Here's a bit more!!

Well it has been a long time since we left that ferry port in Victoria, actually it’s only about 2 weeks but it feels like a lifetime. I will start from the beginning and try not to miss out any of the exciting details – I should inform you that I am so hell bent on updating the blog I am actually typing as we go along plugged into the cigarette lighter in the van – although you may think my hearts not really in it I can assure you that it is and I have been keeping notes to remind me of all the things I want to share with you all. So here we go ..

Day 7 - Well we got to Melbourne . I think I mentioned that it was pretty rough on the crossing Somehow or other I managed to sleep but El looked properly possessed as we drove of the ferry – and kept saying “I didn’t like it” We decided to get out of Melbourne and so started our journey up the East Coast It was strange seeing our home again ( we swung by to steal the mail out of the letter box) and not being able to retreat inside of Rupert . we decided that we’d need a big breakfast inside us to prepare us for the coming journey so we went to our favourite eatery ( or one of them ) Kat Beloo for some food and then to the letting agents to claim back the bond. It turned out that although we had dropped the keys and all the paper work back into the office nobody had bothered to check the property in the 6 days we’d been gone. I had a small debate with the lady behind the reception desk and got the matter sorted out, sure enough 2 days later we had the cash. It is actually quite a good job they didn’t check as I did managed to spill 1 glass of red wine, and one rum and coke over our 9 months stay and although both stains have been hidden well with the unique placement of furniture no amount of scrubbing would get them out!!

We drove ( I say we – El drove) a total of 270km and as the majority of it was on the Hume Freeway there was really very little of interest to see, we stopped in Wangaratta a pretty little town famous for it’s Jazz festival – we arrived at lunch time so we popped into town and had a little walk around, and got a coffee and our usual supply of leaflets and flyers to browse through. We had found a small campsite just out of the township and although it had no facilities we managed to cook up a rather nice dinner before turning in at the newly appointed bedtime of 8:30. It is very hard trying to go to sleep so early, but it does at least mean that we wake up early!
Day 8 – We woke up to a rather cold morning, which wouldn’t be quite as bad if it wasn’t for the desperation with which you needed to use the facilities, trying to pull on a jumper, socks and shoes and then hot footing halfway across a 2 acre campsite before you wet yourself is not the best start to the day it must be said. We made some coffee and decided that we would visit Canberra. This was our first mistake. Canberra is not really the sort of place that anyone should feel the need to visit, It is the makeshift capital of this fair country and it must be said they have a lovely collection of art galleries ( we went to the National portrait Gallery ) but on the whole it feels very much like somebody gave a child a pair of compasses and said “ draw as many circles as you can and then we’ll turn your drawing into a city” It was not the place for us so we drove out of town and found a campsite. (440km)
a very strange things happened next.
Next to the campsite ( which was just off the main road out of Canberra – imagine a motorway ) was a pub. The pub had a restaurant and as we fancied a night off cooking we went to the pub for dinner. As we approached we saw a man staggering toward s the car park we then watched with absolute amazement and horror as he reached for his Ute door missed the handle and fell over – I have never in my life seen anyone that drunk – let alone seen anyone that drunk trying to drive, We went in the pub and had some food and then a lady came around and asked us if we would like to buy some tickets for the “Meat raffle” El and I thoughts this was really funny and looked around to see a mountain of meat assembled and a man with a microphone and a random number generator stood on a table. Not wanting to appear rude we brought 2 strips – and silently we both hoped that we didn’t win!
What a strange evening that was.
Day 9 – Desperate to put the crop circles of Canberra and the bizarreness of the Meat raffle behind us we set out6 for Sydney – (160km) It wasn’t long before we arrived but we did decide that we’d book into a hostel as all the camp sites were quite far of town and we wanted to be able to explore.
We booked into a YHA hostel in Bondi one of Sydney's coastal suburbs we had our own room and a great view of the coast. As El went off on an adventure down the beach I caught up on the blog and we went down to Bondi Beach for dinner and a beer, El had discovered a Bavarian Beer Cafe with the biggest beers ever 2 litres per glass. We did not order those but enjoyed a beer under the stars , and for the first time in a long while we sat out side ( with our coats on ) and did not freeze.
As we chatted about our adventures so far that night in our bunk beds back at the hostel , it was abundantly clear that we were both exceptionally glad to have a proper bed to sleep in and I don’t think we even finished our conversation before we were both fast asleep.
Day 10. Last night I had tried really hard to buy a bus ticket. The guy in the shop had pulled out about 20 different tickets and asked me which one I wanted. As I only new where I was staying and that at some point or other we’d want to see the harbour bridge I tried requesting a ticket for that journey, I still didn’t get anywhere so in the end we brought a couple of tickets and decided we’d just see what happened. El’s sister Tam has a friend who moved out to Sydney to live and El had contacted her to see if she wanted to meet up, so it was arranged that we;d meet them for breakfast . So we set off ( with our bus tickets ) for ‘Bills ‘ Clare had sent us the address and we felt fairly confident that we could find it in the hour we had allotted. We got the bus to Bondi Junction and then the driver pulled into the terminal everyone else got off. El and I did not. Then he turned the lights out and I became slightly suspicious that we may be on the wrong bus, I got up and he yelled
“Crikey – what are you doing on the bus”
I apologised and we both bundled off, we then started walking, it took a while and we were never really sure if were gonna get there but finally a nice man helped us with some easy to follow directions and we arrived. It was lovely meeting Clare and Lloyd they gave us some sound advise on places to visit and the food was very tasty.
The rest of the day was spent exploring Sydney, we went to the opera house and then took a boat to darling Harbour, the sun was shining and it was a lovely day for just walking about and finding our way. We sat and had a drink and then took the mono rail into the city, we wandered back to china town and had Dumplings for dinner
We had arranged to meet El’s old boss for a drink whilst we were in Sydney and we had a colourful evening but as we planned an early get away the next morning we were in bed by midnight.

Day 11
We set out for Newcastle, our next port of call on the way up the coast. Clare and Lloyd had recommended stopping at seal rocks, and so we headed that way first. It was a stunning coastal spot with a beautiful beach and we had lunch on a blanket surrounded by seagulls . El walked up to the small lighthouse and from the top spotted a pod of whales of the coast, as we drove along the coast we followed them and watched them splash up the water.
Newcastle was a fair drive and by the time we reached the centre it was dark. Completely at a lost as to where the campsite was I nipped into a nearby hotel and was lucky enough to be faced with a helpful lady who brought me up a map on google, unluckily for us the camp site was on an island and a 40 minute drive away, with the map in my head off we set and finally we made it. The campsite was not great. We had a pitch next to a small group of incredibly drunk rowdy ruffians concerned for our safety ( or more accurately the chance of sleeping ) we went to the camp kitchen to cook tea and watch some TV. El ran back to the van to get some salt and pepper and was privy to a rather colourful shouting match between the campsite owners and the people in question and then witnessed them being forcibly ejected.
We enjoyed our dinner watched TV until we were tired and vowed to lock all the doors ( although of course we lock all the doors every night)




Day 12 – After all the worry of the night before we ended up having a goods night sleep and were ready for another day of driving – which is what we got, we made plenty of stops up the coast and went to several beaches and quite a few lookouts, it is a funny old thing but most of the places along this stretch are not really villages – they are resorts, 20-40 houses built to all look the same within walking distance to the beach it’s not really representative of anything and El and I are reminded of Toy towns with everything painted pastel and inhabited by a robot nation.
We got stuck in one such town as there was a roundabout with 4 exits 1 exit led out of town 3 exits took you on a circular tour and brought you back to the roundabout – very very odd.on attempt 4 we made it out but ended up being trapped on the road by 3 dogs. As they were in the road El stopped , when they went to the side we started driving – and then the game began. We moved, they ran in front of the van we stopped. This continued for at least 10 minutes and by the end of it I was practically screaming at El to just run them over!!
We made it out and under the cover of darkness we pulled into Taree.
I was on the phone to my dad and being that one doesn’t often get to talk to anyone from home I was completely oblivious to the fact that not only had El found a campsite, paid for a pitch she had also managed to turn the van into a time machine and transport us back to the 50’s. The campsite was odd. But to be honest every campsite in Australia bar about 2 is odd. Now may be a good time to fill you in on the oddness.

The main factor to determine where you should stay often falls into 3 categories
Proximity to your location at the time of dusk ( thus avoiding driving at peak roadkill hours)
Recommendation from either guide books or tourist info
On seeing the caravan site does it look like you may get killed in the night.
Point 3 being the most important. One of the factors to help you determine this can be the presence of Permies. Permies are people that permanently reside on the campsite, often erecting small fences or gardens next to their caravans, most have satellite dishes on the floor or small dirty children playing with a used shoe in the road. It is true that however much one tries not to judge such folk when you are being heckled over the top of a broken down washing machine about the duration of your planned stay and being glared at through the window by a women with a menial stare you tend to try and avoid camping amongst those that call the place home.
This place had its fair share of permies but as we rocked up in the dark and departed before anyone was really aware of our presence we managed to avoid speaking to another soul.



Day 13 & Day 14
We drove a short way to crescent heads, and found a lovely campsite of the seafront and through we’d stop for a couple of nights and have a nice relaxing time. It was very peacefull and despite the wind the sun did come out for short intervals between the rain showers. Opposite the campsite was a club, it wasn’t a night club, it was a community club, and like every place we had driven through it had 2 things A bottle-o ( off licence ) and a bowls green.
Now in England I have never really given much consideration to the game of bowls, El agrees with me, it is something we had relegated in our minds as dull and perhaps considered it to be the game of choice for the elder generations. Well, let me tell you, Bowls is a very enjoyable and challenging sport and anyone who has ever felt other wise should quick smart get themselves down to a green and roll a few woods.
For less than a fiver we managed to borrow 2 sets of woods a kitty ( or jack ) 2 mats and our very own green ( we also got a few tips and told to take our shoes off as we did not have the appropriate footwear ) had it not been for the oncoming torrential downpour I think we would have spent the best part of the day there, but the weather drove us inside and we had to make do with a couple of beers instead.
We had a powered site which basically means we get to run an extension cable out the window and charge our phones and laptops, El had managed to join the local video shop and so we watched the changeling on the lap top . This made a nice change from rummy ( the only card game we know )

I know I know ...I'm still behind, but you can't knock the effort ...

Love you all xxx