Malibu and more

Hiring push bikes this morning allowed us to get about and up streets we would never have found in a car or on a bus.

That's how we found the marina - Marina del Ray - where you can tell the poor people at a glance because their boats are only worth about a million.

This place was massive and got bigger as we pedalled further. Some serious boats park up there, with some odd people dotted about - like this bloke whom we initially thought was dead but it turned out to  just be doing that Californian thing and kicking back. On the ultimate water bed.

The surrounding beach area was immaculate, being groomed carefully by a gang of blokes doing community service under the control of the Beaches and Harbour Dept. Not a bad way to serve out your sentence.

The Venice canal area is between the marina and Venice Beach and was pretty disappointing, a bunch of water filled ditches not doing very much. I'm not sure what we expected but that wasn't it, although we now think that we probably didn't find the actual main bit. Oh well.

From the marina, we pedalled back along the Ocean Front Walk cycleway, stopping to watched skaters in the skate area, then for some lunch, before turning back just past Santa Monica.

OFW cycleway actually goes under the pier, which creaks and groans with the weight of cars driving on it and their portly occupants. Creaky freaky but thankfully a quick dash. And all along the waterfront are reminders that although this is actually a very nice beach area, it is also potentially a danger zone. Not sure what the beach front house owners plan on doing should a tsunami hit though.

We dodged mad segway riders, grand piano playing tramps ( with cat) and a man taking a snake for a walk on the way back, then took the car for a spin along to Malibu and Paradise Cove, about 20 miles north along the coast.

On the way to the car, we met three blokes who'd fitted 60cc engines to their pushbikes and were riding around the area, doing stunts and just enjoying themselves. Very cool and very innovative.

Malibu is known for its celebrity homes but unlike in Beverly Hills, they are quite small and secluded, many being hidden in a gated community at Malibu cove. But as none of us are slightly interested in that sort of thing, we just drove on by to the cafe at Paradise Cove, which is on an area of beach often used for filming. The Rockford Files ( ancient TV show) was apparently filmed there. It was secluded and quiet, and relatively unspoilt. The food  was good too - massive ice creams and pies.

In the evening, we drove to Culver City, a suburb adjacent to Venice Beach to see Brooke, a friend of  Nadine's. She was nice, and we ate out with her.