Underwater
Wednesday, September 21, 2005

We are camping in a beautiful campsite in Andrew Mollera state park. A large open meadow, metres from the beach. We are sharing the field with black tailed deer and a bunch of marauding bandits in the shape of racoons. Bastards attempt to gain entry to the tent each night!

We left the peaceful seclusion of our meadow and hit a very busy road which led us into Monterary. It seems that the private number plate in america can be whatever you choose depending how much you pay. We've seen some great ones including "Luv me do", "Dr Groov" (driven by an aging, balding, bespectacled anything but groovy type of guy), but todays "NUKE OPEC" on a MASSIVE dodge twincab truck complete with 'Vote Bush and Cheney' sticker has to be the best I've seen to date!

We drove towards the wharf and onto our ultimate destination the Monteray Bay Aquarium. One of the biggest in the world, it houses some fantastic exhibits. Highlights were the sea otters, the outer bay tank which holds one million gallons of water home to amongst others large schools of angry yellow fin tuna, sharks and sea turtles, the sea kelp forest and of course the jellyfish tanks (see pic).

Loved the aquarium, but the town of Monterary is kinda strange.. it has a decentralised feel to it, the majority of shops and services catering only for the masses of toursits the town now relies on for survival since the collapse of the sardine fishing industry in the 40's. Once the capital of California when under Mexican rule, it was a little sad to see the invasion of tacky tourist shops selling bad taste cards and candy, especially as it was obvious from the spanish colonial architecture it had once been a handsome port town.

Back to Deetjen's for the best meal of the trip so far. No burgers in sight. Sea Bass with balsamic vinegar and strawberry rus, and a chocoalate torte of small but powerful proportions. Nice.

posted by Finn at 6:48 AM