Left Wollongong in sunshine - Glory be! Lovely drive down the coast, then a little inland to Berry , a lovely little heritage town with some lovely old buildings. Had a nice lunch there in a very old pub, then continued back along the coast to Kiama. This is a really nice seaside town, with amazing rocks along the shoreline & crashing waves I could watch all day. There is a beautiful white lighthouse on the head overlooking a great blowhole which luckily was performing beautifully that day. Got some great shots of both plus a couple of lovely old churches. We were heading for Jervis Bay which took us about 6 hours with sightseeing stops. The countryside was of rolling hills clad in Irish Green thanks to all the recent rain. Arrived at Jervis Bay & the Booderoo National park camping area. Although it is in the Australian Capital Territory, it is actually surrounded by NSW. I assume that is why it was so expensive. All the national parks here charge you to even enter with a car, so we had purchased a pass when we first crossed the border into NSW. Great, that will save us some money, but no - it didn't apply for this one. They sure know how to charge for national parks in this country, not like good old NZ where they are cheaper than private caravan parks. So $10 per day for the car plus $30 per night camp site. It is a lovely national park though, with lots of walks to other bays through lovely bush trails & the navy has some sort of base in the area. On our morning walk on the second day, we had our first encounter with a snake. I was very bravely leading the way & suddenly saw it by the side of the track, about 1/2 metre long & black. By the time I said 'STOP' Stu only managed to see the end of it's tail scuttling into the undergrowth. It's strange really because I now feel better about walking here . I think it's an experience I had dreaded from the moment we arrived in this country & I coped really well, so I don't dread it so much now. Not that I want it to happen again of course. We are careful to always wear good footwear when we walk which is quite important, & have read up on the first aid required if the worst should happen. That's about all you can do really. Of course we keep to the trails which are usually quite wide & well trodden, & make lots of conversation & noise. I've had a bit of a cough since I arrived, so that's quite handy too. Anyway, the one hour walk took us to a gorgeous isolated bay flanked by high cliffs & backed by steep sand dunes of an unusual colour for the area. There is no vehicle access & only about 6 people there. The sea was the most amazing azure colour & there were lots of rollers breaking close to the shore of golden sand in contrast to the very white sand of most of the beaches in the area. In the afternoon we visited a botanical garden owned by one of the local aboriginal tribes, all natives plants & trees & the only ones owned by aboriginals in Australia. They are jointly managed with the Government's Director of National Parks. It was lovely, with a little lake full of long necked turtles. We were lucky enough to see one though he was too shy to poke his head out for us. The weather was nice & sunny & warm for the two days we spent here.
Left Wollongong in sunshine - Glory be! Lovely drive down the coast, then a little inland to Berry , a lovely little heritage town with some lovely old buildings. Had a nice lunch there in a very old pub, then continued back along the coast to Kiama. This is a really nice seaside town, with amazing rocks along the shoreline & crashing waves I could watch all day. There is a beautiful white lighthouse on the head overlooking a great blowhole which luckily was performing beautifully that day. Got some great shots of both plus a couple of lovely old churches. We were heading for Jervis Bay which took us about 6 hours with sightseeing stops. The countryside was of rolling hills clad in Irish Green thanks to all the recent rain. Arrived at Jervis Bay & the Booderoo National park camping area. Although it is in the Australian Capital Territory, it is actually surrounded by NSW. I assume that is why it was so expensive. All the national parks here charge you to even enter with a car, so we had purchased a pass when we first crossed the border into NSW. Great, that will save us some money, but no - it didn't apply for this one. They sure know how to charge for national parks in this country, not like good old NZ where they are cheaper than private caravan parks. So $10 per day for the car plus $30 per night camp site. It is a lovely national park though, with lots of walks to other bays through lovely bush trails & the navy has some sort of base in the area. On our morning walk on the second day, we had our first encounter with a snake. I was very bravely leading the way & suddenly saw it by the side of the track, about 1/2 metre long & black. By the time I said 'STOP' Stu only managed to see the end of it's tail scuttling into the undergrowth. It's strange really because I now feel better about walking here . I think it's an experience I had dreaded from the moment we arrived in this country & I coped really well, so I don't dread it so much now. Not that I want it to happen again of course. We are careful to always wear good footwear when we walk which is quite important, & have read up on the first aid required if the worst should happen. That's about all you can do really. Of course we keep to the trails which are usually quite wide & well trodden, & make lots of conversation & noise. I've had a bit of a cough since I arrived, so that's quite handy too. Anyway, the one hour walk took us to a gorgeous isolated bay flanked by high cliffs & backed by steep sand dunes of an unusual colour for the area. There is no vehicle access & only about 6 people there. The sea was the most amazing azure colour & there were lots of rollers breaking close to the shore of golden sand in contrast to the very white sand of most of the beaches in the area. In the afternoon we visited a botanical garden owned by one of the local aboriginal tribes, all natives plants & trees & the only ones owned by aboriginals in Australia. They are jointly managed with the Government's Director of National Parks. It was lovely, with a little lake full of long necked turtles. We were lucky enough to see one though he was too shy to poke his head out for us. The weather was nice & sunny & warm for the two days we spent here.
Hi Janice and Stu
ReplyDeleteFollowing with interest now we are back, keep up the good work Janice.
All the best in your travels
Susan and John T
Hi you two watch out for the snake in the grass,like the phots looks wonderful glad you are having fun stay safe ,Richx
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