Chilling out in Wollongong
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Sun 4 Jan 2015 06:42
The first day we arrived, pitched the tent and went food shopping. This is normal for us as the fridge we have holds about enough food and drinks for 2/3 days at most. Also, it is useful to buy at least one meal frozen, so it defrosts before we eat it but keeps everything else cool in the meantime. The campsites over here don't have a social centre, such as a bar or restaurant, so you do have to make sure you take everything with you, and, even though they are in the centre of residential areas in most cases it is usually a bit of a walk to town for dinner.
As it is new year, we are full of good intentions for a healthy start, with less alcohol, more exercise etc, etc, and so we both bought new running shoes in Sydney. We had left our old ones back in the UK with the intention of buying new when we arrived in Mackay, but with one thing and another it never happened. Also, as part of my Xmas present John bought me a Fitbit, so now I can track the amount of steps I do in a day which motivates you to do more. There are a few cycle tracks here alongside the beach so no excuse not to start walking/running again.
After a BBQ for the first night and then an early night, we set of for a one hour power walk in the morning, we are full of good intentions and do not want them to go to waste! When we got back we went for a tour of the area. There are some great small towns and harbours, much like the south of England here. Kiama, for example, famous for its blowhole where the waves crash through creating a fountain, but unfortunately when we were there it was low tide, so basically just a hole!!
Lighthouse at Wollongong with the beach in the background
Kiama's non-blowing hole!
One of the biggest Pelicans we have seen
After a bit of exploring, we headed back, taking the long route through the mountains. Just as we arrived back at the site, the rain started. It wasn't too bad at first but soon descended into a thunder and lightening storm. Good news for team Seaduced, the tent started leaking again! This was a step too far. We had already returned one tent because it was leaking, and this one was doing exactly the same, in the same place, and really it wasn't raining that hard. Due to the design of the tent, we had no outside space we could sit under shelter while it was raining - a problem for us and something we hadn't really considered when buying the tent in the first place, after all why would you? We are in Australia in the summer for goodness sake, surely it would be hot and sunny the whole time?
The next day we were back where we were a few days ago, with a leaking tent. So off we went to source a better option, we had had enough of this tent and were not about to accept another one the same. A lot of Internet research later and we had several options. The only problem we had was that they had to have the tent we wanted in stock in the shop today, as we had returned the leaking one. We eventually ended up with a much stronger, much more waterproof tent which should do what we want. It is only one room unfortunately but, as they say when camping or sailing, everything is a compromise. The last one, we were told when we took it back, was not waterproof and need a special sealant applying to help it along - had we been told that at the outset......
A day later and we are sorted. The old one is returned, our money refunded, and we have a new tent. Alex arrives tomorrow, we are going to the airport to meet him, and then we are off exploring the Hunter Valley and Blue Mountains.