Hello,

Well we have arrived safely in the US of A and so far are absolutely loving it. The flight from Nadi, was an experience as America is on high alert at the moment so we were searched about 5 times, including a 100% search. We were then delayed by an hour due to the cabin lights playing up.

We flew with air pacific and weren't very impressed really, not as good as our first flight with BA who we are also flying home with. Anyway, we didnt get much sleep on the plane due to it being quite a bumpy flight, adn arrived in LA at 1.30 in the afternoon. I am chuffed as they let me bring my marmite through security!! From the airport we caught a bus to a bus station, where we caught another bus through Downtown LA. On the bus, we were the only white people and the main language was spanish. So much for us fitting in more. We then caught another bus to the Greyhound Bus station. It was in quite a sketchy area, not very safe at night due to all the hobos and skanks. We even saw a man going to the toilet in a drain on a busy road!

Anyway, we then had to find somewhere that would print out our bus tickets so we had a trek through downtown to a staples type store. We finished up with a Maccas for dinner, which was actually a really nice one which makes a change. After a quick freshen up in the toilets we boarded our overnight bus to San francisco. It is very strange to have changed time by 19hours, we took a plane at 10pm on sat 22nd and a bus at 10pm on sat 22nd.

In San fran, we walked to our hostel, hoping to be able to check in as that is what it said on the website but instead we had to wait 5 hours until 11am to check in - grr! so at 11 we went and crashed for 3 hours before heading out to have a walk around. We walked down to Fishermans Wharf, they have super crazy people all over the place - so much fun. They also have brilliant street artists. On our way back to the hostel, we called in for the obligatory supermarket wander. Everything was supersize and we did the tourist bit of posing for photos with huge pizzas and bottles of ketchup etc. It is obvious why most of the people here are very overweight. We have been having a hard time adjusting to the time difference so at 11pm we are wide awake thinking it is morning.

Today, we started with a walk to Union Square for a look around Macy's. We are contemplating buying thick jumpers as it is so chilly here!! After Macy's, we walked down to Fishermans Wharf to catch the boat over to Alcatraz. We have been walking everywhere which is no mean feat as it is so hilly. inbuilt into some of the hills are steps - that shows how steep! The boat trip over to Alcatraz was beautiful as you got views of the golden gate bridge and the city.

Alcatraz itself was amazing. We did an audio walking tour around and enjoyed it so much it was really informative. It was very creepy as you can go into alot of the cells and some are left in the way they were when used. I also got some amazing photos, although as it was so busy it was quite hard. G really enjoyed hearing about the attempted escape from alcatraz which wasn't succesful but killed some of the guards and some of the prisoners. Back on the mainland, we walked to Lombard Street and up the really windy bit. It was pretty awesome although took some doing to get to the top. The views from the top were well worth it. When we got back to the hostel, it was 6.30. We dont know where the days are going. So basically, so far we are having a ball!!

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