The last week or so has involved covering a lot of ground - over 1000 kilometres in total. We left Ballina as planned, moving on to Nambucca Heads. The campsite was set in a valley, right by a deserted beach where we enjoyed a bit of sunbathing. We also did a few day trips from there, including one to Coffs Harbour. The place reminded me of Padstow, with a small harbour, an aroma of fishing boats and lots of places offering the freshest seafood you could hope for. We treated ourselves to a fish and chip lunch and sat out on the harbour watching the boats and the many seagulls that befriended us.
From Nambucca Heads, we drove inland to Cessnock in the Hunter Valley. We chose to do the 'Cheers' tour, which picked us up at 10am for a full day's tour of the vineyards and a visit to five of the best wineries in the region. Each winery offered us tastings of 7-8 wines (all were very enthusiastic about their particular wines and included samples of wine in addition to the set list). By the end of the day (6pm), the entire group was extremely merry to say the least. Being a light-weight, I took advantage of the 'tip-out bowl' option for several wines, while James quaffed every drop he was given. He insisted he wasn't drunk, but did manage to drop his wineglass at the last place - as it smashed onto the floor, the group cheered and called out 'taxi'! All the places we visited are known as boutique vineyards, i.e. they only make a small amount of wine and do not sell outside the cellar door (you can't purchase them in shops etc). As a result, the wine is relatively expensive (8 quid a bottle), so we didn't load ourselves with purchases (some people bought several dozen bottles each) - I think we will be sticking to 'goon' aka the boxed wine available all over Oz - 4 quid for 4 litres!!!
From Cessnock, we did a long drive South through Sydney to Kiama, which took us near enough a full day. Early next day we moved on to Narooma which was right on the coast and had some fantastic coastal walks. We also did a day trip to Bermagui and Tilda-Tilda - an historical village protected by the National Trust, with quaint little shops. After Narooma we drove to Eden where we stayed overnight in a cabin with satellite telly. James was chuffed as it meant he could watch UK football highlights - although not a total success as his team didn't win the game!
Today we left Eden and did a relatively short drive to Lakes Entrance (240km) - our first stop in Victoria. We plan to stop here for 3 nights to give us a chance to explore the surrounding areas. Next week we are going to drive closer to Melbourne before visiting some friends of J's next weekend. We are both looking forward to that - it will be nice to socialise for a few days! F&J.x.
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