NSW Sth Coast to Batemans bay, Canberra, Snowy Mountains

Fri 03/12/10 – Coaldale (15km Nth of Wollongong) - $28 - 23oC – threatening showers. CW +1/+10.8

Slept in after late night on internet. Spoke with Dan before leaving at 11am and returned bike to storage locker at Penrith. Karen sorted out some more stuff and removed 1 bag of clothes destined for Perth.

We drove on to Thirroul via the Bulli Pass lookout for a late lunch. We drove ~ 200km today!!! Ridiculous!

We have an afternoon chat with Andrew Thackray and then headed for his suggestion of Coaldale Caravan Pk on the beach! Can’t beat this location! – sitting sideways looking out the table window to the breaking waves over white sand!

We went for a walk sth along the rd, then further along the beaches/rocks for a couple of beaches and then back by dark for a late dinner. Bed by 11pm.

Sat 04/12/10 – Warilla (Lake Windemere C’van pk) - 22oC – threatened showers. CW +0.8/+11.6

Went for a short walk north of Coaldate c’van pk along the rd overlooking the ocean on a grey misty morning. I had bacon &eggs and Karen wheat-bix. We tiki toured our way down the beaches towards the Gong wharf where we had lunch and a decent walk nth along the beaches – nice as always! We did some shopping at the Gong Westfield and Karen checked 12V TV’s at JB Hi-Fi, we also stopped by Harvey Norman and found a very impressive Bush brand TV for $350 with 36W power usage. Next stop was Warilla Caravan Pk where we watched the end of the V8’s and cricket and then went for a 1.5 hrs walk along the beach and then I went out to the Island where I watched the waves crash against the volcanic rock faces and fishermen do their thing.

Sun 05/12/10 – Warilla - 26oC – overcast w/heavy clouds and then sunny (Escarpment in cloud all day)

After a sleep in, we decided to stay another day, so K did 3 loads of washing and we watched the last Inside business episode for the yr after I had bacon and eggs for b’fast. We eventually got out for a walk at 1pm for an hour heading Sth along the beach and up and around the headland and back over the river again and walked straight into the sth end of the

Mon 06/12/10 – Kiama (Kendells C’van pk) - $30 - 26oC –showers/fine.

Watched NFL as it poured down outside till 10am, then K washed the front of the van (bug splatter). We left at 11:30am and drove back to Warilla bridge and did a 1hr walk over the bridge and out to the surf beach and back – lovely!

Next stop Shell Hbr where we did a 45m walk and then onto Kiama by 3pm. Got our spot and relaxed before doing a 7pm walk for 1.5 hrs to the blowhole, far end of the concrete pool and back at/after sunset.

Tue 07/12/10 – Huskison Public Boat ramp (back St) - $0 - 26oC –early showers/fine. CW +1.55/+13.15

Updated shares s/sheets after 1 buy/1 sell y’day for SMSF + checked API stock price after big fall y’day.

Went for walk at 9am on a pleasant but not overly hot morning (luckily) back to Blow-hole where I swam in the rock pool – absolutely lovely! I stayed in for 20+ mins and went again 2mins later.

We left camp-site at 11am and drove down to Bomaderry where I went for a 1.5 hr walk in the Nat Park gorge – awesome sandstone formations + trees growing up sides!

Out to Greenfield Pt and its wharf and new stimulus plan coastal path. Onto Huskison by 3pm and then further around coast for a couple of walks on beaches/headlands etc.

Back to free-camp by (boat ramp) by 6pm and Top Gear + Survivor night.

Wed 08/12/10 – Kioloa Nat Park - $20 unpowered (no ranger to collect fee) - 26oC –showers/fine/very windy. CW -1.15/+12

Lovely sunrise out window.

Up at 8am and left at 8:45am after b’fast. Nice and calm before 8:30am, then the wind hit hard like y’day!!!

Wandered around outside of Huskison Museum site incl boardwalk – nice!

Onto St George beach (Erowal bay) and then to Ulladulla area, starting at top of road at Narrawallee. Was a lovely headland with ocean beach and sandstone cliffs on one side and a river/harbour on the other side. We must have stayed here for 2 hrs+ over lunch and a couple of coffee’s. We moved on to Mollymook surf beach and rocks where I went for a walk while Karen bought Leah a birthday card.

We went to the lighthouse and then filled up with Diesel at Ulladulla Coles/Shell – 65lts/..... and moved on to Dolphin Pt where it was blowing an absolute gale!!! We did a wander on the low tide sandflats and watched the water race out to sea.

Onto Kioloa we went and ended up staying at the Nat Park campsite. It has some lovely walks and great beaches with rock pools and sandstone cliffs above them + plenty of Kangaroo’s etc.

I wentfor a walk down to and along the beach while Karen had the van to herself. She had cooked dinner by the time I got back. Very nice it was too!

I had a shower and recharged the batteries of the laptop and K’s phone which got hammered today while I was using it. Batteries of HTC Desire don’t last very long under internet use! The 12V recharger isn’t working....

Thu 09/12/10 – Braidwood rest area (17km NW of town – ½ way from Bateman’s bay to Canberra – free - 22oC –showers most day/fine late/very windy. CW -.5/+11.5

Up early to rain (since 2am) and did a runner (no ranger around) from Kioloa NP, so drove on to Northern Batemans Bay where we bumped into a canoe guide who told us about the board walk which we did – very calm, but humid!

We drove onto Bateman’s Bay proper and walked both sides of the bridge and did some shopping whiel I emptied the loo and paid UCS Accounting tax bill etc. I also had to chase up DHL :re missing one invoice payment – they blamed an operator error - typical! Showers came and then we drove the lovely Kings Hwy upto Braidwood where we came across a most helpful NRMA office (garage really). He told us Quaebeyan bridge was flooded and much of the campgrounds etc. He said it was very wet in Canberra and the Western ranges, but they were in a rain shadow and were quite dry.

We arrived at rest area 17km NW of town at 2:30pm and spent the avo there, much of it talking to john a lovely freebie camper who taught us many practical lessons – protect your water supply, drive at 80km instead of 100km (saves 20% more fuel), etc, etc.

Fri 10/12/10 – Kane & Narelle’s - 23oC – fine/windy. CW -.8/+10.7

Left camp at 8:30 and got to Canberra after going thru very slow traffic jam at Quaenbeyan, by 10:15am. We parked by the spire like sculpture and did a lap of the lake in 1h:15m, had lunch and made our way to the Nat War Memorial by 12:45pm. We saw some new videos and spent 3hrs there in all. We went to local shopping centre and I bought two new male:male co-ax adaptors and we looked at JB Hi-Fi 12v TV range. Got to K&N’s by 5pm and got take-away and video’s for evening. Kane set me up on his Wireless LAN and I did some portfolio spreadsheets etc. In bed by 1:30am.

Sat 11/12/10 – Kane & Narelle’s - 25oC – fine. CW +0.4/+11.1

Up by 8am and helped Kane put his cable up in the roof for future PV Cells. Then went shopping for TV + Inverter cabling etc. Got Palsonic 19” TFTV425LED TV at JB Hi-Fi for $249 (matched price of getprice.com.au shown by Bing Lee).

Bought $20 of high quality copper cable and lugs for Inverter. Then went to Fyshwick to get TV stand at HVN but it wasn’t suitable and was $150. Bought Kane a sausage roll and drink for lunch and then went home and Kane installed the inverter – looks great and works brilliantly! TV + Internet in evening. Karen had a visit to the chiro equivalent neighbour who helped straighten out a few issues.

Sun 12/12/10 – Kane & Narelle’s - 23oC – fine/windy.

Up at 7am after 7 hrs solid snoring according to K. I spent quite a lot of time on the internet/computer today. Kane also drove us out to Googon Dam to see it spectacularly pouring over the spillway. We did a couple of shortish walks around the dam lake. A sight not seen for many years here. Canberra has had so much rain its dams went from 18% to 100% this spring. Similar to Brisbane.....

We went over to a neighbours place for a xmas BBQ and had a delicious late lunch.

I updated Karen’s HTC Desire Android O/S from 2.1 to 2.2 (2.3 is already out).

Also did likewise for K’s laptop – Windows, installed AVG antivirus 2011 version and updated drivers for my laptop.

Mon 13/12/10 – 3 mile Dam rest-area (near Mt Selwyn) - 23oC – fine/calm

Also got a 19" digi TV with USB external hard-drive recording. Very energy efficient! Not installed yet as want to see a better/cheaper swinging arm to mount it to the back of the above cooking fan cupboard. But now going to try to put it where the old one is and see how restricted it is as its 2" + wider.

It was so exhausting having to drive 150km that we had to have a 1.5 hr after lunch nap!

That’s a big day! And I had to drive another 50km more after that - I'll need a days rest for sure....

Ddd the 4 mile hill trail at 4:5pm (1h:20m) over ridges and down to the river, which was flowing quite powerfully. The large trees are mostly dead after the 2003 fires that tore thru this whole area. Lovely outcrops of granite boulders also.

We are by a lake edge near Mt Selwyn tonight. Lovely sunset.

We got some of those yellow wheel chocks today - $25 and pretty light compared to wooden ones - will likely need both at some stages...

We are planning on going Cabramurra, Khancoban area, Corryong, Tallangatta (sth of Albury - still somewhat underwater as well as Goulgandra???), then onto Beechworth, Bright, Mt Hotham, Omeo, Bairnsdale and onto Phil Island, maybe with a trip out to Wilsons Prom if we have time.

Looks like we will have xmas day with H&W alone, till dinner when we are likely to go up to Sandra's.

Wally has baulked at that idea and won’t go (there's family politics and pride involved), though a dinner visit is a pain in the butt, as we have to drive an hr up, have dinner and come back late. Though it won’t be too late!!!