If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...by Cam

We weren't sure what to expect of San Francisco, but we were excited that we had two days to explore the city upon our arrival. We approached the city crossing the Bay Bridge and the city skyline came into view. My first impressions from this sight was that it was not the most attractive of skylines or cities, but was going to reserve judgement until we had a chance to see and experience the city in its entirity. Our first stop was at the famour fisherman's wharf where we had a brief stop to have a quick look around and grab a bite to eat. We would explore this area later in the day so I wont go into too much depth now.

We hopped back on the bus and started the city tour. At this point I should point out that San Francisco was actually the place where our tour guide Jim grew up, so not only was he extremely knowledgeable, but it was clear his excitement and enthusiasm had lifted to be in his home town once again. Our city tour took us over probably the most well known sight in San Fran, the Golden Gate Bridge. An imposing structure, it certainly is a magnificent feature to the city and we stopped for a photo opportunity to better appreciate the bridge. Jim told us the history of the bridge and many interesting facts about it's construction, including the fact that in high winds it can sway as much as 8 metres. We were told that the bridge was designed to allow for this however as well as the significant temperature changes which expand and contract the support struts of the bridge. A truly marvellous display of engineering brilliance really! The tour continued and we climbed to one of the highest points of the city which offered a fantastic view of the city and both bridges.

We also drove past Alamo Park famous for its many victorian style houses (and for those in the know, used in the old sitcom "Full House"). The bus then dropped us off back at the harbour so we could take our Bay Cruise. This was a pleasant cruise and the wind chill factor was extreme, but I braved the gale force winds and was able to get some great shots of the Golden Gate Bridge and the other dominant feature of the Bay, "Alcatraz".

After our tour we headed back to the hotel as we were meeting up with Alison's parents who had just returned from an Atlantic Cruise to Alaska and as fortune would have it, were also in San Francisco. We had organised to catch up with them and were pleased they were able to join us on our evening tour and dinner in Chinatown. The tour was great and the chinese dinner was exceptional.

The engine room for the cable cars; Our table at the Chinese Restaurant; Dad, Mum, Myself and Cam

The highlight of the evening however (for me at least) was the tram ride back to the hotel. Not sure about the saftey, but I was hanging off the side of the tram with cars going past me. I would also like to note that of the cities visited so far on this trip, San Fran seems hands down winner on visible crazy people on the streets. Whilst waiting for our tram after our dinner we encountered a young lass who was initially doing yoga in a headstand position. It soon became evident that she was not a dedicated athlete, but rather a complete looney as she proceeded to take of her top and dance naked on the tram tracks screaming incomprehendable language as soon as anyone tried to remove her from the tram tracks...

Our 2nd day in San Fran we had pre arranged a trip to Alcatraz and it certainly was a fascinating experience.

It was quite daunting learning about the history of the place and those that had been imprisoned there. Photos dont really do this place justice and you really need to walk around and see the place and cells for yourself to get a true sense of the kind of life these inmates would have had.






We finished the tour and then decided to head back to Alamo place as it seemed a nice place for lunch. Alison was also excited to get some more photos of the old victorian houses.

From here we spent the rest of the day doing some shopping and exploring the city. In the evening we were very excited as we decided we would go see a baseball game - The San Francisco Giants v's the Houston Astros. Whilst not touted to be one of the most exciting games of the season it was a baseball game nonetheless and we just wanted to experience the atmosphere of a baseball game. We aquired some fan paraphanalia at the stadium and looked the part with our hotdog and beer in hand. Alison also tried one of the other food fares, a Churo which was just like a cinamin doughnut really. The game itself was not overly entertaining as not many homeruns were hit, but what was entertaining (for me anyway) was the fans in the crowd. Having been to many cricket, footy, AFL games I have always rated Aussies as one of the better sledgers in the world. I can now confirm that the Yanks are the worst sledgers in the world with some of the most unimaginative and repetative sledging I have ever heard i.e. " Hey Lee (one of the players names), you suck and you smell real bad too!" - I had to laugh at its simplicity, but the crowd seemed to love it all the same :)

I'll leave you with some interesting facts about San Fran:

• San Francisco supposedly has the purest tap water in all of America and apparently is better than some bottled water you might acquire elsewhere
• San Francisco was discovered quite late (in the 1760's) This was due to the the San Franciso Bay being very difficult to find/see by the explorers sailing the seas.

Yosemite, but no sight of Sam! By Cam

After lamenting my financial contributions to various Las Vegas establishments, it was good to get back on the road and back to seeing nature at it's absolute best. Today saw us heading towards Yosemite National Park and we were filled with great expectations as it had been described as one of the more beautiful of the parks on our tour. We stopped briefly to view some Sequoia's, supposedly the biggest living things on the plant in diameter. To say the trees are old would be an understatement as they were established as adult trees back in the days of Julius Ceasar! The giant sequoia is one of the three surviving redwood species in the world, two of which are found in California, the other, surprisingly is found in China.

We then hopped back on the coach and wound our way down through the park where we stopped and the view took our breath away... majestic Yosemite Valley stood before us, the key feature being a magnificent waterfall known as "Bridal Veil Falls" - so named as when the wind is blowing the water away from the cliff it resemebles a bridal veil.

Yosemite valley we were told was carved out entirely by a glacier which is difficult to comprehend when you see the size of the valley, but that's nature for you!

We continued our drive down to the valley floor and had an opporutnity to further examine the stunning landscape. Not only did we have better views of the Bridal Veil falls, but we were also introduced to some other waterfalls known as the Ribbon falls and then finally the most impressive of them all, Yosemite Falls - the tallest waterfall in the United States. Alison and I had an opportunity to walk to the bottom of yosemite falls and even though standing a good 30-40 metres away, the spray from the falls was still noticably blown our way in a refreshing breeze. Yosemite also boasts another natural feature called El Capitan which is the largest single exposed rock monolith, standing an impressive 1km in height it certainly was an imposing sight, yet there were those we could see that were brave (or stupid) enough to attemtp to scale the giant rock.

After taking what seemed like endless photos of waterfalls and giant rocks, we boarded the coach and leaving the stunning Yosemite behind we started our trek to the next stop - San Francisco.

Vegas Baby Yeah! By Al

Wednesday afternoon, Cam and I headed from the sub zero temperatures of Bryce Canyon to the hot desert sun in Las Vegas. Our destination was Circus Circus hotel - an older hotel which was down the furthest end of the strip and although boasted an always running circus act, didn't partiularly hold the thrills of the trip...

That night, Jim took the group into town for an evening tour of the Strip. First stop was the Venetian - oh my goodness - it was amazing! You walk up the escalator and then you are in....St Mark's Square, complete with gondolas! There is also a false roof which gives you the impression of a beautiful afternoon all day round.

Next, we stopped at Luxor, which has a Pyramid which is almost to the scale of the great Pyramid in Egypt. Atop is a light shining from the peak of the pyramid into the night sky - they claim you can read a newspaper by it in space, as it is that bright (but who has tested this theory?).

Our final stop of the evening was the original Vegas - Freemont Street - where we witnessed the largest tv screen display and the first Vegas neon sign. BTW, as we drove back to our hotel that evening, we saw a drive through chapel - get married without leaving the car (and do you want fries with that?).

After a sleep in the next day, Cam and I did the strip (all 10 miles) and went in and out of casinos, trying our hand, the drinks and the buffets :-) Highlights - I liked the Wynn Casino and the buffet at the Bellagio - I actually took a pic of the dessert bar. Cam liked the MGM Grand (there was a real lion inside!) and we both agreed that the best gimmick was the fountain at the Bellagio which has a water display to music.

From top to bottom; Cam outside Ceasars Palace Casino; The Mirage Casino; Alison looking stunning outside the MGM Grand Casino; New York Casino; The English Casino otherwise known as "Camelot"; Alison outside the Bellagio and the famous fountain; Alison's delicious deserts devoured at the Bellagio buffet; the mighty Lion on display inside the MGM Grand Casino.

That evening, Cam and I went to the Wynn and saw Le R'eve, an amazing water show along the lines of Cirque De Soleil. I can't describe how incredible it was: I literally sat there for the first five minutes with my mouth open.

After out time in Vegas, we spent yesterday driving through Death Valley and then around the Sierra Nevada. Today we are heading to Yosemite National Park and then onto San Fran tomorrow!!

The Bellagio Fountain Display

The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park

Grand Canyon and Monument Valley - By Alison

We arose early and headed to the heliport to catch our copter over the Grand Canyon, South Rim. We had to be weighed in (to balance the helicopter) and I got to sit up front with the pilot! I greeted him and he asked me if it was my first time in a copter. When I replied 'yes', he said 'me too!' and my nerves were ever so momentarily rattled..

The copter ride was amazing - coming over the forest of pines and suddenly it drops away and there! Grand Canyon. It is difficult to describe how amazing this is but it was breathtaking. And I loved the helicopter ride!! I concluded it by vowing to return to Sydney and get my pilots license...he made it look so easy...! :-)

After a few different glimpses of the Canyon, we drove deeper into Navajo Indian reserve land and into Monument Valley. It was stunning. The rock formations are huge and plentiful and the Navajo have a story for each. We took a local bumpy bus ride , guided by a native Navajo Indian, through the Valley to get a closer look. It was a wonderful experience. Later that evening, we headed to Page.

Glen Canyon Dam, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park - By Cam

This morning we saw Glen Canyon Dam on the outskirts of Page and Lake Powell. The locals sometime refer to this Dam as Lake "Foul" instead however as it generates little electricity and in general they question its overall need. An interesting fact was that the planet of the Apes was filmed here before the dam was built and instead of removing the set, they just let the dam flood over the top of it!

After Glen Canyon Damn, we headed into the Morman State of Utah and toward a Western style lunch in Kanab. I really liked Kanab - it had a Western movie feel about it (likely because many westerns had been filmed there!). We also were given the opportunity to be a part of the making of a 'real' western - 'How the West was lost' ;-) Everyone on our bus was given a character to play and when directed, had to act out our scene. Cam and I were the Wagon Master and the Wagon Master's wife. Cam got to crack his whip whilst I shot at the "Indians"! It was a lot of fun.

After lunch, we made our way to the majestic Bryce Canyon, which did not disappoint. Stunning views greeted us as we were now over 8000 feet above sea level (high than Mount Kosciosko!). The air was quite thin at this altitude and some of our fellow travellers found it difficult to breathe and take in the scenic walks.

The breathtaking Bryce Canyon!

After going to several different viewpoints from Bryce Canyon, our journey then led us to the next National Park on our schedule. Zion National Park. After already seeing Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon, we weren't sure how different it could possibly be, however Zion proved to be very different, but just as spectacular as the aforementioned locations. Zion was a brilliant mix of colours and hues with trees seemingly growing out of the rocks where they would seemingly have know place being. Whilst not as deep as Grand Canyon, Zion is still a very imposing sight and our coach wound right to the bottom where we rested for a lunch break. I've got to say, I've eaten in some pretty impressive locations, but this one really took the cake!

After lunch we then made our way away from Zion and were on our way to Vegas. I must confess, I had very high expectations and everyone I had spoken to about Vegas had said it will exceed all your expectations - it surely didnt disappoint....