Holiday Travels 2005-6
(by hunter)
Our offices closed for two weeks during the 2005-6 holidays, so Candace and I decided to see some more of Australia. We loaded up the Subaru with about as much stuff as could fit - when we first arrived we had only about 1/3 of a Subaru-load between us; how quickly things can accumulate!
Our chosen route was to explore the coastline south of Sydney and around the bottom of Victoria. A rough route map:
We spent 14 days traveling the portion along the coast, and 2 days on the return trip.
Christmas Eve morning the temperature was in the upper 90’s as we pointed south out of Sydney. It was a great feeling knowing that we had two whole weeks of exploration, fun, and relaxation ahead. We had no set plan to follow – each day we drove a bit, stopped at anything and everything, and found a place to camp without much trouble. Sometimes we stayed in campgrounds, sometimes we bush-camped in the forest, and sometimes other opportunities presented themselves.
Oskar did not come along on the trip, unfortunately. Dogs are not allowed in any of the national parks, and in many other places. We were able to arrange for a nice couple visiting from Rome to make use of our apartment in exchange for taking care of Oskar.
What follows is a brief outline of the trip with some occasional commentary and pictures. At the end of this post is a link to a couple hundred photos on Shutterfly if you are possibly interested.
Day 1 (Saturday December 24)
South of Jervis Bay we explore Conjola National Park. All the roads are rough dirt tracks without much in the way of signage. It takes us three tries down deeply rutted dirt roads to find our way to Monument Beach. The Subaru succeeds in its first stream crossing (good thing)! We camp in the forest that evening. Wildlife sightings: kangaroo with joey in pouch; large forest dragon lizard.
Day 2 (Sun Dec 25)
Christmas breakfast beside a beach on the bay at Bendalong. During a swim, a huge ray about 5 feet across swims within feet of us. Surf at ocean beach nearby. Tour down coast through Ulladulla. Camp at Pebbly Beach in Murramarang National Park. Huge group of kangaroos in field beside beach; comfortable with humans and able to be petted. Will stop mentioning roos from now on - they quickly ceased to be a rarity. Wild parrots (Crimson Rosellas and others) fly down and sit on your shoulders if you are holding food.
Day 3 (Mon Dec 26)
Depot Beach – fantastic spot. Many small towns: Batemans Bay, Malua Bay, Moruya, Bodalla (nice old church), Potato Point, Narooma. Stopped at Tilba Winery and ended up camping beside the vineyards. Played croquet on the winery lawn.
Day 4 (Tues Dec 27)
Tacky “historic” town (i.e. ye olde shopping area of trinkets) of Central Tilba. Mystery Bay – great day at beautiful secluded beach. Surfing, but small waves. Camp at Mimosa Rocks National Park – rocky beach, aboriginal site, shipwreck, and scenic rock headlands.
Day 5 (Wed Dec 28)
Mimosa Rocks “Middle Beach” – beautiful long sandy beach. Candace surfs while Hunter tries spearfishing for dinner (first ever attempt). Lots of fish and rays, but all stay magically just out of range. Tathra pier in the mist. Bournda N.P. – bushwalk along the coast, Turigal Head. Spot an elusive Lyre Bird. Camp in forest nearby at 'UFO landing site'.
Day 6 (Thurs Dec 29)
N. Tura beach – lines but no waves. Merimbula – nice town, busy. Main beach allows dogs. Ben Boyd N.P., Haycock Point – surfing, spearfishing attempt #2 (no fish). Walk to see The Pinnacles. Eden – nice town, good whaling museum. Bought fresh fish for dinner (since Hunter can’t catch them). Camp in forest of Ben Boyd N.P.
Day 7 (Fri Dec 30)
Lyre Bird serenade at dawn – amazing bird calls. Visit whaling station; Boyd Tower. Malacoota – small town packed with campers. Spend midday at Davis Beach. Drive to Pt. Hicks on a super-long, super-bad dusty potholed dirt road - second gear max; thankfully somewhere to camp at the end of it. Swim at beach, hike to large sand dunes. Bush flies drive us nutty. Cocktails at sunset while sitting in the river.
Day 8 (Sat Dec 31)
Great beaches at Pt. Hicks. No surf. Hike to lighthouse – Capt. Cook first sighted Australia here. Snorkeled off headlands, saw a huge jellyfish, blue starfish. Snorkel at another beach too – lots of rays, boxfish. Very hot (100+?) drive out down that long bad road. Emergency stop for ice cream. No coast access along here, so drive many k’s west to Orbost and then Buchan. Great camp ground, cool weather, beautiful country town. Walk to pub for New Years Eve with the locals; mellow happenings, nothing but a couple quiet pints. Wombat blunders through camp.
Day 9 (Sun Jan 1)
Visit Buchan’s Royal Cave – beautiful limestone formations. Emerge from cool cave into more 100+ weather. Swim in natural spring pool to cool down. Nicholson River Winery. Drive through Bairnsdale, Sale, Yarram, Foster. Weather changes dramatically to knit-cap-cold and occasional rain. Walk on Beach at Sandy Point. Stay at friend Britta Weller’s parent’s house near Fish Camp – we “camp” in lower level. Mrs. Weller very nice and welcoming. Good to be indoors for the stormy weather.
Day 10 (Mon Jan 2)
Nice day, but cool. Visit Wilson’s Promontory N.Park. Koalas and wild emu herds common; we see neither. Squeaky Beach; Lilli Pilli Gully rainforest walk; very nice trail to top of Mt. Bishop for great view. Picnic Beach. Toora rainforest drive – massive trees and ferns. Stay with Mrs. Weller once more.
Day 11 (Tues Jan 3)
Philip Island – windy with big messy waves. Cool decrepit barn; Nobbies lookout with penguins, blowhole. Churchill Island homestead. Rhyll Inlet bird sanctuary and mangroves. Close up encounter with echidna. Drive around bay to Mornington Peninsula, stay in “retirement campground”.
Day 12 (Wed Jan 4)
Drive down bay side of Mornington Peninsula – quaint touristy beach towns, colorful beach boxes. Walk around Sorrento. Ferry to Queenscliff. Surf Winkipop (Bells Beach), 8 foot waves but not too clean. Camp in Otway N.P.
Day 13 (Thurs Jan 5)
Surf at Aireys Inlet. Shopping chaos at “Surfworld” back in Torquay – the worst of ‘surf culture’ all in one place. Lunch at Bells Beach. Drive down Great Ocean Road – crazy houses at Lorne; Nice Apollo Bay; good rainforest walk at Matt’s Rest. Great camping at Johanna Beach.
Day 14 (Fri Jan 6)
Swell, but nothing surfable anywhere with an east wind. Swim at Johanna Beach with heavy currents. More Great Ocean Road – Dramatic cliffs and coastline with rock formations: Gibson Steps, 12 Apostles, London Bridge. Lunch and snorkeling at Loch Ard Gorge. Drive to Melbourne to visit and stay with Kelly and Andrew.
Day 15(Sat Jan 7)
Visit Yarra Valley wine region with Kelly and Andrew and their children Josh and Claire. Nice lunch at Yering Winery – nice architecture. Josh loves the helicopters. Say goodbye and start back to Sydney. Drive to Albury and camp.
Day 16(Sun Jan 8)
Great museum in Gundagai. Dog on the Tuckerbox landmark. Lunch in Yass. Huge Ned Kelly sculpture in Glenrowan. Back home to hug the dog! Evening surfing in Manly.
A good trip all around, and quite difficult to adjust to the working world again. We can't wait for the opportunity to go see some more of Australia - as Candace pointed out, this trip only covered about 1/20 of the coastline, not to mention all of the interior.
For anyone who might possibly want more, here's a whole slew of pictures taken by Candace and me, check out this Shutterfly link:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9QbN3Lhm1Y-c
.
Our offices closed for two weeks during the 2005-6 holidays, so Candace and I decided to see some more of Australia. We loaded up the Subaru with about as much stuff as could fit - when we first arrived we had only about 1/3 of a Subaru-load between us; how quickly things can accumulate!
Our chosen route was to explore the coastline south of Sydney and around the bottom of Victoria. A rough route map:
We spent 14 days traveling the portion along the coast, and 2 days on the return trip.
Christmas Eve morning the temperature was in the upper 90’s as we pointed south out of Sydney. It was a great feeling knowing that we had two whole weeks of exploration, fun, and relaxation ahead. We had no set plan to follow – each day we drove a bit, stopped at anything and everything, and found a place to camp without much trouble. Sometimes we stayed in campgrounds, sometimes we bush-camped in the forest, and sometimes other opportunities presented themselves.
Oskar did not come along on the trip, unfortunately. Dogs are not allowed in any of the national parks, and in many other places. We were able to arrange for a nice couple visiting from Rome to make use of our apartment in exchange for taking care of Oskar.
What follows is a brief outline of the trip with some occasional commentary and pictures. At the end of this post is a link to a couple hundred photos on Shutterfly if you are possibly interested.
Day 1 (Saturday December 24)
South of Jervis Bay we explore Conjola National Park. All the roads are rough dirt tracks without much in the way of signage. It takes us three tries down deeply rutted dirt roads to find our way to Monument Beach. The Subaru succeeds in its first stream crossing (good thing)! We camp in the forest that evening. Wildlife sightings: kangaroo with joey in pouch; large forest dragon lizard.
Day 2 (Sun Dec 25)
Christmas breakfast beside a beach on the bay at Bendalong. During a swim, a huge ray about 5 feet across swims within feet of us. Surf at ocean beach nearby. Tour down coast through Ulladulla. Camp at Pebbly Beach in Murramarang National Park. Huge group of kangaroos in field beside beach; comfortable with humans and able to be petted. Will stop mentioning roos from now on - they quickly ceased to be a rarity. Wild parrots (Crimson Rosellas and others) fly down and sit on your shoulders if you are holding food.
Day 3 (Mon Dec 26)
Depot Beach – fantastic spot. Many small towns: Batemans Bay, Malua Bay, Moruya, Bodalla (nice old church), Potato Point, Narooma. Stopped at Tilba Winery and ended up camping beside the vineyards. Played croquet on the winery lawn.
Day 4 (Tues Dec 27)
Tacky “historic” town (i.e. ye olde shopping area of trinkets) of Central Tilba. Mystery Bay – great day at beautiful secluded beach. Surfing, but small waves. Camp at Mimosa Rocks National Park – rocky beach, aboriginal site, shipwreck, and scenic rock headlands.
Day 5 (Wed Dec 28)
Mimosa Rocks “Middle Beach” – beautiful long sandy beach. Candace surfs while Hunter tries spearfishing for dinner (first ever attempt). Lots of fish and rays, but all stay magically just out of range. Tathra pier in the mist. Bournda N.P. – bushwalk along the coast, Turigal Head. Spot an elusive Lyre Bird. Camp in forest nearby at 'UFO landing site'.
Day 6 (Thurs Dec 29)
N. Tura beach – lines but no waves. Merimbula – nice town, busy. Main beach allows dogs. Ben Boyd N.P., Haycock Point – surfing, spearfishing attempt #2 (no fish). Walk to see The Pinnacles. Eden – nice town, good whaling museum. Bought fresh fish for dinner (since Hunter can’t catch them). Camp in forest of Ben Boyd N.P.
Day 7 (Fri Dec 30)
Lyre Bird serenade at dawn – amazing bird calls. Visit whaling station; Boyd Tower. Malacoota – small town packed with campers. Spend midday at Davis Beach. Drive to Pt. Hicks on a super-long, super-bad dusty potholed dirt road - second gear max; thankfully somewhere to camp at the end of it. Swim at beach, hike to large sand dunes. Bush flies drive us nutty. Cocktails at sunset while sitting in the river.
Day 8 (Sat Dec 31)
Great beaches at Pt. Hicks. No surf. Hike to lighthouse – Capt. Cook first sighted Australia here. Snorkeled off headlands, saw a huge jellyfish, blue starfish. Snorkel at another beach too – lots of rays, boxfish. Very hot (100+?) drive out down that long bad road. Emergency stop for ice cream. No coast access along here, so drive many k’s west to Orbost and then Buchan. Great camp ground, cool weather, beautiful country town. Walk to pub for New Years Eve with the locals; mellow happenings, nothing but a couple quiet pints. Wombat blunders through camp.
Day 9 (Sun Jan 1)
Visit Buchan’s Royal Cave – beautiful limestone formations. Emerge from cool cave into more 100+ weather. Swim in natural spring pool to cool down. Nicholson River Winery. Drive through Bairnsdale, Sale, Yarram, Foster. Weather changes dramatically to knit-cap-cold and occasional rain. Walk on Beach at Sandy Point. Stay at friend Britta Weller’s parent’s house near Fish Camp – we “camp” in lower level. Mrs. Weller very nice and welcoming. Good to be indoors for the stormy weather.
Day 10 (Mon Jan 2)
Nice day, but cool. Visit Wilson’s Promontory N.Park. Koalas and wild emu herds common; we see neither. Squeaky Beach; Lilli Pilli Gully rainforest walk; very nice trail to top of Mt. Bishop for great view. Picnic Beach. Toora rainforest drive – massive trees and ferns. Stay with Mrs. Weller once more.
Day 11 (Tues Jan 3)
Philip Island – windy with big messy waves. Cool decrepit barn; Nobbies lookout with penguins, blowhole. Churchill Island homestead. Rhyll Inlet bird sanctuary and mangroves. Close up encounter with echidna. Drive around bay to Mornington Peninsula, stay in “retirement campground”.
Day 12 (Wed Jan 4)
Drive down bay side of Mornington Peninsula – quaint touristy beach towns, colorful beach boxes. Walk around Sorrento. Ferry to Queenscliff. Surf Winkipop (Bells Beach), 8 foot waves but not too clean. Camp in Otway N.P.
Day 13 (Thurs Jan 5)
Surf at Aireys Inlet. Shopping chaos at “Surfworld” back in Torquay – the worst of ‘surf culture’ all in one place. Lunch at Bells Beach. Drive down Great Ocean Road – crazy houses at Lorne; Nice Apollo Bay; good rainforest walk at Matt’s Rest. Great camping at Johanna Beach.
Day 14 (Fri Jan 6)
Swell, but nothing surfable anywhere with an east wind. Swim at Johanna Beach with heavy currents. More Great Ocean Road – Dramatic cliffs and coastline with rock formations: Gibson Steps, 12 Apostles, London Bridge. Lunch and snorkeling at Loch Ard Gorge. Drive to Melbourne to visit and stay with Kelly and Andrew.
Day 15(Sat Jan 7)
Visit Yarra Valley wine region with Kelly and Andrew and their children Josh and Claire. Nice lunch at Yering Winery – nice architecture. Josh loves the helicopters. Say goodbye and start back to Sydney. Drive to Albury and camp.
Day 16(Sun Jan 8)
Great museum in Gundagai. Dog on the Tuckerbox landmark. Lunch in Yass. Huge Ned Kelly sculpture in Glenrowan. Back home to hug the dog! Evening surfing in Manly.
A good trip all around, and quite difficult to adjust to the working world again. We can't wait for the opportunity to go see some more of Australia - as Candace pointed out, this trip only covered about 1/20 of the coastline, not to mention all of the interior.
For anyone who might possibly want more, here's a whole slew of pictures taken by Candace and me, check out this Shutterfly link:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9QbN3Lhm1Y-c
.
posted by Hunter Williams at 6:36 PM
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