Just like the weather forecast said a storm had arrived in San Francisco and as I sat there in my bed first thing this morning I longed for a window with a view so I could see what the weather was actually doing. I also felt that if I was going to be stuck inside a hotel room till the rain went away – coz that’s what is supposed to happen after lunch, I’d rather do the waiting somewhere else. So I went on-line and checked availability of other hotels in a better location. I found one called the Hotel Metropolis which looked very cool in the photos and sounded lovely and they had a room available right now at an amazingly good price (same price as what I paid for the one I was in) so I threw everything into my suitcase as fast as I could, didn’t even bother to shower and checked out of Hotel Hell and caught a cab to Hotel Fabulous.

From the second I walked through the front doors I knew I had made the right decision and it just kept getting better. I asked the guy at reception if the room had a window with a view and he said sort of, the room is on the 9th floor so the view would be ok but mainly of another building – to me that sounded great. Maybe he was thinking I was hoping for a sea view or a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, but anything more than a car park would be better than where I’d just come from. So I took the lift to the 9th floor, found my room and opened the door to paradise. I could hardly believe how grand it was and for the same price as the hideous place I’d just come from!!!

Excitedly I tried to open the window to take a photo of the view but it was stuck, I guessed maybe you can’t open the windows at such a height but the locks opened and there was a fire escape out the window so how would I get out there to “escape”. So I phoned reception to see if the window was supposed to open – which was exciting coz there was a phone in the room (unbelievably hotel hideous had no phone in the room). The receptionist said yes it should and he would get maintenance up immediately to fix it. The maintenance guy turned up in a minute and basically removed the whole frame around the window so I could open it to simply take a photo. Then I asked about the bathroom window – he fixed that too, so I explained how I was into photography and was excited to be so high up and able to see such a great view after the horrible place I’d just come from. He mentioned something about the 10th floor having an even better view plus a wrap around deck and I could take great pics from there, I said it sounded amazing and would love to have a look. So he phoned reception checked it out and next minute I was back at reception changing room keys for a room on the top floor – I’d been upgraded just like that for free by the maintenance guy.

When I opened the door to my new top floor room I almost did a “Riverdance” right there and then – it was an amazing corner suite with a spectacular view and a balcony that I could walk around on, that did indeed wrap around a whole quarter of the top floor. I couldn’t believe my luck!!! Then I got a call from a friend of a friend at work who lived in San Francisco who would pick me up at 1:00 and drive me to the best places to take photos of the city WOW. As it was raining I was very happy to make coffee, watch the big flash TV, listen to my music from my iPod on the speaker dock or play a CD and relax in my fabulous penthouse suite enjoying the view till the friend: Don, turned up. Amazingly as if by divine intervention just as he turned up the rain completely stopped and the sun started to shine – the storm was over.

After Treasure Island we drove round the waterfront past all the famous piers, Russian Hill – Coit Tower and Fishermans Wharf to the same park I walked to last night but unlike last night the weather this time was perfect and the Golden Gate bridge was indeed very red. Apparently some people are disappointed the first time they see the bridge coz they are expecting it to be golden. From there Don drove me to many places where there were great view points of the bridge, each one better than the last.

Randomly Don asked if I was a Star Wars fan so I replied yes, in that case he had a surprise for me… Near the base of the bridge is where George Lucas has his head office and in a courtyard that we were allowed to walk into was a fountain/statue with Yoda standing on top. This was a huge bonus – I had seen a photo of this fountain once before with one of the ladies I work with and her son standing in front of it (that’s where her son works), I never imagined for even one second that one day I would get to see that fountain – very cool!!!

Next stop was further out at a point called Lands End where I have seen used in a favourite TV show of mine with great views of the city the ocean and the bridge. From there we drove further round the waterfront past Ocean Beach and up Twin Peaks for the most stunning view of the city I have ever seen. AWESOME.

From there we drove through the Castro to Alamo Square where the very famous “Painted Ladies” are. That was so cool coz that was the one shot I was hoping to take more than anything else in San Francisco and the weather was perfect and the sun in the absolute best place for taking photos of the houses. After that the very kind and generous Don drove me back to my amazing hotel room and we said goodbye.

Next I went for a walk around Union Square looking for somewhere to have dinner, ended up in a very groovy diner. Then I went back to my hotel for some beers before heading out for my Saturday night in San Francisco, back to hotel room about 3:30.

Caught shuttle bus to airport, big queue for security. Seems a bit over the top having to take my shoes off before getting the big full body X-ray thing but oh well. Found a really nice Mexican restaurant to have lunch and a couple of Margaritas while waiting for flight to San Francisco. By the time I headed to the departure gate I was feeling quite merry.

Of course in true United Airline style we did not leave on time. Not too long a delay this time, 10 minutes. Shortly after the plane took off I fell asleep and woke up about 10 minutes out of San Francisco.

Caught a shuttle bus to the hotel which collected one other passenger but we got stuck on the motorway. I guess it is Friday night here in the city by the bay. Just found out one of the hold ups on the way to the hotel was caused by Mrs Obama (the President’s wife), she’s in town to raise money for a charity – so that explains all those motorbike cops and important looking car.

Set out for a walk in the hope of capturing the bridge before dark and before the clouds (fog) made it too hard to photograph. Wow – what a sight. I made it and I could see Alcatraz too. From there I walked along the waterfront to Fishermans Wharf, on the way hundreds of cyclists went past in a huge pack and some of them were naked!!!

Dinner in a fabulous Italian restaurant above the water.

After dinner I was a tad worried about walking back to my hotel (well I wouldn’t call it a hotel, more like a DIVE) as the place I’m staying in is in a pretty bad area from what I could see, so I asked a “tuk tuk” dude how to get a taxi from around here, he said he could take me he only works for tips. I felt a bit silly sitting in his trailer being towed around the dodgy streets of San Francisco by bicycle – poor guy really had to pedal hard to get up some of the streets, which made me feel even sillier as I wanted to get out and help push the bloody thing, but at least I felt safe!

Once back at my room I questioned reception if they had put me in the correct room, coz that ain’t what I would call a “suite” – it was the darkest, most depressing and smallest room I’ve ever been in. I paid extra for a suite. He said I was in the wrong room actually but my room was actually bigger than the so called “King Suite” I had booked, I could change if I wanted to, but that sounded worse. Ten minutes later I was asking for instructions on how to turn on the air con, the coffee machine and the lights – turns out many of these things didn’t actually work and that’s why I was having trouble. Half an hour later I was back at reception complaining about the noise coming through the wall. The hotel backed onto what sounded like a very popular bar and there was so much noise I knew I would not be able to sleep, I had tried to turn on the TV to drown out the noise, but couldn’t find the remote control or operate the TV manually, I tried to have a bath but there was no plug!!

The nice guy at reception moved me to their quietest room, right on the ground floor by the car park!!!!! I didn’t feel at all safe and couldn’t go out for a drink because I would have to take all my belongings with me – not a good look in a bar. So I watched TV and went to sleep after all the drunk loud people returning to their rooms stopped fighting in the car park!

My last day in Orange County, and luckily Barb managed to get today off so we could spend it together taking a leisurely drive down to the San Juan Capistrano Mission, home to the oldest building in California still in use and the site of the very first vineyard ever planted in California in 1779. This is where I learnt that Adobe is not just the name of a software company, it was originally a type of natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material. The Mission was built out of Adobe bricks. A beautiful set of buildings filled with amazing history in a really lovely little town, with the nicest Starbucks I have ever been into.

From there we drove up the famous Pacific Coast Highway to take in some of the sights, including some of the locations used in one of my favourite TV shows “The OC”, ie Newport Beach.

The most entertaining part of the drive was this tiny little car ferry that holds about 4 cars and takes you across the water for all of about one minute to a very exclusive area called Balboa Island. From there we drove to an authentic Mexican restaurant where my friends Amy and Barb always go for margaritas every time Amy is in town – I can see why, it was groovy, the food was great and the margaritas were delicious – a lovely way to end my stay in Orange County. Tomorrow I fly to San Francisco for the third and final part of my amazingly awesome holiday.

Today I was booked on the Universal Studios tour, Pick up was organised for outside the Disney Hotel at 8:30, amazingly the bus pulled up exactly at 8:30. From there we got taken to the Grey Line bus depot to be sorted onto our allocated buses. That bus left about 5 minutes late and the driver was not very friendly, but I guess after spending a day at Disneyland I’ve been spoilt and customer service for me will never be the same again.

The driver gave a narration from the depot to Universal and was quite informative with plenty of movie trivia and took about 1.25 hours, traffic not so bad.

The queue to ride the World Famous Backlot Universal Studios Tram Tour was probably the longest I’ve ever seen, but it kept moving and after about 45 minutes I got on a tram and the tour took about an hour. It was totally awesome. It even included a new 360 3D experience King Kong attraction created by Peter Jackson which was so cool. Huge unexpected bonus was the homes from Desperate Housewives on Wisteria Lane.

From there I went on Revenge of the Mummy a very fast roller coaster in the dark. After that was an amazing trip through Jurassic Park which ended with a drop down an 84 foot waterfall. Amazingly both of these rides had very short queues.

Then I rode the awesome Simpsons virtual roller coaster very clever and only a 10 minute wait. That was followed by the Terminator 2: 3D – another very very clever ride with a big scary surprise ending. From there I went to the House of Horrors which I was a bit dubious about coz it wasn’t a ride, it was a walk through thing where live actors pop out and scare you – hated it and they got me good at the very end when the Texas Chainsaw dude came at me. This was followed by a far more relaxing 3D Shrek movie in 3D. My last attraction was the Special Effects Stage where they put on a show that demonstrated how some of the movies are made. That left me with just 30 minutes for shopping before catching the bus back to the Disneyland Hotel.

On the way back the driver pointed out more movie trivia places of interest but the coolest was probably the area where they raced the cars through the water and under a bridge in Grease.

While waiting for Barb to pick me up after her night class I spent time in the Downtown Disney shopping mall which of course was stunning and I even got to see the fabulous fireworks.

This morning Barb dropped me off at the Disneyland Hotel where I had breakfast before heading to Downtown Disney, a world away from Downtown LA.

Downtown Disney is a mall of shops next to Disneyland. My plan was to spend a couple of hours there shopping for a Mickey Mouse watch, while Barb went to work. As I have been to Disneyland twice before (in Tokyo) I had no intention of going again, especially as I would have to do it on my own.

But how could I come that close to Disneyland and not go in! I couldn’t – and it only took about 15 minutes of watching the happy masses go into the park till I couldn’t resist the urge any longer and I queued up to buy a ticket and go in to the Magical Kingdom.

First ride: Star Tours, a 3D motion movie based on Star Wars and it was just like being in the movie… AWESOME!!!

Next stop a futuristic house designed by Microsoft showing off all their latest very cool and clever technology for your home, then a ride on the Monorail, lunch and a train ride, Jungle Cruise, Tarzan’s Tree House, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain (where I got absolutely soaking wet), Mr Toad’s wild adventure, Finding Nemo submarines and finally Buzz Lightyear – Astro Blasters. This was a totally different experience from the ones I had in Japan and one of the benefits of being on my own was on some of the rides I could jump straight to the head of the hour long queues as a “single rider”.

While having lunch I observed an amusing thing making the place totally adorable – the kids all have autograph books and they queue up to have a picture taken with each Disney character and get an autograph. You really have to admire the people inside those costumes and their ability to sign an autograph beautifully with those great big padded hands.

I had an awesome day, made even more awesome by the fact that I had no intention of going to Disneyland, but so glad I did. Oh and I bought a Mickey Mouse watch.

Up really early so Barb could drop me off at the train station and still get to work on time. 1/2 hour wait for next train to Union Station – Downtown Los Angeles.

First stop: City Hall which has featured in many movies and TV shows and used to be the tallest building in LA for 4 decades. Then I found the big post office which I have been meaning to find for days now, so I could send some post cards that I bought in Vegas but never got a chance to post.

Next stop the Los Angeles Times building and then the whole point of this downtown trip… The Walt Disney Concert Hall – a spectacular Frank Gehry designed building. From there I headed to the financial district to photograph the skyscrapers and the Westin Bonavenutre hotel: another building I have long wanted to photograph.

From there I walked through an area called the Jewelry District which was bizarre as there were many many jewellery shops all selling the same thing & they all looked the same. That led me to the Fashion District which was NOT very fashionable at all. It was kinda scary and a bit like something you see in a gangster movie. According to the guide book this is a great place for bargains – it wasn’t. Looked around for somewhere to eat and after seeing what looked like a couple of drug deals going down I took the safest option and went to Starbucks.

From there I walked rather quickly to Little Tokyo where I felt much safer and then the sun came out almost on cue! So I headed back to the Walt Disney concert hall coz I saw it shining in the sun, looking very photogenic indeed. It was in fact so photogenic I must have taken several hundred shots – I was totally in my element, photographing stunning architecture.

After about an hour I reluctantly dragged myself away from there and headed to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for a drink and a rest. Fully rested I headed for Chinatown but that was not very exciting so I headed over to El Pueblo, Olvera St which is a groovy little street of Mexican stalls, cafes and the oldest house in Los Angeles built in 1816.

From there I headed back to the train station to wait for my train back to Anaheim. My feet are killing me!

This morning Amy returned to Vegas, so I was feeling a bit sad, but Barb’s wonderful cooked breakfast served outside in her lovely courtyard cheered me up – another gorgeous day in Orange County.

After breakfast we set off for Long Beach to see the Queen Mary and the “Aquarium of the Pacific”. The Queen Mary is an old cruise ship that now lives permanently at Long Beach as a tourist attraction and hotel. Sadly the weather took a turn for the worse and I was NOT suitably dressed. When we left home it was slightly overcast but by the time we got to Long Beach it was cold, windy and raining and I was in shorts and jandals. Turns out my jandals have lost all traction and coz it hardly ever rains here they have many slippery when wet surfaces that made it impossible to walk across without skidding all over the place just like I was trying to walk on ice. It was awful and embarrassing and worried me coz I didn’t want to fall over and hurt myself or my camera or end up not able to walk without a limp etc. so I had to be extremely careful.

The Queen Mary was kinda disappointing but this was probably a reflection of how cold and miserable I was, rather than the ship holding very little to excite me. At one point I slid dangerously across the floor outside a posh gift shop in the ship and crashed into the plate glass window, creating a really loud bang startling everyone around me and scaring me half to death as I pondered how disastrous it would have been for my holiday if I had actually crashed through it. So I left there straight after that and headed for the shuttle bus that takes you to the aquarium.

On the way to the aquarium there was a huge downpour of rain which caused flash flooding and I had to wade knee deep in freezing cold water to cross the road to get inside the aquarium and walk really slowly to avoid slipping over as I approached the entrance. But once inside the lovely carpeted aquarium with totally non slip surfaces I had a lovely afternoon. There was a fantastic collection of fish in some amazing huge tanks. They even had jellyfish tanks that had open tops so you could touch them plus staff standing there encouraging you to do so – I passed on that slimy experience.

After dinner the weather got worse – thunder and lightening started up. Barb got so excited by this as it hardly ever happens here and then it started to hail which was so exciting she had to phone her family and friends to tell them all. They’re all thanking me right now – coz I clearly brought this weather with me!

We set off at about 11:00 for a place featured in songs by Sheryl Crowe & Savage Garden: Santa Monica. Perfect weather for lunch on the beach before hanging out on the very famous pier. Perhaps if the Auckland City Council put an amusement park on the Devonport Wharf like they have on the Santa Monica Pier they wouldn’t have to close it. Definitely a very groovy place to be.

From there we drove along the freeway for a bit and got stuck on the freeway for a bit and I saw the Hollywood Sign. Then we travelled along Santa Monica Boulevard to Beverly Hills. We drove around some of the side streets to admire the gorgeous houses before heading to Rodeo Drive for a spot of window shopping.

Next we headed for Hollywood Boulevard so I could find the Celine Dion star and check out the footprints in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. We got to park in the Kodak Theatre which I believe is where they hold some of the awards shows and very quickly found Celine’s star right out front.

Today we drove to Los Angeles, with only one stop for coffee & gas, it took about 5 hours and was hilarious.

Amy thought it would be nice to pack some food so we could have a picnic on the way, but the one and only picnic stop place was closed for repairs. So while we were stopped in a big traffic jam not moving at all we decided to have the picnic in the car.

This was a great idea till Amy realised the reason for the hold up was an immigration check point where we cross the border from Nevada into California and must not bring any food with us. In a frantic but hysterical panic we tried to eat as much food as we could. Then Amy remembered it was only fruit we couldn’t bring with us and we got waved through anyway – guess we didn’t look like fruit smugglers or maybe it was the fact that I could not stop laughing.

After catching up with our friend Barb who we are staying with in Orange County, which apparently is not Los Angeles, it’s Orange County – turns out after all these years Disneyland is not in Los Angeles it is in fact in Orange County. So we relaxed in Barb’s lovely sunny courtyard in Orange County and had a couple of drinks before heading out for dinner.

Dinner was in one of Barb’s favourite places called The Cliffs in Laguna Beach, not too far from her place and had a stunning view out over the Pacific Ocean where we got to eat dinner while sipping Margaritas and watching the sun set in spectacular colourful glory. It was perfect.

My last day in Vegas, so I wanted to do all the things I had on my list that I hadn’t done yet, if possible.

First stop… The Sign, they’ve had to build a special car park around it in the middle of the road coz so many people get out of their cars to photograph it on their way in to town – its on the way to the casinos from the airport. While I was waiting my turn to photograph the sign I said to Amy, I can’t believe there is a queue just to take a picture of a sign and the guy in front of me turned and said: “Oh but it’s THE SIGN.” and he was right.

Next stop Mandalay Bay, another casino with a massively grand entrance. I was looking for the entrance to the aquarium but couldn’t find it so gave that a miss and headed over to the Luxor. That’s the one shaped like a pyramid with a big Sphinx out front. The Titanic Exhibition is at the Luxor and I’ve wanted to see that for years – it was really well done. They had parts of the ship totally recreated, like first class & third class cabins, the promenade deck and the grand staircase (just like in the movie) and many items recovered from the shipwreck.

Next stop New York New York, one of the structures making up that casino is a building like the Chrysler which is another dream of mine to photograph one day – so it was cool to be able to do just that.

Next stop M&M World – four floors of M&M merchandise, M&M statues you can have your photo taken with and a 3D movie theatre – way cool. I’m sure they pump the air full of a chocolate smell to make you hungry and buy more chocolate. They have every flavour imaginable in huge pick and mix dispensers where you can fill bags of very expensive chocolate very easily.

Next was a ride on the monorail out to the part of town they call Old Vegas, where the original casinos are, like Circus Circus, the Stratosphere and the Sahara. It’s also known as the seedy side of Vegas – I loved it. You have to go there if only to enjoy “The Freemont Street Experience”. This is a spectacular light show happening on the roof of the covered street every hour set to music. It was like a massive dance party with everyone walking around with beers very happily looking up. It is amazing to me that you can just walk into a store, buy postcards, tee shirts and beer (by the bottle) then walk out onto the street and drink it. And that’s exactly what everyone was doing so I had to do it too.

Final stop was an attempt at finding a lookout point away from the strip where I could try to photograph the lights from a distance. After many attempts we found a great spot on top of a casino car park. Was too hard to get any decent shots without a tripod, but the view was great.