2002 MONTEREY

Wednesday 19th June
Took this picture of the Bixby Bridge just before we got into Monterey



THURSDAY 20TH JUNE

Got up early today, had a leisurely 2 coin shower and left the hostel around 9:00am. Went for a stroll around the wharf area and on downtown to find the Greyhound station. Nothing else was stirring until the magic hour of 10:00am. Since it would be my first journey by bus I wanted to make sure I knew where everything was.

There is a free bus which operates for tourists and it makes things very easy to find. I walked along the beachfront and took in a little local history. Between 1935 and 1940 over 200,000 tons of sardines were harvested every year making the cannery row the busiest and smelliest street. Now that the canneries have gone you can find grey whales, sea otters, seals and sea lions among the 25 species of marine mammals together with over 100 shore and sea birds and 150 different fish. From San Francisco to Cambria there are 5,300 sq. miles of interesting and unique marine life. Giant Kelp can grow 25 cms on a good day.
What a pity I will just miss the Jazz Festival and the tall ship Guayas from Ecuador.
I took the ‘Wave’ bus back to the Aquarium……entrance was a bit pricey at $17.50 but well worth it and I spent the best part of 5 hours inside. It truly was a wonderful and fascinating experience but very tiring. If the hostel had been open I would have taken a break and made 2 sessions out of it.
The hostel has an ever changing clientele and each night can be so very different from the one before. For instance last night I had a great conversation with a fellow from Brisbane, a woman from Italy and a lass from Wick in Scotland………not too far from where Scottie lives. Tonight there was a guy from New York and 2 girls from Washington DC and a young girl from Waterford in Ireland. We played Trivial Pursuit and then just chatted generally. There was a bit of excitement with the police blocking off the street for hours and we never did find out what it was all about. After spending some time here I find myself wanting to re-read the Steinbeck novels of my youth.
I have put some ‘urls’ here for those who might be interested in looking up the information for themselves.




http://www.montereybayaquarium.org
http://www.elephantseal.org
http://www.henrymiller.org/