Travelling up the East Coast

April 27^th April to 10^th April 2011

This is my first blog for a little while and we are now finally on the road again. We didn’t leave Geelong until 27^th April due to some work that needed doing on the Cruiser.  We thought it a wise decision to get it right before we hit the road so that nothing can go wrong. Although we still need to put in the air bags, we decided to leave Geelong and get it done on the way; otherwise our trip would be delayed even further.

First stop was Stony Creek in South West Gippsland to visit with Greg’s stepdad, Ken his wife Merlei and their daughter Ashlie. We able to spend a couple of days with them before we headed off and it was a delightful stay with Ken really appreciating us taking the time to visit with him. We didn’t have any photo opportunities here, but will definitely come back and explore this beautiful part of Victoria in the future. Time restraints for a while meant we couldn’t do it this time.

We headed off on Friday on our way to Bawley Point on the South Coast of NSW to catch up with Greg’s mate Martin and his wife Michelle, whom he hadn’t seen for about 18 years. As this was a longer part of the journey, we stayed overnight at Merimbula and then arrived at Bawley Point around 1 pm on Saturday. It was an emotional reunion and a pleasure to witness. Marty and Greg had been very close mates in WA and they were extremely happy to see each other again.

Bawley Point is a very pretty seaside town, within easy reach of many beautiful beaches and lakes and the surf is fantastic. The population is around 2000, which swells to about 6000 in the summer. Every second house here is a holiday house. Marty and Michelle’s house is on 1 ¾ acres in a beautiful bushland setting. They built their house out of mud bricks and it really looks great in this setting. They have rabbits, chooks, fruit trees, vegetable gardens a fantastic fire pit and of course a gorgeous dog called Buster.

We spent many nights around the fire, with the odd drink, but most importantly reminiscing about the old days. I heard some wonderful stories and it was fantastic to see that the great relationship between Greg, Marty and Michelle had not changed even after so many years. We spent some time at Burrill Lake, which is about 20 kms north of their home, fishing, barbecuing and boating; particularly on Mothers Day, which was a wonderful day at the Lake. We had a look around Mogo which is a quaint art and craft village nearby and had a lovely meal at the Ex Servicemen’s Club in Ulladulla just to the north. Ulladulla is a pretty fishing village with population of about 16,000. Michelle also drove us around to Mollymook a gorgeous surf beach which hosts surfing competitions. It is a very pretty part of this lovely South Coast of NSW.

Marty and Michelle were great hosts, along with their sons Sam and Tom and Marty’s mum Dot. Marty makes the best Scotch and dry ever, which is really important to me, he he! On Tuesday we reluctantly left Bawley Point after spending a wonderful 10 days there and were very sad to leave. Again it was an emotional farewell and we hope that it is not so long before we see them again. Thank you so much Marty and Michelle for opening your house to us. We loved every minute of our stay with you.

We have to be in the Gold Coast by 25^th May, so unfortunately have only 2 weeks to get there. After the Gold Coast we will be able to relax and take our time travelling north through Queensland on our way to Cape York. We had to drive through Sydney to pick up a part for the cruiser, but we got out of there quick smart. We drove about an hour north of Sydney and are currently camped at another seaside town called The Entrance. My next blog will be posted just before we get to the Gold Coast. Cheers till next time.



Surf's up at Bawley Point




Surf's up at Bawley Point




Burrill Lake




Marty and Greg at Burrill Lake Aww!




The Family at Burrill Lake with Greg and I



Kangaroos near our tent at Bawley Point



Kangaroos near Pretty Beach




King Parrots in Marty and Michelles front yard




Rainbow Lorikeets in Marty and Michelles front yard




Our set up in Bawley Point near Marty and Michelles driveway




Marty and Michelles house




Pretty Beach near Bawley Point




Pretty Beach near Bawley Point



Pretty Beach near Bawley Point



Pretty Beach near Bawley Point




Reflections on Burrill Lake




Reflections on Burrill Lake




Reflections on Burrill Lake




Ulladulla Harbour




Ulladulla Harbour