[Alan]

And tomorrow I leave blighty to be the advanced guard for our new life in NZ. Some of the way in which the human mind works is really quite bizarre but I hope to add to this post over the coming week (I have an stopover in LA).

Thank you all for your support, words of wisdom and help, it certainly is the best forum on "the net", I hope to see some of you on the other side!

Fare well for now, Alan.

[CJ22]

Bon voyage dude!

[femke]

Good luck, Have a safe journey.:raebanana:raebanana
Moira

[Hejwitch_uk]

Happy travels! :D

[Georgebulldog]

Have a safe trip, hope there's a bit of sun for you in LA :)

[JandM]

Safe journey and happy landings.:nice1

[Mrs Pony]

have a safe trip!

[mgbridges]

Best of luck Alan! Wereabouts are you heading for? I know my OH got a tad lonely (although busy) when he was out here for a month on his own before he came back to the the UK to get DS and me. If you want some company and are coming to Auckland just let us know.

Safe trip!
Anneliese

[Scotty69]

Good luck, have a safe trip:raebanana:raebanana

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

Good luck and happy landings.

[Tia Maria]

Enjoy your trip!

I meant to say that Auctions are going really slowly at the moment, so a lot of properties are being passed over at auction with the real negotiating going on after. So if you like what you see, play it cool! :D

Cheers

Tia

[andrewp]

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

[Familyofmonkeys]

Good luck Alan....hopefully see you this side soon :)

[kiwijock]

Happy travels, were in NZ are you heading

:):)

[SNK05]

Have a good journey.......

Sue n Kev
xx

[doowrehsij]

Good luck!!!

[scotsfamily]

Best of Luck Alan, where are you planning to settle?


David & Janice

And tomorrow I leave blighty to be the advanced guard for our new life in NZ. Some of the way in which the human mind works is really quite bizarre but I hope to add to this post over the coming week (I have an stopover in LA).

Thank you all for your support, words of wisdom and help, it certainly is the best forum on "the net", I hope to see some of you on the other side!

Fare well for now, Alan.

[Kiwi-In-Texas]

Have a safe trip.




Suzanne.

[dusk]

Hope your journey is a good one :)

[slider]

Good luck and safe trip :nice1

[Alan]

Many thanks for all the good wishes, I am now on my second night of a stopover in L.A. staying in Redondo Beach at the Best Western Sunrise Hotel, and thought I would jot down some thoughts thus far on my travels towards my final destination of Auckland.

Leaving home (my wife and kids will follow when the house sale is complete :eek:) was a bit of a blur as the packing just seemed to go on forever even for me it was only two cases. I also wanted to ensure that a lot of the cleaning etc was done and the loft was emptied etc, so that it wasn't too stressful for those behind when they had to clear the house with the removal company

Anyway, I did not have time to go and see all the people I wanted to before I left and will need to send a grovelling email, but I did see some and there was a mixture of control (my mum is in here) and then people acting in a way I can only say seemed very similar to me saying to them that I was leaving to die!

It sounds horrible to say that, but the level of perceived grief was something I could not believe and was definately not prepared for. I then found that the journey to the airport was one that felt some what flat because I believe I had absorbed some of these emotions.

Anyway Air New Zealand were excellent at the airport and the flight was a busy one, apparently all flights to the U.S in July and August are pretty much flat out, so if you can avoid that I would.

On arriving at L.A the immigration side of things was a lot better than the experience I have had elsewhere in the U.S and even got a smile and laugh from the lady doing the passport side of things.

I got my bags and went to find a hire car. There are no hire car companies in the terminal building so you have to wait outside the terminal for a shuttle bus for your hire company and they take you the fifteen minute journey to their office. The company I used, Advantage, had four people working the desk but it still took close to an hour to get my car.

The drive to Rodondo Beach was easy enough as long as you remember everything is a grid, so if you hate Milton Keynes avoid driving in L.A! The hotel as I say is fine and is also top hotel on www.tripadvisor.com (or was when I booked).

Today I went to an outlet centre at Camarillo, which took about two hours to get to because of the L.A traffic which I have to say genuinely is the worst in terms of backing up, anywhere in the world. The shops were great but I would go somewhere closer if I was to do it again as it was a gruelling drive.

As an aside I came back through Malibu, Santa Monica and then went to Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Blvd and drove down Rodeo Drive. I think you need to do it to say you have, but believe me if you haven't done it then you have not dipped out. I have found L.A to sum up my personal perception of large parts of the U.S. i.e. if you have large sums of money (millions upon millions) then you can live a surreal life living where you want and in the case of a lot of Malibu's beachfront deny it from the rest of the population, the rest of L.A I have found to be dirty, lots of litter, terrible traffic and even worse road surfaces.

Having said all that I am really happy to be on my way, I am glad I did the stopover and feel if you can spare the time and the money it is well worth doing it.

Will update again once I get to Auckland.

[tea drinker]

Glad to hear that you are on your way :)

[thewoodies]

Have a safe onward journey. We are stopping off at LA so pleased to hear your views. I back packed around the states MANY moons ago! :laugh

LA hasnt changed then - i remember it being dirty and a little scarey lots of odd bods near the hostel. But it is well worth seeing its something i will never forget. If you stick to the tourist sites its very pleasant(or it was!!!!:laugh)

Jeepers - that was 24 years ago! thats depressing!!!:laugh

[dilanium]

A. Glad everything is going well

B. LA is not the US. It is my least favourite place in the US to be honest, so please do not judge the entirety of the US on LA (I think they're mainly consumer w@#$% living in a dream land personally, but that's just me).

[thewoodies]

A. Glad everything is going well

B. LA is not the US. It is my least favourite place in the US to be honest, so please do not judge the entirety of the US on LA (I think they're mainly consumer w@#$% living in a dream land personally, but that's just me).

Totally agree - i worked and then backpacked around US - there is so much to see - an experience of a lifetime:D