Blog day 184 Sun 6th November 2011

Today we are leaving Dan and Darren and making our way on down the coast. It's been great hanging out with the boys but we have to move on sooner rather than later.

Having said that though we are at a bit of a loose end, as we can't afford to do too many touristy things on the way to Melbourne. We also don't really know where we want to stop off on the way or what the main things are to do. Cairns to Sydney seems to be the major backpacker route and most of the big 'things to do' are along that stretch. All we know is that as long as we keep the ocean on our left we are headed in the right direction.

The first major area down the coast is a place called Wollongong. We've been told there isn't really much there but it may be somewhere to stop for some breakfast. Road closures from Stanwell to Wollongong force us back onto the freeway, which is the not so scenic option however now it is our only option. Driving along we see a sign for Mount Keira lookout which tickles our fancy straight away. Especially as we can drive to it instead of hiking.

A lovely picnic area and café sits at the top of Mt Keira which provides a stunning view all the way up and down the coast and out to sea. The BBQs here also work and are as clean as a whistle. Good news for us, bad news for the bacon and eggs currently chillin' in our fridge!

After breakfast and almost hitting a deer in the middle of the road we head down for a wander around Wollongong. The town wasn't really up to much, but the beach was packed. We paddled up and down the shore, watching families and friends playing in the sand and sea, for a couple of hours before heading back to the van.

We pass by Lake Illawarra and made our way up to Jambaroo lookout just as the clouds started to roll in. As we pulled into the lookout point a huge bolt of lightning struck no more than 100 yards away which was followed by the loudest bang we've ever heard at almost exactly the same time. It's scared the crap out of both of us! Rain sheeted the van for about half an hour before moving on and revealing another amazing view!

Our little Jaz sounded and smelt like she enjoyed the ride down the mountain a lot more than it did up the mountain as we made our way to the town of Kiama. Here we made a beeline straight for the lighthouse, as the number one thing to do here is to see the blow hole. The waves weren't too angry today but that didn't stop the occasional pillar of water from being shot into the air. It was very impressive, however once again the place was full of Japanese tourists, and we could only put up with those goofy grins for so long (a photograph face that Trish is currently working on).

A little way further down the coast is Kiama's Little Blowhole, so we decide to go and see how this one matches up to the bigger blow hole. It didn't disappoint! The area was dead and the water being forced out of this hole in the rocks was a lot more impressive. We can imagine that on a good day the bigger one would win hands down but the Little Blowhole got our vote today!

By now we are looking around for somewhere to call home for the night. The area around Little Blowhole is quite a nice looking housing estate so we think it best not to stop here. We drive another 25 minutes down the coast to a place called Seven Mile Beach, where we come across another quite picnic area. This will do for tonight.