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Published: April 19th 2009
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Phillip Island was beautiful -we scored a few days of good weather and really missed Sam who would have loved the area. We toured the island and saw lots of penguins huddling under the board walk and Si and Est managed to catch some good surf - spotting seals playing in the waves one morning. The second campground we found was bang on the beach and swarming with crazy possums. We took plenty of beach time in preparation for Dad's 66th birthday and that evening walked along the shore to a restaurant for a boozy meal. Then Dad (with help) managed to admirably disgrace himself - getting told off for playing too noisily on the children's play park at 1am. That second childhood is kicking in with a vengeance.
The next day slightly more wholesome entertainment was needed and so we hired a boat and went fishing. Luckily experience was on board in the form of Simon who not only managed to ensure we didn't hurt one another with any of the hooks but also knew a thing or two about the fish themselves. Bright sunshine, a lovely bay and pelicans doing the occasional fly-by all added to an amazing
afternoon. We caught and released a load of tiddlers but bagged a few fishies for the barbie that evening. The final catch of the day by Eric was a beautiful Port Jackson shark which after being paraded around the boat had to be released again. Of course the whole fishing business was also just a great excuse to spend a day out on the water with an occasional glass of bubbly. Gutting the fish on the bay later attracted a load of onlookers in the form of a hungry pelican, plenty of gulls and a swim-by by some rays.
All packed up and fresh faced (slightly burnt) our next destination was Lakes Entrance further up the coast towards Sydney. Once again a stunning setting; the place is set along the 90 mile beach and boasts large inland lakes directly connected to the ocean. We had a good day of sunshine so taking in the view of the lakes we promptly decided to change tack and do what we were getting good at: enjoying bubbly on a boat and fishing (to a lesser extent). The lakes were beautiful and we spotted dolphins on the way out to sea. The catch
this time around included crabs but not many fish of a decent size, we learned later that the lakes are heavily fished by pros which was a face saver: we had nothing to show for our 4 hour 'effort'.
Our next destination was Eden, a small fishing village with an active harbour boasting some great fresh seafood. The weather would hold out fine until around 4-ish when the skies would turn black in preparation for a tropical downpour. The tropical theme was further underlined by the many parrots- bright green or red which would entertain themselves by making as much noise as they could. One parrot was made of harder stuff and after hiding behind a tree, this fella hurled himself at Simon's truck at full speed. He did a flying head butt on the windscreen scaring the hell out of everyone in the car. Surprisingly enough the incident just left a bit of a spot on the windscreen but the bird had already flown/bounced on.. No doubt it sticks to making noise now...
Australian campers are a social bunch- there's always a polite g'day and it is very common to receive some well meant advice on your
destination. The campgrounds are full of SKIERs (Spending The Kids Inheritance) who are touring in their gigantic luxury RV caravans. Sitting around with their stubbies, keeping a close eye on proceedings and offering plenty of 'helpful' advice - it wasn't uncommon for some old fellow to stroll past, hands behind back to give us the clear once-over before going back to report to the regulars. There was also clearly a lot of competition over the size and type of campervan - poor old us in Camperman got plenty of pitying looks although Mum and Dad garnered plenty of appreciation from one couple who clearly thought that the van was a thing of beauty.
One area which was recommended by a few of the good campers of Eden was Bateman's Bay and it didn't disappoint. Two of the bays were Guerrilla Bay and Pebble Beach, which you share with loads of kangaroos. Next to the campsite there was a small zoo next door with some fantastic examples of Aussies strange wildlife. Plenty of wombats- hairy nosed, koalas, echidnas, huge lizards, emus and kangaroos are just a quick pick. It was all a pretty laid back affair and we all got
a chance to hold Snoopy the wombat and a snake. And we had a good laugh at the 'Ned Kelly' cockatoo (see pics). This wasn't the only wildlife show on display - every day around dusk a huge colony of flying foxes (aka bats) would fly over to their hunting grounds. This was an awesome sight as they must have been in their thousands and the fly-by lasted for over half an hour. There had been some awesome wildlife spotted - back in Eden Est and Si up one morning early had seen a little penguin diving through the surf. Again a tip from fellow campers led us to gorgeous Kiama - good surf (although a little much for us novices) cheap campground and a nice town led to a relaxed stop-over for a couple of days - we also headed to Illwarra Canopy walk to see the view from above. Then with just a week or so left for Mum and Dad it was time to head inland to the Blue Mountains.
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