Day 1 – San Francisco and Vegas. Early breakfast this morning as the car will pick us up at 10:30 to take us to the airport.

Thirty minutes or so to the airport. Flight boards at 12:30 for a 1pm flight. A little bit of lunch at a cafe in the airport.

It’s only an hour and half flight to Vegas and there are some spectacular views on the way. The snow caps on the Sierra Nevada ranges, the desolation and colours of Death Valley and the spectacular approach to Las Vegas all highlights.

A big SUV this time for transfer, almost the size of a bus. We are taken down the Las Vegas Strip, what a spectacle. Flashy billboards advertising everything from shows and circus’s to products to buy.

The hotels and casinos are amazing, more than I thought it would be.

Turn into the Bellagio drive and we see our hotel. It is amazing.

Check in and the concierge is happy we’re from Australia and asks if we knew Steve Irwin.They loved him here. We got an upgrade to a higher room, cos we’re Ozzie.

We had to walk through the Casino to get to the lifts and we both could smell the cigarette smoke inside, not something we’re used to from Australia.

The room is fantastic, the 22nd floor and overlooks the fountain and the strip.

Checked out some of the restaurants in the hotel, a bit pricey, $US720 for a japanese steak was a little steep for me. We found a noodle place. Excellent and reasonably priced for a hotel restaurant.

Janine wanted to spend some time and money in the casino on the pokies and thought I’d check out the roulette tables. This casino is one of the high end ones and the tables were too steep for me. Starting at $50 min. was a bit beyond me.

Tomorrow is our first full day here and off to the Neil Diamond Tribute show.