Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Flew in from Sydney to LA on July 17. I hired a convertible Spyder (inset right) and checked out Hollywood and the walk of fame (left). I've never seen so many Hummers and convertibles ever! I picked up my mate Ben the next day (he missed the flight we had together from Sydney). Together we cruised Mullholland Drive and looked out over LA (lower right), visited Beverly Hills (right), Rodeo Drive (lower left), Santa Monica Beach and then Venice Beach where Muscle Beach (right middle) is located and the men with oversized bisceps that can't run very fast work out (no I'm not jealous of them) and watched the guys playing ball.
Benny and I drove the Spyder to Vegas. If it wasn't for the weather you'd forget you were in the desert, 42 degrees celcius at 10.30pm on our arrival on the strip. Checked out all the casinos, they go on foreeeever... MGM Grand, the Sahara (where we stayed), the Bellagio (top fountain show), the one that looks like New York, the one that looks like the Pyramids, the Venecian (ie Venice), the Mirage. I can't say too much about this trip because Ben and I took the vow 'Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas' ;)
Ben and I found an enormous aquarium in one of the casinos & did a bit of fooling around.
Ben and I took a scenic day trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. The view from the air was amazing and then we took a bus around the rim to check a variety of vantage points. Like they say... it sure is a Grand Canyon.
We drove back from Vegas and hung out in the O.C. in the south of LA. The beaches were better and we happened to arrive in Newport at the same time as the US Surf Open was taking place on Huntington Beach (nice huh), flip side was everything was totally booked so we had to sleep in the convertible (Ben took the front and I took the back and stuck my legs out the window.
I compared my feet to Kelly Slater's and realised why I can't beat him on the Pro Circuit (the only reason being the guys feet are phenomonally wide). I dropped Ben off for the airport and went to the OC Fair which was pretty much like the Easter Show. I parked at Newport Peer to sleep in the car (again) and visited a pub on the beach where I hung out with Summer and her friends from the OC (ok... well she wasn't THE Summer but her name was Summer, and she was a brunette, and she and her friends do live in the OC, and they new people off Laguna Beach, so whats the difference hey). The following day I visited the Crystal Cathedral for a church service and then returned in the evening to see one of the greatest productions I have ever witnessed. Titled 'Creation', it detailed the 6 days of creation and included a movie screen larger than Imax, computer generated graphics, acrobats that twirled from the ceiling above you, actors and singers that moved about the stage and through the aisles and swung overhead, dinosaur sized creations each moving under the guide of small teams along with numerous smaller puppets, magnificent lighting and sound and special effects - when the stars formed glitter fell over the audience, when the flowers grew the entire place filled with their scent, and when the wind howled huge fans lashed at us. Amazing!
I dropped the Spyder off in LA and took a bus to San Diego where I chilled out in a hostel on the beach owned by the eccentric Roger. I made a day trip to Mexico to check out Tijuana but mainly to change over passports from my British to my Australian (its a long complex visa story). The border is rather notorious for its strictness and I prayed for favour crossing back in. The immigration officers shook their head at my visa which they said I had to get authorised and sent me to a building for which the line out the door consisted of 82 (I counted as I had plenty of time) Mexicans waiting for some kind of US entry. Around 15 were entering the building every hour, it was 6pm and I prepared for a long night when the head chief came out, muttered something in Spanish and the entire line disbanded running off for some other location. I asked him what was going on, he recognised my accent, took me inside as his last customer before closing and authorised my visa in minutes. Turns out his wife was from Melbourne and we talked AFL and he asked nothing of my passport changes. Praise the Lord!
I made my way back up the Californian coast and flew from LA to New Orleans. Stayed in the homely India House (right), with Indian religious paintings over all the walls. Made friends with a couple of Australian Air Force pilots (who flew Hercules) and checked out Burbon street together. Burbon street is a bit like the cross except girls in the street (just like anyone mind you) flash their boobs for cheap beads. Veering off Burbon Street I found some great live jazz music, every night was great jazz. I enjoyed a trip up the Mississippi on the Cajun Queen and checked out the cemeteries where everyone is buried in tomb structures because the land is all swamp. After several days of going to bed after 4am and waking up after 1pm I left for Florida to hang with a mate Rob.
