Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin with the history bit to make me look all clever like.

The name “Big Sur” comes from the Spanish “el sur grande” which means “the big south” because of it’s position south of Monterey. It has the highest joined coastal mountain range in the US and rises a mile above sea level but is only three miles from the ocean.

All of this = it’s pretty brilliant.

Seriously when a friend (waves at Jackie) at my old work was telling me about her and her husbands trip along the Big Sur she said at some points she cried because it was so pretty. Now this didn’t surprise me as she’s a bit of a nature hippy (sorry Jackie). But I have to admit when we stopped at different points Leigh had a little tear in her eye & I had a lump in my throat. My photos don’t just not do it justice, they don’t even come a tiny bit close.

The drive along the Big Sur took us about 6 hours with stops, the roads are high and snake constantly around the Santa Lucia mountains. You need to concentrate but there are so many jaw dropping views with different lay-bys to to stop and soak it all in.

By the way here’s the car we drove along the Pacific Highway..

..and here’s the car we should have driven. The SUV we hired was comfy and sensible (but who wants sensible eh.. pah!). The SUV was a Hyundai Tucsan by the way it did have a blue tooth stereo, cruise control, USB charger points,  ice cold air con (essential later in the trip) as well as other essentials like wheels, doors etc.

More photos?

Cool camper van.. not sure I’d wanna drive the roads with no power steering though! Although at least you can stop and make a nice cup of tea and rest your achy arms.

And pose.

Not sure why Leigh is touching my stomach here – looks like an early pregnancy shot. Food baby.

Check out the California ground squirrel, these little guys are all over The Big Sur.

Elephant Seals were all around this area of the Big Sur yeah I know ya can’t see them very well  in the photos but they are there I promise.

We stopped at Pismo beach on the way through – totally unspoilt. No big buildings or shops selling rubber dingys, buckets and spades etc just awesome beach for miles.

Incredible – will never forget the drive and the views we saw here.