Back to the Shoalhaven.

Arrived in Nowra at the Big 4 caravan site where we booked into our cabin for the final two nights. These are wonderfully self contained units with private facilities and perfectly suit our purposes, and very modestly priced as well.
Very hot yesterday in the low 30's as we drove the 3 hours along the side of dried up lake George, refuelled at Goulburn then down through Kangaroo Valley and into Nowra, the main town of the Shoalhaven area.

We had an enjoyable and restful day with parents, reminiscing and enjoying each others company, then a lunch at a local restaurant before returning to our cabin mid afternoon to pack for our return flight home to England tomorrow.

We have 17.5 hours to Dubai, then 8 hours to Newcastle ..... we can't wait :-(

PS my thanks to MacDonalds for providing free WiFi in the restaurants which I can pick up from our cabin near by.

Mixing with Presidents

A very busy day and, very, very hot in Canberra. We decided on the Explorer bus as the best way to see the Capital in the short time we had. An important reason for coming to Canberra was to witness the entry on the Wall of Remembrance of my great uncle who was killed at Gallipoli on 8th August 1915 aged just 18.

For $25 you can use the Explorer Bus to visit all the main sites of the capital hopping on and off all day and the first stop was the Australian War Memorial.

There seemed a bit of a do at the AWM with police and security highly visible and as we waited to enter the G for George Lancaster striking by night sight and sound show we bumped into the President of Malta on an official state visit.
Well not literally bumped into but near enough for me to claim so.

We paid our respects to the fallen, and set off on a full day sightseeing which included attendance at Prime Ministers question time in the spectacular Houses of Parliament built inside Capital Hill in Canberra.
As our bus driver said of the huge Australian flag flying from the mast atop the hill;
"that's the only flag in Australia that is held up by hot air"

Parliament and Capital Hill


Visited; Australian War Memorial, National Art Gallery, Parliament House, Old Parliament House, National Museum of Australia.

Tomorrow its back to the coast via Kangaroo Valley and a final visit with my parents.

The Farmers Daughter and Canberra.

We started the day with a bright sunny morning in Mudgee, a small town on the central midwest of NSW which has become the latest medal winning wine growing region, producing a range of excellent wines not yet available in the UK. We visited Farmers Daughter winery on the recommendation of my brother and sampled some of their fine sparkling Chardonnays and Merlots before setting a course south to the nations capital.

Ready to sample some Farmers Daughter!

Heavy road iron - B2 double articulated lorry common on Australian roads.


We journeyed through the former 1850's gold rush towns of Hill End, Sofala and Bathurst in temperatures in the low 30's watching as huge cumulus clouds built during the afternoon.

Our car radio crackled ... Radio 2BS Bathurst "we interrupt programmes for a weather warning, heavy rain, squalls, and hail."

Luckily for us we were south of the main action but still received some heavy rain in places with the thermometer dropping to 18C in half an hour.

We drove into Canberra in bright sunshine, reflecting on a day of changing weather, gravel roads, magnificent countryside and ready for a good nights sleep.


Canberra YHA right in the centre of the city.

A day on the lake

Newcastle, Hexham, Morpeth, Seaham .... pinch me, I'm in England, oh no I'm not - it's too hot. 32 degrees so the outside air temperature readout said although it was a cool 18 in the Ford Falcon as we headed for Tuncurry on the mid north NSW coast and my brothers home. The 400 kilometers sped by quickly and we were soon at our destination and treated to a warm welcome and a free flowing BBQ that passed late into the night.

The huge Wallis Lakes are larger than Sydney Harbour and drain into the Pacific though a small fast flowing entrance with the town of Tuncurry on the Northside and Forster on the Southside.


Super cool ..... Ron and Julie at speed.

The area is best seen from a fast powerboat and my family has just that. Down the slip onto the boat and away we went, 4 of us plus Harley, my family's Stafford bull terrier. Around the lake we flew in and out of the islands that dot this wonderful inland waterway, until we came ashore on an island where we BBQ our lunch, washed down with some very cold beers. We left our island and headed for home as the thunderclouds built up in the afternoon, and we were only in the house some 15 minutes before the heavens opened.

No worries as we BBQ'd surf and turf on metal skewers, freshly caught fish and home made chips, amply washed down with excellent Mudgee wines for dinner on the upstairs patio of my brothers house while lightening and thunder flashed all around.

Sorry to leave we headed into Forster for and excellent breakfast at the Paradise Cafe built out over the water near the entrance to the lake before the long drive to the new wine area of Mudgee in central NSW.
Up through the Hunter region we stopped at the Wyndham Estate for a little sampling of their excellent Shiraz. This is the home and very place where Shiraz grapes were first grown in Oz and recommended is their Bin 555. Through the upper Hunter region to Denman (Rosemont Estate) and beyond and over the Great Dividing Range and down into Mudgee. Pulled into the traditional old style Oriental Hotel after 8 exhilarating hours of fabulous touring.


The traditional Oriental Hotel in Mudgee







Tomorrow we visit the Farmers Daughter and Logan wineries before heading for the Federal Capital of Australia ..... Canberra.

PS very many thanks to Julie for the surf and turf (recipe please) and Ron for not burning them!

Photo catchup ...... the last few days

Kiama blowhole, south coast NSW











The ocean bridge, built when the road fell into the sea, near Stanwell Park NSW







It needs no further description







The famous "4" Sisters, the Blue mountains near Sydney.








Sylvia in the Jamison Valley, Blue Mountains.

Surfs up!

Sitting here in Queenscliffe one of the northern Sydney beaches after a morning surf to build the appetite before a leisurely brunch at Ashers in Manly.
We had a great drive up to Sydney from Nowra along the coastline and the new ocean bridge north of Woollongong. Our electronic tag for the tollways proved successful as we swooped through the harbour tunnel to emerge in North Sydney on our way to stay with a friend in Queenscliffe.
Yesterday dawned bright and sunny as we headed for Katoomba in the Blue Mountains and our rendezvous with the three sisters. Cable car down into the Jamison Valley a walk through rain forest, the most wonderful pumkin soup at Common Ground then back into Sydney to see the Queen Victoria berthed at Circular Quay and back to our diggs for the end of an exhausting but exhilarating day.
Today we head for Foster on the mid NSW coast to stay with my brother passing through Newcastle and Hexham ........ wow!

Now in Nowra

Lakes Entrance provided clear and sunny weather to compliment the fine evening of our Valentines Day dinner aboard a floating restaurant moored in the harbourside.
Our long drive to Nowra lead us through spectacular coastal scenery, up into the Snowy Mountains and the high Monaro before rejoining the coast again at Ulladulla and the long run into Nowra. After seven and a half hours we turned into our cabin at the Big 4 site, called my parents and settled down to a comfortable night.

We have been on the go for two days taking in all the sights of the Shoalhaven district which culminated today in a visit to Kangaroo Valley and lunch on the verandah of the general store at Barrengarry. You see this shop sells the best meat pies in the world and boy were they delicious.
Sylvia saw her first mob of wild kangaroos, talked to a kookabarra, marvelled at the black cockatoos, rozellas, and lorakeets, fed a family of magpies, gazed over vast vistas of the southern New South Wales coast and walked on the pure white sands of Jervis Bay.

Tomorrow we head for Sydney.


Ninety mile beach, Lakes Entrance, Victoria.











All of us and the Worlds Best Pies, Barrengarry, Kangaroo Valley







Genuine Aussi meat pie








The mob








Kooka and friend








The two of us with the family on the white sands of Jervis Bay

Marvelous Melbourne

From down in the market to up in the Rialto and Melbourne in between we have had a fabulous day. Bright and sunny with a light cool breeze about the mid twenties it's hard to realise that over 140 people have been killed not far from here in the devastating fires. The parks are parched from the searing 47 degree heat last week, but for us, the cooler weather is just perfect.

Melbourne is a very pleasant surprise, being compact and very easy to get around using the free Heritage trams and tourist buses.

Our day started with a walk to the Victoria Market and the greatest range of produce you would see anywhere in the world. A tram ride around the city ended with a picnic in Fitzroy Park overlooking Captain Cooks birth cottage,totally dismantled at Great Ayrton North Yorkshire, shipped to Melbourne and rebuilt brick by brick.

Our guided tour around Federation Square, watching the rowers on the Yarra River and a whizzup 55 floors of the Rialto Tower ended a very fine day.

Today we are off to Lakes Entrance in Eastern Victoria


Transport for the day







Rialto Tower








Sunsets on another day








Beautiful Melbourne

Adelaide and The Great Ocean Road

Lunch at the Flying Fish in Port Elloit on our last day In Adelaide.







Our farewell BBQ








Africa on a plate








Coachman's cottage YHA Port Fairy








Port Fairy Harbour








Bay of Islands - Great Ocean Road, Victoria








Says it all








The 12 Apostles plus 2

Petaluma Winery Adelaide Hills

Sampling the product



then




Lunch with our friends.

Safely in Australia

0730 on a cool morning ie about 20C staying at friends in Adelaide. 

We had a terrific if not long flight with Emirates and would recommend them to anybody. The service and meals were super. Qantas on the other hand were very ordinary but the two and a quarter hour flight from Sydney to Adelaide was quickly over and ontime.

The temperature here has fallen to the mid twenties after a week of heat over 40's C so everyone is relieved. Gardens are really parched and we have had reports of terrible bush fires near Melbourne with over 40 people killed yesterday. It wont affect our plans as we are touring around the coast to Melbourne and that area seems unaffected.

Today we take a tour of Adelaide then lunch with our friends at a vineyard in the Adelaide hills. Barbie tonight.

Sylvia's packed, Kenn nearly

Stuff everywhere but it's organised chaos.










We are pre checked in with the airline, have our seat allocation and our complimentary hotel room in Dubai, bags packed !!!!!, papers in order, tickets, passport, medical kit, ........

Sandra will make sure we get to Newcastle airport on time on Friday ..... big thank you Sandra.

Relax

Now where is that to do list ............... ?