Santa Barbara to Santa Monica

A more leisurely start saw us pull away from the Santa Barbara Hilton at 10.00am. We travelled along the Pacific Coast Highway past the famous beach suburbs of Ventura and Malibu just to name a couple. It really is quiet fascinating how the mountains meet the sea and a narrow road is carved out between the two. In some areas there are also houses built on and over the beach. Some of the houses are built so close to the road that occupants would need to be careful stepping out their front door. Unlike Australia if you own one of these beachside homes you also own the beach in front of your home. Perhaps Mr. Lindsey Fox should buy a house here.

We arrived in Santa Monica just on midday. The bus dropped us off at the famous pier and we spent some time exploring the area. The noise, the colour, the crowds, etc make it a very exciting place to visit. 

It was then back on the bus for a tour of Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Los Angeles is a city of more than 10,000,000 people however they have limited public transport so the roads are absolutely choked all day every day. We were told that most people in Los Angeles have a daily commute of two hours each way. Unbelievable!!! We drove passed and along all the famous roads, drives and boulevards - Hollywood, Santa Monica, Wiltshire, Rodeo, Sunset, etc. Hollywood is tacky and Beverly Hills is stunning. The tree lined streets are so carefully manicured, the houses beautiful and the cars parked out the front.....very expensive.

Dinner tonight was at Bubba Gump (made famous in the movie Forrest Gump) on the pier. The shrimps (prawns) were fresh and very tasty. A great end to another terrific day.

Tomorrow we are off to Disneyland. It is a 13 hour day so we could be a little tired tomorrow night.