Day Four - LA & Beaches

It's time to leave LA behind and start our trip up the coast. We pack up and leave the hotel in search of a decent coffee and we're heading towards Venice Beach. Luckily, Jo's barista from Newtown gave us some tips and we set the GPS (now known as the 'Argument Avoider') for Intelligentsia coffee shop. We weren't disappointed, and we savoured our cappuccino as we walked to the beach.

Venice Beach....Thailand goes to Queensland

Venice Beach is a strange place; really wide and long beaches with shops all the way along. It's like the Gold Coast meets Thailand with tacky shops selling touristy merchandise, fake t-shirts and little stalls with bracelets and other hand-made things as well as about 150 tattoo parlours. There are a few characters about and whilst it doesn't feel dangerous, it doesn't feel that safe either. After making a quick stop at the well-known Muscle Beach (Governor Arnie's old haunt) we walk back to the car and drive onto Santa Monica.

Looking buff at Muscle Beach...

Santa Monica is very different to Venice. Firstly, I didn't see a tattoo parlour (probably just not looking hard enough though!) and the centrepiece is the Pier and back from the waterfront road are streets filled with upmarket shops. 3rd St is not unlike The Corso at Manly, all pedestrianised and well maintained. We stop for a walk around before setting the GPS for Malibu and beyond.

Keeping an eye on things at the Pier

We drive onto Santa Barbara and stop simply because it just looks beautiful. You can tell it's a very affluent area and we stop for another coffee (more driving to do today!) and walk around town. Hard to describe but the nearest would be Leura in the Blue Mountains - all independent shops, cafes, restaurants but on a larger and grander scale. We really enjoyed it there and would've loved to spend some more time exploring the area.