Wednesday 4th October
Today we re-visited our Parisien Bakery for breakfast and siocked up with quiche and custard tart for lunch! Because Highway 1 is closed with the landslips we had to go the long way around to Big Sur. We drove through some lovely scenery in the Salinas valley with lots of vineyards until we turned into the military area where we passed through hills covered with dry yellow grass and quite a wooded area, onto Naciemento Road. This is a narrow winding road over the mountains but only small sections are single track. We hit highway 1 and decided to go the eight miles south to where the road was blocked, finding a lovely spot (Millers Creek) to stop and have a late lunch.

We arrived at Lucia Lodge a bit early but sat in the sunshine with a cup of tea until our cabin (number 9) was ready.
The cabins are on the edge of the cliff and have lovely views over the ocean. Yesterday a pod of humpback whales were playing nearby so we hope we can see some while we are here. I improvised a fridge out of the wastepaper bin and the ice that is freely available up by the store, and we enjoyed a cool rhubarb gin and tonic, watching the sun go down.

Dinner was expensive and there wasn't much choice but we enjoyed it. It takes four hours for supplies to be delivered here and they only have a food delivery once a week. The other notable fact is how much pampas grass has grown all over the hillsides - an invasive species from Australia, apparently.