New York, New York

Friday 12th April
Phoebe's birthday today. Hope you got the card that we sent you Dear Phoebe, we are thinking of you on your special day.

We have crossed 3 time zones which means that we have lost 3 hours since leaving San Francisco and this morning it really caught up with us. Neither Ian nor I really felt like getting up and the day was grey and wet anyway so there was less incentive.
New York is the most densely populated city in North America with 8 million people occupying 830 sq km of land. It has always been a city of immigrants and still almost a third of the citizens are foreign born with about 138 languages spoken on the streets. We found that when people speak of New York, they really mean Manhattan. New York City is made up of 5 boroughs; the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.

Inside the Empire State Building

We left the hotel at about 11:30 and went in search for a cup of coffee before going to the Empire State Building, one of the 'must-do' attractions on our bucket list. Unfortunately, there was zero visibility from the observation platform so we decided to leave our visit for another day.

There wasn't much that we could do while it was raining all day so we resorted to some retail therapy and lost ourselves in Macey's, reported to be the largest store in the world. (Ian wanted to get a replacement part for his electric razor which had recently broken). I must admit, Macey's is so big that its too big. After spending a few hours there, we had only scratched the surface! It had everything you could imagine, from designer clothes to household furniture and everything between. It even had a McDonald's and a Starbucks.

Time Square

By the time we left Macey's the rain had eased a little so we set off in the direction of Time Square

Time Square is the square between 6th and 9th avenues (east/west) and between 39th and 52nd streets (north/south). The name was given to the square when the New York Times headquarters was situated there. There is a constant bustle of people in the square that is bathed in the neon glow of the massive illuminated advertisements.

Ian bought tickets for a Broadway show, a musical, The Jersey Boys, and we walked from Time Square, along Broadway to West 52nd street to the theatre.
We had heard it said that New York never sleeps and we saw that for ourselves today. The vibrant buzz is astonishing and still very much alive when we left the theatre at nearly 11:00pm. It could almost have been a Saturday morning rather than Friday night. Besides restaurants and coffee shops, the main shops were all still open. We even saw side-walk merchants setting up their stalls! It was truly amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Saturday 13th April
The day dawned bright and sunny although I had to lean out of the 5th floor hotel window and crane my neck upward towards the top of the building to see the sunshine striking the the tips of the high walls.
We had a very quick cup of coffee before walking (briskly) to the Empire State Building once again. It was as well that we went early because,with good visibility, the crowds were gathering. In an extremely well orchestrated route, marked off with velvet covered ropes, we followed fellow visitors (almost in single file), through security systems, gift shops, and along corridors to the lifts that would take us to the top of the building. We were herded expertly into a lift and the doors shut automatically before being whisked to the 80th floor. The burgundy and gold velvet ropes, punctuated by smartly uniformed staff dressed in burgundy and gold uniforms, once again guided us along an exhibition gallery before leaving us in front of another set of lifts that would take us to the observation platform.

Views from the Empire State Building

The open air observation platform was protected by high fencing and more security personnel were evident. With a map to guide us and show us what we were looking of, we slowly made our way around, appreciating the spectacular views from one of New York's highest buildings.

The Empire State Building was so named as it was originally the tallest building in the world and built after the United States gained independence from the British Empire. The American people would build their own Empire with the tallest building at the centre of it.

A trip to New York would not be complete without a visit to the Statue of Liberty on Ellis Island. Unfortunately, Ellis Island was still closed to the public while repairs were carried out, rectifying the damage caused during Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Our only option was to take a cruise to get close to the Lady.

Route map - Half Island Cruise

After leaving the Empire State Building, we walked the twenty or so blocks along West 42nd street to pier 83 where the Circle Line trip boats go from. Just to put the walk into context, 10 blocks equal a mile, but on the map it looked a lot closer than that!

We bought a 'Half Island Cruise' that took us around Lower Manhatten,  past many of the historical landmarks including the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building and then under the magnificent Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from a Frenchman in 1886. The robed figure represents the Roman goddess of Freedom (Libertas) and she holds a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet invoking the law) inscribed with the date of the American Declaration of Independence.

Layout of the 9 11 Memorial

The next historical landmark that we really wanted to visit was the 9/11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan at the site of the former World Trade Centre complex. The memorial is a national tribute of remembrance and honour to the lives of the men, women and children killed in the terror attacks on 11th September 2001 and 26th February 1993.

The 9/11 Memorial features two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools, each about an acre in size, set within the footprints of the original twin towers. Inscribed along the edge of the pools are all the names of the fallen.

North Pool, 9/11 Memorial

 More than 400 trees have been planted in the plaza, surrounding the Memorial's two massive reflecting pools. The whole monument, spread over approximately half of the 16 acre site had an air of quiet contemplation and tranquillity which is quite extraordinary when you consider the thousands of visitors. It was designed to capture the spirit of hope and renewal and in my opinion, it certainly did just that. It was quite an emotional.

Survivor Tree

Off to one side of the planted area was a beautifully flowering Callery Pear tree called the Survivor Tree. It was found, badly burned with only one living branch and buried under tons of rubble. It was nurtured,  pruned and replanted, and over the years it has grown into this beautiful tree. Its resilience is now held as a tribute to the people of New York.

By this time, our feet were really feeling the effect of all the walking so we elected to take the subway back to Penn Station, close to our hotel. The evening was drawing in on this very full day and I still had a pile of laundry to do and we had to organise our packing once again.

Sunday 14th April
Waking up on our last day of our epic holiday, I had a strangely sad feeling but we didn't have time to be morbid. We still had more to see.

Central Park

Leaving our luggage in lockers at the hotel, we set off in the direction of Central Park. It was a lovely spring day and we wanted to make the most of it. We walked the 27 blocks up Broadway from 31st Street to 58th Street to reach the edge of Central Park. As you might expect, you could hire a horse drawn carriage, a rickshaw or even a bicycle to convey you around the edge of the park, but we chose to simply walk through the park to enjoy the spring day.

Later in the day, when the pangs of hunger told us that time was getting on, we set off for to find somewhere to have a late 'Sunday Lunch'. We came to Rosie O'Grady's that seem to be a bustling Irish saloon and pub. The steak that we had was wonderful and Ian finished his meal with the cheesecake which was exceptional.





As all good things do, our holiday was coming to an end. We returned to the hotel, gathered our belongings and climbed into the shuttle bus for JFK Airport. Here we found that our plane had been delayed for 5 hours, so we had an exhausting home coming. At least we had a great 'last' meal.

Lower Manhattan, New York 

This brings us to the end of our epic 'Round the World in 90 Days' holiday. We sincerely hope you have enjoyed sharing our experience with us.

God Bless you all

Ian and Cherryl

Lake Shore Limited from Chicago to New York

Wednesday 10th April - Afternoon
A brief few hours stop over in Chicago wasn't enough time to explore the city, so we relaxed in the Metropolitan Lounge before boarding the Lake Shore Limited for the final leg of our journey to New York. This 959 mile stretch would take one night and one day. We boarded the train shortly before 8:00 in the evening and, after settling ourselves in our sleeper accommodation, we made our way to the dining car where complimentary cheese and wine had been laid on. We were quite tired by that time, so we didn't stay long before turning in for the last night of our rail adventure.

Thursday 11th April
We both slept better in the night, perhaps that was because we were exhausted. We had been advancing our watches by an hour each day as we crossed the time zones across the US. My watch showed 8:00am but heaven alone knows what time my body thought it was. I couldn't even leave Ian to sleep because breakfast was served between  6:30am to 9:00am. Our tiny cabin had a loo and handbasin so we were both able to perform modest ablutions before breakfast. Our shower would come later.
Unfortunately, we were travelling in the wrong direction. The lake shores, as the train name suggests, were passed in the night so we didn't even get a view of them. Had we been travelling from New York to Chicago, we would have been treated to the sights of Lake Michigan and Lake Eire. In addition, the Lake Shore Limited didn't have an observation coach as the California Zephyr had, so all in all, it was a little disappointing.

During the night, we had crossed from Illinois to Indiana, to Ohio and into Pennsylvania. While we had breakfast we crossed the Pennsylvania/New York state line and the first town of note was Buffalo on the eastern shore of Lake Erie at the head of the Niagara River. Buffalo (the name thought to be derived from beau flueve or beautiful river) was once the home of the largest steel-making producer in US.

There had been a lot of rain in the night and the rain still hung around making it a very dull, grey day In addition, the windows (which didn't open) were wet and dirty  - not good for taking photos.

Waterlogged farmlands

The view from the window was like a wet February day in England. Spring seemed to have forgotten to spring and the rivers were swollen to bursting with brown, muddy, swiftly running water. The waterlogged farm lands were a sign of the heavy rain.

This side of Chicago appeared more affluent than the stretch between Sacramento and Denver, but then a fellow passenger did mention that this was the Industrial East of the US. So what it lost in scenery, it made up for in agriculture and industry. The Lake Shore Limited sped on through the hamlets as it rattled on towards Rochester.




Rochester is ranked as one of America'a top cities for quality of life. By 1838 it was the largest flour-producing city in the US and, having doubled its population in only 10 years, it became known as America's first "boomtown".The surrounding farm buildings appeared to be better kept and and the houses although mostly with a timber clap-board exterior, appeared more substantial.

Hudson River

After Albany in the State of New York, the train was split, with one section going on to Boston while we went on to New York City. From Albany, the track runs South, following the Hudson River valley, all the way into New York. Our cabin was on the wrong side of the train with views of the railway cutting but the dining car staff allowed us (and others) to sit in the dining car where we could take in the views on our approach to New York.

Our train journey ended in New York's Pennsylvania Station in the heart of Manhattan. This unremarkable modern station, with its concourse underground could have been any city in the world with an underground network. The original station building was demolished many years ago, but its Victorian twin, the post office building, can still be seen opposite Penn Station.

Lobby of the Wolcott Hotel

Our hotel (the 32nd hotel on this holiday) was only a few blocks from Pennsylvania Station, so after retrieving our baggage, we walked along 31st Street towards Broadway and easily found it.

The Wolcott Hotel is the sister hotel to the well-known Waldorf Astoria, one of the grandest hotels in the 1890's. The fading grandeur of the Wolcott is still recognisable today.








I find it a little confusing at times but to give you an idea as to where we were; The Walcott  Hotel, only two blocks from the Empire State Building, is in the Manhattan Garment District within New York City on the island of Manhattan in New York State. Well New Yorkers will know what I am talking about.

California Zephyr to Chicargo

Monday 8th April
The first part of this epic 3397 mile journey across The United States was on The California Zephyr which takes you from the City by the Bay, across the High Sierras, the Utah Desert, through the Glenwood Canyon and the Continental Divide, over the front range of the Rockies, through Denver, across the heartland of America to the mi-west's Windy City of Chicago.  It crosses the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois, so we were in for a scenic trip of a lifetime. This first leg would take nearly three days and two nights and cover 2438 of the 3397 miles.

Observation Lounge Car

The train was scheduled to leave Emeryville (across the San Francisco Bay) at 9:00am and we had to be there by 8:40am. Ian had organised a 'street car' to call for us and they recommended that we leave the hotel at 7:15 so it was another early start. As it turned out, the Amtrak California Zephyr, with its locomotive bell clanging, pulled into Emeryville station an hour late, but at least we wern't stressed by traffic. We boarded the train and as soon as we were settled, we made our way to the observation lounge car. This is a car that is designed as its name suggests; a double decker lounge with the upper deck having a glass roof. It was to be in this area that we spent most of our time.

San Pablo Bay

Leaving Emeryville, all we could see was industrial lands until the train crossed the shallow tidal estuary of San Pablo Bay that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay. Rather than the blue glistening water of the pacific that we expected, we found the shallow bay water to be a muddy brown but at least it does support many species of birds and other wildlife.




In the observation car, there was a commentary between Sacramento and the town of Truckee which we found very interesting. We learned that between the Bay Area and Sacramento the California Zephyr travelled over the old Central Pacific Rail-road This was linked to the Union Pacific Rail-road at Promontory, Utah in 1868 to create the country's first transcontinental rail route.

Donner Lake

The Zephyr climbed high into the fir covered mountains of the Sierra Nevada and after the Donner Pass, the beautiful Donner Lake came into view. In the winter of 1846-7 a party of 87 (the Donner Party) travelling west from Illinois were stranded here and it was reported that some of the party resorted to cannibalise. Only 48 survived.

Truckee

Shortly before leaving California, the Zephyr crossed back and forth across a series of plateaus as it descended into the Truckee Basin and called at the town of Truckee. The town was named after a Paiute chief Trukizo and the Paiute tribe's word for hello,Tro-key. The railway followed the Truckee river for over 230 miles giving breathtaking views along the way.

Truckee River

The evening drew in and as night fell, we left the observation car and went to the dinning car for dinner, but the Zephyr continued to speed along its way.
The dining car had a communal policy whereby if you were a party of 3 or fewer, you shared a table with others to make up the 4 places. Each mealtime we met a different couple and that was a wonderful way break the ice and meet fellow passengers that we were to spend the next few days with.

During the night, we crossed the California/Nevada state line and called at Reno, (the biggest little city in the world which is renowned for its gambling and quick divorces). It was in Reno that a taylor, Jacob Davis, started to use rivets to secure the pockets of men's work trousers and with the help of Levi Strauss, patented his idea in 1873. Levi jeans were the only jeans to have rivets on the pockets.
The Zephyr then passed through Sparks. Locals are fond of saying that Reno is so close to the fires of Hell that you can see Sparks.

Nevada Desert

The next stop was at Winnemucca whose claim to fame is having its bank held up by  Butch Cassidy and the Hole in the Wall gang for $2000 in gold coins.
The Zephyr then called at Elko before it raced across the Nevada desert.

The train then crossed from Nevada into Utah and stopped at Salt Lake City but as this was in the middle of the night, we slept through it all. There was also a time zone crossing here and we lost an hour.

Ruby Canyon

The train sped on through the beautiful Ruby Canyon, a popular destination for river rafting. Here we witnessed the result of erosion via wind and water that, over the centuries, has hewn smooth textures and fascinating shapes in the striking red stone.


Crossing the Utah/Colorado State Line, the next stop was Grand Junction then onward to Glenwood Springs, located at the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Colorado Rivers. Doc Holliday of Gunfight at the OK Coral fame (not Ian's daughter, Jo), spent the last yeas of his life there.
The train slowed as it wound its way through the rugged Glenwood Canyon on the Colorado river, once again offering wonderful scenic views. For hours, (and nearly 300 miles)  the California Zephyr snakes it way through the beautiful Colorado canyons right alongside the river and its many swirling rapids.

Colorado River with the Rock Mountains in background

Snow topped Rocky mountains come into view as we climbed towards the Moffat tunnel at over 9000ft. The tunnel was opened in 1927 and its 6.2 mile length cut the distance between the Pacific coast and Denver by 176 miles.

Descent to Denver

The scenery changed dramatically as we left the Moffat Tunnel. Huge snow drifts could be seen and the forest had a thick covering of snow. In fact, it was still snowing which cut down our views over the beautiful terrain. As the Zephyr snaked its way through the many tunnels, it started to descend almost 4000ft to towards Denver. The evening drew in once again, putting an end to our sightseeing.




During the night, we crossed the Colorado/Nebraska state line and another time zone, losing one hour more. The Zephyr trundled on as it crossed the Great Plains of Nebraska's flatlands. We had been warned that we had seen the most spectacular views of this leg of our journey across the States and as the third day dawned, we looked forward to crossing the iconic Mississippi River which marks the Iowa/Illinois State Line. Although we didn't have much to look at, we certainly made up for it with the stimulating conversation of fellow passengers Mary and Wally Krill. It was mid afternoon before the Zephyr rumbled into
Chicago.

San Francisco

Saturday 6th April

Arriving in San Francisco by 4:00pm unfortunately, there was road works on one of the main rods and as a result, the area that we needed to drop the car off was grid-locked. It took us 2 hours to find the hire-car drop-off point just off Union Square and get to the hotel just a block away. We were absolutely exhausted by the time we got to our room in the Andrews Hotel.

Sunday 7th April
San Francisco, one of the top tourist destinations in the world and the leading financial and cultural centre for Northern California and we only had one full day to explore the city! After looking at a map, we set off on foot to fisherman's wharf one of the top must-see attractions. What the map didn't tell us was how steep the hills were.

The street that we walked along (up and down) was a 90 degree slope and even the fire engine struggled to get up it.

At Fisherman's Wharf, we bought a ticked for a open topped bus tour that took us around the city and out to the Golden Gate Bridge.

We spent the rest of the day hopping-on and off the bus taking photos of Alcatraz, the San Francisco, bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and finally Chinatown where we stopped for dinner. At Golden Gate Bridge, as we were crossing over, a cruise liner was coming into port and passed right beneath us.

By the time we had sampled the delights of Chinatown (and spent far too much money) we found that we were only a few blocks from the hotel and we had just enough energy to walk back to the hotel and collapse in the arm chairs in the room. This relaxation couldn't last too long, however, because we had to re-arrange luggage and pack again. We could only take a small bag with us on the train - for 4 days, so we had to be quite select as to what we packed. I can say one thing for sure, once we get back home, I hope I don't have to pack a bag for at least a month!

San Francisco had a lovely vibe and the people were very friendly and chatty; once again, we found that we wished we had more time to spend and explore - TripAdvisor indicates that there are more than 850 things to do in San Francisco and you certainly can't do that in a day and a half. One thing we didn't do was have a trolley bus ride - we had just enough time to snap a picture as it passed by.

Yosemite - a room fit for a Queen

Afternoon Thursday 4th April
Leaving Monterey behind, we set Yosemite National Park into Mrs TomTom and sat back to enjoy the scenery. Well sort of! I sat on the edge of my right hand seat with feet on the break leaning over to the left as I watched the curb raise up to miss me. Ian, on the other hand, seemed quite at ease. Mrs TomTom told us that the 220m drive would take us 4 3/4 hours. We didn't quite realise that it would take us that long; we had not taken into consideration the steep gradients and sharp bends in the winding road.

Finally we arrived in the park and after paying the modest entrance fee we set off to find our accommodation. Only about a mile into the park we met a coyote on the side of the road. The animal was obviously used to being fed but all he got from us was a photo opportunity.

We had been told not to check into the lodge before 5:00pm but as it was nearly 7:00 before we arrived, we didn't expect to have to wait in a queue for nearly half an hour before being given our room key - and that was the best of our experience. We were given a room that was hidden behind a wooden fence that screened rubbish bins. I thought Ian was going to the loo on the way to our room but no, this was it! The window (which looked out onto the brown stained wooded fence, 2 feet away) wouldn't open, the fly screen was hanging off its hinges and the room was dimly lit. We discovered later that the staff accommodation was a lot better. There was really no excuse for this when you realise how beautiful the valley is. Needless to say, Ian went to ask for a new room. The desk clerk was most defensive, telling us that 'Your British Queen Elizabeth and even the President of the United States' had stayed at Yosemite. "But not in that room!" was my reply.  There was nothing else available in the lodge but there was a cottage available at the Ahwahnee hotel and as a special favour we could have it at $300 per night! Ian took it, and we were certainly very happy not to have to pay the $700 per night that they usually charged. The cottage had a lovely outlook and was nestled in the forest on the valley floor and just outside the front door we had a view of a waterfall.

But the fiasco didn't end there. We found a rucksack full of someone's dirty laundry lying in a corner of the room and later when we went to bed we discovered that the bed linen had not been ironed (to begin with, I wasn't even sure that the bed linen had been changed) Our Dear Queen would certainly not have liked that!

The dining room at the Ahwahnee hotel has a strict dress code and seating is by reservation only, well by the time we had finally arrived, there was no available tables so we had our dinner in the bar.

Friday 5th April
Perhaps today would be better.  We had booked a place on the coach for the valley tour which left at 10:00. That gave us enough time to have a leisurely  breakfast before setting off; or so we thought! Breakfast was served in the magnificent dining room - that we had not managed to get into the night before. There was a lady on the door to take our name. She handed us over to a lady who took us to our table who in turn handed us to a waitress who told us that the waiter would be along shortly. Phew, four people just to get us seated, and to our dismay we were seated at a huge window that overlooked... you guessed it, a wall! The waiter arrived some 10 mins later to take our order and a further 20 mins passed before we saw our breakfast. But we had plenty of time. We finished breakfast and while I headed to the 'restroom' for a comfort break before our coach tour, Ian went to pay the bill. Another fiasco. We were not supposed to leave the table till we had our 'ticket' so the lady on the door had to ask the lady who showed people to their seat who in turn had to find our waiter who had to tell the lady on the door what we had eaten - so that it could be added to the room account!!! We nearly missed our coach tour.

But the day did get better. The tour guide never stopped talking all through the two hour drive (at a walking pace) and he did have some useful information to impart as well as the jokes along the way. The scenery was magnificent. The shear size of the valley sides is mind boggling. We stopped to take photos of one of the significant peaks, El Capitan which raises 3000 feet from the valley floor.

As we stood in awe of the peak, the tour guide pointed out two climbers on the rock face. He told us that it takes approximately 3 days to climb the peak and the climbers would have to sleep in nets attached to the rock face! Well we decided that we probably didn't have enough time to attempt it



After the tour, we decided to take the hop-on hop-off shuttle bus that followed a similar route to the coach tour. In this way, we were able to re-visit the beauty spots and linger longer.
Spring is probably the best time to visit Yosemite because the snow in the mountains is melting and giving rise to spectacular waterfalls that dry up in the summer.

Although we didn't see the black bear that live in these woods, we did see deer.








We were able to visit the museum which gave graphic explanations of the Yosemite valley and how it was formed by volcanic action and glaciation. In the entrance to the museum there is a bronze raised-relief map which gave an idea as to the sheer size of the valley and the park. It makes one feel quite venerable by comparison. After immersing ourselves in the geology of the area, we went on explore a reconstructed Indian village and learn of some of its history.

Monterey

Thursday 4th April

The city of Monterey is found on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on Central California's Pacific coast and is known for the abundance and diversity of its marine life which includes sea lions, sea otters and harbour seals. One of the deepest and largest submarine canyons along the North American coastline is the Monterey canyon and It is due to the presence of this canyon that the marine life is so diverse.
Monterey Bay is one of the most exciting stretches of the 'Grey Whale Highway'. During the winter and spring months the entire grey whale population migrates through the marine sanctuary within three km of the Monterey Bay coastline, traveling to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea and to their winter breeding grounds in Baja. To this end, a visit to Monterey would not be complete without 'Whale Watching' so we joined a boat that was going out. We had to dress warmly and this was when we noticed the change in hemispheres. Although spring is springing and the temperatures are a lot warmer than our dear family are experiencing at home, after the hot days we had become used to, we were feeling the chill.
We arrived at the Fisherman's Wharf with time to spare so I went in search of the sea lions that we had heard about. In the harbour I found what I was looking for. Literally hundreds of the sea lion were doing their early morning stretch, and greeting the new day with mixed enthusiasm.

As we left the harbour, even more sea lion were on the rocks to watch us leave. We had only just been clear of the harbour when a large pod of Risso's dolphins were spotted so our captain followed two of the other boats into the middle of the pod.  These dolphins are a lot bigger and more docile than the types we had come across in New Zealand. Their lazy pace allowed us to get very close and have a really good look at them.

We had on board a marine biologist who was capturing data so we stayed with the pod longer than the other boats which gave us more time to enjoy the spectacle but we had bought a 'Whale Watching' trip and some passengers started to get a little bored. It wasn't long before we were off again in search of whales and we were not disappointed. We came across  three humpback whales were feeding over the Monterey canyon and we were able to get quite close to them. Unfortunately, our little camera couldn't capture the magnificence of these mammals and it was not quick enough to take some of the spectacular shots that we witnessed, however here is a sample.

Again, because we had the marine biologist on board, we were able to spend time following the whales and this time I didn't see many bored faces. After we had returned to the marina we had to shake our tail feathers and set off in the car once again. This time heading for Yosemite National Park. Phew, what a lot to see and do, but this sea lion had only one thing on his mind and a drive in the car was not it!

  

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