We had decided that today would be a beach day especially as Barbara had come all the way to sunny California and not been to a beach yet, so this was long overdue! And for us too, we’d been on the go camping and hiking until reaching San Fran so it was good to have a nothing day! We went south to Avila Beach first and lounged on the sand for a good few hours, enjoyed our lunch and walked along the pier. There were a group a ladies on a religious retreat carrying out Baptisims in the sea! It was all pretty full on but they were enjoying themselves immensely. Helen didn’t quite think that they were doing religious baptisms and was surprised when this was confirmed! It was a little awkard when she was asked ‘are you religious’ and to which Helen’s reply was ‘not really no….’ awkward!!

The next beach was Pismo Beach, again coming with a pier (as most Californian beaches do!) although this place was far from the calmness of Avila Bay! It was fairly tacky, very busy and extremely windy! After enjoying a packed ice cream we walked to the sand dunes, Helen left Dave and Barbara to take in the vast sandunes and watch some kite surfing and when reunited the 3 of us went for a drink. That night we ate at a great little restaurant in Cambria called Indigo Moon and we enjoyed some good seafood, meat and vegetarian options! This was our last night in Cambria and we’d really enjoyed our home from home! Plus the hospitality of Jill and Joe – a big thank you to them!

Up fairly early the next day we started making tracks to San Fran. This time instead of the 1 we opted for Highway 101 as it was way quicker! We had one stop for lunch and the sun was with us all the way to San Francisco and when we arrived we drove over the Golden Gate to the Marin Headlands where the HI was welcoming us! Although there was a bit boat race taking place so it was rammed with cars and roads were closed meaning it took us an hour longer! When we checked into the old barrack’s style accommodation we drove to Sausilito on the west side of the bay. Sausilito is a little Italy, with lots of boutiques, a harbour of expensive boats and packed out Italian restaurants and bistros! Very swish! We walked along the path to take in the views looking back toward the San Francisco skyline before enjoying our own Italian feast at Roma.

On the way back to our hostel for the evening we stopped at a vantage point to get some night views of the bridge. This is well worth doing especially if it is a clear evening as the view of the bridge is pretty spectacular.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)