Cabin Number 2

Hello there...

So this was going to be my second Hawaiian post before moving on to Oz but once again things have gotten in the way, times moved on and it's now going to be classified as my first post in Australia! Another month has passed and Maui has been and gone, but not without a fight. It seemed the island did not want us to leave and in a strike of unfortunateness we went and missed our flight to Sydney. Not by a minute, not by an hour....but by a whole day.
I have no idea how we got things so drastically wrong but I do know that it meant we were in America illegally for 3 days and have now lost our UK visa rights (not cool) but that I used the extra days to practice back rolls (cool).

I'm really happy with the amount I managed to get done whilst on the island, the last month had been an interesting and varied one with a dollop of beach, a spoonful of kite surfing, and a pinch of soul searching. By the end I'd seen loads of the island, pretty much all of it actually and I feel like I really know it inside out which was the grand plan.

So since my last post we've done a few more larger road trips and I finally got round to doing the Waihee Ridge Trail hike which nearly killed me (a VERY strenious 2 hour, 2,600ft uphill climb into the clouds to the mountain summit).

Our first road trip was a few weeks back and I call it the West Maui Loop as we did a loop of, well, West Maui. The drive is a circle and takes you along the top of the north cliffs, round to the touristy west coastal beaches of Lahaina town and south along the base of the mountain back to the starting point in Kahului.

It's a testing drive especiallly for Buck the truck who is almost wider than the actual road at some points but we made it round the windy corners without hitting another car or falling off the cliffs which is good, because we didn't have any insurance, oops.

Along the way we stopped at all the right places according to my guidebook and even managed to find Julie's stall which is quoted as having 'the best banana bread in the world', and yes it was really, really goooooood.
Our first stop were the Olvine Pools which are natural formation rockpools formed from sea erosion on the black lava. They were only discovered in recent years and now although a bit of a tourist trap were very pretty and worth seeing. There are about 5 different pools of different depths and colours (a coloured gem in the rock make them shimmer green in the sun) and with the pacific crashing dramatically against their edges it was a cool experience.

Next along the coast was the Nakalele Blowhole which is again formed from sea erosion and pumps a water spout high into the air when the sea pumping right. We were doing this trip a few days after a tropical depression had passed by the islands so luckily the sea was quite ferocious and it was exploding 30ft in the air!

By now it was mid afternoon and we hadn't even got to Lahaina yet but I wanted to squeeze in one more thing, locally called the Dragon's Teeth at Makalua-Puna Point. Hundreds of years of salt spray had whitened and eroded the lava into sharp points which kinda look like teeth, it was pretty cool except I didnt charge my camera the day before and annoyingly couldn't take any photos!

Then we got round to Lahaina, sat on a beach for Sunset and had a nice (but expensive) dinner. After that, it was highway all the way home and straight to bed.

On our last weekend in Maui I had arranged a 2 day camping trip around the island which actually worked out really well. The plan was to camp over night in Wai'ananapnapa State Park (that's the real name I promise!) just outside of Hana, the most eastern point of the island. We picked up our permits, packed the cooler with food and drink and got going on a bright sunny Saturday morning.
Again the trusty guidebook was used to get us to the extra special hideaways along the way and although the boys wern't too keen on stopping much we managed to see and do a lot the first day. My favourite things were a bamboo forest hike and eating/swimming at secret little waterfalls off the beaten track.

That evening we pulled into Wai'ananapanapa just before night fall and checked out the local black sand beach and caves which were quite scary in the dark. We had booked a cabin to sleep in and initially the plan was to live up to the stereotype of marshmallows and camp songs around the firepit but as darkness fell we felt more and more like we were in a 1950's horror film where the house gets surrounded by bugs and creepy crawlies are swarming all over the windows. Infact, there were so many flies, mosquitoes, lizards, spiders and cockroaches on the other side of those huge glass panes that I wouldn't sit near one let alone go outside and be eaten alive. Plus I also got paranoid that some serial killler was watching us from the woods and couldn't sleep so it fair to say it was a restless night.

The next day we got going earlyish and started the drive around the south of Maui and towards more of Maui's natural attractions. We stopped at Hamoa Bay where there were some big waves to play in and then continued round to the Venus Pool, a freshwater and saltwater mix pool where the locals go to hang out and jump off the rocks.

As the afternoon wore on it was important for us to get through the baron sections of road and up to the volcano before sunset. Buck took some brutal batterings on the unpaved roads and to be honest i'm very suprised the rust didn't give way and everything fall through.but somehow he managed the 10,000ft climb and we thought our luck was in....but it wasn't. On the way back down our brakes stopped working for the SECOND time which is not what you need on a 20 mile steep downhill stretch...on the side of a volcano...in the dark. After pulling into a scenic view area in a panic and assessing the danger levels and risk of death we decided to carry on at 3mph with Loz pumping the emergency break and 3 hours later we somehow, and I have no idea how, got home safely. All fun and games when driving Buck!

After the Hana trip we had a few days to round things up before our flight to Oz. I kited everyday and Loz managed to flog the broken truck to a garage for $350, to be honest I didn't expect to get anything for it so that was a bonus! Then we suceeded in missing our flight by getting the wrong day and spent a night on the phone to Qantas, Hawaiian Airlines, STA Travel and American Immigration and paying the price for our stupid mistake. The next flight Qantas could put us on was in 5 days and I used those by kiting everyday and battering my body to the point of exhaustion.

When Tuesday 25th rolled around we had to be up at 4am, in a taxi at 4.30am, on a flight to Ohau at 6.00am and ready for boarding to Australia at 9.15am, all pretty crazy but second time round it went well and without a hitch.

Arriving in Sydney was a weird feeling. I don't know, I guess being thrown back into civilization was a shock to the system and not only that we were going from an all-year summer location to an Australian winter. We're now 9 hours ahead of the UK rather than behind and to top it all we lost a day and a half on a 10 hour flight. Our bodies are confused because the sun starts to fade at 4pm, the shadows get longer and there's a freshness in the air but still I have to say, even their winter days and better than a UK summer day, I think I may have to move here at some point.

So now we've been here 3 days and it's the morning of the 4th, our first few days were all about settling in and checking out the city which I really love and yesterday we got to explore a bit of northern Sydney and the national park area which was beautiful. Today I believe it's time to get down to research as our plans have changed and we will no longer be staying and working in Sydney for Sept, Oct and Nov but rather at Surfers Paradise in Queensland (This is Lauries fault from Maui as she recommended it!). We will come back to Sydney for the month of December and for Christmas and New Year though. Thinking ahead of that scares me so we'll leave it at that for now!

Ok, so that's it for now! Time to look into booking flights to the Gold Coast...

Boot Camp Paradise

Helloooooooo people!

I thought it was about time for a Hawaii update and as the pace of life is nice and slow here so I can't be blaimed for leaving it till now!
I've had lots of time to learn about the island in the last 2 weeks and our 'Maui Revealed' guidebook has hardly left my side whenever I leave the studio.
The island is actually pretty tiny and i've written up a mini list of things I want to achieve while here (no surprise there then).

My routine mainly consists of 2 things, beaching and kitesurfing. Not a bad routine!
Seeing as it's the best place in the world to do it I'm kiting often and doing the mingle thing with the locals. Kahana Beach doesn't seem to have the same localism issues that Kite Beach does and i'm really enjoying the freedom that taking to the sea alone gives me. In fact i'm full blown obsessed with it and the thought of not being able to kite 5 times a week makes me break into a sweat.
Maui is very varied and beautiful and there are many things to do when you have a car and the desire to explore. The boys don't seem so keen about the hikes as i do though so I'm getting out there and back to nature with myself for company.

Since my last post Buck has 'sort of' behaved himself with no more random scary incidents occurring whilst on the road. Until yesterday that is, when he ran out of gas halfway up the mountain while I was on a rare drive alone. Cheers Buck.
There I am trying to be all independent when I get left in the extremely undesirable situation of knocking on random residential doors trying to blag a lift back to my house for the forgotten gas tank. Did i mention our fuel gauge doesn't work!?

There are a few places that have become our regular day visits, these are Paia, Ho'opika, Baldwin Beach and Big Beach.
Paia is a very quaint little town with a surfer type population and oozes Maui charm. The buildings are wooden and painted all sorts of bright oolours, palms line the roads and little (pricey) boutiques suck peoples bank accounts dry. There's a great little coffee shop called Anthonys where we've become VERY familiar faces and i'm able to walk in and say 'the usual please' which is novel.

Ho'opika is a stretch of coastline with a small beach on the North shore that is widely known as the best windsurfing spot in the world. A pretty impressive claim for a little piece of island! It's fun to watch them zooming up and down like ants on a water motorway but no kiters are allowed so I can't join in there.

Baldwin Beach is beautiful, a golden strip of sand with artistic looking driftwood poking out of the sand at all angles. It's a great place to chill and i've taken to drinking a beer and listening to music as the sun goes down here.

Big Beach is Loz's favourite as there is a dangerous shorebreak present most of the time, perfect for bodyboarding. This wave is known for for its injury count and it's not unusual for people to break their necks and backs from being thrown over the lip and down onto the sand. Therefore I'm very careful when I go in the sea there and never turn my back to the ocean!

So last Monday we ventured to Twin Falls, a set of fairly touristy waterfalls buried in the jungle along the North Shore. Aside from giving the jurassic sized mosquitoes a tasty lunch it was a fun day trip and I got an extra buzz by wondering off the beaten track and discovering a much prettier and secluded waterfall away from anyone else. Playing under the falls was like something straight from a movie scene and I loved it. There are many more to be found but they will come during our road trip to Hana (more on that later).

On Tuesday we snuck down to Baldwin after dark and attempted a BBQ on the beach. Previous travellers had left a surprisingly well built fire pit made of reef stone accompanied by driftwood logs to sit on and although we had our fair share of problems (like Loz forgetting the grill for the meat!) we made some mean burgers and you know what they say...it's more about the experience than the food. Well, it was with us anyway!

Last Thursday I was itching to take the car and get some time in the mountain so I tried one of the small hikes mentioned in the guide book called the 'Waihe'e Valley Trail'. I was one of very few people on the trail and it was amazing to be walking around in the lush vegetation. However, as the sun began to set and the wind started its evening whisper in the trees above me the jungle definitely begun to take on an eerie atmosphere and I was glad to get to the end. I had to cross two swinging rope bridges and boulder hop some streams which added to the mini adventure but is probably as close to being Indiana Jones as i'll ever get.

I've been busy organising a few trips for us in the upcoming days but hurricane Felicia which has now been downgraded to a tropical storm is set to hit us tomorrow and is likely to keep us housebound for a day or two. Later this week i'm hoping to do a loop drive of west Maui and visit some of the sights in that part of the island, apparently there's an ocean blowhole formed from lava erosion which is worth a look.
Also, i'm dragging the boys on a 2 day road trip around the island which involves staying overnight in a remote little cabin in Hana on the eastern point. I'm really excited about it and know it'll be a feast for the eyes :)

It's just started raining, I can hear the drops on the wooden roof above me which is weird as it's the first rain i've had for almost 3 months. Had almost forgotten what it was like...bet you hate me for saying that?!

Anyway, time to watch some Dexter on the ipod and dream about kitesurfing (I wish i'd been born in a tropical location with wind as I know i'd be a professional by now!)

Ciao for now.

The smell of fear

The title of this entry says it all. Our first two days in Maui have been, shall we say, testing.

We very quickly realised that we needed a car, and fast. Not only does everyone have one but it is essential because most of the best places are not done by bus. Also highly important was access to Kite Beach for me and a good wave for Loz so on our first morning we got onto Craigslist and started looking.
4 hours later and after trekking to the other side of the island we were the proud owners of a 1986 Ford Bronco, complete with leaking transmission, leaking tire, broken fuel gauge and the most retro interior you’ve ever seen. But Buck (after a bucking bronco) as he’s been christened was ours for $650, a pure bargain.

However, this is where the fun begins. Loz and I decided to take the north road back to Kahului (where we live) instead of the south road, the way we’d come on the bus. We didn’t know this at the time but this was like saying I’m going to swim to France instead of take the Euro tunnel. What we also didn’t know was that Rob, our not so reliable vendor had sold us the truck with a near empty fuel tank and as the gauge doesn’t work, this was NOT cool.
So off we set of in high spirits and began the journey north around the coast stopping at a local vista spot in the middle of nowhere to take some pics. It was only when the engine wouldn’t start up again that we looked over at each other, panic replacing the jolly smiles of seconds before. We tried again…nothing. Turning over but not firing up. My stress levels were heightened by the 100ft cliff drop meters behind our dead truck.

Thanks to the guardian angels some randoms on vacation came down to the vista point not long after and drove Loz back to a gas station complete with our portable gas tank (which I’d luckily negotiated from Rob) to get fuel. It turned out that was the problem and nothing mechanical but it was still an unnecessarily grim situation to be in.
The portable gas tank only gave us 2 gallons worth of fuel and seeing as Buck is a real gas guzzler we were playing with fire the whole way home, especially on the 8 mile stretch of steep uphill single lane death trap roads we had to negotiate. The journey consisted of Loz swearing and me screaming.
Unfortunately Buck failed on us once again 3 miles from home and I had to do the demeaning hitchhike thumbs up pose to get more gas with complete randoms.
It was safe to say that when I got back to the studio that night I was emotionally shot to pieces.

And finally…that brings me to today. Today we’d planned to have a nice relaxing beach day. We wanted to drive to Paia and relaxxxx. But Buck wasn’t through with us….just as I’m cruising down the highway we started to smell something, something similar to burning rubber on steel. Oh hang on, that’s exactly what it was.
We arrived in Paia and suddenly the brakes didn’t work, they just didn’t work! It was like pushing my foot into a sponge. There was some more screaming and I managed to stop the car with the emergency stop break. We got out and the truck was smoking, an intensely rank smell filling the air. More looks of horror from Loz and I followed by quickened heartbeats.

I think the guardian angels have had to hire out extra help to look after us because this next bit is weird. I’m feeling utterly miserable at this point and we go to the local gas station to see if they know a mechanic that might be available on a Sunday. In our heads all we can think about are the $$$.
Then as I’m telling the cashier our brakes are $*#!ed a slightly eccentric but nice local guy standing behind me says he does brakes and will come take and look and do them for us there and then. I couldn’t believe it and still can’t.
This guy, replaced all our front brake pads which it turned out were NON-EXISTENT for $50. I still don’t know what we would have done without him…probably be sitting back in Paia crying.

Anyway, we got home and are praying Buck behaves himself from this day on. We’re going to attempt the Paia beach day again tomorrow and erase today from our minds.

I don’t think Maui is what Loz what expecting at first, it’s quite shanty townish in areas and pretty isolated. There’s a strong feeling of localism in some of the towns but having been to Antigua I’m finding it quite similar to my experiences there and really like it. There’s definitely going to be lots to explore over the days.
Right now it’s 2.30am and I’m off to nurse these blistered fingertips in some ice so I’ll be able to write the next entry in much better time than this one! Night night zzzzzzz.

Route 1 and beyond

At 8.00am on Sunday 21st Chris drove us to Long Beach airport and we picked up the trusty convertible that was to take us up the coast. I’d specially ordered a Mustang so was pissed off to say the least when the Avis rep said “I’m afraid we’ve only got a Chrysler here for you”…incompetent fool.
Anyway, life is too short to stress so we took the alternative convertible and with the wind in our hair left LA with Chris and Kerin in tow for our first stop Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara was very pretty and the 4 of us spent the afternoon eating Mexican and chatting before the sun began to set and we were forced to say our goodbyes. I think doing it there was easier than if we’d been in LA because it was new territory and mutual ground without memories attached. It was a sad moment and as soon as we drove away Loz and I both admitted we felt a weird sense of loneliness once again. Something we hadn‘t had since day 1.

Our first over night stop was Pismo Beach, about 2 hours drive further north so with map in hand we set off back onto route 1. We managed to get lost a couple of times, nothing serious and once ending up at a really eerie dead end on the coast complete with a deserted rail station shrouded in mist. We made it to Pismo in the dark though and all worked out ok.

I was excited about our second day (Monday 22nd) as we were going to drive the most famous and beautiful stretch of route 1 through Big Sur state park. We started the day with a traditional freshly baked cinnamon roll, filled up the tank and set off into the sun. On numerous occasions we pulled the car over to admire the gorgeous views and it really put the cherry on the Chrysler shaped cake.
That evening the weather took a turn for the English so we made our visit to Carmel Beach a quick one and checked into the Travelodge in Monterey Bay as the clouds rolled in.

Our final leg of the drive was from Monterey to San Francisco so I got behind the wheel and did the last hundred miles. It was kinda cold and cloudy and really highlighted the difference between north, central and south California. The coastline becomes rugged, rocky, grassy and windswept as opposed to one of hot, sandy and palmed lined oceans.
We cruised into San Fran around 3pm and rocked up to the address we were staying at which was an unbelievably nice flat in a great location, score! (We managed to save $60 by staying with the friend of a friend). After unpacking we had a tight 45 mins to tick off the Golden Gate bridge box before having to return the car so zoomed towards the coast, crossed the bridge, took photos and then zoomed back.

Wednesday and Thursday Loz and I spent exploring the city and seeing the tourist hotspots. Just like our first few weeks in LA we’d brought bad weather with us and it was down in 15 degrees, not cool, so I felt more like watching tv in the flat then exploring the local parks. Highlights of SF were the all you can eat curry buffet for $10 and Loz splashing out on an underwater camera for Maui (excuse the pun).

And then it was Friday, travel day. I’ll cut out the boring bits so basically we were picked up at 6.00am from the apartment in San Fran and 9 hours and 34 minutes later we touched down in Maui yay! (with a secret frappuchino squeezed in there somewhere)
As we walked off the plane I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a fully dressed up authentic Hawaiian lady holding a placard with our names on. ‘Us??’ I said as she draped a lay of beautiful fresh flowers over our necks! It turned out Kerin (who’ll be visiting us in our 3rd week) had secretly arranged for a flower company to greet us in the traditional way as his little surprise treat. It was very touching and made us smile from ear to ear.
*Trivial fact* - Last week Kerin won the grand final of Wipeout (the ridiculous water game show) and is the new owner of $50,000. We watched it on tv in San Fran with our mouths wide open as we had no idea. He hadn’t been allowed to tell us and had been hiding the news for weeks!)

Unfortunately things went a bit pear shaped when the baggage conveyor belt stopped and Loz’s body boards hadn’t appeared yet. Turns they were still back in Honolulu, oops. He has them back now though.
That evening we made ourselves at home in our little beach house studio, introduced ourselves to Brad and Hannah (who we’re renting from) and made a trip to the local grocery store for some painfully overpriced essentials.

Keep reading for part 3!…

The end of an era

Hello hello it’s been a while, ridiculously too long and so much has been going on…

Loz and I have made it to Maui and I can’t believe our California leg is over! Time really did fly those 8 weeks and we both feel pretty down about leaving. We’d fallen into the best house in the best area with amazing friends and loved the way of life…maybe a second Long Beach visit will be added next summer. Maui should be what we need though, a detox from the fairly unhealthy way on life we’d been living, too many burgers and far too much boozing!

On that note, a couple of Friday’s ago we decided to go for a more local night out, i.e something not in Hollywood that would cost a fortune so ended up at Long Beaches finest the Shore Ultra Lounge. It was a messy but very fun night with Chris, Kerin, Roman, Diana and Loz. A couple of the kite guys from the beach came along too and seemed happy to buy us drinks so that was all good!
Photographic evidence the next day told us a better story than our memories did and apparently we’d been playing with Chris’s selection of drunk paraphernalia at 4am, things like a trombone, accordion, recorder and the infamous turkey hat.

On the Saturday morning I felt less than ok but got a phone call at 8.30am ordering me to get up and ready to go to Malibu with the Naish crew! Better to do that than sit wallowing in a hangover so in an extreme amount of effort I got ready.
I’d been told that Malibu would test me with much stronger wind, narrower beaches and kelp beds in the water which you have to avoid running into. But going there that day was the best decision ever and I broke through a barrier which has got me up to speed for Maui’s conditions. (I did get stuck in the kelp once and it felt like I was in a scene from Harry Potter, being pulled under by fat watery tentacles.)

Sunday was our leaving do brunch at Spagatinis, a posh jazz club with an unlimited 5 star buffet and drinks. Unfortunately neither Loz or I had truly recovered from Friday and couldn’t really take advantage of the free champagne. There were 7 of us and we had a great day eating in the sun and listening to the music.

I can’t believe I haven’t even written about Magic Mountain and Disneyland! Ok sooooo…..last Monday Chris and I went to MM together. It was exactly what I’d been looking for, hardcore steel structures and twisted metal rising from the ground ready to throw me around. We spent the entire day there from 11am till 10pm and cheated the corporate money grabbing system by taking our own packed lunch which we ate in the 105 degree heat. It was absolutely boiling during the day as MM is inland and doesn’t receive the coastal breezes so was actually more pleasant around 5pm when the park emptied out and sun went down. That was my first time riding coasters in the dark and it was awesome, UK parks should do it, not just once a year on Halloween but everyday.
I remember seeing a program on a weird channel 5 or 6 years ago called ‘Extreme Rides’ and have always longed to ride the acid green loops of ‘Riddlers Revenge’ and there I was standing underneath it! It’s a stand up coaster so you’re actually standing in your harness while doing huge loops, twists and inversions, very cool.

Other favourites were Superman where you’re propelled forwards and vertically up into the air way above the desert, Tatsu where you’re literally flying and X2, their newest ride. X2 is the closest you’ll feel to being completely out of control and facing near certain death….love it!

The next day (last Tues) I went down to Belmont to kite and bumped into Nudge who was doing a lesson with somebody. The pressure was on as this was the first time he’d seen me kite and luckily my trip to Malibu meant I impressed him woohoo! That evening Loz and I popped into our neighbours apartment to see their 2 day old baby. When we met them Sarah was 8 months pregnant so it was crazy to actually see the baby.

On Weds I went kiting again and at the end of the day went to the local greek restaurant for some drinks with Hank and Brittney which was really nice. I’d really enjoyed chilling at the beach with them and was sad to be at our ‘last supper’ together. And later that evening Brian had invited us round for his last supper and prepared a gorgeous pie (his own secret recipe). We got a tour of the Watson crib, drank wine and chatted into the night.

Then it was Thursday which was Disney time…There must be something infectious about the excitement of Disneyland because although I like the films I’ve never particularly longed to visit the park. However, the night before going I found it hard to get to sleep and then I woke up on the hour at 6am, 7am and 8am!
Kerin picked us up at 9am and we took a mini detour to the coffee house (I’ve developed a fairly serious addiction to frappuchinos out here) before heading out to the land of happiness and magic.
It was another scorching day and the park was more crowded than I’d have liked even though it was a weekday however I’m told that Disneyland is ALWAYS crowded. I found myself having to seriously adjust my theme park radar because it’s about as far from the Magic Mountain fear levels as you can get but it was very fun and I can see how it’d be a dream come true for kids.
Part of me wishes adults could once again achieve that truly lost in the moment, all consuming wonder and magic that only a child’s undeveloped brain can access…but I was more concerned with how much a cheese and ham sandwich had just cost me.

We met some of the characters, rode most of the rides (ran out of time at the end even though we stayed till midnight) and watched the extremely extravagant fireworks and water show which put London’s New Year ones to shame (and Disneys happen every single night!).

…But I do have to admit, as Micky waved his wand and Goofy, Buzz Lightyear and the seven dwarfs floated by on a big white boat singing about the power of imagination I felt pretty damn good.

The next day was to be my last down at the beach kiting and I made the most of it by staying in the water for hours. Todd even gave me a cd with the pictures he’d taken of me kiting back in Malibu which I was very grateful for. That evening we threw a going away party and had around 25 people come over and cause much mayhem. The night ended at 5am with the karaoke machine out and me wailing ‘Let it Be’ into the microphone.

So that brings us to last Saturday. We’d booked Harry Potter tickets for the IMAX 3D experience and were all pretty excited about going, the only problem was that it turned out only the first 5 minutes were in 3D!!! WHAT A CON! I hate false advertising.
Yeah the film was good but we’d paid $17 to see HP in 3D and it wasn’t! Simpson was fuming.
Luckily there was a women giving out feedback forms about the film outside the exit and you can be sure I vented my opinions onto it, oh yes I did.
Loz and I spent the rest of the day putting together a little present for Chris. We’d had 4 photos from different points in our trip developed (Grand Canyon, Vegas, Hollywood) and put them in a frame for him. It was a nice way to end the day and the trip.

I’m going to split this gigantic update into three entries so part 2 about the road trip coming up…

Emergency Update...

Arghhhhhhhhhhh Kerin has just revealed that he's managed to get Loz and I FREE tickets to Disneyland!!!!

This is completely unexpected, so with Magic Mountain on Monday and now Disneyland on Thursday I am toooooooo excited!

Time Flies!

I can't believe it's 10 days since I posted....well, actually I can because i've been feeling guilty about not writing one for the last 4...

The days are whizzing past, how are we nearly coming to the end of our LA experience?! Extending our time here to 2 months was 100% the right decision and i'm so glad we did it. I feel that when the 19th swings around (our leaving date) i'll have done everything I wanted to achieve by this point and maxed out Long Beach's resources.
It's been a fun filled, jam packed 6 weeks and when I think back to everything we've done I can't believe how amazing it's been and I couldn't have asked for a better start to the trip.
Vegas, camping, Grand Canyon, Loz's birthday, Hollywood nights out, day trips up and down the coast, July 4th and i'm especially pleased with the scary times i've been through to get to where I am now with the kiting. It seems like a very long time ago I was cycling down to Huntington Beach in search of my Aussie instructor and now I've had all my lessons, bought the kit (i'm about to get a second kite too oops!) and am up and riding.

Last week was an intensive water week and I spent Monday to Friday day times down on Belmont hanging out with the crew. I'm pretty settled in there now and the banter's flowing between us so all is good...it's sad i'm leaving! It was a good week for kiting with nice wind and I managed to travel upwind a bit.
Last Monday evening Kerin was up for going to see Transformers 2 which Loz and Chris were also keen to see. I on the other hand had vague memories of attempting to sit through Transformers 1 during my ski trip last year and thinking it was a pile of crap so wasn't so excited at the prospect. I'm not one to judge on a past experience so thought I'd go along for the ride and give it a 2nd shot.....and 3 hours later wished I hadn't. What a waste of my life that was. *note to self - ALWAYS trust your instincts and never give anything a 2nd attempt*

After kiting on Wednesday Hank and the crew took me and Loz to Racals, a restaurant that specialises in dishes with teriyake sauce. It was cool to try something new even if the burgers were a little weird! There were so many obese people in there though, realllly American.

On Thursday Loz and I rediscovered our love for Yoghurt Land. Such a good concept, self serve flavoured yoghurts followed by a multitude of amazing toppings, sauces, fruits, sweets, whatever you want! It's pretty cheap too for the amount you get. So now our daily routine includes taking the beach cruisers for a spin down 2nd street and serving up the creamy goodness.

Friday we did the same, some post kiting Yoghurt Land followed by a spontanious meal out with Chris down 2nd Street. We went to Magic Lamp which is all Moroccan inspired deco and food complete with a crazy waiter with multiple personalities. He kept serving us wine to taste in the hope we would buy a glass but with the thought of our limited funds in the back of our heads we just led him on and didn't haha. It was a nice, relatively healthy evening to prepare us for the completely unhealthy day to follow.

So then it was Saturday July 4th, Indepedence Day. Celebration of all things American. We live in a picturesque little part of Long Beach where everyone smiles and happiness fills the air so the vibe was buzzing, the sun shining and people began drinking as soon as they rose in the morning.
There's a little patch of beach just next to the marina dubbed 'Horny Corner' as it's where all the 18-25 yr olds hang out and is apparently the place to be on July 4th so we set up base camp with some tiki torches and blankets on the sand for the day.
The next 15 hours are a bit of a blur but involved meeting many new people all over the place, blagging endless free food and drink and laughing a lot!
One highlight was Ryan's BBQ (Loz's gym buddy) where there was a MASSIVE tray of cookies and just generally loads of yummy things to eat. We met a really funny random girl there called Libby who just couldn't get enough of our accent and the way we said stuff. She just wanted me to speak at her the whole time, and because we were both tipsy in the hot Cali sun we both found this ridiculously hirlarious.

In the evening after a few more random house parties we made our way down to another address we'd been invited to earlier at Horny Corner. We'd been told there was a big apartment complex party going on but didn't know what to expect so rocked up with open minds.
When we arrived there wasn't anyone about but there was a table of alcohol which Loz spotted immediately and began storing away! However within minutes a Dj plastered with American flags appeared and started spinning some tunes. There wern't loads of people, maybe 15 or so but we had fun and sat round the big firepit by the jacuzzi smoking shisha pipe which reminded me of my holiday in Egypt.
We also met Roman and Diana, a couple who lived in one of the apartments and asked us to come up to their place for more beers once everyone had left. Seeing as there were 4 of us we felt safe to go and joined them for some 1am-4am random chatting and socialising. That's what i'm loving about the combination of travelling and Americans, the kindness and openess of the people combined with the spontaniaty of my situation.

Nothing much happened on Sunday apart from more Yoghurt Land and spag bol in the evening :)

So that brings us to this week which i'm disturbed to say hasn't involved any kiting as yet. The deathly winds and evil coral reefs of Maui approach and I need as much practice as I can get.
Monday morning I had my weekly chiropractor appointment with Bob which is keeping me out of any kind of pain and running well for now. I spent the day on the beach waiting for wind but it never came so ended up playing beach vollyball with Roman, Diana, Loz and a few other randoms.

Tuesday Loz and I ventured down to Huntington on the bus, it'd been over 2 weeks since i'd last gone so was nice to have a change of scenery. We roasted away in the sun and I even made it into the sea for a decent swim.
That evening we rented the 5th Harry Potter film out to remind ourselves of the storyline as Chris, Kerin, Loz and I are going to see the new one the day it comes out (July 15th) in IMAX 3D!

Yesterday Roman and Diana had kindly offered to drive us to places that we hadn't yet seen around LA (due to the shockingly awful public transport) so we crossed lots of boxes all at once.
We started at the Staples Center, home of the LA Lakers basketball team. We'd gone there to see the Michael Jackson memorial wall, write a message, be part of history etc but it'd been taken down, grim! There were still press there and it was crazy to think only 24hrs before his body and all those famous faces were standing right where we were.
From there we moved onto the Disney Concert Hall which is designed by architect Frank Gehry and is an impressive building. It's funny because I completely guessed it was designed by Mr Gehry just because it looks so similar to my ring which he also designed.

In the afternoon Roman cruised up to Santa Monica and we took a stroll down the pier while sipping (actually more like downing) my frappuchino. Santa Monica is kept spic and span with every palm being trimmed to perfection. It feels very, very 'california' and i'm glad we got to see it.
After that we drove down through Manhattan Beach and on to Redondo. We drove up the cliff and took in the awe-inspiring view of the pacific from above. Apparently some days you can see the whales in the seas below but we didn't spot anything except a curtain of seaweed.
Our last stop was back up the coast to Venice where we ate burritos and drank margaritas in a local bar. They had baseball on the screens and a nice fire pit flaming away too which all added to the good vibes that day.

We've got some exciting things lined up before we depart, this Sunday is our leaving brunch at Spagatini, a plush jazz bar that does an all you can eat and drink 5 star buffet. We've got around 15 people coming so should be fun.
Also, on Monday i'm heading to Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park with Chris...Loz isn't a fan of the coasters so is going to take a 'rain check' on this outing. This park looks like the scariest experience i'm ever going to subject myself to and i'm a cross between excited/nervous/really bloody scared.

Will update next week to let you know i'm still in the land of the living!