Nathan's Insights

Friday 29 November 2024.
Highlights: Business class flights, The Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The start of my 2024-25 world trip commences with an extended day travelling over the international date line from Australia to the USA via Fiji.

Erin and I started in Sunbury with a late morning. We double-checked our packing and plans before leaving at 10 am.

Erin’s parents took us to the airport and then walked us to the Terminal. Erin’s brother was a surprise visitor at the airport.

We checked in with Fiji Airways around 20 minutes after the flight opened. An emotional farewell for Erin and we were quickly through Border Control.

We visited the Qantas International Business Lounge before our Fiji Airways business class flight to Nadi Fiji. Both the lounge and the flight to Nadi were pleasant. See my first flight review from Melbourne to Nadi.

We then had a short transit before our long business class flight from Nadi, Fiji to Los Angeles, USA. Another relaxing flight this time in a seat that could be turned into a bed. There were some issues with lines at Border Control and my booked transport. See my second flight review from Nadi to Los Angeles.

After we eventually got picked up by our transport we headed to our hotel The Adler at Hollywood. It looked like a classic hotel close to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

We checked in at 3 pm local time, roughly 24 hours since leaving Sunbury. I was impressed with the room.

After a short break, we headed out to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. First up was the famous Capitol Records Tower which was only 5 minutes walk away. 

Then we started discovering the famous names of entertainment history. 

We visited a Collectibles store, explored the Egyptian Netflix store, viewed the Egyptian Theatre (which held the world’s first film premiere in 1922), and the major highlight the Chinese Theatre (which opened as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s The King of Kings).

A large number of mega stars have signed their names in cement, it was fun finding which stars had done so. I was impressed with Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) and the cast of Star Trek The Original Series.

On our way back to the hotel we also explored a major vinyl and collectibles store Amoeba Music. It had a great vibe.

Back at the hotel we did some additional research and booked activities for tomorrow our first full day to explore. The hope is we won’t have issues issues with jetlag.

A good start to our 2024-25 World Trip.