11/10/12: Journey’s end

We’ve been back a couple of days and have finally found the time to end this story. But first, what happened since the last post? Well…

First, some of the photos are from the night before we had to leave.

If you are wondering about the last photo, it was taken on the corner of Powell and Geary (near our hotel), about 8.30 in the evening…this bunch rocked up, plugged in and started playing some killer blues…

Our last day was the longest one. We had a reasonable start, repacking our backs for the last time before wandering down to breakfast and coming across a couple from our tour…they had taken the long way to San Francisco.

With our flight leaving at 8.45pm, we had a long day of keeping ourselves busy before departing. We took some time to check out some the sights we had not seen and do some final shopping before returning to the hotel to collect our bags and jump on the shuttle.


12 hours on the plane got us back to Auckland, followed by a four hour wait, after which we jumped on another plane for the three hour trip to Brisbane where we were picked up by Jodie and Melinda (both rewarded – with thanks – with libations from the Duty Free shop). A couple of short hours after that were were home…it was hot and we were zombified after 30-something hours on the go.

Since then, we’ve been doing the boring stuff…shopping for groceries, paying bills, washing and starting to work on the post-trip and back-to-work blues.

This has been a huge trip – way to big to describe in 25 words or less. All along the way there were interesting and wonderful things to see, and helpful and friendly people as well. One thing is certain, do not believe all you see on TV about the USA – there is much more to it than we realised.

Do we want to go back? Short answer is YES! Longer answer is “It depends”…on our bosses and bank managers.

06/10/12: San Francisco III…almost time to go home

Today we joined the crowds and headed to Pier 39 (aka Fishermans Wharf) via tram for a look around. We've had a very nice day – warm in the sun, but chilled in the shade and breeze.

Not too many photos to show in this post. It is Fleet Week here (a US Navy celebration), so there were lots of planes and the odd warship cruising by. Needless to say we are both a bit weary from alternating between negotiating the huge crowds and standing around watching.


Most of tomorrow is free, but since we’ll be checking out of the hotel by midday and catching a big bird home (via Auckland) tomorrow night we’ll probably not post another entry before getting home.

05/10/12: San Francisco II–Rocking the Rock

Sorry about the title, it was hard to resist.

So, how does one describe San Francisco? A few adjectives are in order: pretty, diverse, lively, attractive and – at times – insane. Whereas Las Vegas had a couple of strips of interest, this whole town has something to see in virtually every suburb. Like our stop in LA, we will not even scratch the surface.

Today we joined a city tour we’d booked before we left. First stop was Alcatraz:


The afternoon was taken up seeing just a very few of the city sights:

This is a really likeable place. The it has a nice vibe and the people are nice. That said, it seems horrendously expensive to live here. Our tour guide today was explaining the 3-hour commutes of workers living in Oakland (about 8 miles away across the bay), where the cost of living is lower.

One thing to keep in mind is that this town has people from all walks of life. Up in Castro (the gay/lesbian suburb), some people like to walk the street stark naked. Local council has tried to change the law without success, but did manage to pass a bylaw requiring naked citizens to not sit on public seating without something under their butts. How do we know this? Our friendly guide took us though Castro today and behold a chap sitting starkers outside a coffee shop.

The town is really crowded at the moment. The Navy is in town, an airshow is on, a huge 3-day concert is kicking off in the park, and a major computer conference is under way…so getting around over the next couple of days will be challenging.

With two full days before we get on the plane, we are hoping to visit the centre of CBD for some browsing (not too much shopping as our bags are bulging) and a trip – via cable car – to Fishermans Wharf for a good look around.

04/10/12: San Francisco I

We are out of LA and now spending a couple of days in San Francisco before heading home to Oz. First, though, some photos we missed posting earlier…

LA, Santa Monica and Hollywood

We saw very little of LA, so it hard to relate our impressions. Suffice to say the car is king, and their freeways are enormous…and traffic jams to match. We spent the afternoon at Universal Studios in the heat and crowds.  We were there for 4 hours and probably only saw half of what they had to offer.

After catching our flight, we made it to our hotel in the centre of San Francisco about 4.30 this afternoon. We are near the CBD (just a block north of Market Street), and a quick look around to find a city reminding us of New York (traffic wise). Dinner was in a little restaurant nearby – the food was marvellous.

Tomorrow is touring day – taking in the sights and places (including Alcatraz).

03/10/12: LA Day 2

Another long day and unfortunately a post without photos. We are beat.

Last night was a trip to Santa Monica Pier for dinner. Today was a tour around town, seeing Beverly Hills, Sunset Boulevard and a couple of other places before checking out Universal Studios.

Impressions? So far LA is hard for us to describe...it is just too big, and we've not even scratched the surface. This may well require another visit...

Tomorrow we slip out to LAX and zoom up to San Francisco, where we hope to post some photos.

02/10/12: LA…the end of the road (for now)

We have reached the west coast and pretty much the end of the tour…but we still have more to see before we head home in a week or so. First, a quick catch-up from the last few days.

Grand Canyon sunrise:


Las Vegas:

Las Vegas was definitely the high point of the trip. Awesome, epic, fantastic are a few words that come to mind – it has a vibe and liveliness we’ve never experienced. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the other cities on the trip, LV takes it to a completely different level. Finally a suggestion for those considering a visit to Vegas: do not miss Fremont Street (the old street). It rocks!
Oops – the obvious question: did we have a win at the pokies? No. Nada. Nothing.
Today we called into Calico (an abandoned 1800's mining town between Vegas and LA):


We now in LA for two nights before heading up to San Francisco for a couple of days. We have no feel for LA yet, but we should get a good look via a bus tour tomorrow morning.

01/10/12: Vegas II

Another day, another post without pictures; we are busy getting ready for a night on the down after spending the day at Hoover Dam (the one from Transformers, Grand Theft Auto and other movies...definitely worth the look), and shopping on the strip.

We'll post pictures as soon as we can get a moment to sort through them - too many to choose from.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) and we will be on the road to Los Angeles. We are not sure what to expect as we've heard conflicting stories. We will be eating out at Santa Monica and doing a tour of Universal Studios, so we'll be kept on the go.

30/09/12: Vegas I

No pictures tonight - it has been a long day and evening. And we are somewhat shagged.

We left the Grand Canyon a bit later than usual and arrived in Las Vegas late this afternoon. After getting into some cooler clothes (it is *bloody hot* - 37 degrees) we've been taking in the sights and there are plenty of those.

As mentioned yesterday, we had planned a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, but Barack Obama is in town (on the election trail) and all helicopter flights are grounded - tonight we saw military Blackhawks doing laps, keep watch on everyone. Instead we'll be taking a morning jaunt to Hoover Dam and Lake Meade before returning to Vegas for the afternoon.

Tomorrow night we're going out on the town for dinner and a show. Looking forward to it.

Las Vegas is an amazing city. The strip is nothing short of incredible, with light, colour and movement everywhere. The Casinos are amazing in their scale and luxuriousness...not a penny spared. You can see everything from the Eiffel Tower to the Statue of Liberty, The Colosseum to the Sphinx, erupting volcanoes and dancing water. In short, it is truly amazing and has to be seen to be believed - we are loving it.  We haven't had time to try our luck in the casino yet but hopefully we will tomorrow.

Time permitting, we'll do a post with pictures tomorrow.

29/09/12: Zion and the Grand Canyon

Today we left the city to head into the National Parks again. Today was also the end of southern run: from tomorrow we start heading west again, to end our tour in Los Angeles (actually Santa Monica, which is also the final stop of Route 66).

The first point of call was Zion National Park. Until now we’d only really seen canyons from the top-down. Today it was from the bottom-up and it was spectacular (and hard to photograph)…

Two short hours later and we were on our way…the drive out was pretty amazing as well:

Our lunch stop was in a town called Kanab, that made its history as a setting for many Western movies and TV shows in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s – Planet of the Apes & Jesus of Nazareth also got a look in . We had to dress up as cowboys and indians and pose for a group portrait.  Then chowed down on a chuckwagon lunch at the museum (beef, beans & potatoes with biscuits – actually it’s a scone). A surreal taste of the old west for the tourists. 

Our last stop of the day – surprisingly early – was the Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge. We’ve been put in cosy (read small) cabins for the evening. No interwebs or TV, or even an iron. But it really did not matter after a drink in the bar and the opportunity to see the sunset…

Tomorrow will bring an early start (to catch the sunrise), before we start heading west to Las Vegas. It is a pretty short leg, and we are looking forward to seeing the very bright lights. We don’t get to do a helicopter flight as originally planned. Obama is visiting the same time as us so they’ve applied air space restrictions – bugger . Viva Las Vegas!