Airports, I can testify, do not improve with exposure to them. Our trip back featured some of the least able to be celebrated airport moments I have had the displeasure to experience. However, I get ahead of myself. The lack of readily available wi-fi meant that this blog was something of a black hole for the past few days.
My apologies. I can testify that since leaving San Francisco, and even that city itself, were some of the most interesting and fun of our trip. San Francisco is interesting, but is much like any big city. We went to Alcatraz the second day we were there. The ferry trip across to the island takes only a few minutes. Strangely the island and prison lack those feelings one would think a place such as that would create. It was very pleasant. Sure the prison would have been a dreadful place to be incarcerated but I hardly think that it would have been worse than any other, although the tantalising views, sounds and smells of a city clearly visible in the middle distance would have made life there tougher. The grounds and the qualify of the experience were top-notch and the audio commentary really brought to life empty halls and exercise yards.
San Francisco as mentioned elsewhere is rife with homeless people. Nobody whom I spoke to seemed to be able to offer any explanations as to why this should be the case. Down by the area known as Fisherman’s Wharf there were less homeless people. It is quite an attractive area and when we were there tourists were few. In the summer months I imagine that you could hardly move. The same would apple I imagine to all of the little towns located on the coast of northern California, including Monterey where we spent the night on the way to L.A.
On the way to Monterey, out of Cupertino, we were treated to some scenery that you would just not expect from California. Green rolling hills, abundant pasture, woods, forests and wilderness. We stopped at San Gregorio for a drink and it was a real rural idyll. When we eventually ran down to the coast it was beautiful. Robert Louis Stevenson described it as the most beautiful meeting of land as sea in the world. I’d agree.
Monterey, home of “Cannery Row” made famous by John Steinbeck in the book of that name, is a charming little town, given over almost entirely to tourism and its past as a fishing town. The amount of sardines pulled out of the water there eventually led to the demise of the industry that caught them. I am sure that the removal of that quantity of fish probably led to the demise of quite a few species of other fish too. However there are large colonies of sea-otters and sea lions in the area and were treated to some of their antics as we went for a walk that evening.
Driving on from Monterey with the roof down and the sea on our left we took turns at driving along the hair-raising coastal roads, full of the sort of hairpins and precipices reminiscent if not of the alps then of the most bowl loosening roller coasters imaginable. Unless of coast you have been on one of these. More of that below. Anyway it was wonderful. Even driving on the wrong side of the road.
Bruce, the satellite navigation voice, saw us on to Pismo Beach for lunch (another tourist mecca) where we ate in Penny’s American Diner. Greasy food and more than a dose of over-the-top American style patriotism (what Americans consider Patriotism they consider Nationalism in other countries) left a heavy feeling in our stomachs.
Kath drove the last leg into L.A. Down the 101 and 405. Very cool until the 5 lane highway hit Santa Barbara and became a 5 lane car park. We were bumper to bumper from here virtually all he way into L.A. Some arguments between ourselves and Bruce – “In 500 hundred metres take a left and drive few more ks, cobber” – we made it to the vicinity of the hotel. We dropped the car and walked back.
As an airport hotel the Marriot Renaissance Whatever-it-was is quite nice. Like all airport hotels it exists for the sake of nothing other than air hostesses, stop over travellers and people like us. The location worked well as we got to stay out of central L.A. (you DON’T want to go there) and was very handy for tours. We went on three tours.
The first was to Disneyland. Unless you’ve been forget any preconceived notions you might have about Disneyland because, no matter what your age, there is something there for you. I didn’t really want to go before the trip, but thankfully Kath talked me into it. It was fabulous. The attention to detail, the cleanliness, the well thought out layout of the park, the rides, even the souvenirs where splendid. We sent on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride first. It was just so well done, the animated puppets, the boat you ride in. Everything.
Then we went on the Star Tours ride. If you love Star Wars all I need to say is “Death Star Run” and you know that you have to go. None of this prepared me for space mountain. You go into the building and there are the cars below you. You go down and are allocated a seating position. A car comes forward and the white-faced, wobbly legged passengers disembark. You clamber in and the reassuring pressure of the restraint is lowered into your lap and then you start slowly forward towards a dark portal, towards the roller coaster itself. You start to climb a steep incline as lighted strips whiz past you and the countdown starts 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, “erm, excuse me”, 5, “I would rather like to get off”, 4, 3, 2, “oh, bugger”, 1. What follows is so profoundly brown trouser inducing that I cannot accurately describe it. This may have something to do with having my eyes closed too.
Anyway. Having recovered from that, some time later I found myself on Splash Mountain. You know, it is one of those log rides. You go up slowly and down fast. Usually involving copious amounts of water. Only this one is interspersed with animatronic puppet scenes from Brer Rabbit. This lent it the feeling that some extremely demented and mentally unstable person designed it. It was my favourite. We got soaked. I got scared. We got soaked some more. It was brilliant! I will never listen to zip-a-dee-doo-da the same way again.
There is so much more that I can’t really go into detail here. We went to Universal Studios the next day. It has a focus on leveraging movie special effects and themes to create interesting, humorous and sometimes terrifying rides. My favourite was “The Mummy’s Revenge”. Man that was good. I won’t spoil it for you but we went on 5 times. It was that good. The Jurassic Park ride was also good. Similar to Splash Mountain but even scarier and with animatronic Dinosaurs. The tour of the studios was really interesting too and a mix of special effects magic, interesting tour guide and familiar seeming locations made it a totally worth while day even by itself.
The weather all of time we were in South California was warm, sunny and comfortable. Our last day in the States saw us on a tour of L.A. We saw all of the stuff you would imagine – Beverley Hills, the names of the stars on Hollywood Boulevard, the Hollywood sign, loads of hawkers etc. – our driver and guide was knowledgeable, friendly and funny. It was a nice way to round it off.
That evening we took the bus to the airport. LAX is rubbish. Kalgoorlie Airport is better – no really it is. Check-in took forever and then we cleared security into a twilight zone devoid of shops, vending machines and anybody to complain to where we sat for two hours before being herded on to a bus. The bus driver seemed intent on playing chicken with the 747s that were sharing the road/runway with us.
Although I managed to sleep on the flight, thanks to Kath getting us exit door seats (just ask) I managed to lose my $200 Arnette sunglasses. At this point I thought I still had my Ray-Bans but they can’t be located now either. I am trying to make a travel insurance claim…
We got to Perth at 6 pm. Kath’s sister Marion picked us up and we went back to her house for a shower and dinner. It was so nice to be somewhere familiar and normal. Thanks Maz! However, things were taking some sort of turn for the worst…
Kath’s mum is in hospital. The Wii games we bought (one for Kath’s nephew) didn’t work in Australia. We got home to find dust everywhere and leaking plumbing that has ruined our timber-laminate floors. My Ray Bans are missing. The garden hasn’t been cleared. The bathroom hasn’t been finished.
Things will be fine. Insurance will cover the floors and we can handle the inconvenience. Kath’s sister has volunteered her shower. They cut down some trees today. It goes to show though that the biggest roller coaster isn’t at Disneyland, it is life itself. I’m glad to be back. Really. But it is so easy to look at the photographs now and think I’ve been there and now I’m back to reality.
