California, Los Angeles to Cambria, to Monterey

Tuesday 2nd - April

This could really be called April Fools Day or even Ground Hog Day. We set off for the airport in Auckland, New Zealand at 5:30am to catch our 8:00am flight to Los Angeles. After traveling for more than 20 hours and crossing both the Equator and the International Date Line, we swapped Autumn for Spring and arrived in California before we left Auckland - arriving at 6:30am Tuesday 2nd April.
Customs and Immigration at LA were particularly tedious as they struggled to process four or five international flights all arriving at the same time. It took us almost 2 hours before we were clear. After picking up a hire car, we headed north for 240 miles along US Highway 101 and US Coastal Highway 1 towards Cambria, on the California Central Coast, situated almost exactly half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Ian did very well as he coped with fatigue added to the difficulty of driving a strange left hand car on the right hand side of the road. I must add that my hair is definitely more grey than it was before we left LA but to his credit, we arrived exhausted but safe and sound in Cambria 4 hours after leaving LA.
After a shower and change of clothes, we started to relax in this haven where the noise and stress of urban life have yet to intrude on the peaceful enclave so much in tune with the rhythm of the adjacent Pacific Ocean. We soon discovered (as had many visitors before us) the rugged beach, forested knolls and quaint village brimming with bistros, art galleries and gift shops.


Sand Pebbles Inn (our 28th hotel of the holiday) overlooks the ocean on Moonstone Beach, which gets its name from the beautiful, white and translucent agate stone that can be found along the coast. This unusual stone or chalcedony is formed in the earth by the patient dripping of water through the ages. The stone is swept down along the streams into the ocean where it is tumbled and polished by the turbulent surf along the rocky coast. The locals say that the best time to find the stones is after rain has swollen the rivers. Needless to say, we just couldn't do the village (or Moonstone Beach) justice as we retired early to recover from our long day.



Wednesday 3rd April
Refreshed after a reasonable night's sleep, we set off for Monterey a town just over 100 miles north of Cambria along the California Highway 1. Thinking that it would take us maybe an hour and a half (two hours tops) to drive the 100 miles, we took a stroll around the shopping centre of Cambria before heading north along the Highway. We should have learned by now that Highway doesn't necessarily mean a motorway like we have at home. It simply means a road of some description, usually not dirt. Ian put the address of the Monterey hotel into Mrs TomTom and we were surprised to see that it would take us two and a half hours.
No sooner had we left Cambria behind then we passed the town of San Simeon and continued along Highway 1. We were unaware that just a few miles north of San Simeon is  is the Piedras Blancas rookery which is home to 17 000 Northern Elephant seals. These extraordinary marine mammal spends eight to ten months of the year in the open ocean, diving 1000 to 5000 feet deep for periods of fifteen minutes to two hours, and migrating thousands of miles, twice a year to its land based rookery for birthing, breeding, molting and rest.


We almost missed it as we zipped along at 55 mph. Ian pointed to a beach that looked as if it was covered in driftwood. "There are seals on that beach" he said. I nervously took my eyes off the road (where I had been passenger-seat driving with my foot firmly pressed on an imaginary brake) and glanced over his shoulder but all I could see was driftwood. "Shall we stop?" Ian asked. "If you want," I replied, looking back at the road to make sure he was still driving on the right side. By this time we had passed the beach so had to look for a suitable place to turn. around the next bend was a viewing point so we turned in and drove back to the beach. I am so glad that we did. It wasn't a driftwood-strewn beach after all but a beach with hundreds of the Northern Elephant seal. Along with other visitors, we strolled on the beach weaving our way through the delightful creatures. They barely glanced at us at we took photos of them. 

December to February is the mating season. while Males battle for breading rights, last year's fertile females birth, nurses and weans her pup, before breading again and returning to the sea. During March, the just-weaned pups learn to swim and dive in preparation for their six month solo migration. During the months April to August each seal returns for just 4 to 6 weeks to molt, shedding the skin they acquired the year before and grow a new skin. Our visit to the California coast couldn't have been timed better!


Continuing along Highway 1, the sea mist drifted inland. The road climbed into the Santa Lucia Mountain range that hugged the coastline. We climbed above the mist but all day it stubbornly hung over the sea. This meant that our drive along this beautiful coastline was a little disappointing. We wound our way, zigzagging along the coastline without seeing the sea that we had planned this part of the journey for. Never mind, the Northern Elephant Seals more than made up for it.

Santa  Lucia Range rising out of the mist, above the Pacific Ocean