On my own

Hurrah for wireless network everywhere in this city!

I packed up this morning and made my way to the Youth Hostel. Olga backed out last minute as she'd been out last night and was severely drunk and sick when she got back to the hotel in the middle of the night. I didn't mind going out on my own today, I think I'd rather preferred it that way. I started off having breakfast outside Starbucks with Renee, a 73 year old French lady. She eats the same Haagen-Daz ice cream every day. I got her life story and she told me I needed to get married to Stu. I guess I should now.

I dropped my bags off at the Youth Hostel - which is on top of a hill in a park. Beautiful views but rather sweaty by the time I got there. I'd decided to go biking today and make my way over SF's famous Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was beautiful today, sunny, hardly any clouds and about 25 degrees, so perfect biking weather. I can't remember how many times I got off my bike to take pictures, but it must at least have been 2 hours in total. I set off around lunch time with a big bottle of water.

Climbing up to the bridge I had to work my gears but it was all worth it. Bikers go on the West side of the bridge, with views over the ocean, pretty amazing. It took me about 20 minutes biking over the bridge, including some photo stops. It's a lot longer than you think. The next picture made me laugh out loud, although I know it shouldn't...

Once I got to the other side, I biked to the next village which was all cute and lovely with pretty boutiques, seafood restaurants and gorgeous views. I got some take away lunch and sat near the bay contemplating where I'd go next. One of the options was visiting a park which has the highest trees in the world, and as a dedicated member of the tree hugging society, I made up my mind. Although biking trails are pretty good, the signs for them are rubbish. I didn't get lost once but I had a constant feeling I was.

Getting to the park was a mile stone, 23 kilometres to be precise. There were indeed some pretty huge trees and I did hug a few, however, these were not the highest trees in the world! I'm 100% sure I've seen them a whooooole lot taller. Biking through the park was weird because the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees as the sun couldn't get through. After a short wee break, I got back on my bike and headed for the ferry. There was no way I was biking another 23km back! I think I must have done about 32km in total and am getting increasingly worried about the muscle aches waiting for me tomorrow...

On the ferry back home I started talking to 2 guys, one from England and the other one from South Africa. The English one came from Maresfield (small world!) and both were pilots; one with Virgin and the other one in the army. We nattered all the way back and they invited me for dinner tonight with the rest of the crew as he was flying back to London tomorrow - literally. I kindly declined as I knew I'd be too tired once I made it to the YH. (I needed a shower at that point, badly!)

I've just had the best shower ever and am sitting in the common room of the YH. I love YH no matter what anybody says. These days every person seems to be travelling with a laptop! People are reading, mailing, talking, playing chess. It's all lovely. The average age of people sitting around me is about 40 - which surprised me slightly. It seems Youth is no longer a prerequisite.

One more day to go and I've decided to take it easy tomorrow. I'm going to get on a bus/cable car to the biggest park in SF and spend the day walking, drinking tea and reading my book.