San Francisco was amazing!! We loved how it had so many different districts and cultures so close to one another. We spent a couple of nights eating the delicacies China Town had to offer, which is the largest China Town outside of Asia!! And loved the Italian laid-back vibe of North Beach - one night we eat in a small Italian café which was pretty much empty, apart from a member of the Ferrari family J

Our hostel was set within Fisherman's Wharf, right on the bay. It was a perfect location and we enjoyed exploring it on the first day, indulging in the local cuisine - clam chowder in a soughdough bread bowl… Unfortunately our room was right under the café and the noise was just unbearable so the next day, we moved to a motel in the Pacific Heights area of San Fran - it was actually cheaper than our hostel so a bargain find by Dave!!

We enjoyed exploring the city - we walked up to the top of Coit Tower and got some amazing views. We cycled around Golden Gate Park… The Alcatraz tour was pretty special also - we went at night, which added an eery feel to the trip, I was shocked how much access to the prison you actually get! The guides told us stories of the convicts and their escape attempts, which was really insightful… We also took a random walk around the city one day - one minute we were in Union Square, the next we found ourselves in a really rough area - we both felt unsafe and had to make a speedy exit! But that's kind of why I love San Fran - so many different areas and vibes within one city.

After a fab 5 days (including some drunken nights, enjoying the San Fran nightlife!) we took the coastal road (Highway 1) to Santa Barbara. The views of all the secluded beaches, cliff faces and the sea was breath-taking… Santa Barbara is a very chilled harbor town - we took advantage and spent Valentines Day (our one day there) chilling on the secluded beach. That night, we went for food at a shack at the end of the pier, selling amazing local seafood - it was delicious… Santa Barbara is too expensive to stay at the weekend so we are just at a random motel in a place called Ventura saving our pennies, before our flight to New Zealand tomorrow. On route, we squeezed in a trip to La Super Rica in Santa Barbara - our 2nd Man vs Food place! The tacos were unbelievable J

After over 2,000 miles on the road in 3 weeks, we have really loved our time in America and were particularly impressed with the variety of areas we have got to visit - everything from cosmopolitan cities to secluded beaches to snowy mountains. It is technically winter over here so a lot of the places we have visited have been really quiet (and cheap!) The one thing we would like to do in the summer is Yosemite National Park - we didn't get to see as much of it as we wanted as the weather was so bad. Enough California dreaming, now time for New Zealand - we are going from being 8 hours behind UK time, to 13 hours ahead!!