Monday 16 August 2010:

Today has been a pretty chilled out day driving down the coast to Carpentaria.We left misty San Fran at 8am and had our first stop in Monterey to explore Cannery Row.Apparently Monterey has the best Aquarium in all of the US but unfortunately we were on Contiki time and didn't get enough time to experience it.Cannery Row, so called because they once canned stuff here, had a few boutique type shops and a few souvenir shops.Monterey was a bit chilly when we left so we all had our warm stuff on.Big was the surprise when only 2 hours up the road it was boiling hot!!Our next rest stop was in Paso Robles for lunch.When the bus doors opened the heat hit us like a sledge hammer!It was like Vegas heat but maybe a bit hotter.

A few of us from the Contiki bus went to Wendy's for lunch.Our first US Wendy's experience.It lived up to expectations you'll be happy to know.

Carpentaria is a quaint little town with not much really happening.The hotel we stayed at is quite possibly the only hotel in town and it definitely had the only bar.It was our last night on Contiki so the hotel gave us dinner and kept the bar that normally closes around 10pm, open until 3am.Good fun!

Tuesday 17 August 2010:

We at least got a partial sleep-in this morning.Though I don't really think it counts as a sleep-in if you went to bed at 3am.We had to be at the bus at 9am so we could head to Santa Barbara and the beach.Santa Barbara has the same funny sea cover as San Fran.The mist only covers part of the town (depending on the direction of the breeze) and it sticks close to the surface.The pier and the surrounding beach didn't have sea cover so we could enjoy the sunshine.We walked along the pier with its seafood and souvenir shops and spotted a seal chilling out in somebody's boat.He was very cute and we could have watched him for hours if we weren't on Contiki time.We got fish and chips from a takeaway on the pier.The fish was lovely and fresh and the chippies where cut like crisps, which was different and kind of cool.

Just after lunch we started the drive down into LA and spotted some sexy cars on the road.New Ferraris and Porches.Ooooo la la! LA is obviously where the money is!

We drove through to Hollywood and saw the white sign greeting us far in the distance.Very exciting to know that this is the place where movies happen.We walked part of the walk of fame before joining the Hollywood homes tour. There is over 2000 stars currently on Hollywood Boulevard. On the tour they take you past the houses of famous people, but really the beat boxing tour guide/driver can tell you anything and you won't know any better.We supposedly drove past the houses of Michael Jackson, Johnny Depp, Megan Fox, Charlize Theron, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Ben Stiller, Harrison Ford and a few more I can't remember.We also drove past the house of Fresh Prince of Bel Air and the house where the new movie "Little Fockers" was filmed, plus Kat Von D's LA ink tattoo parlour.And, oh yea, apparently we passed a couple of spots where Lindsay Lohan crashed her car and where Brittney Spears was seen without undies."Oops I did it again". Haha! Unfortunately we didn't see any famous people though.We did see a lot of flash cars with tinted windows, so maybe we passed someone without even noticing.The van we were in for the tour had an open top and it was boiling hot sitting in the sun so after a while we didn't really pay much more attention other than where the next shady spot and water was.

After the tour we headed back into LA where we said goodbye to the Contiki crew and caught a bus from Union station out to our hotel.We had Denny's for dinner......best T-bone steak I've had since Richie cooked me one!

New York tomorrow!!Yay!!Looooong day of travelling a head though!