Big Sur and our last big drive

On Wednesday we left Monterey and headed south on Highway 1. We stopped quickly at Carmel to have a look in daylight at the cute little town we had seen at sunset the night before.

Our plan was to drive down the coast on the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) through Big Sur. There were a few things we had thought we would try to see on the way, but slower traffic, less passing lanes, windy roads and roadworks put paid to a lot of that.

Plus I was sick. I got a scratchy throat from somewhere on our way from Salt Lake City to Carson City. I had taken a some medication for it and it seemed to have been on the mend. However by the time we reached Monterey I had developed a horrid cough. So another visit to the drugstore for cough medicine and things seemed like they were going well - except that I had woken up on Wednesday with no voice at all !

 Bixby Bridge built in 1932

Anyways, it was a nice drive, with great views in places. Big Sur was a surprise. I did not expect to find a redwood forest there. We saw signs about sea otter and elephant seals, but had decided we'd give them a miss since we have seals too - and we'd see them all the time driving from Blenheim to Christchurch. But when we came around a corner and were greeted with what looked like a carpet of seals sunbaking on the beach in front of us, we had to stop and get a photo of them as it was so different to anything we had seen before.

The Pacific Coast Highway is a lot longer and slower than the inland routes and that meant we were suddenly pushed for time at the end of the day. We phoned the rental company and confirmed we could return the car the following morning.

Once we were out of the car and had had a coffee back in Santa Monica I began to feel a bit more human, and my cough seemed to be responding to the treatment. Yay. I was tired though and really looking forward to bed.

Monterey & Carmel by the Sea

We decided to try to and do a few last minute things this morning in San Francisco before leaving town. But all that happened was that we got frustrated with one way streets and the car decided it couldn't cope with the hills and wanted us to stop and wait 10 minutes as the transmission was overheated !!

So, farewell San Francisco - hello next place.

Thought my eyes were playing tricks when I spotted this rainbow on the clouds

We found our way south - though not on the road we wanted to be on because the GPS that came with the rental is a bit anal and drives us nuts. Still, we found our way and by just after lunch had arrived at Monterey. Still crazy wind blowing in off the Pacific, so not too warm. But much more relaxed. We found somewhere for lunch - an ENGLISH PUB no less, playing Euro2016 on the big screen.

Then we found our hotel, did the washing, sorted out our cases and went back into Monterey too have a look at the Farmers Market, have a walk on the beach. That filled our shoes up with sand and wasn't much fun in the wind. Then we found some dinner and decided to go for a drive to Carmel by the Sea. 

The cute town where Clint Eastwood was once Mayor. We watched the sunset as we went and snapped a few photos to share as well. Then back to the hotel for the night.

Pohutukawa everywhere in California - and Eucalyptus in flower too 

Tomorrow is the last day of our roadtrip as we head from Monterey back to Santa Monica.