I can highly recommend Air New Zealand, and I stole a very nice two-pronged fork from them as a keepsake (more of which later). Heathrow was busy and Tim had every inch of his rucksack looked over, I think because anyone who has an ipod, ipad plus a phone must either be a spy or up to no good. His trousers also caused some concern and they waved that wand over him for several long minutes while he tried not to look guilty.
The gluten free food onboard was a delight; sleeping was tricky, but there were some ok movies to watch and some interesting people to study.
Things got exciting when we entered US soil though, and were greeted by Boarder Patrol who, despite the pleasant signs and notices (we are now referred to as Visitors, whereas we used to be called Aliens) definitely did not want us in their country. There must have been 400 people all queuing to get through the system and it took 90 minutes before it was out turn to give our fingerprints and have our photos taken. Many ongoing flights were missed, and a fair amount of steam was seen coming from T’s ears. Having got through that, there was yet another queue to go through customs. We had been watching a video on a loop about the hazards (imprisonment for example) of bringing Foodstuffs into America (particularly it seems, sugarcane) so although it was tempting to have a bit of joke with the guy about fruit and veg, I decided to give it a miss. Next time maybe....
We had been hoping to have a ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ moment at the Avis counter but they were oddly efficient and we were soon getting lost in a strange car, in a strange land before finally finding Route 403 from LA to San Diego. T manfully drove and we managed to stay awake (not the kids) and found Del Mar and this lovely Hotel (L’Auberge Del Mar) at which point we all fell into our beds exhausted. T didn’t even unpack!!!
Yesterday was sunny by about 10am and we lay around the pool and the beach enjoying the heat. T and I had been for a very early morning walk (5.30am) and saw a lady walking along amongst the joggers and power-walkers talking to a parrot which was sitting on her shoulder. I was reminded that in the early 70’s, we started to notice a new phenomenon on the streets of Christchuch: grown men running along the pavements. We were told this was called Jogging, and had started in California. Well let me tell you that on my early morning power-walk/jog this morning I saw what might turn out to be the next new thing in Californian fitness crazes which may go global: a man of about 40 doing roly-polies along the sand (backward and frontward) followed by some stuntman-like roll/dives. He and his dog looked proud of themselves. I gave them both a wide berth.
As you may know I have been known to have a small nap of an afternoon (although I have also been known to refer to it as ‘reading’ or even ‘listening to the radio’. Jet-lag meant that yesterday my nap came with the following warning: if you wake me up, I will take the top of your head off and eat your brains with the Air New Zealand fork. I had a good snooze, but it didn’t stop me from feeling downright nauseous by the time bedtime came round yesterday evening.
Today is a new day and we are patiently waiting for the sun so we can have a picnic on the beach.
L'auberge Del Mar hotel pool
Miles of Californian beach
Bill channeling Joe 90/Buddy Holly
Roger and out. That sounds weird.
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