The town where the universe provides

Our first introduction to the US was from the airport´s Agricultural Department. This was because we had a Subway sandwich which was bought at Auckland Airport - rules and regulations gone mad! Anyway, we managed to hold onto our precious food which was our brunch whilst we waited for my brother Paul to pick us up from the airport.

It felt like we had a busy first day mainly because we had crossed the dateline and arrived in the US before we had even left NZ. So it was groundhog day for us, re-living the same day minus the sleeping inbetween (mainly due to the diabolical leg room offered on the Qantas flight). In the evening, we went to a great pasta restaurant where one portion sufficed for two (loving super size America!) and then went to watch Paul´s friends play in a band. At this point we had been awake for 36 hours. We slept on Phnam´s and Mardis´sofa (friends of my brother) as he was was inbetween rentals. We felt pretty bad that we woke up in someone's lounge close to midday whilst they were trying to go about their day.

The only photo with my eyes open!

We spent the week just relaxing. Mainly because every country we go to we end up racing from one place to the next. As we were only in one town for one week, there was no need to go on a sightseeing frenzy. For the first time, we actually felt like we were on holiday.

Paul took us to ´Cold Springs Tavern´, a great place about 20 minutes drive away. It is where predominately bikers meet for a drink or two whilst listening to live music. It had a good atmosphere where you could easily spend an afternoon. We spent the night in Paul´s new apartment with us sleeping on a mattress and Paul on a yoga mat!

Cold Spring´s Tavern

The following days were a mix of sitting in the park, walking along the beach promenade, some exercise, eating and catching up with Paul´s friends. We were surprised how cheap it was to eat out. It put NZ and the UK to shame. I (Sarah) was particularly excited that everywhere you went you could get free mineral water and in supermarkets and shops, you could help yourself to free tea and coffee. Now, I know that sounds sad but when you are travelling, you become very grateful for free things! The other thing that I was impressed with was the ingenuity of the homeless people. Unfortunately, there were many but I loved the ideas they came up with to encourage you to donate money. The other thing that I (Sarah) got excited about was ´Zoltar´. I remember as a child loving the arcade type machine whereby an animatronic gypsy would tell your fortune - well guess what? I found said machine on the pier in Santa Barbara. I had to have a go - loved it just as much as I did when I was child.

Zoltar on the pier

Had a great last day eating brunch on the beach front with Paul and his friend Ada. In the evening, we went out to celebrate a birthday followed by a night hike to the top of the hills that sit behind the town. It was so peaceful and all three of us laid on a rock looking up at the stars. We could have stayed there all night. We didn't get to bed until midnight which wasn't great as we had to be up at 5.45am to leave for the airport.

Brunch at Sambos

Night Hike

Our last day was somewhat spoilt by our airline going bust! We had planned to do some cheesy sightseeing in LA before getting our flight but we had to re-arrange our plans as our flight had changed. Two evenings before we were due to leave, Carl had some divine inspiration whereby he checked our flights to Mexico out of LA - yes we know you should do this for every flight but seriously who does? We found at that our airline no longer existed and our travel agent had failed to inform us. Anyway, long story short, Carl managed to sort it out. Instead of flying direct to Mexico we had to fly via Dallas; on a positive note we arrived at 6pm instead of midnight.

It was really lovely to see Paul after five years. He has lived in Santa Barbara for nine years and this was the first time I had seen where he lived and what his life is like. We want to say thank you to Paul for paying for some of food and staying at his. A hello goes out to all Paul´s friends and neighbours we met including Aja, Warren, Kate, Phnam, Mardis, John, Ada, Lori, Mike and Maureen. Thanks for making our visit a happy one.

Off to Mexico and our final stop before home!!!!