TravelStream™ news feed for member flojoy on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/flojoy en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 06 May 2008 06:41:58 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1210002240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1210002240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1210002240/tpod.html Tue, 06 May 2008 06:41:58 -0400 J & L World Tour '08

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Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Saturday 3rd May 2008Checked out of our hostel for the very last time and headed to Times Square to dwindle away our last few hours in New York.  As usual, we wondered how we were ever gonna pass the time but instead ended up barely making it back in time for our pick up - most of which is all your dear fault as we had to update the blog and you wouldn't believe how long it actually takes to do....and yet do we get any appreciation from you lot?!  NO!  So many drinks will be greatly appreciated upon our arrival....We got the dopiest of shuttle bus drivers who just kept driving around and around the city looking for passengers who didn't seem to exist and a full hour later we were still only 4 streets away from where we began...great!We still managed to make it to the airport in plenty of time so after checking in we went for a celebratory drink and our 'last supper' to end our trip in style!  Apart from an hours taxi on the runway (no joke) the rest of the flight went well and we arrived safe and sound in Heathrow on Sunday morning.And now we've come to the sad part folks so get your tissues ready:  After 4 months of being with eachother 24/7 it was finally time for us to part ways.  It was a sad goodbye and we now both feel like a shadow of our former selves and that something is missing...like when you finally get rid of that thorn in your side or that last piece of food unstuck from your teeth...yep, it's gonna be a lonely week!And now as I (Laura) write this last ever travel blog Joy is somewhere in London continuing to live the highlife and will return to the bright lights of the ole 'Skillen on Tuesday evening.  So we expect to see you all out on the town on Saturday night armed with alcohol - even the OAP readers out there!Advice for fellow would-be backpackers:1. Don't be a backpacker - be a flashpacker!  Forget about hawking a 20kg bag around on your boney back...take a suitcase...and if you can't take a suitcase then at least take a bellboy!2.  Under no circumstances should you mix drinking with travelling....they just don't go together people!3.  No matter how big the urge, resist all temptation to try and smuggle fruit of any description into New Zealand.  It is highly frowned upon and can often prove to be a financial burden!4.  Don't accept any offers of 'cookies' when visiting Nimbin.  They're not quite like the chocolate chip ones your mother buys you from Tesco!5.  When touring around, hire a car and stay in a hostel - honestly, there is no need to hire a Scooby Doo van and call it your bed for the week!6.  If you want to look at the fish then head to the local aquarium.  There should be no snorkelling undertaken whatsoever.  The ocean should only be used for paddling and peeing...that's all!7.  When you tan, you moisturise...you tan, you moisturise!  You don't leave it to peel like an orange and flake off in a trail of dead skin all over the island!And now that that's out of the way what else can we really say?  We can't even begin to summarise all that we've experienced over the last 4 months, but then again you should all know as you've been following it with us for every step of the way.  Through good times and bad times, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health...sorry I got distracted for a second...we managed to get through it and experience an amazing journey together.  So sniff sniff, this is our last ever blog and some of you may experience withdrawal symptoms, but stay strong and you'll pull through.  Ladies...go back to your trashy weekly magazines...and men go back to your porn sites.  As for us...we'll go back to the dole queue!  It's on with life and on with reality but in the meantime we'll be meetin up with you all on Saturday for one hell of a reunion do!  So until we manage to scrounge up enough pennies for our 'comeback tour' sometime in the future (donations accepted in the form of Visa, Mastercard, Amex, travellers cheques, or any other kind of gift vouchers) it's a 'cheerio' from her and a 'see ya' from me!And now, the end is near;And so we face the final curtain.Our friends, We'll say it clear,We'll state our case, of which we're certain.We've lived a life thats full.Weve traveled each and every highway;And more, much more than this,We did it our way.Regrets, We've had a few;But then again, too few to mention.We did what we had to doAnd saw it through without exemption.We planned each charted course;Each careful step along the byway,But more, much more than this,We did it our way.Yes, there were times, Im sure you knewWhen we bit off more than we could chew.But through it all, when there was doubt,We ate it up and spit it out.We faced it all and we stood tall;And did it our way.We've loved, we've laughed and cried.We've had our fill; Our share of losing.And now, as tears subside,We find it all so amusing.To think we did all that;And may we say - not in a shy way,No, oh no not me,We did it our way.For what our 2 girls, what have they got? If not themselves, then they has naught.To say the things they truly feel;And not the words of those who kneel.The record shows we took the blows -And did it our way!J & Lxoxo
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New York City, New York, United States

Sunday 27th April Start spreading the news, we're leaving today!!  We're gonna be a part of it...New York, New York!!!Up early, checked out & got our 11.30am flight.  After 5 hours flyin we arrived in a nippy New York in the evening and it was like 'Spot the Tourists' with all of us in our flip flops, short trousers and no jackets!!  En route to the hotel, we got to see the fabulous lights & sights of night-time New York with May's first impression of the Big Apple being '2 fairies prancing up the street' (her words) dressed as Elton & Dale......to think she hasn't even seen the half of it!!Quickly dropped off our bags at the Radio City Apts, kindly sponsored by the Campbells, who were guilt-tripped by our blog into saving us from another hell hole hostel!!  Yee ha!!  We went out for dinner & Joy's first tour of Times Square.  Times Square is an amazing place.  The crowds on Times Square morning, noon and night are crazy...it really is the city that never sleeps.  All the lights and glitz makes it look a little bit like a mini Vegas (without the casinos obviously!).  You soon learn that you need to become a New Yorker and just push your way through the crowds or you will never get anywhere...no-one gives you a second!  There is lots of interesting places around Times Square and a good few Irish Pubs off times square who do excellent pub grub. All the shops were packed with people and some shops we had to leave as it was just too much!   We'd like to mention at this point that Robert also decided to take a self tour of his surroundings and while normally a very happy chappy, he returned from his excursion a bit of a nervous wreck exclaiming 'get me home...Never again will I be in New York!"  Apparently he got lost and ended up in some dodgy, dingy area, being passed and propositioned in the street by gangs, pimps & prostitutes!!  Welcome to NYC Papa!!  We all pissed ourselves laughing and quickly promised him it would all look better in the morning!  MEN!! Monday 28th AprilDeciding drastic action was needed to cheer up the old folks, we wrote them a game plan for their few days in NY and directed them to the shops for some retail therapy!  Meanwhile...we took ourselves down to Macy's, the "World's Largest Department Store" and boy did it live up to it's name!!  Eleven floors & 3 hours later we resurfaced for oxygen & sustainance and to see what else the city had to offer!  Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side as it was freezing and poured down most of the day.  After melting our way through the last 3 months it was a bit of a culture shock but then again it'll be good practice for when we return home next week!  One cheap shop later, we had sorted ourselves out with hats & scarves and were ready to go again!  After a hard days shopping we chilled out in style with a slap-up meal and a few drinks back at our suite!  Loving the New York way of life! Tuesday 29th April Yesterday, the inital excitement of Macy's meant that we bought a couple of things that a) we didn't really need and b) didn't really fit so back we trotted and sweetly asked for our money back (our bank manager would be so proud of us!)  Since we no longer have our own money to spend we decided to do the next best thing and took Robert on a shopping spree round Macy's.  $600 later he emerged a new man and will now be turning heads and stopping traffic!  Think he's starting to like the Big Apple after all! It's amazing how quickly time flies and all too soon the day was over, with only enough time left for dinner, drinks and bed...or in Joy's case the sofabed as all 3 members of the Campbell Clan deemed it necessary to partake in a snorefest for most of the night.  Sweet Dreams! Wednesday 30th AprilStarting the day with a dander down Money Bags Lane, aka Fifth Ave, we decided we weren't too impressed with the huge pricetags and quickly hightailed it down to Chinatown with high hopes of stocking up on our fake Tiffany jewellery.  Chinatown is renowned for it's fake goods and cheap bargains...which we love!  However apparently, which we were all too shocked and innocent to discover, counterfeit goods are illegal and should not be sold on the streets?!  Soon finding out that there had been some sort of major clampdown on Chinatown in recent months, Tiffany jewellery is now nowhere to be found and thanks to the NYPD Boys in Blue our wrists remained naked :( Not ones to be easily deterred after being so excited, we resorted to approaching every dodgy looking character on the street and asking in subtle, hushed tones "any Tiffany, any Tiffany?!"  The common response we got was "no Tiffany...me no go to jail".  Honestly...some people are cowards!  By the end of our descent into the criminal underworld we'd been ushered in and out of more backdoors than a dirty woman!  God how we've changed! Rode the Subway (which by the way is a dirty, disease infested hole) back Uptown to Times Square and our apartment to kick off the party for Robert and May's last night.  As we have already stated many times, on the nights before we travel we have our own set of rules on a checklist involving complete abstinence from alcohol of any description but in this case we're not the ones travelling and therefore that rulebook is out the window!  After dinner we decided to hit an Irish Bar and by the time we left we were in no fit state to decide on much else and barely remember going to bed.  Some things never change! Thursday 1st May Leaving our palace behind we heavy heartedly headed to our last hostel (hopefully ever) with May and Robert following behind.  They seemed a lot more excited than we were to see the inside of our next prison cell and finding the whole thing a bit of a novelty laughed at not only the size of our shoebox sized room but also at the fact that it comes with tiny bunkbeds and a shared bathroom!  Believe us, the novelty soon wears off!    Realising that our own journey was quickly coming to an end we decided to start the sightseeing side of NYC by heading to the Empire State Building and queuing for an hour and a half to get up to the 86th Floor Observatory Deck.  The views were unbelievable. As it was a clear blue sky you could see for miles, Manhattan looked like a toy town and Central Park seemed so surreal just neatly placed inside all of the skyscrapers. As you'd expect we were picture happy again.   Apparently tourist attractions almost always equals queuing and in order to get ½ price Broadway theatre tickets we had to stand in line for another hour...oh to be rich and have an easy queue-free life!  But...all's well that ends well and we managed to get 4th row tickets to our musical of choice "Legally Blonde" (all you girly girls out there know what we're talking about!) That evening the show turned out to be fantastic.  It was really well put together and really, really funny so it managed to keep us entertained all the way through and made the wait for tickets this afternoon well worth it! Friday 2nd May Today was sightseeing overload day as we tried to squeeze it all into one day.  It all started with a subway ride down to Battery Park to catch the ferry past the Statue of Liberty.  Being too cheap to pay to go to Ellis or Liberty islands we caught the (free) Staton Island Ferry which gives you really good views of New York, The Statue of Liberty (which is surprisingly far from Manhattan) and Ellis Island. It was also nice because you get to see some really good sights and sit down at the same time!  On passing the Statue, we noticed that Lady Liberty wasn't very chatty today and looked a little green in the face...think she maybe had one too many the night before lol!  The weather was once again wrking against us as it was completely overcast and foggy, meaning our pictures didn't turn out that great. Afterwards we visited Ground Zero before continuing Uptown again for a walk around Central Park, which by the way is huge, and we struggled to find our way out of it again.  Central Park is a great place to come and chill out and escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Next on the list was the famous Tiffany & Co, Trump Tower and Bloomingdales.  Needless to say "snap, snap snap" went our trusty digital camera!  Riding the rails once more we ended the day with some stress relieving retail therapy and a delicious meal.  Think we might just miss NYC after all. Well folks, as much as we didn't think it would ever come, it was time to pack up our trunks and say goodbye to the circus once and for all.  This is it...show over!  Tomorrow we catch our last long ass flight of our Round the World Tour before the Dynamic Duo parts ways as Joy stays in London for 2 days while Laura returns to lovely Smellfast (Belfast!)  But fear not dear Disciples, we have one more story left to tell so check out our final blog....Coming to a PC near you soon!! J & L xoxo 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1209594780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1209594780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1209594780/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:23:40 -0400 J & L World Tour '08

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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Bright Light City gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire... Wednesday 23rd April So today began rather early at 6.15am for the drive to Vegas.  The trip passed surprisingly quickly...especially with such sights to see as the World's Largest Thermometer!! And before we knew it we were surrounded by big lights, big dollars, and high rollers all living it up and having a good time.  Of course, the first place we hit was Margaritaville for lunch and a few drinks with Sherry. We took a tour of the strip before heading back to the room to change and head to the airport to meet Laura's Mum and Dad, so needless to say she was definitely excited.  Laura's other family from Dallas (Sherry's two daughters) were also flying in so after a joyful reunion it was time to set off into the bright lights for a lot more drinks into the wee hours of the morning. Viva Las Vegas. Thursday 24th April Catching precious little hours sleep we got up early and headed out for breakfast, bypassing all the 9.30am drinkers and gamblers in the casino halls!  We chilled out with the family at the Flamingo catching a few rays in the blistering heat, before heading up the strip for a bit of retail therapy and a slap-up steak dinner.  After dolling ourselves up we headed to Toby Keith's country bar and enjoyed a few drinks while watching what can only be described as the freaks of the country community take to the dance floor and try their hands at two-steppin'....We love this bar...They got winners...they got losers...chain smokers and boozers! Decided to stick to what we know and headed with the rest of the clan to O'Shea's Irish bar and casino and didn't hit the sack til 6am...party time!   Friday 25th April So we're soon finding out that Vegas is definitely not the place to come and catch up on your sleep...especially when Laura's Da snores all night while her Ma is up everyday at the skrake of dawn!  Spent the morning takig it easy then headed off the strip to the Vegas outlets to try and sniff out a few bargains.  Unfortunately it didn't go well and all we ended up with is 4 watches between us!  Tonight we headed to the Stratosphere and took the elevator up to the 112th floor to have a drink in their 360 degree view tower.  The view was absolutely amazing and Vegas really does look gorgeous.  Afterwards the family lunatics aka Laura, Sherry, Heather and Michael decided to do the Stratosphere Big Shot Tower of Terror ride which shoots you up about another 20 floors before dropping you back down and shooting you up again just for the hell of it!  Afterwards we headed on to Downtown Vegas and Fremont Street to experience a little of the Old Time Vegas where it originally all began.  By the end of the night while the big gamblers had lost big bucks, all we could do was cry into our Bacardi's that Joy had lost $12 and Laurie had lost $10...spot the backpackers ha ha. Saturday 26th April After a little spot of early morning gambling (not that we're addicted, we swear) all the family headed to the Rio for a delicious champagne brunch (becoming a bit of a habit...think we could get used to this lol).  Sixteen courses later we admitted that course 17 would have to be taken home in a doggy bag and spent some time looking around and playing a few of the slots. Tonight we headed down to the bottom of the strip to the New York New York Hotel and decided to ride the rails on their rollercoaster.  It should also be severely noted that tonight marked our return to high heels since January, and the extent of crippling pain we experienced was inhumane.  We quickly hopped on the Deuce Bus and hightailed it down strip to our hotel to change into something a little more manageable before rejoining the gang and heading on for a few more drinks. Having to get up at 8am to go to the airport tomorrow most people decided to head to bed about 2am but Laura and Heather, having crazily agreed a pact to see in the daylight the night before, got to bed at 6am, allowing a total 2 hours sleep. When will she ever learn?!A very tired J & L signing off..............zzzzzzxoxo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1209586380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1209586380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1209586380/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:20:41 -0400 J & L World Tour '08

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Los Angeles, California, United States

Hey fellow freaks!  It's us again...ready to give you a snippet of what we've been up to this weather!Friday 18th April Another day...another sunny place...another aeroplane!  This time we boarded the flight from San Francisco back to LA to stay with our lovely Aunt Sherry & Uncle Ed at their palace in Valencia.  Sherry kindly collected us and drinks were quickly distributed out and we enjoyed watching the Californian sun set in the distance from her back garden.  Definitely more luxurious than some of our previous residences!  Sinking into our massive bed, we sighed with relief at the comfort of the US.  We are definitely flashbacking it again now!Saturday 19th AprilSo, having been in LA 2 years ago we had already seen most of the sights...so what's a girl to do then?!  SHOPPING of course!!  First of all we visited a hairdressing salon who kindly helped our poor tresses and tried to repair some of the damage inflicted upon our poor fibres the last couple of months (very stressful you see!)So, hair done and looking hot we were true LA girls strutting our stuff down the malls and maxing out our credit cards.  How are we going to pack such truckloads of clothes you may ask...well our theory is "out with the old and in with the new!"  In other words...we bucked out everything we owned and filled up our cases with our new purchases!Planning to only shop for part of the afternoon, the next thing we knew it was already dark and we were all heading back to LAX airport again (thankfully it had nothing to do with us boarding a plane) to pick up Bonnie (an other family relative).Finished the evening with a few more drinks (we're really living up the fact that we have proper Bacardi again!)  Sherry informed us that it's really cheap to be an alcoholic in California so we thought we might just test this theory! Sunday 20th April Sherry, Ed, Bonnie and us all headed out to a champagne brunch in Calabasas, about an hours drive from their house.  With LA being so huge this sort of drive is a completely normal thing to do for a bite to eat! So a champagne brunch was the perfect excuse for us to get all dolled up...a pleasant experience and relatively easy job to do considering we now have hot showers, electricity, fresh towels and mirrors! All we can say the Americans sure know how to put on one hell of a buffet!  Every type of food imaginable was available to you whether it was breakfast, lunch, dinner or all 3 if you could manage it!!  The champagne flowed along nicely and was included in the buffet.  An hour or so later we were already pretty merry and very full!  A live band then came on and rocked it up.  This place was kind of a Harley Biker haunt (think leathers, long hair and bandanas) so we had great fun people-watching (tho not staring too hard for fear of making the scary men angry lol)Then it happened...our first ever celebrity sighting.  Sitting quietly (!) minding our own business Laura happened to turn round and splutter out the words "That's Pink...Joy look...that's Pink...it bloody is...IT'S PINK!!"  And there she was, shuffling up to a table beside us with a group of her friends/security!  Although the funniest part of it all was when Sherry grabbed an embarrassed Laura to head up for a photo op with her idol...the only problem being Sherry hadn't the faintest idea who Pink was and led Laura up to some nobody who just happened to be standing by Pink and asked if her niece could have her picture taken with him!  Looking rather smug and pleased with himeself he was all too happy to oblige although Laura quickly snubbed him and scrambled back to the sanctuary of her spritzer!So finally leaving the brunch we headed to Santa Monica Pier and Muscle Beach (unfortunately for us there wasn't much muscle on display at that time).  The pier was lovely but very windy so after a quick walk about we were all feeling the effects of a hard days drinking and headed back for the warmth of the shower.Monday 21st AprilToday we had tickets for the Ellen Degeneres talkshow being filmed at Burbank.  We could only get standby tickets so to try and get into the audience meant getting up at 7.30am and start queueing at 9...so much for our thoughts that we would rest in LA!!  So we'd resigned ourselves to queueing until they let you into the studio at 1pm  however we were pleased to find out that they actually come out and assign you numbers every hour...meaning we could leave and come back again at 2pm.  So we hit Burbank Centre of shopping and lunch before heading back to wait it out until 4pm when you find out if you are in the audience or not.  Unfortunately for us all VIP and guaranteed ticket holders arrived and there was no more space left for us lowly standbys :(  Therefore we were all put into the Riff Raff room where you get to watch the taping on monitors instead.  A bit disappointing but we had a great time anyway and made the most of it!Tuesday 22nd AprilSo today was a free day with nothing much planned.  We took a drive about and rounded up a few last minute necessities before packing up our luggage ready for our next destination.  Tomorrow we are roadtrippin' it to Vegas where Laura is very excited as her folks are flying out to meet us for the next week.  It's gonna be Party Time in Vegas Baby!J & L...keepin it real!xoxo 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208836740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208836740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208836740/tpod.html Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:33:22 -0400 J & L World Tour '08

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San Francisco, California, United States

How y'all doing??So Fiji is over - we had a wicked time lazing in the sun, lazing in hammocks, lazing in the sun, lazing....etc etc, but we are now in the land of fast food, shopping & celebrities.......USA!Tuesday 15th AprilSo up early to check out of our dorm at Beachcomber & had planned to relax on the beach for a few hours before catching our boat back to the Mainland.  However, as always things didn't work out like that.......ended up spending 4 hours fighting at Reception because they charged our bill twice!!  Ahhhhh......we were ready to scream!!  And of course, Fiji Time meant that they were not concerned at all!!  We ended up just making it to the boat in the nick of time!  So our last memories of island life are not that relaxing....but we won't let it spoil our memories of  Heavenly Fiji life!So today was travelling day - totalled it up and it's going to be 24 hours before we get settled in San Fran!!!  So it's not all fun and games for us!Jumped on 10 hour flight to LA - and with the whole time difference we get to relive the 15th April twice - Groundhog day!!  Luckily for us we slept on and off through most of the flight so it passed quickly enough.  So we had to go through the whole carry on of American customs and security before more waiting, queuing and then boarding our other flight to San Franciso.........think we will be sick of planes by the time this trip finished!!  Landed in the beautiful city of San Fran late in the afternoon, checked into our hostel and grabbed a bite to eat, before calling an end to our very long day!!  Boy is it a change after Fiji - it's cold!!!  So jeans and jumpers from now on!Wednesday 16th AprilFirst of all San Francisco is a great city with a great vibe, kind of boho hippy and downright weird feel to it with wonderful, downright weird, laid back stylish people.  Well today we decided to pound the sidewalks (how American of us) of this city  and check out what it had to offer.  By the end of the day our feet and calves were definitely feeling it! Well, getting to the main shopping district we were like 2 kiddies in a sweet shop & quickly found ourselves going slighly over budget in the excitiment of seeing shops again!! (Do you know how long it has been since we bought clothes??  Feels like years.......so don't judge us!! ha ha)  Deciding we had better see some other sights apart from the inside of clothes shops we ventured down to Union Square (which has all the posh shops we cant afford...yet!!).  We got stopped by the 'Fun Police' on the way for not smiling enough......very cute!  Basically they work for a charity & its a great way to stop & explain their work for the homeless.........& there are some amount of homeless people in San Fran.  Every street corner & area, quite sad to see them lying in cardboard boxes.Some of the residents here seem like complete loonies!!  The one that made us laugh the most was this 70 year old granny in a electric wheelchair - dressed in wacky clothes with a flourescent green hairband on, flying past us yelling 'Lets fly charlie, Lets fly!!' (She was on her own!  But what a sight!)So dragging out tired legs home (we are still on Fiji time!) we stopped off for dinner & drinks & to admire our lovely new clothes!! (Don't know how we are going to fit them in our suitcases!)Thursday 17th AprilToday we hopped on a bus & decided to visit The Golden Gate Bridge, when we eventually got there, after a few wrong bus journeys, we stood for ages wondering where the feck it was!  The fog was that thick there was no chance of seeing the magnifent bridge!  Lucky us....lol.  We did however bail out of actually walking across the whole bridge, as it was 2miles and we had a lot planned for today!!  Next up we visited the Alcatraz Prison on the Rock which you have to get the ferry over to.  Our tour started with some history and tales of escape attempts, before we climbed the hill to the prison grounds. We were each given headsets through which a commentary from an ex-warden and several prisoners describing the different areas of the jail and some of the things that went down there complete with sound effects. It was pretty cool & definately worth the visit! From there we walked back down to the waterfront to explore Fisherman's Wharf and find some of the "locals" that lived there that we had heard about. Pier 39 is home to a family of sea lions that have lived there for a number of years and become a tourist attraction in their right. (Although they stink!)We jumped on one of the famous cable cars to get a last view of the city - & boy is it hilly!!  If we were here a few more days we would be so fit, but luckily for us our walking was very limited thanks to the great transport!So that was our hectic sightseeing day nearly over - stopped in at an Irish Pub (don't like to break with tradition) & spent a few more dollars (we still amazed at how therapeutic it is to shop!) before packing up yet again & tomorrow we hit the skies again to go to LA to stay with Sherry!We have loved San Fran - although stay away from the Tenderloin area (we accidently walked into this area, and it's the most dangerous area in the city according to our taxi driver!!)Hugs & Kisses J & L (loving the luxury of US!)xoxo
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Waya, Fiji

Right folks - sorry about the delay in the ole blogs but we have been far too busy to update - after all lying on the beach takes a lot of skill & concentration!!Tuesday 8th AprilGot up early to enjoy our lovely buffet breakie beside the sea...YUMMY!  Afterwards Gareth had kindly offered to take all us fraidy cats girls out snorkelling on the beach to overcome our fears after the dolphin incident. So headin to the dive shop we loaded up on snorkels, flippers & all hit the beach, determined to refind our inner waterbabies.  All was going well, we were on the sand with our flippers on & feelin mighty confident.....what could go wrong this time you might ask?  Well - once we ventured in, the current seemed to rapidly pick up & the tide was going out.  Apparently this is called 'Low tide' (something we hadn't considered!) and nobody should be snorkellin at this time!The others had gone on out much further but for once going with our gut instincts we decided to stay put where we were thinking 'better safe than sorry!'  Somehow the current managed to separate us & we were each left to get battered alone once again!!  To sum it up, Laurie spent the next 10 mins stuck being beaten against a coral rock (check out the pic of her leg!) while Joy drifted odd further into the sea to eventually be rescued by a boat!  (All Laurie could see was Joy's ass being dragged onto the boat!)  Never without drama, us two....we were the talk of the resort - especially when everyone saw the bloodbath pouring down Laurie's tore leg & her howling with pain when the locals decided that the way to to heal an open wound was to pour raw vinegar onto it!!  Ouch!!Two vodkas later our heartrates slowed down to only twice their normal rates & we vowed & swore on the bible to never snorkle again!!  In Laurie's haste to survive the battering she had even managed to lose her snorkle mask & came back to shore with one flipper on her foot & one in her shaking hand!  All day long we were greeted by strangers noticing 'Ah, your'e the girl who got tore up by the coral?!"'  Laurie always knew she'd be famous but somehow the pain just took the fun out of it!Later on while safely lying on the beach swinging on a hammock we were strangely comforted a great deal when we got to witness some deleted scenes from Baywatch as a few other poor sods had to be rescued from the sea as well!!  Thank God the staff watch people in the sea at all times!  You see....it wasn't just us!!Deciding a quieter approach to the afternoon was needed we partook in a little bit of jewellery making to pass the time.  Again, all started well until some old witch got a bit competitive & nearly ripped Joy's hand off when she god forbid dared to reach for a bead.  Our interest soon dwindled as Fiji was supposed to be about relaxation & enjoying 'Fiji time'!Tonight's activity was crab racing so we all had to hit the beach to select our feisty crabs & number them for the race.  Yelling & screaming for all our worth our 2 little buggers (Ant & Dec) managed to get themselves eliminated in the first round......no bar tab for us!  It actually turned out the be great fun but somehow we don't think its likely to catch on at home!We finished off the evening celebrating Gareth's birthday & playing cards (a game aptly named Shithead!) which turned out to be really addictive & we are on the lookout for a pack of cards!!So that was our time at Octopus Resort (or Heaven as we like to call it) nearly over......Call back again soon......J & Lxoxo
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208323020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208323020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208323020/tpod.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:31:04 -0400 J & L World Tour '08

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Beachcomber Island, Fiji

Sunday 13th April So today is a day of rest in Fiji and Joy decided to embrace her religious side (usually very well hidden) & take a trip to the local church, while Laurie declined deciding to stay & chill at the resort.  So we all got a boat to the local church in the village, where we were invited to join in with the service.  It was in Fijian so we couldn't actually understand a word they said, but we were all moved when the whole congregation cried throughout the service...afterwards our guide told us their choir-leader had passed away and so the service was dedicated to him.  Fijian people have wonderful voices & even thought it was a sad occasion they still sang some lovely songs. We were still on Fiji time meaning they never rush anything which in turn meant that we were late back to the resort & so had to jump straight into our water taxi to head for the boat to bring us to our next island in the Mamanuca's....Beachcomber Island. Now - we were dreading Beachcomber as it is widely known in Fiji as the 'Party Island' and we had become accustomed to traditional Fijian resorts!  So...Beachcomber is an island with beautiful bright blue water and white sand. It is tiny and took us a maximum of ten minutes to walk around the entire thing. They greeted us by singing in Fijian and welcomed us to the island. The island is basically only home to one gigantic hostel.  We were very impressed and luckily for us we were put into the 12 bed dorm, rather than the huge 84 bed dorm!! This resort is a lot more commercialized & westernized than the other islands so far and it's probably classed as the Ibiza of Fiji!  Hence, as we found out, is filled with adolescent teeny boppers with their hormones running wild & only one thing on their minds......we'll give you a clue, it's not fly fishing!! But, good news...dinner tonight was our first Sunday roast since we have started travelling so again this resort is rising in our estimations!  There is also a live band which plays at nights & it is the first night time activity we have seen since landing in Fiji!  Great stuff & we stayed up way past our normal bedtime in Fiji! Monday 14th April Sing along everyone.........'Oh what a night!" lol.  We finally cracked at some of the prepubescent youngsters in the middle of the night.  It was 3.30am & this blonde, squealy thing & some English twat were drunk in our room, rambling on about the biggest load of ole bull.  We'd ignored it for about 45 mins, with anger slowing mounting & even managed to bite our tongues as they discussed their recent bedroom antics but it all came to a head when the bimbo squeaked out that the Irish accent is 'gross & digusting'.  So Joy, always one to rise to the occasion, promptly squared her shoulders, cleared her throat & found her best culchie accent to tell the cow to 'Have a bit of respect & shut the feck up!!'  Mission accomplished, although I think we made a few enemies in the room........Fiji needed a bit of drama anyway!!  Ha ha So our last full day in Fiji had arrived & therefore our last chance to catch a few rays!  Its amazing how quickly you get used to doing nothing....I think we're gonna miss it!  We spent our last night in Fiji chilling over a few drinks & laughing at the limbo competition.Vinaka Fiji - we love you!! Fiji time...a pretty good invention....time can go forward or backwards a couple of hours or seem to just stand still for days. Nothing is a rush, nothing is a problem. So after 10 days of fiji time we are all pretty much as relaxed and chilled out as we could be! No Worries - you're on fiji time!!! So we are now on the final part of our RTW tour - Ready or not, USA here we come!! J & L xoxo
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Oarsman's Bay Resort, Fiji

Friday 11th April So today we headed to Nacula Island to stay at Oarsman's Bay Resort.  We arrived there and got picked up by our water taxi that brought us to the resort.  We were once again met by the traditional singing and dancing welcome song before settling into our 13 bed dorm.  No bunks this time so straight away we were a lot happier sleeping here than in Mantaray.   We were told to follow one of the staff for lunch and ended up on a boat (once again) being brought to Honeymoon Island where a buffet lunch was served on the beach.  The sun was absolutely roasting us at this stage and we couldn't even take a dip in the gorgeous waters as we weren't told to bring our costumes with us! Back at Oarsman's Bay that evening the staff put on a "Fijian Night" which involved singing, dancing and a traditional 3 course 'lovo' meal.  However I think we ended up dancing more than most of the staff as we had managed to be stuck in the front row and got trailed up to the dance floor at every opportunity!  Our lovely meal was accompanied by the panoramic view of one of the most fiery sunsets we have seen in Fiji.   Afterwards we met up with another good group of people and spent the rest of the evening chatting.  Securing ourselves in the safe haven of our mozzie nets we drifted off to the delightfully soothing rippling of the ocean mixed with the chirping of the geckos and the bludgeoning of the tennis ball sized moths being chewed up by the ceiling fans! Saturday 12th April After breakfast we hit the beach for some serious sunbathing (after all, there's not much else to do on these islands).  Oarsman's beach definitely has the nicest beach of all we've seen in Fiji, with truly brilliant white sands and perfect crystal blue waters as far as the eye can see.  What a way to spend the day! That evening we realized that it was a Saturday night and therefore we had to live it up...which isn't exactly easy to do when you're stranded on a small island with no entertainment and definitely no hint or pubs, clubs or restaurants.  So what do you do?!  You play cards for 3 thrilling hours until you are too tired to concentrate and you hit the sack, realizing that it is still only 11pm (and we were still the last ones in bed!) Ah...Fiji time... Don't you wish you could enjoy a lil Fiji Time?! J & L  xxx 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208318100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208318100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/flojoy/1/1208318100/tpod.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:57:36 -0400 J & L World Tour '08

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Mantaray, Fiji

Wednesday 9th April We're officially sad today as we have to leave our little Utopia and head on to the next island.  We woke up at 7.30am to enjoy our delicious breakfast again and then had to check out and leave our lovely bunkbed-free dorm behind us.  This resort is the best of the entire trip so far...our beds get freshly made up every morning complemented with a traditional flower...hot showers...swimming pool...24hr electricity...and we met a really good bunch of people.  But alas, onward we must go... Just as we were about to board the little board that takes us to meet the Yasawa Flyer the cloudy skies burst open and we got saturated through to the skin (see people, it's not all sunshine here!).  We only had a 30 ride on the Flyer to Mantaray, where we hesitantly checked into a 32 bed dorm.  Yep, it's back to basics again with cold showers, compost toilets, and a mattress that's thinner than even Big Bert's!  After Wayalailai we probably would have loved it but noow that we've had the luxury of Octopus our standards have been raised about our budgets! When the rain stopped the sun managed to poke out it's little head out in the afternoon so we chilled on the beach (a safe distance from the sea and deadly coral) and read our books.  Somehow, another lazy day was passed til bedtime. Tuesday 10th April Let's start by saying that we are actually quite ashamed of ourselves as we managed to pass another day with breakfast, sunbathing, lunch, sunbathing, dinner and then bed!! Sounds like we are living the dream but let's tell you the truth about life at Mantaray...the beach is gorgeous with an amazing view BUT venturing into the water we soon noticed ourselves feeling rather tingly, only to be told later that the tingling was actually the sea lice stinging us!  Apparently they are harmless (and we don't actually have lice) but it still made us give one look to each other and let out a hearty "ewwww". Mantaray has decided to be all new age and go "eco friendly" which normally we'd be all for, but not when it involves compost toilets and the constant squalid smell of other people's no. 2's L  Finally the bedroom issue... You're literally boxed into wooden bunkbeds which we can only imagine is similar to lying in a coffin, with the mosquito net drooping so low in your face that God forbid you breathe in too deep and you end up with a mouthful of mozzies! So that's us done with Mantaray and tomorrow we head on up the Yasawas to yet another island! We'll keep you in the loop... J & L xxx 
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Waya, Fiji

Hello Kiddies....Monday 7th AprilBrekkie served at 7am and if you miss this there is no other source of food...so everybody floods the dining area for grub up! Kinda makes you feel like you are in prison at how excited everybody gets at feeding time (the grand event of the day) lol but what a prison!  Got Yasawa Flyer at 10.30am to Waya our next island at the Octopus Resort, and what a resort it is!  We were welcomed by singing and Bula, think we have found our home...it is Heaven on earth.  We are in a 13 bed dorm but there are no bunks, every bed has a fan and there is even 24 hr electricity.  Can't believe we love a dorm so much! We even got to choose from 10 options for lunch and everyone was amazed.  The burgers were the size of a spaceship!  We have met a nice couple, Sarah and Gareth, from Dublin and we have had amazing craic keeping each other company! In the afternoon we did a tour to the local village where we met the villagers and were humbled at how basically they lived, yet how much they welcomed us.  We had a traditional Kava Ceremony with their Chief, where you basically drink muddy water while they put on a singing and dancing show (called a meke).  We also had to join in the dancing and Laurie got to shake it with Mr Six Pack...and for once we're not talking about beer!This evening we had a welcome ceremony back at the resort where again kava was the drink of choice...somehow we managed to wretch our way through it.  Afterwards, dinner was served.  It was the best food we have ever tasted and they had 3 types of every course...and then dessert!  We're getting spoilt rotten and it is definitely pure luxury.Spent the evening chatting and sipping a few drinks, listening to the ocean, a mere 5 meters away.  Life really couldn't get much sweeter than this!We're here for another night and will definitely be sad to leave this tropical Paradise!J & Lxoxo
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