We finally hit the road - destination Melbourne, via the wiggly ocean route. With the wind in our hair (the windows need to be open as the air-con doesn't work) and Led Zep on the radio we roared out of Sydney. Well, kinda. First we tried to register our car in our names at the RTA but as we had booked out of our campsite that morning we had no current address.
"How are we supposed to process this?" cried the helpful staff. "How the eff should we know?" we cried back. "Don't you deal with travellers all the time?"
We asked if we could register the car once we reached Melbourne and were staying with kind, home-owning friends. "I don't know," was the straight-faced response, "they do things differently down there." So we huffed off, unimpressed.
Sydney took a while to wiggle out of, lots and lots of traffic, plus we were avoiding all the speedy toll road routes, some of which have no cash booths so if you don't have an electronic tag to pay your toll they nab you later.
Our first stop was the sleepy, sea-side town of Huskisson. We were delighted by the ocean-facing caravan site, so we decided to set up our tent on the opposite, road-facing side of the park (natch). Maybe it was because we were embarrassed by the humongous tent we had bought at the Big W store. We needed a new tent as the current two-man one provided by the autobarn was not long enough for either myself or the hubby's six-foot plus frame. Of course, when we tried to buy one at the store they didn't have anything in the 3 or 4-man size tents. At this point, tired of wandering the camping aisles and eager to get on the road, I just said "To hell with it" and strode off with the 6-man under my arm. Yes, 6-man tent. James followed, secretly pleased that I had made the decision so he could tease me endlessly about it later.
The tent went up speedily (even though it didn't come with instructions!) and we headed into town for a healthy dinner, er pizza. Well, we had good intentions anyway.
The next morning, armed with a fake receipt from the caravan site claiming we were staying there for 3 days and not just the previous night (the kindly site manager offered to help us out), we successfully registered our car at the RTA in Ulladulla. We bought lunch there which we ate further down the route in the town of Narooma, see pic below.
That night our campsite in Eden was even more gorgeous than Husky. This is a place definitely worth coming back to as it is situated on a spit of land between the lagoon and the sea. Perfectly positioned, the site had beautiful ocean views on one side and the lovely lagoon on the other. We had a prime spot right next to the lagoon. We eat fish and chips looking out to sea, feeling very pleased with ourselves and life in general.
We set up our humongous tent. There is a snag however. We discover we've already lost a small yet crucial part to one of our tent poles which allows it to sit snug in the pin. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth later, James successfully plants the pole by shoving every piece of equipment he has at it. He still continues to look meaningfully at the 'weak' corner of the tent for the rest of our stay, muttering about high winds and possible death and destruction. I fall asleep, uncaring wife that I am.
We survive the windless night and the next day cross the border into Victoria. The terrain changes as we drive further inland, and the choice of stops for the night become less attractive. James' threatened high winds soon appear, accompanied by rolling black clouds in the distance and we wimp out of camping and opt for a cabin on a campsite in Treralgo..Trarelgor..oh I can't spell it nevermind say it, about 150km south east of Melbourne. We cook ourselves up a monster dinner in the well-equipped cabin kitchen with lots and lots of veggies. The evening is a bit cool so this is the first night we actually sleep in the sleeping bags instead of laying them across and under both of us.
Woohoo, it is Easter Friday. We drive past the hordes of Melbournians heading out of the city for the long weekend, every second car being a 4x4, usually towing a huge, eff off boat. A warm bed, brownies and nintendo Wii are waiting for us in North Melbourne. We gratefully accept it all, fall into the welcoming arms of Andy and Shal and make a new friend in the bargain - Spice the wabbit.
