Melbourne to Sydney - the trip that nearly wasn't

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Our stay in Melbourne was lovely, especially because of all the warm hospitality we received and all the great people we met. However, we were keen to get out of the city and see some wildlife and beautiful scenery. At one point we were planning to head more or less straight to Sydney along the Hume Highway and miss out some of the coast, but luckily we received some great tips from Dan (rented friend) and we set off along the coast with our first stop being Phillip Island just south of Melbourne. Unfortunately, our eagerness to get out of the city was hindered by the stationary traffic on the freeway; quite reminiscent of the M25 at rush hour. It took so long to get there that we missed the famous penguin parade. That's when all the these little cute penguins return to the land in the early evening after a day spent feeding in the ocean. They can't really be spotted at any other time of day.

Alex was particularly distraught about missing the penguins and to try to compensate somehow the next morning we went to a Koala sanctuary. It was great because they had these raised walk ways so that you could get nearly level with the Koalas and have a good look at them sleeping (they sleep 20 hours a day) and if you're really lucky then they even move. In the sanctuary gift shop Alex was just flicking through a "Phillip Island in pictures" type book when he came across a photo of the gaping mouth of a Great White Shark bursting out of the sea. The caption under the photo read "... often spotted around Phillip Island...". Now this photo had quite an effect on Alex and he went very quiet for a while before he mentioned it to Ursula. The reason being is that we had planned to go for our first surf on our new boards just after visiting the Koala sanctuary. After much consideration we decided to go for it anyway and so after a bit of searching we found a beach where the waves were beginner friendly and where there were a few people already in the water (better odds, see!). We had a great time and were both really pleased with our boards. And as it turns out it is not the sharks we should have been scared of but their preferred prey: the sea lions. A girl was mauled by a sea lion whilst surfing a few days after we were there.

It was then on to Wilson's Promontory, a National Park that forms the most southern part of Australia. At this time it was the during the Easter holiday and being stupid tourists we did not know that every single Australian goes camping in National Parks over Easter and that Wilson's Prom had been fully booked for months. Luckily the nice people at the park keep some stupid-tourist-backup sites in reserve for just such a situation. We snapped it up for the allowed two nights.

Wilson's Prom is so beautiful, especially when viewed from the top of Mount Oberon on a gorgeous sunny day. The mountains are really green, the beaches white and the sea blue. One night we went on a walk looking for Wombats and were actually quite successful. We found that the best way to find them was to listen out for them because their chewing of the grass sounds like a ticking clock. We were reminded of the Crocodile from Peter Pan. We also had quite a nice surf there and Ursula the hardcore surfer managed to snap her leg rope.

Next stop was Cape Conran. On the way to Cape Conran we stopped at a surf shop to get Ursula a new leg rope and we couldn't resist getting a new hoody each as well. We justified it by remembering how cold we had been getting before Melbourne. It was still Easter but we managed to squeeze in on the site that this nice bloke had booked for a friend who hadn't shown up. The same nice bloke came around later and sorted out our camp fire when he saw Alex feebly trying to light huge bits of damp fire wood that we had bought from the campsite shop. He chopped it all up with an axe and the fire went up beautifully and we cooked some lovely sausages. We also had a good surf once we managed maneuver around a few rippy parts of the beach.

Dan's major tip was a place just over the New South Wales border called Saltwater Creek. And we can say that in terms of beauty it really did live up to it's billing. The road down to it was however rather hair raising. There were 18 km of very bumpy dirt track from the highway down to the campsite. We were simultaneously thinking that the van would fall to bits and that the road would never end. Yet again we just managed to squeeze in because it was still around Easter but everyone there was so friendly. One guy invited us to a free Sausage Sizzle and whilst we were there another few guys offered to lend us their canoes. We took them up on their offer and paddled up along Saltwater Creek all through the rain forest; it was really cool. The wildlife there was great too because as soon as we arrived we saw our first Goanna and it was a biggy, much bigger than any we have seen since.

We then headed into the Blue Mountains, via Kangaroo Valley, to the main town Katoomba. The Blue Mountains are get their name from the blue haze which rises from the vast number of Gum trees there are. When in Katoomba there are a few musts, which are going Echo Point and to take a ride on the scenic cable cars and railway. Ursula was not exactly over the moon about going on all the scenic rides because of her somewhat extreme fear of heights. However, she had no choice because Alex dragged her on and she was happy she went on them in the end. We went on the railway first and it is this old mining railway that was converted to tourism ages ago. It's the steepest in the world and goes at 55 degrees at the steepest. All three were good fun and you get some really amazing views of the Blue Mountains.

After going high into the air we fancied going under ground, which is quite convenient really because the famous Jenolan Caves were near by. Jenolan Caves are a really massive system of caves but the access to them is in the bottom of a steep sided valley with two really narrow, steep, winding roads coming in. At the bottom the only things there are a visitors centre and a hotel so the overall feel is that it is quite isolated, especially at night when all the day tourists have left. The drive down was so challenging and scary (because of big drops and no barriers to the side) that we were amazed when we got down and found that full sized coaches had come down the same way.

We took a guided tour around the Jenolan Caves with a tour guide from Bristol. He was telling us that he was going to semi-retire in a few years and go on an exchange so that he could finish up working in Cheddar Gorge caves. He was a nice guy but he had the slightly unusual tour guiding technique of repeating everything he said three times. The caves themselves very impressive; lots of really cool formations lit up in all sorts of cool ways.

At this point in our trip we were getting a bit fed up of freezing to death every night in the camper. Ursula also really liked the look of the hotel, oddly enough because it reminded her of the hotel in the film 'The Shining'. So we decided to treat ourselves to a night in the hotel with an en suite bathroom and without frost bite.

The next port of call was our friends' house in Stanwell Park just south of Sydney, on the coast. We met Sara and Phil when they were travelling around the world themselves, whilst they were in London. Since we last saw them they have had a cute baby boy called Oliver and have a very bouncy golden Labrador named Jet (although Alex thought for quite a while that he was called Jeff). Stanwell Park is such a great place: very picturesque cliffs and greenery; nice little community; and a surfable beach.

Sara and Phil looked after us so well and we had a really great time with them. Phil used his contacts at a horse schooling and selling stable to get us a ride on some really nice horses. For free! Alex is not the most experienced rider and he was quite unaccustomed to riding a horse that actually went where he wanted rather than just following the leader. It was a really great ride.

After that we went to the beach to access the possibility of going for a surf. However, there was quite a large swell in the area at the time and the Stanwell Park beach is quite exposed to the ocean swell. The upshot is that we were abit scared to go out; and rightly so. In the end we decided to go out part way and see what we could catch but it was really messy and still quite big so we chickened out.

The next couple of nights were spent on the Sydney beaches - Bondi and Manly. We had a couple of surfs here of varying quality, followed by lots of high quality cocktails and ice cream. .

So finally, our travels continue as we move on up the coast... more details to follow soon!

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Photos

Koala
This one actualy moved a bit.

View from Mt Oberon
Pretty nice hey!

Wombat
... or is it a Crocodile?

Cape Conran
Sporting our brand new hoodies. Don't we look pleased with them.

Alex showing off
... as usual. At Saltwater Creek.

Big Goana
At Saltwater Creek.

Camp fire at Saltwater Creek
Alex got this one going all by himself.

Canoe experts
The yellow one had a tendency to go around in circles. Or was it just the driver.

Cool waterfall
In the Blue Mountains

Ursula looking a little pale.
After getting off the steepest railway in the world. Quite scary!

Under ground in the Jenolan Caves.
Plus groovy lighting.

Big surf at Stanwell Park
Now can you see why we were too scared to go out properly.

Alex saying bye to his horse
... and saying thanks for not throwing him off.