Seals on the South Coast

Narooma, NSW

360km from Sydney

Due to lockdown, our original 1.5 week roadtrip was stripped back to a 3 day long weekend down the coast.

 
It was the same week where BOM declared La Niña. A week where it rained every single day.

 
Pitstop at Bodalla Dairy with some questionable customer service from the person manning the ice cream section.

Roadtrip to Cobar

Cobar, NSW

685km from Sydney

This town had been on my radar for a while. It popped onto my 'visit-someday' list many many years ago when a blogger friend wrote about her trip to Cobar to see her partner's family. Many years later, I discovered that I had actually visited Cobar on the trip to Uluru. However, I have zero recollections and suspect it was simply a toilet break.

 
There was a lull in COVID cases during the October period which meant that intrastate travel was possible.

First stop, Bathurst. A loop aroud the Bathurst 1000 course, cruising at <60kmph as it was bucketing.

Adventures in Sydney: Cape Banks Headland

'Happy Valley' in La Perouse was the largest migrant / unemployment camp in Sydney during the Great Depression. It operated from 1930 to 1939 and included 130 encampments and approximately 330 people. S's grandfather actually lived there for a little while. To learn more.

Adventures in Sydney: Australian Botanic Garden

A few years ago, I discovered that Western Australia is known for its wildflower display which spans between the months of June to November. I will visit one day. One day. But until then, a visit to the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan would have to suffice.

Long Jetty & Caves Beach

After I hit my 23rd birthday a few years ago, I stopped caring about turning another year older. In fact, I often forget how old I am. Perhaps it is because age is, in some ways, such an arbitrary concept. Nonetheless, in celebration for another year of life, we headed up the coast for a lovely day trip to Caves Beach.

Historic Gold Mining Towns

Gulgong is a historic 19th century gold mining town, located a mere 30km from Mudgee. It is always amusing when travelling in rural Australia, how a place < 100km isn't really that far away.

Mudgee

Mudgee is a country town located in the Central West of NSW (or the Central Tablelands), approximately 3.5hrs from Sydney. It is the perfect distance away from home; it is not too long of a drive, but just long enough.

Heathcote National Park: Kingfisher Pools & Lake Tooloma

My last day trip during my "summer break" was to Heathcote National Park, located south of Sydney and close to the Royal National Park. I completed a bushwalk to Kingfisher Pool with a slight detour to Lake Tooloma on the return journey.

Boat ride around Sydney Harbour

A few weekends ago, I joined S's family on a boat trip around the harbour. We embarked at Woolwich Pier and headed out towards Cremorne Point via the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

Central West Roadtrip: Stargazing at Blue Mountains

The last leg of my roadtrip was a little uneventful. As I didn't want to partake in the standard traffic jam back to Sydney associated with every public holiday, I wanted to stay for the night at a place reasonably close to Sydney.

Henry Lawson Statue at Glenfall. Henry Lawson was a writer and poet.

Cowra lookout

Central West Roadtrip: Iandra Castle

Waking up to this beauty

There is a castle in NSW! Technically Iandra Castle isn't a castle in the strictest definition. However, it is what the homestead is known as colloquially and it has stuck. The structure is privately owned and they only have a few open days a year (coinciding with the long weekends). Admission is $10 per person and all the proceeds go towards the restoration of the castle as they do not receive any government funding.

Central West Roadtrip: Stargazing in Condobolin

One of the many advantages of living in Australia is the fact that there is relatively little light pollution. For those who are curious, you can check out this map to see how much light pollution there is in your country / region! Naturally, there is quite a lot on the coastline (which is where the capital and major cities / towns are) and pockets inland. However, generally, once you head a few hours inland, the light pollution diminishes and the skies are amazing! With this in mind, I wanted to head as far west as I could from major cities / towns and I decided on Condobolin purely because there was a free camp.

In my attempt to find something - actually anything - to see / do on the way to Condobolin from Orange, I stumbled upon The Utes in the Paddock. It is an art installation where 20 Holden utes have been given a makeover and placed in a field!

Central West Roadtrip: Autumn Leaves in Orange

Another long weekend and another roadtrip! This time I headed to Central West of NSW out towards Orange and Condobolin. I originally wanted to head to Warrumbungle National Park, past Dubbo, as it is Australia's only Dark Sky Park.

A dark-sky preserve is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that is kept free of artificial light pollution. The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy.

However, I wasn't convinced it would be that much more amazing than another area in the region and eventually decided against it. Plus, I wasn't excited about the bushwalks at the national park either.

First stop on my roadtrip was Orange. Orange is 254km west of Sydney and is known as a "Colour City" due to the autumn leaves. The area is also known for fresh produce and wineries however as I am not a massive foodie, my appeal lay with the leaves. I had been wanting to visit Orange in the autumn for a few years now. This may sound quite silly for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere / areas where there are deciduous trees however the native trees in Australia (except for one in Tasmania) are evergreens and autumn isn't as visually exciting.

Warning: this post is image heavy with photos of leaves.

Country Music Capital of Australia

Tamworth is a major regional city and is also known as the country music capital of Australia. I am a massive fan of country music and was so excited to find a country music radio station!!


I did a quick visit to the iconic Big Golden Guitar before heading further north west to the small town of Manilla. Manilla is known as a hang-gliding and paragliding destination, however the only reason for my visit was due to the fact that this was my former colleague's hometown. No, it wasn't to visit him but I was just curious what the place was like. Honestly, that really is the explanation for most of why I do things - curiousity.

Chasing Waterfalls in NSW

Another year, another roadtrip! This was my first trip of 2017 and I decided to head to New England region in NSW. My roadtrip is mapped below.

I had been putting this roadtrip off for a while due to distance from Sydney however as I had the first week off from work I decided to make the most of my precious free time. Sadly the day on Waterfall Way was quite miserable weather-wise; it was raining on and off, overcast and foggy.


My first stop was to Wonga Walk to see Crystal Shower Falls and Tristania Falls. It entailed a 6.6km return walk on a relatively easy track. It started to rain halfway through the track, however I was reasonably protected from the rain by the foliage.

Wattamolla Attempt #1

The trip to Wattamolla was our second attempt to reach the area; the first try was on foot. In hindsight, it was a little ambitious as it would have been a 20km hike in total. Moral of the story, drive to Wattamolla rather than completing the hike from Bundeena. And always wear insect repellent.

Lazy Sunday at Wattamolla

On Sunday (and the last day of being 24 years old), we headed south to the Royal National Park to Wattamolla Beach. There is also a small waterfall however as there hasn't been any rainfall, the waterfall was only a small trickle. There were quite a few people when we arrived at 10am and already 25 degrees.




Some 'light' reading about the British rule in India

Central Coast Getaway

A few weekends ago, S and I went on a little getaway to the Central Coast. We really didn't go that far up as we stayed at Ettalong. I had been there before briefly and it feels very similar to the Northern Beaches.

Friday night traffic! It took at least 40 mins to travel 2km. It was painful.

Hill End

I mentioned that I had wanted to visit Hill End during my Easter road trip, however due to time constraints I didn't end up going. As I was roughly in the area, I decided to head there on my second and last day.

I woke up to the valley completely surrounded in fog and it was just breathtaking. Stupidly, I had forgotten to remove my camera battery from my camera and in the -4 degree temperatures overnight, it had drained completely. D'oh! I moved the battery to my pocket on my shirt to warm it up and eventually had the battery partly restored which is why I still have photos!

Glen Davis Shale Oil Works

The Glen Davis Shale Oil Works closed in 1952 and can now only be accessed via a tour that is run every Saturday at 2pm by a local. It is on private property hence the need for a tour and honestly, I really didn't mind paying the $15 as it does go back to the very small community.