LA continued

On our last day in LA, we hired a convertible - we scored a silver Ford Mustang - and Nic was our chauffeur for the day as Andrew and I were too scared to drive around LA on the right hand side of the road.

We went to Beverly Hills again, for a spot of shopping at the Beverly Centre, and then hit the Sunset Strip and Doheny Drive and up into the hills to scout for famous people. We had a list of where some people lived, so checked out their houses (or what we could see of them), such as Keanu Reeves, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes, Matthew Perry, Halle Berry, and Dr. Phil. The houses in the area are gorgeous - and gardens perfectly manicured. It seemed that the famous people all had gates at the front, and not much to see - guess all the action is hidden away at the back. Apart from Dr Phil, whose house you could see lots of and was quite open. Then it was back down Rodeo Drive, and out to Santa Monica for lunch (amazing salad with pear & gorgonzola mmmmm), a bit of a listen to the great street entertainment - my fave was the drummer who just used old paint containers and metal things, and made it sound like drum n bass - and then back down the coast to get stuck in the traffic. Top down all the way baby. I had wicked hair by the time I got home! Loved Beverly Hills - but ugh, the pollution - it's overcast every morning until the sun burns off the cloud, and it's so hazy - probably a mixture of heat and pollution. It's strange when you know there are hills in front of you, but you can't see them!

LA & Anaheim

Well we've now had 3 full days in LA/Anaheim. We had a good flight over, thanks Air NZ, went pretty quickly but neither of us got any sleep - which means by the time we hit the sack in LA it was about 32 hours with no sleep. Eek. When we arrived we went for a wander around the nearest mall (big letdown), and managed to stay awake until 7.30pm. Swiftly proceeded by 14 hours sleep, it was an awesome night.

We took the next day pretty easy - went and wandered around Anaheim a bit, found a great gourmet pizza place for dinner, and then Nic arrived about 11pm from Vancouver. On Thursday we had our day trip - a full 11 hours exploring LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica & Venice Beach. We really enjoyed the trip - 10 years ago, I was Miss Independent, and you wouldn't have caught me dead on a tour - now, I'm older and wiser, and they're a brilliant use of your time, and give you great information. Downtown LA was a bore, Hollywood was grubbier than expected, but good to see the Hall of Fame and the foot/handprints in the concrete and the Hollywood sign. We really enjoyed the Sunset Strip & Beverly Hills - so many things we'd seen in the movies, the Viper Room where River Phoenix died on the footpath outside, the shop on Rodeo Drive where Julia Roberts got booted out of in Pretty Woman etc..... Rodeo Drive was very cool - all the high end chain stored, very flash - some you can only enter in by appointment - only 6 appointments a day! We stopped for lunch at the Farmers Market and the Grove.

After that it was out to Santa Monica, with it's super-wide beach, rollercoaster-laden pier, great shops & cafes, and laidback feel. Really enjoyed it here, it's the beachy LA feel that's great. We headed down to Venice Beach and Muscle Beach (guys lifting weights in the hot sun on the sand), which we didn't like so much - Venice is seedy and grotty. But the outdoor basketball courts (from White Men Can't Jump fame) add flavour. It was a long day, but well worthwhile.

Today's the day!

It's about an hour til we need to be at the airport now. We're all packed, fed and watered. Said our goodbyes, everyone keeps asking if we're excited - truth is we've been SO busy getting everything ready to go - moving out of our apartment, storing stuff, selling other stuff, etc - that we haven't had time to realise that there is light at the end of the tunnel! It's only now, that we're all done, that we can look forward to leaving.

I'm sick of winter - can't wait to arrive in LA, where it's about 29 degrees and sunny! Yay. Bring it on. Hoping for some good movies on the plane to keep us occupied, and the odd wee dram to warm us up. Farewell NZ - it's been great, but we'll be back eventually!

One week to go!

The countdown began ages ago, but now it's only one week until blast off. This time in a week we'll be over the Pacific somewhere, winging our way towards LA and 30 degrees. Nice.

Prep is going well. Fortunately, or unfortunately, our couches sold super-quick and we've been sitting on beanbags and swiss balls for the last week. So the apartment looks quite empty. And a bit like a Chinese laundry at times as we get everything washed and dried.

So I guess now was not the time for me to get addicted to Indiana Jones Lego game on XBox. As now I have to tearfully say goodbye to it in a few days once the TV sells. Is it crazy to want to take the XBox 360 with us? Noooooo............... surely not.

Looks like the temperatures in Vegas are a freakishly hot 44 degrees. So we'll be spending our time in the malls where there is air con. Let alone Death Valley, where it will be 50. Where is the Ice Age when you need it??!!