The Sapphire Coast NSW

This week we headed down the far south coast of NSW, otherwise known as the Sapphire Coast. Our first stop was Moruya, more bloody rain. Thankfully Sue and Greg took us in and gave us nice warm food and hot showers J We also got the grand tour of Moruya and surrounds and checked out the granite pit that supplied the harbour bridge. After a couple of days there it was time to rough it again. In order to get us in the right mood we first stopped at Tilba Winery and tasted their entire range, proceeded to Central Tilba to sample their entire range of cheeses and honey. Good times were had!

That night we stayed at Mimosa Rocks National Park (Aragunu Beach).In the morning we headed to Mumballa Falls, in the hopes of a natural waterslide, BUT it was far too cold to swim, so we just wandered about through creek beds and waterfalls.

After that Bega provided us with some wonderful cheese tasting and we headed back to Mimosa Rocks, but to a different campsite – Gillards Beach, where we were surrounded by skippies and some possums wanting to biff. There was an amazing lagoon not too far from camp that we visited a couple of times. Stayed a couple of nights then headed through Merimbula, Pambula and Eden to Ben Boyd National Park. Along the way we stopped at Hancock Point and The Pinnacles Then return to Eden to stock up before we head out into the wilderness somewhere near the border.

Hooroo for now.

Lesson of the week: Let loose and you will enjoy it.

South Coast Take 2

On Wednesday we headed out for real. We packed The Hulk to the brim and were off. It’ll be a long time before that beast of a camper returns! We decided to take the Grand Pacific Drive south and it was a well rewarded decision. A beautiful route through rainforest, bush, over the ocean (literally - Sea Cliff Bridge) and through coastal towns.

First stop was Corrimal, despite the clouds coming in low, the weather stayed fair and the park was quite nice. After that we meandered down the coast to Comerong Island. Along the way we somehow ended up droving a couple of hundred cattle down the road. 

A short ferry ride after that we were on the island. It was a surprise to find a 2wd vehicle at the end of the island track, but it was worth the muddy drive in! We met a couple of ol’mates who were drinking long necks and “fishing” and had a good yarn to them and watch a spectacular sunset.  We did the dodgy and decided to stay for the night. The mozzies were rough, the wind was ferocious and the sea was brown and foamy, but all in all a great stop over.

We left the island in the morning and headed south to Hyams Beach - claimed to have the whitest sand in the world! Enjoyed the first real swim of the south coast on our own patch of beach. After that we headed to good old Meroo NP (on the shores of Termeil lake and a couple of beaches) where we’ve been camped out the last couple of days. Despite a flash storm and heavy rain last night all has been well here. Currently enjoying a warm fire, contemplating where to next…..

Lesson of the week: Ghost Gums make good fire!!

Wettest week in NSW history - Our South Coast Adventure

After a very wet week on the south coast we're back on the Central Coast for Dan and Jenna's wedding. We have decided to keep a memoir of our travels via this blog and have also decided to become more diligent in recording our journey - after all we don't want to forget anything or miss an opportunity to brag about the brilliant adventures we're having :p 

Bulli Beach 

What follows is a recap of our trial run down the south coast - otherwise known as the "Wettest week in NSW history"  (says The Telegraph -a great source of information). We set off on Monday the 27th after packing and getting the hulk ready and ended up in Bulli with a cemetery behind us and the beach in front, a rather odd but nice combination. This was the first and last day of the adventure that we saw the sun :(

 This picture was taken from the entry way to the beach - see if you can spot our camper 

From there we went to Minnamurra Rainforest to see the beautiful falls - an epic uphill walk, but well worth it! 

We stayed in Kiama, then headed to Kangaroo Valley only to get to a recommended camp ground. When we pulled up, Sydney Water were closing the site due to flooding. This was probably our wettest and dare I say it most tragic day - with highlights including going up and down steep and winding hills in the rain at around 20km an hour, searching for places to stay only to find then flooding, eating cereal for lunch at 4pm in the back of the camper in the middle of nowhere, testing out how well the car can handle "river" crossings and eventually sleeping in a rest-stop in Bewong (literally on the Princes Highway, opposite a 'lovely' caltex). Good times!

Luckily we were able to stay with a friend (the wonderful Eliza) in Milton after that and dry all of our clothes! Plus eat at potentially the best Mexican dinning place around - Pilgrims (amazing sangria!!) 

One of the many views of the beautiful beach at Meroo NP

We then headed to Meroo National Park, a picturesque free camping spot, located on a headland inbetween the ocean and a lake. Granted the rain stopped us from really getting to enjoy this spot to its full potential, we still loved this stop. 

Our campsite in a rare dry moment - soon after we put the full annex to hide in!

After a week in the wet and news that flooding was set to continue into the week to come and was especially prominent in the areas we were set to visit, we decided to head home to work on the camper, wash all the mud from our clothes and the annex and get set to head off again and do south coast take two (hopefully a less wet version). 

...Tune in next week for potentially some picture involving sun! 

Lesson of the week:

 Although stamping in puddles is fun, driving through them is the best way to achieve maximum enjoyment.

The Hulk

Our Baby - THE HULK!

Our home for the next however long. Stylish, Comfortable and a lean mean fighting machine?