Sun, Surf and Sand – a Visit to the USA

I know, I know. Dad joke? Not really. Because in the Canadian wild elk are common and loved. And possibly hunted. This cow was enjoying a quiet snack in someone’s back garden in the lovely ski town of Canmore in British Columbia some 30 minutes south of Banff. We had seen a few elk around the towns we visited but this one was probably the most brazen. In New Zealand, the terms “wapiti” and “elk” are used interchangeably to refer to the same animal. The wapiti introduced into New Zealand in 1909 were in fact Rocky Mountain Elk and a gift from then President Theodore Roosevelt. Known as Teddy, Roosevelt was a known conservationist and progressive who promoted social justice and served as the 26th US president from 1901 to 1909. Good days for the USA. Whatever happened?

But we are not here to talk about elk. Or wapiti for that matter. Scout and I were at a loose end early in the year having decided to rent out the apartment for six months and go north in Mr Gato jnr. The Sunshine Coast is lovely all year round but in winter gets a little cold for us. So we loaded up Mr Gato jnr and headed up the Queensland coast with the ultimate goal of spending some time in Port Douglas where we could swim in the sea and enjoy some warm sunny days. We had decided to give our sometimes annual trip to Boulder, Colorado and the grandchildren a miss this year. All the talk of unwelcome tourists (media hype as it turns out), riots and just a general bad feeling about the goings on over there had put us off. Also I was damned if we were going to give that fool any of our money. I stand firmly with the Canadians. My views on American politics today are well known and a bit of a running joke amongst the family, who also suggested a trip deferral might be wise. Although as Scout pointed out “How the hell would the American Government know about your views on anything. Or for that matter be interested!”

However after some consideration and a bit of lobbying from Scout who was missing her grandchildren in the US and the fact that it was midsummer there a change of mind was considered. The clincher ended up being the discovery of some incredibly cheap flights with Air NZ from Cairns via Auckland to Los Angeles and back. As luck would have it my niece who lives in Canada had decided to visit her cousin in Boulder so we were able to combine a holiday in the US with a meet up with her. As it turned out we decided that since we were in the area we could tack on a visit to Canada. More of that later. So it turns out that I am a hypocrite like everyone else!

As it turned out our daughter decided to take the children on a trip down the Pacific Highway from San Francisco and meet us in Los Angeles for a few days. The oldest is in her second last year at high school so the trip also served as a visit to some of the Californian Universities and a look at possible options. Stanford? Perhaps. Cal Tech? Maybe. California University Santa Barbara? An absolute definite. “Grandad, you should see the campus and it is right on the beach.” I asked what subject options fitted and how about entry requirements and academic record? “Who cares grandad its on the beach!” It would be a great option but at US$70,000 the term ‘pie in the sky’ sprang to mind. But she is a great kid and works hard. University will suit her wherever it may be.

The bonus of family being in L.A. and with a car was that we could be picked up from the airport. If you know L.A. airport you will understand the joke here. So as Scout and I waited in the drop off zone at Departures where we had been (mis)directed, the others waited in the car at the pick up zone at Arrivals some three levels below. After some acrimonious phone calls, a lot of misdirection from disinterested airport staff and (I will admit) a bit of swearing we all arrived in the same place and were off to Huntington Beach.

Huntington Beach is actually a city in Orange County some 56 kms south-east of downtown L.A.and has a population of around 194,000 people. It is also quite obviously not down on its luck. We arrived to a lovely airbnb and the night of the street markets. Every southern Californian food option was available (Tex Mex of course), the bars and restaurants were humming and rock bands rocked loudly on the street. I watched as a man in his forties thumped his foot, rocked his head and played air guitar in front of one band as it, with some aplomb it should be said, played Neil Young’s Harvest Moon (my favourite song). I thought “I wish I could do that” as the sweet smell of something wafted on the breeze. “I think he is the lead guitarist’s Dad” said Scout. I see Neil Young has quit Facebook in protest at its use of AI. Neil Young is Canadian and I stand with Neil Young. I quit Facebook before I started on the premise that it was intrusive, pointless and totally facile. I could see no useful purpose but will conceed that the use of the media for information sharing e.g. clubs, social and community groups has its place. I recently read an article on research in Australia regarding the addictive nature of social media (looking at you Tik Tok) on teens (and younger) and the harm that is caused and it frightened the hell out of me.

Huntington Beach didn’t frighten us. It was great. The beach is a surfing mecca and is nicknamed Surf City. The US Open of Surfing, part of the World Surf League Challenge is held every year in August at Huntington Beach. We watched as some very accomplished surfers performed on the waves that broke near the pier at City Beach. I spoke to a couple later. They were Brazilians living there but had surfed around the world including believe it or not Raglan, New Zealand. Apparently Raglan’s Manu Bay, has the longest, most consistent left hand break in the world which one can potentially ride for up to two kilometres. I didn’t know that. Its amazing what you learn by talking to nice strangers. We swam in the slightly coldish water of the Pacific Ocean and the kids body boarded for hours. We walked the pier and looked around the nearby shopping centre which had all the top brands and some nice cafes. The city itself, or what we saw of it over two days is very classy with lots of Spanish style single story housing and very nice apartment buildings along the beach front (there is over 15 kms of beach that is a part of Huntington Beach) and although we only really spent time in the beach suburbs we were impressed.

There is of course more to the southern coastline around Los Angeles than Huntington Beach. So we took off south through Newport and spent an afternoon at Laguna Beach and swam and body boarded in one of the many bays along its nine and a half km coast. The city is small with a population of only 24,000 but is quite beautiful with its surrounding hills and many little coves. The coastline is overlooked by some quite spectacular homes built into the rocky cliffs overlooking the sand and ocean. It is not hard to see why tourism is a main earner here. Early Laguna Beach became a centre for arts and culture and was the home of many painters, writers and film makers before becoming the centre of southern California’s hippy culture in the 1960’s. It has retained this commune like mystique and its arty feeling along with the surfing culture that attracts tourists to the ocean, art galleries and the Laguna Art Museum.

About a month before we arrived at Huntington Beach we heard the sad news of the passing at 82 years of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. So it was with his music playing in our heads like an earworm that we spent a wonderful few days by the southern L.A. beaches. The Beach Boys epitomised the surfing culture that was growing along the southern California coast in the early 1960s. I grew up with this music and loved it. Still do and every now and then you will hear Surfer Girl, Wouldn’t it be Nice or California Girls coming from Mr Gato jnr. as an old wanabee hippie sings along. Brian Wilson was considered an American music icon and I thought his passing was beautifully summed up by Bob Dylan and I quote “ Heard the sad news about Brian today and thought about all the years I’ve been listening to him and admiring his genius. Rest in peace dear Brian.”

I read a lot of Michael Connolly books which as you may know are set in Los Angeles and often around the Hollywood area. You know them – the Detective Bosch series, the Lincoln Lawyer and the Renee Ballard books. I feel I know Hollywood quite well from the books’ descriptions and I have always wanted to go there and see for myself. So we did. See you soon.