Cycling with Sally

Just before reaching Santa Cruz (which is just south of San Francisco) we came across a little bicycling gem - Swanston Berry Farm.  They had a honour paying system and welcomed cyclists in with a 10% discount off delicious goods instore.  While sipping on our warm apple cidar we perused the cycling journal of other tourists that had passed through.  To our surprise we came across an entry a few months earlier by a couple tandem cycling Alaska to Argentina on 'Big Bird'!  We thought our name was original but turns out it's natural to name your tandem bike after the oversized yellow bird that filled our TV screens growing up.

We spent two wonderful nights with Deb and Tom in Santa Cruz with the highlight being Belinda winning at a very lively game of Hearts!  Our hosts organised a small dinner party with some friends on our first night and on the following night we checked out the Downtown area and found ourselves in a delicious Japanese Restaurant.  Tom also gave me (Belinda) a beautiful shell to include on my necklace which I now proudly display.  Thank you so much, I really love it!

To our excitement, on being welcomed into Paolo and Kim's home in Monterey (a fishing and historic cannery town) we met their beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog, Max.  We are entirely convinced that this breed of dog is the one for us - such a lovely temprement and colourings.  Paolo (who is originally from Italy) treated us to an authentic Italian meal of pasta and our first taste of Grappa.

With an early start we had a terrific opportunity to checkout 17 mile drive, a long private stretch of road littered with very expensive houses and amazing views. At the end of this cycle, the Pebble Beach Golf Course awaited us, the home of the US open 2010. So nice and so rich and we got free smoothies from the Cafe Manager too!

After staying in a hiker/biker (very cheap rates) campground just past Big Sur we met up with two German cyclists (Harry and Inge) that we saw in our first week in Alaska.  It was pretty crazy meeting up with them four months down the track!  This is also the day when Roland cut his hand.  He went down to Jade Cove to scout for jade and came back a wounded soldier.  There was blood everywhere and the cut was quite deep but fortunately he had his own personal Nurse on hand to give him TLC and to dry his tears!

San Luis Obispo and the surrounding Pismo Beach area was our next stop.  We stayed with Tom and Nancy for two nights and again was treated to a dinner party with friends and Settlers of Catan (oh yeah).  We also got some Scrabble in with Nancy - she's another teacher and clever with her words - RAVAGED!  We talked a lot about ANZAC biscuits (traditional biscuit/cookie in NZ and Aussie from War times) and found a good recipe online.  IIt's inspired me to try and make them in San Diego for a little taste of home!  One night when the sun was setting Tom, Rosie (their dog) and I walked up a steep hill to admire the view and some of the 'Nine Sisters' (Volcano plugs).  Rosie was a sweet wee dog with a love for human food.  Nancy had warned us about her fantastic sense of smell and so we needed to lock our food in our room.  Unfortunately, the door didn't quite latch closed and during our game of scrabble I started to hear a 'rustle rustle rustle'.  I raced into our room and found Rosie polishing off a Snickers bar.  She looked pretty pleased with herself and wondered what the fuss was all about!  Unfortunately she had an unsettled sleep but because of past escapades she tolerated the chocolate pretty well (considering she ate the whole bar!).

After spending some time at the La Purisima Mission State Park, one of 24 Historic Missions in California and stuffing our faces with the most tastiest strawberries ever we found ourselves in the company of Joe and Carol and their friends.  We had a grand meal of New Zealand Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce, which really made us feel right at home and heard stories of their recent cycling trip to Thailand and Laos.  Carol is a very talented artist and she kindly shared some of her work with us.  We also got to see her again in Santa Barbara at the Sunday Market selling her pictures.

Crib Score:
Roland 56
Belinda 38

Things found on the side of the road:
* External frame backpack
* Fishing net
* A 'Ninja' man



Interesting fact:
* Beullton is 'the home to the best ever Split Pea Soup'.
* Monarch butterflies flock to Oceano, CA to a Eucalyptus grove during the Winter months.  The   day we were there had an estimate count of 8000 butterflies - amazing!