Day 5- Golden Gate Bridge

Day 5- San Francisco

Before we left to come to the States, I found this thing called a Hop on, Hop Off bus.
It's a double decker bus that does tours around parts of San Francisco, stopping off at various points.

We had spent half a day on Alcatraz and had almost no time left so we decided to go on a few loops, just watching everything.

It was really cool! We had a tourguide who was knowledgable, friendly, and funny, who told us lots of things about San Fran that we wouldn't have known had we just passed those places ourselves.

The first tour went around Downtown San Fran, and we hopped off to have a look at the sealions on Pier 39 which were meant to be pretty cool. They are super popular with the tourists...but I'm guessing they don't get many Kiwis here! The sea lions were far away on a platform, separated from us on the pier. In Kaikora, sea lions are dotted over the beaches and you can walk right up to them (and it's your own stupid fault if you don't give then space, and agitate them into biting you). So seeing them from that far away was a bit dumb!

Crazy tall buildings!!!

City hall...eat your heart out, beehive!

The next tour we went on was out to the Golden Gate Bridge. All day, it had been amazing weather. We even got sunburnt! But right as we approached the bridge, a fog had rolled in, hiding it from us.

At first we were guttered but as we approached it made it look so amazing...

Driving up and finally on to the bridge was amazing, such a giddy feeling.

"We're on the golden gate bridge!!!"

Unfortunately, it was also ridiculously freezing. Being in the fog, it was very damp, and the wind chill was in the negatives. The bus is open top so there was no hiding from it. I got so cold I though I was gonna spew! As soon was we finally stopped on the other side, everyone raced up to the front of the bus where there was a little bit of shelter from the windscreen and sat there shivering, which made the driver laugh.

We had stopped in this place called Sausalito which is so pretty. It reminds me of Akaroa. When we went around the main corner, it suddenly heated up! It's always warmer in Sausalito and the people there know it- the houses are some of the richest in the state.

Back in San Fran, we left the bus and made our way back to our hotel. We stopped at a pizza place on the way back (it was worth the anxiety attack, to get the yum pizza!) and met up with some Australians who were also staying at the hotel.

We were off to sleep early that night- it had been a much more relaxing day than the others on our trip have been and we were grateful for an early night!

Day 5- Alcatraz

Day 5- San Francisco

Mmmm sleep in :-) Best way to start the day! Definitely needed it today as I mucked up my night meds and ended up awake most of the night (stupid nightmares!!!)

We have had a very interesting day today. Lots to think about.

First up was a trip to Alcatraz. 

It's really popular, tickets sell out weeks in advance. It's such a great tour, I can see why! You board a cruise which takes you out on the beautiful harbour and on to Alcatraz. When the 100+ other tourists and us reached the island, we were greeted by a young, nervous intern who was choked her way through a few jokes (that were actually quite good!)

On a boat!

Beautiful San Francisco Bay

There are lots of old buildings dotted around Alcatraz, and the main one is the cell block where they give you an audio tour. It's really interesting, made from experiences of the guards, inmates, and families who worked/lived/were incarcerated on the island. 

Alcatraz 'The Rock' Island

Of course it was interesting learning about the convicts and their life on the island. The escape attempts were super impressive; being out there I can see how impossible it would have seemed, and also how the convicts would have held on tightly to that dream. The island is close enough to the mainland that you can see the skyline and on certain nights, the sounds of a normal life would carry across the bay to remind the convicts what they were missing out on.

The View

Teeny Tiny Cell

Anyway there were a few things that made us think. Almost all of Alcatraz was glamorising the criminals and their fate on the island. This is understandable to an extent, I mean the myths are magic and capture the imaginations of the public, myself included. Dudes breaking out of the inescapable prison with spoons? Freakin' awesome!

But you know what? These guys weren't heroes. They were murderers, rapists, robbers, and drug dealers. They committed crimes. And they hurt people. That hurt doesn't go away.

In a big hall, they had just started an exhibit called 'Life After Murder'. In it, they profiled 6 people who had committed 1st and 2nd degree murder, who had time in jail, and come out and formed some sort of normal life.

The pictures were nice, the men all dressed nicely with soft, kind looking faces. The blurbs talked about the ex-cons lives now. They were nice, talking about the jobs they now have, the families they re-joined, and the hobbies they do.

It was all very nice but left me with an eerie feeling. Chad too. We took a moment away from the crowd to talk together. They still committed the crime. It didn't make it OK. The blurbs didn't talk about the crimes that they had done, or if they felt any remorse or responsibility for what happened.
Because of some stuff we are going through at the moment, this struck a chord.

"If I saw ... in there, I'd be pretty f**king mad," said Chad.

"Yea,I wouldn't want to hear about how he works in his garden on Sundays or 'kisses his girlfriend under their Christmas lights' " I agreed.  


As we exited the cellhouse there was an exhibit to the left called 'Restorative Justice- An Alternative to Prison". It was extremely interesting. We were super surprised to see a whole wall there about the New Zealand system! It was about how we have no juvenile detention centers in NZ, with crimes done by young people being dealt with through CYFs and the Family Group Conference system (haha you know what we think of FGC's!)

It was very thought provoking. Despite having family members and a few friends who have spent time 'on vacation' as they like to call it, I have never really thought about how many people go to jail.
The United States has the highest % of people who are sent to jail in the world. 1 out of every 10 children has a parent who has been in jail or is somehow under that system. Crazy!

The exhibits portrayal of an FGC was a bit of a fantasy- in reality we know that it doesn't end up working out with the ideal of everyone coming out of that room happy with the decisions that were made, having come up with them together. But obviously NZ is doing something right to be recognised like this.

And, almost anything is better than this:

Other than NZ being mentioned, the exhibit was also very interesting for Chad and I because of some things we are going through with the justice system at the moment.
The idea of alternatives to simply 'putting the bad people in jail' is very interesting and they are doing some amazing, progressive things around the world to do with this.

For myself, I had quite a 'moment' and while experiencing this exhibit I inspired to do some thing. It was like I was like a this idea came into my head and an it sat with me so well that it felt like it should have been there my whole life. Can't wait to get back and see if this idea can go any further!


So all in all, Alcatraz was a very different experience than we thought it would be. Chad and I both agreed that we came away feeling smarter and had lots to think about!

Day 4- San Francisco

Day Four- San Francisco

Our day started very early today. We made our way to the airport with time to spare then got to relax as our flight was 2 hours late.

Arriving at San Francisco was really cool- literally! First thing we did after getting our bags off was pull our jackets out. It's much cleaner than LA though and the public transport is awesome. It runs efficiently and often and seems to go everywhere. We took a train to the 'BART station' and took another train thing into the city. Out of nowhere came this fog- it looked real spooky! The houses are so cute.

Even the homeless people here are friendlier. It's quite a shock- there are homeless people everywhere. Why do they end up like that? How do they continue to live like that? How can everyone just walk by? It's hard. Do you given them money or not? Of course we did, for the first guy. He was so friendly and gave us directions and seemed so polite and nice. He said he was hungry (for something that comes in a paper bag out a bottle).

But then the next guy came up and he was very nice too, and helpful. And 'hungry'. We had already given all our change to the first guy.

By the time the third one came along, it was getting ridiculous.
What are you supposed to do? $1 or $2 isn't much but when there's 100 of these poor guys...and shit they know how to pick people, who to approach, and pick out the tourists.
We caught on that reading a map in the street was like a a magnet to homeless people hoping to make a few bucks sending you in the right direction.

Is it really that different from tipping? Tipping is important here because the minimum wage is so small that most people can't live on it. So we tip to make their lives bearable, to make up for what their employer (and kind of the goverment) won't do. Same (sort of) thing with the homeless people; they don't have the benefit like people in NZ do. You can complain all you want about people on the benefit in NZ, but this is what it stops; streets with a homeless person or two on each and every corner.

We felt quite uncomfortable and vulnerable walking the streets with our suitcases. Made us stand out like a sore thumb. We were totally glad to reach our hotel even when it turned out I booked a bit of a dud (ah well, 2 outta 3 ain't bad!)

It's really close to Chinatown and 20 mins walk from the transport. However it's noisy, old, stinks real bad, and is next door to this place:

Chinatown was alright. Shop after shop of the same tourist stuff but we found some gems in there. Some of the carvings and art were amazing! And a whole shop for different types of tea. We found a really great restaurant and tried Dim Sum for the first time- these small plates of Chinese dishes like entree stuff for $3/$4 each, and you buy a variety and share.

We were back home early, 8ish, and are enjoying a much quieter day. It's been so good to take it a bit easier today! Giving us back some much needed energy. Tomorrows another busy day and then eek it's on to Vegas!!!

China town Grant St entrance

Rest of Day 3- Santa Monica

(Mealz' version)

We started the day early and were definitely starting to feel it. Loved the museum, especially the Marilyn Munroe stuff. Never really heard much about her before and it was super interesting.

The diner was fantastic! I was warned about American food but we haven't really found we've been given crazy big sizes, though it helps that we were warned about it so we just order little bits. I did get given an entire punnet of strawberries with my waffle which was pretty impressive though! I was in heaven when I found the $5 cocktail menu. Seriously did NOT want to leave. Til I realised how strong they were...half of this drink and I was wasted. I have never met a drink that could beat me before!

We shall meet again, oh strong one...

On the way back, I looked up and what-do-ya-know, perfect sight of the Hollywood sign-no drive to the top of the park needed!

Off we went to Santa Monica. It's lovely, much cleaner and more relaxed than Hollywood.

I had another 'moment' when I reached the spot on the beach that I looked at, almost a year ago, and wondered if I'd ever get there. Well, I did...and it's beautiful :-)

Had a great time on the Pier, found another Carousel, a roller coaster, and the huge Ferris wheel that they always show on Private Practice. We went on it at night- so romantic :-)

Shopping was excellent as well- I found Cinderella shoes!!!

And yea, we did get very lost on the way back. And upset. Chad says it's all part of the experience. It's one I'd rather skip! Freakin' frightening.

We were VERY glad to get back to the motel. It was another really nice one. About midnight we were awoken by the room filling with light and loud music. Chad went to investigate and found a band playing on a truck that had pulled up outside- gosh this place is random!

I'd day Santa Monica is a much nicer place to stay if you are a family, if you love the beach, or want a more relaxed paced holiday.

Bring on San Fran tomorrow!

Day 2- Anaheim

Day Two- Anaheim 

I woke up bright and early after our first night on holiday...to no kids. It was awesome! You forget how aweome it is to be able to wake up o your own accord (love it!)

The hotel provides breakfast. There were cereals, like 6 different version of the same thing- coloured O's. Heaps of juice and coffee and a whole tray of crossaints and muffins- yum! Most of the other guests were only having a drink but we ate heaps so that we wouldn't have to get lunch.

After seeing how we both felt (still fine surprisingly!) we decided we'd make a spontaneous trip to DIsneyland! We hadn't planned to go because we're only spending a few days in each city and Disneyland demands at least one full day. However seems we were so excited and full of energy we decided 'Why Not?!'

Off we went.

Within 15 minutes Chad was begging to go back.

See, to get to Disneyland you need to take a freeway, which is quite likely a terrifying experience for most first timers. I thought it was kinda fun- it reminded me of a game that Livvy and I used to play on the playstaion where you had to get your little car across the 6 lanes of traffic moving at different speeds. The reality was quite the same...except the one rather important exception that if you crash, your car doesn't magically appear again at the start.

First of all, we missed the turn off. Then while re-routing, Chad went the NZ way down the road. As the road was clear it took us a bit to realise but then suddenly there was a WALL of cars coming TOWARDS us!!! Needless to say we almost peed our pants.
After gettng through that challenge, we were finally on the freeway.

Wow.

6 lanes of cars all movings forwards at about 100kmph. Entranaces and exists making the lanes zig-zag this way and that. We started in the far left, then ended up in the far right on a lane that forced an exit, without even changing lanes! Changing lanes was a challenge because Chad couldn't make himself drive as fast as the other cars (we're going about 60/70kmp and the others much faster) so we'd try go but the other cars would catch up before we did. Cars were zipping past back and forth and all around us, passing us, it was trippy!

When Chad said he felt like he was gonna pass out, we were in real trouble. "I can't do this, I wanna turn around, I can't drive to Disneyland Mealz! I don't like this, I can't do this, I'm terrififed!"
It wasn't til later when we were on safe ground that we admitted we were both thinking 'Holy crap, we are GOING TO DIE!'.

I couldn't take over driving for Chad (under 25 so no insurance for me), and turning around was an impossible solution so we had to get through it.  So I channeled my inner 'J' (my psychologist lady from PMH) and with a steady voice, calmed Chad down through the drive.
"Just breathe, in...and out. Stop saying you can't do it- you ARE doing it. Don't worry about getting the whole way there, just focus on what's here and now. You can do this. Look, you're doing great. Now I'm on the directions so don't you worry, just focus on the road."

We finally arrived at Disneyland and were so pleased to be there we almost kissed the ground.
**Don't worry Debbie, I took a video for you! It was just like we said it would be, but worse lol!**

Disneyland was awesome. 

There were some really cool rides. Space Mountain was a rollar coaster in the dark. There was an amazing star wars 4D thing which nothing I've ever seen can compare to Chad, of coourse, was in heaven. When we exited the ride and found a gift shop devoted entirely to Star Wars crap merchandise, his eyes were lke saucers and I knew we would be there awhile lol.

There were a few more rollar coasters, the Indiana Jones one being the best. We went on 'It's a small world' where we cheered for the lil Maori doll. Also found a few rides that were really crap lol but that's all part of the fun.

To be honest though, my favourite time was not the popular, extravagant rides, but the Magic Tea Cup things:

It's like the ride you always think of as a little girl when you imagine Disneyland, a quintessential disneyland experience. Sitting in those tea cups, I laughed and beamed my head off as we spun round and round and round...

When we had done all the other rides, Chad finally agreed to go on the Carousel with me. I was in heaven. Probably way too excited to be on there lol.
It was so beautiful, each horse stunningly crafted, scenes from Sleeping Beauty painted around the center, mirrors making the lights reflect so it looked like we were surrounded in fairy lights.
Near the end of the ride, I teared up. "Are you crying?" Chad asked, puzzled. "I...just...never thought I'd be part of something so beautiful."

Chad smiled and snapped **this** picture of me.

Later he said he hasn't seen me that happy in a VERY long time. When we got off, we sat down for a bit and he reckons I'll have a 'moment' like this each day, because that's what happens when your dream comes true, when you are doing things you never thought you could do. Yesterdays 'moment' was at the was museum when I posed with a figure of Audrey Hethpburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's. I've never seen the film but it was one of Rachael's favourites.

Rachael...who never got to make **her** overseas trip come true. "We're doing this for a lot of people aren't we?" Chad commented. "Rachael, Learne, our girls..".
 I smiled. We're not just doing this trip for us.

Oh, lunch at Disneyland! We had PIzza...oh my god it was good. The slices are HUGE and they sell them by the slice. AND they even drip and droop just like on the movies!!!

And the shopping!
We brought a ridiculous amount of Disney Princess crap treasures for the girls, my favourite being Jewellery boxes with a princess inside (Tinkerbell and Sleeping Beauty) that spins and plays a song. Ah girly heaven...

When we were done, we headed home again. Chad was still freaking out but so much better. He even got within 10km of the speed limit! It was late when we got home but I wanted to squeeze in a look at the Hollywood sign. The guy at the hotel gave us helpful directions but heaps of the roads were closed so we kept detouring, much to the GPS lady's displeasure.

40 mins later we made it, the top of Griffith Park by the Observatory, with 5 mins to spare before they closed the car park.

...and realised that the sign wasn't lit up!

I could *just* make it out in the dark.

It's really smoggy here in LA at nights, so much so that you can only see about 4 stars. You could taste the smog right at the top where we were too, yuck. Makes me appreciate Christchurch's air that much more!

Now it was really late so we rushed home to check in with the girls.

Debbie was looking VERY tired today- to our surprise it wasn't Charli-Rose who was playing up, but wee Lilabelle! She had been extremely unsettled and inconsolable all day, Debbie saying she was quite ready to give her away. Poor things- it's so hard when Belle gets that upset. And poor wee Belle missing her Mama :-( I reckon that's why she was upset, cuz it was the first full day that she hadn't seen me at all. Breaks my heart!

All in all it was a very jam packed day :-)

Right.

So I've totally bitten off more than I can chew. And I don't just mean the huge cheeseburgers they have here.

Maybe I'm not as strong as I thought I was. I just wanna curl up into a little ball and hide in a hotel room for the rest of the holiday.

I wanna go home.

- Amelia

PS Maybe this is the third day blues talking. Or the fact that I haven't been this long without my babies. Ever. And there are so many cute kids here. And I know my babies are missing me.

PPS ...and we just got lost for like an hour, in the dark, late at night, and it theres so many freaky people
...and I felt like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, if her shoes gave her mad blisteres, and had a huge panic attack which lasted a good half hour.

So maybe that's why I feel terrible.

And maybe tomorrow I'll feel better.

But right now I'm happy sitting in my little corner.

***

- Chad

As you can guess we had a bit of a crappy night (but getting lost will do that to you I suppose!).

The day started off great. It wasn't too hot, only 22 degrees today, and we went to the hollywood museum.

The museum was pretty awesome! They had props and memorabilia from heaps of movies. They had a whole floor for the Marilyn Monroe exhibit which was actually interesting for me too.

The best part though was the hannibal lecter jail cell. This was an exact replica of the set used in the movie silence of the lambs. It was pretty creepy.

We then went next door to Mel's Diner which was based on the diner from the movie American Graffiti. Mealz order a cocktail (which cost only $5!!!). After drinking half she was a bit tipsy.
It was quite funny to watch to be honest.

After lunch we then went off to Santa Monica. This meant another highway drive, but I didn't almost kill us this time.
We booked into our hotel and went walking down on the beach.

The beach was great! We walked to the pier and went on a rollercoaster ride there. We both went round saying how boring it was compared to the rides at Disneyland and then...BAM!!! We went up and down so fast we went weightless! We spent the rest of the ride cracking up. We then played a game at the fair (basketball shooting of course). I won mealz a little turtle stuffed toy :)

We then hit the shops. By this time we were both sore from the blisters on our feet and the long walk to the main shops but we persevered.

We got some great bargains! I got Jordan basketball shoes for $100 US dollars. The same shoes would have cost me over $300 in NZ!! Bargain!

Mealz also got clothes and more shoes :)

We then went to Wolfgang Pucks for Pasta and Chicken Tenders. It was really good food.

We set off for home after this and that's when things went downhill. We walked and walked and walked some more. I checked the street numbers and thought we'd gone the wrong way. After another 30 minutes we found I was wrong - Yep, a man wrong about where he was going! Who would guess?

We finally hailed a cab and got back to the hotel in one piece.

So now it's good bye LA, and here we come San Francisco!!!!

Los Angeles- Hollywood

Day One

So we made it!...now what?

At first LA was a bit underwhelming- we came out of the airport to a dirty street and a boring old brick wall. The heat is enveloping, like someone wrapping a warm duvet around your shoulders. Eventually, our shuttle came to get us- the awesome driver cutting across 5 lanes when he spotted us at last minute (Angelos are amazing drivers!)

Picked up rental car with no hassles, then had a great moment wondering "Hang on...how do we drive in the USA?" So far we've been winging it when it comes to the road rules. There are some awesome ones; like if you are waiting at a red light and turning right (which would be the equivalent of our left hand turn) and the way is clear, you can just coast on through- because the red light is just a guide line (YUS! My kinda people!)

Chad was petrified at first and we laughed our way through the first trip to our hotel. Going from LAX, we passed through the poorer parts of LA- certainly not the glamorous version we are shown on TV. It seems quite segregated; half an hour passed before we saw a 'white' person an then suddenly the neighbourhood changed, palm trees appeared, cute little houses lined the cleaner streets.

Our hotel is great with a relaxed, indie vibe- budget definitely but dressed up nice and we are missing nothing.

We had been planning to just rest up and get some much needed sleep but decided to go explore instead. We are right in the middle of Hollywood so everything is so close.

Hollywood: wow, oh, wow. If our entrance to LA was understated, this made up for it. Hollywood is a crazy, overwhelming, kinda scary, sensory overload. It's FULL of people; lots of tourists, even more people hawking various things to tourists, and a lot of the neighbourhood locals who were either dressed up as cartoon/movie characters, drugs users, homeless, or quite likely a mix of all three. It's very gritty and grimy.

We found a McDonalds and had a look and a taste test: everything on the menu was labelled with the calorie content and burgers were referred to as 'sandwiches'. Otherwise it was pretty much the same! Chad reckons the meats better and the coke tastes different though.

With Hollywood being as intense as it was, we didn't go too far along the walk of fame. Did get this for Charli-Rose though

We did go souvenir shopping and then found Madame Tussards Wax museum. Like a lot in this city, you've got to let yourself go and not let worrying about what others think of you or being cool, you just gotta be crazy you and have fun!

The wax figures are amazing, soooo life like. I kept thinking they were real people and lining up behind them lol.

After finishing there we hunted down some food at a mini-mart (with no checkout operators- wonder if that's the way we'll go in NZ?) and headed back to the hotel. After checking in with Debbie and the girls at home we went off to sleep.  The time difference isn't too bad. LA is 19 hours behind NZ which works out to be 5 hours to our body clocks. It's worked out great so far as we've actually been able to stay up without falling asleep.

It wasn't til we got here that I realised how stressed we were back home. On the plane and arriving here I felt grey, lifeless, with a bottomless pit of tiredness in me, like I could sleep for days and would still be tired. Now we are here we are both slowly loosening up and becoming alive again.

Yay for holidays :-)