Let the Contiki Games begin!

DAY 1 DRIVING TO WHISTLER
After making the most of free wifi and a proper bed I woke up extremely excited to meet the 34 people that will be joining me for the next 11 days around Canada. The Contiki group consists of 25 Aussies, 3 Kiwis, 2 german, 1 Italian, 1 Irish, 1 British, 1 Canadian and 1 American. We all met in the foyer of the hotel and made our way to the coach bus that we were going to be travelling on for the whole trip. I sat by myself at first and was still tired from my last tour so wanted to spread out and sleep until the HOTTEST guy ever walked on the bus and sat next to me. It was like a dream come true!! His name is Aaron and he is from Cairns in Australia. He is tanned, good body and really funny, he loved saying YOLO like me and was a ski instructor at Camp America. Anyway.. getting a bit carried away there lol when we all were accounted for we started the roadtrip to Whistler. It was such a scenic drive along the coast and it was my first taste of the Canadian blue waters and awesome scenery. This drive went pretty fast as not only did I have Aaron to talk to but Adam the contiki leader gave us a briefing about the whole trip and how it would run. We also got told that when we got back home from a drunken night to make sure we didn't pay for any tv programs on the tv's in the motel as there is always one guy on each trip that ends up getting porn and only realises when he pays the bill on the final night that it happened haha. We arrived at Whistler and it was AMAZING!!It reminded me of Queenstown. We were staying at what I thought was a huge upgrade from camping. It was a resort with a pool, spa and air con in the center of town. We all got put with one person to room with for the whole trip with the exceptions of a few people who got single rooms. I was roomed with an Australian called Ella who was on exchange too.

My new Husband

Lunch Cocktails in Whistler

Crankworx biking event

Our rooms weren't quite ready yet when we arrived so everyone either did some touring, shopping or got some food before we had to go ziplining for one of our activities. Alex a 26 year old lawyer from New York, Mary 19 year old from Aussie, Ella & Nat 21 year olds from Aussie and Mel who was born in London but has lived in NZ for the last 6 years and I all went to look at the Crankworkx Festival where there were thousands of people mountain biking and bmx racing. It even included little kids. We had lunch really close to the course and where we all were shocked that there was a live dj playing awesome music at this restaurant/bar. It was a really hot day and no clouds in the sky so we got some cocktails including the one in the photo which Alex drank that had a Corona seeping into the cocktail. Some of the girls tried one of the local dishes here in Canada called "Poutine". It is pretty much french fries with gravy and cheese. We then had to head back to the hotel and get ready for Ziplining at Cougar Mountain haha.

Ziplining time!

On our up to zipline

wahooooo!

My zipling group included about 10 of us and I was with the 9 people that had joined our contiki from another contiki around the East Coast of Canada, so all up there trip was a month long. The way it all worked was we got to do 5 lines and you do it in pairs. Bec another kiwi who is doing her masters in Dunedin went with me. The first line was small but fun and then it kept building up to longer, faster and steeper lines from there. Godzilla was the steepest and fastest line which definitely gave me an adrenaline rush thats for sure. On the last line we got to slingshot each other so we could go faster which was awesome.

Bec & I doing the run and jump line

GODZILLA!!!

The walk up to Godzilla

After zip lining our rooms were finally ready so we got time to chill and get ready before we were due at the bar in the hotel for pre drinks and then to have dinner at the spaghetti factory. Adam (the contiki leader) was so good in accommodating my dietary requirements especially since it was a full on pasta restaurant. I had my very own dish of gluten and dairy free spaghetti and meatballs. I was lucky because another person was celiacs and a couple were vegetarian etc so I wasn't the only one wahoo!! After dinner Adam found out there was a fluro party at one of the local well known bars MOJO's. He got us all in for free, drinks were $3, glow sticks were given out and there was fluro face painting for a $1 donation...What a night!! The club was pumping too since crankworx was going on. A new experience was having to have 2 forms of id at the door to get in.

My 5 new best friends!

Me & my YOLO boy Aaron

A shot called- Wet Pussy

This was a pretty wild night, I got rather intoxicated and saw a NZ flag which I "borrowed" for the rest of the night haha I decided to make a game with it.. I got my friend to hole the other side and we lifted it up and down on the dancefloor..if you weren't from NZ you had to walk around it and if you were from NZ you were allowed to go the luxury way..under it :) Seemed a good idea at the time haha. I was there until closing and then everyone followed to Whistler locals to the 4am pizza slice shop. It has every pizza flavor you could think of for $3 and the slices are ridiculously large! Unfortunately for me they didn't have any that were gluten free :(.





DAY 2 WHISTLER
 This morning was a very interesting morning.. I had a pretty bad hangover from all the wet pussy shots I consumed last night courtesy of some Canadian guys. I had to be down in the hotel foyer at 9am ready for my paddle excursion activity on the Lake. I kind've wished I hadn't signed up for it but it was definitely worth it afterwards :) You got the choice of a canoe or a kayak, most of us chose the kayak with one group choosing the Canoe. The River where we were paddling was pretty shallow so the Canoe suffered big time, with the three girls in it getting stuck around every corner haha. We kayaked 6km down a little river with a couple of small rapids in it that caused some serious almost capsizing moment within the group. It was such a nice day for it and the water was refreshing. Half way during the kayak the water temperature dropped as we entered glacier water. We had to get out of our kayaks and walk them 1km because of the water height and then re-enter the water which was a laugh. At the end of the kayak Adam our tour leader and Matt went for a quick dip to prove how tough they were. Adam handled it Matt was shivering when he came out and regretted his decision to go for a swim instantly.

The lake

                                         

                                                     Getting the kayaks ready

Once we got back from Kayaking Aaron and I decided to check out Whistler and some shops. We went to see the Olympic rings from the winter games in 2010 which was cool. Aaron got some "Poutine" which is a traditional Canadian dish in the photo below. It consists of fries, gravy and cheese.

Olympic Rings!!

Me & a Black Bear

Poutine. Fries, gravy & Cheese

After hanging out with Aaron we had some down time to have a power nap before getting ready to go to dinner at this local Irish Pub where live music was playing. The atmosphere was awesome and even better, they had a GLUTEN FREE MENU!!! The first I had seen since being over here wahooo! We found out at dinner it was 80's themed night at one of the local bars so we tried to find a potential 80's costume out of what we bought over which was almost impossible and headed to the bar. There was a lady doing fluro face paint there so we all got amongst that. It was a crazy night with locals turning up in retro 80's ski suits and pulling out some old school dance moves. There were platforms to dance on and 4 poles around the dance floor that you could go crazy on, which yes of course I did. There was a 65 year old old man with some of his mates trying to find some fresh young meat. He was hilarious, he bought Mel and I cocktails and if everyone thought my laugh was loud this guy takes the cake. He was dancing in a Hawaiian t-shirt and shorts and turned around to show us his bare bum on the middle of the dance floor in which he revealed way too much and we saw the whole package and all. Thank god it was 1:45am at that time and the bar shut at 2am as Mel and I couldn't handle much more. When its closing time for most bars in Whistler it turns into a street party for the next hour before it gets shutdown and then everyone heads to the pizza shop and gets as many $3.50 giant pizza slices for a feed on their way home. That's when it sucked to be gluten free.. OH WHAT A NIGHT!!!

Fluro Glow in the dark face paint!

                                   

                                                Me & the 65 year old party animal!

Shots Shots Shots Shots Shots Shots...Everybody!!!

DAY 3 LAST AM IN WHISTLER THEN KAMLOOPSThis morning was another hard morning to wake up to but when on contiki you just got to keep going as it really is a YOLO experience and one I recommend to everyone and anyone. This morning was a rushed start as we all had to have packed and have our rooms all cleared out and have gone on the Whistler Blackcomb peak to peak Gondola ride before midday. We all dressed for the hot weather as it was a nice day outside and seemed hot but after the first gondola ride up the weather started to drop and we were all freezing. The Peak to Peak had amazing views and the scenery was spectacular, I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like at winter. Some of the group on contiki had never seen or touched snow so this was an unreal experience for them. We made sure we went to the top which was 7,347 feet up and had a group photo by the statue llanaaq. The statue of llanaaq is the logo of the 2010 winter games that were held in Whistler. It was also used as a navigation tool and as a point of reference for hunting places, fishing, camping grounds etc. Just thought I would throw that
 in so that the rents know I am learning during my adventures in Canada :) hehe. Today was also a day to mark in the baby book of first things I've done/seen...on the way down from the gondola Aaron and I were on the lookout for bears. We saw a black spot in the distance and lost it.. it was a baby black bear. This was the first time I had ever seen a bear and it was the cutest thing ever. It was just in the middle of the green grass directly under where the gondola ride goes. It was awesome!!!

Peak to Peak Gondola

My New favorite animal Yogi the bear!

Group shot at the top in summer clothes freezing our butts off!

Once we came down off the Gondola ride so excited to tell the rest of the crew that we had spotted a bear :) Our buzz soon died down as we now had a 5 hour drive to Kamloops where we were staying the night just for a stop over and it was too far to drive to Jasper in one haul for the bus driver Nath. It was a scenic drive with some of the longest trains you have ever seen, Bec and I counted 155 carriages on ONE TRAIN!

Beaver Dam!!!

The A team!

On the road scenery...

We stopped at a Lilooet a gold mining town on the Fraser River. It had an awesome bakery that we stopped at and yet again no gluten free food :( waaa! Rice crackers until kamloops for me. It did however have 24 soft serve flavors though!

24 SOFT SERVE FLAVORS!

Once we arrived in Kamloops after a long day of travelling we made tracks for our room and freshened up before dinner. We went to Frick and Frack's for dinner and had a typical pub meal with some awesome cocktails. After dinner a few of us headed out to the microbrewery to do some beer tasting and since it was Sam's birthday the boys ordered a bottle of Champagne. As you can imagine things got a little crazy but not as ruthless and unleashed as other nights on the trip yet had been. Kamloops was a pretty quiet place and we were only stopping there for a night so the bus driver got some rest as there is only a certain amount of hours and km's you can travel in Canada legally with no rest.

Frick & Frack's team dinner!

Best Peach/Mango cocktails ever!

DAY 4 KAMLOOPS TO JASPER
After a Denny's breakfast to start the day everyone packed up and jumped on board the bus to begin the 5 hour drive to Jasper. Today was an extra fun day on the bus as we got to play an activity called "the icebreaker" with the whole bus. Everyone had to come up to the front of the bus and answer the questions/ tell their stories using the microphone so that we all could get to know everyone incase we hadn't already.

Reunited with my Godfather in Calgary

5 DAYS IN CALGARY WITH MY GODFATHER

My new home!

After waiting for a delayed flight and carrying way too much stuff on me I finally arrived in Calgary to see my godfather who I haven't seen since I was 8 years old. I pretty much looked like a homeless person through the arrivals gate especially considering my godfather admitted to thinking I looked homeless and not recognising me. It was cool to see him again after 13 years of living in separate countries. Dad also was at the airport as he was in Calgary to see Barry his bestmate on the way through to Scotland for his boys golfing trip so that was cool too.

DAY 1 IN OKOTOKS
This morning I woke up and had the best sleep in of life! I did however feel a little disorientated as I woke up in a campervan (RV) on a random gravel road. Once I woke up I saw my godfathers house and land in daylight which was awesome. I met his wife Nives and their 3 dogs, Cisco the husky, Drew a Lab and Cobber. I had my first proper meal in weeks a fruit salad with GF cereal and yogurt! Nives had put a picnic basket filled of gluten free goodies in the pantry for me with my name on it so I felt like it was home instantly! After breakfast Barry my godfather had made a schedule of activities for me to do for the day which was unexpected but cool. Jeff his 18 year old son picked me up to go play some Ice Hockey with him and 2 of his irish family friends who had never skated before too. On the way to the Ice Hockey arena I couldn't see much out of the windscreen cause of how cracked it was. It's legal to drive over here with a completely cracked windscreen from the cold winters. I had never seen anything quite like it. At the Ice Rink I met the 2 irish guys who I could barely understand but they seemed pretty funny. Jeff got me geared up for the ice and I hit the ice to begin skating. It was an open slot time so everybody and anybody was on the ice, it wasn't the most ideal situation for me to be in since I had never skated but YOLO.

The  ice hockey gear!

Me on the ice!

Cobber 

It turned out I wasn't too bad except stopping like the professionals do wasn't going to happen today. I had a new stopping technique which was spin on the spot in a circle twice and that seemed to do the trick. I didn't have a fall either but the irish guys were falling left right and center and one came off with a pretty sore back from a head on collision with an 8 year old haha. After ice hockey I chilled out for a bit and organised my suitcase and got some much needed washing done. For dinner Laura (20), Rob (30), Matt (24) and Jeff (18) all came for dinner which was pretty special as I haven't seen them or really met them properly for years. It also was good that MATT WAS SUPER SUPER HOT & PLAYS PROFESSIONAL ICE HOCKEY! Rob who hunts on a regular basis bought over some fresh Alk and Deer meat for Dad and I to try. The Deer sausages were AMAZING!!! We cooked them inside the shed as it was raining on a big grill as if we were camping. I got to collect the firewood with Barry and drive the tractor which was loads of fun.
It was a cool night with lots of laughs and memories from back in the day when we all were in NZ together. Since Dad was heading to Scotland for a month of golf he needed some practice so I Jeff, Matt and I all said we would play tomorrow morning. With me having not played since 7th form and that was barely playing I thought it would be funny if I talked myself up and said I was really really good in the hope that I would be able to back it up. So I went to the RV that night a little bit worried of how I would go tomorrow.

Coolest Godfather ever!

Rob Cooking Deer & Alk for dinner

Barry & I on the tractor

 DAY 2 IN OKOTOKS
It was an early start this morning with teeing off at 7.30am and I was still pretty tired from my Trek America Tour. We headed to the golf course and decided to get golf carts to make it more fun. Dad & I shared one and so did Matt & Jeff. My first drive was sooooo awesome, it was straight down the middle of playing field and had good distance too. The boys were shocked that I could even hit it and thought they were going to get beaten by a girl but my game deteriorated after that and it clearly showed I hadn't played in years. I had one par though and finished off the 9 holes with a good long putt. Judy (The boys mum and my godfathers ex wife) came to pick us up and shouted us all breakfast at the golf course cafe. It was cool seeing her again and catching up with what she had been up to. For the rest of the day I helped Barry run some errands and went to the dump. I saw a house being lifted off a truck and unloaded at the dump which was pretty exciting. Later on this evening Barry took Dad to his close friends stag party whilst Nives took me out for a girls night to the Okotoks Cinema to watch Bourne Legacy. The town of Okotoks seemed so old fashioned and cute with little cottages as shops. I missed spotting the cinemas cause they were so small! It was a very basic cinema with plastic seats that weren't super comfy and the cinema was a square slab of concrete with a projector screen. It was pretty funny to experience something different and when I told Nives about Sylvia Park and La Premiere she didn't believe me haha. Bourne Legacy was a really good movie and a must see one.

The boys & I.

Jeff, Matt & Dad picking the best line

Okotoks Cinema!

Once the movie has finished Nives and I went to pick up the boys from the stag party. I thought a stag party was the kind that involved everyone getting wasted and strippers present. They are not the same in Calgary that's for sure. It was a boys night drinking, playing their guitars and singing with Barry & Dad on the shakers hahaha. It was so old school and I thought they were dressed up for the occasion but it turns out that't what they normal wear. They were dressed as bikers with cowboy hats and leather jackets and they were really good at singing too.Once we finally dragged them to the car it was home time and another awesome day in Calgary.

DAY 3 IN OKOTOKS
Today was a pretty chilled day as Dad headed home in the afternoon and it was an hour drive into downtown Calgary to take him to the airport. We went in early and checked out some of the malls. Dad tried on some shirts and a really nice jacket for work, I looked at the price when I was taking it to his changing room and it was a $1000 jacket so we quickly left the shop and aimed for somewhere a bit cheaper. We went to the airport and after giving dad a quick tutorial on how to electronically checked in he threw his toys and wanted a actual airport employee to check him in but didn't realise that they only do electronic check in over here, so was fun for me to watch :) Once dad had checked in and we said our goodbyes I had a long drive back to Okotoks and went to bed early after quickly cramming in 5 episodes of home and away as was getting rather stressed that I would be missing too many episodes haha.

DAY 4 IN OKOTOKS
Today was a big day of laboring for my godfather and Kenny, his best friend who was getting married the next day. After I woke up barry, Nives and I headed over to help put up marquees, put a trampoline together, waterblast the drive and move shrub and dead trees 4 km away from the house which I didn't really think was for the wedding but more something Kenny has wanted to be done for ages haha. We spent majority of the day helping out until we all were dying for food and drinks. Barry and I went in town to get him some new jeans as he wore the ones for the wedding today and destroyed them. It was fun helping him pick jeans and watch him try on skinny leg jeans too. We had Edo, japanese food together in the mall and on the way home stopped at DQ. You can get mcflurries in a fizzy drink large mcdonalds cup over here and pick whatever you wanted mixed in it. The drive thru and speaker box server needs to find a new job and would not get kfc employee of the month if he was in Dunedin thats for sure :) On the way home driving Barry's car steering system locked up as we were turning a sharp bend to go on the motorway and the car turned off while driving at 90kmph it was insane!!!!I saw my life flash by for about 5 secs and then the car was fine. I said to my godfather the car needs to be serviced before driving me to Uni in Edmonton lol.
When we got back to the farm Barry decided to have a little play on the bobcat before lay down grass tomorrow. There were 2 levers with 10 different actions it moves in on each lever. I jumped up on his lap and had a go at steering, we couldn't stop laughing as one moment you are moving forward, then bunny hopping then lifting the loader up and go left and right at the same time it was almost enough to make you throw up but was enough to make me want one when I get back home to drive around town lol

The farm

Barry on the Bobcat with Rockies in backgroung at sunset 

Later on in the night at 10pm Matt and Jeff send me a text and came to pick me up to take me to the local pub. This was an experience, it was another tick off the bucket list but one I wasn't expecting. We walked into the bar and were joined by an obese hen's party. I almost lost the plot dancing next to them on the dance floor. I also had another tick off the bucket list by the boys thinking I needed to do catch up drinking so bought me a shot. I tossed it back like any other shot but once I swallowed it I ran straight over to the ice machine and poured half of the machine down the throat. What they had ordered me was a "prairie fire" which consists of Tequilla and Tabasco hot sauce!!It was disgusting and caused a hot eruption in my mouth for the next hour. I next experienced Jeff join in on the line dancing on the d floor which everyone once the song comes on goes into lines and covers the whole d floor doing it. It was crazy to watch. I then was Matt's wingman for the rest of the night while he tried to score, watch him dance after having knee surgery was pretty funny. At 2am Matt rang Barry to come pick us up and get us a feed at Macca's before heading home..it reminded me of the good old nights in Dunnos.

Deer I stalked to get a photo on the farm

Its Blizzard load up on Dairy for the day time :)

LAST DAY IN OKOTOKS

Today was my last day in Okotoks and what a way to wake up to some freshly made gluten free pancakes by Nives. I was unsure if they were excited to see me go or what the special breakfast was for but I found out later that I was laying out sow grass all around the house for the dogs with Barry and Jack. We only had 2 hours to do it aswell since I had to be packed and ready to depart for the airport in the city. Once I finished the lawn I cleaned up the Rv and tried to pack everything and get the zip done up...this was way harder than I expected. We hit the road for the airport and I said my goodbye to Barry and Nives and went through the tightest security check I have been through since being in Canada. You stand in a glass elevator like room with your hands above your head and then when you step out the computer shows red dots on your body showing you have something dodgy. Luckily I had no red dots and could go straight to the gate, where I found my plane to be delayed an hr!!! Yet again missing home and away stressed me out so I got 2hrs of free wireless where I got to watch more home and away episodes I had missed :) I can'tt wait to land in Vancouver and meet the people I was heading on my 11 day contiki around Canada with.

TREK AMERICA WESTERN WONDER TOUR DAY 6-13

This morning Abby and I had an early start as it was the beginning of our Trek America 7day tour. There was such a diverse group of people. There was 10 of us altogether including tour guide: Ethan 19 England, Danny 36 London, Aj 24 England, MK (my nickname for her as I couldn't pronounce her name lol) 24 Korea, Jeong 21Korea, Liz 28 Chicago, Morgan 19 Madagascar, Tim 41 British tour leader and Abby and I. We started off the tour by going to Hollywood....

HOLLYWOOD

Me & ma boy Hugh

The stars

We were in Hollywood for just under an hour so didn't have much time to see everything, it was speed exploring. I went to the Hollywood wax museum while Abs toured around. It was crazy how many of the actors and actresses looked real. Hugh hefner, Owen Wilson, Johnny Depp and the texas chainsaw masacre were the best. I quickly had a look at the chinese theatre and where the golden globe awards are held. We then hit the road for a long drive to Lake Havasu on the Colorado River....

LAKE HAVASU, COLORADO RIVER 6-7

Drinks with the other tour in the lake

Hottest night of my life 45degrees

This was by far the hottest drive I have ever experienced. We drove most of the day and arrived at Lake Havasu just in time to set up our tents before sunset. Abs and I raced in to have a swim as we had been sweating the whole trip. The water was so nice and not to cold but just right. We had another tour group camp next to us that night. After setting up tents we didn't even end up using due to the heat we then decided to have a drink down by the water as an icebreaker so we got to know each other a bit better. On the menu for dinner was BBQ corn, mashed potato and sausages. We even had a cute little yogi bear table setting with a red and white checkered table cloth. When it was time to go to sleep the whole group decided to sleep outside as it was too hot to sleep in the tents. I slept in my togs so I could run down to the water when needed. After an ok sleep we packed up first thing and headed off to the Grand Canyon via London Bridge.

SELIGMAN ARIZONA AND THE GRAND CANYON NEVADA DAY 8

The GC

1st time in my life I've been speechless

I'm at the Grand Canyon Baby!

Today was one of my favorite days, on the way to the Grand Canyon we stopped at the London Bridge in Lake Havasu. Its a bridge that is the reconstruction of the 1831 London Bridge. We also stopped at Seligman, the birthplace of route 66 "the mother road" and where the director of the cars movie got inspiration from. The directors got the idea for the cars to talk and have eyes from the local cars in Seligman which had sun visors with drawn on eyes over the windscreen to reduce the heat. All of the cars that feature  in the movie were all at Seligman, like Matar and the sheriff. The small town is really hick and seemed like a place where Joe Dirt would live. They are famous for their malt shakes, which I had a sip of they are delicious. This was our lunch stop and I had my first experience of sweet potato fries. We then continued the 5 hour journey and arrived at the Grand Canyon mid afternoon. We set up tents and shared a campsite with another tour that was going. 

As soon as I heard that we were going to see the canyon I was sooooo excited.  I chose the blindfolded option of seeing the canyon :) I got guided to the rim of the canyon and took off my blindfold, the canyon was AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLE, UNREAL, EPIC. It is 277 miles in Length and 18 miles in width, it was HUGE! Way bigger and cooler than I expected. Our group walked down into the valley to the first hut to check it out from another perspective, we saw a mountain goat and this was my first meeting with a squirrel. The walk down was fun and everyone was full of beans, we turned around at the hut and hiked a mountain for an hour to get back to the rim. When we arrived back to the campsite there was an alk 10m away from Abby and my tent. It was massive and of course being me I attempted to chase it to capture a good pic for facebook to show you all. We had a really tasty stirfry for dinner courtesy of Danny the fireman's cooking and then hit the hay. Abby and I woke up at 2am and were both freezing, I grabbed 2 thermals, a beanie, jumper, socks everything I could see and nestled up into a ball to try and get back to sleep. It was like going from one extreme to another, camping on the sun at lake Havasu to camping in what felt like the snow at the Grand Canyon.

LAS VEGAS BABY! 8-9

Me & the Pilot before take off

Vegas Baby!

Las Vegas..a place I've dreamed of

This morning I woke up super excited as today was the day of my scenic helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon. There was 5 of us that decided to splurge and do it, as when would we ever get the opportunity to do it again. The helicopter was so smooth and a huge adrenaline rush. It started off going across miles and miles of pine trees and forestry until we got to the edge, we then all closed our eyes and got dropped over the edge of the canyon down in into the basin of the canyon and swooped back up. It was unbelievable, you could see rocks that were over 2,000 years old that were a deep red colour. It was by far the best angle to view the Grand Canyon and actually get an idea of how big it was. It was a really nice day for it and we were lucky there was no rain as it is Monsoon season there. After the helicopter ride we then packed up camp, said bye to the Grand Canyon and made our way to LAS VEGAS, the city of partying. Arriving into Vegas in the day was different to how it really goes off at night. When the sun goes down, the strip lights up and everything is so vibrant and full of people. Tonight we had a special inclusion in the trip price which was the limousine ride. Tim our guide ended up getting us the Batmobile which had the sign and everything all lit up on the inside. We had a 2 hour tour around Vegas with the first stop being the famous Las Vegas sign and the last stops being Old Vegas and a drop off at the first casino of  the night Caesar palace (where the Hangover movie was filmed). In old vegas people were ziplining across the roof, I met a 70year old guy dressed up as santa and there was a rock show where I slapped the hands of the lead singers. The Belagio was another cool casino along with MGM, except they usually have caged lions there but due to them doing rennovations they weren't there :(. New York New York was unreal!They have created a mini New York inside the casino so you feel like you are actually in New York. There is also a rollercoaster that goes inside this casino which Abby and I went on, it was AWESOME!!There are some pretty crazy stories from Vegas which you will have to ask me about..

During the day Abs and I checked out the strip. We went to m & m world which has 3 storeys of m & m stuff from the lollies to pjamas to everything and anything. I really wanted to make some personalised m & m's  for you guys but since I was camping they would just melt :(. We walked the strip with a yardie glass which you can see in the photos, you can drink on the street whenever you want as long as you are the right age. I had vodka and strawberry slushy which tasted like straight vodka since the straw went straight to the base of the glass. There are pool parties in most of the main hotels and a nightclub called the cosmopolitan which has different music on each level of it. Our last night out Abs and I had cocktails with Amit & Danny the British boys and then went to Treasure Island for the night where believe it or not this was the first time I have gambled since I have been in vegas. I won $20 on the pokies, my machine was based on the movie "The Hangover" where you had to match the characters and find items in the room. I had a blast!! when we came home we all went swimming, chilled out by the pool and jumped into the spa every now and again. This continued until 7am where we packed our bags and jumped on the bus ready for our next destination. Another tick off the bucket list- pulling an all nighter in Vegas. 

The Belagio...a water canal inside!!!

Belagio.. where the roof is the sky and  it rains on  you!!

New York New York Casino 

The lights show at midnight

M & M World!

Old Vegas where ziplining took place

Vegas Ladies

Belagio

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 10-11

Finally we made it here!!!

      Having serious sweaty feet syndrome!

Today was the longest day on the road we have had so far. We had an early start departing Vegas for Yosemite at 7am and spent 7hrs cooped up in the van. The first half of the drive was boring desert scenery where it was boiling hot and due to cars breaking down on the hills we had to turn the air con on and off the whole way.  The second half of the drive the scenery just got better and better. It was a relief finally seeing a park ranger and the Yosemite sign as we all wanted to kill each other after being in the van so long, especially with our weirdo tour guide. Once we arrived we set up camp at what we nicknamed "the carpark" you will be able to see why in photos. It was like camping on the road, pegs wouldn't go in the ground and there was traffic running alongside our tents all night. It was a pretty funny experience. We taught Mk and Jeong the 2 Korean girls on our trip how to play a game of "cheat" with cards which was the highlight of my night. I wasn't sure if they got the game in the end as everytime it was MK's turn and she didn't have the card she would laugh and go " I don't have hahah" and then put down 4 cards and pretend to lie lol. Meanwhile our tour leader (aged 41) was drinking a bottle of whisky most nights and trying to get with each of us on the trip...creep central! 

Well Howdie Ya'll

Our Trek group

You have to climb waterfalls to see the talent!

Abs & I at the top!

What you've all been waiting for...YOLO

A camper having his daily shower

Liz & I on babe alert

Doesn't do the waterfall justice

Strike a pose

 Water sliding time!

The good old Carpark

The next day we had a full day of hiking up to see the waterfalls. These 2 waterfalls are the largest in North America. The photos don't do them justice, it was amazing to be up in such a high altitude swimming in a water hole with a family of 4 smoking hot brothers! A definate YOLO moment. The walk up to the first waterfall was pretty steep, people who were afraid of heights were clinging to the rocks next to the steps going up. The steps were huge, a real bum workout! A lot of tourists slid down the rocks at the first waterhole and created a water slide which was so much fun! Once we got some water on board we continued our hike to the top waterfall, Nevada Fall at 594 ft. I felt pretty sick on the way up as we somehow missed the contaminated water sign on the way so I had to stop and throw up halfway up. I was lucky I didn't get the shits or anything else, especially with my luck on the health front. A ranger gave us tablets to dissolve in our water bottles to purify  the water THANKGOD! Once at the top we all took in the scenery, Abby and I took some planking photos and we hung out for an hour or so swimming with other toursits in the waterhole. It was the perfect day for seeing the waterfalls, although saying this we nearly got struck by a lightning bolt at one stage on the way up. After a big day it was our last night camping altogether so we celebrated with camp cooked burritos, smores, a pack of cards and some alcoholic beverages. 

Ps: You are probably wondering why there is a photo of my feet but I thought I should fill you in on my latest issue. I am getting severly sweaty feet and have no idea why. 

SAN FRANCISCO 11-12

Drinks & Nibbles on the Catamaran

Giant Sequoia Trees

GLUTEN FREE BURGER!

This morning before we began the big drive to San Francisco we checked out the Giant Sequoia trees.These trees were HUGE and were over 2,000 years old. We walked in the trunk of one of the trees that had fallen over and it was more than 40m long. The tree roots were massive as well. Once we ticked off the sequoia trees we were on our way to San Francisco. Today I indulged in a special treat at the lunchstop..I finally found something I could eat!!!! It was a "low carb burger" which has no bread and the normal meat patties and salad was wrapped in green lettuce leaves. It was soooo good and such a relief to have some decent tucker! Everyone voted for me to ride shotgun on the last driving leg to San Francisco. This was so I could quiz our creepy tour guide about lots of trips and extended details such as who he had got with etc. He tried to get the Koreans and Morgan several times on the trip but we saved them. It was a unique experience having a 41 year old tour guide alright.

Andre the seal!

End of trip Catamaran scenic cruise

Yolo is catching on guys :)

Captain Hanz and I on the Catamaran 

After a long drive we finally hit the outskirts of San Francisco and were greeted with peak traffic due to the big baseball game on that night. San Francisco was where our tour ended so we said our goodbyes to some of the crew at the hotel that was booked for post tour accommodation. The funny thing about this was Abby & I didn't have post tour accommodation so we ended up sneaking past reception with 2 other Denmark girls from the other tour and Danny from our tour and crashed the night in Amit and this Australian guys room. It was pretty funny trying to figure out sleeping arrangements in a room that was made for 2 haha. We pretty much dropped our bags in the room and tried to get a taxi as soon as we could since we were running behind schedule for making our Catamaran scenic boat cruise. The taxis were pretty busy so an illegal taxi driver across the road offered us a ride to the Pier in his flash car for $20. This was an interesting ride as we went extremely fast, skipped critical road rules and went a dodgy way to get there but we made it so we were happy. Since the 9 of us all got on so well most of us met up for the Catamaran scenic cruise where drinks and nibbles were served on board. It was our final night in San Fran so we decided to go out in style. The catamaran went around Alcatraz (the old Federal Prison) and under the famous Golden Gate Bridge. This was exciting as it was really foggy so the bridge appeared out of nowhere and was huge up close.

Jack & Rose off the Titanic

Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco!!

After the Catamaran cruise we all had our last night out together in San Francisco having cocktails and eating a good solid non camping meal. I had the best time meeting people from all over the world and making new friendships that will last forever. 

LAST DAY IN SAN FRANCISCO WITH ABBY & PAIGE 13-14

Train ride with Abs to Palo Alto

2 Storey Train!!!

Navigator Abby

Theme Park time!!!

Today was my last day in San Francisco with Abs so we decided to make the most of it. We got up early and caught the train to Palo Alto to meet up with Paige, Abby's team mate in Mississippi. She showed us around her town which was a really nice area. The guy who invented google lived here and Standford Uni wasn't too far away, unfortunately we didn't have time to see it. Paige came with Abby and I to Great America, a well known theme park over here. The best thing about the day was instead of paying $67 the people behind us in line gave us a coupon to get in for $20 each!!! It was unbelievable and was 1,000 x better than Rainbow's end back home! We went on all the rides we possibly could with our limited time as I had to be on a flight to Calgary at 5pm. There was a 240ft drop free fall ride that I almost threw up on, a stand up roller coaster which was insane, a wet rapids ride, a ride which felt like you were flying and an old fashioned roller coaster made on wooden tracks. It was so much fun and the fast food was crazy! I tried curly fries for the first time and dipping dots which were miniature balls of ice cream in whatever flavor you wanted! The wet rapids ride was some serious YOLO material as I had to take all my belongings with me on the ride which included my iphone and passport in my bag. Nobody was coming off the ride dry so I had to strap it around my waist and under my tshirt. The stand up roller coaster ride was another insane thing that we did. It was so different to anything I have ever been on as you were standing up and doing several cork screws in a row.

Feels like you are flying ride!

Grizzly Bear wooden roller coaster

Cool water area!

Stand up Roller Coaster!!!

Water Rapids ride!

After a long but fun day with Abby and Paige they dropped me at the airport and Abs and I said our goodbyes. I had a blast as always seeing Abs again. Even though she is in Mississippi and I study in Dunedin we still are just as close as ever and get up to our cheeky little adventurous antics as always. It was really cool to finally meet Paige someone from Abby's team and to hangout with her. After saying goodbye to Abby I limped into the airport as I had WAY too much stuff. I had a yardie glass from vegas around my neck along with my camera and handbag, then I had a 8kg over weight suitcase which I pulled along with my over weight carry on gear. Checking in was not something I was looking forward to. I had to unpack and wear the heaviest clothes I could find. I threw out a pair of heels, wore my chucks and 2 jumpers with 3 attached around my neck to reduce the weight of my suitcase. I had to attach my running shoes, jandals and other clothing to the outside of my carry on and take my yardie glass on board the plane as well. It was a mission and I didn't realise once I had strapped it all on me that I had to take it all off including my hat, sunglasses and shoes and walk through a plastic chamber which screened me and my clothing for dangerous goods. I wish I didn't have so much stuff!