Coming to America
Trip Start
Dec 06, 2006
1
89
188
Trip End
Ongoing
Los Angeles,
California,
United States
Thursday, November 8, 2007
So, what's been happening? I've finished at work and finished in Welly which was all very sad. Maybe not the work bit, but I'll miss Wellington and the people I've met. Hopefully I'll get back there to catch up at some point. I then packed up the gear and travelled up to Auckland with Cass who was on the move up there. We travelled around via Taranaki as it's one of the odd sticky out bits of new zealand and needed ticking off. The main feature of the area is Mt Taranaki, or Mt Egmont depending on when and who you asked about it. It's a 3000m-ish high volcano and looks a fair bit like Mt Fuji in Japan. Unfortunately Wellington decided to send us off in style and a particularly drizzly dreary day which continued up around the corner. On the scenic front it was looking like it was going to be a disaster when we stopped at Opunake for the night, just around the corner from New Plymouth the main town in the area.
But good old changeable NZ weather to the rescue and a bit of sun and wind later and there it was, a nice sunny clear day with the still snowy peak on show. We then pottered on to see the Wind Wand in New Plymouth, a big wand that gets blown in the wind. Odd. After an average over priced all day breakfast we ploughed on and after some winding and very damp roads we headed on a side trip to Raglan where we had some pizza. After a tiring drive we reached Auckland which seemed to be under the same drizzle cloud we'd seen two days before. The next day Cass was off work so after a well deserved lie in we just hung out in Auckland and the following day was today. Well, yesterday. But also today. Time travel is complicated. Yesterday for me was finishing off packing and then heading to the airport and the rubbish flight.
It probably shouldnt have been rubbish and it could have been worse I suppose, but I wasn't a happy bunny. I got on, read the TV guide and picked out a few things I fancied a look at. I patiently waited until after take off when I was reliably informed that the TV on demand system was cranked up and raring to go. Ummmm. Not for me. The handset wasn't working and so the handy advice was to move seats and do it quick before people started lying down on the spare seats. It's amazing how many people suddenly develop twitches that result in them needing to put their feet up when they see you looking a bit lost with some headphones in your hand. One particularly selfish shit had three screens and seats, poor diddums didn't want to share. These are grown adults. Unbelievable. Anyway, so the option was to sit at the bulkhead or sit staring at a blank screen. I chose the uncomfortable but slightly more entertaining option. I saw Die Hard 4.0, a pile of nonsense but it passed a few hours. In the end I couldn't really be bothered with any other films as I was tired and I'd seen the main ones. I did watch Louis Theroux and his documentary about Las Vegas and gambling. I learnt that you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.
I managed to get past immigration with myself and my belongings unscathed and since then I've been living it up in Hollywood. The hostel is just off Hollywood Boulevard where all the stars are on the pavement. It's a bit further along from the Chinese Theatre and a bit run down but we'll ignore that. I took a walk in the wrong direction for liveliness but did manage to get a glimpse of the Hollywood sign. I got back to the hostel and hoped that I had time for a cheeky nap, but it was time to slap on my walking shoes as I'd signed up for a walking tour through part of Runyon Canyon in the hills. Sounds good? Well, it wasn't smoggy, nor was it smoky but it was very very cloudy and so unfortunately the views were poor and I didn't get to see the Hollywood sign that little bit closer. The guide was only on his second trip and some of the details were a bit sketchy so it was a bit of a chinese whispers sort of tour, we went past a hotel where someone famous committed suicide, maybe Janice Joplin, but maybe not. Also past the hotel from Pretty Woman and allegedly past the ten pin bowling alley that the lad who played superman in superman returns was working in just before he got the part. Potentially all lies, but you never know this time tomorrow I could be discovered. That's me back for the night. I'm just chilling and then later on there's a comedy night here so I'll go and see what that's about.
Comments
Welcome
Weyhey! At least you're on the same continent as me now! Next stop - Calgary?