After leaving the Blue Mountains we headed for Canberra which is 183 miles and the route is all single winding lanes with slow speeds. The first 100 miles we saw nothing but dead kangaroos and possums every mile, not sure Australia has any live ones left. So finally came to a small town called Taralga where we stopped for a coffee at the only cafe. The owner told us the next town was bigger and only down the road. We reached Goulburn at 5.30 and found a lovely camp/caravan site where we checked in for the night. All the sites so far are really nice and for $25 (£12) a night is fantastic value, just not enough wifi. Up quite early for breakfast of porridge and toast as a long drive today.
The drive to the capital Canberra was an easy one with not a lot of traffic but again a lot of road kills and we keep joking that we will never see a live kangaroo. It was good, that the day we were in Canberra was a bank holiday so we could park right in the city center for free and not many people about. We called into the information center for some maps and of course free wifi. Our first stop is the Australian War Memorial, OMG what a place, it's huge and you could spend all day there. It traces the history of Australia and the wars it has been involved in. Once a year Canberra hosts Floridia, which is the local park laid out in every kind of flowers from around the world. The smell in the park was amazing with all flowers in full bloom, the temperature this day was well over 30 and I must admit I'm struggling with the heat. We walked around the shops to find a place to get a cold drink but a lot were shut due to the holiday but good old McDonalds was open. Now chilled we headed back to the car so we could drive to the lake and then up the government building. The government building is very impressive but it's so huge it's best to view from down the road. Canberra is an impressive capital, very clean but too cultural for me.
We decided to move on and find a camp site for the night, we drove to Cooma which took a couple of hours. Cooma is where the skiing is done on the snowy mountains which seems strange as its been so hot and as you drive down the street it's full of ski hire shops, bizarre.
It was dark by the time we got to the camp so we just parked up and starting cooking some dinner from the back of the van as the camp kitchen was a bit naff. There was some people sitting around a fire pit so we took our dinner and joined them around the fire. They were 2 brothers, Tony and Brian who had just cycled 2000kms and were chilling with Brian's wife Kathy. We spent the next 3 hours chatting about their trip, our travel plans, the royal family, you name it we talked about it. The next morning after we had all packed up we exchanged our address as they had invited us to stay with them on our way around Australia. Tony in Queensland and Bryan in Auburn.
Very very hot day and I'm still struggling with the heat and after driving most of the day we got to The Lakes Beach Retreat camp site about 3pm as we wanted to enjoy the rest of the day without driving. The site is on the coast and the beach is a 5 minute walk away, it's called the 90 mile beach and it's gorgeous with only us on it. One slight problem, you can't go into the sea due to the strong currents and sharks. An hour long walk along the beach was great with the crushing waves and strong winds. On coming back to the camp we did some washing and made use of the swimming pool here. After a nice shower and some dinner we had domestic chores to do like get the washing sorted and a tidy up. There is a storm brewing tonight and the temperature has dropped so could be a restless night. Well the night wasn't at all restless and I'm starting to sleep well, the morning brought more sunshine. After leaving the site we headed for some viewpoints just after the Lakes and they were amazing, being able to view the whole area from above.
Now on our way to Phillip Island which resembles the Isle of Wright with the same names such as Cowes and Vendor. Called in at the information center and brought some tickets to the local tourist attractions and asked about camp site. We ended up at the Anchorage camp site which was pretty poor but it was close to the stuff we wanted to see and do. That night we went to the Penguin Parade, it was bloody freezing but well worth the wait to see these little birds come out of the sea and waddle up the beach looking for their nests. Couldn't get warm after that even with a hot drink and I froze most of the night. In the morning it was lovely sunshine again but grumpy as I hadn't sleep well. After breakfast we drove to the tip of the island Nobbies where the sea is very rough and thousands of sea birds are nesting. From there we visited the Koalas at the conservation center and from there we went over to Churchill Island to see the heritage farm.
Finally on route to Melbourne along the coastal road which has breath taking views of the coast line and an amazing sunset. We have opted to sleep in a car park overlooking the sea for the night as its free and a nice place. It's great being outside and cooking a meal out the back of the camper.
The station is across the road and if you travel by train you can park in their car park for free, so we brought a Myki card which cost $6.00 then you top it up and you use it for all transport in Melbourne. Melbourne again is a city with high rise office blocks and thousands of people milling around. The city has a tram system which travels all over the city and very regular, we jumped on one to the state library. This library, like Sydney is amazing and used for everything, this building is circular with a huge dome. You can walk the 6 floors which are full of books and the history of Melbourne. While there we needed the wifi so we could sort out our trip to Tasmania, finally after 2 hours we have booked flights, hotel, car hire and car parking at the airport for our Tarago.
Melbourne has a couple of streets of graffiti art, which to be honest was just a mess on the walls but they call it art here.
Melbourne has a very moving Shine of Remembrance, the design is pyramid like with a crypt and a history of the Australians at war, again a good few hours could be spend here. If you climb the steps to the top of the shine you can get some great city views.
Across from the shine is the Royal Botanical Gardens where we had a rest in the shade before the walk around the gardens. From the gardens we walked back to the city via the river where the rowing clubs were practicing. The buildings in the center are a mixed of modern and really old nothing in between, even the council building is a mini parliament with a clock like Big Ben. China town is like china town everywhere just full of restaurants and cafés.
Got back to Brighton Beach about 6.30 and decided to eat out so we headed for the local chippy.
Fish and chips dinner and the fish was shark (mainly the gummy shark) which I might say was nice, they don't call it shark but flake. Back to the car park we now call home for another night and tomorrow we are staying here so we can enjoy the beach and sort stuff out ready for Tasmania.
Up early and kettle on so we can have a wash and tidy up. I washed my hair with the beach shower, a bit messy but did the job. Scrambled eggs for breakfast cooked on the beach, how good is that? It's a bit overcast today so a nice long walk along the beach where we found a dog beach, great watching all these dogs playing in the sea. We walked for about 2hrs so when we got back a sandwich and a cuppa was called for and a chill for the rest of the day I think.
No comments:
Post a Comment