Right, this isn't funny anymore! Nick was awake again this morning at the crack of dawn. Needless to say, I was too. I was in the shower before 6am. Partly because I wanted to get ready for our day and partly because I wanted to get away from him.

Its just gone 8 now and we're in Starbucks over the road from our hotel. We've had a coffee and shared a cinnamon and raisin bagel with cream cheese and some oatmeal with banana, nuts and chocolate. We're off to Monterey today. Nick reckons he has the route planned, most of the stuff is in the car and we're almost ready to go. My eyeballs feel like grit, my blister hursts and my shorts are so tight I'm gonna end up with a headache. Nicks really excited and I look and feel llike crap. Heading back now to get the rest of the stuff and try and negotiate it into our tiny car. Fingers crossed Nick wont need me to navigate. I keep getting it wrong and he keeps going into one because of it.

It's warm and sunny already so maybe things are looking up. Nick reckons we should be ok in a couple of days and his sleeping will be back to normal. If its not I think I'll slip him a valium as I'm struggling to keep this up.

9.30pm- Monterey Tides Hotel. In bed. What an amazing day. After Starbucks we got on the coast road and started to head south. We stopped along the way a couple of times to admire the view. It's nothing but beach after beach. Everyone either surfs, runs or rides a bike. They're all fitness fanatics! Not my sort of place at all. haha!

We stopped at Taco Bell for lunch which was interesting to say the least. Nick says 'alright mate' to everyone and they have no idea what he's talking about. Why he cant just say hello like a normal person I'll never know. Nicks vernacular coupled with the fact the bloke didnt talk English, meant it really was a miracle we got some lunch.

From Taco Bell we headed along to Santa Cruz. Phil, Ben and Emma stopped on the pier so we thought we would too. Bit of a mistake really. It was a sunny, sunday afternoon amd the world and his wife had the same idea. We didnt even bother to stop the car. It may have looked different from another angle, although I doubt it, but from where I was sitting it looked like a cross between Bembom brothers and Southend. From there we head straight here. We made it here by 2pm and luckily our room was ready. I actually nearly pee'd my pants. The lobby and bar area is floor to ceiling windows with the ocean just outsidde. We walked around to our room, past the little fire pits and sun loungers. Its the prettiest thing. Our room is lovely and just a matter of feet from the edge of the water. I didnt know if I needed a s***, shave or a shampoo. I didn't know if I wanted to study our beautifully spacious room and all the lovely smellies or run outside to absorb the breathtaking view. We dumped our stuff and was out the door in no time. Decision made.

Cannery Row was just what I imagined it to be. We found a parking space and it still had a couple of hours on the meter. Little victories! We strolled along the main street stopping at the Ghiradeli ice cream shop. We had 2 massive sundaes and a chocolate covered strawberry. It cost almost as much as most dinners! If huge ice creams werent enough to give us a cardiac arrest, the bill was. I'm just looking back over the phots and I've got hair like a rats back in them all! We went in all the little touristy shops amd bought a couple of souviners. We went to Fishermans wharf to suss out where the whale watching is.the Wharf is lined with shops and restaurants all advertising their stuff. They were all giving away samples of clam chowder so we had a right old feed for free! Once we found the boat place we headed back to the chowder shop for sourdough bowls of delicious creamy soup. It was lovely on the pier but, just like lots of places here, it smell like piss, fish or waccy baccy.

Loads of travelling, walking and eating meants we could hardly stagger back to the car. Found a starbucks and a In and Out burger 2 mins from the hotel so thats handy.

Getting back here gave me my second wind. Yet again I was beside myself because of the view. I thought the hotel was the prettiest thing I ever saw but seeing it at sunset definately is. I took myself off to the beach to have 5 minutes by myself. It was utterly breathtaking. The noise of the waves crashing onto the beach was deafening. The setting sun gave everything a funny warm glow and the mist rolled in from the sea making it all look a bit eerie. I've never seen the mist rolling in like that before. I took loads of pictures and managed to get one of a pelican swooping. I really thought it couldnt get any better and then I spotted DOLPHINS!!! How I didnt cry is a miracle. Especially when one of them leapt clean out of the water. Its silhouette black again the burnished sky. It was too dark to get pictures but I'm glad I saw it. I have plenty of pictures in my mind to last a lifetime. Cant believe we've been here 48 hours. We've seen so much already it feels like a lifetime.

The plan had been to head to the bar for a little nightcap. All the excitment of the dolphins wore me out and as soon as we sat on the bed we were done in. Instead of going out we opted for a coffee and a cinnamon roll in bed. Living the dream.

Lets pray Nick sleeps all night. I cant cope with another dawn wake up call. 2 of us came to Califirnia but only 1 of us is going to make it out alive at this rate!