We arrived in Sydney late in the afternoon feeling a little bit tired and a bit mucky from the sleepless night before. Luckily our friends in Brisbane had given us the number of some friends in Sydney and Alicia and Jules had offered to let us park up and stay in their city centre flat whilst in Sydney. This was much appreciated as even to park the car would have cost upwards of £40 a day! Even though we hadn't met them before we got on well and headed out for some drinks on our first evening there. The next morning as it was Gwenno's birthday we headed over to the Sydney Opera House for a tour; though we managed to save a third of the price as the attendant put us through as students- we must have been looking a bit dishevelled! The tour was really enjoyable and we had lunch at the Opera House overlooking the harbour which was a nice birthday treat. We then wandered around the Rocks, over the Harbour Bridge and around the centre. We had planned to fit in a museum or two but before we realised it was 5 o'clock and things were closing up so we headed back to the flat. Jules and Alicia had bought some birthday steaks and chocolate cake which was much appreciated and we spent the evening eating and watching films which was a rare treat!
We would have liked to have stayed longer but we still have a lot of ground to cover so the next morning we took a quick walk along Bondi Beach before heading up to the Blue Mountains where we had hoped to stay and do a few walks. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great so we ended up camping in a free council campsite in the rain and doing all of the main sites at Wentworth falls, Luera, Blackheath and a short walk at the three sisters in Katoomba before calling it a day and heading south in search of less rain. The views were amazing but we had built it up a little in our minds and it was a shame that we couldn't do more walks because of the weather.
Our first stop was at Fitzroy Falls which was spectacular after the rain and we were really impressed as we weren't expecting anything special. We also heard and saw a lyre bird which is like a small peacock famed for mimicking other birds, chainsaws and cars! We headed down in altitude to Kangaroo Valley and started our search for some accommodation. It was a bit rainy and Bens hips had been hurting in the tent so we thought we would splash out on a room but this wasn't to be as everywhere was full of workers- the bad weather recently has damaged a lot of the roads so there were lots of road workers on the area. We ended up in another campsite which was fine as we are now experts at putting up the tent- we can go from parked to sleeping bag in less than 10 minutes! The ground was also quite soft which helped Ben's joints and thankfully the tent has been waterproof so far so we slept ok.
We had been told by a few people around Australia that Upper Kangaroo Valley was amazing so we headed up in the morning, unfortunately we didn't quite make it to the viewing point due to a small river running across the road blocking our path. We thought that the area was nice and reminiscent of the Uk but there's definitely some places at home that could beat it! We then did a further walk to 2 valley viewpoints over the dam and then drove down to Jarvis Bay which is a huge natural enclosed bay with white sands, rocky outcrops and good fish and chips! Due to it's idyllic location the accommodation is extortionate so we carried on down to Ulladulla for a bed for the night where we managed to find somewhere reasonable. We arrived in the early afternoon and had a relax for a few hours which is something that we haven't really managed to do you in Australia. Having eaten BBQ sausages for so long it was great to use the hostel oven for a frozen pizza for a change- something we never thought we would be excited about but really enjoyed!
The next morning we headed further south stopping for a quick look at Murramarang National Park where we saw more wild kangaroos including some joey's against a beautiful coastal backdrop. From here we continued along the Sapphire coast only stopping at the sight of a cheese factory for a platter which was the first time we have had real cheese in 4 months- Ben didn't want to leave but we needed to move on. We stopped again at Mystery Bay for a view of Montague Island, but the bay itself was actually idyllic but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to stay. We continued to Bega where we stocked up on supplies and planned to head to the campsite at Ben Boyd National Park in time for a walk before dinner. What we didn't account for was the fact that the campsite is about 20km down an unsealed road which has recently been damaged by flooding. The lowered black sports car didn't perform too well but we
managed to get to site just in time to see the beach, the local family of kangaroos ( including a huge male which was taller than Gwenno) and rustling up a BBQ dinner of steak and veg. We were woken up in the middle of the night by a kangaroo munching right outside our tent which was a bit strange! The next morning we set off back up the dirt track to see the Cape Green lighthouse but had to abandon our car and run the last 3km as the road was too rough. We were there early and had the whole peninsular to ourselves. The 3km back uphill to the car was a bit of a struggle as it was getting hot, and the dirt track back out of the park was equally bumpy but we made it out with the car intact! We needed to make up some ground so headed down the A1, our journey occasionally hampered by the odd slow caravan or stop for a coffee. We had hoped to make it down to Wilsons Prom National Park but after a detour to the amazing 90 mile beach ( literally 90 miles long!) and watching an amazing sunset over the hills we nearly ran over an echidnas so we decided that we should stop as all the kangaroos and wombats come out at night. After deliberating over whether we should get a room as it was getting dark we found a campsite and decided to camp again. We had a nice BBQ and met a few of the locals before heading to the tent. Everything was fine until about 4am when a storm hit and our tent started to twist and deform in the wind. We managed to get a little more sleep up until the lorry on the site next to us left and exposed us to even more wind. At this point the tent was pretty much flat so we called it a night and got up treating ourselves to a bacon buttie at the local cafe.
We made it up to Wilsons Prom but the weather was still rainy and very windy so we couldn't do the planned 2 day hike. We managed to see the main sites in between the rain but decided to leave after an hour or so as the rain was really setting in. We headed up towards Melbourne and decided that it would be best to book a room for the night as the weather was still so bad. We managed to find a reasonable motel on the outskirts of the city and spent the evening watching Aussie tv and gorging on mezze as we were now a bit ahead of schedule as we didn't spend much time in Wilsons Prom.
After an amazing night of sleep in a real bed we whizzed through Melbourne towards Torquay and the start of the Great Ocean Road. The storm had passed and though it was still a bit rainy it was fine for driving. The first leg of the journey was pretty spectacular with amazing coastline and huge crashing rip waves making for a great view- at least the storm was good for something! We visited a lighthouse in Anglesea and went to a few look out points, watched some surfers and generally enjoyed the driving along the cliff edges before trying to find some accommodation for the night. We wanted to get a room as the weather was still bad and we both have colds but as it was a Saturday everything was booked apart from the really expensive rooms so after driving around for an hour we eventually found a hostel with a double room in a weird house which was like stepping back in time- everything was from the 1970's including the heating system which wasn't great! It was warmer than camping at least and we had a pretty good nights sleep before setting off to see the main Great Ocean Road sights.
The first stop was at Cape Otway lighthouse which we didn't actually see as it was expensive to get in, it was worth passing through though as we saw lots of wild koala's in the trees and one crawling on the side of the road which was really amazing! We then continued on to the main sites including the 12 apostles, gibson steps and loch ard gorge with a bit of a farce in the middle where we managed to lock the car keys in the boot and had to climb in through the back seat and empty out most of our belongings to the car park floor- it was bound to happen at some point! The weather was much better and we managed to do a few walks and enjoyed watching the huge crashing waves before getting to Port Cambell for the night. As the weather had been so good we thought we would camp again but the temperature dropped in the night and we both woke up freezing! We didn't get much sleep at all and it didn't warm up at all the next morning. We continued on our way and saw the rest of the sights including the arch, London bridge, the grotto and the bay of islands in the rain before turning back inland towards Melbourne for our final stop in Australia.
We had met some Melbournians in Laos that had said we could stay with them for a few days so we managed to bag ourselves some more free accommodation in their garden shed which was greatly appreciated! We were invited for dinner at one of the girls parents house so we spent our first evening eating chilli and meeting the family- most of which are heading to Europe for a long holiday so we were advising where possible!
The next morning was time to return the car, we were both a bit sad to let him go as we have become quite attached over the past few weeks! We spent the rest of the day wandering around the streets and stopping at a number of the cafe's that Melbourne is famous for as we were both still a bit tired. Though we had both been a bit reluctant to try it after meeting so many kangaroos we had some kangaroo burgers for dinner that night with our hosts. They were quite gamey and really nice but we did feel a little bit guilty! Our last day was spent trying to arrange things for NZ, going for a coffee with an architect friend from home and doing a little bit of shopping for warm clothing for NZ. It was quite a relaxing day, topped off with going out for dinner to an amazing Vietnamese restaurant with our hosts before heading over to the airport for the night as we have such an early flight.
We have really enjoyed our time in Australia and have seen many different things and met lots of interesting people. We would have liked to have spent a bit longer here and haven't really had a chance to stop but given the current exchange rate we are pleased to be on our way to New Zealand!