Quite a long write up, so take your time…..we did !!
After the heat and dryness of Mungo National Park we were pleased to camp at Menindee Lakes. This is an area that has been flooded to creat some huge reservoirs. There was still water in the lakes but the levels were very low and you could see a lot of dead forests which had been flooded.
We just stayed at Menindee one night and then moved on to Broken Hill. Broken Hill is built around a number of mines, mining coal, precious metals and numerous other materials. It has some wonderful architecture and a lot of artists. We really enjoyed a few days here as it was a very relaxed town. We did some sightseeing around the town, went down an old silver mine, and also visited Silverton. This is virtually a ghost mining town, but is now inhabited by artists and is used for a lot of films, such as Mad Max and Priscilla.
From Broken Hill we headed into South Australia and to the Flinders Ranges. This is an area of mountains and volcanic craters. We stayed at a wonderful caravan park here, where everyone was very friendly and there were gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains, particularly at sunset. As we couldn’t go for long walks, we went for a drive around the National Park. This was on a dirt track and took us to different geological sites and old homesteads. At one point we went of on a side track and had to ford a river. This was probably only a foot deep but we fun to drive through.
Then we drove down through the Yorke Peninsula and into Adelaide. Here, we stayed at a huge campsite right on the coast. This was really good as there were a lot of things for Jack and Grace to do and a lot of other children. They got used to going off a playing by themselves, coming back to the caravan when they’d finished. We loved Adelaide, as it is a major city with a small town feel. The centre of the city is surrounded by parkland so it does not feel too crowded. We spent one day at the zoo, which was small but laid out well with some excellent exhibits.
It started becoming cold at night in Adelaide and this followed us through till Sydney. First we put on extra blankets, then an extra covering on the mattress, and finally we bought a heater for the caravan. We just weren’t expecting it at all.
Just outside Adelaide is one of the Australia wine regions, the Barossa valley. So we went there for a night and spent a day going around a few of the vineyards. It was fun seeing all the vines and the old buildings, and we also came away with a few boxes of very nice wine. Most of it us returned with us and we will drink it when we are settled down.
The next trip was along the Great Ocean Road. This is a route along the coast toward Melbourne. Sarah and I had driven it before many years ago but it was still very spectacular. We completed the route over 2 days and stopped in the Otways National Park in the middle. The first day of the Great Ocean Road was along the tops of cliffs. We stopped at a few lookouts along the way and in a couple of places walked down steps toward the ocean. The ocean was an amazing blue colour with the sun on it, and the surf crashing onto the cliffs made for some amazing views.
After the night in the Otways we went on a walkway through the ancient forest. This steel structure went up into the treetops hundreds of feet above the ground. The walkway swayed in the wind and it was a bit disconcerting on a cantilevered section that seemed about to fall down. But they did say it could take the weight of 20 elephants so I guess it was safe.
Back on the Great Ocean Road we drove along beside the beaches and surf all the way into Melbourne.
Here we’d arranged to stay with Simone and Dave, Sarah met Simone years ago when travelling in Scotland. They live in a nice part of Melbourne and were very kind to let us use their spare room. It was lovely to see them, and also to have a solid roof above our heads.
We were in Melbourne for 3 days and spent a lot of the time relaxing. Jack and Grace seemed to enjoy the fact that we weren’t travelling on every day. On one of the days, we drove out to Ballarat. This is an old gold mining town and we went to an attraction of the old town rebuilt. Here. We panned for gold, went into a small mine, and watched the soldiers salute the flag with their rifle shots. It was an excellent day and we could have stayed for longer.
The night before we left Melbourne the rain started pouring down, and this continued into the drive out of the city. We were heading for Lakes Entrance, this is very similar to Forster. A tourist town between lakes and the sea. It was a lovely holiday town and we had a great day enjoying the beach and the coast around the lake. When we left we went drove about 30 kms off the highway to a campsite in Croajingolong National Park. It was a very rough and windy road down to the coast and then difficult to reverse the trailer into one of the camping spots. But we made it and had a good night there. We built a fire and met some nice families who were out from Melbourne for a long weekend. Even though it was nice, there was not a lot for Jack and Grace to do (the main activity there was fishing), so we moved on and back into New South Wales.
We spent the night in Merimbula, which is a big holiday town. But the weather was not good, and though the caravan was in a spectacular position on top of cliffs it really caught the wind. So we carried on the next day.
It was raining again as we went into Batemans Bay, so we stop for a play in an indoor play centre. Then we decided to risk the rain and go into another National Park for the night. We camped at Pebbly Beach in Murramarang National Park. The campsite was in an incredible spots just off the beach and there were a lot of very friendly wallabies and brightly coloured birds who would very close. There was only us and a young English couple at the campsite so during the night the only sound was the crashing of the waves.
The next morning we caught Jack prodding a spider with a stick, and after getting rid of the spider I looked it up in the book and I think it was a funnel web, one of the deadly ones!!. We had a good walk along the coast of the national park, and then after lunch decided to drive up to Jervis Bay.
We found a caravan park in Husskisson, which is where Bob grew up. While we were there the sun finally arrived again and we had a wonderful afternoon on pure white sands and crystal clear water. It was so relaxing.
We’d decided to head inland a little from Jervis Bay and go to see some glow-worms in Bundanoon. But when I came to start the car it wouldn’t and we ended up push starting it. This was a worry so we took it to an auto electrician in Nowra. He fixed some problems on the trailer and said it should be OK from then. So we drove up through Kangaroo Valley and to Bundanoon in Morton National Park. This had some really steep inclines and we were down to first gear at times, but we made it up. It was an excellent campsite at Bundanoon and even had hot showers.
In the evening we went for a walk through the national park to a glen that is well known for its glow worms. Sarah and I had been here before but we wanted the kids to see it. We arrived at dusk and then had a bit of a wait for it to get dark enough to see the glow-worms. Then slowly they started coming out and when it was completely dark it was like a mass of stars on the wall of the glen. And then a group of schoolkids came down shining torches and shouting, so we decided it was time to leave. Then we had a 30 minute walk back through the forest in the dark with a failing torch. It was a bit eerie and a relief when we saw the car again.
The next morning, we had to push start the car again, but then had a very easy drive into Sydney. We’d booked a caravan site in Lane Cove National Park. This is just north of the city centre, but once you were in the park, you could not see or hear any of the city. Our site overlooked the gorge and down to the river. That evening Andrew and Lisa Holmes bought their children over for a barbeque. They live nearby and it was lovely to catch up with them.
As we had not stopped in Sydney when we arrived in Australia, this was our chance to see a lot of family and friends who live there. On the Saturday we drove into the city centre and went to Darling Harbour. Here we went to the Aquarium where Jack and Grace were most impressed by walking through glass tunnels in the shark tank. Then we had a very enjoyable ferry ride over the Watsons Bay where we met up Bob’s cousin and her children and grandchildren. We hadn’t met some of the children before and all the kids played together in the park and then on the beach.
We then caught the 5:30 ferry back to the city centre and had dinner with Paul Jeffs and Sarah Marsden. It had been a busy day and Grace fell asleep on Sarah’s lap just as we were starting dinner. Then while Sarah, Sarah and Paul were chatting, Jack and I went along the Marina and Jack pointed out all the speedboats, he was going to own (to go along with the 4 wheel drive, his caravan, his fire engine etc. etc.).
The next day people came to us at the caravan park, which made it very easy for us, and allowed me to get the NRMA out to the car and a new battery fitted. Alex and Mike bought their children over in the morning and we all played in the pool. And then, Dave, Cass, Angus, Michelle, Andrew and Susannah all came in the afternoon. We were able to sit on the grass outside our caravan and eat some munchies and drink some drinks. Later on Min and Hordie arrived with their newborn Otto. Min is a very old friend of Sarah’s and has put us up many times in Sydney, so it was wonderful to see their expanded family.
To my great relief, the car started the next day, and has not had any problems since. It was a late start and we drove up to the Central Coast to see Sarah’s grandmother. She’s in a nursing home and was delighted to see us, as it was her birthday that week. We spent an hour or so with her, and then continued up the coast. After a coffee with Karen (Sarah’s cousin) just outside Newcastle we ended up at Anna Bay near Nelson Bay. This is on a peninsula north of Newcastle and on the edge of a big inlet called Port Stephens.
We spent 3 days in Anna Bay relaxing. The beach there was incredibly soft and the sea was very refreshing. Unfortunately Jack and Grace just wanted to play in the swimming pool. It was a nice pool but we would have preferred the beach. Among some sightseeing I had a surfing lesson and did remarkably well. I’d been trying to arrange one since Melbourne, but finally had one 2 days before the end of our trip.
On the last day in Anna Bay, and the last day of our trip, the wind picked up in the afternoon. Our neighbour helped me pack up the awning and then during the night the caravan was rocking away in the wind.
It was pouring with rain the next morning, but I got the trailer packed up while Sarah, Jack and Grace had a shower. Then we had a couple of hours drive up to Forster. Though we’d had a wonderful 6 weeks of travelling, it was nice to think that we would not have to put up the trailer to sleep that night.
