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We have been so bad at updating this but now we are in New Zealand and off to Australia hopefully we will be able to do it a little easier and alot more often. In San Fran the net was reasonably expensive but we were also short on time. In Fiji it was expensive again and fewer places had it. Where they did it was pretty slow and frustrating. Anyway enough with the sob stories and on with the travel tales!
10/4/07
It's all going pretty well so far. In San Francisco we landed ok and got through the dreaded customs in what must have been record time. They were some of the best I'd (Colin) had been through. We then got on the BART train to the city. Finding the right platform was the the hardest part as the architect had gone for the minimalistic look as far as signs were concearned.
We then found out an important rule read every bit of info on the machines you pay for your tickets in. Even the bits selotaped to the machine written in handwriting because they are the ones that tell you if you put $20 in to buy a $6 ticket you wont be seeing any change.
Once in the city we were a bit overwelmed there were quite a few dodgey people and homeless at the station you come out for the main drag upto Union Square (the centre). There was also a mad old woman going abserloutly crazy at someone so far down the street we couldnt see them. The 3 police officers on their bikes and dressed in little shorts seemed to find it hilarious. Which it was.
We then made it upto Union Square, about a 5 min walk. We were stopped by a charity man who we exchanged knowledge of where our hotel was and some stickers for some money and 5 minuites of our time. Nice chap anyway.
After a little bit more walking and confusion we found out hotel and booked in. It looked quite posh from the outside unfortunatly the interior was not the same. Though it was clean and quite and as we later found out pretty much in a perfect location. The room was quite big and we had a resonable sized bed with a TV and a big claw bath to Jaimee's enjoyment.
That day we just chilled out in the room from around 2-6 then just went to an Italian for dinner. I had pizza and jaimee had pasta. It was ok but was very cheap. On the way home we saw the steaming drains like in the movies which was cool. After that we went to bed after being up for way too lonnnnggg.
11/4/07
Today we decided to let Jaimee loose after a year of saving and go shopping. We had breakfast in a little diner based on Betty Boop which was cool, we got a few pics there. The breakfast was nice espcially the bacon! The the shops, we first went to Macys then H&M which are huge. Then a small jewelry shop where Jaimee got some stuff. Then Quiksilver which was cool. Saw some nice stuff we nealy brought but didnt because its probally cheaper in NZ and Aus.
Then we went for lunch in Burger King. This was weird. The lighting made everything look brown, it was so didngy. There were a lot of strange people and homeless in there, common as we were starting to find out for SF. Also while we were in there a man walked quickly in the door and straight to the toilets behind me and Jaimee. 3 mins later 2 police (again in bike helmets and little shorts) walked in too with their hands on their guns. Searched the restaurant and went into the toilet. We didnt hear or see the police or man again and we were there 10 more mins.
After that we went to the information centre and got a pass for the trams and public transport. Then we hit the shops again. Acrombie and Fitch was our first stop which was lush, there were lots of nice clothes and the music and design made it like a nightclub. After that we walked around the Mall which was huge. We saw our 1st super fat american, we stopped at the cinema to see what was on and got some drinks. In the line was a lady whale with a super size popcorn and massive refill bag 2 huge drinks and more pick and mix than you could shake a stick at. An amazing performance if she finished that lot off in one sitting, by looking at her id say it wassnt the first time she had.
Post Mall id just about had enough of the exciting shopping spree so we headed for the hostel. As it was in such a cool location it wassnt far and never was. That night we chilled out on the bed for ages then went for tea at what must have been the poshest restuarnt in Chinatown. It had pictures of celebrities all over the lobby and had a nice view of the city and both the decor and food was nice. A short walk down our road took us to bed.
12/4/07
Today we were up early so we could get on the tour bus. Bang on time at 8.10 the buss rolled round the corner and off we went on our day trip. In the morning we went to the Muir Woods and Saulsilito and in the afternoon we did Alcatraz. The drive to the woods was amazing, nice views windey alpine roads and a good guide. He was telling us about the expensive houses we were driving past and doing the full on history bit, although he was a little weird.
The woods themselves were outstanding. We did the gift shop first to avoid the cues i antcipated on exit. I got a grow set so in 2000 year time hopefully we can have a 90 meter tall 7 meter diamter tree in Maulden. We had our pictures taken in the trees and stuff then got back on the bus to go to the nearby town of Saulsilto and have lunch.
Saulsilito is nice very picturesk set into the hillside. We sat on some steps by the sea in the sun eating out packed lunch and chips we just brought. The view was brilliant Alcatraz in the forefront with the cityscape on one side and the residential areas on the other side of the bay and the bridge. Behind us was the marina with the yachts and the hills in the backgound. It was pretty perfect.
Then it was off to Alcatraz. We cashed in out tickets and took a seat waiting for the next ferry in the warm sun this wassnt too bad and the time soon passed. We got on the boat and got seats on the top deck on the side that would give us best views of the island approach. On the island with were sent to the shower room to get our headsets and be set on out route. It was all very organised and the tour was superb. Everyone had a headset that took them a differnt route so that there were no bottleneck by any of the points of interest. After we got the ferry back and popped over the road for a drink and waited for out shuttle home. We planned what we'd do the next day.
In the evening we went to a resturant called Tom Reno's. Apparently it had the best ribs in town so Jaimee and i headed down there to find out. It was a bit of a walk and hard to find but the ribs were pretty good and Jaimees burger was nice too. I had 1/2 of that for lunch the next day because it was so big. Then we walked up California st (the really steep one, jaimee loved my choice) past all the cable car lines they were cleaning and the steaming drains back to bed.
13/4/07
We got up a little later today and headed to town to do some stuff on the internet and try and do the blog/ emails. Jaimee had a bit of a scare with her camera as she though she'd deleted all of her pics. So we didnt get anything done we wanted to and wasted alot of money and time sorting this out. Everything is so much more akward to do when you are away.
Anyway after a few little domestics we sorted Jaimees camera and we got to have breakfast, the whole experience left Jaimee not trusting anything with her camera though, including me. We had breakfast in Louis diner eating pancakes with maple syrp, bacon, eggs and toast, Jaimee had a flat white coffee and i had a vinilla milkshake. The diner had a 50's theme and the food was even better than Betty Boops, amazing stuff.
Then we went on the cable cars the things that people think are trams but in fact are a different form of transport all together. One Cable cars run on cables set into the ground and the trams run on electric cables overhead. The driving of these things looked quite skilled, there was also another bloke in charge of keeping people safe while on board and close to the tram as they are quite dangerous.
After the tram ride and getting lost on the way to Lombard street we ended up at pier 39 and the warf. Which was a bit disapointing Jaimee and i had a picture in our minds of a upmarket dining area with bars and cafes ect. What we found was loads of tacky shops hooters and an amusement pier, all over priced and so touristy.
After a sit on the grass we headed back to see if we could find Lombard St. On the way though we saw a man sitting on a bench, not strange until he pulled out a Gecko from under his coat and sat it on the womans lap next to him. Luckily the woman look it as a joke and petted the bloody thing but it was quite a shock for her. Then as a little girl watched he place a baby Gecko on her sholder. SF's not short of weirdos.
We saw some more wildlife by the pier with a colony on seals living on one of the abandoned jettys which was nice so we got some pics and headed off. We got a tram back to the top of the st and then walked up one of SF's famous steep streets to Lombard St. This is the curvy st that you see in postcards of SF and in the movies. It was also a little underwhelming. All the pictures id seen of it showed it to have nice cars driving down it and be very flowery in the elegant part of town. The reality is a short street with normal poeple and cars using it. There are even people drives that back onto it which i never reliased.
It was now rush hour and 3 buses went passed before we could get on one back to our part of town. When we did get back we went fro a drink across the road from our hotel. The waiter told us of the pizza place he uses so we thought we'd give it a go. It was delicious, i has pizza and Jaimee had pasta so that evening we stayed in and chilled infornt of the TV eating our tasty dinner.
14/4/07
Today we picked up or Fijian dollars and went from breaky in a little place suggested by the guide book. As promiced it was very cheap although not as nice as other places we'd had breakfast.
Our first port of call was Alamo square it was a park that had great view over the city apparently. It was ok but i think we are in store of better views over the coming few months. Then we walked down to Golden Gate Park though the part of town that still lived in Frisco's 60/70 heyday. The air smelt 'funny' and everything was decked out in a groovy manor. We looked in a lot of the shops but i cant say the jesus frocks were for me. This was another strange part of San Fran with plently of strange people.
We planned to walk the length of the park to the Pacific ocean. This though as i found out while at the park was the biggest of its type in the world. After 30mins walking we'd not even scrathed the surface. The tennis courts and gardens were nice but there were also a lot of junkies and homeless int he park which really put me off SF as it was the same in a lot of the city.
So when we finally gave up we walked to the nearest exit of the park onto the road and got on a buss down to the beach. When we got there it was incredibly windy. We grabbed a few pics of our first visit to the Pacific ocean and then got out of there as standing there was like being sand blasted.
Our next port of call was the Golden Gate Brodge. We has a few pics in the garden below the bridge and then headed up to the main attraction. This thing really is huge, and well woth a visit for the views back over the bay and city.
Another bus and tram ride got us back home where we chilled for a while before heading out for tea. We wanted to go to a resturaut we were suggest by a homess man. He approached us asking if we wanted info of SF in exchange for money when we asked for the best italian in town he told us to come to Pucchiniis. It was pretty nice but expensive and i wondered how a homeless man would know this was the place to come. Neither Jaimee or i were hungry so i had a salad and jaimee had a Brushetta. Both of us were pooped after our day of sight seeing so we went home to bed.
15/4/07
We retuened to Louis today as this was out favouirte place for breakfast. We rang home and then got the train to the airport. We watched the planes with a coffee untill our flight to LA was called. Once thre we wrote our diaries and got dinner before getting out flight to Fiji. There were a load of good films on offer which i wanted to watch but as it was i just about remember taking off.
16/4/07
THE DAY THAT NEVER HAPPEN! Because of the date line phemonmon we didnt get to see this day, crazy.
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