Ready to leave Vegas

Hi Everyone,

We have been in Vegas for about 3 weeks and we have seen a lot.

The day after the Supercross I (Jason) had a bad cold ( Sore throat, Feeling terrible) Rosie had symptons aswell but a man always gets it worse so we then decided since we had nothing planned for 3-4weeks that we would stay here a while and get better then go out and see the city.

Unfortunately the first day we got to Vegas we got talked into some tour. It sounded a bit dodgy but we gave the guy $60 and he said after the tour he would give us our money back + $40 visa gift card + 2 romance package tickets (will talk more about this later) + $10 lunch voucher!!!. It was booked in for the day after the Supercross and if we didn't go we wouldn't get our money back.

Feeling crap and loaded up with tissues and throat lozengers we got picked up by this tour company and dropped off in town where there were other tourists waiting. This guy came out dressed up in a suit, with his hair slicked back and he was our personal guide (This is what we thought). We were seated in another van and taken to a very nice Resort and this was going to be our tour, Being talked into a timeshare!!!!!!!!. At the end of the tour he asked us what option we would like to purchase and we said none. We could tell he knew he had wasted his time with us and his tone completely changed. We then went out side to another room were they gave us what they had promised and gave us a ride back into town. I talked to another couple there and they got $120 cash out of them so if you had the discipline to say no sorry you actally got some good stuff. It turned out the Romance package was worth about $90 and with the visa card and meal about $150 all up for free.

We found a really cool place about 10-15min drive from the strip. It's like a motel, It's brand new and has a seperate lounge/dining, full kitchen area, separate bedroom and separate bathroom. It's a bit like a little home. After about a week we headed to the strip most days and checked out what it had to offer.

The first day we went to the Venetian Hotel and it was bloody amazing. We were on the 3rd floor of this hotel and you thought you were in the middle of Venice. There were canals with shops and resturants all around with the ceiling painted like the sky. With this romance package we got a free lunch or dinner so we decided to go for lunch. This place was on the second floor of one of the buildings overlooking the canal and gondalas. We had a laugh because as we were waiting 3 girls walked in and they were all done up (Las Vegas Style) and as the back one walked past I think she had a one piece swimming suit on and she had chomp (They were pulled right up) I looked at Rosie and said "I think you are a bit over dressed".

We ended up going to Maddam Tussards wax mesum and getting a ride on the gondalas as part of the Romance package. If you notice on the photos from the wax mesum look where Rosie has her hand with Hugh Hefner.

We tried to go to every big Casino/Hotel, Every one has an attratchion of its own. The Mirage has Dolphin pools out the back and Lion cages like you think your at the Zoo. Out side the Treasure Island Hotel they have 2 big sail ships and they have free shows at night with fireworks and explosions etc.  We could go on and on for days about Vegas, it is a great city, one big party and it is just interesting.................We definitely want to come back again some day and with all the changes happening here all the time, I am sure it will still be just as cool as the first time visiting.

We went to a show called "Stomp out loud" It was one of the performances where they make beats and music from tapping buckets and tin's etc, They had a good one where they were sweeping the floor with brooms, It was a really good show.

We won about $600 on the Slot machines and ended up coming out about $300 up so that paid for a couple of nights on the town.

I won my first big one of $160 at Hooter's Casino. The staff there have really nice uniforms )

We went to Fremont street where they have the biggest TV in the world as the roof of the street. They have 4-5 shows a night were they turn the shop front lights off and then put a show up on the TV with sound. The night we were there the did a tribute for Freddy Mercury and Queen, Unbelievable!!!

We made our way to Hoover Dam and did a tour of the power plant, that was really interesting. None of the power generated there is used on the Strip, Infact the Strip gets it power from Canada. There is a lot of Security there as they would not want to be bombed.  They are building a new bridge away from the actual dam wall that they hope will be less of a risk of terrorist attacks and help with the traffic congestion through to Arizona.  It is a huge project!

We went to the Grand Canyon yesterday. It's a long boring drive from Vegas. We stayed at Flagstaff which is about 1 Hr from the Canyon. When we got there we could see it was huge and the only way to see it properly would be by air so we went to the local Airport and took a 25 minute flight on a Helicopter over the South Rim. It was really cool, the first time I had been on a chopper as well. From the air it is a spectacular site and it gives you an appreciation for just how massive it is.  Amazing!  We drove back to Flagstaff and stayed the night and drove back to Vegas today.

On Sunday the temperature was 40 degrees celcius, a record for this time of year, Today it was 28 degrees celcius - much nicer temperatures for us soft kiwi's.

We are on our way to the Death Valley tomorrow then onto Yosmite National park so will try and do an update in a week.

Feel free to leave a comment, over and out for now.

 Jason (Rosie's watching the final of American Idol)