**Disclaimer** Because I’m extremely talented at procrastinating, I actually wrote this entry on the 10th August 2010; over a year after this holiday. Needless to say, my memory is pretty rusty, and I apologise for the lack of detail.
Our last day before flying home, how devastating!
We had checked into our hotel, the Custom Hotel, booked specifically because it was close to the airport. It was relatively cheap, which showed in the no frills appearance of our rooms. Yet it was so comfortable and clean that it was fantastic, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. It had a gym and pool, along with a grocery store right around the corner, so it’s no surprise that it’s won awards for Business Hotels.
The plan for the day was to head down to Venice Beach and spend the day there before leaving for the airport, and flying home later that night. When we got to Venice Beach, I found it was totally unlike anything else in LA that I had seen. This was the hippy/surfy California I had hoped to experience, and I loved it. There was no consumerism and materialistic values here. It was all people who were chilling out, happy to be outdoors.
Our group split up, and agreed to meet back at a specific time to go back to the hotel. Mat and I teamed up with Amy and Pauline again, where we wandered down one side of the beach. I tell you what, the other side of the pacific is damn cold!
I got a kick out of seeing all the people riding and roller blading, purely because that’s what I’d expected after seeing the place in television shows and movies. White Men Can’t Jump anyone..? Yep, the basketball courts were here. We also took a stroll to Gold’s Gym (made famous by the current governor of California, Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger), and saw muscle beach.
There were also some fantastic buskers on show, one of whom was an amazing dancer. He actually got Mat and some other guys in on the show doing some dancing, which I captured on video. The sad part is that when we got home and our computer hard drive crashed it corrupted the footage on the computer, which I had also already deleted from the video camera. Devastated! It was incredibly funny, but it almost made us late to get back to the hotel in time to go to the airport!
Finally I was able to drag Mat away, and we ran back to rejoin the others and get the bus back to the hotel. Later that night, we boarded our plane and flew back to Australia, our holiday over.
Conclusion:
In hindsight, looking back at this holiday a year later, I’m so glad we took it. Deciding whether or not to go was a major thing for us. We sold Mat’s 4wd in order to fund our trip (we had 3 cars at the time), when the money could have been used to put us in a better financial position instead. I won’t lie, we’ve been through some tough times since. However, I still wouldn’t change a single thing.
I was very lucky. I got to travel with my family, who I love so very dearly, and my boyfriend (now fiance). I also got to see some friends that flew over from England specifically to see us, which blew my mind, and I am so very grateful for. This trip left us with so many wonderful memories, and they’re the ones that last. It was a once in a lifetime event, and has left us with a thirst for travel.
To my family, and to Mat, this holiday was a highlight of my life. I am blessed and honoured to have shared those two weeks with you. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it.
