Crossing the border

After breakfast on Saturday morning we walked down from the lodge we were staying in to the river and walked alongside the river and up to the street.

Here we found kangaroos who all stopped to look at us.

This pair were about to start boxing, but immediately stopped and looked at us.  I felt they were sayin 'what us!  no we're not fighting!'

However they started!

We drove on along the Princes Highway and crossed over the 'border' from Victoria into New South Wales.  Or should that be Whales?  In Eden we went to the Killer Whale Museum.

It seemed odd to have a museum dedicated to Killer Whales rather than whales in general but there was a fascinating story there about how the Killer Whales helped the fishermen.

The view from the museum

We continued to Tathra and the Wharf Museum.  We took a short walk on the headland.

We were booked to stay in a motel in Bermagui but drove past it to go to a small place called Combago.  The tourist guide raved about the place but sadly on a Saturday afternooon there was only one shop open.   The bushfire had gone through the village and burned a couple of  wooden buildings and this railway carriage.

The building to the left of the pharmacy had burned down.

On Sunday we continued north, stopping first in Central Tilba.  This is a heritage village and almost every shop was open.  I think if we'd realised how pretty it was, we would have found accommodation there.

We travelled on through Bateman's Bay and on to Ulladulla where we had lunch.  Then, as we had time, we went on a circular drive through St. George's Basin, Huskisson and Sussex Inlet.

The final morning of our road trip and the weather looked miserable.

However it cleared up.

We stopped off at Shellharbour.

We continued towards Sydney, arriving at our destination at Brighton-Le-Sands in time for lunch!

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Thursday & Friday

We started our drive along the Princes Highway through the state of Victoria  towards New South Wales.   Fires alongside this road in January and February had caused sections to be closed at the time, but by the time we were there the whole road had reopened.

We drove to Wilson's Promontory which turned out to be a serious walker's paradise.  I'm not a serious walker and the weather was really hot.  30 degrees celsius.

So we had a quick walk on Squeaky Beach.  So called because the sand squeaks when you rub your shoe along it.

 We eventually arrived in Metung where we saw a great sunset.  And stayed the night.

On Friday morning we drove to a small ferry which took us to Raymond Island where wild Koalas live - amongst the houses of a small village.

Then we were off to Mallacoota.  This was one of the most affected areas we saw on UK television during the fires.   We drove through the fire hit areas and were pleased to see that already the trees were recovering.

There is still work being done clearing trees and undergrowth.  Some areas were being burned back under supervision.

We reached Mallacoota and found these pelicans waiting to be fed by a fisherman who was filleting his catch of fish.

 

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Phillip Island

We continued our road trip from Belgrave by first visiting the Puffing Billy Museum.  Lots of lovely old steam engines.  Loved it.

There was the obligatory bits of rust first:

 

 Then we were off driving across country and to the coast of Victoria.

We saw a variety of wildlife.

The purpose of our visit was to see the Little Penguins come ashore as sun sets.  We arrived at the beach about an hour before.

No one is allowed to take photos at the event so here is one downloaded from the internet.

I didn't feel we had seen many penguins come up the beach but as we walked back to the car park through the sand dunes we saw sooo many.  And they were all making such a racket.  It was well worth the wait.

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice