The Big Sur
Route 1 – Surely one of the best drives in the world
Doesn’t it sound mysterious?! Even when we were there we weren’t sure what it was! The Big Sur is 90 miles of amazing drive along a narrow road etched out of the side of the cliff, with no barriers and jaw dropping views. With every hairpin bend Hank was blessed with an ‘oh my god’ as we fit narrowly around the corner, thankfully no one else was coming the other way!
We hit the Big Sur after a 12 hour journey back to LA and a rather fun night in the lovely Santa Barbara in a not so conventional hostel. We stayed in top bunks in 12 bed dorms with no ladders, I had to rehearse hoisting myself into bed three times before we went out that night I was so worried!
The Big Sur started just after one of the most incredible beaches we’ve seen, packed to the rafters with elephant seals! I’ve never seen heard or smelt anything like it. We watched as the seals waddled up the beach whilst Chris was kept hostage by an over keen American who was headed to Wales on holiday (yes, that’s right, Wales on holiday) and was looking for tips, his most useful being to bring a waterproof as it’s more than likely to rain, brilliant. The American did warn us though that cars have been known to go over the cliff whilst driving here as the driver was focusing on the scenery rather than the road. From then I made sure that whoever was driving Hank had both eyes on the road!
It was breathtaking though, for some reason I had never expected this from America. We hugged the cliff for 90 miles, the road only making a slight diversion as it went inland through a forest of redwood trees, amazing.
We watched the sun set from a rocky outcrop just outside the ‘Big Sur town’ a more picturesque sight you couldn’t have wished for (apart from of course the Grand Canyon the day before, it’s a tough life!). The town of Big Sur is meant to be one of the most romantic towns on earth, there wasn’t much to the town I must say, but the sun set we saw was pretty romantic.
We finished the day in the best grill in Monterey town, it seemed almost like the perfect end to the perfect day, to be topped only the next day by the magical sights of Yosemite national park…
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