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.

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.

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.

Bridestowe Lavender Estate

Lavender is definitely one of my favourite scents and it is attributable to the bushes that my mum had planted in our garden at our childhood home. After my semi-failed visit to a lavender farm in Victoria, I did some research and discovered that the blooms happen between December to early January which perfectly coincided with my trip to Tasmania. Visiting a lavender field has been on my list of places I have wanted to visit and I was reminded of this from Cherie's visit back in August 2015.

Glengarry Bush Maze

During my research, I discovered that there was a bush maze in Glengarry. It is a bit of a novelty and, as I had never participated in one, I thought it would be good to tick it off my Things I've Never Done list. I had planned to take it a little slow that day as my quads were still so sore.

Quick stop to see the opium poppy fields. The farms in Tasmania produce around 50% of the world's (licit) supply!

So pretty!

Waterfalls in Tasmania

The day after Cradle Mountain was painful. The hike to the summit was honestly the hardest hike that I had ever done and it was reflected in how sore my muscles (especially my quads) were. I woke up early from my campground (where I was the only person there...) and drove to one of the tallest waterfalls in Tasmania, Montzeuma Falls. There is a bit of conflicting information about whether or not it is the tallest at a height of 104m. Unlike the previous day, it was a very grey morning and drizzled for most of the drive there. I hadn't done enough research and didn't realise that the walk to and from the carpark would entail a 3 hour return walk. Yikes. Despite how sore I was I ended up walking to the falls, encouraged by the sign that marked the walk as easy. It definitely was easy.

Tasmania: Cradle Mountain

Cradle Mountain is 1545m above sea level and is the fifth highest mountain in Tasmania. There are a few day walks in the national park however I intended to walk to the summit and back. This equated to a 13km hike and recommended time of 6.5hrs.




Christmas Day in Australia

Tasmania: Launceston & Devonport

Launceston was my first stop in Tasmania and I had intended it to be a short visit solely for the purpose of getting groceries for my week long trip. I briefly went to Cataract Gorge however as the weather was sweltering, I only managed to do the short walk to the bridge and back to the main area.

Victoria Roadtrip: Canola Chasing II

Wordless post

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Victoria Roadtrip: Canola Chasing

I had been wanting to find canola fields for the past few years to photograph. Canola or rapeseed results in gorgeous yellow flowers when they bloom in September - October. The canola fields in NSW are located around 4 hours [one way] away from Sydney which was why I hadn't made the journey to them. However in Victoria, they are only 2 hours away from Melbourne CBD and therefore it was a lot more convenient to visit them.

On an early Sunday morning after I woke up in my car, I headed west to the canola fields.


Where I slept for the night. The first time I have car camped in suburbia. 

Victoria Roadtrip: Lavandula Lavender Farm

On the way to Ballarat, I stopped at Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm. The 100 acre property was once farmed by Swiss-Italians who came to Australia in the 1850s.

Victoria Roadtrip: Bendigo

After Heathcote, I continued my journey to Bendigo. I didn't have any particular reason to head to Bendigo, but I had thought it might be nice to see some of the larger cities in Victoria. It also gave me the opportunity to pop into the supermarket to grab some supplies.




Bendigo Joss House Temple

I stopped first at the Joss House Temple however I probably should have done a bit more research. Rather than a proper active temple, it was more a museum about the Chinese migrants who came to Bendigo during the Gold Rush. I didn't end up paying for admission as that wasn't really up my alley and headed to the town centre instead.

Victoria Roadtrip: Heathcote

Over the Labour long weekened back in late September, I flew down to Melbourne as a little getaway. As you may be able to guess, I like to spend my long weekends away and make the most of it. In the past I went to Riverina region, Capertee Valley and Port Stephens. I decided on Melbourne for two reasons: [1] To meet my work colleague for the first time and her new baby and [2] I was running out of ideas of places to visit near Sydney.


Eating McDonalds at the airport is part of my airport ritual, especially for long haul flights. I have eaten at so many McDonalds at the airport over the world because its comforting. I am not the best flyer and plane food is always a bit hit and miss, but Maccas tastes virtually the same everywhere.


On Saturday morning, I picked up my rental car and commenced my roadtrip!

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!