Cruising the southern californian coast

As a child growing up in Sydney, our sundays were often consumed with road trips down the ‘south coast’. It was a family legacy passed down the generations. My father still fondly recollects holidays spent in the hills of Jamberoo, rabbiting as a young boy, whilst my grandmother would tell us tales of fantastic drives, that involved ferry rides across the Georges River on a punt. She also told of holidays at Stanwell Park in tents. The stories took on fable like qualities, as she told us of the long drive down Lawrence Hargrave Drive in the back of the ute, singing and playing games (no belts were worn then). I, personally can remember the journey to Currarong in the 70’s via the Princes Highway through Wollongong and Nowra. It seemed like a journey of epic proportions.

It was a great treat to jump into the car as a family (early Sunday morning) and drive to Kiama or across to the Robertson Pie Shop. So much fun was had! It was a time free from ipads, social media, phones and television shows where we just looked out the windows and soaked up the view and each others company. As Aussies we are accustomed to jumping in the car and driving. Driving the Pacific Highway Sydney to Brisbane, driving the Great Ocean Road or taking a leisurely drive to the Southern Highlands for a three day weekend.

I was determined to pass down the road trip legacy to my own children, both in Australia and abroad. When planning to travel to LA I had been told of many iconic road trips, the classic American road trip something I aspired to complete. Los Angeles is a colossal city full of freeways, cars, traffic, and unusual attractions and people. However with limited time and with a young family driving route 66 was not possible to do for us. I also dislike doing typical ‘touristy” things when I travel and love actually meeting and assimilating into the host culture.It was this premise, that brought forth the idea of hiring a car, getting off the beaten track and discovering Orange County beaches.

From LA there are many well known road trips such as driving north to Malibu, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Venice Beach or even Santa Barbara but it occurred to me I wanted to replicate my own childhood and jump in a car and head south. I wanted to know how people similar to me lived in this great city.

Hiring a convertible for 24 hours during summer in LA is great, because it rarely rains and is a special treat that holidays can afford. Driving through Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Balboa Island, Corona Del Mar, Crystal Cove, Laguna Beach and Dana Point with the top down playing Beach boys music is just awesome.

Huntington Beach is where I started our family’s journey. We headed south on the Pacific Coast Highway affectionately known as the PCH. It is Surf City USA, the home of the Beach boys, surfers and many Australian surf wear shops. It has a young middle class surfing vibe not dissimilar to Bondi or Coggee Beach. The atmosphere is laid back and cool. Once we arrived we parked the car and walked out onto the pier. We found it not as commercial as Santa Monica, which was refreshing. The beaches are very wide and there are many surfers out enjoying the waves. From Huntington Pier you have a good vantage point across the beach, with many of the best waves just close by. The kids found it interesting to see oil drills off shore! There is a Ruby’s (60’s diner) at the end of the structure that is quite famous. I personally took our children to the Ruby’s just south of Laguna Beach, as it was not quite as busy and had really cool vintage cars on display. We spent some time soaking up the beachside atmosphere before heading back in our car. If you would like you can hire bikes to ride along the path on the beach. We were excited when I heard you can actually have fires in pits on the beach, unfortunately we did not get to experience that though.

As you drive further south the next area is Newport Beach, which is an area that is extremely affluent and has phenomenal homes to view. Fashion Island is here which is one of the county's best high-end shopping complexes. My kids loved it, so did I, because it is a shopping mall but is all outdoors. The Pacific Coast Highway is lined with boutiques and highlights the up market nature of LA. To me it feels like driving around Double Bay, and in a convertible you can let your hair down and really feel like you are enjoying Los Angeles in style – and not on a tourist bus. The kids eyes were darting everywhere taking in the atmosphere. A similar feel is around Rodeo Drive but this area seems more realistic, not quite as ‘Hollywood’. There are islands around Newport Beach that are really interesting to drive around. We drove across a bridge to access one residential area, parked and walked around looking at the homes. It felt a little like driving around Sylvania Waters. You can drive onto Balboa Island but it is small and traffic means you move very slowly. There is a strip of unusual shops and cafes you can enjoy. Apparently you can go on a gondola rides around here on the waterways.

By this stage, I felt like a coffee and at the Crystal Cove Promenade, there are a few good cafes. Cafes that have baristas and actually sell good coffee! So we stopped here and browsed the interesting shops. The Crystal Cove State Park can be found here as well. It is a popular spot for rock pools on the beach, and many people walk around here into the hills.

Laguna Beach feels like Sydney. It has a road that is winding, not quite planned, a bit boho and a range of interesting an unusual shops. It is known as an artists paradise and has an eclectic edge to it. It is probably my favourite area of this drive! Exploring the coast side streets, beaches and walks is well worth jumping off the PCH for. It has a range of art galleries and boutiques, Laguna Canyon road is a good street to visit for galleries. Driving around the homes in Laguna beach was awesome. We actually went up to back of Laguna Beach in the hills and marvelled at the fantastic views. I felt like I was on the Stanwell Top lookout except it had houses.

South of Laguna is Dana Point, a beautiful little village with a harbor. Unlike the northern LA County Beaches, the southern beaches in Orange County are more scenic and feels like you are actually visiting the real LA. Hint: Introduce the kids to the old 'Gidet' movies before coming and let them step onto the set! for real ...

Useful Links:

www.visittheoc.com/beaches/

www.dollar.com/Cars/FindACar.aspx

www.surfcityusa.com

www.rubys.com

www.visitnewportbeach.com/shopping-and-malls/crystal-cove-promenade/

www.shopfashionisland.com