Last Day in LA

Booked the VIP Tours of California four and a half hour trip around LA via the hotel reception at $55 each. The rain was teeming down again but the forecast for this afternoon is for it to clear up. I ran up to the ATM on Santa Monica Bvld as I didn’t have sufficient cash to pay. Got wet but a nice man let me share his umbrella up to the ATM. He even crossed the road with me despite not needing to. Can you imagine someone offering to share a brolly with a total stranger in the UK ? I bought my own at a shop across the road and got back to the hotel just in time to be collected by the mini-bus. We were taken to a larger depot a few miles away where we boarded another mini-bus where there was only Kath and I, a couple from Switzerland and a young guy from Wales. Eddie was the driver who had a Puerto Rican father and black American mother. He was married to a Taiwanese lady and had 12 children ! It turned out he was a retired LAPD Officer and so I told him what I did for a living. He then asked if we knew Yorkshire and produced a West Yorkshire Police fabric crest/motif that we wear on polo shirts. I in turn showed him my West Yorkshire Police warrant card and he was ecstatic. Turns out he is good friends with Michael Richardson, an Inspector in PSD and when I said I knew him, he couldn’t believe it. Turned out they met at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and have been good friends since then….small world indeed.
The tour took us to LAX, Marina del Rey and Venice Beach where the surf was up owing to the weather which had by this time cleared up and the sun had come out. We went on to Beverly Hills and Hollywood and had chance to get out and wander around Hollywood Blvd. Then it was on to the Farmers Market which is a fascinating area with small stalls selling every type of food under the sun. It would have been nice to spend more time there but we had to leave after 45 mins. On our return we went for a walk/push around Santa Monica shops and then went to the Britannia bar for some food. Met another English couple from Fleetwood who were touring the US by car for a few weeks. Back to the hotel where we were picked up by shuttle bus and off to LAX airport. The driver was also a tour guide so I had another guided tour of the streets as I was sat in the front next to him whilst Kath was talking to the other four people in the mini-bus in the back.
Now sat in LAX awaiting a flight with Quantas to Auckland where we will meet up with Maxine at the airport. She has taken the day off work to meet us so hope we are not delayed. Don’t want to stay here any longer than necessary as the piped music is like 40’s jazz which is doing my head in along with the public information announcer who makes you jump every time he speaks with his ridiculous southern drawl. Sounds like someone from the Dukes of Hazzard. We need to sleep on this 12 hour flight as it will be morning in NZ when we arrive with a full day ahead. LA has been fun and we have coped with wheelchair so far. Kath is doing good and managing to walk short distances but the weather could have been kinder which would have added to an enjoyable stay.