Tony Bennet left his heart in San Francisco and we found it! Love this city!

Day 6 - We left Monterey Bay and drove another 70 odd miles to San Francisco! We absolutely LOVE this city! Arriving and being able to drive through the city was just so amazing, everything about it is just beautiful! The mountains, the bay, the busy city life, just incredible! I can say though, it was absolutely freezing outside and pouring with rain but that didn't stop these two little travellers from seeing the city! We only have 3 days here and there is plenty to do!

We checked into our hotel the Holiday Inn on Fisherman's wharf (about 5 blocks away from the famous Pier 39) and got walking through the city!

We walked through Union Square which is a little square park surrounded by the most expensive shops Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany's, Banana Republic, Swarovski, Prada, Armani and the list goes on! We continued walking up the extremely steep roads to the famous China Town! Even in the freezing cold the street was just buzzing! One great thing about rain in SFO is it just drizzles, it doesn't pour like it does at home! We stopped into a little Chinese store and spent $8 on two umbrellas - well spent I reckon!

We went for lunch at this old baseball legend pub called "Lefty O’Doul’s" - the only reason we had lunch there was because Tim liked the name. After lunch we got onto a double Decker bus for a tour of this beautiful city and off we went! Half way through the tour (it's a hop on, hop off sort of bus) we got off at Fisherman's Wharf and my-oh-my we LOVED Fisherman's Wharf! We walked along the Pier, ate fresh made "mini" doughnuts, and looked at the shops on the Pier! 

You can't visit Fisherman's Wharf without stopping into the Pier Fresh Fish market and restaurant for a bowl of their world famous clam chowder! Oh my goodness - this was the best soup we have EVER had! They serve it to you in a sourdough roll and it's just to die for! No wonder it's been rated the BEST clam chowder on Fishermans Wharf! Here Here! Our table held beautiful views of the city, the bay, and of course the Golden Gate Bridge! Just beautiful!

After lunch we walked down to the lower deck of the Pier, and there were about 100 + sea lions basking in the "sun" we stood there for ages (along with every other tourist in SFO) just watching these fascinating creatures! They are hilarious; they fight each other, and lay on top of each other and growl! So cute!

We decided to walk the 8 blocks back to our hotel to try and burn off all of the food we had eaten today and stopped off at a fresh fruit market situated on the end of the Pier (for breaky in the morning of course!)

I can't wait to tell you more about this beautiful city as our amazing adventure continues to unfold! Til next time! xx

All American Road Trip

Day 5 - we said goodbye to Greg, Erin, Charlotte, little Banchie and Jasmine and got into our James Bond mobile making our way on the next leg of our journey - San Francisco!

I tell you what, driving across America, on the right hand side (steering wheel on the left) using a GPS, and nothing ahead of you but hundreds of miles of.... road.... is a real marriage test! A test I am happy to say we passed... just!

Both Tim and I were just amazed at the beauty of this nation, driving through the yellow plains and the mountains!

I bet you are all wondering... well where is the test in that.... let me tell you! We filled up the car with a full tank of gas before we left LA; Tim was under the impression that this would be enough gas to get us from LA to Carmel (our intended stop over for the night). When veering off the main highway onto Carmel Valley Drive, little did we realise that this road was not a highway but in fact a very narrow, very whindy road through the mountains... so when Tim saw the sign "Gas in 28 miles (approx 40ish km's) he thought - "great, straight road, under a quarter of a tank - we should be sweet".... now here comes the test... about 4 miles up the road I hear this gentle but obvious "bling bling bling" and not the Tiffany's kind of bling.. like the "red light you need gas kind of bling" at that moment, the radio is cutting in and out, mobile phone signal is gone... it's kind of like the start of a Texas Chainsaw massacre horror film beginning, and I am packing it. Luckily Tim is a cool, calm and collective sort of guy so he was quite content that we would make it. I on the other hand was furious and nervous all at the same time! You can imagine the comments exchanged! I can tell you, the remaining 22 miles were very tense.

Happily enough, we made it to the very first gas station in Carmel Valley and filled up!

That night, we decided to move closer to the coast instead of staying in the mountains and pulled up at a lovely little Inn in the ouskirts of Monterey Bay California! We were really happy to have a break from the 6 and a half hour trip and 350 + miles travelled! The Comfort in had free wifi and a spa, what a way to relax before doing the second lot of driving to San Francisco!

Who's who in the San Diego Zoo!

Day 4 - We hired a car and... The manager messed up our booking, so they upgraded us to a full size Dodge Charger HELLO! It looks like a James Bond car YEEOOOWWW!

We hired a GPS with the car, we named her Shazza and she is our new best friend! Tim's introduction to the roads of America was on a 6 LANE HIGHWAY in the city of Los Angeles! Talk about back seat driving, he kept veering off into the other lane! I kept saying "Tim, you’re veering, Tim look out, and Tim don't look at the coast line just keep your eyes on the road!"
Lucky enough we completed the 2 hour journey and arrived safely in San Diego! 

About 4 months ago a friend of ours moved to El Cajon (pronounced El Ca"h"on - learnt that the hard way - can anyone say WHITE GIRL!) for 12 months to get his pilot’s license. So we picked him up, grabbed a spot of lunch and drove to the San Diego zoo! As this weekend was the American Memorial day long weekend, the drive to the zoo was crazy busy and finding a car park was a nightmare! We parked illegally and decided to use our "We're Australian tourists" get out of jail free card - lucky we didn't need it!

The zoo was fantastic and was everything we wanted it to be! Tim, Matt and I cracked up laughing when they drove us through the "Outback" section of the zoo... the look of shock on the face of American children when Tim said very loudly "Kangaroo's? Ehh... they're a pest and we eat them" HAHAHA!

Thanks for the day trip Matty boy!!!!

So little time and so much to do!

Day 3 - Tim and I really wanted to be tourists and just let our sense of adventure lead us through the city!
We walked from the Venice Beach Pier to the Santa Monica Pier which took about 45 mins! On this walk we managed to see so many.... different.... and unusual things! LA is a place where you can pretty much be anyone you want to be! And boy, do these people make the most of it! It kind of felt like walking through an Asian country market place - picture the hustle and bustle of people trying to sell you things but right on the beach front! We managed to see so many different and interesting people, selling anything from tattoos, to dried sage, feathers, shoes, marijuana - you name it!

Tim and I probably didn't speak for about 45 mins as we were just amazed by what we saw! After a huge walk we stopped in for a quick bite at a Santa Monica pizzeria, and then made our way to the metro bus stop where we rode the metro back into Hollywood!

Of course, you can't visit LA and not see the famous wax museum! And as a 3 for 1 special, we managed to see the wax museum; Ripley's Believe it or not museum and the Guinness book of World Records museum! One hilarious highlight was in the Guinness Book of world records museum - the man that holds the record for swallowing 14 swords was Martin Henshaw of California - and you will never believe where he broke that record....... FREMANTLE WESTERN AUSTRALIA!!! It's a small world after all!


TO finish off a splendid day, we caught a taxi right in front of the Kodak Theatre - let's just say after a very anxious trip, and a very scary conversation with an Albanian taxi driver, we made it home safely... just!

The entertainment capital of the world!

Day 2 - we went to Universal studios in Los Angeles and it was an incredible experience! So amazing to think that we were at the workplace of so many American celebrities where so many amazing movies have been produced by Universal pictures! 

For movie buffs like Tim and I (mainly Tim!) this was like a dream come true!

We managed to see everything that Universal had to offer, first of all, going on a tour of the lower lots where we go to see the sets from some great movies including: King Kong (in 3D of course!), Psycho, The Grinch, War of the Worlds, Fast and Furious, Back to the Future and Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives and so many more! It was absolutely fantastic!

For those of you that know me well know I absolutely HATE rides! Tim managed to pull me on a few ( I didn't go willingly) including the virtual Simpson's roller coaster (thank goodness it's not a real one or else he would have gone alone!) and also a Jurassic Park ride, which Tim failed to advise that it got us soaking wet and had a MASSIVE drop at the end... I heard this really deep groan kind of resembling half man, half beast while heading down this huge drop, only to realise it was me! Rides and I do not play nice!

Tim and I paid to have a caricature drawn up of us, Tim reckons that his caricature is better looking than he is and for some reason I look Mexican! I guess this little chameleon is really adapting to her surroundings!

That night, Greg  cooked up this amazing feast and we enjoyed the company of my wonderful family and their friends!

Finally arrived!

After a sleep over in Sydney, and grueling 14 hour flight from Sydney International to LAX airport, we have finally arrived!


Lucky me, I managed 6 hrs of sleep, while my not so sleepy travel buddy Tim got 1 hour of sleep!


The time difference (15 hours behind Perth time) hasn't really been an issue which has been great! We usually feel a little bit tired in the afternoon (around the 2am Perth time mark) but none the less loving it!


So day one - we were straight in! My lovely cousin Greg (an LA guru) picked us up from the airport and drove us to this giant doughnut place where Tim had a ball showing off his Australian accent to all of the oggling American's - dropping a few more "G'days" and "mate's" than usual! I never knew he was such an okka! HAHA!


The first day we managed to see all of LA including the famous Hollywood sign, the Observatory, the Sunset strip, Sunset Boulevard, Beverley Hills, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood, West Hollywood and of course the Santa Monica Pier which is amazing! This place is just buzzing and so alive! Tim and I managed to ask about a million tourist questions, and Greg was so patient in asswering EVERY single one!


Tim had a bit of a rude awakening with the portion sizes of American food. Our first resturant experience was just next door to the Kodak Theatre (Where the Oscar awards are held!!) Tim ordered a main size "baby back ribs" instead of an entree size.. little did he realise, baby back ribs were more like mama back ribs!!! Let's just say he didn't have dinner that night!


Photo's to come soon!

Getting set up!

Well here is the first post of many! With only 6 days to go until we jet set to the big USofA there is a lot to be done!

This time next week......