Elizabeth Round the World

18/4 - Still in Playa del Carmen
Lovin the yogurts for breakfast! and cheap as! A really lovely day so me and lana went down to the beach for a few hours getting the tannage in! Sea is amazingly blue today, sure the best beaches ive seen on my whole trip. Thinking if all the plane stuff is over it;s Lanas last night tonight so we went down to Fusion restaurant on the beach and as it was such a nice eve and still light we managed to get seats out on the sand with tapas and wine whilst a reggae band were playing they were so good! Real nice evening, Stefan and christian just happened to turn up. (bit different to the other night in the torrential rain!)

19/4
So Lana was meant to leave this morning, got myself all set up for her going not really looking forward to the next few days while i'll be by myself and then her colleagues managed to do something with her flights to postpone til the end of the week. So woohoo i had company today and had McDs on the beach! First time for everything.

20/4
Skyped mum rubbish headphones tho-not good convo. Soooo hot again so more beach time, went in the sea full on gorge. Beer and peanuts by the pool,nothing much else going on. Random kebab/mexican on the corner had well nice tosta for tea for a bargain 30 pesos!!....and Lana is still here!

21/4
We walked along the beach, the other direction away from the hotels and did silly photos. Lana left at 7pm after tea eventually with horendous flights changing 3 times but at least she will get home. Sad to say bye to her after nearly 3 weeks of being together but i leave tomorrow so all is cool!
Went and met Kathys friend Otho who is gonna get me from Puebla airport to her house 2mro! funneee and especially with his pigeon english! but he sweet all the same.

22/4 - Puebla
Woohoo finally i leave Playa today, thought shouldn't complain the beach is amazing!!...more internet time, mcds then bus up to Cancun airport. Chaos at the airport so many english stranded still! So my flight isnt the same as Kathys mate as we thought it must have been so jst met him at the other end at tiny Puebla airport, we landed like 2 minutes apart. Off we went his parents picked us up. Kathy wanted to show me his house cos its so amazing looks like a hotel - they are defo the rich mexicans! Then we went to hers and met her mum who is crazy, but very caring! Just crashed really in a nice room! Nice to have to worry about what i'm doing now for the next few days.

23/4 - Veracruz, Casitas
I spent the morning in town while Kathy worked..after the biggest 'english' breakfast haha! Really cool recognising it all after having been there a few weeks ago. Really nice day too. Then we went back her mum fed us a massive lunch and we drove over to her friend Maries house to go off on the 4 hour road trip. We had a private driver and all the girls were really nice. We evntually arrive all knkrd but the girls cooked us up some mexican special and we had a few beers then on to vodka and drinking games down by the sea. ...gentlemen haha

24/4
Quesadillas for breakfast!..not likeing the look of all the wraps teh girls had brought i later learn that these are flour ones which are nice and taste normal apazza its the corn ones which are rank!! And nice cheese too for a change. We jst chilled on the beach for a little while, black sand so different to Playa. Then by the pool really good weather and the girls made us all Micheladas - beer and tomato juice with lime and salt actually very yummy!!..some dodgy meat for tea tho. I avoided that and stuck with the chilli salsas and tortillas with salad. We popped out earring shopping and then had drinks outside and played Kathys myming game!

25/4
Bit of time in the sun before the driver came to get us, then we headed to a seafood restaurant just up the road where i was a bit sceptical but had a mexican prawn cocktail, massive prawns in some kind of dodgy tomatoe sauce thing with chips lol!...still a really nice end to a great weekend!
Crazy drivers on th roads back, then Kathy tells me there is no driving test in Mexico!!maaan they all teach themselves! Glad i didnt know that before. Arrived back and of course Kathys mum and lots of food ready for us...chicken with mushrooms and rice-omg best meal ive had for ages! such a nice change to some of this mexican stuff...cos of course she is Russian!

26/4
Up early to go into town with Kathy, still so tired. Lots of omelette and quesadillas for breakfast - her mum jst loves feeding us! bless! I got on the tour bus, wasn;t sure if i would but got a discount price so was well worth it. Puebla really is so pretty. Plus i wanted to make the most of my last day there! I managed to find some Talavera patterned bowls that Puebla is famous for, just gotta get them home!! I also got some hairbands that i was after and scarves for me mum and kathy - everything i wanted! Had a couple of beers in the sun whilst i was waiting for Kathy to finish work. Today has flown by! Chatted with Marina and Andre ( kathys parents) about my whole trip they are just fascinated! Later me and Kathy went and met Ricardo at a french restaurant, i had been looking forward to this all day! How ironic for it to be french! V exciting to see Ricardo again. A fantastic evening, they treated me so nice, such a lovely lovely end to my travels they really have spoilt me.

27/4
I got up to say bye to Kathy, her mum fussing and running around (like usual lol) Quite sad saying bye after a week or so but hopefully she will come to England one day. Her parents took me to the bus station - blimey her dads driving was even worse than hers didnt think that was possible!!! They just chatted and made sure all was cool. I arrived at the hotel and Mexico City airport early arvo - bit too early really but i was ready to leave Puebla i guess. Jst sat and watched football then went and got a few beers, had my last meal in a restaurant by myself!!! That really wasn't that nice! Palarva with the jacuzzi, thought an hour chillin up there would pass the evening but it took an hour and half to fill up!!!-what a joke i really wasnt interested by the time came and it was cold with no bubbles!!!aarghhh!! funny tho to be fair!
Back to the room and Kathy rang to make sure i had arrived fine. Can't believe this day has come!!! The eve of flying home! and why am always surprised to arrive everywhere in one piece with my bag?!!

28/4
So restless in the room jst wanna get out of here now - i have spent longer than anticipated in there! As exciting as it was to arrive at the airport the night before. I could have jst come up from Puebla. Got to the airport in loads of time too.....a McDs!! London here I come!!! Feel like i'm gonna look so different to everyone!! Blimey it's the end of the most amazing 6 and half months ever!! All the places, all the people, all the hostels - radiooooooo!

9/4 - Arrived after night bus in San Cristobal
God that was the worst night bus out of the whole of my night buses!! Straight off the bus we all piled into anotehr bus to go for the most non exciting boat cruise...didnt help we were all knkrd but still Chad had made it out to be amazing and it kinda was pretty but not for 3 hours!!...plus it took us another hour and half to get there!
I ventured for a tuna salad for lunch which was actually really nice - phew!! then crashed for a couple of hours before we all met at the wine bar all deciding that no way was Chad gonna get us on any tours 2mro, we all want a day to chill and do what we want and San Cris looks sooo nice, people have said it´s their favourite place in Mexico.
The wine bar was cool had a few wines in the street with lots of free tapas and cheap red wine then headed to such a nice restaurant!!...we always take Chads recommendations with a pinch of salt now but this one was defo the best so far and not all the group went so that was a bit nicer. We proceeded to drink plenty more red wine and went to another bar which had a cool reggae band playing so a wickid night!

10/4
Lie in and a relief to have nothing organised today. Went for coffee with Dennis and Nile then we eventually found an ice cream showing the FA cup semi final! so sat in there and watched that and wandered around th town, all the nice markets, and nice and sunny. Scott and Rich made us all sangria so we sat and chilled with that for the rest of the arvo and a pretty tame night. Got email from Kathy all th plans look good!!

11/4 - Palenque
A private van over to Palenque...crazy driver. We stopped off at Agua Azul a kind of waterfall which was pretty just full of mexican families as it was a sunday, next stop was Misol ha ....another waterfall but a lot nicer sooo hot there!! We arrived in the jungle about 5ish - we really were right out in it, but nothing surprises me now after all the funny and weird places ive stayed at in various countries! I thought it was quite cool! Not much else to do tho than drink so back on the Montelo for a bit then absolute delish food!! So noisy at night with howler monkeys and dogs and birds!

12/4
Prompt start for us all to get up to the Palenque ruins...quite impressed by these, very different to the other ones we had seen and set with grass and trees rather than dust and sat so just looked a lot nicer. Chad had realised none of us wanted an official tour guide so he just took us round and told us what he knew which was just right. Really hot day aswell so we didn´t wanna be standing around getting bored!
A few of us went for a nature hike in the arvo just at its hottest which was quite cool, nice to get out for a bit, and this guide was actually fun! He dropped me and Lana off in town after and bought beers on the way drinking them in th car! The town wasn´t much to see but different again to all the other towns ive seen.
A quiet night in the jungle tonight, few people were ill and ready to leave i think, stil the cards were out!

13/4 - Merida
Up at 6am - the earliest yet!! BUt given that the monkeys woke us all up we were ready to leave. A public bus today to Merida...all day!! was not a very nice journey took like 8 hours, got another massive headache. Not impressed by Merida, kind of felt like a just a stop off before Playa...was raining too! Hotel was nice thought the streets looks dodgy but apazza safest city in Mexico! We all went out for dinner nice fajitas tonight as i hadnt had any yet then me, Lana and Sue went back as didnt look like there was much going on so decided Uno was a better option!

14/4
Free breakfast -woohoo! Nothing properly planned today just the way we like it ao me and Lana wandered with Rich and Sue, found the well dodge markets so turned right back round again! Sat in the square for a little while in the sun trying to barter with little kids for pashminas and they were having none of it! Later we all resorted back to the hotel and played cards all arvo eventually the beer cam out and it was Scotts Birthday so Fleur and Anthony helped Chad out and cooked us all a fab tea!! was sooo good in this tiny kitchen thing with water up to their ankles - bless them! And then ping pong ball beer game turned into a really good day!

15/4 - Playa del Carmen
Public bus today via Chichen Itza. Was sooo busy and we had to take all our luggage in. Chad´s tours again today -best way, we pretty much wizzed round it , it had to be done though as one of the 7 wonders of the world. Different again but Palenque defo wins. After lunch we were back on the bus to playa everyone so excited to get here and then its flamin raining so hard like a monsoon..as we drove in the roads were flooded crazy!! Dumped our stuff at the hotel and Chad still insisted on taking us to a restaurant at the beach. All absolutely drenched by the time we got there, well good food tho, th food just seems to have go better the further down the country we have gone. Not a late night as it was too much of a mish to get anywhere!

16/4
A free day. Didnt rush up as we had heard the weather forecast was not gonna be good for next few days - not happy knowing il be around here for a week pretty much!
Me and Lana braced it out in the rain to find somewhere for breakfast..mistake more rank food! Eventually the rain slowed so walked along the empty but gorge beach managed to get to a hotel before the next down poor, chilled there for a while just watching the crazy rain. Walked back thro town,so touristy guess thats what i expected but just so different compared with the rest of Mexico we´ve seen. So many flamin Americans! Found out no flights to or from europe so now Lana is wondering if she will get home on Monday looks liek chaos!
Still rainin all arvo we got the cards out and red wine and passed the time. Chad took us to some kind of moroccan bar which none of us were really that impressed with and then we all went to a noodle bar which was yum and caught in the rain!

17/4
Last breakfast altogther - a dry morning at last! Chad had put together a slide show from all our pics so he showed us that which is cool! Everyone went off to either new hotels or stayed put, and i´m trying to decide if im gonna bother going out to the island of cancun defo not worth it if weather is dodge though.
Me, Lana, Rich and Sue went to the beach for a while to get some tannage in. We all went back to the same noodle bar and met Fleur and Anthony and few others later on at some crazy horrible american bar so we soon changed that and ended up at Blue Parrot beach bar, saw a fire show then we went back as Sue and Rich are leaving early tomorro - sad to say bye to them, lovely couple but hopers see them again back home!

3/4 - Mexico
After a surprisingly good nights sleep having got rid of my crazy migraine, sure the expensive chicken fettucine helped i was finally on my way to Mexico!!....it doesn´t seem possible its the 3rd April seemed so long away when i booked this tour!! ...oh and the check in nearly not accepting my ticket as i had an old school paper one!! then my passport wasn´t accepted!! no!!
Landed in Mexico woah spainish central but managed to get a taxi straight away hassle free to the hotel. I met Sue and Rich from the group (yay english!) as we were all looking at the gap notice board in reception, we went out for a beer in this cool cafe in the street with music and wandered around the park. Was very handy as they had been in Mexico already for a few days so knew they´re way around! Was really sunny and i was pleasantly surprised with what i saw of Mexico City.
Later I met Lana my room mate and we had our group meeting with our leader Chad the hippie from California! He seems well cool, 12 of us few english, couple of kiwis, a weird hungarian, dodgy canadian and some swiss, looks like a good group and im one of the youngest!
Chad took us to a restaurant he said was very authentic god it was rank!! I made the mistake of ordering the mole sauce thing of which chad said yeah that´l be good!! it was soooooo bad! and it even looked completely disgusting - like tar! We all headed back as it was pretty lateand everyone was shattered from travelling.

4/4 - Teotihuacan
Up far too early this morning, put clocks forward too! Off we went with our tour guide Sergio who was tedious to listen to right from the beginning and then we stopped like straight away to look at a ruin thing -arghh it was like 8 in th morning!! we all thought we´d have time to sleep before we had to look interested!! I certainly didn´t pay much attention til at least lunchtime! We went to this cactus place and th guy seemed to take a fancy to me and used me in all his demos and gave me th cactus needle thing!..also tasted Mezcal, a few shots of that going round! We later went to pyramids and more temples and the main thing which was soo busy few of us climbed the moon pyramid then we were glad to leave this place. Not forgetting the rank lunch too and mine always seems to come last..the mole joke still going on!!
5 of us went to some very dodgy street food place not enjoying the food one bit!! it´s defo not like the mexican we get at home!...hopers it´l grow me if not maybe i´ll just lose weight!!

5/4 - Puebla
We had a private driver today to take us to Puebla. A short drive down from the city and Puebla is really nice! ...good job as this is where i´m coming back to! Was really hot today, the group all went its separate ways so me and Lana had a wander round, sat in the central park and i eventually hunted down the McDs ...desparate for something normal to eat!! Typically as i´d eaten we all ended up at an Italian place just off the main square for tea couldn´t resist pizza!! Was soooo good. Then it was time for th crazy mexican Lucia fight!! None of us really knowing what to expect we piled in and the group was split which was a shame! I thought i was gonna hate it but it wasn´t as bad as i expected just weird and all a show. Chad and the boys lovin it!

6/4 - Oaxaca
Another lovely 8 o clock start for no real reason really as we had a private driver again. A 5 hour drive down to Oaxaca, stopped off at massive cactus!! sooo cool photos!!..in fact drive through cactus forest , 1000 different types! just cactus everywhere!! and really pretty scenery....of course that explains the cactus on tequila bottles!
Got my flight booked back up to Puebla today which is a relief so i can stop worrying about that!
Chad took us out to street food markets for lunch thought a tamale that Chad raved about would be a safe optionb but nooooooo, guess what mine came last and it was disgusting!! now everyone is really laughing at me! especially as all the chicken inside was covered in the flamin mole sauce!!!eurghhh! didnt even touch it when i saw that! Think it´s time to wait and see what everyone elses looks like before i order!
Most of us chilled in a bar in the square all arvo being hassled by kids trying to sell us stuff like loads of them!!!..Anthony completely taking the mickey out of them! However this is the 2nd poorest city in Mexico apazza. Me and Lana actually got a photo with a local family cos they were so intereste in us those people were actually really sweet.
The food was actually ok tonight, Chad actually took us to a half normal restaurant though the cocktails with Mezcal in were a bit rank!

7/4 - Day tour to Mitla...
So the tour started with the oldest, widest tree in Mexico!!lol of course all of us enthused!! Next stop was a weaving place where again i was chosen as the volunteer, he put cactus colour from the bud on my hand to show what colours he can make and these are the colours they use to colour the threads they weave with ..quite interesting really and my hand was a mix of purple, pink and orange by the time he finished!..the mexicans all seem to say im beautiful!! ( and they dont just say it to everyone!!) reckon its cos im tanned unlike everyone else! I got a cool bag from that place prob ripped me off but he was a nice guy and id rather that than beggars in the streets.
Next we went to the Mezcal factory...smelt weird and some were up for drinking loads and others hate the taste of it. I had a few different shots it is quite harsh worse than tequila but sort of drinkable.
Of course we had to fit the ruins in somewhere afterall the tour was called Ancient Civilisations!! Today it was Mitla, yes it was very different to other ones we had seen and a lot smaller so that was a bonus. Tbh they are quite interesting but only for like 10 mins in my opinion! More markets before we went to the petrified waterfall and it came over all cloudy and that was a bit of a let down so Rich, Sue, Lana etc had quesadillas while i watched - i didn´t dare waste more money on food!...those ones did look quite nice this time.
It pretty much rained all late arvo so dominoes pizza and drinking games at the hotel all night was perfect!!

8/4 - Night bus to San Cristobal
Proper lie in, nice spianish omelette for breakfast and me and Sue wandered round town again all having to kill time waiting for night bus but tsill it was sunny, sat in cafes and chilled. Burger King for tea!! And full on cauht in the rain!

28/3
No chance of a lie in being so used to getting up early..but hey so much to do in San Fran! so group free today - woohoo! However a stressful couple of hours trying to arrange and book all this weeks stuff down th coast etc..arghhh! I had kinda been dreading this bit as i knew it wasnt gonna be easy ...so half sorted i reckn,which is bit of a relief... well at least the shuttle is back to LAX it seemed almost impossible the other day! and Alcatraz booked for Tues - so i can finally go and see what all the fuss is about!
Nice sunny day so i walked down to the Ferry Building and then along the wharf up to Pier 39 to meet Stacey for lunch..i had the most rank chilli dog - never again!!-bread soaked in chilli eurghh!howu meant to eat that! We walked all round up to Telgraph hill and Coit tower to get the view out to the bay, down to Fishermans Wharf, a beer in little Italy, the Cable car up the hills and weren't sure how to get off so ended up going further and walking back up hills - the hills are sooo steep! Then to the famous Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world!!lol! pretty crooked! Then it was time for Stacey to go and catch her plane! Good day - lots of things done!
I went back to that gorge Thai from the night before and then to the Mariott with Ellen and Megan from th room for cocktails overlooking the city was cooool!

29/3
Trapsed around looking for the greyhound station in the rain! - really not much fun and noone seemed to know where it was!..anyways couldnt change my ticket so looks like a nice hr and half in LA at 4.30 in the morning! Anyway made the most of the bus pass Megan had given me so got out to Golden Gate Park all down town that i hadn't manage to get to on foot then out and over the Golden Gate Bridge and to Sausalito - was great for free!! freezing and windy on those buses! - need my jeans and converse! not skirt and flip flops! lol! Wander round Macys and couldnt resist pj's in Victorias Secret! Caught up with Simone and Stephanie for a cheap beer and crackers which was nice (tho im sure they dont understand half of what i say!) Packed and got hotels orted for LAX cant wait to get there! Once im in San Diego it should be easy.

30/3
Arrghhh nightmate girls in the room last night this is why i cant wait for my hotel! Got sorted and down to Alcatraz landing to catch the ferry blue sky so perfect for going over there. Was really interesting and great views of the bridge and the city. Cell tour was cool and very real...worth a visit defo. Trekked around for post office with useless and stupid americans so gave up! Got back to the hostel to chill for a bit - knkrd after being out for like 3 solid days! - but have defo made the most of it. Got the Greyhound had been warned about the weirdos that get on it unlike oz but was actually fine apart from the over 2 hr stop in LA that i couldnt wait to get out of!!

31/3 - San Diego
Such a relief to arrive here and get off the bus!..the hostel wasnt too far either so that was a bonus at last! Hostel looked nice until i saw my room - no windows and tiny!!not happy bt i jst wanna sleep anyway. Straight to starbucks!!...I walked down through the Gaslamp quarter to the harbour and long the front which is well nice, plus it was sunny!! Round by USS Midway saw all the naval ships and found the mall which was cool. Skyped Mum for a chat which was nice to have someone to talk to as i'm getting quite fed up now of being by myself and missing familiar faces. Next stop was irish pub for a beer, a sensible way to kill some time! and then i met Daniel in the room from Oz, we went to this well cool burger place for tea and then i coudlnt wait to get to bed after like no sleep on the bus last night.

1/4
As if its April!!! radiooooo! Biggest lie in poss without the taiwan retard waking me up on his phone in the room!!! I eventually popped in to the plaza and bought some bargain gorge shoes that il have to make fit in (after getting rid of my hoody!!)and a cool tshirt...decided these were necessities! Me and Daniel later got the bus out to Ocean beach as i had heard it was amust - not that impressed tbh..but hey nice sunset and more food!!nooooo!

2/4 - Back to LAX
Pancakes and glad to get out the room!! The 2 of us on the greyhound up to LA shuttle out to LAX for a afternoon of no hassle and a room to myself before early flight 2mro to Mexicoooooooo!!!!

21/3 - Joshua Tree
McDs for breakfast...noo must be the first and the last!
We met Clayton our trek leader and the other 12 of us, most of which seemed to be German and really young!..chucked our stuff in the trailer and piled in the van and off we went!
First stop was Walmart - yes all 14 of us shopping for all of us for a few lunches and breakfasts as we're gonna be out in the middle of nowhere quite often. But still its gonna be cheap as only put 20 dollars in each!
So we drove on to Joshua Tree - desert and more desert, not used to having nothing to look at out the window after NZ!
We had our picnic then hiked around a bit up boulders and stuff, lots of photos!
We got onto Route 66 which was way cool, all had photos in the road!....lots more driving and we eventually arrived in Laughlin for the night - but im with a German!!!arghh! Nice hotel and a casino attached which everyone was excited about well those of us which are old enough!

22/3 - Grand Canyon
We drove 6000 feet elevation to get to it. Apazza it's 227 miles long and 10 across. Some of them went in helicopter rides but the rest of us got a bus to the western side to get some different views then me and Jackie walked 4 and half hours back along the South rim. We were warned it would get cold and it really did! This wasn't quite as impressive as i thought it was gonna be either cos Clayton bigged it up so much or i have just been spoilt with everything else i have seen on my trip! Still got some cool pics and another thing ticked off the list!
All of us freezing, he took us to a very American diner, portions were massive but very yummy! We are staying in cabins tonight don;t think its every gonna get warm, the camp fire kind of helped but i couldn't put up with American chat for too long!!

23/3 - Las Vegas
Woke up feeling crap after freezing all night but still we all knew we were on our way to Vegas! We had breakfast outside all wrapped up ( well not that i have any warm clothes with me!) We stopped on historic Route 66 checked out the souvenirs and stuff which were pretty cool. Felt like we were driving for ages today....alcohol stop at Walmart all ready for the limo and i found some cider -woohooo id wanted some since i left NZ!
We arrived at the hotel, wasn't the typical glitzy Vegas styleee but hey thats next time! Decided it was best to all force burgers down us as it was gonna be a long night ahead...we 'pre-funked' in Claytons room then off we went in the limo! Was a typical american hummer and well funky way better than i thought it would be so that was good, despite the 3 germans screaming as they were already drunk! He took us out to the Vegas sign for photos then to Fremont where they had Queen playing on the ceiling!! was soooo good! plus in Vegas u can drink on the streets so we could take it all out the limo! Last stop was at the Beallagio Hotel right in the middle of the strip! W as amazing as we got out hands full of Bud!! We watched the famous fountains which were gorge and walked on round to Margarita Ville, where we scoffed nachos and they had a live band on which was fab! So the 19 year olds went home and we all stayed out for a bit! Casino it was, first Caesars Palace but me and Stacey decided it was too expensive for us! We soon were on the Roulette and i just kept winning which was fun! - took my money, a few free vodkas and went back with some others, could have stayed out but know i wanna get out and about 2mrooo.

24/3
Eva was up at 10 so i thought i should to make the most of the day. Tom and Jackie also tagged along with us which stressed me out as i really wasn't tour guide and they walk so slow!!! We wandered through the Venician which was amazing, up to Circus Circus, bumped into Kirsty and Kyle from Fiji!!! Into Treasure Island - got lost in the casino, went to a cheeseburger place, everywhere else, lost in Planet Hollywood everywhere is so massive!! Then 4 of us went to see a Variety show, gutted Jersey Boys weren't on tonight. Last stop was New York New York glad we made it despite being abs knkrd was sooo good - just need to come back 2 nights is no where near long enough!

25/3 - Death Valley
Another load of driving as we headed back out to the desert...We went to the lowest point in North America...86m below sea level. I really liked the place as we drove through from one side of the national park to the other, i prob liked it cos it was warm there where everyone else was complaining!! We had a nice picnic in the sun then went out on the sand dunes which were awesome bit like NZ but on a way larger scale! Then up to Mosaic Cave, climbed up there a bit before back on the road. Weird though i expected it to be red soil but nothing like that!
Loads more driving (apazza longest day in the van today) stopped at pizza hut - yes more junk food! - not happy!
Eventually arrived in Bakersfield for the night- last hotel for a while! Group stuff doing my head in now!

26/3 - Yosemite
Our last National Park of the tour...Change of scenery today!Great hills and real trees and other green stuff! Few hours up to Yosemite - lovely day. Saw the El Capitan famous for rock climbers. We had our last picnic and a few of us decided to hike up to the higher of the Yosemite Falls! We made it to the bottom, was a lovely walk and well steep unfortu didn't have time to go higher, still got well nice views and photos though of the falls and over the park. Tonight we are staying in the National Park, at a well cool place in my opinion more of a hostel but feels like kind of place you would get in the Lake District! (not many were impressed but i'm used to dorms!) Home cooked food and sofas was perfect! We all sat around drinking while Clayton continued being his american self and loving himself! He definitely grew on me once he settled down and knew what we were all about.

27/3 - San Francisco
For some reason just cos there were 2 showers they seemed to think they had to get up at 6 arrrghhhh! i could have killed them spsh german at that time of day!
Gorge morning, blue sky and sun though really cold, we drove out of the park and stopped for breakfast in a lay by eating our cereal overlooking the most amazing view - was awesome!
Long drive up to San Fran, loads of traffic going in over the bridge, group hugs bye to Clayton then a mission into town! Was so not funny! Why couldnt we be dropped off in town - so a few of us got on the bart then a bus and I eventually made it to the hostel. ...where Sam and Ollie stayed! Jst had time to sort stuff then met Stacey for a beer plus we found a cheap place with good beer and free cheese and crackers! First impressions of San Fran look fab!
Simone and Stephanie met us for a Thai which was yum and nice change to all the other crap we've been eating!! Plus SIngha beer from Thailand that was very exciting! Had to text James!