YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it, said the editor, is a two-week fly-drive to Southern California - accept it? Give me the tickets, I'm on my way.

I've been there on a number of occasions, doing the usual must sees, like Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Strip and the big film set tours, but this time I'm going to explore the other delights of one of the most exciting holiday spots on the planet.

The weather in the summertime is perfect in this area, with the prospect of an air-conditioned mall never too far away to cool you down.

Driving couldn't be simpler in California. The speed limits have gone up over the years, and you can positively jet along at around 65-70, a far cry from a few years' ago when 55 had to be obeyed.

I have decided to make my base in Ventura, a Spanish-style city just one hour north from Los Angeles, which takes in Malibu, driving on the 'PCH' - the Pacific Coast Highway.

Home to many of the biggest movie stars around, just look up in the hills that hug the beach-side as you cruise through Malibu and you will see houses and mansions that are quite simply indescribably opulent.

You can't get away too much from the 'film set' feel of California in Ventura, as it has been used in many movies over the years, like Jack Nicholson's China Town, etc.

Main Street is a typical mix of old and new, be it thrift and antique shops that are bolted together with trendy boutiques, bars and eateries for all tastes - anyone who has visited America knows that choice and prices here are mind-boggling.

Just ten minutes away, is Oxnard, with its harbour that could be the South of France, with quayside fodder stops aplenty.

If the big rides at theme parks are up your street, then a trip to Magic Mountain in Orange County should definitely be on your itinerary.

One ride there is called Collussus. I was told it was one of the least scary rides. By the standard of the others it's true, but it is the stuff of nightmares for this poor soul.

If you are into white-knuckle rides, then Colossus will set you up for some true monsters, of the stomach trying to force its way up into your chest looking for an exit through your mouth variety.

Away from all this, if you are golfer, like myself, then again choice is unlimited, and you can strut your stuff at River Ridge Golf Club, a near 7,000-yarder, with greens and fairways that some of our top golf courses would die for, and all for a very reasonable fee.

It would be an understatement to say that California is a shoppers' paradise, as the ever-present mall, is espied every few miles on the road, and what an experience that is to the first-timers - in short, you name it, they've got it, in neon!

If you have journeyed this far, why not really take up the challenge and travel east to Palm Springs, but be ready for a dramatic rise in temperature as on the morning I chose to go it was 113 at 7.15 in the morning and about 125 out on the fairways at Bermuda Dunes GC in the early afternoon.

But if you are in the wilting category, fear not, as they say here 'it's a dry heat' as the humidity is nil in these parts, which means you can walk around without too much discomfort.

I was staying at the Marriott Courtyard, which in the summer like most hotels here has fantastic rates, as Palm Springs' season is October to March, when it is much cooler. A king-size room for about 60 dollars (£40) a night, with attendant swimming pool and Jacuzzis finishing everything off.

Two hours south of LA is San Diego, with the attractive old town offsetting Sea World with all its watery sideshows of killer whales and dolphins.

It's only a short hop further south to the Mexican border and the town of Tijuana.

I know that my remit is to stay in the south of the state, but driving on the 101, one of the main arteries around here, you are reminded just what California has to offer for the sight-seeing experience, as a signpost to San Francisco, which is about a five-hour sprint away, with the Big Sur, Hearst Castle, Pebble Beach, Carmel and Monterey as nice stop-offs.

All this aside, the gloss of Los Angeles is always there to tempt you not to get out and about on the road; who in their right mind would not want to walk down Hollywood Boulevard just strolling along the 'Walk of Stars', stopping off at Grauman's Chinese Theatre and seeing the galaxy of film stars' hand and footprints that are a feature at its entrance.

On to Rodeo Drive taking coffee at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the setting for Richard Gere and Julia Roberts' block-buster Pretty Woman,.

You can then swing down Sunset Strip, or do the walk on the seafront at Venice Beach in Santa Monica, where the myriad of T-shirt shops, etc, rub shoulders with the body builders' cage which is much featured on many travel guides.

The Farmers' Market at The Grove in Hollywood has been revamped, where you can eat your way around the world in the cafs that dot the little walkways of the original market, before taking in the new complex with its glass and glitz shop fronts.

Anyway, there is not enough space here to really do Southern California justice. So, in the words of the fabled ad: 'Just do it!' I think you know you won't be disappointed - big time!

Nigel Corten