Aussie Roadtrip: Merimbula

A very early start to catch sunrise meant we were on the road ahead of a lot of the other traffic. Drivers were blinking their car headlights left, right and centre as we headed out to the highway and I assumed a police car detecting speed would be round the bend. Slowing right down turned out to be excellent timing as I avoided a small kanga positioned in the centre of my lane. (So far the only incident has involved a suicidal kookaburra.) Around the next bend there had been a nasty head on collision with police and fireys in attendance. Turning around Percy, we needed to take another route to the highway. 

With such an early start, it was easy work to get to Nooroomba (an Aboriginal word for "blue water").  Allegedly due to a spelling mistake on the part of the postmaster, its name changed to Narooma. 

Beautiful Narooma

Violent pelicans in a feeding frenzy

What bird is this?

It seems that early attempts to set this up as a busy port failed, mainly on account of the fact that it seems a pretty lousy spot for a port.  It seems like ships had to intentionally beach themselves on the bar, then wait for a wave to bring them over the top and make a sharp left turn.  Various attempts at creating a breakwater seem to have had little effect on making it a safer place to access, and I think people may have given up by the early 20th century.  Nevertheless many have recognised it as a beautiful place to visit, and regular tourism seems to have been a feature since the 30's. 

This breakwater makes it "safer?"

We discovered that the couple behind Streets ice-creams retired to this community and put a lot of effort into community projects.  Kat couldn't help but get into a giant paddle pop they had left just lying there.  

Paddle Pops!

Our plan to catch some waves was thwarted by numerous nasty looking bluebottles, and we opted to briefly read in the sun before kicking on.  

No swimming - bluebottles everywhere!

What trip of these parts would be complete without stopping at Bega to try out all of the cheeses with which we are already very familiar?  The Bega experience was worth the stop, not just for the cheese, but running through their museum and arts and crafts from the region upstairs.  The main takeaway, in case anyone cares to travel so far for petrol, is that the local businesses seem to have lost all sense in a race to the bottom on prices.  For the first time in many years, you could get petrol for less than a dollar a litre!  For those without a Coles voucher, you had to pay a measly $1.03/L!!!   The teller obviously had many people commenting on it to him throughout his day, and was not at all interested in my enthusiasm.  The rule of our roadtrip has been if we see it for less than $1.20/L, we stop.

Crazy competition!

Bega Cheese Museum

The views from our temporary home at Merimbula were magnificent.  It would have been a great spot to whale-watch if we were there in the right season.  It seems that very few people camp anymore, and less care to camp or caravan in an unpowered site, so we had the run of the unpowered section of the park effectively to ourselves, it was a beautiful space.

TENT PHOTO! - Note my beard is now visible in shadow

Sun set near our Merimbula campsite

Aussie Roadtrip: Jervis Bay and Australia's smallest territory

After stopping off for coffees at Café Llewellyn, which had been taken over and renamed Drift, we left Newcastle. Phone kerfuffle’s have followed us since we left Melbourne and today reached an all time high. For a large part of the trip we have had 4 phones and 2 sims, with my sim fitting in the two worst phones. My iPhone, having survived the world, began to only function after a burst in the fridge. Occasionally holding it in front of the car air conditioner would help. After many complicated swapping of SIMs and incompatibility problems all up the east coast, a frustrated person (okay it was me) may have put a SIM card in a micro SD slot. That is, jammed it in the slot where it doesn’t belong. This meant a rather longer than intended stop in a Wollongong shopping centre for repairs. To further the pain of the day, I bent my earring whilst removing a SIM card from the iPhone and later accidentally threw both SIM card and earrings into a bin at a lighthouse stop. DOLPHIN SANDS ROAD!!!

In my defence, I had rather a tumultuous morning of illness that involved Rob driving frantically in circles looking for a bathroom. I then had to break up a friendly gang of bikies to get to the toilet. 

In good news, I recovered my plastic pocket containing earring and SIM card from the bin before we left the Kiama Blowhole. (Unfortunately I think the bus driver parked next to the bin probably thinks I am a drug runner.) I also began to feel better late afternoon. 

Should you be interested, the Kiama Blowhole is an interesting site to visit (best done at high tide if you can manage it, although it still makes impressive sounds at low tide) that was first documented by Europeans in the late 18^th century.  It’s called a blowhole because it does a pretty neat impression of a whale when conditions are right.  The site is even topped with a chronologically impaired lighthouse.

Kiama Blowhole

Kiama Lighthouse (celebrating 100 years of the ANZAC)

Despite our best efforts, we made it to the Jervis Bay Caravan Park, which was a lovely spot almost at the mouth of Currambene Creek. Features include a solar heated spa, a pool with a slippery slide large enough for big kids (these two included), boatramp, jacarandas, bottle brushes, ducks, Charlie the dancing corella, king parrots, and a close and terrifyingly loud possum and away from any built up towns.  A highly rateable place to camp or stay although we would like to pose an open question to Australia; when, how and why did it become ‘normal’ to turn caravans into permanent fixtures with decks and other attachments?

TENT PHOTO!

Charlie the Corella

A day to explore Jervis Bay (while being observed by a Royal Australian Navy helicopter) introduced us to many marvels of the area.  Those marvels being beautiful white sands, clear turquoise waters, talkative black cockatoos, occasional cyclonic winds, flying sticks, leaping dry leaves and tremendous heat.  

Black cockatoo

Staying cool on a roasting hot day

Unfortunately the latter elements combined to create that horrifying element of the Australian landscape; an out of control bushfire we could see burning on the far side of the bay near the cleverly named Point Perpendicular.  At one point the only clear landmark to be made out through the smoke was the lighthouse standing tall atop the rocks.  Since leaving Jervis we found out that a live mortar fire exercise from the ADF Beecroft Weapons Range (where a friend may or may not have been training) went on at the time of the fire causing much speculation. Firefighters contained the blaze just 700 metres from homes in nearby Currarong.

Beautiful Jervis Bay waters near Huskisson

Jervis Bay with the bushfire plume in the distance

Lighthouse through the bushfire haze (and you can see why it is called Point Perpendicular)

It was scorching on Huskisson Beach mid-morning. We interchanged 10 minutes reading with 5 minutes swimming and kept up the routine until the sun got far too hot. Taking refuge at café in town for some postcard writing, we enjoyed some cool drinks and avoided the most harmful rays of the day. By the time we had taken a short wander around town, driven towards Hyam’s Beach and lunched at a nearby picnic table, the afternoon sun was not as severe. Chinaman’s Beach (name unexplained on the net) was beautiful but the wind/sand combination pierced our skin and we relocated to our intended destination, the somewhat more sheltered Hyam’s Beach. The shores reputedly have some of the whitest sand in the world. Needless to say we resumed our swim/reading routine from the morning, this time with a tennis ball to keep us distracted from the now increasingly cool waters.

Hyam's Beach

Rob goes exploring (bushfire smoke on the right) - Chinaman's Beach

Rob sitting amongst the rocks - Chinaman's Beach

Sunrise from our campsite

Ducks at sunrise

Jervis Bay is certainly a lovely area and before I knew more about the history of our country I could speculate as to why the ACT snatched part of it up. Turns out that part of Jervis Bay was surrendered by NSW in 1915 to provide Canberra with a seaport. I originally thought the whole area was part of the ACT, but in fact the Jervis Bay Territory owned by the Commonwealth included the southern settlements of Greenpatch, Hyams Beach and Bowen Island. The northern part of the bay is part of NSW. Therefore we were actually hopping between NSW and ACT for the day. Nice to know!

Aussie Roadtrip: Port Macquarie

Saying goodbye to Andrea we hopped in the car for a rather lengthy drive to Port Macquarie. We had a delightful morning bakery stop in the seaside village of Lennox Head and made a snap judgement that we’d like to visit again. I couldn’t help but feeling that although Byron was nice, the traffic congestion and other minor issues might too easily getting in the way of a relaxing beach day. Lennox Head is smaller and the pace seems slower (as evidenced by the time we spent buying postal stamps!). As a Victorian I would wager that Lennox Head is to Apollo Bay as Byron is to Lorne. (Obviously there are differences and loyalists to any of these towns will likely be offended by my statements!)

Lennox Head 

Aside from Rob trying to eat a BIG BANANA on the way through, it was then pretty much full steam ahead to Port Macquarie. We did make a few short stops along the way, the most notable being at the Honey Place (a bee museum/café in Urgunga). I knew bees were amazing but the video and hive there refreshed my love of bees -as did the honeycomb we feasted on. What other animals perform beautiful and complicated dances to share the proximity and direction of food? Actually, if you know of one please let me know!

Hooray I am going to eat a big banana today!

Oh no! I shut my mouth at the wrong time!

I will keep it open in case we find the big pineapple!

Busy little bee

In Port Mac we stayed at a campsite next to Flynn’s Beach. (Also located near a street with a wonderful name –see photo below!) The weather on our first full day in town was not the clear sky and sun we had become accustomed to since leaving Sydney. It wasn’t terrible either. We had a slow morning, took some walks and read our books at a park overlooking one of the nine local beaches.  

An excited Chalmersarian

Traditional tent photo 

Near our campsite was a koala hospital that ran tours at 3pm. It included detail about the various ailments and diseases koalas suffer from (road accidents and chlamydia common) and an introduction to current residents. A few koalas will be there until they die but, where possible, the aim of the centre is to rehabilitate koalas back into the wild. One of the koalas lost a leg and the vets weren’t sure if she would be able to look after her joey. Usually a joey will receive pap from their mother whilst in the pouch. Pap, decomposed elements of eucalyptus leaves, helps joeys develop a taste for the leaves, provides adequate nutrition and included a specific gut bacteria needed for a koalas digestion of the gum leaves. In this case, the Mother managed to fulfil this role despite her challenges, the joey was released into the wild and Mum continued on, amazingly mobile. Then there was a big storm and she fell from her tree onto a clothesline damaging her eyes and losing her sight. She is apparently the most popular koala at the centre – what a trooper. It was sad hearing about the declining koala count due to loss of suitable environments.

Koala hospital

Food time

Yummy!

A climber

Munch munch munch

In the evening we went on sunset and dolphin cruise, recommended by our travel friends Jenny and Ben. They had missed out on seeing dolphins but we went one worse and didn’t have a visible sunset either! It was still fun seeing a bit of the way of life around the port and rivers. We had a much loved dog for our neighbour who was happy as he scored a few scooby snacks along the way. A young sea-goer (aged 5 or 6) was thrilled at the opportunity to steer the boat.

"Must love dogs"

Waking up to a roasting warm tent, Rob and I suspected that outside would be much cooler. It usually is. It always seems to me like the tent is trying to trick you into thinking it is a good beach day. Today it was actually warm again! We celebrated with yoga on the beach and some rough body boarding at Flynn’s beach.

Flynn's beach from the roadside 

In the afternoon we learnt about the area’s history and the town museum. The highlight was learning about how Edmund Barton had come to town to encourage a vote for federation. Previously the town members were rather ambivalent on the matter. In an unrelated somewhat random display on infants and motherhood, I also learnt that the invention of a banana shaped milk bottle for feeding babies reduced the amount of bacterial infection. The previous bottle was not on display but it apparently had some sort of tube for bacteria to build up in. I had never really thought about the fact that bottles might have been shaped in anything other than an upright position. There you go!

A dinner picnic overlooking the port was a lovely way to spend our final evening and discover that the town can indeed put on a sunset.

Moody sunset

Amsterdam Loves You

Having left our bookings a little late for the peak time to be on holiday in Europe, we ended up living a somewhat festival-like experience in Amsterdam..but without the music.

The canteens at Dutch campsites provide everything from eggs to lollies, camping stoves to pastries and 3 course dinners.  Amsterdam was absolutely no exception.  The very idea of personal space was laughable, every square inch of grass was used (even the parts that are no longer grass) and, even with thousands of visitors, the WiFi was, bafflingly, good enough to have a Skype interview (as that need did happen to arise).  

Camping Zeeburg was a pretty easy 20 minute tram ride from the city centre, close to the inter-city bus park and it had a fantastic restaurant/bar and well equipped laundry, kitchenette with hotplates and vending machines.  But, if you are one who kind of likes the green space between your tent and the next, not waiting in line at the toilet and avoiding the 'special Amsterdam scent' then Zeeburg might not be the place for you, at least, not in summer.  Never-the-less it was a cultural experience.  

Get friendly with your neighbours

While in town, we had two reunions, an informative walking tour from a South African local, a look at Amsterdam Museum and a truly memorable visit to Anne Frank Huis and enjoyed wandering along the canals.

Amazing carpet at Amsterdam Museum that represents the
179 nationalities living in the city

The first reunion was with a bunch of my old work friends from Melbourne (who are still friends despite me leaving). It was grand to catch up with the motley group of Steve, Will, Josh and Phil as they danced, walked and blasted their way through Berlin, Amsterdam and Budapest. Kat had found a great activity for us; some cheese, some stroopwafels, some insanely expensive grapes, some beer and wine, a boat and a basic 2 minute instruction course - what else do you really need?  Well, not a shirt, that's for sure; within 5 minutes Steve was doing it like a local, shirt off enjoying the sun.  Phil was left in charge of the map (a good thing too), as Will and I steered our little dinghy around the canals, dodging tourist boats, luxury homes, bridges and rusting bicycles.  Kat and Josh just came to look pretty, and settle the disputes...oh and take the photos.

Dodging bridges (Steve jumped over it)

Bridge successfully dodged

The Anne Frank Huis and museum was extremely popular with tourists.  The smart ones, booked online, ahead of time allowing them to just straight to the start of the line. We tried that but the allocation was already full so we lined up from very early in the morning with the rest of them, buying over-priced coffee and making chit-chat in the line.  I actually had my head in my phone as my friend DJ had just announced the exciting news that he and his wife Christie are expecting twins!  Thanks for helping me spend the time DJ!

While waiting, we were entertained by this bloke on the canal, whose boat drove itself in circles while he sang and trumpeted in time to the nearby clock tower.  It was quite a performance!

Entertainment outside Anne Frank Huis

The Anne Frank was a great museum, and worth the wait. It was very high on Kat's agenda as she had read the book at a young age and been profoundly affected by it. When my family visited Amsterdam in '94 I don't think I was quite ready to understand everything we were told about the place other than Anne Frank lived there.  Actually, one of Dad's favourite stories is to recall how we went on a walking tour, and the guide discreetly warned him that we would be going through the Red Light District, and perhaps it wasn't suitable for an 8 & 10 year-old, Dad told him not to worry about it; in fact, I remember that conversation more than I remember the tour, so I'd say for this part at least, we were a bit too young to fully understand or appreciate it all.  Maybe I should also point out that I really couldn't understand how a windmill could be used to move water from one place to another, but I just had to accept it at face value.

Anne Frank Huis

Back to the museum, I really got a lot from it, and should read the book.  As we stood in the final reception room, seeing comments left from visitors and dignitaries over the years, I was forced to reflect on the places we have been, and the things we have learned or to which we have been further exposed (S-21 & the Killing Fields in Cambodia spring to mind).  Learning this history and reflecting on it, makes me weary of empty but well meaning statements like "we should not let this happen again", but we must try to learn from our past and remember to extend a helping hand to those who need it.  

Anyone know what these are?

Our second reunion was with Katie and Premtim (well, it was a reunion for me and Katie at any rate).  I think it had been 10 years since Katie and I had seen each other, what a way to do it!  Unfortunately we missed out on meeting up with Kirsten by 2 or 3 days. After several introductions, we caught up about old friends (many of whom recently met up at the International House 50 year reunion) and we talked about where we are going next.  Premtim gave us some great ideas for Eastern Europe, and hopefully one day we can get to see some of the places he mentioned in Albania.  

Catching up with Katie and meeting Premtim