It took a lot to encourage my daughter to dive as she is scared of fish and deep water, but she did well to get into the water and down to the bottom

The sea life is ok, but don’t expect to many large fish in the shallows. On our dive, we did see many fish and a few Moray Eels, we were lucky to see a lion fish which is extremely dangerous.

The last few dive places we used have now gone out of business, not sure why, maybe it’s too competitive. This time, we booked through a dive centre on the back beach road.

The cost is reasonable at 4500 baht (approx $143 Aus), this included 3 dives at Racha Yai and Racha Noi, all equipment, lunch and all drinks while on the boat as well as transfers to and from the hotel.

The trip is approx 1 and a half hours or 2 hours if you dive Racha Noi, it s about the same, or a little longer if going to Phi Phi.

Diving Phuket

I did find some of the guns need some overdue maintenance as the 308 failed to fire on a number of occasions and in the end, the guys replaced the pin and it was ok after that. The cost does range from 650 to around 1500 depending on the gun. Normally you get 10 bullets in each set

At the end of the show, the performers all come out to have their photos taken and this is where they want you to put some money between their breasts. It is well worth it.

Half way through the flight, John and Frank were engaged in a conversation, however the conversation was upsetting to some passengers as they complained to the cabin staff, and they were told to stop talking. We now have a 5 hour stop over in KL while waiting for our next flight. Will update shortly.

Food and Restaurants:
Best Mexican: La Salsa, Santa Monica
Best Fish Tacos: Rubios, Las Vegas
Best Hamburger: In-n-Out Burger, Los Angeles, Fatburger, Las Vegas
Best Breakfast: Ihop, Las Vegas
Best Restaurant: Cuvee, Napa Valley
* Free refills on soft drinks in fast food places and restaurants
* Free Chips and Salsa when sitting in a Mexican restaurant

Places and Things:
Best Place: Las Vegas
Best Architecture: Carmel
Best Hotel: Hyatt, San Francisco
Best Tourist Attraction: Warner Brothers Studios Los Angeles
* Able to turn left on a red light (like us turning right on a red light)
* Able to do 40 kms over the speed limit and people still pass you on the freeway

The Holiday Inn at Century City is OK, but as with any hotel in LA, they are expensive, tired and old looking. The Holiday Inn would be a new place with new carpet and a coat of paint. The mattress in our room sunk in the middle and I think it’s probably been there when it opened so it was a little uncomfortable. Breakfast was included in the rate, but it’s made up of powdered eggs and other items that are just full of sugar, but overall, the rooms are big and unlike other hotels we stayed in, this one had a refrigerator and the rooms were quite large.

We raced around Beverly Hills and Hollywood to take some photos and battled the LA traffic to take the rental car back before the peak (seems all times are peak). We managed to get to the airport 4 hours ahead of time, just to make sure we didn’t have to rush. The terminal in which V Australia takes off from is a domestic terminal. They just don’t cater for international travelers with only a Burger King that only sells chicken a restaurant that I wouldn’t let my dog eat at (it was dirty and disgusting) and off course a Starbucks. Originally, we thought of sitting and having a few drinks and dinner in the restaurant, but after seeing the filth, my thoughts were if they don’t care about the cleanliest of the restaurant, then they won’t care about the food, so I let the waiter know. We had one drink and left (no tip either). We found another vendor selling sandwiches so we had no choice but to pay $10 each for a sandwich that was stale (shame on you LAX).

We boarded the flight to Melbourne that was delayed, and Bron was pulled a side and her carry on weighed. They said it was too heavy and had to be checked on but she kept arguing and eventually they gave up and picked on somebody else. The flight was relatively full and the seating arrangements were OK. However 16 hours on a plane is a long time and I don’t think any airline cares about its economy passengers. The seats are hard and uncomfortable, the entertainment system is good, but we had the same moves on the way home as we did on the way over which is stupid. The food on the way over was good, but on the way back, it was disgusting. My main meal was horrible (fish that was overcooked and dry, with a few vegetables), along with a dry bread roll and 2 pieces of fruit. I’d finished my meal before your one free drink was offered. Breakfast was worse, the meal was cold and the orange juice they served was frozen. Service was ordinary, it seems Australian airlines want to spend more time relaxing than serving their customers. Not sure I’ll fly with V Australia based on the last leg of our trip.

In the afternoon we headed down to Venice Beach and walked along the promenade to Muscle Beach. This place was a real eye opener, with many unusual people and sights to see, including legal Marijuana clinics. It’s a good place to take your kids and show them why they should stay at school and not take drugs or drink to excess.

We left Venice Beach and headed to the exclusive suburb of Malibu. It is an affluent, beachfront city, and consists of a 34 km strip of prime Pacific coastline, most of it you can’t see though because of the houses built on it. In the spots where there is no house, or restaurant, etc, there is a huge chain wire fence, to keep the public out. It is quite normal in the US, as we found in Florida, for people to build right on the sand and actually own the beach! There is obviously a lot of money here.

Our last night in LA LA land and we had dinner at the Pink Taco, then back to start the arduous task of packing while drinking some wine made by Francis F. Coppola.