DAY FIFTY-FOUR: Easter Sunday

DAY FIFTY-FOUR: Easter Sunday

Today we moved onto Thora, when we arrived it was raining and miserable. Today was a test to see how we would cope in the campervan in bad weather, turns out it’s easy but only if you don’t move. Before we started the trip I invested in a one thousand watt inverter so we could charger the laptop on the go, it has been great for us so we could watch films. We watched a film and ate two Easter bunny egg’s my auntie bought us. During in the film another jucy van arrived and two spaceship campervans, I was quite smug watching my movie because everyone else around looked bored with nothing to do. The evening meal was creative we had fried mash with cheese and onion and kangaroo burgers. I felt cruel eating the burgers all I could picture was Skippy.

DAY FIFTY-THREE: Experience the solar shower

DAY FIFTY-THREE: Experience the solar shower

After a good night’s sleep Vicki thought it would be a good time to try the solar shower, it has been on the roof since we got here, Vicki went first, I was poking out of the sunroof leaning on it so there would be a better water pressure. I turned the tap for her and; nothing, a tiny trickle of tepid water dribbles out. It was hopeless but it’s the best we’re going to get until we go to a paid hostel.

            It cleaned the sweat and grime off us so it did what it was meant to do just not very well. The rest of the day was a lot like yesterday, we chilled, played card games and watched films on the laptop. As the sun began to set and darkness descended we were treated to a breath taking spectacle of the stars. It was beautiful I’ve never seen so many stars.

DAY FIFTY-TWO: Lazing in the sun

DAY FIFTY-TWO: Lazing in the sun

After our Mexican I was still a bit hungry so I decided to make pancakes. It shouldn’t have been a difficult process, all I had to do was add water to a pre made mixture. But it resulted in disaster, I followed the instructions to the letter but it came out all thick and lumpy. It was a mess, worst of all they weren’t even tasty, even with sugar and strawberries.

            This morning in my infinite wisdom I thought it would be a good idea to dilute the pancake batter with milk and water. All this did was make a mess, for some reason it wouldn’t cook, we tried it several times using olive oil, butter even changing the pan, nothing worked. By time we gave up it was lunch time so Vicki made scrambled eggs. These were much better than my pancakes.

            We didn’t do much for the rest of the day, it was nice sitting under a tree next to the van watching the wild birds fly over.

DAY FIFTY-ONE: Somewhere in a forest

DAY FIFTY-ONE: Somewhere in a forest

Last night would be our last comfy night for a long time. It was luxury, showers, running water all pretty basic things but things we won’t encounter on a regular basis any more.

            Nether the less we were both excited about the trip and couldn’t wait to get back on the road. Soon enough we were off to Coopernook, we chose to stop there because it was another free camp site.

            Along the way we drove through Newcastle and Raymond Terrace where we stayed with my uncle for a few days. Today’s drive never seemed to end. Even 6the last few kilometres dragged. Eventually we arrived at Coopernook. It was a tiny village with a few houses and a Motel. To get to the campsite we had to drive about 3KM along dirt roads which rattled the van as though we were in an earthquake. We found the camp site at last. It was essentially a field with not a lot else either way it is very nice and peaceful. As we rolled up onto the site everyone stared at us in our green and purple camper.
            The evening was nice we made Mexican food and drank a few beers

DAY FIFTY: Road trip begins

DAY FIFTY: Road trip begins

After an evening of luxury, I had no idea why we left in the first place. Unfortunately we have to leave again tomorrow. At least it’s for the road trip. Today we went to the shop to stock up on eggs, bread and most importantly beer. The last few days had something missing and that was ice cold beer.

            A few weeks ago we ordered a few extra bits of kit to try and make the trip a little comfier one of the things was a solar shower. Of all the things I've seen Vicki buy, I've never seen her as happy as she was to see the solar shower. The rest of the day was spent washing clothes and tidying the camper van.

DAY FORTY-NINE: 1650KM later...

DAY FORTY-NINE: 1650KM later...

Well we survived the night. We didn't hang around there is over 600KM to cover today. We drove along the M31 all the way. We switched in between, I have never been so relieved to arrive at a destination, it was a long drive in baking heat. Over the past few days we had covered over 1650KM .

            When we arrived back at Wollongong Vicki went straight into the shower, as soon as she was out I went straight in, it felt so good to be clean.

DAY FORTY-EIGHT: First sleep

DAY FORTY-EIGHT: First sleep

Last night was a good introduction to sleeping in the van. I am about 5cm too tall so my feet are wedged against the sink. Fortunately Vicki is only small so I squashed her into one corner so I could take the middle of the bed which has the fridge so I could put my feet on that. It was nice sliding back the sun roof visor so we could see the moon and stars.

            I had quite a restless sleep whereas Vic slept like a log. This isn't fair so at about 7.30  I woke her up, it was a bit mean but I felt justified since I had hardly slept. I felt bad so I made her a cup of tea. I had redeemed myself.

            We packed up and moved on. We continued to drive along Great Ocean Road to Lorne where we had lunch of a chip butty. We continued our drive of over 450KM north to Everton where there was another free camp site. This wasn't like yesterday’s camp site which was good enough to charge, this looked more like a scene from the 'Deliverance' It wasn't too bad, it was a flat patch of land next to a river and it had a toilet. How much more do we really need?

DAY FORTY-SEVEN: Great Ocean Road

DAY FORTY-SEVEN: Great Ocean Road

Today we left Barowen downs and set off towards Warrambool because we were both told about migrating female whales and how they stay with their young. Unfortunately after a few hours’ drive we didn’t see a thing. We were disappointed but it wasn’t too much of an issue as we were right beside the Great Ocean Road. We had planned to drive this way and stop at various viewpoints. However we were having a bit of a crisis, we were perilously low on fuel. I had estimated we could get 500km per tank with economical driving. We achieved this and more but there weren’t any petrol stations we were getting desperate, so we pulled into the first one we saw. It was a little hick place that robbed us blind. We didn’t see any reasonably priced places at all along the Great Ocean Road. We stopped at ‘London Bridge’ I liked it there was only a few other tourists. After we drove to the 12 Apostles, the photos on the internet and on TV do not reflect the reality. it is obscene how busy it was, hundreds of people cramming themselves onto a tiny walkway. I didn't enjoy it, the view is nice but the rest of the experience was pure hell. All along the drive we saw Jucy camper vans like ours, we all waved, flashed lights and blasted horns at one another finatically.

            After the 12 Apostals we drove onto Joanna beach, There is nothing about Joanna beach in the Lonely Planet book, we only decided to go because it is a free camp site. I thought this was great is's miles from the busy road and right next to the beach. The beach is inaccessable except through the camp site. The sea was rough which was great for taking photo's. When we returned to the van there was another Jucy parked next to us. Later in the evening another two rolled up. Jucy must be popular.

            There is only one thing left to do in this camper and that is to actually try to sleep in it.

London Bridge

12 Apostles

chilling out

DAY FORTY-SIX: Barowen downs

DAY FORTY-SIX: Barowen downs

After a nice evening with Vicki’s uncle in Barowen downs she decided we were going to stay another night which is nice. Today we went for a walk in the forest which is literally across the road. It was superb, there is a strong smell of Eucalyptus from the trees which is much better than the smell of car fumes and pollution.

            Along the walk we saw lots of different birds, yellow breasted robins, wagtails, and black cockatoo’s. We saw tracks of Echidna’s but unfortunately no Echidna.

DAY FORTY-FIVE: On the road again

DAY FORTY-FIVE: On the road again,

Getting the camper van wasn’t as simple as we thought, our first problem was our own fault, we overslept, which isn’t the first time we have done this. It delayed us by about an hour, that wasn’t much of a problem until we arrived at the train station. It was manic, the train was packed with students travelling to university.

            After a busy train ride and an even more packed tram ride we eventually arrived at St. Kilda, both relieved that we won’t be relying on public transport for the next 83 days.

            So far it doesn’t seem we have had many problems. They all began at the Jucy rental centre. We tried to pay the full amount with our Visa card. It didn’t work, ‘How could this be?’ I know we have the money. The girl in the centre was adamant it was our card. We had to walk across St. Kilda to ANZ. We were both fuming, it wasn’t how we were planning our day. Once we got to the bank the woman at the bank assured us our card was fine. We withdrew $3000 cash to pay for the van we weren’t happy about having to carry so much cash, but we had no option.

            Eventually we had the van, we were mobile once again. It was great we have a green and purple Toyota Tarago converted people carrier. After about an hour’s driving we arrived at Craigieburn to collect our bags and to say goodbye to everyone there.

            We were off driving towards Barowen downs near Colac I drove the next 220 km through cities, motorway and country roads, all the way Vicki told me off for braking too late, braking too hard, allsorts. It’s hard getting used to a new car when your first experience is in a busy city.

            For the last 30km Vicki had a go at driving and experienced all the difficulties I had. She spent ages trying to reposition the mirrors and seat, everything had been changed, so next time I try to drive it I have to change everything.

Our new home

DAY FORTY-FOUR: 1…

DAY FORTY-FOUR: 1…

This is our last day in Craigieburn and like the last few days the weather has been atrocious. According to the news there has been 110kph (70mph) winds and thunderstorms throughout the Melbourne area, we both just hope that it won’t be anything like that tomorrow when we pick up the campervan and set off on our trip. So instead of getting drenched we stayed in and watched films all day. I’d like to use the excuse of conserving energy for tomorrow’s induction to rickety old campervan driving but it was more likely just us being lazy. We are both really excited for tomorrow we just hope we get good weather and we enjoy every day of it.

DAY FORTY-THREE: 2…

DAY FORTY-THREE: 2…

Today was pretty uneventful we continued to plot our route and decide what trips to do during the trip. But most importantly we are re-arranging the trip to a sooner date. We decided that we aren’t exactly using our time productively so we have rescheduled the pick-up of the camper van to Friday the 22^nd. The most we did was film ourselves singing happy birthday for my granddads 80^th on Saturday this is because we won’t be able to Face Time or Skype. 

DAY FORTY-TWO: Melbourne

DAY FORTY-TWO: Melbourne

Today we finally went to Melbourne. The only reason we hadn't been sooner was because we are trying our hardest to save money for the imminent road trip. This morning was quite chilly so we wore jeans which was our biggest mistake because later in the day it reached mid twenty’s and we both boiled it was unbearably hot. No matter it was still a nice day, we went to Queen Victoria market which was good they sold all sorts of different things from Opals to leather jackets to keying’s. It was quite funny there because it was full of travellers we could here lots of European languages and they were evidentially travellers because were scruffy, unshaven and looked exhausted, this amused us both because we were pretty much the same, and will be even worse when we have the camper van. From here we followed the trip advisor self-guided tour down to federation square near Flinders street train station where we had been when we went to book the Jucy camper. We walked through the square towards the botanical gardens, only we walked straight past it by accident because we were on the wrong side of the road. Once we eventually got there it was beautiful full of palm trees, tropical plants we both enjoyed walking around the garden. We enjoyed walking around the city it was nothing like London, Manchester or Liverpool. It is new and modern, it has a huge selection of people from all over the world, it’s packed with students I can imagine Friday nights would be quite good.

Vicki Daydreaming

View of Melbourne

I see you

DAY FORTY-ONE: Broadmeadows

DAY FORTY-ONE: Broadmeadows

Today we went to Broardmeadows shopping centre, it certainly is no Trafford centre the shops are much smaller with very little variety. We shopped for some last things for the campervan trip for example bug spray as the mosquitos have attacked us both.  

DAY FORTY: Rainy day

DAY FORTY: Rainy day

Today was another dull day and was the first day in forty days I have worn long pants, it has been shorts all the time, but today it was cold. Not by the standards of home but cold compared to what we have become used to, 11. Usually the fact the temperature is in double figures is something to celebrate but now we are accustomed to mid-twenties 11 just is not acceptable to us anymore. So we sat in and watched the F1 and did very little for the rest of the day.

DAY THIRTY-NINE: Road trip pt. 2

DAY THIRTY-NINE: Road trip pt. 2

Today was a lot like yesterday, we spent all the time plotting destinations of where to stay and what to do. It was getting incredibly boring fortunately I had downloaded lots of different games onto my i Pod for such an eventuality, which kept me entertained for hours while Vicki was doing her 'itinerary' as she liked to call it. That was until I got a flat battery and I was to sit with her while she looked at the same spot time and time again, today was as boring as it sounds. 

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT: Road trip

DAY THIRTY-EIGHT: Road trip

Realising that the other day’s job hunt was totally redundant, we spent another day inside trying to map out a route of where we were going. It was pretty easy since we were following the M1 all the way, but what was difficult was deciding where to stay. We simply cannot afford $20 a night for camp sites for 80 days. We had previously found a web site listing loads of free and cheap sites, so we spent the day deciding which ones to go and what is suitable.  

DAY THIRTY-SEVEN: Feeling juicy

DAY THIRTY-SEVEN: Feeling juicy

Today we went to Melbourne to explore and go to the Juicy van rental centre in St Kilda. The day didn't go quite to plan, firstly the Formula 1 is this weekend and the city was manic when you watch it on TV it doesn't look too busy, people from all over the world were there with their F1 badges around their neck. We caught the very busy tram to St Kilda to the van centre to have a look around and ask some questions. We started talking to the girl behind the desk who was very helpful but had clearly never stayed in one before. After about an hour of questioning and negotiating we ended on booking it for 80 days. We are both really excited, our basic plan is to drive the Great Ocean Road then drive straight to Wollongong to commence with driving north to Cairns along the way we will look for jobs such as fruit picking and bar work. From here we will look for jobs in the tourism sector to try to save a little cash. If we have enough time and cash we will continue to Darwin and then Uluru. 

St Kilda from the beach

THIRTY-SIX: Job searching

THIRTY-SIX: Job searching


Our days are beginning to repeat themselves. We spent the full day searching for jobs, we applied for everything from the apple shop right the way through to environmental jobs we must have applied to over 150 jobs between the pair of us. So the day was pretty dull, the most interesting thing we have done was post Vicki's camera back to Fuji to get it fixed. Tomorrows plan is to go to Melbourne to explore.

DAY THIRTY-FIVE: Too hot to handle

DAY THIRTY-FIVE: Too hot to handle


Today was a monumental 35 C and it was far too hot to function. The plan was to go to town to try and post Vicki's camera back to Fuji to have it fixed. We couldn't do it it was just too hot as soon as you moved you were sweating so we had a very strenuous day of sitting next to the swimming pool and when it became too hot we jumped in to cool off.

DAY THIRTY-FOUR: Moving on

DAY THIRTY-FOUR: Moving on


It was an unsociable 5am get up this morning. Neither of us enjoyed it but we needed to get up then to catch the train to go to Craigieburn. We left my uncles house and we were both disappointed since we had such a great time there but we thought we would go and visit Vicki's cousins in Cragieburn, its only a short trainride to Melbourne so we think there may be more opportunity for work.
The journey here consisted of two trains and a coach transfer and it wasn't fun at all. this concreted the camper van trip since its a nightmare getting about with public transport you're bound to their times and everything takes longer. it was over 11 hours and we eventually arrived at Broad Meadows train station where we were picked up by Vicki's cousin.

DAY THIRTY-THREE: Last day

DAY THIRTY-THREE: Last day


Well what I actually mean by last day is that we are leaving Wollongong tomorrow and moving on to Melbourne, Vicki has family a few kilometres north of Melbourne and they have let us stay for a while. Our plan is somewhat like it was here, see as much as we can, do as much as possible and look for jobs in the meantime. So today was a day of packing and getting food for tomorrows 12 hour, 1,000KM journey. Oh what fun We're going to have on that trip.

DAY THIRTY-TWO: Fishing

DAY THIRTY-TWO: Fishing


It has officially been over a month now and we've done so much and seen a lot. Today was no exception, today we accompanied my uncle on a little fishing trip to the pond at the end of the road. This was the first time I had been fishing since I was a little lad with my dad so this was somewhat a new experience. Before we went anywhere we made our own boilies, plain ones with red food dye, curried ones and some with amino acids. They weren't a huge success  When I said I went fishing I mean more of watching my uncle casting off and I reeled the fish in. We didn't catch anything for about an hour then all of a sudden a bite I grabbed the rod and with near professional instruction a reeled in a.... a fishing reel, How did I catch a fishing reel? the bait was gone whatever I caught mush have escaped and I'd hooked a reel off the bottom the pond. A little strange but it was my first catch. Shortly after I got another bite I began to reel whatever it was in. Whatever it was it wasn't putting up much of a fight, eventually it emerged, a turtle popped up, I wasn't expecting a turtle. I was pleased with my catch though I'm pretty sure the turtle wasn't as pleased.
After a while we didn't catch anything and we just chatted. After a while we had another bite. This time it resisted a lot, tight, slack, tight, slack I'm pretty sure there shouldn't have been much slack but it was my first time catching an actual fish and not a reptile.
At last I had landed an Eel, I big gross smelly Eel. I wasn't amused especially when I pinned it down to take the hook out of it. My hands were coved in Eel slime, this amused my uncle since he intended in me catching an Eel purely for his amusement, Then proceeded to call me Eel boy for the rest of the evening.

Home made boilies

Eel boy

DAY THIRTY-ONE: More boring plans

DAY THIRTY-ONE: More boring plans


Today was a lot like yesterday where we sat in front of the laptop and lonely planet book. Only this time we were trying to establish where we were staying for a day to day basis. We thought since internet wont be easily accessible so we would have to write everything down. This was incredibly boring especially since it was yet another beautiful day. But it is necessary. We had a break and decided to print off our train tickets. Disaster!! I couldn't find them in my inbox. I knew I had it it must be somewhere! Gone completely gone a section of my e-mails had gone. Fortunately Vicki had written down the reference number, we rang them up and they sent us new tickets. Other than that I had my first e bay experience I decided it would be somewhat useful if we had a road map as well as a sat nav, Vicki had tried to persuade me not to bother when we first saw them at $40 but I found an AA one for $17 so I bought it. I also invested in an inverter, after trying to charge my laptop for 12 hours with a solar panel  it didn't gain any charge so an inverter would be the next sensible option for the road trip.

DAY THIRTY: Enjoying the sun

DAY THIRTY: Enjoying the sun


Today we carried on planning the road trip. Where to stay, what to do, how long to get there. These were all things coming from Vicki, me on the other hand would have completely winged the whole trip coming and going as we pleased, Vicki didn't approve of this theory so she began with the itinerary. The pair of spent most of the day with one sat in front of the lonely planet book as the other Googled more up to date prices and how far away it is.
It was about 28 deg C outside and neither of us could stand being inside for any longer so we abandoned our work and went back to the pool we went yesterday we splashed around for a while then I proceeded with chasing the local wildlife and trying to take pictures of it.

DAY TWENTY-NINE: Snorkelling pt 2

DAY TWENTY-NINE: Snorkelling pt 2


After such a good day yesterday I wanted to go snorkelling again, only this time I insisted on going into the sea instead of a protected pool. We walked up to the beach and walked along to the rocky outcrop where I assumed there would be fish. I set off swimming towards the rocks it didn't look too rough until I got in. I hardly strained myself but when I looked up to see where Vicki was and it was well over 100m away. So the current was pretty strong and that was obvious from what I saw or couldn't see. All I saw was plant life whipping past me at unreal speeds, the water was too rough so I didn't see anything.  After that we played around near the rock pool and saw a few small fish.

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: Snorkelling

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: Snorkelling

Octopus

After a week or so of bad weather we were finally blessed with a good day. So we took full advantage of it and drove to the rock pool to play with the snorkels we bought a while ago. We went to the rock pool so that Vicki could have a practice and the sea was still quite rough so it was safer. It might have been safer but it was still cold! Eventually we went in and it was teeming with fish we both really enjoyed it. Unfortunately for Vicki she couldn't see much without her glasses but she still enjoyed it.

Octopus

Puffer fish

     

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Preparation for the trip

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Preparation for the trip


Earlier in the week we had agreed that we would rent a camper van instead of using buses  trains and living in hostels. We figure it would be cheaper this way and we get to see everything without having to drag huge bags around with us. Our home will be wherever we park. So today was another day of preparation for what we needed. We figured that the utensils that would be supplied would be sub standard so we went to all the local discount stores and bought all out own kit, we bought knives, bowls, washing lines all sorts of kit that we think would be useful to us, best of all it only cost $50 so peanuts for loads of stuff.

DAY TWENTY-SIX: Max Brenner

DAY TWENTY-SIX: Max Brenner


Today was a lot like the day we went to cold rock. We did very little other than stuff ourselves with ice cream. This time however we drove to Shellharbour to go to Max Brenner the chocolate shop. This is somewhat contradictory of my rant about the chocolate being terrible, but we were assured by my little cousin that we would enjoy it. I was very sceptical until we arrived. It was like Willie Wonkers chocolate factory, only without little orange people. My cousin being the excited 12 year old that she is was having a sugar rush before she had even began to eat chocolate. Vicki and myself were both uncertain about what we were going to get. By time we got to the till my cousin was shouting her order of 'Chocolate pizza' at the girl behind the counter, Vicki had chocolate waffles and I had chocolate soufflé  I sampled all three and they were all very tasty only the pizza was borderline sickly.


On the drive back we were all shaking from the massive sugar intake. So much so Vicki decided to have a water bomb fight with my cousin. They tried to coax me out by reminding me that our washing was dry and needed to be brought in and she needed a hand. As I walked out I could see mischief on her face and my cousin giggling behind me, I scan over her to see a water balloon in her right hand, I hastily made a dash for the house. Safe and dry I wasn't going to leave it at that, I ran to the garage to get a bucket, filled it with water and ran around the house where Vicki was and soaked her. Victory.
A few hours had passed and i had forgotten about how they allured me outside and they called me again to help with the washing, I oblige and walk all the way out to have two balloons hurled and me, both miss then Vicki ran up behind me and squashed it on my back. I guess her revenge was best served cold, she sniggered about the whole event all night.

DAY TWENTY-FIVE, Plans unfold

DAY TWENTY-FIVE, Plans unfold


Today we spent the day planning our major trip. Because we have been unable to get jobs we are limited to about two months of travel, this isn't a big problem because before we start the trip we are going to Melbourne to visit Vicki's family. We booked one way train tickets today to go there in the hope that we could find jobs there before the trip truly begins. We're getting excited about it we've decided on renting a camper van for the duration because its cheaper than train tickets and hostels combined. Plus we don't have to worry about the logistics of planning a trip, booking accommodation and hoping there are no delays between stations. Plus it's something I've hoped we would do all along.

DAY TWENTY-FOUR, Canberra pt 2

DAY TWENTY-FOUR, Canberra pt 2

National museum of Australia (right hand corner)

After such a wet day yesterday we decided to drive to the national museum of Australia and explore there. I really enjoyed it there. It shows the history of Australia from original Australia to the European invading to present day. I had no knowledge of the Australia colonial times so it was very interesting. There was a section of how none indigenous animals became a prolific nuisance because they had no natural predators and more adapted to being hunted compared to indigenous animals which was hunted out by foxes and other animals. The museum looked very modern and colourful and was completely free of charge including car parking. Which was a lovely day out, we continued to Black mountain lookout point to view the city from the heights. Then we heading back to Wollongong.

DAY TWENTY-THREE Pebbly Beach & Canberra pt 1

DAY TWENTY-THREE Pebbly Beach & Canberra pt 1


Last night it rained none stop and continued this morning. Whoever said it only rains for short spaces of time were lying. Fortunately we were in the car so it doesn't affect us very much. This morning we drove on to Pebbly beach we drove 220 KM purely because I was told that it had kangaroos and I was going to see a wild kangaroo. Where we turned off onto Pebbly beach road we left tarmac and we instantly left civilisation, we were in the middle of nowhere. With me at the wheel and desperate to see a kangaroo I crawled at a near snail pace in anticipation of seeing one, after a short space of time we entered a clearing, I saw something in the corner of my eye. Before I even knew what it was I slammed the car into reverse and moved back a few meters. It was a group of three grey kangaroos, just like the ones in Symbio only wild. I was elated to see this, I turned to see if there were any more and another group of five hopped off. there was loads of them all grazing in the field. This had made my day. From here we drove to Canberra.

After a few hours of driving in torrential rain we finally arrived in Canberra, I was quite surprised by it as I was expecting a metropolis like London, Paris or Berlin but in fact it wasn't busy at all, we managed to casually drive right up to our hotel without any traffic jams, nothing.
We arrived a little after lunch so we planned a little walk to the parliament house, then to the national portrait gallery and ending at the national art gallery. Even though they are incredibly close to each other it seemed like we were walking for hours, not because we was lost but because it was raining, raining heavy, we were dashing from tree to bus stop to tree to avoid getting wet, This was in vein since we're both soaked to the skin. When we arrived at the parliament house we must have looked like a right pair of prats in shorts and t-shirts in the rain. Either way we explored the building, it was vary nice with its marble floors and stairs and portraits of former prime ministers, very grand.

From here we proceeded to the national portrait gallery, the lonely planet described to have portraits of Australian celebrities and sculptures, but I didn't recognise anyone, Vicki recognised Hugo Weaving (actor from the Matrix and Lord of the Rings) I was rather disappointed by it.
After here we went to the national gallery which was a bit of an improvement, there were some impressive sculptures and portraits from colonial times then we walked through a modern art section which I was far from impressed with. It looked like something I had done at the age of five.

DAY TWENTY-TWO, Ulladulla

DAY TWENTY-TWO, Ulladulla


Last night we planned a last minute trip to Bendalong, Pebbly Beach and Canberra. Today we drove to Bendalong after being told it was a lovely place to go. After hundreds of kilometres we eventually arrived to what appeared to be a beach. A beach which is exactly the same as all the others. We were disappointed to say the least but it was still a nice view. From here we drove to Ullanda where we stayed the night in a little old fashioned motel ready for Pebbly beach.

Bendalong beach