Venice Beach, Hollywood, LA Lakers and the LAPD!

Yesterday we were up early (ish!) and went out and explored LA. Our first stop was Venice Beach where we strolled down the promenade people watching and boy are there some funny people! We also saw a bulldog wearing sunglasses outside a tattoo shop - you see it all here in LA!
We then continued up the coast and walked around the pier at Santa Monica, a totally different feel to Venice Beach despite only being 10 minutes further up. For lunch we stopped off at the university campus of UCLA in a district called Westwood just a few blocks away from Beverly Hills. It gave us a good feel for typical American college life. After filling our stomachs with Mexican and pizza we drove along Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive! No celebs though, despite Rach thinking she saw Bruce Willis in a car!! We then made our way to Hollywood driving along Sunset Boulevard. Once we arrived at Hollywood we parked and walked along the strip where they have the stars on the pavement. We walked around the Kodak Theatre were the Oscars took place just three days before - again we saw some funny people in fancy dress not necessarily for any reason apart from just being noticed walking around! Later on we looked at the skyline of LA from the Griffith Observatory before heading to the Staples Center for a bite to eat prior to the LA Lakers game. We met up with Chris & Diana, Diana's brother Brian and a chap called Michael who is working with Chris on his Africa project. The game was fantastic with Kobe Bryant scoring in the last second to win the game! We also saw Eddie Murphy and Russell Brand on courtside!
It was pretty late when we headed home and just before we turned into where we were staying suddenly from behind us we saw flashing blue & red lights!! The LAPD stopped us because one of our headlamps had blown! Mark kindly explained to the policeman he was from the UK and borrowing the car. The cop asked for his license which he looked at like it was a coupon for a McDonald's meal - he had no idea whether it was real!! A great end to a great day and our last on our travels!
We leave today at 6pm from LA arriving home tomorrow at 12:30.
We're really looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone. We've had an amazing time and memories we'll keep forever.
Love to all.
Mark & Rach. xxx

The City of Angels!

We arrived safely at LA on Saturday and experienced the evening of Saturday the 6th twice! Chris kindly picked us up and saved us the effort of trying to get to the Wades pad - thankfully as we were very tired. That evening we were taken to a very nice Japanese restaurant in Seal Beach. The chefs were very entertaining and had obviously been on the saki along with their guests! Despite them being probably being a bit squiffy the food was fantastic. Back at the house we spent the rest of the evening sharing stories of traveling and showed 50% of our photos!! Even better than that Chris got out his old slides of his and Diana's travels in the late 70's. It got to midnight before we knew it and decided to have the second installment of photos on Sunday.
Yesterday we had a very lazy start and slept really well - much needed. Chris & Diana returned from church and we went into town for brunch. We met up with Shane (Chris and Diana's son) and continued sharing our stories. After brunch we took a stroll down onto the Seal Beach pier and saw locals fishing and hungry pelicans hovering for scraps. In the afternoon Chris took us on a great tour of Orange County stopping along the coast so we could appreciate the beauty of the area. That evening we again got the photos out and we compared ours with Chris & Diana's pictures of NZ which were taken 28 years ago. Again another late night, this time after midnight and several bottles of red wine consumed.
Today we went to Universal Studios!! As we drove to the theme park we found it funny that our experiences during our travels have been so diverse - our third day into our time away we were at the Taj Mahal and our third to last day would be spent in Universal Studios!! Two places at different ends of the spectrum. We spent the day going on the various rides including the Simpsons and Jurassic Park! We got back to the house around 7pm and watched the Oscar ceremony which happened just down the road yesterday.
Tomorrow we're going to see more LA sights including downtown, Beverly Hills etc before going to watch the LA Lakers play basketball against the Toronto Raptors at the Staples Center.
Not long now so there will probably be one more blog update before we get home.
Love to all.
Mark & Rach. xxx

Chilling in Christchurch

Yesterday we left Akaroa and headed to Christchurch. It was quite an emotional day really seeing we wouldn't be camping again (not!). Despite the trials we've had with the tent and the weather we have really enjoyed camping and have met some great people in doing so. Now we have to master camping again back home but with the added complexity of Poppy!!

We arrived in Christchurch around lunchtime and checked into the hotel. Immediately when felt spoilt with real pillows and duvets!! It was difficult to leave the luxury of a room and knowing we wouldn't have to blow up our bed when we returned but we had to try and get rid of our camping gear, either selling it or giving it away to charity. Unfortunately 'Cash Converters' wouldn't take it as they had too much stuff already so the Salvation Army benefitted! After getting rid of the gear we spent the rest of the day strolling around Christchurch, a very English feeling place. Last night we ordered a take away from a Thai restaurant and sat watching TV.

'Ah Heaven' was the feeling this morning after a full nights sleep and knowing the toilet was only 5 metres away and you didn't have to get fully dressed to go there! Today we have spent the day again walking around the city visiting the Botanical Gardens and the various squares. Tomorrow is Chinese New Year so there is a lot going on over the next couple of days. Tonight we plan to go out for our first meal in 8 weeks and are very excited.

We leave for LA tomorrow via Auckland so most of the time will be spent in the airport tomorrow waiting for flights. The flight to LA takes around 12 hours so hopefully we'll sleep seeing it leaves at 23:00.

Looking forward to seeing you all in less than a week.

Love

Mark & Rach. xxx

Dunedin - Sandfly Bay

We arrived in Dunedin on Monday afternoon and thankfully it wasn't raining, however, a tent pole broke while putting it up - Mark is looking forward to Christchurch and no tent erecting! Dunedin is a little city really but very busy due to the student population. We spent the afternoon walking around the town before picking up some supplies for dinner. That night we spent most of the time chatting to a French Canadian (FC) couple who had sailed from Peru to New Zealand - very interesting (proper travellers)!
Yesterday we drove out of the city to the coastal area and walked along Sandfly Bay where we saw 5 lazy sea lions chilling on the beach. It was fantastic to see these large animals in their natural environment and not in a park. After spending several hours there we drove further round the peninsula and walked to a place called 'The Chasm' - a deep gorge in the rock with the waves crashing below. Back at the campsite the weather came in and Rach spent the afternoon doing a jigsaw while Mark read his newspaper! Last night we again had dinner in the camp kitchen with the FC couple discussing travelling and our experiences.
Today we had intended to stay at either Oamaru or Timaru on the East Coast but after chatting last night we headed to Akaroa which is 83 km from Christchurch. It's a small town with a big French feel! The scenery as we drove into the various bays and channels before we arrived at the campsite reminded us of Russell in the Bay of Islands (one of our first stops in NZ). No surprise - another beautiful place. We spent the afternoon walking along the marina and mooched along the row of shops on the front, stopping for a refreshment along the way! Tonight is our last night camping in NZ as we're staying in a hotel in Christchurch (for convenience) before flying to LA on Saturday.
Hope all is good at home and this time next week we'll be flying home!
Love to all.
Mark & Rach. xxx

On Saturday morning we left Queenstown for Te Anau about 200km South. The journey as ever was filled with stunning backdrops and mountain ranges. In some areas the scenery almost looked like it was painted on - it really is just endless here! We arrived in Te Anau around lunchtime and after pitching our tent we had some lunch and then went for a mooch around the pretty town. That evening we planned our trip to Milford Sounds and then made a very hot curry for dinner before relaxing in the camp TV room and watching a James Bond film.

On Sunday morning after breakfast we got on our way towards Milford Sounds. The journey can take over 2 hours if you get stuck behind the rows of tour buses but we had left early enough to fortunately be ahead of them all. Along the way there were various stop off points to admire more incredible scenery. It was raining which added to the impressive waterfalls cascading down the cliff faces as we drove through the valley created by a long gone glacier. Many of the slopes had snow gathered in cracks and crevasses where the sun was unable to reach.

When we arrived at Milford it really was teaming it down. This was expected as they have up to 7 metres of rain a year and it usually rains for 200 out of the 365 days. We had a while to wait before our 1.15pm boat trip around the Sounds so found a cafe to keep dry.

At 1pm we went to the terminal which was heaving with tourists and as expected lots of Japanese snapping away with their cameras!

We boarded our small boat with 68 other people and set off. The trip took 2 hours and the commentary about the Sounds was very imformative. Due to the heavy rain the waterfalls were really impressive, however it did make it a bit tricky to take pictures without you and the camera getting soaked! We saw a fur seal colony and even got to see penguins, which is very rare this time of year. The boat took us out to the edge of the Tasman Sea where it got a bit choppy but sadly due to the weather we couldn't see very far out. The most impressive thing about being on the small boat was it allowed you to get closer to the rock face and under many of the larger waterfalls.

Back on dry land we drove back to Te Anau and had a chilled out evening hiding from the rain. It continued to rain all through the night and this morning we woke up to it still hammering on the tent. The tent had also leaked during the night and Mark woke up to a soggy sleeping bag where he'd been dripped on all night. We had to pack up so chucked the very wet tent in the car and prayed for dryer weather in Dunedin our next destination.

We arrived in Dunedin around lunchtime to thankfully no rain. Pitching the tent for one of the last times was no less stressful however, as another pole broke as we tried to put it up. Without reserves we just had to snap the broken piece off and after nearly an hour it was up. With one pole considerably shorter now than the other it's a bit lopsided and we just hope we have no rain or wind for our last 3 nights camping!

We plan to spend the next couple of days in Dunedin doing some walks and hopefully seeing some of the wildlife.

Not long now!

Lots of love

Rach & Mark. xxx