19/10/2013 to 21/10/2013: Hot dogs, Rock stars and coming home

It is another beautiful day and I have my final meal at the hotel of porridge; orange juice and coffee.

I check out of the hotel and leave my bags at the hotel to be collected before I leave for the airport later in the day.

I spend the rest of the day travelling the Yellow and Red Routes of the Hop-On-Hop-Off service and visit:

Pink's Hot Dogs: I have a *Planet Hollywood Dog* which consists of a spicy sausage; mushrooms; bacon and melted cheese. YUMMY !!!

*Walk of Fame*: I buy some final souvenirs and take more photos.

Guitar Center and *Rock Walk*: I take some photos and buy myself a Fender Guitars t-shirt.

Later in the afternoon I go back to the hotel to collect my bags and wait for the shuttle transfer to the airport.

The shuttle trip is uneventful till we arrive at the airport. The road into the airport is blocked by police cars and fire engines. Smoke can be seen on the road ahead of us. Our driver decides to back up and then the road ahead is cleared and I make it to check-in with plenty of time to spare. I check-in and get my boarding pass and proceed to Security.

There is a Panda Express store so I have a meal of noodles; orange chicken and honey walnut shrimp. I wash it all down with Gatorade.

I proceed to the departure gate to discover our flight has been delayed because of a delay to another QANTAS flight and we have to wait for their passengers to catch our flight.

We eventually leave 90 minutes late. We finally arrive in Sydney an hour late. I clear Customs quickly and go to the bus stop for Murrays buses. The bus is 15 minutes late. The trip back to Canberra is really smooth. I get a taxi to take me home where I unpack and have a good sleep.

It feels good to be back home after such a long but exciting trip.

VIDEO

Below is a link to a video I created of my trip to Los Angeles. I hope you like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ww3I0qM1p4

PHOTO GALLERY

Pink's Hot Dogs

Peter Frampton

The entrance to the *Rock Walk*

Images form Rock Walk

18/10/2013: Hollywood

It is another fantastic day weather wise with clear blue skies and no sign of smog.

I take the Yellow Route of the Hop-On-Hop-Off service and travel to Stop 7 where I transfer to the Red Route. I travel back to Stop 1.

I walk up and own Hollywood Boulevard taking photos of the stars on the *Walk of Fame*.

I take a tour of the Dolby (aka Kodak) Theater which is the current home of the Oscars ceremony. I sit in Hugh Jackman's seat. I see *Winner's Walk* where the winners walk after receiving their Oscar. Our guide tells us that *back stage* at the Oscars is an adjoining hotel where the stars hold their interviews.

I use the Red and Yellow Route services to travel back to the hotel. We have to divert around Beverly Hills because of a fire in an apartment building on Wilshire Boulevard.

PHOTO GALLERY

Badgley Mischka - used in the film *Pretty Woman*

Various stars on the *Walk of Fame*

17/10/2010: Santa Monica

Another perfect day with a gentle breeze.

My breakfast did not arrive as the order form was still on the door in the morning. I ring Room Service and told them about the order form. They apologised and I told them that it is not something that I expect from the Hilton hotel.

I take a taxi into the Starlines Tour depot and collect my ticket for the 48 hour Hop-On-Hop-Off bus and Madame Tussauds.

I take the 9:00AM Red Route bus to Stop 7 and transfer to the Yellow Route. The driver stops a few times to tell us about things along the way including a hill we are going to travel down. He even stops to buy himself some water.

I got off at the Santa Monica pier. I had lunch at Bubba Gumps and the food was delicious. I went for a walk along the beach.

I spend the rest of the afternoon travelling the Yellow Route looking at the sights and absorbing it all in.

I arrive back at the hotel to find a bowl of fruit (grapes; apple; orange; pears) and a hand written apology over the *confusion* with breakfast.

PHOTO GALLERY

Russell Crowe

Charlize Theron

Halle Berry

The Laugh Factory

The entrance to Santa Monica Pier

The hills around Santa Monica

Another view of Santa Monica Pier

16/10/2013: Warner Bros and the homes of the stars

The weather is a repeat of yesterday. It is fine and sunny with no visible smog.

I take the shuttle service from the hotel to the Starlines Tour depot. Then the bus from the depot to Warner Bros studios.

The Warner Bros studio tour begins with a short film on Oscar winning films and we meet our guide for the day. We begin the tour at the *town* where many TV shows have been filmed including: The Waltons; Dukes of Hazzard; and Pretty Little Liars.

We visit the Wraners Bros Museum and saw costumes used by Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino; Heartbreak Ridge and Dirty Harry. We also visit the car museum which includes various Batmobiles and the Gran Torino from the film of the same name.

I then transferred back to the Starlines Tour depot and spent the afternoon looking at the homes of Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top); Tom Cruise; Michael Jackson and Quentin Tarantino.

We also cruise Rodeo Drive and Sunset Boulevard. We drove along Mulholland Drive to a lookout with views of the San Fernando valley and the LA basin. The views are fantastic.

PHOTO GALLERY

The entrance to Warner Bros

The courthouse at Warner Bros

One of the cars used in The Great Gatsby

Batmobile

The Comedy Store

House of Blues

Whisky a Go Go

The home of Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top

One of the 5 Beverly Hills signs

Looking at downtown LA from Mulholland Drive lookout

15/10/2013: Disneyland

I hate to repeat myself but it is another perfect day - clear and sunny with no noticeable smog.

I get picked up from the hotel for the transfer to the Starlines Tour depot. I take the bus to Disneyland which is a one hour drive from LA.

I take the *tram* from the parking lot to the front entrance. I decide to start my visit by watching *Great Moments with Mr Lincoln* which features many of his speeches.

Then I take the Disneyland Railroad to familiarise myself with the layout of the park. I take the horse drawn streetcar down Main Street to Fantasyland where I take a couple of the rides and feel like a child again.

I visit the *Innoventions* building and design my *future* home. I ride *Autopia* (dodgem cars on steriods) and the *Finding Nemo Voyage* ride.

I buy a Disneyland jacket and a Mickey Mouse stuffed toy (which now sits on my desk as I write this blog).

The bus back to LA is 20 minutes late but we finally make it back to LA after a long but enjoyable day.

PHOTO GALLERY

Front of Disneyland 

The sign outside the Disneyland Railroad station

Horse drawn streetcar

Fantasyland

The Materhorn at Disneyland

Tomorrowland

Finding Nemo

Toon Town Fountain

Donald Duck at end of day street parade

14/10/2013: Universal Studios

Another beautiful sunny day with clear blue skies and no noticeable haze or smog.

I get picked up from the hotel for the transfer to the Starlines Tour depot. The driver takes the *residential route* as we seem to go up and down every residential street between the hotel and the depot.

Our bus takes the short drive to Universal Studios. I arrive just in time to join my allocated group for the VIP Experience. We visit the the back lot and see many sound studios; props and costume building; *Amity Island* (location for Jaws); the Bates Motel (the location for Psycho); and other buildings used in TV shows and movies including Desperate Housewives and Spartacus.

Our group has a very delicious luncheon buffet prepared by the Universal Studios chefs which is served in the VIP Lounge building.

After lunch, we took rides including *Jurassic Park* and saw the *Special Effects* show.

Our transfer bus arrives on time. The driver takes the *scenic route* back to our hotels as we travel through Laurel Canyon.

PHOTO GALLERY

The front of Universal Studios

Dry one minute

Wet the next

James Stewart Avenue, Universal Studios

One of the many exterior facades

War Of The Worlds plane crash

Waterworld

A view of LA from Universal Studios

13/10/2013: Seaworld

The day begins cloudy and overcast but it does not rain all day.

I get picked up at the hotel for the transfer to the Starline Tours depot.

Today it is off to Seaworld via Interstate I-5. Along the way, we pass by Camp Pendleton - the West Coast base of the US Marine Corps. We saw many large Recreational Vehicles (RVs) along the way with many of them towing cars or SUVs.

We arrived at Seaworld after a two hour trip from L.A. I got to see many of the shows which were all great.

Our bus arrives on time to drive us back to LA and our hotels.

PHOTO GALLERY

The view of the Live Nation building from the Starline Tours depot

Elvis is alive and living in Seaworld

Part of the Otter show at Seaworld

Another view of the Otter show

Part of the Dolphin show

Killer whales perform at Seaworld