Mimosa Rocks National Park to Sydney

Day 375

Awake to a beautiful sunny morning and as we are sitting down having our coffee we both get a strange feeling that we are being watched.

The family of Kangaroos that welcomed us in yesterday are sitting a short distance away and seem to be hanging on our every move. We try to go about our business in the usual fashion and eventually they grow tired of watching us and hop off in to the undergrowth.

As it’s such a nice day we head off for a bush walk into the dunes and along to an inlet feeding a saltwater lake.

Turns out I am quite the little Sherlock and we follow the prints of a mother and baby Kangaroo, see snake tracks crossing the path and even identify that an overweight adult male (probably in his early thirties) rode a mountain bike along the path recently! We return along the beach and stop to look (and have a little climb) on some rocks and once again notice how good the waves are here but even with the sun out it’s still far too cold for me to consider having a surf.

Return to the van where we get the fire going nice and early today and both settle down in front of it with a nice glass of wine from the Mornington peninsular.

Day 376

What was a deserted campsite last night seems to be full of cars this morning and it takes us a while to realise that they are all surfers down for those good waves. As we are packing up a wallaby stops by to say hello and starts picking the flowers of a wattle tree and eating them like they are cobs of corn.

Back on the road and we continue up the coast to Batemans bay and another big holiday town (the closest seaside to Canberra) again  at this time of year the place is empty an and we check into another deserted campsite (apart from a few old timers who look like they live here permanently). It’s cold and windy but we manage a stroll along the beach and even spot a few brave swimmers who admittedly are in and straight out again.

Day 377

Not a particularly nice day again and so we decide not to hang about in Batemans bay and head further along the coast to Murramarang National Park and a campsite at Pretty beach. Surprise, surprise the campsite is completely empty and so we drive around and eventually pick the best spot (after moving three times) and set up.

A couple of Skippy’s are there to welcome us to the campsite and after saying hello we go for stroll down to the beach.

You can see where it gets its name as the beach is very pretty (even on a wet and windy day) and we stroll along and clamber over some rocks, looking in rock pools and spotting a huge kangaroo, watching us from the dunes.

After a spot of lunch head out on a walk along the coast to Snapper point. It’s a pleasant walk through the bush and leads you out to the top of a rocky outcrop with views up and down the coast.

As we are walking back we find ourselves surrounded by an alarming amount of kangaroos and both tiptoe through hoping that they don’t suddenly turn on us!

Call in to pay the ranger and enquire about having a fire, which is fine but he warns us that everything on the ground is wet and we probably won’t have much luck lighting it. Right ‘there’s a challenge if every I’ve heard one’ I say and head back to collect some wood. I carefully construct a fire (utilising my army training) and am proud to say it lit with one match and kept us warm all night.

Day 378

Wake up to a sunny morning and after breakfast with the kangaroo’s, pack up and head off Booderee National Park and green patch campground in Jervis bay.

We have been to this National Park a number of times before for our traditional ‘Australia day Cave Rave’ but have always stayed at a bush camp and so were eager to see how this one compared.

Turns out it’s a great campsite and we pretty much have it to ourselves again so set up and head down to the beach to enjoy the sun. It’s a lovely wide beach with white sand and gentle waves so we sit down and soak up the sun for a bit before heading back to the van to light a nice fire again.

Fire wood is supplied in this park and so, with a storm forecast for this evening and the wind already getting up, a warming fire is lit and we sit in front of it for the evening.  

Day 379

As we went to bed last night the storm was just hitting and after a night of howling wind and rain we wake up to more of the same today.

Neither the wind nor the rain wants to give up all day and we pretty much stay inside, only really venturing out to spend a few pennies. With the rain finally easing up in the evening and I decide that I will try and light a fire again and (after a couple of attempts) manage to get it going. The rain returns however and we retire back inside the van where we are happy to watch the fire out of the window for a while.

Day 380

There are still showers when we wake up but we manage to pack up in between them and decide we will head into the Australian Central Territory (ACT) today and our final state in Australia. Drive 2 minutes down the road and into the town of Jervis bay, which by a quirk is actually part of the ACT having been given by NSW so that Canberra would have ‘access to the sea’ (very generous of them too). A further 2 minutes down the road and we are back in NSW and head up the highway, to the outskirts of Sydney and the Royal National Park where we drive down wet and twisty roads to Bonnie Vale campsite and set up in the empty campsite right on the shore.

It’s cold and windy as we settle in for our last night in the van (for a while), knowing that we only have a short drive tomorrow to complete our ‘lap’.

Day 381

A beautiful sunny winters day for our final morning and we sit out in the warm sun enjoying our breakfast and gazing out over the water and towards the city on the horizon.

Pack Polly up for one final time and head off for the short drive through the suburbs and into Sydney. For the first time on the trip we find ourselves on familiar roads and before we know it (and with a lump in our throats) we are pulling up outside 742 Bourke St where we departed a mere 381 days ago. A note is made of the final mileage (post to come) and we pop just around the corner to Cooper St and to stay with our friends Rob and Tracey for the night (thanks guys) before we move back into the same luxury apartment that we stayed in before our departure over a year ago (thanks again Peter).

That’s it then, lap complete. We've done it!