Wollongong and Goulburn

We left Emu plains around 830 AM knowing we would encounter some peak hour traffic. Our plan was to avoid toll roads, but google maps had a different idea. Each time it wanted to take a different route, I would decline and it appeared we were going back to Penrith. Some how we managed to get out and on our way to Wollongong. Arriving just after 1030 we had some time to kill before we could check into our accomodation at the Coniston Hotel. 

We found a nice little bakery for a brunch and coffee before finding the Wollongong Regional Gallery. There were a couple of exhibitions on and the artworks were interesting to say the least.

With still some time to kill, we ventured to the beach for a stroll along the foreshore and an ice cream. We were meeting a friend in Wollongong and he had sent a message with his location. It wasn't far from us so we headed straight over to meet up with him. Fred was over from Switzerland and was driving a 4WD Hi lux decked out with rooftop camper and rear tray storage box. His plan was to head to North Queensland before heading back to Melbourne and returning to Switzerland 🇨🇭. We all went to a local bowls club for lunch with him and spent the afternoon talking about the last 5 years and the next 5 years of travel. It was good catching up again. Leaving Fred back at the tourist park, we eventually booked into our digs for the night.

The next morning we headed off on our round-a-bout trip to Goulburn, via Kiama and Berry. The expressways make travelling easy around here but sometimes you miss the views on the old back roads. Speaking of views, it was my turn to think I lost my sunglasses, only to have them pointed out to me tucked into the visor.

 Stopping at Kiama we decided to have coffee and a light breakfast before going for a walk to take in the ambience of this picturesque seaside town. In all honesty, this is probably the cleanest and prettiest seaside town I have ever seen. It is also home of the Kiama blowhole. There is always a few people there with cameras and phones poised to capture that one in a million shot.

The drive to Berry was relatively short and the threat of rain appeared over the hills. We ere stopping at Berry was to see a skate park our son was the engineering project manager for. It is a pretty impressive park and the skatepark was definitely a great addition. We also took in a few galleries and crystal shops before heading on to Goulburn. The drive over the great dividing range was exhilarating with glimpses of spectacular views as we navigated the twisty road on our way to Kangaroo Valley. This is another quaint country town worth stopping at. There are a few touristy shops and a great bakery. It also has a pioneer village on the otherside of an old single lane bridge. 

A little further down the road was the Fitzroy Falls.  The falls are only a 200m walk from the carpark and you have a spectacular view of them and the valley below. There were also some other walks that we could have done but it was starting to drizzle so we gave it a miss and continued on to Goulburn. 

Eventually we ended up on the Hume highway and arrived at our destination. All booked in and unpacked, we went for a walk down the main street. Goulburn is Australia's first regional city, and the main street was a bustling hive of activity. Tomorrow will be another short day on the road, but making the most of the regions offerings.