Got up, breakfasted, packed car & said our farewells to Gwyn & Molly the dog. Drove to the Best Western Motel, & waited for ~40 mins until Scottie arrived, gave back the car, & were driven to Auckland Airport departures terminal. Got through the customs & check in formalities with little delay, & then killed a couple of hours reading, playing games & drinking coffee. Boarded the plane, & settled in for a night of films, and food that just kept on coming! Managed to get some sleep, but breakfast was served at ~2am body clock time, & an hour later we were beginning our descent into LA.

Long, tedious, wait to get through US customs, the up side being that we had less time to wait once we had negotiated the (slightly confusing) check in procedures for our flight to Mexico City. Kids disappointed that there was no TV on this flight (!), but M fell asleep immediately, & only reluctantly woke for a snack, before falling back to sleep. Amazing views of LA & surrounds on take off - clear blue skies for the entire 3 hour flight.

Another tedious hour of queuing to get through Mexican customs, then discovered that no one wanted to exchange the NZ dollars that remained. Minor panic when we couldn't find an ATM that would accept L's card, then annoyance when we found one that worked, but could only take out £150! Once we had cash, we bought a ticket for the taxi, & were whizzed through hectic traffic to the Hotel Ambassador: £60 for 3 nights B&B, good sized room on the 6th floor with 2x dbl beds.

After we had all showered & changed, we walked round the block & found a quiet bar, where we ordered Negro Modellos & colas, & then discovered that the food was free! Ate & drank, then back to the hotel for sleep!