Back in The Bay

It’s strange how somewhere that you can call home for such a long period of life can still feel so familiar yet very different at the same time. Luke hasn’t lived fulltime in the Bay since before college in 2010, and hasn’t been able to visit with border restrictions from NZ since mid-2019. We’ve had a blast over our first couple of weeks rediscovering the infamous San Francisco city centre and wider Bay Area, reconnecting with family and exploring new spots along the way.

After a 26 hour journey from Christchurch , leaving at 3pm on 8 December and arriving at 9pm on 8 December, it really was the longest day ever. We felt so lucky to have started our time in the Bay out at the relaxing Stinson Beach, just 1 hour north of the city. Luke’s mom Claire picked us up from the airport, in great need of a shower and exhausted from the long journey, then we spent 3 days of exceptional weather out at Stinson. We’re so grateful to Claire for sharing her favourite spots with us, and had an awesome time chilling by the beach, sleeping, seeing the stunning sunsets, looking up at the stars from the spa, just hanging out before entering the larger population of the San Francisco area.

Jelley had only been up to Stinson shortly after the purchase of the new “bach”, and it gave us a new perspective staying during the weekdays without the city weekend visitors contesting for a space on the beach or caparks. This was the ideal place to start our trip, and we’ve been hopping between Stinson, San Francisco city and Moraga over the past 3 weeks.

Point Reyes National Seashore and the stunning Point Reyes lighthouse was a highlight of our first few days in the US. We had a perfectly still day without a cloud in the sky, and really enjoyed exploring the area, checking out the humpback whales spouting on the horizon, with the Farallon Islands in the distance.

We then ventured over to Moraga across the Bay for a long overdue reunion with Luke’s grandparents, who are still in positive spirits after a very tough couple of years with various lockdowns inside their retirement home. Luke’s twin siblings, now freshman at high school, were in the middle of their first final exams week, and we waited for that stressful time to pass before coming back to hang out for the holidays.

Winter has hit here and it has been quite the adjustment to the condensed daylight hours,

experiencing our second ‘shortest day of the year’ this year. While there is no snow in coastal California, we’ve had a lot of rain, including several ‘atmospheric rivers’ - a term we’ve never heard until now, but basically just means it will bucket with rain for 48 hours straight. While in Moraga, we caught up on some errands, checking out some of our fave American shops (Taco Bell!!) and experiencing a rain jacket shortage in the Bay which is quite unfortunate in the wet winter.

We also checked out some local walks in the area, with the most eventful walk following a beautiful experience in the Redwoods Regional Park. Unfortunately on the drive back, we experienced a real life episode of ‘COPS’ moment (or Police 10/7 for a kiwi reference), as we became the first on the scene at the final stages of a police pursuit, and luckily braked at the right time to avoid colliding with a crashed stolen car. Guns drawn, a smashed window, attempted getaway and many many more cops and fire officers on the scene, the guy was arrested, we patiently waited as the scene was cleared and hour later, gave our witness details and managed to continue home for dinner. A little too close to the action for us! Another new experience was coming across a coyote in the middle of suburbia, with Jelley thinking it was a dog who came off its leash, but Luke’s local knowledge got us out of an awkward encounter. Luckily it was more scared of us than we were of him.

Many of Luke’s longtime friends have moved out of the Bay and are spread across the country, but we did manage to have pizza catch ups with a few old school friends, Matt, Max & Meghan over the past few weeks. It’s always great to see which direction life has taken friends in 12 years on from school.

We based ourselves in San Francisco city shortly before realising the extent of Omicron - and we might not have spent quite so much time on crowded public transport if we had the power of hindsight! It was reassuring to see masks absolutely everywhere, and with plenty of hand sanitising, we spent a couple of days visiting new spots in the vibrant city.

The day before leaving NZ, we found out Trevor Noah was performing at the brand new Chase Center (which was a pile of dirt last time we were here), now home to The Golden State Warriors NBA basketball team. One of our favourite comedians who has presented an interesting perspective, especially since the pandemic began, we felt lucky to get to Trevor’s show with Claire & our friend Winnie, and loved experiencing him live from the back row of the 18,000 capacity arena. We were really impressed with the venue, super modern with great facilities, but not so impressed with the cost of a can of beer - $19.50!

Other highlights of our time in San Francisco:

• Walking around Golden Gate Park, and encountering a couple of elderly ladies on their Prayer Walk, where they prayed for every person they came across (including us!).

• Seeing the way restaurants and cafes have adapted to the new norm - expanding their dining spaces outdoors to include ‘parklets’, using the carparks outside of the restaurant for cosy heated dining spaces.

• Wandering through the cute inner city suburbs around Noe Valley and living like a local for a couple of days.

• Eating fresh bagels and pastries from the local bakeries (hopefully not a trend that continues!)

• Visiting the California Academy of Sciences on a rainy day, where Luke has many childhood memories of the albino alligator and butterfly garden.

A not-so-great observation of the city, which isn’t necessarily new but is more confronting after a few years away, was the vast difference in the two classes living in the central city.

Either very rich and wearing expensive clothing, or very poor and homeless. It’s a very sad reality, made even more obvious through the mass exodus of the middle class who appear to be moving out of the city to work remotely from a more affordable location, leaving vacant apartments across the centre.

The public transportation system is called Bay Area Rapid Tansit or "BART" and it continues to have plenty of room for improvement. The loud screaching of the trains left our hearing a little more damaged than when we left NZ - although it was more promising when we go to ride one of the more modern carriages.

San Francisco remains charming with the beautiful coloured houses, varied history and cute pockets of urban parks and stunning by vistas. We still love visiting, and look forward to observing how the city evolves during the recovery phase post-pandemic.

Luke entered a new decade this month with his 30th birthday! It was super special to have Lair friends, Zack and Scooter drive up for the occasion out at Stinson Beach to make wood fired pizza, play Catan and go for a couple of walks in the beautiful backyard of Mt Tamalpais state park. No amount of miles or number of years can deter friendships this strong, and we cherish every opportunity we get to spend with these awesome people!

Time flies by when at the beach, and we loved spending the next week indoors with Claire and Michelle, watching movies, playing games and heading up to the world famous Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma.

One forgotten highlight of travelling is how far a foreign accent can get you in moments of misunderstanding and also random acts of kindness from locals. Free coffee & breakfast when our cards didn’t work at Peets, getting out of a fine on the BART transport system for not tapping on properly due to Luke’s ‘charm’, and a free magnet from Lagunita’s just for being a foreigner just to name a few. Every store Jelley has been to alone has struck up great conversation, and very friendly hospitality - a break in the day for the stressed out grocery store workers in the busy holiday season.

Christmas came early for Jelley, with a covid booster shot on Christmas Eve before the big Weber family holiday lunch. It was really special to spend Christmas Day with Luke’s entire family here in California, with the highlight of Claire’s Christmas carols on the piano and grandparents singing along.

We’re now waiting for a weather window for the roads to open to head up for a week in the snow in Tahoe to welcome in the New Year!

Wishing a very Happy Holiday season to our friends & family at home in New Zealand and around the world, here’s to 2022 being an easier one for all, filled with good health and many more happy memories.

- A Kiwi & A Cali