Canberra to Sydney

On Friday, we said goodbye to Millie and Ben as we headed for Sydney. We got an early start, leaving town around 5 a.m. Tom rode with us to Sydney where he was meeting up with a friend before flying to his home in Cairns (in northeast Australia).

We did not drive directly from Canberra to Sydney (because we don't drive directly to anywhere), but we headed for the coast and a town called Bateman's Bay. From there we drove north along the coast, known as the Sapphire Coast, and enjoyed some beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean. 

Our first stop was to explore the Gondwana Coast Fossil Walk near the city of Ulladulla (you gotta love that name!) where we hoped to see some advertised "world class fossils." We didn't locate the fossils but did come across an ocean pool, which according to Tom is common in Australia. There was a fence around part of the ocean where a salt water swimming pool was created. There were a few swimmers out this morning.  

It was interesting to view the pool, but not easy to get to, as we had to climb down a number of steps - from the road where we parked to the beach down below - to get there. Climbing down was not so bad; it was the climb back up that was challenging. There were 109 steps; I counted.

After the failed Gondwana Fossil Walk, our next stop was near the town of Kiama to see the Little Blowhole. The geological explanation for the phenomenon is that a basalt layer of rock, which lay beneath a harder layer, eroded faster, creating a chasm of tunnel underneath the hard rock above. The water from the waves seeps into the tunnel and then shoots up through a hole in the overlying rock. Just before the water shoots up, it makes a loud "whoomp" sound. When you hear that sound, you wait for it... and then the water shoots up. It reminded us of Old Faithful at Yellowstone Park.

Beautiful scenery near Little Blowhole

We drove a little further down the road to view a distinctive rock formation called Cathedral Rocks. The rocks are remnants of  the edge of a lava flow that has been eroded by the sea. The result after partial erosion was the vertical columns of basalt that were left standing. 

We continued our drive along the coast to the town of Wollongong (another name you gotta love). We stopped at some overlooks for some really scenic views of the ocean, beach, and coastline. There was also some awesome mountain scenery along the way.

Upon a recommendation from Ben and Millie (Ben is from Wollongong) we stopped to eat at the Scarborough Pub, where we sat outside overlooking the ocean. A really big cockatoo was perched right over Joe's shoulder while we were eating. He had his eye on our food. When the people at the table next to us left, and had left some french fries (or chips, as they're called in Australia), the bird swooped in, held the french fries, I mean chips, in his claws, and pecked away at the potato until it was all gone. Amazing! 

Scarborough Pub

Hungry Cockatoo

Cockatoo eating "chips" (french fries)

After we left the pub, we continued our drive on the picturesque coastal road and stopped near the Sea Cliff Bridge to take pictures. The bridge is an engineering marvel which is built out over the water because there was no room to build on land due to the adjacent cliff face. The combination of cliff face, bridge, and ocean creates really gorgeous scenery.

After leaving the Sea Cliff Bridge, we headed toward Sydney, driving through the Royal National Park, which is a dense forest at the base of the Australian mountain range known as the Great Dividing Range. The Great Dividing Mountain Range runs north south near the eastern coast of Australia.

At this point, we were finished with sightseeing and just heading to Sydney to return the rental car, Uber to our hotel, meet up with the Ageless Adventures group, and begin the next chapter of our journey. However, we hit a bump in the road (maybe literally) and ended up with a flat tire. We pulled into a nearby gas station and checked the damage. Yep, the tire was totally flat. But Joe and Tom were on it. They jumped out and had the spare tire on rather quickly, and once again, we were on our way. Fortunately the rest of the way into Sydney was uneventful. We returned the rental car, caught an Uber to the hotel, and said our goodbyes to Tom. We really enjoyed the time spent with family the last few days, as well as the interesting things we were able to see and do.

Joe's brother Tom