Round the World

L.A is Urban Sprawl gone mad! Its like everyone wants to live in the same place in a 3 bed house on their own piece of 600sqm land. So what do they do - just go nuts and spread all the houses out! Then put in major highways to connect everyone. So then it takes 1 - 2 hours just to get to work. Public Transport exists here - but is very sporadic!

Yesterday we went out to Universal Studios at Universal City which is an hour and half drive from Anaheim and we are still in L.A. As we were driving out there we went through Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The Hollywood sign came up really quick and missed the opportunity to take the photo shot! But in Universal Studios they had a mock up sign so we took a photo of that! The theme park was good we got to experience where all the major movies are made. However I must say that our Movie World is a lot more fun then Universal Studios.

Been hanging out with Josh and Cheryl (friends from Springfield Masters Commission) and they have been showing us around - its been awesome. We go to church tomorrow with them. Josh gave me his car to drive around. It was freaky at first as we have no sat nav we just rely on printing out directions from Google maps. Once you have the directions its all so well signed and its quite hard to get lost.

We trudged through Disneyland today. Both Jo and I were so tired from walking all day yesterday through Universal Studios that we just didn't have the energy to fully experience Disneyland. I have been before, so we just went and did the best rides and then walked through the rest of the park to experience the ambience of Disneyland.

At our hotel (Hilton next door to Disneyland) there is the national cheerleading championships. Oh my God - we are invaded with screaming 14 - 17 year old girls all dressed in their uniforms and running around the hallways and riding the lifts etc. We thought we could get away from them by getting into Disneyland - but alas our fortune was misconcieved! Disneyland was absolutely packed. One of the better rides - Splashmountain, the wait line was over 2 hours - just to get on a 5 min ride. We might head back in later tonight to see the fire works and ride some more rides - as the park is open untiil midnight.

We wind our clocks forward another hour tonight as LA goes into Daylight Savings. So if you are reading this in Australia our time difference is 7 hours in front but on the previous day.

Jo was going nuts today all through Disneyland taking a whole heap of photos. She was taking random photos of just anything - trees, pavement, signs, little kids, straws, rubbish bins? What the? Who knows what goes through that cute little head of hers!

We are having a great time and look forward to hearing from you!

Wow, we arrived in L.A last night and drove for an hour out to Anaheim. This place is amazing - Disneyland rules out here and everything just feels so ‘Disney’. Jo was singing like a typical Disney movie “la la la la la” in the shuttle bus when we started to drive through Disneyland.

Last couple of days we were in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii with Uncle Brian and Kazemaru. Our objective there was to find a suitable property for their future home to settle down together and for them to be able to run retreats from this home. Well Praise God – we found the right place just in the nick of time. It is a great property of 12.3 acres with views of the ocean, its own private stream and a working rambutan orchard. The house was very well looked after with 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms upstair and a whole area downstairs that can be converted into another 2 bedroom apartment. Whilst Brian and Kazemaru aren’t there they can rent it out which will cover most of their holding costs. So all in all a great investment! We managed to sign on the 11th hour with us getting contracts to the seller for him to sign, with all the terms & price that we wanted. I must say it was one of the smoothest real estate transactions that I have ever been involved in.

It was great catching up with Uncle Brian and meeting his fiancé Kazemaru. They are both lovely together and we are looking forward to spending more time with them in the future. Well now they have this place on the Big Island – Im sure Jo and I will be saving our pennies every year to see how we can get back.

The Big Island is not a place for the typical tourist, it is very chill and relax and a place to just ‘be’. The natural beauty there was astounding. When I had a swim near Hilo bay, a turtle came swimming beside me and he let me stratch his shell and we were just hanging in the water for about 5 min – before some Japanese tourist came splashing out – then he was off in a flash.

Here in LA, we are going to get out an explore the city and obviously run around like little kids at Disneyland and Universal Studios.

We will keep you posted.

To view heaps of pics of our trip go to jo's myspace www.myspace.com/mee_too_you (click 'pics' just underneath the photo of Jo)

Aloha from the Big Island!

We have been tucked away on the big island of Hawaii since Wednesday afternoon and been busy searching for properties for Uncle Brian and Kazemaru. We have managed to reduce the prospect list from 20 properties down to 3.

Its funny that we have found that even the real estate agents here work the same and act the same as real estate agents do back home! Also the planning and development process works the same way here as it does back home.

The big island reminds me of Tully and Mission Beach back in Australia – very tropical. This island is kinda shaped like a massive cone (due to the active volcano) so nearly every property no matter how far you go up the mountain have views to the ocean. Its really cool here as you can see all the seasons, from wintery snow to hot humid heat all in the same day.

Yesterday (Friday) was a truly magic day with the sky clearing and we were able to see the snow capped volcano in the distance. There are no sandy beaches here (well nearly none) the beaches come down from massive tall cliffs. So most of the beaches are all jagged edge rocks or large smooth black stones.

On Thursday we went and swam in the green lake, which is a lake (about 2 acre in size) in an extinct volcano. They say that this lake doesn’t have a bottom and a diver explorer came and dove down 100 ft and there was still no sign of reaching the bottom. Freaky huh! Swimming in this green coloured lake was like something out of the movie Anaconda!!! After this swim we went down to the beach and dipped in a hot spring rock pool which is half tidal and half freshwater. Swimming in the rock pond felt so refreshing and invigorating as all the minerals were absorbing into our skin. I felt so awake after that swim!

We have seen some beautiful properties here, many had their own waterfalls. The soil here is so rich that the locals say when you plant a tree you need to have a machete in the other hand so you can start hacking the tree down.

Today Uncle Brian arrives and we need to go into Hilo to pick him up as well as grab some more food. They have farmers markets here every Wednesday and Saturday and they are just like our Carrara markets. A lot of the ‘feel’ here is similar to Byron Bay with everyone into organics and vegan lifestyles. The fresh food here is really amazing, with massive mangoes, avocados, paw paw, bananas – the list could go on!

Mahalo

Aloha!

We arrived in Honolulu this morning, and to my surprise things were pretty easy, especially considering all of the horror stories that I have heard about US Customs.

If anything Sydney airport was the most stressful part, being ‘randomly’ chosen to participate in a ‘voluntary’ pat-down and drug search. Matt says’ thankfully rubber gloves were used, and they were very gentle’.

The flight over was smooth, we slept most of the way, I was just so tired, I think the adrenaline from all of the days building up to Sunday had started to wear off.

We are amazed at how many Japanese there are in Honolulu, it feels just like a giant Surfers Paradise. Ooh and on a random note, on the map of Australia shown on the flight over as one of the major places they had Sydney, then Southport…. What the? Gold coast I would understand but Southport??

Oow we have already had a slight touch of stardom since arriving in the land of opportunities, we shared our flight over with AJ (The host of the Biggest Loser). Then we walked out of the airport the Biggest Loser banners and TV cameras were positioned ready for something important to happen.

We were greeted at the Airport by Kazemaru, it’s been lovely having her show us around.

After checking in at the Hilton Hawaiian Village we walked up the beach of Waikiki and strolled down the tourist strip of all the shopping extravaganza. We met up with Neil and Nance Miers at the Cheesecake Shop and ate ourselves stupid with lushious slices of exotic cheescakes. It was fun meeting up with Neil and Nance they are so funny and had us in stitches talking about their shopping adventures.

We manages to walk off our cheesecake and make our way back to our hotel. Along the way the tourist strip are all lit up with flaming torches, that are fed from underground gas lines. Walking along the strip we came across a familiar picture of an Australian landscape, and subsequently went inside the gallery to check out more pics. Peter Lik photos are absolutely beautiful and he is a legend cause he is an Aussie!!! We were all inspired after seeing all the artistic photos and attempted to take Peter Lik photos – without much success.

Anyways, we are totally exhausted and are heading off to bed!

Well its not long now before we embark upon our round the world adventure.

Our trip is going to be more than 90 days, but only by a few days. So 90 days is a catchy number!

We leave our journey from the Gold Coast and fly out of Brisbane to Sydney to Honolulu Hawaii on the 24th Feb. In Hawaii we will be staying with family in both Honolulu and Hilo (big island). This leg of the trip is part work - part vacation as Matt is looking for properties for family members to develop. So we will get to see lots of the islands properties and features that only the local know about.

We leave Hawaii on the 5th March and stop over in LA. Here we will be catching up with friends and hopefully get to see most of LA including Hollywood, Disneyland, Universal Studios and maybe San Diego.

Leaving LA on the 10th we arrive in Las Vegas for the glitz and glamour for 4 nights. We will be staying right on the strip and also get a chance to fly on a helicopter into the Grand Canyon.

On the 14th we arrive at Springfield MO, where Matt lived for a year to catch up on old friends.

On the 18th March we set foot in Manhattan NY. For 7 days its "New York, New York" with visits to Washington DC, Niagara, Central Park, Broadway. We will be in New Yok for Easter and then head to Boston for 3 nights.

Boston is our last stay in the US!

Next stop London and a Contiki tour awaits us.

The 1st tour will be taking us around UK and Sth Ireland then back to London for 5 nights. After running around in London and trying to pick up the cackne (not sure how you spell that) accent. We then hop on another Contiki tour but this time through Europe, stopping in Brussels, Amsterdam, Rhine Valley, Munich, Lucerne, Florence, Nice, Barcelona, Bordeaux & Paris. Once back to London we hop on a plane and fly to Bangkok Thailand.

Bangkok will be a chance to start winding down for 4 nights in a 5 star hotel right in centre of town. Looking forward to eating here! After Bangkok its onto Singapore for an overnight stay before embarking on a cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong over 10 nights - can't wait!

Hong Kong will be graced with our presence for 3 nights, then its off to Phuket for our last stop over. Here we will be just sitting on the beach getting $5 massages and eating lots of Thai food - yum. 6 nights of pure bliss.

Then its home and back to the real world!

Not bad huh.

Once we start our journey we will keep you updated with all that happens with some great pics and stories from around the world.

Hope you can join us.