Neither of us slept well so we were up early to hit the local supermarket. Got the fixings for salad & some cold cuts for dinner tonight & a half dozen eggs so I can get back to protein for breakfast. Our room rate includes breakfast but its all carbs, cereal, breads, pastries & what's fast becoming a fave of Pete's, Belgian waffles you make yourself (or in Pete's case I make for him lol) with butter and maple syrup. The only kitchen equipment in our...

We picked up the convertible today & headed towards Oakland. We spent some of the time beside the coast through Malibu & other gorgeous beaches. The sea was an amazing blue dotted here & there by oil drills with surfers catching the small waves. We went through agricultural areas growing stone fruits, strawberries, grapes broccoli and more & beside areas thick with oil derricks. A top up of petrol was less painful than at home; about $1/lt A...

Up early, breakfast and caught a bus into LA. It took about an hour changing once passing all sorts of neighbourhoods many of which seemed very familiar with the bungalow being the standard dwelling; very reminiscent of similar homes in both NZ & Oz. We got off the bus smack bang in the middle of Hollywood Blvd. checked out the stars in the pavement & the Chinese Theatre with the foot and hand prints of some of the greats. Deciding there was too much gr...

We had a great flight with QANTAS. we hit what must've been the retirement run for all the hosties and stewards as they were all way older than usual but great characters. We watched a few movies, ate some pretty good food, had a few drinks and snoozed here and there. US customs was surprisingly hassle free and before we knew it we were out. There were a number of cop cars there, older cars looking like theyd be more at home at Movie World than the real world l...

After the drama & uncertainty of last week we're finally on our way , almost lol Thanks to Graham for getting up at sparrows to get us here. We're enjoying the luxury of the QANTAS lounge - thanks Jason! Delicious coffee & all the breakfast goodies. Now all I need to do is convince Pete because we didnt sleep last night it's late not early so I can hit the full open free bar lol Not long now til we board so think ill grab another coffee. LA here we co...