01/08/2011 - USA, Los Angeles to Australia, Sydney

And the adventure is over.  We jumped the flight back to Aus which was reasonable bearable.  Spent the night in an airport hotel before finally making our way to Liz's parents in Wagga.  No photos today as we got up at the crack of dawn to catch the replacement flight and in my mind it doesn't count as part of the holiday.

Will post one final time in the next week or so to give my summary of what has been an excellent 10 months.

31/07/2011 - USA, Los Angeles

We had an evening flight so we walked from venice to santa monica again, caught a movie, had some grub, went bowling and then tried to leave for home.  I say tried as our flight was delayed by 11 hours so we were put up in the airport hotel for a night.  No the end of the world as we don't have jobs to get back to.

The photos are of the streets in venice and some street art.

30/07/2011 - USA, Los Angeles

We went to Hollyweird which is quite trashy, full of people and a letdown and then the baseball.  We had expensive seats, but not too expensive, but when the people in front sat down we had no view (poor stadium design), but alas, we had been talking to the girl who lets people in and she moved us up in front of the tall people in to the really expensive seats and we had a great view of the game.  The dodgers ended up losing 6-4 but it was a good introduction to the baseball.

The photos are of the action at the baseball, the theatre where the movies premiere and the hollyweird sign.

29/07/2011 - USA, Los Angeles

We went for walk along Venice beach all the way to Santa Monica pier.  We checked out muscle beach and the place where they played basketball in white men can't jump.  Liz wasn't too much a fan of venice, but warmed to Santa Monica and the 3rd street boulevard.  We had a few drinks at a bar and did some shopping.  A nice day in the sun.

The photos are of venice beach, the skate park at venice beach, santa monica beach, santa monica carnival and the end of the santa monica pier.

28/07/2011 - USA, Las Vegas to Los Angeles

A mid-day flight to LA followed by some relaxing to get over Vegas.  A fairly slow day.

The photo is of some street art near our digs.

27/07/2011 - USA, Las Vegas

We walked to the other end of the strip today, went to Fatburger, MGM and New York New York before relaxing for a bit in the afternoon.  In the evening we went for a nice meal followed by a cirque du solame show called KA before some final drinks and gambling.  2 full days was definitely enough for us in vegas.

The photos are of new york, new york and the view of the strip from the mgm day and night.

26/07/2011 - USA, Las Vegas

We walked the strip which is just insane.  The size of these casinos is immense and there are just some many of them.  We went into caesars palace, the bellagio and the cosmopolitan for some shopping and gambling before heading back for some drinks by the pool, before more drinking and gambling in the evening.

The photos are of the venetian and planet hollywood (where we staid) at night.

25/07/2011 - USA, San Francisco to Las Vegas

After 10 months on the road it was time for some sin.  We arrived at 7pm to find they didn't have a room ready for us, what the fuck!  So we went and had dinner, some drinks and a little gamble.  I was up $60 dollars by the time we finally got in the room, which was an upgrade, so worth the wait I guess.  Then it was more drinks and gambling. Nice.

The photo is of the view from our room in the day and the evening.

24/07/2011 - USA, San Francisco to Muir Woods to San Francisco

We took a day trip to see the giant redwoods.  It was quite the experience.  The main part of Muir Woods is set up as a tourist attraction so there are thousands of people around, not like any other walk in the woods I have ever experienced.  In the end, we followed a secondary trail, had a good walk and picnic and saw the giant trees.  A good, if somewhat different day.

The photos are of the Golden Gate from the ferry and the woods.

23/07/2011 - USA, San Francisco

We spent the morning sight-seeing, then Liz spent the afternoon shopping and I relaxed at the BnB.

The photos are from our sight-seeing.

22/07/2011 - USA, San Francisco to Sonoma Valley to San Francisco

We spent the day touring wineries.  No more needs to be said.

The photos are of Sonoma and from the ferry on the way back.

21/07/2011 - USA, San Francisco

We spent the day shopping.  Way more time than I wanted to, but it was good to replace falling apart shoes, holey t-shirst/socks/etc.

The photos are of some really cool murals and street art in the area we are staying in.

20/07/2011 - USA, San Francisco

We did one of the open bus tours as our BnB hosts had a free ticket and then explored some of the city.

The photos are from our tour on the bus.

19/07/2011 - Mexico, Mexico City to USA, San Francisco

Travel day.  Not much to report.

The photo is of Kim Jong-Il on the 500 peso note.

18/07/2011 - Mexico, Mexico City

We visited a few markets today, including one that had some great aged gouda and serrano ham.

The photo is of Liz at the market.

17/07/2011 - Mexico, Mexico City

Today we wondered around the city.

The photo is of is of some unexplainable street art.

16/07/2011 - Mexico, Mexico City

We had a bit of a walk around town today.  We visited the main church, an old Aztec ruin and a couple of markets.  The artesan market was a wash with nothing worth buying, but the food market was amazing.  Serrano ham and baguettes for lunch.  An excellent day.

The photo is of the old church from the aztec ruin, some skull decorations on the ruins, a relief that was rescued from the ruins and the main square in mexico city that is covered by protesters.