We then jumped in the fire truck and sat nervously as it grunted up the hills on the outskirts of the city, just a quick detour to get a view of the city as it materialised through the morning fog.

We then crossed the bay to Oakland to visit the University of California (Berkeley).

The first thing we noticed was the framed newspapers from all around the globe. It made for an interesting view of the world – an Israeli paper was next to an Islamic one and etc. But we were shocked to find that no Australian paper could be found! And in our place was the New Zealand Herald. Tragic.

We all bought Berkeley souvenirs before jumping into the firetruck and flying off round the bay in an obscure direction, finally stopping at what I took to be sort of Sovereign Hill, albeit one designed to inflect an old school fishing culture.

We had lunch on a deck out the back of one of the restaurant, in the sun, and listened as a waitress told us about all the movie stars and writers that lived in the area, kind of like a Bay Area Hamptons. Lovely.

Back in the firetruck again, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge to Rematch Sports, where we were meeting a man named Sven Jensen. Sven had worked 90 hour weeks for financial companies for eight years, what we called a ''grind'', before quitting his job and starting a business that was basically an agent to sell used sport goods for people: as far as I’ve heard, an unprecedented venture.

Sven had a great philosophy on life and his views won’t be forgotten in a while. Most importantly he told us the true nature of entrepreneurship, and indeed life, where it is really no point feeling sorry for yourself about the variables in this world beyond your control, because the world isn’t about to stop turning to place a hand on your shoulder. He also mentioned the way that blatantly working against authority really didn’t help anyone, but also stressed keeping some conviction albeit finding more efficient ways to express it.