Monday, April 29, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney Snapshots - Long Beach

Our photos of Long Beach comprise photos of:

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 15

Day 15 : Catalina Island

Avalon Bay

About 26 miles (40 kilometres) from Long Beach lies the island of Catalina, just under an hour's journey away by jet catamaran. Debbie and I stepped from one such catamaran onto the island's Avalon Bay at around 9:00am to warm weather and cloudless skies.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 14

Day 14 : Long Beach

This morning we walked from our hotel down towards the ocean, stopping at an area known as Shoreline Village to grab a late breakfast alongside the Long Beach marina. Yesterday's rain, the second we'd had during our trip, had disappeared and the morning was warm and a little overcast.

Saturday, April 27, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney Snapshots - San Luis Obispo

To travel from Monterey to Long Beach via Amtrak or Greyhound meant at least 12 hours of travel and 2-3 hours in transit. So we decided to break our journey in San Luis Obispo and then delay the second leg to visit the San Luis Obispo de Tolosa mission.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 13

Day 13 : San Luis Obispo to Long Beach (via Los Angeles)

Our sole reason for visiting San Luis Obispo was to see the San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission, established in 1772 as the fifth of twenty-one missions across California. The Mission's church is still in use for regular services, as well as being available to the general public. There's also a garden, a gift shop and a small museum displaying a range of religious and other historical items, such as photos of the Mission across different time periods.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 12

Day 12 : Monterey to San Luis Obispo

We spent most of today travelling, first by Amtrak mini-bus from Monterey to Salinas, and then by Amtrak train from Salinas to San Luis Obispo. The train was late pulling into Salinas and, accordingly, we were late arriving at San Luis Obispo. The terms "late" and "Amtrak" appear to be synonymous, but today was our last Amtrak journey, so this is no longer of concern to us.

San Francisco to Sydney Snapshots - In and Around Monterey

Monterey is a city located on a sweeping bay about 2 hours drive south of San Francisco.

These pages show photos of our trips in and around Monterey:

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 11

Day 11 : San Simeon to Monterey

Another early start today as we needed to be at Hearst Castle by 9:30am for our 10:00am tour. Tours to the Castle are scheduled every 20 minutes of the day, and they have a slightly militaristic and mechanistic feel to them. Such Swiss-clock like precision allows the tour operators to push nearly 1 million visitors through the Castle each year.

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 10

Day 10 : Monterey to San Simeon

We spent a relaxing day today wending our way down Highway 1 from Monterey to San Simeon. For this trip of around one hundred miles, Highway 1 mostly hugs the coast, and it features dramatic overlooks and vista points every ½ mile or so. (An 'overlook' or 'vista point' in the US is roughly the same as a 'lookout' in Australia).

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 9

Day 9 : Monterey

Things are tough in the tourist industry right now.

This afternoon we took the Monterey Bay Scenic Tour in a tour bus that seats about 80 people. Including Debbie and I, there were three people on the tour, four if you count the driver. We could just as easily have hired a taxi and split the fare.

Monday, April 22, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 8

Day 8 : Monterey

Monterey is famous for its aquarium, and we spent most of today walking among and photographing the aquarium's nearly 200 galleries and exhibits. The brochure that we were handed as we entered claims that the aquarium is home to 250,000 creatures. I think Debbie and I have at least one photo of each of them.

Sunday, April 21, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 7

Day 7 : San Francisco to Monterey

We travelled today via Greyhound bus, the first of four or five times we'll do this during our trip home. The trip was pleasant enough and uneventful, and we saw parts of California that we'd surely never have otherwise seen, places such as Hayward, Los Gatos, and Watsonville, none of them among the shortlist of Californian tourist meccas.

Friday, April 19, 2002

San Francisco to Sydney Snapshots - Yosemite Valley

The Yosemite Valley is one of our favourite places and we were not leaving California without visiting it again. We last visited in September 1999 at the end of a long, dry Summer. This time we were visiting in early Spring after one of the heaviest Winter snowfalls.

San Francisco to Sydney - Days 5-6

Day 6 : San Francisco

Quick : name the original seven dwarves. Well, there's Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy, right? Actually, no.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 4

Day 4 : Yosemite National Park

Last night it snowed. I first became aware of this at about 4:30am as I was on my way to the toilet block, wearing thongs and a short-sleeved t-shirt. Early mornings have never seen me at my intellectual peak - this morning was no exception - and so it wasn't until I was about three-quarters of the way to my ultimate destination that I realised my feet felt unexpectedly cold. And damp.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 3

Day 3 : Yosemite National Park

I'm typing this while something in the next cabin is barking. This leads me to suspect one of two possible scenarios : our neighbours have snuck a small dog into their cabin or they have a squirrel trapped in there that, with a voice that loud, is clearly not one to be messed with. It's raining outside so I'll defer my investigation until later.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 2

Day 2 : Yosemite National Park

This morning we let ourselves sleep a little longer to fully recuperate from the many hours of travel we endured yesterday. As forecasted, it did get very cold overnight : I can testify firsthand to this based on my 6:30am visit to the communal facilities, necessitated by the absence of a toilet in our cabin.

San Francisco to Sydney - Day 1

Day 1 : San Francisco to Yosemite National Park

We arose this morning only to find the Sun still in bed. If I were asked to name my top 40 half-hours of the day, 4:30am to 5:00am would fail to rate a mention as would its close relatives 5:00am to 5:30am and 5:30am to 6:00am.

Saturday, April 13, 2002

Moving Day

It's Friday night. The pets are in boarding. Our furniture is wrapped, boxed and on its way home. We've spent hours cleaning every crevice, fixture and surface in what used to be our house. We've met our landlord who, as happens rarely in my experience, looked almost exactly as I'd imagined he would based on a scant few conversations with him : mid-to-late forties, greying, with a round, bespectacled face. Now, we're in a hotel in San Bruno, resting and recuperating before our assault on Yosemite, the West Coast of California, and Honolulu.

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Another Suitcase In Another Hall

As has been the pattern in all the relocations we've endured over the past few years, the week or so before the move is punctuated by a series of disappearances. One day the phone is cut off, another day the rubbish stops being collected, and so it goes.

Monday, April 8, 2002

Countdown

In five days time we leave this house and end up where we started - the Courtyard Marriott at San Bruno. We farewell the pets on Thurday and, unless we visit them in prison, a.k.a. Quarantine, we won't see them again until August. It's going to be difficult - visiting times are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:30pm-3:30pm. At least their long stay in Quarantine will give us time to find somewhere to live and ensure that the yard is Mitzi escape-proofed.

Wednesday, April 3, 2002

BWAIN (Blog Without An Interesting Name)

It's late on Wednesday night - about a quarter to eleven - and Debs and I are being just about as yuppie-like as it's possible to be. I'm blogging on my laptop on this side of the table and she's editing and captioning photos for the web site on her laptop on her side of the table. And no, for those of you who've asked, we don't instant-message one another across the table. E-mail's far more efficient ...