Sorry Adelaide, but I think I'm in love

This post is for all those constantly asking me what it’s like here/ my parents bugging me for the deets. I’m not into sending you all separate emails/I know you’re not patient enough for me to write letters SO here is a little summary of the place I now call home:

First up, I’m in downtown Toronto. Around 25-20 min walk from the centre of town. Of course, at first I was super (and understandably) bummed about being so far from the centre of town (and Ryerson itself), but this place is AMAZING. Toronto is such a beautiful town. It’s very arsty and alternative – a far cry from the hustle of New York or LA. There’s an abundance of parks (I live opposite one and there’s another few just around the corner), which takes you away from the busy city and into another world entirely – today I chilled at one watching a soccer game on one side, and a hockey game on the other. Bliss! The only thing missing is a beach, but this place is so me that I’m not complaining.

I live literally a 2 minute walk from Kensington Markets, which is filled to the brim with tourists on weekends, along with buskers, hippies, pot-heads, artists, foodies and all other sorts. It’s so fun! Everyone’s willing to get to know you, and of course as soon as they hear the accent a million questions get fired my way – ‘are you from England?’ ‘Oh! Australia? Like, Sydney?’ ‘What school? Ryerson eh? Ohhhhh me to!’

This is probably not something you’ll want to know, my dear mother and father, but the smell of marijuana is legit always present. You can smell it in the park opposite my apartment building, in the markets and there are two restaurants just around the corner which encourage you to bring your own weed and smoke it there. Definitely not in Adelaide anymore!

I also live on the edge of Chinatown, so can just go down the road for a health and wellbeing massage, some deep fried crickets or a $4 haircut.

Starbucks is, of course, like a virus and Tim Horton’s (budget version of Starbucks) is at every corner. The amount of homeless people is still distressing, but, for the most part, they’ll just ask ‘spare change?’ and then leave you alone. There are a LOT of crazies too. But they’re pretty harmless.

The age demographic is very young. But it’s not unusual to see 55 year olds sail past you on scooters on the sidewalk. I guess you’re only as old as you feel.

A lot of people dress differently here (not weird, different), and I suppose that’s because I live in the fashion district.

Cars actually give way to pedestrians, and I was pleased to find that Canada use 1 and 2 dollar coins – welcome to the 21^st century, AMERICA.

This place is vibrant, fun, young and different. Honestly, I think I just fell in love.

Days...??? TORONTO!!

Thought it was about time I gave a quick update...Well, I’ve started the second part of my journey! The trip from NY to here was cruisey, super small plane, and sat next to a nice local who told me a few things about the city. It’s funny how when you travel anyone becomes a friend. Apparently there was an earthquake in NYC just after I left. Lucky. The arrival into Toronto wasn’t so smooth, I had no idea what to do once I’d passed unhappy immigration man and collected my intact but HEAVY suitcase. I assumed I’d easily find a shuttle. WRONG. Apparently they are hard to come by in Toronto, so I ended up getting a bus with heaps of other people and had to walk around 25 mins through the streets to my place. Not cool.

Anyway, the lady I checked in with seems...strict. But once I got my room and payments settled I headed up to what will be my home for approximately the next 4 months. Despite it smelling like musty old people and needing a good clean (went and bought cleaners ASAP), its quite comfortable and while it isn’t ideal (I’d rather have a roommate), it’s nice to have my own space and the park opposite is incredibly beautiful.

I spent the rest of the day exploring. I live right near Chinatown and Kensington markets (lots of fruit and veg). Of course there is a lack of Walmart, so things are pretty exxy. Anyways, I discovered MTV and E! On my tv. SCORE.

I spent the next morning at the bank for about an hour trying to get some money, but they had problems believing it was me on my passport because my signature didn’t quite match. I was just like ‘well duh, I did that signature when I was 15’. Seriously!  Once that fun was over, I made the trek by Subway to Walmart, and ended up catching a taxi back because I shopped so much. Setting myself up in a place is so surreal.

This morning I set of the smoke alarm, even though I wasn’t cooking. Go figure. And last night we had a massive lightening storm and were on hurricane watch! Definitely not in Aus anymore!

Today I trekked to Ryerson to check it out. IT’S HUGE! I went to the on residence housing and was super jealous for a good 30 mins or so. Also got initiated to Ryerson by some nice people – who actually couldn’t find me registered on the school’s system. Awkward.

Went and chilled in the park, and almost got attacked by squirrels. There were a lot of homeless people chilling around the park too. So many homeless people here! A girl I met told me not to be bothered by them. She said, and I quote ‘They choose to live that way, so just ignore them.’ Hmmmm.

Day 21 - Last day as New Yorkers!

Last day in the city that never sleeps! Feels weird that tomorrow this part of the trip will be over. Went back to the singing diner for breakfast today. It’s just that good! Was going to get something healthy, but chocolate chip pancakes was the go.

Hailed a cab (like a true New Yorker) to a shopping district called SoHo. Such good shops! We bought some Toms (shoes) and some other little trinkets. They were filming a reality show in the streets with Tom Sellick while we were there too. Not very exciting, but our first paparazzi celebrity moment – so that part was exciting.

After that we headed back to Times Square for some Subway (horrible service), then did a bit more shopping (at M&M world and Hershey’s - yummm) and headed back to the hostel.

Lauren headed off to another Broadway show tonight and I caught up with some more Contiki people. Went to Little Italy for dinner which was cool. Basically just a strip of Italian restaurants. Felt like a baby whale after that meal too, but it was totally worth it. After that we all headed to Times Square where we witnessed an American police chase! Excitement. There were like 15 police cars that zoomed past. So good. We met up with Lauren again and then headed back to the hole.

For all you haters, we took pictures of the disgusting bathrooms that we have lived with for the past six days so that you can all see how feral they are. It’s actually disgraceful.

PS. Just a little side note so I don’t forget: the streets actually steam here at night – like, steam comes up from the man-holes. Just like the movies! And it smells like garbage! Yuck. Also, there are soooo many homeless people here. But, if I was homeless I’d probably crash here too – Central Park would probably be the best place to sleep at night.

PPS. NEW YORK CAB DRIVERS ARE CRAZY!! Their driving skills are this: honk, speed, honk, BREAK, honk. Insane. When we were in the cab to the SoHo I actually thought we were going to die.

Day 20 – New York

Got up earlyish today to get some Starbucks brekky then head to Central Park for a picnic (amazing that I’m able to say that). Central Park is HUGE. So big! I thought that all it was was basically a baseball field but it’s so much more! There’s a carousel and a Zoo, strawberry and sheep fields. It’s massive. We sat and watched baseball has-beens doing their thing for a while then Lauren left to get some broadway tickets for today and tomorrow and I had a wander. Even though I only walked in a circle around the park, I almost got lost. There’s so many turns and bridges that it gets suuuuper confusing. But I met up with Lauren later on and we headed off for lunch.

We stopped at a diner in Times Square that looked...interesting. It ended up being a 50s style diner where aspiring Broadway actors work, and sing and dance while you eat. It was so fun. I have videos that I’ll post soon.

After that Lauren left me again to see a show, so I wandered around. Having almost no money left for shopping, I went to scab some wifi from Maccas. But, of course, it didn’t work. I ended up walking around and stopping at 5 different Starbucks just for the wifi. I am a true traveller now. Anyway, I walked to Grand Central Station – which was cool. All I could think of was the movie Arthur and the date scene. BUT I never found the whispering wall. Upsetting.

Then, having no clue how to get back to Broadway, I wandered into the dodgy part of town, then to the Upper East side – where I totally fitted in with my shorts and tank top, then stumbled across a market place.

After that I headed back to Central Park, stopping at Starbucks on the way, and it pelted down with rain. So I ran back to the hostel and met Lauren there. We then met up with some girls from Contiki and went to Hooters for dinner! So exciting. The girls there are super attractive. I bet they love it when all the fat, sleazy old men come for dinner.

Of course the food was deep fried and fatty, so we now feel like baby whales. But it was definitely worth it.



Days 18 & 19 - New York

I get the feeling these blogs are getting boring and too long...I don’t even know who (if anyone) reads this besides my family and Priya. SO I’ll just combine the past two days and try to stick to the highlights.

Yesterday we set the alarm for 8, slept through the alarm so got another sleep in (yay!). We went on a cruise of the New York harbour and saw the statue of liberty and the Brooklyn bridge and all that fun stuff. We had to catch the subway and it was like a sauna down there. Seriously, we were sweating so bad. Luckily a nice man in a suit helped us figure out what to do, because the system down there is soooo confusing.

Oh, BUT before we could do any of that, we were casually having brekky at the hostel and were suddenly evacuated because of a gas leak. Spending the morning on the streets of NYC in our pyjamas holding our breakfast was definitely not how I imagined we’d spend our time.

Anyway, we also saw where the twin towers were and listened to a man who was explaining some sort of conspiracy. He was actually really good so he earned his tip.

We then headed out to see Rent just off broadway. Of course it was a storm night so we got absolutely drenched walking to the theatre and looked like drowned rats once we got inside. It was lucky we spent so much time straightening our hair.

Today we got up super early to line up to get discounted tickets for a Broadway show tonight. Only to get there and be told evening tickets don’t go on sale until 3. Bugger. So we headed to Empire State building then did some shopping. Spent way too much money, but that happens.

We lined up for the discounted tickets at about 1.30 and got right up the front. WE GOT TICKETS TO SEE DANIEL RADCLIFFE!! Actually most exciting moment of my life. I just love him.

So off to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying soon. So keen!

Day 17 - Hello New York!

SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP IN DAY!!! Such a good time! We didn’t get started until around 12ish so it was so nice. HOWEVER, the very first thing we did when we went down for breakfast ($8 for a small fruit salad, no less) was take the laptop and look up other (cleaner, nicer) hostels. We found a couple, but in the end we decided to stay with the hole we’ve got because even though it’s the worst place ever, we have already paid our fee to the grumpy desk lady and co. Bastards.

Spent the day walking along broadway, and times square getting harassed by millions of men selling tours and tickets etc. We got sucked in by one friendly New York salesman who gave us cheap tickets for Rent (completely legit) and we are now going to see the show tomorrow night! So exciting.

Also went to the most epic toy stores EVER. One had a ferris wheel in it and one had a huge floor piano. So cool. If I was a kid I would’ve been in heaven. We went to M&M world too. AMAZING. M&Ms everywhere!! We bought bags of chocolate that I almost devoured in one go. Stupid America and its fatness.

Of course we met a few more rude New Yorkers, one time there was a huuuuuge line up and so I asked a lady who LOOKED nice why she was lining up and she looked at me, said ‘Beyonce.’ Then gave me a ‘like, duh’ look. Lovely.

We also were just casually walking down a street off Broadway and they were doing the lottery for another show. So we entered, but missed out. Sadface. At one point the guy doing the lottery was like ‘it’s someone from Australia!’ and we got super anxious...then he called out some other girl’s name. Double sadface.

Met up with a couple cool people from Contiki for dinner and icecream, was good to catch up with them again. Then we trooped back to the hole for another night of sleep in luxury.

Day 16 - Los Angeles to New York

Getting up at 4am wasn’t actually as hard as it should have been this morning. All our stuff was packed and ready, so we could basically just get up and go. We waited in reception for almost 30 mins cause our shuttle was late and soooo many people were still coming into the hostel after their night out. Party animals. In fact, one of our roommates only just got home as we were leaving – OoOoOoo.

We got to LAX fine, tipped the driver (obviously) and had to self-check in. Now, while it wasn’t as confusing as San Fran airport, it still was confusing. My bag was 8 lbs overweight, but the man didn’t charge me extra. Lucky. But we did have to pay for our luggage – obviously that wasn’t included in the millions of dollars we paid for flights. We weren’t given a boarding pass, just a receipt. Which was confusing in itself.

We had a quick breakfast at Maccas, cause that was pretty much the only option. Again, I’m disappointed with the American airlines. I thought they would be so good. But Adelaide wins hands down.

Still confused (about life in general) we waited at our gate with our receipts and then wandered up to the lady at the desk and asked about our boarding passes. To me, she kind of muttered something then gave me my actual boarding pass. It would have been thoughtful (and common sense) for the airline to actually TELL us that was what we had to do, but no, obviously we were supposed to know that already.

Again, we didn’t have seats together so I was sitting next to two nice Indian boys. Priya, I found you a choice of two husbands (but one is American and has a gf, so basically I found you one husband). He’s from Brisbane! Keeping it local.

We both slept most of the plane ride, because even thought it was a 5 hour flight, the only way you could watch movies, eat, or do anything really, was by whipping out your credit card. The plane did have free WiFi though, so I could get my FB fix for 20 mins or so before it cut out.

When we touched down and got our bags, we kind of wandered aimlessly out the doors and a man came up to us asking if we wanted a taxi. We were like ‘No, no. We want a shuttle bus.’ So he tried to give us directions to a train and we were still generally confused so he pointed at a man walking towards him and was like ‘there, he take you’. The man he was pointing at told us he was a shuttle and kept calling us sweetheart, so we were slightly creeped. But we followed him to his van none the less. The van didn’t even have a taxi sign on it – it was just grey with a ford sticker. So we asked him again if he was a taxi and he was like ‘Yes! Yes!’ So we got in and he left to find more passangers and we started to have a little nervous breakdown thinking we would be taken to a sweatshop. To our Mothers and Fathers, we did try to get out of the van at one point, but our bags were locked in the back and the driver saw us. He was like ‘Ohhh girls, you try to get away from me!’ so we stayed.

Anyway, long story short, we made it to the hostel (after he cut through the blocked off zone in Central Park and almost crashed a number of times). After LA’s great hostel we had high expectations, but the lady here was so rude. I didn’t even see her smile once and we know nothing about the hostel. It seemed a difficult task for her to tell us where the nearest 7/11 is and to tell us about this area. Our room is tiny, about the size of a shoe. The bathrooms are dirty and there is no shared kitchen. So we are just hating life in general.

Day 15 - Los Angeles

Another hectic day on the cards. But, lucky for our roommates, we were up even earlier at 6.15am. We quickly got showered and dressed, had breakfast with another couple of early risers and headed off to figure out the LA bus system. I thought the buses would be so good here, but no. It reminded me of good old unreliable Adelaide. We were waiting longer than 3omins and almost gave up until we FINALLY saw the bus we wanted coming our way. Glad to say goodbye to the singing old lady near us and the man who asked if we wanted a cigarette, we jumped on the bus and almost toppled over cause the drivers are just THAT good.

Anyway, we made it to what we thought was our stop, hopped off and started to walk. We got to an entrance, but realised that we were trying to get through the celebrity and staff gate. Awkward. We had to ask a police officer where to go, and then had a 10 min walk to the stop we were supposed to get off at.

Finally we were at Warner Brothers! Our tour started at 9 and we got taken around one set which gets changed into different places for different shows and movies. Again, so amazing how small everything is. There are some buildings that are one thing at the front and then multiple things at the back.

We were taken to some sound stages and also to the Ellen Degeneres set! We were on the webcam too, not that we could check it. We went to the set of some show called Chuck that our tour guide was obsessed with. Not so interesting. But we also went to the Friends set and sat on the couch! Now THAT was a good time.

After Warner Bros we waited for aaaaaaaaaaages for another bus, but gave up after 45mins and hailed a taxi. We then caught another (more reliable) bus to The Grove and went SHOPPING. We got hailed down by some sales guy who got our attention by asking if we were Australian and who kept saying how Lauren is soooooooooooo his type. Anyway, long story short, we ended up getting really good hair straightner’s for half price with freebies thrown in because we wouldn’t give him a sale unless he gave us a good deal. We are just that good. But we were broke after that so we hated life and went and ate some Pinkberry (frozen yogurt with chocolate and fruit). Loz dog bought mine for me because I’m a poor uni student. Ashleigh Stewart are you proud! Ready for a 4am start tomorrow to fly to New York! Yay but ugh.

Day 14 - Los Angeles

Disneyland today! I hadn’t heard great reviews about the place from other grown ups so I really wasn’t sure what to expect. But it was actually really fun! We woke up nice and early (just for a change) and I’m pretty sure we woke up most of our roommates as well. Oops. We went and had a quick brekky in the kitchen then headed off to the Chinese theatre where a bus was picking us up from.

Since we got so used to getting on the coach on Contiki and sleeping straight away, we were out as soon as the bus started moving. Exhausted already and the day hadn’t even started. We got to Disneyland almost 45 mins later and caught a little tram thing to the entrance.

Inside it was suuuuuuuuuuuuuper busy. I thought that maybe since it’s a Monday it would be a little less crowded. WRONG. People everywhere and all up in each other’s business. So many small children!! Anyway, we grabbed a map and headed on our way.

Our first stop was the Indiana Jones ride in Adventure Land – we lined up for around 30 mins. It was actually scary. After not doing the scary ride yesterday, the first one we pick here was a scary one. We hated life for a little bit but were laughing by the end.

After that we headed to a few of the other lands and did one or two rides in each. One ride that deserves a mention is the Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. It was insane! We lined up for like an hour BUT totally worth it. It was a rollercoaster in the pitch black. Epic. And there were lights that made it look like you were spinning through the night sky. It was so cool.

We stayed at Disney until around 7, then caught the bus back. We both fell asleep on the bus again. Awkward cause when we woke up we had no idea where the driver was taking us. After a massive detour we finally made it back to Hollywood Blvd, ate dinner at a cute little diner where the waiter made a smiley face out of tomato sauce for us, did a little bit of shopping (or just looking for me, the poor one) and headed back to the hostel. Tomorrow is another early wakeup for Warner Bro’s!

Day 13 - Los Angeles - HOLLYWEIRD BABY

Universal Studios today! Woke up nice and early again, just to keep our bodies on edge after Contiki and pretty sure we woke up everyone else in the room as well. Oops. But it didn’t matter cause we were off to Universal!!

We had a quick standard brekky at the hostel then figured out the train system (v. Similar to Germany) and headed on our way. We caught a shuttle up to the entrance of the park and had a few shots taken with millions of other tourists.

Universal studios is amazing. We went on almost everything, including a tour of movie sets and T.V shows. I can’t get over how small and close together different sets are. The movies make everything look so big. We saw Wisteria Lane and the set of War of the Worlds. As well as a King Kong 3D panorama thing which was absolutely awesome and the most amazing 3D experience I’ve ever had.

We also went on a Simpsons ride which was a virtual roller coaster, but by far the best virtual ride EVER. We also attempted the Mummy ride, which we thought would be super scary. But the only thing I screamed at was the lady dressed in costume who was standing around the corner in broad daylight. She scared me okay.

We decided to skip the House of Horrors. I don’t think my pants could handle that one, but everything else was just awesome.

Once back in Hollywood, we had a quick healthy does of Maccas then headed to Madame Tussauds. I wouldn’t say it was better than the one we went to in Germany, but it was better than the one we went to in Germany. It was full of stars we knew and no German old men. We took some funny pics and dressed up a bit. All will be uploaded soon.

After that we started walking back and saw a few of the interesting folks that grace Hollywood once the sun goes down. We had been told sooo much that people call it ‘Hollyweird’...and now we know why – at dinner an old lady came in in a face fully painted white with a red streak down the side, and it’s not uncommon to walk past someone talking to themself. Everyone dresses up on the street here and one guy (who we carefully avoided everytime) dresses up as a scary guy with a mutated face and big claw hand. Anyway, we were watching some people get a pic with Michael Jackson’s star and I felt a tap on my shoulder. It took a moment for me to realise it wasn’t Lauren and when I turned around, the scary guy was right in my face and waved his claw at me. I screamed and grabbed Lauren, who also screamed and we ran off. Good times.

Day 12 - San Fran to LA

Had a little bit of a sleep in today, but headed down to breakfast early to get the good stuff and to hopefully see everyone to say goodbye. No such luck. We saw a couple of girls which was nice though, but I think the others were out late so were probably lucky and sleeping.

We had a nice brekky, then went back upstairs to make sure everything was packed. We met another girl flying home in the lobby and she came down with a couple others. So we got to say goodbye to them. It would have been nice to of had a few more days in San Fran but. We didn’t really get to see it at all. But anyways, once we said goodbyes we caught a taxi and were on the way to the airport!

The ride wasn’t too expensive, but San Francisco airport is absolutely rubbish. We had no clue. Their check in system SUCKS too. You don’t even talk to a real person, just go to a computer, which of course we had no idea how to even do the first step. Getting someone to help us was a task and a half too. Hectic.

Going through the security screening took ages as well. So many people! I had a bottle of water in my bag too. Oops. So I had to go through twice. Once that ordeal was over we went and got a bite to eat then sat and chilled, finally getting our facebook fix.

The flight was fairly smooth. Except our ticket said a different gate to the one we boarded from. Awkward. The plane also needed a mechanic to come look at it just before we took off. We were pretty confident in our airline by that stage. Alas, we both fell asleep as soon as the plane took off and arrived in LA safe and sound. They didn’t lose our luggage thankfully.

We shuttled to the hostel, which is in an awesome location. Met a couple of roommates in our dorm and then headed to Hollywood blvd. I had to ask a police officer where Hollywood blvd was from our hostel and she pointed up the street and said there. A couple of people who heard me asked laughed. So embarrassing.

We walked along the street for a bit and took typical shots of all the stars. We were stopped by a guy selling things and waved him off – until he heard our accent and he kept talking to us. We were then roped into doing a Hollywood sightseeing tour of the sign and celebs homes. It was actually really good and we wouldn’t of seen the sign otherwise. We saw heaps of million dollar homes like Miley Cyrus, Dr Suess, Will Smith etc. Of course, the tour driver could have driven past any home and said it belonged to a celebrity and we wouldn’t have known any better. Our tour guide was awesome and funny though. Big tip for him!

After that we were really tired, but went to the hard rock cafe for dinner, which was super cool and then headed back to the hostel for sleep. We are in a room with four other girls, all are pretty quiet so its good. The room is clean, standard but in an awesome location so there’s definatley nothing to complain about!

Day 11 - Bass Lake to San Francisco

7.45 start!! Yay. It was a fairly short drive today, but super sad to think that it was our last coach trip and we would be hearing the day song (Tonight, tonight) for the last time. We stopped at maccas in the morning and had our first American maccas meal. The mcmuffins are sooooo much bigger over here! I asked for ketchup and didn’t get any. Devo. Andy asked for the money for all our optional (a sad time for the credit card) then we paid everything off and left funny personal messages for Andy and Richard to chuckle at.

Once in San Fran we stopped at Fisherman’s Warf for a bite to eat. It was SO COLD!! It felt like what we left behind in Adelaide and I didn’t enjoy that weather one bit. We did a little bit of touristy shopping, but it was pretty lame. I bought a ‘I <3 SF’ top because I’m just hilarious and where else in the world would I get something like that!?

We had some san fran fish and chips for lunch, which was a huge serve. No one could finish theirs and I pretty much scoffed mine. I think America is making me fat. Once we were on the coach, two of the newbies were super late, so we all focussed our attention on a homeless guy that was sitting next to the bus. One guy on our tour had bought a huge jar of Cheezeballs from Walmart and decided to give them to the homeless man. But instead of eating them, the guy threw them at the seagulls, then hurled the empty jar at some passersby. It was actually funny and sad to watch.

Richard took us on a city tour then, where we saw the full house houses and the golden gate bridge. We passed through a hippyish part of town where some people were just in groups jamming on the street. I really liked that, it was so cool.

We then headed to the hotel and quickly got ready to go on a cruise under the bridge. The cruise was cold and windy and rough, so we mostly stayed inside with everyone – but it was cool to go right under the golden gate bridge.

After that we had an hour or so to look around the amusement stuff that was on the warf, but it was too cold to walk around outside. We then headed off to dinner at the Stinking Rose, which is a place that cooks everything with garlic. Super yummy, but I sure wouldn’t of wanted to smell anyones breath after that. Had my first taste of mussles there with Wendy, actually yummy! She also bought me a drink, a cocktail that I thought was yum but tasted like medicine.

Then we were sad because it was our last night with everyone, but instead of wait around in the cold outside, we just caught a taxi home, ready to leave for LA tomorrow!

Day 10 - Bass Lake

A 7.45am start again just for a change and this morning I think we were all suuuuuper tired, no sleep is finally catching up. Lauren was quite sick again last night and has developed a real chesty cough. It was about 3am I think and she was coughing up a storm (poor thing) so I ended up moving my blanket and pillow upstairs to where Stacey (our roommate) was sleeping and sleeping on the floor.

But anyway, we were up early to head to Yosemite national park. It took aaaaaaaaaaages to get to and I really had no idea what this park was and why we were spending a whole day there, but turns out it is a beautiful place that really is amazing. There was a huge waterfall and mountains everywhere that didn’t even look real. Must look so good when it snows.

Me and two other girls decided to rent bikes and ride around the park. They were ‘beach bikes’ which, until now, I had no idea were different to mountain bikes – but they have no breaks so you have to pedal backwards to stop. Dangerous for the unco, I know.

But it ended up being relatively easy and we rode to a few places then got out and walked. One place we went to squirrels started stealing Wendy’s food, so funny. We also rode to a place then walked up a huuuuuuuuuuuuge mountain. We didn’t even make it all the way up but it had a beautiful view of the waterfall. Joel and Mum, it’s the kind of place you would be really into. Also Joel, this place has one of the biggest natural rock climbs in the world. Amazing!

Once we were back at the campsite, we did some laundry then watched the boys play tennis. Archie won. Yay Artsie! Haha. Then we chilled at the cabin with the girls for a bit, then headed down to the patio for a buffet-style dinner. It was tortillas I think, sort of ‘make your own’, quite cool. We then played beer pong which was super fun. I was teamed with Anette and we totally dominated!! Until we played David and Sam....because then we lost.

Day 9 - Las Vegas to Bass Lake

7.45am to the coach today, which was easy for us because we got 6 or so hours sleep...can’t say the same for all the overagers though. As soon as we were on the bus, almost all of them were asleep. One guy got on in the suit that he went out in last night. I’m 100% positive that he didn’t actually come home last night. Some others I’m sure were still drunk from the night before. Pretty funny actually.

The first few hours of the ride were quiet. I don’t think the group has ever been that silent. Everyone was asleep. The new people on tour probably think we’re a super boring Contiki group now. WRONG.

At about 10.30 we stopped for some food. Since all the others were hungover, and no one had eaten before we left, we were all super hungry. Andy took us to in-n-out burger which was cool since I’ve seen that on T.V. They only have three options on the menu (with all the calories available to see of course) which actually makes it really easy to choose what to have. It tasted a bit like hungry jacks but better. Not as greasy, maybe? Still bad for you though. But yummy fatty goodness all the same.

After that we headed back on the road and Andy made us play another introduction game to get to know the newbies. I don’t actually remember anyone’s name of the new people so that was a fail. We stopped at a supermarket to stock up on some goodies and water. Of course I dropped a whole carton in the middle of an isle and it spilt allllllll over the floor. Awkward for me.

A few hours later we arrived at Bass Lake! Back in California, Bass Lake is a small campsite with a lake (duh) and a pool and tennis courts. Quite a different setting to Vegas! It’s so nice here. We are all in quad share cabins. We’re with two English girls who are lovely.

We all went down to the pool and chilled in the sun (the pool was actually freezing) then had a pizza and karaoke party with everyone. It was really fun to be able to chill with everyone again, since there’s nowhere for them to go out here. Once everyone had a little sing, we went onto the beach for a bonfire and made our first ever smores (toasted marshmallow, chocolate and two gram crackers)! Deliciousness.

Day 8 - Las Vegas

Today was our first free day. So really, we should have used it to sleep in. But, being the savvy travellers that we are, us and a few others decided to still get up early and go to the outlet malls. Since we got to bed around 1am (it felt like 10pm), we were super tired waking up at 8. We ate a buffet brekky at the hotel with Andy and Richard, then met a few others in the lobby to do some shopping!

Catching taxis to the outlet malls was cheap and easy. The hotel man basically hailed two down for us and it cost around $5 each including tips. The outlet malls really were amazing, super cheap too. We were there for ages, especially trying to find clothes for the Variety show and limo ride tonight. In the end Lauren went back to the hotel with two of the others and I kept shopping. Making myself leave was an accomplishment in itself and I had to taxi it back alone. The taxi man couldnbt really understand my accent and I couldn’t understand his. Fun times all round.

We then had an hour or so to chill and shower before heading to the variety show. We got nice and spiffed up again then walked with everyone to the theatre. Once there we met a few of the new people joining us on tour tomorrow. THE SHOW WAS SO GOOD! Like, epically funny. I was actually crying with laughter at one stage. That was $50 well spent.

After the show all the others who hadn’t gone to see it met us and we headed off to the limos! We all piled in big white hummer limos and popped open some champers. We were habout halfway down the road when all of a sudden our limo just stopped. The music stopped and everything. After a bit of yelling and carrying on, the driver finally came up to us and told us to get in the limo behind. So 10 extra people in an already packed limo was super fun. I was lucky enough to get a seat but poor Lauren got the floor. By that stage a few of the oldies had had a few too many, so the ride was a funny one.

We got dropped off at a club and said goodbyes to those leaving the tour tomorrow morning, then us underages taxied back to the hotel. Too much champagne made me too generous and I tipped the taxi driver WAAAY too much. Yay me.

Day 7 – Grand Canyon to Las Vegas

We were lucky enough to wake up nice and early again (7.45am to the coach) and then we started heading to vegas! Funnily enough this morning was the first morning that everyone was actually on time. Coincidence? I think no. The drive was fairly long and boring, but got exciting once we headed onto the famous Route 66.

We stopped at a little souvenir place and bought overpriced (but awesome) trinkets, and took a few typical tourist shots. We stopped at a few cheap places for lunch and our group had a huge Chinese meal that was actually the most delicious thing EVER. I actually wanted taco bell but no one would have it with me and I didn’t want to be fat by myself so, alas, no taco bell for Sophie.

The drive to Vegas was long and Andy played a few games with us to pass the time. They were actually really funny, so time went quite fast. Everyone perked up when we got our first view of the Vegas skyline, and poor Richard (the driver) had to deal with everyone scrambling up to the front to get a good shot.

Once in Vegas, me and Lauren did a quick stroll along the strip. It was SUPER hot and we were lovely and sweaty in no time. We got harassed by so many people telling us they could get us into clubs for free – probably the only time I actually liked saying ‘I’m not 21’.

Everyone got nice and spiffed up and we all headed out to have a group photo at the Vegas sign, and then dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant. After dinner we headed to a light show which was all under cover, with bands and shops and everything and then at 10pm the roof lit up and images and videos and music came from it. Quite cool.

After that we all headed back to the coach for a tour of the strip. It was fricken’ awesome to see the strip at night. All the casinos here are so amazing and overdone. We headed into the wedding chapel part of town, and there was one that Andy took us into. Once we were inside we were all seated in the chapel and Elvis came out! At this stage we were all like whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat and then Elvis called out two people from the group’s names and...I can’t say what happened next in case anyone reading this decides to do a similar Contiki J But it was so fun.

After that excitement, the overages got pumped up and headed out and us youngies were lucky enough to be dropped back at the hotel (sarcasm). A few of the others headed out but Loz is still sick so we just went to Caesar’s Palace (did Caesar actually live here?) and checked that out for a bit since it’s right next to our hotel – the rooms in our hotel are huge by the way, the beds are epically comfy AND we have a mini bar which automatically charges when something is removed, just like the movies!

Day 6 - Grand Canyon

After last night’s events, we were lucky enough to wake up nice and early at 6am, ready for a 7am coach ride to the helicopters. Me and Loz dog chose the 25 min ride (the other choice was a 45 min, for $250 no less) over the canyon. It was amazing to see how big it is again and even though it was supposed to be 25mins, it felt like 5 mins max but as amazing as it is, after a while it all looks the same, so I really don’t think we could’ve handled the 45 min ride to be honest.

After that we came back to the cabins and Lauren headed off with a few other girls on a hike. I went down for a walk later by myself and headed into the canyon. But it was super hot down there and even though climbing down was easy, climbing back up was a bitch. I also walked along the rim and sat on the edge for a while. Almost 5 people walked past me and told me not to jump. Wasn’t really funny after the first 3 times.

At around 2 me and a few others from the group went on a bike tour of the canyon. We rode mostly downhill on some tracks and got a few more rock pictures. It was hot again and we got super burnt. Our guide was alright, not the best – definitely no tip for her. Apparently she was hung over too. Bugger.

At sunset everyone went up to the canyon and it was, again, amazing. The pictures don’t do it justice. The shuttle bus there and back was super packed, apparently everyone at the camp site wanted to see the sunset tonight.

Came back and hung out in the cafeteria with everyone but we were all falling asleep so we headed back to the cabins to pack and get ready to head to VEGAS tomorrow!!

Day 5 - Pheonix to Grand Canyon

Because we went hot air ballooning this morning, we had to get up at 4am. Yes, FOUR IN THE MORNING. Ugh. We packed our stuff, Lauren is still sick, and then got into vans taking us there by 4.45. The sun started rising just after 5 and by the time we got to the place where the balloons were taking off from, it was sunny and stinking hot already. The balloons were HUGE, about 10 storeys I think the guide said and because they have to use fire to make the balloon rise, it seemed even hotter. Once the balloon was inflated, our balloon man made three people get into the basket so that he could stand everything up without it flying off. But he misjudged something and the basket (with the three people still in it) went flying onto its side, so they were all lying on top of each other. It was super unsettling to watch, to be honest.

However the ride was easy, a little scary, but nice. It’s a weird feeling just floating in the air. We got an amazing view of Phoenix and passed over a shooting range where we could hear the shots even from where we were.

The ride was about an hour or so and when we were back on the ground we got given a champagne breakfast. Obviously he thought we were all over 21. Rookie.

After that we headed to the general store for some water and waited for the coach to pick us up and take us to Sedona. Once we got there it was hot, but more like an Adelaide summer – so, hot but with a nice warm breeze. It’s a small desert town but it’s actually really beautiful, and apparently lots of celebs think so too. We got lunch then headed off on a Jeep tour through the mountains and cowboy area. I thought the ride would be so fun and really fast, but our guide was a girl and while the other jeeps seemed to be doing fun stuff and going fast, our lady went fast for like 10 seconds and for the rest of the drive she was super slow. Not happy! We had a group pic with the whole tour at an old cowboy house and then headed back to the coach.

We then had a fair drive to the Grand Canyon so Andy decided to make us do a quiz. He played different songs and we had to say which shows they were the theme song of. Since he only seemed to have 80s songs (with a few exceptions) in the quiz, Lauren and I did pretty bad. We DID, however, know the hills and the full house soundtracks, score!

We stopped on the way to our accommodation to take a look at the canyon and it is HUUUUUUGE. I seriously thought the Grand Canyon was two cliffs with a hole in the middle but boy, was I wrong. It’s quite a sight and helicoptering over it tomorrow will be really amazing.

We’re staying in little cabins that join onto the cabin next door at the canyon, and our accommodation is epic because we are literally staying right on the rim. There’s nothing else around though, so we have to make our own fun.

After dinner we had a room party where we all went to one room and had some drinks with everyone. Lauren still wasn’t feeling well, so I went over with some of the other girls. Everything was going fine until about 11pm when two security guards showed up. A couple of us youngies weren’t drinking by then but he was still coming around asking for I.Ds, so when he stepped outside for a moment, we ran into the toilet and jumped out the window (which is about the size of a regular toilet window and really high up). It was pretty funny but we got away fine, one girl decided not to jump, however, and got fined by the copper. Poor thing. But Mum, please don’t get mad or worried by this story! It’s funny and something I’ll always remember from this Contiki. In fact Andy even thanked us for jumping out the window because he could have been in heeeeeeeeeeeeeaps of trouble. So really, we were doing the right thing J

Day 4 – San Diego to Phoenix

Had an early start of 6.30am today so that we could quickly get some brekky then pack our bags and get onto the coach by 7.45. We were all pretty much on time, but I think a few of the overages were a bit hung over. Unlucky. But we felt great!

The coach ride was pretty boring, Lauren was feeling sick so she slept most of the way. We did drive along the Mexican border, however, which was interesting. One guy on the tour apparently tipped a bartender $20 last night, so basically he got super strong drinks of almost just vodka. He ended up spewing in the bus restroom and tried to bring his bag of vom up the front of the coach to the bin. DISGUSTING. The smell was so gross and he had to take it back and leave it in the restroom until we made a stop.

On the way Andy made us switch seats and meet someone new, then we had to come up to the front of the bus and use the mic to introduce the person and tell a story about ourselves. No one really wanted to do it at first, but it was actually quite fun.

Once we got into Arizona we stopped at Walmart. Amazing. It was super super hot though, like 45 degrees. Walmart was epic. The only way I can describe it is Woolies, K-Mart and Big W combined. Anything you need, it’s at Walmart. Including guns. Alcohol was super cheap there too, a 1.5 litre bottle of Smirnoff Vodka is $19.

The drive went for ages and Lauren was asleep for most of it. Once we got into Phoenix though we got to the hotel, cranked the air con then went to chill in the pool. There was a bar outside and we had a free drink voucher with our room card, so a couple of us got some (non-alcoholic) drinks. I thought the pool would be so refreshing and cool compared to the outside weather, but it was like a bath in there. Yuck. Lauren still didn’t feel well, so she went back to the room and I sat with a few others outside.

At around 5.45pm we headed off to the Arizona vs. LA baseball game. It was pretty good, but we didn’t really understand what was going on and it went for sooooooo long. For dinner we bought typical deep fried American food and just to get into the spirit, we also bought baseball caps. I’m not sure who won the game but AFL is definatley better.

Day 3 – San Diego

Got a little bit of a sleep in today and woke up at 7am. Included with the tour we got a breakfast at the hotel, a little Spanish lady gave us pancakes, hash brown and eggs, then we also had bagels and juice. The bus left at around 9am and was taking most people either to the San Diego Zoo or SeaWorld. Half got off at the zoo and some just chose to roam around San Diego itself. Us and a few others went to SeaWorld.

San Diego SeaWorld is a lot like Sea World on the Gold Coast, but better. We watched a killer whale show that was amazing. The trainers were all super into what they were doing which was amusing and entertaining. The whales literally got on a platform out of the water and spun around. Epic.

There were also some rides which were waaay better than the ones at Sea World in Aus. Me, our new friend Wendy and Lauren went on one which is like the Wild West ride at Movie World. We thought we wouldn’t be scared. But boy, were we scared. So fun. We also went on a ride where 6 people sit in a tube and go down the rapids, we got soaked but it was a super short ride – and since we had waited an hour in line to ride it, it was a little disappointing. The last ride we went on was a simulation helicopter, where it goes around the arctic and underground and stuff. It was cool but the most entertaining thing about the whole ride was the American kids that sat behind us and were like ‘WOAH MOM I’M SO SCARED THIS IS SOOOO SCARY!’ It really was tame compared to our stuff at home. Oh! And almost forgot, Priya, I saw a girl who looked EXACTLY like you at SeaWorld today. Obviously your twin.

We spent about 5 or so hours there and then got back on the coach which then took us to Mission beach. It’s a beautiful little beach in San Diego with tourist shops and an amusement park on the foreshore. For all those playing at home, it really reminded me of Glenelg – only better.

After that we came home and had about 40 mins to get ready for dinner. We went to a nice little place at Pacific beach, which Andy (our tour guide) suggested. Dinner wasn’t too expensive (including tips) and after that us underages and one of the couples headed home while the others headed out. Our cab driver was really cool and let 5 of us get into a 4 seater, but one person had to duck down because police were around. Any guess who got to be that person! Me. Unlucky.

Day 2 - LA to San Diego

Had a really rough sleep last night. Lauren and I both woke up thinking it was at least 5 o’clock (we had to get up at 6) but when we checked the time it was 1am. Devo. We then spent around 5 hours tossing and turning because the room was so goddamn hot. Just FYI there’s no air conditioning in Kyoto Hotel in LA, so in summer it’s pretty much like a bake house. Anyways, we eventually got about an hours sleep then had to wake up to leave at 7am. By the time we were ready we had about 15 mins to spare so we ran down to the shops to get something for breakfast, but turns out Americans like to sleep in and the supermarket didn’t open till 10. Again, devo. So we trooped back to the hotel and had to check-in, still hungry. Luckily an older couple on the Contiki adopted us and gave us some food. We must look hopeless. Then we had a couple hour bus trip to San Diego!!

We had a tour of the city, which is really beautiful – it’s like a rich beachside village. So nice. Downtown there are a few funky bars and clubs, apparently. Not that we’d know because of stupid America and its stupid drinking age.

The bus then dropped us off to a harbour cruise, which was cool. We went under one of the longest bridges EVER. I think it’s around 3-3.5kms – apparently it cost 50 mill to build. Ouch. After that we went to a big shopping plaza, which is like 5 levels all outdoors. It’s kind of a maze of stairs and escalators, so getting lost is pretty easy. We bought cheapy phones and then spent aaaages trying to find a hair dryer and hair straightener (essentials, obv). Finally found some and ended up running for the bus because the lady couldn’t work out the cash register. Yay. After that we headed into more the Mexican side of town, which was sweet, and bought a few trinkets. Then we headed back to the hotel and got changed for dinner – which was at a mexican restaurant, we had chicken fajitas. It was awesome and really authentic. They hand make the bread and you put together your own fajita, with chicken, avocado and capsicum. A couple of men seranaded our group as well, but because they were working for tips when they came up to us it was a bit awkward – because we’re travellors and tipping is a bitch. WHICH p.s we never know when to do, because it seems everyone expects tips but we can’t just give away our money all the time. Taxes suck here too. Something will be priced at $20 but really its like $22.00. Not good if you only have the exact money.

Anyway, after dinner all the over 21s went out to some club, and the 5 of us who are underages went back to the hotel and had a few drinks by the pool – until the security guard came up to us and told us we aren’t allowed alcohol OR glass near the water. Lucky he didn’t check our I.Ds. So we chilled on the balcony for a bit, then got told off by the security grinch again so we went to our rooms. Pretty boring. But everyone will be hungover tomorrow and we won’t be. Plus?

Off to SeaWorld and the Pacific beach tomorrow. Oh! We drove through Orange County today, AND my tour manager (which is a dude) likes all seasons of the Hills. Ashleigh Stewart, you should defs be here too!

Day 1 - Goodbye Australia!

Got up at 6.30am today. So early! But was too nervous to sleep because of the trip ahead. Probably the saddest moment of the morning was saying goodbye to Nicki. Gonna miss that girl.

Check-in at the airport took FOREVER. The woman at the counter couldn’t work out why my visa wasn’t registering...and it wasn’t until she flipped over my passport that she realised the visa was actually in there – like they’re supposed to be. But we got through eventually. It was a little sad saying goodbye to everyone (kudos to Ella and Ash who made the trek out), but I know it’s not forever and I’ll be seeing them soon enough. The flight to New Zealand (our stopover) was on time, surprisingly, and the connection to Los Angeles was on time too.

To NZ Lauren and I had seats accross the isle from eachother and I sat next to a lovely elderly lady who seemed very interested in our trip. She told me all about her grandaughter who’s in the UK. So cute. My ears aaaaaached at the end of the flight and wouldn’t pop. Agony.  We were both super dehydrated aswell, so we basically bought food and water in the terminal then went to sleep on some couches.

The flight to LA was tiring. We were in the middle row of four seats and were excited cause the seat next to Lauren was empty so we thoguht we could spread out – until we realised it was only empty because the woman on the next seat over was so big that she needed two seats. Awkward. We slept most of the flight anyways.

We got into LA at about 2.30ish and the pilot said it was 21 degrees – which we thought was super cold, so jeans and a jumper sounded good. But when we actually got outside we were sweaty and gross because apparantly 21 degrees in America is hot. We caught a shuttle bus to our hotel and couldn’t figure out tipping, so just shoved some money at the guy and he seemed happy.

Our hotel is a nice place, but a dodge area. It’s next to japanese shops but other than that there’s not really anything around. We were hoping for a Walmart. But no. We ended up getting subbers for dinner, but have no breakfast. Sadface.

A few hours ago we had a pre-contiki meeting and got to meet some of the people going on our tour. Literally like 90% are Australians. Crazy how we travelled all this way and it’s basically like travelling around at home. There’s about 50 people!