LA

Day 28 06/05

Back in California state but this time sun (the burning stinging type too) and heat really does exist in LA compared to SF. Now LA is just an urban jungle (we could see the morning traffic from the air), it took us 90 mins by metro to get to our hotel in west Hollywood from the airport yet on the map they seem pretty close by.
We promptly dumped our bags and headed to the Hollywood tourist traps being the Hollywood Avenue of Stars (its very long and some “stars” look a bit worst for wear), Grauman’s Chinese theatre and an insiders tour of Kodak theatre (where the Oscars are held). The Hollywood sign was not easily accessible unless you have a car though we did hike several blocks to try and get a clear pic of it. In the end the best pic was from a balcony within the Kodak Theatre complex. Note this complex has reinvigorated the area, apparently it was a real dodgy area and you can see why if you wander a block either side away from it.

07/05
Another reason why we chose our hotel location was its proximity to Universal studios which we did today. The studio tour was at times forgettable and some “stunts” were so cheesy but they did keep the opening scene from War of the Worlds which is actually mind boggling (Air Crash Investigations anyone?).
The rides and shows were so and so and here are my take of them:
- The Simpsons ride, basically a virtual motion simulator ride; 3/5
- Terminator 2 3D show, actually a mix of live performance and 3D movie; 4/5
- Shrek 4D, 3D show with some sprinkler effects which they call the 4th dimension; 2/5
- Animals Movie show, good for kids; 3/5
- Water World show, I think they have this in Seaworld too; 3/5
- Jurassic Park ride, log flume ride, lamer than Rainbows End back in Auckland; 2/5
- House of Horrors, pitch black inside with actors in costume out to get you, quite fun; 4/5
- Revenge of the Mummy, inside dark rollercoaster ride, Seaworld has something similar which is better; 2/5

08/05
As LA is so spread out we transferred accommodation to our next locale, Santa Monica. It’s a very nice beachside village with lot of bars and cafés, beachside pier and boardwalk. We hired bikes on a prefect late afternoon and cycled the length all the way into adjoining Venice beach and back.

09/05
On our last day in LA we would visit the Getty Center http://www.getty.edu/ , an art museum located on top of the Santa Monica hills near UCLA and Bel Air. The centre is ultra modern, has its own mono rail to take you up from the carpark at the bottom of the hill to the top and best of all free. The main question was not about art but about how can they afford to run this place and not charge patrons? It’s a popular spot for photos too which we spotted a few prom groups doing (with their private limo and professional photographers in tow!, what recession?)

LA

Grand Canyon

05/05
We had booked a tour to the west rim of the Grand Canyon, this differs from the cheaper south rim tours in that the west side is on an Indian reservation which means you pay an extra $45USD to enter the Hualapai Nation (who consider themselves a separate sovereignty ), the good news though is that you save a few hours traveling time than taking the long way around it to the south, time put to good use by accessing the glass skywalk (itself separate and overpriced but since you are there might as well do it) and enjoying the views longer. In fact too long that we didn’t catch one of the sideshows there being the local ranch. Check out the first canyon shot at Eagle Point! (can you see it…).
Note the tours are not the most efficient time wise and the Hoover Dam “stopover” was a photo op from the “back” of it (note they are building a passover so you will not be able to walk on the dam in the next year or so which I would in hindsight have liked to do).
After the tour we wandered the strip once more before another morning flight to our next destination…the city of angels.

Grand Canyon

Vegas

Day 26 04/05
We had an early flight in Vegas which resulted in a 4am wakeup for what would be an extremely long day. The main strip is very close to the airport but this didn’t stop the taxi driver taking us the long way around to our hotel after discovering it was our first time here; we discovered this later when taking the short way back for the return flight. Anyway slots greet you at the gate of the airport, along the shops and at the baggage claim area too. There is a lot of free stuff you can do as casinos try to tempt punters their way, also accommodation was the best value so far though service was lacking. Given the recession there was still a lot of people, god knows how many more there could be during the boom times but maybe like us they did not gamble much or at all.
Las Vegas Boulevard is too long to walk and we gave in to getting the day pass on “The Deuce” tourist buses, one particular driver was singing like Chef from South Park for entertainment which was a laugh (pic included).
True to Vegas we got back to our hotel early next morning after walking the entire main strip and catching the Fremont St experience as well.
As you can see there is plenty to do without gambling, an unexpected free show was front row seats to a heated political debate between an Obama supporter and a drunk “redneck?” lady while on the bus back to the hotel, I think the country is as politically divided as ever….

Vegas

San Francisco

California, here we come…

Day 21 29/04
After a couple days relaxing, cleaning and repacking I was ready to leave the BC cold behind for what I thought would be some Californian sun starting in San Francisco. An early greyhound into Vancouver for a lookie at Granville Island for Sig’s benefit as he had not been there and we were off on a flight into San Francisco with a transit in Seattle.
Now the weird thing is that you clear US immigration and customs in Vancouver airport! So actually we had just entered the US by crossing the airport terminal before boarding our flight…

An In N Out burger (chain) made for a late dinner in our first night in San Francisco (locals call it SF); staying with our cousins (thanks Jason for sleeping on the couch to make space for us) some which I had not seen for about 17 years abouts.

30/04
Jason, our cousin would chauffeur us to Ocean Beach unfortunately the cold Pacific wind made for winter apparel at the beach! Then it was onwards onto a coastal trail that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge.
On the not to scale map we thought we would investigate by foot Fishermans Wharf (there is a free antique arcade museum there too), Lombard St, Coti tower and Chinatown. With its famous hills this really wasn’t a good idea. After dinner we braved the rain and again cold winds at a nearby outlook called Twin Peaks, already that summer dream was turning into a cold reality.
It was then (probably after I whined too much) we learnt that SF has a rather mild climate, rarely gets very hot or very cold yet you probably going to be wearing/carrying a jacket of sorts just in case.

01/05
Today we decided to walk by foot downtown SF and stumbled across City Hall and UN Plaza before crossing Chinatown on route to a WWII submarine docked back at Fishermans Wharf we saw the day before. Though this time we were better armed with Metro tickets to rest our tired feet.

02/05
What else is SF famous for? Alcratraz of course. The national park service allows only one tour operator to run tours to it and so it gets very busy, it felt almost every tourist in SF was on the island. We got to learn of the history of jails in the US and of that infamous escape from D block. Note that besides the jail block themselves (maintained for tourists) everything else on the island is in serious disrepair due to the harsh elements on the island and hence made way for a large seagull colony.

Afterwards I waited the 40mins to ride the infamous cable car back into town, every other mode of transport is faster due to the long queue caused by tourists like me but I got to hang off the side at the very front to enjoy the oncoming traffic, steep gradients and great views.

03/05
This was a catch up with relatives day and so it consisted of eating, shopping at Costco which is a large bulk discounter (note all big box retailers are banned in SF county and so we had to cross into another county), crossing the Golden Gate bridge for a view from the other side and yet more eating that night.

SF

Canadian Rockies Road Trip! - Week 3 Part B

24/04
More deer across our hotel would start our journey the next morning onto the Icefields Parkway (apparently 1 of the top 10 scenic drives in the world). We drove with the scenic Canadian Rockies on our left along with numerous glaciers (most in full retreat due to global warming) and frozen lakes all the way into Jasper. Midway we would tour the number one attraction in the region, the Columbia Icefield.
This would involve transfer to a large explorer bus with dumpster truck like tires to descend onto the Athabasca Glacier, itself fed from the Columbia Icefield that filled the near horizon.

25/04
As it was shoulder season with ski fields closed and summer not yet arrived for the mountain biking to take off, Jasper was pretty quiet. So quiet that the previous night after arriving we drove the locale in search of wildlife with no luck; therefore today we decided to take a long drive back into BC (British Columbia) to rest overnight in Vancouver. Not before a large herd of elk crossing a minor highway just out of town brought traffic to a standstill, the locals would just swerve around while the tourists would stop and take pictures…

26/04
Our last day started with a quick stroll through Stanley Park gardens and Lynn Canyon suspension bridge before hitting the road home. One more postcard moment at Shannon Falls near Squamish and the road trip was over…thanks to all for what is a lifetime experience. Oh and we did catch a glimpse of our number one animal on our wildlife list, a bear sunning itself in the late afternoon sun alongside the highway, just minutes away from Whistler…where we had started.

Rockies B

Canadian Rockies Road Trip! - Week 3 Part A

This had been in the pipeline for awhile and we got to join Sigs friends Jason and Natalie (a young couple from NZ) in their white Chevy 20 beast of a van. We had a rough idea of what we were going to do but still would play by ear each day. We would eventually do a figure 8 loop of Whistler – Revelstoke – Banff (2 nights) – Jasper – Vancouver – Whistler.

21/04

We had a spoiler to our energetic early start by driving down a remote road to D’Arcy, a cluster of houses next to a beautiful lake with no other exit, doh. The view priceless, the cost 25 minutes each way. Our first postcard moment was Kamloops Lake before a lunch stop in Kamloops and then continuing past The Last Spike into sleepy railway town Revelstoke for a stay at the local Samesun Hostel. We would consume our first of many cheap A&W Mama burgers (on special at CAD $1.50 each) to sustain our energy levels that night.

22/04

Unfortunately the only decent attraction which was the local Revelstoke railway museum was closed that next morning so we continued to Golden for another Mama burger and a look at the recently closed local skifield where it started dumping snow at a warm -2 celsius! Finally crossing the Canadian Rockies (and a small diversion to see a wolf sanctuary) to arrive into Banff, Alberta that early evening in time to see deer merrily walking around the back of our hotel eating the local greens. A relaxing sit down in the Banff Hot Springs would top off what was a long day.

23/04

Unbelievably we woke up to Banff covered in snow! Free coffee in McDonalds was required before hitting the local Fairmont chateau hotel (luxury hotel chain) in search for a snap with a knight in amour. Then onto the Banff Gondola for scenic regional views before a scenic drive down the 1A Bow Valley parkway towards Lake Louise in search of wildlife. Only a few hundred metres in we saw a mountain goat licking overnight minerals in the middle of the road in what would become a common sight in the days ahead. Unfortunately there was no further wildlife to comment but we did go and see the Johnston Canyon Falls, this required walking on a slippery icy walkway alongside the canyon and so we were gripping onto those side rails pretty tight. Later got snaps of a frigid still ice covered Lake Louise before going back to Banff where funnily elk were observed just minutes away from our hotel, all that driving and the wildlife was closer to “home”.

Rockies A