On the morning of Sunday 15 April we bid farewell to our lovely home at Omaha Beach and drove down to Auckland in the car kindly loaned to us by Logan and Heidi. We met up with our friends Allan, Carole and Sheryl for a very enjoyable lunch at SPQR in Ponsonby. We then went to Logan and Heidi’s place at Point Chev. to drop off the car and say goodbye to Bick and Arthur. We were also joined by Janet, Avery and Blake, Robert still being away in the USA. We had a wonderful time playing with the kids outside in their big garden, but eventually it was time for the last kisses and cuddles and Logan drove us out to the airport.
Check-in was painless and we boarded the 747 and took our seats in the “bubble” in the first row behind the “sleeper” section. Very comfortable and huge leg-room as we were beside the emergency exit. Watched a couple movies (Borat and The Good German for me) and got some rest. Meals, wines and service up to the best Air NZ standard and the same as for the business class. We arrived on time and cleared US immigration with no problems. (The officer even smiled as she took out fingerprints and mug-shots) We took the shuttle to the Marriott LAX and moved into a very quiet and comfortable Level 4 room.
It being still quite early and a fine day we decided to take a look around. We visited the Sheraton along the road and had coffee. All the hotels seem to have out-sourced their lobby refreshments to Starbucks. We were just trying to find the bus to Fox Hill Mall when a free shuttle arrived which took us to Manhattan Beach. After quite a long ride down the coast past refineries, power stations and waste treatment plants we arrived at a sea-side suburb with a surf beach and pier. The beach was set up with 100s of volley ball nets and billed itself as the Volley Ball Centre of the World. Unfortunately the wind was blowing in very fresh so there were no ladies games under way. After a walk around and a coffee we caught the shuttle back to the hotel, had a light meal and crashed into bed. We later found a lot of sand in our bags, clothes and hair which must have been blown in from the beach.
