Last of LA for now

They have developed an amazing little camera for use with high action sports like surfing and Freddie(my sort of adopted Swedish grandson) asked if I could buy it for him while there in LA. Freddie came to us when he was 17 and stayed in our back flat at Cabarita while taking lessons with the High Performance Surf Centre and became quite close to Fran and me during 2 stays at our house. The camera was called the HD Go Pro and Herbert was very enthusiastic about being involved in this given his love of all things photographic. Lots of kms later and we had one to play with and make sure it was a goer. Then packed it in my backpack with as much care as possible for the trip to Costa Rica.

We still had a few days together and made a trip down to Long Beach and visited the Aquarium of the Pacific for all the beauty of the sea and we also did a nice walk around the lighthouse to look across to the old Queen Mary and enjoy the sunset. We did lots of dining out as that is a passion of Herb and Joan’s and we still had 2 more days to visit places

The next day we went up the coast past a perfect Rincon at 4 ft to Santa Barbara and did a coastal swamp walk before lunch. This city is very beautiful, done in the Spanish style(by council decree) and it suits the area. We visited the famous mission built by the Franciscan monks with local Indian help and then finished off down at the pier. There were a few waves running here as well.

I left my cap and sunglasses at that night’s restaurant, but got lucky the next day, when we rang and they had been found. So picked them up and went to the Malibu Creek State Park which was given to the state by 20^th Century Fox, so the area has been used a lot, for film and TV including the hit series Mash. Its also very beautiful to walk around and we saw a hawk up very close and also some deer. Went back to Topango via Stunt Road up to the spine of the Santa Monica range where there was a great view down to the sea and lots of beautiful homes to go past.

So now the last night getting all the pictures processed and onto a DVD and the packing done and my huge thanks to Herbert and Joan for their very generous hospitality and I think I have convinced them to return the visit when I’m back in residence at Cabarita. The next morning Herb took me to the airport and the next stage of my journey.