Trip 9 - California Dreamin'

On this trip we set out to immerse ourselves in the culture and the nature of California. To discover its textures and see some of its natural wonders. We discover that California is very big. It is not a state that you can just pass through, it is, more than any other place we have visited, more like another country. It is a land dominated by mountains, the spaces between and like nowhere else, water.
Our start in the heavily populated area to the East of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, is crowded into the lowlands surrounded by magnificent mountains. The feeling is of a cauldron which is trying to boil over the mountains to the fresh air of the rest of the state.
To the South is a band of Desert, which is the buffer to Mexico, which we did not explore on this trip.
We travelled North through the mountains (everywhere in California you can see mountains) to the desert, and on again to the huge Central Valley, mile after mile of intensive agriculture. Culture here is dominated by food, flatness, low income and trying to impact on the 'sameness' of the flat lands through music and festival. It is the communication and administrative corridor that links all other areas of California.
To the East is the huge mountain chain of the Sierra Nevada which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of the natural world, both in its geology and nature, reflected in the pysche and pride of most Californians. It is Eldorado, dominated by Gold!
To the West of the Central Valley are the coastal mountains, San Francisco and the magnificent coast. More isolated cultures, from mixed resources, communities seperated by mountains.
To the North of the Central Valley more mountains and a culture which looks more North towards Oregon than South to Sacremento.
This blog details our journey through California, where we pick and choose, or just scratch the surface, of this diverse and beautiful state.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Monteray Bay Life



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Well we didn't get to the Aquarium but we had a look at the wildlife in the bay, what a lot there is to see!.
On Saturday our first outing was to the Old Fisherman's Wharfe, where we saw surfers on the beach and seals in the the harbour, as well as lots of diving birds, pelicans and gulls, it was great fun. This is where we had a very pleasant cuppa.
On Sunday we ventured past the Aquarium to the Headland. What a beautiful beach, with great Pacific rollers crashing onto the rocky shoreline. We pulled to several of the beachside car parks and could just sit in the van and watch the sea. Close to the beach you could see the tops of the Kelp Forest. Many of the kelp plants have little air sacs at their tips and the often sit at, or even float on, the surface. It is these kelp forests that provide a rich habitat for fish and where fish are you find bigger fish, birds and sea mammals. We were able to watch many diving and wading birds, then about 100 yards offshore we saw a Sea Otter! Sally got a great view of it using the binocculars, but I was disappointed with my photos of them, still we were able to sit and watch it swimming around.
On Monday we set out again to specifically find Sea Otters. We again cruised slowly round the headland, stopping at car parks that were close to the Kelp Forest. The second place we stopped we saw Sea Otters way out on the kelp. This time Sally. using the binocculars, counted four of them. However, as I could not see them very well I was keeping an eye on the rocky shoreline and sure enough an otter swimming along, on its back, with a half eaten crab in its paws, it swum within a few feet of where we were watching from. When it finished that crab it dived down and looked for more food, though it seemed quite content to just gently float round in the quite strong surf. apparently without a care in the world. When that otter had swum away we agian saw otters further out. This was an exciting afternoon which we enjoyed very much.
Tomorrow we leave, but we are planning to return to Monteray to finally visit the Aquarium we were unable to visis this time, but we were very pleased that we had found sea otters in the wild.

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