Santa Cruz...beach time!

Whilst I enjoyed my four days in San Fran, I have a tight schedule to fit in all I want to do before Hawaii at the end of January. Therefore I had to tear myself away & head on down the coast, to Santa Cruz.
I arrived a couple of hours before the hostel opened, so I immediately went to the beach...a two minute walk down the hill from my front door.

I was informed on my check in to the hostel that there was no alcohol allowed on the premises, & there is a 11pm curfew! Regardless of code lock doors, the codes will not work after 11pm - an excellent incentive not to miss curfew. With this in mind, I set off to check out the town for a couple of quiet pints. It was exactly this, unless the place gets going after 11pm (I wouldn't know), it is quite quiet. I did find some live music & had a good time of it.

The next day I rose early & hired a bike. I made my way along the coast only to discover that the first Surfing competition of the year was underway. I chilled at the lighthouse point & watched for a while - there were well over 100 surfers in the water at once!

I then pressed on a further couple of miles up the coast to the Natural Bridges State Beach & nature reserve. The attraction here was the rare butterflies. I went on one of the trails to check it out - afterall, it hasn't dropped below 20oC the whole time I have been here, so some shady trees were appealing. After this I headed back down the coast, past my beach (aka - Cowell Beach), & checked out the coastal neighbourhoods & views. Santa Cruz reminds me a lot of Bournemouth, largely due to the seaside location & the overall size of it. Bournemouth is a little more lively, although Bournemouth cannot boast weather of this quality in January!

I cycled back to the hostel & then went out for beers at "99 Bottles of Beer" - a pub dedicated to importing over 100 hundred brews from all over the UK...my kind of place! Had a few & made it back just before curfew.
For my last day I decided to check out the North of the town, which is just shops & residential, but nonetheless very clean & impressive. The atmosphere is very relaxed & friendly, which I suspect is down to the glorious weather & lifestyle?! Who wouldn't want to live in California???

I chilled for the afternoon on the beach & am now about to head back to 99 beers (live music night), before my bedtime (I feel 14 again) of 11pm. I have to get up at 5am to catch a 14hour bus journey to Las Vegas...so it's not all bad, eh? ;-)

Santa Cruz...beach time!

Santa Cruz, United States