Gidday all,

From Kangaroo valley we headed toward the coast again. Through Nowra, stopping for some groceries and top up with fuel. The crowds are thinning out now, we called into Batemans Bay and found a secluded little bay with no one about so camped by the beach for the day and night. Some people came through the day but took no notice of us and we had a nice cool night by the sea.

 

 

 

Off again in the morning, down the coast a bit saw a nice spot by a river and over the road from an airfield. Set up camp on the riverbank and spent the next few days there. Sea planes landing on the river and skydiving over the road, was an interesting few days. On the last day a ranger came and told us we could only stay there for one night, but he said another bloke was on duty the next day so we could get away with another day or so if we kept the site clean of rubbish, which we told him we always did anyway.

On again and into Moruya, a town just down the road. The quarry where they got all the stone for the Sydney harbour bridge pylons is just down the road. Filled up with water and a pie for smoko then to the local swimming pool as a man we met at camp told us they had hot showers and for the small cost of admission to the pool we got a lovely, refreshing shower.

Off up a small dirt track just outside town, we ended up next to the mouth of a local creek and right next to the beach. Congo beach camp, have been here for the last week, no one about, though being the weekend now a few others have set up camp a little way off. Hope they leave by Monday. Will stay a few more days then go top up with water and anything else getting low and back on our way south. Will have to turn right soon, getting near the bottom.

Gidday all,

Kangaroo Valley campground, a large area along the banks of the Kangaroo River in the hills west of Kiama NSW. A lovely spot, still a lot of campers about, but we found a spot up the back corner away from them all.

First night we settled down in bed and felt a strange sensation of the truck rocking, Din wasn’t being amorous, so I quietly went outside to investigate. There at the back was a large wombat busily scratching his back on our towbar. We looked about in the morning and found a burrow about ten metres away. Over the next three days he was a nightly visitor having a scratch at the same time each night. On the last morning we were there I found a wombat turd neatly sitting inside my croc shoes at the bottom of the steps. Lucky I looked before I slipped them on.

Our last day there was 43 degrees, and they were expecting the same for the next few days, time to get back to the coast. The sea breezes and slightly cooler temps make the crowds bearable.

We will miss our gentle rocking to sleep though, and our wombat will miss his back scratcher I’m sure.

 

Gidday all,

Moving on from Golden hole we hugged the coast south. Skirted round Coffs Harbour and back to the coast. The holiday crowds were still about, so except for a lonely spot we found or a reststop , we didn’t linger.

Through Port Macquarie and around Newcastle we were getting close to Sydney. Headed toward Singleton and a smaller road through a couple of National parks to get on a freeway around western Sydney.

Stopped at a nice camp spot by a river in Broke, spent a couple of days there, but the temps were in the 40s and the heatwave was expected to last till the end of the week. Met a nice lady there and chatted about Tassie, she was on her way there, made us think about heading there immediately ourselves. We left home looking for cooler weather but it’s hotter down here at the moment.

Decided to head back to the coast after Sydney. Din rang an old friend from Mackay who was living at the edge of the Royal National Park on the edge of Sydney, just across the bay from Cronulla, he was home, so we skirted round Sydney and found his house and stayed a night and caught up on the 20 or so years since we last met.

 

Hugging the coast again, south we went. Between Sydney and Wollongong was Bald hill, a spot on the coastal cliffs where they hang glide and parasail off the cliffs. Had to stop and check out the action. Beautiful area and stunning views.

Might head inland just a bit today to a camp at Kangaroo valley. The temps have returned to a bearable level. The coast is still full of holidaymakers, school starts in a couple of weeks so it may calm down then.

Gidday all,

Christmas and new year have come and gone for another year, it was a quiet time for us, just how we like it.

 Travelling down the coast was full of traffic and impatient drivers. After crossing into NSW it seemed to get worse. Camping in crowded rest areas, big and small was getting to be no fun. We are used to the inland freedom of open countryside and few restrictions on where you can set up camp and be alone.

As soon as we could we left the freeways and took to the small coast roads past Ballina and Evans Head. Down near Yamba we took to the forestry roads through the National parks. Beautifull country inching around the rocky ridgetops then dropping down to the coastline and exploring the various beach campsites in the National parks. Because it was close to Christmas all the campsites were packed out. With a mental note to come back at a less busy time of year we wandered back to the ridgetops and found a spot to hideout.

So was the pattern on our way past Coffs Harbour and Nambucca Heads and on south. Came to a place called Stuarts Point and a sandy track following a powerline which looked interesting so we followed it till we found a small clearing off the track and set up camp. This was our Christmas camp.

The next few days were quiet except for some 4x4s going down the track, three of which got bogged in the soft sand of the track just outside our camp and sought us out for help. The last of these were a young fellow and his mum going fishing up the end. After they got free we chatted and were invited to visit on our way out. After New years we called into our new friends and visited, they told us of a nice area called golden hole at the end of the powerline track which would be a good camp and good fishing too. So we left to check it out, after agreeing to come the next day to help erect a garden shed which had been waiting, lying on the ground for some time.

So here we sit at golden hole, a lovely spot, waiting for the crowds on the roads to dissipate before we move on.