Monterey to Ventura.

The drive on Highway 1 south of Monterey known as Big Sur is one of the most spectacular coastal drives one can imagine. The towering cliffs literally drop straight to the sea along the very rugged and somewhat barren coast. In many respects the views are similar to our own Great Ocean Road in Victoria, however Big Sur stretches for approximately 90 miles which is far longer the GOR. The other notable difference is the presence of ocean mist that engulfs the coastline on most mornings. We were fortunate to traverse the first 30 or so miles with no sea mist, however a very heavy mist rolled in for the remaining 60 miles, limiting our view of the ocean. A short stop at an elephant seal rookery where there were dozens of these huge mamals lazing on the sandy beach in the sun. A short distance from this rookery we came to our planned lunch stop - Hearst Castle.
From the roadside we caught a glimpse of the turrets of a castle way off in the distance on a very high hilltop. We parked in the huge visitor carpark then walked to the visitor centre where we collected our pre-booked tickets for the basic tour. Together with a coach load of fellow visitors we were then conveyed along a steep winding road of about 5 miles to the hilltop castle of William Randolph Hearst. It was here that we met our guide for the 1 hour guided tour of portions of Hearst Castle. Hearst was born into a wealthy mining family in the late 1880's, however he ventured into the publication world at an early age from where he made his fortune. At the hight of his career he owned 29 newspaper and publishing companies. His dream castle was commenced in 1919 and was an ongoing building project literally until he died. However the main buildings were completed within nine years. Hearst was apparently a man who just kept adding artifacts and building styles from around th!
e world, never being satisfied with any particular style. Suffice to say that the whole estate which covered 770 square kilometres in it's heyday is simply mind blowing. To even attempt to describe it here would be impossible. It is awesome. A special thank you to Steve for insisting that a visit to Hearst Castle was an absolute "must see".
You were not wrong Steve.
Our overnight stay was further south at the quaint Danish replica town of Solvang - a very interesting and enjoyable stopover. Friday morning and we were on our way to Ventura to look up and stay with Tom & June Mew, very dear American friends.
Their condominium, atop the hills of Ventura with 180 degree views over the boat harbour and township is simply stunning. The rest of Friday was spent talking and reliving past events and times when they have visited Australia. Late afternoon they took us on a drive downtown where we visited a huge book store (Noble & ............) and an every bigger craft store. A beautiful barbequed salmon meal followed happy hour and rounded off a most magnificent day.
After breakfast the next morning we were taken on the most wonderful day out, visiting the wine production areas of southern California. Then lunch in the small township of Los Olivos. This is the area where the movie "Sideways" was filmed, in fact we discovered that the motel we had stayed at in Solvang two days ago was the very motel where the two guys who were on a "boys weekend" had stayed in the movie. Then a visit to a miniature horse stud, the small township of Lompoc where there are acres and acres of flowers. Gail went to bed early as her sinus was playing up and making her feel quite off colour.

Kevin & Gail.
www.alaska-2006.blogspot.com

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