Menu
With the time difference between New York and Los Angeles, we both woke up around 3:00am. Outside, there was a big storm with heavy rain and strong winds. Where is our sunny California weather? We must have brought in the cold weather from New York.
Luckily we were able to go back to sleep. In the end, we got up after 6:00am and took our sweet time to go downstairs for a very good breakfast.
We were moving very slow this morning as we had plenty of time before our flight for Melbourne due to depart at 9:05pm.
Once more… Walking in LA before our long flight to Australia
After the rain subsided, we dressed up warmly to brace for the strong winds and walk from Marina Del Rey to the Santa Monica Pier, a 3.8-mile walk.
The wind was so strong that I should’ve worn my winter hat, but I had left it in my suitcase in the room… hope I don’t get sick!
Because yesterday we didn’t have enough time to see all the Venice Canals, we decided to take a small detour through the Canals. Some streets were flooded due to last night’s heavy rains.
The Oddities of Venice Beach
Santa Monica Pier
The famous Santa Monica Pier seen in so many movies and TV shows! The pier was quiet on this Sunday, probably because of the cold weather (at least for Californians!).
I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the Route 66 kiosk which marks the end of the historic Route 66 (established in 1926) that starts in Chicago and crosses the country. Lots of stories, songs, and movies about Route 66.
Once at the pier, we found a restaurant nearby, the Red O Cantina, a Mexican restaurant. Decent lunch at decent prices. We ate as light as possible so as not to interfere with our 16-hour flight to Melbourne. An Uber took us back to our hotel where we chilled until it was time to get ready to catch another Uber, this time to the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.
Amazingly, it took us just under 30 minutes to get to the terminal from our hotel and only 20 minutes to check in to the Qantas ticket counter, go through TSA pre security, and then to the Oneworld Lounge. I don’t remember having done all of this in so little time. Another record on this trip. We relaxed in the Qantas business lounge until it was time for us to get to our gate.
The plane was one of those newer Boeing planes, the new 787 aka the Dreamliner. Lots of new features on this plane and every passenger in business class (no first class on this plane) has their own mini-pods with seats that lay down flat so you can sleep. It was the first time for Jim to be in on an international business class… will be hard to go back to coach, if ever! The flight attendants were very friendly throughout our flight and Jim even struck a conversation about photography with one of them.
The food was decent but not as tasty as on other American Airlines international flights I’ve been on. They served dinner quite fast as well, which was a bit unusual. Maybe because it is a late flight and people want to get to sleep.
We stayed up as late as possible, watching TV shows and movies, trying to get to the Hobart time zone right away. We slept for several hours and woke up about four hours before our arrival in Melbourne. They served us breakfast prior to landing in Melbourne. We were not feeling so tired after all.
TOTAL NUMBER OF MILES FLOWN = 7,926 miles (12,756 km)
TOTAL NUMBER OF MILES WALKED = 5.35 miles (8.6 km)
© 2022 Voyage bien. All Rights Reserved
Website development – Profit Web Ideas