Santa Cruz

California // 1, 2 December

We had a couple of days exploring around Santa Cruz. It was gorgeous where we were staying in the hills and redwoods and just 20mins from the coast. In the other direction was Silicon Valley. It’s a really pretty area, densely populated but broken up by hills and woodlands.

Silicon Valley… A must see for Robin. We visited the info center at the new Apple campus. The space was vast. You could learn about the Apple Park office and green space design at the info center and view it in the distance. Employees only on-site! The Google campus, called GooglePlex, was also huge and had a uni campus feel. We stopped in at their info center and cafe. The whole area was fun with bright Google branding.

Around the Google campus…

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park… A few minutes from our campsite was Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. It’s a huge area and we explored just a small part, even managed to see some deer! The redwoods were amazing, so huge it’s like they are prehistoric. The smell was amazing too.

Santa Cruz coastline… The coast was about 20mins from our campsite. We took the scenic coastal drive and stopped at the Marine Discovery Center and Natural Bridges State Beach before checking out the pier.

Seymour Marine Discovery Center…. This is a little marine education center that also has a research center for the University of California. We got to take a tour of their research area (no photos) and saw they dolphins and sea lions they work with for research. The little aquarium was fun and we got to pet a little Swell shark, a species local to the area. They also have two whale skeletons on display outside, a blue whale (huge) and the smaller grey whale, which are amazing!

Natural Bridges State Beach… This is where a huge number of Monarch butterflies come to spend the winter, as it’s warmer here and a eucalyptus grove provides a sheltered spot. Also the eucalypts flower in the Californian winter. There’s a (very popular) little trail you take to view the butterflies who are all swarmed together on the branches. Amazing!

Santa Cruz Pier… Finally the famous Santa Cruz Pier! This is the first pier I’ve been on that you drive your car on and there’s (lots of) parking on the pier. We didn’t as we had no idea. Tons of cute restaurants and shops (once you walk past the parking), a great view of the amusement park and rides back on the beach, and sooooo many sea lions! We spent ages watching the sea lions, there were so many, and it was fun watching them swim, jump up on the pier structure, and jostle for a comfy spot.

Back on the beach… We took in the sunset and discovered a festive steam train out the front of the amusement park. The steam train actually goes from behind Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park down to the coast but we had no chance of getting tickets even when I checked a month in advance. Super popular!