Driving Along the South Coast

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I am restless. It's summer vacation here and I mulled over the idea of spending all of 2 months in Australia. My nephew, the one who left in 1999 to migrate to Australia, just bought a house with his sister. Between him and his sister, they have lined up a number of odd jobs and repair work needing to be done on this 10 year old house. That meant a number of appointments with the carpenter, mason, plumber, etc. So, I towed my 6yr old grandniece and my sister to spend the next 2 months with me somewhere in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia.


Suburbs meant somewhere in MacQuarie Fields, some 45 minutes by train from the city center. From the house, it meant a 7 minute walk to the corner, a 10 minute bus ride to the train station, and then the 45minute ride into Sydney. That does not include all that waiting for the bus at the corner under the heat of the sun. All that waiting was no encouragement at all to do the city. So, we prepared ourselves for more time spent in the suburbs, checking out the small malls, the neighborhood markets and burger joints. Two weeks of this, and we soon fell into a routine. We have also somehow grown domesticated, doing some gardening and cooking 2 meals a day! In between, we do the laundry, clean the house and watch a couple of DVDs.


And so , it was with some dose of excitement that we looked forward to a week long trip driving along the South Coast. We first visited Narooma, a place so quiet , so serene, so beautiful. We passed white-painted one storey diners and lawns where we found elderly people playing lawn bowling. If my nephew stopped the car for a few moments' rest, I could have taken the break to watch more closely, even to join the senior citizens in their game. What a way to spend your morning. If this is what they do by way of exercise , it does seem very healthy. Not just for what it does to your physical body, but more for the benefits they gain from the social events. All that chatting, all that laughter. The bending and stretching are really beside the point. These seniors are having fun! We passed many well-manicured gardens looking out to the ocean, and breathed the fresh ocean breeze. What a life. My little Patricia has gained some appreciation of how beautiful a 'quiet life' is, and had a pretty good introduction on awe-inspiring sunsets. We stayed in a small hotel facing the Pacific Ocean. Easily, I found my favorite spot: the balcony. With my legs up, a book propped on my lap, and a good cup of aromatic brewed coffee, I was ready to spend the next couple of hours doing nothing. Frankly, I never thought I'd ever get excited over the prospect of doing nothing. But that is exactly what happened. Somehow, the characters in the book jump at me, the coffee smells and tastes better. Could it be the breeze? I know what effect it had on my little Patricia and my sister, who happily snored the afternoon away. I honestly don't know. But it sure made me feel chipper that afternoon. By late afternoon, I decided to go for a walk. Once more, the lapping waves and breeze reinforced all the many happy thoughts that crossed my mind. What a lovely afternoon!



A light breakfast the following morning (after a heavy dinner the night before), and then we were off strolling around the village. For those who have had enough of the party and rat race lifestyle, Narooma is your kind of town. It is like one Retirement Village, with a lot of class. The restaurants and cafes we checked out in the area are small, quaint places to dine in or enjoy a good cup of brew. The small shops are owned by people who strike me more as hobbyists rather than businessmen. We even passed some houses with signages that invite people to buy fresh shrimps. We bought some, of course, to bring to the beach where we set up our folding chairs. Flasks full of coffee , bottles of soda and water, and fresh shrimps to peel . That was lunch. After that, we chatted up the guys in their motorhomes and played with their dogs. Patricia enjoyed running around in the sand wrapped in her jacket, something she'd likely not do without sweating back in Manila . The view was fantastic. Miles and miles of the ocean beckoned. We just sat around , played around, peeled more shrimps, drank more coffee. For dinner, we enjoyed some oysters, a salad, and shared a 12 ounce steak among us. C'est la vie.



Another day. Another long drive. Another hotel. Another place. Bateman's Bay may seem less-relaxed but is certainly more laid back than the already laid back Sydney. You still sense the same atmosphere but the shops are clustered in a smaller area, thus making it seem more "city" than village. We spent the whole day checking out the shops and stores in the town center. Spent a whole hour in a small bookstore where Patricia found some books on different breeds of dogs. (After meeting Elvis, my niece's dog, and playing with a poodle at the beach, she is now a self-confessed dog lover). After a lunch of pasta we can hardly finish, we walked some more and checked out the oysters clinging to the stones by the water. The neighborhood supermarket was a good source of supplies ---- bread, cold cuts, eggs, water, soda. We went back to our hotel, took naps, made some sandwiches and headed straight out again to wait for sunset.



Our second day in Bateman's Bay (my grandniece would always say "Batesman Bay") was another day of adventure. We found a chinese restaurant near our hotel and decided to buy rice there and pick up some shrimps (again) to bring to the beach. Gosh, if this is what it means to be a beach bum........we don't mind! When we got to the beach, we found an elderly couple with a motorhome cooking up some barbecue and some stir-fried veggies. How we wished they were family, or friends! We tried to entice them with our spread of rice and shrimps, along with some vinegar sauce, but no luck. Lol. And so for dinner, we trooped back to the chinese restaurant and ordered up some barbecued ribs, sauteed vegetables , egg rolls and fried rice! You bet we were feeling so deprived before dinner. But that over, the guilt set in.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

beach bumming...
it's a good life! I often get very excited at the prospect of doing nothing for a few hours - nice weather is such a bonus on days like that :)