Sunday 11th September

What a super long day ! Everyone made it onto the bus first thing in the morning. Check in went smoothly and we arrived at the departure gate just in time:

The flight was on time and fairly good. Some got to sleep, others just went on a movie watching feast. I would say we are all now up to date with the latest movies.  Apparently Beaver comes highly recommended.

It took us just over an hour to get through customs in LA. Colin was interrogated about his visit, Matt was pulled aside just in case he was sneaking in some extra food, and Dave kept running into people he knew.

Our van driver was patiently waiting for us outside and the rest was really straight forward. Arriving at the hotel, they managed to open up one room for us to store our luggage, while the other rooms were still being cleared and cleaned, since we arrived at 9am. We dumped all our stuff, got changed into some summer gear and headed for the beach.

A little bite of breakfast at Venice Beach.  A strong coffee and some greasy food.

Dave was the only the one willing to give the rings a try. Looks really easy ?  Well , he went back after dinner and apparently became new King of the Santa Monica Rings.

Now, while Dave was hangin around, Matt did not waste any time getting to know the locals. I think he now owns a new shirt and a blank CD .

Eventually all the excitement caught up, and we decided to just wait around until our rooms are ready.  What a superb day ! Dave was drying out in the sun,since he was brave enough to venture into the ocean for a swim. 

Colin and a police car .....  don't ask ........  I don't know.

At 2pm our lift arrived for the city tour. Might as well take a quick look around while we can. 

First stop was Malibu. 

We passed these flags on the way, tribute to 9/11 ( 10th anniversary)

Eventually it all became too much for our Queensland friend and after a lot of head bopping, he just had to give in. Not even the Cherry Coke could keep this one awake.

Of course, Hollywood was on the list.  Spot the tourists .....

Jason's been there ....

Matt's  been there ....

Dave's been there ....

Andrew's been there ...



Oh, I was there too.

And Colin made it ......

Dusty was there first ...

Hollywood Boulevard and the walk of fame.  You would not believe how many photo's we have between the lot of us of stars on the pavement that we cannot read due to the sun glare, but we have them anyway

  and another star photo...

Yeah, well. It had to happen.

And some more looking at stars ...

unit we found the right ones ..........

Finally, back to the car to go and find something really interesting

NOW THIS IS MUCH BETTER !!!!!

In the end, we all cried defeat and went back for some dinner at the pier.

One final macho photo on Muscle Beach ( can't believe I chopped the sign off )

One more of the Hotel California sign at night

And a blurry one outside the hotel. Tomorrow I am going to work out how to operate my camera.

So all done for the day. Everyone tired and sun burnt.  Until tomorrow .......