Los Angeles - 28 July

We've arrived in one piece and not too tired, although 28 July is definitely dragging along - 34 hours and counting so far.

Left Sydney pretty much on time, quite heavy rain so we didn't get much of a view from the windows. But, the A380 has a really cool 'Skycam' - a webcam right up on the tail of the plane so you can get a spectacular view of take-offs and landings on the in-seat entertainment screen.

The entertainment system is astounding too - last time we flew to LA I was stuck behind a really tall person and couldn't see the TV screen, which as it turned out didn't matter because I didn't care much for the movie that was on anyway. This time - each seat has its own personal 10inch screen entertainment system. Dozens of movies and TV shows - your choice about what you watch and when - hundreds of albums if you just want music, and stacks of games as well.

The flight was actually as comfortable as you could expect to be, given that we were in economy class and it's a 13 hour flight. The seats were much more comfortable than I remember them being on the 747 for our last trip. Also, Paul and I had three seats to share between us, which allowed a tiny bit more room.

Arrived in LA on time with only a minor delay because someone was taken ill during the night - we had the classic "is there a doctor on board" broadcast from the pilot - and they had to be taken off the plane first.

Got through immigration and customs really quickly - so much for all the hoopla about not carrying liquids or gels etc. We were quite worried because Paul has to carry quite a large parcel containing packets of this magic gel stuff that keeps his insulin cool, and although it's supposed to be exempt from the limits, you just never know what will happen in reality. As it turns out, no-one even questioned it in the US (when we were leaving Australia they just asked what it was, didn't look). On the other hand, I have now had my fingerprints taken for the first time ever - in the land of the free they take digital fingerprints and a digital photo of everyone who comes into the country. I suppose it's only free for actual Americans!

Took ages to get to the hotel - the shuttle didn't show up for a long time and then when it did we were treated to a classic LA Freeway traffic jam - a truck had tipped over and lost a load of timber all over the road. Finally got here though. It's all very nice, and we went for a long walk to get the muscles moving again (and to pick up a couple of cell-phones to use while we're here). We've picked up some brochures to see if anything excites us for tomorrow - otherwise it'll be Universal Studios which is just down the road. However, I think once we've done that, it'll be room service dinner and then crash!