Day 12 Big Sur

Most of us were up early to join Rose’s hunt for otters before we left Carmel by the Sea. We arrived at the National Park at 7.45 to find it didn’t open until 8am. We made our way around to the cove where they are most often sighted and first found some seals sunning themselves on the beach. Continuing along the path we managed to spot a few otters swimming in the ocean so Rose was happy and if you look on her Instagram page she may post some of the photos. They were too hard to photograph with just a phone camera.

We went back to Carmel for breakfast and had an hour shopping before all piling back in our van for our drive through Big Sur, which means Big South. We stopped many times along the way for photo opportunities, had lunch at Nepenthe, a restaurant recommended by Matt and Leah, walked to the McWay Falls lookout and most excitingly of all saw a whole beach (100s) of elephant seals. They are huge creatures. There was a ranger there who explained that it was mainly females and babies. There were a few males who each have a harem of females. They feed in Alaska and then all come to California to have their babies. They were quite fascinating.

We’re now at Cambria for our last night in America, at a beautiful seaside hotel. I’m looking at a magnificent sunset over the water. Tomorrow we will have our final drive to LA to fly home tomorrow night.Read more