Fri 29 Nov 2013 - Touring for surf again!

It was a hot night but we woke up cold in the early hours, looking for the duvet, as a cool change came through. At 8.00 am we woke again and it was gloomy and raining. Due to the Southerly wind, the surf was blown out so we left and visited a surf board factory owned and run by the infamous Mark Rabbidge, who Rodger had met in the surf at Mollymook. He was a great guy who showed Rodger through the factory and explained operations.

As all the surf was blown out everywhere we went, we travelled further North than we intended and at 4.30pm we ended up at Currarong, which was so sheltered, there wasn't any surf at all, We decided to move on again, but before we'd gone far, Rodger noticed a car by the side of the road, with a man changing in to a wet suit. He stopped the car, went back and asked him where he was surfing. The man was a bit embarrassed and said it wasn't very big, although well formed. Rodger asked where it was and it was down a small dirt track through a hedge - we never would have found it ourselves. They both went out and had an hour and a half, having fun and catching lots of waves.

When Rodger came back, he got changed quickly because it was getting late and we drove off, back towards Currarong, where we'd seen a caravan park. Suddenly, Rodger realized he'd left his swimmers on the bumper bar, but when we stopped the car, they weren't there anymore! We drove back and looked everywhere but couldn't find them, so we set off again and finally saw them in the long grass by the road!

We found the caravan park and the man kindly gave us a powered site for the price of unpowered so, after our BBQ dinner, we were able to watch one of my favourite movies, "Midnight in Paris".

Thurs 28 Nov 2013 - Visiting Mr Duffy

Nobody disturbed us and we got up at 6.00am and went down to tour the beaches. We came back to the first one and by 7.00 am the surf was right and some other people arrived too. It was a beautiful morning and I went in for a swim while Rodger was in the surf. Mollymook are hospitable because they don't lock their toilets at night and there was a nice beach shower too!  (Mel finally gets some shots of me surfing!)

Rodger met some guys from the Baptist Church near the shower and after a short conversation, they invited him to visit their Men's Shed. I dropped him off there while I went to do some shopping 

When I picked up Rodger we drove into Milton to visit Mr Duffy - a very special friend, wise mentor to us at The Lighthouse.  We're so grateful that we have this opportunity to visit Mr Duffy as he was very ill in Sept and it didn't seem as if we'd see him again. We arrived mid-morning and had such a lovely time remembering special times together, that it was suddenly his lunchtime and we had to go.

 We had arranged to meet Mr Duffy's daughter, Vivien, in the park for a picnic lunch and it was great to catch up with her too.

From here, we went on to one of Rodger's favourite surfing spots, Mañana / Benelong Pt and he found some surf and people to go out with. There's a caravan park at Bennelong, so we stayed there. There were lots of kangaroos wandering about and grazing. It had been a hot day, 35C, and so we were able to cook and eat outside, until the mozzies came out!

Wed 27 Nov 2013 – Congo, Surf then to Mollymook

Rodger got up at 6.00am to good surf running off the reef and one other surfer to go out with. It was a bit strong and fast, but he had a few good rides as well as some wipe outs!

some dolphins joined us in the surf

There were no indoor showers, though they did provide shower rooms, with a hook to hang up your own bush shower. As we don't have one, I used a bucket instead, but it's amazingly difficult to throw a bucket of water over yourself!

We had planned to visit Rodger's uncle and aunt when we went through Bateman's Bay, but Rodger's mum reminded us that they are up in Taree. We also planned to visit our friends Michael and Sara Anna, who also live there, but they weren't home either!

After lunch at Dolphin Pt and went through Ulladulla to Mollymook. We decided to stop here as it's close to Milton, where we'll be visiting Mr Duffy, a special friend, tomorrow morning. We went for a walk on the beach and then found another beach further on called Narrawallee, where there's an inlet good for fishing and a nice park with a BBQ, where we can cook our dinner. It was only 4.00pm, so we went for a walk and then Rodger had a go at fishing, I went and sat with him as it was such a lovely afternoon. Rodger caught a whiting, which we BBQed with our lamb chops. 

We stayed at the park until 10.00pm and then drove round to a street we had picked out, one back from the beach and we quietly set up for the night and slept there, in our clothes, just in case.

Tues 26 Nov - Tilba Tilba and Congo

I went down to the beach in my nighty and had a paddle, just like I do at Bundeena. The water was too cold to tempt me in for a swim!

We went in to Eden to stock up with diesel and fuel, then travelled slowly along the coast road, stopping at each beach to look at the surf. The problem was that they were either so sheltered that there were no waves or they were absolutely crashing in. There was an unusual rock on one beach called Camel Rock!

We detoured a little to visit Tilba Tilba, a pretty little town of restored and brightly - painted, weatherboard houses. We visited the cheese factory there, they don't make cheese from scratch, but buy cheese, crush it up and mix in their own flavourings, then repress and wax it. Rodger tasted them all and chose one with chives.

 It was a cheese sort of day as we also stopped in Bodella. This was the first commercial cheese producing place in Australia. The whole town was owned by a man called Mort and everybody worked for him in the cheese making industry, either on the dairy farms or the 3 cheese factories. They were also the first people to export cheese from Australia to England. Sadly they no longer make cheese there, but they sell some and honey too, for tourists.

The last beach we tried was Congo, in the Eurobodalla National Park, just before Moruya. The surf was blown out, but Rodger thought it might be good early in the morning, so as there was a camping ground there, we stayed.

Congo Camping Ground on the beach

One fellow camper with a catch of Aussie Salmon

 While I was cooking dinner, Rodger rang his mum and she told us that Rodger's brother, Peter had put her onto the Internet for her birthday present so that she can Skype, and then she connected up! Rodger and I were very impressed and it was great to be able to see each other, as well as have a chat.

Mon 25 Nov 2013 - Surf at Ben Boyd National Park

It was another overcast day and, without the sun to wake us up, we slept in until 8.00am so it was a late take off from Cann River but at least it wasn't raining. I drove for an hour, across the border into NSW and almost to Eden and then turned off into Ben Boyd National Park, and down to Saltwater Creek, along an old logging road, as Rodger had read that there's a good, sheltered spot for surfing here.

 It was a pretty little beach and we went for a lovely walk, through a tea tree wood, following the coast. There were now patches of blue sky and bursts of sunshine. We had a lucky escape as just ahead of us, a branch suddenly fell off a tree and crashed to the ground.

The surf wasn't big enough yet, but we met some other surfers who were waiting for after high tide to have a go, so we went back to our van and had lunch and a read until the tide started to go down and then Rodger and the other guys went in and got a few nice waves. 

I saw some kangaroos and lots of holes made by the bandicoots as they dug for truffles. By the time Rodger came back, got changed and put his board on the car it was 5.00pm, but we decided not to stay at the camping ground there because mozzies were already coming out and it was $10 each, without any showers.

We drove towards Eden and called into 3 caravan parks on the way in. The first wasa good price but had no BBQ, the next was $35, but the third was $23, beautifully equipped, spotlessly clean and right on the shore of Nullica Bay.

We cooked our dinner and, as the wind had dropped, we sat and looked out over the Bay as we ate. It was the best part of the day, as the sky had cleared and the sun was out. It looks like it will be a good day tomorrow.

As we lay in bed in the van, we could listen to the sound of the tide washing onto the shore.

Sun 24 Nov 2013 - East Gippsland

During breakfast we decided to try to ring Ali and we got onto her straight away. It was great to talk to her and it meant Suellen could be in on the conversation as well. Suellen had to go to work after this and Rodger and I pottered about, re packing the van. We left about 10am, drove into Foster and saw Suellen pulling in to the office so we said "Goodbye" again and then we found a Uniting Church where the service had only just started, so we went and joined them. Afterwards we did a quick shop and, after Rodger had acquired a sausage roll, set off on the East Gippsland Highway.

It was raining quite hard on and off all day, so it wasn't really a day for stopping and looking at things. We did stop at Lakes Entrance to look at the fishing boats and see if there was any surf (it was all blown out) and then we continued on to Cann River.

 At Cann River there's a good, cheap camping ground down by the river, owned by the Shire Council and part of the rainforest, it smelt really good, when we stepped out of the car. As it was still raining and so cold that our meat hadn't defrosted, we went to buy a takeaway. Rodger got a hamburger and chips but there wasn't anything I could have so I made myself an omelet, toast and some of our new mango honey.

It was very nice to be back in our van again and have everything so conveniently to hand. As it's such a miserable night, we're already tucked up in bed at 8.30pm!

Sat 23 Nov 2013 - Wilson's Promontory

We woke up late and the day was overcast. When we were organised, we set off for Wilson's Promontory, which is very close to Suellen's place and is the Southernmost tip of mainland Australia. We had been told it's the most beautiful place in Victoria, and we could soon see why people could say that, it really is very special. By now the sun had come out and the clouds were only over the hills.

 We called at several small beaches to see if there was some surf for Rodger, but there wasn't. The scenery was amazing, very hilly, with lovely beaches and little islands off the coast.

We did a walk over the dunes to Squeaky Beach, so called because the sand squeaks under your feet when you walk. We were so hot after this exertion that we were glad to have a swim, even though the water was very cold - it was certainly invigorating!

There were lots of lovely birds around the Prom.

We started off on our way back when Rodger remembered that Suellen had told us about a place called "The Big Drift", which is a whole area of inland sand dunes. It was another 4 Kms to walk to them and back and I decided that my knee couldn't take any more, so I stayed in the car while he went to have a look. On his return,  Rodger said it was absolutely amazing.

When Rodger returned, he said he'd had a call from Suellen to say she had a puncture, but by the time we got to the place, the RAC had been and changed the tyre and she was home. I made a quick dinner of apricot chicken, and afterwards we had tea, chocolate and chat and before we knew it, it was midnight.