Los Angeles - California

The train ride was around 3 hours to Los Angeles from where we caught a bus to LAX airport to pick up a rental car. That’s when the fun started! Firstly we couldn’t spot a shuttle to take us to the Ace car hire office. When we asked the airport information how to get to Ace they gave us details using a rival car hire’s shuttle. So on we got and of course landed up in the middle of nowhere and not an Ace office in sight! So a couple of taxi rides later we managed to find our way only to be told that they didn’t actually have the car we wanted and so had to settle on what can only be described as a Hulk of a vehicle.

Once we had figured out driving on the wrong side of the road and navigated our way to our hotel in Long Beach we settled and unpacked our bags. We then headed out for a little walk of the area and to grab some lunch....interesting! We then spent the rest of the afternoon chilling and trying to fix our laptop which seemed to be dying a quick and painful death....!

Later that evening we headed out to the waterfront in Long Beach and had a great meal of sushi at Tokyo Wako before stepping into the Springbok bar for a night cap. Apart from all the SA rugby paraphernalia on the walls there wasn’t much “Springbokkie” about the place. It was full of Americans, only sold American beer and a DJ who was playing hip hop at crazy decibels. Along with American Football playing on the screens it was very much non South African. Anyway we enjoyed a couple of beers and made our way home.

We woke up nice and early on Friday morning for our fun day out at Universal Studios, jumped into the Hulk and dodged the crazy traffic till we finally found ourselves at the entrance to this huge world of entertainment! We started by saying hello to various characters and then headed for our first ride..... The Simpsons! This is a great ride and the 3D / rollercoaster effects were so real it was brilliant. We then visited a behind the scenes talk on how Universal Studios creates the special effects on its movies and after a quick snack we headed to the studio tour which took us behind the scenes to various sets from movies and television programmes including War of the Worlds, Jaws, Desperate Housewives, CSI, Psycho etc etc. We then headed to Shrek in 4D and after building up the courage we jumped onto the Jurassic Park ride which included a perilous 80 foot vertical drop into water.

You’d have thought that by this time we would be exhausted but fuelled on whatever gives kids their energy we queued for the Water World show which was outstanding, and then headed back for a second dose of Simpsons before catching the last entry to the House of Horrors. By then the amusement park closed and it was time to make our way outside and find somewhere for dinner. Before dinner we did a little Christmas shopping and then dived into Tony Romas for guaranteed tasty ribs! It was one of the best days out and made us feel like we were kids again. We then headed home thoroughly exhausted.

We woke up on Saturday morning to not the nicest day weather wise but jumped into the Hulk all the same and headed for the Pacific Highway to take a drive along the coast. We saw some stunning beaches and beautiful towns including Newport and Laguna Beach before finally arriving at La Jolla where we stopped for a tasty lunch and watched some of the crazy folk surfing in the chilly sea waters. This is a stunning town just outside San Diego which has gorgeous beaches and a laid back lifestyle which is hugely attractive! A great place to live. From there we drove back along the main highway to Los Angeles for a quick rest before making our way out for a drink or two on our final night.

It was a very chilly evening, although not as chilly as some of the locals wrapped up with scarves, coats and beanies made out, but cold enough for a jersey. We drove around for a while to find a parking on a busy Saturday night (you have to be careful driving around, if you pass certain spots 3 times within an hour they can fine you – this is to discourage the gangs cruising certain areas!). We finally found a parking and then walked a few blocks and found on a local Sports bar for a few drinks. The place was busy enough and with all the highlights from the College Football on the big screen we settled down for a couple before heading back for a good night sleep.

We woke up on Sunday morning and made a few family phone calls before packing up and checking out of our hotel. For our last day we decided to drive into Beverly Hills and do some sightseeing. We parked near Rodeo Drive and strolled the shopping precinct. The shops were amazing but there were no treats on this travel budget so we grabbed a Starbucks and hopped back into our car to make our way to Hollywood. After driving around for ages trying to find a parking space (there are so many time restrictions around here) we ended up parking in a multi story and then walked along Sunset Boulevard. The place was rammed with tourists and doubles of famous movie stars. After an enjoyable walk we stopped into the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood, which ended up being very average, before V decided to get the tattoo she had always wanted.

We stopped at the most respectable tattoo shop on the strip and after some research on the Internet found exactly what she had in mind. Ray was our assigned tattoo artist and he was a lovely guy, despite being heavily tattooed and looking pretty scary! He did an excellent job, and despite a bit of pain V was really happy with the finished article. It was now 7pm and we had to make a quick dash to drop off the rental car and catch the shuttle to the airport. We got there with plenty of time to spare so we could do a little shopping, but LAX has the worst Duty Free and shopping area of almost any airport we have been do – it is dreadful.

Finally it was time to board our midnight flight to Australia, so after a great trip in LA (and the USA) here are our highlights and lowlights:

- Universal Studios, one of the best days out on tour so far!
- The drive down the california Coast, and La Jolla in particular – a beautiful town on the coast with a great way of life
- Courteous drivers all over California – only for pedestrians though!
- LAX airport is rubbish, such a disappointment for a world class city!