They think it's all over...well it is now!

So, where did I get to? Ah yes:Sunday 5th December:We did go up the Sky Tower again and watched other jumpers for a bit. And then it was time to leave NZ. We caught the bus to the airport and checked in. Didn't want to leave NZ. Loved it there! But we were soon on the flight to LA. And what a flight it was! We were thrown around all over the place up there! There were all kinds of tornadoes and typhoons around the Pacific and we flew through them all! Not fun! We eventually landed about 1pm (Sunday again) and we got a cab to the Days Inn on Sunset. We were absolutely exhausted so we had an hour's kip before getting up, showering and heading out for dinner. We settled for Pizza Hut after walking for a bit. Went to bed about 10 or 11 I think.Monday 6th December:Up early again and off to Universal Studios. Had a fab day. It was a bit overcast and had a few drizzly bits, but that just meant the park was fairly quiet. We watched the Blues Brother's show, which made us feel all Christmassy! Went on the Jurassic Park water ride and would have got soaked if we hadn't bought our dollar ponchos! It has an 80ft drop - excellent fun! Watched the special effects show, went through the Backdraft set, saw the Shrek 3D thing, T2 3D, did the Backlot tour which included the King Kong encounter and the subway earthquake and we watched the Waterworld show. I'm sure there was lots more we did but can't remember now I'm back! In the evening we had a wander round Universal Walk and had crepes...mmmmmm! Then went to the cinema to see Alexander. Colin Farrell is fantastic in it! Then it was back to the hotel for some sleep!Tuesday 7th December:Up early once again. We were picked up from the hotel by Starline and taken to their office. Once there, we collected our tickets for the tour we were about to take and hopped on the bus. The first part of the tour was up in the Hollywood Hills to see the movie stars homes. Among the many we saw were Tobey Maguire and Keanu Reeves' homes (they live next door to each other and Keanu's looks like a prison!), Courtney Cox, Leonardo Di Caprio, Nancy Regan - and loads more! Then it was off to Beverley Hills where Madonna has two houses and then onto Bel Air - saw the house they used for the Fresh Prince. Then we were taken to the Sony Studios where we had a walking tour through their backlot, which included going on to the three sets of "Joan of Arcadia" - that was very interesting. They are filming a couple of movies there too at the moment. They filmed some of Pirates of the Caribbean there! Then it was back onto the bus and back to Hollywood for some lunch before the next part of the tour. This was a walking tour through Hollywood. Our guide took us to the Egyptian Theatre (where all three of the LOTR movies had their Hollywood premieres), the El Capitain Theatre (where Disney premieres all their movies), a quick look at the handprints outside the Chinese Theatre (couldn't see too much as there was a premiere going on that night so a lot of it was blocked off) then had a quick walk through the entrance area of the Kodak Theatre. Then the bus took us back to the hotel. We walked back to where we had just been (d'oh!) and went to see The Incredibles at the El Capitain theatre. That was totally wicked! There was a live show before the movie - lots of singing and dancing! The premiere for Blade Trinity was taking place at the Chinese Theatre so we had a bit of a nose at that. Saw Ryan Reynolds and the girl from it - can't remember her name. Then we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner before heading back to the hotel.Wednesday 8th December:Got up early once again and walked back to Hollywood and Highland. We saw they were setting up for something else at the Chinese Theatre so we went to see what it was - the premiere for Ocean's Twelve! And there standing around was one of the cast! Not Matt, Brad or George though, just Elliott what's his name from Friends! Anyhoo, next stop was the Kodak Theatre. We bought our tickets for the tour and headed upstairs. We were told that today was a great day to do the tour as it was one of only 14 days of the year when we could go up on stage! For those of you that don't know, this where they hold the Oscars. So, it was into the theatre we went, down the stairs, quick stop in the VIP bar and then backstage and out onto the stage - very impressive! And very weird to be there! After thanking the academy we exited stage left and took the elevator the winners use up to one of the boxes. Very big for four people! Then we wandered through to where Winner's Walk is. This is the area that no one but the winners will enter on the night. They close the curtains so no one can see them as they walk through to the hotel next door to do their interviews. As we were leaving the theatre we were given a postcard of the theatre which apparently you cannot buy anywhere and only people that do the tour get them. I asked where all the LOTR cast had sat and the girl showed me and then said "but Orlando Bloom wasn't here" to which I replied "no, but I like Elijah Wood anyway" and she said "he's gay, cute though". Oooookay.We left the theatre and walked back to the hotel, called a cab and headed to the airport to collect our hire car. We had a Chevy Malibu, quite a nice car, lovely to drive. So we drove back to Hollywood and up into the hills to take some photos and then had a late lunch at Mel's Diner. Drove back to the hotel and dropped the car off and walked back to the Chinese Theatre to watch the goings on of the premiere! We saw George Clooney, Brad Pitt (who first of all drove past waving at everyone, then walked up and down the crowd), Matt Damon (stunning!), Bruce Willis (also walked the crowd), Catherine Zeta Jones, Michael Douglas, Casey Affleck, Sharon Stone, the guy from Smallville, a guy from That 70's Show and i can't remember who else! Once that was done we walked to Amoeba Music and I bought some DVDs before going back to the hotel.Thursday 9th December:Again with the early start! Had some breakfast, checked out and jumped in the car and drove to Anaheim - Disneyland! We parked up and hit the park! It was all Christmassy - so lovely! We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Splash Mountain, The Haunted Mansion (which had a Christmas theme), Peter Pan, Snow White, Toad Hall, Pinochio. Storyland Canal Boats, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Honey I Shrunk the Audience....loads! We watched the parade - really lovely! And we watched the fireworks - they had fake snowfalls at the end! Then it was off to the Disneyland Hotel! That was fantastic! Our room was gorgeous! Huge beds! Once we had dumped all our stuff, we went for a dip in the outside Neverland Pool (this was about 9.30pm) and then a nice relaxing hot spa. Then it was back to the room to get changed before heading into Downtown Disney for a wander. Then it was back to the hotel for bed.Friday 10th December:Got up about 8.30 I think, went for a wander round the shops in Downtown Disney and spent lots of money. Checked out of the hotel and caught the Monorail into Dinsey. Ran the parents, popped outside the resort to get my digital photos downloaded onto a CD and then we went into California Adventure Park. Great fun! Went to the Muppet Vision 3D thing, watched the Aladdin stage show, saw the Bug's Life 3D thing which was fantastic! Went on the Sun Wheel (Ferris Wheel), Mulholland Madness (mini coaster), the River Rapids thing - got soaked! After a day there, we went back to Disneyland and went on Pirates and Haunted Mansion again. At about 6pm we went back to the hotel and picked up the car and luggage and set off towards Vegas. At about 9pm we got to Barstow, we stopped there and found a hotel for the night. Saturday 11th December:Got up at 8am and checked out of the hotel. Drove the rest of the way to Vegas! Got there about midday. we drove up and down the strip trying to find somewhere to park, then decided to park at the Luxor. Then we walked down the strip. First stop was New York New York for lunch. Then it was the MGM Grand to have a go on the slots. We also went into The Belaggio, Ceasar's Palace, Treasure Island, The Venetian and a few others. We watched the fountains for a while too - amazing! We checked into the Luxor, got changed and went to the cinema to see Ocean's Twelve - fabulous! Then watched the fountains again and then watched the Pirates show at Treasure Island. We had dinner at Planet Hollywood then wandered back to the hotel about 1am.Sunday 12th December:Alarm went off about 9am and we got up and packed. Checked out of the hotel, took some photos around the hotel, wandered through Excalibur, did some last minute shopping and then watched the fountains for the last time before heading back to the hotel and picking up the car and luggage. We drove to the airport and after a while managed to finally find the badly signposted Alamo! Checked in and went to the gate to wait for the flight. We left on time and 9 hours later we were at Gatwick. And there were the olds waiting for us...