Los Angeles

  On our way to Los Angeles we drove along the Pacific Coast Highway which had 79 miles of winding road along the cliff next to the ocean.  It was absolutely amazing and a little bit scarey at the same time.  We saw lots of whales swimming in the ocean and dad saw one breach right out of the water.  At the bottom of the highway at Piedras Blancas we stopped and walked to the beach where there were thousands of elephant seals sunbaking on the sand. They come on shore to shed their skin, rest and have their pups.  The elephant seals were so loud that they made your ears hurt with their barking.  They were humongous, the males can weigh up to 4 tonnes.  

  We said goodbye to the elephant seals and continued on our trip to Los Angeles (L.A.).  It was really busy and it took us forever to get to our hotel because of all the traffic.  LA was not what I expected, it was very dirty, crowded and it didn't feel very safe.  We saw the Hollywood sign and had lunch in McDonalds Hollywood.  A man asked us for directions and when we said we were from Australia he laughed and said "Hollywood isn't like it is on TV is it!?!"  We laughed and said "no it isn't!"

We walked along Long Beach at Santa Monica Pier, the beach was really flat with no sand hills, it went for miles.  People were on segways, riding bikes, roller blading, playing beach vollyball, surfing and swimming.  There were some guys kayaking too.  The highway was right next to the beach and it was really busy, but it was nice to be near the ocean again.  

We drove to "Muscle Beach" which is actualled named Venice Beach.  People call it Muscle Beach because lots of men work out on the sand showing off their muscles.  We weren't very impressed...  We drove along the beach for a while, there were a lot of buildings with artwork painted on them which was great to look at.  People were selling hot dogs, souvenirs, clothing, icecream, churros and lots of other things from stands.  It was a crowded but interesting place to be.

L.A. was our last stop in America before heading off to Peru.  Overall I thought America was awesome, every state was totally different and each state was amazing.  The food, the people, the weather, the customs, the music and the feel of each state was like travelling from one country to another even though they are all in America.  My favourite state was Tennessee because I loved all the snow, it was so beautiful on the trees.  We heard stories of cheeky bears sitting in hot tubs, the food was magnificent and the people were so polite and friendly.  I'd love to come back to America one day.  Hannah