We packed up from San Diego and decided we would take a slow drive to LA. Sun shining again and and a slow cruise along the ocean road. We stopped at La Jolla for breakfast. A banana watching the sea roll in. Then a short drive on and we couldnt resist a walk along the beach. 10am and you have to think does anyone work here. The sea was full of morning surf freaks having a board meeting.

A little further on and another pit stop to see the sea lions on the beach. All this stopping and staring at the ocean was getting us nowhere. Who cares we stopped and had lunch at Dana's Point. A quaint little place with a marina.

Eventually we headed for Beverly Hills. I'm used to driving on fast motorways but the freeway at points is 8 lanes either side. It feels like bees round a honey pot. Things buzzing past on all sides.

The satnav did the job and took us straight to our hotel. We pulled up outside and someone opened the car door and took the keys. 'Oi whats your F****** game.' ' I'm the parking valet sir.' 'Oh thats alright then.' 'It's $30 dollars a night parking'......'you what, you're havin a giraffe.' Apparently he wasn't !!!

'Good afternoon' said the receptionist 'Welcome to Beverly Hills, are you having a great day?' 'I was 'till your valet just mugged me' 'Ah, the parking fee...welcome to Beverly Hills'.........you had to laugh 'cos he kept a straight face.

Anyway the hotel is apparently 60's boutique. Usual drill, dump the bags and head out.

Now LA is made up of lots of districts eg Beverly Hills , Venice Beach, Downtown, Hollywood etc etc. each of which has nothing much in it and is several miles from the next bit. In short you cant walk it.

So we had a stroll around Beverly Hills. It's basically a shopping mall for the indecently rich. It has shops that only open by appointment . It was blisteringly hot so we had a couple of beers and returned to the hotel. Quick scrub up and down for dinner. We had a table next to the swimming pool which is in a central area surrounded by the hotel with the sky above. It was really nice.

A bit of decadence as there is no tea making stuff in the room we ordered in. A knock on the door and a big pot of tea and coffee was presented.

Anyway time to get up. We found the bus stop for the hop on hop off bus service. We've used these in lots of cities. They are an easy way to get aropund and the drivers are informative and usually a bit of a laugh. It was a weird trip. The commentary made you feel like you were on a celebrity safari. Brad Pitt drinks here, Di Caprio once farted here.Be quiet and look carefully and you may see one. Talk about celebrity obssesed.

Beverly Hills is a strange place. Fire hydrants are not yellow like the rest of USA..oh no they are silver...the colour of money. No hobos like every other city....just people wearing last seasons Armani......fallen on hard times I guess !!

All that aside it was a fun day. We saw the Hollywood sign, walked the walk of fame etc.

Tomorrow we have a long day to kill beofre we fly out at 11.55pm. We plan to go to Venice Beach and maybe Universal studios. Next stop New Zealand. Not sure how much wifi we'll get there so this may be the last for a while.