The West Coaster

The West Coaster Tour designed for Kiwis and Aussies to drive the West Coast of the USA from Seattle to San Diego plus visit Grand Canyon, Colorado & Yellowstone Nat Park!

Cruisin’ for a Cure Charity Car Show - Part 2
29/09/2024

Cruisin’ for a Cure Charity Car Show - Part 2

Day 32 - Part 1Cruisin’ for a Cure Charity Car Show Our tours are based around Car Shows and the West Coaster is schedul...
29/09/2024

Day 32 - Part 1
Cruisin’ for a Cure Charity Car Show

Our tours are based around Car Shows and the West Coaster is scheduled to include the world’s largest 1 day Charity car show - Cruisin’ For A Cure at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Over 3000 vehicles attend with the proceeds raised for the City of Hope - Prostate Cancer.

This is our favourite show in southern California with something for everyone - cars cruising all day, show cars, live music, vendors etc.

The 2025 event Grand Marshal was Barry Meguiar from the TV show Car Crazy and Meguiar’s Polishes. Barry attended Repco Beach Hop 2015 with his TV show so it was nice to catch up with him again and as soon as heard about our tour group there here arranged a photo shoot with us all.

And so ended our 31st tour and 4th West Coaster. A huge THANK YOU to our wonderful customers who’ve become a new tour family with lifelong friendships made along the way. Safe travels home or to your next adventure!

Part 2 of the Car show to follow

Day 31 - Redondo Beach, California We had a free day today to start preparing for our final day tomorrow - so lots of pa...
28/09/2024

Day 31 - Redondo Beach, California

We had a free day today to start preparing for our final day tomorrow - so lots of packing and washing.

We arranged pre-dinner drinks at the hotel roof top area where we shared our favourite memories of the tour and reflected on what we have seen and done over the past 31 days.

Then we had our final dinner at Kincaids on the Wharf with great service and meal.

Tomorrow morning we are attending the worlds biggest 1 day charity car show with approx 3000 cars entered - Crusin For A Cure.

Stay tuned for photos!

Day 30 - Santa Barbara to Redondo Beach, CaliforniaOur final day driving on the West Coast started with a look around th...
27/09/2024

Day 30 - Santa Barbara to Redondo Beach, California

Our final day driving on the West Coast started with a look around the beautiful Santa Barbara downtown with the original Spanish style buildings. Just gorgeous.

We then hit the Pacific Coast Highway all the way to LA passing through Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice & Manhattan Beach to our Hotel in Redondo Beach.

Day 29 - Monterey to Santa Barbara, California Due to a landslide on the Pacific Coast Highway we had to detour inland, ...
26/09/2024

Day 29 - Monterey to Santa Barbara, California

Due to a landslide on the Pacific Coast Highway we had to detour inland, however we chose a route through amazing acres of horticulture plus the Laguna Seca race track.

We made our way back to the Coast and took a tour of Hearst Castle - a wonderful story and amazing place to visit. And thankfully the fog cleared to beautiful blue skies. The castle has incredible architecture, gardens and artwork.

We took a short detour to check out some Elephant Seals which were fun to watch.

We then continued south following the coastline as much as we could to our wonderful Hotel in Santa Barbara. Happy Hour at the Hotel Bar saw us relaxing with live music and lots of laughs followed by a really nice dinner.

Tomorrow we head to Los Angeles!

Day 28 - San Francisco to Monterey, CaliforniaOur day started with a drive down Lombard St - the most crooked street in...
25/09/2024

Day 28 - San Francisco to Monterey, California

Our day started with a drive down Lombard St - the most crooked street in the world.

We then drove through China Town to Brizio Street Rods who build world class cars for clients such as Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Jeff Beck (RIP) and Jon Bonham from Led Zeppelin. Jim gave us a great tour.

We then made our way down the Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey where we did the 17 Mile Scenic Cruise to Pebble Beach

Day 27 - San Fransisco, California We had a PERFECT day to continue exploring San Francisco. Once again some took the Ho...
24/09/2024

Day 27 - San Fransisco, California

We had a PERFECT day to continue exploring San Francisco. Once again some took the Hop On/Off buses, some took the Ferry across to Sausalito for lunch, while 4 of us walked over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito after taking a driverless Taxi ride!

The weather was warm, calm and clear - just perfect.

Day 26 - San Francisco We had a free day to explore San Francisco. Some took a tour of Alcatraz, while others did the Ho...
23/09/2024

Day 26 - San Francisco

We had a free day to explore San Francisco. Some took a tour of Alcatraz, while others did the Hop On/Off bus. There is plenty to see around here…

Day 25 - Mendocino to San Francisco, California Our final drive along the northern California Coastline and once again w...
22/09/2024

Day 25 - Mendocino to San Francisco, California

Our final drive along the northern California Coastline and once again we had sea fog in the morning and blue skies when we headed away from the coast. This is our favorite driving tour as we do very little interstate and have time to pull over and check out the views along the way.

We are in San Francisco in the Fisherman’s Wharf area for the next 3 nights.

Day 24 - Gold Beach, Oregon to Mendocino, CaliforniaOur last day in Oregon and we woke to clear blue skies! We made our ...
21/09/2024

Day 24 - Gold Beach, Oregon to Mendocino, California

Our last day in Oregon and we woke to clear blue skies! We made our way to the California coast and had patches of this sea fog which added to the moodiness of this beautiful coastline.

We took a detour through the Avenue of the Giants which must be one of the best drives on the tour.

We also drive through a tree!

Our Hotel tonight is something VERY special at the Mendocino Coast Lodge. A great day…

Day 23 - Newport to Gold Beach, OregonThe typical morning sea mist eventually cleared as we continued south along the Or...
20/09/2024

Day 23 - Newport to Gold Beach, Oregon

The typical morning sea mist eventually cleared as we continued south along the Oregon coast. Our first stop was the historic Bayfront area of Newport to say good morning to some sea lions. You can hear them before you see them and could watch them jostling for position on the floating pontoon. Hilarious!

We enjoyed the many vistas along the Oregon Coast - just beautiful.

Tomorrow we head to California!

Day 22 - Seaside to Newport, Oregon Today was a day of many contrasts. We woke to the usual sea mist but at least it was...
19/09/2024

Day 22 - Seaside to Newport, Oregon

Today was a day of many contrasts. We woke to the usual sea mist but at least it wasn’t raining. After a look around the quaint seaside town of Seaside we continued our way south and the sun came out.

However we’d hit patches of sea fog followed by more blue skies and sunshine.

The coastline is beautiful with fishing villages dotted along inlets etc.

One of our favourite stops is for fresh crab cooked on the side of the road - YUM!

Unfortunately we didn’t spot any whales today - but tomorrow is another day.

Our Hotel in Newport is on a cliff above the beach and we once again have a private deck and view from each room. A beautiful sunset ended our day…

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