The Show(s) Must Go On!

We’d been back 9 days and hadn’t seen the inside of an airport terminal, aircraft or theatre so thought that should be remedied.

We jumped on the trusty Virgin Blue 737 (-700) to Melbourne for a long weekend of food and culture.
On Friday we had lunch at a windy and chilly beach at St Kilda. Dinner was along Chapel Street followed by a few drinks at the Exchange Hotel. Oh yeah, there was shopping too!

Saturday was theatre day between shopping. First up a matinee of Phantom of the Opera at the Princess Theatre. It had been a few years since we’d seen it so we both enjoyed it.

To pass the time between shows we found a funky little bar called Hairy Canary on Little Collins Street. Good atmosphere, cool staff, great food.

Next up, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the Musical at the Regent. We’d seen this last December in Sydney and it has only gotten better over the last 12 months. Go see it if you can!!

A lazy sleep in Sunday before heading back to the airport for our flight back to Brisbane (737-800).

Aloha and Mahalo

Well the time we've been dreading has finally arrived. The sun has risen on our last day so its time to squeeze everything into suitcases and head home.





We've had an absolute ball. Thanks to everyone who followed our adventures and to those who left comments, we really appreciated them.

See you soon in Oz!

Where's Wally??

Find Ben in one of these photo's and win a prize!

1st Annual Kylene Russell Memorial Walk

In fond memory of dragging my best gal-pal Kylene from the far end of Waikiki to the top of Diamond Head (and back again, by foot) in 2002, Ben and I climbed the 232 metres to the top of Diamond Head. This time however, we caught The Bus to the entrance (was much easier this way Kylene!!).

After a long dusty trial, a few hundred steps, a couple of tunnels and a spiral staircase we made it to to the top. The great views definitely worth the climb.

Hawai'i - The Big Island

Today saw us up before the sun as we awaited our tour bus to collect us at 5am.... Destination: Honolulu airport fo flight to Hilo on the island of Hawai'i, the Big Island.... Mission: participate in tour of island which includes volcanos, craters and old lava flows, informative museum and of course the obligatory stops at the orchid shop and macadamia farm. Overall a great day but a long one - not back to the hotel until 8.30pm.

Pearl Harbor

After a much needed 17 hour nap, we jumped on The Bus #42 to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial.

The USS Arizona was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 with the loss of 1177 of its crew, many of them remain entombed in the wreck. A visit to the memorial takes in a musuem, a short documentary and a trip out to the memorial which spans the wreck.

Someone Needs A Holiday (From The Holiday!!)

LAX - 7.45am - 5th October 2007

Feeling Wicked

As luck would have it, "Wicked" is playing in LA. A quick check on ticketmaster.com and we had great seats for Wednesday's show. As soon as Leno finished taping we jumped in the trusty chevy and headed back to Hollywood and the Pantages Theatre.




We enjoyed it here more than in New York, probably because we were a little further back from the stage and could see more of the staging (3rd row in New York, 12th row in LA).


Did we mention Lion King is playing in Hawaii????

Tonight Show Taping

When we were at Universal Studios we were offered tickets to watch a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and luckily it just squeezed into our schedule.

We had to be at NBC Studios at Burbank by 3.30pm to be guaranteed seats. There was a bit of a wait but finally by around 4.15pm we were let in. The show is taped in real time, the 1 hour show takes 1 hour to tape (thankfully!!). The taping starts around 4.30pm but isn't aired until 10.30pm that night.

The guests on the show were Tom Selleck (he's now in the show "Las Vegas"), a comedian named Carlos Mencia (from Ben Stillers new movie "The Heartbreak Kid") and Willie Nelson with his sister as the musical act. We weren't Leno fans but it was great to see how the show is taped (and was good to see a couple of celebrities).

If you have Foxtel and catch the show, listen carefully, you might hear us laughing.

LALA Land

Today's schedule took us out to Santa Monica for a stroll out on the Santa Monica Pier before checking out the shops on the Third Street Promanade.

Back to Hollywood to stroll the Walk of Fame and walk in the footprints (and handprints) at Graumann's Chinese Theatre.

Hollywood is still quite sleazy and tacky even with new developments like Hollywood and Highland.

Next stop, Burbank....

Hollywood VIPs!

Tuesday found us a little more refreshed and ready to go on our VIP tour of Universal Studios Hollywood. This was well worth the extra on entrance fee. A smal group of about 15 with our own tour guide and all food and drink included. We also bypassed any lines for the rides (bit of a recurring theme for us)... unfortunately the bes ride (Revenge of the Mummy) was down due to malfunction which was a little disapointing.

Being in the VIP tour we were able to walk around actual sets that have been and are still being used for various films and tv shows. We toured the props department which has an amazing array of... well just about anything you care to think of. Tried to go 'lebrity spotting but didn't see any.

After about six hours or so Brad and I departed and went the the Universal City Walk - a selection of shops, restaurants, bars and cinema attached to the park. We had a couple of cold beers before watching the movie Transformers on IMAX screen.

Retail Therapy

We needed a break from theme parks so we hit the shops. First stop, the Beverly Center (more underwear!) then Farmer's Markets and the Grove, where most damage was done.

Next was a lunchtime feast at the Cheesecake Factory where we somehow managed to devour starters (entrees), entrees (mains) and dessert (dessert), oh and beer! We rolled ourselves home via Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard.

After a period of digestion (and excretion) we checked out a local (gay) bar called Fiesta Cantina. Here even the corn chips are colourful, red, green, yellow....

No more f%#king Roller Coasters!!!

{Obligatory cheesey photo}

Well, it was bound to happen eventually I suppose... Our bodies have had their limit of high speed, great heights, multiple spins and flips that roller coasters can provide. Today we drove out to Six Flags Magic Mountain, which is now my favouritest ever theme park! Again we got there on opening time and purchased VIP entries which meant we didn't queue for a single ride. Also meant we could do quite a bit of damage to ourselves in the five hours we were there.


Our all-time favourite X - this starts off with you reclined back as you ascend backwards before flipping you every which way so that at times you are hurtling forward then double-flipped somehow so that even though the train continues in the same direction so you are now facing forward – quite a head spin and a great ride. Others included Tatsu which has you laying face down in a harness so when you ride it’s like you are flying; Viper which is just bloody fast and furious with a few loops also; Scream which has you standing as you hurtle and fly around and Goliath which starts at an enormous height and gains great speeds (both of us nearly blacking out at one point!). Others included Revolution, Colussus, Batman, The Riddler’s Revenge and more. Needless to say, we have finally both been cured of this incessant desire to ride roller coasters!

Day of travelling....

Key West to Los Angeles via Miami is a big day of travel. After a brief sleep in (following the previous nights shenanigans with said Drag Queens) we went for our final stroll around Key West admiring the architecture of the homes there.

Then Sally was loaded up again, for the final time, and we headed for the overseas highway again. We stopped at Bahia Honda State Park for some photos and would have loved to gone for a swim - water was so inviting - but the idea of travelling the rest of the way without a decent shower was a turn off. Oh, and we had no towels with us anyway.

Stopped for some outlet shopping back in southern Florida (bitterly disappointed!) then hit Miami Airport - yet another huge construction site! Said good-bye to Sally, she served us well, then checked in. Was offered an ugrade to First Class for a small fee and couldn't resist it... And certainly didn't regret it - five and a half hours of first class comfort and bliss! Arrived in LA on time, about 9pm, collected our next rental car (which you'll notice will probably not get another mention henceforth!!) and easily found our gorgeous home for the next five days in West Hollywood.