Flat Tyre's, Kangaroos and Thieving Possums

Trip Start Sep 05, 2005
Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Australia  ,
Saturday, February 18, 2006

So today we were finally set to get on the road and start exploring Australia the way it was meant to be done, by car. No more long boring bus/train journeys, just us, the car and the freedom to drive wherever the hell we feel like. It's a great experience I tell you.

So rather than head up the coast like all the other backpackers normally do we headed south to Melbourne, the long way. Decided we felt like seeing a few places along the way and had to visit Canberra as well. It's the nations capital and I've been to every other countries capital city even though I've heard there is no reason to visit really.

So we got in the car and started motoring south along the Princes Highway, route 1 which goes all the way round the outside of the country, and went to Wollongong. Wollongong is a major town in New South Wales but being only 80km's from Sydney it is virtually a suburb. Started along the highway and realised we were in the red and needed to find petrol quickly. Easier said than done. We were still only 20km's from Kings Cross and still hadn't come across one yet! We eventually saw one on the other side of the highway and had to do a risky U turn to get there! $60 later and we had a full tank. Half the price I would pay back home so I think I'll enjoy driving around Aus!

We arrived in Wollongong and saw a huge beach, North Beach, and thought what the hell! It was a gorgeous day and we couldn't waste the whole time driving in the car. So we sat around on the beach reading the LP's and deciding where to go next. We couldn't be bothered to go to Canberra today so after 2 hours baking in the sun we carried on along the coast to Jervis Bay. On the way we tried to find the Bulli lookout for a photo op over Wollongong but without luck. A hundred or so k's later and we arrived at Jervis Bay.

Jervis Bay is a place to see whales and dolphins but it wasn't the time of year and to be honest the town wasn't that interesting. Our time there was basically used to stretch our legs before I got behind the wheel and drove to our chosen stop, Pebbley Beach, for the night. It was the first time I have driven in 9 months and the first time in an automatic so it was a little weird to get used to at first but I soon got the hang of it. The only real problem was trying to find something to do with my left leg as it was redundant and my foot ended up going numb!

After 150km's or so we arrived at Pebbley Beach Road and an 8km dirt track appeared towards our destination. A very bumpy 10 minutes later and we got to Pebbley Beach with a flat tyre! Great way to start a long journey round Australia! So after 15 minutes changing the tyre we were finally in the camp site setting up the tent.

We were completely surrounded by around 30 Kangaroos and there were parrot type birds called Rosalles everywhere which was really cool. The beach was great. It was with 5 minutes walk from camp and deserted, probably due to the fact it was 6pm and the water was freezing. So back to the campsite for some much needed dinner. We filled a massive pot with all the pasta we had and made far too much for the 3 of us with nowhere near enough pasta sauce so it was pretty foul really.

After dinner we sat around chatting until a friendly looking possum appeared and ran off with our pack of bread! Unbelievable! So we thought it was time for bed and with only a 2 man tent I retired to the car for a pretty good nights kip.
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