Exploring LA - Day One

We had a good old poke about today. After a short walk on the Venice Beach boardwalk, which isn't a boardwalk at all but a smooth paved hard cycle and skating path, and waiting for the tour bus which didn't turn up,  we took the car instead. That turned out to be a very good call as we managed to get about all over the place, and probably went to more places than the bus would have taken us anyway.

We had a quick look down here last night but couldn't see much a it was dark. But this morning, people were out in force with various wheeled things.

There was also a surprising amount of homeless people, many of who had been sitting smoking along the front last night. They were just waking up in little camps secreted amongst the various bits of beach furniture and sports equipment such as hand ball courts.

Santa Monica is just along the coast, maybe  two miles or so and its markedly posher than Venice Beach. After getting our bearings with the help of a traffic cop who approached us to move us on, we got to the centre but then drove onto Beverly Hills, intending to come back later in the day.

Los Angeles is  a city built for car travel, and as such, once you get your head around how the streets work, it is surprisingly easy to find your way around. Thus we did a tour of the bits we'd heard of such as Rodeo Drive and its posh shops, then Wilshire Boulevard, before heading up to Sunset Strip and Hollywood.

Beverly Hills Police Station is something else, looking more like a flash corporate flagship than a place  for locking up villains.

The Strip was just as we had expected, as was Hollywood Boulevard, with its hoards of tourists and people dressed up as movie characters trying to charm money out of them. It is worth a look though, given its status as the self proclaimed centre of the entertainment world. 

And where else would you find Batman waiting for the bus with Captain Jack Sparrow?

And then there's the Chinese Theatre and the handprints....

But it all gets boring after a while as its only make believe stuff. However, if you go to Hollywood, you have to see the sign, which actually has nothing at all to do with the movie business but was an advertising sign for new houses back n the day. It was originally Hollywoodland but they lopped off the last four letters. It eventually became so dilapidated that by the early 1970s, it was due for demolition but in true Hollywood style, good old Alice Cooper and Mr Playboy Hugh Heffner led a campaign to save it for posterity. They probably donated some cash too as it still stands looking down from the hills over the urban sprawl of LA.

The a Griffin Observatory is up that way too, perched high above the Californian chapparel with great views over the LA urban sprawl. The smog was ok albeit a bit hazy but the city grid system was still visible. It's so ordered and different to European cities with their jumble of buildings from various ages, and usually based on a river. LA is surprisingly low level too with a uniformity of buildings, occasionally punctuated by small groups of taller offerings dotted across the skyline.

It's a bit weird too being in a place where the 'sights' are mostly focused on popular culture and image rather than trade or survival. It's just different. But the most surprising thing for me is the size if the people - fat and enormously fat rule. Of course there are regular sized people but they are easily outnumbered by the porkers. 

By the time we got back to Santa Monica, my phone and camera had both died, so I had no means of taking pictures and had to be intent with just watching and trying to remember. There was a whole outdoor yoga thing going on down by the pier, with some amazing displays of contortion and control. Similarly right next door on the beach, an outdoor gym was in full swing with people climbing ropes and going through gym routines while people watched. Definitely no fatties doing that stuff. 

There's a pier In Santa Monica too, complete with the usual collection of pier things - candy floss stalls, a merry go found, doughnut emporia and people milling about doing nothing in particular. It's not that different from Brighton or Eastbourne except being in America, it's bigger. And it has a car park on it with huge, thirsty vehicles queuing out to sea to save their occupants the trouble of  walking the few hundred metres of board. No wonder they're having to strengthen it.

Made it to LA

So, we've been gong now for 3  hours, having taken off and hour later than scheduled because of a change of runway. Apparently, a fire a few miles from Heathrow was restricting visibility and causing chaos in the process. A bit of a queue ensued but we got away in the end, heading out over Ireland, Iceland, Canada an then the USA.

Its a pretty full flight, with some annoying seat banging French men sitting behind our row. Whilst a bit of jostling is to be expected -  this is economy after all  - full on pulling of the seat head and kneeing in the back is not great on a long distance flight. Polite looks followed by a few glares between the seats failed to provoke any response but a bit of strategic seat reclining did the trick.

We're just going over the coast of Greenland now, at 35000 feet or 10668m, with seven hours and 3858 miles/ 6209 km to go. Can't see anything out of the window though apart from blinding sunshine and cloud. Having been fed and watered ( four cheese totalling washed down with red wine) a snooze is next on the agenda. Lets hope the pilots don't follow suite.

90 mins later…..just woke up and peered out of the left window and through a gap in the clouds to see icebergs along a coastline, and snow covered miles of nothing. I think it must have been the western coast of Greenland and it was spectacular - all golden light and silhouettes.

That's one of the things about air travel - although its far from my favourite thing - being transported across vast distances and having a great view of things that you'd never be able to see from ground level, or even get to. It's a bit of a non involved way to travel, but it has its place all the same, especially when riding is not an option. Travel has become such a common place thing that we take it so for granted, whether it just be for a package holiday or 'do it yourself wandering'. To even have the opportunity to go places is one thing, but to be able to use the worlds global infrastructure  is incredible , especially as just ordinary people. with ordinary means I suppose it comes down to choice and how you spend your money. Some people like to stay put and focus on their home, others like to wander and see what there is to see. Its just a different viewpoint.

Just gone over Baffin Island. Couldn't see much of it though due to more blinding sun and cloud obscuring the ground, now across northern Canada and heading onto the NW USA.

Later…..not that long from landing now. Came across the Rockies near Calgary and then down via Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and over the Grand Canyon area. Clear skies too, so plenty of topography spotting.

Finally got here, having made up the time we lost in London. Getting into the USA took ages - a huge modern airport as you would expect but not very good organisation in customs. Had an altercation with the bloke who dealt with us, a stroppy little bloke called 'Phung'  according to his name badge. He wanted to see my boarding pass which is on my phone as is all electronic check in in London. But he got very upset when I got it out.

' No, no phones'

' But its an electronic boarding pass and that's the only way you can see it'

' No phones - they're not allowed in here. Cant you read?'

' A little, but what I can't do is show you my boarding pass any other way than  on my 

  phone because its an electronic boarding pass.'

' Well I want to see it'

' You you do it then. Here you are - turn the phone on and read it.'

' I told you, no phones.'

' Well what do you want me to do then?. You've asked me for my boarding pass, I've 

  tried to show it to you, but you want let me. You tell me what to do. '

  Silence, then 

 'Ummm…..well….uummm.'

I just looked at him and waited for him to come up with a suggestion, but after glaring at me for about 10 seconds, he said:

' Forget it. You carrying any meat or fish products? No? Have a nice day' and then let me through without any further questions. WTF?

Its very strange when people do that sort of thing, issue an impossible ultimatum. Of course they have a job to do and that's not a problem, and of course I'm going to comply. But I cant if he won't let me, and it did cross my mind that he might send me back. He clearly had no perception of modern travelling, despite working in border control in a major city. Its not as though electronic boarding passes are unusual anyway; that's how it all over Europe and I suspect the US because otherwise why would airlines issue passes in such a format if they weren't accepted that way upon arrival in the USA? No, this was down to one man not keeping up to date.

We're in Venice Beach now, an interestingly daggy suburb, seemingly populated by ageing hippy skateboarders and weed smokers, all doing their thing along the beach front. Its 1930 and pitch black now, 0345 back in London. Time difference has always fascinated me, pockets of people in different places across the world all doing similar things, but at different times. This time yesterday, we would have been fast asleep in our own beds, our day having finished, while these people were probably doing exactly as they're doing now, as there are still a good few hours to go before things wind down for another night. But we've been up since 0630 and are starting to flag, so exploring will have to start proper tomorrow.

We're off!

On way to Heathrow now en route to California for a few weeks before Hawaii then Oz. Feels really weird to finally be finally on way. House looks oddly empty too but on the plus side, it's given the cat something new to explore. 

Nads managed to pack her life into a big rucksack and a small case. Even Gordon has managed with one bag, albeit enormous. 

Getting very nervous now....

......Wednesday evening and its suddenly all become very real; two days and we're off. Cant quite believe it.

This week has been very difficult, saying goodbye to friends and family and then sorting out last minute bits and pieces, like the last bits of clearing the house out, either taking stuff to the charity shop or tip. We've given quite a bit away too. A few more chores remain, then we've got to pack on Friday. But that wont be a problem as we've got hardly anything left to take with us anyway. And the irony is that on this trip we have a huge baggage allowance - two bags each of 23kgs - yet for the first time ever, we have nothing to take with us because we've chucked it all away.

For those of you who want to know about the bikes we'll be riding, here you are Honda CT110cc jobs, as used by Australia Post...mean machines. Eat your hearts out.

It's almost time....

Well, we've had our leaving party so now we really do have to go. The house is sorted (almost) and stuff has been sold or given away ( including the car, my Hornet, a monkey bike, bicycle etc - all very sad but it had to be done) and the adventure begins on September 28th.

London to LA, stop in LA for a few days, hire a car, drive through Arizona and see some stuff, arrive in San Fran, fly to Hawaii, spend a week there with two sons ( who will hopefully have remembered to fly there via Vancouver) and Nadine's brother and his girlfriend before said sons return to London and everybody else heads to Sydney.

Once in Sydney, we (Belle, Nadine and Gordon) start the saga of retrieving our stuff, which is currently at sea somewhere between the UK and the bottom of the world ( but hopefully not the bottom of the sea). There is a bit of a fiasco brewing there as the shipping company has mucked us about a bit and our stuff will probably arrive later than it should as a result. Ironically, we have very little stuff but as its riding gear, we sort of need it from the start. So, fingers crossed.

Then we have about two weeks to collect the Postie bikes and get down to the Snowy Mountains for a weekend ride. Jacqui ( who will be riding with us) has sourced and prepped them and is currently looking after them.


We've decided to ride Postie bikes because apart from being cool, they're tough, small, easy to service and manoeuvre, as well as cheap to run. And having lived off small bikes on several trips, we know they'll do just fine. It also means that we'll be forced to keep gear to a minimum, just taking essentials rather than 'just incase' stuff.

Jacqui sourced them from the Australian Postal Service who retire them a 30k kms or so when they are still in good nick. They are basic carburettor bikes  so easy to work on and we have a track record with these little fellas now, so we should be fine. And we have a year to explore the whole of Oz and will then go to NZ ( maybe/probably) Cant think that far ahead as yet though.

Whilst Australia is huge, and has some extreme climates, and the populated bits are mostly around the coast, the place does have an infrastructure - roads, telecommunications etc- that works, even in the middle. So although we need to be - and will be - prepared and self sufficient, we will also be within realistic reach of civilisation. That is very unlike some of our other trips where we have been in the wilderness, very much on our own, and without any real help options. The key is responsibility. It's down to us to look after ourselves, just as its down to us to make sure we have what we need, know how to use it, and do so, should the need arise. It's not a theme park, and although nobody can plan for every eventuality, we should be in a position to look after each other in most situations.