Melbourne to Los Angeles

We didn't get as much sleep as we would've liked due to our late arrival last night, but it was still great to have a bed and shower to start the day too. Even more so for Ted who used the hotel gym too. The hotel included breakfast near the reception area, and also a transfer bus to the airport. The bus would've been a much better option if the driver didn't decide to keep delaying our departure to wait for yet another guest who was late to the transfer!

Once we arrived at the airport, our flight was delayed for an hour, meaning we had more time to sit around, waiting and wondering if we were going to get business class. During our waiting process, we saw Bree Wheeler, one of our friends from Ted's ground school at QantasLink, who was similarly flying to Los Angeles that day. Thankfully luck came for all three of us, as we all got business class to LA. Woo hoo!!

Business Class was, of course, wonderful. Just being able to get a sleep as well as special meal options makes it all worthwhile. Once we arrived, we called the hotel and asked them to send a transfer bus for us. Unfortunately all that time saved not checking in a bag was lost because the airport transfer never arrived, meaning we needed to take a taxi instead. Since we couldn't check in yet, we left our bags at reception and took another transfer back to the airport to collect our car hire.

Since we had a whole day free, we thought we would check out some sights. For lunch, we stopped at a local supermarket, where we bought some food from the deli before continuing on. Ted was really keen on seeing the Hollywood Sign up close but it ended up being a real chore. After driving through several Hollywood neighbourhoods to try and see it up close, we found a walking trail that would lead us to it. We scrapped that idea when we realised it was basically an hour walk in the blazing California sun before we would reach it. We again tried to desperately find somewhere in the suburban hills to photograph the sign up close before a squad car told us to get back in our car and leave. Well, we tried!

We then headed to Mann's Chinese Theatre, which I didn't really have great memories of when I visited there first in 1992. Well the feelings still didn't change, as it is still as run down as before, albeit with more tourists now. We took a few random photos before losing interest and continuing on our way.

Something I really wanted to see was the house used for the outdoor shots for "The Brady Bunch" TV show. Thanks to the magic of GPS, it was easy to find and I got some great pictures too. There is now a fence around the house, which I suspect is to stop crazed fans from knocking on the door, expecting Alice or one of the kids to answer!

Once returning to our hotel, we found out that Bree is still in LA. She was meant to fly to Nashville but couldn't get on the flight. The unfortunate thing is that her bag did go, meaning she had no change of clothes or toiletries. We invited her to join us for dinner in Santa Monica that evening. After arriving, we walked around the pier area for a while before settling on a large (and somewhat expensive) bar restaurant. We had originally considered a Mexican restaurant on the pier Ted and I had been to before, but changed our mind as there was a half hour wait. At this place, we ended up waiting just as long! The food was good, but the cost wasn't!

It's good to be in LA again especially after the cold of Australia. Tomorrow we're here again to explore.Read more