After New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney, we decided to rent a car and go off the beaten track where Greyhound couldn’t take us. We started the Grand Pacific Drive.
Driving on the left side took some time to get used to but we did have previous experience and the road is pretty nice overall, much less bumpy than in Canada.
First stop, Wollongong. We are clearly not in Queensland anymore, where the road is almost at sea-level—huge cliffs hemmed the road and it looked a little bit like Brittany, with the white lighthouse, the seagulls flying around and the big waves crashing into the rocks way below us.
We passed Kiama and a little surprise was waiting for us—dolphins swam right in front of us, jumping in and out of water. I had seen dolphins before from a boat, but usually you can only spot the fin. I had never seen that many before, and certainly not as close to the shore! A few kilometres later, we admire the seven-mile beach under a stormy sky.
Berry, a little town a bit further south, caught our eye and we decided to settle there for the night. We found a room in a pub, well, above a pub, in the classic Australian tradition. The irony was that we barely slept the night before in the Wollongong YHA because we had a room by the busy self-catering kitchen, but we had the best sleep ever in the pub even though they are usually quite noisy—go figure!
Hi Zhu! On neat, I like the signboard, and good you got some sleep. Above a pub? 😀 I can’t imagine the noise from below!
Your photos are making me afraid of ever visiting Oz … I know I would never want to leave 😉
Ahahah! “Ducks crossing” Love it!
Ok, if I ever go to Australia, that’s where I want to go. I like what I see here 🙂
Ah, a road trip! I find the photos quite similar to the ones you take when you go on roadtrips in Canada; the only difference is the ocean and the animals: the water is bigger and so are the animals featured! It seems you have a style that is quite consistent when taking photographs!
Glad you guys had a quiet night sleep. The scenery along the coast looks so peaceful and beautiful, although it looks like the rain is coming down. It’s awesome to have the close shots of the dolphins~
Many Malaysians study in a university in Wollongong, but this is the first time I see the pictures of it. Thanks for sharing.
I’m really enjoying your adventure. Its so unAmerican. Great pictures of the dolphins.
Salut Zhu,
This is so very cool; just cruising on vacation with your favorite man, on beautiful backroads.
It looks very quiet and easy going.
You should feel lucky to have crossed paths with the playful dolphins. It is considered lucky for boats to cross their path, but will also make an exception for travelers 🙂
@Priyank – It wasn’t so bad actually, less noisy than a backpacker place!
@Cynthia – Trust me, you would, it’s so bloody expensive 😆
@Linguist-in-Waiting – In a way, yes, it is very similar to Canada! Funny, isn’t it!
@Em – I loved that sign, found it so cute!
@micki – It rained on and off but the weather really cleared up in Narooma, which was good because it was a great spot.
@khengsiong – I haven’t met any Malaysian there but we did stay at the YHA which is part of the university, and there were a few guys from HK.
@Yogi – Thank you!
@barbara – I take them as a lucky sign then! 😉