Californication

california - in itself a pop culture legend. crooned about by everyone from the beach boys to the red hot chilli peppers...movies not only set on its beaches and in its cities but born in it's hills...

its not surprising then, that california feels familiar...i've already mentioned how at home we felt as we arrived in san diego and, the only thing that was missing - the thing we had yet to experience as part of our californication experience was the sand between our toes and waves lapping at our feet. so on friday we headed to mission beach to check out for ourselves the sand and surf. and it was everything you would expect from a californian beach...the sand was a welcome relief from the pebble beaches of england and we delighted in ducking away from rolling waves....again i was homesick...but this time for the beautiful beaches of queensland rather than the pebble beach of Brighton....california - despite its fame - has nothing on home.

that night we hit the town and boy did we paint it red. our friend Christy is an Orange County local. a world traveller in her own right we met Christy in England where she had been living in Brighton for 7 years. but now she's back in her home country and was keen for us to go out in the gaslamp quarter of san diego. literally a hop step and jump from our hostel and we were in some of the funkiest bars in the city, drinking margaritas before sushi-ing it up in a japanese restaurant. meeting a couple of fun local chicks in the restaurant, we had interesting conversations on various topics including religion and politics...american politics are, of course, a rather hot topic in the states at the moment and it's interesting to discuss the candidates with the locals... several more margaritas, an insulting waiter and even more margaritas later we were closing an irish bar and stumbling back the hop step and jump to the hostel. awesome night.

waking the next morning with tequila headaches we packed up shop and piled into christy's car. meandering up the famous pacific highway 1 t0 the OC (i kept my eyes out for seth and ryan but must have missed them...) we stopped at Laguna beach for an ice-cream and a taste of how the other half live in these parts. our destination was christy's brother's place and a home bar that could well have charged an entry fee. John and Lisa have converted their garage into the ultimate party venue (matt and i now want one just like it....) we're talking velvet drapes, luxurious sofas, neon signs, smooth timber bar, um....stripper pole (yes, you heard me!) and, most important - an alcoholic selection to rival your average pub. in our honour John and lisa had invited round a heap of mates for a last minute halloween party. we dressed up to the nines - matt was batman (gotta love the 6-pack!), i was a sexy vampiress and Christy had several costume changes from lady of the night to 60s chick to geisha girl to grecian goddess. Bartender Ben mixed up some killer drinks and we had a lot of laughs in this backyard bar in Orange County. Thanks so much Christy for including us in your family and showing us how to party californication style...

and now - viva las vegas!! we're safely ensconced in the Luxor on the strip. the neon lights of vegas are winking at us out the window and we're looking forward to enjoying the treats in store in Sin City itself.. stay tuned!

xx