Welcome to Miami!

Welcome to Miami!

The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the stifling heat! After a few days I am starting to get used to it… it is certainly beach weather all the time. The only problem is that the sand is burning hot and the water is so warm that you want to stay in it all day! I haven’t gone for a run yet… by the time that it is cool enough to run I have already been enticed to have a couple of beers by fellow hosteller’s…. also when you can buy 12 stubbies of Millers for $5.99 it’s always tempting.

Miami is the city of humidity, the Spanish language, provocative t-shirts like ‘you know you want me’ (you can buy them EVERYWHERE! although I have seen no-one wearing them!), Palm trees, South Americans and Australian tourists.

‘The Clay Hostel’ is cool, I have met nice people from Holland, Germany, France, Australia and the U.S. we have been swimming at night the last couple of days and have been sharing beers in our courtyard. The Dutch people have been teasing the Germans but they are in agreement over their dislike of the French! Hehe

I have to be at uni on the 18^th to get our room…. I’m looking forward to that. I think I will buy a bike from a thrift store and get around that way.

Miami!

Hey everyone from humid and hot Miami!! the beach here is great with very hot sand and warm water.... people in the backpackers are cool, I have met people from Germany and Holland as well as New York and Boston...... better go but I will write more this afternoon I hope!!
I'll go take some photo's today too...

Tech website!

Check out my 'special' website with stuff from what I did at the Tech Museum!!

http://my.thetech.org/wps/?rfid=000007ECED8E01FE

use the code: 000007ECED8E01FE if it asks you for a Techtag number!

Pic's galore!

I am at SFO airport waiting for my flight to Miami.... it's 2:20am and I have another few hours before I can check in and head towards the gate. Here are a couple of choice pics for you to have a look at!


Apologies to 'pak 'n' save' in NZ, this is my new favourite store.... and why wouldn't it be when I can buy a slab of Stella Artois for $21!!!


Mayo anyone? Becc's got 4 litres if you need any!! I want to know how anyone can eat 4 litres of Mayo before it goes off!?!??!?!?


OK!


Irish coffee in Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.... (warm whiskey with cream on top) good for warming you up in the freezing winds.


Otter at Monterey Bay Aquarium!!


Starbucks for breakfast.... you gotta be kidding me... there was so much sugar in it, it was more dessert than it was breaky!


THANK YOU! I ALMOST FORGOT TO TAKE OXYGEN WITH ME TO SPACE! It's only hazardous.... you might not die.


Riding a Segway at Tech museum! very fun thing to ride after you get the hang of it!


Here's me at the Tech museum in San Jose being a big fat nerd implanting a glowing gene into bacteria!! ooooh

more pics!

Costco chips, $3.29 for 5lbs (2.5kg approx)


Golden gate bridge!


Cara and I at UC Berkeley, clocktower in background... We went up the top of it later in the week.

Onto San Jose

Cara, Clay and my time together has ended :( We spent the last couple of days in Santa Rosa working on Clay's house... sanding and oiling posts and visiting 'yard sale's' in the area. We also watched a few movies and played Donkey Kong Country on super nintendo. I had a great time there and once again found myself saying "I wish I had more time to stay here longer!" seems like a recurring theme. I didn't want to leave LA and Jill, Danny, Kaylen, Jason, Kay and Chuck, I didn't want to leave Cara and Clay and I can see myself not wanting to leave San Jose.

After spending the day in Berkeley visiting the campus and climbing the massive clocktower landmark, Becc and I went shopping in the 'Cal Store' which was like a department store for 'Cal' merchandise! (University of California - Berkeley) Then we went down the street to a cheaper shop selling similar merchandise and Becc bought up big for her friends and family. My friends and family better enjoy the Miami stuff I get them!!!! hehe

In the afternoon we caught the BART to Fremont where Andy and Michelle picked us up to go back to their house in San Jose. BART=Bay Area Rail Transit.... All I can think of when I see the BART signs is that Simpsons episode where Homer forgets to pick up Bart from soccer practice and Santa's little helper says BART, BART.. BART BART BART!!!

After getting to Andy's place we went out to Sweet Tomatoe's for dinner. This was fantastic, one of the best meals I've had in the US. It was a buffet, but not a dodgy one like Smorgy's or Sizzler. They had good quality food and it was clean. You could make your own salad from almost any ingredients you could think of, they had soups, breads and dessert!!!!! Becc used her Macca's skill from 6 years ago to make a tower of ice-cream!! ehhe

Tomorrow is the Aquarium! yay fishies!

Foggy Town!

Today we went to the Exploratorium: the museum of science, art and human perception Today was their free-day.... it was like Scienceworks for Melbournites. But more of the exhibits were hands-on and in spite of the little kids it was fun!! Highlights were a virtual desert with a fan blowing on sand dunes, you could see the effects of erosion.... it was very nerdy and sciencey!!

The we went down to Fishermans Wharf/Pier 39 to see the tourist area and the Sea Lions arguing and lazing about as only they can do!! Those animals are so fun, they are always talking to one another and barking at seals that walk over them to get the best sun! It was foggy again today so no good photo's of the bridge! :( maybe next time. Hopefully I'll be back on Saturday to go to Alcatraz.... I'll try then.

Cara found this link to a webcam if you want to see Lions lazying on barges in front of tourists!! hehe Sea Lion Cam on PIER 39 in San Francisco