Endless Summer at Wilsons Promontory

We are trying to convince ourselves that the summer is endless and we don't have to start back into the working year just yet so we are spending a long weekend at the Prom in our trusty caravan. Actually this is to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, but don't tell anyone!

The caravan got a bit bent as we were leaving Cowes as Dave cut a corner while pulling into the service station and impaled it on a pillar, which was probably better than collecting the pump. No great damage other than to Dave's pride.

The first two days here were a bit grey and windy but it gave us the opportunity to do some bush walking. Amazing how it has regrown since the bushfires. We have finally walked the entire length of Nelson Bay.

Today has been warm and sunny so we went for a swim in Whiskey Bay which is about 5k from Tidal River where we are camped. OK except for man eating March flies.

Yesterday we were visited by a variety of wildlife including these Rosellas and a pregnant Wombat who munched here way through our grass verge.

Eden - aptly named!

It's not hard to see how Eden got it's name, although when the sky was gray and it was windy and raining earlier in the day we had our doubts. This is Discovery Bay just south of Green Cape which boasts the most southerly lighthouse in NSW.

We missed out on the whale watching cruise from Eden harbour but it was pretty rough all weekend so we did not feel too hard done by. Some interesting boats in the harbour. We had our Sunday evening meal at the Fisherman's Club. I was a bit concermed about having a Victorian registered vehicle in the car park after Melbourne Storm beat Paramatta Eells in the rughby league grand final!

We have seen a bit of wildlife on our travels including an echidna, a wallaby and lots of parrots.

Marine life at Narooma

We have been whale watching at Narooma. Cathy tried her King Canute act but only just avoided a dunking at Mystery Bay. We did see several whales but they were well out to sea and it was getting dark so the photo is not very convincing.

We did manage to get up close, if not particularly personal, with a small octopus which was next to the boardwalk on the Wagonga inlet. After that lot the day just had to be rounded off with fish and chips for tea!

Kiama

Kiama is a beautiful little coastal town just south of Wollongong and Lake Illawarra and is notable for this splendid lighthouse out on a headland which also boasts a blowhole. In fact the town has two blowholes - the photo below is the Little Blowhole, quite near our caravan park. I discovered the error of standing directly downwind!

The town has a small harbour and some resident pelicans who hang around hoping to pick up the odd fish or two when the catch is brought in. They seemed quite tame and let me get very close for the photo - probably too full of fish to move.

The caravan park has the best ensuite we have ever seen - better than home! It also boasts some interesting trees, one of which had fallen on top of the original site we were booked for. Fortunately we arrived after the tree fell over. Next to our site is this tree which we named "Womping Willow" after the one in the Harry Potter movie.

The Kiama hinterland is dominated by the Illawarra Escarpment which goes 600 m straight up and we went for a visit to the Illawarra Fly which is an arial walkway similar to the one in the Otways.

This is moderately scary being about 50 m above the forest floor and inclined to wave about as you walk on it. Luckily we avoided the coachload of schoolkids.

Also up on the Escarpment is the Carrington Falls on the Kangaroo River, a magnificent 90 m sheer drop. The photo does not do it justice. Cathy enjoyed rock hopping but we stayed well back from the edge just to be on the safe side.

War Memorial

On our final day in Canberra we visited the War Memorial, or at least as much of it as we could handle emotionally. The highlight was a film by Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) describing the Australian Flying Corps in WW1. We saw some of the wreckage of the Red Baron's Fokker Tri-plane and one of his sheepskin boots which were souveniered by the AFC.

 

The centurion tank outside the building looked as if it had just been parked in the car park - perhaps it is the Memorial director's company car.

Like most of NSW Canberra was in the grip of dust storms and then violent thunder and lightning and torrential rain. We could not see Parliament from the Memorial steps because of the dust. However it was much worse in Sydney.

Floriade Festival - Mind, Body & Soul

We visited the Floriade Festival in Canberra and spent a most enjoyable morning walking around the glorious flower beds. If I did not know what Floriade was I would have guessed some sort of flower-flavoured drink like Rose Hip Syrup.

We encountered some local residents, or were they politicians, taking it easy under a tree and looking very pleased with themslves. Perhaps they were from Treasury - Gnomes of Canberra rather than Zurich. No place like Gnome!

One of the more surprising sights was the Berlei Bus (14D - or the Big Bra) with a long queue of women waiting to be fitted for an over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder as Bette Midler once descibed them. We were sure there was a guy in the queue!

The National Capital

We have been on a boat trip on Lake Burley Griffin and visited Parliament House twice, once at night and again during the day, when we went inside and saw both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The politicians obviously don't work on Saturday.