Last day today!

Flying out tonight, will arrive in Sydney on saturday morning.

Has been a trip of a lifetime, but can't wait to catch up with family and friends.

Lots of love

The Larcombes XXxxx

Over and out.

US Open, Huntington Beach

Yesterday we headed down the coast to Huntington Beach, about an hour away, to check out the US Open of Surfing. It was only after we arrived in LA, that we caught an ad on the TV promoting the event, and the timing worked out great!

The line up was great too, with all the top surfers in attendance, including Kelly Slater!! It was the full deal, with skate competitions, festival, bands etc, however as we went on a weekday, it wasn't too hectic. There were about a million teenagers, making us feel very old, but luckily they were more interested in each other than watching the heats, so we had a great position right on the waters edge. The kids had a ball!

We got to see some a number of Aussie surfers including Laua Enever, Yadin Nicol, Kai Otten, Stu Kennedy, and also big names such as Jordy Smith (who trent caught up with after the heat!), Dane Reynolds and of course the legend Kelly Slater.

Even though the surf was small, it was still a treat to watch Slater in action. Check out our pics and videos below, he was only a few metres away from us.

We all had such a great day - the weather was beautiful and we caught a gorgeous sunset while we were enjoying the street festival.

Santa Monica, LA

It was great to be back in LA, and the first thing we noticed was the fresh ocean air!! Such a relief after the heat and humidity of Florida. We're staying at a fabulous hotel, right opposite Santa Monica pier, and perfectly placed for great shopping and restaurants.

The first morning we headed over to the pier to hire bikes, and ride south to Venice Beach and Marina del Ray. It was beautiful weather and a fun way to do some exploring, while the kids we're tucked up in a trailer buggy. We had previously visited this area with our friends Tim and Claire Steel (who were locals at the time) back in 2001, so it was great to know where we were going!

There was a competition for the VBL (Venice Beach League) basketball, and a music and food festival on at Venice Beach, so we stopped off there for a while. It was really good - and a great American sport fix, seeing we've missed the football, NBL and baseball seasons. This area is great for people watching too - so many characters!!

The next stop was Muscle Beach. It has changed a bit since we were here 11 years ago, and the weights etc have been replaced by strength and gymnastic equipment. It seems a wider range of people can use this, and in turn there was more athletic muscle, than bulk to look at!! As you can see from the videos below, Luke enjoyed his workout the most!

The next day after a spot of shopping, we headed back to the pier to check out the rides. The kids LOVED it! Compared with Disney it was nice and compact, the lines were short etc, but I found myself visually checkimg the nuts and bolts, safety requirements, as the rides (and pier) seemed a little tired! Anyway, it was a really fun, sunny afternoon.