This morning we set off for Hearst Castle and arrived at the Visitors' Centre well in time to see the IMAX film about its creation before we began our tour. It was built on the top of a hill with only a twisting five mile track leading up from the coast. Everything had to be hauled up from the bottom.
http://www.hearstcastle.org/
Here are some pictures that we took during the tour showing the Spanish/Italian style architecture. Hearst was influenced in this direction by a European tour that he took with his mother when he was ten years old but was in his late fifties when he began to create this place in a spot where he had enjoyed camping as a boy.
For ten years, up to 1941, Hearst had a zoo at San Simeon and the descendents of some of the zebras still live wild on the estate.
Later in the afternoon we visited Cambria, home to many artists, art galleries and boutiques, and then we followed Moonstone Drive to the nearby beach. We found that there was a boardwalk, with lots of friendly creatures like this ground squirrel.
We climbed down steps to the beach and were able to get close to this colony of harbour seals basking in the warm late afternoon sunshine.
Even the seaweed is colourful along this rugged shore with big ocean waves rolling in.
Today has been a day of contrasts, seeing something totally manmade and then seeing the natural features and animals of this beautiful coast.
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