Hey all. Well here I am, on the other side of the world and on the other side of about 33 hours without sleep, but we all made it here safe and sound, and without major incident. And with many, many photos. Just a quick warning, these photos have come straight from the digital camera and as such, they're pretty big. So be prepared for a bit of waiting if you're planning on looking at them all.
After a great night at the Valedictory, I went home and got about 3 hours sleep. Waking up the next morning and feeling just a little worse for wear, I joined the rest of the family for the trip out to the airport. After getting one last glimpse at the Melbourne skyline, we proceeded to the airport where, in line with tightened security measures, we were warned about unattelded baggage. Having passed through the check-in process, we proceeded to our lovely plane, a QANTAS 747 flying flight number QF 093. Once on board, we took off on time for the approximately 13 hour trip. Luckily, the flight was not full, and so there was room to stretch out a bit and even lie down, but as anyone who has tried to sleep on a plane will tell you, it's no mean feat to drop off when you're floating 10,000 metres in the air above the Pacific Ocean. So it was a long, relatively uneventful flight punctuated only by a brief spot of turbulence and what seems to me the woefully inappropriate screening of thriller movie 'Red Eye' (anyone who's seen the film will know exactly what I'm talking about). Either way, we approached LA with the rising of the sun, touching down at 7:20 AM local time. Luckily, none of us were carrying any explosives, weaponry, fruit or outwardly apparent disdain for American political leaders, and as such, passed through immigration and customs without event. We were in LA. We took the shuttle bus past the archetypal palm trees and to the car hire office, then grabbed our minivan and headed for Venice Beach. Venice beach, Los Angeles draws its name from the numerous canals that once graced its landscape, now replaced by roads and traffic lights, leaving only a remnant few bodies of water to remind us of the beach's namesake. Nowadays, Venice beach is home to skaters, surfers, body builders (sorry, no pics of them), cops, people selling drug paraphenalia and vendors with a less than satisfactory knowledge of Australian culture and/or basic literacy.
Once we were finished in Venice Beach, we took the scenic route back to our hotel in Anaheim. Travelling through the canyons of Beverly Hills and via the famous Mulholland Drive, we were afforded spectacular views of the San Fernando valley. We also managed to look back on the now smog bound downtown LA district, which had earlier been remarkably clear. Finally, we made it back to our hotel, situated just 2 blocks away from Disneyland and, after a short delay and a lovely meal at the local IHOP, settled into our rooms.
So, it certainly was an eventful day. I learnt a few things about LA and, I think, the US as a whole. Everything is bigger and wierder here, from the local Target to the Mormon temple to the beautiful mountain ranges surrounding the city. But it's also absolutely fascinating, the whole place has this strange life and vitality that exists at the same time as an utterly bizzare fakeness. And the sun goes down before 5:30... it's all very odd, but very, very cool. Bring on Disneyland!