February 16, 2017
After a nice night of music followed by sleep, we got up pretty refreshed and ready for the new day. Mariano and Anne's home was really, really nice. Small, but nice. Perfect for them. I got up, showered and went for a morning walk as usual. I took some pictures of the area, especially the old Methodist Church that greets people as they drive down into Tilba. Tilba is an old mining town from many moons back. Upon my arrival back from my walk, I noticed Mariano tying a fishing line getting ready to go fishing. Being me, I started to ask him questions about his background and how he landed in Tilba. In short, he started to have some health issues, was tired of the corporate job, decided to retire and sold his Sydney home for 5 times what he had bought it 20+ years earlier. They loved and vacationed in Tilba. So they decided to try and make a retirement go of living here. He was very upbeat about his decision and seems to be doing fine. Anne was a school teacher for a few years before she retired this year from doing that. So they are free and easy to take care of their gardens and maybe do a bit of traveling.
After the standard, very yummy, breakfast of cereals, milk and toast, we hit the road heading north towards Sydney. Our first stop was the small Cheese factory in Tilba. They allowed us to taste many cheeses until we settled in on a small chunk of cheese. From there, we headed to Tilba Tilba....a 2nd portion of the area. I did not double type...that is the name of the 'other' Tilba about 3 kilometers away. Pretty funny. We just passed through it without stopping.
We then drove north passing through a lake region full of beautiful lakes not far inland from the sea. One nice town that we went through was Narooma. This would be a nice place to just come and hang out a bit. But we slowly drove through. We were looking for another cheese factory referenced by Mariano. He said it was in Bodalla which was where Anne taught school. I thought I remembered Mariano talking about Potato Point...so when we saw the sign for that we turned and went down the road some 10 kilometers. Finally we asked a lady in front of the Firestation there where the cheese place was. Naturally, it was back up on the highway just past town a bit. So back we went. We did finally find it and bought a different type of cheese. We also found a bakery and bought some bread. We were set for an afternoon on the beach.
We were headed to Pebbley Beach. But again the drive took us through a number of fishing villages and ports as we navigated the A1 freeway. I must tell you...my driving on the wrong side of everything has been pretty darn good. Now Pebbley Beach was recommended to us because it was said to have Kangaroos loitering around that you can pet and play with. Naturally, Pebbley Beach was a bit off the beaten trail. But at least the road was paved all the way there. Upon arriving, this beach was more 'modernized'. You had to pay $8 AUD to park your car there for the day. You had to walk a ways to get to the water. But, hallelujah, this beach was set in a cove and there were places I could snorkel. Hot dog. That was the good news. The bad news...the Kangaroos must have been taking a Mexican siesta (it was around 1 PM). We were told that there were many in the 'bushes'. But who is going into the bushes to flush them out? We weren't. We did see a couple bounding away or feeding. But it was somewhat disappointing. The snorkeling was ok. The water was filled with silt from the sandy beach. There were some some fish I saw as I trolled the rock reef like area. At one point, I did look down to see the tail end of a fairly large eel swimming into the grassy area there. I wish I had seen the whole thing. But it was fun to be in the Tasman Sea and snorkeling.
At Pebbley Beach, we consumed part of the goods that we had purchased. We found a grassy, shady, spot that turned out to be real nice for enjoying a small picnic. Very nice afternoon, but kind of set us back time wise.
From Pebbley Beach, we adventured into Ulladulla, a seaport town in search of some Ice Cream. We are eating our way through Australia as you can see! Heck, when you're on vacation...you're on vacation and that includes the at home diets we put ourselves on. But it will be painful when I return.
After Ulladulla, we drove quickly to a town called Kiama looking for a Lighthouse and a Blow Hole. They, as it turns out, were right together. We found them easily. One thing we are noticing is that towns are becoming larger and larger as we get closer to Sydney. I suppose some commute into work as we are only 100+ kilometers away.
After we took in the Blow Hole (which blew no water...funny enough...tide must have been out) and christened the place by using their restrooms, we were off to find the Sea Cliff Bridge...a crazily built bridge that sweeps around the steep cliffs of the sea. It was pretty amazing...especially when you look back on it. I hope the pictures that we took do it justice.
Finally, we were off to our BnB. It was really close by...took us about 10 minutes to get there. This place is quite nice. It is built on a very steep hill on stilts. WE have the lower floor and the host has the upper floor. Pretty private this one is. I'll take pictures and share tomorrow night. Too tired right now. Maureen, the host, was out quickly to greet us. She was a wealth of information about the public transportation into Sydney. She goes into the Central Business District (CBD) every day from here. About a 50 minute train ride.
After unloading our stuff, we were off to get Petro, small amount of food and OPAL cards....debit cards to be used on the trains tomorrow when we get into Sydney. Should be a an exciting day.
Pictures:
I will start out with some pictures of our room and bathroom at Tilba. They looked much better before we arrived the night before!
The little old church that greets you when arriving at Tilba Central....not to be confused with Tilba Tilba. :-)
Our host Anne. I did not get a picture of Mariano. But just visualize a musical hippie. Very nice...very mellow...enjoying his life.
Cheese factory in Tilba...
Hippie store in Bodalla....Tie Dye Heaven. But I refrained from buying.
Some pictures of the coasts and lakes we passed along the way....
In the lakes region, we passed many bridges like these today....
Happy travelers!!!!
The small road to Pebbley Beach....
Headed down to check out what the beach was like. I was thrilled with it.
Changed and ready to hit the water!
That is not a killer whale...it is me! :-)
At one point, I climbed out of the water onto these rocks to avoid being the 'catch of the day'. Later I just stayed in the water and asked them if they could secure their lines...which they were happy to do.
My beautiful wife enjoying the coolness of the water. It was a warm day. So the cool water felt really good...at least to me.
Two picnic'ers.....
Notice...no Kangaroos any where. Just an empty picnic spot.
This little family was just enjoying the shallow area so much that I had to get a picture. Being at the sea...well...nothing better in my opinion.
The Blow Hole that was just full of hot air...no water came blowing up while we were there.
See what I mean...nothing but dryness! :-)
Looking back to the town of Kiama...
Enjoying the sea...
A couple of pictures of the Lighthouse by the the Blow Hole.
Looking back at the Sea Cliff Bridge. Pretty impressive looking back on it.
Parrot were everywhere and quite colorful. You see white Cockatoos flying everywhere making a ton of noise. But they are hard to film.
