Today we managed to get up and out of the hostel before they threw everyone out at 11am and we headed down to the beach for the day. This is the first proper beach town we've been to and the beach doesn't disappoint, miles and miles of sand with all sorts of things going on, including a lot of beach volleyball...surely it's too hot for anything that strenuous?

The day started off cloudy but the sun burnt it away by lunchtime and it got hotter as the day went on. We had to have our first dip in the ocean and spent a while trying to jump and dodge the waves until Laura was knocked over by a massive one and surfaced on the beach after doing some underwater acrobatics - our cue to get out while we still could! Lots of families were down on the beach enjoying the sunshine and it was a great spot for some people watching.

Back at the hostel, we realised we'd both got pretty badly sunburnt for the first time on this trip. We've been really good at getting the suncream on, or so we thought - I had a red stripe across my belly and laura had red patches all over her back and legs, as well as the outline of my hand where I'd missed bits - ow!

We cooked in the hostel (pasta and sauce, of course, but with some spicy Italian sausage thrown in for a bit of flavour!) before heading out for a night on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, one of the few surviving beachfront amusement parks in America. It was just like the ones you've seen in the films and it's been used in a few of them, including Lost Boys. The best thing was that when we got there we found out that all of the rides only cost $1 each on Mondays and Tuesdays, compared to the normal $3-5 - bargain of the week! We didn't fancy seeing our pasta and sausage surprise again, so we started off on the cable cars that took us to the other end of the Boardwalk, with fantastic views of the sun setting over the ocean. We had a go on the log flume and got soaked and went on a plane type ride where you had to climb in horizontally - bit of an effort but it was worth it!

The highlight was the Giant Dipper, which has been there since 1924 and, if you're bothered, it's the sixth oldest rollercoaster in the USA (The information board was a decent read while queueing!) The last ride of the night for me was the Double Shot, which fires you 125 feet into the air and then drops you straight down again - just like the one at Flamingo Land, only much higher! Laura sat this one out! We finished off with ice-cream and popcorn - a whole night out for $20, and a lot of fun for us big kids!