why love LA?

who knew an idea from Croydon could spread so far?

seven things I love about Los Angeles.

1.  They do great burgers, especially here...

2.  They love movies as much as I do.

maybe I did go back in time..

name that movie...

3.  Having breakfast in a place like this.

 4.  The walk of fame.

I am not worthy.

5.  Griffith Park.  As seen in this movie. A fifty cent bus trip, gets you an awesome view.

6.  The beaches.  Sadly overcast when I went, but still fun!

my plans for the afternoon, ruined.

7.  The theme parks.  (More stuff to come from them!)

There are times on this trip that I have to pinch myself, just to make sure I'm not dreaming.  One such occasion  was today, when I found myself in an NBC studio watching Jay Leno interview Amanda Seyfried and the two dudes from Harold and Kumar.  Sadly no cameras were permitted, but it was freakin awesome!

That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run

Following my awesome week in LA (pics & vids soon) , I will be travelling to Miami to pick up my flight to Argentina.  I will then bus it to Rio-fly back to Miami-spend a week at the parks in Orlando and then tour North America, ending up in NYC, just before Christmas.

the last word on Australia

Australia is awesome!  I so wanna come back.  Here are a few shots of my last few days there.

Watsons Bay

where is Nemo?

still going strong down under 

hmmmm

a lot of truth in that

the longest day

For most people, Wednesday October 19th was just another day. But for me it was the simply the day that would never end, because my October 19th was 41 hours long.

what the flux?

This trip marks the first time I have been east of Italy, the first time I have been south of the equator and tomorrow will be the first time I have crossed the international date line. So I will take off at 11am on October 19th and arrive at 6.15am the same day.  I couldn't possibly let this momentous time travel event pass by without some reference to Marty, Doc and the space time continuum.



the green is where I am, the red is where I am going, the yellow was in the movie



If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit.

 Guess which Busted song has just started playing on the Woolworths muzak system?

There is one final post about Australia. It will be done later in the week in California.  Plus I have a cool idea for my blog in America.  See you in the future...

blue sunday

Of all the phrases I had hoped not to hear whilst I was away, "rail replacement bus service" was definitely near the top of the list.  It is simply because of those countless times that I have strolled along to Upper Warlingham Station, expecting to greeted by a cheery station master, and instead finding the place deserted, and a sign diverting me to the nearest bus stop.

Imagine my pleasure when I arrive at Sydney Central Station on Sunday morning, and find my trip to the Blue Mountains diverted on to a rail replacement bus service.  I shouldn't really complain though, this trip was seriously cheap- six quid for a 100 mile round trip.  At that price, a replacement horse service would have been fine.

The Blue Mountains themselves do look awesome. 

not my words, but Charles Darwins'

900 steps down + 900 steps up

when the night has come

As some of you may be aware, Stand by me is one of my all time favourite movies.  A key moment in the film is when the four kids cross a river by using railroad bridge.  It being the fifties, they cant look up the timetable on their iPhone, and therefore end up facing an oncoming train.

I was confident that my climbing of the Sydney Harbour Bridge would be a less fraught affair.  I was after all following in the footsteps of Jason Bourne, Travis Bickle and Harry Potter; not to mention the casts of Twilight-New Moon (not any of the famous ones) & Glee.



  The walk starts on the far left- on a "catwalk" that runs under the bridge, with little between you and the road below. Then you go up four ladders.  This was the bit I wasn't very keen on.  On the way up you go between two lanes of traffic, and on the way down you are between two railway lines!


 Now you have reached the steps on the right-then you climb up to the flag-cross the bridge at the very top,  and then walk down the steps on the left.



Looking suitably cool...




and looking slightly deranged-must have been the lack of oxygen.