Week 27- part 2 Road Trip

On Thursday 18th of January Joey and I began our mammoth journey, driving from Melbourne to Sydney along the coast road. We said goodbye to Rory and Elliot in the morning and caught the tram into town to collect our hire car. We were first skipped in the queue but eventually got called up. Our desk clerk was an older woman called Dillon who was clearly very unfamiliar with the system. It may have taken 45minutes to collect the car we had already booked online, but it worked in our favour as she put me down as a driver despite not being 21 and also gave us the best economy car available- the Kia Rio. Joey was the first to take the wheel, though it was a bit of a shakey start until I told him to brake with his right foot and not his left. Our first stop was back at the accommodation to collect our bags before heading south in 42°C heat (thankfully we had air conditioning) to Phillip Island. After just over two hours driving we were on the island. We picked up camping gas, a knife and spoon and spent about $50 on food for the week and suncream. We also stopped in at an information centre and discovered it wasn't possible to freedom camp anywhere on the island. My mind went to work.

That evening we were due to watch the penguin parade. This is a natural occurrence where miniature penguins leave the sea, walk across the beach and into the grass to their homes at sunset. I cooked us pasta and kidney beans for dinner in the car park and then we went to the parade. We were there about an hour early so I decided to try butter up a family to see if they had any grass on which we could camp. I was working very hard, talking to the granny and grandchildren about their hobbies and school and almost anything. Eventually they asked where we were staying and I thought the work had paid off. I explained our situation but unfortunately they they had no grass. We enjoyed the parade and saw hundreds of penguins but at the end it was about 22:30, dark out and we had no where to stay. We got in the car and Joey started to drive. After about 20min of driving I could tell Joey was a little concerned but I saw a woman sitting on her porch. I told Joey to stop the car, I hopped out and went to talk to her. Her name was Nel and after explaining our situation she agreed to let us camp on her front lawn. We chatted to Nel for a few minutes before I pulled out and pitched my tent. This was Joey's first time seeing the tent and I didn't tell him it was a one-man coffin tent. What was most entertaining was that Joey couldn't react to it with Nel there. Joey described our sleeping arrangements well ‘you know how shoes in a shoebox go opposite ways to fit? That's how we slept’. I will admit it was quite cosy.

We were up and out by 07:00 and headed on a little way to find a beach. We pulled into a guest carpark for a campground, ignored the ‘all guests must check in’ sign and walked down to the beach. It was a perfect temperature and after a short walk we went for a swim. The first of many. I cooked us oats in the carpark, we washed the pots in the sea and then hit the road. I took over the driving so Joey could talk to his parents. From this point I did all the driving apart from when I rang home for my birthday. We drove south, heading for Wilson's Promontory National Park but stopped into Venus bay along the way. I am a bit vague on how long each drive was but I will give a final total at the end. Venus bay was another beach that is sheltered from big swell. We walked along the beach for a little while but the wind picked up and pelted our feet with sand. Joey found a sheltered spot to rest while I went for another glorious swim! The temperature was in the high 30s all day so I was glad of the swim.

Soon we continued south for the park. Once in the actual park it took us 30min to drive to the information centre. We did stop on the way to visit Whiskey bay. This is probably the best beach I've ever been to. The water was so clear that I could see fish when I opened my eyes underwater, the colours were spectacular, the sun was splitting the stones, the sand was perfect and there were basically no waves. I had to swim again. Once at the information centre we got a map, asked for a good day hike and then had our lunch in the car park, peanut butter and jam wraps. We drove a little way back the way we had came and into a small carpark to do a 2.5 hour circuit which included summiting Mount Bishop. It was pretty steep but once at the top I climbed up a rock and had panoramic views of the park, including the beautiful bay below. This was the highlight of the trip for me.

On our way out of the park we tried to find some kangaroos but it was too hot. We carried on for about an hour, past a wind farm to see Toora Falls. As it was pretty dry the falls weren't overly impressive but nice to see anyway. I cooked dinner on a picnic bench there, couscous and lentils, and washed the pots at a tap. The road back down the hill passed a lookout point and we were treated to a vast view of farmland and sea and national park as the sun went down. We had seen plenty of rest stops along the way and had planned to camp at one of those but on the next stretch of road there were many kangaroo warning signs so we decided to keep driving. We soon reached the town of Sale, in the dark again with no place to camp. We investigated the campsites but they were all closed so I pitched the tent behind the information centre. Joey did start the night in the car but soon joined me in the tent.

After oats for breakfast at the information centre our journey continued on to Bairnsdale. We arrived at about 09:00 and visited the information centre there, looking for a hike in the Gippsland Lakes National park. The lady there suggested we first go 10min down the road and catch the free ferry to Raymond Island to see the wild Koalas in the gum trees. At first we didn't see any but as we reached the turnaround point we started to spot a few snoozing in the trees. They really look like very chilled animals. From there we drove to the lakes entrance where we went onto 90 mile beach. We saw some netball being played on the sand before we walked down a segment of the beach that was part of a sand bank. When we reached one of the inlets we rounded the bank and walked back along a bushy track but also through people's gardens. We think we went the wrong way but we did see many black swans. Back at the starting point we went for a swim in the sea. It was incredibly powerful and I was picked up and flung into the ground at one stage. Thankfully I was fine and we had freshwater showers to rinse off.

A quick bite of lunch and we were on the road again. From the lakes we cut inland on the Great Alpine Road towards Buchan. Here we were visiting a large cave system. The caves were quite beautiful and it was amazing to be in 17°C heat but the experience was tainted by all the chicken wire and the fact that the tour guide described almost every formation as ‘gorgeous’. The next segment of road was perhaps my favourite. We followed the Great Alpine road back towards the coast, passing through vast green pastures and then into a massive forest. The trees were spectacular, I didn't meet another car, the road surface was really good and I just had so much fun winding the nippy automatic round all the bends.

We passed through Marlo and continued towards the sea until we reached Cape Conran. We relaxed for a few minutes before I cooked dinner, this time we had chickpeas with the couscous. Once the pots were washed we drove on in search of a rest stop where we could camp. Not 2min down the road I spotted a couple of kangaroos just chilling by the roadside so we hopped out to have a closer look but didn't stay long. We soon found one that was suitable. We noticed a dirt track into the woods so we followed it down and found a picnic area with access to a rainforest walk. Having decided this was out best bet, we pitched the tent and then went to walk in the rainforest. It was bizarre to see so much green vegetation, even to consider Australia having rainforests seemed strange but it was quite pretty. We enjoyed some tinned peaches as we waited for darkness to fall. Unfortunately, some clouds rolled in so we couldn't really see the stars.

Sunday 21st of January was my 21st birthday. I had a fabulous day. We cooked oats in the rainforest first thing and I had extra jam as a treat. Our first stop for the day was Croajingolong National park but as we wanted a recommendation and a map first we stopped in at Mallacoota. From here it was suggested we do a short cliff walk first and then drive out to another. We washed the pots in the sea and did the cliff walk through the bush. The most noticeable thing for me was how the trees were growing diagonally inland from the force of the wind. Our main hike for the day was the Mount Genoa Peak track. However, even getting to the trail head proved difficult. It involved driving up an unsealed clay road with many potholes and divots from the water running down. I had great fun driving it but we had to go slowly for the car. We also so a massive goanna (big lizard) climbing a tree on the way. We hiked up for about an hour, switching back on ourselves for a while, climbing rocks and eventually a few ladders to reach the summit. There were views in every direction of the national park (also a small gecko came out to say hi) but unfortunately it was only possible to see so far as the weather remained pretty hazy until we reached Sydney.

At this point we had left Victoria and were in New South Wales so we needed a new map. The first town we came to was Eden so we visited the information centre. We did get a new map but it wasn't as good as our previous one. We also asked them what the must-sees were between Eden and Sydney and we were told we had to stop in Huskisson. While in Eden we went to a look out but it was still hazy so carried on. The clouds lifted a little and when we got to a bridge crossing the Bega river I pulled the car over, announced to Joey I was going for a paddle and promptly left. We carried on to Mimosa Rocks national park and drove about 10km towards the coast until we reached middle beach campground by around mid afternoon. We went for a walk to the ‘lagoon’ hoping it would be fresh water. It was not. I decided I wanted to go for another swim in the sea and Joey didn't. He was going to continue around the lagoon. As I headed down one path to the beach I came across a family of kangaroos, including one very large male. Once I got Joey to have a look I promptly took the long way to the sea. While I swam Joey saw an Akkinda (a small porcupine) and then there were also a pair of mating wallabies. We polished off the pasta and couscous for dinner with a bean mix and washed the pots in the sea. When we returned, there was a warden waiting for us to see if we were staying the night. We promptly left for fear of having to pay any money! The road continued along the coast, passing one particularly beautiful beach called horseshoe bay. I took the opportunity to stretch my legs (we were also checking if we could camp there but we could not). There were a couple of older guys, who turned out to be father and son, getting ready to fish at the time. We chatted to them for a little while, about fishing, housing and education in Ireland. Apparently Australian kids are stupid and don't know mental arithmetic! As entertaining a conversation it was we departed to continue our search of a camping spot.

Prior to travel I had seen online that Tilba Tilba was supposed to be worth visiting. We took a slight detour and found what was quite like a small Irish village but there wasn't much to say about it otherwise (bar the cheese museum). A short while later we saw a sign for a rest stop and drove down a short track where we found a little slice of paradise on the banks of lake Corunna. There were a couple of boats being taken off the water as we arrived and an elderly couple enjoying a late night picnic as the sunset. The couple explained that they were local farmers (they sounded pretty wealthy) and that they had visited Ireland. Soon we were alone to enjoy our peaches and be deafened by the sounds of the cicadas. They look a bit like beatles but making a sound like a thousand crickets. To make it worse, it came in waves so you couldn't even get used to it. Thankfully they subsided after a couple of hours and after spotting a pretty large spider with two white dots on its back we decided to go to sleep. I fell into a pretty heavy sleep as Joey told me he heard stuff grazing around us during the night but I was completely unaware!

Early on Monday morning we drove onto Batesman Bay to get a recommendation as to where we should go for a walk and also to fill up with water. They had to loan us a tap key to use their outdoor taps which struck me as a little unnecessary. After Joey got a free MacDonald's from a stranger and I got some change to pay for parking in the park we drove to Murramurang National Park and more specifically to Pebbly beach as we were told the Kangaroos like to graze there. When we arrived the parking machine was out of order and there was plenty of kangaroo poo but no kangaroos. We decided to go for a walk and then swim so we went through the bush to Snake Bay (thankfully we didn't see any snakes either). A beach down the road called Depot Beach was supposed to be better for swimming and when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to see a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch both grazing! It seems the moral of the story is if you go looking for kangaroos you won't find them but you'll easily stumble upon them. The beach wasn't great so we didn't bother swimming and drove on. I was still in search of some freshwater so we drive into lake Conjola, passing some bush that was burnt and there was a horrible smokey smell. It made the risk of bushfires seem all the more real.

Not only was the lake not freshwater, it also wasn't very appealing so the hunt continued. There was quite a good beach on Jervis Bay called Hyams beach where we had a quick dip before we reached the famous Huskisson. We had actually driven the whole way through the town before we knew we were in it and when we doubled back to the information centre we learnt that there wasn't much going on in Huskisson at all! We pulled over at 7 mile beach with a plan to chill there and have food but while Joey went to the bathroom I discovered there were some blow holes not too far away. The road took us to Kiama where we saw the little blow hole. If there was a large wave, water shot about 30m into the air but as it was low tide we didn't see much and the big blow hole did nothing! Though we did enjoy watching a fisherman sort out his caught fishing line. While we were leaving we spotted a sea pool where some walls had been built on a rock pool. I had to go for a swim. It was a very cool experience with the waves crashing in. Our campsite was another rest stop on top of a hill just off the highway. This was the busiest place we had stayed with about 8 cars staying including one with two dogs. We were the only ones with a tent but after dinner I decided I'd sleep in my hammock. It was very comfortable for both of us, watching a couple of huge bats fly around overhead, until it started raining at about 3am and I got back into the tent.

Tuesday was the final day of our trip and it mostly involved getting to Sydney but we had time for one more stop. The Nan Tien Temple is the biggest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere and is about 2 hours south of Sydney. We arrived a little early so I walked around the memorial gardens until we headed into one of the temples, removed our shoes and had a go at calligraphy. We followed all the instructions and tried to trace the sheet given to us. We were both terrible but thankfully mine was significantly shorter. However, when Joey tried to leave with his half done we was promptly sent back to finish it so he could get it stamped! We walked up a hill to ring a bell to wish our families luck before entering some of the other temples. It was a bizarre experience but quite eye opening. From here our next stop was Sydney.

We had to take a detour around the Royal National park as it was on fire which meant we ended up going through a toll (we had driven about 1600km with no tolls up to this point and my navigator was slightly distracted at the time). Driving through Sydney was quite challenging and my least favourite part of the trip but getting to drive across the harbour bridge was something special. Soon we arrived at Chris and Sammy's home in North Sydney (Sammy is my first cousin twice removed and the daughter of my great uncle David Ascroft). Once we had unloaded the car we headed back to the city to drop it off. It took some time to find the place but eventually our 1700km and 28hour road trip was over. Never to be forgotten.

You can see all the photos from the road trip here.