Completing the 'block'!

 Thurs 1 June – A nice warm morning so shorts are on! A drive out to the coast at Bermagui. This is a beautiful tourist town on a river mouth and a peninsula. It was sunny but with a cool wind. Our site in the camp was sheltered. We walked a track around the peninsula and as we looked out to sea we could see the spouts of migrating Hump Back whales heading north. The coastline was very rugged but with sheltered beaches.

Fri 2 June – The drive to Batemans Bay on the Princes Hwy was along the coast with sea on one side and many lakes, rivers, and inlets on the other. There were many small towns including the very cute town of Mogo where Sharon Worrall’s sister lives. Batemans Bay is a large town on the mouth of the Clyde River. Our camp backs onto a beach and we rode our bikes along a cycle path beside the river with wharves, marinas, restaurants and bars. Warm but cloudy today.

Sat 3 June – Only a short drive today north from Batemans Bay to Ulladulla, a large town with a harbour. We shopped and checked into our camp on a headland. A nice sunny day. We walked a short track around the headland with views down onto secluded beaches.

Sun 4 June – A cool overcast day as we drove thru undulating country, passed Nowra and out to the coast at Shoalhaven Heads and our camp overlooking an inlet. Just as Val hung up the laundry it started to rain (she was not impressed!). This is the first rain in some time. Later when it cleared we walked to the beach and back along the inlet.

Mon 5 June – A drive thru mostly built up areas including Port Kembla, with its huge iron industries, and Wollongong to a camp 15kms north at Bulli Beach. It rained off and on but the sun came out later in the day and we walked along the cliffs and beaches. Many ships out to sea waiting to get into port. Tomorrow a dreaded drive thru Sydney to our camp!!

Tues 6 June – Misty rain as we had a bit of trouble getting on the road due mainly to roadworks. Once on the Princes Hwy we had a surprisingly easy drive thru the Sydney suburbs to our camp at Lane Cove near Macquarie Park. We chose this camp as it has the best public transport into the CBD and will stay here 3 nights. The camp is in a National Park, a very quiet setting in gum trees. A short walk up the road we found the North Ryde Metro Station our route into the city. There are some major roads in this area with many tall apartment buildings joined by a beautiful bridge.

Wed 7 June – Off for our first trip into Sydney city. It has been 30 years since we have spent any time here. The first part of our trip was the walk to the Metro station, a 6 minute trip to Chatswood where the city rail service meets the Metro, and a 20 minute ride into the city. All very easy using out credit card to tap on/off. We walked up thru the “Rocks” area, and under the harbour bridge around to Circular Quay.

 We ate “Subway” watching the ferries come and go. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. Along the waterfront to the Opera House and continued on into the Botanical Gardens for a well earned sit down.

 Continuing on Macquarie St passing Government House, The Music Conservatorium, The State Library, and Parliament House.

 Down thru Martin Place to Darling Harbour where we sat on the Prymont Bridge. City walking is tiring!! Yesterday Val booked an early evening cruise on the harbour to view the Vivid Light display that is on this month. We stopped at one of the many restaurants on Kings Wharf for a pizza and a drink before boarding the large boat just as it was dark. 

Many of the buildings were lit up with coloured lights and videos played on the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. All very good but we did not realize the drone thing happens much later. A walk back to the station for our trip home.

Thurs 8 June – (Don’s birthday). A cloudy day with rain forecast in the afternoon so we set off early on another trip into the city and on to Bondi Beach. Again all very easy. We walked the length of the beach with all the sights that make up Bondi, the surfies, the joggers, and the body builders posing, and the surf life saving tower as seen in Bondi Rescue. 

As the train trip was mostly underground we decided to catch a bus back into the city, passing thru many of the old shopping areas before stopping at Circular Quay. We walked to Opera Quay to a restaurant for lunch. Very nice. Just because we could, we caught a ferry over the harbour and walked up to a train station for our return trip. Big city public transport works so well. The longest we waited for any of our rides was 5 minutes and all for $1 a day.

Fri 9 June – As this weekend is King’s Birthday (Monday public holiday) we booked into a camp at North Narrabeen for 3 days. It was a very short drive to our camp overlooking Narrabeen Lagoon and the beach over the road. It is a lovely area and we are looking forward relaxing here. We rode our bikes to a mall where Val got a haircut.

Sat 10 June – A lovely sunny day. We spent the morning relaxing outside watching all the water activities and reading. In the afternoon we decided to ride around the lagoon but found we had a puncture. Put a new tube in and off for a 10km ride on a great track. As it is a long weekend the camp is fairly full with many family groups.

Sun 11 June – An even better day weather-wise than yesterday. Another relaxing morning reading and fixing the puncture. We walked out to the beach and a salt water pool before crossing the lagoon and walking the sand towards Narrabeen Beach. Many people surfing and fishing.

Mon 12 June – A little more cloud today but warm. We left the camp, which has been great, and shopped before getting on the road. Narrabeen is on a peninsula so we had to head back towards the city before getting on the main road north. As this is the public holiday for King’s Birthday everyone is going back into the city so the roads were busy. Eventually we got on to the M1 heading north and sped up. We drove thru Gosford and out to the coast at Toowoon Bay and a camp. Down to beach to watch the surfies enjoy some great waves.

 A significative day for “Andy” and us, as we have now travelled the last bit of road around the entire coast of Australia or “round the block” as the grey nomads call it. All Val’s lines on the map now join up!! Since buying “Andy” in Nov 2017 we have driven over 42,000kms.