California

Today's C word is California.

We're staying with Gwen and Graham in Santa Monica. The apartment is like how I remember Melrose place. A pool in the middle of the complex with the apartments around. Camera angles might be a bit more tricky here as the place is close to the edge of the pool. I'm loving it. We just went for a swim. I tried out the very rusty butterfly stroke, it takes 4 strokes to get to the end.

Yesterday we flew in from NZ via Auckland. What a flight. I can't sleep on those flights just need to be a bit more horizontal for that. Wendy didn't sleep much either so we were both a bit grumpy. Don't ask me how long our Saturday was, I cant be bothered to work it out. I can't stand flying those big trips. Of course we were in cattle class with enough leg room for a dwarf. No actually with my legs snuggled onto the feet of the guy in front I could lie back quite well. He didn't seem to mind. The kids were good mostly. Poor Hen was too long to lie down but not long enough for his legs to touch the floor so couldn't get comfortable. They both loved listening to Mika and watching Shrek and Hi5. We don't have TV at home so it was a big treat.

We'd left NZ at 7:30pm Sat and got here 1pm local time so we were pretty stuffed. Thank God Graham picked us up in a borrowed Toyota Prius. So quiet. As we drove with the nice GPS lady guiding every lane change I noticed not everyone was playing the same game. I saw 3 Hummers on the way, one was a stretch limo.

Gwen had whipped up some pasta and we got stuck into the wine. settled in then went out for a walk to the Santa Monica beach. On the way there was a long flight of steps 150 steps I think, really steep down the cliff side. People were walking up and down for exercise. One guy looked like he was in a trance, I guess after a circuit or two I might too. Had a swim in the sea for about an hour. It still felt cold to get in but didn't chill me to the bone like NZ's water. The local lifesaver, (Baywatch territory) Jeff, was really friendly we had a good chat. He'd been to NZ which was cool. We got talking about how in the States they only get a few weeks holiday, 2 I think. We're off for 5 and a half months (freaky!!). Walked back down the beach towards the pier. Wandered back slowly carrying children. Hen and Bella were amazing not much complaining for how tired we all were.

After getting take out pizza we got to bed at about 1 am local time. I somehow thought I could watch a movie (The King of Scotland) but got halfway and fell asleep. Slept on the couch in my clothes. Was nice not to need a duvet, not too hot or cool. No air con here but it's a pleasant something like 25 Deg C.

Today we went down to the local farmer's market. It had signs and bins promoting zero waste. There was a compostable and recycling bin. It makes me think NZ is not as clean and green as we think. I get dissapointed in NZ when I go to events and see the massive piles of waste. I'm sure most of it can either be recycled or composted. Surely it's not that hard!? We've found it hard to find recyclable cups to use in our coffee business. I've called people, even the Huhtamaki cup makers but they say they are still researching. Hmm we need to speak up and get this happening as a normal thing in NZ. We've been leaders in things before, first woman to vote, first man to the top of Everest. It's not that hard!?

Wendy bought Barbara Kingsolver's new book for me recently and has been reading it. I've read a few pages so far. Anyway it's got us into thinking about how we affect the environment and how we can be a bit more responsible. Talking of that I was shocked when we were packing the house how much rubbish we created. About 10 bags of rubbish, mostly paper but broken toys and all sorts too. I took a carload of stuff to the Salvation army and Te Omanga Hospice shop too but still I started thinking about how the family can be a bit more monk-like. Collect less stuff, collect more memories and stories. We'll see how that turns out.

We are planning to visit farmer's markets and be a bit sustainable, take public transport, walk, eat local and be generally very puritanical...ha ha. Well we'd like to make some effort towards it anyway. More on this as we travel