December 2006

 

Southern Coastal NSW


The southern coastal strip of NSW is a truely breathtaking part of this magnificent country. The east coast of Australia is so very, very different to the west in so many different ways. I think what stands out as the major difference is how much more crowded the east coast is. Travelling from Merimbula to Sydney is just a succession of towns, some small and some large. At times we couldn't even reach 100kms/hr and we were slowing down again for another town. You could easily spend 3 months exploring this small area alone, but not this time as we have a time line we have to stick to. Having a deadline and having to be somewhere in a certain time feels most uncomfortable. I am not sure I am ready to face the real world yet!!!!



So this leg of the trip took us through Narooma, Batemans Bay, Ulladalla and Nowra. Of course we passed straight by at least 100 must see places.


It was getting to that time of the day that we needed to find somewhere to camp for the night. We knew that some friends that we met on the road were camped nearby so we headed slightly inland to Kangaroo Valley. This is an absolutely charming little town about 20 kms inland from Nowra. In the middle of town is Australia's only operational vehicle 'Suspension Bridge'. A beautifully maintained piece of history. What the maps didn't show is that to get here one must travel on the most mountainous road we have ever seen. The poor car. We were in 1st gear moving at walking pace. This was almost 'low range four wheel drive' country. I didn't tell the car but there was only one way out. Straight back up that mountain.




The camp site we were heading for was 'Bendeela Pondage' (Camps 3 no 565). What a spot. This is a free camp we think owned and operated by the NSW Electricity board. This would come close to being the best free camp we have seen yet. Set in the hills on the banks of Lake Yarrunga this huge camp area has the greenest, thickest and beautifully mowed grass we have ever seen. Combine that with a toilet block, taps with drinkable water and bins and you have the perfect campsite. There is no time limit on how long you can stay. This would be a great veg out spot for a week. We were to discover the best part was yet to come. Around dusk out came hundreds of wombats! This is the first time any of us had seen these beautiful creatures in the wild. As you can see they allowed us to get up pretty close to them. This was a real thrill for us and we followed them around for ages. Luckily we were warned that during the night we could expect some unusual sounds from under the van. In the middle of the night I was woken by the van rocking and what sounded like an elephant mating under the van. It turned out to be a wombat scratching it's back on the caravan chassis.
Unfortunately one night was all the time we could afford this trip but this is one place we will most definitely be returning to.




Sydney


After a mountain goat exit from our free camp, it was back to the coast and more scenic countryside. Even more little coastal villages, one of which was Kiama. One cannot pass through this little spot without visiting the famous 'Blowhole'. It's a great setup with plenty of free parking for both cars and 'big rigs'. The tides were not the best so the 'blows' were only average but still impressive.
An early get away and a long drive had us entering the outskirts of Sydney at around 4-00pm. The beginning of peak hour traffic is not a great time to be attempting a city crossing from the very South to the very North especially when you have absolutely no idea where you are going (thank God for the Navman!) and with an 18ft caravan behind you. What I will say is the other motorists were extremely curteous, allowing me to change lanes at a second's notice and not once giving us any grief. We found Melbourne exactly the same. Nice to see some road tolerance from the city folk.

So we were heading for the Northern Beaches to stay with another family we met on the road and have stayed in contact with since. We were all excited about seeing Tim, Katie and the kids again as the last time we saw them was Esperance. For those who having been keeping up with our travels you might remember the people who got very bogged on the beach on the way to 'Lucky Bay' in February. Well this is them. They have now been home about 6 months and are enjoying their new home (as did we). We had intended to only stay a few nights but ended up staying 6.

Sydney is without a doubt the most picturesque city in Australia. The beaches and harbour are superb with a headland and beautiful beach at every turn. Remove 2 million people and this would be a great place to live. I might be an old fashioned country boy , perhaps even a whinger, but there certainly was a couple of issues I found particularly annoying. The first was the need to pay to park the car to go to the beach. It was costing up to $6.00 for a few hours. It kinda takes away the fun when you are constantlly looking at your watch so you don't end up with a $80.00 parking ticket. Next thing we will be getting charged to walk on the sand!!.

They then have an interesting 'Toll Road' system. They have toll roads everywhere. Yes, I know every city has them but a number of these roads in Sydney have nowhere for you to pay. What you need is an E Tag. Well that's great if you have one or need one, but what does the poor tourist or country folk do who come to the city once a year? So we ended up on one of these unmanned toll roads and in front of us was a small sign saying you have 48 hours to ring and pay your toll. At 90 km/hr what hope do you have to write down the phone number displayed. So the next day I looked up 'Toll Roads' in the phone book and rang one. Believe it or not there are four different toll road companies in Sydney and you need to ring the right one. We didn't even know what road we were on, let alone which company to ring. So after 4 phone calls, with my blood pressure rising after each call I finally found the right company. My toll was $1.20. So how can I pay it I asked?? You will have to set up an account I was told!! So $8.00 later I now have an account I will never use and never wanted. Of course if I ended up on a different toll road next time I would need yet another account!!!!! Am I intolerant or is this just total madness?
Anyway enough of that. We had a great time catching up with friends and sightseeing. We caught up with Dave and Eve and their lovely teenage children Stella and Cale. Seeing kids like theirs renews your faith in teenagers. We have known these guys for probably close to 20 years now and had plenty of catching up. Dave and Eve have been busy for the past 4 years starting up a new business which is slowly falling into place for them after lots of hard work. We had a great night at their place with plenty of laughs.

Harry wanted to drive over Sydney Harbour Bridge and come back in the tunnel so into the city we went. We drove to Watsons Bay and had lunch at the famous 'Doyles'. This is reputed to be the best seafood around and must say it was pretty good. The setting is hard to beat with a beautiful beach and views of the city and the 'Harbour Bridge' in the distance.We visited Bondi Beach and had a walk on the beach and had a look at the shops. It was a fairly cool, partly overcast, mid-week day not in school holidays and the beach was packed. I would hate to see it on a hot day during the holidays. That would be very unpleasant.



On Thursday Ben (age 9, Year 3) decided it would be a good idea to take Alex to school for 'Show and Tell'. When they got to school the teacher invited Alex to stay for the day which he was really keen to do. He had a great day and enjoyed being in the 'spotlight'. Who does that sound like!!!! (Chris I meant!) The next day the two older kids (Ben and Bella) had the day off school and we took them into the city with us. They are great kids and absolutely no trouble. We drove to Manly and caught the ferry to the city. We visited the Opera House, went up Centre Point Tower, went on the Monorail and walked around the city. One of the highlights was the David Jones' Christmas window displays. These were amazing and the best we have ever seen. They consisted of 6 large window displays with each one based on a Christmas Carol. They all had moving puppets with fishing line running everywhere. This was a true old fashioned masterpiece and an absolute pleasure to stand and watch. Good on you David Jones.
The remainder of our time was spent at the Palm Beach Surf Club, on the beach or catching up with things at the house. Tim and Katie are members of the Palm Beach Surf Club so we had a few barbies and drinks at this great spot. Unlike surf clubs in QLD, the majority of NSW clubs and most of the Sydney clubs aren't open clubs that visitors can enter or where you can get a meal. They are mainly closed clubs for the use of members only with no meals provided. Some of them have honour bars for the use of members and guests only. The Palm Beach Club is like nothing we have seen before. Magnificent old building with $20 million dollar views. The grounds are better than a resort and the facilities amazing.We all had a great time in Sydney and will definitely be going back to explore in greater depth. Thanks guys for having us.



Inverell


We left Sydney on Sunday and headed for Inverell to see the Murray Clan. We would normally have done this over two days but when we rang to say we were on our way we discovered that Mandy was off to Sydney (can you believe that) on Monday. It was a big day with us doing 700 kms and arrived around 6.00pm (not so bad with daylight saving). It was great to see them again and to see the house renovations which are looking sensational. We had planned only two nights there but not long after arriving Lex and I were sitting facing the van looking at the new drawbar and chassis having a beer. Lex then stands up, lays on the ground under the back of the van and informs me the bumper and back section of the van was not straight. We had not touched or even looked at that back section of the van while doing the rest of the repairs in Eden because that is where it was supported on the hoist. We couldn't leave it like that so the next day out came the angle grinder, jacks and welders and very straight it became. To ensure the weight of the bumper and all the gear hanging off it doesn't cause the back to sag again we welded a 130mm flat plate 6mm thick on the inside of each chassis rail extending 1.5 metres towards the front of the van. So another two days was spent under the van getting dirty. It must now be the straightest, strongest chassis around, or at least under any 25 year old van. As Jack, Joe and Jed were still at school the boys amused themselves during the day. Alex and the Pee Wee 50 motorbike were almost inseparable as he rode all over the property.
One afternoon we picked up the boys from school and Lex took us out to their local dam where the kids spent hours being towed around behind the boat on their boogie boards. Lex and Harry went out on the board together and then Lex slipped off the back of the board (on purpose) and Harry did a lap of the dam by himself, with a smile big enough to drive a truck through. Inverell remains one of our favourite destinations so the news is not good. We will be returning again guys.
We left Thursday morning and drove to Beaudesert and spent the night with Suey and Mark before heading off to the Sunshine Coast for our 3 week stay and then hhhhhhhhooooommmmmeeee. I just can't bring myself to say that word.

Sunshine Coast


It was a very short drive into Brisbane where we dropped in to see Chris's mother Jan for a few hours before making our way up the coast to Maroochydore and to Cotton Tree Caravan Park. We all now very much feel that the trip is well and truly over and we are just going through the motions to get home. We continually have to remind ourselves that we still have 6 weeks left to enjoy. Will life ever be the same again!!!
It was great to see Mum and Stuart again after 12 months and one week and also good to see old friends and familiar faces. Although we have not at any time been lonely it is always good to see a familiar face again.
As soon as we had set the van up (which was about the 110th time this trip), Harry insisted we start to set up the lights. So off to Buderim where some good friends of ours, Frank and Pam kindly store all our Christmas lights each year for us. So with Harry directing the proceedings up went all the decorations. Of course we had numerous trips to 'Crazy Clarks' buying a few more sets of lights during the week. This year we built a new chimney complete with Santa's legs that sits on the caravan roof, this time made of polystyrene foam which should last a bit longer than the original that was cardboard. Our street in the caravan park looked absolutely unbelievable with everybody making an outstanding effort. Each night we have hundreds of people walk past and enjoy the spectacle, with Alex and Harry dressed up and handing out lollies to other children.


If you have young children around, this is without a doubt the most magical time of the year. Nothing in this world could compare to the joy and excitement that can be seen in the face of a small child as they walk around in amazement at the sight of all the 'pretty lights', at the joy of sitting on Santa's knee and then the great finale of leaving a few treaties out for Santa and the reindeers before going off to sleep, in readiness for the big day that awaits them. Maybe this trip has totally changed my focus and made me a bigger softy, but now more than ever, it is the simple things that really bring me the most joy.
Christmas Day itself was a fairly low key event (just the way I like it) with Mum and Stuart coming down to the caravan and Chris's mother Jan staying with us for a few days. It was a great day with Chris again going to too much trouble.


For our first week here we pretty well had a contstant stream of people dropping in to see us, which was great, and then for the next week the weather turned a little nasty with a lot of rain and wind so we had to amuse ourselves with indoor type activities. The weather did finally improve so we again started to hit the beaches. Alex has borrowed a surf board from Roz and Kelvin and had been having some lessons from Mark earlier in the week and then with Roz and Kelvin. As with everything Alex tries, he is 200% keen and pretty good at it. I guess that is now something else we will be buying and carting around on the roof of the car. We are certainly not complaining as there are plenty of other less desirable things that he could be interested in, even at his age like Playstations, X box, TV and numerous other brain deadening pursuits.
New Year's Eve seems to come around so quickly these days. To think that one year ago we were in Cobar at the very beginning of our 'adventure of a life time' and here it is again, at the end of the trip. As per usual we didn't make it to midnight (although very close this year) but we did sit down with a drink and reflect on the year that was, and our plans for the future or at least the next few years of our future.


Well that is it for December. Unfortunately we didn't have time this year to sit down and do the Christmas card thing, so for those who take the time to read this 'journal of our trip' and to take an interest in our adventure, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy 2007. To be interested in the pursuits of others is a lovely attribute to possess, and we thank those of you who took the time to email and call during our travels - we really appreciated it! We wish you every happiness for next year and hope that if you have a dream that you can fulfill it, just like we did. There is something worse than failing, and that is not trying. If you have an itch, scratch it.


Stay tuned for 'January 2007 ' that will be the final instalment for this trip, but believe us, not the last for this family.



"Life is that thing that passes you by, while you are busy doing all that other stuff"