Hollywood!
im sure you can all imagine how much I would love the Hollywood tourist spots!! Its true that Hollywood is actually pretty dirty and not the glitzy, glamourous place you expect but the sights are FABULOUS!
Kurt and Julie indulged my childlike awe of everything Hollywood as you can see from the photos!
1. Marilyn Monroe's hand and footprint outside the Chinese theatre. The reason I came to Hollywood!
2. Well it had to be done! Did you know Marilyn and I have the exact same sized hands?! I think its a sign!
3. The Kodak theatre - this is where they hold the oscars and was the venue for the 2006 American idol finals. I was really lucky on my tour as I did it the day after the final and got to see the set!
4. My friend Sarah in the famous Mel's Diner from American Graffiti. Sarah and I met in Fiji but arranged to meet again in LA. She's another top girl!
5. Kurt and Julie outside the Chinese theatre. You can just about make out the hand prints etc behind them.
6. Taylor Hicks! This photo was taken at stupid o'clock in the morning just after the American Idol finals. He saw me take this photo and then came over and asked me for a hug?! I said isnt it supposed to be me asking you for a hug and he replied with im famous now, I can do anything! SOUL PATROL!
7. Rodeo Drive! My shopping heaven although might have to wait until im not a backpacker to afford anything! I did buy a Jamba Juice smoothie so technically i have shopped on Rodeo drive! You can see the Regent Beverley Wilshire hotel in the background made famous by Pretty Woman. This was where I had my photo taken getting out of the limo by a random celeb spotter!
8. The all important star of Marilyn Monroe. Its right outside McDonalds though which seems a little wrong to me! You have to buy your own stars for about $15000 which I didnt realise. I've already reserved mine so in a few years.......!
Viva Las Vegas!!
Without a doubt, vegas has to be a highlight of my trip so far!
1. Christie, Kurt and Julie in Pure nightclub at Ceasers palace. I think Kurt deserves a medal for sharing a room with us 4 girls!
2. melissa standing outside New York, new York! We dragged ourselves out of bed at 8.30am while the others all slept away the night before! We were on our way to the breakfast buffet at the Monte Carlo.
3. The Bellagio at night! I didnt get to see the fountain show but the building itself is just exquisit. Julie and I spent ages looking at the incredible ceiling which is covered in glass flowers!
4. The Excaliber! I didnt make it inside here but it looked pretty impressive from outside. Kurt entertained us with his impression of the response you'd get if you asked for directions in there - apparently they sound medieval - sweet!
5. The Strip! Amazingly the strip goes on forever!! i thought it was all very compact but then you see how gigantic the hotels are and realise you have to walk a long way to anywhere! It took about 15 mins to walk from our hotel room to our pool! madness! It was a very surreal experience to walk through a casino in swimming stuff!
6. The girls!! the dark haried girl on the left is Christie, then Melissa in the middle and Julie on the right.
7. Kurt in the rainforest cafe at the MGM Grand. For some reason we ended up drinking chocolate cocktails in glasses with flashing bottoms!!
8. Kurt and Melissa - I think im the luckiest girl in the world to have two such amazing friends. Thanks for everything guys - you rock! x
Kia ora!
So im down to the final 3 days in New Zealand - its going much too fast but i've really made the most of my time here and i've had the best time ever!!
Skydiving!
crazy, mad, fantastic and the best thing i've ever done!!
Poor Alice was really nervous and so I dont think I was a great help as we all know how crazy i get when im excited!! My tandem master was a groovy Swede (who was impressed I knew the Swedish word for tent!) and decided it would be cool to do lots of somersaults and spins with me! Im so doing the licence when I get back!!
Kiwi Kapers!
New Zealand really is the adults ulltimate playground and i've been making the most of it!!
Here are a few pics of the stupid things ive actually parted money to do!! (And loved every second of!!) For some reason the computer wont let me upload my skydiving photos so i'll have to bore you all with the DVD when im home instead!
1. Mount Ruapehu - the highest mountain on the North island.
2. The joys of wearing a wetsuit! This was our group that went black water rafting! We hadnt seen the cave yet so thats why we're all smiling!!
3. A typical new Zealand waterfall - there are millions of them!
4. Mount ngarahoe aka Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings!
5. The guys im travelling with out on Jons birthday! From the left - Whitey, Lucy, Chestney, Jon, Alice and Skye.
6. Action Alice with free party clothes!
7. The luge track!! So much fun!
New Zealand!
Wow - that is the best way to describe New Zealand - I LOVE IT! I have done and seen so much so here and have already made some amazing friends!!
Here are some intro pics!!
1. Rotorua - the geothermal capital of New Zealand! It has hundreds of mineral pools and sulphur pits etc which is interesting!! Its great to swim in but it stinks of rotten eggs so we literally have to walk around covering our noses!!
2. Cathedral Cove - No amount of photos could do this place justice! Its a deserted beach about 45 (very very steep!) mins walk from a road and is just paradise. There are white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and amazing rocks just off the shore. It gets its name from a gigantic rock arch that seperates one beach from the next.
3. Alice, Skye and Jon - three really cool people that im travelling with. I met Skye (the dark girl) on the plane from Cairns and Alice in the Auckland hostel. Alice didnt have any plans for NZ so she decided to buy the same pass as me and so we're now together until the 8th May. She's a top girl although she's a Chelsea fan - I suppose no one's perfect!
4. Rotorua from the top of a mountain! One of the Kiwi Experience activities is lugeing from the top of this mountain!! You take a cable car to the top and then sit on a small plastic tray basically and you try and control yourself along an incredibly fast track!! that was so much fun!
5. Jill and Roberto - these guys I met in Vietnam and are just the coolest people ever!! This is them standin on their deck at home - what a view! They very kindly invited me to stay with them for a few days and took me fishing as well as to the Bay of Islands and to Waitangi.
6. Sky city, Auckland. This is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere and dominates the Auckland skyline. Yes, I know its out of focus!
7. A traditional maori marae. Im getting really into the maori culture and have really enjoyed learning about it. I would explain all about the marae but it would take too long so i'll just let you admire it for now!! I'll bore you with all the details when im home!!
Bundy to Darwin!
I have to say that driving across Australia has been one of the highlights of the trip so far. Everyone knows how much I love driving so im sure thats got something to do with it however I can now totally see why people shoot road signs!!
1. An outback Sunset. This was about halfway between Townsville and Mount Isa. We hadnt seen another car for well over 3 hours and were stunned by how vivid the colours were. It literally looked like the sky was on fire!!
2. Katherine Gorge - an amazing place about 300kms south of Darwin. We were really looking forward to a good walk after so long in the camper but hadnt realised it takes 8 days to walk to the end of katherine Gorge! We just did a short 3 hour walk and werent diasspointed with the view!
3. The rainforest at Cape Tribulation. Its so lush and full of life and leads directly on to the beach which is something I have never experienced before.
4. leah and Claudia in a club in Airlie Beach. leah was lucky enough to share a tent with us on Fraser Island and we met up in Airlie beach for a night out. She's another cool german girl.
5. Townsville - surprisingly attractive town. I didnt really know what to expect but it actually has quite a lot of charm and in many ways reminded me of a french town?
6. Cape Tribulation. The photo speaks for itself - perfect clear waters (which actually dont show up that well in the photo!) lush green rainforest and glorious blue sky! We could've stayed here forever!
More east coast!
While its still not quiote Perth I cant deny that the east coast has been amazing!!
1. lake Wabby on Fraser island. A pure emerald green lake with hugh cat fish that swim right up to you! We had loads of fun running down the sand dunes and into the water! So want to be back there!
2. Betsy the car!! We called her Betsy as we took bets on what would go wrong with her! Despite a few fuel cap problems, she helped me win the challenge! I never imagined i'd ever drive soemthing so damn big - it even had a snorkel for deep water driving!! 11 people's lives in my hands - awesome!!
3. This is Claudia - a little fuzzy I know but its the only one i've really got without us being stupid! An indication of how crazy she is comes fromt he fact she's sharing a tent with me for 5 weeks and decided to extend it by coming to NZ and Fiji as well! top girl!
4. The Maheno shipwreck on Fraser. We camped here the first night and went on a drunken ghost hunting mission at midnight! Yes I freaked!
5. Eli Creek - the largest and most beautiful creek on the island. We had a great morning swimming in the cool water.
6. Sunrise over the shark infested ocean!
im sure you can all imagine how much I would love the Hollywood tourist spots!! Its true that Hollywood is actually pretty dirty and not the glitzy, glamourous place you expect but the sights are FABULOUS!
