Very sorry that is has been a while since the last update.I have been trying to keep up to date but I have not had any wifi for some time now so have not been able to put anything I have written up.I am going to upload everything I have done in a few separate entries and try to back date them to the relevant dates.I am also very sorry if they read a little disjointed as they were all written and revisited in odd places.I am writing this part in a bus in New Zealand.I can't remember when or where I wrote about the Grand Canyon, most of the LA part was written on the place to Tahiti after I had discovered that the wine on the flight was indeed free.A decent chunk was written from our beech in Moorea and a little more on the plane to New Zealand.

Anyway here is what we have been up to…

Getting up at 5am after the past few days and nights was pretty tough but we managed it.We got a cab to the greyhound through a rather interesting part of town and upon arrival he put his hand out for a tip and told us tax was not included in the price either.Given that he was at the front of the taxi rank and we ha to wake him up, sort all the luggage into the boot ourselves, and that he ignored us all the way to greyhound station we thought this was a little rich.In the end I have him a dollar which he was equally unimpressed with but the only other note I had was a $5 which I had somehow smuggled out of Vegas and he was not getting that.

At the station we met a really nice English guy called Rohan who was on his way to Phoenix.It was nice to have someone else with us - safety in numbers and all that.On this bus we had at least two convicts fresh out of prison.Their most distinguishing markings were the jump suits and one was carrying a box with all his possessions that had been taken off him when he went to prison.His inmate number was 252666 and his nickname was "snowball".Don't be fooled by this though.He was covered in gang tattoos and was one Latino you didn't want to mess with.He spent the entire ride in complete silence ignoring everyone and somehow still seemed quite intimidating.I wish his other friend had been this thoughtful.He spent the entire ride telling everyone how he was a changed man and was going to get some qualifications with a view to starting his own business.He eventually struck a friendship with a women who was on the bus because she had lost her license (for driving under the influence of alcohol) who's boyfriend was doing a 3 year stretch for god knows what.Wow though - they discussed everything from drugs to grand theft auto.What an education.

As the journey went on we climbed higher and started to see the odd patch of snow.This was quite distressing- not only because we were so bloody bored of snow but also we had left most of our cold weather gear behind.Olli had a hat and I had some gloves.

When we got to the bus station we met a girl from Australia called Danielle who looked just like Zoe!Interestingly she was also very good at graphics and was fortunate enough to be able to do her work on the road and not be tied down by the job.We also met as couple our age called Mark and Christina.They were both primary school teachers on year out whom we became very good friends with.Itn turned out we were all staying at the same hostel so we called to arrange a free pick up.Some would describe the gentlemen who picked us up as strange or eccentric.I like to think he had a positive attitude but nonetheless it did remind me very much of the guy who drove myself, Greg and Dave around Bled in Slovenia a few years ago. It was even the same make and model red van!

We chilled out the rest of Friday and also got enough food to last us the trip to the canyon on Saturday.An early night was also planned but I made the fatal mistake of going outside to get some fresh air at about 11pm.I could hear some live music down the road and that was that.I grabbed my passport and went.In the first bar with the music I got chatting to an Irishman who was on the Olympic running team and was living in flagstaff for the high altitude training. I ended up hanging out with him, his girlfriend and friends for most of the night and they kindly bought me plenty of drinks.I arrived at the final bar of the night about 5 minutes before it closed.I did not know this when I bought my pint which was on special offer - 2 for 1.This left me in a rather tricky situation as when they started kicking us out I had 1.5 pints left.Luckily I managed to sell it to someone for $5.After a brief competition to swee who could smuggle their drink out past the bouncers I eventually got to bed at about 3.

There was no way we were going to the canyon the next day.We were caught in another snow storm and most of the roads were closed.We mopped around feeling depressed and watching films.On a positive note the hostel did have a dedicated TV and film room that was very well stocked with VHS!!I can't remember the last time I had to rewind and fast forward a film. That night the 4 of us went across to the bar on the other side of the road.The hostel was confident that tours would run within a few days and Mark and Christina were already staying 4 nights anyway.The question was whether we would stay to see the canyon or head on to San Fransisco and San Diego.Why the hell we debated this for so long in the first pub I do not know.It is the grand canyon after all.What's more I had checked my budget and I was way over for America.This hostel was reasonably cheap compared to the others and included a decent breakfast.We could buy cheap food from the supermarket a mile away plus Mark and Christina were awesome to hang out with - we booked another night.

The next day was the same story regarding the canyon.We went back to the supermarket - if we were going to stay longer then we would need supplies.In my case cheap supplies.The snow was about a foot deep which made the going tough and on the way back it snowed heavily again.My eyebrows were stiff by the time I got back.Mark and me decided we wanted to find the worlds largest icicle.So with mark sitting on my shoulders we embarked on a trip outside.In the end we came back with something much better - one which looked like a machine gun!

In the end the tour happened on Mondayand wow was it worth the wait.Our guide Greg was fantastic.When we arrived he made us all close our eyes and he guided us to the edge.When we all opened them we were completely blown away by it.Sadly we could not trek down into the canyon because of the snow and ice but that gave us plenty of time to go to the view points along the south ridge.

We found one point were we could climb down about 30 feet and at least 50 feet out into the canyon where myself and mark thought it would be the most suitable place to crack open out beers much to the disapproval of one of the elderly couples at the top.Standing a safe distance from the safety barrier they had clearly forgotten what it was like to be young.Greg had been trekking the canyon for about 10 years and had loads of interesting facts and titbits on the history of the canyon and also canyon related deaths and injuries.There was also a brief snowball fight which ended when one of Olli's snowballs sent my new aviators off my face and down into the canyon.I had bought these at the Niagara falls and it is the first time in my life I had found a good fitting pair of aviators.Still, it was me that started the snowball fight so that's life.

Again we ended up staying far longer then expected.On Tuesday Olli spent far too long deliberating whether to stay or go so I booked the room anyway.We went out again that night and it turned into a really good night a large night out.We went to a few bars and in the last one found ourselves with most of the guys in the hostel.We also had a pool shark try and hustle us whilst his poor girlfriend sat there looking bored out of his mind.I was a little too intoxicated to play properly but Mark turned out to be quite the pro which resulted in the man with an anchor tattooed on his cheek making up rules.My favourite was the continuation shot.Essentially you have to call any shot that is not direct.I.e if you play a ball off another or off the cushion without saying you are going to then it is a foul. Later we all rolled back to the hostel and I discovered Olli had been very unsociable and gone to bed.I stormed into our room, and shook him until he was awake and turned the light on.Turns out Olli had gone to the toilet and I had just accosted our new room mate.Luckily he took it quite well and nothing more was said.

On Wednesday Mark and Christina left before us which was very sad to cheer ourselves up we had an American Pie fest watching the first three back to back with another Englishmen who had just arrived called Doug.We had the whole room to ourselves which was nice. Olli and I had had our shoes on pretty much constantly for 5 weeks and I had a rotation system going for my socks.The resulting smell was quite incredible and I expect they will be airing the room out for weeks.

Due to the over expenditure in America we had been back onto the cheapest food we could find. For me that meant a return to the 55c sausages in the can (which on closer inspection are more mechanically recovered chicken then they are pork) and spageti.I had this every evening in Flagstaff so Doug and myself raided the kitchen to liven things up.To his Mac and Cheese and my chickensausage and spaghetti we added liquid smoke (to create a fake bbq flavour), cinnamon, and another pasta source which I forget the name of but would never have normally touched if I had seen it on a shelf at home.Our creations looked really and smelt spectacular and tasted like nothing I have ever had before.Still after I had put my meal into a fresh pan and washed it three times with boiling water I was able to force it down.To everyone's surprise it also stayed down.

That night me and Olli got a lift from the hostel down to the greyhound.We had been told that with this one you needed to be at least an hour early which was fine in itself but the bus was also an hour and 15 minutes late.That gave us some time to kill with the lunatics. Our most notable one this time being the gentlemen fresh out of a mental hospital, still in his blue pyjamas they had given him, saying how he was never going to be made to go back.I saw a young boy playing with one of those arcade machines with the claw that goes down to pick up toys and after seeing him fail over and over again I thought I would get rid of the 50c in loose change I had rattling around in the my pocket.With one go I hooked 3 fluffy toys - hell yeah.Olli had the Dalmatian as he used to have one and I took the weird green dog.I was about to give the third to the young lad who was looking at bit put out when Olli pointed out that his dad might be a bit pissed off if I gave his son a fluffy dog that said "be my valentine on the side of it".

This journey turned into a bit of a nightmare because by the time it had arrived and left we missed our connecting bus in phoenix.This was supposed to be at about 230 or so and the next was not till 530 in the morning.You know what they did?They lay on a bus just for us people going to LA.You wouldn't see that happening with transport in Britain.