Bombay, Dates & Salton Sea

This morning the team visited some of the sights in and around the Palm Springs Valley. Our first stop was at the Salton Sea, where we met our informative and humorous guide Ranger Steve Bier. He certain gave his Australian namesake a run for his money. The Salton Sea is an inland saline lake in the Salton Basin (and is the biggest lake in California) which was formed when the Colorado River broke its banks over 100 years ago. Next stop was Dos Palmos, a natural oasis with prehistoric size palms.

Lunch was at Bombay Beach, an isolated community with a slight surreal feel. Many parts were like a ghost town - caused by the raising and falling water levels of the Salton Sea (with parts of the town still buried in mud). Even the boats got caught out!



In the afternoon we visited Prime Time in the Coachella Valley - who grow and sell a range of fruit and vegetable products. We visited the pepper packing plant (where they can pack over 25,000 boxes of peppers a day). The watermelon packing provided us with the chance to do some quality control testing of the products (as you can see this basically means tasting). After learning the art of watermelon whispering (tapping) we also selected a melon to take home.

The day was capped off with the much recommended Date Shake... Mmmmmm... Thanks Jim for a great day.

In the evening Clare and I headed into the Palm Springs Villagefest with our host mums Linda and Jan. After an all American meal at Ruby's Diner, we wandered down the main street of down town Palm Springs viewing all the local arts, crafts and food. We even had the chance to sing a duet (or triplet) with Sonny Bono.