Santa Clarita, California: 8 – 11 December
On 9th and 10th of December Paul and Nobuko showed us the sights and sounds of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles. The surrounding mountains were the most impressive feature followed by the Getty Center (art museum) and trailing a long way behind, Beverley Hills and other city areas obsessed with wealth and material possessions!
On 8 December we went for a run along Santa Barbara beach followed by breakfast at a brunch specialist restaurant called Chads. We then drove to Ventura and then east into the mountains. Plenty of hair-pin bends and lakes. As we headed towards Santa Clarita we passed acres of orange groves. Finished at our friend’s (Paul and Nobuko) place in Canyon Country just east of Santa Clarita.
California Highway 1: 5 – 8 December
On 7 December we left Pismo Beach and visited a Monarch butterfly over-wintering site on the outskirts. Numbers were down from previous years (over 200,000 in 1990) but there were still thousands clinging to Eucalyptus trees.
We headed to the unusual Danish-themed town of Solvang. Very pleasant town with its replica medieval Danish houses and shops. Unsurprisingly, a large number of Danish people had settled in this area. This was verified by testing some of the delicious danish pastries on offer.
Next stop was Gaviota and some “wind caves”. After a steep climb we reached the caves. The sandstone caves certainly looked like they had been eroded by water, assisted by strong winds.
Stop for the night was the very pleasant Franciscan Hotel in Santa Barbara. The Tunisian hotel receptionist upgraded us to a suite when Alan handed him his Irish passport. The receptionist felt the Tunisians have a common bond with the Irish (“oppressed nations” etc). Having had our fill of tacos… we sought something different for dinner and found a Nepalese restaurant which served excellent food.
On 6 December we drove from Carmel to the Big Sur. Great winding road alongside tall sea cliffs. Had a surprisingly good brunch in an inn in Big Sur hamlet. We drove a little further south but had to turn around due to a road closure on Highway 1. One of the most memorable things was passing dead skunks on Highway 1. We could smell them several hundred metres either side!
We then drove north to Salinas and turned onto Highway 101 to head south. We had to detour off the highway just north of San Luis Obispo as it was closed after a lorry overturned its cargo of wood chip.. We stopped overnight in the unremarkable town of Pismo Beach.
On 5 December we rode a San Francisco “street car” (tram) to collect a hire car. We drove south onto Highway 1 and headed for Monterey where we visited the much lauded aquarium. On arrival surprised to find that you could not buy tickets at the door and have to buy them online. After this challenge and forking out the $130 entrance fee (!) we spent 2 hours enjoying the very well presented exhibits. The highlight was the Sea Otters.
Stayed in Carmel that night. We found the town to be very upmarket with extremely tidy boutiques and expensive restaurants. The minimum house price in estate agents windows was over $2 million for what looked like a large garden shed!
San Francisco: 3 – 5 December
On 4 December we did the tourist thing: open bus tour of the city followed by a boat trip around the bay. Great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Surprised to see a Salesian College in the city.
A comfortable 12 hour flight with New Zealand Air from Auckland saw us land in San Francisco at 11:00 on Sunday having left Auckland at 20:30 on Sunday…
Our taxi to the Riu Plaza Hotel on Fisherman’s Whatf was a Tesla. It was a little disconcerting when the driver put the car into self-drive mode and took his hands off the steering wheel. It was interesting to note that the car did not keep the recommended two seconds behind the car in front..
In the evening we walked around Fishermans Wharf and had dinner in an Italian restaurant called Cioppinos. Excellent clam chowder served in a round sourdough bread.
