Dec 2006

Unfortuently time differences between the states of the US created havoc for us this morning as we were woken by our tour manager to tell us the bus was leaving. We had signed up for a Hot Air Ballon ride over the Arizona Desert with a 6.15am start. We franticly packed our bags (more like threw stuff into) and were able to make the bus in time. We arrived at the departure site and loaded ourselves into the basket for an absolutely breath taking trip across the desert. We safely landed and enjoyed a champagne and quiche breakfast before joining the rest of the tour group to start our trip to Sedona, Arizona. Upon arriving in Sedona we bundled ourselves into a Jeep for a cross country experience through the red rocks of Sedona. Arriving back (covered in dust) we had lunch and then progressed to Tucion to watch an IMAX movie of the Grand Canyon. We arrived at the Grand Canyon after dark (and severly lowered temperatures) where we settled in for the night.

Today was more of a travel day with various stops throughout California and Arizona as we made our way to Scotsdale, Arizona. After arriving after dark we headed out for dinner with a few contiki mates to a restraunt called My Big Fat Greek Restraunt. After dinner we met up with other members of the group at a nightclub. We think the bar guy liked our accents as we enjoyed 1 penny (1 cent)drinks all night.

Today we a free day for us to explore the city. We decided to check out the famous San Diego Zoo. We had a great day and since it happened to be Thanksgiving we had a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner (lunch) at the Zoo with a few of our new contiki friends. After a big day at the Zoo we headed back to the hotel to rest and recover for the next coming days.

This morning was an early morning as we all loaded our bags onto the Contiki Bus and set off on our way to San Diego. We arrived at San Diego and we went on a ferry for a cruise of the San Diego Harbour. After the cruise we did a quick tour of the city on our way to Tijiuna, Mexico! We went for a group lunch with our new contiki friends and then roamed the streets of Mexico looking for treasures. While it was very easy to get into Mexico getting back to US soil was another story. We waited in a traffic jam for over an hour before walking through customs and reboarding our bus to head back to San Diego. For dinner our tour went to a restraunt called Dick's Last Resort. It was an interesting place where the waiters are paid to be rude to you and napkins are thrown at you from others eating at the restraunt. Not our cup of tea but an interesting experience. We then went to a Bar called Mosey's where we danced up a storm and mingled with our group and the locals.

We got up and packed then checked out of the hostel as we had to met in Aneheim for our contiki tour. We wheeled our bags up the street to the greyhound bus terminal. While waiting for the bus we met another Aussie who was also going to be on our contiki tour. The bus from Anehiem to LA was very full and the bus driver almost didnt let us on. As there were not many seats on the bus we had to go sit down next to people we didnt know. Kylie sat next to a gentleman who she soon figured out had just been let out of prision. There was a group of three of them and they were discussing their plans for when they got home. They were all wearing matching clothing and were carrying their belongings in clear plastic bags. It was the longest 40 minutes of Kylie's life! We got to Aneheim and checked in to our hotel (what luxury, compared to our hostel!). We then went and check out the Disneyland Board walk. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. It was an amazing set up. Katie ordered a entree nachos (as she wasnt very hungry) but it could of fed at least 4-5 people.

That evening we had a group meeting we our contiki tour group. Was a great to meet the people that we would be with for the next 10 days.