Independance day on the central coast

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Here's a tip - Don't ever go to Morro Bay, it's a dump! there's a really really big rock there - right out in the bay. it's huge.....although we didnt get a photo of it so never mind.

Before the excitement of Morro Bay, we called into Hearst Castle, just off highway one. You might notice from our pictures, that we saw some rather large seals along the coast road. This was just before Hearst Castle. There's a beach, which is now a protected seal sanctuary, where Elephant seals come to breed, give birth, shed skin, generally just hang out and occasionally fight.

It was only the males. They come ashore to rest and shed while the women stay at sea to hunt food. Hmmm

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We nearly missed them, but as we drove along the coast what looked like a beach of washed up dead fish came into view. We pulled in to be greeted by squirrels begging for food and an entire beach of the most incredibly big and blubbersome Elephant Seals. The beach is patrolled by an elephant seal volunteer worker who knew far too much about Elephant Seals for the rest of his life to be in any way interesting.

They were on the beach, which was so cold and windy by the way, to shed their skin. It was only the males. They come ashore to rest and shed while the women stay at sea to hunt food. Hmmm. A truly amazing sight though. Hopefully the pictures will give a good idea of how big they were.

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On from the seals, we arrived in Hearst Castle and took a 2 hour guided tour through Sir William Randolph Hearsts imense and extravagent castle. This was intended to be a small two storey lodge, but Randy Willy got a bit carried away. It's palatial, with a stunning outdoor roman style swimming pool looking out over the countryside and the Pacific Ocean. There are two guest lodges, both of which are more than 2000 square feet. the main home is beautful, with all original furnishings from Hearsts time. Many of the famous actors and celebrities of the 1920's and 30s came to stay with Hearst. People like Charlie Chaplin and Carey Grant stayed over a lot.

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It's very much worth the 3 or 4 hours you'll spend there, so if you're passing by don't miss it.

As for Morro Bay, well, it was shrouded in mist for the two days we were there - the rock was't even visable on the 2nd day! Despite that, its not a very nice place and we could have picked a better place to spend the 4th of July. There wasn't a lot going on in Morro Bay, and we were'nt sorry to leave it behind. On to the land of dodgy day time soap opera next..Santa Barbara.