Peace, love, pirates, Bentley and the Big Sur

Nobody bats an eyelid, but a real-life pirate has just sat down next to me at the Big Sur River Inn — all that’s missing is a hook hand and a parrot perched on his shoulder. Perhaps the nonchalance is because this famous stretch of Californian coastline was once the epicentre of American counterculture, where anything goes.

An artistic retreat that became a hippy haven, spiritual seekers trekked here from afar to enjoy pot-fuelled, New Age mysticism in all its nascent glory. On this stretch of Highway 1 north of Los Angeles, they found free love in the woods, embracing a hedonistic lifestyle that shunned material possessions — and clothing.

Once associated with beatniks like the controversial writer Henry Miller, 60 years on, there remains more than a whiff of commune culture among the Big Sur’s giant redwoods. It carries on the ocean breeze and is deeply infused in the fabric of every bar and cafe.

Later repackaged as one of the world’s most iconic driving routes, this section of the Pacific Coast Highway has just re-opened again after a three-year shutdown. Rockslides caused by heavy rain had forced the longest closure in history, cutting off an epic slice of Americana that I’ve longed to travel.

Although demand for tie-dyed shirts and head beads was non-existent when I was a teenager, I did once own a 1960s VW camper with a genuine psychedelic vibe. However, today I’m happily singing along to soft rock on California’s Road Trip Radio, cruising Highway 1 in a Bentley Continental GT that would outrage any self-respecting hippy.

It’s the convertible GTC Azure model too, in a rather groovy shade of damson, with a white-leather cabin and outsize 22-inch alloys. Not much counterculture about a prestigious Bentley, especially one costing upwards of £300,000. Perhaps I’ll be mistaken for an aged hippy-made-good, or a Silicon Valley ‘tech bro’, investing his millions to live off-grid on the coast.

My father used to say that ‘Bentley’s are for gents, Rollers are for parollers’. Fact is, the latest Continental GT is nothing like the original Continental models he would have coveted back in the 1950s. This is Bentley’s first-ever hybrid convertible and it’s most frugal, capable of 27mpg and yet still able to glide from 0-60mph in just 3.8 seconds.

It certainly demands attention as I pull up at the Post Ranch Inn, an ultra-luxury, cliff-top resort perched 1,200ft about the Pacific. Anne Hathaway married here, while Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman also honeymooned in splendid isolation.

As the property focuses on high-end sustainability, the Bentley stands out in a parking lot of gas-guzzling American SUVs. A plug-in grand tourer, it mates a 4.0-litre V8 petrol engine to a battery pack, powering the GT for some 50 miles purely on electricity alone. As more than 75% of Big Sur residents live off grid, surely a hybrid will curry some eco-favour with the locals?

My Azure model is also the ultimate choice for a well-heeled, Big Sur hipster — one who prefers wellness and serenity over raw performance. While the GT’s faster Speed variant focuses on power, the 671bhp Azure is designed to be a sanctuary on wheels, removing the stress of travel through some extra comfort features applied as standard.

Like what? Well, you can hire a retro VW microbus to tour Highway 1, but a 22-way adjustable seat, heated and cooled, with a six-setting massage function sounds very tempting to my derriere. The advanced air conditioning system is said to filter out harmful particles, monitoring CO2 levels in the cabin to help maintain driver alertness.

Not that I need much to keep me wide-eyed on the Big Sur. The Santa Lucia Mountains meet the Pacific here in a dramatic, vertical dance. By mid-afternoon, a bank of apocalyptic fog often edges in from the sea, adding a further layer of mystical surrealism to an already dramatic vista.

Electric roof folded away, I can sense the salty air shift to a cool, damp earthiness as the Bentley turns slightly inland toward Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. The coastal redwoods — some of the tallest living things on earth — tower above and create a natural cathedral of pine-infused loveliness.

Traffic is slow, but the view of McWay Falls — an 80ft silver ribbon of water cascading directly onto a pristine, inaccessible beach — is the kind of beauty that makes you forget to breathe.

Highway 1 was cut along the cliffs between 1921 and 1937. The difficult coastal route often used convict labour and was faced with endless construction headaches. Projects like Bixby Creek Bridge forced building work to halt several times due to the spiralling build costs.

Often closed by epic landslides, patched and potholed tarmac clearly show the continuing battle between man and nature. With rockfalls commonplace, giant metal nets now help to hold the mountains at bay, suggesting it is only a matter of time before the road is swept away once again.

To cope with such surfaces, the Azure is equipped with Bentley Dynamic Ride, a sophisticated suspension system that keeps body roll to a minimum. And you need it on the Big Sur, where the road often twists and turns like an angry rattlesnake.

And while a Continental GT convertible lacks the sharp, raucous edge of an Aston Martin DB12 Volante or a Ferrari Roma Spider, it counters with a level of effortless capability and interior opulence. Together, this glorious Bentley is unmatched in the luxury convertible segment.

Back at the Post Ranch, my head is in the clouds — literally. Some 1,200ft above the Pacific Ocean, the high-altitude location means that diners in the Sierra Mar restaurant often get to look down on the clouds.

Like the open-roof Bentley, the resort offers splendid waftability. Drift from a sumptuous cabin to a heated basking pool, ogle the night sky on a stargazing experience, or simply sit back and enjoy the serenity of it all.

Suitably inspired, the following morning, I drive down to the resort’s Yoga Yurt, where I’m joined for an uplifting hour of body-cleansing by fellow travellers, Noah and Sidney. Catching the spirit of the Big Sur, he’s wearing a tie-dyed t-shirt and she a pair of flared Spandex trousers that happen to match her blue hair.

The couple are checked in for a honeymoon weekend, having just tied the knot at the nearby Big Sur River Inn. I stop short of recounting my supper encounter with Captain Hook when Noah suddenly reveals they opted for a pirate-themed wedding — Sidney dressed as a mermaid and he in full buccaneer garb.

The doubloon suddenly drops as Noah offers to show me the handmade galleon he drove down from San Francisco for the ceremony inside a U-Haul truck. The USA may be missing some peace and love in recent times, but that unconventional hippy spirit obviously lives on along the Big Sur.

Visit the Post Ranch Inn at postranchinn.com, or find out more about the Big Sur at seemonterey.com.