Beer and free-loading in Las Vegas

Vegas seemed very strange and daunting on arrival but after three days of observing others and "playing the game" we have managed to work out how to survive (and save money!):

- If George Clooney and Brad Pitt thought they did well to steal millions from the vault of the Bellagio they should have seen us at the breakfast buffet!

- If you sit at a roulette table and look like a serious enough gamer the waitresses will bring you free drinks for a small tip.

- If you must buy you beverages, always opt for the very tacky refillable plastic cups…you can get dirt-cheap cocktail refills!

- Our hotel gave us $25 dollars free play on slot machines which (with a bit of luck!) we promptly cashed in and pocketed.

- At the end of the day, you're probably better off spending your money on a show than sitting at the tables - and if you happen to choose "The Beatles LOVE with Cirque du Soleil" then we thought it one of the best shows we'd ever seen!

To our surprise we're actually leaving Vegas having broken even in the casinos - well, technically Graeme is $40 up and Annie $40 down but who's counting!

Oh say can you see.

The dilemma we faced was where to spend the 4^th July for Independence Day - and whether as two holidaying Brits we would be welcomed with open arms or reminded of what exactly everyone was celebrating!!

We opted for small-town America by the name of Springfield (ok, it was actually Springdale but we did accidentally call it Springfield to locals on more than one occasion!). Located just outside Zion National Park it turned out to be perfect. We stayed at a quaint motel called Bumbleberry Lodge and threw ourselves into 4^th July celebrations - pancake breakfast courtesy of the Lions Club, parade through the town (including candy throwing), singing of national anthem and a BBQ & band in the park. Sadly there were no fireworks…apparently two years ago they started quite a large forest fire which we agreed was not ideal in a National Park!!

The Grand Canyon

Words probably aren't needed...

America almost unchained

As this part of our trip was in part inspired by Dave Gorman's book "America Unchained" we've tried to seek out some of the more unusual or original places to stay rather than just the chain motels.  We're doing pretty well so far - the above, both in Arizona, are from the Space Age Motel (space theme, in case you hadn't guessed) and Hotel Congress (which is all original 1930s style, right down to the radio and telephone switchboard....although it also had wireless which we're guessing was a new addition!). Oh, and Hotel Congress was the last hiding place of the famous bank robber John Dillinger - as played by Johnny Depp in his new film Public Enemies.

RIP

The above was taken just a few hours before he died...strange hey! (And no we didn't just take a picture of every one!)

LA

Los Angeles certainly is pretty big. Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Hollywood, Beverly Hills…so much to see. We managed quite a bit and thankfully also had a friend to show us where the locals hang out (thanks Phil!). One of the bars he took us to even had a girl who'd just had a nose job!! That's LA baby!

Bula Bula!!

Exhausted by our 3,700km that we covered in New Zealand, we needed another holiday. So we headed off to Fiji in search of sun, sea and sand and thankfully soon found all three.

If there is one thing the Fijians do well it's making you feel welcome. Everyone greets you constantly with big, booming "Bula"s and we've been to two of their infamous Kava ceremonies. Annie was a little disappointed that it wasn't her favourite sort of Cava but was in fact a muddy/herbal water passed around in a coconut shell, with each cupful accompanied by more Bulas! Graeme was even appointed the Chief's Spokesman, meaning he got to instigate each new round of Kava, each of which was accompanied by groans from most of our other guests!

The Yasawa Islands, where we've been mostly based, are famous for their white sandy beaches and we've done some great snorkelling to see fish and the coral reefs just off-shore. For Annie's birthday we went a bit more upmarket for a few days to Navutu Stars - never have we been made to feel so welcome, but it's just a shame that the sun hasn't made it out yet. On the plus side, we've just heard that today's guests can't actually leave because of the strong winds…..fingers crossed for the same when we have to leave, we can't think of anywhere better to be stranded!!!