Tuesday 4 September 2012 – Following the Sea Fog and coastal cliffs
Day 145 and 13 days to go
I am writing with a
margherita haze after having a bowl shaped glass at “The Whole Enchilada” here
in Moss Landing in the heart of Monterey Bay. We are currently thinking of
movie titles that could be used to describe your last visit to the loo. Paul
has had some rippers; Towering Inferno, St Elmos Fire, Posseidon Adventure,
Great Expectations, Gone with the wind to name a few. Now he is burping at me
and I can taste the garlic from here. Urgh. We’re supposed to be playing cards
but I am having trouble concentrating.
The tequila has gone to my
head and I am laughing uncontrollably. Oh dear.
Well we can see how the night
is ending up but this is how it all began.
With an overcast start it was
hard to judge the time. We were awake and up and getting the day underway by 9.
Once all the usual jobs were out of the way we had the hippo on the road by
10am.
Our first stop was a petrol
station to fill up the hungry beast and then we began following the Hwy to
Morro Bay only a short distance up the road. We could see the very large rock
that sits in the bay as we drove along the road. We were now on HWY 1 that
skirts the coast as it heads North.
The sea fog was still hugging
the coast like a thick blanket. It made the water look grey. It was mostly flat
but surfers were still willing to give it a go.
The landscape here was
rolling hills covered in dry grass. There were many large farming lots that
were a lot like “little house of the Prairie”. We continued to pass through the
towns of Caycucos and Cambria and shortly after we stopped at the Elephant Seal
Vista. From this point we were able to walk out on a board walk where we could
over look the beach. Laying on the beach there were a number of Elephant seals.
I watched some swim in from the water to
join the others. One of the seals was particularly feisty, managing to annoy
and pick fights with most of the other seals that were happily sunbaking. Some
of the animals were massive. It was great being able to see them in their
natural habitat.
We were then back on the road
continuing the journey past the entrance to Hearst Castle. The landscape was
beginning to change with the hills transforming into seaside cliffs that were
now skirting perilously close the van. The sea fog was so thick that when
looking at Paul I could see nothing beyond him. It was probably just as well as
I could tell that the land dropped away dramatically.
The road was patchy with new
asphalt laid in different parts. All I could think of was the boulders clinging
to the edge of the cliffs. When was the last one that bounced down the hill and
how many cars did it squash? Should I be concerned? There is wire mesh, but
seriously is that really going to hold a boulder careering down the hill at a
rate of knots. How many people have been killed, maimed or injured by these
wayward boulders the size of small trucks? Not really the stuff you should be
thinking of and so I sat back and tried to enjoy the scenery.
Opps… there goes a dead
racoon and a dead skunk. Where are the Clampetts when you need them? What the
hell was that that I just saw tearing off into the bush? The size of dog,
creamy coloured fut. It was quick and keen not to be seen. Who knows?
Much of the coastal cliff is
covered in aniseed and pampas grass. I always wondered where this tennis ball
eating plant had come from and now I know. Mind you it could be a noxious weed
here for all I know.
The landscape continued to
impress as we wound our way around the s bends and hairpin turns, much like the
Italian mountain roads. We stopped at a few spots to admire the view that
sprawled out beyond us. A flock of pelicans flying in formation even joined us
for part of the journey. At different points the sea fog dissipated and the
brilliant blue sky beyond the cliffs beamed. It was stunning. I was taken by
the colours of nature; reds of the pig face, white sands, blue oceans, greens
of the vegetation, grey of the clouds. It was so stunning.
By now we had driven through
San Simeon and had made it to Big Sur National Park where we stopped at 1.15pm
for our lunch. I made up a quick plate of salad that we had and a short 20min
later we were back to it.
Big Sur was a large forested
area. It was quite a contrast to the small shrubs we had passed through. It was
also quite popular with more of a built up area and specialty shops. However
after driving for 10min we had left the trees and cliffs behind and returned to
the rolling hills where there were heads of cattle happily grazing in front of
the ocean.
Now only a 45min from our
destination we returned to coastal cliffs just before entering Carmel. This
appeared to be a bit more upmarket even having a Hyatt hotel or resort within
its boundary.
We were passing so many
softtop mustangs, the obvious car of choice here in California; the owners out
enjoying the day and the roads. Paul also thought that HWY 1 was a great biking
road, however if you were going too fast into the bends it would be a quick
drop into the drink below or face planting into the solid walls of rock.
Neither being particularly preferable.
Monterey soon appeared, a
large and populous area that sprawled out before us. We continued to follow the
highway passing the small market gardens filled with artichokes and lettuces. By
3pm we pulled into the Moss Landing campground.
Once checked in for the night
we returned to a small fruit and vege market to pick up a few items we needed
before returning to set up the van. Once
we were organised we decided we would brave the cool weather and head down to
the beach.
Moss Landing is a small,
artsy coastal town with a large refinery of some description towering over
them. There are seafood restaurants, art and antiques in abounds. There is also
plenty of wildlife to keep any keen Attenborough happy. And I was.
Once at the beach I could see
a large furry thing floating off shore. We walked to a rock groin for a better
view. From here we could see it was a sea otter happily bobbing about. He was
not the only one though. On closer inspection we were able to see may of them
just lolling about. Then it was seals popping their heads up and chasing each
other through the water.
From the beach we could hear
the noise of seals barking and realised that it was coming from a pier across
from us so we wandered back towards the caravan park, behind the marina where
we could see pelicans diving for fish and along the highway to the pier.
Once here we were stunned at
just how many sea lions there were lying on the jetty. They were piled high on
top of each other, barking and biting whenever another moved. It was incredible
to witness. They were pushing each other into the water and then not letting
others onto the jetty when they approached from the water. I was mesmerised.
As we walked around the jetty
we could also see a colony of sea otters happily floating in the water. There
must have been 20 of them at least taking it easy in the shelter of the beach cove.
With our fill of furry
animals we returned to the marina to watch the pelicans diving for their meals.
They were very cool and made a really big splash every time they bombied into
the water. Mind you there were little seagulls hanging around just hoping they
would score a bit.
Once we returned to the van
and seeing our mince was not defrosted we opted for the easy option and waked
back to the Whole Enchilada for dinner. This is where we ordered the 20oz mega
glass of margherita to accompany our mixed plate of seafood. Everything was
delicious, though I could have had twice as much to eat. I watched a
hummingbird sucking nectar from the flowers of a bush outside the window as I
ate. How do their wings beat so fast?
With our meal finished we
wobbled back to the van where we played cards to keep us entertained and before we knew it the time clicked over 10.30pm and it was time to head to bed.
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