Day 1 & 2: Leaving Sydney & Santa Monica Adventures

Day One: Leaving Sydney & Arrival to Santa Monica

The day had finally come; the Benetels were off to America, for the second time! Well, if we’re going to be exact, it was Mum & Dad’s third time. This trip was definitely going to be different; for instance, it would be our first time experiencing winter overseas and Christian and I would be meeting some of our flickr friends in real life – crazy right?

December 2nd – let’s just say that it was an incredibly, incredibly long day. We were mostly packed the night before, leaving just a few things that needed to be taken care of in the morning. Our lift to the airport arrived at 9:30 a.m. and our neighbours watched us all leave home. Before we knew it, we were at the airport, anxiously waiting to depart. We had some breakfast and were discussing ways to amuse ourselves on the plane. We hoped for individual tv screens because it was going to be a LONG flight.



Mum had evidently already gone insane…just kidding! 



The good news was that we had individual tv screens with a range of movies available. It was actually pretty cool. It was a little bit of a bumpy ride and times and we hardly got any sleep but the main thing was that we arrived safely. The bad news was that it was December 2nd all over again. We had literally travelled back in time.

Collecting our baggage took a while, due to disorganisation at the airport. People were missing their connecting flights and I think most people weren’t too happy. An hour later and we were out of there…finally. We definitely needed a bit of a nap before we went exploring. A bus drove us to the rental car place and we picked up our car. Off to the hotel!




We ended up sleeping for about 3 hours and then headed out for something to eat. Walking along the famous bike track, Christian and I snapped away and admired the view. We walked along the Santa Monica Pier all the way up to the promenade.  











It was there and then where we stumbled upon this wonderful pizza place. 




We met this nice waitress who was impressed by our planned trip and discussed places to visit along the way! The food was so good!


Afterwards, we wandered within the promenade, admiring the Christmas decorations and the stores we didn’t have back home. I particularly enjoyed Urban Outfitters. We were all still very tired from our flight so we headed back to our hotel in the rain.







Day 2: Hollywood Sign & Santa Monica Beach

Our day started a little later, seeing as though we were all still fighting our jet lag. We had no set plans, but we had decided that it’d be cool to visit the Observatory and admire the view of L.A. including the Hollywood Sign. Driving down Sunset Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, we were in awe of the incredible houses…mansions I should say! They were huge! 



We drove passed familiar locations such as The Beverly Hills Hotel! That was pretty exciting :)


Once arriving at the Observatory, the sign was the first thing we could see! We quickly took some photos and then began to walk around. 




The view of L.A. was absolutely incredible and we were lucky that the weather had cleared up for us at just the right time. 










We drove around to see if we could get closer to the sign so Christian and I could take more pictures.




It after this that we visited a local supermarket to buy some lunch and relax at the hotel before sunset. Christian had expressed that he wanted to go back to the Santa Monica Beach and take some photos around sunset. Thank goodness we did because it was absolutely beautiful! 




There were a crowd of seagulls nearby and other families enjoying the gorgeous view. 



We all took pictures and Mum and Dad were kind enough to help Christian and I out with our shots. It was also quite awesome being able to recognise areas where youtubers I watch regularly had filmed their videos! 











We walked back along the pier and continued taking some photos. Heading back to the promenard, we looked around and shopped for a little longer before it was time to head back to the hotel. Christian and I were enjoying the FREE WI FI AROUND THE CITY, which we thought was insanely cool.



Tomorrow we are off to Santa Barbara where we’re meeting up with Cierra, who has become one of Christian and my close friends from flickr! Until next time :D

6 comments:

  1. ooh my gosh i am so incredibly jealous of you guys right now! it looks like you're already having an incredible time. and those photos at dusk at santa monica beach are insanely gorgeous :D

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  2. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous ! I can almost feel like I'm there, walking on the sand. The photos at the beach at night and the photos of the view of the city are my favorites. Can't wait to see more photos. Enjoy the travel !

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  3. Ah, yay! Love seeing some comments :D Thank you both so much! I'm so glad you like it and are following my travels <3

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  4. Amazing Alex - I am in awe of your eloquence and the photos are brilliant! Rob and Tanya - you have done a fantastic job - beautiful, clever, talented kids with 2 of the most wonderful people as parents! Enjoy your trip! Sooooooooooooo jealous!!!

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  5. Thank you so much Rosemary! What an amazing comment <3

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  6. You are welcome - you are so talented Alex - I wish I had half of your ability - photojournalism at it's best!!!

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