Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Hunter Valley
April 16th 2009

Published: April 16th 2009

SarahandRob

Lakes Entrance

Fish and chips for lunch...yum

Day 67 - Sale - Lakes Entrance

We made the short journey from Sale to Lakes Entrance fairly early so that we could have the whole day in Lakes. The first point of call was the internet cafe (the first we had seen since Melbourne) before treating ourselves to our first Aussie fish and chips. I persuaded Rob to go for the "healthy" recipe batter, but as with everything, it is never as good as the full on lard version. However, the Gummy Shark was delicious and it was much nicer than the standard fish in New Zealand.
After enjoying our lunch sitting outside on our portable chairs we decided to walk the track to the entrance of the lakes. We did a bit of a loop, walking along the lake front on the way out and then walking along the sea front on the way back. The beach made up part of ninety mile beach and I am pleased that we were not walking ninety miles on the sand - it was hard work! We had a wander through the small town in the early evening and had a chilled out evening with our books.

Day 68 -

Lakes Entrance

90 mile beach.

Lakes Entrance - Merimbula

We left the little town of LE and instead of taking the freeway up the coast we decided on a little outback adventure instead. Well in fact, truth be told, we heard there was a nice national park to drive through and completely underestimated the remoteness of the outback and headed off in ignorant bliss. After an hour or so of driving north we stopped in the last town (Buchan) to check the road conditions and as to whether old Henrietta Hi-Top could handle it. We got a resounding "yes" from all the locals so we set off. We had another 80km or so before the turn off into the National Park and then things got crazy. The road became gravel and soon narrowed to single lane plus it was very bendy. I was just getting the hang of it after about 5km and then we came out in the valley - we then had a drop of about 400m on one side of the van with mean looking cliffs on the other! The best way to think of it was like the roads up to ski resorts in the Alps but with no barrier,

Snowy River NP

The view from the bridge.

single track, a gravel surface, rocks from the cliff in the road and doing it all in a rather top-heavy camper. It was not fun and Sarah actually thought it might be it for us at one point. We went on about another 20km (very slowly) and got to our destination - the snowy river bridge.
It was this point we had a dilemma as we could keep going for 80km, of which about 60km was gravel, or alternatively re-trace our steps. We met a few friendly Aussies who said that carrying on as although the surface was bad there was no cliffs to contend with. Once we were happier that there was an easier way out we could actually enjoy the place. The place we stopped was actually really nice with a fantastic bridge and we tried to do the nature trail but had to abandon it due to fear of snakes. In our defense we were in the middle of no-where, surrounded by impossible gravel roads and over 100km from any kind of civilization plus it was dense scrub - perfect for all the Australian wildlife you don't want to bump into!
After driving for what seemed like

Snowy River NP

Sarah down by the river.

an eternity on the gravel (average speed 25km/h) we got back to normal roads and eventually civilization. However, most of the towns on the way back to the coast were very odd and had a very American feel with Easter Rodeos and even a Wood Raffle (first prize - 3 tonnes of wood!) in one town. We got to Merimbula with just enough time to have a wander around the promenade before dark. At least we had learned a valuable lesson for the coming weeks in that a small detour to the outback can turn a 3 hour journey into a 7 hour marathon.

Day 69 - Merimbula - Canberra

We had another busy day ahead of us so we set off early to hit Canberra for the day. Once we had made it to Canberra and had found a place to park up we made the long walk over the lake, past the Old Parliament building to Capital Hill (cough cough America), where the new building now stands. The setting is really grand and the gardens are all very well kept. The building is open to the public to wander around which was a huge bonus. The

Canberra

Me in front of the impressive Parliament House.

Grand Hall and the equivalents of the House of Lords and the House of Commons were open, so I found it really interesting to see these especially as I have not been to the Houses of Parliament in London. The whole building looks brand new (built in 1988) so looks like a very posh hotel from the inside!
Canberra (AKA Milton Keynes) is a very random place that is well organized but very sparse and it does not have much character. The whole place seemed dead except for in the Parliament building and in the huge shopping center that we found while we were wandering on the high street.
Our next port of call was a quick stop at the slightly weird Australian Museum on our way to the campsite. We had tickets to the Super 14 (Rugby) match that night and decided to swing by the stadium - as it was close to the campsite - to check what time kick-off was. It turned out it was 5.30pm and not 7.30pm like we had thought. As a result we only had about half an hour to quickly park up at the campsite and make our way to the match.

Canberra

Me in the Senate.

We had really good seats on the half way line and were enjoying the match when, with about 15 minutes to go in the first half, the heavens opened. After wrapping up in waterproofs I decided enough was enough and left Rob on his own for the last 5 minutes of the first half and retreated to the cover. We watched the second half on the TV in the concourse (along with 90%!o(MISSING)f the other fans) as it was too wet to survive out on the seats.

Day 70 - Canberra - Sydney

We left our rather disgusting campground in good time and made our way out to the coastal resort of Kiama in the hope of finding a campsite (on Easter Sunday!) for the night. We had no such luck, even after a visit to the Visitor Information Center. We therefore had to have a re-think and luckily managed to find a campsite with some space in the southern suburbs of Sydney, so that we were well placed to explore Sydney over the next few days.
We stayed in Kiama for the afternoon, as it was one of the nicest little seaside towns we had driven

Sydney

St Mary's Cathedral.

through. The main attraction is a blowhole but unfortunately it was not blowing as it was low tide. However, we did get some entertainment from some crazy local boys who decided to jump off the rocks (about 30m) into the entry to the hole - I could barely watch!
We finished the day with a relaxing drive into Sydney in the bank holiday traffic, through various road works and surviving yet more suspect Aussie driving.

Day 71 - Sydney

We had a logistical nightmare morning as we had booked a room in the YHA hostel right in the middle of Sydney - so that we could be right in the action - but had the small problem of leaving Henrietta somewhere suitable. We got up early, drove into town and unloaded our stuff into the hostel. We then drove 5km across town where we had been told there was a residential road with no parking restrictions to leave her there for a couple of days.
As it was our first day in Sydney we wanted to wander around all the main sights so we started off in the center of the city and headed out to the Botanical

Sydney

(The Opera House)

Gardens via Hyde Park and St. Mary's Cathedral. Walking through The Botanical Gardens (which had about 2,000 bats in the trees!) leads nicely to the Sydney Opera House where we took about a million photos from different angles with half of Japan! Once we had finished admiring the opera house we wandered around the Circular Harbour to The Rocks, which is a swish little area (a bit like Covent Garden) with lots of nice restaurants looking out to the harbour. From here we went on a search for the steps up to the Harbour Bridge and walked the length of the bridge, taking yet more photos, to Wilsons Point on the other side of the bridge. We had a little sit down before setting off back across the bridge and through the main shopping district (George Street etc) back to our hostel and we got completely soaked by a lovely storm once again.

Day 72 - Sydney

We had a lot of ground to cover today so we got up early and head straight to the harbor to catch a ferry to Manly, a suburb on the north shores of the harbor. It was also a cheap alternative

Sydney

Me in front of the rather large harbour bridge.

to a harbor cruise! We had heard of The Manly Scenic Walkway, a walk along the coast from Manly to The Spit so we caught a bus to The Spit and walked on the track back to Manly. It was a pretty walk but our enjoyment was scarred by the number of huge lizards that were around, as we thought that lizards must mean snakes too! At one point we had to take a different track as the lengthy bush area ahead was a bit daunting. Once we reaches Manly again we took a quick look at the beach before catching the ferry back to the city center.
We still had most of the afternoon left so we decided to use the time to take a look at the famous Bondi beach. It was everything you would imagine and although it was a little tacky the promenade area was fairly tasteful and you can see why the beach is famous. We stopped at one of the bars along the promenade for a drink before heading back to our hostel; exhausted after another full day on our feet.
Unfortunately it tipped it down again in the evening and we could not

Sydney

Bondi beach in all its glory.

face walking far in the storm so we had a few drinks in the bar next door to the hostel.

Day 73 - Sydney - Katoomba (Blue Mountains)

We had a couple of hours in the morning to spare before we had to set off again so we spent it wandering to and around Darling Harbor, a harbor slightly more inland that the Circular Harbor. It was a gorgeous day and the harbor was beautiful (even though it has a McDonalds placed in the most inappropriate place - we do not understand how they get planning permission!). It was a shame we did not have another night as it seemed like the perfect place for a few evening drinks.
After being reunited with Henrietta, we set off for the Blue Mountains, a natural heritage national park to the west of Sydney. It was time to say goodbye to Sydney and I can safely say that I have never been less willing to leave a place, it was my favorite city I have ever been to and I just wish we had time to spend more time there. We will just have to come back again!
We arrived in

Katoomba (Blue Mountains)

Katooma, a fairly large town which is basically built on a cliff face of a huge canyon area. It is in the perfect place to explore the area and it is heavily geared towards tourists - I think the Japanese/Chinese see most things without putting feet to ground! We had plenty of time left in the afternoon to park up and visit Scenic World, a good little tourist attraction but we definitely felt in the minority. It basically involved getting a cable car across the valley and back, a very steep railway down to the valley, a tree-top walkway in the valley and then a cable car back up the valley. It was a good way to witness the views but is not as satisfying as walking.

Day 74 - Katoomba - Cessnock

As we were up in the mountains it was a very cold night in the campervan! Once we got up we headed to Echo Point (a lookout) to start our walk. We headed down the 1000 or so steps which are built into the cliff face and got lots of spectacular views on the way down. We then walked through the rainforest at the valley

Katoomba (Blue Mountains)

Sarah in front of The Three Sisters.

bottom and saw loads of interesting birds and parrots and then had to climb back up the cliff face to complete the loop. We took it steadily as there were 900 steps but lots of viewpoints (excuses) to stop on the way up. We finished our walk before lunch and thought we had better hit the road as we had about a 3.5 hour drive back through Sydney and on to the wine region of Hunter Valley. The Blue Mountains were one of the most amazing places I have ever seen - up there with NZ quality of scenery!

Additional photos below

Photos: 25, Displayed: 25