The Journey Begins....

Well, we left Brisbane at 10.20am on Sunday and arrived in Los Angeles at 6.00am the same day, having crossed the Pacific in 'unusual moderate turbulence' for about four hours. It really just rocked us into a sleepy zone and there we remained for the duration of the flight. Our first experience with USA Homeland Security was very uneventful and we were through customs without delay. So too, the taxi experience - the driver just packed up our luggage, took note of the address and drove us direct to Venice Beach Suites at Venice Beach.

So we had arrived......Our hotel was still locked up, the streets were nearly deserted and the promenade was alive with homeless people and street vendors getting ready for a big day. This is Memorial Day Weekend (like our ANZAC Day) and visitors are expected to swarm to Venice as it is affectionately known to enjoy the markets, the beach (wide as a football field), and skatepark (huge), the surf (yes - there is surf), the sounds, smells and absolute atmosphere of this place. There is everything here from freak shows to drug deals, from ventriloquists to vagabonds, the very rich and the very poor.

A little bit Byron, a little bit Mullum, a little bit Nimbin (read Mardigrass) and a big bit Surfers Paradise/Gold Coast.

This is the home of 'handbag puppies and dogs' - every breed, every colour, little dogs being carried, cuddled and cared for like little people and sadly we have noticed many people living on the streets and beaches in conditions worse than some dogs. They try so hard not to beg and will do anything for a quarter or a dime. How's that ! I'm finally working out the coin; paper money was easy - a bit like our old paper currency $1 & $2 notes but the dimes, quarters & cents are very similar.

extra wide beaches

Yesterday, Monday, was the public holiday and again there were even more people at Venice Beach. We took a walk 2.5 miles along the promenade to Santa Monica. We walked along the pier (jostling amongst the thousands of others trying to do the same) then headed into Santa Monica Mall. It was fantastic, again people everywhere but so much to see and do - live music (all genres), street theatre, cafes with good coffee, shops open and 'on sale for Memorial Day', arts galleries, public art everywhere - beautiful bronzes and fountains. There were beautiful kites flying (all red/white/blue) and the Navy Band came and performed in the local beachfront park.

Today, we took on the public transport system and were very successful and yes, we are proud of ourselves. Living in Northern NSW is to be  'public transport' challenged so taking buses AND the subway were both new experiences. Excellent service, clean buses and trains, the subway system is very simple and easy to use. We first went to Hollywood, walked the streets, saw the stars on the sidewalk, checked out lots of studios, etc then took a tour of the area. We felt a bit uncomfortable hanging outside 'famous peoples' homes - won't do that again.

Johno met Shrek and we spent some time admiring the music displays at the Hollywood Hard Rock Cafe. Sounds a bit too touristy for the Johno's, doesn't it?? After lunch we took the subway into Downtown for a quick visit. We will go back there towards the end of our trip. Tomorrow we are off on our first road trip - taking three days for drive to San Francisco. We plan to take to coast road and stop a night or two along the way.

Now for some things I 've discovered:
you can get medically approved for marijuana use and then buy at local kiosks
butchers shop is called a meat mart
soft drink is called soda
take-away is take-out
graffiti permits allow you to spray paint on public walls
everyone lines up on the beaches - all along the two mile stretch

Well dear readers, forgive my ramblings on this my first attempt. I'm sure to get better, and will add photos as my skills improve and time permits. Please let me know what you want to hear about and what I can do to make this more interesting for you. Please send this on to others who may wish to follow us.
Next stop - San Francisco......