Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Los Angeles…
Air Pacific is the kind of airline which openly celebrates the acquisition of a single new aircraft to its fleet – even when the “new” aircraft is second-hand from Singapore Airlines. The “new” aeroplane was purchased (as quoted from their website) “to replace one of our vintage B767 aircraft “ – One of two planes flying the NZ – Fiji route.
Its concerning when an airline operates an old fleet and even more so when it openly describes some of its current operational fleet as “vintage”. Matt had done a little research into the airline which would be carrying us from NZ to Fiji and onto LA. A total fleet of twelve planes, only a handful of “heavy” aircraft and some horrendous reviews. We had tried numerous times to book onto a direct flight with Air New Zealand but to no avail.
It was therefore a pleasant surprise to have OK planes, smooth flights, good service and exit seats with plenty of leg-room for our flight to LA!
Our next battle was to overcome the jet lag caused from a difference of being thirteen hours ahead of the UK and now eight hours behind the UK. We had planned this section of our trip to have a couple of days to relax before meeting Liam on the 5th.
We spent a couple of days in a hotel near to the airport and in a slightly dodgy area of LA. When Matt had booked the hotel he didn’t realise that although this was classed as an “airport hotel” and had a free shuttle to and from the airport, it was actually a few miles away. The area we were located in sat between Inglewood and Compton – hence we were very much the ethnic minority here.
The next couple of days were filled with hap-hazard sleeping interspersed with Starbucks & TGI Fridays. It was soon time to venture to the airport and collect our hire car before greeting Liam.
Matt always books car hire through the same broker who cover all excess insurances and always include young drivers fees in the total costs. As Matt has previously had issues with communication between the broker and rental partner, we printed a confirmation e-mail that confirmed the young driver fee would be included in the rental costs. We had thought that we were well prepared but certainly weren’t well prepared for the team at Dollar rentals – most likely the most inept group of people we have come across all year.
Three hours later, a trip to the airport and back and lots of different (and equally useless) assistants we were in our Jeep heading to arrivals.
Liam flew in with Virgin Atlantic and had a good flight, arriving at three pm. We were waiting at arrivals when a couple of photographers started taking pictures and requesting autographs from a man off the Virgin flight. Matt said he recognised the man to which Emma replied “I know who your thinking of, the guy off the King’s Speech, but its not him”. It turned out it was Colin Firth from the Kings Speech!
After collecting Liam we headed off north towards our stop for the night at Santa Barbara. This would get us 100 miles out of LA and heading in the direction we would be driving the following day.
We arrived to a stunning street in Mediterranean style, lined with quality stores and restaurants, all lit with Christmas lights. It became even more apparent the next day that Santa Barbara is a wealthy area and a great place to live. It would have been good to spend an extra day here wondering along the stores and beach-front however all the schedule allowed time for was a nice morning stroll along the beach front and pier.
We planned to take the scenic route number one road, from Santa Barbara to San Francisco which hugs the coast for over 400 miles before reaching San Francisco. The drive was long but rewarding and we stopped regularly at view points.
The most crazy aspect of car hire for under 25’s in the USA is the young driver fee. Our rental would cost £300.00 for 15 days with an additional £300.00 in young driver fees. In addition to this only Matt could be a named driver as although only one “young person” is able to drive the car at any one time, the fee is attached to the driver and not the vehicle!
We arrived in San Francisco early evening and settled into our hotel for the next few days, nicely located only five minutes walk from Union Square.
Our first day in San Francisco was spent getting our bearings of the city which was fairly easy given the grid layout and compact nature. We spent the afternoon on a trip to the well-know prison of Alcatraz.
The audio tour was free and really well laid out with some informative sections spoken by ex guards and inmates.
It was easy to see the torment for inmates whom could see the city so close and at times even hear the laughter and music from down town events. Although the distance would be a manageable swim for most, the extreme currents and frigid waters prevented escape. It was possible to see the fast currents even from the dock and boat.
The evenings in San Francisco were lovely with all the festivities of Union Square. It had been recommended to visit the “Cheesecake Factory” at Macy’s Department Store, which features over thirty different cheesecakes alongside an already huge dinner menu.
Macy’s is a famous department store at the heart of the city in Union Square. The store front was nicely decorated and the view from the restaurant balcony overlooking Union Square added to the incredible cheesecake!
No trip to San Francisco would be complete without cycling the Golden Gate Bridge. The next morning gave us blue skies and the perfect opportunity for a days bike hire.
Our first stop was on the opposite side of the city in the huge Golden Gate Park.
A few miles on, winding around the coast and beaches and we arrived at the first end of the bridge.
Here we took the necessary pictures before starting off across the bridge. As we set off Emma was struggling with her gears and complaining that they weren’t working properly. A quick look (luckily moments before total destruction) showed that the bundgy strap that had been holding Matt’s jumper was now embedded in the gears and wheels, dangerously close to destroying the gears.
It took a few minutes to fix but luckily the issue was caught before too much bending occurred!
The bridge was fairly busy with tourists and serious cyclists alike but Liam managed to catch a shot of us cycling along.
The bridge was surprisingly long when cycling across and with picture stops it took us a little while to cross to the other side where the views back to San Francisco were stunning but a little hazy. The image below also shows the relation of Alcatraz to the city.
We managed to catch a nice picture of the city from the ferry ride back across the bay.
When we returned to the waterfront another protest had started in the city and the tram could only take us to the bottom of the main street. Police were everywhere and it was cool to see the “cops” in their gear, especially the mounted officers. Emma liked the look of the horses but when she tried to stroke one it did try to bite her – the officer had warned her that it was grumpy. We chatted to her and she told us the protest was another of the “we are the 99%” style protests but this time only a handful of homeless people. San Francisco is home to the most homeless people we have ever seen, all over the city and all trying different methods to part you with money.
Our last day in San Francisco was spent exploring the streets and browsing the stores. It was strange to see everyone in the “Christmas Spirit” and doing all their shopping as this would be our first Christmas away from home. It was a nice relaxing way to finish our busy few days in such a nice city. In the evening we rode the famous tram up the hills from one side of the city to the other, clinging to the side like a local!
Driving back to Los Angeles down the main highway was much faster but still a long drive and obviously very boring in comparison to the scenic route. We arrived back in LA in good time and checked into our hotel in Hollywood Hills only a short walk to Hollywood Boulevard and in the shadows of the famous Hollywood sign.
We learned only a day later that the intersection only a minutes walk from our hotel and through which we had driven that day had been the scene of a violent outburst by a gunman. The gunman had split from his girlfriend and went on a rampage at an intersection firing at cars and passers-by. He killed a famous music producer and injured many before being killed by police. Incredibly the scene must have been cleared quickly and returned to normal by the time we had arrived back in LA in the afternoon.
LA has been mostly described to us by other travellers as dirty and over-rated. Its a sprawling city spread out with no real centre and the description given to us would be one we agree with.
The walk of fame was very disappointing, especially considering how well know it is.
We saw some interesting places over the next few days and obviously took a drive closer to the Hollywood sign – on a wet day.
The old area in down-town LA was nice with Mexican Markets, the oldest building in LA and the stunning grand rail station.
Liam took a nice picture outside the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard of the foot and hand prints of famous stars.
LA was really interesting as we have both read heaps of Michael Connelly books which are all set in LA. The Bradbury Centre, Sunset Boulevard, The Down-town Courthouse and many other areas and buildings all feature in the books and it was good to see some of them in real-life.
The two days in LA was plenty and we are all looking forward to the bright lights of Vegas!
Love Emma & Matt
xxx
Cooke & Craddock 