Again, I arrived in the city really late and had to navigate my way around the BART (underground system) to find the hostel. It wasn't too arduous and only took about an hour to get to where I was going. I then had to walk from the BART station for about 10 blocks and some very steep hills before arriving at The Green Tortoise hostel. It sounds like a very nice place, but names can be deceiving and this was no exception. The hostel was located in what appears to be the red light district of San Francisco - there are lots and lots of strip joints on the road and it's just on the outskirts of Chinatown, which in any city is always grim. There appeared to be some kind of party going on when I arrived at about midnight, which I was in no mood for, however on the bright side, they checked me into a private room for the night because they had no dorms left - it cost me no extra for the good night's sleep that was to be had. The following day I checked into my dorm, to be shared with 5 other people, mostly English guys and all relatively nice, although one of them did have a terrible wind problem, I thought the window had been left ajar!! Went out on my first full day for lunch to The Castro after walking about and hour to find it. It was very pleasant so I stayed for a drink, and another, and another until I finally got back to the hostel at about 3am with some very 'interesting' photo's on my camera. All seemed to be in order and I behaved myself like a good boy, if only a little drunk. I was bought so many drinks that night by the bar staff, I was completely wasted and I had to keep moving on from one pub to the next as the bouncers wouldn't let me back in again after going out for a cig. I wouldn't normally mind, but it was their fault that I was in such a delerious state!! I was well looked after by the people that I was with (whoever they were). The next couple of days I just spent milling around and walking lots. I went to the Golden Gate Bridge, through a load of National parks, Pier 39, saw the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf and lots of shopping down on Market Street. I've bought loads of new clobber that I don't know how I'm going to fit it all in my ruck sack. I guess I'll just have to wear as much as I can. I can just imagine me arriving in Fiji looking like an Eskimo, wearing 3 sweaters, two pairs of jeans and underpants on the outside!! My dignity left me a long time ago, so I don't care!! Last night I went out for a few drinks again and met some unusual characters. This time I had my wits about me and didn't get drunk as I felt a little uneasy about some of the characters that I was attracting!! Namely 2 Virgin Atlantic cabin crew, who were the most vile creatures to ever grace this planet. I was utterly embarassed to be English like them as people must have thought that we were all like that. I have photo's, which I will dare to post on this site when I can find the time to downsize them, but just to give you the idea.... This girl was posing for me, lying down on the pavement with her false boobs showing to the world and her right hand down her pants. It was perverted, but very funny to see and naturally she attracted quite a lot of attention!! Her mother must be really proud of the filfth that she has raised!! On a lighter note, I did meet some really nice chaps from Manchester, who were out here on holiday, so it would be really nice to stay in touch with them after I get home. If you're reading this Andrew, make sure you send me an email or something and we'll hook up for lunch when I get home. Sunday 01 August I am flying to Fiji arriving early morning on 03 August. You lose a whole day when you cross the date line, so it doesn't really take 2 whole days to get there. From there I plan to do some island hopping and soaking up the Fiji sunshine. It's bloody freezing here in San Francisco and a strange kind of mist rolls in off the Pacific Ocean in the early evening covering the tops of all the buildings. Quite eerie! My next postcard will be from Fiji at some point, so make sure you keep checking on the website for updates. Miss you all, Stephen xxx