South through Sydney
to the coast; today was a good day to leave the Hunter Valley. The temperature
is predicted to go to 40 C (104 F) in Cessnock.
Our drive through
Sydney suburbs was crowded, but the traffic moved through the city streets with
no major hang-ups. We took the Hwy 1 Expressway Tunnel under the Harbour and
followed Hwy 1 south until we reached Kirrawee where we turned off the highway
to find lunch. Not only did we find a good roasted chicken lunch, but we also found
beautiful murals and artwork that looked like they were created by local
school students. (No signs explained who did the artwork.)
Click to enlarge--a beautiful piece of art. |
On Highway 1 headed
south, we turned east on Lawrence Hargrave Drive and followed the sign to Sri
Venkateswara Hindu Temple. We didn’t go in, but I took photos of the beautiful
building.
We were familiar with the road from Shellharbour to Nowra since we had traveled it twice while we were taking day trips from Bowral in the Southern Highlands. That part of the road was on a highway, so we cruised through there rather quickly. In Nowra, we stopped at the Info Centre to pick up maps for our trip south to Victoria state.
Detail above the door. |
As we were driving down the road we saw a sign for Kellys Falls. We made a quick detour on a side road and did a short walk to see the falls. We could hear the falls and see indications of the falls, but no viewpoint of the whole waterfall. I did get a few photos, though, of pretty scenery and a lizard.
Bob rock hopping. |
Looking down over the top of the waterfall. |
From the Temple, we
took Lawrence Hargrave Dr. to Grand Pacific Drive (AKA Lawrence Hargrave Drive)
which hugged the east coastline from Stanwell Park to Wollongong.
The beautiful coastline and Ocean Baths at Coalcliff.
The beautiful coastline and Ocean Baths at Coalcliff.
Swimming beach and Ocean Bath at Coalcliff. |
For many
years, Lawrence Hargrave Drive was closed because of frequent rockfall,
embankment slips, mud and rock slides, weak rock, marine erosion, and weathering
of the rock. It was too dangerous to allow anyone to pass.
A great engineering
marvel, the Sea Cliff Bridge, solved the problem along this stretch of
coastline. The bridge was built out over the ocean, away from the frequent
erosion of the cliff face. This is a testament to man’s ingenuity. We were duly
impressed. There is a turnout with information panels and a walkway across the
bridge.
We walked partway on the bridge overlooking the ocean and rock shelf below and marveled at the bridge itself. The day was overcast, but warm and extremely humid, plus the flies were totally annoying. We would have walked farther, but we were too hot.
Sea Cliff Bridge walkway and bridge. |
We walked partway on the bridge overlooking the ocean and rock shelf below and marveled at the bridge itself. The day was overcast, but warm and extremely humid, plus the flies were totally annoying. We would have walked farther, but we were too hot.
Parks, beautiful
coastline, lookouts, very nice homes, and old towns lined Grand Pacific Drive.
Wollongong has a cute little harbour protected by two lighthouses.
View from a lookout. |
Art by Michael Dwyer--Comradeship. |
Ooh, another lizard (or dragon?) |
Wollongong Harbour. |
South of
Wollongong, Port Kembla impressed us with miles of steel production facilities.
The buildings were enormous. Both sides of the highway were populated with
steel mills. My head was going back and forth like we were watching a ping-pong
match. Bob was driving in traffic, so he looked from time to time.
We were familiar with the road from Shellharbour to Nowra since we had traveled it twice while we were taking day trips from Bowral in the Southern Highlands. That part of the road was on a highway, so we cruised through there rather quickly. In Nowra, we stopped at the Info Centre to pick up maps for our trip south to Victoria state.
I had seen a photo
in one of our Coastal Explorer
magazines of dolphins surfing the waves at Mollymook Beach. I thought it would
be cool if we could see that. The dolphins have been known to surf the waves
with the surfers.
Our next stop was
Mollymook Beach. We went to the Beach Hut CafĂ© and ordered “take-away” (to-go) food that we ate at a picnic table at the beach park so we could watch for
dolphins. We stayed there for about an hour searching the sea and the surf for the
dolphins, but none were there that evening.
Another hour later,
we checked into our hotel for tonight in Batemans Bay. Our wifi here is
incredibly slow and keeps kicking us off. I will try to post the blog, but I’m
not sure if I’ll be able to post photos. When we pulled into the Comfort Inn, a
gorgeous peacock came to greet our car.
Peacock greeting committee. |
A lizard was catching its dinner at the lights outside our room.
A total change of subject here…A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned I would put some of the local Sydney headlines about our presidential election in my blog because I thought they were clever. Here are the headlines (maybe you’re not sick of hearing about election stuff by now). These are from The Daily Telegraph, Sydney’s biggest-selling newspaper, the day after the election.
· “Barack to the Future”
· “Grand Vision for Come-Barack Kid”
· “United Mates of Obama”
· “Shattered Romney Suffers a Direct Mitt”
· “You Can’t Beat the Tweet in America: THE big winner of the election? Social media in a landslide.”
Miscellaneous stuff:
St. Vincent de Paul = Vinnies
Utes = sport utility vehicles
Woolworths (grocery store) = Woolies
Motorcycle gang member = bikie
coldie = beer
A total change of subject here…A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned I would put some of the local Sydney headlines about our presidential election in my blog because I thought they were clever. Here are the headlines (maybe you’re not sick of hearing about election stuff by now). These are from The Daily Telegraph, Sydney’s biggest-selling newspaper, the day after the election.
· “Barack to the Future”
· “Grand Vision for Come-Barack Kid”
· “United Mates of Obama”
· “Shattered Romney Suffers a Direct Mitt”
· “You Can’t Beat the Tweet in America: THE big winner of the election? Social media in a landslide.”
Here are more abbreviations
Aussies use:
Salvation Army =
SalvoesSt. Vincent de Paul = Vinnies
Utes = sport utility vehicles
Woolworths (grocery store) = Woolies
Motorcycle gang member = bikie
I am amazed by all
the different sports played here: cricket, Rugby League, Rugby Union, lawn
bowling, Aussie Rules Football (footy), Life Saving (Surf Clubs compete for
prizes).
More ‘stralian words
we’ve learned:
arvo = afternooncoldie = beer
We have less than a
week left in Australia. : ( We’ll be
spending most of our remaining time along the coast with a day in Melbourne.
Tonight we have thunder and pouring rain. Hopefully, this storm will break the heat and humidity. All for now. Good
night.