Last I wrote Charlotte and I had left Venice Beach trusting in the road to find us a place to camp overnight.
I forgot to mention that I had to drop back into my first airbnb to pick up a bag I had left behind, so by the time we negotiated peak hour traffic, it was late and dark before we made it back to the coast.
Unlike the PCH on the way to San Fran, the road South was not littered with turnouts, so we continued to trundle along the ocean road until we hit civilisation. With nowhere obvious to park, a troll around the streets eventually found a spot outside a vacant lot where I could finally pull in and sleep.
I woke the next morning to discover that I was in famed Huntington Beach, an affluent seaside community, and I had parked on what appeared to be one of the major traffic routes to the nearby High School. Talk about Car city!
A quick escape down to the beach for a morning swim was in order followed by taking in the beautiful morning from the serenity of the boardwalk as the surfers caught the gentle waves and volleyballers set up for the day.
A quick stop at the local Post office to drop of Olive’s net postcard only to discover that the Huntington Beach Post Office is on the corner of Main and … Olive Streets! Patrick – here are the photos to show the young lady when the card finally arrives!
Feeling rejuvenated, and with such an auspicious beginning to the day, it was time to head Charlotte south along the glorious coast road.
And it is glorious! Eschewing the interstate and everyone in a hurry to get to their destination, we hugged the old pacific highway, which, like it’s Australian East Coast namesake, in turn hugs the shoreline – often only metres separating the bitumen from the sand and the surf.
The list of Southern California beaches continued to be ticked off, Newport, Laguna, San Clemente etc. In our desire to stay as close to the ocean as possible we made a misstep just after Newport, by mistake heading out on the Balboa Peninsula. But missteps occasionally turn into jewels, in this case the quaint novel car ferry back across to mainland being the prize.
Probably the best drive to date, 3 hours on a sun drenched day, mid 20s C, countless sweeping views of sand, surf, coastal towns and beautiful people, a couple of dips in the ocean to cool down/freshen up, and a final tempting tease of Torrey Pines Golf Course before the final stretch into San Diego in time for an afternoon beer and some nightlife planning.
