We went on a boat trip whale spotting and boy was it cold! I hadn't taken any cold weather clothes with us as you just don't expect California to be cold do you? It was a good excuse to buy myself a "California" hippy-style hoody which kept me fairly warm but I wasn't impressed when I had to buy a pair of woolie gloves as well!
We saw plenty of hump-backed whales but it was difficult to get any decent photos so I gave up and just watched.
There were 3 other boats out whale spotting at the same time as us and just after they'd set off on the return journey we had real treat. 2 whales jumped right out of the water and flipped over right in front of us. Even the boat skipper was astounded and told us that was a really rare sight.
I didn't take this photo I found it on Google, but it shows you exactly what we saw - twice!
It was a really good day and we also saw dolphins, sea otters and lots of seals before we returned to port where we were welcomed by this salty character.
California Route 1 follows the coast and there are plenty of vista points where you can stop off to check out the view or other things of interest. We arrived at one vista point beside a beach and got out to check it out to be greeted by the smell of hundreds of sea lions.
They were a colony of a species that had been thought to be extinct, until a few breeding pairs had been found near Baja a few years ago. With careful monitoring and protection they were recoving their numbers fast.
We weren't too impressed by Los Angeles. The place is dirty and the people weren't particularly friendly, mainly being interested in parting tourists from their dollars. This was in marked contrast to everywhere else we visited where the streets and beaches were spotless and the people welcoming.
It didn't stop us doing the tourist trip on an open top bus though, which is probably the best way to see the city as it's so sprawling.
Beverly Hills is very swish......we didn't spot any Hillbillies.....
Rodeo Drive is much smaller than I expected
The most exclusive shops are located in little paved streets off the main drive and you have to have an appointment to go in them!
As we boarded our bus there was a film crew on the top deck and we had to sign forms to say that we agreed to be filmed. The "star" sat just behind us and she had such a loud voice that she drowned out the commentary we were trying to listen to through headphones. She thought an awful lot about herself and when she wasn't being filmed all she could talk about was what she was going to have for lunch. We were quite shocked when she got off the bus and we got a look at her!
Someone was trying to find his star...............
That's all folks! More tomorrow................if you're still interested
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