Photos from Santa Monica

Photos from Hollywood

Photos from Avila Beach

Photos - San Francisco Edition #2

Mrs Arthur holding Alcatraz

Maddi, Karina and Shalea waiting for the cable car to take us to our dance lesson

Ballet Lesson @ Lines

Cable Car ride through the streets of San Fran

Performing in California Adventure Land

Wow, wow, wow. We couldn't be more proud of our dancers! The performance this afternoon was absolutely superb. There was high energy, lots of focus, smiles, confidence and enjoyment. We performed on the Hollywood Backlot stage to a growing crowd - and it was exciting to have some familiar faces in the audience too. 

Our morning was spent in California Adventure Land, prior to our performance - with lots of instruction about not eating too much junk or going on too many rides, before their pending performance later in the day. The students were excited to hit the big rides!! And enjoyed moving as one big group to share the experience. Mickey's Fun Wheel (ferris wheel) was Mrs Arthur's choice and it was quite humorous to watch as she closed her eyes and gripped onto the cage for the entire duration of the ride, begging to get off. Meanwhile the kids were screaming around on the terrifying roller coaster and loving it. 

We can't believe how blessed we have been with the weather. It has certainly made the difference to our trip. And the students have travelled so well together, they have been a joy to care for. 

Tonight we head to Naples for a celebration dinner and how appropriate that we can celebrate such a phenomenally successful performance today. 

Universal Studios

The highlight for today was our performance in Universal Studios. We were given star treatment, being welcomed on the red carpet and entering thought the "real gates", not the gates through which the general public enter. The stage was quite small and required a bit of restraint in performances, and back stage was limited, requiring the students to manage their space, exits, etc.

Following our performance we all went on the back lot tour, showing us Wisteria Lane, Bates Motel, King Kong, the destruction scene from War of the Worlds, Angela Lansbury house from Murder She Wrote, the set from Bones which was an earthquake simulation in the subway, the set from CSI, the largest outdoor blue screen in the world and the western street scape with varying size doors to make the film stars appear larger. Our tour was even momentarily stopped because Studio 27 was filming The Voice!

After our back lot tour we all walked over to watch the Water World show, a pyrotechnic/ aquatic production, which was lots of fun. 

The other highlight was the Jurassic Park ride. Universal Studios was very quiet today so we were able to get on lots of rides quickly (as opposed to Disney yesterday). The Jurassic Park ride is a boat ride through a dinosaur infested forest and finishes with the boat careering down an 84foot drop! This was something that the students loved, with most students riding three times. We were very proud of Jackie for braving the ride once, and Brendan who was clinging onto Caitlin for dear life! The Mummy and Transformers were other popular rides. 

Again we've been blessed with fantastic weather and getting wet in the rides has been easy to manage. 

Leaving the park at 6pm we experienced real LA traffic, which we've managed to avoid up until now. This was exacerbated by the frequent "how long til we get there" questions! An answer we just couldn't answer. Dinner tonight will be at Bubba Gump Shrimp Factory - the once fictional restaurant from the film, Forrest Gump. 

LA Sightseeing

Another early start saw us grabbing a quick breakfast at Molly's, the diner in the hotel, where many students tried bagels for the first time. We were on the road by 8.00am, heading for our dance class at The Edge. Our drive into LA was smooth and we made good time arriving at the studio, giving us time to watch some of the other classes and get ready for our class. En route we were able to see the spectacular Disney Concert Hall funded by Lillian Disney (Walt's wife). The Edge Studio on Cole Ave is situated right next door to the famous Gold's Gym (where they also sold good espresso coffee!). 

Our class was taught by Bosco, an amazing Hip Hop dancer. He had the students laughing and was very skilled in showing the differences between classical jazz and ballet steps and subtleties of hip hop. It was a great class and the students really grew in their mastery over the hour and a half lesson. Definitely a trip highlight! (And very fun for the staff too)

After hip hop we climbed back aboard our bus with the our Driver, Ben who was ever so kind and helpful, and our tour guide, Nichola, who was a constant source of much amusement and varying levels of frustration! Nichola took us back down to Hollywood where we saw Mann's Chinese theatre - marvelling at some of the inscriptions in the concrete dating back to the 1930s! We walked the steps of the Dolby Theatre (formerly the Kodak Theatre), where they roll out the red carpet for film premiers and of course the Oscars. 

It was great fun looking at the stars on the ground, especially spotting Aussies like Olivia Newton John, Nicole Kidman and the latest - Hugh Jackman. We learned that the celebrities have to pay a fee of $4500 for the privilege. Our tour then continued around Hollywood, driving up Santa Monica and Sunset Boulevard. High up above us at the very top of the Hollywood Hills we saw Steven Spielberg's house, overlooking all of Hollywood. Driving onto Beverly Hills, we stopped to take a photo of the iconic Beverly Hills sign, then drove on to see the shop that Julia Roberts was thrown out of in Pretty Woman, the Beverly Hilton hotel where the Golden Globes are hosted and also where Whitney Houston died, the hotel owned by Madonna, the Rainbow Room where lots of bands played in the 70s and 80s and now have to pay for the privilege to play, the Viper Room owned by Johnny Depp where River Phoenix died, the headquarters for Capital Records, Universal Records, the House of Blues, the Laugh Factory where Jerry Seinfeld started his career, the neighbourhood where Britney Spears has a 'cottage' near her grandma and Marilyn Monroe's House.

We then drove onto to Rodeo Drive and got out and walked down the latest addition to the prestigious shopping area, a paved lane known as Two Rodeo, sporting shops like Tiffany & Co and Ralph Lauren. Unfortunately there was not time to spend (or the money!) at Jimmy Choo. 

We then journeyed on to Venice Beach, which was an experience and education of forms for the students. The beach front is an eclectic mix of bohemians, buskers, homeless, cheap souvenir shops, interesting food, bike riders and basket ball players. A combination of Newton, Manly and Redfern on the Beach Front. The water was beautiful to look at and the beach almost as nice as our Sydney beaches. We were somewhat pleased and relieved to get back on the bus to head to Santa Monica. 

On arrival at Santa Monica we farewelled Nichola, our guide who had met us at LA and escorted us to San Fran and back. 

We spent the afternoon on the Santa Monica Pier, soaking up the sunshine and watching the sun go down before heading back to the hotel for a relaxed evening. Some students swam in the hotel pool, others enjoyed the hotel lobby wifi! before turning in for a relatively early night.