Australia - Crossing a Continent

It takes just 2.5 days after leaving Kerang to reach the East Coast. I arrive, fairly randomly, at a place called Tathra, total journey 14.5 days and 4,510km. I have actually driven across this vast continent, from West to East. How fantastic is that? I feel pleased with myself, like I have really achieved something (which I think I have – not many people can say they have done that, probably not even many Australians) and I celebrate with a cup of coffee in this quiet, deserted, sea-side town. Since leaving Kerang I have driven through landscapes resembling the Wiltshire Downs, the Scottish Highlands and the Alps (each for days on end) and travelled through a myriad of National Parks. The most spectacular was the Kosciuszko National Park, with dramatic and sharp ascents and descents through endless eucalyptus forests and deep river valleys, climbing beyond the snow line at one point to drive through the coldest weekend for 15 years and thick snow and ice to Cabramurra, Australia’s highest town. On the radio they mentioned that people were travelling from miles around to see the snow in the area, as a lot of people had never seen snow before! At other times I have driven through countryside that seems distinctly European, with olive and orange groves, orchards and vineyard after vineyard, so that I could easily be driving through central France or Northern Italy. Australia really has the landscape of the world rolled into one country.

I hug the East Coast to slowly make my way to Sydney, stopping off randomly at one deserted beach and sea-side town after another, simply taking detours from the main highway whenever I see a sign which says Beach Road or Ocean Drive, or sometimes I just like the sound of a place name, or I follow the brown, pentagon signed Tourist Drives, which at times follow the coast and now and then detour inland. I’m happy with either and like the randomness of not really knowing until I turn off the main highway which one it might be. The towns on the coast are melancholy (dismal even, in the incessant rain), pining for lost sunny days and the busy laughter (and wealth) of holiday makers. I use the last of my Holiday Inn points on 2 nights in a hotel in Potts Point, Sydney, which borders the city’s gay and red light areas, so the evenings are really buzzy and I try a few local bars, including what I hadn’t realised at first was a gay club, (although the Drag Queen competition should have been a good clue!) The luxury of the hotel is fantastic after so many days on the road and I can see the centre of Sydney, including the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from my 7^th floor hotel room. The Opera House is a bit like Stonehenge, in that when I first saw it, it seemed a lot smaller than I had imagined, but it somehow gradually grows in stature after the first viewing. The weather is overcast, bitterly cold but mostly dry, so I get to see the centre of Sydney, some art galleries, the Botanical Gardens and of course, the Opera House. On the Tuesday morning, with the weather warm and sunny, I travel across the Harbour Bridge itself to visit Simon and Ali Dudley in North Curl Curl, on the coast, North of Sydney. It is great to catch up with Simon after not having seen him for many years and it is fantastic to eat some home cooking. The hospitality is brilliant and the conversation is interesting (I realise I’ve missed that) and the two evenings flow by easily. Thank-you both very much! Simon is kind enough take time out to show me around on the Monday, first North Head, with stunning views over Sydney Harbour (and a brilliant rainbow) and then an ascent to the headland overlooking Palm Springs and then Turrametta Head. The coastline is absolutely beautiful and although cold, the Sun is now shining and the waters are an ever changing mix of deep greeny-blues and light blues.

After a total of 4 days and nights of luxury, I feel revitalised and revived. I hadn’t realised how important it has been to enjoy a fire each evening when out in the bush, but the snow, ice and rain had made that impossible for the 3 or 4 days before Sydney. The weather remains mild after leaving Simon and Ali, so I return with renewed enthusiasm to driving in the campervan, (staying mostly in free overnight stops) and enjoying a fragrant eucalyptus wood fire each evening, sometimes on the beach, sometimes in a forested highway rest area, but always with a fire. I continue to travel northwards, through the Myall Lakes National Park, a land of creeks and inlets, large lakes, lagoons and rivers on one side and the deserted beaches of the South Pacific Ocean to my right, but always with the mountains of The Great Divide in the far distance, as I meander closer and closer to Brisbane. My daily mileage has dropped considerably now, from around a maximum of 300 or 400 km per day to perhaps only 100. The weather is warm now I’m close to the Gold Coast, in the early 20C’s and I am driving through a land of bananas, palms and sugar cane. I don’t think I have crossed the Tropic of Capricorn yet, but it is certainly more tropical and the cicadas are again cheerfully noisy through the nights. I can’t believe that the month in Australia is slowly coming to a close. I have certainly enjoyed all of this vast country (and there is so much more still to see - maybe that’s for another trip?), but the peace and silence of the vast forest and deserts of the West and South and those extraordinary, magical, seemingly never ending, star strewn skies, remain with me still.

Kosciuszko National Park

Tathra, West Coast. I have drive across a continent. How great is that?

Camel Rock Beach

Tomakin Beach

Cheaper than a lawnmower

"It's one of those humans. Don't worry, they are more scared of us than we are of them"

A stormy Killea National Park

Yep, you've guessed it!

Circular Quay, Sydney

Sydney's oldest pub, The Fortune of War

One of the world's structural icons and you can drive across it! Amazing! Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Manly, surfers paradise

South Curl Curl

Sydney from North Head

Palm Springs