Monterey, California, USA.

The short:

Monterey is a large region within which Carmel is located. It is renowned for its natural beauty and scenic views, and for good reason. Driving through Monterey along the famed Highway 1 as Thomas and I make our way down the Californian coast was a real highlight of our trip to date; we simply could not get over the landscapes, with every road bend providing yet another stunning painting produced by Mother Nature. Needless to say we stopped many times en route, and I look forward to continuing the drive all the way to Los Angeles. 

The coastline is home to a huge number of national parks. Unfortunately, we only had time to poke our heads into one, but with more time I would have loved to visit so many more, as each park trail boasts different wildlife, terrain and views. 

The long:

Thursday:

Thomas and I started our day at Monterey Bay Aquarium, reputed as the best aquarium in the United States. I haven't been to an aquarium in far too long but, as far as I can recall, this was hands down the one that I have most appreciated. Thomas, on the other hand, visited the new Danish aquarium fairly recently, which he rates pretty highly, but still not quite as highly as the one in Monterey, so perhaps it truly is unparalleled elsewhere.

All I know for sure is that I have never seen ANYTHING like the jellyfish exhibit that the aquarium has, which is truly in a league of its own and completely mesmerised me. Who would have known that there are so many species of jellyfish, and that they can be so insanely beautiful and deceivingly dangerous all at once. Some of my favourites:

^ A "lion's mane jelly". This is the largest of all jellyfish and can grow up to 6 feet in cold Arctic waters, which is pretty ridonculous.

^ These were absolutely tiny and so delicate. The lines inside their little bells (technical term) spun round catching the light and reflecting back every imaginable colour. I deemed them the "rainbow jelly's"!

^ These were again minute. Their long thin propellers and lit up inner bells made them remind me of small versions of old school lamps.

^ The "upside down jelly". It lays its bell on the seafloor and waves it lacy underparts up at the sun, just chilling. How cool is that?

I would never have known jellyfish can be so marvellous! Both Thomas and I are just used to the plan old boring see-through ones with blue lines inside their bells (sorry jellyfish) that you get on Hornbaek beach. I thoroughly enjoyed my jellies experience, and LOVED that the aquarium described them as creatures that "dance through the water, pulsing at their own rythm". What amazing creatures.

The aquarium did have much to offer besides jellyfish, however. For example, they had BABY LEATHERBACK TURTLES. I had to try very hard to contain my excitement.

I learnt that these amazing animals are decreasing rapidly in number due to the increased use and littering of plastic bags in the ocean, which they mistake for jellyfish and gulp down without blinking causing them to choke to death. I am now the No.1 fan of reusable shopping bags. Can we all follow this trend please.

There were also fish of all sizes and colours.

^ Clownfish strangely remind me of women in gowns dressed for the ball. 

^ Look at the blooming size of that fish. Thomas and I agree that we would be swimming fairly rapidly in the opposite direction if we came across one of these in the sea. 

And, of course, lets not forget the snap of the day:

Nemo and Dory about to kiss!!! I will gladly accept all praise for this shot.

We also saw a big fat octopus, which I wasn't quite so enamoured by. It's head shape looks so out of place and makes me think its brains are about to explode.

But I will readily admit that its tentacles are pretty cool.

I had never seen the face of a ray, so was a little shocked to come face to face with this; I am now convinced that they are twins with Casper the friendly ghost!

This is just a snippet of all the incredible sea life that we saw, so I imagine that you will agree the aquarium has a pretty awesome selection. They also have larger animals, like penguins, otters and birds, which makes it really unique, in my opinion. The aquarium is also filled with notices explaining that many of their animals have been rescued and how we can help to protect and promote reproduction in endangered species. It is a wonderful place, which both Thomas and I would highly recommend visiting if you have the chance.

Afterwards, we rented bikes and rode 2 miles along 17-Mile Drive, a renowned 17 mile stretch of coastline, where we stopped off at "Lover's Point", 

and the Old Fisherman's Wharf:

I would love to bicycle or run the whole 17-mile stretch, but I have no idea how people were doing it in the baking hot weather that California is currently experiencing; apparently all kinds of heat wave records are being broken for the first time in centuries in every county. So, instead, we hopped back in our sexy wheels and drove the remainder of the 17 miles, stopping off regularly at the prime spots, including Bird Rock and Seal Rock, imaginatively named such as they respectively attract birds and seals to their rocks.

^ Clearly the King of the castle.

^ All the little black dots are basking seals, that were making an absolute racket hooting and howling away.

Pebble Beach was next, which is essentially an area with excellent panoramic views of the beach, rock formations and ocean.

The road is also home to some of the most extraordinary homes I have ever seen; I can't even begin to imagine what they must cost with such spectacular views.

This photo shows a map of the 17-Mile Drive; we started on our bikes at Bay Bikes in the bottom centre of it and rode to Lover's Point Park, before ditching the bikes for speedier wheels, which carried us the rest of the way anti-clockwise to Carmel, where we then continued on Highway 1 to Point Lobos State Reserve.

Point Lobos State Reserve is a highly popular national park. Thomas and I squeezed in completing 2 and a half trails in half the time it was meant to take (I honestly do not know how they estimate the recommended time that it should take; we most definitely did not rush and stopped for plenty of photo opp's!) Anyway, not complaining in the slightest. The trails provided further great vantage points of the surrounding mountains, forests and ocean although, to our slight disappointment, were not all that different to one another. First, we did the Cypress Grove trail.

Afterwards, we did half of the Old Veteran trail, which led us to a famous and very peculiar tree.

The final trail of the day that we did was Bird Island trail, which, surprisingly, is supposed to be excellent for bird watchers.

^ This photo shows the rock that the birds most love to hang out on. I have to say it didn't smell particularly pleasant and there was a huge amount of insects flying around, but it was nice to see some birds nonetheless. Overall, I would have liked to see some more animals, but I guess in hindsight that was greedy of me considering I had received my fair share at the aquarium the same morning. The variation in the colours of the sea and rocks that we saw was however indescribably beautiful.

This map shows the different trails offered at Point Lobos State Reserve; the ones with a scribbled line over them are the trails that we completed:

With a big day under our belts we headed in search of some much deserved relaxation, which we found at the Big Sur River Inn, a hotel that has a restaurant with a little creek running by it where you can sit on wooden deck chairs and enjoy beverages whilst cooling your toes in the shallow water.

Well, Thomas did; the water was a little too cold for me! He wasn't all too overjoyed when I threw his sock to him and it landed in the water (whoops?), much to my amusement.

We were in need of some grub so hit the road, enjoying a quick photo sesh en route.

We ended up at a restie well known for its excellent views, although we unfortunately arrived a little too late to enjoy them. The food, however, was pretty damn tasty.

With a 2 hour drive to our hotel in Cambria it truly had been an incredibly long day, but it had been such a fun one and Thomas and I had a great laugh. We both agree that it was our favourite day so far.