A five hour flight got me into Miami just before midnight local time, Tuesday the 23rd November. When I arrived to my hostel on South Beach I knew that I was in for a huge week. Loud music and people everywhere flooding the patio and a good section of the street.. I could barely get my bags through to reception. I settled in and crashed soon after everyone left on the limo tour that I neglected..

The next day I woke up and went for a walkabout in the Miami heat for a while before I welcomed Mark, who arrived just after lunch. We hit up South Beach and caught up on our travel stories for most of the afternoon. The beach was pretty nice, big enough to hold millions and the water was warm enough though lacking a good wave.

When we got back to the hostel we grabbed a few beers and made ourselves comfortable out on the patio, which would become a trend for the rest of the week. It wasn't long before we were getting rowdy with a couple of our room mates (Dan & Tim).. Throwing down four locos and talking smack was another nighly trend that we picked up.

The hostel had an orgnasied event or guestlist at a club every night of the week. That first night we went to Mansion, whose reputation outdid our experience but we still had a pretty good night. Mansion attracts some pretty big artists nightly. Steve Aoki was playing on this occasion who was pretty cool.

Thursday was similar to the day before, although that night we went to a little bar which was just about empty. Turned out to be a good night though as it was literally just the hostel crowd and a cheap bar, and not too many pretentious Miami locals who I grew to dislike.

Friday included more baking on South Beach and a little bit of shopping, cashing in on post-thanksgiving sales. That night we went to a club called Cameo that was similar to Mansion. Pretty large night for some, and I'm sure a particular Fatburger franchise were not too impressed by some wasted idiots come early Saturday morning. Fun night

After a good 3 hours sleep, Mark and myself jumped on a bus that was taking us down to Key West. We were not in the best shape and I think we were both surprised we made it. Key West is the southernmost point of USA which I was unaware of, and also a 3 and a half hour drive, which I was also unaware of. The little island is actually closer to Havana, Cuba than Miami. The trip there and back did hurt but I think it was definitely worth it. It's a pretty cool little town dominated by tourism. We eventually found the beach that we were craving for. Wasn't really a beach I guess, but the sand and palm trees made u feel like you were in paradise. Was one of those days where u would be scraping at the bottom of barrel to be complaining about your life. After the beach we had a good feed at one of the restaurants and watched a few performers around the wharf before taking the long ride back to Miami.

We didn't get back to Miami till 9ish, which didn't give us much time to get ready and 'rugby league' but we managed. The hostel took us back to Mansion again. Was an OK night, the big day probably consumed most of our energy though and we bailed reasonably early.

On Sunday we had a good sleep in, which was much needed. Then we (Mark, Dan and myself) decided to take part in some deep sea fishing after lunch. I think we were the only people on the boat not to get a bite, let alone a fish. Mind you we probably won't the best fishermen and had very little patience for it by the end of the session.

That night we went out to a club called Nicki Beach which was just down the road on South Beach. Probably my pick of the clubs I saw in Miami. The outside area was decked out with beds and cozy lounges beachside, while u still had your bar and dirty dancefloor inside. Being a Sunday night however, it was a relatively quiet night compared to the rest of the weekend.

On Monday, Mark and I headed out to the Everglades to mingle with some aligators! Laziest creatues in the world, but I wouldn't taunt them. I don't trust them for a second. I did gather the courage though to hold a baby gator for a quick photo before we had some lunch and went back to South Beach for the afternoon. That night we got tickets to the basketball for a little NBA action. The Heat were taking on Washington Wizards and big bad Lebron James was in action. Another cool spectacle, not quite as good as the baseball in San Fran but I guess that was playoffs.

Mark departed early Tuesday morning, as did the majority of the hostel. I didn't get up to much for the rest of the day just ran a few errands and payed my final respect to the beach.

Today I checked out of the hostel and got to the airport just in time to check in. I'm currently on a 5 and a half hour flight back to the west coast. Days spent travelling are well and truly dead to me!

To be continued..