2016 - Batemans Bay: Day 8: Sun 21 Feb

Drive: 575km

Walk: 6km

We didn’t book our next accom last night as we thought we would just do it on the road. So, after an early breakfast, we were packed up and ready to leave by 9am. It was a bit later than we really wanted but we had to stay and chat with J&N for a bit before leaving.

By the time we were ready for mornos, we also needed fuel for the truck so stopped at a fuel station on the outskirts of Taree and bought coffee at a Greasy Spoon attached to the servo. Wendy was not too sure what the quality was going to be like, however, was very pleasantly surprised as it was very good. We sat outside with the flies to comsume our coffee and then moved on.

Wendy got the iPad out and started searching for vacancies north of Sydney (Forster, Hawks Nest, Lake Macquarie, Wyong, Gosford etc). Every decent caravan park she rang had no vacancies, so decided that Kiama might have to be our final destination for the day. There were three parks listed in Wiki Camps, and only the BIG4 had vacancies, so we booked. It was going to be a little further to travel than we wanted to, but we also did not want to free-camp as it was very hot and we needed the fan at least.

Not long after booking, we stopped for lunch in a road-side rest stop. Greg then had a snooze as we had already been driving for a while and we still had to get through Sydney.

Traffic in Sydney was a nightmare despite it being a Sunday. It was 3:30pm though. Pennant Hills road is always jam-packed and today was no exception. It took us a little over 30 minutes to travel just 8km!! However, once we got onto the M7, there was a lot less traffic and it was all flowing nicely. We took the Appin Road exit from the M7 to meet up with the M1 at the top of Bulli Pass. That was an experience towing a van! Especially for Wendy who had no control of the vehicle.

Anyway, we eventually made it to the BIG4 East Beach Holiday Park (site #A12) at 5:30pm – our longest day yet!! We were both pretty buggered, so after setting up both sat down and had a cold beverage. We then decided to walk into town for dinner (should have just had toast and vegemite) and the first place we wanted to eat at had just closed it’s kitchen for the night, so further down the road we went. We eventually decided on Asian; Wendy had Pad Thai Chicken and Greg had Indonesian Rice with Seafood. Both meals were excellent and HUGE; Wendy had to ask for a doggy bag.

By the time we got back to the van and got settled for the night is was after 10:30pm and we were about to turn into very stuffed pumpkins! Slept well though.