TravelStream™ news feed for member halfeatenapple on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/halfeatenapple en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:53:11 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1158075300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1158075300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1158075300/tpod.html Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:53:11 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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Calgerie, Canada

After a fun filled 4 hours we arrived in calgerie at chez Kelly... and the next few days were filled with some more chillin, a little explorin and a party true canadian stylee! the first nite in calgerie, we (we bein me, kelly, roz and naomi) went for dinner at kelly's parents house (sue and dan) who were absolutely fanatsic and a crackin laugh, they cooked a great meal and i tried a smokey for the 1st time... delicious, we drunk a load of wine and chatted til the cows came home! it was a great nite, i even did some impressions of dave (sorry dave) but the way you speak is a sure way to give people a laugh, 'ey up, me old fruit... i'm of'tut shop!' and me and naomi taught them a few naughty little english phrases, oops sorry mum! all in all it was a great nite and it got even better when sue got her bagpipes out and played for us! it was a fab 1st nite in calgerie, the start of many!

so, over the next few days we went to a local mall and looked at stuff cos we couldn't afford anything, maybe that wasn't the best place to go, but sayin that i did get some trousers as i have ripped me jeans all over and my last intact pair kind of ripped when i did a strange lunge manovere to step over someone... so i got a new pair they are marvelous and still remain holeless 3 weeks on, yes, i'm so far behind with this pod, but am gettin there... oops!

naomi and me just lazed and ate and lazed and chatted and lazed some more and then saturday came and it was p-a-r-t-y time.... big whoops!

it's kelly's bday on the tues so on the sat, he had a house party and man the canadians can drink! so, there was myself, kelly and naomi, kelly's lovely lady roz, seth kelly's flatmate and the maker of the lethal vodka jelly, ryan the life and soul of the party, dave a very funny fello from next door, karen and chris and kelly's lovely little dog! it was a superb nite, we played party games, drinkin games, got jumped on, was force fed vodka jelly, we ate cake and drunk and drunk... at one point kelly was made to dress as a woman and i must say he looked crackin, he wore one of naomi's dresses and he looked pretty good on all accounts, he had great legs for a dress too, te hee, don't worry kelly i won't put any of the pics on! or will i??? only jokin!! it was very drunken nite and the next day we all paid bigtime with a load of bangin headaches and various trips to the toilet to chuck, i blame seth and the lethal jelly, it tasted so good that it was easy to forget that it was laden with bottles of spirits!!

i eventually hauled myself up, after ryan burst in and jumped on us makin sure we were up... ouch! me and roz got some food to cook a massive dinner, i made naomi some hangover cure soup, well campbells did i just heated it which seemed to do the trick and me and my irish travellin pal cooked a rather superb dinner for kelly , his mum, roz, seth and the 2 of us... we stuffed chicken and wrapped it in bacon and made a amazin stuffed pasta tomato thingy, gordon ramsey if u want the recipe it'll cost ya, he he!

so.... we had one more day left at kelly's of chillin and eatin then we said bye bye, naomi was headin home sob sob and i was movin on... our last nite we went out with more of kelly's mates for some drinks and goodbyes, we went via a ice hockey game 1st which looked cool, they were kids playin but they were furious little mites... at the pub we met todd and chris and they told us the legendary tale of when they ate a 10ib pizza between them in 2 hours, not that is one massive pizza, like the size of a baby or something, just huge, it was a rather amusin tale and they told us how it didn't stay down for long but cos they did it they now have their name on a trophy and pic on a wall so respect to them guys!

so tuesday came and kelly took me and naomi to the airport, where i was bein met by me cousin laura and little grace (her baby) and naomi was gettin a flight to la then home, so we said bye bye bye bye to kelly, sob sob it had been an amazin two weeks, and i really hope he'll come to england soon.... do it kelly and then i said goodbye to my partner in travellin crime naomi, sob sob but she is movin to oxford so am lookin forward to seein her and her strange talkin ways soon.... i will miss those guys tons!

so with me chai tea in my hand, i sat and waited for me cousin to arrive, i was dead excited about seein her as it had been a while! x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157840760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157840760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157840760/tpod.html Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:25:27 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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Near seattle, United States

Firstly... i would like to pay me respects to the legendary steve irwin, i was so shocked to hear he'd died... let's never forget his catchy phrases like 'crikey' and 'isn't she a beauty!'

soooooooooooooooooo, 2nd of all i just wanna say a MASSIVE thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone gave me, you all made me birthday and it meant tons that so many people remembered so thanks, loooooooooooooads! i had a fantastic day and am now the ripe old age of 26, aaaahhh!

and happy bday lara for yesterday!

anyways, back to me tales! i've really slacked off at doin this and am so behind, i wanna get it uptodate before i move from canada....

so after a nite in a rather comnfy wee hotel and with a belly full of usa type syrup covered pancakes and a portion that was big enough to feed a family of 5 we were off.... back on the road. today, naomi and me had made it our aim to annoy kelly.... think we did a good job with the starring, the prodin, the noises.... etc! kelly drove us threw most of oregan with a quick stop at a mccy d's for a salad, yes u heard right a salad, no fried beef patties for us, especially after some strange new zealander told us that the burgers had every part of the cow in them includin the eyeballs, sayin that he was a tad loopy and told us a many a tall tale.... anyways, i digress, so after some more food, hey we were in the US we carried on thru oregan to kelly's aunts and uncles house, uncle mike and aunty vicky to be precise and we had a fab time. we drove up to a rather amazin house that sat infront of a river with rapids that just had the most peaceful ring to it, it was a real tranquil settin. we spent the evening chattin, drinkin a good few margareita's, eatin spag bol, playin with the daogs, talkin horses (not that i knew to much about that) and just havin a giggle, it was great to meet both vicky and mike, thanks sooooo much for a fantastic evenin and i hope to see u both in england some time soon, take care!

this trip has been great, i've met a bucket load of fantastic people and had some amazin experinces thanks to them, kelly has to be one of them for drivin us all the way from LA to calgary! thanks to everyone!

so the next day we were up at 5.45, yes it was still dark, to say goodbye to our hosts mike and vicky and early early we hit the road for the last time in the usa as we headed to the canadian border...... and a 11 hour drive to kelly's families ranch!

we drove thru deserts, towns, forests, vilaages, fields..... on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.... down windy roads, down straight roads......

we stopped for a wee lunch break at 'wendy's' and that's when i realised that no-one in america can understand me that well and i actually have a irish translator in naomi, so due to the fact that people were really struggling with me accent i decided to make it easier for the locals by callin things what they would for example when i ordered some pop in wendy's i called it soda rather than pop and the girl just look befumbled at me!!! 'you what..... ' she said??? so i said again... 'one soda' and she said 'u wnat cider and giggled and explained that they were wendy's and didn't sell that stuff, now that last time i drank cider must have been when i was about 15 in the gardens or snells mead park and it was the likes of white lightning.... did she really think that was what i wanted..... well it would seem so, eventually naomi kindly intevened in her 'fiddle de fiddle de potatos.. irish accent' and explained that all i wanted was some soda and she understood perfectly!! she then asked if i was austrailian, givin naomi and kelly the giggles as this was happening regulary and about 10mins later she finally understood our order and we had our lunch... i thought wendy's was fast food... hhhmmm!!

so after that we drove and drove, me and naomi took some odd pics with our camera special effects, which was enetertaining and then we reached the canadian border.... but with no flight out of canada.... would i get in the country???

i hope everyone is havin a FAB weekend! x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157846700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157846700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157846700/tpod.html Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:18:49 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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Kelly's family ranch, Canada

soooo after a drive thru hills and forests and fields and mountains we arrived the family ranch and it was really amazing! wow!

kelly's family had brought the land many years ago and built the lakes and designed and built the houses, they were beautiful and blew me away, the architecture was fabulous and not only that the settin was wonderful, with mountains as a backdrop and surrounded by tall trees and glass clear lakes.... fantastic! whatever i write will not do the place justice, it was just breathtaking, really beautiful.

kelly showed us around and told us the history of the place explainin how it used to be a workin farm and his grandma and grandad used to live here!

so we walked about for a while, the sun looked beauty as it shone thru the trees with rays of light pushin there way thru, it was such a peaceful place! we walked thru fields where herds of deer ran by and then a small turtle suddenly appeared in the middle of the road and kelly like superman to the animals came to the rescue, savin the turtle and carryin him to safety, he was a cute little blighter!

the next few days at the ranch were filled with a bigtime chillout.... we watched a 6hour cowboy epic called lonesome dove over a day.... we ate, drank wine, listened to music, walked, relaxed in the garden, took pics, ate, drank beer, chilled some more, laughed a load, slept, talked, lazed in the sun, ate some more.... it was just superb! kelly even made up some targets with clay pidgeons and taught us how to shoot a rifle, that's when i realised i was weaker than a small child as i caouldn't even pump the gun and kelly had to help me!! was cool thou.... i shot some trees, but didn't quite manage the targets but most importantly, i didn't injure meself.... we even saw gophers whilst we were there it was just amazing! apart from one nite, like a right soft lass where the door slammed rather hard and the curtains waved tons and i convinced meself there was a ghost, i nearly woke naomi up.... but then i realised the windows were open and there was just a wee gale blowin.... phew!

it really was an amazin experiece stayin at the ranch, i have never seen anything so beautiful in that kind of settin and i don't think i'll ever stay at such a beautiful ranch again, it was fantastic and when the day came after a few nites that we had to leave the ranch, both me and naomi were dead sad! so we said bye bye to the specail little place that won our hearts and off we set for another 4 hours on the road to kelly's house in calgary! this was our last day of the roadtrip.... x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157845920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157845920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1157845920/tpod.html Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:05:00 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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Canadian border - kelly's family ranch, United States

so we find ourselves at the canadian border and surely canada should be a breeze to get into when compared to the US of A!!

well you would think it that way but in this instance that was far from the case!

we arrived and pulled up to the drive thru customs... a few questions later and because i didn't have a flight out of canada only one out of mexico and cos naomi's flight was on the internet and she had no proof of when she was gonna leave, we found ourselves bein asked to come inside for some more questionin..... aaaahhh, were we gonna be let into the country!??

kelly waited outside whilst me and naomi headed in.... they asked rather a lot of questions... when was i leavin? where was i going??? where was my flight to leave.... etc... i explained i was gonna buy a flight and that i had family here that i was gonna stay with, they asked me their address, well i didn't have it, it was on me emails, noe they were lookin at me suspiciously... do i have me aunts and unks tel no... well nope i didn't have that me either, after a good few flicks thru my passport, some phonecalls and a little bit more questioning, they finally stamped me passport and let me in the country.... PHEW!! for a minute i thought i was gonna be stuck in no-where land right on the border, so with stamps in our passports and a massive feelin of relief, we drove on to kelly's family ranch.... i had seen pics of the place and it looked amazing so i was pretty excited to see the place with me own 2 eyes! x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156961700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156961700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156961700/tpod.html Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:07:37 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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California - Oregan, United States

soooo, we said goodbye to the fab san fran, drivin over the golden gate bridge which had amazing views of the bay, of alcatraz and the city that i had fallen in love.... and on we drove and drove to the famous wine area of napa valley. naomi really wanted to go to the dominus winery which is famous for it's building so we headed there 1st and took a bucket load of pics, you couldn't see much as there was a massive gate and vineyards all around but naomi was keen to get a glimpse she was practically hitching her shorts up and climbing the gate to get a peak of the winery... it looked ace form what i could see, apparently the wine they make is amazing but by appt only so we didn't get to sample the goods, but naomi was super chuffed she'd got so close!

after that we called in at a vineyard and did a spot of vino tasting, me and naomi tried to remember the skills we'd picked up in our wine tasting stint in new zealand, but they were lost somewhere in our memories.... we could remember to swish the glass and smell the drink before you drank, we tried some lovely wines, it worries me as i reaally am gettin a taste for fine wines now, not good for the budget and i don't think i'lll wanna drink liebfraulmilch cos it's a cheap option anymore!! i like semillion blanc at the mo and am comin accostomed to the reds too, i no longer put them in the fridge cos i like me drinks cold, i've grown out of that too!!!

it has become apparent that the more i'm travellin the more people are thinkin i'm an aussie, everyone asks me 'are you from australia'? or 'you have lived in england for a bit but where in oz are you from originally'? even a kiwi assumed i was an ausie and a girl from just by melbourne... much to the amusement of kelly and naomi, who on our roadtrip kept tellin anybody we met that i was an aussie.... cheeky!

so after the fine taste of some wine a purchasing some bottles as pressies, which my aunt and uncle really enjoyed, we then headed north to some massive and rather spectacular trees, have never seen such massive trees in me whole life, like trees for giants they were HUGE! they were sequia trees, the 3rd largest in the world, one was so big u could drive thru it but it was a smallish gap and we thought best not in kelly's dads lexus!! sooo, we took plenty of pics and just messed around in the massive trees, hiding, posing and a spot of tree hugging it was all going on....

we then drove thru big foot country and i think i may have seen bigfoots arm but am not too sure, kelly sure does drive fast but hey it could have been we were near where the fella dwells! i was even more excited at lunch, after bigfoot spotting, wine and massive trees the only thing that could complete a day like that would be 'taco bell'.... kelly said it gives u the runs but i have wanted to go for years 'fire in the disco, fire in the taco bell' i loved it, a mexican takeout, fab if you ask me... and my tummy survived, well if it survived india i thoiught taco bell should be a breeze!!

off we set on more drivin and driving..... thru mountains, trees, misty sea, fields, small villages, large towns, past all kinds of different peaople there was even one old guy with a big sign sayin 'one love' waving at cars... only in america but how nice! kelly was a great driver a tad scary at times as he put his foot down on the curvy roads and we flew along at some speed, glad i was in the back with a limited view!

we eventually ended up after a long drive for kelly and some long sits for us and naomi poking and starin at kelly and lots of music and different radio stations, in a little place where we grabbed a motel, it's so much cheaper a motel between 3 and sharin a room than paying seperate for a dorm, where u just get a bed which seems crazy!

sooo, we were all pretty tired and after taking in a rather beautiful almost blood orange type sunset, we went to bed! as were up early for some more on the road adventures....

x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156797240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156797240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156797240/tpod.html Mon, 28 Aug 2006 18:14:53 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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San Francisco, United States

'If you're going to san francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair......'

well after a wee evening look round san fran, i loved the place and we hadn't even seen alot yet, so when i woke up on the saturday for a full day in the place, i couldn't wait! my love for the place was just gonna grow as the day went on, it's so chilled out compared to LA and just beautiful! soooo, with a sunny day to wake up too, we all got the train back into town where we started the day with a starbucks, naomi has got me into them and i only drink tea but i love the chai and green tea frapps and they cost a reet lot in the uk so it's gonna be a habit i'm gonna have to kick before i get home! so, we wandered to the baseball stadium, kelly was soooo excited him and naomi were off to watch a game that afternoon and the stadium looked cool, kelly explained that when the game is on the water behind the stadium is filled with peeps in canoes tryin to catch balls that go over, you can get a some dough for them, would be cool to catch one!

soooo, we trundled through a cool market along one of the wharfs and then got a rather sexy little tram down to fishermans wharf, where the golden gate, alcatraz and hopefully some clam chowder awaited us!

fisherman's wharf was cool, busy but cool and kelly directed me straight where i could see alcatraz, wow! it looked fab, have been fascinated with the place since we were at school, here are some wee alcatraz facts for you, al capone was one of the residents, so to speak there and it is the only prison at the time that had hot showers as they didn't want inmates to climatise to the cold water as that is what surrounded the prison.... so, i was pretty excited about seeing alcatraz and took rather a load of pics, i'll put some on but sadly the trips around the place were full so, it's just gonna have to be something that i defo come back and do in the future... after that excitement, it just kept on coming, me and naomi had an amazin lunch, clam chowder in a sour dough bowl, was superb and cheap... good job i wasn';t there for too long, as i'd be roly poly from the stuff it was delicious, even took a pic of that too. so we walked around the wharf and me and kelly walked down a massive pier type thang to get a good look of the golden gate bridge and alcatraz and some seals were there too.

we just chilled for the rest of the day until we heard the choons of some blues music, live blues which kind of hypnotised us and enticed us to go and watch it and so we spent some time sat in the sun, drinking margareitas and listening to blues, it doesn't get much better than that!

kelly and naomi later headed to watch the baseball and i headed off on an photography adventure of me own! now.... this could have spelled disaster, i had a teeny map and i'm not too hot with directions, but i surprised meself and did kinda good, with only a few little ventures of goin round in some circles, but generally it was a grand day out, i wandered all over san fran, a park, the levi's section, china town (got a tad lost there - oops) and nearly had another disaster when i tried to get some cash out and the machine decided it liked me card and wanted to keep it for a good 20mins, which wasn't much fun and the que of folk behind me didn't think so either!!! i then wandered around the financail district, the gay area, to union square a lot of places where i didn't realise where i was just takin pics and more pics.... i was tempted by shops like macys but resisted and just had fun walking and lookin and free fun at that! the more i saw the more i liked the place, the people are dead chatty and friendly and the buildings are cool, wouldn't mind livin in a place like this i thought, it was grand like!

sooooo, as it got darker i headed back to areas i knew better cos i wasn;t really too sure if i was in a safe area or not where i was and i didn't fancy bein mugged or lost, i got back to the baseball ground where there was some holes where i watched some of the game thru, couldn't see a lot and didn't really understand the rules but it looked cool from what i could see.... then a brought a small sandwich which actually could have fed a family of 3 and headed back to the motel and chilled with a fil-em until kel and naom arrived back... the next day we were to leave san fran, felt kinda gutted about that would have loved more time here, but was great to see the place and i can't wait to come back, so it wasn't bye bye san fran, just more of a catch ya later! plus we had so much more to see on the road trip...... x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156794900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156794900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156794900/tpod.html Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:23:26 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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LA - San Francisco, United States

sooooo, after waking up naomi and kelly really early and climbin into bed and chattin to make sure they were awake, we all headed to a local cafe to meet anna (naomi's flatmate from dublin, who i'd also heard a lot about), her bro rick and his girlf charlotte for a rather tasty brekkie and a chai. we had a good giggle, naomi and kelly were sad to say bye bye to anna and it was great to finally meet her so after our brekkie, chats and goodbyes, we were off and the roadtrip from LA to canada was underway, and guess what for our trip we were cosy and compfy as kelly's dad, dan had very kindly leant kelly his lexus for the trip, kelly had also brought along a radio thingy magig - not sure what it was but you could get like 200 radio stations even the likes of uk radio and we spent some rather amusing time listening to playboy radio.... hmmm u can imagine how trashy that was and were entertained by eddie murphy live, so with great music and good car we were all set for an adventure. our 1st day was spent driving and driving and driving, well for kelly anyways, naomi did her best to wind him up by starin at him and poking him and then i joined in that fun game, we drove thru farmland, and then holy cow! there was some fields that were full of cows like millions of them, now joke, have never seen so many cows in all my life it was like a where's wally page in those books when they are rammed with people but this was just alotta lotta cows..... so we eventually arrived in SAN FRANCISCO and man i was excited about a few things alcatraz and clam chowder.... this was one place i had always wanted to visit and now we were there so, we found our motel and wow.... real beds, a tv, a bathroom to ourselves and it wasn't full of bunkbeds, it was marvelous! we trekked to the local train staion and got one down town to check san fran out and i imediatly fell in love with the place, it was fantastic! x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156526820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156526820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156526820/tpod.html Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:37:39 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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LA, United States

whilst walking to the farmers market, i was shocked at how many usa peeps actually carry a gun, just in their trousers so it is displayed for all to see, a kinda don't mess with me statement, i'm right cos i gotta a gun, pretty scary really! usa dave who works at a local music venue said that they find loads of concealed guns when they search peeps before they come in and that's really scary, don't ya think!!!??

so, i had a great last day in LA, yes i finally got hold of naomi, who also can't say the word film, fil-em and i was to meet her the otherside of town early on the fri morning, was excited about seein the old gal, it had been a while and to meet kelly her mate as had heard so much about him.

sooo, me last day was grand, i had a spicy gumbo for lunch which was neat, went to some vintage shops and just chilled with fil-em and usa dave, even better than that usa dave had a surprise for me, he had brought me a wee packet of lucky chrams, man i was soooo chuffed, thanks david, i saved them for a special occasion and ate them a few days later and they were a really great suggary treat, i had wanted to try them for years and told usa dave on me first day so i was dead chuffed when gave me them. cool.

i was super sad to say goodbye to everyone that i've met in orbit and europa, it had been a great few days some of the best of me travels so far actually, so that nite i sadly said bye bye to usa dave and the turkish guys and fil-em, for i was up early in the morning and had to be at the otherside of town super early so i had to get up at 5.45 am and get a taxi so i'd miss the crazy LA traffic so i wouldn't be late for naom's and kelly! i checked out that nite and the american guy checkin me out, told me i couldn't as they didn't want me to leave and i didn't wanna leave either.... but i did wanna see san fran... i was really sad to leave though super sad infact!

it felt like me head had barely touched me pillow when the alarm went off the next day, so i got me taxi and at 7am much to naomi and kelly's surprise they were awoken with me and me massive bag bangin down their motel door! AND OUR ROAD TRIP WAS TO BEGIN!! and what a fab trip it was! x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156419900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156419900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1156419900/tpod.html Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:32:27 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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LA, United States

Hellloooo everyone, how was the bank hols?? we don't get ours here til next weekend and that's me birfday weekend so that's kinda neat! woo hoo!

firstly, wanaa say a BIG congrats to jen adn tim for their 1st year wedding anniv, and one to laura and mark for their 2nd year anniv, also appy birfday to baz, ian, jen from ireland and miss corrie.... hope you're all had or havin good ones... yipee! and finally well done sis on yer exam results and good luck pat with yer interview for college on thurs! few!!

so, back to me tales... me, ruth, jaki (tawainese girl from our room that fil-em fancied) and the 2 daves all headed to the LA farmers market which apparently is a place that stars all head too, well we looked n looked and didn't see any, unless they were in good costumes and hiding themselves from us.... maybe they put on fat suits and headed down as there were some big ass american's down there, so we brought some strawberries, laughed at the names for spicy sauces like 'furous fart' and 'megasoreass' (simple minds) and got a bus to the sunset strip.... it was neat, something i've seen in pics for years, all the stars in the pavement with names of star engraved on them for the likes of hendrix, pee wee herman and dolly parton to name a few of the thousands there were, we walked closer to the hollywood sign for pics sake and then headed to the chinese man theatre where all the hand prints of alotta stars are, am not sure why.... does anyone know?? wellwe took some pics, there were some cool hand prints and both myself and ruth were a tad giddy when we saw mr johnny depps, i have pics!!! after a neat lunch of burrito's and smoothies we jumped on another bus, man we were making the most of our day bus tix and we headed to another side of town to that famous music venue 'whisky a go go' and the legendary 'viper room' famous for 2 reasons, one cos mr johnny depp owns it and the other which i suppose it is most famous for, very sadly cos that is where the rather lovely 'river phoenix' died, him bein someone i just loved as i kid i did pay me respects whilst we stood there, we all wanted to go in but luckily for our wallets it was shut as it is about $40 to get in and gosh that's expensive!

so after a sight seein filled day we headed back to the hostel, where we watched alot of free comedy stand up, which was beauty, well some was, some was like pullin a band aid off very slowly... ouch but the last guy was super funny, i just wish i could remember his name, so the night was ended with a belly of laughs.

whilst in LA there is one place u gotta visit, VENICE BEACH! famous for it's little muscle beach where u have never seen such strange and wonderful people, there were massive body builders, now when i say massive i mean bigger than the hulk and they had like skimpy shiny g-strings on, i was gonna take some pics but i feared they may not dig that and maybe knack me! there were some neat street acts too, some that would rival our own street acts at covent garden. there were a group of guys that were doin some crazy jumps and pretty sweet dancing, it was a great day and i tried a proper american club sandwich, it was massive! how do american's eat so much, the good thing is u can take most things from nearly all restuarants home if u don't finish it, so that was great 2 meals for the price of 1!

that night turned into another messy nite in the hostel. it was our last nite with uk dave and ruth and we decided to have a few drinks, then the boys were invited to enter a pool comp and that's when it got messy! Fil-em won the comp and a $100 bill which i had never seen before, pretty cool... so him and uk dave headed to the offy where they just brought a load of booze with fil-ems money and fil-em also gave $20 to a homeless fella which was rather generous him, the homeless fella has now decided he wants to move to ireland, but am not sure everyone is sooo generous!

so that night we all ended up in the party room, drinking and drinking and talking and drinking with the usual lot, mr usa dave of course, the turkish guys and a sweedish guy - i forget his name and it was a real good laugh, so good that all of a sudden it was 6am again, so me fil-em and usa dave headed back to our hostel, where usa dave being the guy that all sorts us out with some food when we are merry very kindly made us some bagels and cream cheese, which were beauty! thanks dave! and after some more chattin.... and some more cahttin... we all hit the hay!

the next mornin i felt rough.... ruth and uk dave came to say bye bye but dave had to look after bags and i couldn't make it down the stairs to say bye bye, so bye bye you 2, gonna miss you guys!

so with a really bad hangover i headed to the farmers market for some lunch and fil-em looked like he was dying so he said he'd meet me later. but the main question now was after a lot of missed emails and twoin and froin, when would i see naomi again??? i tried to call but couldn't get thru and we were travellin up to canada together, would i ever see her again??? i hoped soo.......... x x x
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1155591420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1155591420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/halfeatenapple/halfeatenapple/1155591420/tpod.html Fri, 25 Aug 2006 13:46:37 -0400 Kate & 'Inca Man' do........... the under belly of the whole wide big old world!

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LA, United States

'It's understood that hollywood sells californication!' and that's where we were heading with no bed and no idea how it get there and a southerener and a irishman on this mission, were we gonna end up with a bed??

Sooo, we had arrived in LA and gone back in time, it was 10pm on the 30 july when we left fiji and now it was 1pm on the 30th july when we landed in LA, so we had a day to re-live all over.... But first we had the USA customs to get thru, i was greeted by a rather large fella maybe x3 the size of me! and the questions began.... 'where have you been... 'when are you leaving... 'what is your purpose here.... 'why, where, who, what, when.... it continued! then i had my pic taken 'cheese!' and my fingers scanned for fingerprints, man they were thorough! sooooo, finally we were thru and now, where were we gonna stay??? which way was hollywood??? hhhhmmmm, the mission began but in truth it lasted about 2mins as when we walked thru the doors to arrivals we were greeted by a spot of luck, a fella from 'orbit' hostel of melrose in hollywood, who was looking to pick people up, he kindly took us under his wing and we strolled on to the mini-bus and a free shuttle back to the hostel, actually if you are ever in LA stay here it's dead cheap, got cooking facilities and the staff are a reet laugh, it's a buzzing hostel and well worth a visit! At the airport along with the orbit guy, who i forget the name of, there was another dave.... USA dave is his name and he also worked at orbit, he is from chicago but had come LA to visit and loved it and stayed, he was a good laugh and became a good pal as the days went on and then there were the marvelous newlyweds ruth and english dave who had just arrived and were from london, me and fil-em were to spend a whole week with these guys and what a week it was!

so, the 1st nite in LA was rather chilled, fil-em like a true irishman hit the sauce and got drunk, me, english dave and ruth were saving ourselves as for the next day we were off to........................................................................... UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD! i was soooooooooo excited, i'm suprised i slept that night, since i was a kid i have always wanted to go to universal and disney and now at 25 i was getting to go, SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! So, that night before i attempted to sleep the hostel put on a free bbq with more than enough food to feed a army of sumo wrestler's and then i headed for a early one as i didn't wanna be hungover or tired for the big day of FUN! x x x
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