Big Sur and the Coast

After leaving Santa Barbara we drove up the coast staying in San Luis Obispo and Monteray on the way to San Fransisco. One of the things I really loved about seeing the coast was the pelicans. They look so prehistoric. I spent a lot of time almost falling over backwards while I tried to take a photo of them flying past.

The aquarium in Monteray was really interesting. While we were watching the deepsea tank a shark took a big bite out of one of the smaller fish and then all the sharks started chasing this poor fish until it gave up and was eaten. The other small fish got really jumpy, swimming and changing direction quickly in their school.

The bay itself was full of seals and sea lions, with the odd sea otter and dolphin swimming in the bay.

Further up the coast we saw a group of elephant seals on a beach, who have returned to the coast after many years of absence. They were enormous, with rolls of fat with rippled when they moved. This time of year only the males are on shore.

Big Sur was amazing to see with its massive cliffs, mountains and beaches.

We stopped at a the Nepenthe cafe on the way, which turned out to be owned by Kaffe Fasset and his family. The gift shop had some of his knitted items for sale. I had one of those moments when I picked up something looked at the tag and realised I really shouldn't be touching it at all. $148 for a pair of entralac socks. I daren't even look at the sweaters. I'm sure they are collectors items, but totally not worth it. I can knit my own socks thankyou. I must say while I admire Kaffe Fasset's ability to select beautiful colour schemes I can't say I like his knitwear designs enough to go to the effort. They remind me too much of the 80s.

The reason we stopped at the cafe was because during the recent forest fires the cafe owners had been the only people who refused to evacuate the area. Shortly after leaving we passed the fire site. It is still burning in the back country.