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Published: July 20th 2006
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Our final day in the states.
This was where we said our sad farewells to Sunita who was going to stay behind in Santa Barbara as her flight out of LA was not for a few more days.
Shannon, Amanda and I kick it down the coast towards LA until we get to Hollywood.
I really had no idea what to expect of Hollywood, but is basically just a strip of road with some weird buildings like the Chinese Theatre with hand and foot prints of celebrities on the side of the road.
Apart from that, there isn't too much, apart from people dressed up as superman / spiderman / darth vader taking photos with tourists "for a dollar".
Of course there is a the famous "HOLLYWOOD" sign up on the hill which is pretty cool to see I guess - but apart from that, you don't want to spend a day there 😊
I was keen to move on and go check out some celebrety houses. We spot a map that told us where all the celebs apparently lived and set off weaving into the hollywood / beverly hills backstreets. Suffice to say, the whole place
is just full of mansions.
I navigated us up to the very top of one road, and took a photo of where Britney Spears lives. I was going to go knock and invite myself in for a cup of tea but I was reminded that we had a plane to catch.
We then booted it down through the rest of beverly hills and down to Santa Monica where we spent the rest of the day at the beach and looking around the Santa Monica shops. It was fantastic weather and WARM.
Santa Monica beach and Venice beach are something unlike beaches in NZ - the sand seems to go forever before you reach the water. In fact, you wouldn't even really think about walking down to the water unless you had half a day to spare. We did see the water though, from the wharf with a rollercoaster on it - looked normal enough. I think the main idea though is to just strut your stuff on the sand and play volleyball.
We then try going down to Venice beach (also known as Muscle Beach for it's body building posers) but found you had *pay* to really
get through and see the beach at all! We only had another half hour anyway so moved on - but took a photo of the cool looking houses in behind the beach, down by the marina. Could have spent a whole day on these beaches really.
We dropped off the mini bus which stood up well over the how many thousand Kilometers we travelled across California, Nervada and Arizona.
We were then ready for the long flight home - ah memories.
Speaking of which, here are some "Quotable quotes" that Sunita kindly managed to remember for us from various parts throughout the entire holiday:
* “Oh baby, that’s so far. Do you have a car?” - Local lady to Hame in a thick american accent.
* “You wanna eat, you eat, you no wanna eat, you no eat-it’s a free countrya” - Mario the Italian tour guide around Hawaii.
* “She was a young Hawaiiana, I was an Italian stallion”
* You would drown in your own blood (Hamish after reading that you need to drink four litres of water each day in Death Valley).
* Where do you think they stow all
the bars (Hamish loving the name Barstow)
* "Maintenance" - Sunita, on Hokondo house keeping.
* Ahhh….you’re a BIT close (Sunita getting claustrophobic)
* It’s gonna be oooooooook! (Sunita…patronizing reassurance)
* “I hope the canoe capsizes us cause I’m really hot - Hamish
I hope it just capsizes you - Sunita
I think if I go down you all go down.” - Hamish
* Boys are immaculate. - Hame
Speak for yourself! - Shannon
Ok then, I will - Hame
* “There is something rather distinguished about the Received Pronunciation accent.” - Shannon.
* “There’s a compound in that that makes the back of my throat furry” - Shannon, on our macadamia nut crunch.
* “Might I suggest some new shock absorbers” - Shannon, to the lowriders on the Golden Gate Bridge.
* Alooooooooooha! - Mario
* Our bus tour of Oahu. Mario, our tour guide, singing to us. “Cause when you go to Hawaii, you just hang loose.”
* “Wow! Raccoons!” - Amanda, Hame.
“Guys, do you want my banana?” - Sunita
“I think raccoons are more important than bananas right now” - Hame
* “THAT is
supremely irritating!” - Shannon, on a dripping shower.
“Hame, whaddya know, he’s snoring” - Sunita, 3 minutes later.
* “If you were a dog, I’d kick you in your face” - Random guy at breakfast table at Holiday Inn.
* “I’m just gonna cruise around here for a bit, but if I get dodged out, is it sweet if I come crash back here?” - Our kiwi friend Peter, to Hokondo staff.
“I beg your pardon?” - Hokondo staff.
Peter repeats but slower this time.
“Dude, speaking slower won’t help” - Hame.
* “Maybe we should make some friends” - Hame, at Hokondo.
“Nah, they all look like munters” - Sunita
“Mun-ters!” - Hame
* “If you give me your quarter, I’ll kick the door open for you” - Random guy at Coit Tower to Sunita and Amanda, when they really needed the dysfunctional ‘restroom.’
* “We missed out cause we were too busy eating our turkey sandwiches” - Sunita, at Pearl Harbour.
* “Those Disney characters aren’t as innocent as they seem” - Sunita, after being accosted by Pluto and Goofy.
We listened to….
1. Sunny Came Home - Shawn Colvin
2. The way you make me feel - Michael Jackson
3. Can’t help falling in love - UB40
4. In Da Club - 50 Cent
5. She Bangs - William Hung
6. The Sweetest Thing - U2
7. Sway - Bic Runga
8. Drive - Bic Runga
9. Smooth Operator - Sade
10. Your love is King - Sade
11. Another Night - Real McCoy
12. Come and get your love - Real McCoy
13. Runaway - Real McCoy
14. My Favourite Mistake - Sheryl Crow
15. Africa - Toto
16. Missing - Everything but the Girl
17. Unforgettable - Nat King Cole
18. Better - Brooke Fraser
19. Arithmetic - Brooke Fraser
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Jem
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The scary fat man is trying to be Micheal Myers - the killer in Halloween