Matthew Tuffin Blog

flickrphoto: 

Source: Flickr

Source: Flickr

A fresh new day and not only were we not driving long distances but it was a glorious sunny day. Giving the opportunity to lower the top down finally on the car and drive a short distance up the hill to the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens, a lovely stroll for an hour or so through the different plants and fauna native to California.

The gardens having witnessed a bad fire the year previous we were told, you did notice some burn marks but it looks like the gardens have recovered and hopefully will go on to give more people that visit them the satisfaction that we got.

We drove back down from the gardens and back up another winding track that went back up the hill side. Parking alongside the road we got out and began walking up the track that leads up to the mountain in the hope to get to Seven Falls, a set of seven mini waterfalls that go down the hillside. After a bit of searching once we were up there we finally discovered that you were had to climb straight up the waterfalls themselves rather than there be a path that went up to them, both of us wearing trainers we decided not to go to the very top of the falls.

None less it was an excellent walk and we got some stunning views and photos I might add of Santa Barbara and the islands beyond, Santa Cruz Island, Santa Rose Island and just faintly you can see the smaller one San Miguel Island. All in all Santa Barbara is a beautiful place out of any major city thus you are able to get some nice peace and quiet away from all the noises of the city.