Livin' it up

Viva Las Vegas

jarrod_dani — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:07:00 GMT

Sin City is everything they say and more. It's luxurious, scummy, classy, trashy, bright and beautiful, dirty, fun and scary - all in one big neon ball of mess in the middle of the desert.

With temps in the low 40's all week it was either stinking hot just standing outside, or freezing in the air-conditioned casinos! Our bus trip (6hrs) was awful. We were sitting in front of a pimp gang member and his drunk prostitute girlfriend. D slept it away while J had to listen to trash talk about drugs and guns and sex the whole time.

But things were looking up-We were lucky enough to score a nice suite in the Circus Circus casino for 4 days at the same price we have been paying hostels. Nice. Big screen telly, king bed our own bathroom with tub, room service and SPACE and PRIVACY! This casino business really blows your mind. We had an amusement park with water slides and rides and shops and 10 restaurants, the hotel as well as all the gaming areas INSIDE our casino. Nuts.

Then there's the other really ritzy ones like Venetian with full on canals and gondolas, the mandalay bay has a beach inside, Bellagio has thousands and thousands of fresh flowers and a huge garden as well as the Cirque du Soleil theatre, New York has a mini Statue of Liberty, Manhattan and trees growing inside, Ceasars Palace has roof pained with sunny clouds so it always looks like daytime, and big statues and excellent shopping! Treasure Island has a lagoon out front with huge pirate ships where there is a nightly (strip) show with the girls and guys and fireworks and splashing water and cannons and sound effects and all that jazz. There is no expense spared at these places. Everything is cheap or free while you are gambling! There are no clocks so unless you go outside you have no idea, and alcohol is cheaper than soda (when you have to pay) so its hard to resist really! For 4 days straight we lived on slushy margharitas which we either nursed as we did the rounds of casinos playing slots, or drank while lounging beside one of the two lagoons at our hotel!

Bumped into Shane form Mission Beach one night in a casino. This is a guy we first met in Vancouver, then Seattle, then Portland, then San Francisco and now Vegas! Crazy. We bumped into him and Craig (Wales)again the next day when we checked into the same hostel in the Vegas ghetto. You see, the rates for the nice hotel rooms go sky high over the weekend, so we had to get out! Honestly, don't want our folks to worry but this was a very very shady place. Just the usual crime and drugs and prostitution. Anyway, there were always at least 4 police cars at work so kind of felt safer. Dani wanted to cry after living like a princess for a few days, then having to stay inside after dark! Lots of action from the bedroom window though. At least the hostel had a nice pool and spa so we had an international water volleyball tournament which kept us occupied.

Went to the Grand Canyon for a day trip. It was very grand. It was breathtaking. It was wide and long and rich in colour and wildlife and we loved it. On the downside we were on a tour bus for 17 hours and spent a total of 2 hours at the canyon. Suffice to say there was no time for hiking, not very impressed Mike. We visited Hoover Dam also which was cool.

And that was that.

By the way, there was no quickie wedding at a drive through chapel!

SoCal

jarrod_dani — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:44:00 GMT

LA.

Again, another excellent and exciting sprawling city. First couple days spent at beach around Santa Monica pier, and bike riding Venice Beach and Marina Del Rey. lots of cycling on this trip. Lots of saddle butt also. A day trip to Malibu and Zuma beaches to hang out with the cast of the O.C (it feels like it) and Matthew McConaghy. Water is a nice fresh temp but the beaches are a slight let down after Hawaii and Port Macquarie!

A move to West Hollywood to mix it up with the celebs. Have loved eating at and wandering round the Farmers Market and The Grove. Sunset strip is a couple of streets away and we visited all the famous live music joints like the Whiskey a GoGo, Roxy, Viper Room, House of Blues. Not really any celeb spotting yet. We saw one of the Hobbits who is in LOST, and Snoop Dogg was hanging outside our hostel yesterday but we were sleeping in and missed him! Paris was released from prison last night so we may see her when we hit the town tonight! Our friend Matthew we met on the bus was filling us in on all the 'industry' gossip. Its such a wank really.

A quick trip (almost a week) to LAS VEGAS... then back for a couple days before next leg of trip...

Another few days kickin' it in West Hollywood. We have both decided we could live here. The vibe is great and everything you could want (food, music, friends) is all close by. Met Rory from Scotland who is in LA to work with gibbons (monkeys) for a few months. A really cool guy who loves wrestling and was reduced to tears when he found out his favourite wrestler had passed away. In his room was a punk band from Sweden who are the toughest looking rockers with the lovliest manners! In OUR room was the most annoying sleeper from Switzerland who blabbered in french all night long at top of his voice when he wasn't snoring like a chainsaw!

So we did all the touristy things which were fun. Hung out on Rodeo Drive and Dani pretended she could afford the amazing designer wears she was browsing! Beverley Hills is definately another world. The homes, cars, clothing, jewellery of the locals is way over the top. Went to Mann's Chinese Theatre and walked the walk of fame on Hollywood Boulevard. Had a laugh at all the impersonators getting photos with tourists. There is actually another man in the world who looks exactly like Sylvester Stallone. Scary!

We will definately be back.

California way

jarrod_dani — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:01:00 GMT

San Fransisco

The trip from Portland was interesting. We have month long rail passes with the local (and only) operator AMTRAK. Well, lets just say they are almost as good as the bus service in Hawaii!

Basically there is a lot of variety between their customer service agents. Some are excellent and even friendly - the rest well...

So we rocked up for our short rail trip (4-6hrs) as told by AMTRAK and our hostel in SanFran. Arrived 17 HOURS LATER (inlcuding 1.5 hours late). Lost our deposit on hostel room and had no booking for following night! Fun. Was great to finally brush teeth though.

Once we settled in San Fran is our favourite city so far. Just a cool vibe, lots of openminded areas and a lovely, pretty city to boot! Stayed in a hostel where we had separate rooms and were forbidden to visit eachother or bring alcohol into building. Plus there were about 50, 13 year olds on school camp screaming for their lives. Felt like we were in Alcatraz so got the heck out of there!

Hired bikes for 8 hours and rode to golden gate bridge and under and around scenic (steep) drive on cliffs with tiny (none) bike paths! Was hairy at times and Dani rode brakes almost all the way down. J was thinking he was a BMX bandit taking off his shirt and riding with no hands. On the way back after Presidio and Golden Gate Parks (magic) we ventured off track (read: got lost). The return journey (3hrs) was spent going right through the middle of the city in peak hour UP and DOWN those enourmous hills until we found Fisherman's Wharf! What a ride! And they aren't big on stack hats here either.

Hung out in the Itialian and Mexican areas and in The Castro and around Haight Ashbury where we were lucky enough to catch this really cool annual street party with lots of food and music and dancing and excellent people watching!

We joined a walking tour at the hostel with a guy who is firmly stuck in the late 60's and had an intersting manner. After he took about 10mins to say 2 words most of the group deserted. J and D hung in there (with 3 others) and were rewarded (?) with a detour into the house of his friends in the Castro. We all held hands in a friendship circle and gave thanks for our day, then we had a message stick session where we all spoke in turn about our travels and experiences so far. Was weird but harmless. Not sure what we expected!

Had a night out at a blues club which was fun. Met two travellers the next night who are living in their car. They were a great laugh. One was American and the other English. There was a significant age gap and one snores - you could see where there might be tension even though both are very chilled out guys! At the end of the night they just went out front and got into bed - we had to walk miles home!

Next we went to Yosemite National Park. This was an incredible experience. Went with a small group with local tour operator and awesome guide Aaron. Nice bunch of people. Great meals, drinking by the fire, relaxing in jaccuzi under the stars at night - surreal. Went to Sequoia groves to admire enormous and really old trees. Rode mountain bikes down really really steep cliffs and jumped off rocks into freshwater river and beautiful cool clear waters. Did a few small walks one day then a full day hike (easy) on the mist trail. The scenery was indescribable. So green and lush and waterfalls everywhere and big river rocks. Loads of squirrels but no bears unfortunately. On the last night D,J, Aaron and Karen from Surrey had a few drinks and slept on hilltop under stars. Shooting stars everywhere and the sound of howling cyotees (spelling) in the distance. An unforgettable trip.

Washington State and Oregon

jarrod_dani — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:03:00 GMT

Seattle. Loved this place. Stayed for a week. Hostel was next to the local farmers markets which happened to be celebrating 100yrs. The place was buzzing. Sells wonderful fresh produce like fish/seafood, flowers, soups, vegetables and fruit, meat and all these other crafty things in between. The pig is the symbol of the marketplace so there were 100 weird and wacky plaster pigs (1 for each year) placed all around the streets.

Saw the Jimi Hendrix statue up on the hill (so small we passed it by!) Went to the EMP music museum which was so unbelievable! We were there for 8 hours and still had to be booted out by security! They had all these old recordings and video footage of interviews with artists and managers and crew, and sound booths for you to do your own recordings. There were whole sections devoted to hip-hop and b-boys/girls and grafitti, grunge, garage, blues, the birth of electric guitar (hundreds of original guitars and all these new age designs), jimi hendrix (his clothes, jewellery, artwork, diaries, remenanats of burned and smashed guitars), and even a disney section with the orginal videos of JT, Christina and Britney! You all would have loved this place so much. Wow!

The Capitol Hill area has a bustling gay scene and all the cool shops and bars reminded us of a huge surry hills. Loved it! Weather was perfect the whole time too. Watched a little league baseball match which was surprisingly entertaining. We were cheering along the kids and really getting into it. They are crazy about baseball here. Its on TV every night. That and the basketball is huge right now with the NBA championships.

So Seattle is all about the music - every kind. There are buskers everywhere and gigs every night in about a million different venues. The first night we arrived at our hostel there was this jam going on and people were travelling with guitars, organs, trumpets (one guy had 3 different horns), harmonicas. Most were excellent. A couple were shocking! There was a venue next door with shows every night and hundreds of people in their style of gear lined up outside our place. Felt just like living at the Enmore Theatre!

We had a few incidents relating to communication and just plain weird people:

1.We tipped one waitress $4 on a $10 bill which is more than enough. As a bonus we threw in $3 Canadian, thinking it was a nice gesture. Waitress CHASED US UP THE STREET to tell us we left C$ and that she was happy to EXCHANGE it with us for US $! Can you believe the hide? Then she said actually don't worry - when i'm next in Canada i'll buy myself a Twinkie. Bitch!

2. Dani noticed a funk in hostel room one afternoon so lit a piece of trusty incense to banish bad smells. Next minute manager is in room abusing her and telling us to pack our stuff and get out immediately as there is absolutley NO SMOKING in rooms. Everyone walking by room giving D filthy looks of disgust. Dani argued black and blue she does not smoke but people on street and manager himself saw her smoking and her blue packet of cigarettes...that was my camera which I was using to get a shot of the sunset. Idiots. We got to stay but no one was very friendly towards us after that.

3. This random guy checks into our room late, bursts in saying he was rejected entry to Canada at border due to an old DUI charge (hes American) and missed flight to China to meet wife and child. Had no money and passport and was screwed. Excellent perfromance, cried and everything. When one of our roommates asked a few questions he became shifty and then it all came out that he was kept as a prisoner and tortured by the CIA in Malaysia (?) loosing 100 pounds in the process. You wouldn't think so by the size of him. Weirdo. And you wouldn't believe it, but 3 days later in Portland J and D asleep behind curtain in hostel and hear THE SAME GUYS VOICE trying it on with our roommates that his bags and money had all been stolen and he got mugged. He didnt know we were there. What a wanker.

Portland. A quiet city. We took the opportunity to chill out. It rained the whole time so no hiking, but we snuck into a few movies, did our laundry and played trivial pursuit over coronas and home cooked food (really nice kitchen). Just what we needed. Amen.

A brief visit to Canada

jarrod_dani — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:51:00 GMT

Vancouver

Arrived at crazy hour with no room to go to. Wandered streets to kill time and stay awake. So cold after Hawaii we could feel our tans fading by the minute! Met some cool people in our hostel bar and explored all the excellent retro/op shops and bars. Met up with the lovely Andrea (Donna's friend she met in Perth) and showed us some great local drinking holes and took us on a night tour of the city. Big problems with homelessness and mental health. Had an awesome day biking in Stanley Park spotting squirrels and heaps of birds (woodpeckers). The forest is like a movie set. Stunning. And the air is crisp and fresh. Could not sit down comfortably for a few days afterwards! We would love to come back and really explore Canada when time (and funds) permit. Next stop United States...

First stop Hawaii

jarrod_dani — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 10:10:00 GMT

Sorry its taken a while x

So, Hawaii was fab. Lots of sun and fun as well as adjusting to hostel living. Specifically, other travellers, the garbage man, the heat (including the police), and various other wildlife.

After a few days in tacky but lovely Waikiki we headed to the windward side of the island (Oahu) to our camping paradise of Malaekahana (friends of Hawaii), where we pitched the tent and kicked back by the beach and fire for a good while. Met some friendly locals - furry and otherwise. Marvelled and the hundreds of chooks and cats living in perfect harmony around the grounds. Cooked on the campfire and went to sleep to the sound of waves each night and woke for a morning swim. Nice warm outdoor showers with no roof so you could shower watching the stars or the birds! Sleeping arrangements were satisfactory until J punctured his blow up bed with his protective spear (don't ask) and woke up about 10cm lower than Dani!

We hung out on the North Shore most days where the surf was small enough for amateurs to enjoy without injury! This place is so relaxed and reminds me of Byron Bay about 15 yrs ago. Loved the snorkelling at Sharks Cove and Wiamea Bay (and Hanauma Bay near Honolulu) and we swam with turtles so frequently that if they didn't show up we felt ripped off! So many cool fish too. Found this great cafe near sunset beach serving breakfast bowls of acai and granola with frozen yogurt, honey and fresh fruit - fattened up on those!

Saw Woody Harrelson outside his house on Sunset Beach - he didn't invite us in for a drink. Met the brunette chick from That 70's Show under strange circumstances - a long story about child beauty queens and Americans having a terrible time understanding Australian accents. She was alright. Stunning though.

So back in Waikiki we attempted to climb Diamond Head (the one in the photo- Fi), though there were a few set backs. Another long story about some teenage boys spitting on us on the bus and J being involved in the altercation and us alighting at the wrong stop. On our way to find the track we popped into a cute little boutique where the owner (a new age evangelist)overwhelmed Jarrod with video footage and literature (Title:to hell and back-my experiences of the afterlife) on the evangelical movements of the past 30 years. We would have left sooner only J lost tiny screw from sunglasses on shop floor. Picture us on hands and knees amongst sarongs and g strings looking for the damn screw while lady continues to rave about how she is the next big evangelist who is going to spread her messgae to the masses. We arrived home to 4 police cars and a few people in handcuffs on the doorstep of hostel. Just another day in the life of us!

So, for everyone who went to Dani's birthday this year - We finally kayaked! Well actually J kayaked and D spent much of time admiring amazing scenery of Kailua Bay! Thank god for double kayaks. It was so exhausting, but a full body massage by the beach was enough to realign D's shoulders! D thoroughly recommends kayaking, J still recovering!

Dani's Favourite Things in Hawaii

1. cool locals in out of the way places

2. being underwater with fish, turtles, slugs, sea snakes, coral etc.

3. sun and sunset

4. cheap alcohol

Things Dani Could Do Without in Hawaii

1. Bus service (timing of)

2. Healthy food more expensive than fast food (but o.k because of point 4 above)

3. too many tattoos and breast implants (Waikiki)

4. That old chestnut - SAND (in your eyes/pants/bed)

Gallery: Dani and Jarrod

jarrod_dani — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 21:17:00 GMT

USA and beyond