Tuesday 12th May – San Francisco

We drove along the coast from Carmel-by-the-Sea to San Francisco, California, via Santa Cruz, Pigeon Point Lighthouse & Half Moon BayAs can be somewhat seen from the terrible tracking on this map (most likely because I had my GPS disabled), we drove from Sea Cliff to the Presidio of San Francisco, then into the Fillmore District for dinner, then back to the Presidio of San Francisco, where we slept.

Carmel-by-the-sea

We awoke, drove to a nearby park in Carmel-by-the-sea, bought milk, and had breakfast while slowly freezing.

Santa Cruz

After freezing entirely we drove along the coast towards San Francisco, stopping at Santa Cruz for a while, having lunch in Half Moon Bay, visiting a lighthouse, and generally pottering along the coast.

San Francisco

After driving through gale force winds along some very-sand-covered roads, we arrived at Sea Cliff in San Francisco in the early evening, where we went for a walk through the park at Land’s End and got our first view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

As it began to get late we had a look at The Presidio of San Francisco, then (with great difficulty) found a Taco Bell that was still open and tried their squishy round bean and “cheese” mush filled tubes—which were very cheap and quite filling—and then found a car park on the side of the road in Lincoln Boulevard, which looked like a fancy suburb and not like somewhere that we’d be arrested or killed, and slept the night in the car.

Driving into San Francisco the sandy wayHouses on the drive into San FranciscoWind-blown sand had shut down some of the roads on the way into San FranciscoBronwen on the side of what used to be a road but is now a sand duneSand engulfing a roadSand being blown off the beachAn interesting car at Sea CliffAn interesting car at Sea CliffWindblown treesOur first view of the famous Golden Gate BridgeBronwen walking through the park at Land’s End, just outside San FranciscoThe Golden Gate BridgeSome of the gnarled trees in the park at Land’s EndBronwen pretending to be a gnarled treeBronwen, Eagle Point Labyrinth, and the Golden Gate BridgeBronwen at the centre of Eagle Point Labyrinth in the park at Land’s EndBronwen, Eagle Point Labyrinth, and the Golden Gate BridgeNed and the Golden Gate BridgeA tree in the park at Land’s EndBronwen not falling to her death from that pointThe Golden Gate BridgeA small land-rodent who lived in a holeGolden Gate Bridge from Baker Beach

Wednesday 13th May – San Francisco

Terrible tracking possibly approximating our wander through San FranciscoWe drove from Maz’s place in Inner Richmond, San Francisco, via Oakland, to Castro Valley, California, where we slept near a hospital.

Morning

Bronwen and I drove to a supermarket and bought milk and cereal, which we ate in Golden Gate Park. It was still very cold. After breakfast we met Maz at the same supermarket and drove back to his place.

Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate ParkGolden Gate ParkSome suspiciously Australian looking trees

Day

After having a shower and a demonstration of the FOVE headset Maz has been working on we drove to Golden Gate Bridge and walked along it, and then parked downtown and walked around Chinatown, up the hilly streets to Coit Tower, down to the Fisherman’s Wharf district, and around various other parts of the city. San Francisco is the most Australian-like city so far.

Bronwen trying a prototype FOVE headsetNed trying a prototype FOVE headsetBronwen at the Golden Gate BridgeBronwen on the Golden Gate BridgeThe Golden Gate BridgeThe Golden Gate Bridge is quite largeThe Golden Gate BridgeA vegan ad. on a zero emissions busOne of the famous hilly tram streetsOne of the famous hilly tram streetsA tramChinatownChinatownThe Transamerica Pyramid“The Language of the Birds”, Poet’s PlazaSteep streets are everywhereMaz & Bronwen walking to Coit TowerYet another steep streetThe skyline from the walk to Coit TowerA mural inside Coit TowerBronwen walking down to the wharves from Coit TowerThe walk down from Coit TowerBronwen walking down from Coit TowerA San Francisco tramSolar-powered electric car charging station

Night

We had a huge burrito from Chipotle and drove back to Maz’s, where we talked and did some research until dark, then drove out of town to beat the morning traffic. We drove to a Walmart in Oakland but were surprised to find it had shut—apparently some aren’t 24 hours (we later found out that the ridiculously high rents in the San Francisco area have resulted in a strange situation where some areas are unafforable, and other areas right nearby (such as where the Walmart was) are high-crime areas occupied by desperate people serving the needs of those who can afford to live in the unaffordable areas). After a somewhat stressful drive trying to find somewhere to stay as it got rapidly later, we ended up staying on a random street somewhere (in Castro Valley, apparently)