We arrived at LAX, picked up a rental car and manouvred our way out of that frenetic city via various freeways up the coast to Santa Barbara. One is immediately struck by the Spanish influence not only in the names of almost all the towns and cities but also in the architecture. There are impressive mission buildings in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Carmel-by-the-sea, dating from the 18th century. They are still active religious centres and hold regular masses.

Wherever you go, there are beautiful gardens filled with hardy plants that can withstand the rigours of a dry, windy climate and there are very few lawns. And palm trees are ubiquitous.

The California coast is spectacular with huge variety, from wide white-sand bays to densely vegetated dunes to dramatic cliffs and crashing surf. Big Sur is almost impossible to describe with sheer granite inclines straight from the water and the road follows the curves of the coast so that you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to see what’s around the next bend.

America is also everything that you expect – traffic-filled freeways, friendly helpful people you meet when checking into accommodation or asking for directions (‘you’re very welcome’), grocery stores with a bewildering number of aisles and selection of products, gas stations with immaculate restrooms and massive utes/RVs/trailers everywhere.

We’ve seen an array of wildlife along the coast: sealions, pelicans, elephant seals and adorable sea otters. The mammals come into the bays during spring and summer to give birth to and nuture their young. We watched a nursery of sea otters mums and pups among the kelp in Monterey Bay.

And our California days are continuing with Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Sacramento still to come.