Hello everyone I hope you are all well.

Now I have good news and bad news for you. Lets start with the good news, I survived! Yes, if you remember when I left you last time I had just signed myself up to jump the first ever bungy, AJ Hackett, 43m high off the Kawarau Bridge. I can't remember ever being quite so scared, my legs usually go to jelly just climbing a ladder. When I was at the top and they were strapping my legs together the man asked if I wanted to get dunked in the water or not, I explained that this was a once in a lifetime occurrence so I may as well go the whole hog and do it properly so getting dunked was definitely on the agenda. I couldn't put it off any longer, my time had come, the lady told me to smile at the camera then smile at the other camera where all my friends were from the bus supporting me, it was at this stage I said 'ok just hang on a minute', she completely ignored me obviously she wasn't up for hanging on and counted down three, two, one…….argh and I was gone. I can't really remember too much about it as it was over so quickly, just that I was completely disorientated. Once I'd begun slowing down two men in a boat rowed over and held out a pole for me to grab onto and pull me into the boat. As I grabbed the pole, even before I was in the boat one of the men began a conversation about where I was from and was I on the kiwi bus, it wasn't a good time for me to engage in conversation. Well, I did it, that can be ticked off the list, but I feel it can be filed away in the not to be repeated section.

Now for the bad news. I have developed a small problem in the form of a constant clicking noise in my head, I've not been to the doctors yet but it won't go away. Oops, silly me, its not in my head its me on my camera taking pictures of absolutely everything I see because I'm in Las Vegas baby! Las Vegas of the US of A variety. I have come to the conclusion that there is not one single part of me that is cool in this country, I am completely awe struck. Example, the other day when I was in LA, Beverly Hills to be precise, I took a picture of a snack truck, it was the same as the one that used to be outside the hospital in ER that George Clooney used. I casually walked past and thinking I was alone, poised my camera, click, yay got the picture, then from behind I heard a man laughing, oh caught. He pointed out the fact that I was obviously not from around here to which I replied that we don't have those in England, a little embarrassed I scurried off, you see not at all cool. Anyway I am getting ahead of myself, I still have to fill you in on my last wonderful adventures in New Zealand before getting to America.

So I had arrived in Queenstown, this is where I was to spend New Years Eve, its supposed to be the best place for adrenaline junkies and party animals in the southern hemisphere. I must say the Nomads hostel here was the best hostel I've stayed in ever, the rooms were clean and bright, communal areas were good and they provided a free breakfast and dinner daily, so anyone heading to Queenstown I would highly recommend staying there. I loved Queenstown, it is a little corner of the world where I could quite happily live, if I won the lottery that is, very expensive and exclusive. There is a beach there, lots of local walks in the mountains, bars, restaurants and shops. It was summer when I was there but in the winter it is a very popular ski resort. I decided to leave my bus and stay here for a while as I still had a number of days left in New Zealand and I really felt like I was on holiday here. New Years Eve was good, I must say the cheapest one I have ever had prior to the age of 16. We drank in the hostel, then went down to the beach to watch the fireworks, wandered about a bit then went to bed, job done, thank you very much. After a couple of vinos that evening I had arranged to go for a walk on the morning of New Years Day with Brian and Cassandra, father and daughter on the bus, it was a good idea at the time. Actually it was a lovely walk, however it was very steep up a mountain and I believe probably best not to be attempted when feeling a little under the weather, but then again do I ever think these things through? When we did eventually get to the summit, it was well worth it, the panoramic views were amazing. I feel that all I ever say about New Zealand is its beautiful, wonderful or amazing or words to those affect, its hard to put into words though, it really is the most beautiful country that I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. I remember when I used to work at the seafood restaurant in Sydney, I used to sing 'one day I'll fly away' from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. I couldn't help but smile to myself ,as one day whilst on the bus this song came on my ipod (ok, no need to judge me, we all know that I've always had questionable taste in music), I looked out of the window as we ascended higher and higher into the mountains and thought to myself I really had flown away. Anyway, I digress.

Near Queenstown is a place called Milford Sounds, this is known as the eighth wonder of the world and you could take a bus out there and a 2 hour boat cruise. Ok, so I wasn't going to do anymore activities, but really could I come to the other side of the world, be a 4 hour drive from the eighth wonder of the world and not go and see it, I don't think so. I am so pleased I went and it definitely deserved the title of eighth wonder of the world. Even the 4 hour drive there was picturesque so that was thoroughly enjoyable too, winding our way higher, and through a tunnel in the side of one of the mountains. When we got on the boat they had put on a thoroughly good buffet, once again eat for the lean times (you would really think I was starving the way I go on, trust me, I'm really not). After we had feasted we headed to the front of the boat to enjoy the 2 hour cruise, it was a small piece of heaven. Cruising between huge rocks and waterfalls with bright blue water, picture perfect.

After bidding farewell to my fellow bus buddies I was off to make the journey back to Auckland where I was flying out of. Ok, now I know I said Milford Sounds was my last activity, there was just one more that I really had to do and that was swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura. Initially I wasn't too fussed by this as, especially working on the pearl boats I had had a lot of interaction with dolphins and was happy with these experiences. However, its never enough is it? No, after speaking to a number of people I discovered this was a truly remarkable experience, and there are not just a couple of dolphins but over 100. At 4.30am I found myself getting up and walking down to the centre where they were going to take us out. After being issued with our snorkelling gear, and watching a safety/promotional video we got on the boat and the lookout for dolphins began. After about 20 minutes we saw some, but continued on as we were assured to see more, and we were not let down. We stopped the boat and there were between 150 and 200 dusty dolphins. We were advised that if we wanted the dolphins to come near us we had to be playful and entertaining, as they find us interesting just as we do them. Techniques to appear amusing to a dolphin include the following a) make funny singing dolphin noises (I am still not convinced this was actually required but just for the tour guides amusement, we sounded like a bunch of lunatics!), b) keep eye contact with the dolphin and follow them around in circles and c) dive down to get their attention. I think I must have been pretty amusing, I believe it was the singing, because so many dolphins came so close to me and we had races and it really did work to keep eye contact. The best bit was at the very end, I couldn't see any dolphins and thought they had gone when suddenly they all swam past me from behind, one swam right underneath me on its back, its white tummy was literally cms from mine - amazing! Slight down point of that morning was back on the boat 5 of our 10 group all had their heads in buckets being sick, I thought just don't look at it and keep eating the ginger biscuits, purely for medicinal purposes you see they help settle the stomach.

It was time to bid farewell to New Zealand (not only because I had a flight booked but also because I couldn't be trusted not to indulge in further activities), what a fantastic time I'd had, experienced and seen so much and met some great people. But onwards and upwards and onto the plane, this time USA I was bound, very excited is an understatement. I arrived in LA, and as prepared as I always am had not arranged anywhere to stay but this wasn't a problem, I simply walked up to the information desk at the airport and asked how far I was from the city centre. Well, that was my first mistake, the lady informed me that there wasn't a city centre as such, there were different areas, Downtown, Hollywood, Beverly Hills (which isn't technically LA but a city in its own right, they have different councils). She recommended I head to Hollywood (I think she could see the potential in me), so off on the shuttle bus I went, destination HOLLYWOOD! I was quite tired at this stage, you see, I'd left Auckland at 7.15pm on January 17th (happy wedding anniversary by the way mum and dad), and arrived in LA at 10.15am on January 17th (happy wedding anniversary by the way mum and dad), with very little sleep in between, I can honestly say it's the longest day I've ever had! But my excitement took care of that, as I saw the Hollywood sign in the distance I squeezed the arm of the Dutch man sat next to me, I had arrived!

On my first day I went for a walk along Hollywood Boulevard, where I was staying, along the walk of fame, past the numerous theatres and down to Sunset Boulevard. I actually walked miles that day but I just wanted to absorb it all and see as much as possible. I must say I was quite surprised by how unglamorous Hollywood is, it is almost seedy. I'm not 100% sure what I expected, but it wasn't that. Along Hollywood Boulevard there are souvenir shops, hotels, cinemas, theatres, tattoo parlours (in fact my room mate in the hostel just 'popped out' one night and returned with some art on her arm), lots of people trying to get you to go on their tour and how can I leave out the food outlets, there is just food everywhere! Now I realised early on that I had not planned this trip very well, making USA my last stop was a big mistake, especially in winter, not only would I go home with no resemblance of a tan, but I would become a barrel and would endure the 'you look healthy/you've bloomed' comments, I may have to go nil by mouth soon. I'm only joking, you see there is so much to choose from I walk around aimlessly for a while and generally end up with a plain old ham sandwich, obviously double the size of what you or I are used to. As well, because the majority of the food is burgers, hot dogs, mexican and pizza, which all contain very few vegetables and a lot of grease, I find myself craving fresh food so thankfully I don't think I will fall into the fast food trap.

The following day I purchased a 48hour ticket for the hop on hop off open top bus tour, yes they are a bit cliché, but I do believe that a great way to get your bearings in any city is by going on one of these. You can see exactly what the city has to offer and can either have a look around at that point or know where you want to go back to. It was lucky I had bought the 48hour ticket as they were hard pushed to keep me on the bus, at every stop there was something I wanted to have a look around. I was so eager on the first stop that on disembarking the bus I got the leg of my jeans caught creating a rather classy rip, not what I need for my already dwindling backpacker wardrobe. The tour guide pointed out all the celebrity hot spots both past and present, where people were married/buried/arrested/born/died to name but a few, I could list all of the information but I think these blogs are long enough as it is. I just lapped it all up, I was in my element. My favourite parts were when references to Clark Gable were made, he really does have to be the most handsome, charismatic man to ever grace our screens (sorry George, you're a close second), and mixed with the history, and imagining the old Hollywood in its heyday, it made for a rather wonderful experience.

There is so much money in Beverly Hills. Walking down the residential streets I noticed the perfectly manicured lawns and roadsides, the fire hydrants are even platinum here, there are separate alley ways at the back of the houses for the bin men to drive up so that they don't make the street appear 'untidy'. Each house is unique and magnificent in its own way, I saw Clark Gables house! These residential streets are all symmetrically tree lined, however each one is lined with a different variety of tree, no two streets are the same.

After dreaming at the houses it was time to walk down Rodeo Drive, I would fit in perfectly here, especially with my freshly ripped jeans. I decided not to venture into any of the shops, just a bit of window shopping. It was all immaculate and there was so much bling, I love a bit of bling me, even the 'Rodeo Drive' street sign was diamante encrusted. At the very end I was in for a real treat, as there on Wilshire Boulevard, stands the famous hotel where Richard Gere changed the life of the lovely Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Now this was quite special to me, as many of you will know, I studied Hospitality Management at university and went on to have management roles in hotels for a number of years. I first decided that this was the career for me after watching Pretty Woman, and seeing how the Manager of the hotel in this film helped Julia Roberts. Now I'm not saying that at the age of 15 it became my main goal in life to help prostitutes, but to see him working in the beautiful surroundings and it was his job to ensure that everyone enjoyed themselves, like having lots of friends around to your house, obviously in reality it is nothing like that, hence I am on the other side of the world doing this instead of my planned career.

It was time to head back to the bus and to follow the route on down to Santa Monica. I'm sure we've all heard of Baywatch, yes this is that beach, I had a look around, but oh, ou est le Hoff? It is winter here, that may be pretty obvious to yourselves who share the same seasons as America, but I've just come from Australia and New Zealand where summer is Nov - Feb. There is quite a chill to the air, but it is a lovely sunny day, too cool to be lying on the beach though so that was practically empty. The pier was a hive of activity, it basically had the same as any pier back home, fair rides, hotdog stands, performers etc, I do think one difference is that you could have a trapeze lesson here if desired. There was allsorts of fitness equipment on the beach itself, including an actual outside gym. If you walk 40 minutes along the beach, being careful to avoid the numerous joggers/cyclists/rollerbladers, you reach Venice Beach. Here was a stark contrast to Santa Monica beach, there was none of the glamour and posing here. It was far more bohemian, arty and visibly a lot poorer than its neighbouring beach. It was one strip of market stalls and people begging, I will give them 10/10 for their signs, just a couple of examples ' Please help, I'm too ugly for prostitution' and 'need money for penis reduction', ha, not your average pleas. I don't think too many areas I have visited have intimidated me, and it was fine walking down there by day, but I feel I would have been slightly apprehensive if I'd booked a hostel in that area and was staying there overnight. After the 40 minute walk back to Santa Monica, obviously including lots of photo stops, it was time to get my bus again. By this stage the sun was setting and I can tell you it was a bit chilly sat at the top of that bus, but it did not deter from my fun. I finally got off at 8pm after a very successful and enjoyable 11 hours of hopping on and off bus fun. Two more routes left for the following day!

The next day I went downtown. This like the majority of all cities had lots of skyscrapers (don't worry James I have taken lots of photos for you, my brother in law is obsessed with them), and the various areas, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Jewellery District, Fashion District and Broadway. Although the previous day I had witnessed such excessive wealth, Los Angeles is just like any other city, there are the prosperous areas and also the poorer areas, I do think I have seen more homeless people here than in any other city I have visited, and many areas I passed appeared to be so run down. I am not saying that the whole of Downtown LA is run down, there are some beautiful buildings, Union Station, the Convention Centre, Grammy Museum, Grand Central Library, City Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall and some of the old theatres on Broadway. What I did love about Broadway is the fact that it has been untouched and all of the original old buildings line the street, it is like a very realistic trip back in time.

I also visited the Universal Studios which is up in the hills, I didn't go in and get the tour around, but you can walk around some parts of it, obviously all larger than life!

After a few days I decided to head to Las Vegas. I was very pleased with myself for booking a bus ticket for the journey for $20, very cheap especially considering the next lowest fare for other companies was $68. It was an early morning bus, so at 5.30am I got ready, quietly snuck out my shared dorm so as not to wake anyone and walked to the metro station, hopefully this would be easy to navigate. Luckily it was, two platforms, one downtown and the other out of town, even I couldn't go wrong with that. I must say it was very cheap as well, my 15 minute train journey costing me the equivalent of just under £1. I decided to get a taxi from the metro station to the bus station as it was quite a walk with my rucksack, which I can tell you I am learning very quickly to loathe, the daily tantrums resulting in me sitting on it trying to get it closed, its not pretty. Anyway, I diverse, off to the bus station we were, it wasn't actually the main bus station, just a pick up address for this particular bus. With the aid of sat nav the taxi driver located it for me, oh dear, maybe that cheap ticket wasn't such a good idea after all. I turned up to this dingy looking office where all the men spoke in Spanish, and outside was parked a bus that looked like it could have given Arthur a run for his money health wise. It had said on the internet that some days the wireless internet is not in operation, I was guessing that this was one of those days, it barely looked like the wheels would stay on let alone have internet. Ok, I could do this, it was only a five hour bus trip, no big deal. After about 20 minutes one of the men informed me that the office was now open and to go down the road, this was more like it, phew outside sat a nice shiny new bus, the bargain hunt had paid off and I was taken to Las Vegas in relative comfort.

I arrived on the main strip in Las Vegas. I have always been one for bright colours and sparkly, flashy lights and I won't deny that I can even be a bit cheesy on the odd occasion, I had arrived to the perfect place. It is everything and more to what you imagine. Now, I was extremely excited upon arrival here, not just because of my surroundings but argh…….because I had treated myself big time and booked myself into the 5* Bellagio Hotel, you know the one with the fabulous dancing fountains? Oceans 11? George Clooney? I know I am a backpacker and it is a bit, well ok very excessive but I had to do it and even if I don't eat for two weeks it was absolutely and undoubtedly worth every penny, oops cent, and anyway I'm very lucky that I have a good singing voice and if times get too hard I can start busking, lets face it I'm in the right place. It is a different world, they say New York is the city that never sleeps, I actually think Las Vegas can be added that. The Bellagio is just one of the massive hotels, there are so many of them all with there different themes, Caesar Palace, New York New York, Treasure Island need I go on? Each with their over the top lobbies, finest restaurants and designer shops. After having a nosey around my room and jumping on the bed a couple of times I ran outside and eagerly awaited the fountain performance. It can only be described as spectacular and larger than life, like everything here. During the day it is every 30 minutes and increases to every 15 minutes at night. They play very dramatic songs and the fountains move and dance around in time, they reach such heights, higher than the hotel. I don't know if I was just over excited or needed a brandy, but I can honestly say I was so moved the first time I saw this display I nearly cried but don't tell anyone, obviously now, after seeing it ALOT of times I deal with it in a more mature and level headed fashion.

Things were not quite as good after that night, I could only justify staying there for one night and I am now staying at a motel 5 miles down the strip near downtown. Similarly to Los Angeles, this is not quite such a classy area of town. My motel is opposite a very inviting 24 hour tattoo parlour called 'Prescious Slut', need I say more? Oh how the mighty have fallen!

Today has been a bit of a disaster. I was very excited and had another early 5am start as I had booked myself to go and see the Grand Canyon. There are two locations you can go to for this, the west rim or the south rim. What I had not previously known is that the grand Canyon is actually 200 miles in length, so there was a substantial difference to which tour I selected. The west rim involved approximately a 2 hour bus journey and it is not as elevated as the south rim. Selecting the south rim tour, which I had, entailed a 4 hour bus journey to the location, you may wonder my reasoning behind this, it is because the views are supposed to be far better from this side due to being that much higher up. Everything started off fine, I waited for the bus dressed in my thermal top and winter coat, thank you Matt and Mia, and my furry ugg boots, thank you Linda and Jason, what would I do without my two Australian families protecting me from the baltic weather conditions over here? On entering the bus they supplied me with a little breakfast bag, nice touch. I was the first pick up so after picking everyone else up from their grander hotels further up the strip we were on our way. There is a population of 2 million in Las Vegas, 85% of which work in the service industry accommodating the 37 million tourists they receive annually, very few of these residents live in Las Vegas itself. They live in an area spanning 20 miles just outside of the city, we saw these residential areas this morning as we departed Las Vegas, it looked strange to me, very flat with lots of housing estates, all the same colour and all the same colour as the desert.

Our first stop on this trip was the Hoover Dam, it really is quite a construction. There is a lot of military/security presence as they had a number of security threats. There are two statues of angels near the entrance, these represent the two people that died during the building of the dam, one near the beginning of the works and the other at the end. As if that is not sad enough in itself, these two individuals were father and son. After a brief walk around and many photos later we got back on the bus, we had a lot of miles to cover. A little further up the road we slowly pulled up on the side and the engine had gone worryingly quiet, can you believe we broke down! I believe I am jinxed, what with Arthur, the Kiwi bus and now this. Luckily a sister company bus was 30 minutes behind us so they were going to take us it was ok we were back on track. We carried on for a few more hours and the sky became whiter and whiter and then it was snowing. It has been a while since I've seen snow as its not a regular occurrence in Australia but I didn't have a good feeling about it now. It got progressively worse the closer we got to the national park, and as we pulled up to enter we were informed that due to the weather it was closed. The bus turned around and we found ourselves heading back to Las Vegas, all in all, I have spent from 6am - 6.30pm today on a bus, and all I have seen is the inside of three very questionable service stations, not the breathtaking landscape I had envisaged. I know its no ones fault and the company have given me a full refund but I am a bit disappointed, I can't stand the thought of doing it all again tomorrow and after that I don't think I will have time to go again. Never mind will just have to come back to Las Vegas baby in the future!

Well once again I feel I have substantially bored you all enough, I hope you have enjoyed my adventures so far. Hopefully by my next update I will have calmed down a bit and will be acting my cool, sophisticated and classy self.

As always lots of love to you all and until next time. xxxxx