So we left Sydney and headed south on a very grey, rainy day.
Our first stop was Kiama, which is famous for its 'blowhole' If the conditions are right, the waves crash into the rocks and a plume of water is shot up to 60m into the air through the rock. I can tell you, it was so wet and windy that the conditions were just right, and the blowhole had the wow factor for all of us!
Our next stop, before the long drive to our overnight stay at Batemans Bay, was at Hyams beach. Due to the weather, it was empty, but it had the whitest sand I'd ever seen at a beach - even whiter and finer than at Boracay!!
The boys played up and down the beach, and we went off walking along the beach, before stopping for afternoon tea, ready for the next leg of our trip.
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| I love this photo of John & his mum!! |
After eating breakfast on the harbour at Batemans Bay, we headed off on the next leg of our trip, and called into a little town called Central Tilba. A town for the tourists, it was still as it was a hundred years ago, and was full of craft shops, old fashioned sweet shops, old pubs, and tiny bakeries. We spent a bit of time here, buying pies and cakes for our picnic lunch. Our next evening was spent in Pambula - a lovely little place famous for oysters - not that we had any as none of us like oysters! But we sat on the beach while the boys played, and watched the sun go down - beautiful!
We decided to see what Mimosa Rocks National Park was all about, and after taking one of the many turnings off the highway (the park is huge and covers vast areas of coastline), we stumbled across Middle Beach. What a sight! and it was empty, so we had the whole place to ourselves for our picnic lunch.
Next we headed across the NSW/Victoria border to Lakes Entrance. a se side type place, popular with holiday makers. It's also the start of ninety mile beach. As we sat on the beach in the late afternoon, a group of dolphins swam past and you could see them frolicking about in the waves & they were swimming very close to the shore! On the way back to our apartment, we were walking across a footbridge that links the beach to the town, and Adam managed to kick off one of his flip flops into the water below. We all found it hilariously funny, but poor Adam was mortified, and didn't stop crying for what seemed like hours! There was no hope of us retrieving said flip flop, so we told him to throw the other one in the bin (which made him even more upset!), and we had to buy him a new pair of crocs. To this day, he doesn't really like those crocs, as I think it reminds him of the flip flop incident!
Onward to Philip Island of fairy penguin fame. We saw the penguins, koalas, seals, visited the chocolate factory, went on a boat (to see the seals), played on the beach, stayed in a great farmhouse, and basically really enjoyed Philip Island!
Then it was onto Melbourne for a couple of days. We rode the (free) tram around the city, went up to the 88th floor of the Eureka building (tallest in the southern hemisphere, I think?), visited Melbourne Cricket Ground where the boys enjoyed the interactive sport museum, and John was in cricket heaven in other ares of the museum! We shopped at the Victoria markets - fabulous food, coffee, souvenir didgeridoos (that only adam can seem to play, bizarrely!), and an indiginous painting that I've yet to have framed & hung on the wall. The comedy festival was on while we were there, so there was lots to see and do. I fell in love with Melbourne, and I found it to have a much more 'European' feel to it than Sydney. I'll definitely go back there - maybe just with the girls on a shopping weekend?!
We headed back to Sydney inland, and called in at Canberra on the way - not seeing too much of it, which is just as well, as we went there again in July for the weekend - more of that later.
Our trip to Melbourne was great, and we got to see such a lot on the way. And, although it was a lot of time spent driving, we didn't really feel it so much, as there was always somewhere (usually a beach!) to stop and stretch your legs, get a coffee etc etc. I'd definitely recommend it, and now we have a taste for road trips!!
Have a look at my facebook album for more pics, here... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150380163829252.405891.778659251&type=1&l=8b6060de92
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| Middle Beach at Mimosa Rocks National Park |
Next we headed across the NSW/Victoria border to Lakes Entrance. a se side type place, popular with holiday makers. It's also the start of ninety mile beach. As we sat on the beach in the late afternoon, a group of dolphins swam past and you could see them frolicking about in the waves & they were swimming very close to the shore! On the way back to our apartment, we were walking across a footbridge that links the beach to the town, and Adam managed to kick off one of his flip flops into the water below. We all found it hilariously funny, but poor Adam was mortified, and didn't stop crying for what seemed like hours! There was no hope of us retrieving said flip flop, so we told him to throw the other one in the bin (which made him even more upset!), and we had to buy him a new pair of crocs. To this day, he doesn't really like those crocs, as I think it reminds him of the flip flop incident!
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| Grandma at 90 mile beach |
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| The fateful bridge of the 'Flip Flop' incident |
Onward to Philip Island of fairy penguin fame. We saw the penguins, koalas, seals, visited the chocolate factory, went on a boat (to see the seals), played on the beach, stayed in a great farmhouse, and basically really enjoyed Philip Island!
Then it was onto Melbourne for a couple of days. We rode the (free) tram around the city, went up to the 88th floor of the Eureka building (tallest in the southern hemisphere, I think?), visited Melbourne Cricket Ground where the boys enjoyed the interactive sport museum, and John was in cricket heaven in other ares of the museum! We shopped at the Victoria markets - fabulous food, coffee, souvenir didgeridoos (that only adam can seem to play, bizarrely!), and an indiginous painting that I've yet to have framed & hung on the wall. The comedy festival was on while we were there, so there was lots to see and do. I fell in love with Melbourne, and I found it to have a much more 'European' feel to it than Sydney. I'll definitely go back there - maybe just with the girls on a shopping weekend?!
We headed back to Sydney inland, and called in at Canberra on the way - not seeing too much of it, which is just as well, as we went there again in July for the weekend - more of that later.
Our trip to Melbourne was great, and we got to see such a lot on the way. And, although it was a lot of time spent driving, we didn't really feel it so much, as there was always somewhere (usually a beach!) to stop and stretch your legs, get a coffee etc etc. I'd definitely recommend it, and now we have a taste for road trips!!
Have a look at my facebook album for more pics, here... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150380163829252.405891.778659251&type=1&l=8b6060de92
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