LA to San Francisco: Skittles are a good source of Vit C

Did you know that Skittles are a good source of vitamin C? Well, according to my packet of Tropical Skittles they are.

That was a random little detour for you in what was our longest day ever of driving.

On the road from 10am to 10:30pm with a few short stops in between we travelled the long way round from LA to San Francisco on the Pacific Highway 1.



But it was worth it. The scenery as you wind your way around the cliffs high above the foggy and churhing Pacific Ocean is stunning and worth the extra two or so hours it adds to your journey.



The road winds inland where the tempurature was high and the sky blue, but the closer to the sea you get the thick mists set in.

The lovely Nick deserves a giant "Ka Pai" for driving the whole way through tricky twists and turns.

Nick and his fancy pants camera.

California: Tar pits and freaks

Did you know LA has active (I don't know if that is the right word) tar pits filled with ancient mammal bones?

La Brea Tar pits are by the LA Art Gallery, just down from Hollywood and smell like a resealed road on a hot summer's day.



The pits are free to visit, but the information centre and museum is $7 and houses a massive collection of bones (Tip: Entry is half price if you go in the last half hour).

Nick says to point out that the correct name isn't tar, but asphalt and while they constantly bubble they aren't hot.

The coolest bones belong to the giant mammoth and the sabre tooth cat - not tiger!

Now, onto the freaks.

You can't say you've visited California until you been to the beaches so we hit Venice and Santa Monica.



The later is a classic family fun beach with a fun park on the pier and playground and workout area on the sand. Immaculate and clean, there are only mildly crazy crazies in this area.



Venice Beach is another story - I think seedy is the best word, but it definitely has character.



One standout crazy was strawberry man, who walked around chattering in a strawberry caftan switching from dancing to aggressive in a second.

Street hawkers want you to listen (eg buy) their CDs or visit their doctor for a medical marijuana prescription.

They say you can get one for any aliment - I wonder if that includes asthma?

American culinary delights: Food, glorious food (and orange cheese)

That's right, in America the cheese is orange.

It can usually be found grated on top of hotfood, but sometimes graces a salad. And what does it taste like...nothing!

The "butter", and I use that term loosely, is white and doesn't tell you the ingrediants and coffee comes with little tubs of "Half & Half" (?) milk.

We've just visited the Food 4 Less supermarket where we stocked up on some essentials, including pop tarts, oreos, bottled water, sangria and my new favourite drink, Jarriots (pronounced Har-ri-tos) a manderine flavored soft drink.



One thing all you booze hags will be jealous about is just how cheap alcohol is! A bottle of Jagermister is only $18, a massive bottle of Absolute Vodka was on $22 and plenty of cheap, cheap beer everywhere.

Oh, and you can get a good healthy meal from Taco Bell for under $3.

Oh, and you can get coconut flavoured M'n'Ms!

San Diego: Fishies in the water, fishies in the sea

Whales and dolphins and seals, oh my!

That's right, we spent today in San Diego at Seaworld - home to the world famous Shamu.

After my visit to what has to be the most kid friendly of all the theme parks I have to say whales are signifcantly more kick ass than dolphins.

A whale being totally kick ass.

Whales can be cute too.

The one creature you have to be careful about at Seaworld are small children. I managed to get sneezed on all over my back by a little ratbag. Okay he was only around 2-years-old, but his mother should teach him to cover his nose!

There's a shark encounter, a seal show, flamigos and Nick's favourite... the otter.
Nick's picture of a smart little critter.

The 90min drive to the park went quite quickly as we travelled along the Pacific Coast.

Palm Trees and beach front properties are every and the pace is much slower than LA.

Thought the tempurature was only in the early 20s the humidity was high and the air was heavy.

We also managed to experience LA rush hour traffic on the way home. Thank God for the car pull lane!

California: Universal Studios

Movies, movies and more movies.

Movie themed rides, shows and exhibits - movie fan heaven.

I loved Disney, but this was just that much more enjoyable. The queues seem shorter, the crowded smaller and the food is much, much better.

To get to the park you walk through a huge open air mall of shops and resturants.

Universal Studios is fairly similar to Movie World in Surfer's Paradise, Australia only bigger.

First up was the live Waterworld stunt show. The actors in the production have all been involved in some big name tv shows and movies so I wonder how this stop fits into their career.

Rides wise the Simpsons virtual rollercoaster, the Jurassic Park water ride and the Mummmy - a Space Mountain-ish - roller-coaster are the best.

The highlight for me was the Studio Lot tour. Without giving too much away it takes you through active sets including a NYC street scene and the Desperate Housewives set and throws in a few unexpected thills along the way.

The NYC St set

A real Desperate Housewives house!

California: Disneyland! Disneyland!

We didn't plan on going to Disneyland today, but ended up in the Magic Kingdom anyway.

We hoped to simply stop by to pick up our City Pass tickets but once we'd parked and made our way to Downtown Disney we couldn't leave.

The park is separated into two, the original Disneyland park and the California Adventure Park.

If I had to choose just one to visit it would have to be classic Disney,

Aside from the outrageously expensive and bad food, Disneyland is fantastic. The attention to detail is amazing with no sign of the outside world. The rides are a mix of littlies and bigger kid rides.



By the time we arrived at 10am it was already getting busy. Our first stop was Pirates of the Caribbean, part water slide, part anamatronic special effects show.

I don't know what the original ride was like, but this one was good fun - and the Johnny Depp robot-pirate-things looked just like the real thing.

Desipte beginning summer holidays our longest wait was 30mins for Space Mountain - a little bit scary, but mainly fun.

We even rode the Small World Ride - Nick seemed a little scared - lights, noise, high pitched voices singing a song over and over again.

Over at Adventure Park the obvious signs of Disney are missing. Instead the park is built around a man-made waterfront pier, like an old, seaside acarde.

The rides are slightly scarier, but there is still plenty of kids stuff.

We still have tickets for two more days so are hoping to pop back on Thursday to catch the rides we missed - mainly Indiana Jones.

California: Crazy old Hollywood

Our first full day in the city.

LA is coloured like a photograph from the 1970s and a grey mist hangs over the city until it is burnt off by the afternoon heat.

Our tour guide from LA City Tours said the smoke wasn’t smog – that’s black – but a cloud that comes in off the ocean.

Earlier today we made our way into the city, on the extreme LA freeway. We weren’t quite sure where we were heading, but when we saw the turning off for Hollywood Boulevard we knew we were in the right place.

Hollywood Blvd starts off looking pretty rundown and old when it suddenly turns into the street we’ve all seen on TV with the Kodak and the Chinese Theatre. The pavement covered with star plaques stretches on and on, with plenty of well known names along with those whose fame has faded.



The sun grew increasingly hot as the day went on. We parked below the Kodak and made our way through Hollywood and down to Sunset Blvd where we saw the CNN tower and a beautiful South American church.

Heading back to Hollywood we sampled Californian fruit at a Sunday farmers market – the strawberries were amazing.

Every few metres someone is trying to get you to take their tour, there are also plenty of people after a dollar.

We picked our tour because our first choice was booked out until 4:30 and they were the next best.

The mini-bus was open air – great for taking photos – and took us to Mulholland Drive to take in the view of the city and the Hollywood sign.

Then we followed the winding green hills through stunning, celebrity owned properties including Jimi Hendrix last home, Jim Morrison’s last US home and Britney Spears first home.

More celebrity house spotting in Beverly Hills and checking out the top spots in Rodeo Drive and Sunset.

Finally we had a very nom dinner at a little Mexican place next door – best burrito ever!

Credit cards and fall down Kat

Such a long time since the last post and things are looking a little different (hopefully a little better) around here.

Our credit cards are taking a hit with bookings coming out our ears and my knee is black and blue after a meeting with the concrete floor at Neighbourhood Bar.

Some big-picture changes have occurred in the past months. First, I am now working for Herald online which means no more late nights or weekends (unless I get the call up for evening work). Also, I am now the proud owner of an Offical UK visa. The process for getting one of these little beauties is long and tiresome. First you fill out what seems to be a 50 page form online, pay $300 and get you finger prints scanned - and this is where the fun begins.

There is no UK visa office in NZ so all enquirers go to Canberra - fun times. It's a nervous process that is made worse because you have to send you passport away. After weeks of waiting and no word, I emailed to see what the deal was. Another week later I find out they didn't receive my envelope so I quickly send them a second courier package. Then what should turn up five days later, my passport complete with Visa in the orginal envelope.

*Sigh*

The count down until we leave NZ has really begun, and the reality of the move is starting to sink in... only 25 days and counting, so much to do, so little time.

Two weeks ago while recovering from a trip to the dentist I put together a lovely itinerary for our holiday complete with distances and driving times only to have it torn to shreds by one picky boyfriend.

On the plus side, he has now drawn up a pretty complete timetable and we now have the fun task of picking where we are going to sleep.

So far we've booked seven nights in LA at Quality Inn & Suites Anaheim at the Park. Not the fanciest place in the world, but it looks comfortable and the owners seem nice. And, now for the best bit, it's only a short walk to DISNEY LAND (more on that later)!

We're looking to stay somewhere pimp in Vegas, but with so many options it's proving very difficult to chose!

The details for our trip are coming along nicely so I should have a holiday plan ready to share any day now.

Until next time, keep on trucking.