You have to understand that I’m a big fan of public transport as well. As long as you travel during daytime hours, it’s good to go. With that, I got the 117 to the LAX Transit Center and then connected to the Culver City no. 6 bus – all for $1.50! I then walked down for about twenty minutes and registered for the tour.
It was pouring but really that was the only bad thing about the tour. We got to see the stages where Esther Williams did her swimming movies (there’s actually a pool built into the floor, and then got to see the biggest stage in the Western Hemisphere, where they filmed scenes from The Wizard of Oz and Indiana Jones IV, among others. We discussed the life of the sitcom on the set of ‘Til Death. We got to see how they do all the scenic backdrops. We even sat in the audience of Jeopardy! which wasn’t taping (as such the set was struck) but it was really neat to see it up close, especially with the new set design.
I made sure to tip my tour guide Kelly as he knew his stuff. I even picked up a Wheel beach towel (because I was heading out, so really there was no reason not to as I’ll need it soon!). I then got chatting to two ladies who were going to the same Wheel taping as me, so we sat and had lunch together. Maureen is from Rhode Island and Nancy is from the San Francisco area and they were just a blast to spend time with. We are big chatters so we were all trying to get a word in edgewise!
The Wheel taping then. I was really excited to go – this would be the first time I was back on the set (ok, the audience, but close enough) to when I taped in early 1997. We got to see three shows filmed – the last two days of “Beaches Resorts Family Week” and a “sixth show”, which they use later in the season on mash-up weeks. This saves them taping days. They were very exciting and will air March 26-27 and June 7th. I suggest you watch all of the week of March 23rd, frankly, as we heard stories about the morning tapings.
The main thing that I noticed was that it was very low key. Announcer Charlie O’Donnell came out and entertained during the show breaks and while there was someone else on staff who talked to us the rest of the time however without a mike, it was hard to hear him.
The whole thing wrapped up around 6.30 and at that point I was bushed and headed back to my hotel (after a further 1-6-117 bus transfer route). I had an invite to see a friend in an improv session but I was just done.
Day 160 turned out better than I thought it would. I had a vision of hanging around all day and then going to the airport super early. However that changed when Nancy called and asked if I wanted to come over and go out walking with them. But of course! So I hauled all of my luggage together, and after about 90 minutes on the bus (Metro 117 to Culver City 6 to Culver City 3 – where I forgot to grab my camera and the #6 bus driver brought it over to me, thank goodness – to Santa Monica 7) I found myself at a much nicer hotel than mine!
We headed out about 11 am in the morning and were only about a 15 minute walk to Rodeo Drive which I had never been to. I felt in awe just breathing the same air, although I have a rule of thumb that if something doesn’t have a price on it, it’s probably not affordable for me!
We found the infamous “Sprinkles” cupcake shop.
I had paid a similar price for a cupcake back in NYC in September and this didn’t disappoint either. Dark chocolate Belgian cake base with a vanilla icing top. Mmm mmm good.
We walked around more and found a couple of things of interest to me. First was the Paley Centre of Media – I obviously didn’t have the time, but would have very much enjoyed seeing some classic game show episodes as they have quite the exclusive connection. Next time. I also found Roots!
Which we didn’t go into, but it just almost seemed out of place.
I got back to the hotel, said my goodbyes and thanked the ladies profusely for their wonderful company. I hope that I’ll get to see them again someday! It took about 90 minutes to get to the aiport (7 to 3 to 6 to shuttle) and checked in for the flight around 4 pm with a departure of 7 pm. I made a couple of calls back home (while I still could on my el cheapo phone card) and then sent a few text messages (as I’ve got 50/month with my temporary plan).
Off to NZ I went! And on the plane it was wonderful, as I sat next to Bill and Georgia of St. Louis. They were great seat mates… and we had a lot of good laughs. Surprisingly I slept for about 6 hours (about half the flight) which caught me off guard. The entertainment system wasn’t all bad either, and neither was the leftover ice cream from business class! Nothing says excitement like ice cream at 1.30 am local time, then following it up with breakfast 30 minutes later.
Day 162 then… because there’s no day 161 (hello, international date line). I got into Auckland about 15 minutes earlier than expected, and then transferred me and my bags (and my dive bag almost got taken by somebody AGAIN) over to domestics to catch my Dunedin flight. That checked in about the time that it was supposed to, and then I caught a kiwi shuttle to my first stop.
As I have done before on this trip, I was visiting a former student. Chris was a student of mine during my first two years of teaching and I had been “threatening” him for four years now that I was coming to visit. Finally I was about to deliver!
And what, pray tell, did we do first? Well, we played with dry ice. Why wouldn’t we?
Chris had to be at his job at the Otago museum for noon, so we hustled on out of there. I got to see a bit of the exhibits (actually only one because I took my time reading it!) before dropping Chris’ friend off to the bus. Which is parked in front of the train station. Why wouldn’t it be?
And as you can see, it’s a gorgeous train station.
Following that was a nap, then dinner, then out to the outskirts of Dunedin to watch the penguins. Along the way we stopped at Yellow Point and was convinced to go climbing!!!
The penguin watching was quite fascinating – they all tend to come in pods of 4-6 onto the beach, then make their way up to their nests which are buried in the ground.
It was hard to get a picture, but near the end of the night I was in the car park, and while you weren’t allowed to use a flash, someone’s car was going very quickly and this was my best shot of the night.
Coming soon – more wacky Kiwi adventures!
Cheers,
Vick.
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While in NZ either pick up some bright/flashy stickers (large) or tie ribbons to the handles of your bags.
ReplyDeleteIt'll make them immediately recognizable to you, and dissuade others from taking "their" bags.