26/12/12 – Farewell to the Del Coronado

We woke this morning to the sound of calling Pacific gulls. How nice they sounded compared to the ones back home – more like the one you hear in the movies. We spent the morning at leisure before moving camp to the Day Spa where we attempted to scrub off the remnants of our treks through volcanoes and snow so that we could present ourselves all shiny and new to Becky and Barrow at their home later that day. It seems to be quite the Californian thing to do for one to lie on the infinity pool deck in front of a gas fire overlooking the ocean and watch the people walking by – so this is exactly what we did. And damn nice it was too!

Becky and Barrow were gracious hosts and we soon found ourselves whisked off to a St Stephen’s Day party at friends of theirs where we were surrounded by US naval aviators who had done a tour or two of duty in Perth and enjoyed recounting their experiences. We soon were tapping away to the sounds of Irish tunes provided by a banjo player, fiddler, hand drummer and guitarist as any other guest who desired to pick up an instrument. The night was topped off with some Power’s whisky and some fine cheeses – which was great since we hadn’t had any dinner!! Needless to say we slept soundly.