CALIFORNIA COAST DAY 4-6

Where are we?

Paradise Cove, Malibu

Abby & I at Long beach

Laguna Beach

Pepperdine University Student Housing

Long Beach

YOLO shotglasses chahoooo!

I met up with Abs on the 4th August at the Hacienda hotel in Los Angeles. It was so exciting to finally see her again and to be able to catch up on old times. We decided to rent a car and travel down the coast and check out the beaches for the day. We travelled over 100 miles (160km) up and down the coast, driving on the right side of the road which was entertaining to say the least. Starting at Santa Monica we headed up to Malibu and checked out Pepperdine University, the main campus of Malibu and one of the top 10 most beautiful campuses worldwide. It was unreal compared to New Zealand universities.

 Next stop was Long beach, one of Abs and my favorite beaches of the day. We were lucky to arrive there when the local markets were on but weren't so lucky to arrive in the peak heat of the day. Two steps and Abby and I were drenched in sweat it was soooo hot. This was where I found my YOLO shotglasses which I was pretty stoaked about as you all can imagine. After getting the tourist snapshots at Bubba Gump Shrimp and trying on Forest Gumps shoes we then hit the road to check out the potential husband talent at Huntington beach. We wished we were there earlier in the week as the US surfing pro tour was on and it was packed with topless built guys who were all wanting a piece of us. Driving on we zoomed through Newport Beach and couldn't afford to shop literally as Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton you name it were all lined up in what looked to be like 2 storey houses. We could however afford to stop at Taco Bell where I purchased a taco for 99cents. Our final stop for dinner, some shopping and to call in on a family friend was Laguna Beach. I definitely can see myself coming back here, it was really cool. After a long day of driving we headed back to our hotel in time to pack and get a good sleep before we were up at 6.30am to check in for our Trek America Western Wonder tour.

SANTA MONICA & VENICE BEACH, LOS ANGELES DAY 1-4

 After a ridiculously long flight with no sleep and lots of turbulence I have ended up in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. I'm staying at a cheap motel 6km away from the pier. Public transport is the key to get around here and everybody loves to bike so its definitely my kind've place to explore for 3 days. Third St Promenade is where all the shops, cafes and buskers are. My eyes lit up when I saw a whole shop window of converse chucks and they almost popped out of my head when I found out you can custom make and personalise your own sneaker!The buskers here are really good, I watched a group of 4 black guys shuffle to LMFAO and a bulldog skateboard up and down the footpath...just casually. When I was down exploring the Pier I was lucky enough to hear a gong like noise which marked the eating time of the homeless.   The only downfall to Santa Monica is the fact that there is NO gluten free food to be seen. I had to google wholefoods an organic supermarket and walk just under 8km to get there! 

The next day I rented out a bike and went on the boardwalk running next to the beach all the way to venice beach where I experienced a live freakshow, muscle beach, outdoor gyms, tonnes of homeless people and  the process of how to get a green card. The freakshow was insane I got to see 2 headed turtles, 5 legged dog, pig with 10 ears, fish hook go through a guys nose and out his mouth and sword eating you name it and I saw it. There were several cheap market type stalls and loads of souvenir tshirt shops everywhere. The gym at muscle beach was unreal, guys looked like they had all taken steroids and were lifting heavy weights as they knew people would be watching due to the gym being outdoors. I had a photo with an old member of the gym who gave me 2 photographs of him weightlifting when he was younger and a picture of him with Arnold Schwarzenegger, what a score!!

I've seen and experienced so much in 3 days and yet its only the beginning of my travels. I'm really excited to see Abby and share my memories of the day with and also so she can take photos with me in them :)

                              YOLO 7 DAYS TO GO!!!

Canada, LA, San Francisco & Hawaii

With only 7 days to go..I'm starting to get pretty excited about my trip, especially since my big toenail has fallen off and will no longer be causing me painful infections. There is still lots to do but the majority of the trip is sorted. Looking forward to the 30+ degree weather forecast for LA and the Grand Canyon. This is the time that if there was one wish I could make it would be to not have such a heavy sweating genes lol, as Abby has already informed me I'm going to die in the heat. The amount of mail I have received in the last week is like Santa has come early. From orientation packages and itineraries to academic transcripts its all go! I must not forget my special package from my girl Em in Dunedin my very own travel journal!

Orientation pack arrived in the mail

 I'm pretty excited for orientation week however "pancake breakfast" and "beer" rings gluten bells..But I've googled gluten free beer and CANADA has it wahoooo!I also am going to be playing in the campus cup dodgeball tournament that is against all students, alumni and lecturers. So I'm sure if I don't get the grade I want on an assignment this can be a form of giving "payback" to the marker :) I spoke to my godfather from Calgary yesterday and boy was he as excited as I am. He is already planning lots of activities for us to do including going fly fishing which I can't wait for!

In preparation of going away I have needed to get some new bras..one of my favorite new ones is my "travel bra" featuring the world map on it so in case I get lost I can just look down my top and find where I am :) I have bought some vegemite warm winter pjamas to take over with me as an NZ icon  but according to some friends it isn't so much a NZ icon and is more Australian.

Check out my itinerary on the first blog I posted, I have updated it with my travel plans.
YOLO!

Itinerary of my travels

Bye Bye NZ

Officially, as of the 1st August at 7:40pm I will be departing Auckland for Los Angeles to embark on the trip of a lifetime! The details of my itinerary are a work in progress but here is a rough idea of what I will be up to from August through til 23rd December when I arrive home in time for a Kiwi Christmas.

Santa Monica Pier

My trip kicks starts with 5 days in LA where I will be exploring Santa Monica for 3 days being a typical tourist before meeting up with Abby (one of my best mates). On the 6th-12th August I will be on a contiki with Abby called "The Western Wonder"  departing from LA and travelling to the Grand Canyon , Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park and finishing off in San Francisco. We will be camping at the Grand Canyon, partying it up and experiencing the night life and 3am rollercoasters in Vegas, biking through Yosemite National Park trying to spot black beers and ending up in San Francisco to do some tiki touring of sights and the potential North beach pub crawl. For more specific details of the contiki you can go to this link http://www.trekamerica.com/tours/w1l.html. 


With the tour ending in San Francisco I have one day before I fly to Calgary to check out Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (a theme park). There are some serious adrenaline junkie rides there compared to what little old NZ offers at Rainbow's End. I then leave on the 13th August and fly to stay and hang out with my Godfather who I haven't seen for 8 years+. I will spend about a week exploring Calgary and hanging out before heading on my next venture, a contiki around Canada. This is a longer contiki and goes for 11 days, starting and ending  in Vancouver, heading to Whistler, Kamloops, Jasper, Banff and Vernon. It is a outdoors, typical me style kind've tour that has lots of awesome activities such as going on zip lining in Whistler, white water rafting in Jasper, Canoeing, visiting Maligne Canyon ( the deepest and longest limestone canyon in the Rockies), a night out in Vancouver and loads more. 

The Rockies

University of Alberta Campus

After  finishing my contiki I fly to Edmonton to begin my uni semester at the University of Alberta, which is what my whole trip is based on. I will be studying four papers which will count towards and make up my Bachelor of Physical Education degree double majoring in Exercise Sport Science and Exercise Prescription. This will be my last semester at Uni and what better way than to experience it in -40 degrees in Edmonton :) I have been told that it will be well worth it as the guys over there love Kiwi accents so I'm guaranteed finding the love of my life already before departing :) I will be staying in a hall of residence called Lister Center with loads of other Canadians and a couple of other PE kids from Otago will be here too.

Aloha Hawaii!!!

On the 17th December, I will be filled with several stories, memories, photos to show and the experience of a lifetime and will be departing Edmonton and heading to HonoLulu Hawaii. A dream place I have wanted to go to ever since I was little for a 4day stop over where I will be soaking up the sun, local boys, learning to surf and sightseeing before arriving home at 6am on the 23rd December just in time for Santa and a Kiwi Christmas!