Yep never do things by halves and we are heading for Darwin via, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide before heading up the centre to Darwin. So far we have travelled about 2/3rds of the way down the NSW coast only to be met with howling winds coming off the Antarctic. Oh gosh, it is a long time since I felt so cold!
First off we crossed over into NSW .....
before spending our first night at a pretty little fishing town called Yamba on the north coast of NSW - the last of the warm weather.
All went well the next day and we were amazed at just how much the roads had improved - it has been numerous years since we travelled the coast road, but now .... the only section left to upgrade and it is in the process of being done now is between Ballina and Woolgoolga just north of Coffs Harbour. We made such good time that we decided not to stop off at our planned o/night stop but to keep travelling for another couple of hours. We eventually pulled into Taree, after the last hour being buffeted by strong winds. And that was the start of it.
All night our van was a rockin' & a rollin' - well not quite, but it was bad enough for us to put the satellite dish down.
Following day, we set off again, continuing to be buffeted by the wind, but making good time,and we basically were near our night's destination by lunchtime! So again we made a decision to keep going, finding us threading our way through Sydney - not the easiest with a 21 foot van in tow - under the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, out the other side continued on our way south.
I cannot believe we had such a dream run. After leaving Sydney behind, we turned off near Helensburgh and took the Grand Pacific Drive towards Woolongong, including over the Sea Cliff Bridge - got out at a stop off area and near got blown over, so help me, it was S-O cold.
From here we continued on to our night's stop for the following night - we had actually made up a full day's travelling! We had actually travelled from Taree to Shellharbour in one day.
That gave us two full days here fighting the Antarctic winds and time to go visit Kiama. Now Kiama is where we spent my childhood Christmases each year until I was about 10 years old.
Golly gosh, it would be, what ...... 55 or so years (?) and yes it has changed. The 'New Brighton Hotel' where we used to stay had many, many years ago been demolished leaving a big hole in the ground, however it was lovely to see a new hotel built on the site.
1950/60's
2019
I have a photo at home of my sister and I patting a cat near the uprights of the New Brighton Hotel - will add it later.
On our way up to the Blowhole, of course you see te majestic lighthouse - from here we used to watch the yachts making their way down the coast for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race each year.
We also went up to the famous Blowhole, but yesterday, with the winds they way they were and low tide, it was not functioning, but .... today on our return - yes! The blowhole was doing 'her thing', perhaps not to the heights that I saw all those years ago, but then again I guess the opening has worn away a little, but it was still impressive.
The ole girl can still put on a show.
The winds were supposed (?) to abate today, but are still hanging around, we can only hope that tomorrow as we hit the road again that they do in fact ease off.
For now though, it's goodnight from Shellharbour.
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