25 and Under...and 23...and 22 I'm trekking southern Australia in the World Nomads Ambassador van with my little brother & his girlfriend. This should be interesting.

Day 12 & 13

I’m lying on the grass in the greenest place I have ever been in my life.

We’ve just arrived in the teeny town, or shall I say, campground, of Bendeela, about 40 minutes outside Wollongong. Sydney is only two hours away, but it could be 500. There’s a gorgeous river snaking through the enormous, lush green Kangaroo valley, and there’s even a tarzan rope on the opposite bank, ready for swinging. Perhaps a little “Ahhheeeehhhaaaeeeaaa” tomorrow morning.

I feel one with nature. Except there are ants crawling on my computer and flies attempting to enter my shorts. Time to go inside.

Where was I. Oh yeah, the “one with nature” bit. This place feels like a scene out of Bambi. The waning sunlight is tenderly hitting the tops of the trees…and as I wrote that sentence two golden brown kangaroos hopped away into the distance.

We arrived here from a long day in Jervis Bay, truly the “jewel” of the Sapphire Coast. The south side of the bay is claimed by the Booderee National Park, and completely surrounded by white sand beaches. Murrays and Green Patch on the Bay side, Cave Beach on the ocean side. We hit all three, and each, as cheesy as it sounds, was special in its own way. We started off at Murray’s Beach; the most secluded, it was surrounded by green forest on all sides, and looked straight out at an island in the bay. It was truly a tropical paradise, and for a minute, I was back on Whitehaven beach in the Whitsundays. We spent an hour or so reading and sunning before leaving to catch the waves at Cave Beach on the other side. I’m not too big of a wave person, but the sparking blue water here was too hard to resist. I jumped in head first and spent time jumping the surf and gawking at the talented surfers catching wave after wave after wave. By the time we ate lunch and showered, it was off to admire the hundreds of parrots gathered at Green Patch beach. After showers at the gorgeous campsite (sidenote: never thought I’d call a campsite gorgeous!), we drove on to the picturesque town of Huskinsson.

“Husky” as the locals call it, is a mini version of Apollo or Byron Bay. Basically, the perfect little vacation town. I love them, if you can recall, therefore I was perfectly content to shop the cheesy novelty store and grab a gourmet ice cream cone. If you ever see the flavor “Baileys Toasted Almond” get it.

Day 12 was essentially the opposite of all that. We awoke from a ridiculously heavy rainstorm the night before to a soaking wet Pebble Beach. Like the troopers we are, we still made the 3.4 K trek to Clear Point, overlooking the beach and the ocean. Soaked, smelly and without anymore clean underwear, we hightailed it to Ulladulla, the next town on the Princes Highway. The rest of the day was spent on laundry and driving. Thrilling, I know, but it must be done.

And now, Bendeela, otherwise known as Bambiland.

It will be hard to leave such a beautiful place for Sydney tomorrow. Nevertheless, I can’t wait to get there. Friends, bars, shopping…beds — I’m practically bursting. What can I say; I’m a city girl!