Last lot of pics

Out for tea with Tiff & Rudy; Times Square

Knocking out Jimmy Thunder; Grand Canyon

In the desert in Arizona; With our loot at Universal

Day 46

So, it's our last day before we fly home. How sad, never mind. Today we started with look at the Santa Monica pier, and then did a self driving tour of the "Stars Homes" in Beverly Hills and Bel Air, there are some mansions in this place, and we generally could not see much, though true to form the biggest one belonged to Hugh Hefner, whilst Aaron Spelling's house was massive, there were heaps of others too, though we didn't dare pause to pick from the money trees they have in these suburbs. Heaps of Mexicans must live here too as they were everywhere mowing lawns and trimming hedges.

We then battled the LA traffic again to Beverly Boulevard and Melrose Avenue to do some more...SHOPPING! To be honest Melrose was actually rather cool with a heap of retro gear, I got myself a spiffing shirt.

So now I sit in the Koru Lounge knocking back Coronas and thinking about the Lions prospects in the NPC. Must almost be home time.

Best City: Ruth - Venice, Jim - Roma.
Best 'Woah' Experience: Has to be Grand Canyon.
Worst Food: some dodgy Restaurant by the Piazza Nuvona in Roma.
Hottest Place: Las Vegas.
Coldest Place: Grand Canyon at 6am.
Best Buy: Jim - Cowboy Hat in Kingman, Ruth - One of her four handbags.
Famous People Seen: Shane Warne, Beyonce, Mike Tyson, Jeff Fenech, Jimmy Peau, Jessica Simpson, Monty Penasar, Federer, Nadal, Safin, etc at the US Open, Liverpool FC team, West Ham United team, NY Mets and LA Dodgers baseball teams.
Worst Experience: Jim - Losing the car keys in Target, Ruth - Being scared as we stepped off the subway and into Harlem.

FINAL VITAL STATISTICS
Luggage weight: 56kg
Ruth's Shoe Status: 13 pairs

Day 45

Today we got a true LA experience, crawling along the freeways in rush hour traffic! but as we are on holiday it was no drama, after about an hour we got over the other side of the city and into Universal City, home of Universal Studios, and yes it was Ruth's choice. So it's a theme park with a tour of the studio lot (basically movie sets), they were filming Desperate Housewives today too, Eva wanted to catch up but the director wouldn't let her. There was some set up going on for Gilmore Girls too (Lyds tell Cam). The rest of it is about rides named after Universal Movies e.g. Jurassic Park, Shrek, The Mummy etc. Was a fun day and I even had a starring role in the Special Effects show where I got my arm cut off and also hit by lightning and fried! The must see thing here is the Waterworld show where you get soaked, there's plane crashes, pyrotechnics and jet ski stunts.

After a day here (and after I got my third meal taking advantage of the all you can eat pass I bought) we cruised Hollywood Boulevard, a seedy part of town really, but it just coincided with a movie premiere at the Chinese Theatre, it was Jessica Simpson's new movie, and lo and behold just as we rocked up so did she, us in a Dodge Stratus and she in a stretch limo and heaps of security. The crowd went wild and she ran across the road to give them some love, so Beyonce in NY and Jessica Simpson in LA, not bad. We then drove home via the Sunset Strip and a wee look at some more shops in Santa Monica.

Day 44

The countryside part of the Road Trip had basically finished after we hit Needles and we were definitely in the city now, mad drivers and all (saw some nut job almost take out a big rig). Anyways the LA traffic was not too bad and we snaked our way down Sunset Boulevard and onto Santa Monica Boulevard, I did a detour down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills for Ruth too, driving was much better than walking as it is quite hard to spend money there when driving. We finally hit the end of Route 66 and Pacific Ocean mid-morning. I said to Ruth we can do whatever she wants in LA as I'd been here a couple of times so our first stop was Venice Beach with all the local freakos (I fitted right in) where she indulged in some sun baking whilst I slept and got burnt. There seem to be heaps more homeless in LA than other places too, must be the better climate, they are more honest too as they ask for money for drugs not food. We checked into the Seashore Motel (misleading as it actually the next street back) and then hit the Santa Monica shops, they have a promenade down the middle of 3rd St in Santa Monica a la Cuba Mall, but hey they're all shops to me. I think we, I mean she shopped till way after dark. All in all Santa Monica is a really nice part of the world.

Day 43

After bidding farewell to our stale smoke smelling motel (btw it was another stunning, hot day and no it is not getting boring) it was a continuation of our desert road trip. The road was even more deserted today and the scenery even better, we wound up these rocky hills that reminded me of those old westerns, thankfully there were no injuns in them thar hills. Our first stop was the "ghost town" of Oatman, an interesting little place, there are wild burros (asses) that come down from the hills during the day cos they know the tourists passing through are gonna feed them, they also had a gunfight show in the main street for 15 minutes, and I think it only held up one car! After getting Ruth a little ass (boom boom!), we continued toward California, passing over the Colorado River, via Needles (yawn), Barstow (chilli fries!), and into Los Angeles County through the likes of San Dimas (remember Bill & Ted?) and finally we stopped for the night in Pasadena, just on the outskirts of LA city.

Day 42

After a relaxed night it was up before the birds to watch the sunrise over the big pile of rocks known as the Grand Canyon, and learning from last nights temperatures I wore socks with my jandals today, it was cool watching the sun slowly hit the canyon and it made me forget how early it was...well no it didn't it was just after 6. The good thing about the GC is that the park rangers do free talks too, so after going home for breakfast we went back to the south rim (on a stunner of a day) for Ranger Emily to educate us on the people that lived there, and how they survived. Then we took a drive around the south rim catching various views. Not being the outdoorsy, hiking types, driving and looking was about our lot. Recommend getting different persepectives of the canyon as the Desert View and Lipman lookouts were two of the best. Ranger Emily then did an afternoon talk on geology...telling us how GC was created, sounds lame but was rather interesting. If you are ever in the area definately make a stop here.

We then jetted out of Tusayan off on Route 66 via Williams, stopping in Seligman for our best burgers and shakes yet! These run down towns are basically kept going by Route 66 tourists, and the roads are deserted sometimes we'd go 10 minutes without seeing another vehicle, there are definately more bikers doing the roadie. We stopped for the night in Kingman where we stayed at the Hill Top View motel...and here's a great bit of trivia about this place, Timothy McVeigh stayed here before he blew up the FBI building in Oklahoma, cool aye? I asked the receptionist what was going on in Kingman tonight and she says the fair is in town, so off we trotted. It was basically an American A&P show, with a steer auction, kai and rip off sideshows and rides! bought me a kick ass cowboy hat from the Vietnam Veteran's Assoc though.

Day 41

After not enough sleep, we jumped into the car, I shot a clip from an M-16 at the Gun Store in Vegas to get me in the mood for the American drivers and headed out into the desert for the start of our road trip. The road is actually quie scenic and the desert is actually quite beautiful in it's own way. Anyways our first stop was the Hoover Dam, it's just a dam really, but it is a big one! It was actually closed just after we went over it too cos the wind blew some pylons or something onto it. So we crossed into Arizona (driving through the highlights of Kingman, Ash Fork and Williams), picked up our all-American snacks of twinkies, Hershey's, Pringles and peanuts, and then up to the Grand Canyon in time for sunset. WOAH! This place is damn amazing, and it sounds lame but has to be seen in real life to do it justice, man is it grand! The sunset was nice and the view impressive, but it's damn cold at night, I think I was the only one in jandals. We were feeling jaded after the drive and emotionally drained after the unexpected impact of a big pile of rocks, plus there's nothing to do out here at night so we watched telly for the night.

Day 40

This morning we indulged in the classic Vegas buffet, at the Pharoahs Feast at our hotel, not being a big eater and wanting to get my money's worth I almost made my self sick eating eggs benedict, and omelette, sausages, bacon, toast, corn beef hash, spuds, a hash brown, 2 peices of toast, a bowl of fruit, and drinks. Ruth was more sensible. While Ruth went and hung by the pool, I braved the 100 degree temperatures and walked to the Aladdin to watch Mike Tyson train, for what I have no idea, but I turned up just after 12 and he was not there (was supposed to start at 11), but he did show up and threw a few punches then signed autographs and posed for photos, I just shook the stocky little, convicted felon's hand. I did get photos with his trainer Jeff Fenech (Aussie ex world champ) and here's a blast from the past, Jimmy Peau aka Jimmy Thunder aka James Thunder, I just saw him there watching and said hello to him. Met up with Ruth poolside for the rest of the avo.

As we'd hired a car today tonight we went cruising the Strip. We went over the Rio to watch a show over there and then went to the original Downtown Vegas to watch the Fremont Street Experience which is basically a light and laser show on the roof of the mall. Downtown is more old school and there is cheap booze down here too so there were plenty of wasted cats. We did some punting tonight too Ruth was pretty much even on the pokies and I was definitely down on the blackjack and roulette. Fyi Laura your bet on 00 did not come in, but damn it was close!

So that was our Vegas, hang on Ruth I think we forgot something, oh well the wedding will have to wait till next time, damn we just ran outta time.

Day 39

I had signed us up for a breakfast timeshare presentation this morning to score some free dinner and show tickets, so after Ruth stopped me from wasting 20k on a timeshare it was relaxing by the Luxor pool for the day. The temprature hit 100 today so it was definitely the place to be. We then went to our dinner show at the Excalibur, funnily enough it was a medievil thing where you eat with your hands (3 course mind) and watch, and cheer and boo during a tournament, we were in the baddie section, so of course it comes down to the hero avenging King Arthur's death and killing our guy in the finale. So there were horses, and jousting, and acrobats and fireworks and sword fights, it was sort of like the middle ages meets WWE Smackdown, and a lot of fun. For the rest of the night we continued our Strip tour taking in the sights of the Venetian and Caesars Palace, as well as viewing the Sirens of TI which is a free show outside Treasure Island which involves lingerie clad skanky dancers sinking (yes sinking) a pirate ship n some mock battle. Rest assured the sunken ship does rise again as this show is on 4 times a day! Bed late.

Day 38

Up real early to catch our morning flight to Sin City this morning, and we touched down in Las Vegas at 3, and she was hot, banging in the high 90's. Checked into our Luxor hotel and this place is pretty sweet, it's Egyptian themed and we're staying in a massive pyramid. After an early evening nap we headed out onto Las Vegas Blvd (aka the Strip) to take in the sights and the neon, the Luxor being at the southern end of the strip was a good place to start going past or through the likes of Excalibur, New York New York, MGM Grand, Paris and the Bellagio. There was an impressive free fountain show out the front of the Bellagio too. Well Sin City is not only about throwing your money away there is plenty to do here from bars, restaurants, shops, clubs, shows and theme parks, theme seems to be something here for all tastes, but it's hard going. The casinos are huge and walking around can take ages and at this time of year it's still hot at night so a good tool to use is the Strip monorail, to save your legs. After a long day we stopped our Strip tour just before the Venetian and headed home to our suite on the 25th floor of a pyramid with Strip views.

Day 37 - 9/11

Some of you may know I was slightly obsessed with the whole 9/11 thing when it happened 5 years ago and when I figured out that we were gonna be in NY on the fifth anniversary I was keen to go to the memorial ceremony at the World Trade site. So we got up early and went down, and to be honest it did not feel right as it felt like we were gate crashing a funeral, there were literally thousands of family members of those who died there, so we actually left fairly promptly. We walked further downtown to catch the Staten Island ferry, this is a free 25 minute ferry ride that gives great views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, and did I say it's free! After letting Ruth loose in designer discount store Century 21 for an hour or so we then caught the subway up to 110th street and the start of Harlem, and man is it black up there! Let's just say for the hour or so we walked around the streets up there we woulda seen less than a dozen white folks, in saying that the rep of the place is way worse than the reality and it seemed safe enough to me anyway...during the day. Our last night in NY and NJ concluded by having dinner with Tiff and Rudy at Houstons in Jersey, that had the best ribs. We then caught the impressive Manhattan skyline by night, with the lights shining up from ground zero piercing the night sky, and us singing Star Spangled Banner, well ok me singing it. A final thanks to Tiff and Rudy for their hospitality that included an ensuite and some fine home cooking, a cat-fix for Ruth, and chaufferring. Cheers.

Day 36

Woke up this morning got myself a gun...for those of you in the know today I went and did the Sopranos Tour, where they took a bunch of Sopranos nerds (well these geeks live and breath the show unlike me who just watches it) round various spots where things are filmed or scenes happened, it was all around New Jersey too and was quite a fun filled 4 hours. The tour concluded in the Bada Bing, really called Satin Dolls, a gentlemans club, it's basically a nudey bar and they actually do the filming in this place. I've never been on a tour that finishes in such a venue and it was funny as most of the people on the tour seemed a tad uncomfortable, not me but. After that I meet up with Ruth, Tiff and Rudy and we took in a show, Spamalot, which is a take on the Monty Python Holy Grail film, it was damn funny and it was good to take in a Broadway Show when in NY, inside tip, if you ever go to this show try and get seat D101. I must make a mention of the best meal on tour so far too, Tiff's roast lamb was carnivore heaven.

Si, Cyb & Ruth (New London); Niagara Falls

Rained out at the tennis; Brooklyn Bridge

Statue of Liberty; Front row seats at the baseball

Day 35 - Outlet Shopping Day!!

Homemade pancakes for breakfast, with multiple varieties of maple syrup, then we headed out for some shopping. Jim made a last minute decision to join us ... not sure if that was because he'd noted all the major sporting stores represented at the outlet mall or because he thought he could act as a controlling influence on our spending.

Woodbury Common Premium Outlet Mall - the "2nd most visited attraction in New York State" after Niagara - is situated about an hour north of NY city. Jim knew he was in trouble when we arrived and our first stop was to get a map. The outlet has most of the chain store brands as well as the flasher labels represented. With over 220 stores we decided we'd better pick and choose some must-sees before we started so we could cover the ground more efficiently. Jim designated himself map holder to steer us round to the stores we picked ... amusing himself by yelling out "unsanctioned stop, unsanctioned stop" if we veered off course (don't know if he's noticed the locals here don't really yell stuff out much, unless they're at the baseball or driving)

Jim breathed a sigh of relief when I passed on buying a Kate Spade bag. I did buy a Diane von Furstenberg skirt ... with around 70% off it was a bargain ... would have brought one of her dresses too but they're cut quite narrow through the chest so unfortunately not for me. We spent around 6 hours shopping here and headed home with a boot chokka full of bags - I added a couple more pairs of shoes to the growing collection, Tiff stocked up on some work clothes and I believe Jim also made a few purchases ... the ever popular beanie purchase (a bit redundant here but no doubt will come in handy back home), more T-shirts and I may also have seen an Armani purchase in there.

A good day all round ... the US are a bit quick on their seasonal turn around so less summer gear than I thought there might be. Perhaps we'll have more luck in LA where the weather is warmer. Getting dangerously close to requiring another bag so we'll see what the luggage situation is like once we've packed these purchases.

Day 34

Caught the express bus in with Tiff this morning ... and you know you're in the big city when you rock off the bus and through Times Square and stumble across Beyonce giving a concert in the middle of the street!! Walked up 5th Avenue to Central Park and spent the morning wandering in the park grounds - it was another brilliant day in NY so the paths were bustling with tourists, nannies and babies and joggers of all shapes and sizes. Saw some of the sights - Strawberry Fields, Turtle Lake, Belvedere Castle, the Obelisk, Shakespeare Garden and the Great Lawn - then wander back down 7th Avenue to catch up with Tiff and Rudy for lunch at Grand Central Station.
After lunch we caught a couple of buses uptown and across town to Chelsea Piers so Jim could have a go in the batting cages. He got kitted out with bat and helmet and tried out the various pitching speeds of the different cages. As the spectator it was fairly hard to see much difference in the pitch speeds but the fastest cage did have a handy film image on the back wall of guys pitching which lined up with the hole where the ball fires out so was a bit more interesting ... 50 pitches and one blister later we'd had enough.
After the batting practise we headed to Madison Square Park where they had a big screen set up showing the US Open. We hit the grass for a while for Jim to watch some chicks play tennis and me to have a snooze. They also had various tennis things set up for people to try including one where they measured the speed of your tennis serve ... for the record I think Jim's best effort was 94 MPH, although to be fair he had just hit a few baseball pitches so that may have slowed him down. Then we headed back out to Queens and Shea Stadium for a NY Mets baseball game ... which Jim can tell you all about in case I miss the nuances.

Fresh from the disappointment of missing the game the other night and with Ruth happy Tiff had scored tickets for Broadway on Sunday night, off we trotted. We came across this guy who was selling "the best tickets you'll ever get", so we bought them and damn they were good, 4 rows from the front, right on first base...right amongst all the hard core. So after being introduced to the locals as "the New Zealians" the game started. The NY Mets have the best record in baseball this season, but unfortunately tonight they did not show it as they got trounced 5-0 by the LA Dodgers, though we did see a couple of homers, had our first foot long NY hot dogs, and I learnt how to score from my man Louie sitting in front of me. Our gracious NY hosts then let me and Ruth sit in the front row for the 9th inning. The only disappoinmtent was that one of the dozens of foul balls that went into the crowd never came near us, these Yanks were dropping them willy nilly and I was desperate to pull off a glove-less, one handed screamer. It was a great night out though and Ruth even enjoyed it. I recommend getting close to the action at a baseball game if you can so you can soak up the fans abusing players and umpires alike. For the record these boys don't believe the Mets can win it all cos they got no pitching but as they say in America "we gotta believe".

Passed back through Times Square on our way home so soaked up some of the crowds and the neon lights before we headed home.

Day 33

A late start this morning meant we had to catch a local bus to Manhattan(rather than the usual express), and it took over an hour...so we eventually hit town and started our day with a brisk walk over the East River via the Brooklyn Bridge to Downtown Manhattan. It was a another nice day today - in the high 70's - so was a nice stroll. Once we hit downtown we wandered over to the World Trade Center site, being the USA I expected it to be quite tacky and touristy but it was not, it was basically the big hole in the ground/construction site with a few photos and a timeline around. Even the tourists seem to show a bit more respect for this place than the likes of the Sistene Chapel.

In the afternoon we took a cruise right around Manhattan Island, down the Hudson past Greenwich, Downtown, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty and up the East River and back around. It took about 3 hours and was a cruisy way to spend the afternoon and get a bit more informed about the city and it's 5 boroughs, which are...Manhattan, Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

The master chef, Tiff, cooked us up another feed for tea...

Day 32

Today we reached an agreement, not wanting to subject Ruth to another day of tennis, and Ruth not wanting to subject me to more modern art, we decided to head our separate ways for the day. I went back out to Queens, and suprisingly they gave me a free ticket due to yesterday's rain...sweet! Big day today I saw the big names on show and some great tennis in the smaller, but way better viewing and atmosphere, Louis Armstrong Stadium. Murray ended up getting mowed in his match against Davydenko, then top women's seed Mauresmo spanked Marat Safin's little sister in the 1/4's, then Federer came on and the crowd was sickenly fawning over him so I started cheering very loudly for the other guy...who did not win a point till Federer had reeled off 12 straight. This guy is good, he's quick and has it all and he cruised it in straight sets, and here's a bold prediction for ya, I think he'll win it all, though I'm going for Roddick. Then there was the match of the day, the ladies favourite Rafael Nadal against the nerdy looking Mikhail Youzhny in the first men's 1/4, again going against the grain I started barracking for Youzhny, and man was this a match, it was real tight for the first three sets, and the crowd was going crazy as these boys had some great rallys. Sure enough the crowd turned my way and Youzhny just killed Nadal in the 4th set, and the second seed was gone. After all this I went home happy...how was your day Ruth?

I had a good day too (even with no sport), walking some of the NY streets and getting my bearings. After yesterdays rain the morning was overcast but warm and dry and the cloud lifted by lunchtime so a perfect day for sightseeing. Wandered through Times Square and the Rockefellar Centre to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in time for opening at 10:30am. Am undecided whether I prefer MoMA or the Tate Modern ... MoMA has a bigger collection and in my opinion more pivotal modern art pieces but the Tate is better set out and their Audio guide kicks MoMA's arse. Saw more amazing art and sculpture and MoMA also has a design section ... good for checking out all the furniture and Danish designs I love ... managed to restrain myself in the MoMA design store too was quite taken with a lightfitting but decided it might cause luggage issues. After MoMA I headed down 5th Avenue to Saks (I guess an old school Kirkaldies ... but more pricey) for a browse, then continued on to the Empire State Building. Luckily I'd already brought my City Pass (... save 50% of 6 top attractions) at MoMA which let me jump the queue at the Empire State so only a 10min wait to get to the top. Primo 360 degree view of the whole island, across to New Jersey and up to the Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island. The lobby and elevators in the Empire State are almost as impressive as the view from the top. Finished the day with a wander around Macy's - "The Worlds Largest Department Store". Didn't do any shopping today (well other than a couple of little things at MoMA's design store) ... Tiff is taking me to the outlets on the weekend so today was more about research ... saw a couple of stores that are worth a second look if I don't get enough of a shopping fix on the weekend.

Day 31

Not wanting this holiday to turn into one big sporting indulgence for myself (see I'm just so thoughtful) I had tagged today as one of the sporting days, to take in a day at the US Tennis Open and a night at the Shea Stadium to watch the NY Mets take on the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball...anyways that was the plan! We got the express bus with Tiff over to Manhattan (under the Hudson river via the Lincoln Tunnel) and walked to her work where she gave us the deal on how to get to Flushing, Queens. So we caught the subway to out there and again security was silly as we had to check in our backpack and then still had to get any other bags checked by security. Eventually we got into the massive Arthur Ashe stadium (too big for tennis in my humble opinion) and watched the end of a 1/4 upset in the women's where Jankovic beat Dementieva, scanning the draw I found a kiwi girl was playing in the junior comp, Sacha Jones, so we toddled over to watch her, surprisingly the Maori looking one was the eastern European and the eastern European looking one was the kiwi girl, but that only confused us for a game or two. We had just started watching Andy Murray's match and then the rain came, and came, and came...it just got a heavier too so after a couple of beverages I grumpily agreed to leave. We headed home and it rained all night, Tiff was blaming some hurricane down south for this strange summer weather. Still warmer than up north though.

Day 30

Another big drive today, from Niagara Falls, Canada to Englewood, New Jersey. These motorways are pretty sweet to drive and even though it was Labour Day Monday the traffic on the roads did not seeme excessive. Both the drives up to and back from Niagara have been pretty scenic as well, heaps of greenery, I suppose the road trip down south will be more desert. So, we were navigating it perfectly till the motorway split just before our exit so obviously we chose the wrong lane and had to get off the freeway cos we woulda been heading to Manhattan, so close and we were lost! Oh, and we had no map...but being the resourceful types we are, we headed in the general direction where we thought we needed to be, then we found the Englewood signs and followed them, luckily we stumbled across the rental car place and we able navigate from there to Tiff and Rudy's (Tiff I know from Brunei when we were youngsters and Rudy is her husband) place.

We were waiting barely 15 minutes when they turned up fresh from a camping trip up by Lake Placid. Greetings were exchanged and then they took us for a little tiki tour to take a peek at a view of Manhattan, got the locals to give us some directions so we could get our bearings of the city too. We pretty much chilled for the rest of the night.