14th April-18th April Part two

 We only ended up passing through Malibu Beach, it was a beautiful place but it was packed full of people so we carried on to Santa Monica.  As we got further in towards LA the traffic got far more intense and the lanes just started appearing - thank god for the GPS.  We had a walk around the Santa Monica Pier and the promenade.  I can see why it is such a popular area.  We made our way to West Hollywood where we were staying for the next 3 nights.  Our hotel was central, it had everything we needed including a pool and also it was safe and comfortable. Once we got settled we had a walk around and it was obvious we were in a very very upmarket area, the gardens and streets of Beverly Hills were pretty impressive.  There were luxury cars everywhere, beautiful people all made up and in expensive clothing, big jewellery and it was just very sophisticated!  The next morning we went on a day tour of LA on a bus.  This took us on a tour of lots of stars houses in Bel Air, up to Mullholland drive to view the Hollywood sign, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood, downtown LA, China Town and lots more.  After that Jase got a bit cocky and decided we were going to try and get closer to the Hollywood sign and some how we ended up in this private street directly under the Hollywood sign which was protected by large security gates.  It took us a while to work out how to get back to our hotel.  The streets up there resembled peoples driveways they were that narrow and the GPS was getting confused because the roads were so twisty and steep so it sent us on a bit of a goose chase.  We headed out the next day for some shopping and almost got our car towed for parking in a complex and shopping at another shop!  OOPS - We acted like dumb tourists! - That worked!  The rest of our time in Hollywood was spent visiting Griffith Park and the Observatory, Peterson car Museum and plenty of shops and local sites.  Our final mission was to see if we could find out where the Playboy Mansion was.  We went on a mission for a star map and found our way to a flash street where we clearly did not belong in our little chevy and we took a picture of the gate.  Apparently these areas are monitored by the police as the stars do not like to be harrassed.  You can also get a ticket in Beverly Hills for just cruising the streets........That is very posh! Apparently if you get arrested in Beverly Hills and you are not a resident you get taken into downtown LA to be booked, if you are a resident you can dial a pizza and use the internet from your cell. Thursday morning we headed to Universal Studios - This place is awesome.  Even for us adults - We had a great time.  It was an absolute scorcher of a day but we went to the shows which were awesome - Terminator -3D and many more, a Studio Tour and of course the rides.  It was a long tiring day but loved every minute of it.  We were like a couple of little kids!  After a huge day it took us 2 hours to get to Anaheim - (our new destination and home for the next 9 days) because of the traffic.  LA Traffic makes Wellington traffic look like nothing................There are plenty of traps for tourists like us over here if you don't read the small print.  We parked in a car park that said free for the first 2 hours however your receipts from the shop had to be validated to get the free parking - ROBBERS!  The other thing that is bloody annoying is the tax they charge over here - In NZ the tax is included in the price on the price tag, here you pick up something, think you are getting a bargain and then you get to the counter and they add tax and this is right down to a bag of chippies or a drink!