We flew into LA on 12th Sept, couldn't quite believe that it takes almost as long to fly from the East to West coast of America as it does to New York all the way from England. This was our first Qantas flight and we were impressed. Lots of middle aged male flight attendants though which seems odd! The flight came in at a reasonable time, but we waited over an hour for the shuttle bus to our first hostel to pick us up. A couple of phone calls and a conversation with a random driver (who'd noticed how long we'd been waiting!) later, we were finally at the Adventurer Hostel...this was confusing in itself as the place seems to go by several names. The relief at arriving was short lived, as it turned out they had messed up our booking and had only one bed reserved. By now it was gone midnight so we were a little worried! Luckily the two guys behind the counter were very friendly and they gave us a private room for the same cost! Result!

The next day we picked up our free muffins and coffee and walked to the bus stop. Our hostel, although convenient for the airport, was far far away from everything else. LA is SO spread out it's ridiculous. We eventually made it to Hollywood Boulevard and the walk of fame after the first of many interesting bus journeys involving freaky (and sometimes friendly!) locals who insist on talking to us. We checked out the Chinese Theatre and the Kodak Theatre and all the handprints, and walked up and down the walk of fame searching for stars we knew and loved (couldn't find SJP!). The wander down the street took us to American Eagle Outfitters (AKA my new favourite shop). This was bad, as my shopaholic tendencies took over and I accidentally bought 2 tops and a dress (to go with the skirt, tops and leggings I'd already purchased on the east coast!). Ooops.

After we'd exhausted Hollywood we booked ourselves on a tour of the celebrities homes. It was kind of fun, if a little tacky. But did allow us to see the Hollywood sign and some cool views of the city. It really highlighted the difference between the rich and the poor though. We'd been through some pretty poor areas on the bus, so to then end up looking at ridiculously oversized mansions was quite bizarre.

That night we intended on ordering food from the hostel's restaurant...but by the time we'd decided what to have we realised they'd just stopped serving! At 8.30!! We braved the big outside (which was dark and full of freaks and a policeman who told us off for not crossing the road properly - which by the way is impossible, because the roads are so damn big and they only give you about 10 seconds to get to the other side!) and ended up getting Pizza Hut to take back to the room.

The next day we were flying to San Francisco (thankfully, because I'd already decided I hated LA). Unfortunately our flight was really delayed, but we still managed to fit loads into our stay in San Fran. On arrival we negotiated the public transport system to get ourselves to the Golden Gate Bridge (which we could barely see due to the fog!). After a brief stop we headed over to Fort Mason to locate the hostel. It had come with a recommendation so we knew this one would be safe! Our room had 10 people in, a mixture of guys and girls...which is how we met 'Burt', our middle aged Canadian friend whose name we never actually find out! He came for a walk with us around Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 where we stumbled across about a million sea lions. Seriously, you can smell them before you see them, it's disgusting! Pretty cool though, they were so funny, fighting with each other and jostling for space. We went for a lovely meal at a little Italian restaurant (Burt came too) and then headed back to the hostel to get some much needed sleep.

Day 2 in San Fran was busy! We hired bikes (yes, I know, me on a bike!) and cycled all the way from Fisherman's Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge, then over the other side to Sausalito (beautiful) where we caught a ferry back to pier 1 and then hopped back on the bikes to pier 33! We had so much fun, but we had a quite literally wobbly start as neither of us had been on a bike in years. I discovered my steering abilities on Mario Kart translate into real life as I struggled negotiating the corners...

After the bike ride we did a tour of Alcatraz, which involved a ferry ride over and a very entertaining audio tour. It's all done by ex officers and inmates with some amusing sound effects. Definitely recommend doing that if you're ever in SF! I actually started feeling sorry for the prisoners after a while, because it was pretty bleak. It must have been incredibly depressing to be stuck there and able to see the beauty of San Francisco in the distance. After the tour we went over to Chinatown for dinner and then took a walk along the seafront.

The next day we had a few hours to cram in some sights before our flight back to LA. We took the Cable Car up to Lombard Street (the crooked one!) for a few photos, then made our way to the Golden Gate Park. Very pretty in places, but not quite as good as I'd imagined. Central Park is better! We had lunch at the museum in the park and wandered around one of many Botanical Gardens visited on this trip.

Our final day in LA was spent in Venice Beach, which did redeem the place slightly, but I'm still not a fan. The weather was fantastic and it was an awesome walk along the beachfront with loads of cafes and shops, it's just a shame we were still in LA!

So that takes me to the 13 hour flight to New Zealand, which involved us missing a day entirely! But I'll save that for the next blog! xx