Tania McCartney Blog: California Adventure: Carmel-on-Sea

A short drive south of San Francisco is the stunning coastal town of Carmel-on-Sea. It only took us two hours along the coast to get to this divine beachside village - reminsicent of so many Australian coastal towns.

I had always wanted to see Carmel, least of all because Clint Eastwood was once mayor, but also because I had grown up, like many Australians, reading books, watching films and hearing travel stories about this beautiful part of the world.

Alas, we had pretty dodgy weather driving south of San Francisco and we entered the gorgeous streets of Carmel with persistent rain, and the beach itself was virtually inhabitable due to cyclonic winds.

You can see, however, that the kids had a ball, nonetheless! and relished running and calling out into the wind. This was January and despite it being a little cold, it was by no means bitter, and the wind really didn't bother us. Sure, it would have been wonderful to see a perfect California day, but there's always next time...

We instead marvelled at the natural coastal beauty, that so reminded us of home (we are, after all, on the exact other side of this Pacific Ocean, how much more different could it be?).