Hanging out in Monterey (12 April)

So, the wind dropped, the cloud disappeared and the sun came out - much like it did when we arrived in San Francisco.  By popular demand, today's big adventure was the aquarium here in Monterey.  We've visited a few aquariums over the years, and the best we've been to so far was definitely Le Croisic in Brittany.  This place certainly had a lot to live up to!

We parked out on Ocean View Boulevard and walked along the beach back into town.  On the way we passed lots of Harbour Seals chilling on the beach - some with very young pups.

First stop inside the aquarium was feeding time in the kelp forest.  This massive tank mirrored the sea outside, with the addition of a diver who fed the different fish and provided us with a running commentary via our presenter.

Winning the cute stakes by a country mile were the sea otters.  They variously swam on their backs, waved at us, dived deep and turned somersaults.  We went into the auditorium to watch a film about the sea otters of the Californian coast, and the conservation work undertaken by staff at the aquarium.  The kelp forests are crucial to their survival, and - to our surprise - they don't eat fish, but instead feast on crabs and shrimps.

The jellyfish galleries were also amazing:

It was heartening to see that a whole gallery at the aquarium was devoted to environmental issues, and the man-made threats that endanger wildlife.  There were various exhibits fashioned out of plastic found on beaches and in the ocean, as this sculpture shows:

After the aquarium we headed east to Pebble Beach - home of the prestigious classic cars concours event, umpteen golf courses, and lots of rather lovely ocean views.

The drive is described as 17 miles, but it took the best part of two hours to get round with stops.  This is the famous "Lone Cypress" tree.  I didn't appreciate quite how famous one tree could be, but when a massive coach-load of tourists suddenly appeared en masse you realise that something must be going on!

Even the dead Monterey Cypress trees looked good in the spring sunshine.