On Wednesday morning, after leaving the coastal town of Cayucos we made a quick stop at the the supermarket for food and drinks for the following couple of nights in Big Sur. With it being such a sparsely populated region, we knew they'd have limited supplies or be crazy expensive, so figured we'd stock up beforehand. From there we continued north on the Pacific Coast Highway, passing by a 'scarecrow festival' just off the main road - only in the States! So no doubt we had to pull in and check it out. Then further up the road we stopped in at a view point looking down onto an elephant-seal colony who were all just chilling out on the beach, and quite entertaining to watch too!

We continued to follow the road and eventually landed up in Big Sur, our destination for Wednesday night and last night. Big Sur is a region on the Central Coast of California which contains vast wildernesses and breathtaking views as it stretches 140km along the rugged Pacific Ocean. The area is great for outdoor recreation and contains several state parks, two national wilderness areas and is part of the Los Padres National Forest, all of which include hiking trails. Big Sur Village is a mile-long village containing gas stations, roadside markets, lodges and restaurants and the Pacific Coast Highway winds right through it and flanked by the steep Santa Lucia Mountains to the east and the rocky Pacific Coast to the west. Si and Suzie dropped us off at the Glen Oaks cabins and they headed back to the Big Sur Campground where they were based which wasn't all that far from us. We were staying in one of the Little Sur cabins which, according to their website, is "designed for guests who want to enjoy the majesty of the great outdoors with a compact, fully featured indoor living space". The cabins are situated amongst centuries old redwoods and within a stone's throw of the pristine Big Sur River. Each cabin had a private patio and fire pit which was stocked daily with complimentary firewood and fire starter.

Once we'd unpacked and chilled out on the deck chairs in front, we waited for Si and Suzie to head round and pick us up for a sunset drive. We figured we'd head out and watch it set from down the road. Si had enquired and we were recommended an off-road path up the hill which gave us a decent vantage point - it was just the wind that was ruining things. Plus the private property and no trespassing signs, but mainly the wind. After a while we gave up and headed back to Glen Oaks to ask them instead. They suggested Nepenthe Restaurant where you could watch the sun go down plus have yourself a beer. It probably wasn't the best sunset we'd seen, but certainly was the most expensive beer we'd had! :)

Once the sun had disappeared we made our way back to the cabins to start the fire for the braai. We decided to braai the first night by ours and the second night by them. Since ours was just a fire pit and not actually a braai, we had to maak 'n plan to get sorted, and in the end had an awesome fire cooked meals under the redwood trees and the stars.

Yesterday was an early start with a sunrise drive back down to Nepenthe again. Si volunteered to come pick myself and Uns up and join us for the daybreak. We had hoped that the cafe may be open for (really) early morning coffee, but no such luck. We realised quite early on that the sun certainly wasn't going to rise up over the ocean, but rather behind the Santa Lucia Mountains which is a 170km long mountain range running along the Californian coast. It certainly took it's time to come up, giving us plenty of time to wander around the decking and get chatting to one of the local workmen. After a slightly unimpressive dawn, we headed back to the cabins for breakfast and coffee outside under the enormous redwood trees.

After our breakfast we were picked up by Si and Suzie and we made our way south to the McWay Falls located in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The falls drop 80 feet onto the beach or tide down below and flows year-round. It's certainly one of the most spectacular places anywhere in Big Sur. There's a brief hike out to a view point but it can also be seen from the road up above. We were quite happy to hang around the view point overlooking the falls for sometime while I snapped a few photos and Sizi had a nap. There's no access down to the beach for safety reasons, which is a pity, as I'm sure it would look quite impressive from down below. But anyway, managed to get a appreciate the view from up above.

After the McWay Falls we drove a bit further and pulled in alongside the side where Uns suggested that we might see otters. It did involve a bit of a walk down to the rocks, but unfortunately not an otter could be seen. We sat on the rocks for ages admiring the landscape around us, but either the tide or time of the year clearly didn't suit the otters.

From there we headed to Pfeiffer Beach, about 2.5 miles south of Big Sur Village. The Woolleys wanted to go hiking and Uns and myself were quite keen to chill out on the beach, so they happily dropped us off and headed away to find themselves a nearby trail. Pfeiffer Beach is famous for having a tint of purple in the sand as well as the Keyhole Arch in the rock formation just out in front of the beach. After a few hours, just as we were about to pack up and head back, they arrived on the beach and decided to watch the sunset there. But first we missioned back to the cabins, packed the cooler box with food, grabbed some beers and then dashed back to the beach in time for sunset. It turned out to be a fantastic sunset over the ocean with a great shot of the Keyhole Arch as well. Apparently during the winter solstice the sun actually sets directly behind the arch itself, which would be impressive to see.

Once the sun had dropped behind the horizon we headed back to the car and then to Si and Suzie's campsite for an awesome braai for dinner, under the huge redwood trees and a sky full of stars. Takes a lot of beat that! Then after dinner we took a slow walk back to our cabin, admiring the star-lit sky before settling down at our cabin and lighting up our fire pit with a bottle of Prosecco. Not a bad evening I'd say :)

This morning wasn't an early start like all the others having been, instead we decided on a bit of a lie in, watching the sun filter through the trees and listening to the sounds of Big Sur outside. After some breakfast, coffee and a walk down to the Big Sur River, we headed back to the cabin to pack and wait for Si and Suzie to pick us up and continue our roadtrip up north towards San Fran. Looking forward to that...