Our flight over to America was the longest one yet (12 hours) and so when we arrived we were slightly confused! This was because when we had left New Zealand it had been 7.30pm on the 6th of march and upon arriving in America we found it to be 10.30am on the 6th of march!! And so began the longest day of our lives..!! First stop though, was Budget Car Rental, where we had reserved a 'compact' ford focus. However, as we soon found out, everything in America is big and our car was no different! It was bigger than most UK cars!! To make it even more fun for debs to drive it was left hand drive and an automatic!! After a crash-course in driving an automatic (from a nearby valet!) we hesitantly made our way out of the garage and onto highway 101! Luckily it was midday and the traffic was 'quieter' than normal (difficult to believe!) and we made it to our hostel in the centre of San Franciso without any hitches. After checking in we went off to explore Union Square (the centre) and the shops (Bloomingdales and Macy's!), as well as having a quick look around the civic centre and tenderloin.

For our second day in 'Frisco' we decided to go on another self-guided walking tour of the city. After taking in the Financial District and Chinatown (and Columbus Tower: the offices of Francis Ford Coppola's production company) we carried on, via a couple of shopping centres, to the Embarcadero (the bay!). Here we had a quick look around pier 39 (a tacky tourist village!) and Fisherman's Wharf before heading off into the residential area of the city, taking in such sites as North Beach and Russian Hill (home to the Lombard Street Switchback: the worlds crookedest street!). To finish off the day we went for a coffee in Caffe Trieste, where we sat in the very seat that Francis Ford Coppola drafted the screenplay for The Godfather.

The third day of our stay in Frisco was designated 'tourist day' and to begin with we took a tram ride across the city to the Embarcadero where we boarded a boat for a trip over the bay to Alcatraz Island! A walking tour took us up to the prison where we then took an audio tour of the one-time federal penitentiary, visiting such sites as Al Capone's cell and the recreation yard. After enjoying spectacular views of the city and the bay bridge we went back over to the mainland, where, a short walk later, we were equipped with bikes and set off on a bike ride to the Golden Gate Bridge! Although it didn't look far by the eye, it was a lot further on a bike, and after stopping off at Fort Mason for awesome views of the bridge, it was up the hill and onto the bridge! The west side of the bridge was open to cyclists and so we enjoyed amazing views of the pacific ocean whilst cycling across. Having reached the other side we turned around and cycled back!!

Our last full day in Frisco began late! Having had a very long lie-in and having also lost an hour (the clocks went forward) we got up at midday and set about replacing my wardrobe!! Clothes in America are pretty much half the price they are at home and so the day was spent shopping in earnist!! Several hours later we collapsed in Starbucks (which is also conveniently half the price of home too!!) and 'people-watched' for a couple of hours. Then it was back to the hostel for a group roast dinner (a guy in the hostel from liverpool cooks really good meals every night for just $5!), followed by a movie, and then bed!