Venice Beach and Malibu

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The Start by Mike

After a fab Xmas we did the last of our preliminary packing and readied ourselves for our afternoon flight to LA. Things were pretty cruisy in the morning due to some preparation and having time on our hands. The wonderful Tevita Viliami (David Williams for you palagi) picked us up at 11.30am on the dot. I was so musy chatting to him I was sitting in the car waiting for Michelle to get her shit together and a voice comes down from the top of the drive…”ready to go are we?”
“Yes dear” I said trying to be as polite as I could…

”Do you want to take your wallet and phone then?” trying to be as polite and unsarcastic as she could…crisis averted!

I run up to the kitchen trying to look as cool and collected as I can…fail

The previous night when loading a map onto the TomTom I decided in the spirit of Star Wars that I would load Yoda and Darth Vader’s voices as well so the great one and his Padawan Obi Wan (Alec Guiness version) will guide is on out trip….

Check in flight and arrival was pretty uneventful thankfully and we catch a cab to Apollo Motorhomes to pick up Minnie Winnie our baby Winnebago…must say it’s pretty cool - two doubles beds, a dining table, kitchen and bathroom. ‘Only’ 23 feet long so felt a bit like driving a big ute with a box on it really. The speed limits (35-55mph) mean I don’t feel like I’m holding and no one has honked me yet….a bit different from Europe!

We stop in at a supermarket and wow…welcome to the world of boxed and processed food! Everything you can think of comes in a box…pancakes, biscuits (I mean the southern style scone type biscuits) there was sausage and pancakes on a stick, unbelievable. Impressed with the Jack Daniels pulled chicken and pork. Big pieces of meat. A diabetic section. Different world.

We drive through Long Beach – not much to see - and go up to Marina Del Rey – lovely marina and beach and end up at the south end of Venice Beach. Had monstrous buffalo wings, fish tacos and a cali chicken brioche burger which defeated us totally (note to self, beware US portion sizes!) and we wander to Dockweiler Beach and an RV camp. Very impressed with US beaches – bike lanes, walkways and fire pits make it very user friendly – awesome.

Yoda - “Your destination you have reached…the force is strong with you”…

Obi Wan – “Remember – the Force will always be with you”

Successful day – no stress – ready to tackle the Pacific Coast Highway tomorrow.



Venice Beach by Jacob

As soon as we arrive we are met with interesting weather conditions, hot sun beating down on you, while the icy wind makes you wear 3 layers of clothes. As you can tell, it’s off to a great start. Despite the weather not being able to make up its mind, we start to walk down the waterfront. On our left the waves breaking against the shore and to our right there is an endless row of shops. My parents waddled behind me making sure to spend 10 minutes looking at everything, the only shop that caught my eye was the “The Green Doctors – Medical Marijuana Evaluation” sign for $40, which is a bargain if I might add. After carrying on my mother is targeting by the ruthless evil of Venice Beach…. Tyrone, and the selling of his mixtapes (which apparently are as hot as fire). My poor innocent mother has not been exposed to such art as is, Tyrone’s mixtape. So obviously, she is quite confused and flustered when he approached and started talking. As he placed the holy-grail of rap into my mother’s hand, he asked where we were from. We responded with ‘Nu Zulund’ which apparently he has had over 30 national commercials in. He then proceeded to ask if we wanted his autograph which we didn’t, then after failing to give the CD back to him for half a minute my mum finally managed to get it into his pocket. We were then able to leave in peace. I thought to myself soon afterwards “it’s strange someone as successful as he says he is, couldn’t even afford to use proper CD cases, instead using paper sleeves”. In contrast to our eventful encounter with Tyrone the rest of the day was quite nice, just us wondering down the beach looking at the daily activities of people and the shops and restaurants.

Note to all, if you want to listen to new quality music, make sure to stop by and see Tyrone on Venice Beach. After all… his mixtape is fire.

PS: By Michelle

What Jacob didn’t mention is Tyrone got really pissed off when I outsmarted him by putting his CD back in his pocket on his hoody. He started yelling “what the hells the matter with you” over and over and then as we walked away he started shouting about that crazy lady who went into his pocket… oh dear…

Venice to Malibu by Michelle



The drive up the coast was beautiful for the most part and one of the reasons we decided to do a roadie as opposed to flying and hoteling (such a word?). We had a great drive except we seemed to bypass Santa Monica which was a shame however we are booked to stay there a night pre cruise so all good. How did we miss it we wondered? Mystery solved tonight when going online to check our tomorrows options and we find that the big amusement park and pier we excitedly saw on our way North was not in fact Venice Beach North but actually Santa Monica. Ok so big investigate on our return… So we arrive in Malibu and keep driving until we find a place to safely park the RV on the roadside. Wee walk back and find the new? park titled the Malibu Lagoon (i.e. wetlands area developed). Went on a nice walk through then onto Malibu Beach for a walk along and some gawking due to serious FOMO (fear of missing out) moments of the rich and famous peeps homes. Sorry but really! Nice as houses and wouldn’t say no if any were offered but actually no better than a beautiful walk along Takapuna or Milford beach any day. I only get how amazing our landscape is when I travel. On the way back on the walk path we encounter three wasted guys )(booze/drugs???) and they wish us a merry Christmas. Ok then keep moving. Get back to the main road to cross and two of our ‘friends’ approach. I heard “can you help us out”, to Jacob it was said “can you hook us up” and to Mike “have you got a tip for me”. Feck…not good anyway. Couldn’t cross as lights were red so a very nervous few minutes while I moved aside (ready to approach a car driver). Mike does his usual and placates the situation as best he can with humour. One dude gets pissed with Jacob saying “I don’t understand” (he didn’t!) and starts to get in there. Thankfully three things happen. One, his mate says hey leave them alone, two the lights change and three someone in a car waiting at the lights is yelling at them to leave us alone and we get the hell out of there. Given how wasted they were a fast walk would have outrun them but one dude was really angry and who knows what weapons people are carrying over here? Move thankfully on and we make our way to Santa Barbara. Gorgeous place but it’s getting dark as we arrive so we find an RV park to stay at and we’ll investigate the pier tomorrow.

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