The start of the road trip began on December 19th at 9am when Kirsten and I took a bus out to Surfer Paradise to pick up what we thought was a sedan like a Toyota Corolla instead we ended up with a Holden Astra hatchback, I guess when you ask for a sedan they think a hatchback is the same kinda funny but we made it work!!
Now to all my readers please google a detailed map of Australia so you can follow along to all the cities and states that I talk about!!
Day 1 Robina (Queensland) to Coffs Harbour (New South Wales)
Kirsten was the driver of choice for the entire road trip, she wanted to drive and I didn't plus it cost an extra $5 a day for another driver and I couldn't see myself driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car, way to confusing for me!!
Our first official stop was only about 15-20 mins from Robina in a surfer town called Coolangatta which is right on the Queensland/NSW border. We stopped there so I could go to Mick Fannings Rip Curl Surf Shop, if you don't know anything about Mick Fanning then google his name because he won the 2009 World Championship for surfing. I also got a chance to read his book which was pretty darn good for someone who is only 28 years old!!
Back on the road we drove a lot and stopped a lot so Kirsten could drink cups and more cups of coffee to keep her awake which also means she had to stop to use the washroom as she calls it. After about 6 or 7 hours on the road with a lot of detours and false hopes we made it to our first stop of the journey in Coffs Harbour. The plan was to camp for a couple days to save with cost but after being on the road for so long we just wanted to take a nice hot shower and sleep in a bed not in a sleeping bag, we ended up at the Banana Hotel, Coffs Harbour is know for the Big Banana. The next morning we got up toured around the great town of Coffs Harbour saw the Big Banana bought myself a new camera since mine decided it didn't want to work and we head off to Port Macquarie.
Day 2 Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie (NSW) and Day 3 stayed in Port Macquarie
Day 2 was unlike day 1 because we didn't drive as much. We settled into Port Macquarie and decided we should get some use out of our handy dandy camping equipment, so we found a camping place, put up our tent and settled on two nights in good old Port Mac!! In Port Mac we got a chance to visit the Billabong Kola Wildlife Park, the first of many wildlife park/zoos we visited on this road trip. We got a chance to touch a Kola, a Dingo, feed the Albino Kangaroos and get chased by a crazy swan, with that all said touching a Dingo was the highlight of my day!! After the zoo we stopped by a Kola hospital that helps injured/sick Kolas, they either are rescued from being hit by a car, attacked by dogs or admitted for health reasons, If you know anything about Australia Kolas are an icon and to see such cute cuddly animals under those circumstances was pretty sad, but to know they are in good hands make it all better!! We also found a little local brewery called Little Brewing Company and got a chance to sample 4 different types of beer, this company was ran by a husband and wife team in a little warehouse. After two night of camping and checking out what Port Mac has to offer we decided to hit to road as we were picking up our third member of the road trip in Sydney Therese.
Day 4 Port Mac to Sydney
We left Port Mac pretty early in the morning since we had to another 5 hours of driving which ended up more like 6 or 7 since we took several tourist route that didn't seem so tourist like when all we did was drive through small city after city seeing the ocean a couple times in New Castle, next time you see a brown sign that says Tourist Drive think twice before taking that route because it might not be worth it!! We finally found a hotel right outside of Sydney because we really didn't want to drive in the city with all of that traffic. Picking up Therese in the morning!!
Day 5 Sydney to Wollongong
We visited Sydney Olympic Park in the morning and Therese took a train from the city center to meet use since it was much easier then having to deal with traffic. Since it was close to Christmas pretty much everything was closed but we did get a chance to see all the stadiums and just imagine what it was like during the 2000 Summer games, pretty cool place more to come on my return trip back to Sydney. Therese arrived we picked her up and that was the first time we got to test the space of the Holden Astra, everything fit and we were on our way to the Featherdale Wildlife Park outside of Sydney. Therese who had been in Sydney for a week had already visited there but was a good sport about it and let use go and see all the wonderful animals!! Once again we fed the Kangaroos, touched a Kola saw a HUGE Croc and took heaps and heaps of Kolas!! After several hours hanging out with Australia's finest we hit the road for our destination of Wollongong. Wollongong was only about 2 hours from Sydney so it made for a pretty easy day of driving!! When we arrived in Wollengong we stayed at our first hostel of many on our road trip, we stayed at the Wollongong Youth Hostel, it was part of The University of Wollongong, we met a very friendly staff member who convinced us all we needed to become members of the YHA of Australia, it actually turned out to be a great idea as we stayed in several YHA's throughout Australia, we get a discount on rooms as well as other things, pretty sweet deal!! That night was we out as our first time as a trio to this Irish Pub where we didn't drink Guinness because I don't like it we instead went for what was on tap, which was an Australian beer called Hahn Super Dry...Low carb :)
Day 6 Wollongong to Narooma (Christmas Eve and Day)
The next part of the trip was suppose to be where I said it was super hot and nice and that I was hanging out on the beach for Christmas but those plans were ruined thanks to a lot of rain. We stayed two night at the Narooma YHA in a family room which was nice because we didn't have to share a space with anyone and we got our own bathroom and shower!! Got lucky as it was the last room they had. We decided that it would be a good thing to go shopping since mostly everything on Christmas was going to be closed, we cooked ourselves some lasagna with some salad and garlic bread, it sure wasn't Christmas Eve at Lolo and Lola's house but it was a pretty nice home cooked meal. That night I played Santa to Kirsten and Therese without them even knowing what was going on in the same room, it was pretty cool to see their faces on Christmas morning when they had their own stocking filled and a present to open up, it was nice having friends around on a Holiday when you are usually around family. Kirsten loves hot food so I got her a cook book on cooking with chili and then I got Therese a wine topper with a Kola on it since she likes to drink wine. Even though it was suppose to be a day filled with a lot of sunshine, the beach and ocean it turned out pretty cool when we went for a Aussie Bar B Que put on by the manager of the YHA Darren and Karli. At the Bar B Que we got a chance to eat some amazing food, drink lots of Toohey Extra Dry beer and chat with fellow travelers. There were a group of 3 boys from Sydney on their way to Melbourne, as Irish girl from Melbourne on her way to Sydney and a British couple who has decided to travel and work around Australia for the next year on their way to Sydney as well!! There was also Willis the Cat and MoMo the Dog who hung out with us as well. I really couldn't have ask for a better Christmas, speaking of Christmas I hope everyone received my Christmas card!!
Day 7 Narooma (NSW) to Lake Entrance (Victoria)
The plan for Day 7 was to travel to Philip Island but decided that was going to be a lot of driving for one day not to mentation we stopped at the greatest place on Earth or Australia in the Potoroo Palace. Just another wildlife park we saw on the drive we decided to stop by and check out. When I mean check out I mean hang out with the Dingo for about an hour inside their fenced off area with their handler!! If you don't know much about the Dingo please google it because they are the most loving "wild" animal in Australia but they get a bad rap because they are a wild animal and people think they are just normal dogs but in most cases they are not. The three dingos we got to see were Shylow, Djingo and Dja. They were only pups so they were very playful and loving, we got to feed them rabbits feet (which we think brought us good luck later in the trip) pet them and learn all about their history. It was really amazing to learn so much about them and I swear that Auntie Lourdes has a Dingo named Ichiro!! Oh yeah we did other things at the Potoroo Palace too like pet a Echidna, get attacked for food by Kangaroos and see baby peacocks. Overall Potoroo Palace has a special place in my heart!! After severals hours with the animals we hit the road and made it to Lake Entrance where we stayed at the Riviera Backpackers YHA, had someone cancel so once again we got beds for the night, much have been the lucky rabbits feet we fed the Dingos? In case you are actually following we have traveled through Queensland, then New South Wales and now we are in Victoria. Lake Entrance didn't have much to offer us so we just walked across the ped bridge grab some dinner and planned out our next destination of Phillip Island to see the Penguins.
Day 8 Lakes Entrance to Phillip Island
Phillip Island is know for the Penguin Parade at night so of course we had to go check it out since we were going to be in town. The Penguin Parade is where you get to watch the Penguin come in from the ocean on to land and they breed. It is one of the most amazing thing I got to see that could not be captured on film. That is what the rules stated and I obeyed the rules!! Before we arrived to Phillip Island we got a chance to watch the Pelicans get fed on the beach. Also on Phillip Island we visited another wildlife park though I didn't take as many pictures or enjoy it as much since flies are super annoying in Victoria during this time of the year. Phillip Island also gave us a chance to visit a chocolate factory where we got to create something out of chocolate and watch it go down the conveyor belt, I created my name in chocolate!! It was yummy to eat as well!!
The next morning we headed to Melbourne where my cousin Lisa arrived from Washington State to visit me and join the rest of the road trip. More to come in the second part of blog!! Enjoy this one so far and look for the rest of it in the next couple days!!
Cheers,
Theresa
