Viva Las Vegas, aka Viva lost wages! A long strip of bright flashing lights situated in the middle of nowhere in Nevada, yet attracts people of all ages and nationalities from around the world. People who bring their paycheques and, more often than not, leave in debt. Landing in the Nevada town, we must have looked like a bunch of kids who have just visited a candy store for the first time in their lives, we were that excited, especially because it was all of our first time in Vegas as legal 21 year olds. Deciding to stay at the more budget option of the Flamingo Hotel & Casino to save our coin for other higher priorities during our stay here, we were rather impressed with the quality of the room and lagoon-styled pool area, not to mention it's central location on the strip. Although the hotel resembled a retirement home with the midweek crowd of elderly people, it had everything we needed to enjoy a fun few days in Vegas.

With most pool parties finished up during this time of year/middle of the week, the days were fairly laid back and just saving it for another chaotic night. A spot of gambling testing out the tables at a variety of glitzy casinos along the strip, with a buffet, or McDonalds and Panda Express diet for our daily lunches and dinners was the extent of our daylight hours. However, it was very fun and exciting walking up the strip as the sun started to lower, the lights lit up and the odd characters came out. With music and bright lights filling the infamous strip, you would come across the likes of Alan-lookalikes from 'the Hangover', Chewbucca, Marilyn Monroe, Willy Wonka, Michael Jackson, Jack Sparrow and even a guy asking for $20 in exchange for you being allowed to boot him in the mid region. People will literally do anything for a buck in Vegas. Whilst it was a little kooky and felt like we were in an adults version of Disneyland, it was very humorous and an excellent way to get our moods up to have a fun-filled evening of partying.

The night scene in Vegas was rather wild which was to be expected, with many similarities to the likes of Ibiza. You'll find a high profile DJ playing in one of the flashy nightclubs up the strip on any given night with steep cover charges and drink prices. At $20 for a vodka redbull and $10 for a bottle of Bud Light, it was our hotel room where most of the pre game happened before heading out to these clubs. 3 nights, 3 different clubs. The first night we went to Disclosure @ Light Nightclub, who had long been at the top of our list to see since the start of the trip. Perhaps our expectations were too high as we were a little disappointed in their set but the lead up artists and the extent of backdrop dancers, lights, confetti etc really compensated for it and made for a good night. The following night, the boys decided to go watch a Beatles cirque de soleil performance and take it easy, whereas Britt & I opted to save the coin for another nightclub, and joined by Righton after the show, we set off for the much-recommended and much-hyped Hakasaan nightclub to watch the female duo DJs, Nervo. The new 5-tiered mega club inside MGM Grand, which holds a capacity of 7000, was everything people had talked it up to be and the DJs, who I knew little of previously, were quite the surprise package. The final night saw us all head out for one last time, and our final night with Britt before she headed to New Orleans. Jack followed up on a few connections he had and we found ourselves receiving free entry to the world renown Marquee nightclub at The Cosmopolitan. A night which saw Louis and Jack D&M most the night whilst sucking back cigarettes like they were going out of fashion, whilst the rest of us soaked in the sights of the cool nightclub which closely resembled the lay out of Ivy Pool in Sydney. We spent the night listening to the great tunes produced by Dash Berlin who played an absolute marathon set which saw us eventually slipping into bed as the sun was rising on what was our final night in this crazy town.

It wouldn't quite be Vegas if there wasn't time for a touch of gambling would it? Most of our gambling occurred at the roulette or blackjack tables between the hours of 4am-7am. Joe had the most notable fluctuation one night as he found himself swimming in chips after getting up $3K on the roulette table before getting a tad too greedy and finding himself in the red again by the time he got to bed. I managed to successfully take on Vegas and come away in the positives with a solid blackjack performance one night where I just couldn't lose a hand in blackjack, with multiple 'chicken dinners' dealt up to me in the process ... which made up for the debts incurred on the previous nights. The other boys didn't fair too well with just gradual losses each night, but hey, it's Vegas, you hardly come expecting to walk away with much cash left.

Whilst only a relatively short stay, we had all agreed upon checking out that three nights in Vegas was probably the perfect amount. Much like Ibiza, it's a crazy place which really drains your energy and more often than not, your cash. However, after being severely sleep deprived due to not getting into bed before 6am on any night, I was surprisingly feeling quite upbeat still after leaving Vegas, which can't be said about many others departing the airport that morning judging by their facial expressions. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Vegas and walking away up in the gambling steaks has been a pleasant, and much needed, surprise which has left me with fond memories and a strong urge to return one day, especially as I did not get to experience the notorious pool parties this time around. As for now, it's a major change of pace as we're on to the much more relaxed lifestyle of San Diego to spend a week staying with several American guys and girls we met during their exchange semesters in Australia, can't wait!