Around The World In 80 Waves

Since I have arrived in LA I am indeed drinking like a fish. I think that is because apart from the staff who are fantastic and a couple of great people I have met at the hostel, generlly it isn’t very friendly at all. Good mornings, etc are meet with a blank stare or a quickly averted gaze so I keep heading out looking for fun. Everybody is face down into their tech of choice.

The down side of this is that I am in the rich part of town (also the USA) so that isn’t cheap. I paid $11 for a beer the other day! Rather than go Down and Out in Beverley Hills like the frankly staggering amount of homeless people with mental health issues that are all over the place I think it is time to move on.

I have to start thinking about crosing the border which has been looming large on the horizon for some time. My learn to speak Spanish CD isn’t going terribly well. I can say ‘Mi coche es viejo’, but one look at it will tell people I have an old car so I’m not sure how much help that will be. I have the genius of my ‘Point it’ picture book with me, which is hundreds of pictures so I can point to the Jack Daniels bottle and the coke bottle for example, or to the chicken, the rice and to vegetables. However I think it prudent to stock up on more British grub from the shop around the corner from the Hostel to make sure I dont go hungry for the lack of speaking Spanish.

It is my last night in the Holywood end of town and I go out wanting a quiet beer. I sit down at the bar and am having a drink when all of a sudden a burlesque show was going on around me. It turns out the stunning compare, who was spilling out of her basque and lingerie came from Newcastle. I spent the evening chatting to her trying hard to look up the whole time. I am not aurę I was entirely successful! No pictures I’m afraid gents because it was forbidden, but lots of wonderful mental images for me. This is a shot from the Burlesque film which should give you the right idea.

I head back to Venice Beach keen to get a wave at this famous beach, however the surf is naff. Knee high short period waves with a strong onshore wind, making the water very choppy and the time in the water quite miserable because the wind will cut through my wetsuit.

I procrastinate for ages and enjoy wandering along the promenade and having a bite to eat in one of the seafront cafes. Sitting there I am watching the hawkers, performers, and vendors going about their day with skateboarders slaloming through them all. There was nobody working out at muscle beach, which was a tad disappointing, but is the reason for this post missing that obligatory short of the area.

I eventually went in for about half an hour just to bag the break but this picture which was taken after I had gotten out shows how uninspiring the surf was even if the sunset behind it was epic.

On the plus side I am already a quarter of the way to my target of 80 waves and am only two months into my trip, which gave me a happy feeling while I was watching these guys playing handball and others shooting hoops on the basketball courts made famous in ‘White Men Can’t Jump’

I went to a great club last night at the end of a fun drinking session with an Australian helicopter pilot I met called Brett. The club is called Harvelles and the arist is known as The Toledo Show who was absoultely brilliant. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXWErB3mTs

Had a great time and wandered back to the hostel on my own looking for a late night burger. I was walking down the pedestrian high street at about 1am and it was largely deserted. I was somewhat surprised however to stumble across a couple both with their trousers around their ankles, and the lady’s top up around her neck going at it like animals in a recessed shop doorway.  I cheered them on but also pointed out that there are better places for it. Sadly it would appear the bloke doesn’t perform well in front of crowds and he got stagefright at this point rather killing the moment for them. She then made a right mess of scrambling back into her clothes falling into the street, rolling about on the floor. All of which amuses me immensely.

Late night action in more ways than one.

Named after the Welsh newspaper tycoon Griffith J Griffith who donated the land to Los Angeles, upon which Griffith park and it’s Obervatory now stand. He wanted to inspire people through astronomy. It has been used in many movies as a location but most famously in James Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause.

As you can see it was foggy while I was there, and it gives it a more eerie quality than I had expected. However from what the astronomer inside tells me it doesn’t matter because I wouldn’t have been able to see much anyway. Due to all the light pollution 98% of the visible night sky has been lost since the observatory was built in 1935. This lovely telescope, which is far more powerful than anything I used in Hawaii, can’t even see the Milky Way.

The other exhibits and the planetarium at the observatory are exceptionally good though and is one of the better $7 I have spent so far on this trip.

My thoughts are very much with my good mate and keen astronomer Pete Griffith at this point who has just been told he cannot go surfing indefinitely. I know how much that would break my own heart, so my thoughts are with you fella. It is a massive reminder for me about why I came on this trip, and I think it is time to hit the waves again. (After a Saturday night of sharking in LA of course!)

I can’t be in LA without doing the whole Hollywood experience and I decide to drive over there through the frankly mental freeway traffic. (I thought London’s was bad.) I have a great day in the sun over at Universal Studios, not least because single people do not have to queue for any of the rides due to them wanting to fill up the spare seats around groups.

As a movie fan I loved the studio tour, taking in the sets and stages, spotting the backdrops to so many films. This is the plane wreckage scene from the Tom Cruise & Speilberg version of War of the Worlds, but I also see the Back to the Future town square and the set for far too many westerns to list here.

Afterwards I take a stroll up and down Hollywood Boulevard checking out all the stars along the walk of fame. I see many famous names but this star has me thinking of home because Boris Karloff was born around the corner from my flat in London.

I get out of bed with every intention of going surfing but it is a grey, wet and generally uninspiring day in LA so after failing to be impressed by the surf available at several beaches that I check out I decide not to go surfing and instead drive around town looking for film locations. This is far from a comprehensive list but I see where scenes from the following films were shot:

• The Graduate (1967)
• Diamonds are Forever (1971)
• Blazing Saddles (1974)
• Chinatown (1974)
• Earthquake (1974)
• Grease (1978)
• Heaven Can Wait (1978)
• Up in Smoke (1978)
• Airplane! (1980)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
• The Terminator (1984)
• Lethal Weapon (1987)
• Colors (1988)
• Die Hard (1988)
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
• Point Break (1991)
• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• White Men Can’t Jump (1992)
• Falling Down (1993)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Speed (1994)
• Heat (1995)
• L.A. Confidential (1997)
• American History X (1998)
• Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
• The Aviator (2004)
• Fast & Furious (2009)

I then spend hours on two grail quests. First trying to find the site of The Beach Boys’ childhood home in the Hawthorne area of town. I eventually find it, but am quite surprised at just how far it is from the sea. The house was actually domolished to make room for a freeway, but a monument including this placque stands as close to the original location as possible without being in the fast lane.

Next it is over to Beverley Hills to see if I can get into the Playboy Mansion. No luck here but I do find it after purchasing a DIY stalker kit/ celebrity homes map from the tourist shop. These are the gates and I certainly didn’t get any nearer despite ringing the bell. The second word was ‘off’. You can figure out the rest.

At the end of the day I am tired, but have been all over town and seen so much. However despite asking everywhere including Mr Lee’s laundry in Chinatown I am somewhat disappointed not to be able to make contact with The A-Team through the Los Angeles underworld.

I have gone down to Venice beach to see if the naff surf is any better there. It is, but not much, so I don’t go in. Instead I watch all the wildlife hanging around the pier as well as a local nutter who is surfing through the pier itself. He is swerving around the pilings as he goes an it is known as shooting the pier. From above you watch him charge in from one side and then race over to the other to see if he comes out intact, like a giant human version of Pooh sticks. As you can see the dolphins were back, but I also saw seals, sea lions and even a couple of grey whales breaching just past the end of the pier.

Just when I think things cannot get any wilder a bloke wearing only his underpants sprints past me on the pier. He runs to the end of the pier and without pausing launches himself straight over the side belly flopping on to the water. Before I know it there is a full Baywatch style rescue going on but sadly no Pamela Anderson involved. This boat comes flying out of the marina down the coast, three lifeguard trucks tear up the beach from the nearby towers, and one guy starts knee paddling his lifesaver surfboard out.

Seconds later the Police helicopter is overhead but despite that on the pier you can hear the conversation between the lifeguards and the jumper who doesnt appear to be severely harmed. “Hey buddy, you’re in your underwear. Are you allright in the head.” He eventually gets dragged in to the beach where three police cars have now shown up (all of which seems a wee bit overkill) and after turning his back on the officers in a ‘its a fair cop’ stance is handcuffed and carted off.

It brings some excitement into what would otherwise be a very grey day.

The break is so called because it is at the end of Sunset Boulevard, which was also the title and location of a 1950 movie. I think it may be the first time I have surfed somewhere which is also a film title, and it seems appropriate for my first wave in Los Angeles.

Whilst getting into my wetsuit I chat to a 65 year old who has returned to the water after a 19 year hiatus. He has got the stoke back and is loving it. He is extremely jealous of my trip. Surfers everywhere I have been just get the concept and think it is a great idea.

As for the break itself the waves are only about three feet high and I was in two minds about going in at all until I saw dolphins swim through the break, which was the nudge I needed to get me in the water. Not bothering with the camera because of the waves on offer I paddled out over the rocks and quickly catch two beautiful peeling rights off the point.

However I am struggling to compete for the waves with the longboards in the water and I spend most of the time getting dive bombed by Pelicans who are after the fish which are clearly in the area. I surf until the sun goes down and enjoy another sunset at sunset.

I head back to the hostel and Ye Olde Kings Head British pub and shop which are around the corner. I savour a few celebratory pints of Boddingtons and purchase this sticker to try and Taff up the VW for my journey south, conscious that it’s California plates may attract attention once south of the border.

Or Los Angeles as it is better known is home to the Engligh speaking world’s movie industry, most surf publications, and is the far end of Route 66 from Chicago, which I visited back at the start of December. I roll into town early because the surf is nothing to write home about and I figure I might as well get settled into my new home. (Well for the next week anyway!)

I check into the hostel in Santa Monica, which is a block back from the beach, but head straight for the Getty Centre at the top of a hill on the other side of town.

The location itself is a wonderful spot, and the huge art collection inside is also very impressive but personally I think the real star of the show there is the building which was designed by architect Richard Meier.

Everyway you look there is an intriguing angle or an amazing vista.

The gardens were pretty special too. However I need to get back to the hostel because there is an organisd pub crawl tonight which I dont want to be late for. I am in town for a few days and I need to make some new friends.

I was really looking forward to surfing here but it is the wrong time of year for this break. During the summer there are probably 10 people on every wave and it is completely crazy.

More islands and its southerly aspect shelter it from the Northern Swells which dominate the North Pacific in Winter. The result being a flat sea to greet me upon arrival.

I have to amuse myself by asking this bloke if he has seen David Hasselhoff. He didn’t find it as funny as I did.

I thought it unlikely I would be able to surf here so instead had put on my best Charlie Harper ( a la Two and a Half Men) bowling shirt the previous evening and had gone out on the pull, sadly with as much success as I had catching waves.

I did however find a bar and restaurant calle Duke’s (after Duke Kahanmoku no less)which overlooks the sea at Malibu and called back in here on the way south. Whilst enjoying a burger and a beer I was watching dolphins playing in the sea from my seat at the bar, which is definitely a first!