Well, after two years of planning, our trip is finally here!!

We said farewell to our friends, family and work places and packed our van and car. Thank goodness Ross and Megan dropped in to say hello as they provided us with some laughs as we were preparing for the trip! After a teary goodbye (mum) we set off for our first stop in Sale.

We arrived in Sale and cheated as we stayed in Mum's unit. hehe We had a lovely afternoon tea with Nan and Pop and enjoyed listening to their stories of when they travelled Australia. We didn't leave empty handed either...Nan packed us some nut and fruit breads, chicken and some of her famous 'little cakes'. Delish!

The next morning we woke up early and headed off for our first long drive to Merimbula. We ended up arriving at 1:30pm which gave us the whole afternoon to set up the annex, unpack all of our stuff and grab some food for dinner.

As we have been to Merimbula before, it was good to know where to go for everything we needed. We haven't been here in the off peak season and it was interesting to see that although it was still busy, it wasn't as packed as in summer. It was nice to walk down the street without having to dodge people infront of you.

We stayed at the Merimbula Holiday Park in the 'dog friendly' part. The park is beautiful with really nice and clean facilities. It was again quiet at the park with only two other vans near us. We met a lovely couple that were staying in one of the vans. Frank, Margaret and their dog Ruby are from further up north and were very happy to give us some hints about travelling with the caravan and where the nice fish shop was in town. Margaret even bought Charli a delicious bone from the butchers! Lucky Charli!

Charli has been wonderful! We were pleasantly surprised of how good she was in the car and at the van. She doesn't like being tied up much but is getting used to it. We're more worried about the ticks on the east coast attacking her! Hopefully the smelly tick collar will help with that!

We really enjoyed our time in Merimbula, walking on the beautiful beach and rocks, going into town and enjoying falling asleep to the sound of the waves that are just below us. It has been a different holidaying experience for us as we have cooked all meals at the van and haven't gone out for dinner.

Merimbula has been a perfect place to begin our adventure! Off to crack open a cider and do some research for the next few weeks. We're off to Kioloa tomorrow...never heard of it? Neither had I. I guess we'll see how it goes!