SAN SIMEON & HEARST CASTLE

DAY 8

MONDAY 11 APRIL 2016

REST DAY IN MORRO BAY

DAY 9

TUESDAY 12 APRIL 2016

MORRO BAY TO SAN SIMEON

0810- 1915 (INCLUDES FULL AFTERNOON @ HEARST CASTLE)

64.56km (40.11 miles)
Av. Speed: 14.9 km/h (9.3 mph)
Max. Speed 56 km/h (34.8 mph)
Time on Bike: 4h 19m 06s

Morro Bay is probably the nicest place I've come across so far on this trip.

There's something about Tasmania in Morro Bay that I couldn't ignore - kind of like a posh version of Stanley on Tassie's north coast for anyone who's been there - you get the drift.

I had no trouble whatsoever spending my rest day there, doing the usual stuff.

The visitors' center here was particularly useful in lieu of the library being closed on a Monday (go figure that out...??) and allowed me use of the wi-fi all afternoon.

I made a point also of stocking up on supplies for the stage ahead as it was likely I would be remote camping for the next day or two along the Big Sur coastline.

MORRO BAY @ SUNSET

First things first and I made the decision to make the shorter trip through to San Simeon in order to visit Hearst Castle, the visionary but incomplete estate built by U.S media tycoon William Randolph Hearst from 1919 onwards.

With the earliest start of the tour so far, I made pretty good time through to San Simeon by midday and checked into the State Park campground for one night.

After excessive expense at some earlier camping grounds and other venues, the State Parks system in California caters specifically to cyclists by making available hiker/biker campsites for $5 per night.

This is a godsend for the many (such as myself) who are out there "doing it".

Unfortunately, whilst this does not apply to other venues that offer camping along the way (RV Parks in particular) the State Parks system is a beauty that should be taken full advantage of.by anyone who can.

After setting up, I packed a day kit and strapped it on to my trolley for a 5-mile scoot up the highway to Hearst Castle.

I had missed this experience on my previous visit in 2004, having reached San Simeon late on the day I had driven down the Big Sur coast and was determined to make amends this time.

The visitors center is well positioned just off Highway 1 and this is the meeting point for people from far and wide.

There are a choice of tours throughout each day and most have spaces available depending on your schedule.

I booked onto the final tour of the day for the "Upstairs Suites" 1-hour tour which would give access to the "Casa Grande" and its quarters, including Hearst's library, his personal bedroom, guest quarters and the "Gothic Suite" where Hearst would frequently work through the night taking phone calls all the while and poring over his daily publications in excruciating detail.

Prior to the tour commencing, there is an hourly viewing in the IMAX theatre of the 40-minute documentary "Building the Dream" which was well worthwhile.

IMAX cinematography is notoriously superb, using 70mm film format and plenty of 3D effects shown on over-sized screens, it perfectly suits the grand scale of the castle and its location

A shuttle bus leaves from the visitors center and winds 4.5 miles up the slope to the hill where the castle is built.

I thought initially that I would have to take the bike up all the way but thankfully not.

Once off the bus, the tour begins.

So, depending on your view of Hearst, his life and the film Citizen Kane, the Hearst Castle is stupendous in its magnitude, no matter where you stand.

Its location alone is astonishing, even if you were to build a yurt up here, the vistas of the Pacific coastline are unsurpassed.

The building itself is actually unfinished due to the fact that Hearst experienced depression-era financial difficulties in the late-1930's and simply did not complete the project.

And as a building of nearly a century old and being such an extensive and rambling structure, is subject to ongoing repairs and restoration, hence not all of it is available for public viewing at any given time.

Still on this day, I was able to get to most parts of the structure, unfortunately with the exception of the famous "Neptune Pool" which took a hit during the 2003 San Simeon earthquake (which racked up 6.6 on the Richter, just in case you were wondering) and is finally being attended to.

Other than this, we were told, the pool most likely would have been empty anyways due to the severe drought conditions currently imposing themselves throughout California.

Following the official part of the tour, we were free to wander and I was more than happy to do so with cameras in hand, naturally.