So there we were heading back to Vancouver and to the home of meaks who was
generous to lend us his fold out couches for the last 4 days of our time in
Canada. Once again we got caught up in the Olympic Hype and found ourselves in
the Irish house and all over downtown Van for 3 days. We went to watch the
Vancouver Rowers play rugby and had beers with the boys after. They are a good
bunch of guys and we had a good night out. Their club room is one of the Top
ten in the world and it is spectacular, right in the heart of the city on
Stanley park on the Marina, you can see it in the Photo’s I have uploaded. The
next day was the gold medal Olympic hockey game. We got up late and headed
straight to the local marina to hop on a large boat to watch it with around 200
people. It was an amazing time with a boat full of mostly Canadians and they
went nuts with the exciting conclusion to the game. We partied on the boat from
12 – 5ish then went walk about around the city which was mental, hundreds and
thousands of people filled the streets and bars all high on Canada and I must
have given a thousand high fives and shouted Go Canada till my throat was raw
(I was allowed to yell this due to me being ¼ Canadian you see). We had one
quiet night and then it was to Vegas….
Never again will we turn up to an airport without pre booked
flights. But that is what we did at Las Vegas domestic and 4 hours later we
were on a plane and about $250 out of pocket and heading to San Francisco. Once
again we walked up steps from the subway in SF at night with no accommodation
organized and no idea where we were. It has happened a fair few times to us
already and it is a weird feeling. Back in NZ I generally have a pretty good
compass, but when you arrive to a concrete jungle and don’t know where the
water is it is a weird feeling. However it always works itself out, and we find
the nearest internet connection and a few calls and a walk later we have
somewhere to sleep. Just don’t panic, I don’t know where I got that ability
from definitely not the old man haha. So we had a hostel for the three nights
in San Fran and a crazy room mate called Reggie Evans, we was a middle aged
stereotypical negro with a big moustache and the humour and attitude of Chris
Rock, we laughed a lot. I think he was stoned for the 72 hours we knew him. The
next day we went to go on this free tour run by the hostel. Little did we know
it was being run by the classic old University History Lecturer and was about
the history of San Fran, after the first two blocks and two stops about the
Catholic History of the City we acted on our instincts and cut off down and
alley to see what we came here for, seals, the bridge, the rock and maybe some
bars/girls….if we had time. That is what we did we went to fishermans warfe and
saw the seals on the docks and had a mint lunch. We booked in for the ferry to
Alcatraz the next day and then Hired bikes and competed with all the Fixies and
road bikes in cycling the waterfront and then across the Golden Gate Bridge.
That was epic and I don’t know why they don’t have lane for that on Auckland’s
bridge. Either way we went back to the hostel scouted out the nearest and best
club to go to and we were set for a night out. Thinking we would save a bit of
money we got a bottle of Bacardi 151 to have a few pre drinks before we headed
out. This stuff is one step down from meths I believe and is totally flammable.
As such the next two hours were a blur but the club was epic and we had a good
night. We instantly regretted booking the 1030 ferry to Alcatraz the next
morning but got up packed (as we were moving rooms) and got the bus down to the
warfe. It was cool seeing the rock, it was a brutal place and had a lot more
history than just being a prison and a place for the best movie ever to be filmed
on. It was mostly an Audio tour which was cool. We chilled that night did some
admin, washing and booked a Grey hound to san luis Obispo (SLO) for the next
day. Had a great thai meal and tried to sleep sober.
We were meeting Matt in SLO, it is a university town, the
one Matt went to and he assured us it would show us a good time. Sam and I had
a night there first and on Matts Recommendation we discovered the tri tip
sandwich, this is the best food known to man and consists of bbq roasted beef
carved and placed in a crisp roll with their home made bbq sauce, it was
amazing. We chilled that night but did discover gum alley which is an alley
where the walls are lined with peoples chewing gum and there is so much of it
you cant see the wall to about 15 feet up the wall….gross and impressive at the
same time. Matt arrived early the next morning and we went about seeing the
scenery and surf spots around SLO, it looked like perfect great white territory
but with green rolling hills it reminded me of NZ. The day wasn’t too cold but
when we finally did get wet in 2-3 ft 35 knot conditions we froze our nuts off,
the Cali coast water is cold no matter what the air temp.
We had another tri tip then hit the local pubs, Tuesday is
Pint night and they have $1 pints which is pretty awesome. We had some fun with
some college kids and some not so college kids. The next day we headed off down
the coast, first Santa Barbara, and Rincon, there was no surf at either but it
was cool to see the spots I had heard about and see the beach life. We then
went to Phil’s house (dads mate) in the Granada hills in LA. He said he would
put us up for the night and it was a great night with good food, drinks and
company. Us boys crashed in the RV which I thought was rocking, not due to the
alcohol but the fact that the interior was very boat like, very comfortable.
The next morning we passed through holywood and in our excitement in seeing the
boulevard, we didn’t look behind us when entering. This lead us on a 45 min
wild goose chase in trying to find the sign….we eventually found it where we
started and sick of the LA madness pushed on through to San Diego. We checked
out the area near matts and the surf spots. It is an Idyllic set up with
mansions and palms lining the beach and cliffs, beach and reef set ups
everywhere and a generally good vibe, the days are very warm (20-28 degress),
the water still cold and I could Definitely live here. It is good to have our
feet on the ground for a while at Matts who is generously letting us stay at his
Pad 5 mins from the beach, and I am going to try and surf every day we are
here. I have had some sick waves head high to a few feet overhead on the reefs
fun, beachies and it is epic. We have had some good nights out in Pacific Beach
(where we are staying) and a night in Downtown. They have a few bars called the
bareback (where our friend bron used to work). It is a kiwi themed burger
restaurant and bar, quite funny seeing their take on us but they love us and it
is always a good time there. Yesterday we took on the flow rider which is the
standing wave, powered by jets of water being shot at a concrete mould. I am
generally good at all board spots but this sucked hard, it was real fun but so
hard to master, I will give it one more shot but its rough. Our bail videos
will be up in no time.
For the next week plus we will enjoy the mint weather of SD
and surf, go to the ‘Midway’ aircraft carrier, the famous SD zoo, take in St
Paddy’s (today) and the Spring break festivities (mental) and maybe go sailing.
Today we have booked flights for our next leg which wasn’t planned but we will
be hitting up Costa Rica for a week or so before continuing to Colombia. But
for now I am loving the first bit of routine in what has been a hectic time.
Living the life.
Talk soon.
Love Ace
