A little break down the coast…

So once again, we find ourselves in a situation where we haven’t made a blog post for ages, so sorry for that. We get busy, then finding the time and energy at the end of the day is sometimes difficult!

(Note that the pictures in this post have been squished or cropped for some reason, but if you click on them, you get to see them properly - sorry!)

Well as you can imagine, we have been pretty busy over the last couple of weeks. Summer is in full swing here now (BBQs, swimming, picnics, more BBQs) and so the weather has been lurching between hot and seriously hot. Typically it gets to about 28-30 degrees C but on numerous occasions over the last couple of weeks it’s topped 37! That’s over 100 degrees and although it’s pretty dry heat, without a breeze, it is still hot!

The week of 4th July I took the week off so we could have a little holiday. In the middle of the week we went down the coast for a few days. It’s really nice to be able to have a holiday and not go very far to see some spectacular places and beautiful beaches. I think people who have always lived here take it for granted a little bit, but within a couple of hours drive in any direction there are some great places!

We decided we didn’t need to go very far at all this time, so booked a motel in Monterey and used that as a base. It’s only about an hour south of here and there are some really nice places to visit nearby. When we arrived, we went to the Dennis the Menace playground. It’s like the ultimate playground and Louis loved it! The parks here are generally very good anyway, but this place was amazing. As soon as you arrive, you see a huge original steam engine that they have turned in to a climbing frame. Of course Louis was immediately inside pulling levers, filling the firebox and generally being train-like. As well as that, they have wobbly bridges, climbing walls, slides, climbing frames etc. Unbelievable and completely free!

Afterwards we went for a big greasy burger in a diner right on the beach in Monterey just past the aquarium, and then spent a little bit on time on the beach digging and splashing. We were planning to drive something called 17 Mile Drive which is a particularly scenic route around Pebble Beach, but someone at work had suggested we also drive around the coast of Pacific Grove first, which is a place sandwiched between Monterey and Pebble Beach on the peninsula. You can see where this is below.

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The drive around Pacific Grove is spectacular. Sandy, rocky, huge waves crashing in. Unfortunately, because of the geography, it’s generally windy and not so hot. But, if rock pooling is your thing, it’s great! Also, if you want to see seals, sea lions, sea otters and pelicans just hanging out on the beach, you’ll like it!

We did eventually make it to the 17 Mile Drive, which is a private road that goes through the exclusive area of Pebble Beach. There is a famous golf course here, and most of the houses are huge mansions, and some of the coastline is equally spectacular.

By this time, we were all hungry again so we decided to stop off and eat at the clubhouse on the golf course. While very nice, in hindsight perhaps it wasn’t the most suitable place for a 3 year and 8 month old!

The next morning after a luxurious stay in our Motel, we went to Carmel for breakfast. One of Kate’s friends had recommended a nice little place called Katy’s Place, and it was great. All homemade, great big stacks of pancakes, fresh fruit and eggs. Carmel is a funny little place. It’s just south of Monterey and is quite a fancy place. Lots of boutiques, cafes and restaurants, and a huge white beach!

After we had our breakfast we stumbled upon a fire house (fire station to you and me!). We’ve heard from various places that the fire service here are super friendly to kids so we thought we’d test out the theory. We loitered outside for a few minutes letting Louis inspect one of the fire trucks (I know!) and hey presto, a fireman appeared and promptly started showing Louis around. He got to drive the fire truck, look at all the buttons, got a sticker and they even brought him out a plastic fire helmet! If you ever need some free entertainment for a 3 year old, I strongly recommend it!

We then headed back to Monterey, got some lunch and sat by the beach to eat and watched some big fat sea lions lazing around on some rocks in the sun. In the afternoon, we went back to the Aquarium as Louis loves it so much. By this time we were all exhausted and so headed back north and home.