The Aussie Nomads Motorhome Adventures: SAN FRANCISCO

4 Days in San Francisco

China Town - Fog – Golden Gate Bridge – Fisherman's Wharf - Clam Chowder – Dugness Crabs – Cable Cars – Trolley Buses – Trams - Hippie Haights Ashbury – Castro Rainbow – Jazz on the street - Lots of Hills- Sore feet.

Day 1
We flew American Airlines and arrived in San Francisco early afternoon and got a shuttle bus to our hotel for $7 each. Our hotel is in the Grant Plaza in Grant Ave, China Town. It's not the Hilton, but very clean, people are pleasant and best of all, very central to Fisherman's Wharf area and the main town in Market street where the trolleys buses and trams leave.

Our hotel is 100 metres up from China Town Gates

The shops around are so colourful and fun to look in.

We settled in and walked down to Market St to catch the heritage listed Tram to Fisherman's Wharf. I am old enough to remember travelling in trams around Perth as a child and of course Melbourne still has trams today as well.

Fisherman's wharf on Pier 39 is famous for Dugness Crabs and Clam Chowder.

We were hungry so it was straight to Boudin's for Clam Chowder in a bread bowl. Absolutely delicious.

While we were walking around we could see Alcatraz Island in the distance and remembered Sandra said to book as soon as we got here.

We got another tram back to town and checked out the booking office as we passed and saw it was closed, so it would be an early ride back in the morning.

Passing Pier 23 we saw the signs for the America's Cup and the Louis Vuitton Cup. Pier 23 is being changed to house a new cruise boat terminal, hotels and the storage areas for the America's Cup Races. As San Francisco Yacht Club is the new defender everything is being shifted here from the New York Yacht Club.

This sign was a bit of a surprise. I wonder how fast I could run up the hills of San Francisco to go inland.

Day 2

Next morning we were up early as you can see by this photo. Obviously everyone around here had a heavy night as all was quiet at 7.30 in the morning.

On the way to the tram we saw these boxes which is where people get their morning paper by putting money in a slot. There were plenty to choose from.

As I was taking a photo of what I thought was smoke from a fire the fellow waiting at the tram stop told us it was the famous San Francisco fog coming in.

When we arrived at the Alcatraz Cruise terminal were surprised to see a sign saying next available departure was August 21 and today was the 8 August. Getting a cruise ticket is the only way you can get to Alcatraz so we went over to ask about tickets and were told the sign was correct. No Tickets available. When we asked if there was a cancellation list she said people had to resell their own tickets if they couldn't go at the allotted time and to wait outside on the footpath to see if anyone came.

We stood around feeling a bit like we were waiting for customers. Which we were, but for the kind who might be selling another ticket for Alcatraz. We were in competition with two other guys and another couple waiting for the magic 2 tickets to be offered. Sure enough someone went to get their pre-ordered tickets and had one over to sell. We decided to get the one ticket and Kevin would go so we didn't miss out all together. Boy was HE happy. I am not sure if it was because he could go to Alcatraz or because he would have hours without me by his side.

We decided to keep trying and after 30 minutes we and the others were looking a bit glum when someone else held up tickets to sell. We all descended on him like vultures. He had several single tickets so we hit on the bright idea of seeing if we could exchange the time on the ticket to the same boat as Kevin's. We were in luck the kiosk girl said she would do it for us Aussies, so back fast to buy the ticket off of the guy, get it changed and just in time to join the queue for the boat. While we were waiting to board the announcement said there was no food sold on the island and that food and drink could only be consumed on the landing area. It looked like being a few hungry hours ahead for us.

The island is not far off shore. Everyone was excited to be going, a big contrast to the people who came here involuntarily and made it the famous Alcatraz. The temperature of the water in the bay is always around 4 to 8 degrees with a very fast current which helped deter anyone from escaping. Fortunately for us this boat was well provided with food so we spent the next 15 minutes eating a hamburger and drinking coffee (not our choice for breakfast).

As we approached the island we saw this Swedish Catamaran probably getting used to the winds on San Francisco Bay ready for the Cup Defence.

The Island is now a National Park and controlled by Rangers so after pep talk we walked up the steep hill to the top where the actual prison is situated.

This sign is a reminder of the former inhabitants of the prison.

The tour is very well run with an excellent audio presentation and off we went to wander around at our own pace being told of the life and stories of the inmates with sounds of everyday prison life in the background.

Famous inmates

One of the cells represents how prisoners broke out and managed to escape and have never been captured but it is believed they perished in the cold waters. It shows they used spoon to dig their way through the concrete.

They didn't actually dig through the concrete with a spoon but used several of them to make a drill.

Everything is just as in movies even the exercise yard. The tour can be very depressing but it is interesting. After a while it was good to reach the exercise area and go out into the fresh air away from the feeling inside the prison. We went for a walk in the gardens growing on the rock. In the life of the prison the inmates earned the privilege of doing the gardening now there are volunteers. We got talking to one of the guys who had spent a couple of years in Perth during the America's Cup Defence in the eighties. Most of the plants species growing here are from Australia as they grow well in drought and salt air.

The view of the mainland of the island is spectacular showing the hilly streets that the cable cars come down It must have been depressing for the inmates as it can be seen clearly from many places especially from the exercise area.

We caught a tram to Castro, home of the rainbow flag people. I always wanted a lovely coloured flag like that to fly but the girls discouraged me.Now I know why as they are flying everywhere in Castro.

On the tram was a mum dad with triplets, what a handful. I really admire him he was doing a good job.

Lots of interesting things to see. San Francisco is so diverse.

This is the corner the trolley buses change directions I remember this mess of overhead wires from my younger days.Also the planters are interesting they must be wheeled out to beautify the corner during the day and put away at night as they all large wheels attached.

This time we caught the trolley bus back and stopped to watch a jazz concert in the park

and a busker down the street doing just as good a job.

We had a 3 day pass for $21 for the trams, buses and cable cars so it was time to have fun on them on the way home.
There are a lot of do's and dont's

We waited in the long queue at the top of the line. The cable cars at this stop only drive from the front so they turn around on a turntable ready to start back up then down again into the city.

This fellow looked plum tuckered out dealing with all these tourists. Afer a breather he loaded up the car and off we go.

Other than don't lean out too far there are no rules of overfilling the car.

We walked home or should I say limped and stumbled, I think we are getting too old for all this running around for 12 hours.

Day 3
This morning we set off for Haights Ashbury the Hippie town of the 60's. There are still some beautiful buildings here as well as old and new wanna Be Hippies.

This lightpole is amazing I think it is just being held together with staples of all the posters which have been put here since the sixties.

I got my education in this shop seeing young girls buying beautiful venetian glass then I was told it was a little pipe for drugs. What a waste of money.

We caught the bus from here to the Golden Gate Bridge and while waiting I could hear this mournful sound. The lady on the stop said it was the fog horns warning of the fog and pointed up where we could just see the top of the bridge appearing then dissappearing in the fog.

When we arrived at the bridge the fog was still around so we spent some time looking at the suspension cable used on the bridge.

For people who like technical info like Kevin, the cable is 2300 metres long and almost 1 metre diameter. It's a bit like guessing how many jelly beans in a jar if you had a guess at the number of wires in the cable. There are 27572 wires in the cable.

The fog started lifting as we started our walk across the bridge.

The sun shone through as we got to the first tower but the wind was still very cold up here.

By the time we got to the second span I thought What a stupid idea, then I saw this sign and was very sad for the people who came here to jump. It is a long long way down.

By the time we got to the other side we caught a bus back and the fog was rolling in again.

Day 4
This morning we are up and at it again this time going on a bus tour to see the Sequoia Red Wood forest. Sequoia 's are recognised as the tallest hardwood trees in the world growing to around 110 metres.

They are a majestic tree and it was lovely walking through the forest.

The bus called into Sausalito, a town turned touristy similar to Margaret River.We had an enjoyable walk and saw San Francisco from a different view then back to town as the fog came in again.