Only had a short flight from San Fran but we were both feeling a bit dazed and confused by the time we got to Vegas. Its a bit bizarre to be greeted by gambling machines before you have even made it through customs! The shuttle bus took us around quite a few of the hotels so we got to see a good bit of the strip before we made it to our hotel. The place we were staying in was called "The Orleans" and was a good few miles from the main action but was still a fairly big place. We [View Full Entry]

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Trip back to San Francisco was fairly easy and we dropped Jason back at the airport to make his way back to UK. Sarah, Dave, Mark, Beckie and myself then stayed in San Fran for a few more days to take in the sights of the city. We stayed in "The Opal" hotel on Van Ness. Good value place and you get breakfast thrown in. Its near some good transport links so is a pretty good bet for the cost conscious! After managing to return the fun bus to Budget in their underground car park (Dave and I did not think [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in San Francisco to be met by Jason, Sarah and Dave who had flown out from the UK. It was great to meet some people we knew and have some friendly faces. We picked up our 10 seater Ford gas-guzzler - also lovingly known as the 'Fun Bus' and made the three hour journey from San Fran to Heavenly. Luckily most of the snow had been cleared and it was not too icy - the last part of the journey was a bit nervy as it was pitch black and the road was twisting and turning. Mark turned up [View Full Entry]

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Bit of a monster flight from Rarotonga - we touched down in Tahiti for an hour or so about 2am. Tried to buy a post card to send to Macie (Pauls Niece) but they only sold them in packs of 10 and we did not have any proper currency so it was all a bit much at that time in the morning. Finally got to LAX about 1pm and then the shuttle bus seemed to keep driving around all the terminals until it had enough passengers. I think we finally got to our hostel about 4pm and both were pretty tired [View Full Entry]

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The flight back to Raro from Aitutaki was on the really small island hopping plane - although it was really packed out this time - but the flight was easy and smooth. The weather was much better so there was chance to see the Aitutaki lagoon and island as we departed - which let us see what we had been exploring for the last week or so. As we were on a domestic flight Vara's (the backpacker hostel for the next few days) would not lay on a transfer for us. The cheapest way was to get on the Island bus [View Full Entry]

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Got our transfer from the backpackers to the domestic terminal in plenty of time to check in before the flight. The airport is tiny - you can see the luggage being wheeled out past us to the plane. One of the staff was even riding a bike onto the runway to load onto the plane and part of the luggage - it looked like a xmas present for someone. The atmosphere is really relaxed and very easy here. Boarded our tiny 20 seater plane for the 50 minute flight over to Aitutaki; the weather on Rarotonga was great sunny and warm, [View Full Entry]

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Landed at Rarotonga OK after passing over the international date line (yup just regained a day on a 3 hour flight - its mindbending!). Both feeling a little tired after the flight - 3am is never a good time to arrive somewhere! Were greeted by Jake on the ukulele who welcomes all the flights in - it's a bit surreal at that time in the morning. The place is small so the luggage came through OK, but there was no one there from the Rarotongan Backpackers to meet us. Unfortunately the phones only took cards and no money and due to [View Full Entry]

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Today is the final day with the car so we are heading to Auckland and will stay in the city tonight. We were advised by the campsite owners to drive around the coast as its a better drive. Set off about 10am to get there in plenty of time - unfortunately the free map did not have too much detail of the peninsular so we ended up a little lost! Managed to make it up to Auckland in the end; its much busier here than on the rest of the island lots more traffic, people and road rage! Found the backpackers [View Full Entry]

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We are heading up the coast to HaHei - but before this we went for a run to stretch the legs. Ran along the beach towards the beach towards the mount. Before having a bit of an argument, involving water, stomping off and a few temper tantrums; good to see that on a world trip there is still a bit of space for childish behaviour! After packing up the car, set off up the coast lots of cars, boats and people out today; we think it is the start of the summer holidays down here. We called in at a town [View Full Entry]

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Slept very well and woke up feeling very rested and refreshed. It took us a while to pack up as we have been here for a few days now and more and more things have been brought in from the car. A few people along the way have recommended Mt Manganui for a visit - it's a small costal town on the Western Bay of Plenty, which is supposed to be NZ's best surf city complete with an artificial reef for bigger waves. With the interest in surfing this looks to be a good place for a day. Drive was only [View Full Entry]

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