Don Menzies Managing Director Travelcom

There are some places in life you just have to see first hand and the west coast of the United States is definitely one of them.

Hawaii is a popular stop-over en route to Los Angeles and we spent several fantastic days at Waikiki.

You can hire surf boards and paddle boards right on the white sandy beach and there are plenty of restaurants and bars to explore.

Duke's Bar, (named after Hawaii's most famous surfer, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku), has live music every afternoon and great cocktails, so is well worth checking out.

Every Friday night a huge fireworks display is set off at the northern end of Waikiki Beach.

It's pretty impressive and there are a number of special dinner cruises available which provide a great vantage point.

Away from the high-rises of Waikiki, the rest of Oahu Island is relatively quiet.

We hired a car for the day and drove to a number of beautiful bays where you can picnic, snorkel and swim with turtles.

There's a free turtle sanctuary just south of Waimea Bay.

It was a surreal experience to swim next to 30 or 40 turtles – some of them as large as me! But they're harmless. In fact, they come right up onto the beaches to sunbathe.

Hawaii's sea temperature is warm year-round, and Pearl Harbour and Dole's pineapple plantation are also great places to visit.

Once we arrived in Los Angeles, we joined Cosmos Tours' ‘Golden West Adventure' 16 day tour – they were a great tour company to travel with and I'd highly recommend them.

Downtown Los Angeles is much more compact than I had imagined and is of course famous for its movie industry.

Bus tours which drive past Hollywood stars' homes are popular, but you can get closer to the action by joining a live studio audience.

We watched an episode of Rove LA being filmed while we were there.

Check out www.on-camera-audiences.com to find out what tickets are available during your stay.

Universal Studios is always great for an inside look at how movies are made.

They run tours past studios and sets filming programmes like CSI and Desperate Housewives, plus they have some great theme park rides.

Other great LA theme parks include Magic Mountain, Knott's Berry Farm, California Adventure Park and of course, Disneyland.

But remember the latter is aimed at a young audience and you'll need to stand in a lot of queues!

If you're heading inland to Arizona and the Grand Canyon, Sedona is a pretty little town to spend the night.

It has amazing red rock scenery, a great desert landscape and is ideal if you like outdoor pursuits like hiking, mountain biking and river rafting.

The Grand Canyon itself is simply incredible.

Most tourists visit the southern edge of the canyon (its highest point) but I'd recommend taking a helicopter flight over this natural wonder to fully grasp its true size and width.

It's not cheap but it's worth it. Some helicopter tours will descend to land on the canyon floor itself.

The sunrises and sunsets are supposed to be amazing, so consider staying at one of the nearby towns so you can take it all in.

Las Vegas was everything I was expecting and more.

All the hotels try to outdo each other, and you can spend days travelling up and down the Las Vegas Strip.

I'd recommend saving your feet and getting a US$6 all day bus pass so you can hop on and off wherever you want.

The buses will also take you out to Old Vegas where the original hotels and casinos can still be found. It's worth the trip just to see the Fremont Street Experience.

This is a free choreographed light and sound show which projects images onto a big archway every hour from 8.30pm until midnight.

There are street performers too and classic slot machines will still take traditional $1 coins rather than notes or tickets.

Watching a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas is a must.

There are about six of them, along with a huge number of international acts performing each night.

Check out the ‘tickets tonight' booths located along the Strip for a full list of shows and slightly cheaper prices.

If there's a particular show you have your heart set on though, it pays to pre-book.

Yosemite National Park is another beautiful place to stop off and experience the great outdoors while travelling northeast to San Francisco – a gorgeous city which is completely different to LA.

It's like a bigger version of Wellington with its steep streets, harbour and character buildings.

Trams are a great way to get around San Francisco, and you can also hire bikes from the city's Fisherman's Wharf to peddle across the Golden Gate Bridge before catching a ferry ride home again.

Alcatraz (the famous island prison) is an attraction not to be missed but it's so popular you need to book at least one week in advance.

Day trips to the Napa Valley wine region can also be organised from San Fran.

Finally we wound our way back to LA International Airport down the east coast via Monterey (famous for its world-class aquarium), Santa Barbara and Malibu. Stunning beaches, ocean views and millionaires' mansions dominate this landscape and are an attraction worth seeing in themselves.