We're here in California. This photo was taken whilst in the line for Customs. Yes, we weren't meant to take it and a security officer appeared just as Rob pressed the button.

We spent the first three weeks in a furnished apartment in The Village Drive, Redondo Beach. It was very nice - a bedroom with a King sized bed, a kitchen with most of the things we needed, a dining table and a lounge with really a big chair and matching sofa. The chair and sofa were so deep, one couldn't sit up properly with knees bent and back against the back. We could both comfortably sit side by side in the chair! Needless to say we did when reading emails!

Our apartment was on the third floor. We had a balcony from which we could see the sea, and in the distance is Australia (actually New Zealand gets in the way, but you couldn't tell). It was whilst living here that we discovered the joy of the sea breeze, which is a constant wind off the sea, and whilst it may get warm, the wind always cools a room down if one opens the window. It is why, as we soon discovered, one does not have airconditioners for cooling in Redondo Beach.