well hello all! its about time i updated again and seen as though i'm leaving in a few hours i thought i might aswell do it now! San Francisco has been awesome so i have lots to tell! So i arrived here on Sunday after travelling up from San Jose on the train! (double decker!! - very cool!) i had previously asked the hostel how far it was from the station etc... so i thought id save cash and get the metro train and then walk the 5 blocks that they said i would be fine doing! Ahem NO! Well i get here and its boiling hot with my three trusty bags just as a giants game is kicking out! The train was full to the brim, no air, sweat and smelly people everywhere! Couldnt wait to get off! I manage to force myself off in the end and flew out onto the platform like a bat out of hell! So i get my bearings and start walking! This ends up being the busiest shopping street ever! Me walking (well stumbling!) in and out of people UPHILL!!!!!! San Francisco is crazy! The hills are so steep i nearly crawl up them! Anyways i was so tired that i nearly gave into the temptation of a cab a few times but i resisted and battled on! I finally figured out that doing 50 steps follwed by a break would be ok until i needed the toilet which, i must say was torture! I finally got to the hostel after much huffing and puffing and sweating! to be told i was in the wrong hostel and mine was up a hill almost reacxhing 90degrees! Sod that so they managed to get me into this one! It worked out great until a notice board fell off its stand and clonked me on the head! I saw stars and little birdies for a good 5 minutes! So my first night consisted of going to the shop for my weeks shopping! Typical travellers diet of pasta, rice, sauce, crackers and a few random tins to see me through the week! I also mamaged to do all my washing woopie! and had an early night! The people in my dorm were really cool until some of them decided it was a good idea to bash about for nights on end (in out, in out like bloody yoyos! but thats another story!) I decided that i'm gonna do this journal diffrently and do it day by day cos i'm so tired and cant remember everything! So.... Monday Woke up and met Rachel another girl from England (cornwall to be exact!) and we decided to get a cable car pass and explore the city on the famous cable cars. We went to Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39. They have wild sealions here all basking in the sun and rolling each other on and off there little floating homes! Its really cool to watch especially when the baby ones get mischevous! We had a nice stroll, saw Alcatraz, looked at the Golden Gate Bridge and looked in a few shops before going to china town, coit tower, the financial district, grace cathedral, lombard street (the crookedest street ever!) and ended up looking around Union Square and good old H&M. After the strenous day i made myself a lovely bowl of pasta and had another early night! GO ME! Tuesday Well i had a sleep in as i was kept awake by people jumping around and up and down bunk beds all night! I hate being on the top bunk so as soon as the girl below me left i jumped down and got into the lower bunk! I then slept like a baby! Me and Rachel then spent the day chilling and seeing the sights etc.. and booked our trips for the rest of the week! Very boring but satisfying day! Wednesday Up at the crack of dawn to go to wine country!! Wine tasting of all things! Well what else would you do really! We set off and stopped at Muir woods where they have Giant Sequoira trees! We went for a relatively easy but long hike in the woods before setting off for an afternoon at some of the wineries in Somona and Napa valley. The first place we wnet was realtively small (only shifting 4000 cases per year!) We were taought the processes of wine making and learnt the differences between wines before trying 15 of the wines on the menu! Lovely! We all sat around a big table under a canopy! But guess where all three english were! We were all sat out of the end of the canpoy in the sun everything rolled up looking typically British it was hilarious! Getting a tan whilst sipping super wine what could get any better? So we then went from here to a cheese factory for lunch.... there was so many cheeses to try mild ones, spicy ones, peppered opnes, garlic ones, you name it it was there! Anyways from here we went to two more wineries and once more tried maybe 10-15 wines at each! The last one we went to was totally waff the wines were mixes and slightly overpowering! By now though i was starting to get a corker of a headache! Suprisingly you dont get drunk but the constant wine and sun sure makes you feel like your having the worst hangover ever! The thing that made the last winery better were the grounds! Totally beautiful and perfect for wedding (that is if you have the $20.000 deposit!) ah well, better start saving! We rounded off the day by going to subway (at last!) for the daily special of meatball (oh yes! heaven!) and my first real meal in days! YUMMY, YUMMY in my Tummy! (as real as Subway gets anyways!) and then headed for bed as we had to be up at the butt crack of dawn again for the trip to Yosemite! Thursday I decided to do the day trip as everyone i had spoken to said we saw all the main points in one day so because i'm running out of money it was the better decision i thought! So me, aly, jodie and carol set off for the day! Everyone was shattered and us young ones cotched out at the back and slept for half the way- we were tempted by the burger king breakfast so we hopped skipped and dodged our way over the six lane highway and got the most well deserved cup of tea ever! The drive in was awesome (a word i cannot stop using!!! ahh!!) i really cannot explain how amazing this place is. The rolling hills that turn in to cliff faces, huge pines and trees, open canyons, the most fantastic waterfalls that later down the line turn into rapids. The falls hit the ground so hard that the spray shoots out for miles. Unfortunately Jodies experience of this wasnt what she bargained for when she slipped and dropped her camera into a stoopid puddle! I laughed alot and she didnt! oopsie! She also tripped over a piece of volcanic rock when we chickened out to sit in the sun instead of making all the way down one of the hills we were supposed too! She was destined to break her ankle or something it was something out of a comedy sketch! We then headed for Yosemite falls we stood on a bridge at the bottom and the wind and spray of water that came from the fall was brilliant. I totally recommend it and so want to come back next year to camp or just to spend a week here! Its like paradise! Better than the Grand Canyon by far! After trekking around all day and sunbathing on little river beaches etc... We unfortunately had to set off back! :( We ended up getting absolutely rotten drunk on the trip back. Kept everyone amused with our singing and movie impressions! SOOOO funny! We got back- finished our drinks and headed for better totally battered! The combination of fresh air, budweiser and great company took it out of us! I actually think thsi was one of the best days of my trip so far! However, bad news! I did the most stupid thing and forgot my camera so had to buy the most expensive disposable ever ahhh! Well the other guys are gonna send me there pics so i will put those up too when i get them! Sorry! Friday (my last day!) So the next morning me and Jodie headed to Fishermans wharf, hired some push bikes and did a 14 mile bike ride over the Golden Gate bridge! Tiring but so spectacular! well until, in true style it started to pee down as we got the the beginning of the brigde. damn. But it was still awesome and we had a fab day, the brigde is fantastic and we ended up in salsilito drenched to the bone, cold and hungry so we tucked into some italian at the end before getting a ferry back to Fishermans wharf. Our legs were totally broken and i had buns of steal so i managed to half stagger back to the hostel to pack for my flight! I could hardly sit down! Ouchie! So my week in San Francisco was awesome! I cant believe some of the things in seen as the places i been! I'm so lucky to be having this experience! Now i'm in hawaii! I've spent the afternoon on the beach- watched the sunset and am about to go to the beach for a party/movie night with some of the guys grom the hostel! Totally beautiful here, just as you would expect and extremely hot! Got an action packed week so i will update again soon! Love to you all! I miss you all tonnes! xxxxxxxxxx over and out xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx