Catalina

Catalina is a strikingly beautiful place, the Spanish colonial influence competing with a strong art-deco feel as Catalina had been a hot Hollywood retreat in the 1930's.   It's only a tiny place, with not much going on, and you can pretty much explore it all in a day or two.  

But that's not the point.  It's a great chill-out place.  With a population of only 3000, and not THAT many day-visitors, you can wander around to your hearts' content, admiring the scenery and the buildings - most of which are decorated with pretty coloured tiles that they used to manufacture here.  

Also, the weather is pretty much fabulous all year round.  No wonder The Love Boat stopped off here.  The only downside is that there is no beach to speak of, and very little swimming, but I wasn't bothered.  I was quite happy to wander about, sit at funky little cafes, admire the fountains and keep watching the skies for carnivorous fish. 

The outside dining looked so glorious we decided to tart ourselves up a bit and sample a local restaurant.  When I say “tart ourselves up” you must remember I am talking about people who had been living out of a backpack for 7 months by this point.  So I sprayed deodourant into my sandals, smoothed out the least wrinkled of my t-shirts and strapped on the underpants that I had run under the tap only the day before.  Classy.  

Caro wore her favourite t-shirt (from "Real Groovy Records" in Auckland) and her poshest jeans and we sauntered out into the Catalina evening for dinner at "Armstrongs" which is a cool seafood place overlooking the harbour.  

As we watched the sun go down, we looked down from our meals into the water and said hello to all the fish checking us out, and making sure we weren’t eating anyone they knew.  It was amazing.  We also had the benefit of a comedy waiter:  

"Call me Richard, although my wife calls me lots of other things.  I recommend the shrimp - not because it's the best thing on the menu, but because I love shrimp and I get a vicarious pleasure from watching other people eat them.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and yes, you are Real Groovy."

Catalina at night is almost as pretty as Catalina during the day and we enjoyed walking around as the lights came on and we could appreciate the vaguely tacky, but loveably dated signs for "Jed's Liquor" and such.