Disney Day 3

Saturday I woke up early to use the Magic Hour on my ticket. 

This turned out to be the best decision, even if getting out of bed was super hard. The park is open an hour early for selected people and so crowds are very reduced. It also means you are further into the park when the park officially opens so your lines are shorter in the rides further from the entrance. I was able to go on Mr toads ride, Dumbo flying elephants, Peter Pan, Storybook Land boats as well as Small World and Pirates again all before 10. 

There was a Tinkerbelle 10k run in the morning, that went through both parks before they opened. I saw them as I was walking to the park in the morning and then you saw people with medals and crazy costumes during the day in the park. I have to say the last thing I would want to do after a 10k would be walk through the park, but to each their own :). 

I watched the Rapunzel show and then did a wander through the Main Street which I hadn't done before. Found Goofy and Pluto to have photos with and then waited to see Princess Merida (Scottish princess from Brave). I was very impressed by the girl who played her, she was the best at staying in character I felt as well as having an awesome Scottish accent. 

In the afternoon I looked through Sleeping Beauty's castle.

A few times I went past the princesses castle again, but they always had the same princesses as there was on Thursday 'accepting visitors'. A little sad I didn't get to have photos with Belle or Jasmine (I really didn't hold any hope for Pocahontas) 

But I had fun looking through the different lands and soaking up the Disney atmosphere, as well as picking out a few gifts for some people back home. 

I caught part of the parade again, and then went across to Adventureland to be able to see the World of Colour display. I never used the fast pass ability on my ticket, if I'd realised how little space there was to see the World of Colour without a fast pass I might have tried to get a spot one day. There really was no good spots to see the world of colour without a fast pass, very different to the fireworks in Disneyland, I guess because it is a lot newer. 

When it was done I headed back to Disney, saw the fireworks again. 

And then that was the end of my Disneyland experience. It was  amazing! I am exhursted, and I don't think I have walked that much in 3 days in my life. Chances are it has been a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so I'm glad I got to do and see so much! 

Disney Day 2

On Friday I decided to check out California Adventureland as I had a park hopper ticket and can move between the two parks. 

I went on the Ariel ride, I love the slow easy rides that retell the movies, sucker for nostalgia. 

As I went around Adventureland were too many rides that warned against motion sickness. If I was with someone I might have gone on some of the rides but being by on my own I really had no desire to feel sick by myself. 

I joined a group 'workshop' to learn how to draw Minnie Mouse which was fun. I then saw a musical spectacular based on Aladdin that was amazing! There were puppets for the animals and dancing and all the songs from the movie. 

By this time I had seen everything I had wanted to in Adventureland so I went back to the hotel for lunch and a sleep.

Disneyland again for the afternoon. The crowd here seemed to have doubled from yesterday and most rides had a wait of at least 30min or more. I did go on the Alice in Wonderland ride, but couldn't be bothered to wait for the other rides. 

Most weeks in the slow season Friday - Sunday have the parades and fireworks (not last weekend, thank goodness I wasn't here last week!) I saw the parade, I got a curb side seat and it filled up pretty quickly. So funny to watch all the pedestrians walk through the street and have the waiting crowds cheer and wave at them. Some of the little kids thought it was the best and would grin and wave. 

The parade was a bit of fun, after it was done I then found a spot to sit and wait for the fireworks. I was right in front of the Castle, best spot ever!

 The castle at night is pretty spectacular. The lights on the castle with the fireworks were amazing.

Disney Day 1

My first day was a Thursday, and as it was off peak season Disneyland is only open 10-8. Which is good I checked because otherwise I might have been up at 6:30 to get there by 8 :). 

Awaiting in line to get my tickets we are surrounded by Disney music. The line moved very quickly, thankfully main gates open at 9:30 and you can explore main street before they open the rest of the park. (Or spend money, really). 

I walked straight in and saw Minnie Mouse. That was when I almost cried, I don't care if it's completely manufactured, it is so magical, all those years of day dreaming of coming here as a kid and it was finally here! The photo of me and Minnie I look way too excited. 

You can see Cinderella's castle, where I wandered first. The attention to detail on the castle is amazing. I wandered past the famous classic rides like flying dumbos, spinning tea cups and went up to Small World. 

I walked straight onto this ride. So cute. I wandered a bit further after this, and stopped at the Star Tours Star Wars ride. This was also a quick wait. 

This was fun, one of those simulation  rides, but I felt a bit sick afterwards. 

I realised then, after chatting to a few families in lines that today would be the least busy day I was here, as it was a weekday during the slow period. So I decided to go on as many rides as possible today and avoid lines in the next few days. 

So I went on; Pirates of carribian, King Arthur's Carousel, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White ride, Pinocchio ride, Jungle river cruise. 

I also went through Mickeys house and had photos with Mickey. In Critter country I also saw Tigger and Pooh. After these 2 I went to the castle to find the princess and had photos with Ariel, Aurora, and Cinderella. My 3 favourites were missing, (Pocahontas, Jasmine and Belle) but hopefully will find some of them in next few days. 

I was pretty tired at this point, ready to go back to the hotel and rest, but as there was a special souvenir that would be ready in a few hours and the park shut early I didn't want to go back to the hotel to have to turn around quickly. So when I saw that there was Beauty and the Beast play I sat and watched that. After that I got a second wind and wandered through all the other lands I hadn't gone through yet. 

The sun was going down as I left, making pretty lights on all the buildings. 

My legs were so sore by the time I got to the hotel. I sat and dangled my legs in the pool for about 30 min to be able to feel a bit better. 

Let me tell you a story …

Once upon a time there was a little girl with long red hair, who grew up on an island far far away. She didn't have a lot of contact with western media, but she did watch Disney movies. She knew most of the songs off by heart and would act out the stories she loved the most; Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid.  

This little girl day dreamed about one day going to the 'happiest place on earth' where there were castles and princesses, rides and people in costumes, mouse ears and fireworks. But she dreamed about it as someone would dream about going to the moon, a nice idea but not something that was ever going to happen. 

That little girl grew up, her hair got darker and shorter. She left behind girly day dreams and princess stories. She studied hard, got a job and lived her life. Disneyland was left back in her childhood. 

Then she had friends who now lived in Vancourver who she really wanted to visit them. And she was tired of always waiting, so she decided to just go. And if she was going to go all the way to Vancouver it really was not that far to then catch a plane down the coast to a certain magical theme park. 

About 6 months ago she bought the tickets. And today she walked through the gates and was so excited she almost cried (not that I'm proud of that, but hey it was an accumulation of a lot of expectation). 

And it was a beautiful day; filled with rides, Mouse ears, character photos, rides and princesses. 

Cable Cars

I left the cable car for my last day, partly because I was a little scared  (this is the girl who utterly detests roller coasters) but also to have something special to do on my last day. I went early in the morning so that I could beat the crowds. It was a little nerve wracking, all those hills and nothing to stop you from sliding off. And the constant smell of burning wood which means the breaks are working is a little disconcerting. 

But it's actually fun, and everyone on board is happy and friendly, 90% are tourists so lots of photos are being taken. 

I caught the bus from union square to the painted ladies, took a bunch of photos. Met an Aussie couple and we traded taking photos. 

Caught the bus back to union square - I have been very impressed with the public transport in San Francisco. It goes along straight line normally and there is a stop every block. The buses have electronic boards out the front that display the next street coming up so that you always know where you are. You can pay $2 on the bus and get 90 minutes of as many rides as you want, or you can get a day pass and have unlimited rides each day on any type of public transport (including the cable cars). 

At union square I wandered around all the cool stores we don't have in Australia. 

Cable car back to wharf area with a stop at Lombard st, the crookedest street. Once again everyone driving down the street was clearly a tourist :). I don't think I would like to drive down it.    

I have absolutely adored my time in San Francisco. (Reminds me of the feeling I got in Barcelona on my after school trip). It is a gorgeous city and full of fun places to look around. Everyone kept commenting how amazing the weather was, warm and no fog at all, I think I really lucked out in that regard. I was however predisposed to love this city anyway (all those hours of watching Full House) but I was glad i enjoyed it as much as I anticipated. 

One thing that really surprised me all the homeless people, I was expecting that in LA but not here. It's very sad. 

Today I travelled down to Anaheim, and tomorrow I'm going to Disneyland!!! I'm so excited I'm pretty sure that you could hear my squeal from Australia :)

Golden Gate Bridge

I had purchased hop-on-hop-off bus tickets back in Australia so used them today. First was the downtown tour that goes to all the tourist spots in the city part of sanfrancisco. Got a brief view of Lombard st but am planning to go back there later. Most other things were interesting but nothing particularly noteworthy. I do love seeing all the hilly streets, and being glad I'm not walking on them! 

I had booked my hotel so that it was a few minutes walk from the office of the bus company so after a quick stop to change shoes (which I was very thankful for later) I caught the next bus across the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The driver suggested getting off at one side of the bridge and walking across and as it was such lovely weather I decided to do that and then catch the next bus that came through on the other side. 

It was great to walk across, crazy windy but amazing views. I love on holidays just taking your time and not having to worry about schedules.  I spent almost an hour walking across and took heaps of photos. I was incredibly thankful I had changed my shoes to joggers, after all the walking I ended up doing. I did however get a little sunburnt :( something I haven't had to worry about yet on my trip! 

After a rest in the afternoon I joined the night tour for views of the city at night. Very pretty, it included going down one of the steep hills, which is pretty hair raising when you are on the top of an open double decker bus! 

There are Australians everywhere. I am hearing way more Australian accents here than anywhere else I have been on the trip. 

What ever happened to predictability?

I was up early as I wanted to try and navigate the public transport system to get to a church I had been told about. I was very impressed that I managed to get 2 buses without much drama to get me to church by 9am. Whoo, go me.  

Church was nice, I even recognised a few of the songs which was lovely and enjoyed checking out an American church. Being a new person on my own makes me think about how I welcome new people into my church each week. 

The church just happened to be a block away from a certain terrace house I was planning to visit. Here it is! 

The house used in the opening credits of Full House! I had looked up the address on the internet but it was pretty easy to work out which was the house from all the 'No Trespasssing!' signs. Apparently people can be a bit too enthusiastic. I respectfully stayed on the other side of the street while going all fan girl :). 

I then walked part of the way back to the hotel loving the architecture and the warm weather. So many awesome buildings! 

In the afternoon I had planned to wander in the opposite direction of my hotel, but I only got as far as Pier 39. I spent ages looking in the different shops, a few of the are different to the ones in the rest of the wharf area (and some identical). 

While looking over at Alcatraz, I kept hearing this honking noise and followed it (and the crowds) to find masses  and masses of sea lions. They were all piled up on top of each other on barges, occasionally having pushing each other off the barge and honking at each other. 

Yummy Mexican dinner rounded off an awesome first day in San Fran. 

Seattle

My flight to San Francisco was out of Seattle, a bit over 2 hour drive from Vancouver. We got up early to have a little bit of time there before my flight. 

Crossing the border was less of an ordeal going in the car, as I had previously crossed the border in LA    during transit I was only slightly interrogated. Apparently I rub my chin a lot when I'm nervous :). 

It was a bit drizzly when we arrived in Vancourver, and as we were driving around we discovered that Seattle was hosting a big football game that afternoon. There were people in jerseys everywhere and every store had supporters flags in the window. 

We parked near the Pike Place market and had a little look around. Amazing produces and cut flowers, but a lot of the stall had mass produced souvenirs rather than the individual artisan products I was hoping for. While looking around we spied an awesome looking umbrella store that sold nothing but umbrellas. So awesome! 

Apparently umbrellas are nessicary in Seattle as it started to rain harder and got incredibly windy. We went up the Columbia centre to the observatory deck and got some good views of the city before the rain set in. Hard. 

Back outside we were almost swept off our feet getting to the car. It was time to head to the airport and after a false start (we went to the wrong airport - long story. But luckily the right airport was only 10 minutes away) I said goodbye and headed off on my own for the rest of my adventure; 10 days in USA. 

The last thing Colin said to me was 'Don't forget to look left when you cross the road' which is good advice, I am still getting shocked when cars are on the 'wrong' side of the road. 

I am now happily situated in a hotel in San Francisco. I am literarily 30 second walk from Fisherman's Wharf, so am in walking distance to most of the attractions. After arriving I headed out of a quick walk before it got dark. I got a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge, wandered along the wharfs, had a bread bowl of clam chowder (apparently San Francisco is famous for this, was quite nice and pretty cheap), been astonished by all the homeless people and witnessed the line to get on to a cable car. 

I also spent several minutes trying to work out how the tap in the bathroom and the light in my room turned on. Seriously motels need to work on making things easier to understand. 

The last few days in Canada

The last few days in Vancourver it rained a lot. Not the misty rain we had at the beginning of my trip, but heavy, steady rain. 

It meant that several plans we had to explore outside were put off, instead we did a bit of cooking and hanging out with friends. 

We were going to ride bikes around Stanley park, in the middle of Vancouver City. Instead we drove around and jumped out between showers to see the sights and take photos. 

We also took Molly (their dog) for a walk along mudflats where herrons flew past. All around Colin and Evelyn's place I kept seeing fields of red. They are fields of blueberry bushes in the winter, where the red is the tops of their branches. 

I have loved my time in Canada. I did a whole heap of site seeing, but I also got to spend some more time with my friends, catching up after almost 2 years. It was great to see their lives here, and see what Canada is really like. 

Victoria

Colin, Evelyn and I broke from the rest of the group and headed to Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia. 

It was cold and wet. Rained the whole time, was pretty miserable. But Victoria is very pretty, lovely old buildings. 

The best bit was we went down to a marina and there were seals hanging  around waiting for the fisherman to clean their catch. They got so close and had learnt how to do tricks to get the tourists attention. I also managed to get attacked by massive seagulls - twice the size of the ones in Australia. 

Parksville

After the day in Nanaimo we headed to friends in Parksville, a little costal town. 

We didn't do heaps here, relaxed and hung out. We walked along a rock filled beach, where instead of sand there were huge rocks pounded smooth. I climbed up on a bunch of huge rocks at the end of the beach with some of the girls. 

The family we stayed with were the most hospitable people I have met. They graciously welcomed 8 adults (including an Aussie they had never met), 2 babies and one toddler into their house without any qualms, and fed us all amazing food. Everything about their house was peaceful and relaxing, and you never felt like an intruder. I hope can be a host like that. 

Funny story; there were a few mix ups about 'the Aussie' that was coming along. I knew North Americans pronounce Erin and Aaron the same way (in Australia we emphasise the 'Ah' sound at the beginning on Aaron), as well as Eyrn being a male name, so the family we stayed with were expecting a guy and did a double take when I was introduced :)

Nanaimo

Our first stop was at relatives house, in the outskirts of a place called Nanaimo.  

Their property has a river that runs through the edge of it. It's a big full river that is rushing past huge rocks.

 We went for a walk up stream and discovered all these rock pools full of ice. Everything was frozen, covered with a thin glitter. 

I can't explain the frozen beauty of the rocks and moss and leaves. I tried with the camera but I just couldn't quite capture the ice in the air, the crunch when we stepped, the puffs of white air when you breathed and the slickness underfoot. All the while you can hear the thunder of the water rushing past.

 

There is moss everywhere! On rocks, trees. It's soft to touch not slimy like moss in Australia. 

I have no concept of time here. At midday the sun is only about as far into the sky that the sun would be at 8 or 9 in the morning at home. It never gets overhead and it's messing with the way I instinctually measure the time of day.