EVOQUE CONVERTIBLE H I G

EVOQUE CONVERTIBLE H I G H W A Y 1 – O P E N I N G UP A COASTLINE Run your finger along the coast of California on a map and you’ve mostly traced the route of Highway 1. It stretches over 1,000km, crossing active landslide areas, earthquake faults and deep ravines to open up one of the most glorious coastal stretches on Earth. It’s a route made for the convertible, and one that many travellers claim to have conquered. They’re quick to tell you this as they lean back, ready to share kilometre by kilometre detail. But press them and most will have only travelled from Los Angeles to San Francisco. This section has its undeniable delights – the staggering beauty of the sheer cliffs and twisty turns of Big Sur; the tree-lined village of Carmel-bythe-Sea where, thanks to Hollywood legend Doris Day, dogs are welcome pretty much everywhere; and the glorious sweep of Bixby Bridge. But this is only a taste of what’s to come. You need to head north, especially if you’re in a convertible. Past the energy of San Francisco, the traffic starts to thin as you travel through Point Reyes, one of California’s 27 State Parks. The air turns to incense – sagebrush, eucalyptus and wild fennel – as the road winds briefly away from the coast. On a clear day, the unique, soft Californian sunlight with its sea-salt tang streams in and within three hours of San Francisco, you’ll reach Mendocino. Perched on a rugged bluff, where ocean meets river, this colourful 19th-century town with saltbox cottages deserves pause. And not just for the excellent Eggs Benedict served by The Mendocino Hotel. If you’re lucky enough to be there first thing in the morning, head out on to the bluff where you can watch the morning mist roll in across the redwoods as elephant seals bark their dawn greetings on the small beaches below. As you head north out of town, be sure to keep the top down – the redwoods are so tall that you have a natural canopy and forest scents fill the car as you wind through the trees. Just past Fort Bragg, Highway 1 takes a sharp turn right, heading inland to meet the twisting, rising 101 at Leggett. It’s due to the San Andreas Fault and California’s young geology that you can’t head on along the coast. The combined instability has kept highway and large-scale property developers away – but visits from those in capable Land Rover vehicles are welcomed. 16

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