Update: If you're using name-spaces and xpath, you might need to register them first in SimpleXML.
If you have problems to access an element, try to enclose it within {}
angel brackets, this probably helps: $xml->{gd:...}
.
SimpleXML has no/limited support for XML-Namespaces if I remember correctly. DomDocument has, so take it instead.
For a first start:
$dom = new DomDocument;
$dom->loadXML($google_contacts);
...
Or use DomDocument for the part that is difficult to do in SimpleXML only:
$domElement = dom_import_simplexml($simpleXmlNode);