10th – 12th February
Woke up happy this morning – upgraded my room to get out of the dark hole with the miserable people that they originally put me in, with the blackout blinds and glassless window facing a brick wall. Fair enough, I'd be miserable too if I was a) the size of Texas or b) had been living in the dark hole for 3 months but I like to think I'd still respond if someone spoke to me. Anyway, I didn't actually sleep in there thanks to Texas snoring all night so my downer on arrival didn't improve until I got out into the sunshine the following day and what a place that is during the day! To summarise America so far, the statistic of 6% of us holding the world's wealth is blazingly apparent and basically that's what Venice is but with a lot of colours, a lot of noise, a lot of hippies and a whole lot of crazy people. But you put all this on a palm lined boardwalk with a beach that stretches for miles and a backdrop of mountains and you can understand what they're all doing here. If I was broke, homeless and crazy then I'd probably come to Venice.
Keep going along the boardwalk and about a mile or so up the coast is Santa Monica – this is one of the places that I've most wanted to see based purely on the fact that I love the song and it doesn't disappoint. I'm told this stretch of beach is home to Jaws and Baywatch, it's also where Muscle Beach and the 'last great pleasure pier' are located and best of all, it's the end of Route 66. This was an added bonus for me, actually it's all added bonuses seeing as I do absolutely no research, but I have always wanted to see that sign- I want to see it by the side of a massive stretch of road in the middle of nowhere but this is good for now. I learned from my postcard purchase that Route 66 goes through 7 states, from Illinois to California, and is dedicated to Will Rogers a 'humourist, world traveller and good neighbour' – and I like that. Aside from this, Santa Monica is mostly shopping. It's 8 miles square and the only place in California with any kind of public transport worth mentioning but even so, a couple of days here is generally plenty. So I spent my third and last night at the Venice hostel, I was literally too scared to go out in the evening as it's a whole different ball game out there after dark so 3 nights was enough. Fortunately, the hostel caters to this and around 9pm, the disco lights, wine and whisky came out and we all ended up dancing into the small hours, which was a great end to my stay there. Back in Surf City in Hermosa now, got a good weekly rate and a 'here comes trouble' welcome and I have a great ensuite room all to myself where I can even see the ocean from my bed. Expecting to wake up happy tomorrow as well...
13th – 17th February
It's amazing the difference a few days can make - it's gone from mid 60s to high 70s (or in our language, from 18 to 26) and Hermosa by day has come to life. The volleyball courts on the beach are permanently rammed, the boardwalk is full of bikers, rollerbladers, skateboarders and runners and every bar and cafe with outside seating is brimming – I absolutely love it. I had to move rooms the other morning and am now sharing an even better beach view with a gorgeous Japanese girl called Mia, whose studying English and has been waking up to the ocean for 10 months now. I've been influenced by the image obsessed LA and out running on the beach in the morning and drinking a lot of water for the first time in my life so I feel great and seeing as everyone welcomed me back with open arms and we've all been out for dinner and drinks most nights, it's needless to say that the week, which I was counting down back in the den of a room in Venice, has flown. In fact, it's been so relaxed and picture perfect that even spending Valentine's Day in a hostel bunk bed seemed pretty damn cool! So here I am, on said bunk bed, choosing my seats for my Auckland flight tomorrow night. I still have another full day to soak up the Californian beach life and the great people here are letting me keep the room all day so I might have half a chance of arriving in NZ semi-fresh, especially as they're also giving me a lift to the airport so I don't have to start the epic journey with a bunch of lunatics on the bus. Score! Would have to say that Surf City is one of the friendliest places I have ever stayed and if you find yourself in Hermosa then skip the fancy hotels and get yourself here! http://www.surfcityhostel.com/
So here we are, got 30 hours left so I'm off to Poop Deck for some $5 pitchers and one last night with the travellers and Americans before I'm back on familiar turf in Auckland with the crazy kiwis. Have a nice day y'all! J
