The Road to Alcatraz - a different side

This entry comes a day late as we got back late in the evening from our Alcatraz trip - but more on that later. In the morning we hopped into the car (no breakfast) so we could make the trip from Monterey to San Francisco, as we'd read that that particular stretch is usually very heavy with stop and go traffic, and we didn't want to be late for the night tour.

So on we went, driving through very scenic surroundings, which seemed to change very quickly. One minute it looks like you're driving up to Geraldton, the other it's a dense forest you're driving through. Cloud and fog seem to be a natural companion the closer you get to San Francisco, which made for some incredible scenery as shown below. 

Once we arrived in San Bruno where our hotel is located, we checked in. My first impression as we drove around the building where some letters were missing from the hotel name, was that of "as long as it's clean it's gonna be ok". Turns out I shouldn't have judged that quickly, as inside it was all very posh. It's probably the best looking hotel we've stayed at so far. The rooms are beautifully furnished and it has a pool, gym, sauna and underground carpark. There's a soft fake fur on the bed that feels like on of those soft German plush animals - nice!

After checking in and getting our bearings we had to sort out our Night tour of Alcatraz. The problem was that the tickets were booked under our friend's name who couldn't come to the trip due to work. When Simone rang up to change the booking she was told that he had to ring himself "for security" reasons. Problem: it was 4am Australian time and he's fast asleep. So after sending a txt and facebook message we took off to Fisherman's Wharf, pondering what our alternative plan would be.

After arriving at Fisherman's Wharf we looked to have a late lunch, as we skipped breakfast and we were both quite peckish by now. My "TV Food" app showed the Fog City Diner to be close so we checked it out.

As I was a bit tired of fried foods by now I just ordered the grilled prawn cobb salad and Simone had pulled pork sliders. After giving me my order without the prawns (see photo) and I made this known to the waiter, he was trying to tell me that the prawns are always on the side and that the plate had come to me before the prawns were ready. Ok buddy. If I order a chicken salad, the chicken is on top. If I order a crab salad, the crab is on top or mixed in. If I order a beef salad, the strips of beef are on top. You get the idea.

The fact that they forgot to put the prawns on the salad wouldn't have been that bad. But the fact I was being lied to and treated as if I was stupid, made me anrgy. In my entire life I have not seen a salad where the protein is on the side by default. That and the fact I could clearly hear him say to someone else that he "had to fix the salad"...well I won't be back. even if we stayed here longer.

The salad itself was actually ok, the prawns were only lukewarm.

So after a disappointing lunch we looked for a quiet spot so I could ring up the tour company, pretending to be our friend so I could change the booking. And it was no problem :)

Afterwards we spent a bit of time wandering around Fisherman's Wharf and I took some photos.

 Alcatraz from afar.

Golden Gate bridge

One of the many pelicans flying slowly around the place.

My take on an artistic shot of a seagull. They are massive here - easily 4 times the size of our local ones.

I was lucky to capture a hummingbird feeding around me.

At about 6.45pm we took off on the ferry to Alcatraz. We'd both been here before so this time around we were looking for a different side of the island, this trip was more about photography than the prison.

For those who don't know - Alcatraz is a National Park and a bird sanctuary. That means there are thousands of birds of different species nesting on the island, which makes for some incredible photo opportunities. These seagulls below had made one of the ruins their nesting place and you can see the chick in the fireplace.

One of the many many seagulls chicks, just sleeping and taking in the last of the sun's rays.

 The recreation yard of Alcatraz. The light during our entire stay on the island was just beautiful and I especially loved the colours it brought out in the greens and the buildings. For any photographer it's well worth doing the night tour just for the light. As the sun goes down the shadows become increasingly longer and more dramatic.

 We got off the boat and were back on dry land around 9pm, and we just wanted something basic to eat so we went to Bubba Gump. We shared an appetizer of shrimp mac & cheese and our mains were a shrimp sandwhich and I had Tilapia fillets and shrimp on rice.