Los Angeles

Greetings from LA ... To all Space Camp families,

We have safely arrived in Santa Monica with no problems. Weather is a
balmy 17 degrees with clear blue skies. The majority of the group hired
bikes for an hour and rode down the concrete cycle way by the beach.
Lovely laid back atmosphere, with people out biking, roller blading,
walking, running etc. Also beach volleyball, open air handball courts,
skate park and more.

We walked out onto the Santa Monica pier, took in the sights, watched the
break dancers and generally enjoyed being in the fresh air ... not on a
plane for 12 hours. The group was somewhat scattered on the jumbo, but
with some seat swopping everyone had a friend nearby.

I sat next to a group of American TV hunters. They had just been filming a
show about hunting in NZ and had shot loads of deer and wallabies. They
did not consider Mr Obama to be any good for the US!

Some of the children have already relieved themselves of considerable cash
in the Santa Monica shops ... might be a good job they are locked up in
the Space Camp from tomorrow!

Best wishes,

David




--
David Paterson
Head of Science Faculty
Cashmere High School
Rose St, Christchurch

"The Earth itself is a spacecraft. It's an odd kind of spacecraft, since
it carries its crew on the outside instead of the inside.
If you're going to run a spaceship. you've got to be pretty cautious about
how you use your resources, how you use your crew, and how you treat your
spacecraft."
Neil Armstrong