campervan1

Sat 05.01 (continued) - Arrived in Woolongong. Found caravan park. It was a short stroll to Corrimal Beach. Marin and Catherine slept in van. Claire and I were in the tent beside the van.

Sun 06.01 - Up at 7.45am. On the road by 11am. Drove thru Port Kembla, Windang, Warilla to Shell Harbour. Stopped in Kiama to see the blowhole. This is a hole in the rock at the shore which shoots water in the air when a wave comes in. We weren't that impressed. We then drove thru Berry and Kangaroo Valley. The road was very bendy and there was a steep climb with sheer drops on one side. I had three very nervous passenger, but I knew I had everything until control! Drove to Hampden suspension bridge, the oldest in Australia.

Onwards left for Batemans Bay via Nowra and Ulla Dulla. Had a few beers and chilled out. Great view of the Bay.

Mon 07.01 - Left Batemans Bay and drove to Canberra via Nelligan, Braidwood, Bungadore and Queanbeyan. Arrive at 2pm. Canberra is the countrys capital. Syndey and Melbourne couldn't decide which should be capital so they built a brand new city roughly half way between them in the 1930's and thats Canberra!

Got caravan park. Met neighbours. An elderly Aussie couple, Judy and "Tiny", and their grand-daughter, Ali. WEnt to Redhill Lookout. Great view over the city. Then went to the Telstra Tower. The 58m tower is built on a hill outside Canberra and has a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Great views. Back to caravan park. I had put up tent on a slope. Claire not happy, but we managed to sleep !!!

Tues 08.01 - IN the morning we went to the National Museum of Australia We were there for 3 hours. Some very interesting stuff, especially shackles worn by an Irish Republican on the convict boat back in the 1850's. Had lunch in the car park and then it was off to the Australian Parliment. It was opened in 1988. Ultra modern design. Loads of beautifully decorated rooms. Went on guided tour, which ended in the actual chamber where John Howard, the Oz Prime Minister, and the rest of the politician debate. In an exhibition there was the actual document signed by Queen Victoria to give Australia their own parliment. There was also an original of the Magna Carta, one of the most important and oldest document relating to laws. It dates from 1280AD.

We were planning to go to the War Memorial but I got lost on the way there and we didnt arrive until 5.10pm. There was a statue to "Simpson and his donkey". Simpson was a soldier in the Battle of Gallapolli. who used a donkey to carry injured people to get treatment.

Wed 09.01 - On road by 10am. Travelled down the Monaro Highway. Stopped in Cooma from lunch. Then on to Bega, arriving in Eden about 4pm. Martin and I went for a walk along the lake and we ended up meeting Eddie, one of Paul's friends from Sydney. Hes on his way to Melbourne too.

Thurs 10.01 - Left Eden at 10.10am. Passed thru Boyd and loads of forest. We literally drove for 4 hours where the road had forest on either side. We crossed the border between the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Stopped in Cann River and then arrived in Lakes Entrance. Theres a lake there, surprisingly enough!! We had lunch there and found a caravan park.

Theres a footbridge across the lake that takes you to Ninety Mile Beach. We didnt check if it was actually that long, but it was pretty big. Claire and Catherine went for a walk, Martin slept and I read my book. We had a barbie back at the campsite with a few beers. We were all absolutely stuffed. By the way, Carlton Cold is the best beer in Australia.

Fri 11.01 - Got up, planning to move on, but Catherine wasn't feeling that well so we stayed another night. Martin, Claire and I played crazy golf. Claire WON!!

Sat 12.01 - On road by 10am. We passed thru Bairnsdale, Sale, Traralgon, Morwell and then on to Inverloch. Had lunch and then it was on to Wonthaggi, Kilcunda, San Remo and on to the bridge that connect Philip Island to the mainland. We purchased our tickets for the famous Penguin Parade later tonight. The largest town on Philip Island is Cowes (named after the town on the Isle of Wight). We found a caravan park there. Had dinner in the Isle of Wight Hotel and then went to the Penguin Parade on the South West end of the Island. There is concrete seating for about 1000 people on a floodlit beach. As it gets dark the penguins come out of the water in crowds of about 50 and make their way across of the beach and then up to their dens. It was certainly a strange way to spend a Saturday, but it was a once in a lifetime sort of thing. There were boardwalks above the sanddunes so we got to get really close to them. Brilliant. The only disappointment was that no cameras were allowed. The flashes would irritate them.

Sun 13.01 - Started day at the Nobbies. A group of rocks of the coast where a colony of seals live. We drove then to the Earth Worm Museum. In the local area here there are 3 metre (9 feet) long earthworms !! Ughhh!!! They had a wildlife park there so Catherine and Martin got their first look at Kangaroos, Emus, Wombat, Possum and Koala. It was then on to Melbourne.