That's a wrap - a Hollywood moment

To say the final night at the HoJo was restless would be an understatement. My room was right near the vending machine and people had the munchies throughout the night and oddly travelled in pairs when they needed sustenance. This meant a bot of a chat and never in whispered tones, a few giggles and the requisite fowl language RIGHT THROUGH THE FREAKING NIGHT. That and a group of young sounding folk checking in around 2 am and buzzing around finding their rooms, again not in whispered tones, kept me awake for most of the night.

Self serve Breakfast at 7.30 and check out for the shuttle bus to the airport, about ten minutes away. Check in was easy and the bags checked all the way through to Melbourne. Security and customs painless so I had a couple of hours up my sleeve before the flight. Cramped flight through to LA arriving early afternoon and earlier than planned. I have eight hours to kill and no bags to lug around. I decide to bite the bullet and see if I can get downtown and have a look and be back to the airport by about 6 (flight leaves at 10).

Sunny but a very cold wind as I wait for  Flyaway bus to Union Station, about a half hour wait then a 30 minute $7 ride into the station which is downtown LA. I then grab a $5 metro card and take the red line train into Hollywood and Highland which takes me to a shopping centre that sits right on Hollywood Boulevard. Lots of people around, I go up to the fourth floor of the shopping centre and get photos of the Hollywood sign and then down to see Grauman's Chinese and all those famous footprints in cement, the stars on the pavement, movie star impersonators having their photos taken, the Kodak theatre and things movie. It was a nice atmosphere and fun. I crossed over the road and looked through a couple of the souvenir shops but as soon as I stepped away from the block where all this was it felt very seedy and unsafe, interesting. I pretty quickly moved back to the crowds before eventually getting back on the train and to the airport. Nicely filled in a few hours and I actually made it to Hollywood!!

Arrived back at the airport and went through security, gawd I was over removing the belt and the shoes etc. Then moving around until time to hop on the plane. Was feeling that I might have the two seats to myself BUT my companion arrived virtually last passsenger on. poor bloke had long legs so he was in for an uncomfortable trip. Turned out too be a lovely guy who had been in the states for 36 hours and accepted an offer from a Louisianna University, gaining a scholarship and a four year contract to play gridiron as a punter for them. A terrific opportunity for him and so interesting to hear all the details from him and see how excited he was. He grew up in Rockhampton but has lived in Ballarat for a few years so a big change for him all round. His 'deal' dinner was with big wigs from the Uni, a local celebrity, Matt Flynn and the State Senator, not bad. Apart from chatting with him it was an interminably long flight but eventually, eventually we got to Sydney and a smooth changeover after two hours for the flight home and the two seats to myself. We arrived twenty minutes early which meant we had to wait for an Emirates flight to get out of our gate (drawing the anticipation out). It was great to step back onto Tulla and then home again.

I'll put together my thoughts about the trip and post them in a day or two. Thanks for being on the trip with me, I hope you've enjoyed it (and the photos).