mark his words: V is for Vegas. And vomit.

From the moment we set foot in Vegas, it was clear that the city would live up to its name as an adults' playground. We had made the half day or so drive from Vegas in a fairly relaxed fashion, with a couple of enjoyable stops along the way. Calico, our main stop off, is a 'ghost-town' located out of California, although it should probably lose it's "ghost town" status given the significant amount of tourist based stalls and buildings that have set up shop there. Regardless, it had some interesting aspects and buildings and, along with our stop off at the 'World's Largest Themometer' in Baker, broke up the six hour or so trip nicely.

As we arrived in Vegas, there was initially a surprising and slightly concerning amount of young families and children around. On the whole, the city is a place where everyone is given a bit of a free reign and is expected to behave. Perhaps coming from a place with such draconian liquor licensing laws as Australia made it feel that much more relaxed, but the ability to leave a hotel room carrying and handful of drinks and waking from one casino to another via either the neon lit streets or the intricate network of tunnels and bridges was a breath of fresh air.

Fremont St, otherwise known as the Old Las Vegas Strip is as much of an ocular experience as its younger sibling, and has been recently rejuvenated with a $70 million spectacular light show that takes on the hour, nightly. A slightly more laid back vibe, with classic old school casino glamour and lower table limits meant it was the perfect way to spend our first night.

The near on hostel-priced Excalibur Casino, our home for three days, provided us with ample opportunity and facilities to relax and recover the next day, prior to our adventures that night. With multiple restaurant and fast food chains located within, in addition to the recreational facilities, there really was no need to leave the confines of the Casino.

But, we had other plans. The Stratosphere Tower, an 850 or so feet epic was looming in the distance, and Harry was set on jumping off it. Looking out over the edge of the viewing platform was a big enough rush for Mike and myself, but true to his word Harry completed the jump without any moment of hesitation. Impressive.

Steel Panther, a glam rock band that find great enjoyment out of playing up on the image and rock star persona previously undertaken by bands such as Mötley Crüe, Poison et al, were playing at the House of Blues later that night and we had managed to score some tickets. An hour or so of amusing band banter and music before hitting the casinos topped off a good day.

With a late night prior, we opted against the six hour drive to see the Grand Canyon as soon as we were able to score a last minute cut-price to take a flight over the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and Lake Meade. Whilst the views were impressive, it paled in comparison to the impressive efforts of the 50% or so of the plane who managed to keep their breakfast down throughout the stuffy, nauseating as the rickety plane wobbled all over the place for the whole duration of the 90 minute or so journey. The rest of us weren't so lucky.

Winding up our short stay in Vegas with a more relaxed night allowed us to wander down Las Vegas Boulevard ('the strip') and enjoy the hive of activity that surrounded us, including the very impressive water show at Bellagio. The walk was quite an interesting clash of worlds as street entertainers wearing cartoon character suits posed for photos with children right next to men holding out business cards for various forms of female companionship. Whether through good luck or good management, this juxtaposition of worlds seem to work, and gives a bit of creedence to the notion that if you treat people like adults, they'll act like them.