Robot Claw

The drive north saw the busiest roads we’ve yet encountered as we drove through Ulladulla, Bewong and Nowra. Eventually we reached our destination: Wollongong.

I spent several days here with Adam a few years back, but this is Bernard’s first time. The sun was high and hot as we explored the CBD and higher and hotter still at the beach.

Neither of us had sunblock on. You’d think after running out the day before we’d have thought to bought some, especially considering we’d discussed exactly this standing outside a store. But we didn’t, and therefore didn’t use any, and somehow didn’t burn.

Use sunblock kids. Don’t be fools like us!

We walked a long way on that beach; all the way to the lighthouse you see in the first photo. Then we walked back to the hotel. We walked a lot yesterday, and it’s probably not surprising I woke tired!

Today – Bernard’s birthday! – we drive the last leg of this road trip all the way to Newcastle where a certain pair are expecting us…

Apparently Canberrans head directly east to Batemans Bay when they’re on vacation. I can see why; it’s a lovely seaside town in the sun.

We wandered around as we do, just soaking in the sun and looking for souvenirs. Our hotel is remarkable and affords incredible views. It also came with some coupons for the club across the road, which of course we had to utilize.

Their pokie selection was extraordinary including many games we had never seen before.

Bernard’s looking a bit evil there isn’t he? The food was great but I stuffed myself and now (the following morning) the regret is real 🙂

That was what I woke up to, from my hotel balcony. I could stay a few days here…

But we aren’t, and today we’re heading north up the coast, planning to stop at a few seaside towns on the way. I wonder what we’ll see?

Yesterday was a full day that took us into the ACT and Australian capital of Canberra. On the way we stopped at the world (?) famous Dog On The Tucker Box:

This is a statue about 5 miles from Gundagai. You can enjoy it yourself in the photo, and rest assured there’s not much else to see if you actually visit! I did buy a $2 tamagotchi knock-off at the adjacent rest stop though 🙂

A little over an hour later we arrived at our motel which is conveniently located next to our next destination which was the miniature village of Cockington Green.

We visited this place about 35 years ago as kids, and I’m reasonably sure we’ve changed more than it has! 

It’s a linear path through a series of mostly 1/12 scale miniatures. About 2/3rds of the place is themed after the UK and the remainder is international. There’s a decent amount of variety but we both thought the detail could be better. There’s also a short steam train ride which costs extra. It’s not very big; you could easily see it all in an hour.

If you look closely you can see some cute little hidden scenes scattered around. But looking close also reveals areas in need of repair, such as fallen figures, missing paint, broken electronics etc. Surely these could be seen to?

I don’t want to dump on the place too much, but it’s not inexpensive for what it is, and one might expect a little more maintenance for the price. I’m glad we went again after so many years, but I doubt we’ll be returning in another 35 years 🙂

That’s Telstra Tower, which overlooks the city of Canberra from nearby Black Mountain.

And that’s Canberra! It’s a great view from the outdoor viewing platform but it was very chilly and windy up there! It’s a good tower though, and great value for the (low) cost.

Today we head east for the coast and another town we haven’t visited for 35 years. At this point the day is a blank slate: what will we find?!?

We drove to the city of Wagga Wagga yesterday via Albury for lunch. This means we’re now in the state of New South Wales!

Our hotel is attached to the local RSL club, which means pokies are only a hop and a skip away. Bernard’s still up from a big win in Melbourne and after a bit of fluttering yesterday he ended up (again) with a slight net profit!

We didn’t do any tourist activities yesterday – just drove and relaxed – but these next two days have potentially full schedules. Stay tuned…

Yesterday we left Melbourne and drove southwest toward a natural tourist attraction called The Twelve Apostles. This was a drive through endless dry, yellow fields of sheep and cows interspersed by eucalypts.

We didn’t see any (living) kangaroos, but at one time had to stop for an echidna crossing the road!

The drive took a few hours and eventually we arrived at the destination. Although it’s somewhat remote it was very busy (even on New Year’s Eve!) and mobbed with tourists. And here’s what we came to see:

There were twelve rock formations originally, but many have crumbled and only a few are still visible above the water. The top photo looks west, the bottom east.

The ocean itself was the bigger attraction for me: that’s (arguably) the Southern Ocean which has always been somewhat mysterious and exotic in my mind. Monsters live there, and only madmen dare to sail it.

The winds blowing up from Antarctica were cyclonic and inflated our windbreakers admirably, but it wasn’t exactly cold and out of the wind we even got a bit overheated. A path led us down to a beach (behind and east of where the above photo was taken) where I was able to dip my feet into the ocean…

It was cold! Though it’s farther than the horizon, from this point on Australia the next stop south is Antarctica and the ocean was giving me a hint of what to expect! 

We continued to Ballarat where almost everything was closed (it was evening on New Year’s Eve and a Sunday…) so we were forced to enjoy McDonalds, which turned out to be as delicious as it had been for lunch seven hours earlier 😉

Oh and the new year? I welcomed it fast asleep!