Hey everyone, we made it to america.

I forgot to say that in the cook islands we also went to a church service. It was a special one for the rarotongan youth groups. Didn't understand much of what was going on but the singing was very nice.

Got a bit of sleep on the way back to auckland, but not nearly enough. Slept a bit in the morning at the airport, but not enough, the time passed really quickly actually. On the flight i watched a rom/com called 27 dresses about a serial bridesmaid, then fell asleep watching enchanted. Then when i turned off my tv i couldn't sleep coz this kiwi lady was talking really loudly to the guy sat behind me so i couldn't sleep. Dropped off eventually. When they woke us for breakfast i watched 'the black balloon' an australian film about a boy whose brother is autistic, really good but i didn't get to see the end.

We got a shuttle bus to the car hire place and picked up our car. We got a free upgrade to a slightly bigger car, which will be useful when the 2 scottish guys arrive (who we met in new zealand). She is a very nice car with lots of modern gadgets. eg she beeps if you turn on the engine and you haven't got your seatbelt on. We have called her sylvia.

Managed to get to our hostel without 2 much trouble, we had to buy a map from a petrol station. We stayed a 2 minute walk away from hollywood beaulavard, which is pretty cool, will probs stay there again when we go back. Didn't do much when we arrived, jo went on the net to book the hostel for san fran and then we had long naps. Had a really nice dinner, pizza, garlic bread and iced tea all for less than $10 each.

This morning we had breakfast at the international house of pancakes. I'm going to be the size of a hot air balloon when i get home, these people eat so much. We eventually got on the freeway at 12pm and got to our hostel about 7pm. San francisco is a nightmare for driving and parking. There are massive hills everywhere and lots of roads are one way only. We got here in the end and we have an en suite dorm with an amazing shower, free internet, free washing powder for the laundry, so can't complain.

My only real complaint is that i am ill too, but i am sure it won't be for very long.

I miss you all so much, only 6 weeks to go. lots of love to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxx