on the first floor of the tower and overlooks the strip including the grand fountains of the Bellagio hotel opposite. We all got free entry and girls got free drinks before midnight. We got there at twenty to and because we’re cheap backpackers, we had to make the most of these free beverages. Heidi and Josie found themselves in frantic rushes to each of the three bars to get their complimentary drinks whilst Nathan and I held the growing collection of vodka mixers. Due to this free drinks marathon, we didn’t need to buy any more and managed to get another couple of free drinks off of a group in the VIP area. It got even better when Josie and I met a couple from LA who’d been together since high school 13 years ago. They bought us a drink and we insisted we paid them (we must’ve been drunk) but they didn’t accept our money and so when they finished their drinks, we sneakily bought them their next drinks and spent $27. Yep, a glass of champagne was $18 on its own. We didn’t quite realise how much we’d actually spent until the following morning but they were very nice people so it was all worth it!

The words difficult, painful, sick, never drinking again and ouch help describe the following day. I felt absolutely awful. Hungover is an understatement, I woke up feeling like the desert surrounding Vegas had crawled into my mouth whilst a ten tonne brick had been dropped on my head. A swim, that’ll help? Well it did a little but the 35º sun that came with it didn’t. We then thought that food would help. Dennys, the American diner that never closes, was just opposite our hotel. We’ve been meaning to go there for a while because of how cheap it is. Well, as soon as we were seated, I crashed. My hangover turned to feeling sick and after a quick vomit scare in the toilet (I wasn’t sick Dad) and Nathan capturing the moment over the top of the cubicle door, I was faced with a massive chicken burger and chips and a strawberry milkshake. This was gonna be a long day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon feeling sorry for ourselves and traipsing around various other hotels along the strip. These included Caesar’s Palace, which is as luxurious as you’d expect it to be, Treasure Island, which is like a pirate themed part of a theme park and The Mirage, where the volcano outside explodes once an hour after 7pm complete with red coloured jets of water and fire, it was a magnificent spectacle. We played a few slot machines, avoided alcohol beverages at any cost and munched on some fast food at 11pm. Bed was definitely calling.

We awoke the following morning with fresh faces and got ready for our upcoming pool party at Caesar’s Palace. We were on the guestlist and wandered up to the Venus pool entrance where our bags were searched. Not just any quick look in, a proper bag search worse than any we’ve had at airports throughout our travels. They didn’t allow for any outside food or beverages and almost didn’t let Josie take in her antihistamines!! We made it in, grabbed a towel and looked for somewhere to lay down. We found four sun loungers and were immediately greeted by a friendly waitress wearing only an orange bikini. She informed us that the minimum spend on drinks for where we wanted to lay was $50 each. I thought I’d misheard her say $15 and so for clarification I had to double check, 5-0?! Yeah 5-0. She also told us that the double beds around the pool were $250 minimum spend. We were definitely out of our depth here. Err, anywhere free? The edge of the pool. If it meant we didn’t have to guarantee spending the rest of our travelling money then I was prepared to look a little out of place at this posh pool party. We laid our towels down at one end of the pool and got given menus. $300 bottles of vodka? Maybe. $1000 bathtub with 6 bottles of champagne? I’ll think about it. A bucket of 8 coronas? That sounds about right. Earlier in the week we were paying $1 for a corona in Mexico and now we were forking out over $10 for one (the taxes on top were ridiculous!). But we didn’t care about the money (kind of) and made the most of being at a Caesar’s Palace pool party! We were surrounded by the rich and famous; Tinie Tempah, Pitbull, Bruce Willis, Jason Derulo and even Gemma from TOWIE… lookalikes. Yeah okay they were all just dopplegangers but that’s good enough for us! After saying for the one hundredth time how cool it was to be at a pool party in this setting and then witnessing a guy who was on a $250 bed throw up everywhere, we decided to head back to our hotel and prepare ourselves for a night out at Pure (which is also in Caesar’s). But not before heading to Denny’s diner again and this time we were served by a woman who seemed like she had just popped a few pills prior to her shift.

After some pre drinks in our room, we headed to Caesar’s Palace and joined the long guestlist queue. We got free entry and once again girls got free drinks until midnight. We didn’t have long this time though and it was a lot busier than the Parisian club so we weren’t as successful in the number of free drinks. The nightclub was one of the poshest I’ve ever stepped foot in. There were pillars and draped curtains, a VIP section overlooking the dancefloor and extremely expensive drinks. After a couple of hours on the dancefloor and an inflatable tiger, we headed back to the hotel and stopped off at the dingy Casino Royale where Nathan tried his hand at some $5 blackjack.

The following morning saw us relaxing by the hotel pool, having Denny’s for the third time (it’s just so cheap and delicious!) and then sorting out our travel to San Francisco and our accommodation for there. This took up a good proportion of our afternoon meaning our evening was then spent looking around other hotels such as the nearby Wynn (which is as extravagant as it looks from the outside, they even have their own brand of watches) and the Venetian, which is the Italian themed hotel complete with gondolas paddling along the river running through the building.

Sunday saw us relaxing by the pool, getting Denny’s once again (not only is it good food but we’ve had 20% off vouchers as well) and looking at a discount ticket stall along the strip which sells show tickets for that night at a lot cheaper rates. Josie and I wanted to see Penn and Teller which was 40% off the original price whilst Heidi and Nathan opted for a Cirque du Soleil Zumanity circus/burlesque show. Penn and Teller was being shown at the Rio and Josie and I needed to exchange our vouchers for our tickets (the earlier we did it, the better seats we got). After initially walking in the opposite direction, we wandered down the strip, stopped off at Caesar’s Palace to ask for directions and were told of a free shuttle bus from the hotel across the road. It was boiling hot by this point and time was getting on but we made it to the Rio in good time and ended up staying until the show started in a couple of hours. There was a jazz band playing prior to the show and they invited you up onto the stage to look at a wooden box which would be used by Penn and Teller and to sign our names on an envelope. The show started at 9 and the first trick included an audience member’s cell phone being magically transferred into a fish inside a briefcase underneath another audience member’s seat. All of this was recorded on her mobile and so she’ll be able to watch it back to see how they managed to do the trick. Other acts included the classic sawing of the assistant in half (but this was with a twist which saw them physically saw it in half), mind reading people in the audience after they were told to pick a joke at random out of books provided by stage hands and Penn and Teller fooling us by doing a trick within a trick within a trick. Their final piece saw them using people from the audience to initial and draw an icon on the bullet casing and then Penn and Teller fired their guns at one another and caught the bullets in their teeth. How? I’m not sure but the guns were definitely fired. The show was definitely worth it and I liked that they explained how they did the tricks (although they often then added something extra to boggle your mind). After the show they ran out to the lobby so that everyone could get pictures with them and yes, Teller actually spoke whilst using people’s phones to take selfies! Heidi and Nathan enjoyed their show and to quote Nathan, “I met 14 pairs of boobs tonight”. A good night all round.

We’ve ended up staying a lot longer in Vegas than initially planned. We were going to drive to the Grand Canyon and then drive from there to San Francisco but car hire costs a lot more for us because we’re under 25. Plus, we didn’t quite fancy a journey that long after what happened on our previous road trip. So instead we stayed a couple more nights in our hotel (making the most of the pool and spa!) and enjoyed more of the sights of the strip. Vegas is like no where else I’ve visited. I mean what other city has its own monorail system? Or escalators to cross the road? Or themed hotels followed by posh hotels followed by themed hotels? Or where else is it acceptable to drink anywhere you want during the day or buy a yard stick full of slushy cocktails? This place is in its own little bubble and it’s as if no where else matters. Our final day in Vegas saw us looking around the remaining hotels we wanted to see, including the Bellagio which is in a different league. It’s decor is rich and it also houses a section near the entrance with a butterfly farm and a plethora of real flowers. We’ve now departed the busy scene of Vegas and are on our 14hour greyhound bus to San Francisco where we’ll spend the next five nights.

P.s. If you do have answers to those questions and know of anywhere else that’s like what I’ve described above then sssh.. I want Vegas to have this moment.

April 13, 2014

Time travelling, roughing it at the MoonPad and cruising around Beverly Hills

You lucky people. This week, due to the multiple time zones we’ve experienced, you guys get an extra day in this blog! That’s 8 days worth of activities and thoughts in just one week!!

We left New Zealand’s capital Wellington on Sunday morning at 7:30am. We were prepared for our 13hour bus journey all the way back to Auckland via the Naked Bus company. Now the name of this bus service was an appealing one and when we trekked from our hostel to the station half an hour away, we were greeted by a friendly chap who ushered us onto the bus and told us we’d be stopping an hour and a half away to change buses. This is where it started to go sour. We moved our bags onto the next bus, got a seat each at the back and waited to set off north for 9hours until our next bus change. Then the bus driver spoke. He told us the basics (wear your seatbelt, no consumption of hot food and drink etc etc) but also told us that if we feel sick and throw up, we’d have to pay $250 for the cleaning. Our main gripe with him was how he conveyed this information; in a rude, patronising and unprofessional manner. He treated the coach full of adults like a classroom of five-year olds.

The highlight of the first part of the journey was driving through Bulls town again. ‘A town like no udder’ greeted us as we entered and many more puns were spotted on toilets (‘reliev-a-bull’), bins (‘response-a-bull’), a bakery (‘delect-a-bull’) and a school (‘knowledge-a-bull’). Bulls town certainly didn’t disappoint and we were all fairly content… until the bus driver told us to remove our headphones ‘coz we can’t hear him’ (we heard every single word you were saying in that condescending tone) and informed us to get off and change bus. But we didn’t need to and he couldn’t understand this (even after showing him our itinerary) and made us get off the bus to then decide that we were actually on the correct bus and to get back on. Make up your mind!! I wish we did change bus because we wouldn’t have had to endure this rude man for the next 8 hours. He was also incredibly unhelpful when the bus had a flat battery half way through the journey. After an hour delay, we continued onward to Auckland and finally arrived at our hostel for the night, The Fat Camel (where we got a free upgrade to a room with a window! Didn’t even realise we’d initially booked a room without a window).

The next day we checked out, grabbed some bacon baps at an indie café in the city centre and waited for our taxi to the airport. When checking in, we were informed that our flight to Fiji was as planned but our connecting flight to Los Angeles had been delayed by 9hours. Luckily for us though Fiji Airways had sorted out accommodation for the night and a free dinner! We arrived in Fiji at 7:30pm and were welcomed with a Fijian band complete with ukuleles and tropical notes to see us through customs. The Fijians are incredibly friendly; all of the flight attendants were accommodating (and would even offer to replace your beer once you’d finished) and those working on the baggage checkers would lift up our backpacks and help us put them on our backs! We got our free accommodation for the night sorted out (an on-site airport hotel) and managed to bag a room each (first time in 7months that I’ve had my own room!). It was like living a life of luxury compared to the cramped dorm rooms of hostels and we even had a concierge who carried our bags to the rooms! We then headed upstairs for the all-you-can-eat Asian buffet and demolished it. We were eating as if we hadn’t seen food before but hey, you’ve got to make the most of free dinner!

The next morning saw us finally boarding our plane set for Los Angeles. Now, our original time traveling plan (leaving New Zealand on 7th April at 16:30 and arriving in LA on 7th April at 13:30) was ruined due to the delays, but we did still manage to do some time traveling. Due to this stopover in Fiji, we managed to land in LA the previous calendar day to what we’d left and impressively visited three countries on the 7th April. What’s weird is that we’re now 8 hours behind the UK and this is the first time in 7months that we’ve been behind you guys. After three movies, three episodes of Modern Family, two episodes of Big Bang Theory, music and plenty of food, we arrived suitably jet-lagged in a dark Los Angeles. Flying over the city was an amazing sight, seeing the strips of lit up blocks and downtown LA and wondering where the hell we’d be staying for the next few days. It was now midnight and we were meant to have checked-in 7 hours earlier at 5pm. But it was all going to be fine because I had sent them an email before we left NZ to tell them we’d arrive around 1am and whether it was possible to do a late check-in. All would be fine, right?

We jumped in the first taxi we could find and headed for Boyle Avenue, a half hour drive away from the airport. On arrival we were greeted by four guys sat out the front in seated hammocks and surrounded by tables made out of old doors. This matched the description of the hostel online, “MoonPad hostel: a place for artists and budding astronauts” (neither of which apply to us). One guy, Nick, asked if we were checking in and whether we had a reservation (he needn’t have bothered asking that last question because when we did state our reservation, he had no record of it). After a few minutes of trying to find our booking and not succeeding, he informed us that because we weren’t here by 10pm, our room (well, beds) had been given to people who had walked-in with no reservation. That email I told you I’d sent? They didn’t see it. This was not the start to our LA adventure we wanted. After a frantic half hour of Nick looking for spare beds (he only found one), he offered us ‘The Morroccan room’. Now, this room may sound exotic and was sold to us as ‘a large open space where we can put four mattresses for you to sleep on’ but in reality it was just a large landing at the top of the stairs, outside of everyone’s dorm rooms and next to the communal bathroom (so in a way we got an en suite…). We had no other choice but to accept this space and call it ‘our room’, after all it was now 1:30am and we were exhausted and hungry. We told him we’d stay there for this one night and sort out this mess in the morning. Before bed we had no success searching the surrounding area for places to eat and so decided to meet our new hostelmates (is that a term?!) sitting out the front. Nick, the maintenance guy from New York, Alex, a Frenchman travelling with his girlfriend and Daniel, an ex-marines guy from Indiana, were all suitably drunk and welcoming us to this crazy establishment. Another guy then joined us outside. He was originally from Georgia and moved to LA 13 days ago to live the American dream. In his own words ‘Acting. That’s what’s gonna get me there if my singing and comedy stand-up don’t work out’. Yep, he was a classic American guy moving to the sunshine state to pursue a better career and become famous. He even sang us two songs (yes, two!) and not only did he sing us an R&B number, he also treated us to some country ‘to show us his range by singing two completely different genres’. He was definitely one of the most confident guys I’ve met and didn’t know when to stop talking which did provide much amusement for the night. We hit the hay after that and slept pretty much on the floor (the ‘mattresses’ were made of foam and couldn’t have been more than 3inches thick).

After a long lie-in to rid some of the jet lag, we attempted to sort out our room but were told that the manager was only in from 5-10pm (what kind of manager only visits his hostel for 5hours a day?!). We weren’t gonna let that ruin our first full day in LA and decided to catch the metro into town. What’s brilliant about this metro is that you can buy a $5 all day pass which lets you ride anywhere on any train or bus for the whole day! After a few train changes, we arrived in Hollywood. The land of the rich and famous and home to its world reknowned sign and walk of fame. We were immediately greeted by Adam Sandler’s star and a tour guide trying to sell us a Hollywood tour around the celebrity houses and up to the sign. We were hesistant up until he told us the price, he’d give us the $25 child price instead of the $40 adult price… tempting. But we decided to have a wander round for a bit seeing as we’d only just arrived there. It was interesting. The area we found ourselves in seemed a bit run down and not how I imagined Hollywood to look like. After being hassled by a few more tour guides (the prices started going as low as $20), we went back to the first man and bartered with him to get his tour for $20. Bargain!

But first we needed food. Good ol’ American food. A greasy burger, greasy fries and a gre..fizzy drink. We found Juicy burger; a fast food joint where you create your own burger and can have unlimited refills on your drink. And you definitely need unlimited refills because the choice is unbelievable. Over 100 options adorned the hi-tech drinks dispenser; Coca Cola with raspberry or orange or cherry or Dr Pepper with vanilla or Sprite with strawberry or grape or Powerade or Sunkist or any other combination you could think of. It was awesome and Josie for one made the most out of this crazy selection, trying every possible drink she could and getting high on E numbers and sugars. So excitable she seemed drunk. Oh yeah and the burger was delicious. Complete with food babies and a cup full of Coca Cola with lime, we boarded our tour bus, well, a converted 8-seater pick-up truck, and met Kenny our friendly guide. He immediately took us to the hotel used in Pretty Woman (I’ve not seen it) and then onwards to the Hollywood sign up in the hills. After some questionable driving, we arrived at the closest point you could get to the sign without trespassing and acquiring a hefty fine. This is where Kenny excelled in his duties and became a professional photographer for ten minutes, ushering us onto a rock in front of the sign and doing several angles (and sound effects, “BAM”) to capture the perfect shot.

Our tour continued down Hollywood Boulevard passing by a Disney-only movie theatre, the Hard Rock Café and the Dolby Digital theatre where the Oscars are held. Kenny drove us down to Sunset Boulevard and en route we passed The Hills’ reality tv show house, the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ house and the house from ‘Halloween’. We then approached Beverly Hills so cue famous Wheatus song ‘Beverly Hills’ and we were ready to explore the area of the rich and famous. We passed by Ellen Degeneres’ house, Ringo Starr’s, Jennifer Aniston’s, Gene Simmons’, Michael Jackson’s, Christina Aguilera’s, Tony Stark’s and even Hugh Heffner’s Playboy mansion.

We begrudgingly headed back to our hostel to see the manager. He apologised when he realised we were the ones who had slept on the floor the previous night and we told him how we weren’t paying for last night, explained how it shouldn’t have happened due to us having emailed and said how we wanted a room with four beds like we had booked. He still didn’t have four beds free and so came up with an alternative. Somewhere he thought we would really like. Somewhere which isn’t even located in the hostel but instead, is in the garden. An RV. Yep, he was putting us up in his motor home and we had no other option but to choose it. We paid our reduced rate and got comfortable in our cozy, cramped new living space. Thank goodness it was only for two nights.

The following morning we were up bright and early for our free breakfast and to visit Auntie Mary, Nathan’s mum’s friend who has lived in LA for the past 30 years. After an hour and a half on metro trains, we were greeted by Mary at Redondo Beach train station. She was immediately welcoming and took us to a New York pizza restaurant where we got the best pizza I’ve ever tasted. A medium was the size of an extra large in England. We napped off the doughy deliciousness on Hamosa beach; a beautiful stretch of golden sand adorned with rude, chavvy 14-year old kids on their Spring Break. All of that aside though, Hamosa beach and the surrounding area was how I pictured LA. Mary then took us to our first American supermarket (where we spent ages drooling over all of the amazing food) and then to her beautiful home where she cooked us good old English bangers and mash. It was a pleasure to spend the day with Mary and her friend Terry, they were some of the friendliest and most accommodating people I’ve met and it was really nice knowing that not only did we appreciate spending time with her, she was blessed to be meeting us as well. After receiving bags full of free shampoos, socks, hair gels and beauty products (the airplane sized ones because Mary used to be an air hostess), we decided to unwillingly head back to our campervan before it got too dark. We had three different trains to catch and one change was at a dodgy area of the city. We were pretty much travelling through the ghetto and had to get off and change lines. This would have been fine if a cleaner at the station didn’t sign off his interaction with us with “keep safe and be careful guys”. Err.. well now we’re worried. Four British adults wandering around the platforms with all of our prized possessions amongst the potential gang members of this district of LA. Heidi later said that if they were clever enough, they would’ve mugged us. All was fine though and we managed to get back to our hos..RV in time to book some new accommodation by the beach and get drunk to forget that we’re sleeping in a second-hand motor home.

We left the MoonPad before you could say ‘check-out’ and headed on our long journey to Venice beach (still in LA but the transport in this city takes ages due to size of the place). We arrived in a much nicer area than our last hostel and found our motel (classic America). Well, this felt like luxury. We had a bed!! And a TV and an ensuite and a maid and a fridge and a microwave. Okay, it wasn’t the most extravagant place but compared to the hell hole we’d just come from, this was on par with a Hilton! After a much needed lie down on the bed, we ventured to Venice beach. Building walls used as canvasses for street art greeted us as we approached the boardwalk. It was a lot colder today than the previous couple of days which made us question why we decided to head to the beach but this place seems to be vibrant any time of the week. The boardwalk was lined with the odd (voodoo dolls and 3D portraits of aliens), the tacky (generic holiday t shirt stalls and henna tattoo carts) and the wacky (a ‘green doctor’ of whom you could pay to give you a medical marijuana card to enable you to get weed from the pharmacy). There was also a street performance by a talented bunch of breakdancers. Not only did they each perform indiviually, they used members of the public for humorous acts and then scoured the audience for money. They were really good at what they did and if I wasn’t a budget backpacker, I probably would have given them some money. Maybe. A stop for some dinner and then we continued down the strip towards Santa Monica pier. Along the way we played on swings, climbing frames and hanging ropes with the sun setting in the distance. The pier resembled one used in Grand Theft Auto 5 (which btw is very accurate here in terms of the people you meet whilst walking around, a lot of them either talk to themselves or take the opportunity to introduce themselves to you) complete with Ferris wheel and rollercoaster, takeaways and a terrible busker. We headed back to grab a beer and noticed a sign showing that the pier marks the official end of Route 66!

Before returning to our motel room, we visited Vons the supermarket and spent a ridiculous amount of time (and money) in there on classic American snacks like Jolly Ranchers, Reese’s puffs peanut butter cereal, a Joey Tribianni massive sub sandwich and white chocolate covered pretzels. We were definitely prepared for any eating situation and with that we returned to our motel room to binge whilst watching some US TV.

The next day saw us waking up later than planned (“ooh we can get free coffee until 11am” … “yeah I think it’s only 9am, oh wait.. it’s 11:05”) and head to the Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood hills area. This journey took longer than expected, not only because the buses are very unreliable here but also because you have to change train lines every ten stops! We finally arrived at the closest stop to the observatory and noticed that you could catch a bus up there.. but no, you could only do that on weekends. When a bus did pull up, she said the closest she goes to the observatory is Los Feliz and from there we’d have a 1mile walk.. uphill (“have you all got water?!”). After our long, long walk up to the top of the hill, we were treated to beautiful skyline views of Los Angeles. Seeing it from this high really shows how big and flat the city is. Griffith Observatory is a popular tourist attraction full of science and space displays including telescopes, a Tesla Coil and and a planetarium. We also caught a lecture called “Let’s make a Comet” and even though we were surrounded by a class of 5 year olds on a field trip, the comet they made from water, sand, charcoal and dry ice was pretty impressive. See, travelling is also educational!

Our final night in LA was spent in bed watching The Hangover and eating. We had to be up at 6:30am to catch our Greyhound bus to San Diego. But before we could do that, I had to scour the entire internet (very slight exaggeration) to find out where we had to get this bus from because handily our tickets nor the website didn’t state the address. We left in the morning with a lot of time to spare in case the public transport was even more unreliable than usual. But we made our bus which came complete with wifi and even a plug (in your face NakedBus) and arrived into a sunny San Diego almost three hours later. One final bus journey and we were at our hostel and this one’s a keeper. They actually had our reservation, were friendly and helpful and we even get free breakfast, the kitchen’s clean and we each have a bed. And what’s crazier is that this one is only $2 more than our first one in LA and is in an even better location in the middle of San Diego. Today has been spent exploring the area, visiting the marina and shopping at a ridiculously cheap grocery store two blocks away from our hostel (yeah, I just said blocks). They have Ben&Jerry’s tubs for $1.99 and Pop Tarts for $1.49. I think I’m going to get very fat in America.

April 5, 2014

Smelling of eggs, swinging over rivers and Josie’s 22nd birthday

We left Rotorua and headed to Taupo, a one hour bus journey south. The route was through foggy valleys with mountains either side, one word best to describe it? Beautiful. The smell of rotten eggs started to fade as we left the geothermal hostpot of Rotorua (although our clothes definitely still had a hint of sulphur which we were told could take months to go away.. looks like you guys at home will get to experience this delightful smell as well!). We passed a few more springs and steam filled lakes en route to Taupo. It was certainly one of the most picturesque journeys I have been on since beginning our travels and is definitely how I imagined New Zealand to look like.

When we arrived in Taupo it was cold and resembled Rotorua a great deal. The bus dropped us off in the town centre and we wandered the streets with our heavy, heavy backpacks looking for our next hostel. Through crossroads and long streets, we finally arrived at our next home for three nights; The Rainbow Lodge. This hostel was immediately busier than Cactus Jacks in Rotorua and came equipped with a lot of common room areas, a big clean kitchen and our spacious 9 bed dorm (shotgun single bed!). The staff are very friendly and there’s a great deal of Germans here. The noticeable difference about these hostels to ones such as Base and Nomads (which are chains, there’s usually at least one of them in each city) is that the staff actually care about your stay. They take the time to show you around the hostel and to your room and are always willing to answer any queries or help you find the best deal on excursions. The free coffee is also a great bonus as well!

This hostel also boasts a small sauna. Nathan, Heidi and I decided to try it out and whack it up to full temperature straight away. We can deal with a 125º dry sauna right? I, of course, was first to start sweating. We amused ourselves with a few games of ‘I spy’ then jumped straight into the A to Z memory game of ‘I went on holiday and in my bag I packed…’ … ‘an aquarium’ followed by ‘an aquarium, a broach…’ … ‘an aquarium, a broach, a clock…’ and so on (I won’t bore you with our complete A to Z list). This game started out fun but as soon as we started getting to the latter end of the alphabet (‘an STD, a T-Rex, a Unicorn’), the time-consuming nature of repeating all 18 previous words and adding on the next became difficult, especially when you’re sweating out of every single pore of your body and the humidity is at an all time high. We were determined to finish the game though and weren’t content until we got to ‘a Zebra’ to then run out of the boiling pit and straight into a cold shower. Won’t be rushing to do that again anytime soon!

In the afternoon we explored our new surroundings. Our hostel slightly resembles a little holiday resort in the country and it definitely feels like we should be sleeping in log cabins by the fire. Especially when the weather is cold in the morning and at night (in the daytime, however, the sun definitely heats you up). Lake Taupo is a strong focal point of this small town, except this lake is almost 30miles long. We decided to find a patch of the lake, which actually looks like the sea, where we could lay for a bit. We managed to find a spot with a pebbly beach and a lot of seagulls and ducks. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore (surely lakes aren’t meant to have this description?!) was incredibly relaxing causing a few naps to be had. Heidi and I then wandered the streets of Taupo town to shop for Josie’s birthday presents. In doing so, we inadvertently entered the “World’s Coolest McDonald’s”. Honestly, it was proudly displaying this title on the entrance doors. Why? Because it had a real full size plane in the kids play area for you to sit and dine in!! They definitely earned that title and I’m proud to have bought at 60cent ice cream from that establishment. After getting Josie’s amazing presents (and accidentally buying things for myself) we headed to Pak’nSave to purchase our necessary food for our stay. Pak’nSave is a cross between a bulk buy store such as Makro (it also resembles it a great deal) but with the cheap prices of Asda, for example. Nathan and I decided to make a meal that’d last our three night stay. A meal that would not only feed us for the duration of our time in Taupo but probably a family of ten as well. Beef mince, potatoes, onions, carrots and beef stock to create a quick stew or deconstructed shepherd’s pie.

The following day saw us go on a two hour return walk to Huka Falls. The walk was not as bad as expected and again, stunning. We passed the Taupo Bungy and Cliffhanger (Giant swing) site and were in awe of its beautiful location over the Waikato River. Unfortunately no one was about to endure the freefalling activities and so we only had the structures to look at. We continued onwards with our walk through the Thermal Spa park walkway. This took us over a few hills and back down to the hot springs location. A little footbridge led us across the thermal pools where tourists and locals bathed in the 37º water. It is an absolutely amazing sight to see and we were definitely going to have a dip in there after our mini trek to the waterfall. The walk was nice; a few hills on the way but they were balanced out with descents and lovely views of the river and surrounding areas. It took us just over an hour to reach the Huka Falls viewing area which was definitely worth it. When approaching the waterfall, the river got increasingly faster bringing back memories of studying rivers in geography at school. The water level can be ridiculously high at certain times in the day when they open up the dam further upstream. I think we missed this but the falls were still a beautiful sight to see and the constant rush of water through the narrow valley made me want to go white water rafting again. After many pictures and gazing at the falls, we started our return journey. We stopped off at the hot springs and bathed in the natural thermal water where areas of the river were extremely hot whilst other parts were freezing (well, relatively). There was a small waterfall going into this part of the river which was completely hot water. Think of running a bath and only running the hot tap and sitting underneath this hot tap for a few minutes. It was like that. The transition from this area of the river to the colder parts was amazing. These hot pools were the most natural ones we have visited and were definitely a highlight of our trip to Taupo. You could see the hot patches of water from the rippling effect and catch a perfect spot to bathe in; not too hot, not too cold but warm, tepid (or similar adjectives) and just right (this is sounding an awful lot like Goldielocks now). A friendly dog with two completely different coloured eyes then appeared and we spent a good twenty minutes stroking him wondering where his owner was (we came to the conclusion he just wandered off down here to relax and watch the world go by.. he had his usual spot). We left after some lunch and sun bathing and headed to Burger King by the lake to use their free wifi and browse bookme.co.nz (a discount website for all the tourist attractions) to book onto doing the extreme river swing the following day. We also spent a good hour and a half in the blistering sun looking for a hostel in Wellington. There were only five to choose from ranging from the dirt cheap with bad reviews to the pricy ones with moderately good reviews. We finally booked one though and headed back to our current hostel for dinner, beer and card games.

We awoke the following morning with mixed emotions (this keeps happening in New Zealand). These emotions were once again a cross between nervous and excited. Nathan, Josie and I were about to partake in the Taupo Cliffhanger, an extreme canyon swing over the Waikato River. We found it online for $60 cheaper than through the company themselves. I wore my walking shoes for only the second time since England (honestly, no matter how many times you read about bringing walking boots, ignore it. You don’t need them!). After completing the usual safety checks, Nathan and Josie were advised to pair up for a better swing whereas I was heavy enough (all of this muscle weighs a lot alright!) to still get a good swing. We approached the platform which hung over the river below and were kitted out in our harnesses. The only thing holding us in above this fast flowing river. The river leading towards the Huka Falls we had seen the previous day. Nathan and Josie were first. They were secured in by the two instructors (who claimed to be hungover from the previous night. Brilliant) and then hung over the river by a crane. They were then told to wave to the camera and then to look behind and wave to Heidi who was filming this on Nathan’s GoPro. This is where the instructors were mean. Whilst innocently waving to Heidi, they suddenly dropped. The 45metre freefall and begun and neither of them had a chance to even think about what was happening. It’s evident from the video footage Heidi got that she probably screamed more than they did. Josie was apparently speechless in the descent whilst Nathan exclaimed that it was the most he has felt like a bird in his life. I, however, had just witnessed the two of them drop in a split second and then swing up the valley and back down a few times. It was my turn next and now I was definitely more nervous.

Nathan and Josie returned safe and sound. I slowly approached the launch platform and was secured into the harness. The crane then moved to the left and I hung over the river like a toy in the grabber about to fall out. I knew their trick now though and so when they told me to wave to their camera and then to Heidi with the GoPro, I was expecting the worst and the sudden drop. They didn’t do it straight away though. What was now worse was that when I was expecting to fall, I didn’t. What were they about to surprise me with? My heart was beating fast and this only increased when they told me to let go of the harness rope and put my hands behind my head. They thought I was too ‘soft’ to not go through with it. I hesitantly released my grip from the harness and started to put my hands behind my head and lean back. I was shitting myself (pardon my French) but this just didn’t feel natural. In a situation like this you want to hold on, especially when you’re about to fall 45metres before the rope takes your weight and swings you back up. Reluctantly my hands were now somewhat placed behind my head. I looked down a few times and could see the rocky bank of the river. Mistake. Then bam they dropped me. I lasted approximately a second without holding on and screamed at the top of my voice. And swore. But the experience was unbelievable and my hands were soon up in the air as I soared above the river and parallel to the cliff face full of pigeons.

As we’re in New Zealand, we thought it’d only be right to watch the first Lord of the Rings. I had never seen it before (I know.. but I have seen the first two hobbits) and I loved it! It prepared us for our 6hour bus journey the following day to Wellington. We checked out at 10am and waited. Waited in the hostel common room until our 1pm cheaper-than-the-9am bus to the capital.

The coach left Taupo at 1pm and was fortunately pretty empty like our previous two bus journeys in New Zealand. This meant the four of us spread out occupying two seats each for maximum comfort. Halfway into our journey saw us stopping at a remote, small, old service ‘station’ called Flat Hills. It housed a café, souvenir and convenience shop and two chickens. One chicken was very heavy footed and walked as though it had wooden legs. We continued onward to Wellington and half an hour later, drove through Bulls town. It was definitely a very unforgeta-bull place to drive through (I would normally say excuse the pun but there’s really no need because they liked to have a joke in this town. Wait, it gets better..). On the local pub was a ‘remark-a-bull’, ‘love-a-bull’ on a pre school, ‘bank-a-bull’ on the bank, ‘consum-a-bull’ on McDonald’s, ‘const-a-bull’ on the police station and ‘unmiss-a-bull’ on the bins. There was also a large cardboard cut out of a bull with the slogan “bet my bulls are bigger than yours”. Excellent.

The journey was incredibly pretty and picturesque. We passed loads of small towns with barely any shops, cafés or people. Experienced many winding roads and no motorways. Just long stretches of beautiful countryside. When approaching Wellington six hours after leaving the small town of Taupo, the bundles of lit up houses on the hills and the harbour sitting in the sunset was reminding me of when we would drive through Port Talbot, Wales when we were younger.

We trekked for a good half an hour from the bus drop off point to our hostel with all our possessions on our backs. On arrival to our hostel, it was a little less beautiful than the coach trip. A window of the adjoining bar was smashed in, the entrance looked like we were going in to a crack den, the communal toilets resembled grotty public ones and our 8-bed room was a nice tight squeeze. The atmosphere of the whole hostel was odd and unlike any we’ve experienced in any of the hostels we’ve stayed in… but us being the budget travellers we are, we obviously opted for this accommodation over any of the others due to the price tag, $16.

Our first night in Wellington was spent away from our far from homely hostel. We decided the best way to deal with this change in comfort was to drink and so went on a mission to find a pub. It didn’t take long to find a nearby strip of pubs, clubs and fast food joints. We settled for an Irish bar where a live band (well, duo) were playing. All was going well; we had pints, a few card games on the go and two men singing Bruce Springsteen and other such classics. Then there was the solo drunken guy who went and made it weird. With his Guiness in hand, he approached the stage with some sultry moves you’d expect to see in a seedy film and not some classic Irish pub. After much hip gyrating (him, not us) the band went for a break and we got out of there. Welcome to Wellington! We hadn’t eaten since our plethora of snacks on the six hour bus journey and headed to find our dinner… until we got sidetracked by a Kebab shop which had Shisha for $20. Where did we do this shisha? Right outside the kebab window with a backdrop of chicken and lamb. After five minutes we were getting asked by a Māori man what we were doing. He had seen stuff like shisha on TV before but couldn’t grasp why people did it or why we didn’t have anything stronger and illegal in there. After a lot of repetition on why people do shisha and what it is, he called Nathan Ricky Martin and left.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand. It is known as the cultural capital and prides itself on its quirky cafés, indie pubs, mountains of restaurants and cuba street; a street not far from our hostel reknowned for its out-there style. There’s a plethora of coffee shops, vintage clothing stores and busy bookshops nestled in a street full of cool fountains, talented buskers, artists painting via puppets and even an adult playstore. We spent the first full day in Wellington on this street walking up and down, browsing what the shops had to offer and looking at tattoo parlours. After a lunch at the best coffee shop in Wellington, we abused the free city wifi and headed to get quotes for tattoo designs for Nathan and Josie.

I really like Wellington. The only downside to this city is our hostel. It’s bearable but the people who are staying here (whether long-term or short-term like us) are unlike any I’ve met before. There’s a mix of loud, messy and odd individuals who have no respect for their surroundings. They leave dirty dishes everywhere, smoke in their rooms and generally don’t clean up after themselves. Luckily the four of us are staying with nice roommates; a Chilean girl studying in Wellington to become a yoga instructor and three guys, two of whom are working at the hostel to earn their stay. We, however, have spent so much time outside of the hostel experiencing the vibrant life of the capitial that it hasn’t been much of an issue.

Friday the 4th April. A normal day for many.. but not Josephine Atkinson. She was turning 22! She awoke bright and early to Skype her family whilst we wrapped her presents, blew up balloons and drew faces on them (one for each of us and her family members), decorated her cake and made a lollipop trail for her to follow from the hallway to the room. We sand happy birthday at 9am in the morning (much to the delight of our sleeping roommates) and let her blow out the magic candles which never blow out. This bit didn’t exactly go to plan though because the candles gave off so much smoke that we had to put them out in a bottle of water incase that we set off an alarm (pah, as if there’s any alarms in this hostel).

After cake and sparkling wine for breakfast and Josie loving her presents, we headed out for a wander down the harbourfront and to find a restaurant for her birthday lunch. One immediately stood out amongst the rest; The Crab Shack where their slogan was “we’ve got crabs, do you?”. Josie and I ordered the slow roasted lamb shank, Heidi ordered the cajun fish of the day whilst Nathan opted for 1kg of crabs. Smelly crabs. It took him the best part of an hour to munch through this mountain of crab and even gave him crab scented farts. We were all suitably full (the food was absolutely delicious) and headed to a pub for a birthday pint in the sun. Then came the ice skating. There’s a temporary rink on the harbourfront which costs $20 for however long you wish to skate for. We were all (well, not Nathan) displaying Bambi-like footwork on the ice to begin with whilst holding on to the sides for dear life and going 2mph to ensure we didn’t slip up. But once we got used to it, we were professionals. I was skating around happily, speeding up a little and then crash. I fell. Straight onto my derrière in an awkward slump on the wet ice. Confidence knocked complete with a sore knee. Josie was growing in confidence by the minute and after a few laps holding on, she was soon enough gliding around without a care in the world. After an hour and a half of skating, we headed to the liquor store to prepare for the night ahead. Josie’s birthday celebrations were, you could say, a very drunk affair.

The following morning saw a few groggy heads and empty wallets. We were up surprisingly early though and on the hunt for refreshing beverages to cure the dry mouths and sore heads. Nathan and I decided to head to Zealandia, an eco-sanctuary experience just a ten minute drive away from the city centre. It is the world’s first fully-fenced urban eco-sanctuary with its aim to restore the valley to its pre-human state. The fence stops any inference from predators such as mice and possums (your bag is checked prior to entering for any rats or similar) and thus ensures these rare birds and reptiles are safe in recovery of this beautiful valley. The whole park is breathtaking and really is like paradise. We saw a range of rare birds and lizards, including the flightless Tahakē, the Tuatara; the ‘living fossils’ reptile that was extinct on mainland before being released in the sanctuary and the Kākā, a large parrot which we got to see feeding. At the top end of the valley was the upper dam. Now the view from this part of the sanctuary was absolutely incredible. Looking back down the valley and seeing all the surrounding wildlife in its natural state was an awesome experience and one that I would greatly recommend to anyone on the North island.

We’re now getting ready to leave Wellington and head back up to Auckland for our flight to Los Angeles on Monday. Now the most difficult thing about this journey is the length. It is going to take us 13hours to get back to Auckland via ‘the naked bus’ (we’ve told Josie that a requirement to board the coach is to in fact be completely undressed, I’ll let you know how this pans out). I have loved Taupo and Wellington and although I am gutted we didn’t manage to make it to the south island, we have managed to fit so much in and been to some pretty amazing places in the past two weeks here in New Zealand that I guess I’ll just have to come back at some point to explore the southern half.

Ciao for now and hopefully the next time I blog I won’t be stinking of rotten eggs!

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